City amends ordinance regulating food handlers

by Dolores Hamilton
The Iowa Park City Council amended the Code of Ordinances to exempt those who are selling pre-packaged food and drinks from having to secure a food handlers permit.

The amended ordinance says that any business in Iowa Park that is selling only food or drinks that have been pre-packaged by the manufacturer are exempt from having employees hold a food handlers certificate as long as the manufacturer’s seals are not broken, damaged or compromised.

When asked about people who sell food and drinks at local events such as ParkFest and Whoop-T-Do, City Manager Mike Price said that they are exempt from paying a permit fee, but are required to have a food handlers certificate.

In other business the Iowa Park Volunteer Fire Department was granted a waiver of the regulation in the city’s Code of Ordinances regulating solicitations in the city limits.

Fireman Lewis Skinner told the council that the local firemen would be on the corner of Yosemite and W. Highway for about four hours on Saturday, accepting donations for the Jerry Lewis MDA fundraiser. Also, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving they will be collecting donations for their annual Kidz Christmas project.

The city council was meeting in special session and Mayor Pro Tem Dan Fears was presiding in the absence of Mayor Joe Ward. Councilman Joe Singer was also absent from the meeting.

After completing its regular business, the council members conducted their first workshop to begin preparation on the General Fund and utility Fund budgets for the next fiscal year.

Fears opened the workshop by saying that they needed to consider raising the tax rate this year so the city employees could be given pay raises and the equipment they need to do their jobs.

Price said the estimated local appraisal values for this year are $223,103,452, up $3,261,524 from last year. Last year’s appraisals were up over $16-million over the previous year.

“The good news is that our appraisals are up, where Wichita Falls and Burkburnett have both seen a decrease,” Price told the council.

The council discussed last year’s tight budget, with no money for capital outlay requests or raises in salary, and considered the need to raise the tax rate that has remained at 67 1/2 cents per $100 valuation for the last four years. In 2005, the council lowered the tax rate from .689 cents to the current rate.

Councilwoman Sherrie Williams said she would like to see a salary increase for employees because they didn’t get raises last year, and also asked about retirement benefits.

Councilwoman Stephanie Wooten agreed, saying, “Right now we’re training employees and they are going elsewhere to work for higher salaries.”

After learning how much an across the board pay raise would take out of the budget, Fears said they should make a choice between salary increase and equipment, to which Williams replied, “If we take care of the employees, they will take care of the equipment.”

Fears said the council needs to look seriously at capital outlay requests, and increase the tax rate. “We can’t provide services if we keep lowering the tax rate,” he said.

Price said he and his staff could look at changes in salaries and budget requests from the department heads and then be able to tell the council what the tax rate would have to be to support it.

Price explained the three types of salary increases that include: cost of living, across the board, and merit raises.

The council was in agreement that the tax rate would have to be raised in order to increase salaries and continue to provide the services that citizens expect.

The city manager was instructed to figure the cost of an across the board raise of 50-cents an hour and a three percent merit raise, and bring it back to the next budget workshop on June 15.The department heads will make their presentations at that meeting.