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09-13-1993 - Special ~ ~ CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 13, 1993 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Hayman called the special meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the community Center. ROLL CALL: Mayor Jack Hayman Councilman Kirk Jones Councilwoman Louise Martin Councilman Michael Hays Councilman David Mitchum City Attorney Krista storey City Manager George McMahon City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present Present Hold public hearinq on millaqe rate of 5.8882 and 1993/94 budqet Mayor Hayman explained the adoption process of the budget. city Manager McMahon gave a briefing on the budget and the millage increase. He feels if he did not ask for a tax increase he would be remiss. City Manager McMahon informed Council he would later bring back a plan for paving. Finance Director Fred Munoz gave a briefing on the millage rate increase. Mayor Hayman opened the public hearing. Mayor Hayman read Resolutions 93-R-19 and 93-R-20. Patrick Palmier, 617 Mooring Lane, spoke on the tax increase. He believes an increase is needed because previous Councils were reluctant to recommend tax increases in the past. Mr. palmier feels this large increase will be far less palatable than gradual increases over several years. He spoke about the tax increases from Federal down to city. He is convinced a modest increase over several taxing periods would be more feasible. Gene Walker, 739 Navigators Way, spoke in opposition of the amount of tax increase. He understands tax increases are needed but he would like to see increases spread out over two or three years. Alice Lyons, 2109 Umbrella Tree Drive, stated she can not understand why the taxes are being increased 26.5%. She does not see any improvements. She was at this meeting to protest the 26.5% increase. She feels the Council is trying to make a ghost town out of Edgewater. Susan Stewart, 112 Naranga Drive, was also protesting the amount of increase. She does not know where this money is going. She spoke about the assessments going up in the City. She stated she can not afford this increase. Mayor Hayman explained the tax increase for Ms. Stewart because he felt she did not understand. , '-' .., Connie McCarthy, 130 Magnolia Ave., stated she left Michigan because taxes were too high. She stated her husband is on disability and this is too much for them to afford. She feels they need to sell their house. She stated she realizes things need to go up but they do not have to go up this high. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, stated she has been away for five weeks so she is not up-to-date. She stated what she is hearing is people are not objecting to the increase but the amount of the increase. She feels it is a big raise but it sounds bigger than it is. She explained we have to get caught up. Pam Munson, 1 pines Edge ct., stated she is upset and annoyed with the tax increase. She feels the City needs to re-evaluate our view of government in Edgewater. She stated we need to look at efficiencies, studies and contracting services. This would reduce costs. She feels the City should tie the increases to the cost of living. The City should look at volunteers. Ed Keenan, 1905 pine Tree Drive, stated the real increase is 28%. He stated it should take two or three years to build the reserve fund back up. He urged Council to reconsider the budget. Mr. Keenan asked Council to table this and go back to the drawing board. He feels Council should try to get it down to 10 or 15%. Ed Driscoll, 26 Blue Heron Drive, feels 26.5% tax increase is absurd. He feels department heads need to look at what they buy. Mr. Driscoll spoke about Gloria working on the cleaning of the canal. He feels she should have help and he commended the work she did. Dave Watkins, 2509 Silver Palm Drive, feels this is endless with the new taxes and the sewers. He asked where this is going to stop. He doesn't feel he can afford to live here anymore. Karen Stephenson, 315 Sea Hawk Court, spoke about problems she has had with getting fast Police responses when she needs them. Martin Ludwig, 2223 Travelers Palm Drive, stated Council asked him for 43% on his proposed tax bill. He feels the school taxes should be number one and this should always be number one. Mr. Ludwig spoke about firemen coming to the door looking for donations. He also spoke about the Police calling looking for donations. Elwyn Fischer, 3209 vista Palm Drive, stated he is too old to get a job. He lives on Social Security. He stated he received 3% from the government and then took it back for Medicare. He is going backwards instead of forward. Mayor Hayman closed the public hearing. Action on Res. 93-R-19 Adoptinq millaqe rate Mayor Hayman read Res. 93-R-19 in its entirety. Councilman Hays stated they are looking at some of the increases we have that we have no control over such as workers compensation, pension, and health insurance. The lack of revenue share is very important. He does not like to see tax increases. He feels we should provide services. Mayor Hayman spoke about the impact of the tax structure and schools in such taxing districts. He went on to explain the per capita of surrounding cities. Page -2- Council Special Meeting September 13, 1993 . . '-' ..." Councilman Mitchum stated the assessments this year were down. Mr. Munoz then went over the figures. Councilman Mitchum spoke about the tax increase happening all at once. He explained the reserve fund has been used in the past three years. There has been a direct drain of the reserve fund. He feels there should have been some modest tax increases over the past years but there weren't. He feels this has to be corrected or the reserve fund will be wiped out. Councilman Jones feels this is an unfortunate in. He stated he is in his job to do a job. the services provided by the City. We should taxes gradually over the past years. situation we are He feels we need have increased City Manager McMahon stated this city is operating with less than 170 employees. Every City of comparable size has more employees. He stated we are trying to keep costs down and give the citizens quality service. Councilman Hays spoke about a letter he received from Cablevision. It costs $50.40 for the full package. He asked the citizens to look at the true dollar value of the tax increase. Councilwoman Martin feels people put her in this seat and trusted her to do what she feels is right. She stated our prices and cost of services have been increased over the past few years. She stated we must be ready for what is going to happen. Councilman Mitchum made a motion to approve Res. 93-R-19, seconded by Councilman Hays. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Action on Res. 93-R-20 Adopting final FY-1993/94 city Budqet Mayor Hayman read Res. 93-R-20. Councilman Jones made a motion to approve Res. 93-R-20, seconded by Councilwoman Martin. Councilman Mitchum stated Mr. McMahon and staff did an excellent job. The motion CARRIED 5-0. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilman Hays made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilwoman Martin. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Kruckmeyer Page -3- Council Special Meeting September 13, 1993