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Minutes from the special called Finance Committee meeting on December 7, 2005.
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Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
3:30 p.m. - City Council Conference Room - Huntington Building
Special called meeting
Members Present were: John Street, Jim Hargis, Harold Perrin, and Ann Williams. Other present were: Mayor Formon, City Clerk Donna Jackson, staff and media. Councilman Darrel Dover arrived at 3:52 p.m. Councilman Alec Farmer was unable to attend.
PARKS
Questions were raised concerning the revenues of the Parks Department. It was questioned why the revenues are not increasing for the parks. Mr. Jason Wilkie answered the camping revenues may increase because of the improvements that were made at Craighead Forest Park. He further explained he does not believe the parks will be used any more in 2006 than they were used in 2005. He added that the overall utilization is increasing, but the fee-based utilization is staying the same.
In the 201 Salaries account, Mr. Wilkie asked if the increase includes a raise for Mr. Steve Penny. Mr. Wilkie explained he asked for Mr. Penny’s raise because of extra responsibilities Mr. Penny has taken on. It was explained that the increase does include Mr. Penny’s raise.
It was questioned what Mr. Wilkie uses the 209 Expenses account for. Mr. Wilkie explained it is used for conferences and workshops as well as training. It was decided to decrease the 209 Expenses account to $5,500.
Discussion was held regarding the turnover in the Parks department. Mr. Wilkie explained he has had high turnover in his department. Mayor Formon explained that they were estimating the part time salaries account with the assumption that it would be fully staffed all year. He recommended lowering the amount because it wasn’t likely the department would have all of the part time workers all year and if the department needed more in part time money, they could go back to that later in 2006. It was decided to lower the 210 Part-Time Salaries account to $235,000.
It was decided to decrease the 214 Heat, Lights and Water account to $2,500. It was questioned what building still have gas. Mr. Wilkie explained the E. Boone Watson Center has gas because the architect planned it for gas and they didn’t catch it. He added that Keith had estimated it would cost about $10,000 to take out the gas.
It was decided to decrease the 217 Professional Services account to $7,500. Mr. Wilkie added that he had put $25,000 in the account so they could hire someone to provide security services at some of the City’s parks. He’s received calls from parents expressing safety concerns for their children at the parks. It was asked for Mr. Wilkie to study the situation and come back with a recommendation later.
It was also decided to:
• decrease the 218 Office Expenses account to $2,000
• decrease the 219 Printing account to $5,000
• lower the 220 Advertising account to $3,000
• decrease the 222 Outside Maintenance account to $5,500
• lower the 224 Supplies account to $100,000
• lower the 228 Dues and Subscriptions account to $2,200
Discussion was held regarding the 233 Rentals account. It was asked why the account is increasing. Mr. Wilkie explained that this year, they had to pay two year’s worth of bills for Southland Softball Complex because the bill that was expected in December, 2004, was not received until January, 2005. Also, they started putting Port-A-Johns in some of the neighborhood parks, like North Main Park, because some of the neighboring homes had complained of children coming to their home asking to use the bathroom. It was decided to decrease the 233 Rentals account to $23,000.
Under fixed assets, it was questioned why dugout covers and bleachers had been asked for since the City Council had already approved an allocated amount for the building of two new baseball fields at Joe Mack Campbell Park. Mr. Wilkie explained the allocated money that had been approved by the Council did not include the dugout covers and the bleachers. He further explained that he had to cut some items out of the bid to come in under the budgeted amount in the funds. Mr. Wilkie added that potential sponsor money might come in, but nothing has been confirmed. It was decided to take out the dugout covers and the bleachers.
Mr. Wilkie also added that some of the items listed in his department’s fixed assets should have been listed in capital improvements. The raise transformer, landscaping, construct signs and replace fencing items were taken out of fixed assets and put into capital improvements.
It was also decided to take out the $20,000 for an extended cab truck and increase the replacement tools to $3,000.
Discussion was held regarding taking down the building on Burke and putting up something else. It was suggested the matter could be taken up with the Parks committee.
Councilwoman Williams noted that when the City Council approved the transfer of funds out of the Perpetual Care Fund, the principal of the fund was not touched even though the principal is almost $1 million. Instead, just the interest earned was used for cemetery improvements. She added that using part of the principal for improvements and future developments to the cemeteries would be using the fund for its original purpose.
OTHER
Mr. Brian Wadley added that Mr. Teddy Hooton had brought him the figures for the repairs that he needed for his equipment. It had been asked for Mr. Hooton to provide the committee with those figures. Mr. Hooton estimated that the excavator the committee chose to take out of the Street Department’s fixed assets needed an estimated $63,000 in repairs to operate. Mr. Larry Flowers had not yet gathered the figures the City spent on hiring someone to clean the ditches.
ANIMAL CONTROL
The 210 Part-Time Salaries account was discussed. It was explained since Mr. Jim Bowman is not able to use work release individuals; he has to hire part time workers to do the work. It was added that in the wrap-up meeting on December 13th, the committee would like to see the exact line transfer and where all the money went. Mayor Formon noted that out of the $400,000 transferred to the different departments, only $127,000 has been spent overall. It was decided to lower the 210 Part-Time Salaries account to $22,000.
It was decided to:
• decrease the 213 Phone Expenses account to $900
• increase the 221 Maintenance account to $3,000
• decrease the 223 Repair Parts account to $1,500
• decrease the 224 Supplies account to $7,500
• increase the 225 Fuel account to $13,000
• lower the 228 Due and Subscriptions account to $600
• lower the 231 Miscellaneous account to $100
Under fixed assets:
• $1,000 was added to purchase a copy machine
• $1,500 was added to purchase three new digital cameras
• $800 was added to purchase 4 shock sticks
• one truck was added, for a total of 3 trucks
• $20,000 was added for 4 cages for the trucks
• the $2,000 for cameras and office machines was taken out
It was questioned whether the department needed a 35mm camera in addition to the digital cameras. Mayor Formon noted that some judges may not accept digital pictures because they can be altered. Mr. Bowman added that nothing has been said to them so far.
It was also decided to add 6 AVL’s to Information System’s budget for the Animal Control department, so each officer could have an AVL in their vehicle.
FINANCE
It was questioned why the 201 Salaries account increased. Mr. Larry Flowers explained they are asking for an additional person because they have more work than what they can handle with the current amount of workers. It was decided to leave the 201 Salaries account as it is for now and it will be further discussed at the wrap-up meeting on December 13th.
Discussion was held concerning the 217 Professional Services account. Mr. Wadley added that the City does not have a firm bid to take the city deeds to the next level. But, Mr. Vic Young may include part of the property identification in his current parcel development work. It was decided to wait until later to decide what to do regarding the money needed for the city deeds work. Mr. Flowers explained that Finance pays for the annual federal funds audit with Freeman & Co., which costs $15,000. It was decided to leave the 217 Professional Services account alone.
It was decided to decrease the 222 Outside Maintenance account to $500.
Discussion was then held regarding a travel reimbursement policy. It was suggested the employees would be better off being reimbursed for mileage on their personal vehicles as opposed to the pool vehicle several departments currently use.
Questions were raised concerning the Municipal League dues. Mr. Flowers was unsure why the Finance department’s AML dues are so high. It was explained the dues are paid based on the population of the city. It was also questioned whether the AML dues should be lumped into one account, as opposed to being spread out throughout the departments, since some departments may not be aware of the AML dues. It was asked for the committee to be provided with information showing where the money goes and how much the City pays per person.
INSPECTIONS & CODE ENFORCEMENT
It was questioned why the 209 Expenses account increased. Mr. Ron Shipley explained in 2005, several of the recertification programs were local, but next year the programs will be spread throughout the state. In addition, certain schoolings are required to be attended. It was decided to leave the 209 Expenses account alone.
It was decided to:
• decrease the 211 Overtime account to $250
• decrease the 213 Telephone Expenses account to $3,000
• lower the 217 Professional Services account to $200
• lower the 218 Office Expenses account to $1,500
• decrease the 219 Printing account to $2,500
• decrease the 220 Advertising account to $500
• lower the 221 Maintenance account to $300
• lower the 222 Outside Maintenance account to $750
• decrease the 224 Supplies account to $4,000
• decrease the 225 Fuel account to $15,000
• lower the 226 Grease & Oil account to $1,000
• lower the 227 Tires account to $1,000
• decrease the 228 Dues and Subscriptions account to $2,100
• lower the 231 Miscellaneous account to $300
• decrease the 233 Rentals account to zero
• increase the 318 Maintenance Contracts account to $350
• lower the 296 Computer Software account to zero
• decrease the 316 Mowing account to $8,500
Under fixed assets, it was decided to lower the amount for the Jeep to $20,000. It was also decided to add 8 AVL’s to the Information Systems budget for the Inspections department.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.