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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/06/2017 PRE-TOWN MEETING 6 MARCH 2017 The South Burlington City Council and South Burlington School District held a pre-town meeting on Monday, 6 March 2017, at 7:00 p.m., in the Cafeteria of Frederick Tuttle Middle School, Dorset Street. MEMBERS PRESENT: City Council: H. Riehle, Chair; P. Nowak, T. Barritt, M. Emery, T. Chittenden School Board: P. Leduc, Chair; E. Fitzgerald, M. Lalonde, B. Burkhardt, J. Beatty ALSO PRESENT: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; D. Young, Superintendent of Schools; J. Aubin, School District; D. Kinville, City Clerk; Chief T. Whipple, Police Department; Chief D. Brent, Fire Department; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; S. Dory, Finance Department; J. Rabidoux, Public Works Director; J. Ladd, Human Resources; M. Leugers, Recreation Director; C. Ingalls, City Manager’s Staff; C. Holm, Public Information Officer; other city staff and members of the public. 1. Approve and Sign Disbursements: Ms. Emery moved to approve and sign disbursements as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Members of the City Council voted unanimously to approve the motion. 2. Public Informational Hearing on public questions and budget articles to be voted on by Australian ballot. 17 V.S.A. Section 2680(g): a. Reading of the Warning Articles: Ms. Riehle read both the City and School Warnings. b. Presentation of proposed City budget for FY2018: Ms. Riehle reviewed the process for development of the budget. She noted that the Council unanimously gave guidance to the administration to keep the increase under 3%. The Council ultimately agreed unanimously on a 2.97% increase. Ms. Riehle stressed that the budget is “very tight and very lean.” There is no growth in personnel or in services. It does support the current level of services and supports the Housing Trust Fund and contractual salary increases. It meets all bonded debt obligations. It also funds an increase in the CIP, but for only 2/3 of what had been proposed (most cuts relate to vehicles). Ms. Riehle explained the impact of the settlement with the City of Burlington/Burlington International Airport. The agreement resulted in a 10-year stabilization plan and a one-time payment to the City of Burlington of $400,000. That payment effectually eliminated South Burlington’s grand list growth for the year. There was also pension fund payment increase of $300,000 due to a less positive market. The health insurance increase is at 8% (the city did negotiate a decrease from the originally proposed 16% increase. Ms. Riehle noted that the proposed budget does not cover the increase in the sick bank or stewardship and does not add to the stabilization fund. Mr. Hubbard then acknowledged the city’s department heads and staff members and thanked them for their involvement in the budget process. Mr. Hubbard noted that the City went out for an RFP on its liability and other insurances. This resulted in the selection of a new carrier at half of what the City had been paying ($400,000 savings). Next year, the City will go to bid for outside legal services and janitorial services. Mr. Hubbard drew attention to the income generated from fire inspections (over $400,000 for the year) and from Planning & Zoning fees (approximately $250,000). Both of those incomes rely on growth in the community. There has been a slight increase in the local option tax revenues from both the Sales Tax and the Rooms and Meals Tax. Mr. Hubbard cited a grant from the State Highway Fund of $250,000. Mr. Rabidoux explained that this relates to the effort to move traffic more effectively via technology. Mr. Hubbard noted the 1 cent Open Space Fund element of the budget. This resulted in work done on the Wheeler property this year and will result in work at both Red Rocks Park and the Underhill property in the coming year. The budget includes full funding for the City Center Reserve Fund. Mr. Hubbard explained that with the current fund, there will be no property tax money needed for either the Market Street of City Center Park Phase I projects. The total city budget is $38,000,000. Of this, $24,000,000 represents expenditures from the general fund. $9,700,000 represents expenditures from non-property tax revenue. This leaves $14,400,000 to be funded from property taxes. The average condo owner (average value of $227,000) would see a $33.00 increase for the year. The average single family home owner (average value of $336,000) would see an increase of $49.00 for the year. There are also slight increases in each of the city’s utilities, amounting to an increase of $18.28 for the year. The Public Safety Communications Equipment Bond approved by the voters in November will add $14.42 a year to the average condo owner’s taxes and $21.27 to the average home owner’s taxes. Mr. Hubbard then briefly reviewed cost containment efforts. He noted the city’s Worker’s Compensation mod is at .7, the lowest in Chittenden County. This saves the city a significant amount of money on insurance. The City also has the second lowest tax rate in the County. There was no public comment on the City budget. c. Presentation of proposed School Budget for FY2018: Mr. Leduc thanked community members who regularly come to School Board meetings. He noted that a Citizens’ Advisory Committee helped put together the proposed budget. There was unanimous School Board support for the proposed budget. Supt. Young thanked retiring School Board members Leduc and Beatty for their years of service. The proposed School budget is $50,565,404, which represents a 2.01% increase in the property tax rate. This includes a 14.82% revenue increase realized from tuitions and special ed payments from the State. The district is expecting 191 tuition students, each of whom brings a $15,000 income to the School District. The proposed budget will result in an additional $77.00 for the average condo owner and $114.00 for the average single family home owner. Supt. Young noted a decrease in life and disability insurance payments of $60,000. There are also decreases for a change in administration ($38,000), pre-school ($38,000), software ($60,000) and purchased services ($25,000). Mr. Leduc then enumerated the new investments in the budget, including additional teachers in the High School (physical sciences) and at Orchard and Central Schools (to achieve a better teacher/student ratio), support for career development, a pilot program for behavior support (to address challenging behavioral issues), and additional instruction space (due to the relocation of administrative offices). There will also be a High School and Middle School facilities assessment and continued stewardship of buildings and grounds. Mr. Aubin noted that $300,000 is being added to the Capital Reserve Fund in an effort to avoid some debt service expense. Supt. Young reviewed the accomplishments of the stewardship program and showed slides of the work accomplished through recent efforts (elevators, fields, bathrooms, roofs, weight room, etc.). Mr. Aubin then explained how the State’s tax algorithm works and how it has resulted in the 2.10% tax rate increase. He also reminded the community of the income sensitivity program for lower income people. It insures that taxpayers pay no more than 3% of their income for education taxes. Mr. Aubin noted there is still a possibility that the School District will over-expend the FY17 budget, though increased state aid for special ed is helping to address this issue. The proposed budget includes the purchase of 2 school buses ($75,000 each). It also replaces a dump truck and upgrades the security camera system. A member of the public asked where the proposal to reduce the 5 schools to 3 now stands. Supt. Young said the Board has worked hard on this and are still at a 5-school system. They continue to look at conditions and implications that might make for a long-range decision. Another member of the public asked about the plan for a UVM facility in the City. Mr. Dorn said there were numerous meetings with UVM, but in the end, UVM decided to upgrade their facilities on campus. Mr. Dorn said the city is disappointed by that decision, but the arena option is off the table for now. A member of the public asked if money could be saved by going out of district for bussing services. Supt. Young said the district runs its own buses as research has indicated that contracted services would jack up the cost, primarily on co-curricular activities bussing. A member of the public expressed concern with the sustainability of the budget with increases that are above the rate of inflation. He cited the possibility of the loss of major retailers (Penney’s and Sears) and also noted that the income for the average teacher exceeds the median income in Vermont and Chittenden County. He felt it was hard to support a budget that is 5% over the inflation rate. Supt. Young recognized the concern, but also stressed the need to be cognizant of the needs of students, especially the more vulnerable children. As there were no further comments and no further business to come before the Boards, Ms. Nowak moved to adjourn. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed both boards unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works. South Burlington Water Dept. Accounts Payable Check Register Date: 03/07/17 Date Check No. Paid To Memo Amount Paid 3/7/2017 3156 Champlain Water District 53,857.65 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/28/2017 VI-14215 SBWD-323 53,857.65 53,857.65 3/7/2017 3157 Champlain Water District 93,455.40 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/28/2017 VI-14212 FEBRUARY 93,241.15 93,241.15 2/28/2017 VI-14213 SBWD-316 190.21 190.21 2/28/2017 VI-14218 10-125(DD) 24.04 24.04 3/7/2017 3158 Ferguson Waterworks #590 399.78 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/17/2017 VI-14214 0741467 399.78 399.78 3/7/2017 3159 Thomas Poon 159.10 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/28/2017 VI-14219 REFUND 159.10 159.10 3/7/2017 3160 City Of South Burlington 232,736.92 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/28/2017 VI-14216 FEBRUARY SEWER 232,736.92 232,736.92 3/7/2017 3161 City Of South Burlington 101,451.78 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/28/2017 VI-14217 FEBRUARY STORMWATER 101,451.78 101,451.78 3/7/2017 3162 SoVerNet, Inc. 43.09 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/15/2017 VI-14211 3729626 43.09 43.09 Total Amount Paid: 482,103.72 SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Printed: March 01, 2017 Page 1 of 1