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08/19/2009 MinutesPage 5, City Council Budget Meeting, August 18, 19, & 20, 2009 City Council Budget Meeting -Cont. August 19, 2009 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Grand Island, Nebraska was conducted in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 100 East First Street, on August 19, 2009. Notice of the meeting was given in The Grand Island Independent on August 12, 2009. Mayor Hornady called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following City Council members were present: Councilmember's Meyer, Niemann, Gilbert, Haase, Carney, Dugan, Ramsey, Zapata, Nickerson, and Gericke. The following City Officials were present: City Administrator Jeff Pederson, City Clerk RaNae Edwards, Finance Director Mary Lou Brown, City Attorney Dale Shotkoski, and Public Works Director Steve Riehle. INVOCATION was given by Mayor Hornady followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. MAYOR COMMUNICATION: Mayor Hornady introduced Community Youth Council members Lauren Cantrell and Danielle Jim. The City Council resumed review of the 2009/2010 proposed budget. Mary Lou Brown, Finance Director answered the following questions from last night's meeting as follows: What is the dollar amount we have budgeted for outside legal costs and where are these dollars located in the budget? Attorney fees for outside legal costs are budgeted primarily in the Contingency Account within Non-Departmental in the General Fund. Actual amounts for 2007 and 2008 were $89,827.75 and $40,619.73, respectively. The 2009 projected amount is $25,000 and the 2010 budget amount is $30,000. Most of the actual amounts have been spent with Harding & Shultz. In addition, $8,000 in legal services has been budgeted within General Insurance in the Internal Service Fund. These amounts are for legal fees in conjunction with both the General Government Insurance and the Workers Compensation Program. How much of the IT allocation of services shows up in the General Fund? $458,100 ofthe IT allocation is expense in the General Fund. Finance is the recipient of the largest allocation at $225,000. What percentage of customer payments is made by credit card? Approximately 5% of customer payments are made by credit card. Page 6, City Council Budget Meeting, August 18, 19, & 20, 2009 What is the co-pay dollar amount contributed by employees? The total cost of healthcare under the new rate structure is budgeted at $5,621,098 with the employees share of that being $725,879. What is the reason for the insurance premium decrease within the Building Department operating expense? An RFP that was completed in 2008 resulted in lower premiums for the general liability insurance program. Can the Special Revenue Backflow program be brought into the Building Department General Fund account and why is the balance in the Fund negative? The Special Revenue Backflow program could be folded into the Building Department General Fund. The monthly fee that is included on each customer bill to support the Backflow program is $0.35. This fee was increased from $0.30 to $0.35 effective with Ordinance #9181 that was effective 10/1/08. It appears that the fee at the current level is unable to offset the costs associated with the program and is therefore causing the negative Fund balance. Can the cash reserve of the Cafeteria Plan be transferred to the General Fund? This Fund acts as an agent which withholds elected amounts from employee payroll and then reimburses the employee as eligible expenses are incurred. The money in the Fund theoretically belongs to the employees who contributed the funds. It is possible to have either a negative or positive balance in this Fund due to the timing of employee payroll deductions and the actual usage of the Plan. If an employee uses most of their payroll deduction early in the year and then leaves his/her employment with the City, the individual account balance will be negative. The same is true in reverse which would cause a positive balance to exist. A legal review of the Cafeteria Plan Document needs to be completed prior to making a final response to this question. What is a good cash reserve for health insurance? The answer to this question is not a concrete one. The level of risk that the City is willing to assume will drive the answer and is therefore open to some debate. For those with a high risk tolerance, a reserve that covers 2 - 3 months of claims may be deemed adequate. For those with a risk avoidance perspective, 6 months of claims coverage may be the response. What is the appropriate amount of debt a city can assume? Follow-up with outside experts is underway and a response will be provided as soon as available. Page 7, City Council Budget Meeting, August 18, 19, & 20, 2009 What are the current and historical debt ratings for the City? Follow-up is being completed and will be provided as soon as available. Fire -Troy Hughes, Fire Chief presented the Fire Department budget. Operating costs were reduced or held steady where possible with the exceptions of Fire and EMS. Some of the increases in the fire budget where: computer services, public education materials, utility services, vehicle maintenance, other, and hose line items. Increases in the EMS budget were: computer services, repair and maintenance of machinery, and ambulance refunds. Capital items impacting the 2009-2010 budget were: rescue pumper $550,000; staff car $35,000; cardiac defibrillators $39,000; and concrete replacement $50,000. GIFD programs to add value to tax dollars were: consolidated cleaning/laundry supply purchasing; installed metal roof on Station 3 and 4; hose specifications required 10 year replacement warranty; tobacco policy; began installing motion sensing light controls; and EMS collections were up. Chief Hughes commented on the value added through grant funding: self contained breathing apparatus - $241,000; protective clothing - $83,000; HAZMAT - $25,000 - $35,000 and pending grant requests -rescue pumper, six FTEs, smoke detector program for mobile homes, protective clothing, and crossfit wellness program. The following future needs were mentioned: apparatus replacement schedule; long range -fire station in northeast part of town, and staff needs. Councilmember Dugan asked about the $35,000 staff car. Chief Hughes stated this would be a pickup to haul hose and other equipment. This cost would include lights, radios, etc. Councilmember Ramsey asked about travel and training. Chief Hughes stated they budgeted around $750.00 per person. Training was important and they were partnering with other departments for training to be more efficient and cost effective. Discussion was held on mutual aid services and the sharing of equipment between towns. Councilmember Gilbert commented on overtime and asked what the Fire Department could do to keep this line item down. Chief Hughes stated they needed to be fully staffed in order to keep the overtime budget down. Councilmember Haase commented on the EMS revenues versus expenses and complimented the department on the tax subsidy. FTE's were discussed in the EMS division. Councilmember Zapata asked about the number of staff. Chief Hughes explained how the staff works and what a Kelly day was. Police -Steve Lamken, Police Chief presented the Police Department budget. Chief Lamken stated the goal of the Police Department was a safe community. The Police Department's job was to encourage a community that feels safe, accepted and connected and protects its citizens, proactively prevents crime and enforces the law. The Police Department direction started in 2007, "Nice vs. Necessary", tasks and programs, and department tracked with council priorities. The following actions had been taken to make the department more efficient: changes in service delivery; elimination of redundant tasks; creation of patrol support unit; job task analysis of support functions; restructuring of the administration support staff; and implementation of field reports for officers. Department program changes were as follows: all administrative support services under unified supervision; implementation of filed reporting; reorganization of Gang Operation Unit; restructuring business phone and service desk operations; reducing police services dog training schedule; and new airport security contract. The following programs had been eliminated: special event and escort activities; Community Police Academy; GREAT Page 8, City Council Budget Meeting, August 18, 19, & 20, 2009 Summer Youth Program; and metered parking enforcement study. Department budget highlights included: personnel -increase for new officers $170,000 in addition to annual increases; overtime -reflects two new programs assigned to the department -State Fair and State Volleyball Tournament. Councilmember Dugan asked about the new Dodge Charger police cars and gas mileage. Chief Lamken stated they are not better on gas mileage than the Ford Impala's and the department would not be buying any more in the future. Councilmember Gilbert commented on overtime and the Humane Society contract. Councilmember Ramsey commented on discontinuing the GREAT program. Chief Lamken stated this program would continue in the school but they had eliminated the summer program. Councilmember Haase commented about the school crossing guards. Emergency Mana eg ment -Jon Rosenlund, Emergency Management Director presented the Emergency Management budget. Department activity included: CAD calls up 8% since 2004; 50,000 911 calls in 2008; 140,000 non-emergency calls; 740,000 radio traffics annually; managed nearly $742,000 in grant funds since 2006; recent disaster events - 2005 flooding, 2006/07 ice storm, and 2008 flooding. Recent Department upgrades were: facility expansion provided 4 complete consoles, radio system upgrade, telephone system upgrade, established short term alternate 911 center, replaced back-up generator at county tower, and replaced and expanded warning sirens. The following were issues on the horizon and the department was working on them: H 1 N 1 flu response; FCC narrow banding upgrade requirement; warning siren replacement & expansion, establish long term alternate 911 center, disaster planning by rewriting Local Emergency Operations Plan, continuity ofoperations/government plan, and animal disease plan. Mr. Rosenlund stated all general fund operations were divided 50/50 with Hall County. The Special Revenue Fund was generated by 911 surcharges and supported 911 system & activities. Personnel cost was 78% of the budget. Councilmember Meyer asked about the Citizen Corp. Mr. Rosenlund stated this line item was completely funded by grant monies. Councilmember Gilbert asked about FTE's. Mr. Rosenlund explained the change in FTE's and the switch to the general fund. Overtime was discussed. Councilmember Haase asked about an alternate 911 center in another county. Mr. Rosenlund commented on other areas not having the ability to communicate with our systems. Comments were made concerning the City being an alternate site for FEMA. Councilmember Gericke asked if we had enough funds for the narrow banding. Mr. Rosenlund stated grant funding was being looked at. Public Works -Steve Riehle, Public Works Director presented the Public Works budget. Mr. Riehle stated the Public Works Department had the following 5 divisions: Engineering/Administration; Fleets Services; Solid Waste; Streets; and Waste Water. Mr. Riehle commented on the duties of each division. 2010 Engineering budget highlights included 89% for personnel costs and 11% for operating costs. Street Division included: 72% operating, 23% personnel, and 5% capital. Fleet services included: 67% operating, 31 % personnel, and 2% capital. Waste Water included: 46% capital, 34% operating, 10% personnel, and 10% debt service. Page 9, City Council Budget Meeting, August 18, 19, & 20, 2009 Councilmember Gilbert asked about the quiet zone wayside horns. Mr. Riehle stated this was not included in this budget. Discussion was held regarding the fleet services possible move to the fire training ground east of town. Councilmember Haase asked questions concerning the engineering revenues. Traffic signals were discussed regarding personnel needs. Mr. Riehle stated 50% of concrete repair was contracted. Gas tax revenues were discussed. Councilmember Gericke stated he felt we could save money by closing railroad crossings and wouldn't have to spend money on the wayside horns. Councilmember Niemann asked about contract services. Planning - Chad Nabity, Regional Planning Director presented the Regional Planning Department budget. The Planning Department was responsible for three divisions: Planning, Community Development, and Community Redevelopment Authority. The Planning Department budget was funded 50% by County and 50% by City. The director was funded 20% by CRA and 80% by Planning budget. Secretary was funded 10% by CRA and 90% by Planning budget. Technician was funded 38% by Utilities and 62% by Planning budget. The Community Development was funded by grant fees and general fund. Councilmember Haase mentioned the CRA budget in the amount of $425,000 and stated he was going to request a one year moratorium. Councilmember Ramsey commented on the moratorium and spoke against it. Mayor Hornady commented on the projects and benefits to the City by the CRA. Lincoln Pool was discussed concerning applying funds to projects like this. Mr. Nabity stated this could be done. Library -Steve Fosselman, Library Director presented the Library budget. Mr. Fosselman reviewed the City's and Library's mission statements. Emphasis was on the following three strategic planning goals: 1) timely access to accurate information and a collection in a variety of formats and technologies; 2) a wide range of library programming functions in partnership with community agencies, and 3) services for an increasingly diverse community. Mr. Fosselman stated there were approximately 300,000 visitors per year. The following literacy/learning opportunities included: children, teens, adults, and diverse community. Hall County Bookmobile was mentioned as an important service for outreach. Councilmember Dugan questioned office supplies. Mr. Fosselman stated this included office supplies, tags for books, programs for little kids needing supplies, processing, equipment supplies, and other. Councilmember Ramsey asked about contract services and security. Mr. Fosselman stated there was a need for security and the Police Department had helped in the past, however the Police Department was not able to do this on a routine basis. Councilmember Gilbert commented about the room use and revenues that could be charged. Councilmember Haase questioned the expense side of the Library budget and increase over the past three years compared to the revenue side. Jeff Pederson, City Administrator stated the revenue from the donation was used for the building expansion. Motion by Nickerson, second by Zapata to fix the time to which to adjourn to Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Upon roll call vote, Councilmember's Niemann, Gilbert, Haase, Carney, Gericke, Nickerson, Zapata, Ramsey, and Dugan voted aye. Councilmember Meyer voted no. Motion adopted. Page 10, City Council Budget Meeting, August 18, 19, & 20, 2009 ADJOURNMENT: The meetingnwas adjourned at 9:25 p.m. ~~ ~- ~ lt~J~-cam RaNae Edwards City Clerk