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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 07.28.2020Minutes of City of Laurel Budget/Finance Committee Tuesday, July 28, 2020 Members Present: Richard Klose Bruce McGee Scot Stokes Others Present: Mayor Nelson Monica Salo Bethany Langve The Meeting was called to order by Chair Eaton at 5:33 pm. 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 Review and approve the minutes of the July 07, 2020 meeting. Mayor Nelson made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 07, 2020 Budget and Finance Committee meeting. Richard Klose seconded the motion to approve the July 07, 2020 Budget and Finance Committee meeting minutes, all in favor, motion passed. Review and approve the minutes of the July 14, 2020 meeting. Richard Klose made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 14, 2020 Budget and Finance Committee meeting. Scot Stokes seconded the motion to approve the July 14, 2020 Budget and Finance Committee meeting minutes, all in favor, motion passed. Review and approve purchase requisition from the Solid Waste Department — The Clerk/Treasurer presented a requisition from the Solid Waste Department for the repair of the G5 Garbage Truck. The Committee asked if this was the same transmission repair they discussed and approved at the last Budget and Finance meeting. The Clerk/Treasurer stated this was different garbage truck transmission repair. She stated all the truck, except one, had issues over the past few weeks. One caught fire, two broke down on the freeway and the newest had water in the transmission. The Committee stated this was a prime example of the need for Solid Waste to have a mechanism in place to put money into their replacement and depreciation fund. The Committee stated the fund should be able to take care of itself. The Clerk Treasurer stated putting the mechanism in place to add money into the replacement and depreciation cash account would need to be done at the same time as raising Solid Waste rates. If the mechanism were put into place now, it would only take further money away from the operating cash account. The Committee asked how the transferring of money into the Replacement and Depreciation cash account would be done, and the Clerk/Treasurer stated it would be done through a resolution by Council. The Committee stated their feelings regarding the cost of repairs. The Committee members feel the City gets charged a higher rate because it is a public entity. Mayor Nelson made a motion to approve the purchase requisition from the Solid Waste Department for the repairs to G5's transmission. Richard Klose seconded the motion to approve the purchase requisition from the Solid Waste Department for the repairs to G5's transmission, all in favor, motion passed. Review and approve an increase to a previously approved purchase requisition from the Fire Department — The Clerk/Treasurer presented a previously approved requisition from the Fire Department for the purchase of Wildland Pants. She explained that the price for the pants had increased after the Budget and Finance Committee approved the original requisition. Since there was an increase to the total amount of the purchase requisition, the Committee would need to approve the increase. Richard Klose made a motion to approve the increase to the original purchase requisition from the Fire Department for the purchase of Wildland Pants. Scot Stokes seconded the motion to approve the purchase requisition from the Fire Department for the increase to the original purchase requisition from the Fire Department for the purchase of Wildland Pants. Review and approve the April 2020 Month End Balance Sheet. The Committee reviewed the April 2020 Month End Balance Sheet. The Clerk/Treasurer stated she did not find the $30.00 difference from March 2020, however it rectified itself in April 2020. Richard Klose made a motion to approve the April 2020 Month End Balance Sheet. Bruce McGee seconded the motion to approve the April 2020 Month End Balance Sheet, all in favor, motion passed. Review and approve the May 2020 Financial Statements. The Committee reviewed the May 2020 Financial Statements. There was concerns regarding the Planning Departments current negative cash situation. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the Planning Director has made a few changes to help alleviate this. She stated the Planning Director had raised some of the fees for planning related items. She stated the Planning Department fees were way below the average range. She stated the usage of KLJ has drastically reduced and this will help with the current cash shortage. Richard Klose made a motion to approve the May 2020 Financial Statements. Scot Stokes seconded the motion to approve the May 2020 Financial Statements, all in favor, motion passed. Review and recommend approval to Council Claims entered through 07/24/2020. The Claims Detail reports and the Check Registers were reviewed for accuracy prior to the meeting, by the Committee. There was no question regarding the Claims. Bruce McGee made a motion to recommend approval to Council the claims entered through 07/24/2020. Richard Klose seconded the motion to recommend approval to Council the claims entered through 07/24/2020, all in favor, motion passed. Review and approve Payroll Register for pay period ending 07/12/2020 totaling $205,013.55. Bruce McGee made a motion to approve the payroll register for pay period ending 07/12/2020 totaling $205,013.55. Richard Klose seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. New Business - None Old Business - The Clerk/Treasurer stated she was going to have a meeting with KOIS Brothers regarding this. She stated she would report back to the Committee during the August 11 th meeting. The Committee would like to know about extended warranty costs. There is concern regarding these pieces of equipment being covered under a warranty during the life of the lease. Other Items Review the Comp/OT report for pay period ending 07/12/2020. The Committee commented the amount of overtime the Ambulance Department had has gone down. The Committee asked if any of the overtime costs would be reimbursed by the State. The Mayor stated the funds available in the Emergency Disaster Fund would need to be expended first. Clerk/Treasurer Update — The Clerk/Treasurer stated Union 316 negotiations were ongoing. She wanted to make the Budget and Finance Committee aware of one of the financial items talked about during negotiations. She stated the City currently pays all of Employee Only health insurance and pays the same amount toward Employee/Child health insurance. She stated the City contributes $1,100 toward both Employee/Spouse and Family health insurance costs. There have been many questions over the years as to why Employee/Child receives a contribution from the City that equals Employee Only. During Union Negotiations this issue was discussed, and the negotiations team agreed that raising the Employee/Child contribution to match that of Employee/Spouse and Family would be a positive change. The Committee stated this has been a point of contention for some years and making this change may help resolve it. The Clerk/Treasurer stated the increase would be $187.87 per employee per month. Monica Salo stated she was there to support this change and stated the Union Negotiations team highly supports the increase. One of the Committee members, who also sits on the Insurance Committee, stated this topic has been discussed during Insurance Committee meetings and the Insurance Committee also supported the change. The Clerk/Treasurer stated her, and the Mayor met with the Police Chief regarding urgent upgrades to the Police Department's repeater, dispatch consoles, and radios. She stated the dispatch consoles went down during the 4th of July. She stated at this time she is not supporting any leases or loans being taken out by the General Fund. She stated until the State Legislature meets, she is not going to support any debt service being taken out because her fear is that the State Legislature is going to take away much needed revenues from the Municipalities. She did state that the Police Chief is looking into being able to pay for the upgrades through a combination of existing CIP funds, Federal Equitable Sharing Funds and 911 Funds. She also stated he is looking at hiring an outside grant writer to help obtain funding for the upgrade. Monica Salo stated Beartooth RC&D may have a grant writer on staff that would help the City with grant writing. The Clerk/Treasurer thanked her for this information and said she would investigate it. • Update from the Mayor — The Mayor stated the State of Montana is looking at a 400 -500 - Million -dollar budget deficit. He stated he is watching this closely and will be keeping tabs on the legislature when it meets for the new Biennium in January of 2021. He stated the decisions made during this legislative session could greatly impact the revenues of the City. He stated he was going to plan for the worst so the City could weather this storm. He stated planning is vital and he is going to continue to plan for the future of the City. He stated things like having dispatch black boxes go down during the 4th of July keep him up at night. He stated the City was in a more positive financial position until COVID-19 hit. He wants to continue to grow, address COVID-19 issues and try to get back to normal. Announcements — The next Budget and Finance Meeting will be held on Tuesday August 11, 2020 at 5:30pm Emelie Eaton will be reviewing claims for the next meeting The meeting was adjourned at 6:27pm NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop agenda items.