City Council

May 2, 2013 A special meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, was held on May 2, 2013, in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 6:00PM, to conduct a budget worksession with Mayor Adkins presiding. Council Members present included: Mayor Adkins, Vice Mayor Gene Teague, Sharon Brooks Hodge, Danny Turner, and Mark Stroud. Staff present included: Leon Towarnicki, City Manager, Brenda Prillaman, Linda Conover, Eric Monday, Mike Rogers, Dennis Bowles and Kenneth Draper. Mayor Adkins opened the meeting and Council continued with the budget requests from several outside agencies including: Blue Ridge Regional Library, West Piedmont Planning District Commission, Anchor, Pittsylvania County Community Action (Mayor Adkins stated she will abstain from vote or discussion on Pittsylvania County Community Action as she works directly with the agency), and Virginia Legal Aid Society. City Manager Leon Towarnicki presented the following information regarding FY14 budget adjustments/changes and reviewed it with Council: DATE: May 2, 2013 TO: Honorable Mayor and Council FROM: Leon Towarnicki, City Manager SUBJECT: FY14 Budget Adjustments/Changes From additional staff review and previous work sessions: • Fire Department Overtime – Reduction of $13,450 • Moving expenses and revenue related to the Henry from the Housing Fund to the General Fund – net increase of $38,802 • Reduction in transfer from General Fund to CDBG fund - $7,000 • Reduction in transfer from General Fund to Housing Fund - $384,732 • Add expense related to reversion studies - $120,000 In the 4/11/13 FY14 budget presentation, a projected use of fund balance from the General Fund was shown as $906,080. $906,080 projected use of fund balance -$384,732 savings from reduction in transfer from General Fund to Housing -$13,450 fire department overtime reduction -$7,000 CDBG transfer reduction +38,802 add net costs related to the Henry to General Fund +120,000 add cost related to reversion studies $246,380 possible reduction in use of fund balance (or reallocation) Finance Director Linda Conover briefed Council on the usage of fund balance from 2004 through 2012. A motion was made by Danny Turner, seconded by Sharon Brooks Hodge, to cut the EDC budget to $100,000 city funding. After lenghthy discussion, a vote was taken with Turner and Hodge voting aye and Teague, Adkins, Stroud voting nay. The motion failed with a 3-2 vote. May 2, 2013 A motion was made by Danny Turner to have the city withdraw from the Commonwealth Crossing commitment. Mr. Turner withdrew his motion after discussion concerning the legality of the contract already signed for this commitment. A motion was made by Danny Turner to cut SBTC/Launch Place funding $3,800. The motion died for lack of a second. A motion was made by Sharon Brooks Hodge to cut the $40,000 funding for Martinsville Mustangs. Danny Turner amended the motion to cut funding to Team Cole & Associates to $25,000. Mr. Turner’s amended motion died for lack of a second. Mrs. Hodge motion to cut the Mustangs budget died for lack of a second. A motion was made by Danny Turner to eliminate the Assistant City Manager position. The motion died for lack of a second. A motion was made by Danny Turner to eliminate the Budget Analyst position. The motion died for lack of a second. Mayor Adkins turned the gavel over to Vice Mayor Teague and she made a motion to full fund the schools, which was seconded by Mark Stroud. Danny Turner amended the motion to fund schools $175,000 instead of the full amount requested, which was seconded by Gene Teague for discussion purposes. After lenghthy discussion, the Vice Mayor asked for a vote on the amended motion for $175,000 for school budget. Before the votes were taken, City Attorney Eric Monday pointed out that the Mayor had signed a disclaimer disclosing that a family member works for the schools. The amended motion failed 4-1, with Mr. Turner voting aye and all others voting nay. Vice Mayor Teague asked for vote on the original motion to fully fund the schools budget request which passed 3-2, with Mr. Teague and Mr. Turner voting nay and all others voting aye. Vice Mayor Teague returned the gavel to Mayor Adkins and the meeting adjourned at 8:05pm. ___________________________________ ___________________________ Brenda Prillaman, Clerk of Council Kim Adkins, Mayor