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Council debates new city administrator, court clerk and police staffing in FY2027 draft
Summary
Sandy Oaks council discussed hiring a full-time city administrator (budgeted at $100,000), a deputy court clerk, a kennel technician, and adding one patrol officer; members cited understaffing in police relative to national averages and pressed for grant-research and cost offsets.
Councilmembers questioned the staffing priorities embedded in the FY2027 draft. The mayor said the proposed budget includes a $100,000 full-time city administrator to pursue grants and business development and a deputy court clerk to handle court workload and privacy-sensitive matters.
"So 1 thing that we want to add is we wanna add a full time city administrator... That's 1 of the reasons that's accounts for it. It's a $100,000 of the, of the budgeting," the mayor said. Council discussion also covered animal-control staffing (a kennel tech to reduce field officers' administrative burden) and adding one additional police patrol position, with the mayor noting the city is "severely understaffed" relative to a cited FBI average of 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents.
Members asked how benefits and overtime are being calculated; staff estimated benefits (retirement, medical, etc.) at roughly 15–20% above salary. Some council members said a flat-rate or no-new-revenue approach should be considered as an alternative before final adoption.
