Editor’s Note: This originally appeared on the City of Carthage official Facebook Page.
City of Carthage Press Release:
The Water and Electric Board is established by the City Charter subject to the rules and regulations established for Public Utilities in City Ordinances and State Statute.
In 2014, the City of Carthage had jointly agreed with Water and Electric to a meeting with outside legal counsel to discuss the role of the Water and Electric Board. In that legal opinion, it was outlined that the Water and Electric Board, pursuant to city ordinance, could establish salaries provided as long as their “pay was consistent with, but shall not exceed, similar work for similar communities in our area”. This is wording directly from the city ordinance. It appears that the Water and Electric Board followed this ordinance for many years, however it had come to the attention of the council that the Water and Electric Board was no longer following this ordinance. If the ordinance is not followed, then the rules fall to state statute. The Missouri statute says any government entity must publicly approve the number of employees and the salaries for each position. This was not a new opinion by the City Attorney but a well-established and discussed opinion in agreement with the 2014 independent legal counsel opinion.
Furthermore, the joint meeting in 2014 provided that the Water and Electric Board must follow the budget process as outlined by the council, as established in the City Charter. Again, this is not a new opinion and these rules are established in the City Charter.
The budget request this year provided that the Water and Electric Board needed to include salary information for the upcoming budget so it could be approved. The President of the Water and Electric Board was advised that it would be approved and that it was not the intent of the council to control salaries, just make them legally compliant. Furthermore, it was noted that once the Water and Electric Board was in compliance with the legal salary rules, the salary function would be turned back over to the Water and Electric Board.
The Water and Electric Board provided 2022-2023 salary information to the budget committee but did not provide 2023-2024 employee positions and salaries, which is a requirement of city ordinance. The city council approved the Water and Electric budget submission with the information provided, including a 3% cost of living increase and up to a 3% merit increase, although, the required information was not submitted. The Mayor and the Water and Electric General Manager are working together to obtain the required information to provide to the council prior to the final budget approval to remain in compliance with city ordinance and state statute.
The Water and Electric Board is a Mayoral appointed Board and can be removed by a majority vote of council with approval of the Mayor. This removal was done in open session at an emergency meeting.
Following the removal of the Water and Electric Board, the Mayor, as the custodian of all city employees, has taken an oversight role with the current management structure of Water and Electric remaining in place.
There have been no new legal interpretations since the 2014 opinion. For this reason, the Water and Electric Board was legally removed and they have no authority to act on behalf of the city. The best interest of ALL City employees and the welfare of the citizens of Carthage have been and will remain the primary focus of the Mayor and Council.
