Washington’s City Council, during its meeting Monday, is slated to discuss outsourcing grass-mowing work now performed by city employees, the city’s E-911 fund and the proposed Washington Electric Utilities’ budget for fiscal year 2011-2012.

The matter of outsourcing grass-mowing work surfaced at a council meeting in March. The matter of outsourcing other city-provided services came up during council meetings prior to March.

During a council meeting in February, Councilman Gil Davis suggested looking at outsourcing mowing work performed by city public-works and recreation employees.

“We have to look at it. If it’s cheaper, we have to think about it,” Davis said then.

At the council’s March 8 meeting, Councilman Doug Mercer told the council and Mayor Archie Jennings that he had spoken with Bishop Samuel Jones Jr., co-founder of the Purpose of God Annex, which operates several programs to help adults with criminal pasts rehabilitate themselves, about using some of his clients to mow grass on some city-owned properties. Those properties include parks and cemeteries.

The program, which accepts people who are from 16 to 55 years old, works with local businesses to place those who have run afoul of the law in jobs. The Joneses and others working with them monitor program participants at their jobs to ensure they are succeeding. After six months, the participants graduate, if they meet all requirements imposed on them.

Mercer asked city staff to show Jones those areas now mowed by city workers so Jones could determine if Purpose of God Annex clients could mow them and what equipment they would need to do that work.

At the March 8 meeting, Councilman Ed Moultrie asked if outsourcing any or all of the mowing now performed by city workers would result in city workers losing their jobs.

“It would put people to work via Bishop Jones,” the mayor said.

The WEU budget is slated for review, according to the council’s tentative agenda for the Monday meeting.

The proposed 2011-2012 WEU budget of $38,136,962 is $226,410 less than the current WEU budget, with operational expenses for 2011-2012 at $8,123,006 as compared to $8,940,680 for the current fiscal year.

The proposed WEU budget reflects the interim City Manager Pete Connet’s recommendation for a 5-percent decrease in in-town residential electric rates.

The proposed overall city budget recommends the annual transfer from the electric fund to the general fund remain at $973,150 (the transfer amount in the current budget) to cover service-level costs that effect the city daily as the county seat of Beaufort County.

The proposed WEU budget includes funding for capital-outlay expenditures for a small truck, bucket-truck replacement, peak-shaving generator catalyst installations, transformer replacement at Whitepost, load-management switches, replacing a trenching machine and continued upgrades to the Terra Ceia/N.C. Highway 32 distribution lines.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 102 E. Second St.