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Record of Proceedings

Joplin City Council Informal Meeting - September 15, 2025: Finance, Timekeeping, and Dispatch Updates

City Council — Monday, September 15, 2025
BodyJoplin, Missouri
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, September 15, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:00

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the informal meeting of the Joplin City Council for this Monday, September the 15th, 2025.

0:10

We have three items on our agenda this evening, and we just got our video back in the nick of time.

0:19

So let's begin with the finance information update.

0:22

Good evening, Mrs.

0:23

Hawes.

0:24

Good evening, Mayor Council.

0:26

Tonight I'm going to present the September sales tax, use tax of marijuana.

0:34

For September, we are essentially flat, almost identical to what we collected for September of 2024.

0:42

So for the year, we're up about a half percent.

0:45

We are still running below budget with one month left by about 38,000.

0:51

But all in all, we're we're running pretty close to budget on use tax for September we're up 20 percent uh compared to September of last year.

1:06

But um if you'll remember, if you'll look uh August was down 12 percent uh for from August of last year, so some of that probably was timing.

1:16

Uh so for the year we're up by point six percent, uh which is just about on budget.

1:24

And then marijuana sales tax is down again like it was in July, but then August was a bigger month, so I think this is just timing of when uh some businesses are remiting.

1:36

Uh but you can see we've already collected more than what we budgeted.

1:40

We've collected 746,564 dollars, and we budgeted 721,000.

1:46

So uh revenue, so that's the revenue picture.

1:52

Then for the general fund uh financials and forecast for 2025, uh the year to date actual 2025, um, you can see the operating revenue uh we're coming in uh over budget, uh operating expenditures were cutting coming in under budget.

2:10

Uh so right now we have a net operating gain.

2:14

One time revenue is more than what we have budgeted for 10 months, and that this is just through August, and then one time expenditures uh below budget.

2:26

Uh so you can see our overall total net gain of 1.4 million, but I've added a new line, which is outstanding encumbrances as as of August 31st.

2:40

Um this I had mentioned adding this line, and then uh we've been meeting with the finance committee, and they requested this information.

2:47

But at the end of August, we have outstanding encumbrances of just over four million dollars.

2:53

So if we had paid out all of those obligations, we would be at uh a negative almost 2.6 million dollars compared to uh the budgeted amount of uh negative four million dollars.

3:08

So that's mostly due to the fire trucks, um, some storm sirens, some equipment in the police department, and the elevators in City Hall.

3:18

Any questions?

3:19

And then we've got the graph uh which shows uh what we're projecting for 27, 28, and 29.

3:27

Any questions on uh the general fund financials?

3:31

Council.

3:34

Mrs.

3:35

Carlin.

3:38

Leslie, and looking these over, it's pretty pretty consistent straight across the board.

3:43

Would this not be an indicator that perhaps we should budget according to what we actually received last year?

3:51

Yes, so for 2026, we are not budgeting any increase in sales tax because all in the indicators are showing that next year is gonna be pretty flat.

4:05

Yep.

4:09

I see nothing else, Leslie.

4:11

Okay, okay.

5:00

I last gave an update on time in attendance on our progress on May 5th and wanted to give another update.

5:07

We've made it made a lot of progress since uh May.

5:11

I'm using the same presentation as before in case uh there are questions, but I've I've put the updates in in red, but before we get there, uh I want to kind of talk about how our training uh actually is working.

5:28

Uh so I have I've put together a team of my staff that's doing the training.

5:34

So Chelsea Rives is doing the employee portion of the training.

5:38

Uh Hillary Corey is doing the supervisor portion of the training, and then Jennifer Wagler, myself, and AJ Whistler.

5:46

Uh we all make up the team that's that's working on the training.

5:50

Our class sizes are we have found that really we need to limit the class size to 15.

5:58

Um we believe that it's really important uh to train every employee.

6:05

Um we want to make sure that they know how to use it, use the system and use it well.

6:11

Um so we we had videos that we started with, and I think the consistent consensus has been that uh the training, the live training is is better than the videos.

6:23

So uh that's kind of where how the training is going.

6:27

The employee training takes an hour and a half uh exempt supervisor training, and we we try to keep the groups together because the training makes a lot more sense.

6:38

Uh but the employee training takes an hour and a half, exempt supervisor training takes about two hours, and then the non-exempt supervisor training takes two and a half hours.

6:47

That's really because they're getting trained as an employee and then also as a supervisor.

6:52

So that's how it's been working, and I I do want to give a big shout out to my employees that are helping with this training.

6:59

Certainly, uh this is not in their job description.

7:03

They had no idea that I was going to ask them to do this, um, but they've they've just done a wonderful job, and they're they've they've enjoyed the the challenge of doing this, and so I'm I'm really appreciative of what they're doing.

7:22

So I won't go through everything, but uh you will recall uh one of the biggest issues that we were waiting on while we were continuing to train uh was the the interface pieces between Central Square and TCP.

7:41

That last piece, which was the accrual piece, um got resolved in June.

7:48

And um and that was the last hurdle, so we immediately rolled into training in June.

7:57

Um but before we did that, uh we we worked on our training groups.

8:02

Um so we've we've come up with those groups.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Workforce Development█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Technology and Innovation██████████████19%
Public Safety████████11%
Finance███████9%
Summary of Proceedings

Joplin City Council Informal Meeting - September 15, 2025

The Joplin City Council held an informal meeting on Monday, September 15, 2025, at 11:15 AM, receiving updates on the city's financial status, progress on a new time and attendance system, and a comprehensive review of challenges and proposed solutions for the 911 dispatch center.

Finance Information Update

  • Sales Tax (September): Flat compared to September 2024; year-to-date up 0.5%, but still running $38,000 below budget with one month left.
  • Use Tax (September): Up 20% compared to September 2024; year-to-date up 0.6%, on budget. August had been down 12%, suggesting timing effects.
  • Marijuana Sales Tax: Down again (timing of remittances), but year-to-date collections of $746,564 exceed the budgeted $721,000.
  • General Fund Financials (through August 2025): Operating revenue above budget, operating expenditures under budget, resulting in a net operating gain. One-time revenue also above budget with one-time expenditures below budget, giving an overall net gain of $1.4 million. However, outstanding encumbrances of just over $4 million (mainly for fire trucks, storm sirens, police equipment, City Hall elevators) would bring the net to a negative $2.6 million if paid. Projections for 2027–2029 were presented.
  • Councilmember Carlin asked if flat sales tax suggests budgeting based on actuals next year; staff confirmed no increase is budgeted for 2026 sales tax due to flat indicators.

Time and Attendance System Update

  • Training Progress: 275 employees trained as of September 2025. Completed departments: Finance, City Manager, Communications, City Clerk, City Attorney, HR, IT, CBB, Building Regulations, Neighborhood Services, Planning, Public Works (fourth floor), Police (including jail, dispatch, radio staff).
  • Training Method: Live, in-person training (preferred over videos) in class sizes limited to 15. Employee training takes 1.5 hours; exempt supervisor training 2 hours; non-exempt supervisor training 2.5 hours. Staff developed manuals and guides.
  • Technical Hurdles: The final interface piece (accrual) between Central Square and TCP was resolved in June, allowing training to roll out. Remaining tasks: inputting fire department schedules (to be completed in a few weeks), setting up geofencing for app-based clock-in (for lifeguards, etc.), and completing time clock installations (parks, treatment plants, library by end of September).
  • Upcoming Training: Fire and Emergency Management scheduled for the weeks of October 15 and October 20 (8–10 classes). Health Department and Justice Center staff in November. Remaining Public Works and Library in December–February. Parks last (lifeguards hired next year).
  • Employee Feedback: Generally positive, especially for the mobile app (able to view hours, submit leave requests). Supervisors can approve time in about five minutes if kept current.
  • Councilmember Jackson asked about vendor-supplied training; staff explained that internal training is tailored and of higher quality. Councilmember Davis asked about employee reactions; staff said most like the system once used.

Dispatch Recruitment Update

  • Scope: Dispatch center provides 24/7/365 emergency services for Joplin PD, Joplin Fire, Duquesne PD, Joplin Animal Control, and Missouri Southern State University. Over half a million calls processed from 2020–2024.
  • Hiring & Turnover: 88 applicants in 2023, 64 in 2024, over 60 in 2025 to date. Involuntary terminations (could not master work, did not return) and voluntary terminations (other jobs, other dispatch centers, different career). National study highlights work hours/scheduling, better opportunities, pay, stress as top reasons for leaving.
  • Staffing Challenges: Only three consoles (call taking, fire, patrol). Manager Cheryl Konarski averaged 143.33 hours per two-week pay period (vs. 80 expected). Pay compression makes it difficult to hire experienced laterals without passing current employees (examples given: lateral with 8 years offered $20.27/hr vs. $21.50 at other agency; lateral with 5 years offered $20.97 vs. $22.98; lateral with 7 years offered $22.37 vs. $29+). Overtime excessive: some dispatchers worked over 3,000 hours per year.
  • Current Mitigations: Three part-time employees (former dispatchers, off-duty dispatchers from other agencies) helping on weekends. A full-page ad in the Joplin Globe jobs directory published on the meeting Saturday; talks with BMB for movie theater ads; other outreach.
  • Proposed Solutions:
    • Create a high school dispatch certification program (Joplin High School principal is enthusiastic; also exploring Franklin Tech, Carthage Tech, Crowder College).
    • Explore apprenticeship program with the state of Missouri.
    • Add call takers for after-hours non-emergency calls to relieve dispatch.
    • Develop community messaging for large incidents (like Empire’s outage messaging) to reduce call volume.
    • Offer more part-time work scheduling options.
    • Fix pay compression to retain experienced staff.
    • Use dispatcher assessment testing (ASVAB-style) at high schools.
    • Increase outreach to churches, career expos, physicians, police/fire networks.
  • Councilmember Carlin asked about returning to three 8-hour shifts from two 12-hour shifts; staff noted that was tried 6–9 years ago but abandoned due to staffing. Achieving full staffing (20 total: manager, 4 supervisors, 15 dispatchers) would enable revisiting that option. Currently most dispatchers work 5-on, 2-off (12-hour shifts). Goal is to move to 4-on, 2-off, then eventually 8-hour shifts.
  • Councilmember Jackson asked about pay solutions; the city manager noted a funded step increase and COLA in the upcoming budget, but a more significant adjustment may depend on renewal of the sales tax.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the informal meeting.
  • Council received the financial updates and expressed no concerns beyond the noted items.
  • The time and attendance system update was accepted; council encouraged staff to continue with the training schedule.
  • The dispatch update was discussed at length; council asked questions and showed support for exploring the proposed solutions (high school certification, pay compression fixes, shift flexibility). Staff will continue working on immediate recruitment actions and report back on progress.
  • The next formal city council meeting was scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM on the same day.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the informal meeting of the Joplin City Council for this Monday, September the 15th, 2025. We have three items on our agenda this evening, and we just got our video back in the nick of time. So let's begin with the finance information update. Good evening, Mrs. Hawes. Good evening, Mayor Council. Tonight I'm going to present the September sales tax, use tax of marijuana. For September, we are essentially flat, almost identical to what we collected for September of 2024. So for the year, we're up about a half percent. We are still running below budget with one month left by about 38,000. But all in all, we're we're running pretty close to budget on use tax for September we're up 20 percent uh compared to September of last year. But um if you'll remember, if you'll look uh August was down 12 percent uh for from August of last year, so some of that probably was timing. Uh so for the year we're up by point six percent, uh which is just about on budget. And then marijuana sales tax is down again like it was in July, but then August was a bigger month, so I think this is just timing of when uh some businesses are remiting. Uh but you can see we've already collected more than what we budgeted. We've collected 746,564 dollars, and we budgeted 721,000. So uh revenue, so that's the revenue picture. Then for the general fund uh financials and forecast for 2025, uh the year to date actual 2025, um, you can see the operating revenue uh we're coming in uh over budget, uh operating expenditures were cutting coming in under budget. Uh so right now we have a net operating gain. One time revenue is more than what we have budgeted for 10 months, and that this is just through August, and then one time expenditures uh below budget. Uh so you can see our overall total net gain of 1.4 million, but I've added a new line, which is outstanding encumbrances as as of August 31st. Um this I had mentioned adding this line, and then uh we've been meeting with the finance committee, and they requested this information. But at the end of August, we have outstanding encumbrances of just over four million dollars. So if we had paid out all of those obligations, we would be at uh a negative almost 2.6 million dollars compared to uh the budgeted amount of uh negative four million dollars. So that's mostly due to the fire trucks, um, some storm sirens, some equipment in the police department, and the elevators in City Hall. Any questions? And then we've got the graph uh which shows uh what we're projecting for 27, 28, and 29. Any questions on uh the general fund financials? Council. Mrs. Carlin. Leslie, and looking these over, it's pretty pretty consistent straight across the board. Would this not be an indicator that perhaps we should budget according to what we actually received last year? Yes, so for 2026, we are not budgeting any increase in sales tax because all in the indicators are showing that next year is gonna be pretty flat. Yep. I see nothing else, Leslie. Okay, okay. I last gave an update on time in attendance on our progress on May 5th and wanted to give another update. We've made it made a lot of progress since uh May. I'm using the same presentation as before in case uh there are questions, but I've I've put the updates in in red, but before we get there, uh I want to kind of talk about how our training uh actually is working. Uh so I have I've put together a team of my staff that's doing the training. So Chelsea Rives is doing the employee portion of the training. Uh Hillary Corey is doing the supervisor portion of the training, and then Jennifer Wagler, myself, and AJ Whistler. Uh we all make up the team that's that's working on the training. Our class sizes are we have found that really we need to limit the class size to 15. Um we believe that it's really important uh to train every employee. Um we want to make sure that they know how to use it, use the system and use it well. Um so we we had videos that we started with, and I think the consistent consensus has been that uh the training, the live training is is better than the videos. So uh that's kind of where how the training is going. The employee training takes an hour and a half uh exempt supervisor training, and we we try to keep the groups together because the training makes a lot more sense.

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