Daniel Prince
Apr 14, 2023
Council listens to needs from city's departments
Union City Council met for a 3.5-hour session Thursday to continue work on the upcoming budget. They heard presentations from the city’s various departments about their needs and budget requests. The Union Public Safety Department is requesting another narcotics officer. Chief Robbie McGee said having two narcotics officers will allow the city to work narcotics even when their partners with the sheriff’s office in the narcotics task force are busy. Also, Investigator Dylan Beheler recently has become a part of the DEA Task Force, which enhances the city’s ties with the federal government to get more cases tried in federal court, which McGee said has more teeth than state court to impose stricter sentences and property seizures. The additional narcotics officer could still collaborate with the narcotics task force if Beheler was working a case out of the county. The position will be partially funded by savings they will have by not hiring a records clerk position that they recently lost.
The street and sanitation department requested 200 garbage cans, which would ensure there would be enough in stock to go to the new housing development and other places as needed. The finance department will see a budget decrease, as the current tax coordinator will be retiring in May. That position will not be rehired, as the duties will be split among others in the city. Also, the utility billing department had some equipment needs last year that they don’t have this year, leading to a decrease.
In the utilities department, there are a number of projects in the works. Some of them are grant-based, meaning that if the city does not get the grant for the project, that project will not be done. Those projects add to the projected deficit of $4.8 million by the department. Utilities Director Lance Davis said they are slightly overstaffed in the water and wastewater divisions, but they had to do that to get people in and trained before three employees retire in the coming year or so. Those temporary positions will go away after the retirements take place. The electric department needs to purchase a digger truck. They sold one that was giving them trouble and have ordered a new one, but the lead time is well over a year, so it is not certain when the city will take delivery on that. A service truck was requested by both the water and wastewater divisions. The water division also needs a jackhammer.
We’ll have more on the city budget proceedings coming up in Monday’s news.