Ironton City Council Finance Committee members reviewed proposed changes to the city’s 2001 budget.

Friday, March 02, 2001

Ironton City Council Finance Committee members reviewed proposed changes to the city’s 2001 budget.

Two departments were created in the revised budget to separate and clarify accounting.

The Ironton Police Department dispatchers and a newly created Animal Control office were created as separate departments in the revision.

The animal control office was created after the city terminated of the dog warden position. The dispatchers were separated from the police budget since police officers fall under the FOP union and the dispatchers are represented by the AFSCME union.

Although the two departments have separate line-items, Mayor Bob Cleary said the funding and operations for the two departments will remain the same. He said the separation of the departments into different line-items makes for a "cleaner budget."

The budget also reflects the wage freeze this year for all city employees.

The police union is seeking council to pass a memorandum stating the officers negotiated for a 2 percent wage increase for 2001 but voted to accept a freeze on their raises. Councilman Jesse Roberts said, "I want it to be clear that no one actually received a raise. The raise was on paper only, not in their paychecks."

The finance committee will recommend a memorandum drafted to reflect the same information for the firefighters union.

This was the first time finance members reviewed the budget changes and the committee will review the pending changes at another finance committee meeting. The revisions will go before full council for a vote to adopt the changes