Hoping to get more public input and wanting to add more amendments, the Slidell City Council Tuesday, tabled three bills that would approve of the millage rates, the 2010 budget and city employee’s salary raises.

Council President Richard Hursey said that traditionally, the council passes all three bills at once, because one bill might affect the other.

With declining sales tax revenues and increasing costs for running the city, the council decided it would be best to get more public input before adding amendments that would change the fiscal picture of the city for 2010. The bill that would give city employees a 2.41 percent raise elicited a response from Corianne Pineda, who works in Civil Service. She seemed to think the council might rescind the raises.

“You have to show the employees what they are worth,” Pineda told the council. “We need to be compensated.”

She said a letter sent out to employees explaining the city’s current financial status had created “animosity” between employees and the council.

But Councilman Joe Fraught repeated that the council has to think of its fiscal responsibility to the taxpayer, and faced with decreasing tax revenue and increased operating costs, the council is faced with some hard decisions.

“We could run out of money, and we are trying to avoid that,” Fraught said.

He warned that if the city goes broke, the first thing that will be cut will be the employees insurance benefits. He added that when the city had the money, city employees got raises. Now, with tougher times, employees must be patient.

“Everybody is putting everything on hold in this economy,” Fraught said. “Private companies and governments alike.”

Councilman at large Landon Cusimano said he and other council members were working on amendments that would make budget cuts that could possibly save the employees’ raises.

“We don’t want to rush things,” Cusimano said. “This gives us more time for the public to get involved.”

The City Charter mandates that the budget must be approved by July 1. However, the council likes to pass the budget before the end of May to give time for the mayor to either accept or veto it. If the budget is vetoed, the council will have enough time to work out the differences. The amendments to the budget will be on the Slidell Web site May 19, and the council will vote on the budget, pay raises and millage rates at their May 26 meeting.