FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

                                             WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008

 

                                                            SPECIAL 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. Fix, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Sanders were present.  Mr. Smith arrived at 7:04 P.M.  Mr. Wisniewski was absent due to illness.  Others present were Mayor O’Brien, Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Brenda VanCleave, Chief Taylor, Lance Schultz, Paul Lane, Carolyn Sharp, Steve Annetts, Ralph Portier, Matt Delp, Angie Fenner, Bobbi Glass, Mike Miller, Bud Joos, Marian Sigaloff, and others.

 

Mrs. Hammond stated prior to beginning the scheduled matters on this evening’s agenda, she would like to thank all of the staff members who worked on the campaign.  She stated even though we did not achieve the results we wanted their efforts are greatly appreciated.  Mrs. Hammond stated further there is a rumor going around that needs to be addressed dealing with the police department.  She stated Council has not considered doing away with the police department, there have been no suggestions brought before Council for any other type of service nor have they indicated this is something they would even consider.  She stated any talk of this nature is not coming from this Council as a whole.  Mrs. Hammond further stated she felt she spoke for all of Council in stating that they are very proud of the job the police do in our community and they will continue to support the service they bring to our citizens.  Mrs. Hammond stated she would also like to thank the rest of the staff members for stepping up to the plate these past few months and taking on jobs that fit nowhere in their job descriptions.  She stated she knew everyone was uneasy about what would transpire and she hoped everyone could work in a friendly environment in the future. 

 

Mrs. Hammond stated she would request this Committee only review the staff recommendations this evening.  She continued there is a lot of information to be discussed and she would, therefore, like to move the proposed staff modifications to the budget to the end of the agenda and take care of the other business first this evening. 

 

2.                  SCHEDULED MATTERS:

 

A.        Review and discussion of staff proposed modifications to 2009 Budget.  To be reviewed at the end of the agenda.   

 

            B.         Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to adopt an Employee Pay Plan and Authorized Strength for 2009 and declaring an emergency.  Mrs. Fersch stated she had prepared the pay plan in a new format this year and she felt you could see the positions in each department very easily.  Mrs. Fersch stated the new format shows the hiring pay range and the FOP and AFSCME pay ranges are based on the first pay of 2009.  Mrs. Fersch stated in some areas she had added “as needed” so she would not have to come back to Council if we found we needed an extra playground person or whatever.  She stated each department is very conscientious about not hiring more people than we need, and this will be done in those areas.  Mrs. Fersch stated there are five positions that have been redlined and would not receive the recommended 1.5 percent pay increase.  Mrs. Fersch stated the legislation is written as an emergency in order to have everything in place for the first pay period of 2009, which is December 15, 2008.  She stated if Council did not pass this as an emergency, then the salary increases would have to be done retroactively after it is effective.  Mrs. Fersch stated as the pay plan is a companion to the budget ordinance it is impossible to bring it forward earlier in the year.  Mr. Smith clarified this pay plan does reflect the current budget and was prepared after the election last week.  Mr. Fix clarified the five positions not receiving the pay increase were two receptionist positions at the police department, three administrative clerk positions, one at the police department, one at the building department, and one at the City Manager’s office.  She stated these positions were reviewed based on internal equity as far as what people who have more responsibilities are getting.  She stated we plan to do a more intensive job audit next year in comparison to other communities, etc.  Mrs. Fersch further stated the City Manager would not be receiving the wage increase.  Mr. Sabatino stated he would support this tonight with the reservation that it may be looked at in the future because he has spoken to the City Manager about taking a look at making some recommendations in the future.  Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

C.        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinances adopting a Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for 2009-2013.  Ms VanCleave stated there have been a few changes since the draft was forwarded to Council and she reviewed the changes as follows.  She stated in the Water Fund the Mingo water main replacement, Project No. W-10, has been pushed off one year because it was pending the Township getting funding for an OPWC project and it is her understanding they did not receive the funding.  Ms VanCleave stated in Wastewater, Project Nos. WW-04 and WW-08 were each pushed back one year to 2011.  Under Streets, Project ST-01 has been reduced to $20,000, ST-03 is reduced to $5,000, ST-10 is reduced to $2,500, and ST-28 is also reduced to $2,500.  Mr. Drobina clarified we have left $20,000 in street paving and resurfacing so we can do some crack sealing and some small maintenance areas.  Mr. Hansley stated he would point out that because this is the General Fund portion of the CIP these items will tie directly into the discussion later this evening on the operating budget as the first year of the CIP is reflected here and also in the operating side.  He stated if you change something later tonight, we would come back and make the changes here.  He stated staff is recommending we do nothing but emergency crack sealing and pothole patching and no resurfacing this year.  Ms VanCleave stated there are no changes in Stormwater, however, she understood we would be awarded the grant for the old village stormsewer.  She stated we have not received word on the amount of the grant, however, the amount in the budget is the amount we will be responsible for.  Mr. Fix clarified we have the money appropriated this year for the engineering on the Hill Road culvert replacement design.  Ms VanCleave stated once we get the engineering design done we can look to see what we can do.  She stated our engineer at Stilson has looked at this culvert and stated he would not wait on this project.  Mr. Hansley stated this budget does not contain funding to replace the culvert, just to engineer replacement.  Ms VanCleave stated she thought this was for replacement that the engineering has already been appropriated as part of the 2008 budget.  Mr. Drobina stated there is money in the Water Fund to do the design in 2008, and it was his understanding there was money in 2009 to replace the culvert.  Mr. Hansley stated he would like Mrs. Fersch to clarify this and Mrs. Fersch stated there was not sufficient funding in the Stormwater Fund to replace the culvert and she had listed it and the downtown outfall on the debt sheet to borrow.  Mrs. Fersch stated if we are going to do this replacement she would recommend we have these two pieces of legislation for those and combine them with our big issue in January because it seems like if you go out for a small amount of money, under a million dollars, you have less of a chance of someone giving you a bid on it.  Mr. Hansley stated then the project is in the budget and if the budget passes it is subject to us being able to borrow the money.  Mrs. Hammond stated then we don’t have the money for the engineering and Mrs. Fersch stated that is correct and she was proposing borrowing $389,000 for the downtown outfall and $150,000 for the culvert.  Mr. Drobina clarified the money for the engineering has been encumbered and Mrs. Fersch was referencing borrowing for the replacement.  Ms VanCleave stated in Parks and Recreation on Project No. P&R-0-2, that has been reduced to $18,500 and the NatureWorks project, Project No. P&R-04, has been increased to $10,659, Project No.P&R-08 has been reduced to $115,000, which is to pay for the pool, and Project No. P&R-09 was reduced to zero.  Mr. Hansley stated he would like to point out that the $115,000 for the pool payment comes from impact fees from development and can only be used for recreation projects.  Ms VanCleave stated in Lands and Buildings, Project L&B-06 was increased to $16,500 to take into account the replacement of the HVAC unit at the Building/Engineering/Parks department building.  She further stated Project L&B-07 was reduced to zero, and under the Capital Projects L&B-11, the salt barn, was pushed to 2011 and L&B-14 was pushed to 2012.  She stated further the two projects to expand city hall and the police vehicle storage building, Projects L&B-02 and L&B-04, were moved to the unfounded list.  Mr. Hansley stated he did not foresee either of those two projects being done in the next five years, and that is why he moved them to the unfunded list.  Mrs. Hammond stated on the Unfunded list, Project No. UF-35 for a municipal pool has been fulfilled and Ms VanCleave stated that was correct, she would remove that project from the list.  Mr. Sabatino stated he though Project UF-41 could be removed as well because he did not see where the funding would be available for council chambers renovations.  Mr. Fix moved to approve the Capital Improvements Plan as reviewed this evening and with the removal of Project No. UF-35 and UF-41 from the Unfunded List; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

D.        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into a contract with the Local Government Services Division of the Office of the Auditor of State to assist the City in preparing General Purpose Finance Statements and Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).  Mrs. Fersch stated in order to have this legislation in place so the auditors can begin the report the first of January, she was bringing it forward this evening.  She stated she has placed a not-to-exceed amount in the legislation, which is what we usually put in, but the actual cost has never come near the not-to-exceed amount.  Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Mrs. Hammond stated that completed the remaining agenda items so that would bring us back to the review of the proposed 2009 budget modifications.  Mrs. Hammond stated everyone had received the revised budget from Mrs. Fersch this evening.  Mrs. Fersch stated a few things had been added on the budget cuts and those were reflected as well as the revised income tax estimate for next year.  She stated she had also revised the income tax estimates for this year which affect our carryover balance.  She stated she had taken out almost $1.4 million in revenues and based on the expenditures in the original presentation of the budget, the General Fund would be $435,000 in the red.  She stated the second sheet shows after the proposed budget cuts before Finance this evening, it brings the General Fund back up to $1 million which we wanted as the carryover balance, since we do not have a rainy day fund, in case we have an emergency.  Mrs. Fersch also stated we were reducing the principal paid on debt and she had distributed a new debt sheet this evening as well.  Mr. Sabatino clarified our financial advisor had recommended we have a $1 million carryover balance because if we didn’t it could adversely affect the rates we pay on interest on borrowing.  Mrs. Fersch stated that was correct. 

 

Mr. Sabatino stated a resident from his neighborhood had asked him to express their concerns about the decision on how we will be handling snow and the fact that we do have a lot of inexperienced youthful drivers.  He stated their concern was we might save a few dollars, but the safety element should be considered in that decision. 

 

Mr. Hansley stated what staff was trying to accomplish with the recommended budget was to create a balance that would finish up 2009 with a sufficient balance to carry us into 2010 and 2011 on the assumption that we would not receive any additional revenue over and above normal growth, and given the economy he had to make some bad assumptions about what normal growth would look like.  He stated the target was to take about $1.4 or $1.5 million out of the proposed 2009 budget.  He stated as Council is aware, the proposed 2009 budget contained items we thought could be funded if the two percent income tax request had been approved.  Mr. Hansley stated the first things looked at were items that were not essential, things we do not as a government have to do, and the first list represents that.  He stated while these are important contributions and add to the quality of life in our community, staff is proposing we look at all of these items.  Mr. Sabatino clarified that for mosquito control the spraying is done in the early morning hours, and rather than using overtime for the spraying, Mr. Drobina could schedule someone to work those hours as their regular hours during the spraying season.  Mrs. Fersch stated she would point out that the dollar amount listed is for the cost of the chemicals, overtime is over and above this cost. 

 

Mr. Hansley stated another reduction listed is to eliminate the fireworks and parade on the Fourth of July.  He stated this is a $28,000 item and is our program and he was recommending that be eliminated in 2009.  Mr. Sabatino inquired if the elimination of the $3,500 for the dog shelter would eliminate their ability to come up here.  Deputy Bobbi Glass of the dog shelter was present and stated they are not tax funded, but are self-sufficient on what they receive from adoptions and licenses, and they rely on the $3,500 from the City.  She stated if this funding is cut their services might be very minimal.  Deputy Glass stated last year they had approximately 175 calls in Pickerington where 85 dogs were impounded. 

 

Mr. Joos of the Pickerington Senior Center stated the Center had initially requested a grant of $10,000 from the City first in 2003.  He stated although the levy recently passed they will not receive any of the money until May and the first part of the year drains their budget.  He stated if the City does not grant the full request, he would request an amount to help them during the first part of the year. 

 

Mr. Sauer inquired if we had contacted Violet Township to see if they would split the cost of the Fourth of July and Mr. Hansley stated he had decided not to send that letter until we knew what would happen to our budget, but it was still an option.  Mr. Sauer clarified the bulk of the expense is on fireworks and this year we spent $16,800 on those.  He stated if we just purchased fireworks and split that with the Township, it would be $8,400.  Mr. Sauer stated if everyone concurs he would like Mr. Hansley to speak with the Township and see if it is a possibility to split the cost of the fireworks.  Mr. Hansley stated if this is kept in the budget and it falls through, then it could be removed later.  Mr. Carr stated, however, the fireworks companies want a signed contract in January in order to schedule our event in July. 

 

Mr. Hansley stated under the Legislative Department there is a vacant position that will remain vacant due to the hiring freeze and the Council and Manager’s training budget was reduced to $2,500 each.  Council stated they felt the Council training budget could be reduced to zero.  In the Finance Department, Mr. Hansley stated the financial advisor’s retainer was being renegotiated for a savings of $5,000.  Mrs. Fersch stated in the Income Tax department she was proposing the part-time clerk hours be reduced quite a bit.  Mrs. Fersch reviewed the proposed reductions in the Personnel Department, and Mr. Hansley reviewed the proposed reductions in legal costs, Mayor’s Court, Lands and Buildings, Planning and Zoning, Development, Building Inspection, Street Department, Parks Department, and Police Department. 

 

Mr. Fix clarified if the dispatcher position was not filled it would possibly mean bringing an officer in from the road and have them work the radios for a few hours.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt that would compromise our street presence.  Carolyn Sharp stated she is the communications supervisor at the police department.  She stated the dispatcher that just resigned and the dispatcher that is retiring are topped out in pay.  She stated deleting those two positions amounts to about $20,000.  Ms Sharp stated you cannot work in the radio room safely with just one person in there.  She stated they have been on minimum staffing and she felt they have been doing a very good job with that.  Ms Sharp stated she was present this evening to ask Council please not cut that one full-time dispatcher position because no matter what a dispatcher can only work with one call at a time.  Mr. Smith stated the $62,000 reflected was the cost to replace the full time and the part-time dispatcher.  Mrs. Fersch stated the cost for the full time dispatcher was approximately $50,000 including salary and benefits.  Chief Taylor stated he appreciated Council addressing the rumor that they were considering dissolving the police department.  He stated while he sympathized with the other departments in making cuts, his department does provide safety to everyone who lives in the City and asking him to do without a dispatcher and cut back one cruiser is not safe.  He stated this would mean he would have one cruiser on the street that has 90,000 miles on it now.  He stated he was asking Council that in addition to the dispatcher, if he can make the cuts elsewhere in the budget, if he could have the additional cruiser back.  Mrs. Hammond stated if Chief Taylor can find somewhere else in the budget to make cuts, she was certain Council would consider putting in a second car.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt to compromise the services of our police department for a few dollars is not a good choice and he asked his fellow council members to see if they can’t find the funding elsewhere to keep that dispatcher position. 

 

Mr. Hansley on the pay plan staff was proposing cutting back the proposed three percent increase for nonunion employees to 1.5 percent, and the wage increase for the two unions was at 3.5 percent by their contracts, with four positions frozen on a pay increase.  Mr. Hansley stated the debt reduction was reduced by $185,000.  Mr. Hansley stated that concluded his review of the reductions recommended by staff. 

 

Mr. Fix stated through the Finance Committee Expense Subcommittee he thought it was shown that there is a pretty significant savings with RITA and the city staff engineer.  He stated he felt Urban Forestry should be debated by all of Council, but by putting the savings of the city engineer and RITA into the budget, we could afford the dispatcher.  Mr. Fix stated if he had to pick one thing out of the budget to put back in, it would be the dispatcher because it is one thing to not have Fourth of July fireworks, it was another to put someone in danger or at risk. 

 

Mayor O’Brien ascertained that if we decided to go with RITA it would require at least a six month notice, so we would be looking at late in the year before RITA would come in so that savings for this year would be more like $20,000.  Mayor O’Brien stated with the city engineer it would take time to advertise, interview, etc., so instead of saving $57,500 it would be more like $25,000 for this year.  Mrs. Hammond stated our current arborist is talking about retiring in September of 2009, and that $60,000 is not just his wages, but the entire arborist program.  She stated then, the savings would not be $60,000 for this year.  Mr. Fix stated in cutting back those three items, it would pay for the dispatcher position. 

 

The Special Finance Committee meeting recessed at 8:35 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 8:50 P.M.

 

Mr. Sauer stated the $60,000 savings in urban forestry would allow the City to hire a firm to take care of the trees in the economic corridors and main thoroughfares of the city and the trees in the residential neighborhoods would be the responsibility of the property owners.  Mr. Smith clarified the $60,000 represented eliminating urban forestry and outsourcing it.  Mr. Schornack stated the $60,000 represented the annual savings to the city assuming there were no urban forestry employees on January 1st.  Mr. Smith stated then it would be substantially less if we did not do this until September.  Mr. Fix stated just to clarify, the Expense Subcommittee had discussed that the arborist is a member of our Service Department, with seniority, so if we eliminated that position he would move back into the Service Department and a less tenured member of the Service Department would be let go.  He stated, in addition, some of the basic urban forestry activities would still be handled by the Service Department.  Mr. Smith stated he understood that.  Mr. Smith stated our $3,500 per year contribution to the dog shelter represented about $20 per call for their service in our city and he felt that was a bargain.  Mr. Smith stated if he added the dog shelter back in, put in $5,000 for the senior center, put $13,000 in for Fourth of July contingent upon matching funds from Violet Township, take out $2,500 for council training, add $50,000 back in for a dispatcher, and even another $10,000 in that would put us half way towards another cruiser, that puts us at $80,000 which is within the $100,000 mark we currently have that the staff has currently recommended.  Mr. Smith stated he was comfortable with what staff has recommended with the adjustments he just mentioned.  Mr. Fix stated he would agree with Mr. Smith except for the funds for the Fourth of July because if it came down to replacing a cruiser that has almost 100,000 miles on it or fireworks that last twenty minutes he would go for the cruiser.  He stated it would be a shame not to have the Fourth of July fireworks, but if it came down to safety he would go for the safety.  Mr. Sabatino stated he would suggest taking out all of the funding for the fireworks because it could be added back in if the Township agreed to pay for half. 

 

Mrs. Hammond stated with regard to the donation to the senior center, she would point out that a lot of the members of the senior center are not residents of the City and Mr. Fix stated he would like to know what Violet Township’s contribution is to the senior center.  Mr. Smith stated Violet Township provides maintenance to the Center and Mrs. Hammond stated the Township owns the building.  Mr. Sabatino stated the senior center also receives funds from Meals on Wheels, and he understood they are requesting funds to last them until the levy starts coming in so this is a one-time expense.  Mrs. Sanders stated if even some of our residents are members of the senior center she felt we should support it.  Mr. Sauer stated he didn’t know what the senior center budget was like, but the City’s budget is extremely tight, and if we were going to cut the Fourth of July budget it seemed extremely difficult to make a donation to the senior center.  He stated he could understand continuing the donation to the dog shelter because that is a safety issue.  He stated he knew it was not a popular stand, and he respected everyone’s position, but he just had a hard time with this.  Mr. Smith stated he still felt a $5,000 donation would be appropriate.  Mrs. Fersch stated they should receive their tax distribution from the levy beginning in May.  Mrs. Hammond stated she would recommend a donation of $1,000 per month for four months for a total of $4,000. 

 

Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to clarify, by motion, where everyone stood on each of the items discussed. 

 

Mr. Smith moved to include in the 2009 budget a $1,000 per month donation to the Senior Center for four months for a total of $4,000; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer voting “Nay,” and Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-1. 

 

Mr. Smith moved to include the $3,500 under General Government for the dog shelter; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Mr. Fix moved to remove all of the Fourth of July funding from the 2009 budget; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Smith voting “Nay,” and Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 4-2. 

 

Mrs. Sanders moved to remove the $2,500 for Council training from the 2009 budget; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Mr. Sabatino clarified that Mr. Hansley would contact the paratransit individual and let him know that the funding in the budget was $6,250 which would allow them a couple of months to transition.  Mr. Hansley stated this would allow them to give notice to the people who use this service and there are only about four or five people in our community who use the service.  Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to point out that a task force has been looking into numerous other ways to insure that people will be able to get where they need to go. 

Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to clarify the discussion regarding any recommended changes to the recommendations of staff for the Police Department.  Mayor O’Brien stated he would like to clarify that any overtime for any services generated outside the City will be on a fee for service basis.  He stated be that traffic control for ball games, Labor Day parades, festivals, etc., anything that we do not generate would be on a fee for service basis.  Mr. Schornack stated that would be under special duty and we do not handle that, it is all handled at the Police Department.  Mr. Sabatino stated did that mean that we would charge the Lions Club for overtime when they have their parade, and Mayor O’Brien stated it meant for everyone for any event not sponsored by the City.  Mr. Hansley stated he would like to clarify that this “free” overtime has been removed in this proposed budget and the only overtime that is left in the budget is the overtime that cannot be controlled such as court, sick leave, and things that are mandated overtime by contract.  Mr. Hansley stated the optional overtime will either not be done or will be charged back to the event.  Mrs. Hammond stated this would not be unique to the City and, in fact, staff is working on an event application that is modeled after what other communities do.  Mr. Smith clarified that right now we are in the process of developing a special event application, and that will ask the applicant if they need port-a-johns, streets closed, barricades, police overtime, etc.  Mr. Hansley stated this will let everyone know right at the beginning of the process what the costs would be.  Mr. Hansley stated if the budget as proposed is adopted, the overtime to non-City groups will be removed and if Council does not want to do that, he would request a motion to add overtime back into the budget. 

 

Mr. Sauer moved to fund $50,000 for a dispatcher position in the 2009 budget; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Mr. Smith moved to including the funding for two police cruisers in the 2009 budget; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Mr. Fix stated with regard to the four other items for consideration, Mr. Hansley has been asked to come back to Finance Committee next week with his recommendations on process and qualifications for the city engineer, Mrs. Fersch has been requested to come back to Finance by the end of the year with a proposal from the Franklin County Board of Health for evaluation, and for urban forestry our arborist will be retiring in September and with the hiring freeze that position would not be replaced anyway. 

 

Mr. Fix further stated he felt RITA should be addressed and he would like to have Finance Committee review the formal proposal from them.  Mr. Smith stated he is very suspect of any savings and very concerned about the potential loss of customer service to our residents and he would not support it.  Mr. Sauer stated he has previously abstained from any discussion on this issue, but having further discussion with the Ethics Committee and having their interpretation it was clarified that he did not need to abstain from voting on this issue because it is not a direct family relationship that either would personally financially benefit from, it involves a cousin that he sees only three or four times a year, and there is no longer abstaining from this discussion.  Mr. Sauer stated from his point of view he saw this as an efficiency move, as adding technology, as the City collecting its revenue at a lower rate, and the way the proposal is set up we will still have our Tax Administrator onboard in the City and residents will still be able to stop in and have a person to contact in the City on any issues or concerns.  Mr. Sauer stated there is still an option of hiring a temporary part-time individual during the tax season and RITA has stated they will send individuals to our community during the tax season as well.  Mr. Sauer continued that in the survey that was done, 90 percent of the respondents were very positive in their remarks about RITA and this is something that he supports.  Mrs. Hammond clarified we currently have two full-time employees and one part-time that we have reduced the hours for.  Mrs. Fersch stated this would affect the two full-time employees and we currently have one position open in utilities that we were about to hire for but held off on pending what Council’s decision was on this issue.  Mrs. Fersch stated the other individual would need to be taken care of.  Mayor O’Brien stated that meant placing them in another vacant position, and Mrs. Fersch stated that was correct, one that we currently have a hiring freeze on.  Mayor O’Brien stated there would be no cost savings there because we would not be saving the cost of their salary and benefits.  Mr. Sabatino clarified we do not have the requirement to place these two employees.  Mr. Hansley stated that is the staff proposal, but in any final decision on income tax you are not required to save the job, if you eliminate the function you could eliminate those positions.  He stated staff would prefer you not do that, but it would ultimately be Council’s decision.  Mrs. Fersch stated we have a proposal from RITA of three percent of what the collections are.  Mrs. Yartin stated the proposal is on the Table at Finance committee.  Mr. Fix stated it could be addressed then at Finance committee. 

 

Mrs. Hammond stated with regard to council health insurance, it was her opinion that should council decide to eliminate this it would be for the 2010 budget because we would want to be sure that everyone would be able to obtain other insurance.  Mr. Sabatino stated, however, we are talking about the 2009 budget right now and he felt it would be out of line to make a recommendation for the 2010 budget at this point.  Mr. Hansley stated if no action is taken one way or another, these four items will not be affected. 

 

Mr. Sauer asked if there would be discussion regarding any further budget issues this evening, and Mr. Schornack stated for Finance meeting he would like to see any items to discuss that are not staff’s recommended cuts or reductions. 

 

Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to have a clean copy of the budget with the changes that were made this evening for discussion at the next Finance Committee meeting.  Mrs. Hammond stated further, the next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19th, at 7:00 P.M. and the DARE graduation is also scheduled for that time.  Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Wisniewski had asked if the Finance Committee meeting could be rescheduled as his daughter is taking part in the DARE graduation that evening.  After discussion it was determined that the Finance Committee meeting would remain scheduled for November 19th, but the start time would be moved to 8:00 P.M.

 

Mr. Sabatino clarified that in order not to change our policy on snow removal we would need to add another $70,000 back into the budget for salt and overtime.  Mr. Hansley stated further if we do not change that program he would recommend the $27,000 for the smaller of the two trucks be added back in because that would be needed to plow subdivisions.  Mr. Hansley stated we will not risk safety, but we will try hard to use less salt and less overtime and still be safe. 

 

Mr. Fix stated there is still a lot of work to do on the budget but he would like to put on the record how impressed he is with staff on how quickly and professionally they turned around a budget that was dramatically different than the one we had a couple of weeks ago.  Mr. Fix further stated he would like to commend the Mayor and Council for creating a budget that does preserve all the jobs while still making some tough decisions.  

 

3.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Smith moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Sanders voted "Aye."  Motion carried, 6-0.  The Finance Committee Special Meeting adjourned at 10:05 P.M., November 12, 2008.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk