Finance Committee

City of Verona Finance Committee City Hall – 111 Lincoln Street Verona, WI 53593-1520 MINUTES FINANCE COMMITTEE AUGUST 17, 2020 \Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Verona Finance Committee held its meeting as a virtual meeting. The Finance Committee did not meet at City Hall, 111 Lincoln Street. Members of the Finance Committee and Staff joined the meeting by using Zoom Webinar. Members of the public were able to join the meeting using Zoom Webinar via a computer, tablet, or smartphone, or by calling into the meeting via phone. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Chad Kemp at 5:02 p.m. Roll Call: Chairperson Chad Kemp, Alder Kate Cronin were present and Alder Christine Posey joined a little later. Also present: Mayor Luke Diaz, City Administrator Adam Sayre, Finance Director Brian Lamers, Senior Center Director Stephanie Ehle, Fire Chief Dan Machotka and Building Inspector Larry Turner. Discussion and Possible Action regarding approval of August 12, 2020 Finance Committee minutes: Motion was made by Cronin, seconded by Kemp to approve the August 12, 2020 Finance Committee minutes with no changes noted. Motion carried 2-0. Discussion and Possible Action regarding Updates on the 2021 Department Budgets: Building Inspector Larry Turner stated that he would be getting his commercial electrician license which would reduce the contracted services cost. He stated that in 2021 he estimated approximately 50 homes. Lamers as a recap stated the overall revenue was reduced by $17,326 from 2020 budget and there was a reduction in $10,000 in contracted services expenditures and there was a reduction in supplies and expenses for items such as code books and other items. Christine Posey Present Senior Center Director Stephanie Ehle stated there is an increase in meals with the changes and still the Administrative Assistant position is still open. Kemp asked about the amount of people utilizing services. Elhe stated the Case Managers are reaching out to more individuals at this point. Fire Chief Dan Machotka stated that he is meeting with the Personnel Committee on August 27th about a staffing reorganization. Machotka stated that there is an increase of $10,000 for building www.ci.verona.wi.us and grounds maintenance with the building getting a little older there is more maintenance needs. He stated there is an increase of $3,000 for breathing apparatus maintenance with them getting older and are scheduled to be replaced in the near future. He stated there was a removal of $820 for Cintas rug cleaning and moved to operating equipment to buy the rugs for $1,800 and keeping them clean internally. He stated there was an increase in HVAC maintenance by $1,000. Machotka stated there was an additional line item added for Public Works charge for plowing and salting the parking lots. Lamers stated that this was calculated to add to the Library and Fire Departments to include the full cost of operation those departments. Machotka stated that under the Data Support was an additional $6,000 that was never included in the budget for Lexipol software that helps with maintaining policies and procedures for the department. He then went over the some of the operating equipment in the budget. Discussion took place regarding the reorganization plan and the coverage. Posey asked about the software redundancy and the amount of different software support cost. Machotka stated there was no redundancy and eventually Lexipol software would be looked at and see if needed in the future. Lamers added that with the Fire Department budget we are waiting to see what the Fire Dues revenue will be, the union negotiations and whatever changes there are it also changes the contribution to the Town of Verona’s portion. Lamers went through the Buildings and Grounds budget and stated there were no changes from the 2020 budget. Lamers when through the BTRB budget (Cable) and the only change is the allocation of 5% of the Administrator and Finance Director salaries to the budget. Lamers went through the Common Council budget and stated as from previous meeting there was an addition $35,000 in legal that was moved from Municipal Court budget due to statutory language. The other increase was a request from Mayor Diaz to increase the Badger Prairie Needs Network from $20,000 to $40,000. Diaz stated the City has helped businesses but is looking at with this increase to help the kids and hunger. The Committee talked about sustainability, Sayre stated that it was talked about that Contingency could possibly be used if there was a project that came up. Discussion also took place regarding diversity training, Sayre stated that the HR Coordinator is still getting information and may not be that costly, in which the departments could cover the cost within their budgets. Lamers went through the Administration budget and noted that 5% of the Administrator and Finance Director salaries were allocated to the Cable budget. The Assessor portion of the Administration budget was reduced by $80,000 for contracted services with the full reevaluation being completed in 2020. There was an increase in the Election portion of the Administration budget of $27,000 for supplies to set up a third polling place. Lamers stated the other change is to the office equipment, there is an addition one-time fee of $4,500 and $500 a month for a total of $6,000 for the Microsoft Office upgrade for the City. Discussion took place regarding the long term debt repayments and the 5-year plan and the large borrowing that the City is planning for the Public Works Facility. Lamers pointed out that there is a huge decrease in debt payments starting in 2026 and 2027 when some of the debt issues will be paid off. Discussion took place on the timing of the borrowing for the Public Works Facility. www.ci.verona.wi.us Adjournment: Motion was made by Cronin, seconded by Posey, to adjourn the Finance Committee Meeting at 5:45 p.m. Motion carried 3-0. Respectfully submitted, Brian Lamers CPA Finance Director www.ci.verona.wi.us