FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
CITY
HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 4, 2008
EXPENSE
SUBCOMMITTEE
8:10
P.M.
1. Finance Committee of Council’s Subcommittee to review Expenses opened at 8:10 P.M., with Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Sauer present. Others present were Cristie Hammond, Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Chris Schornack, Lance Schultz, Carol Carter, and others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 21, 2008, Meeting. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
3. SCHEDULED MATTERS:
A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for participation in a Regional Council of Governments (RITA). Mr. Fix stated by moving this forward, it would be moving it forward to the full Finance Committee. Mr. Fix moved to move the draft ordinance forward to Finance Committee; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Mr. Sabatino stated he knew some council members had questions about this and, hopefully, all of these questions can be addressed at the Finance Committee meeting. Mr. Fix clarified that this item would be included on the Regular Finance Committee agenda on June 18, 2008. Mr. Fix stated he would request that Mr. Schornack be present at that meeting and provide a similar presentation to the one that was made to this subcommittee, as that was a very informative presentation. Mr. Fix stated he would also like to ensure that Mr. Hansley was present and could address the personnel issue at that meeting as well. Mr. Sabatino inquired if there would be any positions eliminated from the budget and the authorized strength that would result in a cost savings. Mr. Hansley stated if that department were eliminated, the positions would be eliminated, and there would be a cost savings in the long term. Mr. Hansley stated the positions would be eliminated by Council. Mr. Fix stated he would like everyone to be prepared for full discussion at the Finance meeting. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer abstaining, and Mr. Fix and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
B. Review and discussion regarding Planning and Zoning Department expenses. Mr. Schultz distributed a list of Planning and Zoning projects and responsibilities. Mr. Fix stated this committee is not trying to slash budgets, they are trying to get a good understanding of where the expenses go, what we get in return for those expenses. He stated the question was if the things that we do are necessary, and if they are necessary are there other ways to do them that may be more cost effective. He stated if we are doing things in the most cost effective way that we can, we will move forward. Mr. Fix further stated they are trying to gather information to make sure that the budget is as tight as it possibly can be and to make sure that when we do, hopefully, go for a tax increase that we can justify to the voters that we have reviewed everything that we do and we feel comfortable that we are doing everything as cost effective as possible.
Mr. Fix stated by looking at the information provided by Mr. Schornack, we spend roughly $300,000 in this area. He inquired if any of the monies from this area come from any area other than the General Fund. Mr. Schornack stated he indicated on the handout the areas that were billed back to the developers or that is put on the property taxes. Mr. Sabatino clarified the contract mowing reflects mowing the City has had to have done in conjunction with Code Enforcement. Mr. Schultz stated further that fees were increased last year and that will offset some of the expenses.
Mr. Sabatino inquired if we had the need for a full-time code enforcement position or if it could possibly be a part-time position. Mr. Schultz stated it would depend on the level of service we want to provide. He stated the peak season for code enforcement is April through October, however, during the off times that individual has been doing a lot of maintenance updating our code, writing a grant for CDBG funds, and he assists our Planner on various projects. Mr. Sabatino stated Council is well aware of the fact that development activities are significantly less than they have been, and questioned how that impacted the Planner position. Mr. Schultz stated since we have had the Planner we have been able to be more proactive and have had the time to do planning rather than just be reactive. Mr. Sauer stated his only question was regarding office supplies, what is the process for getting office supplies. Mr. Schultz stated each department has a budget line item for supplies and one individual in the building does the actual ordering. Mr. Fix stated in looking at the information, approximately $226,000 of the $249,000 is spent on people, you don’t spend a lot of money on stuff, and it seemed the only choice to save money in this budget would be to cut staff. He stated while that may be a short-term solution, in the long term if you cut off the development end of what you do you may stop growing. Mr. Sabatino stated people have asked him that since development has slowed down why do we have all these people there. He stated obviously there is an amount of critical mass infrastructure that we need and he thinks that we are looking to have an ongoing development process, particularly for the commercial side. He stated he felt we need what we have, and his only question would be if there would be time available where some of the staff has the flexibility to help out in other departments, and Mr. Schultz stated when the workload allows it they do not have a problem helping out other departments. Mr. Sabatino further stated there are some functions that it makes sense to outsource and there are some things that we want to have control of, and he felt this is something we would want to have control of. Mr. Fix stated that given only $23,000 is spent by this department outside of staffing he did not see where anything could be cut in this budget.
Mr. Sauer inquired if, with regard to office supplies, does the city have a single supplier, do we have a contract set up with someone. Mr. Schornack stated we do get special pricing through Office Depot, Office Max, etc. He stated we do call and see if we can get lower prices on equipment or whatever. Mr. Sabatino questioned if we have thought about perhaps going out for a proposal on office supplies, and Mr. Schornack stated we have not. Mr. Schornack stated we could check into that, but he did not think our volume was that high. Mr. Sabatino stated we might not have that large a volume when you are spreading it out among different suppliers, but if you collectively look at a single source supplier on a contract basis they are more likely to give you a better price knowing they are going to get all of your business. Mr. Fix asked Mr. Schornack to take a look at that and let the committee know the results in the next couple of weeks. Mr. Fix stated there may be an opportunity to save some money there so it is worth looking into.
Mr. Fix stated for the next meeting, following Finance Committee on June 18th, the Subcommittee would review the budgets of Parks and Recreation, Council, Mayor, Manager, and the Municipal Clerk.
Mr. Sauer stated at some point we need to focus in on a “Plan B” considering the results of the Council meeting. Mr. Fix stated for the next meeting he would like Mr. Schornack to provide this subcommittee with the projected revenues and expenses for 2009, and also the 2008 budget so this committee can see if we are in a deficit already. Mr. Schornack stated the actual impact fees received this year to date are lower than the amounts we projected so far for this year. Mr. Schornack stated he would also talk to Mr. Schultz and see what kind of commercial developments they are predicting will be coming in soon. Mrs. Hammond stated she would also like to see a projected debt schedule for 2009 as well. Mr. Schornack stated he would get this information for the next subcommittee meeting.
4. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sauer moved to adjourn; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Expense Subcommittee adjourned at 8:40 P.M., June 4, 2008.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
________________________________