ATHENS, Ohio — At its Nov. 4 meeting, Athens City Council heard first reading of an ordinance authorizing Mayor Steve Patterson to pay the city’s membership dues in the Outdoor Recreation Council of America using funds from the city’s hotel tax.
The proposed agreement with ORCA — the council of governments that is developing the Baileys Trail System — sets the city’s dues at $1 per city resident based on “current Census population data,” payable by the end of the first quarter of each year. The agreement specifies 2024 dues of $24,673.
The city’s ORCA membership has been in doubt for most of this year.
In January, the Athens County Commissioners declined to pay the county’s 2024 ORCA membership, citing budget issues. Because the city ordinance initially authorizing ORCA membership tied its support to the commissioners’, the city’s continued participation was uncertain.
“Having learned that the county this year is not paying their membership — it puts the city in an interesting position to where by legislation, we too would not be paying,” Patterson told the Independent in January.
In April, council member Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, moved to correct that problem with an ordinance authorizing the mayor to pay the city’s dues independent of the county’s membership. But that move stalled because the city’s general fund reserve had fallen below the statutory threshold of 7.5% of annual operating expenses.
The new ordinance, like the one Wood introduced in April, makes the city’s membership contingent on funds being “sufficient, legally available, and lawfully appropriated for the purpose” and the city’s general fund reserve balance being at least 9% of annual expenses.
Hecht previously told the Independent that, as of Oct. 21, the city’s general fund balance was at 8%. Hecht told council members at an Oct. 28 committee meeting that she would like to see the city pay its ORCA dues this year, regardless.
However, the new ordinance still ties the payment to the city’s budget.
“This is the first reading of this ordinance, which we discussed at length in committees and other locations,” said Jeff Risner, 2nd Ward, who introduced the measure as chair of council’s Finance and Personnel Committee.
In other business, council heard first reading of the city’s $54 million 2025 budget, including nearly $20 million in expenditures from the general fund and $34 million in restricted funds.
More than half of the general fund allocation is dedicated to the police ($5.8 million) and fire departments ($5 million). The next highest portion of the general fund, $1.5 million, is for courts. Other line items in the general fund include the auditor’s office, mayor’s office, lands and buildings, code enforcement, parking enforcement, law director, city council, treasurer, and other administration.
The general fund is supported mainly by city income taxes, according to the city Auditor’s Office. As of this week, the city’s income tax revenue for the year to date was a bit more than $13.25 million, with the Auditor’s Office estimating the yearly total at $15.5 million. There are still nearly two months left to meet the projection.
Nearly 78% percent of the 2025 allocation goes to personnel, with about 19% used for supplies and services.
The other $34 million in the budget includes line items for self-supported funds like the city parking garage and the Athens Community Center; some funds supported by tax revenue; and debt service on bonds for major projects such as the new fire department headquarters on Stimson Avenue. Debt service on the $13 million state-of-the-art station is $1 million annually.
“Certainly, this is extensive,” Risner told the council. “Peruse it at your leisure.”
One who perused the budget carefully was city Auditor Kathy Hecht who noticed a $105,000 error in annual debt service for the city pool. The item was listed as $445,000, not the correct amount of $550,000.
“It was just a clerical error,” she told the Independent, noting that catching such errors now prevents the council from having to come back later for corrections. She added that debt service on bond financing for major projects, such as the city pool, typically lasts 20 years.
Other ordinances heard on first reading would:
- Amend the 2024 Appropriation Ordinance by appropriating from the reserve a total of $540,500 to various department funds for the 2024 Medical Fund and personnel costs.
- Authorize the mayor to enter into or extend the city’s contract with the Athens County Commissioners for the services of the public defender’s office through Dec. 31, 2025, at a cost of up to $120,000 from the 2025 General Fund.
- Amend Athens City Code Title 1, §1.03, Code Fees Established, to include accessory structures, accessory energy systems and principal renewable energy systems.
In his remarks to council, Patterson noted that a recent car crash took the life of Somerset Mayor Tom Johnson. He read aloud a statement from Sunday Creek Horizons that described Johnson as a successful investment banker who traveled the world, but was “a true and loyal child of Appalachia.”
Patterson credited Johnson, 68, with bringing more than $15 million in projects and development to his small village of just 1,000 residents. He will be dearly missed as one who put partisanship aside and always helped fellow civic leaders, Patterson said.
“He was an individual who would go out of his way to be an ally with new mayors,” Patterson said. “He will be greatly missed. I miss him every day.”
Ordinances passed
Ordinances passed on third reading:
- Donated an unneeded foam box trailer to the Albany Volunteer Fire Department. Councilor Micah McCarey, At-Large, said the city can still use the trailer should a need arise.
- Authorized the service-safety director to buy the carport-mounted solar array at the community center for $235,000. Of that amount, $200,000 came from the Capital Improvements Fund and $35,000 from the Community Center Fund.
- Amended Athens City Code Title 5, Public Utilities, §5.07.14 and §5.07.15, to specify that appeals of violations must be received within 30 days of the date of notification of violation.
- Approved the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste Management Plan, which was adopted by the solid waste district’s Board of Directors on Sept. 4.
Ordinances passed on an emergency basis:
- Authorized the service-safety director to enter into contracts for the next phase of the city’s sewer improvements project by appropriating an additional $1.8 million from the general fund reserve to the Sewer Fund. The project will extend the sewer pipeline from Radford Road (CR 19) to SR 56, and then extend pipelines connecting involved homes to the city’s Sewage Treatment Plant. Council also approved a resolution awarding the contract for the work to TAM Construction.
- Removed a three-quarter FTE position of Receptionist and added a full-time position of Executive Assistant to personnel in the mayor’s office. The eliminated position was at pay grade 1, the lowest tier; the new position is at pay grade 3. Hecht said following the meeting that Patterson’s grant administrator, Patricia Witmer, is leaving before the end of the year and wants to help train her replacement, who will have the new executive assistant title. However, the position of grant administrator remains on the mayor’s staff list and pay schedule.
- Increased 2025 pay for non-union employees by $0.75/hour and authorizes a one-time lump sum payment to employees whose new hourly pay rate would exceed the pay grade maximum.
- Adopted an updated fringe benefits package for non-union personnel. The document covers city policies for areas such as overtime, vacations, retirement, parking, sick leave and bereavement leave.
Ordinances read
Ordinances heard on second reading would:
- Increase water and sewer rates by 3% effective Jan. 1, 2025. Sewer rates would rise to $6.18 per month for residences, with monthly base rates for water starting at $32.28 for up to 15,000 gallons. A 3% increase in sewer fees is typical for recent years, Hecht said, and mainly goes to cover increasing personnel costs.
- Amend the 2024 Appropriation Ordinances to appropriate $25,000 to the Cable Access Fund to replace the video switcher system for The Government Channel; $1,500 to the CDGB Formula Grant Fund; and $45,000 to the Sewer Fund to cover electricity costs from AEP and Oak Tree Equity. The ordinance would also move $44,465 between funds under the Transportation Assistance Fund.
- Authorize the service-safety director to register the city with the federal government’s General Services Administration cooperative purchasing program.
- Authorize design and construction of a public safety training facility on Kenny Drive at a cost of $2.9 million. Most of the funding for the project comes from the 2024 state capital bill; the ordinance appropriates from the unallocated reserve $200,000 to the Street Fund; and $200,000 to the Water Fund.
