The city of Indianola may be one step closer to hiring a new city clerk.
In a 4-1 decision on Monday night, the Indianola Board of Aldermen voted to accept Mayor Steve Rosenthal's recommened changes regarding the city clerk's position, with the aldermen requiring only a minor adjustment in the salary range.
At a previous meeting, Rosenthal had proposed reducing the responsibilities of the clerk by delegating some of the duties to the deputy clerks and assigning the bookkeeping functions to an outside accounting firm.
On Monday night, his recommendations to the aldermen included having the city clerk perform all of the responsibilities as provided by Mississippi State law and the ordinances and regulations of the city with the exception of managing the daily bookkeeping related to municipal finances. The clerk would be required to work with the hired accounting firm to produce information so that they can generate financial statements and other accounting duties.
Additionally, the changes now include only requiring a bachelor's degree in business administration instead of a CPA certification, reducing the amount of municipal government financial experience from 10 years to five years and reducing the amount of increasingly responsible administrative office experience from five years to three.
The successful applicant is expected to have a background knowledge of accounting and municipal finance and is no longer required to be a resident of the city or comply after being hired. In light of those changes, Rosenthal had proposed setting the salary range for the position between $40,000 to $45,000, instead of the previous $45,000 to $60,000 noting that former interim clerk Charlotte Kilgore performed more than the prescribed proposed duties and her salary was only $46,000 annually.
Alderman Gary Fratesi said that if that amount was good enough for Kilgore then it should be good enough for whoever they hire next. However, Alderman Ruben Woods insisted that Rosenthal's salary recommendation was not high enough and Alderman Sam Brock agreed.
Woods implied that Rosenthal would not attract the right person and suggested setting the range between $45,000 to $50,000. He asserted that you "get what you pay for," Rosenthal said, "I wish that were true."
Rosenthal stated that the $45,000 maximum was a good starting point. But, Brock too suggested moving the range maximum amount to $50,000 and alluded to other places that were paying in the range of $50,000 to $70,000 to do similar work, but Rosenthal disagreed, "Nobody around here is doing that," he said.
Rosenthal explained that the position was being broken up where three other clerks would now be assisting in performing the duties, plus funds had to be allocated to pay for an accounting firm, unlike when the previous two clerks took on the full job responsibility.
Rosenthal added, "So far, I don't think there's a single applicant in our pile that has ever really asked what the pay is. They apply because they want a job and want to work for the city."
Rosenthal said he currently has about 25 applicants for the position. "But you can automatically take 20 of those out, because they don't even meet these guidelines," he said.
He stated that out of the five that could possibly meet the guidelines only one has potential.
Woods said they should offer the $45,000 to $50,000 "based on experience."
As the lone no vote, Fratesi's contention seemed to be out of concern for the city's already ailing budget situation. He noted that the city was already facing a shortfall, an issue that he had raised earlier in the session with regard to the city providing hazardous pay for its employees. According to statements made by Fratesi, the city is possibly facing a 50 percent premium increase by its insurance carrier, Blue Cross Blue Shield, for the upcoming year.
Fratesi told Rosenthal that he wants to make sure that the public is aware of this substantial increase and that the other aldermen are considering that, when they are making decisions to spend money.
In other business,
The lawmakers discussed hiring an outside contractor to repair damaged fire hydrants in the city, but decided to move that item to the next agenda while they consider cost estimates from two companies.
The lawmakers unanimously approved a final resolution granting exemption from ad valorem taxes to Delta Cold Storage. The request had to be sent to the state revenue office for its approval before the aldermen could issue a final judgment.
They also approved accepting a donation of land from Double Quick, LLC. Rosenthal said Tom Gresham approached him about donating the 150 feet by 190 feet plot of land, located at the intersection of Main Street and Sunflower Avenue, to the city. The donation process will require the city to acquire an appraisal of the land and supply Double Quick with a donation receipt for that amount.
The city leaders also voted to accept a seven-year lease agreement proposal with Government Capital Corporation for the purchase of the new fire truck.
Rosenthal said the truck is ready. The city has over $200,000 in its fire fund and using that would leave the city with a due balance of $309,771 and Government Capital proposed financing that at 2.83 percent. Hancock-Whitney also submitted a proposal and their rate was 2.84 percent.
In a brief statement, Rosenthal acknowledged that he was submitting his veto on a personnel matter discussed at the April 27 meeting with regard to city employees that were on probation.
They also voted to renew a maintenance contract for firewall protection on the city's computer system with HiComp, LLC.
