Council adopts 2017 budget

The Cheney City Council made quick work of a long list of agenda items at its Dec. 13 meeting, including final passage of the city’s 2017 budget. The council has held two workshops and three public hearings on the $26,345,400 budget since Sept. 19. In presenting the budget to the council for final passage,

Finance Director Cindy Niemeier said her office had received no additional comments from citizens.

Before the council moves into 2017, there were some remaining items to be addressed from this year, beginning with the purchase of a road grader for the Street Department. According to resolution information, the city’s current 1986 Champion grader is experiencing transmission shifting problems, parts for which are no longer available due to the manufacturer closing the road grader line in 2014.

Public Works Director Todd Ableman told the council the grader is breaking down a lot, which raises issues since it is one of the city’s main pieces of equipment for removing snow because its plow is equipped with a gating mechanism.

The city has received a quote of $136,000 from Rowand Machinery for a 2010 John Deere grader, model 770G. Ableman proposed, and council approved, a resolution surplusing the Champion grader and using it as a $15,000 trade in with Rowand, dropping the price to $121,000.

To pay for the grader, the Street Department will use up to $135,000 from a loan from the Light Department, at 1 percent interest. Niemeier said once the final purchase price is established, the loan amount will be adjusted.

Council approved changes to the city’s purchasing and inventory policies. Changes to purchasing included updating the minimum amounts for public work projects and updates to the competitive purchasing requirements for regular and sealed bids.

Niemeier said the changes also incorporated federal purchasing requirements into Cheney’s policy. Prior to this, purchasing had been split among various areas and funds, but now that they are updated into one unified policy, it will make the city eligible for more federal funding.

“This is new for the city,” city attorney Stanley Schwartz said. “It really is wholesale changes to conform with requirements by law.”

Finally, council approved an ordinance establishing employee salaries and benefits for the coming year. City Administrator Mark Schuller said the ordinance gives non-union represented staff a 2 percent cost of living adjustment, with union COLAs per existing contracts, and reduced the number of classifications within the Parks and Recreation Department staff from 31 to 12, some of which Schuller said were “frivolous” positions.

The rest were adjusted to reflect the mandated increase in the minimum wage as approved by voters in November.

“We’ll have to continue to make adjustments to our temporary employees to keep up with the minimum wage,” he added.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].