City Council

September 21, 2009 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting Agenda 7:00 PM Budget Workshop 7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATION(S) None EXECUTIVE SESSION Discussion regarding proposed, pending or current litigation; personal private information of a person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a person or corporation. CONSENT AGENDA None MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT None ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT None FINANCE DEPARTMENT None PUBLIC WORKS DEPARMENT 1. Set Public Hearing: Add the Core Area Mobility and ADA Accessibility Project to the Capital Budget 2. Set Public Hearing: Add the Visitor Center Project to the Capital Budget 3. Set Public Hearing: Amend the Capital Budget – Church Street Reconstruction Project PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARMTENT None City Council Meeting 9/21/09 SUPERVISORS Joanne Yepsen None Matthew Veitch None ADJOURN Page 2 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting City Council Room Monday, September 21, 2009 7:00 PM PRESENT: Scott Johnson, Mayor Ken Ivins, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Ron Kim, Commissioner of DPS (arrived @ 7:08 pm) PRESENT: Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, Supervisor STAFF PRESENT: Shauna Sutton, Deputy Mayor Kate Jarosh, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Michele Boxley, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Patrick Design, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Joe Scala, City Attorney RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. PUBLIC COMM IENT PERIOD Mayor Johnson opened the public comment period at 7:06 p.m. Mayor Johnson said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes each according to the rules approved in February of 2004 by the City Council. Al Callucci of 9 Lexington Road inquired why the $636,000 for the retirement fund listed in the Finance Department presentation is not distributed among each department. Commissioner Ivins stated it is split out by each department. He put the number in his presentation as a summation to explain how the number is changing city wide. Mayor Johnson closed the public comment period at 7:08 pm. Page 3 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 Presentations None Executive Session Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to move to executive session at 7:37 p.m. regarding proposed, pending or current litigation; personal private information of a person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a person or corporation, including the matter of Laura Emanation vs. the City of Saratoga Springs . Ayes - All Council members returned at 7:29 p.m. where Mayor Johnson said the Council did not arrive at any final determination on the item discussed. Therefore there is nothing to report to the public at this time. Consent Agenda None Mayor’s Department None Accounts Department None Finance Department None Public Works Department Set Public Hearing: Add the Core Area Mobility and ADA Accessibility Project to the Capital Budget Commissioner Scirocco set a public hearing for October 6, 2009 at 6:55 p.m. The amount of the project is $30,000 and is funded through a grant from the Department of Transportation. Set Public Hearing: Add the Visitor Center Project to the Capital Budget Commissioner Scirocco set a public hearing for October 6, 2009 at 6:50 p.m. The amount of the project is approximately $25,000. This is due to the water damage. Set Public Hearing: Amend the Capital Budget – Church Street Reconstruction Project Commissioner Scirocco set a public hearing for October 6, 2009 at 6:45 p.m. The amount of the project is $2,945,659.16. The project is 100% reimbursed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He believes $1.6 million is currently available in the budget. Public Safety Department None Supervisors Joanne Yepsen None Matthew Veitch None Page 4 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 ADJOURNMENT Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to adjourn the meeting. Ayes - All There being no further business, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 10/6/09 Vote: 4 - 0 Page 5 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 City of Saratoga Springs Budget Workshop City Council Room Monday, September 21, 2009 7:00 PM BUDGET MEETING The budget meeting began at 7:30 p.m. Tonight’s presentations will include the Accounts Department, Department of Public Works, and the Department of Public Safety. ACCOUNTS Commissioner Franck explained this is a proposed budget. We listed what we believe our needs are, submit it to finance, and make adjustments for a comprehensive budget. We are the smallest budget. Commissioner Franck explained he showed the Accounts’ budget from when he got in office in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and a projection/wish list for 2010. REVENUE - If you average the revenues out over the last 4 years, include the budgeted year and remove grants because they come right back out as an expense, our department averages in the high $80,000 per year. Commissioner Franck ran through each revenue line item. The first year we did the CDTA swipe cards was 2008. Each item in 2010 is close to mirroring 2009. There is nothing earth shattering on the revenue side. EXPENSES – The expenses are listed from his first year in office – 2006 – 2010. The total budget in 2006 was $1,345,000. There was a drop in 2007 from insurance savings to $973,000. In 2008, we went up to $1,055,000; due to salaries. There was an increase in salary in 2008 due to taking on the fixed asset clerk position from DPW. It was a net zero change for the overall City budget, but we picked up that salary because it fit better in the Accounts Department and DPW could remove that salary from their budget. The 2009 projected jumps up about $500,000. There was a big jump insurance from money that has been budgeted over the last few years relating to cases; money was encumbered. We never when cases are going to be finalized. About $200,000 of the $252,000 relates to cases that have not yet settled but have the potential to settle this year. Payroll - The first he was in office, payroll was $620,000 and reached a peak in 2008 of $689,000. We had retirements and layoffs in the department, bringing the payroll back down to $632,000. Over the 5 year time period ending next year, salaries in our department have stayed about the same, only going up about $12,000. Benefits & Lump Sums - The benefits and lumps sums have gone up about $87,000 for the same amount of salaries. Part of this is due to step increases and the cost of health insurance. Part of that line is the surcharge from New York State. Insurance – The amount in 2009 is based upon encumbrances; if we don’t use that money it will be rolled over to 2010. Equipment (maint.) – Equipment maintenance is based upon lease maintenance contracts for photo copiers, etc. Supplies did jump up due to postage increases, books we have to buy, etc. The number in 2010 more closely mirrors the number in 2008. Page 6 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 Gas, Oil & Utilities – This is $900. Professional Services – We don’t know if the amount of $242,673 will all be spent this year or carried over to 2010. This is all dependent upon cases. We have 29 pending article 7s. There are professional fees associated with each case; approximately $4,000 per case. That’s how we come up with $120,000. Refund Prior Year Taxes – There is $145,000 in the 2009 line; but we actually budgeted $120,000. We moved the $120,000 to DPW to get them through the winter, but we were never repaid. The $145,000 is carry-over from previous years until the cases are finalized. If we put another $120,000 in 2010 that only brings us to $240,000. In 2009 we went into a recession type time period, therefore larger corporations and national companies automatically fight the municipalities regarding the worth of the buildings they are in. We are put in a position to hire attorneys and fight this. Based upon these lawsuits, we are looking at approximately $1 million dollars of possible refunds from 2003 until now. In the past Commissioner Franck has tried to put 50% away in reserves in case we lose cases. Misc. – These items have run about the same. INSURANCE Marilyn Rivers presented the insurance budget for the City. The renewal for property and casualty insurance was just handed in today. We are trying to get the renewal numbers early (by the 15th of October) so that adjustments to the budget can be made. This program covers auto, crime, general liability, computers, physical damage on fire trucks, law enforcement property, public officials, excess recreation, builder’s risk, and DOT bonds. In 2003, when Marilyn first came to the City, there was no Safety Committee. In 2005/2006, the City paid premiums of $746,387; in 2006/2007 the insurance carrier wanted to increase the premium to over $990,000. Commissioner Franck was open to putting our insurance on the market and by then we had done a lot of work with Safety Committee and made a lot of enhancements (i.e. fire suppression systems, security systems, policy and protocols, etc.). This past year we paid $514,292. The projected for 2010 is $535,314. During Commissioner Franck’s tenoir we’ve gone from $990,000 to $535,000. With that decrease in premium came an increase in coverage. Trident has also given us additional endorsements; we are the only ones in New York with those endorsements with regards to employment practice coverage. We also have some defense coverage for Article 78 that is pertinent to the public officials’ policy. The $535,314 has funds to be encumbered. The $32,405 pertains to the new recreation center including the building and equipment. That money has been encumbered through last year and waiting for the recreation to come on line. There will not be an increase in next year’s budget as we have already budgeted the money and saved it for the recreation center. Public Safety has $51,024 for fire equipment and storage facilities for a fire truck. Public Works has $17,418 for equipment that hadn’t been purchased that may be purchased 4th quarter or next year. We are asking for $535,314 of which a majority of the difference between the $514,000 to the $535,000 is due to the enhancements made to buildings; building values have increased. Self Insurance Program - We budget for deductibles and our deductible for each one of our programs is $25,000. We established budgetary measures to look toward the future based upon the past. We have come from $0 encumbrance to $777,365 which keeps rolling over each year. There are 6 old cases which are coming to fruition this quarter; other cases are coming to trial. We have budgeted for what we believe will be the payout for some of those cases. We are only asking for an additional $25,000 for the public works line. Medical & Casualty Insurance – This is a special account that was established in 1981 by the City Council due to a roll-over accident of a fire engine. Risk and safety manages this account on behalf of publicsafety. Page 7 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 It pertains to an individual. There is $56,524 left of the $100,000 put in the account. The $56,000 will be rolled over. Risk & Safety Program Account – We have the ability to affect our insurance premiums by offering programs that sometimes have a cost associated with them. There is an online materials safety data program. We will be offering defensive driving, PESH, and property casualty program. This year’s requested funding is the same as last. PUBLIC WORKS Commissioner Scirocco described the following areas that he is responsible for: streets and highways, buildings and grounds, utilities, city engineer’s office, beautification program, and composting program. Buildings & Grounds Casino labor lines were increased due to contractual obligations. The gas and oil lines were increased a small amount to cover the market conditions. There was a staff reduction of 9 full time employees since January 2008. Carousel only had 1 line increased; payroll increased due to the extended hours. They require a minimum of 2 staff members from 11 am until dusk; 6 days a week. They didn’t include revenues as they were told to just put expenditures into the budget presentation. City Hall building expenses that are incurred include general building repair, court work, plumbing work, floor waxing, service contracts, etc. Drink Hall & Senior Center expenses that are incurred include broken windows, door locks, plumbing issues, snow blowers, lawn mowers, and general maintenance. The utilities listed are for the drink hall only. Garage had a reduction of 1 employee and no overall increase in this area. The expenses incurred as equipment maintenance includes gas pumps and lifts. Supplies include welding gases, NAPA for parts, Allerdice, and office supplies. There is a little decrease in the supply line. Arts Council had labor increase due to adding a full time employee to clean the bathrooms. There is painting, roof work, and drainage work that needs to be done under the equipment maintenance line. Parking Garage line remains steady. We are going to need snow blowers and bobcats to plow the decks. Transfer Station will need to purchase more bags this year. In 2008 they got a good price on bags and bought more than they needed. The compactor is getting old and not compacting good enough to prevent them calling the waste supplier as often as they do. If they were to purchase a new compactor, they could save in tipping fees. Streets & Highway Storm Water Carriers & Storm Water Pollution Prevention had to pull 4 pick-up trucks off the road and asking for 3 pick-up trucks with plows. Equipment maintenance includes truck and vehicle repair, maintenance contracts, building repairs, loader repairs, etc. The supplies line includes items such as pipes, concrete, curbs, blacktop, rubble, and uniforms, etc. The gas and oil line includes street lights which is $460,000. They are looking to reduce this with LED lighting; they could save 50% of the lighting bill with LED. Professional services in this category includes Adirondack Two-Way and walk-off mats. The miscellaneous line increased due to salt and sand. CHIPS Page 8 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 This program runs through the budget and the funds carry over from year to year. These funds can only be used for new streets, no patching. Office of the City Engineer Engineering oversees infrastructure, planning board applications, buildings, and roadways. They are considering a part time engineering tech at 30 hours per week as part of the surveying team as it takes 2 people to do surveying. All other numbers in this area are less than the 2008 actual expenses. Beautification & Composting Programs Compost requires the rental of a loader, vehicle repairs, a grinder, and the rental of a special screen. All of this is part of the increase in the equipment maintenance line. Trees replacement and placement of 100 new trees is done yearly by the City at no charge to the residents. Supplies and equipment maintenance include saws and sharpening of the saws. Professional services are used to assist the City in removal of larger trees from a wind or ice storm. Veteran brick lines have been reduced due to the decrease of the number of bricks that are being sold. DPW Administration There are no changes in this area; it was reduced from 2008 and 2009. Insurance These numbers were obtained from finance and risk and safety. DPW Overall Commissioner Scirocco reported that overall there is an increase in DPW of $900,000 due to $375,000 increase in hospitalization and $283,000 increase in retirement. The net increase in expenditures is $246,000. There is $120,000 for salt and sand; $135,000 for 3 pick-up trucks with plows, $75,000 for building repairs, and $50,000 for black top and rubble for a total of $380,000. The expenditures are reduced by $138,000 with a net increase of $246,000. Hospitalization and retirement are the big increase in the overall budget. Utilities The debt service in water has gone up approximately $80,000. The New York State Retirement is up $25,000 and hospitalization is up $30,000 for a total of $135,000. The budget is up by $160,000; subtract $135,000, we are looking at a net increase in the water budget of $25,000. The County hasn’t given them any numbers on what they are going to do. Before they plug in numbers for the County they want to see where they are coming from. They are in constant contact with the sewer authority. The sewer budget has a shortfall of approximately $210,321. Hospitalization is up by $56,000 and the debt service increase slightly. Recreation Commissioner Scirocco reported the lines are steady for the Vernon and Weibel ice rinks. There is a need for snow blowers and lawn mowers. They are looking at payroll of $97,000 for a couple new employees for the indoor recreation facility. They had no idea what they were getting into to budget for the indoor recreation facility. They were going on past practice. The total amount they are projecting for 2010 is $228,900; it could be more or less. Page 9 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 Mayor Johnson asked to sit with Commissioner Scirocco regarding the number of employees and equipment he is projecting to be required for the indoor recreation center. The analysis through the recreation department indicates there may be some discrepancies between what DPW is projecting and what the Recreation Department thinks is necessary. Commissioner Kim asked Commissioner Scirocco if he is going to have a water and sewer budget for this round. Commissioner Scirocco stated they are trying to do that. They showed expenses only here, no revenues. Water revenue is down because of a rainy season. They don’t know what the County is going to do, they don’t have the numbers for the final quarter. He asked if these presentations were going to be on the web. Commissioner Ivins advised if the presentations are given to IT, they will convert them to be put on the web. Commissioner Franck reminded everyone that these presentations can be put on the web, but they will probably be changed. Commissioner Ivins stated he has to have a comprehensive budget at the next Council meeting. He envisions they will be changing whatever he puts in place as a comprehensive budget. They will have a better handle on sales tax by the time they vote in November. PUBLIC SAFETY Commissioner Kim advised the department is made up of 3 administrative staff, 2 code enforcers, 72 police, 56 fire fighters, and 4 traffic maintenance staff. Personnel costs make up 93% of the department costs; their department is labor intensive. Payroll – Payroll is increasing approximately $500,000 as a direct result of contractual obligations. There is also an increase as a result of the fire fighter contract. Benefits & Lump Sums - Retirement payments and hospitalization is increasing approximately $298,000 and $521,000 respectively. Uniform services have a disability called 207c, which is an unfunded state mandate. The disability in the fire fighter contract was changed with the 2006 negotiation which has resulted in a significant reduction in long term disability claims. There has not been a single claim since 2006. Insurance – These figures were provided by risk and safety. These numbers make up 1% of the total 2010 requested budget. Equipment – This number is less than 1% of their total request. It is cheaper for them to continue lease payments on their vehicles. They do need to replace 2 patrol vehicles that were not replaced last year. Additional equipment that is required is ballistic vests, communication equipment, PBA weight training equipment (contractual), replacement lockers in the men’s locker room, video cameras for cell block, weapons, replacement hoses, etc. This line is being reduced significantly from 2008. Equipment (Maint.) – This is 1% of their total budget. They will continue existing service contracts for copiers, communication, emergency response, etc. There is one new contract for Control Network Communications. Supplies – This includes general office supplies, janitorial supplies, drug testing kits, etc. This makes up 1.5% of their total budget. Gas, Oil, Utilities – It is difficult to know what is going to happen here. They are projecting a small cut from 2008 but an increase from 2009. This covers gas for all the vehicles and heat for the 2 fire stations. This makes up 1% of the total budget. Page 10 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 Professional Services – This line item covers the company that recoups payment for parking tickets, printing, polygraph services, pest control, etc. This makes up less than 1% of the total budget. IT – They are reducing this line item to maintain some of their necessary applications of computer hardware and software. Misc. – This line item is for specialized training, material, and travel, etc. Commissioner Kim stated this is a 2.9% increase in the public safety budget. There is a substantial increase in retirement contributions and health care costs. Mayor Johnson confirmed that it was stated that the increase in payroll is due in part to the fire department. Commissioner Kim explained the contract for the fire department was negotiated in 2006 and is a 4 year contract. There is an increase of 3.5% as part of their contract. They are receiving savings now from that contract with new hires; the starting salary for new hires used to be $41,000 and now the starting salary is $30,000. In addition it will now take them 4 year to get to the salary that they would have received the day they started. They have hired 5 fire fighters under this contract. Summary Commissioner Ivins stated it has been helpful to have each department give a presentation of their budget and give the public a handle on what makes up our budget. The total assessed taxable property was a little over $3 billion in 2009. That has only been increased 1.41% in 2010. Some debt was retired this year and a minimal capital budget was approved this year. This year’s capital budget has reduced the money we need towards debt service by approximately $130,000. We have an extra 6% there which means we could spend more money in the general fund (up to $373,000) and maintain a 0% tax increase. The projected revenue number is lower than what he believes we will do. The finance department revenue is based upon a 0% property tax increase. We started the year with over $100,000 in contingency. As we need money, the money is allocated to a new line. We have $15,000 in the contingency line. Public Safety will probably have retirees. The possible expense to go with that is $125,758.46. Overall the expenses are going up 4.3% on a whole general budget. That adds up to over $6.5 million dollars difference between what we are requesting in expenses and what we are requesting in revenues. Approximately $165,000 is a 1% tax increase – to make up that $6.5 million dollars, property taxes would have to increase 39.9%. If property taxes were raised only 10%, we would still have to find $5 million dollars by increasing revenues or decreasing expenses. It is going to be difficult. Commissioner Ivins asked all departments to provide adjustments to their budgets to him by Friday. We are going to have to sit down and make some tough decisions as if they don’t pass something, this will be law. He said before he wasn’t pleased using one time money to balance the budget, and now the one time money is running out. Public Comment Al Callucci of 9 Lexington Road asked if the public could have a break out of comp. time, over time, etc. Payroll doesn’t make sense without this information. Page 11 of 12 City Council Meeting 9/21/09 Commissioner Ivins has been asked to group items like done tonight, but both will be on line. John Krause of 229 Grand Avenue complemented everyone being willing to do formal budget presentations. He hopes the summary of payroll will include staffing data. He is looking for the staffing data for each department for 2008, 2009, and 2010. Commissioner Franck advised when he came into office in 2006, they were putting new assessments on the roll at about $120-$130 million per year. It dropped to the high $90 million and last year it was $56 million; that trend is going to continue. We are not going to have that little buffer like we used to. If it was a normal year, the budget would be approved in seconds, but the problem is we are down $5.6 million in revenue. We became dependent on revenue that wasn’t guaranteed and now we are paying the price for it. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Page 12 of 12