Blue Springs employee benefits
The Examiner USA TODAY NETWORK
The Blue Springs City Council reached some consensus this week its ongoing discussion about employee compensation.
The council voted to increase employees’ monthly pension as well as put more money into street repairs and alter the city’s general fund reserve policy.
All three items will need to come back separately before the council for final consideration, whether by themselves or as part of the budget for the next fiscal year that begins in October.
Currently, Blue Springs is on the L-7 plan for LAGERS, the state’s Local Government Employee Retirement System, which uses 1.5 percent salary multiplier to determine an employee’s monthly pension. Employees also have an option to contribute up to 3 percent of their pay toward deferred compensation, which the city matches. The proposed move to L-6 would put the multiplier at 2.0, but in Blue Springs’ case would also include a 2 percent employee c
By Mike Genet mike.genet@examiner.net
Blue Springs city leaders have decided to first ask voters to renew the sales tax dedicated to parks before another try at the use tax to boost street maintenance.
The City Council voted Tuesday to ask voters on the April 6 ballot to renew the half-cent sales parks sales tax, with no sunset. In addition to park maintenance, funds would be for one and eventually two new parks on the city’s south edge, as well as a new aquatic center adjacent to the Fieldhouse.
Voters initially approved the tax for five years starting in 2017, giving the city about $15 million overall to tackle several improvements and at times long-neglected maintenance issues at various parks. The Parks Commission had recommended a 20-year sunset for the tax renewal, which would start in 2020, but a council majority voted to ask for permanent renewal – hoping that will make two new parks and an aquatic center more financially feasible.