By Joni Simon
The San Antonio Express-News
HELOTES, Texas — Helotes City Council unanimously agreed Sept. 23 that the city is “moving in the right direction” by signing on a second city to use its new dispatch services.
However, the council nixed a proposal to bring another full-time employee onboard, something Mayor Tom Schoolcraft said was possible due to the additional $48,583 contract with the city of Shavano Park.
Schoolcraft said Fire Chief Walton Daugherty has had a standing request for an administrative assistant, and city officials have budgeted a part-time staff member in that position.
“We were in a hole, so we took it out of the budget,” Schoolcraft said. “We’re not slipping this in at the end of the budget process. We’re just putting it back in now that we have the money to take care of it.”
Councilman Rich Whitehead expressed an ongoing concern that the city has “bitten off more than it can chew” with the new dispatch service.
“We were paying $60,000 a year to Leon Valley. Now, we’re paying four times that much just so we can own it,” he said. “I have a problem in using our dispatch money to pay for something else. Perhaps we can start with a part-time employee over there until we get a balanced budget.”
Councilwoman Cynthia Massey said she was “a little uneasy but not totally against” adding additional staff.
“The majority of our money goes to personnel, in salaries and health insurance benefits,” she said. “We’ve already added 10 new EMS employees, who have fairly high salaries. During previous years, we were very conservative. Now we have all this money?”
The council ultimately agreed to a part-time administrative assistant, with a salary range of $11 to $15 an hour, depending on experience.
“Just because we may find that we have extra money coming in doesn’t mean we’re going to spend it,” Schoolcraft said. “We’re still being very conservative..”
In other action, the council approved a fee amendment to a standing ordinance to include new EMS and impound fees.
Schoolcraft said city officials surveyed seven cities, including San Antonio, Leon Valley and Shavano Park.
“We dropped the highest and lowest and averaged out the middle five more or less comparable fee structures,” he said. “We added 10 percent to our fee for bandages and other medical supplies, instead of charging separately.”
Since city EMS service is so new, Schoolcraft said additional adjustments might have to be made over time.
In the current plan, non-residents will be charged an additional $100 for treatment by EMS, the same fee charged Helotes residents when the city had a contract with San Antonio, the mayor said.
“San Antonio may have imposed those charges, but I have a problem with a non-resident charge,” Whitehead said. “I’m rather in favor of adding an extra $10 across the board on the fees and scratching the non-resident charge. I don’t necessarily want to kick them in the ribs a little more because San Antonio did it. Relatives and friends should be exempt while visiting us.”
The mayor said city officials weren’t thinking in the terms of houseguests, but medical treatment for non-residents involved in car wrecks.
“We shouldn’t change it now,” Councilman David Legendre said. “This is a starting point. We know we’re going to be making adjustments. Let’s see how it goes.”
Schoolcraft said the fire chief recommended the non-resident fee.
“The fire department came to us with a reason behind the fees,” City Manager Rick Shroder said. “I’ve never seen a complaint filed in the city for overcharging by the fire department. They’re not here to make money. It’s comparable or less than what San Antonio charged.”
The fees aren’t in the budget as revenues, Massey said, something she was pleased about.
“We’re charging what’s fair and equitable,” Legendre said. “If we don’t do that, we’ll hear from the insurance companies.”
During routine business, the council ratified adoption of the fiscal 2010-2011 municipal budget, which raises more revenue from property taxes than last year due to increased property valuations.
The council levied a property tax rate in the total amount of 36.3651 cents per $100 valuation. They adopted the ad valorem tax rate for maintenance and operation expenditures at 28.2731 cents per $100 of taxable valuation for the tax year. They also adopted the ad valorem tax rate for the principal and interest payable on the debt expenditures at 8.0920 cents per $100 of taxable valuation.
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