CITY OF PICKERINGTON

FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2006

BUDGET WORK SESSION

6:00 P.M.

OPEN DISCUSSION ON PROPOSED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN (CIP) FOR 2007-2011 AND PROPOSED 2007 BUDGET

Mr. Hackworth opened the work session at 6:05 p.m. with the following members present: Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Fix.  Mr. Wisniewski was absent.  Others present were:  Cristie Hammond, Judy Gilleland, Stacey Bashore, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Tim Hansley, Jan Eichner, Molly Schwartz, Eric Vannatta, Lance Schultz, Lynda Yartin, Brenda VanCleave, and others.

General Fund

Ms. Gilleland stated the overall increase in expenditures for all funds in 2007 is anticipated at $1,000,0000 which is roughly a 4.8% increase and a good bit of that is due to the street paving.  She further stated the general fund alone is a 3% increase in spending and overall we had a decrease in the health insurance.   Ms. Gilleland reviewed the fund analysis sheet with the committee.  She stated that we are pleased with where we came in.  She further stated we are anticipating a fund balance in the General Fund of $763,131 in 2007 and she would like to get that closer to $800,000.  Mr. Fix clarified that we have done a great job of spending less this year so we have extra money and we are not really deficit spending and Ms. Gilleland stated that was correct.  Mr. Smith stated he had a hard time with that, because if we are spending extra that we have in 2006 in 2007, then the extra won't be there as we go on.  Mr. Hackworth stated one of the biggest issues is the water/sewer debt and we are going to have the revenues to cover that and it will eventually catch up. 

Contingency List

Ms. Gilleland reviewed the list with the Committee.  Mr. Hackworth asked if the water treatment plant aeration by-pass line was an EPA requirement and Ms. VanCleave stated it was a recommended requirement and we are okay right now.    Mr. Hackworth asked if the zoning code would be just commercial or development and Mr. Schultz stated it would be the entire zoning code.  Mr. Hackworth asked where the priority should be between the development code and the GIS and Ms. Gilleland stated that we can't answer that, hopefully we can get better answers on the GIS, so we may not have to make a choice. 

Clerks Note: Mr. Wisniewski entered the meeting at 6:18 p.m.

Mr. Hackworth stated he would like to see if we could look at street paving early in the year next year.  Mr. Smith stated if he had to prioritize OPVBA and Violet Festival would be two of his bottom three and Mr. Fix stated it would be his bottom two.  Mrs. Hammond stated if we did come up with $2,000 maybe we could figure out a way to spread the money out over other areas.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he was under the impression that we were going to decrease the amount for the Violet Festival annually because this is supposed to be a self funding festival and Ms. Gilleland stated she had not heard any general discussion on that and we also talked about making it contingent upon the Township matching the funds.  Mr. Hackworth stated he didn't have a problem with OPVBA and Violet Festival being the bottom two, but he would like to see street paving and the zoning code near the top.  Mr. Fix stated we could address the contingency list in January or February so we can prioritize it then.   Ms. Gilleland asked for direction on the Violet Festival and the Committee's consensus was to take it down to $15,000.  Ms. Gilleland stated she would draft a letter on it and have it state that it would be stepped down $2,500 a year.   

Ms. Gilleland reviewed the General Fund Departmental Expenditures with the committee.  She further stated that she thought we were looking pretty good because most of our department's expenditures are under what we budgeted last year.

Budget

Ms. Gilleland reviewed the budget with the Committee and stated this is our internal working document that we use daily. She further stated we did a better job allocating the resources this year.   

City Manager

Mr. Wisniewski asked what the professional services were for and  Mrs. Fersch stated it would be for anything that might come up, but it hasn't been earmarked for anything next year.

Finance

Ms. Gilleland stated there was a 3% reduction from 2006.  Mrs. Fersch stated there was a reduction in health insurance.  Mr. Smith asked about the CMI software and Mr. Schornack stated we are upgraded now with all of their software.

Income Tax

Ms. Gilleland stated we have a 4% decrease in Income Tax.  Mr. Wisniewski stated a standard question he would like to ask of all of the budgets is what they would like to see changed to make the City more efficient.  Mr. Smith asked about the reduction in the computer upgrade and Ms. Eichner stated we have been upgraded and we will also have a tax tool on the City's website for residents to view their accounts and fill out their tax forms.  Mr. Wisniewski asked about combining mailings to save on postage and Ms. Eichner stated that we do that when we can, but they have to be the same weight.

Land and Buildings

Ms. Gilleland stated that we had an increase in this mainly due to the Building Department's utilities and expenses being transferred to this budget.  Mr. Hackworth asked about postage and Mr. Vannatta stated it paid for the postage for this building.  Mr. Smith asked about computer software and Mr. Vannatta stated it was a carryover and it was for every machine.   Mr. Wisniewski asked about the email upgrade and Mr. Vannatta stated it was for an application that will gather the incoming and outgoing messages and put them on a hard drive and back it up.  He further stated it will help with records requests.  Mr. Wisniewski asked about any security issues with online forms and bills and Mr. Schornack stated it would be stored at CMI and they are responsible for securing it.  Mr. Wisniewski asked that we get the documentation on what their practices are as far as back-up and recovery because he would like to review that.

Mayor's Court

Ms. Gilleland stated that we had a 2% increase over last year.  Mr. Smith asked about jail fees and Ms. Schwartz stated that the Sheriff's Department needs to invoice us for those. 

Engineering

Ms. Gilleland stated Engineering had a 27% increase over last year.  Mr. Hackworth asked about the monthly retainer for Stilson and Ms. Gilleland stated that is so we can get the daily issues dealt with and not be billed for everything.  Mr. Hansley stated we can cap it and budget for it.  Mr. Smith asked if anyone had thought about going out and shopping for other firms and Mr. Hansley stated it is hard because you always have ongoing projects and it may not be the best time to change, but it is up to Council. Mr. Fix stated whenever the contract expires, we should be going out for bids.  Ms. Gilleland stated we are trying to get some level of understanding on what is and isn't included in our retainer.  Mr. Hackworth stated we need to write up their responsibilities and we need to consider raising the retainer.  Mrs. Hammond asked if we increase the monthly retainer would it cover the overage in expenses in sewer and water and Ms. Gilleland stated we are okay in sewer and water.  Mr. Smith stated he would like for it to be as accurately estimated as possible. He asked if we expect to get $20,000 more from Stilson then why are we paying more for the same amount of work and Ms. Gilleland stated we are cutting off the work we should be doing. Mr. Wisniewski asked about office equipment and Ms. VanCleave stated it is a combination between Engineering and Planning & Zoning to purchase a plotter and scanner.   Ms. VanCleave stated she would also like to consider getting an intern that she could train to help her out.

ADJOURNMENT:  There being nothing further Mr. Hackworth closed the budget work session at 7:28 p.m.   

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

Stacey L. Bashore

Deputy Municipal Clerk