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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/13/1995CITY COUNCIL 13 February 1995 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 13 February 1995, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: Robert Chittenden, Acting Chairman; David Maclaughlin, James Condos, Michael Flaherty Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Albert Audette, Street Dept; Don Whitten, WPC Dept; Wallace Possich, Fire Dept; Lee Graham, Police Dept; Margaret Picard, City Clerk 1. Proposed 1995-96 City Budget: Mr. Hafter began with a general summary of the proposed budget. The proposed operating budget is $7,200,000. The bonded debt is $1.150,000. The estimated Grand List is $7,155,000, representing a 1.5% increase. This means the operating tax rate could increase by 1.5% to 64.6¢. The proposed rate is 64.1¢. The .5¢ represents $37,000. The maximum operating budget could increase a maximum of 10% in a year which means that in 1995-6 it could be $5,875,000. The proposed operating budget is $5,579,000. Included in the total city tax rate are .109 general debt; .005 Water Pollution Control Debt; .041 Other Entities (County Court House, etc.), and the special appropriations debt for roads of .035. This results in a total city tax rate of .831. A review of departmental budgets then began. a) City Council: The City Council budget is essentially the same as last year. There is a slight increase in the appropriation for VLCT to cover a small increase in dues and a new program linking all towns via a modem. b) Administrative Insurance: There is no increase in the health insurance rate. There is, however, a substantial increase in the dental insurance though this is still reasonable. Liability insurance has decreased due to opting for a higher deductible. c) City Manager's Account: There is a decrease in the "other salaries" account due to decreased costs for consultants in the gas tank leakage situation. Ambulance service is up 5%. Some of the cost for ambulance service is made up for by donations. Capital items being requested include: 5 new chairs for the conference room, a chair for the City Manager, and new venetian blinds for the City Manager's office. d) City Clerk: Ms. Picard noted that election salaries are down as there are no big elections coming up. Postage is up due to the increase in rates. Printing costs are down also due to fewer elections. Money is being saved on record keeping books due to use of the computer system for some record keeping. e) Payroll: Mr. Hafter noted one new item of $285. to initiate a direct deposit system for the city payroll. This will save on such items as checks and envelopes and time. f) Assessing and Tax Collection: There is a substantial increase proposed due to the first year of reappraisal. The total budget will go from $85,799 to $165,179. g) Police Dept: Mr. Graham noted the Department was awarded one officer under the crime bill. This position will be reimbursed at 75% for three years. The budget includes costs for recertification (which gives the dept. a 10% reduction in liability insurance). In the office equipment maintenance account, there is an additional $4400 to cover a billing never made by the company. Under capital expenses, the dept. is requesting 3 new cruisers. The lowest bid is up 15% from previous years. There is also an additional cost of $600 to paint the cruisers. There is an option to use the excess salary budgeted for one of the cruisers or to buy 2 and lease one. Mr. Graham noted that crime forfeiture funds are running out this year. Some of these funds have been allocated to CASA, so in the future something else will have to be done to aid CASA. The Department will be running a Citizens Police Academy this year. All officers will be involved. h) Water Pollution Control Dept: Mr. Whitten said there is a substantial increase in costs for handling sludge. There is also a liability insurance increase. It is hoped to bring all sludge to the District instead of to St. Mike's. Mr. Whitten noted they are trying to negotiate with the District as it is now cheaper to transport sludge out of the state. Mr. Hafter said the District has been told the city will take anything over the commitment to Glenns Falls if the District cannot come up with a competitive price. Mr. Hafter then explained how the WPC budget translates to rates: $1,152,148 is needed to balance the budget. Money is also required to make up for a loss this year. (this will be done over a 2-year period). Taking into account money received from Colchester, a rate of 12.35 is required. This represents an increase of 9.3%. This falls in the low-range of rates in the county. i) Debt Service: Landfill closure costs are being added for the first time. All other debt service items are going according to schedule. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.