SAFFORD — During a work session Monday, the Safford City Council received an update on changes council and staff have made to the proposed 2022-23 budget, and the big topic was employee salaries.
The proposed budget had a 1.5 percent increase for all staff and the council questioned whether that amount was too low.
“It seems like that’s the same amount we need to be putting in these people’s paychecks: the real cost of inflation,” said City Councilman Steve McGaughey. “I don’t know how we can keep saying inflation is — it depends on who you listen to; it’s 6 percent, it’s 10 percent, it’s 20 percent —but how can we keep giving them 3 percent in a 6 percent world?”
Finance Director Kabrina Romero explained that the budget takes into account projected revenues, and while a year-to-year comparison is offered, that comparison is not used to determine coming expenditures.
The 2022-23 budget is projected to see 39.5 percent less in revenue than 2021-22, and City Manager John Cassella informed the council that is why he and his staff take a conservative approach to the budget.
“My fear is we get a little too excited and we go too far too fast,” said City Manager John Cassella. “You’re in a highly inflationary market, you have an instable international community, you don’t know if there’s a recession right around the corner, the markets are flying up and down; to my mind it’s not a time to get way out in front. Does that mean we can’t rearrange? . . . If you want to take $30,000 out of training and put it in salary increases, you can do that.”
The City Council directed staff to make adjustments to the proposed budget in order to give employees a 3 percent increase. Cassella said that action would be taken by the next presentation May 23, when the City Council will be asked to adopt the tentative budget, which will put a cap on expenditures in the coming fiscal year.
City staff is currently projecting $21.1 million in revenues coming into the general fund in 2022-23. As of Monday’s presentation, general fund expenditures are projected at $24.4 million.
