WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2008

REGULAR MEETING

7:00 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Sauer present. Mr. Wisniewski arrived at 7:25 P.M. Mrs. Sanders was absent. Others present were Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Ed Laramee, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF March 19, 2008, Work Session regarding Traffic Signal Cameras. Mr. Sauer moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.

B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF March 19, 2008, Regular Meeting. Mr. Sauer moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.

3. FINANCE DEPARTMENT.

A. Finance Director’s Report. Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a written report to the Committee and she would be happy to answer any questions. Mrs. Fersch stated our contract with the Health Department expires in 2010 and she will be reviewing the issue to determine if she would recommend we renew with them. She stated everyone in the Health Department works very hard to provide a service.

B. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending the 2008 appropriation, Ordinance 2007-85. Mrs. Fersch stated she submitted a draft appropriation ordinance to the Committee for review. Mrs. Fersch stated under the General Fund, Municipal Clerk, she was requesting a increase of $2,190 for sick leave buy back, under Miscellaneous General Government an increase of $6,392 due to the Worker’s Comp premium being higher than budgeted, and Income Tax Division an increase of $30,000 for income tax refunds. Mrs. Fersch further stated under the Police Fund she was requesting an increase of $8,000 in Capital to replace equipment for fingerprinting, and in the Immobilization Fund a decrease of $2,000 in supplies and materials for the purchase of an I-COP camera for a police cruiser. Mr. Smith moved to approve the appropriations as presented on the draft ordinance and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.

C. Review and request for motion to accept 2009 Tax Budget and to set Council’s public hearing for May 6, 2008, at 7:15 P.M. Mrs. Fersch stated everyone had received a copy of the proposed tax budget and it is due in the County Auditor’s office by July 20^th, and must be passed by July 15^th. She stated in order to allow for our process she was presenting the budget at this time. She stated this is a basic bare bones budget, the expenditures are based on union contracts for personnel services, an estimate of 12 percent for health insurance, and roughly a two percent increase in the other departments. Mrs. Fersch stated she was very conservative on income tax increases at 3.5 percent, and she had estimated new home construction at 100. Mrs. Fersch continued on our debt she was showing a payment more on principal since we had a lower interest rate this year and the debt schedule is included. Mrs. Fersch stated the less the transfers and debt renewals, the budget is four percent more than 2008. Mr. Smith clarified there are counties that do not require tax budgets to be filed. Mr. Fix moved to approve the proposed 2009 Tax Budget and to set the public hearing before Council on May 6, 2008, at 7:15 P.M.; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-0.

4. PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT:

A. Personnel Director’s Report. Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a written report, and she would answer any questions. Mr. Smith inquired if with the acquisition of the pool property and the summer activity schedule coming up, did we not need to fill the part-time position in Parks and Recreation. Mr. Hansley stated in the short-term we plan to temporarily assign one of the two administrative assistants from the Building Department to cover the Parks window, and the half-time admin assistant in the Building Department to cover the half-time hours of the Parks Administrative Assistant. He stated with the building department activities down, and the Parks department activities increasing, they felt that would be a solution. Mr. Hansley further stated we do have a floater from City Hall that will be able to fill in any gaps.

5. CHAIRMAN: Mrs. Hammond stated she had nothing to bring forward this evening other than to confirm that the Committee would like the Bicentennial Committee to come in and address Finance Committee at the May meeting with regard to receiving a donation of money or services. Mr. Smith clarified this would not apply only to the Bicentennial Committee, but to all organizations requesting funds or services. Mr. Fix stated he thought that staff would be drafting a policy with regard to this and would bring it to the Committee for review in the near future. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt this would be a topic for the expense subcommittee. Mr. Hansley stated he would bring a status report to the next meeting, and the Committee can decide if they want to schedule the outstanding ones that have not been funded to come before the Committee. Mr. Fix stated for clarification, this was not only for financial requests but services as well. Mr. Hansley stated, for example, the Rib Fest should come in if they were asking for a stage, two police officers, etc. Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt Council had determined there should be a minimum request of $1,000 before they needed to come in and make a presentation. Mr. Hansley stated his report would show what organizations have been paid, those that have not been paid, and those that are likely to be asking for additional services. Mr. Sabatino stated he would also like that report to include requests that were for a certain amount of dollars and the amount they have received to date. Mrs. Hammond stated, as she understood it the requests that were agreed to in the budget were pretty much approved, but in the future there will be changes to way these requests are handled. Mr. Hansley stated he also understood that if funds were approved, but there was an additional value of police overtime or parks set up being requested, and then they would be required to come in with a presentation before those additional services were approved. Mrs. Hammond stated then at the next meeting the Bicentennial Committee will be requested to come before Finance Committee with their requests. Mr. Hansley stated another possibility would be to put a maximum amount in the budget for all groups, and then in January or February those groups could come in and ask for a grant against that maximum amount that was budgeted. He stated the Finance Committee could arbitrate those and when the money was gone, the money was gone. Mr. Sabatino stated he liked that approach because it gave Finance Committee a finite number to work with.

6. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Township Trustees Meeting – Update. Mrs. Hammond stated she did not make it to the Trustees meeting because she attended Rules Committee that evening. Mr. Sauer stated he and Mrs. Hammond were going to trade off going to the Trustees meeting, however, the Finance Expense Subcommittee met that night as well.

B. Pickerington Local School District Board Meeting – Update. There was no update.

7. MOTIONS:

A. Motion for Executive Session under Section 121.22(G)(1)b, Matters involving an employee’s or public official’s employment, Section 121.22(G)(2), Purchase or sale of public property, Section 121.22(G)(3), Conference with law director regarding pending or imminent court action, and Section 121.22(G)(4), Matters involving bargaining sessions with public employees. Mrs. Hammond stated the Executive Session was not necessary this evening.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye." Motion carried, 6-0. The Finance Committee adjourned at 7:45 P.M., April 16, 2008.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk