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She explained changes to the use of the Lakewood Hospital Fund. Previously, the Lakewood <br /> Hospital Fund received revenues from EMS operation and Vital Statistics. The fund covered <br /> expenses in EMS, Vital Statistics and payments to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. In <br /> 1999 when EMS services transferred from Lakewood Hospital to the City, the Hospital provided <br /> a lease payment of about$1 million annually into the Lakewood Hospital Fund. These annual <br /> payments ceased upon the opening of the Family Health Center, as negotiated in the master <br /> agreement. Starting in 2020, these expenses that previously came from the Lakewood Hospital <br /> fund will now come out of the General Fund. All told, there is about a$200,000 gap that the <br /> General Fund will have to absorb and this budget reflects that. <br /> The Committee discussed the City's issuance of birth and death certificates. Assistant Finance <br /> Director Schuster explained that the Vital Statistics Division has seen a tripling of birth <br /> certificates issued due to the new state license requirements. <br /> Director Pae stated that there is about$12 million in proceeds remaining from the Master <br /> Agreement. There is also $3.4 million in the land acquisition fund. She recommended that these <br /> one-time monies only be used for one-time expenditures going forward. She recollected that the <br /> City was holding some of these funds in anticipation of a possible detrimental impact on the tax <br /> revenues after the closing of New York Life and Lakewood Hospital. The city was able to <br /> weather that without dipping into those funds. She listed her recommendations for potential uses <br /> of these one-time funds as follows: <br /> 1. One Lakewood Place—She recommended that none of these one-time use funds be <br /> allocated until One Lakewood Place is fully built. <br /> 2. Cove Church—City has strong credit rating but has high debt compared to peers. It <br /> would be best to not go into debt for this project. <br /> At the request of Chairman O'Malley, Mayor Summers explained how the City's budget reserves <br /> will be used for the Live Well Lakewood initiative he had flagged recently. Mayor Summers <br /> explained that this budget request$225,000 in 2020 for this initiative. He recommended using $6 <br /> million from the reserve and continuing to hold the other $6 million until One Lakewood Place is <br /> completed. <br /> The Committee discussed the tax impact of One Lakewood Place on the City and other options <br /> for the use of the City's one-time use funds. <br /> In response to a question, Director Pae discussed requirements of Ohio Revised Code regarding <br /> the amount of reserves that can be held. ORC only limits the amount that can be reserved in a <br /> budget stabilization fund. There is also a recommendation that the City have 60 days of operating <br /> revenue reserved. Lakewood has achieved the 60-day fund balance. She discussed the role of <br /> other unencumbered funds. <br /> Personnel <br /> Director Pae announced that the 2020 budget increases headcount for the first time in a long <br /> time, adding an administrative captain position and community paramedic to the Fire <br /> Department. She also noted that collective bargaining is underway with the City's seven <br /> bargaining units. <br /> 2 <br />