FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
CITY
HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 18, 2008
EXPENSE
SUBCOMMITTEE
8:10
P.M.
1. Finance Committee of Council’s Subcommittee to review Expenses opened at 8:15 P.M., with Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Sauer present. Others present were Mayor O’Brien, Cristie Hammond, Tricia Sanders, Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Chris Schornack, Steve Carr, Larry Jones, and others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF June 4, 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 discussion regarding Parks and Recreation Department, Council, Mayor, Manager, and Municipal Clerk’s budgets. Mr. Fix stated he did not see any items in the Mayor’s budget that were not required and Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Sauer both concurred. Mr. Fix stated the budget for the Mayor’s Court was also provided and he did not see any major expenses in the budget. Mayor O’Brien stated Ms Schwartz, our Clerk of Court, will be adjusting the fees for OMVI fines as we are now required to pay the State that amount. Mayor O’Brien further stated Ms Schwartz will be reviewing our fine schedule and increasing them where necessary. Mr. Fix clarified that in addition to the $137,908 that we are already projected to receive may increase and this area is fully self-funding and contributes to the General Fund. The Committee further reviewed the budgets of the City Manager, Municipal Clerk, and Council and found no items that could be cut. Mr. Fix clarified the Municipal Clerk brought in $20,000 in passport processing fees last year and this year it would be approximately $8-$10,000.
Mr. Fix stated the next budget to review was for the Parks and Recreation Department. Mr. Fix questioned if we knew the amount of revenue generated by Parks and Mr. Schornack stated he would find out that amount. Mr. Carr stated he would guess it would be approximately $150,000. Mr. Sauer questioned if the fees for Parks and Rec programs were adjusted yearly or if they were stationary. Mr. Carr stated we do a lot with contractual services, and a lot of the time the rate is set by the provider, and for the past several years we have discounted the rates to our citizens down to our direct cost, so their rates do not reflect any of the indirect costs and the overhead. He further stated we have been charging a 25 percent surcharge to nonresidents. Mr. Sauer stated he would like to see some sort of a breakdown between the costs and the revenue generated, because he would assume there were programs that subsidize other programs that do not generate enough revenue in terms of what it costs to provide them. He stated that would give him a better understanding of what the actual cost is in terms of the City subsidizing some of the activities that do occur in Parks and Rec. Mr. Carr stated he would be happy to provide that information to the Committee.
Mr. Fix clarified we have two part-time recreation events coordinators that work somewhere between 21 and 25 hours per week each. Mr. Schornack stated in response to Mr. Sauer’s question, the revenue budget for 2007 shows that we took in $146,535 in charges for services. Mr. Sabatino stated he has had questions regarding the full-time City Arborist and inquired if that was included in the Parks Budget and Mr. Schornack stated that would be under Urban Forestry. Mr. Fix stated he would request that budget be included for review at the next meeting.
Mr. Fix further clarified if the contract mowing will be over $25,000 it is bid out. Mr. Carr stated we typically get five or six bids and this year we split the mowing up between two contractors to get the best price for the City. Mr. Sauer also clarified the contract landscaping included the hanging baskets and the weed and feed program on various park properties, City Hall, the police station, and some ball diamonds. Mr. Carr stated we did not contract with Keller Farms this year as the planting has been done in-house. Mr. Carr stated we have reduced the number of hanging baskets around town from 98 or 99 to 56 this year while still maintaining a nice look.
Mr. Schornack stated at the last subcommittee meeting he had been requested to look into contracting for office supplies. He stated he has done some research and we do get the lowest prices possible from the two vendors that we normally use. He also stated he had been asked for revenue and expenditures to date and he is still working on that. He stated he hoped to have it for the next meeting.
Mr. Fix stated for the next meeting the Subcommittee would review the budgets of the Engineering Department, Legal Department, Administrative Assistants, Urban Forestry and any other budgets that have not been reviewed to date.
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 8:50 P.M., June 18, 2008.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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