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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20040916minutesCITY OF JEFFERSON Finance Committee Meeting THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2004 MINUTES OFFICIALS STAFF Mayor John Landwehr Rich Mays, City Administrator Councilman Bob Weber Steve Schlueter, Director of Finance Councilman Ken Ferguson Phyllis Gilpin, Chief Accountant Councilman Mike Harvey Bill Lockwood, Director of Parks & Recreation Councilman Michael Berry Pat Sullivan, Director of Community Development Councilman Jonathan Schnitzler Melva Fast, Asst. to the City Administrator Councilman Brian Crane Nathan Nickolaus, City Counselor Councilman Dean Martin Councilman Kevin Brown The meeting was called to order by Finance Committee Chairman Bob Weber at 5:34 P.M. Councilman Weber made a few remarks about the night’s agenda and asked for approval of the five sets of minutes. Several councilmen remarked that they had not read the minutes and it was decided that approval of the minutes will be part of the next Finance Committee meeting. Councilman Weber then turned to Rich Mays, the City Administrator, and asked that he review the budget sub- committee recommendations. Mr. Mays discussed the items and the financial impact of each of the fourteen items that were recommended for further consideration by the three sub-committees. Councilman Weber referred to his notes and asked Nathan Nickolaus, City Counselor, if he had had a chance to conduct a survey of other cities regarding their compensation for the Municipal Court Judge. Mr. Nickolaus stated that he had not yet had a chance but estimated that perhaps an additional $3,000 annually would place the compensation for that position in the approximate range of other judges. Councilman Weber requested staff to add this $3,000 to the list of pending items for consideration. During the course of Mr. Mays’ explanation of the pending items he also touched on other agenda items such as the sales tax projections, the Group Health Insurance premium reductions and the sound system cost reduction. Mr. Mays estimated the approximate cost reduction to the Benefits part of the budget due to the decrease in health insurance cost at about $75,000 and added that this cost reduction item would also be added to the list of recommendations for further review. Mr. Mays remarked that given all of the items listed on the recommendations that the budget could be balanced exclusive of the JCTV request. Further discussion ensued regarding the makeup of the JCTV $79,110 request. The committee decided that further review would be given to the JCTV request. Mr. Mays then turned the floor over to Bill Lockwood, the Parks and Recreation Director, who presented three options to balancing the Parks budget for Fiscal Year 2005. A number of questions were asked regarding the impact of these three options as well as about the current operations including the ice arena, the pools and the golf course. Many of the councilmen expressed their feeling that they did not necessarily want to tell the Parks Commission which option to choose but they felt that additional consideration needed to be given to the three options. The next item discussed on the agenda was the Owner-Occupied Housing and Rehabilitation Program sponsored by Councilman Berry. Councilman Berry and Melva Fast, Assistant to the City Administrator, reviewed the program including a draft of Part One of the Jefferson City Neighborhood Reinvestment Act which is a bill Councilman Berry will be sponsoring for council consideration. After much discussion a motion was made by Councilman Martin and seconded by Councilman Harvey to incorporate the Homeowner Code Deficiency Program into the FY 2005 program budget. The motion was approved 8-0. Mayor Landwehr and Councilman Berry discussed the total program plan and decided they would contact other taxing authorities seeking their interest in participating in the tax abatement part of this program. Councilman Brown asked to go back to the budget recommendation list and specifically discuss the GIS request of the T1 line. After some discussion concerning the exact needs of Community Development, Mr. Schlueter was asked to review this request with the IT Manager and report back whether or not the current City configuration is sufficient to address this request or indeed a separate T1 line is needed. The committee next continued their discussion about the JCTV request and Mayor Landwehr decided to appoint a sub-committee to review the JCTV operation as well as alternative funding options. Mayor Landwehr appointed as chair of this committee Councilman Crane and other members being Councilman Brown and Councilman Harvey, as well as City Counselor Nathan Nickolaus. Mayor Landwehr stated that he would make the formal announcement of the committee during the September 20, 2004 City Council meeting. The last item covered on the agenda was a discussion regarding the proposed Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Plan. Due to the volume of information on the plan document it was decided that a series of smaller group meetings would be held to review and discuss the plan. Mayor Landwehr and Mr. Mays will host these meetings. The Executive Summary of the Plan was distributed as part of the agenda and the full Plan Document will be distributed at the smaller meetings. The dates for these meetings will be determined at a later date. Mr. Mays stated that the revised List of Recommendations will be distributed on Friday, October 1, 2004. The next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 5, 2004 at 5:30 P.M. Adjournment took place at 7:13 P.M.