20210817 - Finance Committee Recap

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Finance Committee Recap Thursday,August 17,2021 at 12:30 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Mark Vaughan, Tina Folch and Jen Fox; City Administrator Dan Wietecha; Assistant City Administrator Kelly Murtaugh,Finance Manager Chris Eitemiller, Senior Accountant Ashley Bertrand, Police Chief Bryan Schafer,Fire Chief John Townsend, Community Development Director John Hinzman, Parks&Recreation Director Chris Jenkins, Public Works Superintendent Mark Peine, and City Engineer Ryan Stempski Chair Vaughan called the meeting to order at 12:34 p.m. Chair Vaughan opened the meeting with a description of the change in time allotment and structure of the meeting. Wietecha gave an overview of the balanced budget proposal before the Committee. It represents a balanced budget, incorporating a 5%increase in the property tax levy. Each Department Head then presented and fielded Committee questions for the budget recommendations. Chief Schafer addressed questions related to the overall equipment replacement plan,hybrid vehicles and radio updates. Chief Townsend reported that staffing continues to be a challenge when trying to best serve the community. He addressed questions about the wages for Paid On-Call Firefighters and the proposed Fire Inspector position. Hinman addressed questions on personnel proposals and the storage needs currently met by the UBC building. Murtaugh addressed questions about the Elections, Communication, and Information Technology budget requests. Wietecha provided highlights about the compensation& classification study and, City Hall boilers, and Community Investment Fund in the Administration budget. Jenkins addressed questions about the proposed Parkkeeper position and proposed fee increases. Councilmembers discussed items that were not part of the proposed budget that have been proposed recently. Peine and Stempski addressed questions about equipment and projects that are included in the proposed budget. They also responded to questions about projects not included in the proposed budget. Councilmembers resumed discussion about the Administration proposals and Wietecha responded to questions about the CIP/CEP,Community Investment Fund, and Diversity Equity& Inclusion proposals. The Committee discussed the tax rate in relation to inflation and the Consumer Price Index as well as possible usage of ARPA funds. The Committee reviewed the next steps in the process which includes a Council workshop, followed by the Council meeting on September 7. Motion to adjourn at 3:43 p.m. Fox, Vaughan 3 Ayes 0 Nays