Utility service board members concerned

Diane Raver

Batesville Utility Service Board members expressed concerns about cutting costs and employee raises at the Nov. 25 meeting.

To help pay for a new clarifier, water mains and other items, the water utility had to borrow $2.3 million from the gas utility, and it has to be repaid.

For 2009, utility superintendent Mike Vonderheide budgeted $12,000 to be repaid to gas. He also planned to do the same for 2010. For “2011 and beyond, we are looking at making some major payments to gas,” in excess of $100,000 for most of these years. “We expect to have it repaid by 2023.”

Clerk-treasurer Ron Weigel responded, “I feel $12,000 a year is not justified .... (the monthly) payment needs to more than $1,000 a month .... This is very minimal .... (and is) not even making a dent in the total amount of payback.” He suggested making payments of $20,000 or more a month.

President Sue Siefert noted, “It’s very fortunate that we can borrow from gas, but we’ve taken advantage of that .... As a board we have to accept responsibility .... The only way to get our costs under control is to curtail spending.

“We didn’t incur this debt in one year .... We need to prioritize exactly what we can do to start to bring that debt down.”

Member Tim Dietz asked, “If we didn’t have the luxury of borrowing from gas, what would you have done?”

The superintendent indicated, “We would have been raising our rates.”

The payroll budget was also a topic of discussion. According to a city council ordinance, each department head may give employees up to a 3 percent raise based on merit.

Members questioned why the budget showed that all utility employees were scheduled to receive this maximum increase or close to it in 2009. “I can’t believe that every person in the department is up to standard,” Dietz noted.

“You’re not going to see every employee up to 3 percent .... You’re giving the same to those who are doing very good and those who aren’t,” announced Mayor Rick Fledderman.

“There might be somebody at 2 percent or 1 percent,” stated member Arnie Kirschner. “We feel there should .... be a bigger variance between the lower end and the upper end.”

Weigel stressed even though an employee may start out at a lower percent, “You can adjust it part way through the year …. up to 3 percent maximum.”

Siefert added, “The performance review is never a comfortable time, but you …. look at performance, not what’s going on at home.”

The payroll budget passed with one opposition vote by Dietz.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 30, at noon in the Memorial Building first floor conference room.

Diane Raver can be contacted at 812-934-4343, Ext. 114; or diane.raver@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com. To comment on stories, visit batesvilleheraldtribune.com.

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