City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD TWO CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session March 17, 2015 Fiscal Year 2016 Recommended Budget Review The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Bradford C. Ellis (6:12), Charlie L. Frye, Jr. and Matthew J. Kelly. Also Present. City Manager Beverly Cameron, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Budget Manager Amanda Lickey and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Introduction and Schedule Review. Mr. Cameron reviewed the budget work session schedule. Conflict of Interest Declaration. Councilor Devine declared that she was a member of a business, profession, occupation or group of three or more members affected by the transaction, namely employees of the Fredericksburg Public Schools. Councilor Duffy declared that he was a member of a business, profession, occupation or group of three or more members affected by the transaction, namely employees of the Fredericksburg Public Schools. Budget Document Overview. Budget Manger Lickey Reviewed the budget document with Council and identified what could be found in each of the sections of the budget document. Mayor Greenlaw stated that the budget was easy to read, easy to find what you are looking for, and it justifies and spells out capital needs in advance. Vice-Mayor Withers agreed that it was well laid out. 1  Ms. Lickey also distributed CD’s with the outside agency applications for Council’s review. Council Member Comment. Councilor Kelly said at the retreat they were looking at a 3.5 cent increase for the CIP cost, but the school budget came in higher and several other items came in higher but the proposed rate was lower. He asked if staff was holding off on some projects this year and what was going to happen next year. He wanted to know if staff was going to reevaluate the budget projections. He also asked staff’s recommendations on the Original Walker-Grant renovations. He wanted to know how the cost of a new cell at the R-Board would play into this budget. He said he wants to make sure next year the City would not be looking at a 4-5 cent tax increase. Councilor Frye stated that he knew the Original Walker-Grant funding would be held off for two years but he said he would like to see this project move faster. Councilor Duffy said he also had concerns about the Original Walker-Grant. He has had a lot of people contacting him about the school budget specifically the raises for the administration. Councilor Devine stated that the budget was well presented and laid out well. She shared the same concerns about the future and those projects that will be held off. The proposed budget adds 5 positions and she felt that was conservative compared to the 16% increase in population. She said that speaks to the staff’s efforts of being budget conscious. She was glad to see that the City was taking some suggestions from the Novak Study. In regards to the new cell at the R-Board she asked why the City was not moving towards mandatory subscriptions. She felt this was a good time to move in that directions since everyone was mindful of the R-Boards financial situation. Vice-Mayor Withers agreed that the budget was very straight forward. He was concerned with the message the School Board was sending with the administrative increases. He has had several calls in that regard. He said the Original Walker-Grant has many problems that really need to be fixed. Councilor Devine also shared the concerns with the Original Walker-Grant and the increase for the Administration in the school budget. Mayor Greenlaw said everyone has been getting comments on the increases in the school budget, but she reminded Council that they could not tell the School Board how to use the money, but they could ask for an explanation. She was glad to see that staff was using the 2 Novak Study recommendation for a purchasing agent. She was also glad to see the Renwick building being addressed and she would like to have discussions to see what was being offered in the private community that would still maintain the building. General Fund Sources & Uses Overview. Budget Manager Lickey reviewed the Uses and Source sheet with City Council. See attached sheet for more information. Councilor Kelly asked if the City was drawing down on the reserves to balance the budget. Mr. Cameron said he only suggested doing that this year to take the spike out of the debt service. Councilor Kelly asked how much Stafford and Spotsylvania was contributing toward the Thurman Brisben Shelter. Ms. Lickey said she could get those numbers but did not have them with her. She also stated that Spotsylvania’s Board of Social Services make recommendations on outside agency funding and they felt they have been underfunding the shelter and they recommended an increase. Councilor Kelly said he felt the City was going above and beyond with paying the tipping fees at the R-Board and he suggested stop paying those fees until Stafford County lives up to the agreement. He said the City was putting a lot more pressure on its residence but he was not seeing the same from Stafford. He said he would eventually make a recommendation to reduce those funds. Mr. Cameron explained that FY 15 budget included enough money to pay for the City’s portion of solid waste at $20.00 per ton. The recommended budget increased that rate from $20.00 to $34.00 per ton an increase of $132,700. Key Issues for FY 2016 Budget. Staff presented a PowerPoint presentation. See attached for additional information. Employee Bonus Councilor Devine expressed some concern with the proposed bonuses because it would not count in the long run towards retirement. Mr. Cameron explained that this was a good year to do bonuses because employees were already getting a two percent cost of living to cover the VRS adjustment. Councilor Ellis asked about how VRS plans were looking because it was going away in many jurisdictions. Mr. Whitley said VRS was very strong. Ms. Lickey added that when the recession hit they made changes on the school side but the local government side paid the full amount the entire time. 3  Councilor Duffy asked what the future looked like for compensation and Mr. Cameron said the City needed to do a comprehensive classification and compensation study and look at the market rates in the area. He said this would need to be done fairly soon because it had not been done in the last 15 years. Councilor Frye said he would like to see some cross training in the departments to help keep the employees. Original Walker-Grant Renovations Councilor Kelly stated that the maintenance costs were horrendous and he said there would be operations and maintenance savings if the project was completed. Mr. Cameron said they have been working to find ways to reduce the cost of the project and one option they were exploring was the use of the New Market Tax Credit Program which could shave about $2 million off the project. Mr. Cameron said if the City decided to move forward with the renovations the debt service needed to be picked up in FY17 and could have an impact of two cent on the tax rate. These renovations do not address the original 1935 building. Use of Fund Balance Mr. Whitley reviewed the FY16 General Fund Balance Analysis sheet. See attached for additional information. Partner Agency Requests Ms. Lickey explained that the regional group (Spotsylvania, King George, Stafford and Fredericksburg) worked together and updated the application so that only one application was needed for all the localities. For the human services agencies Ms. Lickey met with Christen Gallik, Director of Social Services, Beth Girone, Assistant Director of Social Services and Hunter Snellings, Community Development Planner to give their perspectives on the human services agencies. Tax Rate to Advertise Councilor Kelly said the he had no issue with advertising three cents because there was no way of knowing what the City would be facing in the next few years. Discussion Councilor Kelly asked what was going on with the Museum? He also said a priority was the archeological ordinance. This ordinance would require staff support or staffing to make it work and this person would take over the Architectural Review Board (ARB) 4 oversight, preservation issues and archeology. He asked where this would fit in. He said the Economic Development Strategic Plan was long overdue but he would like to have conversations on where this would go and Council’s involvement in it. He said constitutional officers are supposed to be supported by state and the funding was going down from the state but each of the departments have a budget increase. He suggested base lining them because the state was obligated to pay for them. Councilor Kelly further stated that the City needed to look at long term economic development to help with funding the City’s projects. Closed Meeting Approved. Upon the motion of Councilor Devine, seconded by Councilor Ellis and passed by the following unanimously recorded votes, Council approved a closed session to discuss the acquisition of real property for a public purpose specifically, downtown parking where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the City Council, under Virginia Code §2.2-3711(A)(3). Ayes (7) Councilors Greenlaw, Withers, Devine, Duffy, Ellis, Frye and Kelly. Nays (0). Return to Open Meeting Approved. Upon the motion of Councilor Devine, seconded by Councilor Kelly and passed by the following unanimously recorded votes, Council approved a return to an open meeting. Ayes (7) Councilors Greenlaw, Withers, Devine, Duffy, Ellis, Frye and Kelly. Nays (0). Resolution 15-14.1 Approved Certifying Closed Meeting. Upon the motion Councilor Devine approved Resolution 15-14.1 certifying the closed meeting; seconded by Councilor Kelly and passed by the following unanimously recorded votes. Ayes (7) Councilors Greenlaw, Withers, Devine, Duffy, Ellis, Frye and Kelly. Nays (0). Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Mayor Greenlaw declared the work session officially adjourned at 7:45 p.m. _____Tonya B. Lacey_____ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 5