Increased costs have peripheral effects. If there was a theme to the Jan. 10 Page City Council meeting, it was checks and balances and council micromanagement.
Tom Geiger, retired from the National Park Service, is a member of the Page Utility Enterprises Board. He was chosen to address the council on behalf of the board and his PUE. Essentially, Geiger's presentation called for removing unnecessary red tape so that boards and PUEs can operate more efficiently.
Since its inception, the PUE Board of Directors has been limited in spending to $100,000, while the PUE Manager's spending has been limited to $20,000.
Those attending City Council meetings are well aware that various city departments request funding for equipment and services. It might be buying updated radio equipment for the police or fire department, replacing a tattered liner in a water treatment pond, or buying a used truck for the city's maintenance workers.
Typically, these items are already included in Congress' approved budgets, but because of spending caps, they are submitted to Congress. For example, the city manager, as well as the PUE manager, cannot approve funds in excess of $20,000 without council approval.
PUE manager Brian Hill put it in perspective to the Chronicle: “The Kentucky Fried Chicken transformer cost $159,000.”
The PUE Board recommended increasing the manager's spending authority to $300,000 before seeking board approval and increasing the board's spending authority to $600,000 before seeking board approval. Although the council unanimously approved this increase, comments made throughout the meeting suggest future changes are needed to accommodate increases in costs and department efficiency.
After Brian Hill spoke about the costs of seeking subsidies for water infrastructure, Councilor Brian Carey said, “Now that these are freed from micromanagement, we would love for the Utilities Commission to focus on them.” This is a big-picture item that I would like to see.”
Carey said he would like the PUE board to focus more on bigger and more important concerns, such as building a second water pipeline from Lake Powell.
“I agree with Councilman Carey,” said Page Mayor Bill Diack. “I think we have a problem and we're not making our department work as efficiently as I believe it should and can be. Part of our system. As a, we create a budget, but we shouldn't tell managers how to spend it, as long as it stays within that budget.”
“We're looking at the budget and, like tonight, we're also looking at the three vehicles that we just purchased,” Diack said, citing the City Council's double vote on purchasing three new police vehicles. Told. We should have budgeted and spent the money over several years. We shouldn't have voted for this at all because that's exactly what we did in the budget process. We approved it and discussed those various expenses. So why come back here and take another 10 or 15 minutes? We need to change the way we think about it. I'm interested in how that can be achieved. ”
Although the issue takes only 10 to 15 minutes of the council's meeting time, staff spends additional time documenting and preparing for the meeting.
Police Chief Tim Lange told the Chronicle he wasn't concerned because he attends most meetings anyway.
“You need to have the latest estimates and everything,” Lange said.
“If they voted yes on the budget and it was included, then they should let us use it. Now, on the other side of that. They revised it by like 30,000. Even if they Even the way I left it, I would feel more comfortable going back to the City Council and saying, “Hey, I'm going to spend the money that you give me, but things just change, so I We need to spend a little more on this.’ And it’s not just the unit, or in this case the vehicle, it’s all the electronics. Equipment and everything like that. They call it an MDC, and it's a computer that's inside the unit. It costs money.
“You can buy a computer now, but it's going to be obsolete in two years. So you estimate what you're going to need, you set aside money for it, and then all of a sudden they come along and say, 'You know what? This is also necessary.'' Well, we didn't need that two years ago or a year ago. Well, if you want to keep using it now, you need this. And it happens all the time. ”
“While the budget is a plan for the year, five years and 10 years ahead, the city manager looks at cash inflows and cash outflows almost every day,” Councilor David Orge said. “If things get really tough, even though department heads have the authority to make purchases, they can say, 'Wait a minute, we don't have the money right now,' or 'We might need this in the future.' You have the ability to crush it.”
