FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
CITY
HALL,
REGULAR
MEETING
7:00
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mrs.
Sanders called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M., with roll call as follows:
Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and
Mr. Wisniewski were present. No members
were absent. Others present were Mayor
O’Brien,
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF January 20, 2010, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
3. FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
A. Finance Director’s Report. Mr. Schornack stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Schornack further stated we are a little behind schedule on our e-filing system but we hope to have it in place by February 14th. He stated we did end the year with a General Fund balance $250,000 higher than we estimated, however we were down 10.9 percent on income tax in January. Mr. Fix clarified that we actually budget a 2.3 percent increase in income tax. Mr. Fix further ascertained that our income tax delinquency collection was up $75,000 last year compared to the previous year. Mr. Schornack stated he hoped that the 10.9 percent did not hold and that would be revisited each month.
B. Review
and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending the 2010
appropriation, Ordinance 2009-91. Mr.
Schornack reviewed the proposed appropriation ordinance and stated the property
tax exemption on the swimming pool has not been completed by the State as they
are approximately 18 months behind. Mr.
Fix ascertained that with what we should get refunded from last year and with
this year’s taxes, the State would have approximately $34,000 that will be
refunded. He questioned if this is the
City’s money, why should we let them sit on it.
Mr. Sauer stated he was not advocating it, but what kind of penalty
would there be if we did not pay the taxes.
Mr. Schornack stated he could speak to Mr. Laramee at the
4. PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT.
A. Personnel Director’s Report. Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a written report to the Committee and she would answer any questions.
B. Review
and request for motion to approve draft ordinance adopting the Rules and
Regulations for the Personnel Appeals Board.
Mrs. Fersch stated the Personnel Appeals Board approved their Rules and
Regulations at their last meeting. She
stated the rules reflect the changes in the format on how we do the testing and
hiring, and also provides the process on how appeals are handled. Mrs.
Sanders moved to approve and forward to
C. Review
and discussion of proposed revisions to the Employee Manual. Mrs. Fersch stated at the last meeting, the
Committee had questions regarding the vacation accrual. Mrs. Fersch stated as a result of the accrual
balance change that was adopted about 18 months ago, there seemed to be a large
liability for the City should an employee leave and their vacation had to be
paid out. She stated she had provided
information on the non-union employees that would be over the maximum accrual amount. She stated in order to be fair to these
employees, since we are reducing the amount allowed as a carryover balance, and
to prevent putting burdens on departments, she was requesting that we pay out
the excess accrued amount to bring their balances to the new carryover balance
and this would amount to $13,212.69. She
stated the employees would be offered the option of receiving the pay out or of
using that vacation time. Mrs. Fersch
stated this would bring everyone to the allowed carryover balance for their
range, and then henceforth they would be required to use their annual accrual
or they would lose it. Mrs. Sanders
clarified this would be a one time payout.
Mr. Fix stated then for $13,000 this would remove the larger liability,
and Mrs. Fersch stated that was correct.
Mr. Fix clarified this was not included in the budget and Mr. Schornack
stated he would have to come back with an appropriation based upon who would
want to sell back the time, however, the potential savings was about
$50,000. Mr. Fix stated this made sense
long term. Mr. Schornack stated Chief
Taylor had asked him to let the committee know that he did not support this
recommendation. Mrs. Fersch stated the
new carryover balance of 1-1/2 times annual accrual is included in the Personnel
Policies and Procedures Manual and she would like to have the Manual forwarded
to
D. Review
and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending the Employee Pay
Plan and Authorized Strength. Mrs.
Fersch stated everyone had received a copy of the revised Pay Plan and
Authorized Strength that reflects a change in the hiring range for the
Development Director. Mr. Sauer inquired
if the hiring rate for the Development Director is in line with other
communities in the area and Mrs. Fersch stated we are right in the middle or a
little lower. Mrs. Sanders moved to approve and forward to
5. CHAIRMAN:
A. Strategic Plan Goals – Update. Mrs. Sanders stated Rules Committee will be working with our law director and the realignment of committees. She stated she hoped to have more of an update at the next meeting.
B. Technology Assessment Subcommittee –
Update. Mr. Wisniewski stated the
Subcommittee has not met and they do not plan on meeting until after a
6. OTHER BUSINESS:
A.
B. Review and discussion regarding contribution requests. Mrs. Sanders stated there were some groups that wanted to speak to the Committee tonight.
(1) Mark Matthews. Mr. Matthews stated he was present this
evening to follow up on the Violet Festival’s request for funds and he would be
glad to answer any questions. Mrs.
Sanders stated the Committee had approved a $5,000 contribution at the last
meeting and Mr. Fix stated at the last meeting they had discussed seeing the
financial summary from last year’s festival.
Mr. Matthews stated he didn’t realize that was requested but he could
provide that. Mr. Fix stated if he would
e-mail that information to Mrs. Yartin she would ensure that it was forwarded
to all of
(2) Pastor Jeff Myers and Dianna Kassouf of
the PCMA Food Pantry stated they were present this evening requesting $5,000
from the City. Ms Kassouf stated the Food Pantry has been in existence for
approximately 20 years, for the past 16 years in their current location. She stated she would like to thank the City
for providing the space in the Carnegie Library lower level as it has been a
great help not having to pay rent or utilities and has ensured the survival of
the Food Pantry. Ms Kassouf stated they
are seeing a huge increase in clients with a 61 percent increase from the end
of 2008 to the end of 2009. Ms Kassouf
stated they have no paid staff at the Food Pantry and their only source of
income has been donations from the community in terms of both food and
financial support. Ms Kassouf stated
they did approach
Mrs.
Sanders stated although they were not present this evening, the Committee had
received a request for $2,500 from the Olde Pickerington Village Business
Association in their packet along with a request for $3,500 from the Fairfield
County Dog Shelter. Mr. Schornack stated
he would point out to the Committee that
C. Review and discussion regarding
Community Event Permit Application fees.
Mr. Schultz stated he had submitted a memo outlining the fees and he
would answer any questions anyone might have.
Mr. Sauer inquired if this was typical of other communities or is there
a single flat fee associated with it instead.
He stated from his point of view this appeared cumbersome and
difficult. Mr. Schultz stated this
evolved in the summer of 2008 when the Chamber requested more information on
the process for events for marketing and sharing of revenues. He stated we used
She stated it is well and good to give them $5,000, but maybe we are giving them $3,000 worth of work on top of that. Mr. Wisniewski stated that is what Mr. Matthews just said about the Violet Festival, they want a contribution, but they also want the police services donated. Mrs. Hammond stated there is more than that because they will also want the gators, and we provide the gas for the gators, and there are all sorts of little things that you don’t think about, but that add up to a tremendous amount of money for the City. Mrs. Hammond stated the question she heard last year was if they had to pay each of these fees they didn’t know if they could make any money on the event, so it was sort of a dilemma. Mr. Schultz stated that was the overwhelming question last year, filling out the form was not as tricky as they thought, it was the cost of it. Mr. Schultz stated we did not charge the fees last year and they questioned if we were going to charge them this year. Mr. Fix stated that once the event package has been filled out and approved, if they come to this Committee and request a waiver of fees, this Committee will have to make that decision. Mr. Sauer stated he felt if any of these groups were coming to the City asking for a contribution then he did not see the point in waiving fees. Mr. Fix stated he felt we needed to look at what they were asking for waivers on and decide if we would be better off waiving fees versus the hard cost of a dollar contribution. Mr. Fix stated he felt if any group wanted a contribution or fees waived, then they would have to come before this group. Mr. Sauer stated he agreed with Mr. Fix that anyone wanting a contribution should come before Finance. He stated with waiving fees it seemed like we would be picking and choosing on what event got what fees waived. Mrs. Hammond further stated that our Parks Department has been approached about partnering with the Lions Club for the Labor Day event. Mrs. Hammond further stated most of these fees are already in our fee schedule, but they have been put together here for things that might be applicable for events. She stated these fees already existed; it was just that people didn’t know you had to pay for a tent inspection, etc. Mr. Drobina stated staff is trying to schedule a meeting next week with these groups to go back over the package with them. Mr. Schultz stated staff met internally to see if there were any issues and they had some minor modifications and when they meet with the representatives of the groups they will get their comments as well. Mr. Sauer stated last year was supposed to be a learning process, so do we know how many times last year some of these items would have been used, because he understood we would be tracking them last year. Mr. Schultz stated last year the fees were waived and we did not track them. Mr. Fix stated then this group does not have the information tonight to determine if these fees are appropriate. Mr. Fix stated if we did not look at what we charged versus what we spent, then a decision cannot be made on if our fees are appropriate. Mrs. Sanders inquired how these fees were determined for the fee schedule, and Mr. Drobina stated each department provided the fees. Mrs. Hammond stated as an example, for an event couldn’t we just charge a flat fee for putting up a tent or something. Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt there were certain things we owe our community and our volunteers as part of the service of being a city. He stated he was not saying we donate everything, but he was also not saying we need to get down to how long it took us to drop off something so we can charge an hourly rate. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt it would make more sense to come up with an event fee schedule or some sort of reasonable flat rate or something. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that the fees in front of the Committee are the current fees for whatever services they may require. Mr. Wisniewski stated we definitely need to have the process, but do we need to modify it or not. Mr. Fix stated as he recalled last year groups were upset about being charged these fees and the determination was made that we would not charge the fees but we would track the costs to see what we spent. Mr. Fix stated it would be his position that we put the fees in place and if someone comes and asks for the fees to be waived that would be considered the City’s contribution. Mr. Fix stated he understood that the only fees we do not waive would be for police costs. Mayor O’Brien stated then for 2010 we would track those costs and then we would know what we actually spent at the end of the year. Mr. Sauer stated we need to put someone in charge of tracking this or it will get lost. Mr. Fix stated he would recommend the Finance Director be the person tracking these costs and the department heads would provide the information to him. Mayor O’Brien stated he felt it was a good plan to have people apply for their permit and if they want fees waived they would have to come to this committee. He further stated we would track all costs involved so in 2011 we could let them know how much these functions cost the city. Mr. Fix stated that was correct and we also need to let them know that they should consider the fees waived as the City’s contribution to the event. Mrs. Hammond stated with the exception of the Violet Festival most of these events are for an afternoon or one day and she would imagine the City’s cost would be $2,000 or less. Mr. Schultz clarified it was his understanding the Committee would like staff to track the fees in 2010 and if the event planners would like to have the fees waived they could come to the Finance Committee with that request. Mr. Schultz further stated it was his understanding each department was responsible for tracking their own fees and then providing that information to Mr. Schornack. Mr. Schultz also stated that if a fee waiver is requested it would be after the event package has been filled out and approved by the City Manager. Mr. Sauer clarified that if Finance Committee decided to waive any fees, for record purposes the City Manager would sign off on that on the event permit.
7. MOTIONS:
A. Motion for Executive Session under Section 121.22(G)(1)b, Matters involving an employee’s or public official’s employment, Section 121.22(G)(2), Purchase or sale of public property, Section 121.22(G)(3), Conference with law director regarding pending or imminent court action, and Section 121.22(G)(4), Matters involving bargaining sessions with public employees. Mrs. Sanders moved for an executive session under Section 121.22(G)(1)b, Matters involving an employee or public official’s employment; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Barletta, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Blair voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
Finance Committee adjourned into Executive Session at 8:17 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 8:35 P.M.
8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Wisniewski moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Sanders voted "Aye." Motion carried, 7-0. The Finance Committee adjourned at 8:36 P.M., February 3, 2010.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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