HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 08-10 BudgetMeridian City Council Workshop August 10, 2000
The City Council workshop of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 5:50 p.m. on Thursday, August 10, 2000, by Mayor Robert D. Corrie.
Members Present: Robert Corrie, Keith Bird, Tammy deWeerd, Cherie McCandless, Ron Anderson.
Others Present: Will Berg, Janice Smith, Bill Gordon, Eric Rossman, Ken Bower, Tom Kuntz, Elroy Huff and Reta Cunningham.
Corrie: To discuss and review planning and department budgets for the City of Meridian. Council, where did you leave off? Janice, we don't have anything up other than what Ron and
I, nothing tentatively set, right?
Bird: She has the numbers.
Smith: We have a summary here.
Anderson: I guess if you have a summary sheet that would be helpful for us, Janice, I wouldn't mind looking at that. Based on the numbers we had looked at on the Personnel costs and
Operating costs for each department in the General Fund, I come up with approximately $7.4 million. That doesn't include any of the capital expenditure requests at this time. Tonight
as we look at the capital expenditure requests, as I look through the numbers from the sheet last night, that will bring the total request up to about $14.6 million, remembering we have
$8.5 million to spend. That's leaves us $6.1 million short of being able to fund everything that is on the capital expenditure list. To summarize that, there's going to have to be
some serious cuts in capital tonight to be able to fund some of that.
Smith: Do you want me to summarize over the whole thing, the changes done last night? With the addition into General Government in the cuts of Fire, Police, Parks, moving some money
from the Police to Planning & Zoning. The net changes, you've reduced everything $35,414 which shows on this report.
Bird: My expenditure shows a $6,000 increase over operating.
Smith: You took out code enforcement and transferred it into Planning & Zoning.
Bird: Janice, look at subtotal FY201.
Smith: On the revenues.
Bird: On the paper you just gave me and get yesterdays. Yesterday your total for proposed expenditures was $8,360,657; today it's $8,366,825.
Smith: You increased $36,000 into Other Government.
Bird: So what we actually did was increase the deals. I come up with $7.4 or $7.5 million.
deWeerd: You've got to remember Building and P & Z are in here.
Bird: We increased it $6,170, something like that, in expenditures.
Anderson: P & Z's higher.
deWeerd: They took on the Code Enforcement.
Smith: You put the Code Enforcement Officers in the P & Z and when you do that, we have to offset the Building Department's capital.
deWeerd: Reta or Janice, the budget carry-over appropriation has changed from $500,500 to $348,500.
Smith: We took $152,000 from carry-forward and put it into Capital for the police road.
deWeerd: That's not carry-forward. That needs to be budgeted this year. So, we've just added that to our budget now?
Smith: Into Capital.
Cunningham: I actually just took out the $152,000 about ten minutes because we were talking about the Police Department. It wouldn't be a carry-forward. The carry-forward would be
down to $348,500.
Bird: So we need to take out that $152,000 out of Capital of the Police.
Smith: She did changes that she will go over with you.
Bird: Mr. Mayor, the $8,366,825 is what we have tentatively agreed on for the General Fund for personnel and operating expenses, right? That's where it is right now.
deWeerd: Which includes Building and P & Z.
Bird: Let's start at the yellow page.
Anderson: Administrative.
Bird: $15,000.
deWeerd: What is the $5,000 from?
Bird: Capital Outlay.
Smith: Computers for City Clerk's office.
Berg: We have to replace one, if not two computers. Possibly a scanner.
Bird: Do you think there is any place there to cut? I don't. Finance. Janice? What's your big Capital?
Smith: Part of that is for the new Financial Director and we needed two new laser printers and a fireproof file cabinet.
Bird: I don't see where we could cut her any. There $3,500 was for her new set up on her new person. Police Department.
McCandless: We can cut that Capital for the Police Department. You've got $4,031,008 and according to my figures here, we can cut it down to $40,705. We have cut the new vehicle purchases
down to $160,000 rather than $240,000. They cut the new canine purchase which was $8,000.
Gordon: We cancelled the $8,000 on canine and the $42,000 on the Motorola console. That totals $154,661 which we put under new road for the new building.
deWeerd: Can that be financed in with the new building?
Bird: Sure it can.
McCandless: All that money you are saving is going to the road. That's what you are telling me.
Gordon: Yes.
Bird: We have committed to $152,000, we have not committed to that loan yet. If we don't commit to that loan, we still have got to commit to that deal. I would rather see if left
in the Capital Improvement at this point. If we had a loan in place, I’d say go for it, but we haven't decided what we are going to do.
Corrie: We can always add it at a later date.
Bird: You are right, but right now, we've got to commit to the $152,000 debt. I have no problem if the Council feels like I do that we are going to secure this loan and get it done
with. If we are going to drag our feet, then I have a problem.
Anderson: Will you go over those numbers again?
Gordon: The second line $2,124, zero that out and then Hewlett-Packard, zero that one out. Down to the new patrol vehicles $2,123, that was an error and $60,000 was allowed for each
car. They are actually only $40,000. That saved $80,000, it was a typo. Then the next line down, canine purchase $8,000, zero that and then the $42,000 for the Motorola com center,
$42,933, zero that out. That should total $154,661. I just put that under new road for the new building. We are $2,661 that the $152,000.
Bird: We might be able to take the whole $154,000 if the Council will commit to the loan and put it in there.
Anderson: I don't feel comfortable with that. We have committed to that loan, I think we should just separate it out.
Bird: We will leave in the 531.
deWeerd: I guess I was talking to Cherie today, I don't know if this building would even open this next budget year, so could we push the furniture and upgrade for the telephone system
and then also the special project expense to next budget year. Those were the only ones noted. There was one other expense, Bill, this federal drug seizure enforcement. That was $394
to be carried forward and that has been eliminated. Where is that at? Is it coming out of this year's budget? Why is that one there and one below? One is in operations. Sorry.
Bird: I have the $53,108.
deWeerd: $364,000 should be the request. If you take out the $154,661, add in the $152,000, subtract the $154,347 and the $10,000.
Bird: So $3,864,000 is our total.
Anderson: Bill, on those two vehicles you are requesting for the juvenile division, on those, is there a possibility that if you bought these other four new patrol cars, is there cars
that could be handed down?
Gordon: Those include the ones we are handing down.
Bird: Does everybody agree with that? The next one is the Fire Department. How many square feet in the new building, Ron?
Anderson: I don't know.
Bowers: Seven thousand.
Bird: Seven thousand; you can't cut anything out of the $100,000.
Corrie: Are we getting anything from EMS?
Bowers: No.
Corrie: Kenny, doesn't ACHD put the wiring in when they put a signal up?
Bowers: They pulled the new wire when they put in a new signal. Stuff that costs is what is put in the control box on the side of the road.
Bird: I don't think there is anything you can take out of Kenny's. There is another entity that pays for the building.
Anderson: Kenny has been requesting that they pay for an opticon every time one is replaced.
Bird: Are we comfortable with the Fire? I don't see how we can cut anything. Let's go onto the Parks. Tom, remind me what Storey Park improvements are? Is that the water system
only?
Kuntz: Yes it is. It's also the fencing along the eastern property line.
Corrie: Is there any playground improvement out there?
Kuntz: Not in this budget, but next year. Are you looking for some areas to cut?
Bird: What do you want, Tom?
Kuntz: Well, the first one is I would take $10,000 out of the downtown tree improvement and pull out a couple of the trees to replace them from a study.
Bird: I don't know if that's what you want. Tom, on the Skate Park, what did you have in mind?
Kuntz: $140,000.
Corrie: Ground's given to us.
Kuntz: We could just put Chateau off until next year.
Bird: No way. I think you will be surprised by the donations. Vehicles? Can you get by a year without it?
Kuntz: We have –
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Corrie: Tom you had 8th Street parking permits under B-budget $4,620; A-budget $5,200.
deWeerd: That's $46,200. They were going to build a restroom.
Anderson: I took $20,000 out of Chateau.
Bird: What's the Bear Creek, Tom?
Kuntz: Upgrading
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Corrie: Parks signage? Do we need park signage for this year?
deWeerd: We need at least one sign at Tully. If we were just to replace that one sign, Tom, how much are we looking?
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Anderson: Let's take $7,500 out and replace that one.
Bird: Bear Creek, we've got to leave. 56 acres, Phase I. Tom, do you have any idea of what the underground utilities for the whole 56 acres would be?
Anderson: That $150 is just an estimate.
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Anderson: Is the intent to make that all in one contract or let that go a little at a time. If we broke that down into smaller areas, then you could see how far your money would go.
Kuntz: We will have a design done with each cost component attached to each eliminate and then we will start pulling things out. I don't have any hard figures for you to substantiate
the $1.5 other than what the architect gave us from the master plan of $1.9 Phase I. I don't think those figures were as accurate as they should have been. It's up to you if you want
to cut $100,000 out of there tonight, we will do what we can with $1.4.
Bird: I would think that it would be cheaper to get the tiling, all the underground done. I would think that it would be cheaper to have it all done up front and
green it up and then start our Phases. I wonder how much we can get done in the fiscal year.
Kuntz: We want to do all of Phase I at some point. Then we will move to Phase 2. We could do this within six months.
deWeerd: If he says $1.4, I guess then we've only cut it ½ a million from the original reports.
Bird: $1.2 did the 26 acres with parking lot, concession, restrooms, storage shed, irrigation.
deWeerd: He is tiling the whole piece of property, the whole 56 acres. You really can't do without that vehicle?
Kuntz: No.
Corrie: $1.4.
McCandless: How important is the playground equipment for that first Phase I as opposed to playing fields?
Kuntz: We are averaging between 50-80 kids a day on that structure. Based upon our attendance, I wouldn't have placed that high of a value on it. But after seeing that, I place a
much higher value that I did originally.
Bird: Tom, how many one ton flat beds do you have now?
Kuntz: One.
Bird: How many full size pickups?
Kuntz: Four.
Bird: How many small-size trucks?
Kuntz: Two.
Bird: So, we've got six pickups and one one-ton. How many cars?
Kuntz: None.
Bird: What do you drive?
Kuntz: A Ranger.
Bird: You have seven driveable vehicles. You have two parks that are maintained. I don't know. You want just one used one ton?
Kuntz: Used ½ ton with flat bed. It's a 1997 that's being held for us by J & J.
deWeerd: For your full-time employees, you have five out in the parks, right and seven pickups? Everyone should have their own pickup. Why are we getting another one?
Kuntz: We are adding an eight-month position and a seven-month position and we have three seasonal employees.
deWeerd: Why does everyone need their own pickup?
Kuntz: They don't.
Bird: Maybe the answer is to take one of these small trucks you have and trade it in on the other one.
Kuntz: If you are looking for an answer tonight, I'm just not prepared to give you one.
Bird: $324,500 that has been cut. $208,000 left to cut. Planning & Zoning. Shari needs a vehicle. Bill, what do you do with the older cars you have?
Gordon: We take them to auction and get about $200 out of them. They are pretty beat up and worn though, but P & Z can have one if they want one.
Bird: $218,000 to meet it. Tell me why our canine dogs are a Capital expense.
Gordon: It's over $5,000, it's real property. They are not an employee.
Bird: $208. What do you want to take? I'm not for taking it out of personnel in wages. I wouldn't mind taking out a little bit in operating expenses if they think we can. You can
take two percent out of operating expenses and not save you enough money to write home about. It's got to be in the Capital Fund.
Anderson: You can round all your operating costs down and then round some of the Capital Funds down. If you want to trim down to hundreds, thousands, etc., the department heads can
make it work.
Bird: I believe in the Council, we can probably take out quite a bit in the operating expenses. I know we argued that we need to leave that in there, but we should have the assessment
on line by the end of this fiscal year. I would say we could take $2,500 out of our operating expenses.
Anderson: Could we take a five or ten minute break?
Corrie: Sure.
(Meeting reconvened)
Anderson: Question for clarification. Did we take $25,000 out of the Council?
Bird: Let's put the $25,000 back in.
Anderson: Let's take each department and based on the new sheets we got last night, and we will look at their operating costs. Council, show the operating costs at $52,500. I would
round that down $2,500 and make that an even $50,000. Clerk, he had $76,500 in operating and I rounded that down $1,500 to $75,000. Other Government, $670,800 is operating and I rounded
down $20,800, to total $650,000. Mayor, I've got $22,887 in operating, round that down $2,887, to an even $20,000. Finance has $88,726, round that down $3,726, to an even $85,000.
HR is at $42,317, round that down $2,317 to an even $40,000. Fire has $258,600, take away $18,600 for an even $240,000. Parks is $185,126, take away $5,126 for an even $180,000.
Police Department, taking away $21,469 from $351,469, and leave them $330,000.
deWeerd: You are at $78,925.
Bird: $202,000, so we need a $124,000 more out of that. We can play the revenue game and take the $3.5 up to $3.7 and cover it all.
Anderson: Do you want to round P & Z too? It's fair to do to all departments, don't you think?
Bird: That's fine.
Anderson: Their operating is $326,882, let's cut $16,882.
Bird: So we are going to make it $310,000.
Anderson: Yes.
Bird: Building. Take $14,300 out of them and make it $550,000?
Anderson: Yes, take $14,300 out of them.
Bird: We have three employees in there. So we are going to $550,000, Ron?
Anderson: Yes.
Smith: Shari's fine. She's never gone over, so she will be fine.
Bird: What have we saved now?
Smith: On the P & Z, it won't affect anything because it goes into Capital. It just moves it down to Building Department Capital. Reta has a comment.
Cunningham: I show that you guys are off right now, $101,269 that you still need to cut.
Bird: That's after all these cuts.
Cunningham: That's taking $25,000 out of the Council budget, is that right?
Bird: No. We only took out $2,500.
Anderson: We put it back because that contracts has to be paid on next year.
Cunningham: That takes it back $126,269.
Bird: We've got to go to Capital then.
Anderson: Okay. Capital, I see there are only three departments in my mind that we can cut anything and that's Fire, Police and Parks & Rec. Anybody see that any different?
Bird: I don't.
Anderson: Somebody give me the totals that you have for Police, Parks & Rec.
Bird: Police has got $364,000, they have already taken out $167,000. The Parks have already taken out $157,000.
Anderson: Tell me what their operating budgets are right now.
Bird: Capital?
Anderson: Capital.
deWeerd: Capital is $3,864,000 for Police, but really is only $364,000.
Anderson: What's Parks?
Bird: Is $2,136,200.
Anderson: They are saying that $3.5 million is the building for Police. So, how much do we still need to cut?
Bird: $126,000. Cap, is this $150,000 a mandatory for fire truck fund?
Corrie: No.
Anderson: Let's take $60,000 off of that Fire Department capital leaving $1,060,000. There's $66,000 we still need to cut. $40,000 Parks and $26,000 Police.
Bird: $40,000 Parks and $26,000 Police. So they come down to $2,136,200.
Anderson: Let's round them to $2,100,000. We are taking out $36,200.
Bird: Where are you rounding, to $360 on the Police?
Anderson: We need to take $30,000 out of it.
Bird: That would be $334,000.
Anderson: We are figuring $3.5 million for the building, so we aren't touching that, that $300,000 is coming out of the other $364,000 that they had in Capital. For Parks, it's just
going to mean one project to be cut.
Bird: If you look under the operating expenses we've taken, the Police are under operating and personnel is six times above the Park.
deWeerd: Can I ask a question then? If they are able to add that into their loan, can they then put it in their Capital. Can they use that $152,000?
Bird: They can use that for their other stuff, if we throw the $152,000 into the loan.
Anderson: We should be close.
Cunningham: I had subtracted out early the truck for $13,000.
deWeerd: So you only subtract $29,000 because they want it at the $2.1 million.
Cunningham: So I took out of Parks Capital $49,000.
Bird: That's right.
Cunningham: That brings you to zero.
deWeerd: No.
Bird: It actually takes out $36,200 out of the Parks. We took out another $30,000 from the Police and another $60,000 from Fire.
deWeerd: With the truck it was $175,500 and Ron wanted to bring it down $2,100,000. So you would have to subtract another $23,200 to make it to that total.
Cunningham: So where do you want Parks to be for their Capital?
Anderson and Bird: $2.1 million even.
Cunningham: Now you just need $2,800 somewhere.
Bird: Reta? The Police will be $3,834,000. The Fire will be $1,060,000 and Parks will be $2.1 million. How close does that come for us on the calculator?
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Corrie: $126,269.
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
deWeerd: Are we still short?
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Smith: We'll just throw it up in revenues. We'll just put $69 more in revenue.
Bird: Take it out of the attorney's fee.
Anderson: We reduced the Fire Department another $10,000 in their Capital to lower them to $1,050,000 and then we did an additional $3,000 and split that between Police and Parks Department
in their Capital budgets.
Bird: We can take that $69 out of Council personal expenses.
Smith: We could just round some revenue up to $69.
Anderson: So, we're good.
Bird: We're flush.
Kuntz: What's the total for Capital for Parks?
Bird: Capital for Parks?
Berg: $2,098,500.
Anderson: You guys are great at asking for stuff but you are the pits at taking away anything.
Berg: We need to get out rates and fees analyzed every year.
Bird: That's being done, right Mayor?
Corrie: Yes.
Bird: September 5th we'll have some ordinances started.
Anderson: Where do we need to go from here, Mayor? Do we need to approve the tentative budget and then move into a special meeting?
Corrie: Yes. So what is the total budget coming to now with the Enterprise and ours?
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Bird: Do you have a print out of the Enterprise Budget so we can adopt it?
Smith: We are making some copies right now.
Bird: We are going to adopt it tonight.
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Corrie: So the Budget Amendment is $11,350,000.
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Corrie: The Proposed Budget is $32,674,478.
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Bird: We have a $38 million budget.
Corrie: $32 million budget.
(inaudible discussion amongst Council Members)
Anderson: Before we close this meeting, last night we had asked the Police Chief if he would go back and look at the budget and see what our instructions were as far as with the dispatch
center and what the additional operation costs would be associated with hiring the other personnel. He was going to rework that and bring it back to us to let us know what he has found.
Gordon: You already have the expense on that in the original stuff.
Anderson: I guess I'm still unclear on what positions that we're telling you that we want to see versus a dispatch center and is that your understanding too?
Gordon: It was my understanding last night that we weren't going to make that final decision until the 29th. I have the breakdown on the officers and we will see how far the money
go.
Bird: If Mr. Anderson would agree with this, I would like to, my understanding as of last night, there will be no money funded for the dispatch center. I would like the Chief, within
the next week, come back with the plans and how many officers and what you are going to do with that. Are we going to hire two more officers in this area, two more officers here, or
what? I would like to see that. We’ve got the money allocated for it. I took it last night that no money is being allocated for the dispatch center out of the budget.
Gordon: That was not my understanding. You wanted me to check to see what I could use the money for that should make the determination if it were for dispatch or whatever on the 29th.
Bird: I didn't take it that way. You can ask the other Council Members. My personal vote is no dispatch.
Anderson: I interpret it the same way Keith does.
Corrie: So you aren't even going to listen to the public if they come in and say they want it the other way?
Bird: Right now there is no dispatch. We are not funding any money, as of now, for the Meridian Dispatch Center. If we change our mind after the 29th, we change our mind. As of now,
come back with another idea, we did not take any money out of your budget because of it. Come back with how you are going to replace the officers. That's the way I took it, the way
Councilman Anderson took it, and I don't know if deWeerd did or not.
Corrie: You have made a decision until we make the final.
Anderson: The tentative decision is not to fund the current dispatch center; to use that same funding to fulfill part of the request for the 11 new positions that
were requested this year. What I had hoped, was that the Chief would come back and tell us which of those 11 positions that he would like to fund with that money.
Bird: Which ones do you want? Do you want us to say you can have five patrol officers and no SROs?
McCandless: Mr. Mayor, I think that the Council is getting awfully close to micro-managing the Police Department. They have a Director or Chief to do that. I resent the fact that
you are telling him exactly what he can do.
Anderson: We're trying not to.
McCandless: That's exactly what you are doing.
Corrie: He's got so much money that he's going to have to do what he's going to have to do.
McCandless: That's correct. Don't tell him what to do with it.
Corrie: He can put it where he wants to.
Bird: That's what we said last night.
Corrie: I'm just making sure that everyone is on the same track here.
Bird: What we get hit with is we are going to wait until the 29th to decide whether we are going to have a dispatch or not. We didn't say that last night.
Corrie: Then you are cutting the public out.
Bird: No, we're not.
Corrie: You just said that you're not going to have a dispatch.
Bird: Right now we're not going to have a dispatch.
Corrie: What if the public says, "yes, you are"? Will you change your mind?
Bird: Well, yes.
Corrie: Then you can't really say that you are not doing it. That's your intention. You don't want to say that you've done it right now. Otherwise that gives the public, no matter
what they do, you're not going to. Keith, listen to me. If the public has to come in on the 29th, and if everybody says we don't want that dispatch, then you won't do it. If everyone
says they want the dispatch, and you
say you're not going to have a dispatch, then that's your decision. You don't want to tell the public that you've made up your mind before they talk to you.
Bird: We need to have something planned besides. First place, the public didn't get a thing to say about the dispatch center in. Four Council Members and a Mayor did that in a vote.
Let's not go that route.
Corrie: I would just like to say that you have a tentative plan, just don't make it that you've made up your mind.
Anderson: I agree with you. The term of what we are doing right now is to set a tentative budget. Tentative; it's the intent of three of the members of the Council not to fund the
dispatch center.
deWeerd: And to fund more officers.
Anderson: If that changes on the 29th, then we will re-shift those funds and allocate them.
Corrie: We are going to give the tentative budget now. We are going to adjourn this and understand where we are going to go. What were we going to do Monday night?
Bird: If we do it tonight, we've got it taken care of.
Corrie: Okay.
Bird: If we adjourn, then we don't have to come back Monday.
Corrie: So, I'll entertain a motion to come out of the budget session.
Bird: So moved.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: Motion has been made and seconded to come out of the budget workshop, all those in favor say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Adjourned at 8:53 p.m.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:53 P.M.
(TAPE ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
APPROVE:
____________________________
ROBERT D. CORRIE, MAYOR
ATTEST:
_______________________________
WILLIAM G. BERG, JR., CITY CLERK