City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, May 10, 2022 5:30 PM Council Chambers Special Meeting - Budget Work Session 1. Roll Call Vice Mayor Romero called the meeting to order Present: 4- Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice Mayor Sal Romero, Council Member Christopher B. Jones and Council Member Laura Dent Also Present: 3- Deputy City Manager Ande Banks, City Attorney Chris Brown and City Clerk Pam Ulmer 2. Discussion on Budget for FY 22/23 2.a. Discussion on proposed 2022-2023 Budget Mayor Reed read a Statement of Disqualification. Ande Banks, interim city manager, stated staff is ready to assist Council through their deliberation of the Community Contributions in the FY22/23 proposed budget. Council Member Dent spoke on the categories of the Community Contributions and a request for adjustments to how the categories are defined for next fiscal year budget. Council Member Jones stated categories can be adjusted and more defined, but we should vote on the current funding requests and the current categories now and request those changes for next year. Amy Snider, assistant to the city manager, reviewed the process and provided an estimated deadline for changes to be made for the FY23/24 budget season. Further discussion took place regarding defining the categories and the reasons why. Mayor Reed stated one requirement should be that the organization that receive funding should be reporting back to Council with how the funds are being used and the impact the funds have made. Council Member Jones agreed. Ms. Snider stated all organizations rewarded with funding sign a grant agreement that includes semi-annual reporting of how they use the funds and how many city residents have been impacted by the services provided. She stated an end of year report is City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 6/14/2022 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final May 10, 2022 provided to Council reflecting the services provided and the impact made. She stated if the process or information provided needs to change or enhanced she will need guidance from Council. Council Member Jones suggested the semi -annual reporting due dates should be changed to earlier dates so Council can review prior to budget approval. Further discussion took place on the scoring rubric, the process of scoring and determining suggested contributions. Vice Mayor Romero stated it would be important for Council to see the deciding factors in the scoring. Council Member Jones recommended changes to the contributions as follows: · Blue Ridge CASA increase funding to $10,350 · Harrisonburg Little League Association increase funding to $6,000 · Strength in Peers increase funding to $15,900 Vice Mayor Romero suggested the following · Blue Ridge Free Clinic increase funding to $4,750.00 · Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance 4th of July Fireworks increase funding to $5,000 Discussion took place on the organizations that may receive /have received funding from alternate sources such as CDBG and ARPA funding. Council Member Dent stated she would like to see funding for First Step be including in ARPA funding. Mayor Reed stated the changes made over the few years to the process has made a difference to those organizations that never applied before, there are nine new organizations on this year’s list, that means the new process is working. Council Member Dent stated child services is the largest category in funding requests and that shows the community organizations are responding to the priorities in the community, second is the Housing category. She stated by breaking the organizations down by categories it really represents the city ’s priorities, which is a good thing A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Dent, to approve the recommended changes to Community Contributions for FY 22/23. The motion carried with a unanimous vote. No: 0 Absent: 1- Hirschmann NEW ITEM Larry Propst, director of Finance, presented a recommendation to eliminate the vehicle license fee (the old decal fee) of $40 and reduce the Personal Property tax by 35 cents to $3.15 per $100. He stated an increase in the Personal Property tax may increase again within the next 4-5 years, but this will help even things out and be more City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 6/14/2022 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final May 10, 2022 equitable across the board. Council Member Dent asked if this is reflected in the current proposed budget. Mr. Propst stated no, but an adjustment can be made. 3. Adjournment At 6:55 p.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 6/14/2022