City Council

CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL ROOM THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2005 9:00 A.M. PRESENT: Commissioner Thomas Curley, DPS Mayor Michael Lenz Commissioner Matthew McCabe, Finance Commissioner Stephen E. Towne, Accounts ABSENT: Commissioner Thomas McTygue, DPW Phil Klein, Supervisor Anthony Scirocco, Supervisor STAFF PRESENT: Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Frank Dudla, Deputy Commissioner, DPS PUBLIC HEARING 2006 Budget Mayor Michael Lenz opened the public hearing on the 2006 budget. John Kraus, 227 Grand Avenue, thanked all of the Council members for working on the budget. He said he was somewhat concerned with a new Council coming on board and he hoped the current Council members would exercise accountability. Linda Terricola, Recreation Department, thanked the Council for supporting the recreation facility. Jenny Mirling, 121 Nelson Avenue, Citizens for the Community Media Center, urged the Council to budget for the cable renewal contract. She said the City needs PEG access and while the project might cost something now, there would be benefits. Mark Lawton, Citizens for the Implementation of the Charter, said the mandatory elements of the charter should be fully funded in this next budget. He said he was also concerned that contractual labor costs may not have been properly costed out and wondered how that would impact the budget. There being no one else wishing to speak, Mayor Michael Lenz closed the public hearing for today, but noted that it would be continued to the November 15 Council meeting. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Michael Lenz called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 2006 Budget Commissioner Matthew McCabe summarized the changes to the proposed budget. Mayor’s office: total increase to the Mayor Office was $20,500; Page 1 of 4  Finance Department: the total increase to the Finance Department was $31,050 (postage, professional services and new city owned parcels) DPW: total increase to DPW was $27,400 (overtime, liability insurance, tipping fees) DPW: total increase to DPS was $18,472 (equipment and hardware) Accounts: total decrease to the Accounts Department was $73,150 (decrease from certiorari cases, grant writer removed, increases to equipment/office supplies) Recreation: total decrease $20,940 (part time clerk and part time typist, salary incentive, social security line correction, summary parking program, soccer programs). New position for interactive play fountains not included. Health Insurance: Estimated $251,504 decrease DPS: Cops & School Program both expense and revenue lines have been reconciled at $40,000 Fund Balance - decreased by $250,000 unreserved, unappropriated Sales Tax: decrease of $150,000 for a total amount of $8.35 million OTB Revenue: increase of $50,000 Commissioner Matthew McCabe informed the Council of the following: Preliminary budget of $32,282,564 Total Revenues: $20,454,932 Tax Levy: $11,836,632 Combined Tax Levy: $13,171,632 Combined tax levy increase: zero Inside District tax rate: $4.73 Outside District tax rate: $4.71 Increase/decrease to taxes paid: 0.063 percent $324,000 house assessed value: $0.96 more in 2006 than 2005 Commissioner Matthew McCabe said the public hearing would be continued to Tuesday, November 15. Director of Finance Christine Gillmett-Brown said she had been working on year end projections. She said it is difficult for many reasons including incomplete or nonexistence projections from departments and purchase order requisitions being issued late in the year. She said she reviewed each and every revenue and expense line and estimated a surplus of between $70,000 and $80,000. She said while those were small numbers, they were good numbers in that they were right where they should be. She reminded Council members that the budget is supposed to balance at the end of the year. She further explained though that under the GAAP accounting principles the City needs to book the liability for the retirement at $2.2 million. She said with that liability on the books, the City will have an operating deficit of $2.2 million. Balancing that amount against the fund equity the fund equity will end of $3 million. However, the reserves must be designated first and subtracted from the $3 million for which the City has $1.6 in reserve accounts. There is also $2.5 million to balance the 2006 budget for the retirement payment. The funds from the County for the parking deck will go toward the debt service fund. Once those amounts are balanced against a negative fund equity, the City ends up with a negative $1.1 million unreserved, unappropriated fund balance. Commissioner Stephen Towne asked for clarification. He said that we ended 2004 with $400,000 and may end 2005 between $70,000 and $80,000. He asked how the City gets to a negative $1.1 million. There is the $800,000 from the County and in his estimation the City should be at about $500,000 in the unreserved, unappropriated fund balance. Christine Gillmett-Brown said she must take into consideration the encumbrances. Commissioner Stephen Towne asked that this information be written into a simple format for Council members’ review. Commissioner Stephen Towne said his department has managed to keep insurance costs to a minimum and he anticipated that there would be an $80,000 savings in that line during 2005. He also noted that the City recently received the STAR payment for the year and while it was budgeted at $9,000, the check was for Page 2 of 4 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Minutes Thursday, November 10, 2005 $6,500, therefore, there was a slight shortfall in that line. Mayor Michael Lenz said the Parks and Open Space position had not yet been filled. It had been budgeted in the 2005 budget cycle. He informed Council members that it had been advertised once with only one applicant and again with two persons applying. He said it was not his plan to appoint anyone to this position before the end of his term. He said the Council needs to address whether they want to fully fund, partially fund or discuss whether the position should exist at all. He said some of this year’s funding for that position had been used to pay for the IZOD consultant. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said there has been a lot of progress under this administration on open space issues in the City. He said this is a difficult position to fill. The City cannot encumber payroll line items. He suggested that perhaps the position should be filled in later 2006. He said he would be looking at the possibility of adopting a local law which extends the deadline to fill the position and then next year, a committee could review the details of how to fund or whether to fund the position. Commissioner Thomas Curley said that he had been through 11 budget cycles and he would shape his budget to meet the needs of the residents. He would not scrimp in his budget and would do what was right for the community. He said that he had some concerns with the budget and would have a better handle on it by Tuesday. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said although he will bring the budget to the Council on Tuesday with the possibility to vote, it would be unlikely that a vote would take place. He reminded everyone that the cable contract renewal process had not been funded in the budget. He then distributed a list of line items in the current budget that have not yet been fully expended and suggested that some thought be given by Council members to use those funds to pay for the cable renewal process. He said that to simply add funding to the proposed budget would increase the tax rate and he thought that it could be funded through savings from these line items. He noted that the $80,000 savings in the insurance line could be used. He said this is a very specialized kind of position and suggested that a waive of bid could be done. He reminded everyone that funding for this consultant was not funding a media center. He said though that historically a consultant of this nature will bring in more revenue to the City during the negotiating process. Commissioner Stephen Towne said the commitment was there to keep the tax rate low. He said he would continue to look at the grant writer position. Revenues could be increased by this position, existing duties and responsibilities can be realigned. He said he was supportive of PEG access however, he asked how that expenditure could be justified. He said that qualitatively it was a good project, but from a financial standpoint, he had not yet received the estimates of the expenses and revenues of such a project. He asked if the community would be obligating itself to a net expense each year through this process. He said a business plan would be a good starting point and it is a necessary component. He said the Council could likely find the money, but from a financial side the Council needs to do its due diligence. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said a business plan will be warranted but only after the negotiation process has been completed. He said funding for this consultant does not guarantee a media center. It will be negotiated through the consultant with the cable company. If the contract has dedicated funds for a media center, the Council can choose to accept or not accept the contract. He also noted that technology is increasing at such a fast pace that the media center may not resemble anything that the Council is currently thinking about. A business plan is necessary, however, not at this time. Jacki Pardon clarified that the consultant will negotiate a contract with the cable company. It may or may not include funding for a capital project, Inet and/or a media center. She said though that it would be likely that some of the funds would be dedicated to a media center. She said that it could be possible to have the media Page 3 of 4 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Minutes Thursday, November 10, 2005 center fully funded through the contract through dedicated funds or through the franchise fee. There will be funds though that are dedicated for PEG access. Commissioner Matthew McCabe thanked everyone for their input. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Michael Lenz opened the second public comment period. John Kraus, 227 Grand Avenue, said he would like to see a copy of Christine Gillmett-Brown’s comments. He asked if the 2006 sales tax revenues had been decreased to match the 2005 sales tax revenue. He also asked for the opportunity to submit written questions to Council members so that they could be addressed when the Council reconvenes on Tuesday, November 15. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 a.m. Ayes all. There being no further business, Mayor Michael Lenz adjourned the meeting at 10:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Moran Approved: Clerk Page 4 of 4