Minutes 03/25/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 25, 2003 Public Education We have chosen to present public education as the first focus area in the budget presentation. To my knowledge, this is the first City operating budget presentation in which public education was the first area of focus. We have made this move for a purpose. The City Council and City Management have said on many occasions that our public schools are a vital part of the future development of Portsmouth and that we are committed to a partnership with the School Board and the Superintendent to improve our public education. We are also committed to programs like Governor Warner's PASS initiative, which is focused on six elementary schools in Portsmouth. The Governor and First Lady have shown their commitment by leading PASS rallies in Portsmouth, and City Council members and City Management have shown their personal support by participating in those rallies. The School Board has requested an increase of $1,953,465 for the next fiscal year. This increase would enable the School Board to give teachers a three percent wage increase and to give other School employees a two percent wage increase. We are pleased to announce today that we are recommending full funding of the School Board request and are including an increase of $1,953,465 in the proposed budget. This is the first time in memory that the City Manager has recommended full funding of the School Board request, which stands as a strong indication of our serious intent to partner with the Schools. We do not want to pretend that even this significant increase is enough, because our challenges in public education are great. We do believe the School Board made a prudent request, and we do believe that the City and the Schools are taking a healthy step toward a stronger public education system in Portsmouth. There is no wiser investment we could make in our future than public education. Investment in City Employees Another important investment we must make is investment in City employees. In order to continue to provide superior services to our citizens and customers, we must recruit, train, reward and motivate our City government workforce, within our available resources. We are recommending a general wage increase of two percent for all City employees, including Police and Fire, as well as a two percent increase for City of Portsmouth retirees. We are also including a two percent wage increase for employees in our Constitutional Offices, who have not received a general wage increase from the State in three years. Governor Warner announced this morning that he is proposing a 2.25 percent wage increase for State employees, including employees of Constitutional offices, beginning January 1, 2004. If he is successful in that proposal, we recommend that the City's two percent wage increase for our Constitutional office employees would be picked up by the State's commitment. Then again, if the Governor's proposal is not successful, the City will continue to fund the two percent increase. Altogether, we are providing $1.8 million in the coming year to cover wage increases for City employees, City of Portsmouth retirees, and employees of Constitutional offices. We are also including $1.6 million in the proposed budget to help fund increases in health insurance premiums for all active City employees and retirees. For most employees and retirees, health insurance is among the most important benefits the City provides. In these days of escalating health care and health insurance costs, the City is working hard to continue to provide excellent health care at the least possible burden to the taxpayers and the employees and retirees. This challenge gets tougher each year. We are convinced that providing $3.4 million for employee wage increases and health insurance premium increases is the right choice. In order to make this funding possible, we have placed the entire City budget under constant scrutiny and total review in search of opportunities to save money. For example, for the last two years the City budgets have kept appropriations for non-personnel items flat, with appropriated levels at or below the previous year. For the coming fiscal year, we have asked department heads to decrease their non-personnel line items by three percent.