An approved increase to the city manager's budget will allow for the hiring of communications staff.
About $393,000 was transferred from the corporate services department and is available to support three full-time equivalents, but city manager Beth James said she doesn't expect to use the entire allotment.
"That will depend on the quality of skills we're able to recruit to the positions," she said.
The communication and citizen engagement manager as well as the communications assistant were among the five city employees laid off late last month.
So far, the hiring of a new communications director has been unsuccessful. The position was first posted in August. Another posting for a corporate communications specialist was posted earlier this month and closed Nov. 22.
"We have now - to get a broader coverage - have gone to use the services of a headhunting firm," said James, but added the city has "massively limited the scope of what they're doing" and doing much of the search with internal staff. "I don't want to hire until I find exactly the right person for that position to give the best service to the city and taxpayers of Prince George."
A net 30 per cent increase to the budget of James' office also includes taking over the executive coordinator from the mayor and council's budget, the inclusion of $76,500 for running the 2014 municipal election and the creation of a deputy corporate officer position, which is partially funded by the elimination of a vacant administrative support job.
But investing in more management positions while saying there's no money for unionized wage increases doesn't sit well with the head of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local leaders.
Janet Bigelow, president of CUPE 1048, said she doesn't understand the need to hire a director of communications after laying off two existing communications staff.
"And from what I remember of the job description, this person will be writing speeches for the mayor," said Bigelow. "If we really are trying to be fiscally responsible, should we not be looking at the way that we spend our money and be a little bit more cautious and put that money towards infrastructure instead of a speech writer for the mayor?"
CUPE began voting on the city's last offer Thursday and will wrap up today. The vote is being supervised by the B.C. Labour Relations Board, meaning if the union membership votes in favour of the offer, which offers no wage increases for the first two years of a three-year contract , it is binding and will become the new collective agreement.
Both CUPE locals can still file their 72-hour strike notice following the vote, depending on the outcome. A strike mandate voted on in September expires at the end of next week.
City council has not allocated any funds in the 2014 budget for employee wage increases.
"I think we've certainly been given as tight a budget as we can," said Mayor Shari Green. Out of the overall 2.5 per cent tax levy increase, 0.72 per cent is an increase to the general operating levy, with the rest going to boost the snow clearing budget (1.15 per cent) and general infrastructure reinvestment fund.
If the CUPE membership doesn't accept the city's offer the options are form them to go out on strike or to have council rethink the offer, said Green.
A public opinion poll commissioned by the city as part of the budget consultation process surveyed residents for their thoughts on the city's contract proposal as well as their opinion on current wages.
The results of a telephone survey conducted by the Mustel Group in early November suggest 45 per cent of respondents support the city's offer and 90 per cent think the starting labourer wage is either too high (44 per cent) or just right (46 per cent).
Pollsters told participants the union's proposal of a two per cent increase per year would add up$1.3 million and equate to a 1.6 per cent tax increase over the three-year term while the city's offer would add $440,000 - a tax increase of "about one-half of one per cent" over the three years.
"So if we're to move on that number then obviously it's going against the wishes of the community," said Green. "So I think council was pretty clear on its mandate."
If changes had to be made, items can be put off as enhancements or replaced at the end of the process. The city's budget bylaw doesn't have to be finalized until the provincial deadline of May 15.
A contingency is in place, however, for other contracts.
New contracts with the firefighters will come up next year and a percentage has been built into the protective services budget that "would provide comparable wages to the city of Vancouver's agreement," said corporate services director Kathleen Soltis. An arbitrator is brought in to settle that agreement because firefighters can't go on strike since they are an essential service.
