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Clerk requests staffing boost and $5,000 to begin citywide records digitization
Summary
The municipal clerk outlined office budget needs including a 2% salary allowance, a potential $10,000 raise for a deputy clerk upon certification, $2,400 for legal advertising, and a $5,000 capital request (plus $5,000 from a prior bond) to start digitizing city records.
The municipal clerk presented detailed operating and capital requests for the clerk’s office during the administrative budget hearing, highlighting staffing, legal-notice obligations and a multi-year records digitization plan.
The clerk said the office included a 2% raise in the salary and wages line and requested a $10,000 increase for the deputy clerk’s pay contingent on the deputy’s expected certification. On legal advertising, she requested $2,400 to cover statutory posting requirements and monthly legal notices. She described landlord registration mailings and other statutory mailings as primary drivers of postage and printing costs.
On records-management capital needs, the clerk requested $5,000 to start a phased citywide digitization program and asked for physical upgrades in the clerk’s space (shelving, a fire-rated records cabinet, and modest office furniture/ carpeting improvements). She noted a prior bond already contains $5,000 toward the same program and suggested a multi-year rollout rather than scanning everything at once.
The clerk also proposed a $1,500 line for shredding and record retention work and asked the committee to create a separate budget/account for affordable housing staffing and training costs tied to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (she proposed a $1,500 training allocation for affordable housing topics and separate accounting for salaries charged to the trust).
Why it matters: Records digitization and clear accounting for trust-funded positions affect transparency, public access to records, and the city’s ability to administer housing and licensing programs efficiently. The committee asked the clerk to provide vendor estimates and a phased plan for digitization.
Next steps: Staff agreed to create clearer worksheets for salary allocations tied to trust funds, and the clerk will supply vendor cost estimates for digitization to inform capital appropriation discussions.
