03/16/2010 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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6., .,-~9 ... Council Minutes of 03-16-2010 ending December 31, 2010. They held budget hearings on three separate occasions - Thursday March 4, Saturday March 6 and Tuesday March 9, 2010. In attendance of all meetings were committee members Barker, Dailey Jones and Kearney; Council members Brossard, Mahoney, Orlowski, Williamson; and President Limpert. Also present were Directors and personnel for the various departments. • The first meeting was on Thursday March 4th at 7:00 p.m. with Finance Director Copfer, Mayor Kennedy's Administrative Assistant, Jane Leaver, and guests. Items discussed were Revenue Stream, Budgetary Assumptions, Debt Service, the Finance Department, the Council Office and expenses. Finance Director Copfer provided detail budget books to all Council members. Ms. Copfer described the fund types, purposes and limitations of certain funds and how the detailed line items are organized and roll up into the appropriations ordinance. She then provided her revenue assumptions and the estimated resources available for 2010. While all funds and their revenue streams were reviewed, the main revenue streams of property taxes and income tax were projected to be significantly down from 2009 - 10% and 7%, respectively. The real estate tax decline is caused by the property devaluation occurring across the country and in the community. Municipal income taxes were evaluated by each type -withholding, individual and net profits. This equates to over a 1 million dollar reduction in the general fund and nearly 2 million dollars citywide. The finance department budget was reviewed and debt service schedules were reviewed. Councilman Barker reviewed the Council budget noting that with the online codified upfront fees paid in 2009's budget, they could reduce the codification line item from $10,000 to $7,680, if it became necessary. • The next meeting was Saturday March 6, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. All of Council was present as well as the Finance Director and guests. They had scheduled meetings throughout the day with all departments except the Law Department. Saturday the Mayor began the meeting with an overview of the budgetary assumptions utilized and applied citywide: Salaries • They have spent 2009 negotiating concessions to be implemented citywide in 2010. This resulted in cuts to wages and benefits by $1.3 million citywide with $ l . l million savings from the general fund. • Fire is budgeted according to the fact finder report results. Note the contract has been approved with a few minor changes. • The Mayor is requesting the wages and benefits for the Service and CLS Directors be budgeted in the event the Charter amendment changes are voted down. • The Administration is monitoring attrition and evaluating each opportunity to see if it can be done with existing staff, currently down from 2009 by 4; 2008 by 24 citywide. • The Administration is expanding summer seasonal from just forestry and streets to hydrants, economic development, Springvale and WWTP utilizing college interns. 5