City Council

October 6, 2016 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Budget Workshop City Council Room 5:00 PM 6:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATIONS 1. Nothing at this time. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Nothing at this time. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion: 2017 Budget PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS Matthew Veitch 1. Nothing at this time. Peter Martin 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN Budget Workshop 10/6/16 October 6, 2016 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room 7:00 PM PRESENT: Joanne Yepsen, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Christian Mathiesen, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Deputy Mayor Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS EXCUSED: Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Vincent DeLeonardis Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Peter Martin, Supervisor 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 Yepsen called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. PUBLIC COMENT Mayor Yepsen reminded the public and Council that rules have been adopted regarding the public comment period. She reviewed these rules for all. Mayor Yepsen opened the public comment period at 5:06 p.m. Steve Godlewski, chair of Complete Streets Committee stated he is here to give support to the Greenbelt Trail. He saw in the newspaper that this project may not be included in the budget. Doug Haller of Saratoga Springs and member of the Complete Street Committee stated the Greenbelt Trail is a great plan. When a community is more walkable it makes a city more desirable. Page 2 of 4 Budget Workshop 10/6/16 Ken Grey of Saratoga Springs stated he came to Saratoga Springs to live because of its character. There was commitment here to quality housing. We have a great community but missing the opportunity to invest. We need to look at it now and not put it off until tomorrow. Mayor Yepsen closed the public comment period at 6:12 p.m. BUDGET WORKSHOP Capital Budget Commissioner Madigan stated the Greenbelt Trail has not been removed from the Capital Budget. Today is the first budget workshop. They will be reviewing the Capital Budget, Accounts Department, and Finance Department budgets. Commissioner Madigan advised she made modifications to 6 of the 21 projects in the Capital Budget. The City may not receive the full amount of grant money for the trail project and removed it from the tax burden the city will have until they receive word if we receive the grant and how much the grant is for. Once we know the amount of the grant they can bring it back to Council as a Capital Budget amendment. Three small projects – water treatment plant security system project, security system infrastructure project and the ice rehabilitation project - were removed from the 2017 Capital Budget with the recommendation to amend the 2016 Capital Budget for each project. The community safety initiative has been broken into 2 years with 6 sites being improved in 2017 and the remaining 5 being done in 2018. Commissioner Madigan is removing $1.64 million from the bonding request. There is $38.6 million available to bond in 2017. Mayor Yepsen stated she is glad to hear the Greenbelt Trail is staying in the budget. There is another grant that is being investigated for this project. Commissioner Madigan further explained the Greenbelt Trail project is in the 2018 Capital Program not the 2017 Capital Budget. The project will be required to come to Council for a vote. Mayor Yepsen reminded everyone that 2018 has many large projects and cautioned pushing things into 2018. Commissioner Franck inquired as to how much (dollars) is it going to be for the first year of amortization on the bond for principle and interest. How many years could this be bond for? If we don’t get the grant, could we amend it out or push it to a future year since we haven’t bonded it yet? Commissioner Madigan stated when you bond you pay interest and principle. She will go do more work and do what Commissioner Franck asked her to do. It’s his way or her way. Commissioner Franck stated in order to understand how much it is really going to cost, that information would be very helpful. Commissioner Madigan stated she isn’t going to do that because it is a lot of work. The recommendation she has made keeps the project in the capital budget. Mayor Yepsen reminded Commissioner Madigan that the developers pay recreation fees every time they do a project and would like to see more of those funds used here. Commissioner Mathiesen stated updating dispatch is very important to his department. Page 3 of 4 Budget Workshop 10/6/16 Tina Carton explained the pre-application was filed with the NYS DOT last week. The application asked for us to identify the source of the 20% match. When the grant is scored, it would be helpful for us to provide a definition of how we bond. Finance Department Commissioner Madigan advised the expenses in the Finance Department have increased by 1.3%. Personal service has increase by $32,600 due to contracts, benefits are down due to a decrease in the New York State Retirement Contribution, equipment is up by $17,500 due to IT hardware needs, and contracted services is up by $83,000. Revenue is running slightly ahead of 2015. Accounts Department Commissioner Madigan advised expenses have increased with director of risk and safety salary increase. If approved, the Commissioner of Accounts must bring a separate motion to Council. Commissioner Franck stated he is fine with the Accounts Department budget as presented. Commissioner Madigan advised the first public hearing on the comprehensive budget will be held at 6:45 th th p.m. on Tuesday, October 18 . The next budget workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 12 at 1 p.m. and will cover the Recreation Department and the Department of Public Works. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Yepsen adjourned the meeting at 5:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 10/18/16 Vote: 4 - 0 Page 4 of 4