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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.09.12 Work Session Minutes Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Mayor Larson called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. Present: Larson, Bartholomay,May(arrived 6:33), Fogarty(arrived 6:35), Donnelly arrived(6:37) Also Present: David McKnight, City Administrator;Brian Lindquist, Police Chief;Tim Pietsch, Fire Chief;John Powers, Fire Marshal;Lee Smick, City Planner;Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant MOTION by Bartholomay, second by May to approve the agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 2011 Comprehensive Plan Amendment City Planner Smick explained this is an amendment, not an update. Changes include 2010 population and household numbers. The ag preserve map has also changed. Donnelly Farms has re-enrolled 11 of their properties for the next eight years, which means no development can occur during that time. (Fogarty arrived 6:35 p.m) Changes have been made to the transportation study including changes to 195th Street. A sustainability chapter has been added which includes the Green Steps Program. The economic development chapter includes the strategic plan. The comprehensive plan contains a lot of history. The economic development chapter includes changes made since 2007. There have also been changes to the fringe properties on the land use map. All property owners along 1'Street wanted to go back to low-medium density residential. (Donnelly arrived 6:37 p.m) This information will be on the July 16, 2012, Council meeting for approval to forward the plan to the Met Council for a 60-day review. By October, staff will ask Council to adopt the changes which will make the property change effective. 2013/2014 Budget City Administrator McKnight presented the second draft of the budget and reviewed recent changes: Building permit revenue has been increased by$40,000,which is a$50,000 reduction from 2012. The $75,000 in delinquent tax coverage has been removed. 12 Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Page 2 The $25,000 for the ice arena deficit has been removed. The sealcoating number has been adjusted to $350,000. The $15,000 in electrical inspection revenue has been removed as these are pass-through dollars. The Community Service Officer halftime position has been removed. A Police Administrative support position will be put on a phased retirement program. The position will be half time for 2013 and there is an option to do this for four additional years. The Human Resources Representative will be retiring and this position will not be filled. The number for bond payments has been increased by$7,000. The Fire Department equipment/building maintenance has been reduced by$76,000. This item is still$135,000 over 2012. The Fire Relief Association is down to $154,255 for 2013 compared to $170,715 for 2012. Version one of the budget was at $10,341,694,tax levy at$9,533,480,tax levy change at $967,495 or 11.29%. In version two,the budget is at$10,093,772,tax levy at $9,156,385,tax levy change at $590,403 or 6.89% The Police and Fire budgets will be discussed tonight. Union contracts will be discussed in closed session on July 16, 2012, fiscal disparities is ongoing. The arena, pool, and Rambling River Center will be discussed at a future workshop and also the liquor store budget. The budget is in the shape it is today because of five reasons: Currently we have just over$79,000 in increases in expenditures,just under 1%. We have$237,901 in reduced revenues. Fiscal disparities are down$116,000 and we are using$1.9 million for 2012. Fund revenues are down$20,007. The debt has increased by$137,027 which is for the fire truck. This budget is$590,403 over from last year. Police Budget Police Chief Lindquist stated there is not a lot of change from 2012 to 2013. 2013 and 2014 numbers are based on what occurred in 2012. They are still investigating why there was a change in numbers in some areas. The data that was supplied to Finance, did not match the data they had tracked. Mayor Larson asked if the Police were due a contracted increase this year. City Administrator McKnight confirmed there is an increase for 2012 and 2013. Their current contract runs through the end of 2013. Part of the increase in administration and patrol has to do with the comp time issue. That is included for 2013. Police Chief Lindquist noted other than those increases he did not add a lot to this budget. There are necessities that we have to pick up such as CJIIN and Logis, gas, electric, fuel, squad car, all have stayed the same. When new cars are purchased,they will be a different model as the Crown Victoria is no longer made. Not all of the equipment from the old style will fit into the Ford Taurus. The items that carry great expense will fit. 13 Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Page 3 The Community Service Officer left and those duties will be absorbed among the police department. There will also be an administration phased retirement at the end of this year. The school has gone from three SRO's to one. The Police Chief firmly believes two SRO's are needed at the schools. Councilmember Donnelly stated the school set their budget June 30, 2012 for 2013. So January 2013, it goes down one SRO. How can we work on it if their budget is set? It will not happen. Mayor Larson would like to revisit this with the school. He would like to see the SRO's in the schools. Councilmember Donnelly stated that discussion has to occur soon, before our September preliminary levy. City Administrator McKnight stated an SRO costs about $100,000. The school pays for 3/4 of the year and the City pays the rest. We are covered through the end of 2012, so when school starts in the fall,they will have two SRO's. January 1, 2013,they only want one SRO, so he took out all the revenue associated with it. The cost for that officer is still in the budget. We moved SRO 3 from investigations into patrol. Councilmember May felt it was a very minute chance the school will change their mind. There are still two SRO positions we fill on the force. So at a minimum we should reduce our force by one. There are other departments that have taken big hits and the police department cannot be immune to that. Police Chief Lindquist did not agree. When we approach spending,we treat it like it is our own wallets. The most important thing isn't always the bottom line, as much as the health of the product we are providing to the citizens. Being the cheapest, doesn't make it the best. Looking at the group,the changes in staff that have occurred as far as the CSO and the phased retirement, are a combined pot of money and we should apply that in the direction of where we need two SRO's, regardless of the school's position. There are other agencies that have a different contract with the schools,that provides less of an encumbrance to the school or the City. Councilmember May felt you cannot make decisions based on what someone else is doing. We have to look at the unique features of our City. She expects the Police Chief to try to get as much staffmg as possible. When we had the discussion to add the SRO, we were told it would reduce overtime, etc. and she is not seeing that. The comparison is with communities that have a much larger commercial base. The reason we added the officer was for the SRO position and that is being cut from three to one. You cannot make that up. The Police Chief noted we are now doing three times the work with only 1.5 times the administration staff We have to cover around the clock and we cannot anticipate when incidents will happen. The model he is presenting is the most efficient model. He was leery to talk about positions, because he wants them thinking about making traffic stops and staying safe, not about losing their job. Councilmember May stated the money has to come from somewhere and the police department cannot be untouchable. Police Chief Lindquist stated they have done as much stream lining as possible and still provide the best service. One in-the-line of duty death or injury could cost you more than you could possibly save in the next ten years if you eliminated half the department. Councilmember May noted the police department operated fine before we added the officer for the SRO position. Police Chief Lindquist stated we did not have the new high school at the time and had two SRO's. Councilmember May noted it is the school that is taking the SRO away and that is a choice they had to make. Councilmembers continued asking questions about all areas in the police department budget, including weapons, vests, supplies and fuel. It is included in the police contract that the City provides each officer with one handgun. They purchase a new gun every ten years and it comes 14 Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Page 4 to four guns being purchased per year. Fuel has been charged to Police administration, but not budgeted there. Some of the fuel budget will be taken from patrol. Councilmember May would like to see the inventory list. Dues and subscriptions have increased by$5,000 because of an increase in CJIIN fees. Councilmember Bartholomay asked about the increase for vehicles in 2013. The Police Chief explained this year there should have been three new vehicles and there were only two. We have to catch up. All will be over 100,000 miles. We have nine marked cars. Councilmember Bartholomay asked about uniforms. Officers are supplied a uniform when they start, and there is a uniform allowance in their contract. If the uniform is damaged in the line of duty,we cover it. Officers receive their allowance in January. Councilmember Donnelly asked about the workers comp line. City Administrator McKnight explained Finance started separating workers comp from employee benefits. By the end of the budget process it will all be separated. Mayor Larson noted investigations overtime is currently at 94.5%and the following year they are asking for an increase. Police Chief Lindquist explained 95%of overtime investigations is the drug task force. There is an annual reimbursement we receive from proceeds collected by the drug task force. Over the last two years we have received$21,000 that went into the general fund. Councilmember Donnelly asked what is supposed to be the outcome of this discussion? Is this the final discussion on the police budget? City Administrator McKnight wanted Council to get their questions asked and answered. The SRO issue is big. Councilmember Donnelly noted the Police budget is up$110,000 over last year. City Administrator McKnight noted part of that is including the comp time in the budget. The current budget includes all the officers we have today minus the CSO and minus one half-time administration employee. Adjustments citywide amount to $120,000 for comp time. The Police portion of comp time for 2013 includes administration$5,500, patrol$39,000, investigations$8,500, plus 20% for PERA and taxes. Councilmember Fogarty clarified that was never in the budget, but we paid it out. Overall,we cannot hold that against any department head. City Administrator McKnight stated the 2012 police budget goes from$3.87 million to $3.985 million in 2013, which is a$110,000 increase overall. A big chunk is an accounting correction. Councilmember Fogarty stated part of it is the contract and part of it we have not been budgeting for. Councilmember Donnelly stated the City is paying for 3/4 more of an officer than we used to. That officer was 25%City time, so that officer was not available 75%of the time to patrol. So we would be adding 3/4 time officer to patrol with having one SRO. We have to decide if that is what we want to do. For 2013 we are actually budgeting for another%officer for the City. Police Chief Lindquist noted minus the other two positions. Councilmember Donnelly noted they are totally different jobs and in different areas. The Police Chief stated nevertheless,they are bottom line department budget. Councilmember Donnelly stated if we accept this budget, we are paying for a 3/4 officer. Councilmember May stated you could add a part-time administration for a lot less than $100,000, so you cannot compare a patrol officer to administration. Councilmember Fogarty stated we have a department head saying he would rather keep a patrol officer and give up the CSO and administration support. Is that a decision we want to take away from him or let him 15 Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Page 5 work with his department within his budget? Councilmember Donnelly stated we are looking at it two different ways. The CSO and the person going to half time is a done deal. The other issue is do we want to pay for a 3/4 officer. City Administrator McKnight asked if Council would be willing to look at an early retirement close to the top. Councilmember Donnelly did not believe the school district will keep two SRO's. Police Chief Lindquist explained if they get a call to go to the middle school,they have to go. This takes away from another area. They do not know when incidents will happen. Councilmember May stated she was against the SRO position when it came up. The decision at that time was based on the school covering the SRO;that is going away, not just for one, but for two. She feels they should reduce the force, as to what position that would be up to the Chief and we should look at just two vehicles. We are still faced with difficult economic times and the foreclosure rate is still high. Police Chief Lindquist heard a housing report that for every 13 that come on,ten are sold. There are not many empty homes left in the City. Councilmember Donnelly did not have an answer on the SRO position. Councilmember Fogarty stated the school needs to keep the SRO. Councilmember Bartholomay stated the school has told him no, they will not keep the SRO. He asked if we could have a joint School Board/Council retreat on this issue and the arena. Councilmember May understood safety is a concern, but the school made a decision based on their numbers to not increase taxes. We added a position because of the SRO. Police Chief Lindquist stated when they heard the school was going to do this,they approached the budget to save that position. This budget was put together three months ago and is a fluid product. Let staff look at a couple other things and come back to Council. Mayor Larson agreed they should explore the early retirement and other options and come back. Fire Budget Fire Chief Pietsch stated a comparison has been done with other departments of like size and service area and explained the comparisons. We are strictly a paid on-call department. We have about 600 fire and medical calls with the majority being medical. Two years ago we eliminated going to nuisance medical calls. The Fire Department does respond to the two most severe level calls or if the Police Department or ambulance is busy. Councilmember Bartholomay noted the townships pay for fire service. He felt that money should be put into capital improvement for the Fire Department. City Administrator McKnight noted if you take that money out of the general fund, you have to fill that hole. Councilmember Bartholomay suggested they need about$150,000- $160,000/year to get to a capital improvement plan. Fire Marshal Powers stated that would be to repair deferred maintenance items on station one and stay on top of station two maintenance. Those are the two biggest drivers with that number along with equipment needs, such as vehicles for the chief officers, brush trucks,the engine coming up in five years to replace engine 2, and the tender that is 22 years old. If we get up-to-date we would not need that much going forward the next seven years. City Administrator McKnight pushed some of the equipment from 2013 to 2014. There is $85,000 in 2013 and$175,000 in 2014. There is also some money for flooring, lighting,the front apron, and a washer and dryer. Even though money has been pushed forward,there is money in the budget for 2013 that hasn't been there for awhile. Councilmember Fogarty stated we have to start flat lining all across the budget. Fire Chief Pietsch stated the City Administrator 16 Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Page 6 recommended we throw everything we need into the pile for the two-year budget cycle. They recently applied for a FEMA grant for the washer and dryer at station one for 2013. They asked for a generator for 2012,that didn't go through. City Administrator McKnight explained he is trying to get away from up and down budgets each year and keep them consistent from year to year. If some money is not needed and something comes up,there is money in the budget. Councilmember May noted they are looking at a$150,000 increase in Fire. She asked about IT services. City Administrator McKnight explained IT services have been reassigned to where the work is. Fire is getting an increase because there are more technology demands of IT staff. Councilmember Bartholomay would like to use the township money to slowly build a fund to cover maintenance items. Councilmember May felt it goes back to the CIP plan rather than setting aside the township money. Fire Chief Pietsch noted if the township wanted to take their services elsewhere,they could do that. Our call numbers would go down, but it would help our response time rating, as it takes time to reach the townships. We would lose that money that is coming in and still have the same needs. We are not in the business of trying to expand the service area. Councilmember Donnelly noted there is a$130,000 payment on the fire truck. In the budget it is $85,000 for 2013. Staff explained that is in addition to the$130,000. Fire Marshal Powers explained the$85,000 covers a brush truck where parts are no longer available for the pump. It keeps getting pulled out of the budget each year. It does still transport three firefighters to the scene and carries medical equipment. It doesn't serve its purpose and we would get rid of it. The $85,000 under vehicles would cover a brush truck and a chief's vehicle. The $50,000 under machinery/equipment would cover the washer and dryer, replacing a brush truck skid unit, and air bags. With the new fire truck, equipment and vehicles it amounts to a$272,000 increase. Fire Marshal Powers explained we do auto aid and mutual aid with Northfield, Hastings, Rosemount to provide a higher level of service, not a savings. Some fire departments that combined are now splitting apart because it is cheaper to run them separately. Mayor Larson stated if we accept this we are increasing the levy by$272,000 of which$130,000 has already been committed. Councilmember May will not commit to the chief's vehicle and the brush truck at this time. Fire Marshal Powers stated we do not have enough seats to transport people to the scene, so some have to take personal vehicles. If he is in charge of a single house fire, he would like to have 60 people there for backup. A brush truck holds six people and would be used for grass fires and small fires. City Administrator McKnight suggested working with fire personnel to get their numbers down. Councilmember Fogarty stated both departments tonight deal with public safety. She didn't want to say no this year and next year it could have saved a life. She asked them to keep working on the budget. Councilmember May noted there is an$8,000 increase in salaries. That is an estimate and staff will look at that again. Councilmember May noted fuel is $8,000 more. Staff stated diesel is split with the county and the gas is on the state card. She noted it sounds like we need the brush truck, but felt it was not Council's place to pick and choose. 17 Council Workshop Minutes July 9,2012 Page 7 City Administrator McKnight was hearing staff should prioritize through the entire budget. Mayor Larson stated for the past few years Council has micro-managed the budget. It is important Council look at it and suggest where to cut. He asked Councilmembers what if we pick a percentage increase and ask the City Administrator to bring us a budget that only increases by the number we pick. Tonight was important because we need to know where the money is going,but we do not have to get as deeply involved as we had to in the past. Councilmember Bartholomay thought we weren't going that deep this year. Councilmember Fogarty was open to that, but what if fiscal disparities comes in and wipes out 3%? Are we willing to use that money to flatten the levy? Mayor Larson stated we can say we want to use fiscal disparities to cover the 3%. City Administrator McKnight stated if that happens,that is not fiscal disparities creating a CIP;that is the tax levy. We don't get extra fiscal disparities. The fiscal disparities number will not be$1.9 million. It should be higher which is in our favor. Councilmember Fogarty stated if that happens, she is open to creating a road and bridge fund. City Administrator McKnight stated the money we use for that would come from the tax levy, not fiscal disparities. Councilmember May disagreed about giving a number. That is what we did and it became all about the number. The questions we are asking are not to sit behind staff all day;we are not at that level. It is a product of the difficult times we are in and the difficult spot we are in. It is more about what you cut. Councilmember Bartholomay asked if we just give a number would we not be having these discussions with the Fire and Police Chief about these items? Mayor Larson stated we would let the City Administrator work it out. City Administrator McKnight noted the SRO is a policy decision to be made by Council. Councilmember Donnelly stated the SRO and vehicles are policy decisions. Councilmember May would like to see the levy stay flat or a very low increase. Councilmember Donnelly felt residents will accept paying for a new fire truck. Mayor Larson noted the comp time issue is costing us$120,000,plus the revenue shortage. We will be close to 3%. Councilmember Fogarty stated her concern with the percentage is that ours is higher because we run a lower budget than other cities. City Administrator McKnight was not hearing a number and to keep working. There is a possibility we may not have to have a July EDA meeting, and asked if Council would like to have a budget workshop. Next would be the pool, arena and Rambling River Center. Council agreed with having a budget workshop instead of an EDA meeting. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to adjourn at 9:30 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 18