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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council
<br />Tuesday, January 18, 2011
<br />Page 13
<br />?J
<br />Motion to acknowledge receipt of financial reports for December 2010 and to approve
<br />of same as submitted.
<br />Mr. Saponaro, seconded by Mrs. Mills, made a motion to acknowledge receipt of fmancial
<br />reports for December 2010 and to approve of same as submitted.
<br />Council President Buckholtz asked if tliere were any questions.
<br />Because there was a comment earlier in the Open Portion, Mayor Rinker thought some of the
<br />members of the audience should be aware that Ron Wynne, our Finance Director, has very
<br />methodically on a monthly basis provided a running account of income and outgo as it were. I
<br />just want to touch upon a couple of these points. This is information provided to Council.
<br />For income tax collections, and I will just read, "for the month of December 2010, income tax
<br />collections totaled $930,019 which is $254,959 above 2009 and $246;063 above 2008 collections
<br />for the month. On a year to date basis, income tax collections for 2010 totaled $10,852,132.00.
<br />which is $1,330,883.00 above our 2009 collections and $1,019,216.00 above 2008." . He notes
<br />that the General Fund balance is $2,907,322.00 at December 31St. That time the year before it
<br />was $1,687,215.00 and in 2008, December 31St it was $957,055.00.
<br />I think soine people will recall that one of the things that Ron has pointed out in the five
<br />categories which we are targeting budget policy is to establish reserves at a healthier level. I
<br />thiiik that these income tax collections demonstrate two things, one, the tax increase has been
<br />positive, but also I think overall we are seeing a rebound in the economy in general that even
<br />without the bump in the road there has been a positive change. That's all good news that we take
<br />cautiously but gladly.
<br />The other thing, I have asked Ron if he would, Council was provided with a chart, a table
<br />showing outstanding debt, the. breakdo'wn of the various mechanisms for payxnent. Some of these
<br />are Notes and Bonds and loans that mature on certa.in dates. One point that I thought was worth
<br />noting, the outstanding debt at the end of 2009 was posted at $16,317,184.00 and at the end of
<br />2010, it's $14,958,524.00, roughly $1,3-1.4 million less in the year 2010. What I've asked Ron
<br />to do to facilitate some of the budget discussions, both with Department Heads and with Council,
<br />and really for everyone's edification, is to project this outstanding debt scenario for the next five
<br />years, I think as a way for us to benchxnark, and also to get a better understanding of how the
<br />different components of our debt, structure, what it signifies, and I ttiink it will be a useful tool.
<br />Overall, I think we would all agree that Ron has done an exceptional job of making a lot of
<br />complicated information much. more digestible, plus, he's a good messenger. Thank you.
<br />Council President Buckholtz added that the call from Council to keep an eye on debt reduction or
<br />increased debt reduction and infrastructure improvements as well as cash reserves has in fact always been a priority of the Administration. We just had some economic tough times and still
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