Montreat looks at Texas Road bridge, employee raises to begin budget season

Montreat's first budget meeting of the year on March 22 focused largely on finishing the Texas Road bridge as well as a discussion on cost of living increases for town employees. 

Town Manager Savannah Parrish said her goal for the day was to start budget conversations to get an idea of what the Board of Commissioners would list as top priorities. 

Parrish said she does not expect revenues to go up, but she does expect expenses to increase.

"It's going to be a tight year as always, but we're going to do as much as we can," Parrish said. 

In October of last year, the board met for a retreat and identified priorities for the town. One of these priorities involved a focus on public works, including the Texas Road pedestrian bridge. 

"I would like to see the Texas Road bridge get done," Parrish said. "I think that's a big priority for us, it would be good for the community. Also just making sure we're taking care of our staff." 

Mayor Tim Helms said he does not know if the town has enough funds to complete the bridge project in a single year and proposed splitting the project into two budget years. He called completing the bridge one of his top priorities. 

Currently, the town has set aside more than $100,000 for the bridge project. The total cost of the bridge is estimated at over $200,000. This price includes Montreat's public works department doing the demolition work and no aesthetic work. 

Parrish noted the bridge could be made narrower than the current bridge is now as the board previously decided to close the bridge to vehicular traffic and make it a pedestrian bridge. 

Parrish told commissioners that the town may be able to finance the cost of the bridge, and commissioners told her that is something they would be interested in exploring. 

In past years, commissioners voted to give every town of Montreat employee a raise to get them up to the living wage in Buncombe County as defined by Just Economics of Western North Carolina. Parrish asked commissioners if this was a one-time raise or if commissioners intended to give this raise every year. According to Parrish, all but four employees make the $22.10 living wage. 

"I would put it in the budget and see where it goes," Helms said. 

Parrish said she planned to propose a 5% cost of living increase for all town employees, which would be a total budget impact of $25,919. 

This increase would bring most employees up to the $22.10 living wage, according to Parrish. She said "one, maybe two" employees would not reach that mark.

Commissioner Tom Widmer asked about merit raises and Parrish said she was not sure about the history of those types of raises in town, but it is something she can look into. 

"I do think it's important to do something for folks," Parrish said. "I was looking today at housing costs, inflation is definitely not getting any better. ... It's just getting more expensive. That being said, I also know we're limited by revenue challenges, so this is a difficult decision to make." 

Mayor pro tem Mason Blake said it is important to talk raises through to be able to answer taxpayer questions. Parrish said she wants to balance being able to retain employees while also being responsible with taxpayer dollars. 

According to Parrish, the town's current total for salaries is $700,445, or about one-third of Montreat's total budget. 

"You've recognized that we've got a wonderful staff and we need to keep them," Commissioner Kitty Fouche said. "When we have to replace somebody, that's an expense a lot bigger than 5%."