Gun Barrel City presents draft pay-scale plan and public-safety spending priorities in budget kickoff

City staff presented a high-level kickoff of the fiscal-year budget process focused on public-safety needs and a proposed employee pay-scale change that staff estimates would add roughly $143,000 in wages.

The city manager (who later identified herself in the meeting as City Manager Dr. Smith) told council that only two departments — police and fire — submitted major capital or operational requests this cycle and that department heads prioritized those needs. Staff presented bundled remodel totals for each station and asked council to designate how much the city would contribute operationally rather than choosing individual line items.

On apparatus, staff described replacement options for a 1997 ladder truck with model prices ranging from about $1.7 million for a stripped unit up to around $2.4 million for higher-spec models; staff cited roughly $1.95 million as a working figure for a needed, no-frills truck. Financing through Government Capital was presented as the likely route, with potential terms of 7, 10 or 12 years and an illustrative potential annual payment of about $245,000 once financed. Staff noted some existing debt will roll off (approximately $39,640) and that the city must consider sinking-fund requirements and whether the lender’s contract requires holding two years of payments in reserve.

Staff also outlined a proposed compensation approach: a five-step plan for certain public-safety roles with a move to an open-range pay scale thereafter. With a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment applied in the staff example, the draft plan would increase wages by about $143,000 across current employees (figure given as $143,753.31); staff emphasized the estimate does not include any new positions. Council discussed implementation choices — including starting new hires at higher steps to improve recruitment, shift differentials, bilingual pay and certification pay — and noted those decisions depend on final revenue estimates, which typically arrive in July.

Staff reported the city received a notice of no increase from TML for employee insurance this year, a positive factor for benefits costs. The packet also included April financials and Techstar investment statements; staff said moving some funds to Techstar could earn interest while preserving liquidity, with final account moves deferred until year-end budget decisions.

Other items discussed included scanning and records management (staff said nearly 90 boxes had been scanned and ConX storage boxes would be inspected for mold and disposition), parks grants and drainage planning, and the nature of special funds (court security, law-enforcement donation accounts) that are restricted to specific uses.

Next steps: staff will return with finalized revenue estimates and a draft budget on August 1 that incorporates council guidance on priorities, proposed pay-scale changes and capital projects.