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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/21/2002CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORK SESSION 21 FEBRUARY 2002 The South Burlington City Council held a budget work session on Thursday, 21 February 2002, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members present: J. Condos, Chair; T. Sheahan, S. Magowan, D. O'Rourke Also present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; Police Chief L. Graham; Fire Chief, M. O'Neil; B. O'Neill, T. Hubbard, Recreation Department 1. Municipal Tax Rate: Mr. Hafter said the operating tax rate will increase by 1.9 cents. The bonded tax rate will be reduced by 1.8 cents. Other entities show a .2 cent increase (.1 for CCTA and .1 for the County Courthouse). The special highway allocation is .7 cent and there is a 1 cent rate for the open space fund approved by the voters. The total city tax rate remains unchanged from the current year. 2. City Charter limits: Mr. Hafter then reviewed the Charter limits as they apply to the proposed budget. There is a 3.9% increase in the Grand List. This means that this year's tax rate can be 49.9 for the operating budget. The maximum amount from taxes to support the operating budget can be $6,798,576. This meets the Charter limit as the operating budget is up less than 10%. 3. City Council Budget: City Council salaries are unchanged. General expenses are up to $3,000. GBIC has been level funded. VLCT dues have increased (these are calculated on a per capital basis). Social Services will increase by $2000. $10,000 will be put into land acquisition based on a vote of the people a number of years ago. 4. Administrative insurances: Both health and liability insurances are up from last year. Mr. Hafter noted an error: the ICMA match which showed $40,000 should be only $29,000. He suggested putting the $11,000 into Highway since it is unclear what the State will be doing. The money won't be spent if it isn't needed. Members agreed. 5. City Manager's budget: There is a 4.5% raise in salaries. Mr. Gravelin's salary will be increasing due to his promotion to Assistant City Manager. Ambulance services are up 5% by contract. Chief O'Neil noted they are proposing to put performance guarantees into the contract this year. UVM is having a problem keeping people which means there is some "down time." Mr. Hafter said it would be very expensive for the city to try to run its own ambulance system. There is some money for work on city hall including ice guards on the Police Station doors and new chairs for the conference room. 6. Police Department: Chief Graham said they are requesting one additional civilian position what was approved several years ago. He noted they may lose some people to the National Guard. The Chief asked for one more officer for the Traffic Unit. There is only one officer now and he is often pulled for other duties. This would cost about $47,000. Mr. Hafter said he felt the amount received from traffic fines could be added to revenues to cover the cost of this officer. Members favored doing this and noted the number of complaints from citizens regarding traffic issues. There is an increase in the cost for uniform cleaning. $15,000 has been allocated to begin the process of looking for an alternate Police Station. Under capital expenses, 3 cars will be replaced (one purchased, two leased). They are also looking for grant money for technology work. 7. Fire Department: Chief O'Neil said the operating budget is pretty much level funded. There is an increase in medical supplies and equipment as medical calls are up significantly. Money from the vehicle replacement fund was used to repair the tower truck. This year helmets will be replaced. Under capital expenses, the Department will purchase a thermal camera for seeing in hazardous environments. There is some money from fund-raisers to put toward this purchase. Chief O'Neil gave members the results of a needs assessment survey including the prices for various items. Of particular importance is the communication system. The Chief noted that the city has one of the few remaining VHF systems. Most departments are on UHF. It is also hard to get parts for a lot of the radio equipment the department is using. Of critical concern is that firefighters can't communicate with each other from one floor to another. Mr. Hafter suggested addressing these needs on a 10-year bond. He did not feel there would be much opposition. Members wished the Chief well in his new position with the City of Burlington. 8. Recreation Department: Mr. O'Neill gave members the spring program brochure and a publication prepared in-house regarding the Community Center. Other than salaries and capital expenses, the 2002-3 budget is actually lower than last year's. There is a sizable reduction at Red Rocks Park for the summer. It is hard to find lifeguards, and Mr. O'Neill didn't know if it would be possible to staff the beach this summer. Capital expenses include repair of the tennis courts behind the schools ($3949). Mr. Magowan noted that the Little League will be coming to the Council as they are trying to get a grant to rehab fields around the city. There may need to be a City contribution. 9. General Ledger/Payroll: Mr. Gravelin said auditing costs are up slightly. Under capital expenses, the budget includes funds to outfit Gloria's office. 10. Assessing/Tax: Much of the work is being outsourced. Mr. Hafter said they are not sure whether to continue this or to hire a person directly. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. The next work session will be on 28 February, 7 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.