Dale Denwalt
Daily Elk Citian

With the budget deadline looming, the Elk City Commission will meet informally again monday to discuss unfinished business.

Still on the table is a possible pay raise for city employees. The most sixth and most recent budget draft included a 5-percent increase, which would cost the city more than $400,000 per year. Discussion centered around the 4-percent mark, however, which would include a cost-of-living adjustment and a little more to offset the recently canceled practice of charging employees only the minimum water utility bill each month.

Ward 2 Commissioner Tom M. Johnson also presented a list of topics at the most recent "working meeting" that he would like eventually discussed.

Included on that list is a construction incentive plan that would help spur the building of 100 homes and 100 apartments by 2014.

Johnson also wants to sell landfill space to outside haulers. While shortening the lifespan of the landfill, it would generate significant revenue for the city. He wants code enforcement emphasized, and also wants the city to purchase more water rights.

"I think I'd like to see a thousand acres of water rights accumulated in the next few years," he said at the commission's informal meeting Monday.

In the budget they are considering now, Johnson wants to consider buying more storage for the water plant and variable drives for the pumps that get the water from the aquifer near Sayre to Elk City.

To save and earn more money for the city, Johnson is proposing placing a meter on every water customer, including the city. Currently, city offices do not track how much water is used.

He also wants to resume in-house budget preparation and management, a turn that would negate the relationship with RSMeacham CPAs.

The commissioner also proposed selling properties the city owns, as well as annexing more land.

"We've got holes everywhere," he said.

Finally, Johnson proposed raising city fees out of "the dark ages."

"This is my wish list for [City Manager Anita Archer] to think of as my priorities," he said.

The commission must hold a public hearing on the budget by June 15. A version must be adopted by June 23, and it would go into effect in July.

The working meeting on Monday begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be in the conference room at City Hall.