Administration & Finance Committee

BOROUGH OF LANSDALE ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES MEETING OF MAY 1, 2024 Members Present: Mary Fuller Borough Council President Carrie Oglesby Committee Chairman Rafia Razzack Borough Council Member John Ernst Borough Manager Glenn Dickerson Finance Director Ms. Oglesby called the meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee to order at 6:30pm. 1. Action Approval of Minutes Previous Meetings Motion Ms. Fuller to approve the minutes from the Admin and Finance Committee meeting on April 3, 2024. Second Ms. Razzack. Motion carriers 3-0. 2. Financial Reports as of 04/30/2024 (1) Revenues & Expenses Mr. Dickerson- As of the end of April, we are on target year-to-date. The revenue is down $3.8 million. Electric revenue is $2.3 million behind and we are $780k behind on Sewer. We are transitioning to one-cycle billing at the end of May. Some will get 2 and others will get billed for 6 weeks. Sewer is a little different and we rely on NPWA consumption info. We have negative variances which are offset in revenue. EIT & LST and real estate taxes are ahead and offset any negative. The revenue should be fine. We are also not charging any late fees or penalties. The bill is created and then 20 days to pay and must pay within 2 days or they will be charged a late fee. We haven’t been charging since at least the beginning of June. Expenses are $1.2 million down. $840k in capital expenses down and $92k in Sewer costs down. For the Electric department several items are down and also in capital because we purchased Police cars early last year. So, we had some expenses and didn’t have again. I don’t see any issues with 2024 Budget targets. Yesterday, we got a tax check for $3.5 million and deposited and it is in the report. It is accumulated for everyone paid through the end of April. Ms. Oglesby- Is everything other fund tracking? Mr. Dickerson- Yes, every other fund is where it should be. 3. Committee Business Items A. Utility Billing- Single Cycle Billing is scheduled for May. All Electric accounts will read on 05/19/24. Review of data and billing will be completed by 05/24/24. Bills will be due 20 days after issuance. Mr. Dickerson- Utility billing conversion started last year. We are transitioning to single billing date. As of May 19th, all meters will read in the Borough. Some will get 6 weeks and it was communicated already and we will again. We can work with others if issues. Some will get a lower bill of 2 weeks. All will get normal bill from that point forward. We have a rep from Customer Service coming in and will report data to everyone. Bills, run, calculations will be generated and reviewed to make sense. Tuesday, these will be in the mail and due in 20 days. Currently, we bill all over and never got to allow a smooth transition because people were paying and never getting accurate information on their bills. Some things, we may tweak on the bills to add other information. We did a walk through last week with Caselle and we worked exactly at the exact time. This will smooth out the work upstairs in billing/adjusting over and over. We set up a kiosk upstairs to pay by credit card. If you use the kiosk, it is the same thing as in person. It is probably safer to use this then handing a credit card to anyone and secure. Ms. Ogelsby- How many people come in to pay? Mr. Dickerson- I think about 25%-30% of what it used to be. Ms. Fuller- I always dropped off in the box because of the fee and now we don’t charge with Express Bill Pay. Mr. Dickerson- I think it is trending up and people use Express Bill Pay and say 40% now. We can do mass marketing once things smooth out and increase. Ms. Fuller- With the new statements, the old bills used to have a glance at usage. Mr. Dickerson- The new bills will too, we are mapping the history to do that. Mr. Ernst- What we have found and get feedback and try to make adjustments. We decide the future use to let it go through to make adjustments to the next billing. Once the software has built up a year, it will have the history. Mr. Krauss- We can internally see this information and you can call Customer service and they will provide it to you. Question from resident- Did you tell the Post Office that they will be getting 9,000 bills. Mr. Dickerson- yes, we did and I don’t think they will be any quicker than they have been. Mr. Ernst- On the new billing, 20 days and 2 days and prepayment for discount. Ms. Fuller- I got my electric notification and bill in the mail. I do same with water to know the bill is coming. Mr. Dickerson- Yes, you can get electric and bring that in to pay if you want. Ms. Fuller- The amount of electric was accurate and the paper bill wasn’t. Question from resident- If people get a 6 week bill, is there help to pay or is there payment arrangements? Mr. Dickerson- Yes, there are payment arrangements is what it is said to help them. 4. Old Business Mr. Dickerson- Some had asked me how deep the pond is. It is a little over 8 feet and why we take the boat out. Mr. Krauss- It is about 4.5 to 5 feet. Ms. Fuller- There wasn’t a line items for the fountain and it was on the Park & Rec. Mr. Krauss- It was an esthetic and now we have aeration. Ms. Fuller- People liked the fountain and explaining the situation and maybe change mind or maybe people still feel the need to still have. People have the right and need to speak. Question from resident- Maybe, we can just have on for like the hottest months like in July. Mr. Ernst- I had only one person contact me on. Ms. Fuller- If we were talking about 5 people in 20,000, there is power in the numbers. Mr. Ernst- People tell people to send me an email. Mr. Krauss- There were concerns with equipment and servicing. Ms. Oglesby- I think in the in the beginning there is no aeration system and some point the Parks made the change. 5. Public Comment Comment from resident- I saw the budget and there is tremendous work to do. Any time we discuss work and progress and we got to work hard to get grants. Why are we discussing raising the Council salaries? Ms. Fuller- Andrew and I had conversation and Jack Hasen brought up and haven’t had an increase since 1970 and it was a conversation and that is all it was. Meeting adjourned at 7:15.