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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/29/2016 PRE-TOWN MEETING 29 FEBRUARY 2016 The South Burlington City Council and South Burlington School Board held a pre-Town Meeting public informational hearing on Monday, 29 February 2016, at 7:00 p.m., at The F. H. T. Middle School, 500 Dorset Street. CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: P. Nowak, Chair; T. Chittenden, M. Emery, C. Shaw SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: E. Fitzgerald, Chair; M.Lalonde, P. LeDuc, J. Beatty, D. Fleming ALSO PRESENT: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; D. Young, Superintendent of Schools; D. Kimball, City Clerk; J. Barlow, City Attorney; I. Blanchard, Project Manager; T. Francis, Deputy Fire Chief; Chief T. Whipple, Police Chief; S. Dorey, Financial Officer, M. Leugers, Recreation Department; J. Ladd, Human Services; T. DiPietro, Stormwater Superintendent; J. Stewart School District Business Manager; C. Ingalls, Rep. Ann Pugh, V. Bolduc, P. Taylor, G. Donovan, S. Quest, M. Simoneau, L. Yankowski, J.Dinklage, B. Nowak, J. Kochman, A. Clift, D. Mirabella, S. Dopp, other members of the public 1. Approve and sign disbursements: Ms. Emery moved that the Council approve and sign disbursements as presented. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Public Informational Hearing on Public Questions and Budget to be Voted on By Australian Ballot. 17 V.S.A. Section 2680(g): a. Reading of the Warning Articles: Ms. Nowak read the warning for the three ballot items. b. Presentation of the Proposed City Budget for FY 2017: Prior to the presentation of the proposed budget, Mr. Dorn introduced the City Department Heads. Mr. Hubbard then reviewed the budget process. He noted that monthly financials are submitted to the City Council each month and are available on- line. Mr. Hubbard said the FY17 City budget is designed to achieve the following: a. Maintain current level of services b. Meet contractual obligations (there are agreements with the 3 bargaining units through FY18) c. All insurances d. Funding of major recommendations of the Human Resources Investment Plan (HRIP) e. Meet all bonded debt f. Support the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) g. Fund annual assessments and support for other entities (e.g., CCTA, CCRPC, VLCT, social services organizations) h. Continue support for the Housing Trust Fund i. Establish a stewardship fund for facilities and buildings Slides of various city-wide improvements were then shown. These include: City Hall improvements (conference room, LED lighting in all rooms, technology improvements, new space for the Recreation Department), a new community room at the Police Department, space for the Community Justice Center at the Police Department, and the new space for the Veterans Administration who will be renting space in the Police Department building. The budget does not fund: a. Funding for all requests in the Capital Improvement Plan b. Full funding of increases in the City Center reserve fund c. A stabilization fund (the recommended of the auditor is for a fund of $1,600,000; the city currently has $500,000) d. Full recommended funding for the stewardship plan ($75,000 instead of $150,000) e. Restoration of reserve fund back to the 2013 level Mr. Hubbard then outlined the major factors contributing to the budget: a. Increases in health and property insurances b. Pension contribution (since last years’ experience was not so good, the city’s contribution has gone up; Mr. Hubbard noted the city is looking to manage the assets in a way that avoids a “big hit” in any one year) c. Contractual salary increases d. Dedicated reserve for the tax appeal of BTV (a decision is anticipated this spring) e. Human Resources Investment Plan (HRIP) Revenue factors include: a. Increase in fire inspection fees b. Increase in Planning and Zoning permits c. Reduction in Worker’s Compensation Insurance costs d. A slight increase in location option tax revenue e. An anticipated 1.5% growth in the Grand List f. Electric inspection fees The total budget for all funds is $40,210,370. The property tax rate to support this budget is .4737 which represents a 1.37 cent or 2.98% increase in the budget. Mr. Hubbard noted that the average increase for the prior 5 years was 4.35%. Pie charts of “where the money goes” and “where the money comes from” were then shown. Mr. Hubbard noted that the impact of the proposed budget on a single family home valued at $366,000 will be $50.14 for the year. The impact on a condo valued at $226,000 is $31.00 for the year. Proposed utility increases will be $14.76 for the year. Public questions and comments were then solicited. Mr. Taylor asked how much of the property tax comes from businesses and how has that changed. Mr. Hubbard said about $15,000,000 comes from residential, $14,000,000 from businesses. This has remained very steady. Ms. Nowak noted that South Burlington is one of the few communities that has looked forward to determine what human resources will be needed in the future. Mr. Dorn then explained the ballot item which will utilize half of the open space fund for maintenance of open space lands. The city would borrow a 10- year loan to do the work up front. Mr. Dorn stressed that this is not additional money. A member of the public asked about a city employee getting legal services to remain on the job. Mr. Dorn said this is a highly specialized person with years of dedicated service to the city. He added that he made the decision to provide those services. Another member of the public spoke in support of that decision. c. Presentation of Proposed School Budget for FY 2017: Supt. Young recognized outgoing School Board member Dan Fleming and outgoing Business Manager John Stewart. Supt. Young then reviewed some student accomplishments including 6 students in the National Merit Program, an average GPA of 3.275 for the class of 2015, and 77% of students going on to colleges. The Superintendent then reviewed recent facility improvements including: a. New elevator in the Middle School b. Replacement of High School windows c. New hallways and classrooms (ADA accessible) in the High School d. New built-up roof over the High School Art Wing e. Replacement of the High School elevator (to ADA standards) to take place this summer Supt. Young then presented the proposed School Budget. Article 1 is for 2 director positions. Article 2 is a budget of $46,973,703, which represents $15,051.93 per pupil spending. The budget is up 2.68%; however, there will be a tax decrease due to additional revenues and 20 additional equalized pupils. The tax decrease on a $366,000 home will be about $130.00. The decrease on a $266,000 condo will be about $81.00. Article 3 is a $2,500,000 bond to address needed renovations and capital improvements at the High School, including windows, rest rooms, and turf fields. The first year payment is $49,642. The average annual payment for the life of the bond is $162,000. Article 4 would establish a $300,000 capital reserve fund to support the stewardship plan. Supt. Young then outlined improved efficiencies and cost savings in the proposed budget, including: a. Reduction in staff retirement expenses b. Reduction in outside professional services c. Reduction in supplies d. Reduction in debt service costs e. Reduction of one teacher (FTE) due to enrollment Investments include: a. Additional student enrollment in the Pre-K program under Act 166, increasing equalized pupils by 20 b. Addition of a Healthy Schools Coordinator c. Addition of a Professional Services person for specialized areas of human resources The proposed budget will result in an estimated reduction of $51.00 on the average condo and $82.00 on the average single family home. Supt. Young said these numbers could be improved, depending on “last minute” action by the State Legislature. Public questions and comments were then solicited: A member of the public asked whether schools have benefitted from reduced fuel costs and whether these costs are likely to go up. Mr. Stewart said they have benefitted from lower gas rates. Diesel could go back up. The schools continue to make improvements designed to reduce electric costs. A member of the public asked why professional services show a significant increase. Supt. Young said the additional money will help make very important decisions regarding master planning and visioning. A member of the public asked about legal fees regarding a specific person. Mr. Stewart directed attention to the legal fees item and noted these are not broken out by individual. A member of the public asked if tuition income could be affected by consolidation. Supt. Young said this is possible which is why the School District has been so welcoming to tuition students. Following the presentation of the budgets, the City Council came back into session. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Mr. Shaw moved to adjourn. Mr. Chittenden seconded. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works. South Burlington Water Dept. Accounts Payable Check Register Date: 03/01/16 Date Check No. Paid To Memo Amount Paid 3/1/2016 2942 Aldrich & Elliott, PC 2,441.03 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/3/2016 VI-13907 76090 2,441.03 2,441.03 3/1/2016 2943 E.J. Prescott, Inc. 454.60 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/12/2016 VI-13904 5050762 454.60 454.60 3/1/2016 2944 Engineers Construction Inc. 5,507.31 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/10/2016 VI-13908 25175 5,507.31 5,507.31 3/1/2016 2945 SoVerNet, Inc. 46.60 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/15/2016 VI-13906 3603535 46.60 46.60 Total Amount Paid: 8,449.54 SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Printed: February 24, 2016 Page 1 of 1