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Minutes for the Finance Committee meeting on October 27, 2005.
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Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Thursday, October 27, 2005
4:00 p.m. - City Council Conference Room - Huntington Building
Members Present: Alec Farmer, Jim Hargis, John Street, Harold Perrin, Ann Williams and Darrel Dover. Other present were: Mayor Formon, City Clerk Donna Jackson, staff and media.
MINUTES
Councilman Dover moved, seconded by Councilman Hargis for the approval of the minutes for the September 15, 2005, meeting as provided. All voted aye. Copies were provided to all those in attendance.
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
PENDING: Ordinance requiring electronic plat submission: Mr. Alan Young explained originally the procedure was for surveys over five acres to be submitted electronically. But, since the procedure was set, they’ve found most surveys that are being submitted are less than five acres. Mr. Young is asking for all surveys to be submitted electronically, no matter what the acreage of the land. He noted that they cannot keep up with adding the surveys, but it’s also a duplicated process since the surveyors are drawing the surveys digitally. It was explained that having digital surveys would keep maps up to date, as well as 911. It was noted that other cities the size of Jonesboro are currently taking their surveys electronically. It was asked for Mr. Young to take the ordinance to the Planning Commission for their approval and then come back at the next meeting for approval to take the ordinance to full council.
Ordinance to amend the Purchasing Manual for budget review of requested purchase orders: Mr. Larry Flowers explained the ordinance would allow City Accountant Mr. David Eagle to review purchase requisitions over $500 to make sure they are in compliance before a bill is issued. Councilman Farmer motioned, seconded by Councilman Dover to take the ordinance to full council. All voted aye.
Ordinance to amend the budget for the addition of one Police and Fire dispatcher for E911: Mr. Bob Andrews explained the department is currently over the budgeted amount for overtime and would like to hire a new dispatcher to help cut down on the overtime. He explained hiring a new person would allow for six people to be on each shift, which would likely cut down on sick time currently used by dispatchers and possibly do away with the split shift E911 currently has. Questions were raised concerning hiring new people before the budget is finished. Mr. Andrews noted that the department hasn’t grown since 1999, even though the city has. He also stated that 1993 ISO ratings call for 5 dispatchers to be working on each shift, while the city is only currently working 4 per shift. Mayor Formon agreed with the hiring of the new dispatcher, adding workers would be more refreshed. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis to present the ordinance to full council. All voted aye.
PENDING: Budget: Questions were also raised concerning the state of the budget and how far along the Mayor’s office is in the process. Mr. Flowers indicated they’re hoping to have a copy of the budget for the Council on November 15. Discussion followed as to whether the city would be in a deficit, but Mayor Formon indicated so far it looks like the City will be will have money in excess. Mr. Flowers added that money from the utility company tax increase as well as the sales tax revenues from the projected sales at the new mall at Turtle Creek helped add money to the City’s budget.
TREASURER’S OFFICE
Request for use of Perpetual Care Funds: Councilwoman Williams explained the Public Services committee is requesting the use of some of the money in the Perpetual Care Fund for improvements needed at Oaklawn and Nettleton Cemeteries. Associated Engineers provided an estimate for the detail work needed at Oaklawn Cemetery in which the cost was $23,000. Nettleton Cemetery needs roads to be made at the cost of $18,000. It was explained there is almost $1 million in the Perpetual Care Fund, with an average of $28,400 in interest earnings annually. Discussion continued concerning the use of the money in the fund and the original intent of the fund. It was decided to take the $23,000 needed for Oaklawn Cemetery out of the Perpetual Care Fund and possibly take the $18,000 needed for Nettleton Cemetery out of the Capital Improvement account. Councilwoman Williams motioned, seconded by Councilman Dover to make an ordinance allowing for $23,000 to be taken out of the Perpetual Care Fund for the detail work needed at Oaklawn Cemetery. All voted aye.
PENDING: Request from A&P Commission for an audit of 2004 tax remittances: Mr. Flowers stated the Advertising and Promotions Commission is asking to audit the tax collections of the hotels and motels in the City. The Commission was told by the Chamber of Commerce that overnight lodging in the City has increased, but the tax collections have not increased very much. Mr. Flowers indicated Ms. Becky Sharp, City Tax Collector, would conduct the audit. It was suggested that Ms. Sharp contact the state’s Department of Finance and Administration to research what the local hotels and motels reported to the DFA. It was also suggested that Ms. Sharp should conduct yearly audits on the hotels and motels to make sure they’re paying the right amount to the City.
PENDING: Treasurer organization and procedure handouts: Mr. Flowers provided the committee a flow chart of the Treasurer’s Office and the duties of each of the departments within the office. Mr. Flowers also questioned what Ms. Sharp should do concerning past due accounts. Currently, Ms. Sharp will send letters, make phone calls, and visit the homes of those who have delinquent accounts with the City. Beyond that, she does not know what else to do to collect the City’s money. Ms. Sharp did ask for City Attorney Phillip Crego’s opinion, but was hesitant because taking the delinquent account holders to small claims court would take too long. It was asked for Ms. Sharp to research what other cities the size of Jonesboro do in case of delinquent accounts and report to committee at the November meeting.
MAYOR’S OFFICE
PENDING: Update on deeds to City real property: Mayor Formon stated a box of deeds had been dropped off at his office and he’s unsure where they came from. He further stated Mr. Brian Wadley and Mr. Boyd Cardwell are trying to figure out where the properties are located and getting an address. They were told by Lenders Title that the Mayor’s office would have to take care of locating the property since the company is unable to give them specific addresses to the property. Discussion followed concerning who keeps the deeds. It was stated that the City Clerk should file and keep all of the original deeds to the City’s property.
PENDING: APERMA/AML property insurance update: The Mayor’s office has a meeting on the 3rd with the League and he’ll have an update at the next meeting.
PENDING: Director of Community/Economic Development position: Mayor Formon asked what the committee wanted him to do concerning hiring a director or restructuring the department. Questions were raised concerning the hiring of the Director of Community and Economic Development. It was discussed that since Ms. Gayle Vickers is working on grants and Ms. Angela Gary is no longer with the department, the position would need to be filled. Further discussion followed concerning whether a Director of Community and Economic Development was needed. It was also discussed whether the word “Economic” needed to be in the title of the department because it clashes with the responsibilities of the Chamber of Commerce. It was suggested that putting Ms. Vickers under the Mayor’s office might cut down on some of the bureaucracy. Restructuring the department was discussed that would put the Grants Coordinator under the Mayor’s office, the Transit Coordinator under the Mayor’s office and CDBG grants under Gayle Vickers, hiring a full time position to assist with CDBG. It was stated that the duties of the Director of Community and Economic Development did not fully justify the salary of the position. It was asked for Mayor Formon to meet with Ms. Hackney for recommendations on the structure of the department and whether a Director of Community and Economic Development is needed.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Hiring of Transit Coordinator and Director: Ms. Hackney asked for the committee’s approval to hire someone for the position of Transit Coordinator. She stated the rest of the Transit positions need to be filled by March 1, so the Coordinator’s position will need to be filled as soon as possible. Councilman Farmer motioned, seconded by Councilman Dover to authorize the hiring of the Transit Coordinator.
PENDING: City Planner position update: Ms. Hackney informed the committee they’re still in the interviewing process. They’ve interviewed three people and have one more to go before they make a decision.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
PENDING: Financial software update: Mr. Young informed the committee a software trainer had just visited the City to help with the software and indicated the first two trainers did not fully know about the financial side of the software. The trainer is expected to return twice to help out with the software. Mr. Young indicated the software is balanced through June and David is currently working on July. He also stated that some of the problems occurred because some test entries in the software weren’t deleted. Mr. Flowers added that he’s hoping by the end of the year, everything will be balanced. It was also suggested that procedures need to be set deciding what will be done with the software and what won’t be done, for example, direct deposit.
PENDING: Fleet software: Questions were also raised concerning the Fleet software for the Police Department. Mr. Young indicated that the software is still scheduled for November and would get the implementation schedule as soon as possible.
Aerial photography: Mr. Young also proposed a resolution to contract with Fisher and Arnold, Inc. for aerial photography and GIS parcel development. He explained Fisher and Arnold would take aerial pictures of the city and would allow users to click on parcels of land to see who owns it and assessor information. Mr. Young explained the County and CWL would also pay for the project. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis to present the resolution to full council. All voted aye.
CITY CLERK’S OFFICE
PENDING: Proposed changes to the Jonesboro Code Book: Ms. Donna Jackson went over some of the changes to the code book that questions had been raised about. She added that after the remaining changes were made, a full rough draft copy of the code book would be given to each of the Council members and department heads for their review and approval before being sent off to the Municipal League to be published.
Councilman Farmer left at 5:27 p.m.
PENDING: Boards and Commissions handout: Ms. Jackson asked the Council members to let her know of any changes they would like to be seen to the Boards and Commissions handout. Monday it will be presented to the department heads. She also noted that she’s considering adding the department heads, their emergency numbers, a summary of what each board and commission does as well as their meeting times and places.
Public Access computer: Ms. Jackson informed the committee that the public access computer has been set up. The IT department configured it so that only the City’s web page would be accessible from the computer. The computer will be used by the public for research purposes.
OTHER
Councilman Street added in the Public Works committee they agreed to allow the Mayor’s office to submit RFQ’s for updated land use plan and zoning rules. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Williams for the Mayor’s office to submit the RFQ’s.
Mayor Formon discussed loaning to the city of Waveland, Mississippi, some of the items set to be auctioned on Saturday, October 29. Mayor Formon stated that Councilman Farmer had been contacted by Dr. Warner and he informed the committee that Waveland is interested in the fire truck, 4 old police cars and a lawn mower that are to be auctioned. Waveland was hit by Hurricane Katrina and is now in the process of rebuilding. Mayor Formon discussed the situation with Attorney Ralph Ohm and Mr. Ohm indicated that since the items are City of Jonesboro property, they can not be donated to Waveland, but they can be loaned. Waveland is also interested in the bikes the city will auction, but since those were seized, Mr. Ohm indicated they would have to go through the auction process. Questions were raised regarding when the city would get the items back and how they would be transported down to Waveland. Waveland would be responsible for getting the items down there and they will return the items back to Jonesboro when they are done using them. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Williams to pull the items from the auction list and loan them to Waveland. It was also stated that an ordinance would have to be passed to loan the items to Waveland.
Questions were also raised concerning budget meetings. Chairman Perrin stated that he would like the Council members to be able to review the budget for at least one week before meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.