FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA

6:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Sanders called the meeting to order at 6:30 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 Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Stephanie Spencer, Becca Medinger, Mike McKinley, and others.

2. SCHEDULED MATTERS:

A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to authorize the City Manager to enter into a one-year contract with Delta Dental of Ohio for dental insurance for city employees. Mr. Schornack stated he had received the renewal proposal from Delta Dental and he was recommending it be approved. Mr. Fix moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.

B. Review and discussion regarding various income tax increase proposals. Mr. Wisniewski stated he had requested draft legislation that was before the Committee that would terminate the police levy upon passage and implementation of an income tax increase in the City from one percent to two percent. Mr. Wisniewski stated with this proposal everyone would be getting a tax break on something, because they may be paying more in income tax but would be getting a tax break on their property tax. Mr. Wisniewski stated if the income tax increase passed, and that draft legislation was also before the Committee, it would be a simple resolution adopted by Council to remove the police levy. Mr. Fix stated he appreciated Mr. Wisniewski’s creativity and this was certainly another option to review. Mr. Fix stated he had put together a comprehensive approach on a longer term plan to get to the end result everyone was looking for; something that would provide sustainable income for the City. Mr. Fix stated this would basically have Council go through the end of this year and through all of 2011 working through all of the issues he felt the public would buy into and would support in 2012. Mr. Fix stated in looking at our carryover we have the ability to complete the 2012 budget without putting the City in financial risk. He stated he felt if we could do that and follow through with the plan that has Council looking long range on what the budgets would be, what our capital improvements would be, what our debt structure would be, and exploring the many options that are out there to generate income, involve a group of citizens to give Council feedback and help tell the story when the time comes, he felt we were much more likely to see success when the time comes to ask the voters for help. Mr. Fix stated he was proposing this to Council tonight as an alternative to putting a tax on during the next election.

Mrs. Sanders stated she appreciated getting some creative thoughts and our citizens were fortunate that we were looking at all of the options available. Mrs. Sanders inquired if Mr. Schornack had any comments on either of these options.

Mr. Schornack stated as he and Mr. Vance had mentioned before, with both of them being in the first year of their positions, they would like to at least go through one budget process to see where Council stands on various items and what needs to be funded and what wants we have on our unfunded list. He stated at some point we will have to do something because we can maintain the services that we have, but it is what services we want to provide to the citizens and if we want to move forward or continue to stay static.

Mr. Vance stated he felt the big funding question is the necessary financial support for our police department. He stated if we are going to have a police department and fund six and seven minute response times, it is not going to be cheap; it will take resources to continue to sustain that level of service as you move forward with personnel that gets more senior year after year. Mr. Vance stated anything we put off as far as the police department this year, if we want to retain the same level of service, it will come due in another fiscal year, we will face the same challenges the next time we put together a budget in 2011 for 2012. Mr. Vance stated he and Mr. Schornack need direction from Council as to how fast they would like to eventually create additional revenues to come into the city coffers to support city services or provide additional direction regarding the level of service that we will provide.

Mr. Blair stated as he has voiced all along, he would like to get through this budget before we jump into anything. He stated he like the plan Mr. Fix had put together and he felt the idea of a performance audit was something worth looking into further. He stated he was not ready to put something on the ballot for a tax issue right now.

Mr. Barletta stated he also appreciated Mr. Fix’ effort at putting together this plan and he felt it would be good to get some community involvement in this process. Mr. Barletta stated he felt it was important Council have a clear direction on what they will use this money for if we would get a tax increase. He stated he may be the only person who felt we needed to add bicycle paths, and things like that, but we do need to continue the road paving. He continued we need to show that we have spent the money wisely that we have been getting and that we have a plan or a vision going forward for our City. Mr. Barletta stated this delays the process and gives Council time to come out with a better plan. He stated if we were to go ahead right now, the probability is that it might be difficult to get the voters to go for it.

Mr. Sauer stated he thought Mr. Wisniewski’s proposal was a great compromise in regards to where they were with the tax issue and felt when the time came, that was definitely the way to go. Mr. Sauer stated given the fact they had talked about a performance audit at the last meeting and they had just received some information on that, he would like some time to go through it. He stated it would be nice to see what would come back from an outside party and building a case is important. Mr. Sauer stated they have been talking for two and one-half years about the revenue and the responsibilities they have in regards to the services to the city. He stated if staff is comfortable with feeling that this year we can get through a budget process and push forward, he would be happy to spend the time looking in-house and seeing what we are doing as far as operations, doing an audit, and continuing this discussion throughout the year knowing that this is going to come up for a decision by the end of the year. He stated he would like to see this as a priority for the Finance Committee and making sure it did not slip out of notice. Mr. Sauer stated he would be willing to take the time to do this and while he was a little more aggressive at the last meeting with regard to an income tax increase, after having time to think about it he felt that prudence was the route to go. Mr. Sauer stated he would support looking at Mr. Fix’ proposal and determining if they would like to make any changes or adjustments to it.

Mrs. Hammond stated for the entire time she has been on Council we have been cutting services. She stated she cannot remember exactly how many employees there were when she started on Council, but a lot of them are gone and if we continue the course we have started and continue to make cuts in that direction. She stated while a lot of this is based on what is happening in the economy at this time, she felt that Mr. Fix’ proposal has merit, but the one thing she did not want to see is to take so long with something that we get to this point next year and decide we have to have something on the May ballot in 2012 and if we don’t we will be in dire straits because she felt we definitely have to enhance our revenue somehow.

Mrs. Sanders stated she agrees with Mrs. Hammond and she likes what she is hearing. She stated when it is time to go to the ballot she felt Mr. Wisniewski’s option seemed to be the way to go, but in talking to people in the community they want to see some kind of long range and short range goals. Mrs. Sanders stated she felt if we can prove to the residents that we are going through a process and evaluating everything we are doing that was the way to go, but again she did not want to wait until we were in crunch time and having to make quick decisions.

Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like to know if someone could tell him what we truly need, because he felt there would be seven opinions on what we truly need. He stated he would like to know where that would be defined because he thought we had gone through our strategic plan as to what our goals were for the year. He stated he felt this would be another committee of getting people together so we can rehash and talk about this. Mrs. Sanders stated there are so many people out of work right now, changing jobs, and moving around, and people are scared. Mr. Wisniewski stated he understood that but the plan presented by Mr. Fix would not get us anything until at least 2013, assuming that it passed. Mrs. Sanders stated she felt we need to give the community a chance to get involved, and Mr. Wisniewski stated he understood that, but it could be done through a survey. He stated you did not have to get a committee of people together in order to do that. Mr. Sauer stated Mr. Fix had provided a proposal, it was not set in stone, and it seemed this was something that at least a majority of council felt was at least a step in the right direction and could be adjusted. He stated he liked Mr. Wisniewski’s idea of a survey instead of a committee because it takes a good while for the members to know what they are doing. Mr. Wisniewski stated he was not pushing to put something on the ballot, he was saying that a decision needs to be made about what to do and then stick with it. Mr. Sauer stated he felt that was what this proposal was, a plan of attack. Mr. Sauer stated he agreed with Mr. Wisniewski that this has been discussed for two years, and at some point they need to stand up, make a decision, and do something. He stated a plan has not been formulated or followed by Finance Committee to get us to that destination and he felt this was a step in the right direction. He stated whether this plan was accepted as it is, or if it were adjusted, it was what they needed to be doing. Mr. Sauer stated he did not disagree that the prospects of passing an income tax increase in the next election was realistic given the state of the economy, but he did believe if Council did their due diligence and made a concerted effort over the next year by doing the performance audit, seeing where we can make savings, and increase efficiency, then they can make the case and he does not feel that has been done.

Mr. Schornack stated he had distributed a couple of examples of a performance audit and it looks like about a six month timeframe before they could get in to do an audit and it takes about four months to complete it. Mr. Schornack stated Council would be looking at about July of next year before they would get something back and it would be a cost of about $15,000 to $20,000 depending on the scope of the audit.

Mr. Vance stated he felt the pieces were falling into place because we have a street maintenance program that is coming to conclusion, we have a Parks and Recreation Master Plan that be utilized for budgetary purposes, the Council appears to be going in the direction of auditing it’s biggest department, it’s most expensive service, and that seems to be a very good idea. Mr. Vance stated you are identifying budgetary specifics which will collectively be available in the next six months or so. He stated the point was Council was providing specifics on which to make budgetary decisions, and this Council will then be in a position to make policy decisions on what level of service they would like to provide and what those levels of service will cost.

Mr. Fix stated Mr. Wisniewski had asked how much we needed, and we don’t have an answer to that because we do not have a five year plan. He stated we should know how much we need and the citizens should expect a good answer when they ask that question. Mr. Fix continued that this proposal would lead Council down the path so they could give good answers to those tough questions when we ask people to dig into their wallet. Mr. Fix stated he was not looking for form a formal committee, he was looking to have a couple of business leaders, a couple of senior leaders, some church leaders, a variety of groups that make up our community and in three months time communicate effectively with them all that we have learned over the past and show them the different ways we can raise revenues, and get their feedback. Mrs. Hammond stated her question would be, assuming a levy or income tax increase passed, how long would it be before we would see the benefits in the money. Mr. Fix stated an effective date could be written into the ballot language. Mr. Schornack stated if an income tax issue had a specific date obviously people would start withholding estimates at that point in time, but you would not see the full effect of it until the following year. He stated with a property tax it would go into place that year, but you would not see that money until the following year. Mr. Schornack stated with an income tax you would see some benefit during that current year. Mr. Fix stated the point of all of this was to be able to go into the 2013 budget with incremental sustainable revenue. Mr. Wisniewski questioned what if it failed, and Mr. Fix stated we would then have to make cuts. Mr. Wisniewski stated that was his point, if we keep pushing it out and you spend down your carryover, and an increase issue failed, what would we do if something else happened. Mr. Fix stated if it failed now, we would have to cut services. Mr. Wisniewski stated his point was that we should not spend down our rainy day fund. Mr. Fix stated that was an option that could be discussed; his proposal was just a suggestion that we take the carryover down to the state recommended level of fifteen percent over two years.

Mrs. Sanders stated she felt we need to trust our Finance Director and our City Manager, and we are headed in the right direction and if possible she felt we should give them the year that they need to see how things work. Mr. Wisniewski stated he had other questions, but he would address those in the Budget Work Session that will be convening after this meeting.

C. Review and request for discussion regarding Police Levy proposals. There was no further discussion on this issue.

3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further Mr. Wisniewski moved to adjourn; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Mr. Barletta, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Blair voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 7-0. The Special Finance Committee meeting adjourned at 7:10 P.M., October 27, 2010.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk