Members of the Athens City Council on Tuesday took a hard look at budget projections over the next fiscal year while also remaining cognizant of anticipated growth.

Growth stemming from the $1.6 billion Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing U.S.A. facility and related suppliers in southern Limestone will likely spill over into Athens. The plant is projected to hire 4,000 workers, though officials have said 2.5 new jobs may be created for every one filled at the plant.

Athens is already slated to experience unprecedented growth in the short term with two new residential developments — the Boardwalk subdivision located off Pryor Street near the new high school and the Links of Canebrake, located just south of the exclusive Canebrake Club development. Boardwalk will contain 150 lots, while the Links will add about 300 new lots.

The good news for Athens is those new homes will provide additional revenue for the city’s utility department. However, more residents equals money will be needed to adequately fund other departments like public safety, roads and even parks and recreation.

Employee raises and insurance costs

Though it will ultimately by up to the council, City Clerk Annette Barnes and Mayor Ronnie Marks presented the council with budgets that include a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment and a $50,000 bonus to city retirees. That would equate to a $450,000 expense to the city, but Barnes said it’s something the council may want to consider this year.

“It’s been a while since they’ve had a raise,” she said.

Another large expense facing the city is rising insurance costs. Because the city self-funds its insurance program, the costs are continuing to rise. Barnes said there are 21 retirees who are still on the self-funded plan, as are members of their families.

Barnes said if the council chooses to grant the COLA for employees, it should look at the city’s insurance options moving forward.

Last year, the city had $245,000 in health insurance claims. Barnes budgeted $600,000 into this year’s budget.

“We don’t pay an insurance premium,” she said. “If someone has open-heart surgery or has cancer, the city is paying the cost of the treatment.”

Revenue vs. expenses

As in previous years, the city went lean on its projected revenue for fiscal year 2018-2019. Barnes estimated 3.26 percent growth in tax revenue over the current year. She estimates gross sales tax receipts of $9.75 million, which is $350,000 over the current year. Those funds are split between the city’s general fund and Athens City Schools.

Overall tax revenue is estimated to be $14.6 million compared to $14.1 million in the current year. Total revenues are estimated at $29.9 million, which represents a 3.17 percent increase over the current year.

General fund expenses, which include all departments, are projected to be $29.4 million, or 0.7 percent more than last year. That number includes the cost-of-living adjustment for employees.

The following is a look at what city department heads reported to the council Tuesday:

Fire department

In a lighter moment in the mayor’s conference room at City Hall, Marks asked Fire Chief Bryan Thornton how much revenue his department provided to the city. When Thornton was unable to come up with an answer, Marks said, “Exactly. You provide a necessary service.”

The mayor and council had a few sobering conversations about growth projections, particularly on the eastern side of town. Thornton said it’s time to start looking how the fire department will continue to provide service to residents in the vicinity of Cambridge Lane, being eyed by the city as an area for a potential residential boom.

Thornton said he would like a new fire house on Cambridge Lane and 12 firefighters to staff it. He would also need new vehicles for the firehouse. Marks told the council to anticipate spending $3 million to make it happen.

“We’ve got to have a plan in place for Cambridge Lane,” Thornton told the council. “In our world, it’s about station-to-station placement and the minimum staffing in a station.”

Thornton’s projected budget is a little more than $4 million, which represents a 1.73 increase over the current year. One of the reasons for the increase is because Thornton said he’s outsourcing more repair and maintenance of vehicles as opposed to using the city’s shop, which he described as overly busy.

The following is a look at other city departments and their projected budgets

Police department

Like Thornton, Police Chief Floyd Johnson said the city needs to start planning for the future. He currently has about 36 officers assigned to patrol the streets, which he said is not enough for the growing population.

He also implored the council to consider paying officers more. The department has had two officers leave recently for better paying positions at another department.

“When you start talking about budgets and revenues, the strain on the police department is starting to become apparent,” Johnson said. “Down the road, we’ll have to look at increasing the number of officers or start looking at different areas to cut services.”

Unlike the fire department, the police department and municipal court does provide a revenue stream for the city in terms of fines, fees, traffic court costs and wreck reports. Those numbers are trending downward, however.

In the current budget, Barnes expects to receive about $467,500. The projected court revenue for FY 2019 is $317,500.

Johnson said there are a few factors that play into that, including the fact new officers aren’t put out on the street right away, meaning there are fewer officers making traffic stops and writing tickets. He added the officers who are paroling Athens are pulling over fewer cars.

Lastly, Johnson said some cases in municipal court are simply being dismissed. For example, Municipal Judge Don Mansell may elect to dismiss what Johnson called a “fix-it ticket” where a person was cited for having a headlight out but repaired it before his or her court date. In other issues, a person may have been cited for not having insurance but was able to show proof of insurance on his or her court date.

In other cases, Johnson didn’t know why the cases were being dismissed. He said he had talked to officers writing the tickets, some of whom expressed concern they “weren’t being backed up” at the municipal court level.

“We’ve made 3,476 traffic stops since Jan. 1; that’s 19.52 percent of what we’ve done this year,” Johnson said. “A lot of the tickets were dismissed. We’ve run the numbers and talked to officers to try to figure out where the problems are.”

Utility budgets

Early on in the hearings, Frank Eskridge, manager of the city’s water and wastewater departments, explained how he had grown his operational account from a little more than $3,000 when he first started in 2015 to $1.25 million. He attributed his positive financial outlook to a combination of lean expenses and the automatic rate increases in both departments — 2.5 percent each year for water and 3 percent for wastewater.

“When I got here, we were transferring $1 million from water to sewer,” he said. “This year, it’s $600,000.”

Councilman Harold Wales said he did not want to pass water and wastewater budgets that included the automatic rate increases. He told Mayor Ronnie Marks and Eskridge that plans to cut the increases had been discussed but not put into action.

Marks then reminded Wales the reason for the increases was because the city was set to lose $1.6 million in water and wastewater revenue when Pilgrim’s Pride closed its Athens facility.

“Our customers talk to me about this,” Wales said. “They operate from check to check.”

Marks told Wales he and the city clerk had worked to present the council with the budgets that would allow services to continue.

“It’s your legislative decision to pass it or not,” Marks said.

Eskridge estimated operating revenue to be $6.295 million versus $6.028 million in expenses. On the wastewater side, Eskridge estimated $6.33 million in revenue versus $6.167 in expenses.

Gas department

Manager Steve Carter told the council his department, like other utility departments, would benefit from an influx of new customers. That influx is reflected in his revenue versus expenses for the coming year.

Carter presented estimated revenue of $15.1 million versus $13.7 million in expenses.