Joint City/County budget board negotiate snow removal and dispatch increases

Immediately following the Park and Recreation Executive Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 14, Kimball County Commissioners met with Kimball City Council to discuss several joint ventures the two municipalities share.

For a number of years the City of Kimball has provided snow removal as well as sanding and salting roads outside of city limits that are the responsibility of Kimball County. Kimball County previously paid $2,250 annually to the City of Kimball for use of equipment needed to complete the job.

Additionally, Kimball County was then billed for the man hours at $60 each hour as well as product each time the service is provided. The City spreads a mixture of three parts sand to one part salt to provide traction and melt ice after clearing the highways.

“Every time we go out we probably use two tons of salt and sand mixture and it takes about two hours to do that,” Street Department Supervisor Jim Shoup said. “So that is $32 a ton for that mixture.”

The joint boards agreed to increase the operator and equipment time to $85 an hour with increases for sand at $20 per ton and $68 per ton of salt, but the annual payment of $2,250 was removed.

Further discussion involved the interlocal agreement between the two boards about emergency dispatch, which is completed through the Kimball County Sheriff’s Office and jail.

“I think everything is going well between City and County. There is really nothing to report, it is a good working relationship,” said Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway.

Though there is no tension, Gillway did report a decrease in the number of people willing and able to dispatch, due in part to an aging community.

“In a nutshell, we proposed to the commissioners that we increase the salary so we can try to lure in, if you will, a better class of better educated 911 dispatcher,” he said.

While Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty said that the City already increases pay $1,000 each year, Gillway said that he does not believe that to be a fair increase considering the number of calls received from inside city limits.

Christy Warner, who sits on City Council but is a Kimball County employee, shared her unique perspective on the issues surrounding staff retention.

“I see both sides of the budget. We did a salary comparison in the area. Sidney starts (dispatchers) at $15, and we don’t need to go that high, but offering $12.81does not bring in (applicants),” she said.

Additionally, because the job demands around-the-clock personnel, Warner said that overtime pay has increased.

“Nobody gets to go home until the next person comes in,” Warner said. “It’s hard to keep people in that position – it’s not just answering the phone,” Warner said. “The City paying the County the equivalent of one dispatcher’s salary is not unreasonable for them to cover the police, water, electric, all of it.”

In addition to a lack of competitive salary, the demands of the job are considered highly stressful.

“What we are trying to do is keep our people, because we lose a lot of people because they can’t take the stress,” jailer Linda Williams added. “It takes 6 – 8 weeks to train a new dispatcher and get them certified.”

Last year the City paid $39,250 and planned to increase that in the coming year to $40,250 but the County asked for $41,725, equivalent to one dispatcher’s annual salary, including benefits.

After further discussion the joint board agreed to increase the amount paid from the City of Kimball to Kimball County to $41,725 for the 24-hour coverage.

The agreement will be reviewed next year at the joint meeting during budget season.

Along the same lines, the joint board discussed a matter tabled previously, combining the two local law enforcement entities.

After some discussion centered on the pros and cons of such a measure, the joint board decided that City Administrator Dan Dean, County Commissioner Tim Nolting, City Councilman James Shields, County Sheriff Harry Gillway and Kimball Police Chief Andy Bremer will form an informal committee to investigate the matter more fully and present the idea at the next joint meeting.

The committee plans to consider financial concerns as well as the effect combining will have on coverage and other aspects before reporting at the next joint City Council and County Commission meeting.