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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20030209minutesCITY OF JEFFERSON FINANCE COMMITTEE MONDAY, February 9, 2003 MINUTES OFFICIALS STAFF Mayor John Landwehr Rich Mays, City Administrator Councilman Clyde Angle Steve Schlueter, Director of Finance Councilman Edith Vogel Nathan Nickolaus, City Counselor Councilman Ken Ferguson Pat Sullivan, Director of Community Dev. Councilman Cliff Olsen Councilman Dick Groner Councilman Darren Gordon Councilman Bob Weber The Finance Committee Chairman Clyde Angle called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M. The first item on the agenda was the October 14, 2003 Finance Committee minutes. Councilman Ferguson made a motion to approve the minutes and was seconded by Councilman Bob Weber. The minutes were appro v ed unanimous l y. The second item on the agenda was a briefing on the warranty for the downtown sidewalks. Pat Sullivan, Director of Community Development explained the process his staff is going through now in creating a punch list of items going to the contractor. Mr. Sullivan stated that the walk through is scheduled for February 28, 2004 with the warranty expiring on March 28, 2004. A number of questions followed regarding the status of billing for these sidewalk improvements as well as any outstanding claims. The third item involved an Accounts Receivable update. Steve Schlueter, Finance Director, provided the update and explained the total receivables by department as well as some of the collection efforts that are ongoing to reduce the receivables. Nathan Nickolaus, City Counselor, explained the collection process covering the Municipal Court delinquencies as well as the accounting process involved in crediting the newer tickets first which results in the older violations showing up as an old delinquent amount. One item showing up as a delinquent account is Jefferson City Industries who is withholding payment because the City owes them money for work they did for the City. A request of staff to write a memo explaining these circumstances was made and staff will respond. The subject of jail cost payable to the County Sheriff was brought up and the Council asked that Mr. Mays meet with the County Sheriff regarding our current arrangement with the County on jail cost reimbursement. There was also a court case discussed and Mr. Mays was asked to provide the status of that case as it pertained to jail cost reimbursement. The next item discussed was a previous City Parking Study. Mr. Mays provided a brief history on the study. Mr. Mays also provided a look at parking needs on both the east and west sides of downtown as well as investment cost and return on building garages. Mayor Landwehr stated that some part of the solution to parking needs could be associated with the development of a Convention Center and corresponding parking garage. The FY 2004 Budget Process was the next item discussed and Mr. Schlueter gave a time-line explanation of how the budget is constructed and the participation of each department. A number of questions were asked regarding employee benefits, employee involvement in the budget request process, alternative funding for the street overlay program, capital equipment needs and funding levels as well as other miscellaneous line item requests. The discussion then turned to alternative funding sources and the committee asked Mr. Mays to provide them new revenue alternatives for future consideration during the upcoming budget process. The next item reviewed was the status of the current fiscal year financials. Mr. Schlueter discussed a number of revenue and expense line items, trends as well as current versus budget projections. Several questions were asked regarding revenue projections. Next on the agenda was the Summary and Discussion line item. Some of the topics discussed were as follows: 1.Road & Bridge Tax - Rich Mays and Mayor Landwehr gave updates on the latest discussions with the County. Mr. Mays was instructed to request the funds from the C ount y. 2.Revenue Enhancements - Councilman Weber brought up the Use Tax as a potential new revenue source. Mr. Nickolaus stated that in the past, over 90% of Use Tax initiatives have failed. There was some discussion about earmarking potential Use Tax funds for special costs such as Health Insurance or the Overlay program but that process was generally thought of as not a good approach. Mr. Mays was requested to provide a brief repor t o f t h e his t o ry of Us e Tax i n i t i at i v es i n the p ast an d als o to p res en t s o m e ways these funds could be utilized if the City were successful with a Use Tax initiative. 3.Status of Retired Firefighters Request - Mr. Nickolaus stated that he has been working with several representatives from that group to draft a proposal for presentation to the Firemen’s Pension Board. 4.Sales Tax Funds - Councilman Groner stated that he thought that approximately 80% of the Sales Tax received by the County came in from the City residents and that perhaps we should go back to the County and discuss the City receiving a fairer share of County Tax receipts. Additional discussion took place concerning the various other City/County agreements. 5.Salaries Comparison - Councilman Angle stated that he still receives feedback concerning the FOP feeling that police officer’s salaries fall short when comparison to other cities is made. It was stated that that is because those comparisons are made with St. Louis suburbs and it is only natural that their salaries would be higher. Some additional discussion took place regarding the Condrey Study and the comparisons that w e re m a d e d u ring the study. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Councilman Olsen and seconded by Councilman Weber. Adjournment took place at 7:35 P.M.