Canfield council OKs budget, grants pay raises

By ROBERT CONNELLY

rconnelly@vindy.com

CANFIELD

City council has approved a $9.6 million operating budget for 2014 that includes employee pay raises.

Council members voted 5-0 Wednesday night in favor of the budget after a work session Monday addressed capital-expenditure requests, which account for $95,560 in the city’s general fund.

The budget provides a 1.5 percent raise for all city employees, accompanied by a 1 percent raise in the amount employees contribute to their health-insurance premiums. Employees now will be contributing 13 percent of their premiums.

After the budget was passed, council approved three transfers of funds, totaling $58,500, to the parks, recreation and cemeteries funds and to the storm-water operating fund.

“Those are all individual funds which have no support, and their dollars have to come from the general fund. ... They have no source of getting money anywhere else,” City Manager Joe Warino said.

Officials also unanimously approved the rezoning of a plot of land at the intersection of West Main Street and Lisbon Street for the new library, with library officials and the project architect in attendance.

Also unanimously approved was a motion to reappoint Mark Fortunato as the city’s municipal attorney.

Canfield residents who have entered into the city’s natural-gas program over the past five years will be receiving a letter in early April. The city has changed suppliers to Volunteer Energy, and Warino said residents will have to re-enter the program because of the shift in suppliers.