PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL
CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2007
COUNCIL BUDGET
WORK SESSION
6:30 P.M.
1. CALL TO ORDER: Mrs. Hammond opened the Council Budget Work
Session at 6:30 P.M., with the following council members present: Mr. Fix, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Hammond, Mr.
Sabatino, and Mr. Wisniewski. Mrs. Riggs
was absent due to a work obligation and Mr. Smith was out of town. Others present were: Tricia Sanders, Brian Sauer, Judy Gilleland,
Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Tim Hansley, and
others.
2. SCHEDULED
MATTERS:
A. Review and discussion regarding proposed
2008 budget. Mrs. Hammond stated she
would ask Ms Gilleland stated this evening we would begin the review with the
budget for the Development Department and wind up with the Legislative
Department.
Mr.
Hansley reviewed his budget and stated he would be happy to answer any
questions anyone might have. Mr. Fix
stated he felt development is the engine that drives the train and the only way
that we can get out of the hole we find ourselves in is to bring in more
development, smart development, and if there is one area of the budget he would
be more open to increasing it would be this one because it is an investment in
the future as opposed to some things that are necessary and on-going
expenses. He stated his question was if
there were things Mr. Hansley felt he could do better in bringing both short
term and long-term development to the City if there were other things in the
budget. Mr. Hansley stated if he had
more tools to work with such as having a fund set aside that would provide him
the ability to use it for site preparation, etc., on a case-by-case basis for
developments. Mr. Fix inquired what
amount Mr. Hansley would be looking at and Mr. Hansley stated $50,000 would
give him the ability to offer some incentives.
Mr. Sabatino stated from a business development standpoint, it takes
money to make money, and from a business perspective you need to have some
capital set aside to fund going after new customers. He stated he would be in favor of budgeting
this additional fund. Mr. Wisniewski
clarified none of this fund would be going toward to Route 33 Growth Alliance
as that $6,000 is included in the General Fund.
Mr. Fix stated he was in favor of adding this line item to the budget,
because this is the one area of the budget we would want to invest in because
the return is so much greater than other necessary expenses. He stated this would actually provide income
down the road. Mrs. Hammond stated
$50,000 was a large amount to start with in the budget. Mr. Sabatino stated then the fund would be
used to close a deal, not to chase a deal, and Mr. Hansley stated that was
correct. Mr. Fix stated he would suggest
putting $25,000 in a fund with the knowledge that if it goes well and six
months into the year we need to put another $25,000 in that could be considered
then. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt that
would be a good place to start because with a tight budget it would be a lot
easier to find $25,000 to start with. He
stated further as Mr. Fix had indicated, if later in the year additional funds
are needed then it would be considered then.
Mr. Hackworth stated he did not feel the budget would be balanced with
just cuts, and he felt Council would be wiser to develop a plan now on how to
increase revenue before allocating $25,000 to $50,000 out of the General
Fund. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that
currently the projected reserve in the budget is approximately $574,000 at the
end of 2008. Mr. Wisniewski further
clarified the balance on the General Fund at the beginning of this year was
about $1 million. Mr. Sabatino clarified
that on the debt schedule summary provided anything that states bonds is a set,
required payment and notes are optional.
Ms Gilleland clarified Council would like to add $25,000 to the
Development Department’s budget in a category for incentive programs. Mr. Fix also suggested a percentage of the
Development Director’s salary be charged to utilities since he manages the
staff engineer. Ms Gilleland stated she
would take care of that. There were no
further questions on the Development Department budget.
Ms
Gilleland stated the next category for review would be the Street Fund. Mr. Drobina reviewed the projected budget and
stated he had already made several cuts, such as deleting the request for a
truck. He stated he did have a lease for
a new dump truck because he is trying to gear up to handle the Diley Road
construction. Mr. Wisniewski stated that
construction will not begin next year, so the dump truck could be pushed back
one year. Mr. Sauer clarified our
vehicle purchases are done through the State Cooperative Purchasing
Program. Mr. Drobina stated the truck
lease could be delayed; he had just left it in the budget for discussion. Mr. Fix clarified when we lease a vehicle it
is actually a lease/purchase so at the end of the lease period we own the
vehicle. Mr. Drobina stated he would
delete the dump truck from the budget.
Mr. Wisniewski stated since we are receiving federal money for the Diley
Road project, did that mean that we would be eligible for any type of federal
grant for maintenance of that road. Mr.
Drobina stated after Diley Road is completed, it would not be considered a
State Route or a Federal Route.
The Budget Work Session recessed at 8:10 P.M.
and reconvened in open session at 8:25 P.M.
Mr.
Drobina reviewed the proposed budgets for the Water and Sewer Funds and stated
he has made some additional cuts in both funds.
Mr. Drobina stated he had deleted the request for an additional pick-up
truck in each of these departments.
There were no further questions for the utility budgets.
Ms
Gilleland stated there are several other departments that need to be reviewed
this evening, the Legislative Department, City Manager, Finance, Personnel,
Public Information, General Government, Legal, and Engineering. She stated, in addition, she would like to
review the employee increase if possible or that could be done at the next work
session on Thursday.
Mr.
Wisniewski stated he would like to review the Debt Service next and Ms
Gilleland stated everyone had received a breakout of the debt schedule
summary. There were no questions on the
debt schedule summary.
Mrs.
Fersch stated the Legislative Department consisted of the Mayor, Council, and
Municipal Clerk’s budget. Ms Gilleland
stated in the Mayor’s budget, the Mayor-elect has requested a full time
administrative assistant be added to his budget. She stated he would not be using the City’s
health insurance so he would allocate those funds toward this position. He is requesting $35,000 be added for a full
time admin assistant. Mr. Fix stated
currently the Mayor’s Court Clerk acts as the Mayor’s admin. Mrs. Fersch stated that was correct, however,
her salary is taken out of Mayor’s Court.
Mr. Fix clarified this was in addition to the Court Clerk. Ms Gilleland stated the Court Clerk would be
a full time Court Clerk. Ms Gilleland
stated in addition to the $35,000 he is requesting consideration of an
additional $10,000 for miscellaneous supplies, promotional items, etc. She stated this would be for the Mayor to
provide promotional items for businesses, residents, and such. Ms Gilleland stated we don’t really do much
in that area right now. Mr. Sabatino
stated that is shown in the current budget as $2,500, and Ms Gilleland stated
this is correct. Ms Gilleland stated
while he is requesting an additional $10,000 he may be willing to compromise
and take a total of $10,000. Mr. Sauer
stated given the budget we are looking at an additional $35,000 for an
administrative assistance we haven’t needed in the past and $10,000 for
promotional items, he could not in good conscience support. Mr. Wisniewski stated the majority of Ms
Schwartz time is spent on Mayor’s Court.
Mr. Wisniewski asked if a part-time admin assistant would be sufficient,
and Mr. Fix questioned if there was a need for a full time admin assistant for
a part time Mayor. Mr. Fix stated he
felt he could support a part time admin assistant, however, he wasn’t sure
about full time right now. Mrs. Hammond
stated she understood that the members concurred with the addition of a part
time administrative assistant for the Mayor at this time. Mr. Fix stated as far as the supplies he
would suggest an additional $2,500 for a total of $5,000. Mr. Sabatino stated he concurred in giving
that amount. Mr. Wisniewski stated he
concurred with the $5,000 amount for the supplies. There were no questions on the budget for the
Municipal Clerk, Council, City Manager’s office, Finance, Personnel, or Public
Information. Mrs. Fersch stated she had
distributed a summary of the Hotel/Motel tax for everyone’s review. Ms Gilleland stated everyone received copies
of the requests for funds from the Violet Festival, Senior Center, and Olde
Downtown Pickerington Village Business Association. Mrs. Hammond stated this was an area that
would have discussion and two members did have to leave this evening. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to pick up
the discussion on these items at the next work session scheduled for Thursday
evening at 6:30 P.M.
3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, the Council
Budget Work Session closed at 9:20 P.M., November 27, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
______________________________
Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk
ATTEST:
_____________________________________________
Cristie Hammond, Council Vice President Pro
Tempore