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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-05-10 Council Minutes - Budget Work SessionKENAI CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORK SESSION MAY 10, 1999 KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:00 P.M. AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER ITEM 2: REVIEW a. Reduction in Revenue Sharing and Additional Budget Cuts in Proposed FY2000 Budget. ITEM 3: GENERAL FUND BUGET REVIEW a. Visitors and Cultural Center b. Legislative c . City Clerk d. Legal e. City Manager f. Finance g. Land Administration h. Non -Departmental i. Planning & Zoning j. Safety k. Police 1. Fire m. Communications n. Animal Control o. Public Works Administration p. Shop q. Streets r. Buildings s. Street Lighting t. Library u. Recreation v. Parks W. Beautification ITEM 4: ADJOURNMENT KENAI CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORK SESSION MAY 10, 1999 KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:00 P.M. ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER The work session was called to order at approximately 6:10 p.m. Council present included: Williams, Bookey, Frazer, Bannock, Swarner and Measles (arrived at 7:50 p.m.) Councilman Moore was absent. Staff present: Freas, Ross, Graves, Frates, Semmens, Elson, La Shot, Jankowska, Kelso, Springer. Others present: Emily DeForest, Kathy Tarr (KVCC), Bob Peters, Ethel Clausen. ITEM 2. REVIEW Williams referred to a letter from the Women's Resource and Crisis Center which was distributed to council prior to the meeting. The letter requested the city continue to provide pass -through revenue sharing dollars for the basic operation of their residential services for victims in the community. Williams noted, he believed it was the city's policy to provide pass -through funds and pointed out, the pass -through funds were not city funds. He requested City Manager Ross to send a letter to the WRCC and thank them for their concern and assure them that if pass -through monies are awarded to them, the city will provide the pass -through process. Williams also reported he would be attending the Peninsula Coalition meeting on Tuesday and invited other councilpersons to attend as well. He noted the discussion would be specifically about Foreign Trade Zones and Port of Entry. He added, it was already known the cost for a consultant to prepare the applications for these designations would be approximately $30,000. However, because it was hoped it would be possible to designate sub -zones throughout the Peninsula, the costs for the application process would be borne by the Borough, Homer, Seward, Soldotna and Kenai. Williams stated, at this point, he believed the city's portion of the costs would be $5,000. a. Reduction in Revenue Sharing and Additional Budget Cuts in Proposed FY2000 Budget. Ross explained, the proposed budget was a deficit -spending budget and it was believed existing levels of services could be maintained within the proposed budgets. The projections going to FY2005 were based on current reads, which it was realized could be adjusted due to intervening events. However, even if there were no changes, under the present budget planning, there was still a healthy fund balance. Ross referred to his April 23 memorandum, included in the packet, which addressed the revenue sharing shortfall. He noted, there was a possibility the Legislature would approve 2/3 of the entitlements to municipalities, however it was not known if that funding would before or after pass -through grants are removed which would be approximately $40,000 for the city. Ross added, the proposed budgets were based on a 1/3 reception of revenue sharing funds. If more funds are received, those monies would reduce the red ink and would not balance the budget. It was noted that if 2/3 of revenue sharing was received, the budget would be very close to being balanced. Williams asked if it would be correct to take the position that if proposed cuts presented by administration stood and if the budget improved at a later date (after July 1), items could be moved back into the budget and funded, if necessary, i.e. library funding coordinator, flat bed truck, etc. Answer was yes. It was explained the $40,000 for pass -through agencies was outside the city's budget and was removed to separate it from the city budget. If the funds are awarded, the city would process the pass -through funds. Frazer asked if the cuts were prioritized if something needed to be put back into the budget. Ross answered, he made the cuts on the basis that none were items that would impact services and they had not been prioritized. Ross noted, the removal of $10,000 from the Legislative budget had been based on council stating before they would review their miscellaneous items and suggest possible reductions. Swarner questioned the removal of the flatbed truck from the Parks budget and asked if it was to replace one of the old pickups. Frates answered yes and the shop has stated it could be used another summer. Ross asked council if it was their consensus to go with the proposed cuts suggested in his April 23, 1999 memorandum. Williams stated he had some concern in pulling out the public safety building roof unit. Building Official Springer explained, it is an air handling unit and was not the roof unit. Bookey noted that anything on the list of items to remove could be replaced if funds became available and council thought it necessary. Williams noted council would take administration's recommendations regarding cuts and proceed from there. ITEM 3. GENERAL FUND BUGET REVIEW 3a. Visitors and Cultural Center Kathy Tarr, Executive Director of the KVCC explained their budget was exactly the same as last year's budget. She added, no increases were requested and reminded council the KVCC operated under a professional services agreement with the city. There were not grant recipients. Tarr also noted, language was added to their contract last year and they fulfilled their contract requirements. The agreement is to fund the KVCC at $65,000. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 2 Ross noted funds were included in the KVCC printing and binding budget to print walking tour brochures. He added, Councilman Moore had requested funds be included in the budget for this purpose and he felt it more appropriate to place the funds with the KVCC. Ross also noted funds for janitorial were increased. Swarner requested up-to-date minutes be forwarded to the city for council review and requested more communication. Tarr reported work was being done to enlarge the storage capacity at the Center to accommodate and improve archiving of valuable pieces of artifacts. Bannock thanked Tarr for the Report to the Community and asked what the term end was for the professional services agreement. Tarr answered, there was no finite end; the agreement would stay in effect until amended. However, the contract included a thirty -day cancellation clause. Bookey stated he didn't think the facility could be operated for the same amount of money in any other way. FINDING: NO CHANGES. 3b. Legislative In a lengthy discussion, council reviewed their Legislative budget and discussed the listed dues, funds included for lobbying, and donations. Williams noted the $10,000 for lobbying was decreased last year because the city did not hire a full-time lobbyist, but instead made funds available in case there was need to hire lobbying help for short periods of time for specific items. Frazer asked if taking the $10,000 out would have any affect on council's travel to Juneau to meet with legislators. Answer was no. Bannock requested the mayor and council salaries be changed back to the original $24,000 amount, though there was no agreement. Concerns were stated regarding the donations; Bookey felt the majority of the donations should be reduced or taken out of the budget completely. If there was a special need, a presentation could be made to council. Bannock agreed but suggested leaving some of the organizations at the limit they were now, but not giving more than $500 to any one of the organizations (not including city pins, employee appreciation dinner, AML Conference reception) . There was no agreement for this suggestion. The need for $1,800 for city pins was questioned. Freas noted it was hard to gauge how many pins would be needed in a year because it was an unknown of how groups would request pins and the number they would request. Swarner asked Bannock, in his scenario to reduce donations, would he cap the donation for the Chamber's Job Fare to $500 as well. Bannock stated it had not been a budgeted item and it was not known whether it would be an ongoing program, though there was a desire to continue it and it was being discussed. Swarner stated she wanted requests to come to council at budget time and not throughout the year. Williams suggested leaving the amounts the same for the donation list from Kenai Alternative High School through Peninsula Winter Games, but leaving ALPAR at BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 3 $800 because of the advantage to the city having clean streets. He also suggested leaving $2,000 for United Way as an incentive to the employees making donations. Bannock noted concern the council would be making donations of taxpayer monies and some of those taxpayers may already donate to United Way or chose not to donate to them, etc. Williams suggested decreasing the amount to Youth Court to $4,000 and begin backing out of monetary support to them. Chief Morris stated he believed the program was a benefit to the community. He explained, the defendants going before Youth Court are normally first-time offenders who normally would not have any consequences put upon them other than maybe speaking to a juvenile intake officer. With the Youth Court, there are consequences, which may deter the juvenile from making a second mistake. Bookey asked if the city's $5,000 donation to the Youth Court program was required for the program to continue. Morris stated he did not have that information, however he didn't think it would be the end of the program. He noted, there was a bill in the Legislature to create a surcharge for crimes and if passed, could provide up to $30,000 a year for each youth court statewide. Bookey suggested United Way be reduced by $1,000 and Youth Court reduced to $2,500, cutting them both in half. Bookey noted, he believed all items in the Legislative budget needed to be cut. Swarner suggested taking a specific percentage off of all the items instead of cutting amounts. Bannock pointed out the agreement of council to follow the suggested cuts listed in the city manager's memo, reduced the Legislative budget by $10,000 (for lobbying) . It was noted, that was a recommendation by the city manager, but decision on what to cut in the Legislative budget was council's responsibility. Frazer stated his philosophy to make cuts that would least affect the public. He believed it important to continue with the Youth Court and United Way donation because they were people -oriented items good for the community. Discussion took place regarding the employee appreciation dinner. Bannock suggested the amount be cut and a potluck be held at which he would do the cooking. Bookey stated he had no problem in funding the dinner because it is an avenue for council to show appreciation to the workers for their efforts. Swarner suggested cutting 10% from the Youth Court and all on the list from the Peninsula Winter Games to the Kenai Alternative High School. There was no agreement to the suggestion. Bannock suggested placing $10,000 in the Legislative budget for donations and requests would be funded as they come to council, through the organization making written application. Williams stated he didn't like that idea because larger, more powerful groups could make requests that would absorb the funds and there wouldn't be any available to smaller organizations. Bannock asked if there was something else but cash that could be donated to Youth Court, i.e. copier, computer, etc. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 4 j FINDING: Cuts to the Legislative Budget were as follows: Cut $1,000 from United Way Cut $ 800 from city pins Cut $1,500 from Youth Court Cut $2,500 from Other 3c. City Clerk Freas reported her budget was basically the same excepting increases in advertisements to cover more detail in council meeting ads and contract secretarial services. She requested $790 be moved from Machinery 8v Equipment to Repairs & Maintenance to cover costs for a maintenance agreement on the Laserfiche archiving software program (noting the amount for the computer could be less due to lowering prices and because the writeable CD from the present computer could be placed in the new computer) . Discussion followed regarding the need for the new computer. It was noted the present computer was approximately five years old and Ross stated the present computer would probably be moved to another department (with the monitor) with lesser demands. Bookey had no objection, but didn't want the computer to end up in the auction. Ross stated, the computers going to auction would be 386 and 486 models. Finance Department computers will probably be given to the library to replace their dumb terminals. Bannock requested intent of transportation uses and what the negative side effects would be to the city if the transportation was decreased. He noted, he would be requesting this information from all departments. Freas reported she included funds to cover costs for training on the Laserfiche software and probably to a conference (which included registration, per diem, etc.) regarding archiving documents. Ross noted, across the budgets approximately $10,000 had been cut between last year's budgets and this year's proposed budgets. He added, if travel budgets are cut, council would probably be cutting the lapsed funds because these budgets lapse more than others (20% to 30%) . Ross continued, sometimes, by the time materials are received for certain conferences, it may be discovered the courses to be offered are not worth the cost and the person may decide not to attend. Additionally, there could be other priorities that overrule attending the conference. Bannock stated he was interested in doing some real decreases to the travel budgets. Bookey stated he saw no places to make cuts to this budget. It was mostly what it was last year except for the computer and he had no obj ection in that purchase, knowing the present computer would be used by another department. Swarner asked if another avenue needed to be investigated in regard to hiring of a contract secretary. Freas stated the last contract did not work out well. Other arrangements had been made to finish out the present budget. It was unknown, when a new RFP is advertised, how many responses would be made, if any. She BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 5 noted, the last RFP only garnered one proposal and that was the one that didn't work out well. Further discussion was held regarding the use of travel budgets, the amounts not used and whether, because funds were not used, the budget should be decreased more, and lapses of travel funds from one budget to another. Ross stated, the budgets were not developed with a use -it -or -lose -it attitude because it would encourage use of the funds knowing it would be incremental to having travel funds for the future. Williams noted, the Clerk was in need of additional office help and if funds were available, he would support adding a position for that purpose. Swarner noted that was why she questioned the contract secretarial costs because adding a position may be something that will need investigating further in the future. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3d. Legal Attorney Graves stated his budget was approximately $25,600 less than last year's budget. The deductions were primarily due to modernizing the city code (placing it on CD-ROM) and less need of funds in Professional Services due to the Inlet Woods litigation. He noted, of the $40,000 included in the budget, he expected $20,000 would lapse. Bookey stated he would feel more comfortable leaving the $20,000 in the budget and let it lapse so if it was needed, it will be there. Frazer suggested the cost of the litigation was not under the council's or attorney's control. Graves stated, it was under the Bankruptcy Trustees' control. Bannock asked for comments regarding amounts budgeted for transportation. Graves explained, he attended the National College of District Attorney's at which rulings regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act were reviewed and among other classes given. This would be a savings to the city in regard to changes that will be needed to its personnel code, etc. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 3e. City Manager Ross explained the only change in his budget was reallocating the Administrative Assistant salary by charging one-half to his budget and one-half to the Airport budget. He noted, that salary previously had been charged only to the Airport budget. Ross also explained Administrative Assistant Howard would be attending a conference regarding blood borne pathogens, recruitment and exit interviewing techniques. He noted, the city handles its own drug program and Howard is the BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 6 record keeper for those files as well as the blood borne pathogen files. He hoped both those seminars will be in Anchorage. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3E Finance Semmens noted his budget had decreased substantially due to the purchase of a new computer system last year. He noted, there were a few minor increases in line with current year expenditures. The amount for computers should actually be $3,000 instead of $5,000. Travel expenditures were planned to cover AGOA conferences, personnel training, national conference, insurance training, etc. Semmens was asked about the ambulance billing. He noted, the report submittals were contracted out and works well that way. The percentage of collection was not high because the city's policy is not to prosecute. Of the self -pays, the city receives approximately 20%. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3g. Land Administration Ross noted, the budget had not changed much. There is no specific travel costs in the budget. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3h. Non -Departmental Ross noted, the budget was based on past history. It had been decreased $34,000. He added, if the pass -through grants were not received, this budget would be decreased an additional $40,000 (approximately). FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. BREAK TAKEN. 8:00 P.M. BACK TO ORDER: 8:15 P.M. 3i. Planning & Zoning City Engineer La Shot noted the $11,700 should be removed from the budget for the GIS system and an additional $500 from Machinery 8v Equipment. The data support for the GIS system remained to give the department professional help in getting the program started. The new computer would be used for inputting the street addressing information portion. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 7 Bannock asked why the budget did not reflect funding for redoing the Comprehensive Plan. Ross noted the Borough distributed funding for redoing the Comprehensive Plan and was appropriated into a capital project fund, as well as the city's match. Ross noted, Title 14 and the Comprehensive Plan both need to be updated, but the question was which should be done first, i.e. updating Title 14 without updating the Comprehensive Plan, addressing what the city should look like in the future, and then write the rules or write the rules to enforce the plan. Williams questioned the validity of a comprehensive plan. Ross stated he believed the Comprehensive Plan should be developed to be more than a rearview mirror document. He added, as the residential neighborhoods along the Spur Highway deteriorate, it may be the best time to develop a plan of what future development should be. He suggested, with a staff person working with a professional and community groups, some of the issues may be resolved, i.e. how to zone the Spur Highway, etc. Bannock noted, the Planning & Zoning Commission often finds conflicts between Title 14, Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Table. Bannock also asked if any Planning & Zoning travel funds were earmarked for commissioners to travel. Answer was no. It was noted, some of this budget's travel funding would be used for ongoing planner training for a staff person. Williams stated his concern the city needs a planner because of the changes that will be made over the years, and because there will be highway funding coming from federal government which the city should be in a position to receive and use to its best use. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3j. Safety Ross reported when the Public Works Department was reorganized, the safety responsibilities were assigned to Keith Kornelis. Funding for this office was not eliminated from last year's budget, but now he was satisfied with the way it was working as far as the safety committee and safety program. Because of this, salaries were removed from this budget. Professional Services was increased as well as Transportation. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 3k. Police Chief Morris reported there was an increase in Small Tools & Minor Equipment for the purchase of body armor due to requirements of OSHA and the city's safety plan. The funds included will purchase seven vests which will cover all those officers who did not already have safety vests. He noted, in the past, the officers purchased their own vests and it was not mandatory they were worn. When the seven vests are received, it will be mandatory for officers to wear them. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 8 Morris also noted two patrol cars were included in the budget to replace two other vehicles. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 31. Communications Morris reported there were small changes in the Repair & Maintenance budget for maintenance contracts for some equipment for which warranties have ceased and a slight increase in radio equipment contracts due to their no longer maintaining the dictaphone recording system. Williams noted there was a decrease of approximately $11,000 in salaries and benefits and asked how that was done. Morris answered, new personnel starting at lower pay scales. Morris was asked if the turnover in Communications had stabilized. He answered, no, due to the high stress and shift work of the position. Ross noted a half-time clerical was brought to full-time to reduce clerical load which was discussed with council in the past and was discussed in his budget memo. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 3m. Animal Control Morris reported Operating and Repair Supplies was increased slightly due to need for more food and euthanasia supplies needed for the increase of animals brought to the shelter. He added, utilities for the new building were estimated last year and it was necessary to transfer funds to cover costs during the year. Utilities were increased to cover the costs for the new fiscal year. Bannock asked if the training conference was a requirement for the euthanasia certification. Morris noted the euthanasia certification was for the Assistant Animal Control Officer. The training conference listed would be for the American Humane Association which would cover management of volunteers, new policies, liability issues, methods of euthanasia, etc. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 3n. Fire Chief Elson reported the budget was a maintenance budget as well, but with an increase in Repair and Maintenance for a poly -tank replacement for one of the engines. He noted, an increase was also included in Professional Services for medical physicals due to more physicals scheduled for this year. Elson noted the digital camera included for purchase with the budget would be used for fire investigations and lower film development costs. It will also be used for developing fire prevention training materials to distribute to schools, etc. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 9 � FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3o. Public Works Administration Public Works Manager La Shot reported there would be a decrease in this budget of $6,700. Computer software was increased to purchase updates to Office Suite, etc. A new computer was also included in the budget for the Public Works Administrative Assistant. It was anticipated the present computer would be used at the Street Department. A general discussion took place regarding life expectancy of computers and heavier use of some computers compared to others as well as transferring computers from one department to another. Ross noted, in using this type of transferring system, he expected computers for the city to last six years. Bannock questioned the travel budget requests. La Shot answered, a lot of the training requested would have to fit the person's schedule. He added, the entire budget was not always used. He noted the budget would be used for computer training, environmental training and management courses. Ross noted, during the current year, travel funds were also used to make EVOS presentations, etc. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 3p. Shop La Shot reported the budget was basically a maintenance budget, overall decreased approximately $21,000. Upon Ross' request, La Shot proposed to cut another $1,000 from Machinery & Equipment and $4,000 from Repair and Maintenance. Bookey asked why the city was purchasing CDL licenses for employees. La Shot answered, the city just had always done it. Bookey noted, the license is the person's own personal tool and didn't think the city should be purchasing them. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3q. Streets Ross reported the V-plow was removed from the Machinery & Equipment. He noted, the melting pot would allow the city to use rubber instead of tar. He added, they wanted to try rubber because it would last longer, however it would take more labor and longer to apply, but would be more durable. Also, on hot days, it wouldn't adhere to shoes and get tracked into buildings. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3r. Buildings BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 10 La Shot noted $20,000 should be removed from the Repair &Maintenance for the city hall heating system repair and $20,000 should be removed for the Public Safety air handling unit, and $10,000 from Professional Services for evaluation of the city hall heating system. Bannock questioned the travel costs for a facilities repair seminar and International Cities Building Official conference. La Shot explained, the Building Official tries to take in one ICBO seminar a year which are generally held out of state. The remaining would be for computer seminars and one facilities repair seminar for one of the building maintenance employees. It was noted there are 18 buildings for which this budget covers. Bookey stated he thought people in the private sector would be envious to be able to cover maintenance of that many buildings for this budget. Measles asked if any of the cuts were being taken out of the schedule maintenance program. La Shot answered, the $20,000 for the Public Safety air -handling unit would be in that category and will probably be forwarded to another budget. Measles questioned the painting of the library, etc. La Shot noted, they were in the schedule and would remain in the schedule. He added, the city hall improvements were not in the long-term schedule, but had come up due to complaints, i.e. heating, cooling, etc. Ross stated he believed the maintenance for city hall was more due to human comfort. He added, he felt comfortable in pulling those costs out until the nurses move out and council decides the direction remodeling of the downstairs would take. Ross added, he believed the air -handling unit for the Public Safety building and heating problems for city hall/council chambers concerns would be okay and handled through other means. He added, they were adhering to the maintenance schedule. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3s. Street Lighting Ross noted, the bulk of the budget was utilities and repair and maintenance was much the same. At this time it was not known how many new lights would be placed. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3t. Library Jankowska noted the biggest increase in the budget was for a $20,000 upgrade of the cataloging system (circulation, statistics, etc.) . She noted, the company would no longer support the dumb terminals, plus the terminals were failing. Jankowska added, a server and software was needed to run the web -based catalog. She noted, it would be a waste not to upgrade the system because of the monies expended in developing the service. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 11 Jankowska noted the most recent upgrade was purchased in 1993 and the system was purchased in 1987. In those years, there was only one upgrade made to the system. Ross noted, two computers would be transferred from the Finance Department and the library would be purchasing another one. He added, two additional computers would be purchased from the present budget by transferring funds within the Library budget. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3u. Recreation Parks 8s Recreation Director Frates reported there were two noticeable changes in the Recreation budget; Repairs 8v Maintenance increase of $700 for a fire security monitoring system at the Center (giving 24-hours coverage), and Machinery 8s Equipment increase for the purchase of amulti-fitness workout station (replacement) and treadmill. Frates noted, the amounts for the station and treadmill would be taken from the Daubenspeck account. Also, a new computer will be purchased that is Y2K compliant. Swarner asked how much is charged for use of the treadmill. Frates answered $3.00 for walk-ins and the same for the workout station. He noted, the city's fees are lower than the private sector and a discussion of raising the fees would be taken by the Parks &Recreation Commission during the summer. Bookey stated he would like the fee structure reviewed before summer and try to raise the rates to be more aligned with the private sector. Swarner suggested more advertisement/promotion of the equipment available. Bannock questioned whether travel to the conferences and seminars was necessary. Frates answered yes. He noted one was a national association conference and one is a professional development organization conference. Frates added, he believed both were necessary for professional training and development which is important to the staff and community. The seminars keep he and his employees current with playground and aerobic certifications. Williams questioned the hours of operation for the Center. Frates noted, the hours were currently 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the heaviest traffic was toward afternoon and during the evening. He noted hours would be cut back during the summer on Sundays. Williams noted, because of the revenue shortfall, the city would either have to cut back on operations where money can be saved or raise taxes. Council had indicated before the taxes would be raised in two years (or next year if necessary) . Ross noted, if municipal assistance and revenue sharing was eliminated, a cutting back of hours at the Recreation Center and Library would have been initiated. He added, cutting back of hours would be reviewed again next year if the revenue picture was worse than this year's. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 12 FINDINGS: NO CHANGES, 1 3v. Parks Frates noted three increases; Small Tools 8. Minor Equipment increase of $1,800 for replacement of two batter boxes at the softball field. He added, he requested the Softball Association to replace another of the boxes and if they won't only two of the boxes will be replaced and the third will be repaired as best it can. Frates added, changes to Repair & Maintenance and Rentals were included due to the dip net fishery and need for dumpster and port -a -potty rentals. He noted the flat bed truck was removed by Ross. Bookey asked if the $20,000 for the Erik Hansen Park would complete the work at the park. Frates answered yes and noted a portion of the funds would be used for signage and landscaping, but mostly signage. Frates reviewed the work already completed. Swarner stated her desire to have port -a -potties placed at the Little League Field. Ross reported the sweeper was going to be replaced for the utility tractor. He suggested, because of the number of trails and sidewalks the city cleans, the purchase of a Bobcat with a sweeper could be considered. He noted, it was a slow process the way the work was being done presently. Bookey suggested consideration be given to purchasing a unit like is used in Anchorage. He noted, it was fast and very efficient. Frates noted, he checked on the price for two units Anchorage uses and they would be approximately $30,000+ and $18,000. It was also suggested the work could be contracted out next year after adding bike paths on Forest Drive and Redoubt Avenue. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. 3w. Beautification Frates reported funds were included in this budget to cover costs of replacing ten holiday decorations and adding ten street banners. FINDINGS: NO CHANGES. Ross reported the department heads and finance director did an excellent job in submitting budgets. The health committee had been working hard on health insurance issues and will continue to work on finding alternatives. He also noted, by majority, the employees selected one of the three alternatives for insurance which this budget would be able to cover if the city stays with Blue Cross. Williams suggested, if possible, council should consider raising the mill rate in 2001 instead of 2002. If a one mill increase was not made, cutting hours at the Library and Recreation Center, etc. was a real possibility. Bannock suggested, if possible, BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 13 the question of raising the mill rate should be debated during the present calendar year in order for public to be noticed. Bookey suggested increasing the mill rate of one-half mill in the next two years. Measles added, a mill rate increase can always become effective on January 1 of the next year so it doesn't retro-act back to the current year. Ross suggested holding a work session in November because by then sales tax information would be available and council will need to address what to do with the personal property tax situation. Semmens noted, change would need to be done within this calendar year in order for it to take effect the beginning of January. Ross added, it was too late to address personal property taxes in this budget. Ross also suggested council could cancel the work session previously scheduled for May 17 as the budget review had been completed. Council agreed. Ross noted, the ordinance would be prepared and submitted for introduction on the May 19 agenda. Williams reported he would be in attendance at the May 19 meeting (previously reported he would not be). ITEM 4: ADJOURNMENT The work session adjourned at approximately 9:45 p.m. Notes transcribed and prepared by: 4 �_ - - Carol L. Freas, City Clerk APPROVED BY COUNCIL DAfiE0Y �. BUDGET WORK SESSION May 10, 1999 Page 14