Finance Committee

City of Rome FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING December 1, 2021 PRESENT: Committee Chairman Sundai Stevenson City Commissioner Randy Quick City Manager Sammy Rich Assistant City Manager Meredith Ulmer Finance Director Toni Rhinehart Assistant Finance Director Kraig Ingalsbe Recording Secretary Vicki Blair Guest: Peyton Elliott, Rome News-Tribune Doug Walker, Public Relations Absent: City Commissioner Mark Cochran Chairman Stevenson called the meeting to order. Ms. Rhinehart began the meeting by stating the documents being presented today are a draft of the 2022 budgets. She stated that a 1 to 4 merit raise was approved for next year and we had a very hefty increase to the GMEBS required contribution for 2022. We also increased the 401 match from 1.5 to 2 percent for 2022 in addition to the large public safety increase in 2021. There are some large transfers budgeted in the general fund and we do not have final numbers for 2021 since the year has not ended. We have all the transfers for the GMEBS payment in general fund and we are using fund balance of $3.7 million to balance the budget. One of the largest reasons for this unbalanced budget is that we were encouraged to get some major paving done in 2022 and decided to use money we have on hand, in addition to SPLOST dollars that are earmarked for infrastructure. The bidding for this project will go out in the early part of 2022. GENERAL FUND Toni discussed that there is an approximate 18% increase in personal service costs in Police for 2022. There are a few departments that have added employees including the street department which is adding a quick response team to address the issue of utility cuts and getting roads repaired quickly. Also, because many of the utility cuts are water, we have passed some of that expense on to water. Sammy spoke up that we may try to implement a right of way permit system but stated that we will explore that at a later time. A small discussion ensued regarding what that would mean in the future. Toni then moved on to retirement costs where the payment to GMEBS is captured. That payment is only the other funds, not the general funds portion, and that amount is substantial. The others come straight out of the departments in general fund. TRANSIT FUND Discussion then began regarding the transit fund. We have had some discussion with transit about continuing to offer free transit services for the first quarter of 2022. Their operating and capital grant will be different for 2022. The Federal Operating grant in 2020 went from 50/50 to 100 percent funded and will continue that way until mid-year of 2022. They are only going to be able to pay 100 percent through June so it will require a 50/50 match beginning July 1 or when the funds are depleted. Commissioner Stevenson began discussion about the sale of buses and where we stand at this point. Toni stated buses sold well in the beginning but that has dropped off, and there are many left to sale. That money is going into a restricted cash to buy more buses, and it is being tracked separately as required by GDOT/FTA. CAPITAL FUND Toni moved on to the capital fund. With the fast response team in the street department, they did have to purchase some capital including a hotbox and a trailer to be able to do the work. They are also enclosing a shed at the street department to house this equipment to protect from the weather. Police has budget for 8 vehicles as part of their normal capital vehicle replacement plan. They added to their fleet with SPLOST funds in 2020. Moving on to capital projects, there is a large increase in capital for street paving with the additional $2 million allocated for paving. There is also a pipe replacement on Dodd Boulevard that has been discussed and needed with an expense of $750,000. Sammy stated it is expensive and will need to be contracted out but cannot continue to be put off. Toni stated that some requests had been made from downtown development for improvements to the town green to be split with the city and county. There was discussion regarding the auditorium improvements being made for technology with an entirely upgraded system. There are plans for traffic calming with the implementation of speed tables on Broad Street. There are other improvements planned for painting of traffic light mast arms, streetlights, and signage. Also, the blooms on broad planters were given to us by the Community Foundation, and we agreed to transition to maintain those plantings going forward. Discussion was then had regarding gateway signage as a large historical sign over Broad Street. Toni stated that this would be a multi-funded project. Commissioner Quick gave move details as to how that design is being discussed and the plans to implement in two phases. More discussion was had as to ways businesses could help fund this project. Under the planning commission, there is $25,000 earmarked for historic registry and there will be more discussion regarding that later. WATER FUND Toni then moved on to the water capital and asked the committee to review it because of its complexity. It was pointed out that there is a SPLOST project to upgrade the water system to Rosemont Park in 2022. FIRE FUND Toni mentioned that some fund balance was appropriated to balance the fire fund. In the past there has been some difficulty in getting equipment and budgeting was allocated for lease payments that we did not have so therefore the fund balance has grown. Our contribution was increased from 7.5 million to 7.8 million, and the county has that in their budget as well. The Fire fund retirement contribution went up as well, so even with the use of fund balance, there is a need for an increase in the city and county contribution. HOTEL/MOTEL TAX Hotel motel taxes are a bright spot and should continue that way with the opening of an additional new hotel. We are also hopeful that tennis tournaments will increase along with other events. INSURANCE FUND/WORK COMP Our insurance carrier is changing beginning in January – changing from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Cigna. We anticipate some savings in fees, but we are currently experiencing a large number of claims and we continue to get high dollar notifications. Work comp has stayed pretty consistent the last few years. TAD We had the first TAD payment to East Bend (TAD 4) due on the 10th of December. There was an appeal in this TAD, so we are waiting on the appeal to be settled before making the entire payment. We are hopeful that there will be enough money to make the full payment. TAD 1 and TAD 2 payments have now been made and the TAD 4 partial payment will be made this week. ENTITLEMENT Entitlement has not been updated because there is not a list of projects available at this time. DDA DDA is consistent with last year, and we are hoping that parking will continue to run smoothly. There is some debt for downtown parking and Forum parking with equipment that has been replaced. This cost is split between the two funds. SPLOST SPLOST project completion has been a little slower than we had hoped during 2021. The fund balance has seen an increase, and the collections have been higher than previous years. We currently are ahead in collections, and we have a substantial balance to fund the approximate 13 projects that need to be completed. Discussion was then had regarding these projects. There was some discussion concerning improved lighting at Barron Stadium. The 5th Avenue art district project is under way. Parks Hoke Park bids open on December 14th and discussion was had regarding this and the North Broad Youth Center project. Paving was mentioned again and will be put out to bid the early part of 2022. However, it cannot be done until temperatures are warmer. Discussion was then had regarding the design and completion of the East Central SPLOST project which is anticipated to be complete before year end 2021. The BlueWay Waterway project includes the ECO Center, and there are improvements budgeted for the ECO Center from 17 SPLOST. The committee continued to review the documents and ask various questions in reference to tennis. Toni stated that she will continue to work on the budget, and she will have written highlights at a later time. Those will be sent out as soon as they are available. Discussion then began regarding the budget adoption schedule for the remainder of the year. December 13th is the scheduled date for the first public hearing, and December 20th is the date for the 2nd public hearing and the vote for approval of the 2022 budgets. With no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Vicki Blair