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No Raises for Wheeling Employees in City’s Budget

WHEELING — City Manager Robert Herron on Tuesday proposed a balanced $33.68 million budget for Wheeling that does not include pay raises for city workers or four new employees requested by Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger.

Schwertfeger had requested three additional police officers and the creation of a new crime analyst position.

Herron’s budget doesn’t eliminate any current positions, he told city council Tuesday during a finance committee meeting.

City council will consider the budget during a work session on Feb. 28, with another work session set for March 7, if necessary. Council will adopt the budget on March 21, and will lay its levy rate on April 18.

The budget will ultimately be sent to the state auditor’s office for approval.

Herron’s proposed budget allots almost $1.07 million between the Parks and Recreations Department and Convention and Visitors Bureau. That includes $417,538 for parks — a $156,277 increase over the current year’s budget. Herron said he’s included $200,000 for playgrounds.

The budget includes the requested budgets from each department, so that council members can compare them with Herron’s product.

Herron pointed out he’s included a $200,000 contribution to the budget stabilization fund — essentially a “rainy day” fund for unforeseen expenses — that brings the fund’s total to $1.8 million. City leaders have set a goal of increasing the fund to $2 million.

In other business, council discussed increasing overtime parking fines from $3 per offense to $10 to encourage visitors downtown to respect metered spaces as places for “high turnover.”

And if any on-street parking fine goes unpaid for more than 30 days, the fine would double, according to the plan.

Council members say increased revenue wouldn’t be the goal of increased fines.

“We’re not looking at this as a revenue source, but just to move people on,” Councilman Dave Palmer said.

The expired meter fine is just one of a list of on-street parking fines the finance committee approved Tuesday for consideration by the full council, which will read the proposal twice before the fine increases become official, Herron said.

Councilman Chad Thalman said council hopes this move will help businesses. Because the current fine is only $3, Thalman said, a driver might park at a meter all day long. Business owners have complained that because of this behavior, their customers can’t find a meter.

Council members hope the increased fines will encourage people to use the city’s garages, instead.

Councilman Dave Palmer pointed out that parking fines haven’t been modified in 20 years.

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