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 Post subject: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:16 pm 
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Budget was passed last Monday night:

http://nwi.com/articles/2008/11/25/news ... 1cd830.txt

ST. JOHN | St. John adopted its 2009 general fund budget on Monday at $5.9 million, with about a $1 million deficit town officials expect to shrink by the end of this year.

"We'll have a balanced budget," Town Manager Steve Kil said.

Town Council members in recent meetings have discussed the possibility of imposing a garbage fee on St. John residents. The town currently pays for residential garbage pickup, an amount expected to reach $900,000 in 2009, Kil said.

In other business, the Town Council adopted the 2009 salary ordinance. It does not include any pay increases, and it eliminates longevity pay for 2009.

Longevity pay is a yearly stipend for full-time St. John employees. The money is paid at the end of the year, in addition to employee salaries, and it is based on how long an employee has worked for the town.

Cutting longevity pay for 2009 will save the town about $42,000.

Employees attending Town Council meetings have spoken out against the longevity cut.

St. John police Cpl. Jim Turturillo told the council on Monday that he wants to poll town employees and see if they would support a 1 percent pay cut across the board instead of having their longevity pay cut. Turturillo said it would save the town more money and help improve the relationship between town management and employees.
Depending on salary and years working for the town, the 1 percent cut could be more or less than the longevity pay for each employee.

The 1 percent across-the-board pay cut was an option that town leaders discussed. But it was taken off the table, and the longevity pay cut was the favored choice, Councilman Mike Forbes said.

Earlier in the night, Forbes made a motion to carry out an immediate freeze on hiring, promotions and raises. The council supported and approved the motion.

The town already had an understood freeze in place, and Monday night's action formalized that, Council President Michael Fryzel said.

I wonder why they didn't allow Officer Turturillo a chance to poll the employee's ? What happened? They must have voted AND THEN LET OFFICER TURTURILLO SPEAK....YOU KNOW...AFTER THE FACT . :roll: :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:04 pm 
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I would have a hard time supporting taking a 1% cut for myself, so someone else to get their end of the year "longevity bonus". If there are employees working tenure, then that "longevity bonus" should be built into their regular salaries end of story. This is probably why they didn't go for the surveying of employees, b/c surely there would be some against it. And if it then went through, there might be additional problems with the employees that didn't support it.

I think Forbes made a great motion to freeze hiring, promotions etc.

I question though on how they can "balance" the budget in the next 31 days and save 1 mil in one months time.


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:16 am 
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Gunslinger wrote:
I would have a hard time supporting taking a 1% cut for myself, so someone else to get their end of the year "longevity bonus". If there are employees working tenure, then that "longevity bonus" should be built into their regular salaries end of story. This is probably why they didn't go for the surveying of employees, b/c surely there would be some against it. And if it then went through, there might be additional problems with the employees that didn't support it.

I think Forbes made a great motion to freeze hiring, promotions etc.

I question though on how they can "balance" the budget in the next 31 days and save 1 mil in one months time.


Well things may change after all and it may not be a done deal. The commander of the police and town council president is now allowing officer Turturillo to poll the employee's. The problem though is that some employee's feel a bit pressured due to a police officer asking for their vote. This longevity affects more police officers than it will town employee's and has caused a bit of friction between Mr. President and the police force. What should be done is a secret ballot vote of the town employee's. That way there would be no pressure put on people. See what happens when you have the commander of the police force running your town! I just got a nice big fat packet with all the recent town meeting minutes , which you will not get on line because they are TWO MONTH'S BEHIND! I will be posting the one's that pertain to all this as Mr. Barenie recieved intimidating mail and phone calls from employee's because of the council's decision on the budget cuts. Oh yeah, and how this budget was all discussed in "executive session" yet someone on the town council leaked information which started rumors throughout the town due to their flapping of the jaws. I wonder who the BIG MOUTH was? Because Mr. Barenie wasn't all to thrilled about it as the meeting minutes suggest. This town shouldn't even be in a deficit. No town should. Poor planning at the expense of town employee's and residents. What ever this council decides to do, just remember, it was them who got us into this mess with all their frivolous spending knowing that taxes, and the economy were in a downward spiral. I hope they learned their lesson and begin to budget. Something they never cared to do in the past.

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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:16 am 
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Quote:
In other business, the Town Council adopted the 2009 salary ordinance. It does not include any pay increases, and it eliminates longevity pay for 2009.


I wonder if this includes fryzel? If it does, he'll probably just put down for overtime that I hear he doesn't work, or come in for an hour or so on a holiday and put down for 8 hours. Wait a minute, isn't that what he accused the former Police Chief of doing. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
I also hear that the state board of accounts is coming into town, better hide those records.


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:04 pm 
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Chuckles wrote:
Quote:
In other business, the Town Council adopted the 2009 salary ordinance. It does not include any pay increases, and it eliminates longevity pay for 2009.


I wonder if this includes fryzel? If it does, he'll probably just put down for overtime that I hear he doesn't work, or come in for an hour or so on a holiday and put down for 8 hours. Wait a minute, isn't that what he accused the former Police Chief of doing. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
I also hear that the state board of accounts is coming into town, better hide those records.


Hmmm, that is what he accused the former Police Chief of and fired him for. Nothing like having the commander of the police sitting as the president of the town council, as many people ask: Whose looking over his shoulder? Here's some of the meeting minutes from Oct. 23rd meeting:
Ms. Teibel stated that the Haunted House in the last 4 days brought in almost $21,000 dollars. ( I believe the cost was 10-12 thousand this year.)

Mr. Barenie gave a power point presentation that he had prepared. Exhibit A, that revealed some of the processes that were used to come up with the 2009 General Fund Budget and stated that the top priority was public safety.

Ms. Teibel asked how the longevity will work. Mr. Barenie stated that there were not a lot of options of where to cut funds, personnel costs is the majority of the budget. Everything affects the pensions. Ms. Teibel stated that she feels that they overstepped their boundries regarding the police take home cars and believes that the Police Commission should make that call with Chief Frego's input. Mr. Forbes stated that the Council is involved from a budgetary standpoint by controlling fuel costs. Mr. Barenie stated that this was an area he put on the table by requesting/recommending that Chief Frego put together a policy.

Captian Bernie Johnsen-stated that he wanted to talk about the longevity issue. He stated that there is no such thing as cutting longevity across the board because the years of service are different for most individuals. Longevity is an incentive program and is concerned that his pension is locked into the longevity amount and he will not be able to recover. He requested that they consider things that do not affect the people that make things happen in the town-the employees; perhaps they should look at events to cut expenses.

Mr. Barenie stated that he wanted to clarify that the term "across the board" is departmental not by individual employee.

Mr. Barenie thanked everyone for coming out and stated that he expected this kind of turn out. He stated that the Council did work very hard and explained how the reserves will be used. Officer Stamate asked if the employees could be informed at this time of what is happening rather than hearing the rumors and asked what other items or events were being cut.

Mr. Barenie responded to Officer Stamate's inquiry and apologized to the staff and their families for the ridiculous rumors that were circulated. He stated that he received phone calls from staff members asking about the 10-20% pay cut reductions, and a dozen people whose jobs were being wiped out. He apologized for the misinformation, stated that these meetings were held in Executive Session, did not know how that information got from an Executive Session out int the streets and is very disappointed in the people in that room that let this information out.

Mr. Barenie stated that he has personally received some very troubling and derogatory comments and had messages that can be construed as warnings or threats. He received mail addressed to his home that his wife opened up. All of this stuff is affecting him as well and that he will take a pay cut as well. He cannot control the leak and wanted to make sure everything was completely done and set and that there were no other options that came in before the employees were notified. Mr. Barenie that he is tired of being intimidated and his decisions on issues in St. John based on his independant thinking and no one else's. He will always look at the staff and residents as equal partners. He may disagree with others but he is going where his heart tells mim to go and this is where it tells him to go.

Comedian will post up more meeting minutes as many officer's had further comments. I do not use spell check. This so far is a very good example as to why the study sessions should once again be implemented. This whole bunch of crap with rumors and intimidation tactics could of all been avoided if the employee's could have been involved with their input into their matters. Also, it is in the back of my mind that Chuckles is trying to intimidate Fryzel by this post as a means of pressuring him to change his vote on this longevity issue. I'm no longevity expert but I don't understand how this bonus affects people's pensions. It sounds more like an end of the year bonus. This seems like the only fair way to go about matters if there even is such a thing in this situation. Police couldn't make enough money and either way you look at it, it stinks. :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:24 pm 
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Comedian wrote:
Quote:
Also, it is in the back of my mind that Chuckles is trying to intimidate Fryzel by this post as a means of pressuring him to change his vote on this longevity issue.


I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I honestly think that the poll of the town employees being done by Officer Turturillo is doomed to failure. It all depends on how many of the Town employees get the longevity pay. Every employee should be asked, and if you have more that don't get a longevity pay or haven't worked for the town long, the poll will lose.

Also, the longevity pay does affect the Police Officers pension, that's why they're so dead set against losing it.

I also hear that Teibel wants an increase of the budget for her Halloween fest.


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:10 pm 
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Chuckles wrote:
Comedian wrote:
Quote:
Also, it is in the back of my mind that Chuckles is trying to intimidate Fryzel by this post as a means of pressuring him to change his vote on this longevity issue.


I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I honestly think that the poll of the town employees being done by Officer Turturillo is doomed to failure. It all depends on how many of the Town employees get the longevity pay. Every employee should be asked, and if you have more that don't get a longevity pay or haven't worked for the town long, the poll will lose.

Also, the longevity pay does affect the Police Officers pension, that's why they're so dead set against losing it.

I also hear that Teibel wants an increase of the budget for her Halloween fest.


Whether the vote is doomed to failure or not has no bearing as Fryzel is President and can still change his decision. If the budget has already been sent in then it's too late. If not this could still change. I see now, as you claim that it would affect pensions and understand your dismay. Here is some more meeting minutes that apply to your concerns:

Mr. Fryzel stated that it was a hard decision to make some of the cuts; the longevity will be looked at every year. He would like to talk to Mr. Austgen to determine if there was something they could do so it does not affect their retirement/pension. Mr. Austgen stated that the compensation provided for in the salary ordinance includes longevity so you go to the authority as the legislative body to establish the compensation you pay the employees. Longevity is a component of that. As the ordinance was considered and adopted tonight to remove a couple of positions, provide a special severance compensation, the council has the same authority to establish or to define and describe how you will compensate your employees otherwise in addition to the bi-weekly wage and benefits that they receive that they are entitled to and to address how they can compensate for longevity in other ways as long as it is done in an ordinance and amend the salary ordinance to do so.

Has it been addressed as to how they can compensate for longevity in other ways or not? :smt006

I've heard no mention of Teibel increasing any budget on the Halloween Fest. Seems to have made some pretty good cash as the above post's meeting minutes suggest. :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:11 pm 
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Hey!

Santa Claus called and wants to know when he's getting paid for his appearance at Prairie West Park? :smt006

At least give him a free meal at Northwoods...


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:17 pm 
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newt_fan wrote:
Hey!

Santa Claus called and wants to know when he's getting paid for his appearance at Prairie West Park? :smt006

At least give him a free meal at Northwoods...


Wow! It's that bad is it? So much for charity. Santa could use to be fattened up and all, as time is drawing near, but Northwoods? :shock: :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:53 pm 
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Comedian wrote:
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Whether the vote is doomed to failure or not has no bearing as Fryzel is President and can still change his decision. If the budget has already been sent in then it's too late. If not this could still change. I see now, as you claim that it would affect pensions and understand your dismay.


You are, of course, correct Comedian. And also, it's just my opinion, which means squat.
Allow me to add, I understand any apprehension that you might have in trusting me as I'm new to this forum, but let me assure you, I am not a SJ Police Officer, nor am I a SJ town employee. I do however know a lot of things, and it apalls me. Fryzel isn't much better than Governor Rod from Illinois, wait a minute, isn't fryzel from IL. Hmmm, makes you think.


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:41 am 
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Chuckles wrote:
Comedian wrote:
Quote:
Whether the vote is doomed to failure or not has no bearing as Fryzel is President and can still change his decision. If the budget has already been sent in then it's too late. If not this could still change. I see now, as you claim that it would affect pensions and understand your dismay.


You are, of course, correct Comedian. And also, it's just my opinion, which means squat.
Allow me to add, I understand any apprehension that you might have in trusting me as I'm new to this forum, but let me assure you, I am not a SJ Police Officer, nor am I a SJ town employee. I do however know a lot of things, and it apalls me. Fryzel isn't much better than Governor Rod from Illinois, wait a minute, isn't fryzel from IL. Hmmm, makes you think.


Allow me to add even more! I can not trust anyone and never will on these boards. It's too dangerous. When I am told by people who know that man all the way down to his stinky little pinky toe to shut up and don't say a word ...... :shock: I'd have to say that I don't take that with a grain of salt. I bet I know more than you, but, mums the word. I'm just appalled that no one does the right thing. Maybe they know how dangerous it is too. Just sickens me that he's running the show. :roll: :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:15 am 
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Comedian wrote :
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Allow me to add even more! I can not trust anyone and never will on these boards. It's too dangerous.


I can respect that. You've been on this board long enough to know. And a bit of healthy skeptisism is always good. Keep fighting the good fight.


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:39 am 
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I believe there might be several situations where a budget can be amended throughout the year, ie: a certain % over specific budget item can result in an amended budget.

I am no payroll expert, and do not know how the police dept and town intertwine with salaries.
If the police dept is on contract, there would be legal bindings holding the council to the longevity pay.
If the police dept salaries etc are just simply mandated by council vote, then they can get rid of it at any time.
If the longevity pay affects the pensions, then somehow it MUST be tied into their rate of pay. Again, if I was a PO in ST John with 10 to 15 yrs plus service, and my longevity pay teeters on whether the town has enough money at the end of the year to pay it, well, I would be really concerned about how the town spends money or I would be arguing that the "longevity pay" is built into my paycheck every 2 weeks, again, instead of having to wait and see if the town has the money to pay it at the end of the year.

Of course, if someone could please explain to me why "THE PLACE TO LIVE IN NORTHWEST INDIANA" cannot pay their police officers salaries/longevity pay, it would be appreciated. Our town with all that was vested into it money wise from land developers in recent years, should have a surplus of funds like no tomorrow.


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:53 pm 
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From my view, you would need to carefully examine those developer deals. Who knows what was included.

I guess the taxpayers of Saint John will never know....until the folks in charge decide to retire!

Then we can take a peek into their "style of living"....


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 Post subject: Re: Council Adopts Budget.
PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:03 pm 
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newt_fan wrote:
From my view, you would need to carefully examine those developer deals. Who knows what was included.

I guess the taxpayers of Saint John will never know....until the folks in charge decide to retire!

Then we can take a peek into their "style of living"....


Maybe we should take a little peek into it right now. :wink: I hear town manager Steve Kil and this Pharsyn character have a constuction company together called Pebble Creek,Pebble Brook.( or something like that) Guess they built a home in St. John and got caught without a builders permit. :shock: Appears they don't have a proper license to build here so Kil took some classes to pass some test so they could build here in town. Guess what? He failed the test! Maybe he has tried again and has passed. So keep your eye's peeled for any homes going up with that company's name and make sure there's a permit in the window and not a dog! :D :smt006

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