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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/20/2001CITY COUNCIL 20 FEBRUARY 2001 The South Burlington City Council held a budget presentation meeting on Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members present: J. Condos, Chair; T. Sheahan, C. Smith, D. O'Rourke, S. Magowan Also present: C. Hafter, City Manager; P. Bestenbostel, Asst. City Manager; B. O'Neill, T. Hubbard, Recreation Dept; D. Whitten, Water Pollution Control Dept. Mr. Hafter began the presentation of the 2001-2 City budget by reviewing Charter limitations. He noted that the total budget is $12,274,274. that represents an 8.4% increase. $250,000. of this is a one-time expense for sewer replacement. Without this expense, the increase would be 6.2%. The total tax rate goes from 55.4 to 56.8, a 1.4 cent increase. This would work out to $14 a year on a home appraised at $100,000. There is no increase in either water or sewer rates for the coming year. The city's Grand List grew 4.5% which means that the operating tax rate can increase by this amount. The proposed operating tax rate falls within this limitation. The bonded debt is up a little. Mr. Hafter noted they transferred $64,701 from the fund balance to pay some of the bonded debt. One of the city's debts will be paid off in this coming budget year. Two large Water Pollution Control projects are being paid for from sewer impact fees and have no impact on the city's property tax rate. Mr. Condos added that both water and sewer fees in South Burlington are paid for by user fees, not property taxes. "Other entities" are up somewhat, but the tax rate for these items will remain the same due to the growth in the Grand List. The Special Highway appropriation is down and the highway appropriation in the operating budget is up as was promised to the voters. The open space appropriation is the income from the 1-cent tax approved by the voters. Mr. Hafter noted that almost all increases in the operating budget are attributable to salary and benefits. Mr. Hafter then reviewed the budgets of individual departments. City Council: City Council salaries remain the same. Social Services also remains the same at $43,000. $15,000 is appropriated to continue the feasibility work on the proposed "government house." The assumption is that medical insurance will increase by 12%. This will cost the city approximately $97,000. There is also a 3% increase in dental insurance. Liability insurance appears to be creeping up. This will be put out to bid this year. City Manager's account: Salaries are down in this account as there will be a new Asst. City Manager. Legal services are up from $50,000 to $60,000. This is the third year of that contract. Utilities are up $3,000 due to recent increases in costs. Travel and training is also up $1200. Capital items include $3700 for the copier lease payment and for software. There is also $25,000 budgeted for city hall repairs. This year's work will focus on the roof on the Police Dept. and cleaning the air ducts. City Clerk: BCA/Election salaries are down as there are no big elections this year. BCA appeal costs have been added. Postage is up due to the number of absentee ballots being requested. Capital items include a new printer and software. Library: Charlie Jones noted that the budget is up 17% mostly due to the new Community Librarian position. There is also an increase in holdings for adults. Mr. Hafter noted the expenditure that will occur through the Blanchette bequest. Capital items include new computers. Recreation: Mr. O'Neill noted that salaries are up as all people in the department moved up one grade. Summer salaries are also up due to the increase in the minimum wage. The item identified as "Scholarships" will allow access to city programs for those who cannot afford to pay for them. Mr. O'Neill noted that they are having a problem staffing lifeguard positions. Because of this, the swimming classes have been contracted out. There will be a public meeting on 12 March to hear the report on the feasibility study for the swimming/community facility. The complete report will be presented to the City Council in April. Water Department: There is a 3.1% increase in the budget due to water volume purchased from CWD and an increase in customers (2.3%). There is also an increase in debt service. Water losses are down to 6.7% which is below the national level. There is a slight increase in private hydrants. There is a fee for private hydrant maintenance of $100/hydrant and $30/sprinkler system. It was noted that a lot of time and work goes into these activities. A number of hydrants will be painted this year. The department hopes to hire summer help for this work. Debt service is up because of the Shelburne Rd. project. The Dorset St. debt will be retired this year. There is a big decrease in emergency on-call expenses for South Burlington this year as these expenses will be equally divided. Water Pollution Control Department: Mr. Whitten said salaries are up only 2% due to a change in employees. Members discussed the possibility of insurance claims and what the city can do to cover itself. Mr. Whitten said that they need to deal with grease traps. They are flushing out lines on a regular basis and this has resulted in fewer back-ups. There are increased costs for soda and lime. Fuel oil is up 11%. Sludge is up 4%. Mr. Whitten said the sludge system is working very well; however, the sludge is not easily dewatered and tends to be odorous. They have decided to export the sludge to Burlington where they have the capability of dewatering it. This has worked out well. Power costs are up 10-15%. Mr. Hafter discussed compliance with new state mandates. Heindel and Noyes have developed a model of a filter that should address this issue. Capital expenses include: the first payment for the Bartlett Bay facility (a no-interest loan), replacement of a 4-wheel drive vehicle, pump replacement, and work on the Hinesburg Rd. line (this will be hired out). General Ledger: There will be a new work station for the general ledger bookkeeper and also a dot matrix printer for payroll. The file server will also be replaced. Mr. Sheahan noted that his business is using a new system that takes much less time. Mr. Hafter said they will look into it. Assessing/Tax: Salaries are up due to the reclassification of a position. Capital expenses include a computer work station for the tax collector and an upgrade of software. The budget presentation will be continued on 22 February. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.