The Richmond City Commission heard the first reading of an ordinance Tuesday that, if passed, will increase city residents’ tax for 911 emergency telephone service from 83 cents to $3.50.

Commissioners had a lot of questions about the ordinance, especially after Interim City Manager Jimmy Howard said he recently learned that city residents affiliated with Time Warner Cable already had been paying the $3.50 tax, but those residents with AT&T; had not.

Commissioner Bill Strong said he was apprehensive to vote in favor of the ordinance because the city had not made an official decision as to whether it was going to consolidate its 911 dispatch services with the Madison County/Berea consolidated system.

“Why would we want to raise the fee if they (the consolidated system) get the money?” Strong asked.

Commissioner Rita Smart said she would be in favor of the ordinance as long as the money generated would go toward the city’s severe financial shortfall.

Howard said the increased fee was not directly related to the issue of whether the city would join the consolidated system.

“We probably do need to do our homework,” said Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson. “We could maybe get something decided in two weeks.”

The commission did, however, adopt an order Tuesday that will create a committee to study the potential cost savings of merging with the consolidated 911 dispatch system.

“It is recommended that a committee be established to obtain and study all available information pertaining to the positives and negatives of a potential merger,” the order reads.

The committee will consist of two commissioners (yet to be determined), Fire Chief Gerald Tatum, Police Chief Larry Brock, Finance Director Mike Broyles and Howard.

City Attorney Garrett Fowles said the committee would function until a final decision was made regarding 911 dispatch consolidation, then be abolished by a vote of the commission.

In other business:

• The passage of an ordinance proposing a change in city employee work hours was tabled Tuesday for further discussion by commissioners.

If passed, the workday would be changed to reflect a full eight hours of production and 30 minutes for lunch.

Under the city’s current ordinance, employees are working 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but are given one hour for lunch.

“In effect, you’re only working seven hours,” Howard said.

The order states that, “Employees shall not, except in cases of unavoidable emergency (which cases shall be governed by the provisions of applicable Kentucky law), work through the lunch break.”

Brock addressed the commission about how difficult this would be to enforce in the police department.

“Sometimes, they get a 10-minute lunch or none,” Brock said. “With patrol officers, a half-hour lunch break per shift would be very difficult.”

Commissioner Rita Smart said she received a letter from an employee about the issue, and said the employee did not sign his or her name on the letter.

“There’s something wrong with our system when employees won’t sign their names,” Smart said. “You should be proud of who you are and what your position is.”

• Broyles gave commissioners a financial update as of the end of October.

Revenues were reported at $3,865,663 with expenses being $2,333,175.

The city is $377,947 “in the black,” for the year to date, Broyles said.

“As of the close of the business day yesterday, in the general fund account we have $2,743,602,” he said. “That sounds wonderful, until I tell you that coming up in December and January, between bond payments and salaries and benefits, we have expenses coming up of $2,699,000 before our next revenue stream starts coming in.”

• The final reading of an ordinance was passed that revises the city’s policy and procedures manual in the area of implementing layoffs.

The ordinance eliminates the stipulation that: “Temporary, seasonal and probationary employees shall be laid off before the employees occupying established positions.”

If layoffs are implemented, the current policy would have a severe, negative impact on some city departments, which called for an amendment of the ordinance, Howard said.

In the case of the finance director’s office, the current stipulation quoted above would eliminate two positions in his already understaffed office, Finance Director Mike Broyles said.

The ordinance will continue to require that all department heads notify the employee in writing that he or she will be laid off from their duties, and give them two weeks of notice.

• An order was adopted that creates a city finance committee “… for the purpose of monitoring any financial reports of the city … that the committee deems necessary to assist in assuring the ongoing financial stability of the city,” the order reads.

The board, which will consist of Lawson, Howard, Broyles, a city commissioner (yet to be determined) and a certified public accountant, will meet on a monthly basis during the third week of week month prior to the second meeting of the city commission.

• City building permits will be increased by 20 percent if commissioners pass an ordinance that received its first reading Tuesday.

Call Richmond City Hall at 623-1000 to review a complete copy of all revised building permit fees, as well as proposed building project plan review fees.

• An order was adopted that authorizes an assistance agreement between the city and the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority to provide up to $125,000 in loans for improvement to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

• The first reading of an ordinance was heard that, if passed, would increase the city’s building project plan review fees.

• An order was adopted giving Lawson the authority to seek FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funding to help purchase generators for several city fire department locations.

The next meeting of the Richmond City Commission is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4 at city hall.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or call 624-6608.