CITY OF PICKERINGTON

FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2004

2005 BUDGET WORK SESSION

6:00 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Riggs opened the work session at 6:00 P.M. with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Wright, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Hackworth present. Others present were: Mayor Shaver, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Sabatino, Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Frank Wiseman, McKenzie Fry, and others.

2. SCHEDULED MATTERS:

A. Review of proposed 2005 Manager’s Budget. Ms Gilleland stated in light of the discussion at the last work session she had included one police officer in the police budget at this time. Mr. Sabatino inquired if one officer would still be listed on the contingency list and Ms Gilleland stated that was not her recommendation at this time. Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to see one additional police officer included on the contingency list and if there are additional monies it could be funded. He stated by putting it on the contingency list we were not committed to hiring another officer, but it does show our intention. Ms Gilleland stated if that is what Council would like to do, she would recommend including that officer at the bottom of the contingency list. Mr. Sabatino stated he did not have a problem with that and Mrs. Riggs stated she agreed with Mr. Sabatino. Mrs. Riggs stated she would still like to receive a report on the quality of service we are providing to the City based on what we have now. Ms Gilleland stated she had requested Chief Taylor prepare that report for Council.

Ms Gilleland stated we are receiving CDBG funds from 2002 and 2003 and the amended fund sheets have been distributed. Ms Gilleland further stated the general government sheet she had distributed this evening corrected some errors that were in the one originally distributed.

Mrs. Fersch clarified the amount included for the Health Department was set at the Budget Hearing in April and is a fixed amount. Mr. O’Brien clarified the amount is set by population. Mr. Sabatino stated when the Senior Center requested additional funds, it appeared that they were operating in the red and they could use some help. Ms Gilleland stated she and the Township Administrator had spoken about perhaps meeting with the Senior Center after the first of the year and looking through their budget to see how we could help them out. Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to see that happen before we give the check to the Senior Center. Mr. Sabatino stated as he recalled there was a significant salary increase for their director. Mrs. Riggs stated she agreed with Mr. Sabatino and if you were in the red why would you put in a salary increase. Ms Gilleland stated she will look into that.

Mr. Sabatino stated he had asked last year and was told it was something that would need to be dealt with at budget time, and that is the ability to show deduct meter readings on our billing. He questioned if that would be administrative or what. Mr. Wiseman stated it would probably require an update to the CMI system and he would have to check to see if there was space to put it on the bill and could they write the program to do it. Mr. Wiseman stated there were only 40 to 50 deduct meters in the City. Mr. Sabatino stated the way it is now, we don’t have any accountability that we are showing on deduct meters and it is an item the City did charge people for. Mr. Wiseman stated he would check to see if that could be covered under our normal operating budget. Mr. O’Brien inquired if the post card method is the most efficient, effective method of sending out water bills. He stated there is a problem with the water bill being so thin and small it is easily lost. Mrs. Riggs stated it might be better to increase the weight of the paper. Mr. O’Brien stated increasing the weight and the size might be something to consider.

Ms Gilleland completed the review of the proposed budget and if there were any questions she would be glad to answer them.

3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further at this time, the Finance Committee Work Session closed at 7:26 P.M., November 18, 2004.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk