The year in local government and community affairs was dominated by policy changes, a major bond issue for street improvements, annexation and a pair of projects that neared completion by year’s end.
The year was not without controversy, either. A pay raise for the mayor and city employees was passed, then quickly rescinded; the city’s project manager took over the management of the city’s public works department after conducting a study that showed the department was on track to waste as much a $1 million a year; a policy intended to reduce crime at venues where alcohol was sold was passed, but amended in the face of fears of unintended consequences; and a citizens’ input policy was put in place that severely limited how often citizens could address the city council and what topics citizens could address.
The year also marked a decisive moment in the long saga of the Kerr-McGee site in Columbus. In April, a agreement reached between Anardarko Petroleum, which took over Kerr-McGee, and the federal government resulted in a $5.15 billion dollar settlement. Of that amount, $67 million for prospective environmental work will go to the environmental trust created to clean up the 14th Avenue North site in Columbus.
Multiple parties from Columbus appealed the April settlement, saying it wasn’t enough. The issue was taken to a bankruptcy judge in Washington, D.C., the following month. The settlement agreement was upheld.
The clean-up will not begin anytime soon, however. Multistate President Cynthia Brooks said the overall site investigation process will last up to two years.
Public Works take-over
In April, a study conducted by the city’s project managing firm — one that lead to placing GPS trackers on city vehicles to track their whereabouts — revealed a potential waste of more than $1 million in the city’s public works department. Senior project manager Robyn Eastman of J5 Broaddus presented the study’s findings to the Columbus council. A week later, the council approved a proposal to turn over the management of the department to Eastman for a period of 30 days but was extended in May and in July. By year’s end, J5 Broaddus was still overseeing the department.
City passes $5 million bond of infrastructure
In June, Columbus councilmen voted to issue $5 million in bonds to finance capital improvements, mainly in the form of street, sidewalk and drainage improvements. The bond came with a 1.1 mill property tax increase, which will be used to help pay off the bond over 15 years.
The city held a workshop to put together a list of which projects would be included in the plan, eventually settling on a master plan in August. Work began in October and by the end of the year, roughly 16 percent of the work had been completed.
Robyn Eastman of J5 Broaddus said the project was under budget by the end of the year and that additional streets could be added. The work is expected to be completed in April, he said.
Budget talks get messy
In August, during budget talks, Mayor Robert Smith broke a 3-3 deadlock to give himself a $10,000 annual raise. The proposal, offered by Gene Taylor, came during a budget workshop that painted a grim picture of the city’s financial state. Taylor, Joseph Mickens and Marty Turner voted for the mayor’s pay raise with Kabir Karriem, Bill Gavin and Charlie Box voting against what Box called a “crazy idea.” Smith, who only votes in ties, broke the tie in his own favor. “Regardless of what people may say,” the mayor said, “I bust my butt every day up here, sun up to sun down. It came to a 3-3 vote and I think I deserve a raise. I hate it came to a 3-3, but I think I deserve a raise.”
It didn’t last, however.
Two weeks later, at another budget workshop, Smith asked the council to rescind his raise. A substitute motion not only rescinded the mayor’s raise but a 3 percent pay raise for all city employees that had been agreed to in a previous workshop. Again, the vote was 3-3, with Box, Gavin and Karriem voted to rescind all raises and Turner, Mickens and Taylor opposed, leaving the mayor to again break the tie. Smith voted in favor of rescinding the raises.
Pay raises weren’t the only belt-tightening performed during the budget process.
Later in August, the council voted to drop insurance for its retired employees, a move that Milton Rawle, the city’s chief financial officer, said would save the city more than $420,000. The cuts affected 24 retired city employments. In December, Lowndes County followed suit, a move that is projected to save the county $150,000 for the 10 retirees on the county’s health insurance plan.
In September, the city approved the budget for 2015 by a 4-2 vote. The final budget was set at $22,966,210 budget against expected revenues of $22,665,667 in revenues, a $300,542 deficit which would be made up by the city’s cash balance at the end of the fiscal year or its $1.5 million reserve fund.
There was some good news on the revenue end, however. Through the first three months of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, sales tax revenue was more than $100,000 higher than projections, a trend that will ease the financial burden if those revenue numbers continue to exceed projections.
The county also passed a budget where expenditures are expected to exceed revenue.
The $39,149,802 budget passed by the board of supervisors leaves a projected shortfall of $560,000, which supervisors said could be paid from its $2 million reserve fund. The deficit was created by two factors – a $481,000 payment on a loan used to buy land for industrial development and a 50-cent-per-hour raise for county employees.
Columbus annexation approved
In September, Columbus grew a bit when a Chancery Court Judge Kenneth Burns approved the city’s bid for annexation, bringing into town 1,462 residents, three square miles and five more miles of road.
The annexation necessitated redistricting, which the council approved in December. The new ward map will also require some changes in polling places and precincts, moves that should be made early in 2015.
Major projects
By year’s end, work on two often-delayed projects was close to completion.
A $2.3 million renovation to the Trotter Convention Center is expected to be completed soon, bringing an end to almost two years of planning and debate that included the city’s decision to act as its own contractor after bids came in far higher than anticipated.
Also expected to be completed by year’s end is construction of a firing range for local military and law enforcement. City and county officials have said the project is to benefit the Columbus Air Force Base, as well as Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and Columbus Police Department for training missions and certification. The project is funded by the city, county and an MDA grant.
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