CITY OF FLORISSANT
BUDGET MINUTES
OCTOBER 11, 2011
The City Council met on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 for a work session on the 2011\12 proposed budget at 6:30 pm in the Council Chambers at 955 rue St. Francois. Council members in attendance included: Lee, Eagan, McKay, Schmidt, Hernandez, Schildroth, English, Stinnett and Grib. Also in attendance were Mayor Thomas P. Schneider, Director of Finance Randy McDaniel, Barb Wieland, Assistant Finance Director and City Clerk Karen Goodwin. Council President English stated that a quorum was present and the meeting was brought to order.
Finance Director, Randy McDaniel made a presentation regarding projected revenue and expenditures for 2011/12. He gave an overview of what the funds were and what the money was used for. He distributed copies of his presentation to the Council. Councilwoman McKay made comments on Mr. McDaniel’s presentation and cautioned the Council to make the hard decisions regarding the future financial situations that are bound to happen.
Council President English asked Mr. McDaniel what it takes to fund the Council pensions. Mr. McDaniel answered that it was approximately $20,000.
Media Department:
Kerry Luster stated that his budget is similar to prior years with a minor increase in pay for his contractors. Councilman Hernandez asked why the Council Action program is being funded when there is no longer a program.
Councilman Stinnett asked it Mr. Luster had all of the equipment needed to keep the programming going. Mr. Luster answered yes. Mr. Stinnett asked if the City wanted to expand their print media where would that money come from. Mr. McDaniel answered that it would be handled in the Administrative Department.
Information Technology:
Kim Emerson stated that they are asking for enough money to bring the City up to speed for the replacement cycle. She stated that we should be replacing 35 computers a year and the past two years she has replaced 9 and 7 computers consecutively.
Councilman Stinnett asked about the replacement of monitors. Mrs. Emerson stated that monitors are only replaced when they die.
Councilwoman McKay asked Mrs. Emerson for an overview of her responsibilities. Mrs. Emerson stated that she was hired 11 years ago as a webmaster. She started helping people with their computer problems and eventually an Information Technology Department was formed. They take care of 150 computers in 9 buildings as well as maintain the website and facebook.
Senior Department:
Peggy Hogan reviewed the Senior Department Budget stating that most everything was the same as last year’s budget with the exception of utilities which has increased. She distributed an amended budget request because the caterer who has catered the dining center for many years is closing. They now have to find a new caterer or multiple caterers to serve the lunches through the week. Mrs. Hogan explained her budget and the programs they are offering.
Theatre Department:
Gary Gaydos gave an overview of his budget. He distributed information regarding the programs that have been produced and are scheduled. He stated that despite the economy they were only down $9000 in public funds.
Council members complimented Mr. Gaydos on his efforts to obtain grants and attracting high quality shows for the theatre.
There being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.
Karen Goodwin, MMC/MRCC
City Clerk
CITY OF FLORISSANT
BUDGET MINUTES
OCTOBER 12, 2011
The City Council met on Wednesday, October 12, 2010 for a work session on the 2011\12 proposed budget at 6:30 pm in the Council Chambers at 955 rue St. Francois. Council members in attendance included: Lee, Eagan, McKay, Schmidt, Hernandez, Schildroth, English, Stinnett and Grib. Also in attendance were Mayor Thomas P. Schneider, Director of Finance Randy McDaniel, Barb Wieland, Assistant Finance Director and City Clerk Karen Goodwin. Council President English stated that a quorum was present and the meeting was brought to order.
Council President English stated that he wanted to start off with a discussion of pay increases. Mr. McDaniel clarified that there were no increases being proposed in the budget.
Councilman Stinnett asked why Mr. McDaniel budgeted for a 20% increase in healthcare coverage. Mr. McDaniel stated that this estimate was based on the fact that the staff is getting older. Councilman Stinnett asked if the City had looked at other types of plans, he asked about programs that address the health of the employees. Mr. McDaniel stated that the City does have a wellness committee and has been actively promoting healthy living programs.
Public works department
Lou Jearls and Pat Scaglione presented the Public Works budget.
Mr. Jearls stated that in the Health Department budget there were no major changes except for the addition of a part time scheduling clerk.
Mr. Jearls stated that in the main accounts one change was the addition of an HVAC technician.
Councilman Schildroth asked if the City pays for repairs on street lights. Mr. Jearls answered yes.
Councilman Eagan asked about overtime. Can some of the overtime be dealt with by pre-scheduling things such as court days etc. Mr. Jearls stated that the court appearances could be scheduled but the police call outs would be more difficult.
Councilwoman McKay congratulated Mr. Jearls and his staff for their hard work in getting the budget in line.
Councilman Stinnett questioned the amount of dollars that would equate to the number of man hours put in the budget for snow removal. Mr. McDaniel stated that the number of man hours is not an accurate account of what is actually allocated for overtime.
Councilman Stinnett asked about salt storage. Gary Meyer, Street Superintendent stated that the City has 18,000 lbs which is all that can be stored in the bin. The new bin will be built with bond money and filled as well.
Councilman Grib asked Mr. Jearls what he has done to reduce overtime in his department. Mr. Jearls stated that they have expanded the hours in the Public Works office and instituted staggered shifts to allow the public more access to the office. Mr. Jearls stated that it is not a matter of rearranging people so that they don’t have to use overtime, it is a matter of getting the work done that needs to be done with people using comp time etc..
Councilwoman McKay asked how many inspectors they were down. Bill White answered that they are 2 inspectors down. Councilwoman McKay stated that the pot of money is smaller so everyone needs to find ways to reduce cost.
Councilman Stinnett stated that if he adds up the amount of man hours being requested with an estimated per man hour figure, the Council is not giving the department enough funds to do the job. Mr. McDaniel explained how the gas usage is kept track of.
Councilman Lee asked about street contracts and why they were down by 65%. Mr. Jearls stated that the difference is because there is no Lindbergh enhancement that has been in the budget in the past. Councilman Lee stated that he appreciated the effort that was made to deal with the amount of overtime they were given. He feels that things could still be done to reduce the need for overtime.
Mr. Jearls reviewed the items being requested in the Capital Improvement budget.
Councilwoman McKay asked for the sake of the new members, what happens to the equipment that is replaced. Mr. Jearls stated that that equipment gets sold or auctioned off.
Sewer Lateral - Councilman Schildroth asked about reducing the fee for the Sewer Lateral program. Mayor Schneider stated that he would rather increase services than lower the fee at this time. Councilman Lee stated that he believes the program is only set up for repairs and not cleaning. He stated that there is 1.6 million in reserves and he would like to reduce the fee from $50 to $28.
Councilman Stinnett stated that he would like to look into this closer before making a decision.
Councilwoman McKay agreed with reducing the fee.
Council discussed asking for a legal opinion from Mr. Hessel with regard to what can be offered under the Sewer Lateral program per the State Statute.
Parks and Recreation
Ron Veach, Todd Schmidt and Bob Laramie presented the Park Department Budget.
Mr. Veach stated that there was a slight increase in training for the staff. He also stated that they are working on implementing a before and after care program for the summer day camps.
Mr. Veach stated that they are planning on trying to keep the pools open a little longer. The increase in utilities is due to the new spray pool at Bangert.
Councilman Schildroth stated that he is happy to hear they are going to keep the pools open longer and agrees with the before and after care.
Councilman Lee asked about the contract maintenance. Mr. Veach stated that the contractor was unreliable and not efficient. The park department would rather use the money and do it themselves so they know it is getting done correctly. He would like to see the money for the contractor put back into the Parks Department overtime budget. Councilman Lee suggested that if the City contracts out again to include performance standards in the contract.
Councilwoman McKay expressed her opinions regarding the use of the park improvement funds.
Councilman Stinnett asked about he reduction in ice rink revenues. Mr. Schmidt explained the loss of high school hockey teams.
Councilman Schildroth asked about the circuit training equipment.
Councilwoman McKay asked if all of the buildings are up to ADA standards. MR. Veach stated that they take the ADA requirements very seriously and put money in the budget for responses to those needs.
Councilman Hernandez agreed with increased services in the pools.
Councilman Schildroth complemented the golf course management on the upkeep of the course.
Councilman Lee complimented the effort to put salaries back into the general fund from the Park Improvement Fund. He is concerned about the allocation of funds for overtime. Mr. Laramie asked the Council not to confuse them with other departments when it comes to the use of overtime. The Parks Department still has money in their overtime budget and use what they had as efficiently as they could.
Mr. Veach explained the allocation of comp time and that there are some employees who have been with the City for a long time who have 5 and 6 weeks of vacation. It is difficult to give these employees additional time off.
Councilwoman McKay cautioned everyone that the economy will get worse before it gets better.
Municipal Court
Anna Davis presented the court budget.
Police Department
Chief Karabas presented the budget for the Police Department.
Councilman Lee asked about the take home cars. Chief Karabas stated that the only take home cars are the captains and the canine officers.
Councilman English asked why the police cars were taken to Hazelwood to be washed. Chief Karabas stated that Crown didn’t even bid on the job and Jack Schmidt does a better job.
Councilman Lee asked if the Chief was comfortable with the amount of gas money that is being requested. Chief stated that one take services the whole city.
Councilman Eagan asked about the reduction of the service officer. Chief Karabas stated that it was a three year grant and it was about to end.
Councilwoman Mckay asked about the other officers with regard to the grant. Chief answer that they never received the grant so the officers were never hired. Councilwoman McKay asked about he IT person in the police department, what his responsibilities were and complimented the police department for their hard work.
Administration
Randy McDaniel presented the Administration Department Budget.
Councilwoman McKay asked about the Police Officer in the Mayor’s office.
Councilman Eagan stated that he would be against removing the police officer from City Hall.
Councilman Schildroth agreed that he feels City Hall needs security.
Councilman Grib agreed that the police officer is needed for security reasons.
Councilman English would not be in favor of moving the Police Officer out of City Hall at this point.
Councilman Stinnett asked about the Community Development Coordinator and the grant that normally funds half of her salary. Mr. McDaniel explained. Mr. Stinnett stated that he would like to see some documentation of what the position of Community Development Coordinator does.
Councilman Lee made a motion that the sewer lateral fee be reduced from $50 to $28, seconded by McKay motion passes with a 5-4 vote.
Councilman Grib moved to adjourn, seconded by Schildroth, meeting adjourned a 9:10.
Karen Goodwin, MMC/MRCC
City Clerk