HomeMy Public PortalAbout20120925 finance minutesCITY OF JEFFERSON
Finance Committee Meeting
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order by the Finance Committee Chairman, Councilman Shawn Schulte at
7:34 AM. Roll call showed that Councilmen Schulte, Bray and Weber were in attendance.
Councilwoman Carroll arrived at 7:42 AM. Councilman Pope was absent.
The minutes of the July 31, 2012 meeting were reviewed and a motion to approve was made by
Councilman Bray and seconded by Councilman Weber. The minutes were approved unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was a short report by the Chief Accountant, Shiela Pearre, covering the
sales t ax revenue for September and inclusive of the first eleven months. General Fund sales tax
collected in September was $1,069,414 which was $37,156 over the projected amount of $1,032,258.
For November 2011 through September 2012 sales tax collected was $168,810 over projected .
The next item on the agenda was a short report by the Ms. Pearre covering the Lodging Tax receipts to
date. Lodging tax collected in September was $89,905, which is consistent with the collected amount
for the two previous periods. The total collected during the timeframe where the rate has been 7% is
$1,287,659. Of that $933,385 has been collected during the current fiscal year.
The next item on the agenda was a short discussion lead by City Counselor, Drew Hilpert, explaining
the current contract between the City and the Cole County Collector’s office for the collection of the
City’s property tax receipts. The fee fo r providing this service is currently 1% of collected receipts.
Larry Vincent, the Cole County Collector, would like to have the contract modified to increase the fee
to 1 ½%. Mr. Vincent was unable to attend this meeting and would like a special meeting of the
Finance Committee set in order for him to address the committee. He would like that meeting to be
scheduled so that this fee increase could be passed by November 1st. A brief discussion ensued with
the end result being that Drew Hilpert would speak to Mr. Vincent and present some possible dates for
a special meeting to this committee.
The next item on the agenda was an overview of Wastewater Bonds present ed by Roger Schwartze,
Public Works Director. The Cole Junction project is ready to go out for bid and it is now time to
borrow the $15,000,000 to complete the project. A large portion of the funds will be spent on the Cole
Junction project with a small portion going to the Route B project. Jack Dillingham from Piper Jaffray
gave an explanatio n of the process of borrowing the funds, which would involve a direct loan from the
Mo Dept of Natural Resources. A discussion ensued with Mr. Dillingham answering questions related
to the process and explaining the differences between this type of low interest direct loan and the
conventional traditional bond issue.
The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Gail Strope, Human Resources Director, that
presented an overview of the Benefit Package of city employees. This overview covered both city
provided benefits as well as the optional benefits a city employee can choose to select. A brief
discussion ensued with Councilman Scrivner pointing out that we need a study on higher deductible,
lower premium plans and whether these could provide some co st savings to the City. Ms. St rope
assured Councilman Scrivner that we review this issue annually as we are going through the renewal
process.
The next item on the agenda was a discussion of the Pros & Cons of the recent budget process. The
committee members liked the manner in which the revenues had been handled—discussing them first
and with 5 years of prior data. They would like that to continue next year and would also like to be
provided with similar information for the expenses. Ms. Pearre pointe d out to the committee that
initially this would be a difficult task as the City converted to new software in recent years and the new
software does not currently contain 5 years of historical data. She stated that the budget committee
could be presented with as much historical data as the system contained and that at a future point 5
years of historical data would be possible. It was also discussed that current year actual figures are
necessary during the budget process. Additionally the members of the Finance Committee stated that
they would like quarterly updates on the budget. Ms. Pearre will review with Councilman Schulte
financial reports that are currently being prepared to determine if they will be suitable. It was also
discussed that several Co uncil Members think that feedback from department directors should come
prior to budget meetings. They felt that waiting to hear feedback until we were in the midst of the
budget meetings did not allow for ample time to address any concerns.
The next ite m on the agenda was a brief discussion of the year end process. Ms. Pearre presented a
memo sent to city staff from the City Administrator that listed year end deadlines. A brief discussion
ensued with the Finance Committee requesting that they be notified if there was anything that they
could do to provide assistance during the year end process to keep the schedule on track.
There was no New Business.
Under Old Business, Roger Schwartze presented supplemental appropriations within Wastewater for
Chemicals and Gas, Oil and Antifreeze. He also presented a supplemental appropriation within the
General Fund for Parts and Gas, Oil and Antifreeze. Mr. Schwartze explained why there was a need
for both. A motion was made by Councilman Weber and seconded by Councilwoman Carroll to move
the supplemental appropriations on to the council. The motion was approved unanimously.
Ad journment took place at 8:54 AM after being moved by Councilman Weber and seconded by
Councilwoman Carroll.
As recorded by:
Shiela Pearre, Chief Accountant