Salem council clears the deck with passage of 14 measures – Morning Journal News

SALEM City council ended 2020 by approving a flurry of legislation Tuesday night, including next years budget, amid wishes of good luck to a departing member and Merry Christmas to all.

Hopefully 2021 will be a little kinder, better for all of us, Councilman Andrew Null said.

Council hasnt met in person since March due to COVID-19, but has continued conducting the citys business via Zoom video conferencing, meeting the challenges of the pandemic for the finances and operations of the city.

Council members voted on a whopping 14 ordinances and resolutions to finish up, opting not to meet again until 7 p.m. Jan. 5, barring any emergencies. The meeting that would have been held Dec. 15 has been canceled.

Many of the moves dealt with financial matters, approving the 2021 budget, numerous appropriations and transfers, reductions in appropriations, changing the income tax split so that more money goes to the general fund and granting 2.5 percent wage increases to non-bargaining city employees to match what was approved for union workers.

This was the last council meeting for Columbiana County commissioner-elect Roy Paparodis, who will join the Board of Commissioners in January after being elected to fill the seat being vacated by longtime Commissioner Jim Hoppel, who didnt run for another term.

Its been great working with all of you. I look forward to helping on the county level, Paparodis said.

The Republican Party will have the task of naming his replacement on council.

According to city Auditor Betty Brothers, the general fund budget for next year includes estimated expenses of $5,687,682 and estimated income of $4,595,351 for a difference of $1,092,331. The estimated deficit will be covered by the cash carryover, which she said is now projected at $1.6 million when 2020 ends.

Were going in with a really good carryover, a strong carryover, Brothers said during an earlier interview.

With a month left in the year, the income tax receipts are down $315,394 from last years total, with the affects of COVID-19 on businesses and residents due to closures and layoffs blamed for the shortage. Through 11 months, the income tax receipts total $5,730,257. Next year is when the damage from COVID-19 will be felt when it comes to the citys finances, she indicated.

In order to help increase the income in the general fund, council approved changing the tax split to 94/6, which means after money is taken out for income tax collections/operations, 94 percent of the income tax receipts will go to the general fund and 6 percent will go to debt retirement. The tax split had been 82.5/17.5, with part of the 17.5 going to capital improvements after covering the debt payments.

Besides all the financial matters, council also gave permission to city Service/Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello to advertise for requests for qualifications and contract for engineering for the 2021 paving project. The paving will be paid for through the additional .25 percent additional income tax approved by voters again last year.

Council also approved moving the vacant property registration ordinance from under the housing and zoning code 1187 to the building code under chapter 1335.

In other action, council approved the vacation of an unnamed alley off of Dodge Drive behind Dunkin Donuts, authorized advertising for bids for a used 2014 Ford Taurus and a used 2015 Ford Taurus, authorized selling radios/chargers and a turnout gear washer from the fire department on govdeals.com and approved using $68,410 of CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act funds for wages and benefits for the fire department. The additional CARES Act funding came from money returned by other communities which had not used their full allotment.

Council also approved resolutions commending retired housing inspector Roy Brown and retired Service/Safety Director Ken Kenst for their dedicated service to the city. Brown served from Sept. 12, 2001 to March 4, 2010 and again from May 13, 2013 to Oct. 29 this year for a total of 16 years. Kenst served nearly nine years from Jan. 9, 2012 to Nov. 30 this year.

mgreier@salemnews.net

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Salem council clears the deck with passage of 14 measures - Morning Journal News