City Council

CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL ROOM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2004 5:15 P.M. PRESENT: Commissioner Thomas Curley, DPS Michael Lenz, Mayor Commissioner Matthew McCabe, Finance Commissioner Thomas McTygue, DPW Commissioner Stephen Towne, Accounts ABSENT: Phil Klein, Supervisor Anthony Scirocco, Supervisor STAFF PRESENT: Matthew Dorsey, City Attorney Erin Dreyer, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Debbie Harper, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Alicia Wardell, Deputy Mayor Lynn Bochner, Finance CALL TO ORDER Mayor Michael Lenz called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Michael Lenz opened the public comment period. There being no one wishing to speak, Mayor Michael Lenz closed the public comment period. Bob Spratt said that Recreation requested an additional $10,000 of the $45,000 that had been eliminated for shirts and equipment. Office supplies and program supplies are always the items eliminated first. The City needs to invest in its programs and repair & maintain equipment. Last year they stopped asking for funding for a copier and got a one from State Farm. He requested that the Council consider reinstating about $7,000 which would allow them to fund their programs appropriately. There being no one else wishing to speak, Mayor Michael Lenz closed the public comment period. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to adjourn to executive session at 5:20 p.m. to discuss litigation. Ayes all. Commissioner Stephen Towne recused himself from the discussions on the DPW litigation matters. Council members returned at 5:30 p.m. Mayor Michael Lenz reported that no action was taken in the DPW matter. Foster vs. City of Saratoga Springs - DPS Settlement Commissioner Thomas Curley moved and Commissioner Stephen Towne seconded to authorize the Mayor to sign all documents necessary to effect the settlement of any and all claims that may be made by Leigh E. Foster against the City of Saratoga Springs, its officers and/or employees in exchange for the payment to Mr. Foster of $100,000 by the City. He noted that $90,000 will be paid out of the City’s self insured account and $10,000 will be paid by the City’s insurer. Ayes: four; Nays: one (Commissioner Thomas McTygue). Motion carried. ADJOURNMENT Page 1 of 3 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Minutes Wednesday, November 10, 2004 Mayor Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Stephen Towne seconded to adjourn the meeting at 5:35 p.m. Ayes all. There being no further business, Mayor Michael Lenz adjourned the meeting at 5:35 p.m. WORKSHOP B 2005 COMPREHENSIVE BUDGET Commissioner Matthew McCabe said this was the final workshop and a final budget would be ready within the next few days with a vote scheduled for next Tuesday. He had previously asked Council members to look for more ways to make cuts. He said Commissioner Thomas McTygue did review his budget and identified one area in the 2004 budget. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he will develop a fiscally responsible budget. Reassessment, sales tax, revenues are all issues though. The sales tax revenue is about $1 million ahead of last year, but other revenues are not meeting projections. The mortgage tax will likely come in at what was budgeted, but it will be reduced next year. OTB revenue is down by about a quarter of a million dollars. There is no surplus or contingency. What we are gaining in some areas we are losing in others. He does not want to over estimate revenues. If everything were to remain the same next year with no increases in expenditures or revenues, the City’s expenditures will automatically increase by $2.2 million due to the retirement system payment. He asked Council members for their thoughts. Commissioner Stephen Towne said as the budget stands at this point, it is not a budget that he can support. There are 13 budgets within the entire City budget and it is difficult for Council members to achieve the level of detailed knowledge in each of the departments. Therefore, Council members must take a step back and look at the budget on a broad basis. He then distributed a preliminary chart showing a suggested overall tax rate of $4.95 per thousand, which was down from the original projections of $5.35 per thousand. The reassessment should not mask increases. If all the property tax revenues that were generated by the City last year were to stay the same the tax rate would drop, however, there are increases to the budget. He then accounted for major expenditures also noting there is no surplus or contingency. The lack of a surplus accounts for a 60 cent increase, new salaries & benefits is 39 cents, reduction in pension plan is a decrease of 85 cent, contractual increases is 23 cents and additional funding for market increases is 28 cents. He said that including all of the above mentioned items, the tax rate would be at $4.95 which is a 17 percent increase to each household. He said he could not support such an increase. Commissioner Stephen Towne then offered to reduce his budget by $25,000 ($10,000 remove the copier request and $15,000 for other misc. expense reductions) and to increase revenues by $30,000 for a net gain to the City of $50,000. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said the projection of $5.35 per thousand tax rate is the initial projection. He said that to get the tax rate down to where Commissioner Stephen Towne is comfortable, would take another $1 million decrease in the budget. He said he was willing to cut between $10,000 and $20,000 from his budget from personnel and equipment costs, however, that was not enough to move the tax rate. He has had discussions with Commissioner Thomas McTygue on the timing for bonding of the parking deck. Unless there are further concessions by the remaining three departments, the tax rate could not be decreased to Commissioner Stephen Towne’s rates. He said it would be difficult for him to get the numbers down while developing the final budget. Mayor Michael Lenz said the increase in salaries was due to new charter requirements. He said there was little room in his department to make further cuts. Funding for the parking deck should be done by reaching out and forming partnerships with the community. The funding to be provided by the County was a good example. Grants and other sources of revenues need to be explored. Commissioner Matthew McCabe agreed and then asked if Mayor Michael Lenz was willing to cut any more from his budget. Mayor Michael Lenz said he could not offer any further reductions in his budget. Commissioner Thomas McTygue said that when Council members approve contracts and new positions (fire department) mid year they then must be ready to fund those increases at budget time. Health insurance costs Page 2 of 3 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Minutes Wednesday, November 10, 2004 are also some of the largest increases to the budget. He continued to point out to Council members that if they re going to approve increases in contracts they then must be supported during budget negotiations. He noted that he voted against the contract. There was a major reassessment in the City. He said there have been major increases in subdivisions which in turn creates more streets. He has only received one new position in the streets department. There are miles and miles of new roads. The addition of a recreation facility and a new EMS facility will also cost taxpayers. He said he was willing to make some cuts in his budget as long as all of the other departments took the same percentage cuts. His budget has come in this year with one of the small percentage increases. He can’t predict snow storms and overtime costs. He again said if Council members are going to approve substantial increases to contracts mid-year, then they must also support the corresponding tax increase during budget negotiations. Commissioner Stephen Towne said the contractual obligations are included in his chart. He said that he was not suggesting that the budget be reduced by one million dollars. He is suggesting that the tax levy be reduced by one million dollars. He said there needs to be a responsible budget and a 17.86 percent increase is not responsible. Priorities need to be set. He has not addressed the capital budget. He said he is focusing on a fair and equitable budget. There are close to a million dollars of additional costs due to the charter. There are large increases in health insurance. Either expenditures need to be reduced or revenues increased. Commissioner Thomas Curley said he has a labor intensive budget. His department has acted responsibly during budget negotiations using labor counsel. There have been substantial changes to contracts with new employees contributing to health insurance. The City has grown and the services need to be provided. They have operated within their budget since 1997. His budget is 90 percent labor oriented. The cost of not providing services is a greater burden to the City. Deputy Commissioner Erin Dreyer said they have done a full review of their budget. She said the lines in the 2004 budget with funds still remaining will be used to make up shortfalls in other lines that were not funded appropriately. She said their 2004 budget was $9,842,000. Their 2005 projected budget is $13,490,369, which includes the benefits. They are willing to accept a budget of $13,462,000, which is a $30,000 decrease from 2004. They need to make up $536,000 for contractual obligations, which were recently approved, and they will do that in their proposed budget. Their department can live with $13,462,000 but nothing less. She asked that the lines be funded as they were in their initial proposed budget. She said that would decrease the amount of transfers. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he appreciated the cooperation of the Council members. He said it was now his turn to put together a fiscally responsible budget. The NYS retirement system payment was a large issue that the City needs to deal with next year. The Council needs to be more aggressive when working with the unions by establishing seven to ten year contracts. With lengthier contracts, the Council will be able to forecast expenditures more accurately. Employees need to work 40 hour work weeks and health insurance contributions need to be increased. There needs to be new policies and formats that are reasonable and fair to all. The Council needs to reduce the rate of escalation in the budget. He thanked Council members for their participation and suggestions. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Michael Lenz adjourned the workshop at 6:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Moran Approved: Clerk Page 3 of 3