Community
The budget does not fund seven city positions. One of those positions is not currently filled, but six employees will lose their jobs as of July 1.
At a special budget meeting May 24 Finance Director Jace Bunting said this year rather than making more across-the-board cuts and line-item reductions they made more targeted cuts.
The employees who will be losing their jobs were given a chance to speak at that meeting a subsequent city council meetings, and some did. No adjustments were made to the budget in those areas, however.
The positions cut include public information officer, grant writer, community development director, building inspector, building inspection secretary, public works inspector, and concrete worker. Additionally, the street department eliminated one position by collapsing three lower-grade positions into two higher-grade positions.
Two previously unfunded positions were funded – pool supervisor and economic development secretary.
At the June 9 meeting Councilor Nina Barnes said she was concerned about the budgeted contributions to the Volunteer Center of Iron County and the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce.
She said the volunteer center contribution is all or mostly for the Youth City Council, and Bunting said the payment to the chamber of commerce is reimbursement for relocation packets sent out.
Barnes said she was concerned that it appeared they were budgeting donations to these groups, and Mayor Joe Burgess said the city staff would follow up on that to make sure that’s what they were being used for and those amounts were correct. The line item for the volunteer center was changed to say Youth City Council/Volunteer Center of Iron County.
“I’m not saying we don’t want to support them,” Nina said.
Councilor Georgia Beth Thompson said she thinks a lot of the things they are funding a good, but they can get in a routine and should be looking at these types of things.
All four councilors present voted to approve the budget. Ron Adams was absent.
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