WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009

BUDGET WORK SESSION

6:00 P.M.

1. CALL TO ORDER. Mr. Fix opened the Budget Work Session at 6:00 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Wisniewski present. No members were absent. Others present were: Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Steve Carr, Gavin Blair, Tony Barletta, and others.

2. SCHEDULED MATTERS:

A. Review and discussion of various Service Department Budgets and Parks & Recreation Budget. Mr. Schornack stated he would begin with the Parks and Recreation Department, and there were not many changes to that budget this year. He stated if anyone has any questions he would try and answer them. Mr. Sauer stated he thought it might be a good idea to have a summary meeting at the end in case someone thought of something after that budget had been reviewed, and also, if there were any type of priorities that could be discussed at the beginning so as they are going through the budget they can have that in the back of their mind if they are trying to find funding for something. Mr. Sauer stated perhaps that is something that can be discussed at the beginning of the next meeting. Mr. Fix stated he would suggest at the beginning of the next Budget Work Session they go through the Strategic Plan goals and discuss the items that Council feel are the most critical or that they would like to see done in 2010, and then, as a Council, they can agree on one or two priorities they want to fund in 2010. Mr. Hansley stated also he would point out that items that come out of the staff budget meetings, that they want in their operating budget, especially General Fund departments, those are being pulled out and not included in the budget. He stated that list would be provided to Council as well. Mr. Sauer stated his point was that as they were going through the expenditures in front of them, there may be some things they want to adjust or cut back on and that may add to that budget or the carry over balance.

Mr. Schornack stated in page 10 of the handout titled “Appropriations” breaks out the Recreation Department by itself showing the expenses versus the revenues to show what portion the General Fund subsidizes the Recreation only. He stated he understood that Council wanted to see the departments broken out by their revenue stream versus their costs, and he thought this would be a good place to start. Mr. Schornack stated the revenues for recreation are shown on page 4 of the “Revenues” handout. Mr. Schornack stated the General Fund subsidizes the recreation department by approximately $150,000. Mr. Fix clarified the total revenue for Parks and Rec is $495,855 projected and the total expenditures for Parks and Rec is $532,280, so the difference between the revenue generated and the amount expended is $36,000. Mr. Schornack stated that was correct and fund balance would be carried into 2010 of $109,000. Mr. Fix stated during the Expense Subcommittee meetings last year there were some difficult conversations regarding moving the Parks Department into Service. He stated he would like to know what, if any, impact that would have on the overall budget by making that adjustment. Mr. Hansley stated the organizational chart he had proposed showed eliminating the Parks and Recreation Director and having the programming done by a coordinator position under the administrative department. He stated the parks facility was moved to Service and, in a sense, eliminated the traditional Parks and Recreation Director. He stated the goal was to have some cost savings of at least half of that position. Mr. Fix clarified with salary and benefits the savings to the budget by eliminating half of that position would be close to $45,000. Mr. Hansley stated then the goal would be to have either a seasonal or part-time person that could supervise baseball, softball, pool, and the sign-up things; things that are traditionally on the recreation side as opposed to park maintenance. Then if the Service Department assumes the mowing of the grass, stripping of the fields, etc., then the recreation would have to be done by a non-full time position. Mr. Fix further clarified we would try to minimize the impact on the services provided. Mr. Hansley stated the special event part of the Director’s job, the Halloween, Fourth of July, Easter, etc., events, would have to be passed on to some other staff member. Mr. Sauer clarified the total cost of salary and benefits for the Parks and Recreation Director is about $75,000. Mr. Sauer stated then if the transfer from the General Fund were reduced, that would mitigate some of the impact of that salary. Mr. Sabatino stated if we budget what we are actually going to spend for a year in a given department, do the funding based on that, and then do your best to live within that. He continued that changing the carryover would not do anything, because if you are going to make any changes that make any sense you need to cut some of the operational expenses, and that is where salary and benefits come in. Mr. Sauer stated he felt that by cutting down the carryover balance, when and if there is any additional spending, and it is coming to Council, there is more of an understanding that you are taking that from the General Fund instead of just shifting things around within the department. Mr. Schornack stated it is difficult, based upon the timing of when the budget is presented, because people are estimating what they will spend till the end of the year, so these are still estimates to get to an ending balance at the end of this year. Mr. Sauer stated in his opinion the carryover balances would all go back into the General Fund and we would start at zero the following year to build the budget. Mr. Sabatino stated if we want to go to the performance based budget, then Mr. Sauer’s idea makes even more sense to start there because we would get a much better picture of what the actual activity is. Mr. Smith stated the point was how fine of an estimate you wanted to hold staff to. Mr. Fix stated if the number on December 31^st is $109,000 or whatever, it all goes back in the General Fund. Mr. Smith stated in a sense it never left the General Fund. Mr. Fix stated for budgeting purposes he did not want to say there was a balance to start with, because there wasn’t. Mr. Smith stated that is exactly what happened last year and how we got a motorcycle that Council did not think they budgeted for; because the money went forward and did not go back into the General Fund like they thought. Mr. Sabatino stated if you start each year with a zero balance then you have much more truth and understandability. Mrs. Fersch stated she would remind everyone that at the beginning of each year Council adopts a piece of legislation that refers to transfers that is required by the Auditors and our appropriations cannot exceed that. Mr. Smith stated he would suggest that instead of a hard number each department use three percent as their estimate cushion. Mr. Sauer stated he that made sense and if there were an emergency that would exceed that, it would be Council’s due diligence to have a special meeting to appropriate additional funds if they are needed. Mr. Smith stated that staff should be on notice that the shell game with carryover balances would not happen this coming year, that just because you have that three percent, that is not your extra money to use. Mr. Hansley stated then the task would be to keep the carryover balance at a bare minimum.

Mr. Fix stated $15,750 is budgeted for 2009 for each employee for health insurance, and he questioned if we could keep that number for 2010. Mr. Schornack stated we are going to have several proposals come in for insurance with reduced benefits to lower the costs, as we have had a very bad year. Mr. Schornack stated we are looking at a 30 percent increase. He stated once we get that increase we can start reducing the benefits, make higher deductibles, and increasing the employee’s portion they pay for the premium. Mr. Schornack stated we will have a better idea once we get the proposals in. Mrs. Fersch stated that is why we went to the HSA, because there was a considerable savings. Mrs. Fersch stated it is standard in the industry to have a 12 to 15 percent increase of the premium in general. She stated employees are paying eight percent now, except the unions are capped at $120, so we are losing $4 to $5 a month. Mr. Fix clarified that we are working through the insurance issue and our union contracts at the same time, and that the number per employee is a very conservative number that we hope will remain about the same as last year.

Mr. Fix the reorganization issue will be dealt with in January, and they are not advocating any changes to the budget as proposed other than the carry over. Mr. Smith stated you need to breakdown the carryover by $80,000, and that goes into the General Fund, and you will increase the transfer out of General Fund by $30,000, and that will leave roughly three percent. Mr. Schornack stated as he understood it he would adjust the 2009 transfer so we do not go into the new year with a $109,000 balance, but more like a $20,000 balance. Mr. Sauer stated, just to make sure he understood perfectly, we take approximately $100,000 out and then put approximately $30,000 back in to make the revenues and expenditures match, and then next year we look at zero. Mr. Wisniewski stated that was correct. Mr. Fix clarified there were no further comments on the Parks and Recreation budget.

The Committee reviewed the Aquatic Fund budget and the Park Capital budget with no changes or revisions.

The Budget Work Session recessed at 7:45 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 7:55 P.M.

The Committee reviewed the Urban Forestry budget and Mr. Fix clarified that in urban forestry we were bringing in $97,300 and we are spending $130,850. Mr. Schornack stated of that $97,000, $70,000 is a transfer from the General Fund. Mr. Fix stated then we are actually bringing in $27,000 while spending about $131,000. Mr. Fix stated last year there was discussion with deleting the position of the Arborist. Mr. Fix further stated the Committee last year was informed the current Arborist intended to retire this year and he has now decided not to retire. Mr. Drobina stated he has a meeting scheduled with PERS the beginning of November, and he may still retire January 1^st. Mr. Drobina stated he would not actually know until after his meeting with PERS. Mr. Fix questioned if Council members would still like to delete the Arborist position. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt we could delete that position, but he felt we needed something in place so those duties were taken care of. Mr. Fix stated if the Arborist decided not to retire, he does have the ability through the AFSME contract to bump another individual from a position he is qualified for. Mr. Sauer clarified that should he move to another position he would be paid what that position paid, and he currently makes more than what the top level of service technician makes, so there would be a salary decrease. Mr. Fix stated in 2009 the trees along S.R. 256 were trimmed by contract, and Mr. Drobina stated we could also contract out the trimming of the street trees throughout the City. Mr. Sabatino clarified the Arborist position duties included the planting of trees, trimming of trees, and maintaining the arboretum. Mr. Fix clarified that to maintain the Tree City USA designation we are required to spend $2.00 per capita, so we could still meet that requirement by contracting out the tree trimming. Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Fix all concurred that the Arborist position was nice to have, but was not necessary. Mr. Fix requested the Arborist position be removed and replace it with a contract to deal with the thoroughfare trees and 20 percent of the residential trees. Mr. Drobina stated he would request an increase in the professional services category to cover that contract. Mr. Fix stated he would like Mr. Schornack to come back with a revised budget for Urban Forestry.

The Committee reviewed the Street Department budget. Mr. Fix clarified that the budget was prepared with a zero percent pay increase. Mr. Drobina stated he was requesting $8,000 for some software the City Engineer would like to have. Mr. Fix inquired if it would be possible to get a personnel listing of who is in the wages, AFSME, etc. Mr. Schornack stated he has that, but he just did not have it ready. He stated he would have it by the next work session. Review was also conducted on the State Highway Fund, Fleet Maintenance, Gasoline Rotary, and FEMA Fund with no corrections or additions. In review of the Water Fund, Sewer Fund, WPCL Fund, Water Debt Retirement, Utilities Deposit, Water Capital Improvements, OWDA, Sewer Repair and Replacement, Sewer Plant/Line Construction, Stormwater, Sewer Debt Retirement, Stormwater Construction, and Stormwater Debt Retirement Funds, it was determined the borrowing for the new water tower would be added and the salary for the City Engineer would be divided between the various accounts. Mrs. Fersch stated the a little more could be paid toward debt, but in preparing the budget she did not know what the final figures would be. Mrs. Fersch stated depending on the carryover balance at the end of the year, she would know if she could pay more on the debt. Mr. Drobina stated he would like to request $25,000 be added to his budget to have a training program designed for every piece of equipment at the plant. He stated the employees would have to go through this program and pass a test, so we would know that the employees would know how to operate and maintain every piece of equipment in the plant. All the Committee members agreed this would be a worthwhile program and stated Mr. Drobina should add that into his budget. The Committee further agreed to the purchase of software for water and sewer line modeling for the City Engineer’s use. Mr. Drobina stated the Mingo project has been pushed back to 2011 at the request of the Township so the $81,137 can be removed from the budget. Mr. Drobina stated the budgeted amount for the Sycamore Creek Sanitary Sewer project in Sewer Repair and Replacement could be reduced from $200,000 to $30,000 based on the projections when the grant application was submitted.

Mr. Schornack stated for the next Work Session on October 28, 2009, he would have the budgets for General Fund departments for review.

3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, the work session closed at 9:10 P.M., October 14, 2009.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk