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Henderson Council advances FY20 budget with $1,500 pay raise and targeted reserve funding
Summary
City Manager Frank Frazier presented a proposed FY20 budget that includes a $1,500-per-employee raise, reserves for the Nutbush Road water project and a recommended General Fund with no change to the property tax rate; Council gave staff consensus to proceed with the amended draft.
City Manager Frank Frazier told the Henderson City Council during a series of May budget work sessions that the proposed FY20 budget includes a $1,500 raise for each employee and that the city’s turnover rate through April was 4%. The council reviewed enterprise and General Fund items across three sessions May 14–20 and provided staff direction to proceed with the amended draft.
Frazier said the General Fund relies primarily on property taxes, with an unchanged rate of 0.712 cents and a reported 97.35% collection rate. He noted sales tax revenue growth and a small increase in sanitation fees. The manager identified specific line items: $222,500 set aside in reserves to cover the proposed $1,500 salary increase, $100,000 for economic development incentives (continuation of prior agreements), and capital items such as replacing an HVAC unit at the Operations Center (General Fund share $12,000).
Council discussed staffing and position placement across departments. The Henderson‑Vance Downtown Development (DDC) manager position will report to the City Manager; the city will ask the County in writing to increase participation so the position can be full time. Council and staff also agreed to retain an independent consultant to review IT systems and consider creating a municipal IT position; Council Member Melissa Elliott provided comparative salary ranges from peer towns to inform that discussion.
On asset forfeiture, Police Chief Marcus Barrow requested an increase to cover travel, training and equipment; Council agreed to an additional $20,000 from asset forfeiture funds restricted to police uses. Frazier also reported $158,160 in revenue collected to date from accepting septic tank sewer waste from haulers.
Council provided consensus to advance the FY20 budget as amended to the next steps in the process; the manager plans to present the budget for final approval at the regular June 10 meeting if no further changes arise. The record shows the public hearing on May 20 drew no public speakers.
The council identified several follow-up items requiring staff action or further discussion, including a written request to the County regarding DDC funding, a consultant review of municipal IT systems and the timing and funding source for potential capital projects that may require using fund balance.
