Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin would like to bring back up to 132 city employees who had been furloughed due to a projected $63 million shortfall in the FY21 city budget. In a letter to the City Council, Woodfin proposed using $7 million from the city’s general fund reserves, which would be covered by $9.029 million from Jefferson County which comes from the federal government under the CARES Act.
The proposal includes 73 furloughed Birmingham Public Library employees and 45 from Parks and Recreation. It also includes the reinstatement of the two unpaid holidays and appointed staff salary reductions.
The proposal was introduced to council members late Monday afternoon during a special call meeting and met with numerous questions and skepticism. Questions centered on previously approved expenses that were presumed reimbursable and now not be due to changing guidelines and whether any reimbursement was previously approved by the Council for other expenditures, not payroll.
“I [previously] voted on things in good faith that they could be reimbursed by Cares Act funding and am now told they may not be,” said Councilor Hunter Williams. “Plus, we don’t know if the libraries are going to be open or if we’re going to pay them not work. I’m having a hard time swallowing this seven-million-dollar pill.”
The proposal was created after a recent revision of how CARES Act funds may be utilized, according to the letter.
“On September 2, [2020], the U.S. Department of Treasury released additional guidance that now allows ALL public safety payroll and benefits paid [between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020], to be reimbursed via Cares,” the letter reads. “This adjustment was extraordinarily helpful to us and opens the door for a new path forward.”
The change was a “godsend,” Director of Governmental Affairs Kelvin Datcher said at a special call City Council meeting on Monday afternoon.
Council members also expressed concern with how dipping further into the city’s reserves might impact its credit rating. City policy is to maintain at least two months of expenses in reserve. After reimbursement from the County, the fund would be approximately $66 million, said Finance Director Lester Smith. That is below the $69 million threshold of two months of expenses based on the FY21 budget.
“The reason for the use of our general fund reserves is because we are confident that the refund from the CARES Act funding will be refunded in a timely manner,” the letter states.
“You’re putting the council in jeopardy,” said Councilmember Darrell O’Quinn. “On one hand you’re saying give you the power to bring employees back. On the other hand, we risk our reputation with credit raters. We’re also going into an election in 2021. Do you understand the jeopardy you’re putting us in?”
“We’re being asked a lot to do with no real concrete process,” said Councilor Stephen Hoyt. “We are asked to make an informed decision uninformed. This ain’t nothing but some mess.
“Before I vote, I’d like to see a report on all Covid-19 expenditures, whether reimbursable or not," said councilmember Valerie Abbott. "I’d like to see the whole picture before I am asked to vote. Seems the cart is before the horse. I don’t feel like we have enough info to do what we might be asked to do.”
The mayor had hoped the council would vote on the proposal at its regular meeting on Tuesday--allowing employees to possibly be brought back by Thanksgiving. However, the council decided to submit its questions by end of day Tuesday and potentially met again later in the week.
“I would like to know what Park and Rec and LIbrary boards will do with employees they bring back., since we were told they were at home doing nothing," Abbott said. "What are they going to do now? I’m not comfortable approving a pig and a poke. It’s nice to want to bring people back in time for Thanksgiving, but I’d like to know why.”
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Birmingham mayor’s plan to bring back furloughed employees meets skeptical council - AL.com
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