The Ione City Council did not hold a scheduled public hearing on the City’s proposed budget for 2008 to 2009 at their meeting Tuesday evening because it was not properly noted on the agenda. The matter was extended to a special meeting July 8th at 4 pm. Finance Director Mark Smith spoke before the council, stating that “comments were taken at the workshop held last week, and adjustments to the budget have been subsequently made. There are a few technical revisions that still need to be made.” A secondary budget item was also discussed during the meeting relating to the compensation for the City’s planning commissioners. According to City Manager Kim Kerr, the city has not paid the commissioners since April of 2004. The issue was brought to staff’s attention by planning commission Chairman David Plank. Ongoing investigations reveal that the planning commission and the fire department, with the exception of the fire chief, all agreed to waive compensation for 6 months to save the budget during 2004 the City Council. When the budget for the 2004 and 5 Fiscal Year was prepared, the planning commissioners were not calculated. Since compensation for planning commissioners is a requirement under city law, Ione must decide how to handle back payments for commissioners who served from April of 2004 through June of 2008. The council directed staff to begin compensation for the planning commissioners beginning on July 1st as recommended by staff.
Thursday, 03 July 2008 03:33
Ione Owes Planning Commissioners Four Years Back Pay
The Ione City Council did not hold a scheduled public hearing on the City’s proposed budget for 2008 to 2009 at their meeting Tuesday evening because it was not properly noted on the agenda. The matter was extended to a special meeting July 8th at 4 pm. Finance Director Mark Smith spoke before the council, stating that “comments were taken at the workshop held last week, and adjustments to the budget have been subsequently made. There are a few technical revisions that still need to be made.” A secondary budget item was also discussed during the meeting relating to the compensation for the City’s planning commissioners. According to City Manager Kim Kerr, the city has not paid the commissioners since April of 2004. The issue was brought to staff’s attention by planning commission Chairman David Plank. Ongoing investigations reveal that the planning commission and the fire department, with the exception of the fire chief, all agreed to waive compensation for 6 months to save the budget during 2004 the City Council. When the budget for the 2004 and 5 Fiscal Year was prepared, the planning commissioners were not calculated. Since compensation for planning commissioners is a requirement under city law, Ione must decide how to handle back payments for commissioners who served from April of 2004 through June of 2008. The council directed staff to begin compensation for the planning commissioners beginning on July 1st as recommended by staff.
