City Council Committee Agendas

Mount Vernon Finance Committee Parks & Enrichment Committee Minutes July 25, 2018 Present: Councilmembers Beaton, Brocksmith, Carías, Hudson, Hulst, Lindquist, Molenaar and Mayor Boudreau Staff present: Doug Volesky, Kevin Rogerson, Bill King, Peter Donovan, Chief Dodd and Isaac Huffman 1) Minutes from June 2018 were approved. 2) Parks & Enrichment Services Department: a. Summer Recreational Programs were reviewed and Bill indicated that there are some new programs being offered in addition to the traditional programs. b. Projects i) Stokley Tower - letters of notice were sent to the cell providers. Further safety inspections will take place to assess the immediate risks and determine the short and long term options regarding the tower. ii) Little Mountain dead cedar issues - there have been several large cedar trees die off on Little Mountain. A pathologist specializing in tree diseases analyzed the trees and determined that due to the wet winters and especially dry summers a pathogen that is always present in the soil has become active and detrimental to the trees. The disease does not always show on the trees until they are beyond salvage. There is no process for containment and abatement consists of tree removal only. c. Reviewed his requests for the Capital Improvement Plan. 3) Finance Department a. Mid-year financial review: The City has collected 52% of the budgeted revenue as of June 30. Overall revenues are being collected at or above budgeted estimates with the exception of fines and forfeits. Government operating funds expenditures are within budget estimates at 47% for mid-year. b. Vacancy saving report: The vacancy savings to the General fund is $481,740 to date. The total projected savings for 2018 is $623,696. There are seven vacancies that departments are working on filling which will affect the final savings. a. Sales Tax Update – Sales tax revenue is 10.19% over the same period in 2017. To date the City has collected $289,233 over budget at this point. Collections to date are 60.49% of the budgeted total. b. TBD Tax Update – Year to date the TBD tax is 21.98% over projected budget. The July revenue of $996,207 was 6.33% over the same period in 2017. City of Mount Vernon Finance Committee July 25, 2018 Page 2 c. REET tax revenues are doing very well and are exceeding budgeted goals. There was a slight dip compared to last July, but overall the revenue is $459,523 above budgeted goals. d. Doug discussed an agreement with the Mount Vernon Downtown Association that will be presented to Council. This agreement will continue the Main Street revitalization funding that they have received since 2013. The City contributes $40,000 to the Association and receives a 75% B&O tax credit, essentially keeping the net out-of-pocket contribution at $10,000. 4) Tulip Festival lease renewal – Peter presented a new lease agreement for the property in the Kincaid holdings. Council was asked for direction regarding the lease. The lease is due to renew in November and the current lease is $500 per month. Peter was directed to increase the rent and have a 5-year lease term. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Submitted by Rebecca J. Wade Submitted by Rebecca Wade