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Carthage City Council approves budget adjustments, personnel job descriptions and a parking-lot resolution
Summary
At its Feb. 11 meeting, the Carthage City Council approved multiple routine and budget items including claims, job descriptions, personnel appointments, and a resolution preserving a downtown public parking lot for Route 66 market use.
The Carthage City Council on Feb. 11 approved a set of budget adjustments and routine actions, adopted Resolution 2,076 declaring no intent to sell the public parking lot at Second and Howard Streets, and approved appointments and personnel-related job descriptions.
The votes covered a mix of administrative and budget items the council’s Budget, Ways and Means and Audit committees had recommended. Council approved the claims report totaling $988,117.52 and approved updates to employee dental and vision plans. The council also approved new job descriptions for the assistant city administrator and revisions to the city administrator job description, and accepted two mayoral appointments, including Janice Schramm as a liaison to Vision Carthage and the Jasper County commissioners and Jim Swatsenberg to the Jasper County Extension Center through March 2026.
Why it matters: These votes finalize committee recommendations that fund immediate capital needs and set personnel responsibilities ahead of the city’s upcoming capital work session on March 5. Adopting Resolution 2,076 also preserves a downtown parking asset for an upcoming Route 66 market, a near-term tourism priority.
Most of the approvals were procedural and received no extended debate. The claims report was moved and approved; the committee on insurance, audit and claims reported its review of $988,117.52 in claims and recommended forwarding that total to council for approval. The budget adjustments reported by the Budget, Ways and Means Committee included transfers to several departments and funds: $13,713 from the annual operating and capital budget to vehicle maintenance for the street department; up to $2,000 to a travel and training line; $41,253 to a capital outlay line for ash tree removal and replacement (the committee report said the project was funded through a Missouri Department of Conservation grant of $41,162); $10,658.25 to IT capital outlay for network and host upgrades; $15,000 from the use tax fund for park design plans; and up to $95,000 from the public facilities bond fund for changes to the I‑49 roundabout project. The committee noted those expenditures would appear on the council agenda as council bill 2508.
On the standalone resolution, the council adopted Resolution 2,076 stating there is no intent to sell the public parking lot at Second and Howard Street and allowing the lot’s use by future Route 66 market visitors. The motion to adopt the resolution passed.
Other items the council approved included renewal rates for dental and vision insurance (the committee reported a 4.7% increase for dental and a 10% decrease for vision; the report said employees pay 100% of these premiums) and the city’s committee-recommended job descriptions for the assistant city administrator and edits to the city administrator job description to make it gender neutral and add capital-project oversight.
The council also approved two mayoral appointments: Janice Schramm as a liaison to Vision Carthage and the Jasper County commissioners, and Jim Swatsenberg to the Jasper County Extension Center through March 2026.
Looking ahead: Council members noted an all-council capital work session scheduled for March 5 to review capital requests and priorities ahead of the next budget cycle.
