City Council

APPROVED 06/01/2015 SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP MINUTES MAY 11, 2014 THE SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP OF THE RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL WAS CALLED TO ORDER AT 5:30 P.M., ON MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015, BY MAYOR RIX. ROLL CALL Present: Greene, LaFore, Misteravich, Rix, Roberts, Schultz, Yaroch Absent: None Others: City Manager Moore, City Clerk Stagl, City Treasurer Hatfield Visitors: Police Chief Teske, Library/Recreation Director Kammer, Gail O’Neill, Alana Stump, Jennifer Haass AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Alana Stump informed Council that the recent Library Book Sale was the most successful sale ever. Thanked Council for their continued support of the Library. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion by Greene, seconded by LaFore, to adopt the Agenda as presented. All yeas Motion passes ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Review of the Manager’s Proposed FY2015-16 City Budget Discussion on the proposed FY2015-16 budget began with: Millage and Headlee Information City Manager Moore informed Council that the City’s current operating millage was 16.6526, which is our Headlee Limit. With a Headlee override vote, the City could raise the millage rate up to the maximum allowed by the City Charter, which is 20 mills. Another alternative to a Headlee override would be to ask voters for a dedicated millage for a specific use. SCM: 05/11/2015 Page 1 of 5  APPROVED 06/01/2015 Discussion on what impact an increase in the City’s millage would have on the residents. Council discussed the letter received from the Library Board in regards to a special millage for the Library. Library Board Member Alana Stump informed Council that in doing their research, they found that Council can level up to 1 mil for the Library without voter approval. City Manager Moore indicated that he would have to research this issue further. Council discussed whether they wanted to increase the millage rate. It was noted that when possible, the City has reduced its tax rate. Yaroch stated that he had a problem with paying additional taxes for the Library when 50% of the users are not City residents and not paying any tax for the Library service. We have a budget shortfall and the City continues to compensate for people not paying into the services. The consensus of Council was that they did not want to go for a Headlee Override vote or increase the City’s millage rate through a dedicated millage at this time. Rix commented that he felt the quality of life has gone down in the City and the only way he may consider a Headlee override would be if it was for 1 mil and for specific time frame. Yaroch stated that if State Revenue Sharing is further cut, because of the failure of Proposal 1, we may have to consider a Headlee override. Recreation and Library Budgets City Manager Moore briefed Council on the Recreation budget personnel costs if the Recreation/Library Director was separated. The proposal was to separate the position – Julianne Kammer would become the full-time Library Director and Margo VanHove would become the Recreation Director. As the Library Director, Julianne Kammer agrees with removing the car allowance from her compensation. As the Recreation Director, Margo would work 40 hours per week from Memorial Day through Labor Day and 32 hours per week the remainder of the year. It was also being proposed to keep the part time office help from Memorial Day through Labor Day. With doing the proposed personnel changes, the net effect on the budget would be $5,213.00. Yaroch stated that he felt the Recreation Department was taking the full hit for the changes in personnel and questioned why the Library was not reducing their budget by $5,213.00. SCM: 05/11/2015 Page 2 of 5  APPROVED 06/01/2015 City Manager Moore informed Council that even through the Director Position may be separated, we will still keep those things that worked – Joint Library/Recreation Board meeting; the Recreation brochure will include Library programming; Library newsletter will note Recreation website and programming. The City Manager would be re-evaluating Margo’s job duties to see if some work could be redistributed to the part-time office personnel. Library Board Members expressed their appreciation to Council for listening to and sharing their concerns for the Library and Recreation Departments. Consensus of Council was to implement the personnel changes as proposed by the Library and Recreation Boards and separate the Library/Recreation Director position with an effective date of July 1st. Council recessed at 6:57 p.m. Council reconvened at 7:08 p.m. Police Department Traffic Car During review of the Police Department budget on April 30th, Council discussed the possibility of adding additional traffic shifts back into the FY15/16 budget. City Manager Moore discussed the matter with the Police Chief. Administration believes we can increase traffic enforcement by bringing back one 10 hour shift and splitting it into two 5 hour shifts and varying the days of the week based on where the Chief feels it will be most beneficial. Police Chief Teske stated that the flexibility would allow us to target problem areas and times. Part-timers would be used to cover the traffic car. Consensus of Council was to include additional funding for one 10 hour shift for a traffic car. Police Department Server City Manager Moore stated that after review of the TIFA budget, he felt confident that the TIFA budget would handle the additional expense of $20,000 for the computer server. Consensus of Council was to take the expense of $20,000 from the TIFA budget. Code Enforcement SCM: 05/11/2015 Page 3 of 5  APPROVED 06/01/2015 The City Manager sent the Police Chief Council’s target list of code violations, including a list a repeat offenders and specific areas that Council want more proactive code enforcement. The City Manager would be working with City Planner Jeschke on a phased-in program for enforcement of the sign ordinance. City Manager Moore updated Council on the FY15-16 proposed budget, with the changes being made, as agreed upon by Council. The deficit now stands at $47,603. Garbage Bags City Manager Moore informed Council that after discussing the matter with the front office staff, it was determined that the sale of trash bags is not overly burdensome. They did recommend that the sale of the paper yard waste bags be discontinued. Discussion on the sales tax that should be charged to residents when they purchase the trash bags. Further research would have to be done by the City Treasurer to determine how much work is involved in submitting the collected sales tax to the State. Council requested further information on what would be involved to become compliant and charge sales tax. Consensus of Council was that if too much work was involved to send in the collected tax to the State, the City would discontinue the sale of garbage bags to the public. Master Plans City Manager Moore informed Council that the proposed budget did include funds for the update of the water and sewer master plans. The Community Master Plan was currently being redone by the Planning Commission. The Recreation Master Plan will need to be redone. And the TIFA plan update has been started by the County. Fire Rescue City Manager Moore suggested forming a Committee to review the Fire Departments current equipment and needs. It’s important to evaluate the condition of the department’s vehicles to determine how soon they may need to be replaced. Council came to the consensus that they were in agreement with forming a Fire Committee to evaluate the Fire Department vehicles and to report their findings back to Council. SCM: 05/11/2015 Page 4 of 5  APPROVED 06/01/2015 Council Filing Deadline Council was informed of the new filing deadline. They discussed whether they wanted to change their current practice of receiving the nominating petition 6-weeks prior to the filing deadline. Council was in agreement that the current 6-week practice was to remain. COUNCIL COMMENTS Council requested that they receive the budget public notice that is published in the paper, before it is published. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Schultz, seconded by Greene, to adjourn the Special Budget Workshop at 8:13 p.m. All yeas Motion passes Respectfully submitted: Karen M. Stagl City Clerk SCM: 05/11/2015 Page 5 of 5