City Council

City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Wednesday, November 8, 2006 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL ROOM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2006 5:00 P.M. PRESENT : Valerie Keehn, Mayor Commissioner John Franck, Accounts Commissioner Ron Kim, DPS Commissioner Matthew McCabe, Finance Commissioner Thomas McTygue, DPW SUPERVISORS: Cheryl Keyrouze, Absent Joanne Yepsen, Absent STAFF PRESENT : Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Frank Dudla, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Eileen Finneran, Deputy Mayor Michael Englert, City Attorney BUDGET WORKSHOP Commissioner Matthew McCabe reviewed the compilation of requests for the 2007 comprehensive budget as follows: Mayor: request to reconsider position the Administrator of Parks, Open Space and Historic Preservation position; Finance: request for $6,000 for software and disability insurance correction for shortfall, Department of Public Safety: remove $15,000 for vehicle, $3,500 for maintenance and $6,000 for software. There were also changes to the liability insurance, self insurance, water/sewer fund lines and debt service. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said not all of the requested changes can be honored. Council members have agreed that they are looking for the lowest tax rate. At this point the average tax rate is $4.96 which is about a 5 percent increase over last year. He pointed out that between the County’s and the City’s tax rates, homeowners would not see a net increase in their taxes. Mayor Valerie Keehn said that the Administrative of Parks and Open Space position could be trimmed to $8,500. Lynn Bachner said line 8 was an input error that she had corrected. Commissioner Matthew McCabe requested that the next budget workshop be held on Thursday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m. He said he hoped that the Council could adopt a budget at that time. Mayor Valerie Keehn asked what would happen if the budget was not adopted by November 30. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said the initial budget that he presented would become the budget. However, he did not believe that it would come to that point. He said he was confident that the Council would adopt a budget and that could be done without cutting services or laying off employees. He said he did not see another $300,000 in this budget that could be trimmed. Mayor Valerie Keehn noted that the preliminary budget presented by Commissioner Matthew McCabe was about $100,000 less that this budget. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said was correct, but noted there have been several changes to the budget since that time in the insurance, retirements, contractual obligations, etc., and this was a more responsible budget. He again said there would be a net zero increase to tax payers because of the County’s proposed budget. Commissioner John Franck asked why the mortgage tax was increased by $25,000. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he had been watching the market and after speaking with local realtors has found that while the market is steady there is an increase in units available. He said he was comfortable increasing this line by $25,000. Commissioner John Franck asked about any possible surplus at the end of 2006. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said that a surplus was possible and those funds should be used to increase the surplus fund to 5 percent which is recommended by the state. Commissioner John Franck asked about the decrease 1 of 3 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Wednesday, November 8, 2006 in the admissions tax line. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said the amount of people going through the gate at NYRA decreased last year. The meeting was opened for public comment. Matthew Jones, attorney representing Saratoga Hospital and the West Avenue Special Assessment District, said the road improvement project scheduled for the intersection of Church and Myrtle Streets had not been included in the 2007 capital budget. Recently some information has become available from CDTC and Creighton Manning that the shadow of doubt cast by NYS DOT on the funding had been resolved. The projected cost for the City is about $350,000; however, the City has $100,000 already saved. When the hospital begins their project under phase two, more funding for the road improvement will be contributed by the hospital. So, the City’s exposure to this project is less than $250,000. Paul Male explained that there was an issue with the road not being designated on the National Highway System. That has now been remedied which in turn allows for the funding from the state for this project. He also noted that the costs for this project are estimated at 2007 dollars and if put off to 2008, the cost will simply go higher. Both he and Matthew Jones encouraged the Council to fund this project in 2007. Commissioner Matthew McCabe asked who would negotiate the hospital’s share under phase two of the PUD. Matthew Jones said the Council would negotiate with the hospital. The project will go through site plan review and through that process, traffic issues will be addressed. He said the dollars contributed by the hospital will be determined based on the their expansion plans. Mayor Valerie Keehn pointed out that this project had been bumped down on the list to item #43. Paul Male said if the project is funded in the 2007 capital budget, construction could start in late 2007 with completion in 2008. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he thought that this could be worked out and would discuss this in more detail with the interested parties. Hank Kuzcynski, 153 Spring Street, said he recently received a telephone call from a summer resident George Jannison who is a horse owner. He lives in New York City. George Jannison brought to his attention that NYRA will be in bankruptcy court tomorrow for an organizational meeting on bankruptcy proceedings. He believed it was in the City’s best interest to be represented at this meeting. At the very least, someone should be there to gather information. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said that he too had spoken to this gentleman. He said though that NYRA has paid all of their taxes to date, so there is a question as to whether the City is an interested party at this point. Commissioner Ron Kim said initially the courts will form a creditor committee. Presumably the City could be a creditor, however, that would be at the discretion of the judge. It would be wise for the city to have someone at this meeting to gather information. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said it was his understanding that taxes and wages are not exempt from bankruptcy and the City could be first in line in these proceedings. Commissioner Ron Kim said being placed on the creditor’s committee is significant. He said normally, the large unsecured creditors try to get on this committee. It would be good for the City to have someone there to see what happens. Bankruptcy is very deadline sensitive and the City needs should move on this. Commissioner Ron Kim agreed to call George Jannison and discuss this matter with him. Commissioner Thomas McTygue asked if the Council wanted to give Commissioner Ron Kim authorization to hire George Jannison if necessary. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he would like George Jannison to go to the meeting, observe and report back to the Council. He said that although the City is not a creditor at this time, it would be good for the City to have the knowledge of what is going on in this process. Commissioner Thomas McTygue again asked whether the Council wanted to give Commissioner Ron Kim authorization to hire George Jannison if necessary. He asked if perhaps George Jannison might go to this meeting at no cost to the City. He said the cost would be only a few hundred dollars if he needed to be hired. Mayor Valerie Keehn said this person would not be representing the City. She said that the Ad Hoc Committee, on which she sits, will also get this information. A representative from the lottery division will be there representing that committee. Commissioner Ron Kim agreed to call George Jannison. He said he could download the petition and share it with Council members. He said it was likely that there would be quite a few interested parties at these proceedings, including unions. He said the City needs to be informed and if this gentleman is willing to go it would be good for the City. 2 of 3 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Wednesday, November 8, 2006 Commissioner Matthew McCabe suggested that each department could find a couple of hundred dollars to pay this gentleman if necessary. EXEUCTIVE SESSION Mayor Valerie Keehn moved and Commissioner John Franck seconded to adjourn to executive session at 5:45 p.m. to discuss litigation. Ayes all. Council members returned at 6:00 p.m. and reported that no action was taken. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Moran Clerk Approved: 3 of 3