Three agenda items that failed to pass a week earlier were passed Monday by the Pekin City Council during a special meeting.
The city's 2025-26 fiscal year budget, a 3% cost-of-living salary increase for the 2025-26 fiscal year for the city's non-union employees, and the implementation of a gas use tax on the 116 Ameren customers who have not been paying the natural gas portion of the city's 5% utility tax because they don't get their natural gas from Ameren all passed.
The votes on the three issues April 14 were 3-3.
Mayor Mary Burress and council members Karen Hohimer and John Abel voted yes. Council members Rick Hilst, Dave Nutter and Lloyd Orrick voted no. Council member Chris Onken was absent.
Hilst was absent Monday. Onken was present.
Burress said at the start of the special meeting that the meeting was called because by state law, the city has to approve its budget by April 30. The city's 2025-26 fiscal year will begin May 1.
"Our next regular meeting is April 28. That's cutting it too close if changes are needed," she said.
The budget passed 4-2 Monday. Nutter and Orrick cast the no votes. Orrick said he wasn't happy about limited funding for road repairs.
An original $5 million deficit in the budget's general fund, which funds many city services, was turned into an expected $84,557 surplus. General fund revenues are estimated at $52,947,226 and expenses are estimated at $52,862,669.
"We cut $5 million of wants and needs out of the general fund," Burress said.
Among the cuts were five city employees who were laid off, Abel said.
The non-union employees' 3% cost-of-living salary increase for the 2025-26 fiscal year passed 5-1, with Orrick voting no. The cost to the city will be about $124,100.
"Our non-union employees deserve the same raises our union employees have gotten," Hohimer said. "They're paying more for groceries, too."
Union employees under police, fire and Teamster contracts with the city were granted raises from 2.5 to 3% for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Non-union employees received a 3% cost-of-living salary increase for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Council members and city staff discussed the use of a merit-based salary increase system for non-union employees in the future.
"We're working on it. It's a priority," said Human Resources Director Shelly Costa. "You have to start with job descriptions. That's what we're doing now."
Orrick said salary increases for non-union employees should be merit based, because "that's what most companies do."
The gas use tax passed 4-2, with Nutter and Orrick voting no.
"To clear up misconceptions, this is not a new tax on every resident. It simply makes the 116 Ameren customers who haven't been paying the 5% utility tax on natural gas pay it," said City Manager John Dossey.
Josh Wray, Pekin's economic development director, said the gas use tax was the best route for the city to take because the only other option was taking Ameren to court "and we wouldn't win the case."
Wray said other communities have enacted a gas use tax to avoid litigation with Ameren.
There are 13,222 Ameren natural gas customers in Pekin. The 116 who haven't been paying the natural gas portion of the city's 5% utility tax will be charged $0.05 per therm by the city, equivalent to the tax that other natural gas customers are paying.
The gas use tax is expected to generate $250,000 annually in revenue for the city.
The 5% utility tax, enacted last year, also includes electric and water usage.
Text in your pothole report
Pekin residents who want to report a pothole, or another street or sewer issue to the city's street department will soon be able to make that report through a text message.
The council on Monday unanimously approved purchasing the TextMyGov system, which will create a work order ticket for the street department when a problem is reported. Street department employees will see the ticket on an iPad, and close the ticket when the work is competed.
On the other end, the resident reporting the problem can check on the status of the work order, or be alerted when the ticket is closed.
Residents who can't report an issue via a text can still call the street department at (309) 478-5445. The information will be input into TextMyGov.
Dossey said the system will go live in either May or June. Residents can access the system multiple ways, he said, including a widget and QR code on the city's website. More details will be announced soon.
The annual cost to the city for TextMyGov is $9,500.
City manager gets a raise a year late
Dossey received a 2.5% merit salary increase Monday for his work during the 2023-24 fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2024. The raise increased his base salary from $175,100 to $179,477.
The vote was 5-1 for the increase, with Orrick voting no.
The delay in the 2023-24 performance evaluation and merit salary increase process for Dossey was caused by several factors, Burress said, including Hilst and Orrick not turning in evaluations.
To start the process for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ends April 30, council met in closed session after Monday's meeting to determine a timeline.
Burress said the process will be smoother this time.
"We have dates set and I'll be sticking to them," she said.
A special council meeting was set for May 5 to do Dossey's performance evaluation in closed session, then come out to vote on a proposed raise.
Dossey received the 3% cost-of-living salary increase for non-union employees for the 2025-26 fiscal year that was approved Monday by the council.
New homeowners will receive up to $70,000 in TIF funds
A residential TIF funding agreement with Dennis and Shari Ragland was approved unanimously Monday by the council.
The Raglands recently closed on a property at 3723 Grandview Court. They plan to build a home there with a cost of more than $500,000. They'll receive up to $70,000 in property tax rebates over a maximum 10-year period.
