City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. THOMAS J. TOMZAK, MAYOR HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, VICE MAYOR CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. GEORGE C. SOLLEY, WARD TWO HON. FREDERIC N. HOWE, III, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. BEATRICE R. PAOLUCCI, WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Joint Council/School Board Work Session March 29, 2011 School Board Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Thomas Tomzak, Presiding. Vice-Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Bradford C. Ellis, Beatrice R. Paolucci and George C. Solley. Council Absent., Councilor Frederic N. Howe, III, caught in traffic. School Board Present. Chairwoman Patricia Greene, Presiding. Michael Gillenwater, Jannan Holmes, and Barbara Miller-Richards. School Board Absent. Jarvis Bailey and Malvina Kay. Also Present. Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Melton, Assistant Superintendent Marci Catlett, Director of Finance David Baker, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Daryl Chesley, Robert Burch. School Board Budget Fiscal Year 2012 – Dr. Melton began with a PowerPoint presentation which included the following: school growth from 2007 to present, breakdown of the general operating fund, budget increases, class sizes for kindergarten through fifth grade. He stated that there has been a growth of about 1000 students over the past 10 years. Typically enrollment growth drops of in September but this year the enrollment picked up 46 students at the end of September. More than half of the growth has been in the last 3 years. 1  In reviewing the operating funds he said most of the increases were to salaries, five new positions, 6% increase in the health insurance, and 2.4% increase in Virginia Retirement System. He stated there has been saving in electrical bills through the energy saving program and it has saved the schools $1 million dollars over a four year period. Due to these items there was an increase in the budget of $991,709. Dr. Melton explained that under revenues State has increased its funding by $244,809 due to the growth and it also reflects the composite index which has declined slightly. There is also a decrease in federal funding of $221,746 and for that reason the schools requested from the City and additional $968,646. In the proposed budget the City is proposing an increase of $900,000. Dr. Melton discussed the increases the first is a 2.5% increase for the teachers and classified personnel only. The administrators will not be included in the increase. There are two classroom teachers proposed at Hugh Mercer, and Lafayette Upper Elementary and one at Walker-Grant Middle. The reason for the needed teachers is to lower the student-teacher ratio to 20:1, so that schools will continue to be eligible to receive an incentive grant from the Department of Education in the amount of $190,000. Dr. Melton addressed questions that had been given to him prior to the work session. The first was what the cost is for the school division for Education as a Second Language (ESL) and the cost was around $380,000 to $400,000. This cost includes 5 certificated teachers, 2 paraprofessionals and testing materials. The salaries and infringes are about $335,000. The state only gives $56,000 for this program, which they require. Under the Code of Virginia the schools are required to provide 17 full-time instructional positions for each 1,000 students with limited English proficiency, which breaks the caseload down to 59 students per teacher. The City’s caseload is 82.2 students per teacher. The City has 411 limited English students, 153 are refugee students. Dr. Melton explained that psychological services for students are required whether through contractual services or whether they hire people and put them on payroll. They have learned that it is more cost effective to put them on payroll. They must meet certain qualifications to work in schools. The cost to contract a psychologist is approximately $750 per day and they charge extra for testing and case management cases. It saves the school approximately $75,000 to $125,000 having in house psycologist. He said that the psychologist can start evaluation as early as the age of 2 through the Head Start program. Mayor Tomzak asked if psychologist could be used through the Community Services Board. Dr. Melton said it depended on their licensure and another issue was that they may work on a 2 case for three months then someone else is assigned and then new person would have to learn about the case. He said that would cost more in the long run. Ms. Holmes also explained that they have different skill sets. Those psychologists maybe familiar with working with people who have a drug habit, but for the schools you need someone well versed and they must meet the school requirements work with students. The school psychologists also work with the teachers as a team. Discussion ensued on special education and alternative education and on how to reduce the threshold so that they can continue receiving the class size reduction grant. Dr. Melton stated that they have put in their budget for two trailers for Hugh Mercer because of the growth and in the long range plan they are suggesting adding on to the school. Councilor Ellis asked about the physical capacity for all the schools in Fredericksburg. Dr. Melton said James Monroe’s capacity is 100, but can expand to 1250, Walker-Grant’s capacity is 740 and they are at their capacity, Upper Lafayette’s capacity is 880 and they are at 700 plus. He stated that once the recession is over the enrollment should begin to stabilize. Councilor Ellis also asked about the $68,000 difference between the schools budget request and what the City was proposing. He wanted to know if they really needed all $968,000. Dr. Melton seemed to think they could make up the difference through attrition. Councilor Devine read her disclosure as an employee of the Fredericksburg City Schools. She stated that with future enrollment the City must look at the growth patterns and projects that are coming to the City such as subdivisions and apartment complexes because this may cause the enrollment to stay high. Dr. Melton said during the budgeting process they take a more conservative approach when estimating enrollment for budget purposes because if they have fewer students coming in then anticipated they lose state money, but if they have more come in then they get $1500 per student. Discussions continued on the pay increased for the teachers and the work that they put in during and after school is out. General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 – Mr. Whitley presented some changes to the budget due to the General Assembly’s recommended budget. The changes will increase the budget by $45,000. The Police also applied for an extension of a grant of the Automated Fingerprinting Identification System. The grant provides for the maintenance and for one full-time fingerprint 3 examiner. This is the first of three extensions and requires a small match of $8,270. (See attached document for details). Mr. Whitley reviewed the Classification and Compensation. The City had an overall classification and compensation analysis for most City employees in 1998 then a market study update in 2005. Since then, the City has engaged in ongoing maintenance of the system based upon positions being added, deleted or changed. Mr. Whitley gave a brief background on how the City does its pay system. He has included as proposition 1, hiring an outside consultant to perform an overall classification and compensation study - $50,000. Mayor Tomzak stated that he was motivated when he thought it would decrease cost, but it doesn’t, so he’s not sure it’s worth the $50,000. Several councilors said they thought the request was to evaluate the positions and see if they were valid. Mr. Cameron explained that the request came about during discussions on whether the Sheriff’s Deputies should be paid the same as the police officers. Mr. Whitley also explained the three new positions that are being requested in the budget: Budget Manager, Deputy Street Maintenance, and Assistant City Attorney (paralegal). The Budget Manager position is needed to help out in the City Manager’s office. The Deputy Street Maintenance positions is being created after the Deputy Superintendent was promoted to Superintendent. Public Works re-structured after the retirement of the Superintendent and decided to break the Deputy Superintendent position into two separate positions based upon the needs identified by the City Shop. The needs were in the Traffic Maintenance and Street Maintenance. The City has already created the Deputy Superintendent for Traffic using the existing Deputy Superintendent position. The Street Maintenance Department is also in need of a Deputy Superintendent. The Assistant City Attorney positions is needed to help the City Attorney out and the funding requested is what’s needed in addition to the part-time funds that are already available. Mr. Whitley also made notes on other positions that had to be added in the budget. Councilor Devine asked whether there were any other grants that may run out and the City may be required to pick up. Mr. Whitley said the only grant he could think of would be the COPS grant. It’s funded for the first 3 years. Mr. Whitley explained the position in the Commonwealth Attorney’s office was a part- time position for a victim witness advocate that was hired and funded through the stimulus funds now the stimulus package has ended and the City does not have the funding to support 4 the position. The cost is $25,000. Council agreed it was a significant position and would like to make it a proposition. Mr. Whitley noted that he has also included a proposition to hire an outside consultant to perform an overall management study. The estimated cost is $75,000. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw said that if this was going to be useful information it must be done now to be ready in time for the 2013 budget. Councilor Devine said she would like to see what results consultants have gathered for other cities our size. She said she would rather use the $75,000 to fund a needed position. Councilor Solley said he thought it was needed. This was a good way to look at how the organization is structured. Councilor Paolucci agreed that it is needed, she said it’s a way to make sure the City is running as efficiently as possible. Mayor Tomzak also said he could see the value in having a study completed. Council agreed to add this as a proposition. (See attached documents for more details). A straw vote was taken on what tax rate to advertise: Mayor Tomzak – $0.72, Vice- Mayor Devine – $0.72, Councilor Devine – $0.72, Councilor Ellis – $0.76, Councilor Paolucci – said she could go either way, Councilor Solley – $0.72. City Manager Cameron said he would advertise at $0.72 and he said he would like to call a Special meeting on April 5 to discuss revisions to the Cal Ripken Foundation Lease. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was declared officially adjourned at 8:03 p.m. ___Tonya B. Lacey__ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 5