Managing editor
Marion electrical customers will see an increase in electrical costs beginning July 1.
Marion City Council approved a $1 increase for base service for residential and commercial customers and a 1-cent per kilowatt-hour increase for electricity.
The increases were anticipated when the city joined Kansas Power Pool. If the city had continued a franchise directly with Westar Energy, the increase would have been more.
The increase will be from $5 to $6 per month for basic service for residential property and from $6 to $7 for commercial and from 9.3 cents per kwh to 10.3 cents for both residential and commercial customers.
Auditor’s report cited issues
Budget violations were discovered during an annual audit, Bill Glazner of Adams Brown Beran & Ball reported.
There were three state statute violations noted.
Unclaimed payroll checks are required to be turned over to the state treasurer if not cashed after one year. Instead, the checks were voided by the city.
State statute requires bond payments be made at least 20 days before due dates. Glazner said the city did not remit payments to the state fiscal office agent as required.
Another violation occurred within the bond and interest fund and the utilities fund when payments totaled more than the amount available in the account. Other funds were spent beyond their budgets but budget credits offset the overage, Glazner said.
Other minor infractions were inconsistencies in the city’s purchasing policy for department heads, not following the city’s policy regarding annual employee evaluations with none being conducted in 2009, no true accounts payable tracking with more than $100,000 in accounted bills being paid, inconsistencies in signing off on meeting minutes, and past due utility bills not being sent to the state set-off program.
The library board also was mentioned for violating various rules.
Budget workshop
A budget workshop will be at 7 p.m. June 9 in the city building. City Administrator David Mayfield said the city will have extra expenses next year that need to be discussed.
Improvements at the baseball complex were discussed when Mayor Mary Olson asked about the Marion Recreation Commission’s five-year plan. Mayfield said the council had taken no formal action regarding the REC’s plan.
“The city does not receive any revenue from the ball complex,” he said, “but the city pays out $30,000 to the complex.”
“Maintenance is lacking at the complex,” Olson said. “The fence has been pushed down at the bottom and has not been maintained.”
Mayfield said he was not aware of the issue and asked how much more money the city wanted to put into the facility.
Olson said she didn’t want to increase funding but the city needed to maintain what it owned.
House will be demolished
The structure at 415 N. Fourth St., Marion, will be demolished. The council approved a bid from Bryan Grosse for $4,000 with the city providing a dump truck and an employee to remove the debris.
A special meeting will be 7 p.m. Monday to discuss policies regarding dilapidated structures.
Other city business
- A change order for $5,267 was approved for Safe Routes to Schools project.
- A 10-minute executive session was called for discussion of trade secrets with the council, Economic Development Director Doug Kjellin, and Mayfield. When asked the nature of the closed session, city officials responded that it had to do with a business.
The next regular council meeting will be at 4:30 p.m. June 14 in the city building.