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08-12-1996 - Budget Workshop CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER BUDGET WORKSHOP AUGUST 12, 1996 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hayman called the Budget Workshop to order at 7 : 00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Jack Hayman Present Councilman Danny Hatfield Present Councilwoman Louise Martin Present Councilman Michael Hays Present Councilman David Mitchum Present City Attorney Krista Storey Present City Manager George McMahon Present City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Present Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Present MEETING PURPOSE The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the FY1996/1997 budget. Overview of General Fund Budget - City Manager Mayor Hayman presented the administrative announcements regarding the meeting. He identified the meeting would adjourn no later than 9: 45 p.m. as one of the Councilmembers had to go to work. City Manager McMahon presented the overview of the General Fund Budget. He identified the department heads were really good to work with regard to reducing the budget this year. He spoke of concentrating this year on replacing and adding machinery and equipment and identified a majority of the requested increases in the budget were for machinery and equipment. He further commented on the traditional type of increases to the budget they have to deal with every year. City Manager McMahon identified the millage rate was not 6. 7 and hadn' t been in over a year. Their millage was not a recommended tax increase from 6. 7 to 7 . 1 mills . The budget this year was proposed at the same millage rate as last year, 7 . 1017 mills, which represented 80% revenue from ad valorem taxes to deal with the cost of City services . 1 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 City Manager McMahon further commented on losing and gaining revenue in terms of what the City got from the State and from the County. Edgewater collected 25 . 97% on every dollar collected for the City. He then identified of the Edgewater 7 . 1017 mills the paving debt service program presented 1 . 02415 mills or better than 3. 75% of the amount of money they were taking in in terms of taxes . 38% of the City' s expenses were actually paid from the ad valorem tax dollars . City Manager McMahon identified they had 167 City employees, which were 12 less than they had five years ago. They also had 4, 000 to 5, 000 more residents than they did five years ago. He then spoke of the employees wearing more than one hat and the contributory factor of the volunteer firemen. City Manager McMahon then commented on privatization which was contracting services to businesses or outside people. He further commented on the contracts the City currently had. He also identified why they didn' t have contracts for certain services . With the exception of trash removal, they were contracting out everything that was cost effective for them today to contract out. City Manager McMahon then commented on the increases to the General Fund budget. City Manager McMahon invited the public to take the time to understand the budget and identified that it was per required State requirements of auditing and accounting. He also spoke of the detailed narrative included in the budget books . City Manager McMahon informed Council the final proposed budget was $6, 856, 594 . He also informed them he had used $36, 242 from the appropriated fund balance. He estimated by the end of this year they would bring up the unappropriated fund balance from where it was to 13% of the annual operating budget. He believed they would bring it up to 15% in the next budget year. City Manager McMahon further identified the millage rate was the amount of money it took plus the 2 . 54% increase over the roll back rate which was the millage rate identical to what it was now which gave them the balance of money they needed to fund the operating budget for next year. He then identified the losses of revenue from the State and County and that the State sharing had increased by $15, 991 which were included in the final projections . City Manager McMahon then commented on the revenue projections with regard to making a change to the utility tax. City Manager McMahon explained the major departmental increases in the Police and Fire Departments . He spoke of the response time in the Fire Department being in the neighborhood of four minutes . He also identified Edgewater Police Department ranked 4th lowest in the State 2 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 in terms of crime for cities our size. He then pointed out the number of employees they had in the City was under 10 per 1, 000 residents . They had 120 to 125 less employees compared to other cities our size. City Manager McMahon also pointed out in the area of recreation, they had previously budgeted in the $10, 000 revenue they received from the County. They had taken it out this year but had also taken the summer recreation program out as well as the County wanted to take over the program, which he welcomed as the City was losing between $5, 000 and $7, 500 a year doing it. City Manager McMahon believed the unreserved fund balance would exceed $800, 000 this year, which would be approximately 13% of the General Fund operating budget. He spoke of holding about $40, 000 as a road reserve which he would ask Council to expend during the next fiscal year, for repaving Roberts Road. City Manager McMahon then commented on the Self Insurance Fund. City Manager McMahon identified the ten goals he had listed for next year. City Manager McMahon urged Council to hold off on the desire to have a referendum for facilities for recreation improvements for a year because he didn' t believe they would need it if the proposed golfing community became a reality. He felt a referendum would call for an increase in taxes, which he didn' t think Council wanted to do. City Manager McMahon hoped to have an announcement within 30 days on the plan for the golfing subdivision. City Manager McMahon then summarized their overall improvements other than buildings, for machinery and equipment, in the amount of $330, 173, which was included in the 2 . 54% increase. He also informed Council one mill, which was equivalent to $337, 000, would go for the debt service of the roads that were already being constructed. They had over a half a million dollars between the replacement equipment and debt service they were dealing with of the 2 . 54% . Questions by City Council on Overview Councilman Hays felt the golf course was moving along in a positive direction with regard to the referendum. He asked if the Council wanted to withdraw those dollars from City Clerk Wadsworth' s budget or and if they felt safer leaving it in there. Councilman Hatfield felt there was no reason to put it on the ballot. He had no problem taking that out of her budget. He wanted to see them move on the 26-acres . He had no problem delaying this to see what happens with the project. 3 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 City Manager McMahon requested Council add an additional $7, 000 to the budget that had been proposed for the purpose of Economic Development, when they get to that budget, with $5, 000 being earmarked for special projects if and when they occur. If they did not occur the money would not be spent. Mayor Hayman expressed interest in the remarks made regarding the gas tax revenue distribution formula that they presently had in Volusia County. There was a decrease in revenue because of Deltona and Debary becoming incorporated. The 14 cities were being forced to divide what they presently had by 16 instead of 14 instead of the County transferring a proportionate amount of money from the County' s gas tax dollars to the municipal tax budget for subsequent redistribution. He felt that was totally unacceptable and unfair and that there were grounds for legal challenge to that. He encouraged the City Managers in Volusia County to ask their colleagues in County Government to address that and make that a campaign issue. City Manager McMahon identified he wanted to give Council a report on the formula with regard to how it was arrived at and what the State Statutes said in regards to what the County can do. Mayor Hayman asked that he present this report at their next meeting. Mayor Hayman then commented on privatization and felt that was probably one of the most cost effective ways to reduce the operational cost of any city. Of the 16 cities, two did not privatize their solid waste, which was an area they suggested they look at for the last three years . He hoped to pursue that during this budget year to effect privatization if it was feasible and cost effective and didn' t hinder efficiency during the next fiscal year. There was a discussion regarding the problem with man-hours in the Utilities Department because of the road construction program as it related to relocating utilities and trying to work in advance of the construction crews . Mayor Hayman then commented on the utility tax and referred to an article in the News Journal regarding what Daytona Beach was trying to do on the utility tax as far as the use of e-mail and other electronic communications and these being exempted services from it. City Manager McMahon confirmed it would not be included in Edgewater' s . Mayor Hayman felt it would be double taxation to charge somebody to transmit e-mail through the Internet when he was already paying for the line and the line usage . City Manager McMahon identified what would be exempt under Edgewater' s proposal . Mayor Hayman expressed concern with the County taking over the summer recreation program and not doing as thorough a job or as equal a job as City staff had done. Councilman Hays spoke of subsidizing the County' s responsibility, which they had been doing for years . Mayor Hayman didn' t mind doing it if the County didn' t want to. City 4 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 Manager McMahon agreed to come back to Council with the monitoring of that program and a report of how well it was going. He hoped with some of the cost savings was to be able to provide better and more programs for the community. If they seen any weakness in the County program that wasn' t being taken care of the way they felt it should be, they would come back to Council . Councilman Hays commented on the position requested by Mr. Wadsworth for the Reuse Water Technician that was brought up two or three years ago and this position being necessary in order to provide that service. City Manager McMahon identified he spoke with one of the Managers on the coast that had been dealing with reuse for a long time with regard to running out of reuse water and regulating the reuse water with on and off days by ordinance. That was something they could do but he wasn' t recommending it. Councilman Hays felt they needed to get the permit so they could start using the Mango Tree Lake . Mayor Hayman suggested City Manager McMahon got a copy of that ordinance. Councilman Mitchum felt sooner or later they were going to have look at something like that. City Manager McMahon identified Orange City was already regulating it on odd and even days . He felt this was the most cost effective way. He hoped through education and the Mango Tree Lake being added that they may be able to deal with the problem. Review of all General Fund City Departments City Council City Manager McMahon referred to Page 21 of the budget. Mayor Hayman commented on proposing $6, 802 for Books, Publications and Subscriptions . He wanted to know why he was told he had to pay out of his own pocket for an ICMA publication he felt was important for the Council . City Manager McMahon informed him this was the first he knew of that and told him if he gave him the invoices he would see that they were taken care of. Finance Director Munoz identified there were no increases to the City Council budget. Mayor Hayman then asked about Travel & Per Diem and expressed concern with the meetings he goes to and the costs associated with the meeting being included in the $5, 200 that was being budgeted, which Mr. Munoz assured him it was . City Manager Mayor Hayman referred to Page 22 of the budget. 5 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 City Manager McMahon then presented the City Manager Department budget. Councilman Hays spoke of City Manager McMahon never asking for an allowance to cover the reasonable expense for the use of his personal car and that he was the only City Manager in Volusia County that didn' t receive a car and/or car allowance and that he had used his own personal vehicle since he had been with the City. He felt that was a fair and honest request. Councilman Mitchum agreed. City Manager McMahon further identified what he was asking for with regard to his request for a car allowance. There was further discussion regarding the printer and personal computer included in the City Manager Department budget. Personnel Department City Manager McMahon referred to Page 27 of the budget. City Manager McMahon identified a change that was not in the budget now. Effective October 1St, he was putting the Safety Officer under the Personnel Officer and all of the costs associated with that position would be transferred to the Personnel Department budget from the Community Development Department budget. City Manager McMahon commented on doing some small reorganization plans that would not affect any cost in the budget. City Manager McMahon further commented on the Personnel budget being primarily the same as last year except any increases in benefit costs . City Manager McMahon complimented Personnel Officer Debby Sigler by identifying the she had worked very diligently to bring about a very effective function within the Personnel Department . Mayor Hayman had a problem with having a Safety Officer as he felt every department head should be totally and solely responsible for the safety of his or her personnel, equipment and operations . He felt the Safety Officer position should be eliminated. City Manager McMahon explained the cost effectiveness of the program was borne out in the reduction of costs they have for their worker' s compensation insurance. Dollars and cents, when you put them side by side, there was no comparison. They had reduced that cost substantially. He also pointed out she worked with the department heads and supervisors as well as the employees and also put on training programs for them to keep the cost down. He urged Council to maintain the position. He also spoke of this being a dual position where she also does Code Enforcement. 6 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 Mayor Hayman felt the supervisors and departments heads who supervised the work should and must be held accountable for safety. He disclosed he had no animosity towards Ms . Runge. He felt it was a matter of making it part of the job description and training and certifying the personnel . Councilman Hays believed the Safety Officer had saved them a great deal of grief and a great deal of money over the last few years from some of the instances he was aware of. He was reluctant to cut that position out of the budget without just cause. He felt every department head and every employee should be responsible for safety. He spoke of employees having a tendency to sometimes overlook mistakes they are making when they do the same thing every day. He wanted to look at this real seriously before it was brought to a formal motion for elimination. Mayor Hayman felt to say that one person was responsible for the safe operation of the City flies in the face of reality. All of the employees are responsible for the safety operation in the City. He felt they should place more emphasis on it, power it down and they could save $24, 000 a year. City Manager McMahon informed him they would have to replace at least part of that time with another person or half person to take care of supplementing for Beverly Johnson' s activities in Code Enforcement as it was impossible for one person to do everything within that department year round that had to be done . There was a discussion regarding the direct savings cost to the Risk Management Program. City Attorney Storey identified one of the other functions of that position was to serve as an investigator of the claims through their Self Insurance program, which although they now had purchased insurance and would have a deductible, for the minor claims, that position contacts individuals, takes pictures and does their in-house investigation and provides City Attorney Storey with that information. Councilwoman Martin agreed with Councilman Hays . She felt to put it all on the supervisor who has more than enough to do she was sure they were aware of things that were happening. She felt Ms . Runge had more of an ability to detect the things that were going wrong. She felt they should keep her. Councilman Mitchum commented on why he felt the Safety Officer was one of the most important positions in the City. He was very comfortable with what had transpired over the last couple of years in this position. He felt Ms . Runge did an extremely good job and that they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they eliminated that position. He would not support that. 7 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 Councilman Hatfield stated at this time he would not want to remove the position but he was open to looking at a different approach between now and the next budget. He spoke of determining how much time was actually used for Safety versus Code Enforcement to get a better feel of what percentage of the job was Safety versus Code Enforcement. He had not heard anything but good from the Safety Director as evidenced by the awards she had been given and he was comfortable leaving that position in the budget. Councilman Hatfield questioned when Personnel should be assigned a department head. City Manager McMahon identified Ms . Sigler was under his direction but was serving basically as a department head. Councilwoman Martin felt they needed a job description for Ms . Runge. City Manager McMahon informed her they had one and that every job in the City had to have a job description in order to have a pay grade . City Manager McMahon agreed to follow up on Council' s desire to have a year' s study done on time and cost benefits . Mayor Hayman felt Councilman Hatfield' s idea to follow up on that was a great idea. He also pointed out he didn' t weight heavily on the importance of the skills Ms . Runge possessed as a third party to investigate self insurance claims . He also felt they could have one of the police officer' s investigate those claims just as well . Finance Mayor Hayman referred to Page 23 of the budget. City Manager McMahon complimented Finance Director Fred Munoz for evaluating positions in his department with an idea towards realigning tasks and functions to get more out of the employees . They were able to achieve a considerable amount more of work productivity in that department because of this . Mr. Munoz identified they had two employees leave which gave them the opportunity to revaluate how the work was being assigned and to rework those job descriptions to ensure they had better coverage . He further commented on why he felt they were working a lot smarter. City Manager McMahon stated they would have had to hire additional people and by Mr. Munoz combining functions and cross training his people he has avoided having to do that. Councilman Hays questioned how much money could be saved if they did payroll every two weeks instead of every week. Mr. Munoz explained why he didn' t think they would really save anything. There was further discussion regarding lower paid employees that couldn' t budget every two weeks as it was difficult enough for them to budget once a week. 8 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 Councilman Hays questioned why so much money was being spent on Communication Services, which Mr. Munoz explained for him. Mayor Hayman expressed concern with the Accounting & Auditing costs going up and asked if it was time to put out an RFP for accounting. Mr. Munoz identified that Ernst & Young' s cost of the accounting was fixed when they renewed the contract for three years for auditing the City books . He spoke of extra tasks they may do that were beyond the audit work that were not part of the basic auditing services . This was the last audit year they had on their current contract. He recommended they continue with an outside of the area firm that maintains an arm' s length relationship with the City. City Manager McMahon identified there was an option in the contract to renew it at Council' s option when it came up. Mr. Munoz explained why he would recommend the contract with Ernst & Young be renewed. City Manager McMahon spoke of adding additional tasks for Ernst & Young to do, which was an additional cost. Councilman Mitchum asked about losing two employees in the Finance Department. City Manager McMahon confirmed they had replaced those employees but would have had to add at least one to two individuals . Mr. Munoz identified he lost Mary Ann Vendrasco who was never replaced and lost Debby Sigler who took some of her duties with her. Mayor Hayman called a ten-minute recess at this time . City Manager McMahon provided further explanation as to why he was transferring the Safety Officer from the Community Development Department to the Personnel Department. Legal Counsel Mayor Hayman referred to Page 24 . City Attorney Storey presented a brief overview by identifying that items other than personnel costs, there had been no changes proposed in the budget and those items had remained constant for approximately the last three years . City Attorney Storey commented on the change in insurance by identifying that certainly would affect high profile personal injury cases that they had been hiring outside Legal Counsel for and she and her Legal Assistant assisted in whatever ways they could to cut the cost. She spoke of there being 39 suits since she had been here of which they had hired outside Legal Counsel for only 15; the rest she had handled. She further identified they were successful in having a challenge to a Code Enforcement action. She filed a motion to dismiss that was granted last week. 9 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 City Attorney Storey informed Council the self insurance type claims were not a line item in her budget but were in the Self Insurance budget and that the Council should see those costs reduced. City Manager McMahon identified the City didn' t pay any extra for outside administrative costs as this was handled by the City Manager, City Attorney and Finance Director and that the City had paid out very few claims . He identified that was a benefit that was provided by the City' s administration and that most cities did not have that. City Attorney Storey commented on the new insurance as it related to the City addressing the small claims . City staff planned to continue that part of the program, to settle or reject minor claims . Any claims she felt had a high potential for risk they would forward on to the insurance company and if suit was filed, they would handle that. She hoped that her office would still be able to provide whatever assistance they were able in order to keep the costs down. Community Development Planning Department Mayor Hayman referred to Page 25. Community Development Director Mark Karet presented the Planning Department budget. He identified they would be segregating out the costs associated with the safety program and moving those costs to the Personnel Department budget. Mr. Karet then commented on the majority of the increase within his budget coming from the increase in insurance costs . Another area had to do with Utility Services that had been increased significantly from last year. He spoke of the expansion of the department' s offices necessitating realignment as to how some of the utilities were budgeted within this building. The costs associated with his department were higher than anticipated. Building Department Mayor Hayman referred to Page 34 . Mr. Karet explained the majority of increase within the Building Department budget was associated with a replacement truck purchase . Mayor Hayman asked if they had to dial up service telephonically to schedule and check on inspections . Mr. Karet informed him they did not and commented on the system the City currently used. Economic Development Mayor Hayman referred to Page 26. 10 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 City Manager McMahon expected to be directly involved with economic development more this year than he ever had in the past. He was asking for an additional $5, 000 for special projects to be added and allocated only at the time the Economic Development Board would come back to Council saying they needed ex-amount of the $5, 000 . He was also asking that Travel & Per Diem be increased by $2, 000 so the Economic Development Board could attend some of the necessary functions to attract business to Edgewater and some of the education programs that would be very helpful to them. He also asked that the Chamber of Commerce and Volusia County Business Development Corporation figure be rounded to $8, 550 . Councilwoman Martin questioned if they were getting any development out of the $8, 500 . City Manager McMahon informed Council he had presented them with a memo regarding what the Chamber of Commerce had done this past year. They were committed to next year working with the Economic Development Board and the Volusia County Business Development Corporation. City Manager McMahon informed Council that a representative from the Chamber, Phillip Fong and Jerry Fox were all present. City Manager McMahon further commented on the help that had been received from the Volusia County Business Development Corporation. There was a discussion regarding the total number to be budgeted for Economic Development being $32, 100. Councilman Hays asked who the users were of the per diem. City Manager McMahon informed him the only users would be the Economic Development Board. Mayor Hayman referred to an article published by the News Journal on August 11th regarding the Opportunity Fund. The City of Edgewater had four hits, which represented 17% of the total $1, 719, 708 . With New Smyrna included, Southeast Volusia got 20% of the $1 . 7 million. He pointed out Edgewater received $943, 942 . 60, which included the money for Maglev. The investments they had given had really paid off. City Manager McMahon informed Council the Economic Development Board had not been frivolous with their spending, which staff had been watching closely. Mayor Hayman commented on having a problem with the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority. He spoke of having a hard time collecting the full amount for the fireworks display last year. An hour before the fireworks display he came over the south bridge and it was packed with cars from out of the County to watch our fireworks display. He felt they could justify a request for $13, 000 for a fireworks display that tourists view every 4th of July from New Smyrna' s south bridge, along 11 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 our Riverside Drive as well as the river. He felt that was a fair request. He felt they needed Mr. Jones of the Chamber of Commerce' s support to try to lobby those folks and make a request. He wanted to do that as early as possible. He offered to visit the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority. City Manager McMahon agreed to go with him. City Clerk Mayor Hayman referred to Page 28 . City Clerk Wadsworth spoke of the $2, 000 reduction to her budget as a result of not having to have an election. She also explained the increase to Other Contractual Services . City Clerk Wadsworth then identified the increase to Operating Supplies was a result of certain office supplies such as disks, tapes, and batteries that were actually considered operating supplies. There was a brief discussion regarding the total increase to the City Clerk Department budget being 4 . 89% . Councilman Hays questioned if the increase to Other Contractual Services would be a yearly thing or one time. City Clerk Wadsworth informed him yearly and explained it was only if she had any other changes done to the CET program with regard to false alarms . She also pointed out to date they hadn' t charged her for developing the program. There was discussion regarding CET creating the program at no charge, the City collecting the fines for the false alarms, and how much had been collected. City Manager McMahon spoke of the number of alarm calls being reduced tremendously and identified he received a report monthly identifying the fines that had been collected. Councilman Hays agreed to take time this week to make himself more familiar so he felt more comfortable with it. Mayor Hayman suggested Councilman Hays speak to Mr. Davis from CET. Other Government Services City Manager McMahon made a presentation with regard to the salary increases . City Attorney Storey informed Council they would be having an Executive Session regarding the union contracts on Monday night before the Regular Council meeting. 12 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 Mr. Munoz further commented on the need for a faster printer which was included under Other Government Services . Maintenance (City Buildings and grounds) Public Works Director Hugh Williams informed Council this budget was 3% less than last year which was primarily attributable to this being the budget that funded the renovations to the Community Center. There was a brief discussion regarding repairing City Manager McMahon' s exterior wall on the west side due to it being rotted out. Mr. Williams agreed to look into it. Public Works Department Mayor Hayman referred to Page 36. Mr. Williams commented on the additional expenses to the Public Works Department budget as being people expenses and for a micro-paving program to include, Hamilton Road, Sanchez Avenue, Knapp Avenue, Yelkca Terrace, Bond Street and Regent Street, which were just beginning to show serious deterioration. City Manager McMahon stated the areas where they had used the micro- paving in the past had proven out very well . Engineering Mayor Hayman referred to Page 31 . City Engineer Kyle Fegley identified there was an increase in overtime as a result of the road improvement project and unexpected time that had to be allocated to the S & E Construction situation. Mr. Fegley also commented on the increase in Travel and Per Diem and Operating Supplies . There was a decrease in Office Supplies . Mayor Hayman expressed concern and presented questions with regard to the as-builts on the Capital Improvement Program and Road Improvement Program, which Mr. Fegley answered. There was a brief discussion regarding the record drawings being digitized into an electronic database. Police Department Mr. Munoz identified the Police Department budget had been reduced by $78, 640 because of a decrease in the retirement contributions . City Manager McMahon informed Council this included the 2 officers that would come as a result of the grant money, which was an increase. 13 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 City Manager McMahon informed Mayor Hayman that the 800 megahertz was reflected in their debt service. Mayor Hayman felt they needed to talk about the 800 megahertz and further payment to Erickson. He had a real concern of paying any more money to Erickson until they answered the questions regarding technology, the compatibility of the laptops, transferring the data over the lines and compatibility with the FCIC/NCIC requirements they were going to have to meet. He was concerned about their inability to answer the technical questions about the transmission of data. He felt they may be confronted with asking the County, their colleagues and Erickson to dedicate one of the 27 channels for data. When they bought into the program the assumption was they got a complete program and that wasn' t what appeared to be happening. City Manager McMahon informed him they hadn' t asked for any additional money but they hadn' t requested the additional channel yet. He agreed to correspond with them. Councilman Hays commented on getting conflict information on this . He asked to be brought up to speed on any specific problems they were having. He asked if the problem was the equipment, the provider of the equipment or the manager of the equipment. Police Chief Schumaker identified over the last month the system had been working well but there had been moments in that period of time where the system malfunctions for a brief period of time. The system right now as it stood was better than any system they had prior to it, even with its problems . The engineers had responded expediently but the frustration level with the dispatchers was still there . He further identified last week they had a problem with getting the Fire Department paged out but the radios were working perfectly but that seemed to be corrected. So far today they had not had any problems today with the radio system. He spoke of the company not knowing exactly what the problem was but they did know when there was a problem, they address it, they change things and it works . Councilman Hays asked if they were getting their money' s worth out of this system. Police Chief Schumaker further commented on this being a rush job to get in due to having to have certain radios up and running by July 1st of last year to satisfy the FCC. He then informed Council that no money had been paid to G.E. Erickson up to this point. He was of the understanding that until the County accepted the system, the money remained in escrow. Councilman Hays asked Police Chief Schumaker if he would say not to pay them any more money or that it was working and they were getting the bugs out and to continue with the current system. Police Chief Schumaker identified if someone had given him a better system for the same amount of money he would have been happy to take it. He wasn' t 14 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996 totally or reasonably satisfied but he wasn' t deeply concerned about officer safety as he was seven months ago. Mayor Hayman felt if they didn' t answer the questions to the City' s satisfaction they would be remiss if they continued to spend money on the system before moving onto the next phase which was to pass data. There was further discussion regarding the City sending money to the County and not knowing what the County was doing with the money. Councilwoman Martin expressed concern with the officers getting through if they needed backup and the officers being put in eminent danger. Police Chief Schumaker address her concern and explained he shared those feelings also. Police Chief Schumaker commented on the grant being approved for the laptop computers and CET working on specs that would be compatible with their needs . There was then a discussion regarding the reduction in retirement contributions, which had gone from $244, 000 to $166, 000 . Councilman Mitchum then asked about Professional Services, which was the contract with CET and Other Contractual, which was janitorial services, blood borne pathogen shots and areas like that. Police Chief Schumaker commented on the majority of the budget centering around the grants this year and the amount of money the federal government granted them that were matching funds . Police Chief Schumaker then brought Council up to speed on what they were planning to do with the Community Policing program. He spoke of the excitement within the department for getting this off the ground. There was further discussion regarding the officers on the bicycles in the communities making an impact. It was determined they would discuss Fire/Rescue, Civil Defense, and Parks & Recreation tomorrow night. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilman Hays moved to adjourn at 9: 58 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer, CMC 15 Council Budget Workshop August 12, 1996