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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 08.10.2021Minutes of City of Laurel Budget/Finance Committee Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Members Present: Bruce McGee Richard Klose Scot Stokes Others Present: Bethany Langve, Clerk/Treasurer The meeting was called to order by the Committee Vice Chair at 5:03pm. Public Input: Citizens may address the committee regarding any item of business that is not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome, the committee will not take action on any item not on the agenda. There was no public input. General Items — 1. Review and approve the July 27, 2021 Budget and Finance Committee meeting minutes. Richard Klose moved to approve the minutes of the July 27, 2021 Budget and Finance Committee meeting. Scot Stokes seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 2. Review and Approve purchase requisition from the City for upgrade of lighting to LED's. The Clerk/Treasurer explained the lighting from the metal door, leading out of the finance office, to the Mayor's office, and old CAO office needed to be to be upgraded. The Committee asked why there was only one quote. The Clerk/Treasurer stated ACE Electric has been the vendor doing all the upgrades for LED lighting for the City. The Committee requested at least one more quote before approving the purchase requisition. The Clerk/Treasurer stated she would get additional quotes and bring the request back to the Committee. 3. Review and approve the November 2020 Month End Reports. The Clerk/Treasurer explained there was a balancing issue on the first page of the report that she could not figure out. She believed it had to do with the fraud charges, which were disputed and returned by the bank. She explained the disbursements and receipts balance, and the December 2020 front page returns to the correct final balancing number. The Committee had no questions or comments regarding the month end reports. Richard Klose moved to approve the minutes of the November 2020 Month End Reports. Scot Stokes seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 4. Review and approve the November 2020 Financial Statements. The Committee had no questions or comments regarding the November 2020 Financial Statements. Bruce McGee moved to approve the November 2020 Financial Statements. Scot Stokes seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 5. Review and approve the December 2020 Month End Reports. The Committee had no questions or comments regarding the December 2020 Month End Reports. Scot Stokes moved to approve the December 2020 Month End Reports. Richard Klose seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 6. Review and approve the December 2020 Financial Statements. The Committee had no questions or comments regarding the December 2020 Financial Statements. Scot Stokes moved to approve the December 2020 Financial Statements. Richard Klose seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 7. Review and approve the July 2021 Utility Billing Adjustments. The Committee had no questions or comments regarding the July 2021 Utility Billing Adjustments. Scot Stokes made a motion to approve the July 2021 Utility Billing Adjustments. Richard Klose seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 8. Review and recommend approval to Council, Claims entered through 08/06/2021. The claims and check register had previously been reviewed by the Committee. Bruce McGee made a motion to approve the claims entered through 08/06/2021. Scot Stokes seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. 9. Review and approve Payroll Register for pay period ending 07/25/2021 totaling $168,706.35. The Clerk/Treasurer stated there was an error on the agenda for this item. The agenda was off by $1.00. Scot Stokes made a motion to recommend approval of the payroll register for pay period ending 07/25/2021 totaling $168,706.35. Richard Klose seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. New Business — 10. Set claims review schedule beginning with the October 12Th Budget and Finance Committee meeting. The Committee set the following Schedule: October 12 — Emelie Eaton October 26 — Bruce McGee November 9 — Richard Klose November 23 — Scot Stokes December 14 — Emelie Eaton December 28 — Bruce McGee 11. Budget Update — The Committee asked how the decision was reached to move the budget from the Code Enforcement section of General Fund to the Animal Control section of General Fund. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the Mayor and City Staff had meetings to discuss this move. The Planning Director and Building Official are working together upstairs. They will continue to handle those duties, which include building, and fire inspections. By moving the Code Enforcement budget to the Police Department side, it provided a way to hire an Animal Control Officer who can take care of parking, animal complaints and code enforcement issues while out. The Chief of Police agreed this made more sense having this position within the Police Department. The Committee was concerned the decision had been made and no information had been provided to City Council. The Clerk/Treasurer stated it was an executive issue and information was being provided to City Council through the budget. Councilmember Stokes inquired as to whether City Attorney, Sam Painter, was reimbursing the City for his health insurance. He recalled a conversation during a City Council meeting, where is was cheaper for the City Attorney to be on the City health insurance, however, since health insurance wasn't part of his contract he would reimburse the City for the cost. The Clerk/Treasurer stated she would have to look at the City Attorney contract to make sure, since she didn't know. The Clerk/Treasurer asked the Council Secretary to pull the City Attorney's contract. Councilmember Stokes stated if this had been done wrong over the years the City Attorney would need to reimburse the City. The Clerk/Treasurer stated if the City Attorney contract didn't include health insurance, she would need to investigate payroll and see how the health insurance was being paid for as it could be taken out of his check. Councilmember Stokes asked if City Council could terminate contracts. The Clerk/Treasurer stated they could by majority council vote. Councilmember Stokes stated the City Council could terminate the City Attorney contract. Councilmember McGee stated he would have a hard time with that. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the City Attorney is the only person within the City the Mayor cannot fire, and for good reason. She stated if the City Attorney caught the Mayor acting unethically, the Mayor cannot simply fire the City Attorney to cover it up. The Council Secretary returned with a copy of the City Attorney contract. After review, it was determined health insurance was included in the City Attorney contract. Councilmember Stokes asked the Council Secretary if the LURA discussion, and the City Prosecutor information were going to be on the City Workshop agenda. The Council Secretary stated he would need to ask the Mayor about City Workshop agendas. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the Council Workshop scheduled for the 17'h was going to be moved to the 24`h because City Council and the Mayor were going to attend training with Dan Clark from the Local Government Center. The Clerk/Treasurer stated she was excited because it looked as thought the Solid Waste department was going to be able to budget for another garbage truck purchase for Fiscal Year 2022. Councilmember Stokes stated this would be the third one since he's been a councilmember and inquired why they needed another one. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the Solid Waste department is way behind on replacing garbage trucks. Councilmember Klose stated he remembered there was one fund which could not be used for Cemetery purchases, but he wanted to know what the other two cemetery funds were, and if they could be used for cemetery purchases. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the one fund that couldn't be used was the Cemetery Perpetual Fund. Councilmember McGee stated he remembered Councilmember Stokes looking up the Perpetual Fund, and it was to be used for repairs to the Cemetery when the City could no longer care for the Cemetery. The Clerk/Treasurer stated she would bring an updated regarding the other two Cemetery funds and if they were restricted or not. Old Business — 12. Discussion regarding the Cemetery parking lot. The Mayor stated he didn't understand why this topic was on the agenda. He stated he will get the City Attorney to complete the lease agreement and then it will go to the Legion. Other Items — 13. Review the Pay Period Ending 07/25/2021 Comp/Overtime Report. There were no comments or questions regarding the report. 14. Clerk/Treasurer Update — The Clerk/Treasurer stated her, and her staff were working on the budget, and getting information to the auditors. 15. Mayor Update — The Mayor stated this budget cycle the City was going to annex places the City provided city services to. Announcements — 16. The next Budget and Finance Committee meeting will be held on August 24, 2021 at 5:00pm. 17. Bruce McGee will be reviewing claims for the next meeting. RespectIn" submitted, Bethany gv Clerk/Treasurer NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop agenda items.