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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/08/1982CITY COUNCIL MARCH 8, 1982 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Monday, March 8, 1982 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, William Burgess Members Absent Hugh Marvin, Howard Perkett Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; David Minnich, Assistant City Manager; Ruth Poger, The Other Paper; Bruce O'Neill, Recreation Director; Gloria Yandow, Bookkeeper Minutes of February 22 and 23 and March 1 and 2, 1982 Mr. Flaherty moved to approve the minutes of February 22 and 23, and March 1 and 2, 1982 as printed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and all voted aye. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Discuss possible Charter amendments regarding increase in interest rate on delinquent taxes and any other amendments Mr. Farrar noted that there was a bill in the Legislature which has been acted on by the Senate but not the House which would allow communities which operate under State statute to increase interest rates on delinquent taxes. The bill does not relate to South Burlington, which operates under its Charter Mr. Farrar noted that delinquencies were about the same as last year, so it did not seem that people were taking advantage of the city. He added that, in addition to the May election, there would be elections in September and November, so if economic conditions changed, the issue could be voted on later this year. Mr. Minnich said the issue had been brought up in response to the action in the Legislature, and also because new tax bills were being ordered, and if there were to be a change, it should be known now. The Council did not want to change the interest rate at this time. If they want to do it later, they can make it effective for next year. Review Planning and Zoning agendas There were no comments. Work on proposed city budgets Mr. Szymanski pointed out changes in the Recreation budget from the previous proposal. 6002 has been decreased a little, and in 6027, the Potter property has been removed, but $5,000 has been put in for hockey. $3300 has been put in for fencing. Mr. Farrar asked whether the hockey figure was solid or a guess and was told it was a guess. He said he would like a firm number. He asked Mr. O'Neill how the facility would be integrated into the recreation program and was told the recreation department's role would be scheduling, not active programming. Mr. Farrar noted that there were other pressures for money in the city this year. Mr. O'Neill said the site was still not settled, and the highway department was going to be asked for some time and effort. Mr. Farrar felt that cost should show in the Recreation budget. Mr. Farrar asked Mr. O'Neill to try to nail this thing down by next Monday. They want to know how much this will cost the city and what the city is going to be asked to do. Mr. Szymanski stated that last year's operating budget had been $2,163,560, and from that he deducted $22,715 for public entities. These include the County Courts, CCTA, Winooski Valley Park District, Vermont Extension Service and the Regional Planning Commission. That gave him a new base for last year of $2,140,845. Increasing that by 10% gave the city a budget this year of $2,354,930. The tax rate last year for the operating budget was .911, and that was adjusted by decreasing it by .012 (which is the $22,715), for an adjusted tax rate last year of .899. Increasing that by 4.6% (estimated growth in the grand list), gives a tax rate allowed this year of .94. Mr. Szymanski said he had talked to the City Attorney about this and had been told it was the right thing to do. Mr. Farrar predicted the grand list increase would be 5%. Mr. Szymanski said he had decreased the salary estimate from 10% increase to 9%. Mr. Szymanski said that, regarding the tax rate, the bonded debt was $241,250, which requires a tax rate of 11.8¢. The total operating budget of the public entities is $125,440, and that requires a 6.1¢ tax rate. In addition, their debt is $21,990 for a tax rate of 1.1¢ for a total of 7.2¢. Adding that to the sewer debt of $253,835 for a tax rate of 12.4¢, the total tax rate for city government and sewers would be 1.18.2¢, and for public entitles would be 7.2¢, for a total of 1.25.4¢ compared to 1.095¢ last year. Mr. Farrar noted that there were 3 large areas where requests had been made for more money - police, fire and highway departments. The Council looked at the growth rate for police personnel over the past 11-12 years. The department has 29 people available to them. Ms. Yandow thought that was one under authorization. Mr. Farrar felt the Council should pass a resolution outlining the authorized people in the department so it would be a matter of record. He thought it would be a good use of people to have another detective in the police department, but was not sure the city could fund one. If the department will be underexpended this year, he said perhaps they could buy ahead a car and then start a new person part way through the year. Mr. Szymanski said he had been asked to find another $650 for summer staff at the library. Mr. Farrar said the fire chief felt he needed two new pieces of equipment. He needs to replace the ladder truck maimed in the Burlington incident, and the old tanker he has been using. He said the second pumper would have to be repaired like the city did last year to another truck, in the next year or two. The chief feels he can probably obtain a 10 year old ladder truck for about $100,000 and that would last the city about 15 years. Repairing the second pumper would cost $20- 30,000. Mr. Farrar recommended putting funding into the budget in the range of $250,000 with the option to buy a new ladder truck or a used one plus a new pumper and to repair the second pumper if any money is left over. If a new ladder truck is bought, the department will need more money next year for a pumper/tanker. Mr. Burgess was not sure the priorities were right here. Mr. Minnich mentioned a snorkel truck, which costs about $50,000. In terms of funding this, Mr. Farrar said the city could add to the base, have a specific tax for a specific item, or it could bond. The Council agreed to pay for this over a short period of time, like 3 years. Mr. Burgess wanted to see the basic tax rate increase first for the operating and capital budgets. As far as the highway department, Councilman Hugh Marvin had sent the members a note. Mr. Farrar did not like the idea of a bond issue. He felt this was a long term maintenance problem. Mr. Flaherty agreed with Mr. Marvin, feeling that if the funds were not committed for this particular use, he was not sure it would ever be done. Mr. Szymanski said the City Attorney had told him there should be an explanation on the ballot that any future allowable increase would be added to this. Mr. Farrar wanted to handle it the way the open space funding was handled. Mr. Burgess preferred to set a number and estimate the inflation rate. Mr. Farrar said an addition outside the Charter limit could be set for a set period of time, such as $200,000 for a 5 year period, at which time the city could see where it stood. He said he did not want to borrow money. He felt $200,000 per year for that time period was probably all the city could do if it did the work itself. Messrs. Szymanski and Audette (Highway Department head) were asked to work on a list of what they felt could be done for that amount. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.