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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-08-04 spec 34~ MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COMMISSION BOZEMAN, MONT ANA August 4, 1987 ************************ The Commission of the City of Bozeman met in special session in the Conference Room, Municipal Building, August 4,1987, at 2:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Mathre, Commissioner I Jordan, Commissioner Stiff, Commissioner Martel, Commissioner Vant Hull, City Manager Wysocki and Clerk of the Commission Sullivan. Signing of Notice of Special Meeting The Mayor requested that each of the Commissioners sign the Notice of Special Commission Meeting. It was moved by Commissioner Vant Hull, seconded by Commissioner Stiff, that the Com- mission waive the Commissioners' salaries for this meeting as established in Ordinance No. 1137. The motion carried by the following Aye and No vote: those voting Aye being Commissioner Vant Hull, Commissioner Stiff, Commissioner Martel, Commissioner Jordan and Mayor Mathre; those voting No, none. Work Session - Fiscal Year 1987-88 Budget Mayor Mathre stated the purpose of this special Commission meeting is to review the City Manager's recommendations for the budget for Fiscal Year 1987-88. The Commission continued to review the City Manager's recommendations for the budget, as follows. The City Manager noted that the Commission had reviewed through Page 16 during the last work session. The Commission began reviewing the various budget units as contained in the City Mana- I ger's recommendations. City Commission. Salaries includes monies for 52 meetings. Departmental allocations. The Director of Finance stated that copy charges are no longer being charged to General Fund operations; therefore, this line item has been dropped in many of the budget units. He noted that distribution of the charges resulted in inflated costs and ac- complished no purpose. The Director of Finance then stated another change under this line item is the formula for the overhead charge for supplies. He noted that the new formula takes into consideration the cost as well as the number of transactions for the past fiscal year, which should create a fairer distribution of these costs. Clerk of the Commission. The maintenance contract for the Displaywriter has been dropped, thus lowering that line item. The Director of Finance noted that many of the main- tenance agreements have been dropped, although maintenance on the System/38 and its printer, as well as the three elevators within the City, have been retained. Commissioner Martel asked what has been included under "rents and leases;" and the City Manager indicated he will check on that. Director of Finance Gamradt stated that the telephone system was paid off last year; therefore, that I ine item has decreased in most budgets. Elections. The City Manager indicated that three elections have been budgeted, at an estimated cost of $5,500 per election. City Manager. Salaries have increased slightly due to the fact that the secretary has been placed in full-time status with her salary and benefits being adjusted accordingly. The I City Manager noted that the secretary will still work five hours under his budget unit, with the remaining three hours each day being funded under the Clerk of the Commission budget unit. The City Manager then noted that the "travel and schools" line item has been increased to include the $900 annual car allowance, which was inadvertently omitted during the budgeting pro- cess last year. Director of Public Works. The Director's salary has been redistributed, placing a higher percentage in the enterprise funds to more accurately reflect his workload. Under the financial administration budget unit, one of the employees has been relocated from the enterprise funds to the general fund, creating a "wash" in the overall picture. 08-04-87 Special 341) City Attorney. Departmental allocations have dropped substantially, due to the fact that copier charges and Displaywriter charges are no longer being distributed to general fund ac- counts. Commissioner Jordan asked about the decrease in "contracted services." The City Manager indicated that the City does not anticipate as much cost for outside legal services during the upcoming year. Financial Administration. The Treasurer's salary has been moved into this budget unit I from the enterprise funds to more accurately reflect her workload. The majority of the "repair and maintenance of equipment" is for the maintenance contract on the System/ 38. Commissioner Jordan asked at what capacity the System/38 is now operating. Director of Finance Gamradt stated it has been running at 35 to 40 percent of capacity. He noted, however, that as a result of dupl icating files for prog ramming purposes last week, the machine hit 90 percent of capacity. He indicated that after work has been completed on the pro- gram, the duplicated file will be deleted. The Director of Finance then stated that the Computer Programmer will monitor the system and try to keep it at about 60 percent capacity. In response to a question from Commissioner Martel, the Director of Finance stated that the payment for the System/38 is included under "rents and leases." Commissioner Jordan asked if police software has been purchased or if a personal com- puter is to be used. The Director of Finance stated that the City has purchased software from Boise; however, it has not been installed on the computer yet. He noted that a review of various systems re- vealed that a mainframe computer is better for this type of operation than a personal computer. Engineering. Commissioner Stiff asked how secretarial assistance for this budget unit is to be handled. City Manager Wysocki stated that Eleanor Gover will complete secretarial duties for the engineering as well as building inspection, which she has done in the past. He then noted that she will have a computer with word processing available, which should help with the repetitive typing tasks. He also noted that the City Engineer uses a computer extensively at this time. I City Court. Commissioner Stiff asked if the increase in the City Judge's salary is in- cluded in this budget unit. Director of Finance Gamradt stated it is not; and he will review the amount contained under "salaries" to see if it is adequate to cover the increase. Pol ice Department. The Director of Finance stated that the increase in salaries is due to the 2 percent increase plus promotional increases, less the salary for one police officer. City Manager Wysocki noted that the costs incurred under the contract with the Humane Society are included under "contracted services." Fire Department. The City Manager indicated that the assistant chief position will not be filled, following the recent retirement of Fire Chief Lewis. He further noted that the new Chief has indicated he will try to reduce the number of part-paid firemen from 12 to 1 0; and the a- mount budgeted is $25 per month for 1 0 positions. Commissioner Stiff expressed concern about the reduction in part-paid firemen since the salaries are so low. The City Manager indicated that Fire Chief Shearman feels that 1 0 part-paid firemen are adequate when combined with the 22 full-time firemen. He then reminded the Commission that the City is part of a mutual aid agreement throughout the County, so adequate fire protection will be maintained. Director of Finance Gamradt reminded the Commission that the fee for fire hydrants was substantially increased by the PSC during the last water rate increase, resulting in a large in- crease in that line item. I Building Inspection. The Director of Finance reminded the Commission that planning, building inspection and zoning have all been combined under the Planning Director. He then noted that one position has been eliminated in this area; however, a portion of the Planning Director's time is now charged to this function. Break - 3:30 to 3:40 p.m. Mayor Mathre declared a break from 3:30 p.m. to 3:40 p.m., in accordance with Commis- sion policy established at their regular meeting of March 14, 1983. 08-04-87 Special ., 345 Work Session (continued) - Fiscal Year 1987-88 Budget Streets. The Director of Finance stated that this budget unit, as well as the following budget unit must be combined to accurately reflect the costs of street maintenance for the up- coming year. Commissioner Stiff questioned the need for the separate budget unit for gas tax. Director of Finance Gamradt stated that the use of gas tax monies is restricted to con- I struction and maintenance of streets. He then noted that if these monies were deposited into the general fund, their identity would be lost, creating a reporting problem in the future. Commissioner Vant Hull asked if there is room for tree trimming in this budget unit. The City Manager indicated that function would be more appropriately considered under the parks budget unit. He then noted that staff pursued implementation of a tree trimming dis- trict; and he will pull that file to determine the status of the review if the Commission is interested. Commissioner Martel asked where monies are budgeted for the purchase of salt, asking how much is set aside for that purpose. City Manager Wysocki stated that those monies have been set aside in "operating supplies" under the gas tax budget unit; however, the amount is not specified. Mayor Mathre asked about the status of CMA, the salt substitute. The City Manager indicated that when the item was last pursued, the company indicated that the product would not be available commercially for about three years. Gas Tax. All of this year's allocation of gas tax monies has been included in this budget unit. The amount listed under "contracted services" includes monies for chip and seal, hot mix overlay and patching materials. Commissioner Vant Hull noted problems with the intersection of Durston Road and North 7th Avenue, suggesting that a left-turn lane be installed on Durston Road eastbound to alleviate some of those problems. She noted the estimated cost is around $100,000. City Manager Wysocki suggested it might be an appropriate capital improvement program I project. Mayor Mathre noted that in recent years, the Commission has attempted to place some of the gas tax monies in the capital improvement program. She noted that, due to decreases in various revenue sources, that is not possible this year but encouraged the Commissioners to take such action again in the future if possible. Director of Finance Gamradt stated that the Director of Public Service received a letter from the State indicating that the gas tax allocation would probably be dramatically cut. He noted that Mr. Holmes made an inventory of all the streets and alleys in the city and submitted the new information to the State; and as a result, the allocation was only slightly decreased. City Hall Complex. The City Manager noted that currently all unexpended monies under the "gas and electricity" line item are placed in the energy conservation capital improvement prog ram. He then indicated that the monies budgeted in that line item have been reduced from monies to cover a worst case scenario to monies that will cover a more typical winter. He stated that this reduction in budgeting for energy costs has resulted in an overall decrease of about $50,000 in this line item. Director of Finance Gamradt stated that no monies have been budgeted under" salaries, in this as well as the subsequent two 'budget units, due to the elimination of. the maintenance po- sition in last year's budgeting process. Shop Complex. The City Manager stated that monies have been budgeted under "repair of equipment" for repair of the gas pump metering systems. Carnegie Building. City Manager Wysocki stated that monies for paint have been included I to upgrade the interior appearance of this building. Recreation Administration. The City Manager stated that a substantial portion of the de- crease in "contracted services" is due to the fact that the tennis instructor is now handling registration for this program, rather than having it go through the Recreation office and the City's books. Commissioner Jordan noted that the summer program held on Tuesday's has been rather successful. He then suggested that the Recreation office may wish to consider a mechanism which would allow those parents who want to pay a flat fee that would cover all Tuesday's, rather than having the parents sign the slips and pay the fees each week. He noted this could possibly eliminate some of the work and confusion for the Recreation office. 08-04-87 Special 34G The next work session on the budget is to be held at 7:00 p.m on Monday, August 10. The Mayor suggested the Commission may wish to begin that work session immediately following the afternoon session if it is completed at an early hour. Adjournment - 4:35 p.m. There being no further business to come before the Commission at this time, it was moved by Commissioner Vant Hull, seconded by Commissioner Jordan, that the meeting be adjourned. I The motion carried by the following Aye and No vote: those voting Aye being Commissioner Vant Hull, Commissioner Jordan, Commissioner Stiff, Commissioner Martel and Mayor Mathre; those voting No, none. JUDITH A. MATHRE, Mayor ATTEST: Clerk of the Commission I I 08-04-87 Special