Uniontown budget, police contract approved
Uniontown City Council Wednesday approved a budget without a tax increase, a police contract with pay raises and amendments to the property maintenance ordinance that reduces fines.
The budget of approximately $8 million includes funds for recreation, the library and general purposes. It is supported by real estate taxes of 12.235 mills, or $122.35 for each $10,000 in assessed value. While there was no tax increase, Councilman Gary Gearing voted against the budget, saying he felt the millage was too high. Gearing had said during his unsuccessful campaign for re-election that taxes could be lowered by at least a mill.
Councilman Francis “Joby” Palumbo thanked council for its continued support of recreation and park rehabilitation. Larry Bush, the president of the Uniontown Public Library, also thanked council for its continuing and increasing support, noting that prior to 2010, the city’s funding for the library had stayed around $100,000 a year for 20 years without changing. The level of support has increased in each of the past four years, reaching $165,000 for 2013. Bush said the city’s support for the library far outstrips the state funding of about $40,000 a year, or less than 20 percent of the library’s operating budget.
The new four-year contract with the police department includes pay increases of 3.5 percent each year through 2017, plus an additional increase for years of service in the first year of the contract. There is no longevity increase for officers with less than five years of service, but from 5 years through 30 years officers will see an increase ranging from 29 to 87 cents per hour on top of the 3.5 percent increase.
Pay rates are based on years of service and rank. The minimum salary for a starting patrolman is $18.57 per hour for 2014 and increases to $20.57 per hour in 2017. The police are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 491.
Council also set the salaries for the other city employees and elected officials. Employees will be receiving raises of between 3.5 and 4 percent, based on the union contract. There is no increase in the pay for elected officials, with the mayor receiving $3,000 annually and each of the other councilmen, serving as directors of various city departments, receiving a salary of $1,200 for the year.
Council also voted to amend the property maintenance ordinance, lowering penalties to bring them in line with state law. City Solicitor J.W. Eddy noted that the original ordinance called for fines ranging from $500 to $1,000 and a jail sentence of up to five years when state law set the statutory maximum at 30 days in jail.
The amended ordinance reduces the minimum fine to $50 per offense. There is an additional optional fee of $35 for neighborhood mitigation.
“That’s specifically for when the code official would have to revisit these sites. It’s to cover that cost,” said Police Chief Jason Cox.
“I think we’re going in the right direction with this,” said Councilman Phil Michael.
The city has been cracking down on code enforcement this past year, hiring a full-time code enforcement officer, with citations written by the police department.
Council will hold its reorganization and regular monthly meeting January 6 at 10 a.m.