Commissioner Tom Koogler lobbied for slashing personnel expenses out of fear that he wouldn’t be able to sell the public on the idea of water and sewer rate increases if these revenues were going to be used to expand the number department employees, he said.
“Somehow we need to get these numbers down,” Koogler said.
The department’s budget, which is funded through user fees but requires the approval of county commissioners, includes a $893,156 increase in personnel costs this year.
Ron Volkerding, director of the department, attributed the expense increase to costs associated with filling six vacant positions which include a chief inspector and a waste water management worker. The director said he also had plans to hire an additional person for the finance department which currently employs three people.
“Every time I’m without somebody … things are not getting done,” Volkerding said during a commission work session last week. “You get by for a short time, but when you talk about long term it becomes a problem.”
The commission president, Alan Anderson, echoed Volkerding stating the department needed to hire more personnel.
“They’ve been running thin for so long,” Anderson said.
Koogler suggested the department fill half of the vacant positions and revisit the issue with commissioners in July.
Commissioner Bob Glaser suggested holding off on a decision about rate increases until August so the county would have more data on water and sewer usage for the year.
Glaser had similar concerns about labor costs and suggested small cuts throughout the budget, but added the biggest problem facing the department is its $17 million debt.
“We can beat these numbers until we’re blue in the faces and argue about nickles and dimes but the debt service is killing us,” Glaser said.
County commissioners plan to resume discussions about the water and sewer budget after the sanitary engineering department meets with its debt committee on March 12.
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