09-24-2014 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 • Election down (-10,955) due to a non -election year. • Planner's Costs up for additional assistance on for special projects based on recent history (+7,000). • Sheriff's Department Budget shows increase of 9.2% but that is because we deducted the departmental revenue from the amount shown here and added it as a revenue item in the General Fund ($65,732) per the auditor's direction. Their net increase for the operating budget is 3.83% or $44,325. We did pick up some additional Power Shift car costs (formerly Rice Street Corridor Car) based on historical utilization. This amounted to an increase of about $3,300 in 2015 and additional $3,300 in 2016. • Dispatch costs (police & fire) are $2,693 or 4.1%. • Fire Department Operating budget up 5.35% (+17,012) • Animal Control up 37.31% or $1,250 due to historical costs with boarding since the change to the RCSD providing the service • In Streets, no big changes except to note that sealcoating was not done in 2014. It was decided to forego the program in 2014 due to conflicts with the Little Canada Road area due to the Veterans Memorial work on the parking bay. • Storm Sewer is proposed at a 20.16% increase (+1,875) due to higher actual supply and utility costs the past couple of years given higher rainfall amounts. • From a salary perspective, we budgeted 2% for Department Heads and 2.5% for other permanent employees with a couple of scale adjustments for positions lagging the market. (More discussion will occur at a future workshop on this subject.) The Administrator then reviewed key highlights from other funds, which will be reviewed in more detail at future budget workshops. These highlights are: • Park & Recreation Fund (201) — Made additional $10,000 transfer to General Fund to catch up for 2013 when transfer was not made. This is from Adult Softball Fees. • CATV - $180,000 budget for complete Control Room/Equipment Upgrade. Will make us Hl) compatible and upgrade to current technology. • CATV - $205,000 for additional Building Upgrades related to City Hall remodel. • Debt Service Funds — Adds Public Works/Parks Maintenance Facility repayments (G.O. Bonds of 2014) to schedule. The repayments are funded by depreciation in the Water & Sewer Funds through Fund 604. • General Capital Improvement Fund — continued practice of not budgeting LGA beyond current budget year given past instability. 3