Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

No Budget Ready For City Of Gurdon

With no budget for 2000 ready, Gurdon's City Council meeting of Jan. 17, was short.

It began with the panel approving the adjusting of the 1999 budget to reflect exactly what monies had been received and spent by the city, then setting a time for the budget committee to meet and work on the Y2K budget.

The 2000 budget, Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said, should include a raise for all city employees. Finding the funds for raises, he added, has been one of the problems in getting a budget ready.

On the solid waste issue, Smith told those gathered the city took another load of recyclable materials to the recycling center in Hot Springs recently.

This trip included 1,137 pounds of newsprint, 580 pounds of cardboard and 23 pounds of aluminum.

"We're off to a good start," Smith said, "but we're not in this to make money. We're trying to keep this stuff out of the landfill and save the city some money."

The city pays $92.50 per ton for tipping fees on all garbage taken to the landfill in Little Rock. All items taken out of the waste stream and recycled, save the city this money.

Smith said volunteers have been found to help man the recycling trailer on Saturday mornings, which will help give former Gurdon Mayor Darrell Potratz a break. He has been manning the trailer single-handedly since the project began.

It is hoped, Smith said, a place can be found to store recyclable materials so fewer trips will have to be made to the recycling center.

He added, there are also plans in the works to add a cardboard route to pick up and bale commercial cardboard.

Betty Torgerson was on hand at the meeting to, once again, bring up the need for a retirement plan for city employees.

She asked the council not to "back burner" the issue, but to give it serious consideration.

The council agreed a retirement plan is needed, and informed Torgerson it will be looked into.

Smith said city employees have access to a cafeteria plan where they can contribute to their own retirement. Any money contributed under the cafeteria plan comes out before taxes, so the workers aren't taxed as heavily.

He also explained the city will see no state turnback money from the newly annexed area along Highway 67 until 2001.

When asked why city workers can't get on the Gurdon Fire Department's retirement plan, Smith said when fire department retirement funds were set up statewide, it was done solely for firemen.

The law was written in such a way to preclude anyone else from getting on their plan.

Smith said the city has to know where it stands financially before instituting a retirement fund. "We can't just jump into it. Once we start it, we have to keep it going and the money has to be there."

Councilman Mickey Jones said it could take the rest of the year to get the information needed before the council can do anything about a retirement plan.