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HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-26-2009 General Fund Budget WorkshopTown of Hi 11S Since 175, Added Item Short Reports MINUTES HILLSBOROUGH TOWN BOARD May 26, 2009 7:00 PM, Town Barn May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 1 of 17 PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Mike Gering, L. Eric Hallman, Brian Lowen, Frances Dancy, and Evelyn Lloyd. STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Eric Peterson, Assistant Town Manager Nicole Ard, Town Clerk /Director of Administration and Human Resources Donna Armbrister, Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Budget Analyst Emily Bradford, Police Chief Clarence Birkhead, and Finance Director Greg Siler. 1. Open the Workshop 7:01:52 PM Mayor Stevens called the Workshop to order. 2. Agenda Changes Agenda Approval 7:02:16 PM Mr. Peterson added a Closed Session item to discuss possible property acquisition. Commissioner Gering said he wanted to provide a report on the meeting that had been held with County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, as well as a report on the TAC meeting. By consensus, the Board added a Closed Session and Shorts reports to the Agenda and by consensus adopted the revised Agenda. 7:02:57 PM Commissioner Gering stated he was the alternate to the Technical Advisory Committee for the MPO, and at last Wednesday's meeting the TAC had adopted the Long Range Transportation Plan. He said that they had taken the position of abstaining from voting on whether to support the change in the Statement of Purpose and Need for the Elizabeth Brady project and they had wanted to make sure that the Town was okay with that abstention. Commissioner Gering stated he had told the TAC that the Town wanted to retain the funds allocated for that project and redirect them to other projects as a first priority, but they had not wanted that to stand in the way of the environmental impact study that was needed to have that project come to the point that a decision could be made about Elizabeth Brady Road irrespective of what the alternatives might be. Commissioner Gering stated he had indicated his belief to the TAC that the abstention was okay with the Town. Commissioner Gering stated the reason that the TCC was unhappy with the process of revising the Statement of Purpose and Need was because there was a well defined process that began with identifying the purpose and need and then identifying the alternatives that satisfied the Statement of Purpose and Need, and then you went through the modeling and then the environmental impact study. He stated the TCC was unhappy with going back to a previous step without getting additional modeling information that would support any new alternatives. Commissioner Gering stated he and the Mayor had attended a meeting last Thursday to discuss the potential of getting UNC involved in helping them study the possibility of an incubator in the Cornelius Street corridor. He said it appeared there were a couple of near term prospects for getting persons involved in some studies this year leading up to a more involved study next year for either an incubator project or some alternatives that would help accelerate redevelopment in the Cornelius Street corridor. Commissioner Gering stated other possible forms would be improving infrastructure and putting together a package of information to take to Representative Price and others in an effort to get federal funding for redevelopment projects. 7:07:47 PM Mayor Stevens stated that could prove to be very helpful for the Cornelius Street project and /or the incubator. 3. General Fund Budget Workshop May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 2 of 17 7:09:53 PM Mr. Peterson stated that traditionally they would respond first to any questions regarding revenues, then would move through each department budget and answer any questions on the scorecard, the narrative, any budgeted dollars, or whatever. He said he would give the departments a chance to comment if something critical had popped up that they wanted to mention to the Board. General Fund Revenues Mr. Peterson stated that General Fund Revenues began on page 50, and asked for any questions, particularly for questions on how the revenue neutral tax rate was calculated. 7:11:11 PM Mayor Stevens stated the tax rate was based on a standard formula. Mr. Peterson stated there was a statutory formula, and the Dr. Ravenbark from the School of Government had reviewed it. Budget Analyst Emily Bradford said the statutory formula took into consideration annexations so that the rate was not artificially inflated. Mr. Peterson said if the Board decided to reduce the rate, then they could look at that with a corresponding revenue amount. 7:12:42 PM Mayor Stevens stated they wanted to have some confidence that the rate was correct and it would produce the necessary revenue, or it would be revenue neutral to whatever degree was possible. Commissioner Gering said that the staff had been given the direction at the retreat to target the budget to be revenue neutral or at most to accommodate budgetary factors. He said in thinking about the revenue neutral budget figure, it had been reported in the press that property rates may go up a bit to compensate for the decrease in personal property values for automobiles, but the May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 3 of 17 average taxpayer that had personal property and real estate property should see no increase in total taxes even though the proportion may shift towards real estate property values. General Fund, General Government, and Governing Body Mr. Peterson stated the General Fund was on page 76, General Government was on page 78, and Governing Body began on page 80. The Board offered no questions or comments. Administration Mr. Peterson said that Administration began on page 86. 7:15:33 PM Commissioner Dancy asked for a reminder of what the copyright payment for music was for. Town Clerk Donna Armbrister responded that payment was for any music that was played at Town facilities or for any event, for instance music that was played around the flagpole at Christmas. She said that any music that was played at any of their buildings or facilities would be covered under the copyright license. Finance Department Mr. Peterson said the Finance Department began on page 98. Mr. Siler stated they had been surprised to learn recently that Orange County was doubling the fee that Hillsborough paid to the County for collection of taxes on behalf of the Town. 7:18:24 PM Commissioner Lowen asked could the Town look at some other source of collection other than the County whether it be a private entity or collection by the Town itself, or, would that be more expensive. Mr. Siler stated his initial response would be that it would be some time before they could beat Orange County's prices, even in light of the cost of the service doubling. Mr. Peterson asked what the percentage was that the County was charging. Finance Director Greg Siler replied it was right at 1%. Mr. Peterson said the Town also had to pay a share of the cost of the software, but 1% of $4 million was $40,000, so he could assure the Board that it was well worth the price to have Orange County continue that collection. Planning Department Mr. Peterson said that the Planning Department began on page 110. There were no comments or questions from the Board. Ruffin Roulhac Campus Mr. Peterson said the next department was the Ruffin Roulhac campus. He asked Ms. Hauth if they had the funds to pay for The Barn. Ms. Hauth replied yes, that the paperwork would be completed by Friday. 7:20:50 PM Commissioner Lowen asked if that included replacing the wood by the door that appeared to be rotted or perhaps termite damaged. Ms. Hauth responded that damage was caused by water seeping in, and although they had not planned to repair it they could do so. Commissioner Lowen stated it was unsightly and should be addressed. Mayor Stevens stated they were deferring IT, which was shared among departments. Parks and Recreation Mr. Peterson stated that Parks and Recreation began on page 128. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 4 of 17 7:21:47 PM Commissioner Gering asked where was the charge for Fairview Park noted. Mr. Peterson responded it was on page 130 under Operations, third line down. He stated there was $30,000 budgeted for FY 09, and could use some guidance from the Board regarding FY 09 as well as FY 10. Mr. Peterson stated the Town had agreed to pay for half of the sidewalk costs when the park was built which was $15,000, and he had assumed for discussion purposes to encumber the entire $30,000 so that the other $15,000 would be available for any unexpected expenses in the future. Or, he said, that could be reduced to $15,000 just for the sidewalk. Commissioner Gering said he was concerned that they were paying for maintenance of the park which had not yet been built, and were contributing to its maintenance even through its construction phase. He said they had done a lot of park construction recently and their highest priority park was Riverwalk Phase 2. Commissioner Gering said he personally had a difficult time justifying that expense which he believed should rest in the County's lap at least during the construction phase. 7:23:30 PM Commissioner Lowen said the more he thought about Commissioner Gering's viewpoint the more he agreed, noting that they needed to keep in mind as a Board that that park would always be a County park. He said the Town could put its share of money into it, but they had their own Town parks that they should be focusing on. Commissioner Lowen said as they were looking for ways to cut expenses, he agreed that they should not be paying for maintenance on something that had not even had a groundbreaking. He stated he believed that should be considered, and that more discussion with the County was necessary in regards to the Town's long -term financing for that park. Commissioner Lowen said that he believed the County needed to pay for the maintenance until the park was ready to open, and he would like to be able to cut that expense from the budget. Mayor Stevens stated they had not yet spent those funds and if they encumbered it then it would be reserved for the future. Mr. Peterson said they had $30,000 budgeted for FY 09 and another $30,000 for FY 10, and asked what the Board would like to do with that. Mayor Stevens said he could maybe see encumbering the $15,000 for the sidewalk, and if it did not get spent in FY 09 then it could revert back to Fund Balance. 7:26:42 PM Commissioner Lloyd remarked she did not want to be put in the position of having people think the Town should build the park. She said the County had promised the Fairview community twice that it would build the park, and the Town could contribute to that but it was not the Town's park. Commissioner Lowen stated if they had to encumber the money he would much rather see it encumbered in some other manner, because they did not know what expenses were yet to come. He said there were always coincidental expenses that could not be planned for, or the schedule could even be unexpectedly delayed. Commissioner Lowen said he would rather see the money put back into the Fund Balance or redistributed for use in the Town's parks. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 5 of 17 7:28:02 PM Commissioner Gering asked what the Manager's preference would be as far the funding for that park. Mr. Peterson stated for FY 10 there were a couple of options. He said they could revert the funds back to Fund Balance because it would give them more options if something unexpected came up that exceeded contingency, but with FY 11 looking gloomy that gave them more options when things began to get tougher next year. Mr. Peterson said another option was that they had $50,000 budgeted to begin design work for Phase 2 of Riverwalk, but $50,000 would not be enough to get the design done, adding they did not know an exact figure as yet. He said they could take the $30,000 budgeted for Fairview and move it up for the design work for Phase 2 of Riverwalk, increasing that to $80,000. Mr. Peterson said if they did not get the PARTF grant in July to purchase the remaining property, since the pool of money had been cut from $26 million Statewide to $20 million, then that would do two things. He said it decreased the probability that they would get a grant at all, and it decreased the probability that they would get the full amount requested of $398,000. Mr. Peterson said they may have to do a financing to either purchase the property or to finance the debt service, and that $30,000 could be used either towards debt service or something related to that. 7:30:22 PM Mayor Stevens stated they were certainly willing to pay their part as the County moved forward, and they could continue to budget and fund their share of the sidewalk. He stated with that being said, he believed they should revert it back to Fund Balance. Mayor Stevens said they were dedicated to their park system and he would not want to put in large amounts to fund design until they knew what the actual costs would be. 7:31:32 PM Mr. Peterson stated one option for FY 09 for the Board to consider was that they could take the funds remaining, which was about $29,000 after the expenses Ms. Ard had mentioned, and at least encumber them so that the Board would have the option of acting if some other solution were to be identified that would require some funding. He said if the money was encumbered it would not be touched unless they had authorization from the Board, and if they only encumbered the $15,000 for the sidewalk then that would drastically reduce their options. Commissioner Gering said he knew they would be talking with the County about that in the future, but at this point he did not hold out any hope that the Town would be paying for maintenance of that park. He said he would like to see the entire amount put back in the General Fund except for the $15,000 for the sidewalk. 7:33:03 PM Commissioner Lowen said if necessary, the funds would still be available in Fund Balance and could be accessible with a budget amendment for whatever purpose they desired. Mr. Peterson said that was correct. Mayor Stevens stated he was not sure they would even need to encumber the amount for the sidewalk. Mr. Peterson said if they were definitely committed to paying for half of the sidewalk which he believed they were, then he would recommend encumbering that amount because if it reverted back to Fund Balance then it was basically a liability that you were not showing on the books. He said based on what he was hearing from the Board, he would reduce that figure to $15,000 and revert the remainder into Fund Balance. Mr. Peterson stated that Ms. Bradford was keeping track of the changes as they went through the budget, so she would be able to provide a tally when requested. Safety and Risk Management 7:35:13 PM Mr. Peterson said that Safety and Risk Management began on 136. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 21109 Page 6 of 17 Mayor Stevens said regarding the rescue tripod for confined space entries, was that something they would purchase only if they needed it. Mr. Peterson stated it was his understanding that it was needed now, noting they had only one and that was the apparatus used when entering a manhole or any sort of confined space. He stated it had a wench on it and training was required in use of the harness and the apparatus itself. Mr. Peterson added that the current unit had some age on it and should revert to being used as a backup. Mayor Stevens said part of their strategy map was emergency preparedness, and since this was a safety issue and the current one was aging, he believed they needed to purchase that. Mr. Peterson said it was currently in the budget. Public Safety and Police 7:37:57 PM Mr. Peterson said that Public Safety and Police began on page 146. Commissioner Lloyd said it had been reported to her that people visited the community policing office and no one would be there, and asked what the hours were for that facility. Chief Birkhead stated the staff assigned there worked normal business hours based on activity level and call volume and other factors. Commissioner Lloyd asked if there were 3.5 employees assigned there. Chief Birkhead stated there were 2.5 employees at that facility. 7:39:25 PM Mr. Peterson stated there were many zeros and negative figures in the Police budget through the various divisions when comparing FY 09 to FY 10. He said regarding the driver training, Chief Birkhead had tried to keep that in the budget but he had alerted the Chief that there were some less expensive alternatives. Mr. Peterson said they had found an airport site they could rent for an insignificant amount of money and their current liability insurance would be accepted, so the cost would be about $5,000 cheaper than the year before. He said they would still be addressing the major need of driver safety, but at a much reduced cost. 7:41:54 PM Commissioner Lowen asked would the same level of training be possible using that alternative. Mr. Peterson replied yes, and believed it would actually be refreshing and better in some ways. He said by using the airport facility it would likely be more difficult for the officers and would also be a fresh approach. Mr. Peterson said once the economy unproved and they could go back to the normal training, he believed the officers would have benefitted even more for having used the alternative approach. Commissioner Lowen stated he had attended the very first driver training class and had enjoyed it immensely, as had the officers. Mr. Peterson stated he believed it would still be fun and equally as challenging and acceptable. Fire Marshal, Emergency Management, and Fire Protection Mr. Peterson said that the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management began on page 186 and Fire Protection began on page 196. He said a couple of things worth mentioning under Fire Protection was that the equipment depreciation of $19,650 which began several years ago was May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 7 of 17 intentionally omitted this year by the Chief. Mr. Peterson said he wanted to commend Chief Cabe for accomplishing a 2% budget reduction, and that 2% did not reflect the omission of the depreciation. He said in conversations with the Chief, Commissioner Lloyd and others, they had decided to keep that $19,650 in the Fire Department budget and move it to a miscellaneous category for a couple of reasons. Mr. Peterson said one, the Fire Department had cut their budget so narrow, like everyone was trying to do, that if something unexpected happened during the year they had no reserves to fall back on as the Town did as a larger organization. He stated leaving those funds in their budget would provide some flexibility to address any unexpected issues without having to take it out of contingency funds. Mr. Peterson said if it was not spent during the year, then it would revert back to Fund Balance. Mr. Peterson said another thing that was important was that the Fire Department had some issues with air packs that needed to be replaced, estimated to be in the $40,000 to $50,000 range, and they were going to apply for a grant but that grant was the same grant package the Town had applied for to fund the down payment on a ladder truck of $400,000. And, he said, only one application was accepted per jurisdiction. Mr. Peterson said when they had discovered that they had decided to try for the $400,000 and if they were not successful they would find the money to pay the Town's half of the cost of the air packs. He said obviously the air packs were a critical element of firefighting, so that $19,000 could be reallocated towards replacing the air packs. Mr. Peterson recommended moving those funds to a miscellaneous account, and if they made it through the year and did not need to use it, then it would revert to Fund Balance. Mr. Peterson said if they got the grant for the down payment on the ladder truck, it would take a year before the cash was available. He said they could move forward and obtain financing for the truck and place an order for it, and they would not have to make the first payment until FY 11. Mr. Peterson said after much debate and research, the conclusion was that a ladder truck known as a platform truck was a much more versatile and safer piece of equipment, noting it had a long articulating arm and it had much more maneuverability. He stated the platform had rails on it and two firefighters could utilize it at one time to conduct rescues or direct water streams. Mr. Peterson said platform trucks normally carne in 85 to 100 foot lengths, and because they were much better they were more expensive. So, he said, they had debated what to do because they could not fit the larger truck into the station which was certainly a problem. He said Chief Cabe and the firefighters had come up with the solution that if they purchased the larger size truck they would just raise the ceiling on one of the side bays because there was nothing above it, which would cost only about $5,000. Mr. Peterson said another issue was that the platform trucks were heavy, noting the weight was about 85,000 pounds and had a duel axle and could really damage the streets. He said that there was a 100 -foot truck just purchased by Carrboro that was all aluminum, weighed 20,000 pounds less and was fairly maneuverable, and because of the reduced weight it would reduce the probability of damage to the streets. Mr. Peterson said they had concluded that that was the type of truck that they needed to purchase, but the down side was that the cost was over $1 million. Mr. Peterson said they had all conferred again, and Chief Cabe had suggested that perhaps they needed to purchase a 75 -foot truck that was cheaper, more maneuverable, and was lighter, and if they had an emergency they could call on Carrboro or Chapel Hill for mutual aid. But now, he said, with the Truck Stop corning in with a potential six -story hotel and the hospital coming in, May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 8 of 17 either one of those would drive the need for a larger platform truck. Mr. Peterson said whatever they purchased they would likely have for 30 years with 20 years of that as front -line duty, so if they got the grant they wanted to purchase what made the most sense for the long -term. Mr. Peterson said with the Truck Stop redevelopment, the Board may want to do what had been done with Waterstone and make it a condition of annexation that some sort of contribution be made towards the purchase of the platform truck. He said another issue was that once the truck was in the station it would displace one to two other pieces of equipment, and with the hospital coming on they would not be able to delay the construction of the southern fire station in Waterstone for a long period. Mr. Peterson said they would likely need to begin the design work in FY 11, but they would likely not have the room for all the equipment for a period of time. 7:49:54 PM Mayor Stevens said all of those were good arguments to keep that $19,650 in the budget. Mr. Peterson said that the Administrative Assistant at the Fire Department had done a very good job with the grant application, noting that the Town had originally planned to pay for 100% of the truck. Now, he said, Orange Rural would apply for the grant, and if they were successful then those funds would be their contribution towards the purchase of the truck and that would dramatically decrease the amount that the Town would need to borrow. Mr. Peterson said that Orange Rural had agreed that they would try to come up with whatever the overage was above the grant amount as well as the $30,000 to $35,000 necessary to equip the truck. He said that would mean the Town would only have to finance anything over the $400,000. Mr. Peterson said purchasing the new truck would positively impact their fire rating by several points. Commissioner Lloyd remarked that the Fire Department was working very well with the Town, and they were all hoping that everything would go as planned. Fleet Management 7:51:40 PM Mr. Peterson stated that Fleet Maintenance began on page 204. There were no comments or questions from the Board. Streets Mr. Peterson noted that Streets began on page 212. 7:52:18 PM Commissioner Dancy asked about the last bullet under FY10 Major Budget Changes where it indicated the purchase of one new laptop and repair of existing computers. Ms. Ard said they were targeting the two computers at the Public Works Shop Office and the one at the Cemetery Office, noting that by repairing the existing computers the cost would be much less than they had originally anticipated. She stated having a laptop would allow the computer to be mobile during an emergency or for work in the field. Ms. Ard stated that the desktop computer at the Fleet Maintenance facility had been damaged due to roof leakage, and that one would need to be replaced as well as adding one new laptop as just discussed. She said that eventually they would want to have a laptop in the Shop so that it could be used to enter information rather than relying on handwritten material. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 9 of 17 Commissioner Dancy said because they had the listed repair of existing computers, she had thought about UNC who surplused a lot of computers with larger monitors. She said it might be possible to check into that and save some money, noting that they may need to upgrade them but it would still be cheaper. Ms. Ard stated they had done something similar in the past, so they could look into that. Mr. Peterson stated that the laptop would allow the service mechanics to discontinue use of the book to look at such things as shock absorbers and the like, noting they would be able to call it up on the computer. Ms. Ard stated it would also be very helpful with diagnostics. Powell Bill 7:56:19 PM Mr. Peterson stated that the Powell Bill began on page 222. He said the only thing somewhat unusual in that budget was the $43,640 under Miscellaneous which was being held pending what happened with the Nash Street sidewalk project. Mr. Peterson said if not needed that amount would be carried back over to Powell Bill Fund Balance next year, or if there was a sidewalk repair then that funding could act as a contingency for that. Solid Waste 7:56:34 PM Mr. Peterson stated that Solid Waste began on page 228. He said the one policy question was that there was some interest at this time in pursuing the idea of cutting back the brush and bulk item pickup to the first 24 days of each month. Mr. Peterson asked if the Board wanted to receive more data on that to see what the cost savings would be, or go ahead and get the data and hold it in abeyance so that if things got worse they could implement that policy change. Commissioner Lloyd stated if they did decide to do pickups for only the first 24 days of the month, they would need to consider people who left bags out in front of their homes for days because pickups were not done every day. Mr. Peterson said traditionally, if your trash pickup day was on Thursday, then they would strive to pick up all the bulk items on that same schedule. Commissioner Lloyd stated if they changed to the suggested schedule, then they would need to do something more than just an article in the paper, noting those articles were nice but many times people did not read them. Mr. Peterson stated that was a valid point, adding that his recommendation was not one he was excited about, and at present it appeared they would be able to make it to the end of this fiscal year without any change in the schedule. He stated at this point a change was not a necessity, noting that what he did not like about making a change was that everyone knew the system, it worked well, and it required a minimum amount of thought to put items at the curb for pickup on the appropriate day. 7:59:47 PM Commissioner Lowen said he would like to have the additional data Mr. Peterson had offered, noting that if they had to institute a change that data would provide the numbers needed in order to consider how feasible it was to do it. Commissioner Gering agreed, noting before cutting back on services he would like to have the information so that he could explain the Board's reasoning to citizens about what would be saved. May 26. 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13. 2009 Page 1 0 0 1 1 7 Commissioner Lowen stated he remembered what had transpired when they cut back to once -a- week garbage collection, in that a lot of explanation had been required by citizens. He said having the numbers to justify any change would be a necessity. Commissioner Lowen agreed with Mr. Peterson that right now the system worked and people knew and understood what to expect. 8:00:34 PM Mayor Stevens said he was in full agreement, and perhaps a counterpoint to that was that they all knew they were trying to hold the budget and to do everything possible to make it revenue neutral which required that they all make sacrifices. He said he would certainly want the data to show that they were actually saving taxpayer dollars, which would be important if the time came that a change was necessary so that they could substantiate the value and impact of that change. Mayor Stevens said what he would not want to see happen would be to get to FY 11 and perhaps having to raise taxes at the same time they were cutting back services. He said at least for now, they were attempting to hold back the taxes by considering cutting back services, so now would be a better time to consider that. Mayor Stevens said on the other hand, he would not want to fix something that was not broken. Mr. Peterson stated he would obtain the data and bring it back to the Board so they could consider whether to keep that open as an option for the future when things became more pressing. He said he would not want to lose sight that, to use Ms. Ard's words, the "small but mighty" Public Works Department was doing many things with the new Gold Park and venturing into taking on even more duties. Mr. Peterson said it may be that in October they were talking about why some things were not happening and it would be because they were getting too thin and they may have to try to identify some resource or option to help Public Works keep their heads above water. Mr. Peterson said what had helped was the Board's willingness to invest in such things as the leaf truck that allowed them to minimize the number of employees needed to perform certain tasks. 8:03:06 PM Ms. Ard commented that whenever extra large loads of material were picked up that an additional charge was placed on that, and it had helped to have that fee structure in place in order to recover some of the costs associated with those activities. Mr. Peterson asked was that in the proposed fee structure. Ms. Ard responded yes, noting that the fee for two or more roll -out containers was to be determined, but they were looking at a percentage of what it actually cost to do such pickups. She said that $50 was the minimum for oversized pickups. Mr. Peterson said if they determined that they needed to produce some additional hard data before they could add those charges into the fee structure, they would want to be very clear about what constituted an oversized load. He said he had asked Ken Hines to give him a ballpark figure of how many residences had two carts or more, and his estimate was likely not more than 20. Mr. Peterson said they wanted to be equitable but practical as well, and if it were only 20 it was not worth the effort to set up a system for charging and collecting for that small a number and realizing only a small amount of revenue. He said unless they got additional data that indicated it was a higher number then he did not believe now was the time to consider it. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 11 of 17 8:05:11 PM Commissioner Lowen said once they got the additional data on not just the additional roll -out carts but on oversized loads, they could determine if it made sense to make any changes and the Board could institute those changes at any time. Mr. Peterson stated that was correct. Commissioner Lowen remarked he knew of one resident near his home that regularly cleared out their entire home and placed large loads at the curb, including furniture. He said Public Works spent quite a bit of time loading those articles onto the truck and in a situation like that the Town should have some fee structure to address that even if it did not happen often, and he would be willing to consider that. Commissioner Lowen said he did not believe the Town should be expected to absorb those costs and take it lightly, because all taxpayers would share in the cost for that additional service. Mr. Peterson stated they just had to make sure that the fee structure was written in such a way that it was fair and equitable for a variety of situations and that it caused the least amount of confusion for citizens. 8:06:27 PM Commissioner Lowen stated that many municipalities charged for any white goods picked up, such as stoves and refrigerators, adding such a practice was not uncommon. Stormwater and Cemetery Mr. Peterson stated that Stormwater began on page 234 and Cemetery began on page 240. Ms. Ard commented that in the fee structure there were minimal charges for cemetery lot transfers. She said many times staff had to spend much time on research when they had people who owned multiple lots and wanted to do transfers, and the fee structure contained a charge of $50 per transfer between a pair of lots or 3 or more lots. Economic and Physical Development and Tourism 8:09:27 PM Mr. Peterson stated that Economic and Physical Development was shown on page 246, and Tourism began on page 248. Mr. Siler asked had the Tourism Board been contacted regarding its budget. Mr. Peterson stated to his knowledge they had never done so as far as the budget went because it was part of the administrative expense and was allocated by formula based on what it cost to operate the Visitor's Center, and everything that was left was available for grant appropriations. So, he said, it was actually a self adjusting pot of funds each year. Mr. Siler said he was thinking in terms of any capital outlay or grants based on statutes for the coming year. Special Appropriations 8:12:17 PM Mr. Peterson said that Special Appropriations began on page 254, and believed the Board would want to talk about the non -profit requests. He said regarding the matching funds under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant, there was $10,000 budgeted but the good news was that no match would be required in FY 10, and they could just zero that figure out. Mr. Peterson suggested keeping some or all of that $10,000 in the budget so that they could address the idea from the Town Hall meeting about special events and considering the hotel /motel accommodation tax. He said if they were going to pursue that in the next session of the General Assembly they would need to get someone to conduct research to see what format was used in other jurisdictions and how the revenue was used. Mr. Peterson said those funds could serve to educate them about that and then use that information to develop a way to work with the hotel /motel operators in the Town and to outline how they would want it work, then engage their legislative delegation. He said that research would need to be done well in advance. Mr. Peterson said there were many unemployed graduate students now coming out of graduate school or MPA school, and they may be able to get a lot of motivated help for a small amount of money and no benefits Mr. Peterson said another issue on the Board's June agenda would be a member of the business community talking about their concerns regarding downtown parking. He said they had met with a couple of people about that issue, and there had been joint parking committees over the years that had taken up a lot of time with little results. So, Mr. Peterson said, one of his suggestions would be that if they did anticipate that there would possibly be a problem when traffic court came back in and the library opened, that they would need to conduct a meeting with the downtown businesses to say they did not have any solutions yet but wanted to hear what the businesses believed the problems were and what solutions might be considered and work on that together. He said that way they would not be forcing a specific solution onto the community against their will. Mr. Peterson said another idea would be to send someone out to every downtown business and every government office or institution and identify how many employees were at each facility and where their parking spaces were located, then create a parking inventory and identify all the parking spots in the downtown. He stated that would take someone a fair amount of time to do just to get good data, and they could then have a well- informed deliberation on what they might want to do to address downtown parking in the future. He said so, if they had $10,000 available his thought would be that if they could get a graduate student or someone like that in for several months to do the research on those two projects, he believed the Town would receive a fair amount of value back. 8:16:19 PM Mayor Stevens stated he would support that. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 12of17 Commissioner Dancy stated she had information regarding all the persons who operated hotels in the area and could provide that, noting that would be a good place to start. Mr. Peterson stated that would be very helpful. He said that Carrboro had just completed a parking study so they had an idea how to get started on both of those projects. Mr. Peterson said that Matt Wagner had been their undergraduate intern a couple of years and would be back in town soon to look for work, so if he was available they could put him to work immediately since he was already familiar with the Town. He said Mr. Wagner was calm and level- headed and would be an asset, but he had been applying for jobs and if he was not available then it would not be difficult to find someone else. 8:17:38 PM Commissioner Hallman said they had had a rationale for zeroing out the Orange County library contribution, and wondered if anyone else had heard the complaints from Carrboro and points south that their library was being cut while the Town's was being funded. He said since they had cut the Fairview Park funding he wondered if it would be politically wise to put a figure back in for the library. Commissioner Gering stated he had proposed that initially, and still believed it was a good idea. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 13 of 17 Mayor Stevens said he would support that, and would also have some suggestions about the non- profits as well. He said with one or two exceptions, in general if they held the non profits to the same amount they had received the previous year then they would be significantly lower than the $30,720 noted in the budget and could make up that difference. 8:19:13 PM Commissioner Hallman stated he had been working with Neighbor House and they needed help, but they had not deployed the money received the last couple of years. He said if they held non profit appropriations to the same level as last year then Neighbor House would not receive any funding this year, and he would agree to that. Mayor Stevens stated he did want to check with Volunteers for Youth because in their application they noted they had received $500 last year, but that was not noted in the information provided by staff. He said he would want to double check that. Commissioner Lowen asked about the County Rescue Squad, who had received $5,200 but had not applied for funding this time. He asked if anyone knew why. Mayor Stevens stated they had experienced some changes within the organization and that might be the cause. He said for several years Trading Path had been receiving $500, and their application had been received late last time so had received nothing, and he would want to make an exception and put them back in. 8:20:53 PM Commissioner Gering said he did not believe that was fair, noting if they were managing funds this year based on last year's appropriation then that was what they should do. He said making a special exception for the Trading Path did not seem fair to him. Mayor Stevens stated he based his suggestion on the historical amount the Town had provided each year, and believed it should continue. He said if they historically contributed to such organizations then he believed they should continue that historical amount, particularly in the Trading Path's case given the amount of work they had performed on Kings Highway Park. Commissioner Gering stated that Trading Path had been the ones who had bitterly proclaimed that it had been the Town's oversight that the Town had managed to destroy some of the archeological resources in the Town. Mayor Stevens agreed their association had not always been pleasant, but he would stick with his proposal and it would be up to the Board to decide. 8:22:03 PM Commissioner Hallman stated he would support the Mayor's suggestion based on the amount of work Trading Path had put into Kings Highway Park, and he would like to recognize that at least by providing the historical amount of $500. Mayor Stevens said if the Board agreed, that would mean that Orange County Disability Awareness would receive $400, the Department of Aging would be $1,300, Friends of the Senior Center would be $1,000, the American Red Cross would be $600, Orange Community Housing would be $2,500, Dispute Settlement Center would be $2,000, Communities in Schools would be May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 14or17 $500, Orange County Middle School After School would be $250, HYAA would be $1,000, the Literacy Council would be $1,200, Alternative Sentencing would be $320, Family Violence Prevention Center would be $1,000, Rape Crisis would be $500, the Women's Center would be $1,000, the Exchange Club Park would be $1,450, Helping Hands would be zero, Neighbor House would be zero, the Rescue Squad would be zero, and Trading Path would be $500. Mayor Stevens said there was still the question of Volunteers for Youth, noting they had on their application they had previously received $500. 8:22:27 PM Commissioner Dancy stated she believed the $500 was for the year before, not last year, because they had not applied last year. Commissioner Gering asked should they use the Trading Path rationale on that one as well. Mayor Stevens stated Volunteers for Youth had closed their Hillsborough office, so it was up to the Board. 8:24:15 PM Commissioner Gering said he would put Volunteers for Youth at zero. Mayor Stevens said those changes would amount to over $5,200 in savings in the Special Appropriations budget and would allow them to restore the $5,000 to the library. Commissioner Gering said that worked for him. 8:25:18 PM Mr. Peterson said on the rail station, they had discussed doing a small area plan and asked if Ms. Hauth had considered how that would be funded. He wondered if a figure needed to be put in the budget for FY 10 for that. Ms. Hauth responded that they had not planned on a budget as yet because there was more detailed technical work that needed to be performed. She said the funding for that could be encumbered from the current year's budget, noting there was funding in the Planning budget to do a small area plan for some of the road recommendations contained in the Cornelius Street Plan on the order of $7,000 to $8,000, and that would be more than adequate to do that technical work for the rail station. 8:26:24 PM Commissioner Gering asked how funding was set up for the Wayfinding signage. Ms. Hauth replied the funding was all from the previous fiscal year and the current fiscal year, and there was also money in the current fiscal year to pay the consultant for the work that was done and to provide for a portion of some initial fabrication. She said that came from money that had been set aside for the Preserve America program that they ended up not getting chosen for. Ms. Hauth added there was no new money in the budget for Wayfinding signage. Commissioner Gering stated he would like to see the Wayfinding signage move forward fairly quickly, and only seven signs in the first year seemed like a slow start for a program that would have a large impact on tourism and the community. He said what he was asking was if there was some capacity for speeding up that program. Ms. Hauth stated they did not yet have a firm idea of what those signs would be and the cost, and would not know until the process was completed. She stated any funds appropriated would be used to get "the best bang for the buck." May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 15oI'I7 8:28:29 PM Mr. Peterson said there was $30,000 in FY 09. Ms. Hauth said there were funds encumbered from FY 08 as well and they were spending that down now on the consultant, including the matching funds for the Preserve American grant that they did not get which they planned to use on the first round of fabrication of the signs. Mr. Peterson said if the Board wanted to make that a priority and it was fiscally acceptable, then they could add some additional funds for Wayfinding signage from the cuts already made tonight. 8:29:25 PM Commissioner Gering stated he believed that might be premature, noting that until they had a more solid plan they should hold at the level they were now. Mr. Peterson said one idea for long -range funding that came about after the Town Hall meeting regarding a Special Events policy was trying to figure out what they would use the Accommodations tax for, noting that funding of Wayfinding signage would be one because that signage would help with event management and that could be a potential longer term source for that signage program. 8:30:24 PM Mayor Stevens said he noted that the Arts Council funding had had their funding cut from the current funding level by $1,000, and since they had been able to reduce the non- profit total he believed that if they were restoring the library funding then they could still restore the Arts Council funding without affecting the bottom line. He said that the Arts Council was primarily responsible for Last Friday events which very successful, and a major portion of their funding was dedicated to those events. Ms. Bradford stated with all the previous changes they had actually shaved $1,000 from the total, so that would be possible. Mayor Stevens said then with those changes they would be exactly where they started. Mr. Peterson said with the last financial reports the departments had looked at their expenses and updated the information, so the good news was that their projected deficit was only $716,000 rather than the $800,000 projected a month ago. He said he believed the $67,000 from Fund Balance for the coming year would be the lowest amount they had ever had to use. 8:33:46 PM Mayor Stevens said they were still looking overall at more than a 12% reduction in the General Fund. Mr. Peterson said that was correct, noting it was 12.7% in the General Fund and 21.4% in the Water and Sewer Fund. Mayor Stevens stated being able to achieve a 12.7% reduction was exceptional. Mr. Peterson said that was more than most other municipalities had been able to achieve, although states such as California was facing a 25% deficit and North Carolina was in the 18% range even after the steps they had already taken to reduce that deficit. 8:34:57 PM Commissioner Gering asked did they have any information on how much of that pain would have to be shared. Mr. Peterson stated he had talked to colleagues in the eastern part of the State as well as the western part of the State who had sent delegations to Town Hall Day, and while there had been nothing reported in the press or in League correspondence there was some discussion of sharing the burden but nothing of substance had been proposed. He said one thing that had been mentioned was that the State would adopt its budget well after cities and May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13, 2009 Page 16 of 17 counties adopted theirs, and if certain revenue streams were affected it could impact them in FY 09 as well as FY 10. Mr. Peterson said they would not have a lot of options to respond to that potential. Ms. Bradford stated one consideration to keep in mind was that the County was still conducting appeals on the property revaluations, so the final property value for the Town was yet to be determined although they had based their figures in the budget on the most current data available from the County. 8:36:54 PM Mayor Stevens commented Mr. Peterson and the staff on behalf of the Board for working so hard to keep the budget down. He stated they had tightened their belts more than 12% and had presented a budget that was revenue neutral as requested by the Board. Mayor Stevens said they had been able to prevent raising water rates for the current year, and a lot of work had gone into that. He said the Board appreciated all of those efforts, and looked forward to hearing what the public had to say about the budget on Thursday. Mr. Peterson said if it would make it easier to review the budget if next year, they could provide the balanced scorecard to the Board perhaps a month earlier so they would have additional time to digest the information. He said they would get the same full budget document, but they would be able to focus more on the numbers since the other information would have been provided in advance. 8:38:34 PM Mayor Stevens he believed having that preview would be helpful. Mr. Peterson said he agreed, noting the information would still be in the budget document but the Board would have had a chance to peruse it beforehand and focus more on the figures. Commissioner Dancy said since it was computerized it could be provided via email to the Board. Mr. Peterson agreed, adding they had reduced their printing costs this year by doing just that type of thing. 8:39:09 PM Mayor Stevens said again, he found the recommended budget to be a well- written document and the scorecard was integrated with the budget, making the budget very useful. Commissioner Dancy commended the employees who had provided suggestions, noting it was obvious they had put a lot of thought into it. Commissioner Hallman stated the staff had done the hard part and made the Board's job much easier, and he thanked them for that. He said they normally talked about how much they would need to increase the budget, and if they took the $946,878 as a change from last year and divided it by what a penny got on the tax rate, they had actually effectively reduced the tax rate by 14 cents. 4. Closed Session to Discuss Property Acquisition 8:41:04 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the Board moved to go into Closed Session to discuss property acquisition by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed. May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Approved: July 13. 2009 Page 17 of 17 8:52:41 PM Upon returning to Open Session, and upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved to authorize the Mayor or the Town Manager to sign an Offer to Purchase to Queen Street Partners operating as Thalle Construction to purchase the property located on Highway 86 North in the amount of $990,000 by a vote of 5- 0. The motion was declared passed. 5. Adjourn Upon returning to Open Session, and upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the Board moved to adjourn the workshop at 8:53 p.m. by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed. Respectfully submitted, Donna F. Armbrister, MMC Town Clerk /Director of Administration and Human Resources