Parkersburg Finance Director Eric Jiles, left, explains proposed budget revisions during a Parkersburg City Council Finance Committee meeting as Mayor Tom Joyce listens Tuesday at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
PARKERSBURG — The Finance Committee referred a set of mid-year budget revisions to the full Parkersburg City Council Tuesday, including an additional $900 to pay for an American Sign Language interpreter at council meetings.
That was the only amendment proposed to the resolution during Tuesday’s meeting in the Executive Conference Room on the second floor of the Municipal Building.
Finance Director Eric Jiles explained to new and returning council members that this resolution represented one of two sets of major revisions for the year. The other comes closer to the end of the fiscal year, which wraps up June 30.
In these mid-year revisions, Jiles said, he takes “a look at how we’ve done in the first half of the year and try to project that out for the rest of the year.”
The two largest revisions from the revenue side were an increase of $250,000 in business and occupation tax and $175,000 in interest earned on money the city’s invested.
Parkersburg City Councilman Andrew Borkowski, center, explains a proposal to amend the municipal budget to provide $900 for an American Sign Language interpreter at council meetings as Councilman Dave McCrady and Finance Committee Chairwoman Cathy Dailey listen during Tuesday’s Finance meeting at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Jiles said he budgets revenue conservatively and that the B&O change was “actually a very minor adjustment” compared to years past. He attributed higher increases to inflation and one-time projects like the $50 million Memorial Bridge rehabilitation.
“B&O growth, I will say, is looking like it’s slowing down,” Jiles said.
The biggest single expense change was an additional $175,000 into the emergency demolitions line item after the city spent more than $100,000 in November to tear down a former church at 13th and Avery streets.
If approved by the full council on Feb. 11, the revision would increase the Police Department’s overtime line item by $150,000, but that money would be drawn from the salary line items for vacant positions. Councilwoman Wendy Tuck said she had hoped the overtime expense would go down once the department got up to full staffing levels, but Police Chief Matthew Board said they still have five vacant positions.
Councilman Andrew Borkowski made a motion to move $900 from a contingency line item to council’s budget for contractual services to pay for an American Sign Language interpreter at the rest of the council meetings this fiscal year. The amendment passed 4-1 with Councilman Roger Brown opposed.
Parkersburg City Councilwoman Wendy Tuck asks a question during a Finance Committee meeting Tuesday at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Brown questioned the added expense since a program the city uses has closed captioning of what’s said at the meeting projected on a screen behind council members.
“That’s $900 that we don’t have to spend,” he said.
Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl, who is not a member of the committee, said an in-person interpreter using American Sign Language can help hearing-impaired individuals better understand what’s being discussed. Kuhl said after the meeting that she was approached by a constituent who asked if the city could provide a service to hearing-impaired individuals who want to attend council meetings.
Councilman Dave McCrady said he understood Brown’s point, but noted the funding is only for the rest of the fiscal year. He said $900 is “a pretty low amount for us to find out if it works or not.”
Kuhl said she hopes the expense would be included in the upcoming 2025-26 budget as well.
Mayor Tom Joyce, right, answers a question from Parkersburg City Councilwoman Wendy Tuck, left, as City Clerk Connie Shaffer and Finance Director Eric Jiles listen during a council Finance Committee meeting Tuesday at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
The amended resolution was referred to the full council on a unanimous vote.
