12/02/2008 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

4 Council Minutes of 12/2/2008 Finance Director Copfer: 1) She participated in the Bureau of Workers Compensation self-insurance pre-approval meeting held for informational purposes with the Finance and Human Resources departments. 2) Along with the negotiating team, she met with both the IAFF and the FOP for the first session of union negotiations. The second sessions are both scheduled for tomorrow. 3) October month-end summaries were distributed today. The fund balances dropped substantially from September in comparison to this time period last year as October of 2008 was athree-pay month. Also, we had ClericaUTech retro pay, and the county settlement was in October. The three-pay month and the settlement were in November last yeaz. This will balance out in November. 4) Prepared a temporary appropriations so Council has time to cazefully consider the 2009 permanent appropriations. A summary of the assumptions used in the temporary appropriations was provided to Council. 5) A draft of the 2009 detailed appropriations was delivered to Council. As the General Fund and related operational funds were the primary focus, there is still some work to be done in some of the other ancillary funds. But the General Fund and its operational funds are substantially complete, but it will change with the final year-end numbers. Also, we are still waiting on the county to determine what our tax assessment is for next yeaz. Councilman Gazeau, chairperson of the Finance Committee, spoke on the financial issue. As City Council becomes more awaze of the developing situation, he promises that everyone will be given an opportunity to have a voice and be involved in the meetings and discussions that will take place during December. He knows it's an extraordinarily difficult time, and he cannot predict the outcome in the end, but everyone will get their questions answered. Council has a responsibility to do that and will do so. A Finance Committee meeting will be held in Council Chambers at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 13. This is not a typical time for a committee meeting, but hopefully as many people as possible will attend and participate. He encourages employees and residents to attend, but this will not be the last meeting on the financial issue. Anyone requiring further information such as copies of legislation can contact the Clerk of Council, and meeting times and dates will be available on the city website calendar and cable channel. Councilman Gareau, chairperson of the Finance Committee: 1) The committee met on November 25, 2008 at 8:13 p.rn. Present were chairman Gazeau and committee members Kearney and Barker; Council Members Jones, Orlowski, Mahoney, and President Kennedy; Mayor O'Grady, Law Director Dubelko, Finance Director Copfer; Safety Director Thomas; Human Resources Director Farver, and Community Life Services Director Dailey. There were a total of seven items on the agenda that evening including Ordinances 2008-142, 2008-143, 2008-144, 2008-145, 2008-146, which are the pay ordinances for elected officials for the term beginning January 1, 2010 and ending December 31, 2013. These ordinances were first discussed on November 11, and a volume of information was provided by the administration. The committee and Counci decided to hold the legislation at that time to be brought back for a further dialogue. By law, the compensation for the elected officials must be established before the filing deadline for those offices, which is this coming spring. Once these compensations are scheduled and set into law by ordinance, they cannot be reduced or increased during the 4