Published: July 16, 2008 11:43 am            

City discusses mileage rate, sewer bill requests

CLINTON — The Clinton Internal Operations Committee has directed that the city’s mileage reimbursement rate will “float” with the federal rate.

Currently, the mileage rate is 25 cents for city employees who travel in the course of their duties. During the IOC meeting Tuesday morning, City Administrator Gary Boden said the federal rate is 58.5 cents. He said that a couple of city employees are performing mileage calculations, looking at how much they travel in a given month. He said the results will be compiled and used in an effort to establish a car allowance policy. Boden noted the committee previously had discussed potentially setting a mileage circumference, perhaps 40 miles, in which employees would count the 80-mile round trip as part of the allowance and be reimbursed for any additional mileage.

Boden said that obviously, the 25-cent rate is out of date and suggested the council could float the rate, making it flex with the federal rate, so the city would not need to continuously increase the rate by a motion of the council. Second Ward Councilman and Committee member Mike Kearney agreed that flexing the rate would be simple and make sense.

At-Large Councilman Mark Vulich questioned how many city employees regularly report mileage counts for reimbursement. City Treasurer Deb Neels said some employees utilize city vehicles and others turn in mileage reports every few months. Vulich said the flat vehicle allowance could be used to offset some of the paperwork involved with figuring regular mileage reports. Neels noted a vehicle allowance would be considered part of an employees salary and be taxable, while a mileage reimbursement is not.

Boden said the overall intent of starting to pay employees a vehicle allowance would be to reduce costs of maintaining city vehicles and paying other costs involved with the vehicles including insurance and replacement. He added some city vehicles are not very economical, but remarked that a fleet management program is being instituted.

Kearney stated he believes private companies are moving heavily toward reimbursing their employees for mileage, instead of financing company vehicles. Boden commented that Howard R. Green Co. began a program in which the company has a standing order for rental cars, at a company discount, so employees may use a rental car for traveling outside the immediate area. Neels said the city has been approached by Enterprise Rent-A-Car with a similar proposition. Boden said the city could look into that possibility.

The council approved a motion directing that the rate increase go before the City Council Committee of the Whole for approval at an upcoming meeting. On June 30, the Clinton County Board of Supervisors approved a motion increasing the county mileage rate from 37.5 cents to 50.5 cents, effective July 1.

The committee also discussed auditing services. Neels said the city has contracted with Clifton Gunderson for six years, including a three-year initial contract and a three-year extension, after the city accepted service proposals in 2002. She requested the city extend the contract with the company for one to two years, saying the council recently approved the hiring of an assistant finance director and the Finance Department would be in transition over the next year. Neels noted the new assistant finance director should be able to aid in preparing the audit reports, thereby reducing the cost of the audit and improving the timeliness of the report. Boden remarked the assistant finance director could be hired by the end of August.

Neels requested the committee approve a two-year contract extension and suggested the extension could be contingent on a reasonable quote for services. The IOC approved a motion that a contract extension be negotiated and brought before the full council for approval.

Finally, the IOC voted to deny several residential sewer billing requests. After a lengthy discussion, the committee determined many of the requests were civil matters resulting from disputes between former and current property owners or tenants and landlords and not within the purview of the city. Boden said that though no formal policy is set, after a notice of denial is sent, the property owner could appeal the decision to the full council. Vulich said the denial of the council could be appealed to the zoning board and if denied, could end in a legal matter.

The committee discussed delinquent sewer payments and Neels pointed out that citizens who fall behind in paying sewer bills can work with city staff to establish reasonable payment plans to satisfy the debt. Vulich suggested notifying residents the payment plans are available. Neels said an informational insert could be created detailing the availability of the payment plan and sent with the next cycle of bills.

        

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