Board of Commissioners Meetings

103 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Special Called Meeting on May 26, 2017 A special called meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Henderson, Kentucky, was held on Friday, May 26, 2017, at 1:00 p.m., prevailing time, in the third floor Assembly Room located in the Municipal Center Building at 222 First Street, Henderson, Kentucky. There were present Mayor Steve Austin presiding: PRESENT: Commissioner Patti Bugg Commissioner Robert N. Pruitt, Sr. Commissioner Bradley S. Staton Commissioner Austin P. Vowels ALSO PRESENT: Mr. Russell R. Sights, City Manager Ms. Dawn Kelsey City Attorney Ms. Maree Collins, City Clerk Mrs. Donna Stinnett, Public Information Officer Mrs. Connie Galloway, Human Resources Director Mr. Paul Titzer Ms. Erin Schmitt, the Gleaner Mr. Bill Stevens, WSON Radio Eyewitness News Mr. Mike Richardson, Police Reserve Officer ________________________ ORDINANCE NO. 23-17: SECOND READ ORDINANCE ADOPTING HENDERSON WATER UTILITY BUDGET BUDGET AND APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JULY 1, 2017 AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2018 FOR HENDERSON WATER UTILITY OF THE CITY OF HENDERSON, KENTUCKY MOTION by Commissioner Pruitt, seconded by Commissioner Vowels, that the ordinance be adopted. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON, Mayor Austin declared the ordinance adopted, affixed his signature and the date thereto and ordered that the same be recorded. /s/ Steve Austin Steve Austin, Mayor ATTEST: May 26, 2017 Maree Collins, City Clerk ________________________ ORDINANCE NO. 24-17: SECOND READ BUDGET AND APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JULY 1, 2017 AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2018 FOR THE CITY OF HENDERSON, KENTUCKY MOTION by Commissioner Staton, seconded by Commissioner Pruitt, that the ordinance be adopted. 104 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Special Called Meeting on May 26, 2017 The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON, Mayor Austin declared the ordinance adopted, affixed his signature and the date thereto and ordered that the same be recorded. /s/ Steve Austin Steve Austin, Mayor ATTEST: May 26, 2017 Maree Collins, City Clerk ________________________ ORDINANCE NO. 25-17: SECOND READ ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD AN ORDINANCE UTILIZING THE AUTHORITY GRANTED IN KRS 65.8801 TO 65.8839 BY CREATING A CITY OF HENDERSON CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2017 MOTION by Commissioner Bugg, seconded by Commissioner Staton, that the ordinance be adopted. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON, Mayor Austin declared the ordinance adopted, affixed his signature and the date thereto and ordered that the same be recorded. /s/ Steve Austin Steve Austin, Mayor ATTEST: May 26, 2017 Maree Collins, City Clerk ________________________ ORDINANCE NO. 30-17: SECOND READ ORDINANCE RELATING TO BUSINESS AND OCCUPATION LICENSES FEES AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 21-33 OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE TAX PAYMENT REQUIRED OF ARTICLE III, BUSINESS AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE FEES, BY CHANGING THE RATE OF OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE TAX FOR COMPENSATION PAID OR PAYABLE FOR WORK DONE OR SERVICES PERFORMED OR RENDERED IN THE CITY BY AN EMPLOYEE FROM ONE TO ONE AND TWENTY NINE HUNDREDTHS PERCENT (1.29%) AND AMENDING SECTION 21-48 BEGINNING DATE OF THIS ORDINANCE TO JULY 1, 2017 MOTION by Commissioner Bugg, seconded by Commissioner Vowels, that the ordinance be adopted. PAUL TITZER, spoke in opposition of having two different rates, indicating that he didn’t see the need or the reasoning behind applying a different rate to one type of labor from a different type of labor. For example, as an employee with an hourly rate of pay a person would pay one rate whereas, if that person worked as a consultant and made a consulting fee, they would pay a different rate. He stated that he sees some problems when it comes to pass through entities such as Partnerships, or LLCs, or S Corporations. With those types of entities the tax is  105 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Special Called Meeting on May 26, 2017 administered at the entity level and they can decide to pay themselves a salary and pay one rate or pass those through as net profits and pay a different rate. He believes that it should be the same rate, perhaps one and one-quarter percent for everyone. He further stated that he had no problem with the concept of lowering property tax rates and raising occupational tax rates; and doesn’t have any problem with trying to be business friendly. But if businesses are going to attract labor, and their employees are going to pay a higher rate, somehow that gets reflected in their ability to attract labor. DISCUSSION WAS HELD regarding that there are other communities across the state had two different rates; that there had been several articles in the newspaper, but maybe none of them detailed that only the occupational tax was changing and not both; that the reasoning behind the two different rates was to encourage more business people here in Henderson; and other examples of how the different rates will affect employees. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Nay: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Nay: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON, Mayor Austin declared the ordinance adopted, affixed his signature and the date thereto and ordered that the same be recorded. /s/ Steve Austin Steve Austin, Mayor ATTEST: May 26, 2017 Maree Collins, City Clerk ________________________ ORDINANCE NO. 20-17: SECOND READ (TABLED) MOTION by Commissioner Bugg, seconded by Commissioner Pruitt, to take Ordinance No. 20-17 off the table. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: ORDINANCE NO. 20-17: ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE LEVY AND COLLECTION OF AD VALOREM TAXES AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HENDERSON, KENTUCKY PROVIDING FOR THE LEVY AND COLLECTION OF AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2017, AND PROVIDING FOR THE TIME OF PAYMENT FOR SUCH TAXES, PENALTY, INTEREST AND DISCOUNT *MOTION by Commissioner Staton, seconded by Commissioner Pruitt, that the ordinance be adopted. *(This motion was made at the May 23, 2017 meeting before the ordinance was subsequently tabled) COMMISSIONER VOWELS reported that this is the second part of the proposal that was put together to lower property tax rates and replacing that lost revenue with a very slight increase in the payroll tax rate. RUSSELL R. SIGHTS, City Manager, reported that again this year the ordinance is written to allow property owners the ability to pay their tax bills on the first working day of the 106 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Special Called Meeting on May 26, 2017 new year without penalty, which in this case will be January 2, 2018. Penalties will apply to any unpaid bill after the close of business on January 2, 2018. DISCUSSION WAS HELD on a proposal to adjust all salaries by four percent; on whether or not a requested change had been made to the Fire Captain grade so that it would top out at a higher rate than the Fire Lieutenant position; that the Board had set a budget for this salary adjustment when it was initially discussed; that specific criteria and formulas were used to determine each salary increase; that the initial pay study review indicated that some of the positions were closer to midpoint in the grades than others and therefore required less increase to bring them into the implementation plan; that upon review and discussion it was determined to be more fair to give the same percentage increase to each employee when there were two or more employees in the same job classification; and a request from the city manager to allow some discretion to increase the promotional salary of an existing employee for the Code Administrator position, because he doesn’t believe that the minimum of the grade is a competitive salary for this very specialized position. Staff was asked to review options for this circumstance. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON, Mayor Austin declared the ordinance adopted, affixed his signature and the date thereto and ordered that the same be recorded. /s/ Steve Austin Steve Austin, Mayor ATTEST: May 26, 2017 Maree Collins, City Clerk ________________________ ORDINANCE NO. 31-17: FIRST READ ORDINANCE AMENDING PAY PLAN ORDINANCE ADOPTING REVISED JOB CLASSIFICATION AND PAY PLAN FOR THE CITY OF HENDERSON WHICH RECLASSIFIES CERTAIN POSITIONS AND ESTABLISHES NEW GRADES AND SALARY RANGES FOR NON-HAZARDOUS CITY EMPLOYEES; AND APPROVING AMENDMENT TO PAY PLAN PROVIDING FOR ONE PERCENT (1%) COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT (COLA) FOR CITY EMPLOYEES OF BOTH THE NON-HAZARDOUS AND HAZARDOUS DUTY JOB CLASSIFICATIONS EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2017 MOTION by Commissioner Staton, seconded by Commissioner Bugg, that the ordinance be adopted. CONNIE GALLOWAY reported that this is the implementation of the Non-Hazardous duty classified service employees pay plan and also adjusts the entire pay plan to include COLA. RUSSELL R. SIGHTS, City Manager, indicated that a resolution will be included on one of the two June meeting agendas that in accordance with state law would authorize a 2.1%, or any portion thereof, cost-of-living adjustment for the Board. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye:  107 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Special Called Meeting on May 26, 2017 Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON, Mayor Austin declared the ordinance adopted on its first reading and ordered that it be presented for a second reading at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners. ________________________ EXECUTIVE SESSION: Litigation MOTION by Commissioner Bugg, seconded by Commissioner Staton, to go into Executive Session pursuant to KRS 61.810 (1) (c) for the purpose of deliberation on proposed or pending litigation against the City. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: ________________________ MEETING RECONVENED: MOTION by Commissioner Pruitt, seconded by Commissioner Vowels, the Board of Commissioners reconvened in regular session. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: ________________________ MEETING ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Pruitt, seconded by Commissioner Bugg, to adjourn the meeting. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WITHOUT OBJECTION, Mayor Austin declared the Meeting adjourned at approximately 1:45 p.m. ___________________________ Steve Austin, Mayor June 13, 2017 ATTEST: ______________________ Maree Collins, City Clerk