HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 01.15.2019MINUTES
CITY OF LAUREL
BUDGET/FINANCE COMMITTEE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019
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.
General Items
1. Review and approve the minutes of the January 2, 2019 meeting — Richard Klose made a
motion to approve the minutes from the January 2, 2019 meeting, Scot Stokes seconded the
motion, all in favor, motion passed.
2. Review and approve the December 2018 journal vouchers — The Committee reviewed the
December 2018 journal vouchers. Scot Stokes made a motion to approve all the December
journal vouchers, seconded by Richard Klose, motion passed.
3. Review and approve the December 2018 utility billing adjustments — The Committee
reviewed the December 2018 utility billing adjustments. Bruce McGee made a motion to
approve the December 2018 utility billing adjustments, seconded by Scot Stokes, all in
favor, motion passed.
4. Review and approve December 2018 financial statements — Bethany briefly went over the
December 2018 financial statements. Bruce McGee made a motion to approve the
December 2018 financial statements, seconded by Scot Stokes, all in favor, motion passed.
5. Review and recommend approval to Council claims entered through 01/11/2019 — Emelie
Eaton had previously reviewed the claims detail report and the check register for accuracy.
There were no questions regarding either. Emelie Eaton made a motion to recommend
approval to Council all claims entered through 01/11/2019, seconded by Scot Stokes, all in
favor, motion passed.
6. Review Comp/Overtime hours for pay period ending 12/30/2018 — The Committee asked
what site visit the administrative assistant debrief was for on 12/28/2018. The CAO stated
it was for the IT and VOIP Prebid site visits.
7. Review and approve payroll register for pay period ending 12/30/2018 totaling $220,562.03
— Richard Klose made a motion to approve the payroll register for pay period ending
12/30/2018 totaling $220,562.03, seconded by Bruce McGee, all in favor, motion passed.
New Business
Old Business
8. Update from the CAO regarding the City Court accounts receivables — The CAO was
present to provide an update on the City Court accounts receivables. The CAO stated that
he had met with Judge Kerr three times to discuss the City Court outstanding A/R balances
and past audit findings. One of the Judge's main points is that she is an elected official and
cannot be told what to do. The CAO provided minutes from a 03/21/2017 Budget and
Finance Committee meeting where the City Court A/R was discussed and at that time
$172,797.63 had been submitted to SABHRS for collections. Out of that $6,709.54 had
been collected. SABHRS can only collect if the individual files taxes in the state of
Montana. In the minutes from the 03/21/2017 Budget and Finance Committee meeting the
Committee asked if a third -party collection agency could handle the outstanding City Court
debt. The CAO stated that he would like to work with the Judge and a third -party
collection agency, such as Centron, to see if the current outstanding A/R balance can be
reduced. The Committee asked if he was receiving any cooperation from the Judge on this
suggestion. The CAO stated that he felt he was not receiving much cooperation from the
Judge on this. The CAO stated that the City of Great Falls currently uses Centron to collect
on court fines and he would like to review their policy. The Committee asked if the City of
Great Falls is the only City that uses Centron. The CAO stated that they are the only City
that he knows of at this time. The CAO would like to work with the Judge to come up with
a policy for example any fine over ten years would be written off, any fine five to ten years
would be sent to collections to settle and any fine under five years would be sent to
collections to collect. The CAO will continue to work with the Judge to try to come up
with a plan to try to reduce the amount of outstanding receivables.
Other Items
The CAO stated that the new website should be going live the end of February
The Mayor stated that the IT and VOID bids are back and will be reviewed. He stated that he has
requested in the past that all email be outlook email and not pop account emails. This will allow
everyone to have calendar access. The VOIP will upgrade all the phones. The CAO stated that the
VOIP bidders did a walkthrough prior to the bid and looked at the City infrastructure including City
Hall, Sewer Plant, Water Plant, FAP, City Shop and the Library. The bids will be opened at 10:00
am tomorrow morning. The Committee asked if the VOIP was going to be paid for using CIP funds.
The Mayor stated that the VOID system was budgeted out of the CII' fund. The Committee asked if
CIP funds carried over from one fiscal year to the next. The Mayor stated that CIP funds will not
carry over from one fiscal year to the next. If CIP funds are not used within the fiscal years they are
budgeted they will need to be requested again for the next fiscal year, however there is no guarantee
they will be approved.
Announcements
The next Budget and Finance Committee meeting will be held at February 5, 2019 at 5:30 pm