By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
After three and a half hours of questions, discussion, and public comments, the Salina City Commission this evening gave its blessing to an emergency staffing plan.
The plan was developed by city staff at the request of the commission to help the city cope with income reductions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's stay-at-home order and citizens' changes in employment because of it have reduced spending, which has reduced the city's sales and usage tax revenue.
The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner Melissa Hodges voting against the proposal. Prior to the vote, Hodges had tried to amend the resolution to include a provision for hazard pay for city employees whose jobs necessitated them dealing directly with the public. The motion died for lack of a second.
City Manager Mike Schrage told the commissioners that a hazard pay proposal could be presented later if they wanted one.
The emergency staffing plan went into effect immediately after the vote and could remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2020. As of now, the plan will affect 225 of the city's more than 485 employees.
After a nearly 45-minute conversation about whether the commissioners should discuss staffing on an individual or departmental level, City Manager Mike Schrage led the commissioners through the 50-page staffing plan.
Schrage noted that every effort was made to minimize the financial impact on employees while trying to make sure that the city would have enough money to operate without needing to lay off employees.
According to the plan, department heads, the city manager, the finance director, and the human resources director all had input concerning each position.
The plan will utilize a combination of furloughs and work share components.
The resolution grants the city manager "the broad discretion required to implement the recommended plan as presented to the Governing Body for emergency staff adjustments for the remainder of the City’s 2020 calendar budget year consistently with the objective of addressing anticipated revenue shortfalls with the additional goal of minimizing financial harm to city employees during a period of unpredictably fluctuating circumstances."
Schrage told the commissioners that because the COVID-19 pandemic is ever changing and there are unknowns that could affect the city's finances, decisions about staffing will need to be fluid and adaptable to needs that may arise. He noted, for instance, that if the city's financial situation improved, the staffing changes could be adjusted.
City staff put together three revenue forecasts, based on 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day stay-at-home orders being implemented. The revenue shortfalls in the forecasts ranged from $4,824,710.68 to $5,640,052.66.
Schrage said, however, that the financial impacts of the pandemic will not end when the stay-at-home order ends.
As the plan noted, the financial impacts on the budget are so significant that a longer adjustment term will be needed to recover. "Expense & Service Reductions Will be Needed Well Beyond the Stay-at-Home Order to Attempt to Balance the City’s 2020 Budget," according to the plan.
The plan explains that the city's existing contractual commitments have been reviewed in detail, and that "work that is continuing was deemed to be an existing contractual commitment to be honored based upon the specific economics of the project."
Schrage pointed out that new commitments and future phases of projects will not be pursued during the implementation of the plan. As an example, he mentioned the river renewal project. Design work for the project that is already contracted for and nearly complete is being finished, however, additional work has been put on hold.
As a part of the plan, parttime seasonal positions have been eliminated. Because of that and the need for social distancing, there is a likelihood that the Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park will not be opened in 2020, however, an official announcement has yet to be made.
The emergency staffing plan includes a need for service reductions, which could include the implementation of a four-day work week.
Schrage told commissioners that the city will need citizens to have patience and understanding as it works through staffing and service changes.