PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL
CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008
COUNCIL BUDGET
WORK SESSION
6:15 P.M.
1. CALL TO ORDER: Mrs. Hammond opened the Council Budget Work
Session at 6:15 P.M., with the following council members present: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr.
Fix, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Sanders. Mr.
Wisniewski was absent due to illness.
Others present were: Tim Hansley,
Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Larry Jones, and
others.
2. SCHEDULED
MATTERS:
A. Review of proposed 2009 Service
Department Budget. Mrs. Fersch stated
the Street Department budget is funded mainly from the Motor Vehicle Tax and
Gasoline Tax and only received extra money when income tax pays for paving. She stated we do have $400,000 in the 2009
budget for paving. Mr. Sabatino
questioned the Category B special projects line item and Mrs. Fersch stated
that is the portion of the engineer’s retainer that the Street Fund pays. Mr. Sabatino questioned why the amount had
increased from 2008 and Mrs. Fersch stated at the time we did the budget we did
not know what projects would be coming up that needed extra engineering so this
is an estimate. Mr. Fix clarified the
$450,000 transfer from general fund was money from income tax that would help
with the street paving. Mr. Fix inquired
how many miles the $400,000 would buy and Mr. Drobina stated he had not
calculated that. Mr. Sauer stated he
understood we have an annual goal of street paving of ten percent and that
would include crack sealing. Mr. Sauer
inquired if the $400,000 would cover that ten percent and Mr. Drobina stated he
did not think it would. Mr. Drobina
stated the only increase in the Street budget is for paving. Mr. Fix clarified Mr. Drobina was requesting
a small truck and a lease on a larger truck for Diley Road. Mr. Drobina stated it is a five-year lease to
buy so at the end of five years we own the truck. Mr. Fix ascertained on the lease we do not
pay a large amount of interest. Mr.
Sauer stated if the tax issue passes, he felt we should budget for the amount
to pave the ten percent of our roads.
Mrs. Hammond stated we are behind because we have not done that ten
percent over the last few years. Mr.
Drobina stated he did not feel we would want to try to catch up in one
year. Mr. Sauer stated he would like to
know the amount it would cost us to pave the ten percent of our roads so we do
not fall behind even further. Mr.
Drobina summarized that if the levy passes, Mr. Sauer would like him to go back
and look at the paving and perhaps increase the paving budget to whatever
amount it would take to pave the ten percent.
Mr. Sauer stated that would be his suggestion so we do not fall even
further behind. Mr. Smith stated he
would like to see this indexed to mileage.
He stated we have 55 street miles and he would like to see six miles,
which is our ten percent, paved each year, or even ten miles a year until we
catch up. Mr. Sauer stated he would like
to see a dollar amount put in there that today we say covers ten percent, and
we should get away from adjusting that amount each year, it should be in the
budget, we know its in there, it stays in there, and that is one of the first
things that is addressed each year. He stated
he felt this was a necessity and something a City should do as a basic
service. He further stated if the income
tax issue passes he felt this is a commitment we owe to the people who vote for
it. Mr. Sauer stated he would like Mr.
Drobina to figure out what ten percent would cost today and come back with that
figure and it could be put in the budget.
Mr. Hansley stated he would like to get some sense if all Council
members agreed with that, and all members stated they concurred with Mr.
Sauer’s recommendation. Mr. Sauer
further questioned if the purchase of the large truck could be put off until
later in the year and then purchased outright rather than doing the lease. Mr. Drobina stated it could be put off until
later in the year and Mrs. Fersch stated by September we should know if the
funds were available to purchase it. Mr.
Fix stated our road salt was estimated at 1900 tons, and Mr. Drobina stated he
had increased his estimate due to Diley Road coming on and it would be twice as
wide as we were accustomed to.
Mr.
Drobina stated the budget for Urban Forestry decreased by 16 percent because we
were decreasing the purchase of trees due to less houses being built. Mr. Sauer clarified that Urban Forestry was
discussed in the Expense Subcommittee and he did not feel this was a necessity
and is something that we should be involved in other than our commercial
corridor in the City. He stated he felt
this should be outsourced to a commercial company that can address the needs of
the commercial corridor and the residents can handle the trees on their
property. Mr. Sabatino stated this
budget is based on the income tax passing, and if it does pass our arborist is
close to retiring so he felt we should look at leaving things as they are and
if we want to make a change, do it when the current arborist retires. Mr. Sauer clarified the arborist is talking
about retiring in September of 2009.
In
reviewing the Water Fund Mr. Smith stated a statistic he would be interest in
seeing is the number of EPA violations so it can be tracked. Mr. Drobina stated he could provide that
information for the past few years. Mr.
Drobina stated the water budget has an increase of .8 percent from last
year.
In
reviewing the Sewer Fund, Mr. Fix clarified that the items that are included in
the budget that are CIP projects can be discussed when the CIP is reviewed and
could be removed if determined we would not be doing them.
In
reviewing the Water Capital Improvement fund, Mr. Fix stated he would not
support $200,000 for TDS. Mr. Sabatino
stated he felt before a project of that significance was included in the budget
it should be discussed by Council. Mr.
Fix stated this would be discussed when reviewing the CIP and could be removed
then. Mr. Sauer stated he would like to
see this removed from the budget now and when the CIP is reviewed it could be
put back in if necessary. The general
consensus by the members was to remove the $200,000 for TDS from the budget at
this time.
After review of the remaining budgets for the
Service Department there were no further recommendations for changes at this
time.
The Budget Work Session recessed at 7:25 P.M.
for a Special Finance Committee meeting scheduled at 7:30 P.M., and reconvened
in open session at 7:41 P.M.
B. Review of remainder of proposed 2009
Budget. The TIF accounts were reviewed
as well as the miscellaneous funds and trust funds with no changes
recommended. Mr. Sabatino stated he has
asked several times for the total amount paid in legal fees for imminent
domain. Mrs. Fersch stated she could
provide that, however, did he want the figures now or when it was
completed. Mr. Sabatino stated he would
like the total amount when it is completed and Mrs. Fersch stated she would put
it on her calendar to provide that information to all of Council.
Mrs. Fersch stated that completed the review
of the budget, and she would have the final budget completed to bring forward
at the Special Finance meeting. Mr.
Sauer inquired when they would have that copy for review and Mrs. Yartin stated
she would prepare packets for the Special Finance meeting on November 12th,
and have them delivered on Friday, November 7th. Mrs. Hammond stated the Special Finance
agenda would include the 2009 budget, the CIP, and the Pay Plan.
Mr. Smith stated it would be nice to have a
way of looking at common items across all budgets, labor being the biggest
thing because you have some individual’s salaries divided among four or five
different departments. He stated energy
was another area, gas and electricity, as well as, office supplies, etc. Mrs. Fersch stated it would not be difficult
to prepare that information for Council.
Mr. Smith stated he didn’t mean for this year, but to have that
information when reviewing the budget next year would make it much easier for
them. Mr. Sauer stated he had noticed
that Facilities Operations had approximately $11,000 in the budget for
furnishings and he would like to know what that was for. He also stated he would like to have office
furniture included in the Mr. Smith had requested for next year.
3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, the Council
Budget Work Session closed at 7:41 P.M., October 29, 2008.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
______________________________
Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk
ATTEST:
_________________________________________
Cristie Hammond, Council President Pro
Tempore