Finance Committee

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Michael Schnetzer, Chair Brian D. Larick Jamie Leeseberg Karen J. Angelou Ryan P. Jolley Stephen A. Renner Thomas R. Kneeland Kimberly Banning, CMC, Clerk of Council Monday, December 14, 2015 Council Committee Rooms Immediately Following Committee of the Whole CALL TO ORDER Chair Schnetzer called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. Additional Attendees: Nancy McGregor, Brian Metzbower, Sue Wadley, Jeff Spence, Dottie Franey, Rob Priestas, Matt Holdren, Rory Gaydos, Anthony Jones, Mayor Stinchcomb, Jen Teal, Joann Bury, Press, Diana Redman, Shane Ewald, Troy Euton, Mike Musser, Sharon Montgomery, Chief Murphy, Residents. Present 7 - Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Karen J. Angelou, Ryan P. Jolley, Stephen A. Renner, Michael Schnetzer, and Thomas R. Kneeland PENDING LEGISLATION - 2016 PROPOSED BUDGET 1. ORD-0136-2015 TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CURRENT EXPENSES AND OTHER EXPENDITURES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, OHIO DURING THE FISCAL YEAR 2016. Schnetzer asked if anyone had any questions outside of what was discussed with administration via email; Angelou said she talked with Teal today about the Community Improvement Corportation’s (CIC) money and 181 Granville and the demolition of that building; she was able to answer those questions if anyone else was interested; Teal confirmed not in the 2016 budget; Larick said he has concerns about how we use operational capital for coming out of the one-time funds; received great information back in regards to many of these projects; still concerned with expenditures of any kind, understands our situation, but we have to find a way to incorporate these into our normal revenue streams; from a funding standpoint for 2016, would rather hold back on the parking garage, the municipal complex- including as adjusted, the water tower security improvements, the City of Gahanna Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 audio/visual upgrade in Council Chambers, most of the marketing; understands where the economic development site certification is so probably okay with that; had a fair amount of conversation today through email with City Engineer on Heil Drive and Pizzuro Park Bridge; in short, through the dialogue today, these are operational; to fund them out of one-time money is eating away at them; there are 20 of these and if we take them at a lifespan we are replacing them every 3 years; there are more coming up; we have to be able to fund these through reoccurring funds; discussed how the TIF can reimburse and as long as that is delineated in an effective fashion, it works and that is why we have TIFs; that is the primary stuff from his perspective that he has concerns with; understands the impact and constraints it puts on our budget and function, would rather pursue these as a decision based on a supplemental instead of putting them in the planned budget; can look at them a little more critically on an individual basis; Schnetzer asked for his thoughts on the pools; Larick said with the discussions that started last year, committed to finding a way to fund the pools for a span of three years; would communicate and find solutions with the reasonable amount of time; the variations with time and costs, would like to see something in the $60-70K range; can look at a supplemental at a later time if needed; Angelou asked about marketing and looking at it at a later date; said marketing is a key element in the Economic Development Strategy and the Strategic Plan; said unless we do this early in the year, branding is a key element that needs to be done; that is what we are missing in our City; Larick said he agrees, it is critical and important; branding is capital and is more comfortable with that component but the development of the plan and the ongoing marketing, we need to incorporate that into operating budget; understands it is an estimate; we have to market and get ourselves on the table; said this is not a one-time ask; Angelou said it is an overarching piece; Mayor Stinchcomb asked Larick, regarding the bridges, while we should consider the bridge replacements operational in the future, worried about the two bridges we have being in such poor condition; asked how he felt about moving forward with these and giving a directive to incorporate future bridge replacements in the budget; Schnetzer said he will have some comments; Larick said part of the discussion was about TIF reimbursements; Jolley said he agrees that operational things need to be in operational budget; the economic development marketing is a specific project and some substantial funds need to be put into that project; need the general start to that project; Kneeland asked Teal, we have seen a small uptick in what we collect in income tax and each year we have this carry over from capital but essentially it is carry-over from operations as well; asked how we delineate this; asked how we can spin off these funds to put toward these type of projects; then we can eliminate the debate of one-time funds versus operational; what comes in as carry-over the following year is actually from the general City of Gahanna Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 fund and operational; recommends Council next year creating funds we pre-allocate; Schnetzer said the general fund balance is multiple years of carry-over; said that is to get us through low times; this is a structural change; on page 9 of the document we are seeing a great deal less from funding; these are not coming back; we should not hold onto the hope that those funds are coming back; supports inquiring more about the justification; once the funds are gone, they are gone; Teal said page 9 is the cuffs of where we stand today; said the tide is still lower than it was before even with the uptick in income taxes; cannot stop all things capital; we have done a good job of working carefully through the impacts of big decisions rather than making a decision, like closing the pools; this takes a horizon of time beyond one budget cycle; there may be, if no future additional revenue on the horizon, there are more big collaborative conversations about service delivery and what we do and what we offer, more than any one set of budget deliberations can handle; believes the Strategic Planning process will give us the tools we need; have not all had consensus or a light shining on that to prove; there are a lot of big choices; understands the fear in spending the one-time funds; there is balance in doing nothing and making a lot of decisions; encourages Council to be open minded to spending the one-time funds; said they were at one point operational funds and the clock struck and they became one-time funds; thinks there can be consensus; back-filing for records is an operating expense but once the records are back-filed, we would never back-file again, so that is truly a one-time expense; have not entertained suggestions that truly will be reoccurring; would recommend we let the Strategic Plan be a guide to some of these rather than making the decisions on these in terms of one-time and operational; Leeseberg said has went back and forth on a definition for one-time expenses; cannot come up with a good definition; thinks there are some things we can consider one-time over three years; can spread out the payments; if $100K one-time each year or moving it to the actual budget and increasing someone’s budget by $100K, what is the difference; asked how we explain this; Teal said if it was rolled into their operating budget, would expect them to make an offsetting one-time reduction; there would still be a $100K in savings not being used; have not had these big strategic discussions; Jolley said once the one-time funds are gone, they are gone; will have the operating budget each year; may not be able to offset things each year with penny for penny; some things will come up, this year it was economic development, next year it will be something else; budget needs to be more fluid unless things are legally required; need to figure out what is important to put into operating budgets; believes marketing and communication with the public is one of the most important things; hopefully in the future it will provide a return that will provide a reduction; Angelou said along the year we need to have continued conversations; right now we are guessing; with the Strategic Plan and City of Gahanna Page 3 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 the citizenry, believes it will lead us down better pathways; whether that is targeted like roads, that is a different ballgame; that is the direction we should be moving; asking what are the targets we should be coming up with; safety and services are important but the overarching theme is economic development; believes we will find we can make quality decisions in the future based on these plans; Schnetzer said he believes we are closer to the next recession than we believe we are; the state and federal government have a gas tax; would be curious to investigate how we can have some dedicated funding for capital; said Larick said it was a reoccurring expense; number 4 on the list of questions for administration; believes one-time funds cover things that will not be replenished; said there is not one item that he does not see the need for; said it is more of a cost-benefit analysis and what is the bottom benefit to the City; would like to go through the list of questions and responses from administration. Angelou asked that the two new Council-elects, McGregor and Metzbower come to the table. 1a) Creekside Parking Garage Space Counter - Schnetzer asked when we send someone out to count spaces, asked how many times they are doing that and what the cost is on an ongoing basis; Franey said we have someone with us who is on a retainer and is paid about $495/month; said he is doing this multiple times throughout the week and sometimes multiple times a day; in addition, the current system does not retain valid counts even with the labor being put in; Leeseberg said we are not charging for the garage, asked if people are getting upset that the count is off since they are not paying for parking; Franey said that is a valid thought process; should turn off the counting system if we go that route; Leeseberg said it is likely full 10-12 times a year; is a lot of money to spend for that kind of use; Franey said the idea of encouraging people to come to Creekside, from an economic development standpoint, and trying to make that area as successful as possible, like the idea of accurate counts; can also add that in later years; Mayor Stinchcomb suggested if we pull some of these things and consider early supplementals next year we can let this go and get more information; Schnetzer said he sees the need but has a tough time weighing the value of some of these projects; asked if it is truly the highest and best use of these funds; not that these items being pulled out are killed forever; Renner asked about the possibility of repairing the counter system; Holdren said the system changed hands a couple times and went to a company that no longer serviced these systems; Franey said they are no longer being serviced; Holdren said have looked into repairs; Renner asked if there were thoughts on what we could have on display instead of a space counter; Mayor Stinchcomb said there were some details that were not fully vetted yet; Franey said can continue to investigate; have shown City of Gahanna Page 4 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 to Council the four companies we have looked at; have done about three rounds of casting the net; Schnetzer said at least four members counting this off until next year; Jolley said it is something we need to invest in but needs further investigation; would suggest not being so afraid of supplementals; will not anticipate everything; Teal confirmed we are taking this off; McGregor asked if there is a way to remove the signs completely; Franey said yes; Angelou said we will discuss that at a later date. 1b) Municipal Complex HVAC - Schnetzer agreed with Larick to remove these funds; should re-evaluate these at a later date; Franey said in the last round we shifted and modified this to $50K and shifted to municipal complex; asked about also not doing the Oklahoma upgrades in 2016; Schnetzer said having difficulty quantifying how that is beneficial to the City; Kneeland said the police station will be under construction and that is why it was brought forward at thie time; Franey said if just doing the Police Department, would be around a $300K mark; there are energy savings; understands the outlay is higher; Leeseberg asked the use of Oklahoma; Franey asked if there is an alternative; agrees with what they are saying, we have nowhere to go; Leeseberg asked if we could function another year; Franey said assuming we would have to; Teal said will take that long to fund and build a new site; Kneeland asked about Oklahoma and the Police Department that have to be done now, would be in lieu of; Franey said we could keep the list and as something needs replaced, we will replace with the items on this list that conserve energy; Jolley said the long term outlook for some of our facilities and any joint projects, in coordination with the school district; there is a pretty big transition in the schools; not as focused on capital needs; said 8 out of 11 buildings will need attention in the near future; we have limited land; if the schools are not making plans for that, we should factor in that; Schnetzer said there has been conversation circulating for years on what we are going to do; Larick said of all the things discussed, taking them off this list is not killing them; they will likely be looked at in a more critical fashion when they come across as a supplemental; Kneeland said other opportunities exist that we need to expand on; because of the timing, do not see any way but to push back on these at least until next year; appreciates Jolley's comments about not using supplemental as a bad word; Angelou agrees that these can come back, we need to look at energy savings; said there are opportunities for City's who participate in energy savings; Jolley said the schools have done a good job with saving energy, as well as some of our businesses, in some respects the City needs to take a leadership role; Franey said there are rebates available for this stuff now, that is one reason why it was being brought forward at this time; Mayor Stinchcomb said will be really important to have stability with the school superintendent; once the school board gets their new City of Gahanna Page 5 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 superintendent, it will make it easier to discuss these things; Schnetzer said by majority item 1b will be deffered; Leeseberg said we should do these things as they come up; asked about the $50k; Franey said that is for the Oklahoma site. 1c) Water Tower/Park Storage Site Security Improvements - Franey said it is split because there is some general fund areas; putting a card reader on the parks building and water tower; also connecting the water tower to fiber; Kneeland said this will pay for the fiber connectivity there too; said that is pretty important; more than just the security; Leeseberg asked if a water proprietary fund is available; Franey said $8,000 for the two funds; Angelou asked if there was storage there; Euton said no, just in the garage; Angelou said she is for this one. 1d) Audio/Visual Upgrade to Council Chambers - Schnetzer noted that the Clerk of Council pulled back on this one for another year. 1e) Economic Development Marketing - Schnetzer said there is a significant need; but just believe it is mis-categorized; asked if there is a way to put this into the operating budget; Teal said the initial insertion and the implementation of the Economic Development Strategy, this was a recommendation of the Strategy; there is additional need for marketing and communication; marketing funds are needed from an operational standpoint but this gets us talking about it; Schnetzer asked if there is any way to justify what we are getting for $125,000 in marketing; what would be the desired goal or timeframe; Jones said they have spoken with other communities and tried to identify some of their successes in terms of marketing; if there is a product set, a plan and a target - creation of a plan takes time; at this time we are being marketed, but we are not doing it; we need to be better aligned to Columbus; tough to quantify; if Council would like, can get more specifics as to what the plan will produce and provide that in more detail; can get proposals from firms; cannot speak to all the social media aspects or direct mail; is needed; the plan for the economic development gets very detailed in terms of brand identity; we do not have a distinguishing factor; Schnetzer asked if the expectation of that is to spend the $125K and deploy; Jones said would deploy as little as possible; Schnetzer asked if he feels like he has what he needs to get maximum results; Jones said absolutely; Jolley said we can pull the impact of marketing from the Gahanna Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) for the City itself, a brand and identity is important; any company at any size has a brand; their brand is worth millions if not billions of dollars; important that we focus on developing that type of identity; some of that will not be able to be quantified; will not be able to say what every penny of this will get us in terms of dollars; Jones said the goal of this strategy is to include all of City of Gahanna Page 6 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 the stakeholders that have their own marketing approaches; as our Economic Development Strategy has identified, we market our assets individually; would bring those organizations along; Angelou said for those who attended the ED411, we know the importance of the marketing and branding; we have to become the something of the world; it is the overarching of the development; Mayor Stinchcomb said if there is a contract to be signed, it will likely come back to Council at some point; Renner was in support of the Economic Development Strategy; remember these items being discussed; need to see a timeline or a plan; asked what kind of outcomes we are looking at; Jones said there are projects lined up; marketing would be ongoing but a lot of these are project specific; hard to tell when we will begin; can give some more specifics on what we see the triggers of projects; Renner said would like to see that and some of the projected outcomes; Jones said some of it will be baseline or level setting; for example the fiber connectivity; Schnetzer would also like to see a timeline, more of education; Larick said if this is not put into the budget for a plan for the year, it does not kill it; Jolley said we need to get started on this sooner than later without having to go through additional legislation down the road; two or four weeks can be critical; believes we are in a better and stronger position as the Strategic Plan project continues if we move forward; Kneeland said economic development is an important component next year; said this will not be a one-time expenditure; would like to keep it and everyone understand the importance; Metzbower asked if there is a way to bring this in-house full-time; Jones said does not believe we have the staffing to do this in-house; would take a design firm to come up with the templates and logos; we do not have the expertise in house; we do marketing in-house but it is mostly through our website; Mayor Stinchcomb said we need outside expertise due to creation; at some point, we may need someone in-house to carry this on; may take someone in economic development; Jolley said we do a lot of the public information in-house that saves us a good amount of funds; Teal said this is not our normal operations, this is developing the routine but we will be in a better situation to understand how to put this into operational after this funding; Schnetzer said this is contingent upon a roadmap provided by Jones. 1f) Economic Development Contract Services - See conversation under 1e. 1g) Economic Development Site Certification Program - Jones said we have some commercially zoned properties; must get them ready for private investment; one property is being considered and there is work that needs to be done to be ready; investors need the confidence to develop the sites; we do not have a lot of properties that the City owns, but those that we do, we need to get those ready; gives us the City of Gahanna Page 7 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 means to expect that return; Schnetzer asked the expectation for this program to reoccur; asked if a site certification is needed down the road; Jones said depends on how the property is purchased and the reason; land bank has been a success so far; if part of a project transaction, can see this project not being a requirement; Schnetzer asked about the site-certification program; Jones said it does not call out the program specifically; said it is a way of accomplishing that; Angelou asked if most of these are in the industrial zone; Jones said yes; Angelou asked if these are environmental; Jones said we are investigating on a property now; this program is to address that very question; Schnetzer asked if there were objections to keeping it, there were none. 2 a/b/c) Flint Ridget sidewalk/Heil Drive Bridge/Pizzuro Park bridge - Schnetzer asked how we guarantee that the general fund will be reimbursed first; want dollars generated to go back; Teal said is currently an office task; Hamilton Road is straight-forward; TIF receipts received are recorded on the books and there is a system to track TIF dollars and related reimbursements; also document internal repayment projects; as the dollar comes in, we tally everything up at the end of the year and identify who we owe money to and then allocate those funds back to those projects; done that successfully recently with a number of the City's TIF's; Schnetzer said the Parc Crossing TIF for example, asked what the expected payback time would be; Teal said does not have a guess, until cash is received from a TIF, does not know how it will produce; Teal said for Hamilton Road we have not yet received TIF revenue and that was created two years ago; construction complete last year; did not receive cash in 2015 but will see it in 2016; long to get the cash from the beginning, but is a steady revenue for 30 years; Schnetzer asked about conversations with Moodys & S&P's - asked if it was discussed TIF reimbursements; Teal said it has not come up but will make sure it is presented; Angelou asked about the TIF funds coming in; said it is supposed to be getting larger so if we have a road that needs replaced, we have the funds to do it; said it is really for infrastructure; not all for new things but to repair things; that is why you gather the funds for 30 years; Larick said that was the proposal for the Parc, for that purpose; asked if legislation was done in 2013 or 2014; Jones said 2013; Larick confirmed build and reassessment was done in 2014 or 2015; Jones said a DTE, Determination of Tax Exemption is only filed when there is new increment captured from that perspective; have to audit those parcels with tax exempt status and provide to the auditor; some projects have taken awhile to generate the property taxes; Larick said development was complete in early-ish 2015; Jones said their increment is captured by the appraiser; their assessments vary by the appraiser; Larick asked when the 30 year-clock starts; Jones said when the DTE is filed all of those are captured; Metzbower asked City of Gahanna Page 8 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 about the 2017 septennial coming up; Teal said we look at all our real estate and specifically our TIF districts in the 5 years; from an assumption standpoint and how things will grow, work that into the long term process; Larick confirmed this will be funded out of the TIF; Teal said funded from general fund and develop reimbursements. Schnetzer said we are still waiting on legal for the Pizzuro Park bridge/TIF question; Jones said the Ordinance for that TIF specifies Pizzuro Park as an eligible expense for public infrastructure. 3) Increase in year-to-year CapEx - Council had no further comments. 4) One-time fund use - see previous discussion; no further comments 5) Decrease in operating expenditures of $102K for the Clerk of Courts - Mayor Stinchcomb said $100K was due to Strategic Planning funds. 6) Park Fee Balance - Euton said the premise of that question was whether it can be used for land acquisition; Teal said they call equipment replacement ongoing; is an operating capital expense; Teal said we can use for the first time on land we have just purchased; Euton said in this case can look at these funds as seed money for grants; those funds can be used to leverage some grant funds for new development; Mayor Stinchcomb said matching funds; Jolley asked if that was for any park in the City; Euton said yes; Jolley asked if it had to be used on various parks or can it be used on one park; McCutchen Road park for example or the swim club within parkland; Euton said can be used for McCutchen Road park or new builds on existing parkland; can use this to leverage more funds to the City; Teal said this was an unusual year; had not received dollars for a very long time; Leeseberg said we have exceeded our budget each year; Teal said we have but it is not ongoing and continuous; don't expect to see this type of growth annually. 7) Pools - operating deficit; Euton said the expenses requested for the pool, it is for the full operation of the facility and the maximum operation; budget for the pool open 90% of the days; due to the school calendar change we are adding about 10% for the 2016 year; the 2016 season will be the longest season we have seen; increases things by about $50K; in 2016 if we take out the $50K, our recreation supervisor feels we will come in under based on how things will likely work out; the biggest chunk and the reason for the increase in addition to the time, is filling the recreation supervisor position that has been vacant for 2 years; have been contracting that position; we should run our pools and train people ourselves; we feel we will finish at about $90K; skeptical that these pools will ever pay for themselves; asked to City of Gahanna Page 9 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 look forward and on citizen initiatives; always believes we will require some type of supplemental to operate; Kneeland asked if we should reduce it to what it potentially should be and look at a supplemental if need be; Teal we cannot short-fund a staff position and that is the difference this year; that is a larger component this year; Schnetzer in favor of reducing the amount; Teal said struggles because we still need to review the line items; Euton at the end of the season we will have the same bottom line and we will operate as efficiently as possible; Metzbower asked if there were any thoughts on how the pool will do with the new development across the street; Euton said he is thinking Foxboro; Larick said would like to see an adjustment to the funds; under $100K; Teal asked if that is a mix of expenditures; Larick said to make a reasonable expectation of revenue; Euton said our revenue next year is about $20K more than it was last year; we are looking to spend 10% more due to the length of the season; going under $100K is tight but we can come back for an increase if need be; Kneeland asked if we reduce this will it impact revenue; Euton said does not feel anything will change based on the supplemental; mother nature dictates how we come out; Jolley said is binary; we need to be on board to support it for another year; recommends putting that amount in the budget for the potential; we are already planned for it; Kneeland said he is committed to the pools operating; looking at the ratings and available capital down the road; Larick we saw what can happen in 2015 with the weather; Jolley said the request brought forward was the reasonable assumption; Teal added that the reduction of $67K would suggest we would spend less than we did in 2015; we have to add one full-time employee; would urge that the commitment is the commitment and let the year end numbers tell the story of how well they have managed within their budgets; make adjustments for 2017; Schnetzer said $167 is worst case scenario and am gathering now it is most likely; Teal said appropriated to appropriated; have to appropriate to assume the doors will be open; year-end numbers are always less than appropriated; we know we have savings in the pools every year; can report to Council frequently on where we are in terms of spending; Kneeland said also understood the $168K was a worse-case-scenario; now sounds like we need those funds; Euton said this is a maximum probable expenditure; confident will not need more than that; will probably be substantially less; have had years where we spend all the funds; Teal said there are no other operating departments that we ask the most probable expense of the year; Leeseberg asked the numbers again for last year; Euton said projected loss was around $28K; Renner asked about aquatic supporters and if there were plans to engage them to minimize expenses; Euton said they have been fundraising for a year and a half now; have raised about $7K in the last 18 months; those funds are held in the Parks & Recreation Foundation; are planning to use them and engage them; have some other things internally they City of Gahanna Page 10 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 are working on; Schnetzer asked for a consensus; Leeseberg and Larick agrees with reducing the number; Jolley, Kneeland and Angelou agreed with keeping it; Renner said we have to borrow out of our one-time funds for operating expenses; feels stuck as to how we are making these cuts and how we can improve revenue and free up these costs; Euton said we have plans to increase revenue but that is a complex world to make those changes; staff to work on those plans had to move to run the pools; getting our players in the right position, we have plans to bring in more funds; need the staffing to implement the new programs; all part of the big picture; Angelou confirmed in 2014 we had someone come in and run the pools and they ran well; this year was kind of a fluke; were with the same organization; we are at a point we need to re-build staff which takes time and training; Mayor Stinchcomb said if we had not been honest to tell everyone the condition the pools are in, we would not be having this conversation; also said respectfully, to trust your professionals in their positions; need to commit to keeping these pools open; have had great discussion and heard good information; Jolley said was an elegant articulation of the realities of operating a service organization in a responsible and efficient manner in light of the challenges and turmoil that have taken place; it is a message that everyone needs to understand; these are human beings doing this work; does not just happen; making large scale changes like operating a recreational facility or not operating it then, these are massive changes that generally require significant resources and training for any agency to adapt to on the fly; Leeseberg said he was disappointed in how things turned out last year; would like to see a plan set up next year; supports the pools; Schnetzer confirmed 4 are in favor so we will keep it. 8) Recreation Supervisor position - no further discussion needed. 9) Pool memberships, Gahanna Swim Club and Hunters Ridge - Schnetzer said on a minimum from an ongoing basis; Teal said we can absolutely do that. 10) Multi-purpose trails - Schnetzer asked if this is a placeholder; Euton said no, would like to spend those funds for planning; historically and in the future will be a grant matching placeholder; the two largest and most difficult sections of the Big Walnut Trail are left; those planning processes are about 18 months; planning could be in the $150K range; would intend to use those funds for engineering and planning to further the development to put us in a situation to write for grants; we are currently not in the position to write a grant; this will set us up to make future monies. 11) Schnetzer spoke with Teal and is satisfied. City of Gahanna Page 11 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 12) Kneeland said does not need any further clarification. 13) Schnetzer said the response is clear and there is no need for further discussion. 14) Schnetzer said the response is clear and there is no need for further discussion. 15) Growth in Health Insurance Expenses - Wadley said for the increases alone, we are seeing a 5% increase; think overall if we are seeing a significant change, that is due to enrollment changes; our costs are very well managed; for us to only be seeing a 5% increase is phenomenal. 16) PTO vs. Holiday days - Kneeland wants to take a look at this; there is a number of people this will impact; believes it is a win-win; allows employees to be flexible with their time off; will also help with the scheduling of employees; also is not a forced overtime; Wadley said there are things to consider; there are factors that support the pros and cons both ways; could be some cost savings; in terms of overtime, unless you are scheduled on that day, it will not impact you; will only impact police and service employees; should work out the details administratively on how that would work. Teal passed around changes to the numbers in the budget; will request a revision of the Ordinance for final reading on the 21st; with including the adjustments from tonight, we are seeing a reduction of $489,000; Schnetzer asked what the anticipated draw of the general fund is; Teal said over 2.9 million. 2. Salary Ordinance Amendment - Request from Tom Kneeland Kneeland said on the Salary Ordinance, sent out information to Council on organizational staffing changes; wanted to discuss that tonight; will take the current Finance Director and make that position the City Administrator; would move the Deputy Finance Director position to the Director position and eliminate the Deputy Director position; that is the proposal; is cost-neutral; believes this is necessary for us to be successful next year; will need to move forward with changes to the Salary Ordinance next week; Mayor Stinchcomb said she strongly supports this move; in line with the Governance Commission's recommendation. City of Gahanna Page 12 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 14, 2015 3. Committee Room Tables & Chairs - Capital Needs Assessment Renner said in this request, these tables we have been using will be repurposed to the Parks & Recreation Department; with the strange shape in the room, we have struggled; the proposal is to purchase new tables; the total price for tables and chairs is just over $11,000; Jolley said he will not be here but does not understand why we do not utilize Chambers for Committee meetings; will provide a larger seating space for audience; Banning said in addition, the Committee Room is the only semi-large conference room we have in the building; Human Resources uses for Civil Service testing; Kneeland added that these are not designed for women in skirts and there are a lot of professional meetings in the room; Angelou said Chambers is very intimidating to the audience; said this is a more intimate time that we can have informal discussion; Banning added that these tables are very difficult to move; looked at Whitehall's tables and they are easier to move and can be better used in this room; total ask is over $12K to assemble the tables and chairs and purchase. 2015-0407 Finance Supporting Budget Documents ADJOURNMENT 10:16 p.m. Kayla Holbrook, Reporting City of Gahanna Page 13