City Council

November 1, 2012 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Budget Workshop City Council Room 6:30 PM PRESENT: Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Christian Mathiesen, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Shauna Sutton, Deputy Mayor Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Sharon Kellner-Chille, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS EXCUSED: Scott Johnson, Mayor Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW 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. BUDGET WORKSHOP Commissioner Madigan opened the workshop at 6:35 p.m. Commissioner Madigan announced this is the 5th budget workshop. PUBLIC COMMENT Commissioner Madigan opened the public comment period at 6:36 p.m. William McTygue of 15 York Street stated he was here to comment on the expenditures in the capital budget under infrastructure; specific to water. He addressed the Council in August regarding concerns of the sale of water to Wilton for a subdivision known as Floral Estates Phase V. He warned the Council that by allowing any deal to send additional water outside the City was selling water the City couldn’t afford to sell. Based upon our system’s current source capacity, they are selling water we don’t have. The Department of Health has put the City on notice that the “City’s maximum daily demands have exceeded the combined source capacity for the water system.” At the October 16th City Council meeting, members of the council expressed qualifications that should apply to any future water sales outside the City. There is nothing in the approved amendment to prevent this from happening again. The Council should make it clear that: any future sales require City Council approval; the SEQRA process should be followed; an impact analysis should be done on the effects on the current water supply capacity demands; an advisory opinion be required from the City’s land use boards; and any inter-municipal sale be subject of a separate agreement. Budget Workshop 11/1/12 Charlie Morrison of 88 Court Street stated he is here to talk about water. There is a lack of transparency and public disclosure. This started with the sale of water to Wilton for 18 lots for Floral Estates Phase 5 where a separate agreement should have been used and SEQRA should have been followed. The agreement Bill McTygue mentioned and the order DPW signed with the DOH commits the City to developing a new drinking water source. The City Council already new it had water source problems. The public does not know about the DOH warnings. There is no supporting information from DPW for the proposed capital program to describe the scope and purpose of the $200,000 and there is $350,000 in succeeding lines for the next 5 years. This adds up to $2 million dollars for 6 years with nothing in writing to justify this money. What is the money really for? Something needs to be said other than rubber stamping a request. Molly Gagne of 22 Vichy Drive stated that Southwest Neighborhood Association Trail Committee has met with each Council member and feels confident they have everyone behind them in building this trail. This is a trail that will get people from point A to point B; it is not a recreation al trail. They are happy with the money that is budgeted for the trail. They need to push this initiative forward. Margaret Prough of 22 Ferndale Spring Drive thanked the Council for keeping the Geyser Road Trail in their budget. Mark Lawton of 209 Nelson Avenue stated he believes the entire capital budget is inadequate and requires adequate justification for why those items are in the capital budget. You are approving millions of dollars of projects and not being given sufficient information. You are spending public money and you are not providing sufficient information. The water system is a perfect example of this. Commissioner Scirocco stated in regards to the capital budget; the City did a water model/study of the hydraulics in the City. This is how the $200,000 infrastructure money came about. The Health Department was ok with that. He would be glad to provide the paperwork Mr. McTygue spoke about. The Geyser Crest system was in that paper and ignored by the previous administration. The upgrades to the Water Treatment Plant being done now is due to the DOH stating they would shut it down if it wasn’t done. He has back-up paperwork for all of this. Commissioner Madigan stated she still considers the capital budget the Council voted on as a proposed capital budget. Commissioner Scirocco stated he thinks the Charter is clear whether or not the capital budget is a proposed budget or not. He asked Mr. Lawton to speak to the capital budget needing to be ratified by the Council. Mr. Lawton stated the Council should be ashamed of what they provide to the public about the capital budget. They may be informed about it but the public needs to be informed. Commissioner Madigan closed the public comment period at 7:08 p.m. BUDGET WORKSHOP DISCUSSION Commissioner Madigan announced that a summary of the proposed preliminary budget has been distributed along with a more detailed table has been distributed to all Council members. Today’s proposed preliminary budget includes some of the requests but not all. These requests are ones that our revenue can match without passing the cost along to the tax payer. Requested increases in the proposed preliminary budget include: o $30,304 for the Mayor’s Office o $48,250 for the Department of Public Works o $8,035.75 for health insurance adjustments Page 2 of 4 Budget Workshop 11/1/12 These requests total $86,627.75. She is recommending small decreases in revenues in hotel occupancy, franchise tax, mortgage tax, compost, and recreation fees. These total $114,700. She also included the new revenue stream from the re-negotiated National Grid contract. These funds will be made available to all departments for any need the Council approves and also allows these funds to cover back pay from unsettled contracts. The total general fund budget is $39,867,259.49 and the tax rate remains the same as in her 2013 comprehensive budget. Commissioner Madigan recommended: the hotel occupancy revenue be reduced to a new total of $510,000; franchise fees be reduced to a new total of $480,000; mortgage tax be included at $1,200,280; recreation fees be reduced for a new total of $51,300. Commissioner Madigan advised of the following requests by department: o Mayor’s Department requested $40,304 in expense increases and received $30,304. Funds were restored for the comprehensive plan review, outside legal assistance, and part time administrativeaide. o Department of Public Works requested $177,731 in expense increases and $50,000 in revenue reductions creating a net request of $227,731. They have received $48,250 expense increase and a $50,000 revenue reduction for a net of $98,250. Funds are restored for labor, rubble and equipment rental. The streets labor line has been increased by an additional $30,000 for a total of $1,552,163.94; the rubble line was increased by $10,000 for a total of $70,000; and the equipment line was increased by $8,250 for a total of $12,750. The compost revenue line was decreased by $50,000 due to the timing of the purchase of the trommel screen; therefore, the compost revenue line is now $70,000. o Health insurance expenses were smaller than our brokers projected. Rate renewals are on Monday night’s agenda. Commissioner Madigan also recommended that rents collected from National Grid for the Weibel Avenue garage no longer be deposited into the Weibel Avenue reserve but be redirected to the general fund. She will also be recommending that the Weibel Avenue reserve funds be transferred to building reserves. Funds in a capital reserve can only be moved to another capital reserve. She spoke with the Comptroller’s Department and verified it is an allowable transfer under law. Commissioner Scirocco asked if she had anything in writing from the state on this. Deputy Commissioner Bachner advised it is in the general municipal law. They called the state to confirm they were interpreting the law correctly and also called our auditors. Commissioner Madigan stated with all the changes that have been made, the tax levies and tax rates remain the same as presented with the 2013 comprehensive budget. The next public hearing will be Monday, November 5, 2012 prior to the City Council meeting. Commissioner Franck stated he brings this up every year – is there any reason why there is an inside and an outside district. Commissioner Scirocco stated that is because we didn’t provide some services to the outside district area. William McTygue suggested they speak with Richard Mullaney who was the city attorney at the time. If we became all one; the jurisdiction and responsibility for some of the roads which are currently the responsibility of the state will become our responsibility. Commissioner Franck stated the capital budget is well vetted through the Capital Budget Committee. The problem he has with the Capital Budget Committee is it is not open to the public. Commissioner Scirocco stated one or two items on the capital budget may be questionable but the majority of the items are straight forward. Page 3 of 4 Budget Workshop 11/1/12 Commissioner Franck confirmed that whatever the savings were in the various contingency accounts were redistributed to keep the rate the same. Commissioner Madigan stated that was correct. Commissioner Madigan concluded the workshop at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 11/20/12 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 4 of 4