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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 04/10/1975PUBLIC HEARING — CITY AND SCHOOL BUDGETS APRIL 10, 1975 A public hearing on the Proposed City and Educational Program Budgets for South Burlington was held Thursday evening, April 10, 1975, in the South Burlington High School auditorium. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT Michael Flaherty, Chairman; John Dinklage, Paul Farrar, Catherine Neubert COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT Duane Merrill SCHOOL DIRECTORS PRESENT David Miller, Chairman; Charles Denison, Jeanne Kennedy, D. Dale Kleppinger, Viola Luginbuhl SCHOOL DIRECTORS ABSENT None OTHERS PRESENT William Szymanski, City Manager, Frederick Tuttle, Superintendent of Schools, Laurence LeCours, Assistant Superintendent, John Lucas, Business Manager; Jacqueline Marceau, Michelle Marceau, Bruce O'Neill, George E. Watson, Sandra S. Kleppinger, Catherine Hayden, Richard Carter, M. A. Monell, Anna M. Smith, George G. Smith, F. C. McCaffrey, Howard Shepard, Peter Yankowski, Don Lockhart, Olivia R. Brown, J. B. Menard, Nan Frymoyer, Jean Stone The hearing was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Chairman Flaherty of the City Council. After introducing the members of the City Council to the audience, Chairman Flaherty reviewed briefly the City Budget, calling attention to the items which showed a significant increase for 1975-76. Some of these were Office Equipment because of the necessity to purchase a new bookkeeping machine at a cost of $7,000; an increase for G.B.I.C. of $500 to help them in finance the option they hold on land for the proposed industrial park for South Burlington; an increase in utility charges over which the City has no control except to try to reduce the use as much as possible; increase in the assessment for the Vermont Extension Service, also an item over which the City has no control; an increase for Natural Resources which is to be used for the development of pedestrian and bicycle trails in the City; a small increase for the Visiting Nurse Association which they had requested. Mr. Flaherty explained the largest increase in the budget is for salaries, with the resulting increase in fringe benefits costs also. He explained the excellent job done by the Salary Review Committee which spent many hours working on a salary scale for City employees. They had found many inequities; some people doing the same kind of work at different pay scales for instance. Salaries have been brought into line, a merit system established, and it is felt the new system will encourage longevity in the City employment. 'However, bringing the salaries into line has meant a significant increase for this year's budget. Another large increase is the County Assessment for the operation of the County Court, partly due to debt service for the bond issue for the renovation of the Court House. The original assessment by the County was much larger and was reduced after being protested by South Burlington and other towns in the County. Mr. Flaherty then reviewed the revenue sharing items to be paid with the Federal funds under this program. Also the ballot item for the purchase of Lakelands property was explained. The need for purchasing this property was questioned by Mr. McCaffrey. Mr. Yankowski, saying he couldn't come up with more than twelve acres for this property, questioned the appraisal. Mr. Flaherty said the appraisal was done by someone from Proctor; that it has to be done by someone who is acceptable to both the State and the Federal government. Mr. Watson asked if the property was worth more than $75,000. He said he felt it was highly over-priced, not just in his opinion but in the opinion of several Chittenden County realtors. He recommended getting an appraisal by local appraisers for a better valuation of the land, adding that even if part of the purchase price does come from State and Federal funds, it is still coming from the taxpayers. Mr. McCaffrey asked what the land would be used for, why is it wanted. Mr. Flaherty it will not be bought unless the voters vote for it, that is why is to be on the ballot. If the voters want this fourteen acres on the lake front for recreation, they can vote for it. Mrs. Neubert explained that in the Comprehensive Plan the City is committed to buy lakefront property whenever it becomes available, also that the appraisal was reached not by just looking at this one piece of property but by comparing it with other properties of like value and the prices at which they had been sold. Asked about the access, Mr. Flaherty said there is a guaranteed access to the property. Mrs. Jean Stone asked about the item for acquisition of open space, $18,000, if this could be applied toward the purchase of Lakelands property, or if it is earmarked for something else. Mr. Flaherty explained that the City has had a plan for several years to buy land for small neighborhood parks when available, naming the DuMont property as an example, and that is the purpose for the $18,000 in the budget. Asked if the Lakelands property had been rejected for building, Mr. Flaherty said the owner had come in about a year ago for a subdivision. It is zoned R-1 and it could be developed. A short recess was taken and the hearing was re-opened at 8:20 p.m. by David Miller, Chairman of the School Directors. He introduced the other School Directors to the audience, then turned the meeting over to Frederick Tuttle, Superintendent of Schools. Mr. Tuttle explained the item to be on the ballot for the up-dating of the fire alarm system at the high school. This work is required by the State, will have to be done, but in order to qualify for State aid it must be voted for approval by the voters of the City. Without this vote of approval the up-dating will still have to be done, at greater expense to the Schools Department. Mr. Tuttle said the school tax is increased by 13¢ this year, most of the increases being for salaries and benefits, and such things as utilities over which they have no control. Unless a change is made in the legislature, he expects the State Aid to be funded the same as last year. In light of the economy, they had all taken a good look at areas which could be reduced; principals, teachers, and department chairman took part in the budget preparation. One elementary position was eliminated, one department chairman, and one maintenance person. Teacher negotiations are continuing and if they are settled there should be sufficient funds in the proposed budget for this. Supplemental requests over and above the budget were submitted in the amount of $365,917, but of that amount only $69,160 was honored. Mr. Tuttle then renewed briefly the line items in the budget, also the revenue sharing items. Mrs. Jean Stone questioned the insurance for football, and Mr. Tuttle said that many players are covered by their family's insurance but because some of them do not have adequate insurance at home an amount is put in the budget for this. Mr. Tuttle expressed his appreciation to Mr. John Lucas, the Business Manager, for the tremendous amount of work and detail put into the preparation of the budget, particularly the detailed program budget. He also thought the School District was fortunate to have such good cooperation from the City, that this hearing was a visible demonstration of the cooperation that exists between the City Council and the School Directors. SUMMARY: The City tax rate remains at $1.64 although the budget is slightly larger than last year because of an increase in revenue. The School tax rate has increased by 13¢ from $4.69 to $4.82 due to increases in the budget mostly in the area of salaries and fixed charges. The public hearing was ended at 9:00 p.m. Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.