City Council

City of Trotwood 3035 Olive Road Trotwood, Ohio 45426 937.837.7771 www.trotwood.org Meeting Minutes - Final Monday, November 13, 2023 6:00 PM Special Meeting - Budget Workshop Trotwood Community and Cultural Arts Center 4000 Lake Center Drive, Trotwood, Ohio 45426 City Council Mayor Mary A. McDonald Vice Mayor Yvette F. Page Council Member Bettye L. Gales Council Member Charles Ron Vaughn Council Member Tyna R. Brown Council Member Rhonda C. Finley Council Member Robert L. Kelley, Jr. Clerk of Council Kara B. Landis City Council Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2023 I. Call to Order Mayor McDonald called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor McDonald led the Pledge of Allegiance. III. Roll Call Clerk Landis took Roll Call and advised that Councilmember Finley was unable to attend the Workshop in person and requested an excused absence; however, she is joining the meeting virtually and can participate in discussion. Councilmember Gales arrived at 6:10 p.m. Present: 6 - Mayor Mary A. McDonald, Councilmember Robert L. Kelley Jr., Councilmember Bettye L. Gales, Councilmember Tyna R. Brown, Councilmember Charles Ron Vaughn and Vice Mayor Yvette Page Excused: 1 - Councilmember Rhonda C. Finley Staff Members Present: City Manager Quincy Pope, Clerk of Council Kara Landis, Deputy City Manager Stephanie Kellum, Finance Director Chris Peeples, Assistant Finance Director Julie Kilbarger, Deputy Police Chief Mark Ecton, Fire Chief Rick Haacke, Deputy Fire Chief Chad McInturff, Code Enforcement Supervisor Max Fuller, Public Works Supervisor Johnny McCluskey, HR Generalist Portia Hill, Income Tax Supervisor Sue Bowman, HR Associate Gwen Fou, and Assistant to the City Manager Cheryl Wheeler. IV. Approve the Agenda Mayor McDonald requested a Motion to approve the Agenda. A Motion was made by Vice Mayor Page, seconded by Councilmember Brown, and the Motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 6- Mayor McDonald, Councilmember Kelley Jr., Councilmember Gales, Councilmember Brown, Councilmember Vaughn and Vice Mayor Page Excused: 1- Councilmember Finley V. Presentation City of Trotwood Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2023 PR21-23 Presentation of the 2024 Proposed Annual Operating Budget (10-minute presentations) Police Department Fire and Rescue Department Public Works Department Finance Department Planning and Development Department Planning and Zoning Division Code Enforcement and Inspection Division Recreation Department Personnel Department City Manager Mayor and Council Attachments: PR21-23 Presentation City Manager Pope introduced the proposed FY 2024 All Funds Annual Operating Budget stating the proposed funding of $32,017,196 is $3,364,862, or 11.744%, above the unadjusted 2023 levels. The proposed 2024 General Fund Budget of $11,947,688 is $1,394,312, or 13.212%, above the unadjusted 2023 General Fund Budget. City Manager Pope reviewed the details of the Expenditure and Revenue Budgets and concluded his opening remarks by announcing that the 2024 General Fund Budget is balanced. He also thanked the City employees who worked hard to develop the budget, specifically Finance Director Peeples and Assistant Finance Director Kilbarger. Department Directors then reviewed their respective proposed 2024 Budget as shown in the attached Presentation. Presenters included Deputy Police Chief Mark Ecton, Fire Chief Rick Haacke, Operations Manager Johnny McCluskey, Finance Director Chris Peeples, Code Enforcement Supervisor Max Fuller, Human Resource Generalist Portia Hill, City Manager Quincy Pope, and Mayor Mary McDonald. City Manager Pope stated that the Cost of Living Allowance, or "COLA", shown on each budget center is aligned with the police union's negotiated wage increase of 8%, and 7% in 2024, as the City has always awarded the same increase to all employees, union and non-union, and Council previously agreed they no longer wanted the City to be on the bottom of wage scales in comparison to other communities. He added that other businesses are up 30% or more because inflation has out-paced the cost of doing business. City Manager Pope shared that Target employees earn more than our Public Works employees and that makes it hard to recruit. Mayor McDonald asked the total amount of increases due to COLA. City Manager Pope stated the total increase due to COLA is $834,803, with $389,816 for union employees and $444,987 for non-union employees. Mayor McDonald asked City Manager Pope where Trotwood is on wage scales for police officers after the wage adjustment. City Manger Pope stated that Trotwood is one of the top five departments. Finance Director Peeples added that the amounts listed in the "Change" column is not City of Trotwood Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2023 only wages, but also benefits as OPERS and other benefits are based on a percentage of earnings and insurance costs have increased. Vice Mayor Page asked if the Mayor and Council's 2024 budget includes additional help for the Clerk; Vice Mayor Page mentioned the current temporary employee helping the Clerk as she is leaving at the end of the year. City Manager Pope stated that additional help is built into the Mayor and Council's budget and then discussed Bearcreek Cemetery, adding that he is very proud of how City staff has handled such a big undertaking. Councilmember Vaughn asked City Manager Pope to consider contracting typical maintenance expenses for Bearcreek Cemetery. City Manager explained that he and Finance Director Peeples have discussed the additional expenses and agreed to use temporary employees next spring. He added that he hopes the City will be able to move away from the cemetery and that others have shown interest in taking it over from the City.. Councilmember Kelley thanked administration and staff for putting together a very description report of the proposed budget. City Manager Pope ended the presentation by asking Council if they had any questions and stated that the budget will be presented for a vote at the December Regular Council Meeting. No questions were brought forward. VI. Adjourn Mayor McDonald requested a Motion to adjourn the meeting. Vice Mayor Page made a Motion and the meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. City of Trotwood Page 3