In an emergency ordinance, Shelby City Council voted to transfer $6,200 into the Court Officer Wages fund to cover wages for the rest of the year.
Finance Director Bob Lafferty explained the funds would transfer from one line item to another to maintain the continued operations of the department, and that the money would come from already appropriated funds. The amount of $5,000 was transferred from the Hospitalization fund, and $1,200 from the Asst. Judge Wage fund.
“Our Court Probation Fund 233, we’ve been in the hole this entire year,” said Lafferty. “Where we in the recent past have paid wages for our court probation people, I did not put enough money in the court officers’ wages in the General Fund to cover this year, and that’s why I’m moving more money into that so we can cover the wages there for the rest of the year.”
According to a report from the Finance and Personnel Committee, currently the city of Shelby’s General Fund stands at $212,136. Chairperson and councilmember Pat Carlisle reported that the zero transfers to Capital Improvement Fund 200 for the year 2014 shows a transfer decrease of $68,540 so far, which would normally have been transferred from the General Fund.
“To sustain the General Fund, we took a spring moratorium on Hospitalization Fund 715 premiums, but we cannot take a moratorium on premiums this fall,” she said.
Carlisle also reported that the Court Probation Fund 233 showed a negative balance of $2,887 but is expected to recover later this month. Collections of court fees year-to-date were down by $36,929.
Good news was also reported by Carlisle in that the city of Shelby’s Finance Department received the Ohio Auditor of State Award for the second consecutive year. In a letter of congratulations to the city’s Finance Department, State Auditor Dave Yost stated, “The citizens you represent are well served by your effective and accountable financial practices.”
“This is our second consecutive year receiving this,” noted Carlisle. “This is what a perfect audit is, and it is kind of rare to get it once let alone twice in a row.”
Councilmember Nathan Martin shared in his report from the Utilities and Streets Committee that a bid for rock salt had been received after the Richland County Board of Commissioners submitted a second quote request. The Detroit Salt Company was the successful bidder.
“Shelby salt submittal was set at 400 tons and the bid came in at $78.62 per ton,” said Martin. “This is considerably more than what we paid last year, however it wasn’t nearly as dire as the quotes we were hearing about upwards $120-$130 per ton.”
Martin stated that at the current rate, 400 tons of salt would cost $31,448. He noted based on average salt usage the city should be in good shape for the coming winter, though a salt conservation plan would still be in effect for the upcoming salting season. This includes salt applications on hills, bridges, secondary roads, intersections, safety service areas and school only as needed, and intermittent salting of Main Street, Mansfield Avenue and Gamble Street.
In other news, councilmember Harold Shasky brought to the attention of council an ordinance amending section 1060.02 of chapter 1060 regarding placing garbage at the street for collection and time limits. The amendment comes from the comments of a concerned citizen.
“I had a resident stop in my office that told me they were told by the Shelby Police Department that they could not put garbage bags on their curb even 24 hours before their pick-up day,” said Shasky. “They had to have their trash at the curb in a secured container. I chuckled and said half this town would be getting a ticket for having their trash out at the curb in a bag.”
Shasky pointed out that section 1060.02 does not have a definition of “container,” and therefore the amendment includes a definition of a container as “any device creating a partially or fully enclosed space that can be used to contain, store or transport objects or materials and shall include bags designed for trash and garbage.” The ordinance passed its first reading on Monday evening.
