Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 04/06/1989PUBLIC HEARING 6 APRIL 1989 A Public Hearing on the 1989-1990 City of South Burlington and School District budget was held on Thursday, 6 April 1989 at 7:30 pm, in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Those Present Molly Lambert, William Cimonetti, City Council; William Szymanski, City Manager; Karen Shilgalis, Julie Duppstadt, Barbara LeWinter, Ted Manazir, School Board; Frederick Tuttle, Supt. of Schools; Leo Brown, Lawrence LeCours, School District; John Race, Lee Graham, Police Dept; James Goddette, Fire Dept; Marnie Kneeland, Community Library; Bruce O'Neill, Recreation Dept; Jim Washburn, William Storm, Elizabeth Milizia, Bob DiFerdinando; Sid Poger, The Other Paper Mr. Szymanski presented the City budget. The estimated Grand List is $6,375,000, an increase of 7% over last year. The maximum allowable increase in the tax rate is 5%. Last year's rate was 55.9 so that this year's maximum is 58.7. The maximum operating budget for this year is $4,520,450. The total tax rate for the operating budget this year is 58.6 and the total tax rate (including other entities and bonded debt) is 70.4. Mr. Washburn asked what the Council would do if they had to live with a cost of living budget instead of a built in 10% increase in the budget. Mr. Szymanski noted that the tax rate increase is less than 5%. Mr. Szymanski outlined changes in the budget. The major increase is in health insurance costs which are up 30%. Other increases include funding of some social services, funding for a City Engineer once the new City Manager is on board, $12,000 for a study to update job descriptions of all city positions, $6500 to replace the duplicating machine in City Hall, $4500 for a computer for the City Clerk's office, $15,000 for a new fireman for part of the year, $10,000 for improvements and repairs to JC Park and High School tennis court equipment necessitated by safety concerns, a new computer for the Police Dept, also $5,000 for accreditation of the Police Dept, $34,000 for a traffic light at Kennedy Drive and Timberlane. There will also be ballot items to allow the spending of grant money received by the Police Dept and from Act 200 funding. Mr. Szymanski also noted a large increase in mandatory funding for the County Court House necessitated by upgrading of handling of prisoners. Payments in connection with solid waste were also noted, $1200 to the Solid Waste District, and $46,000 to the State. Chief Race explained the South Burlington's position as far as police departments go. He noted that the daytime population of the City is probably triple that of the resident population. South Burlington also has twice the number of traffic incidents as other communities in the State. He said their budget growth has been due to a number of years in which the Department's needs were not attended to. Mrs. Lambert noted that accreditation of the Department will save money in insurance premiums in the long run and may reduce any Court settlements. Mr. Szymanski outlined the highway projects that will be done this coming year: Old Cross Rd., Ethan Allen Drive, Shamrock Road, Poor Farm Rd, and sidewalks for Barrett St. and Brookwood Drive. There will also be a ballot item to allow spending of fees collected from developers for sidewalks on Hinesburg Rd, Swift St. and Shelburne Rd. There will also be a ballot item for sewers for Swift Estates and Country Club Estates and two Charter change items, one involving a different method of assessing property and changing the date of the audit report. Superintendent Tuttle then presented the School District budget. He prefaced the budget presentation with some general information. The projected enrollment for next year is 2,075, an increase of 11 over this year, mainly at the elementary schools. Teachers will be in the second year of a 2 year agreement and administration and staff will be in the second year of a 3 year agreement. Negotiations are currently underway with support staff. The starting teachers salary in the city is $22,850 with the maximum salary (for a person with 12 years experience and a Masters Degree plus 60 credits or a PhD) is $45,700. There were 70 tuition students this year, 56 at the high school, 12 at the middle school and 2 elementary. Towns paid for 44 students and individual families for 26. Tution for 1989-90 will be $3800 for Kindergarten, $4900 for grades 1-6, and $5100 for grades 7-12. The pupil teacher ratio in the schools is 19.1 to 1. 4.8 positions will be reduced, 2 at the elementary schools. There will be a realignment at the middle school and high school. Special ed will be reduced by 1 professional and 5 aides. At the high school, a reorganization of department chairpersons will result in one administrator instead of 3. With consent of the teachers union, there will be no sabbatical leaves this year. There is, however, a substantial increase in substitute teachers pay due to a number of staff with serious long-term illnesses. There is a large increase in vocational education as the local budget is being asked to pick up more of this cost which the state had previously paid. Three or 4 busses will be replaced through a lease-purchase plan. Two late activity busses will be eliminated. The Middle School went through the PSA process and there are some budget items in connection with this. The elementary and high schools will be going through this process at a later date. The budget breaks down as follows: Salaries and benefits 84.86% Supplies 6.49% Equipment .67% Services 7.98% There will be one ballot item to cover sprinklering of boiler and storage rooms and energy conservation procedures at the middle school. These are one-time expenditures. The Grand List is the same as for the City. The operating budget tax rate is 1.842 with the maximum allowable from taxes for the operating budget $11,742,750. Estimated revenue from State Aid, tuition, earning on deposits, foster children payments, rentals of school space and miscellaneous items is $815,005. $11,698,356 will be raised by taxes for the operating budget for a 1.835 tax rate. The bonded debt tax rate is .039 for total tax rate of 1.874, a 4.46% increase over last year. The gross budget is $13,438,625. As with the City, a major increase is in medical insurance which also includes an amount to cover a shortfall from last year when the cost went up 23.5% instead of the project 18%. There is a significant increase in special ed due to a change in the formula and also to the known needs of severely handicapped children who may need residential placement. There is a significant increase also in vocational programs. 45 S. Burlington students participate in these programs. The state used to pay 1/4 of the cost. Now there is a variable formula and an increase is anticipated in costs to the city. The services of an athletic trainer, paid for this year by boosters and the Sports & Orthopedic Rehab Center, will be a budget item next year. Physical, occupational therapy and psychological services budgets are up and involve a number of students who must be evaluated for eligibility for special ed services. Mr. Tuttle noted there were requests for up to $1,200,000 for items not funded including foreign language for the elementary school, electives, etc. He also noted that through cooperative efforts of administrators and the teachers association, negotiation funds have been reduced significantly. Two one-time expense items are included for science texts at the high school and social studies texts at the middle school. $18,000 will be spent to upgrade the high school bleachers for safety concerns. Asbestos will be removed from a small building outside Orchard School. Lighting will be upgraded at Central School. Some roof work will also be done. A data processing consultant is no longer employed by the district as these services are contracted for at a reduced cost. The capital budget includes mention of the need for elementary school space in the near future. A task force will be formed to study facility and long term financial needs of the school district. The large increase in electric costs is due to the fact that GMP has switched the school to time of day use billing. Mr. Tuttle said he would like to switch the high school and middle school to gas in the near future. Part of the ballot item is to study this possibility. Mr. Washburn felt that benefit packages were getting out of hand. Mr. Tuttle said they are looking into ways of dealing with this expense. As there was no further discussion, the Public hearing adjourned at 9:15 pm. Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.