East Grand Forks debates filling city finance position, open since last year

EAST GRAND FORKS – The East Grand Forks City Council on Tuesday discussed filling an open accounting position and its associated budgetary impacts.

Finance Director Karla Anderson said not having the position filled has caused extra tasks to be put onto other members of city administration, causing work to be rushed.

“It’s been wearing on staff,” Anderson told the council during a Tuesday evening council work session meeting with city staff. “Tasks haven’t been completed as timely as in the past (and) they have been done in a hurry. A few things have been caught by the auditors, nothing big, and that’s just because things have been done in a hurry because we don’t have enough staff to cover it.”

Anderson continued: “We have been accruing overtime. Staff doesn’t feel like they can even take a day off, so I am really hoping we can fill this position now.”

The council will more formally consider the opening at next week’s regular meeting, but on Tuesday discussed the budgetary implications of

filling vacant positions.

The city had a

projected deficit in the 2024 budget

of $176,064 and is likely needing to dip into its reserve fund for the

third fiscal year in a row.

This position has been open since last April and in 2024’s budget, it is budgeted to be filled after July 1. The position’s cost to the city would be between $45,000 and $90,000 annually, depending on final salary and compensation agreements.

The council last week approved the hiring

for a vacant position in the Parks and Recreation Department and increased salary compensation for the council and mayor. That position was budgeted for the entirety of 2024 and the salary increase doesn’t go into effect until next year. Council member Brian Larson asked what will need to be cut to cover the salary costs moving forward.

“Show me what you’re going to cut so we can pay this person for 12 months,” Larson said. “My argument isn’t that the position isn’t vital — how can we afford it? What are going to remove from the budget so this person can be employed 12 months of the year next year?”

Anderson responded by saying that the budget process for next year hasn’t started yet and council members likely will need to have a conversation about what services they’re willing to cut.

“I get that. I’m disappointed this conversation didn’t come up when we talked about the parks position,” Anderson said. “It’s not budgeted for next year. That’s how we have to look at every position in the city: ‘OK, we’re in the budget for now’ but if we’re really looking at a budget, nobody’s in the budget for 2025 because we haven’t started it.”

City Administrator Reid Huttunen said that to cover this position may require a cut somewhere else.

“Mr. Larson, I understand what you’re asking and I’m doing a lot of thinking here in how we can present that back to you,” Huttunen said. “One answer (to the budgeting of the position) is a reduction of staff in another department to make those dollars and cents work. I hate to make anything of these decisions in a vacuum.”

Huttunen said city leaders don’t have many of the potential staffing costs for next year, like insurance rates. Huttunen expects a 5% to 6% increase in total compensation costs, but the cost of health insurance could drastically affect that percentage.

Council member Clarence Vetter said the city shouldn’t fill the positions until it has completed the next budget.

“We’ve got other open positions now that we shouldn’t be filling until our budget is worked out. How are going to pay for them?” Vetter said. “That’s just sound business practice moving forward.”

The city won’t pass a preliminary budget until September. Its final budget for 2025 won’t be passed until December.

If the council approves hiring for the position, the process could take some time, especially given how short-staffed the administration is at the moment.

“Even if we give the go-ahead to fill this position, which I think we should fill, it’s still going to take until July to fill it,” council member Ben Pokrzywinski said. “I hear you on staff morale is not great. When you’ve got a position that’s typically always been filled and you ask other people to pick up the slack and work overtime, that’s not great for the department.”

In other news, the council:

• Received a presentation from North Star Neighbors about bringing its Community Land Trust to East Grand Forks. Part of the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, North Star Neighbors seeks to make home ownership more accessible and affordable to those who may not be able to afford it otherwise.
• Discussed licensing the city’s logo and marketing material to allow it for commercial use. Likely, the city will form a licensing policy of some sort to control the use of its image, as many schools do.

Voigt covers city government in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.