Columbus, Georgia

Minutes



Budget Review Committee



June 4, 2002







Present: Chairperson Evelyn Turner Pugh, Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers (arrived

at 4:27 p.m.) and Councilors R. Gary Allen, Berry Henderson, Robert Poydasheff,

Richard Smith, Nathan Suber and Evelyn Woodson (arrived at 3:30 p.m.) Mayor

Bobby G. Peters, City Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton Fay,

Finance Director Kay Love and Financial Planning Division Manager Angela Cole.



Absent: Councilors Julius Hunter, Jr. and Charles E. McDaniel, Jr. were absent.



Guest: Fire Chief Roy Waters.





Call To Order:

Chairperson Evelyn Turner Pugh called the meeting to order at 3:23 p.m. in the

Conference Room, Ground Level of the Government Center, Columbus, Georgia.



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NONOPERATING FUND:



City Manager Cavezza called attention to a document titled ?Nonoperating

Funds?. (A copy of this document has been filed for the record.) He explained

that this basically cover those kinds of funds that are outside of our

operating budget. He provided a brief overview of some of the items listed and

are as follows:



SBA (Small Business Administration) Loan: We talked about the SBA loan during

the discussion of the CDBG budget. Regarding the $104,000. for staffing, there

are continued discussions with Uptown Columbus, Inc. to see if they are going

to have the funds in order to have a loan program to which the loan has not

been acquired yet. There are no plans for allocating that money; unless, the

grant is there. We have the data, but it is not in the correct form to present

to the committee today, which shows the performance of that SBA program. He

said it is questionable as to whether we are getting out of it what we should

be getting out of it, but the other problem is what happens if we don?t have

that program, because where would small businesses go for a small business

loan. These are questions that we are going to have to address, and we would

keep the Council apprised of what is going on in this area.



He then asked if there were any specific questions regarding the document,

because the committee is already familiar with these funds.



Hotel/Motel: Chairperson Pugh asked about the Hotel/Motel fund, at which time,

City Manager Cavezza acknowledged that he did not quite recall what the

percentage of funding is, but basically what they do is split that percentage

out to the Sports Council and the Cultural Arts. He advised that he would

provide the exact amount of how much they split out. {After some additional

discussion, it was determined that they receive a total of $50,000.00 with

Sport Council receiving $25,000. and the Cultural Arts receiving $25,000.}



He added that because of the millage growth and the growth of the Hotel/Motel,

he believes that CCVB Director Ms Brenda Price has been giving each a little

bit more than $25,000., but he would provide some additional information.



County Drug Abuse Treatment: Chairperson Pugh asked who administers the County

Drug Abuse Treatment, at which time, Financial Planning Division Manager Angela

Cole replied that it is generally administered through the Police Department.

She pointed out that once a year they have a big kick-off regarding drug abuse

whereby they work with the schools. Mayor Peters added that it is the ?Drug

Free Rally?. When Chairperson Pugh asked about the amount of money they spend

from this fund, Financial Planning Division Manager Cole advised that they only

spend approximately $10,000; this fund is very restrictive as to what the

monies could be used for. Finance Director Love briefly explained that this is

penalty assessed which goes into this fund and is very restrictive as to its

use; therefore, the monies accumulate and sits in that fund, but they do have

these programs and if there is anything additional they plan to do; then, they

would use this money. She explained that for balanced budget purposes, we

budget the entire amount, which gives them spending authority. Finance

Director Love was then asked by Chairperson Pugh to find out if some of this

money could be used for staffing for these programs.



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NOTE: Councilor Evelyn Woodson arrived at 3:30 p.m.

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Metro Drug Force: Finance Director Love said that this account builds up as

well, but it is also restricted. She pointed out that they have purchased

replacement vehicles and special capital projects out of this fund. She added

that this money is

divided with the Police and Sheriff Departments. When asked if staffing is

funded through this money, Mayor Peters advised that the City pays the salaries

for the employees.



Penalty Assessments: Chairperson Pugh asked how the monies from this fund

would be used, at which time, Finance Director Love explained that we transfer

that into the general fund to offset the cost in the jail; we have it budgeted

to transfer, but don?t actually transfer the money unless we need to.



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BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (BID) BUDGET:



City Manager Cavezza had copies of the BID budget distributed around the

table. (A copy of this document has been filed for the record.) He recalled

that when the Council approved the BID, it was required that Uptown Columbus or

the BID board had to bring their budget forth each year. He said that they are

presenting two options for their budgets. He added that Finance Director Kay

Love attends the BID meetings. He pointed out that Option ?B? ($535,551.00) is

about $25,000. more than Option ?A? ($521,151.00), because they are planning

more money for marketing, if the money is available. He determined based on

reassessment that has happened in the Uptown area, they probably would have the

money to do this budget. After some brief comments by Finance Director Love,

Chairperson Pugh said that it was her understanding that they would not solicit

non-profit organizations, at which time, Finance Director Love explained that

there are a couple of nonprofit organizations that have made a commitment.

City Manager Cavezza pointed out that the Council does not need to vote on this

budget.



Uptown Columbus, Inc: Councilor Henderson recalled that the members of Council

had requested a copy of the Uptown Columbus, Inc. accounting of their funds.

City Manager Cavezza said that this information has been provided, but he would

obtain and distribute another copy to the members of Council. City Manager

Cavezza explained that there had been some questions on how the money that is

received by Uptown Columbus, Inc. is being used. He advised that Uptown

Columbus, Inc. went back and conducted an audit and has accounted for all of

the money. He said that Uptown Columbus, Inc. has begun providing all of the

Uptown merchants with an accounting of the monies immediately after each event

is held which shows a financial statement of how the money was spent.



At this time, City Manager Cavezza responded to various questions of the

committee members regarding security. Responding to further questions, City

Manager Cavezza reminded everyone that the Council controls $100,000. of Uptown

Columbus, Inc.



revenues and also the $105,000. for the SBA loan; therefore beyond that, the

Council has no authority.



City Manager Cavezza providing a brief overview of the two issues, explained

that the BID issue is well administered and has a sound board, but their

biggest complaint is that they don?t have enough security, because their

feeling is that since they have funding to hire extra security, that they don?t

get the normal security. He said that the other part is Uptown Inc., which is

a private organization that is not appointed by the Council; therefore, we only

control money that goes to Uptown Inc., and now there are questions about

Uptown Columbus, Inc. rules and regulations. He pointed out that there has

been some conflict between Uptown Inc and the business owners primarily over

the accountability of the money. He advised that we had a meeting with all of

the merchants, Uptown Columbus, Inc. and Councilor Woodson was also present.

He explained that we agreed to form a committee with the merchants and for them

to bring forth some recommendations.



Deputy City Manager Isaiah Hugley explained that this is a different committee

to be made up of the Uptown merchants and chaired by Lon Marlowe with CSU and

basically they would determine whether the event that is being recommended by a

group or merchant downtown meets the criteria as to whether the event would be

good for the community. Councilor Woodson added that this committee was formed

because the merchants wanted it, but this committee would not determine whether

an event is held or not. She explained that this committee is developing an

application for a process with Uptown Columbus, Inc., because in the past,

there has been no documentation of when someone has requested to sponsor an

event through Uptown Columbus, Inc. She said the big issue is whether Uptown

Columbus, Inc. is the only one authorized to sell alcohol on the streets or not.



City Manager Cavezza pointed out that the Council would always retain the right

to close streets and right now, the Council has given him the jurisdiction to

authorize alcohol. He added that no city that we can find authorizes the sell

of alcohol on the streets by private owners; they all do it through some type

of organization similar to Uptown Columbus, Inc.



There was continued discussion on this matter with the staff responding to

various questions from the committee members. Chairperson Pugh advised that

Councilor Allen has suggested that this matter be listed as a work session

matter. Councilor Henderson requested a breakdown of who is on this committee

and the businesses they represent. Chairperson Pugh asked City Attorney Fay to

provide a legal opinion, when this work session is held, as to whether the

Council needs to put something in ordinance form as to whether or not

non-profit and profit organizations could close a street.



City Manager Cavezza also briefed the Council on the stipulations in which he

approved the temporary street closure application that is listed on the Clerk

of Council?s agenda for tonight?s meeting.



Mayor Peters asked that the committee follow through on a discussion that he

had with CB&T about their parking garage. He maintained that there is nowhere

to park downtown and Mr. Milton said that he would look into this matter. He

said that this is something that the committee could follow up on.



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INDIGENT DEFENSE:



City Manager Cavezza updated the committee on a Supreme Court ruling in that

every indigent is entitled to a defense; regardless, of whether it is State

Court, Superior Court, etc.; therefore, we would need to hire two more public

defenders. He pointed out that we don?t have that in the budget; so, we would

like to try to work that to see if there is a need to hire two. Responding to

a question of Chairman Pugh, City Manager Cavezza replied that this is in

effect now. Mayor Peters maintained that it is only for the trial stage and

there is also a case that says that the State of Georgia should have to pay

that. Councilor Poydasheff added that if an individual could be confined in

prison for the offense; then, that individual is entitled to a lawyer. He said

that he would like for the staff to explore the concept that the Columbus Bar

Association should be providing pro bono and he wants the staff to determine

where we are with that.



City Manager Cavezza advised that we would probably come back to the Council

with a mid-year adjustment and deal with this issue. When asked how many

public defenders the City has now, City Manager Cavezza responded by saying

that there are ten. Financial Planning Division Manager Cole added that they

are contract employees.



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ADD/DELETE LIST:



There was some discussion regarding the .25 mills for economic development.

City Manager Cavezza gave an overview of the items listed on the add/delete

list that were approved and/or defeated at the May 28, 2002 Budget Review

Committee Meeting. He also mentioned that the $400,000. for economic

development was taken out of the general fund and moved to the new millage.



When City Manager Cavezza explained that the nine firefighters were removed

from the add/delete list, Councilor Poydasheff requested that the nine

firefighters be placed on the add/delete list for a vote with the effective

date to be January 1, 2002. Finance Director Love pointed out that the

additional cost would be $154,794.00.



#1



Add 9 Firefighter/EMT (PS10) effective January 1, 2003:



Councilor Poydasheff moved approval. Seconded by Chairperson Pugh.



Councilor Woodson said that she thought the reason this item was removed from

the list was because it really was not needed and that it could be brought back

at mid-year. Chairperson Pugh pointed out that Fire Chief Waters wanted the

nine firefighters when he was present at the previous meeting, but he had been

told that he would need to wait and that overtime was put into the budget.



Since there were different opinions regarding the comments that were made by

Chief Waters at the previous meeting, Chairperson Pugh asked that Fire Chief

Water be contacted and for him to appear before the committee today.



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NOTE: While the committee was waiting for Fire Chief Waters to arrive,

Chairperson Pugh suggested a brief recess with the time being 4:27 p.m. Mayor

Pro Tem Rodgers also arrived at this time.

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The meeting reconvened at 4:39 p.m.



City Manager Cavezza projected a savings, if the nine firefighters are

included, of $683,187.00, but if the nine firefighters are excluded, the amount

is $837,981.00. He continued to provide an overview of the results from the

add/delete list as voted on at the last meeting. He advised that the only

unresolved issue on the add/delete list is the nine firefighters.



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FINANCIAL PLANNING ANALYSIS OF FUND BALANCE:



City Manager Cavezza distributed around the table a document titled ?An

Analysis of Fund Balance?. (A copy was filed for the record.) He explained

that this is an abbreviated version of the financial plan looking out to 2007.

He reviewed the following assumptions:





? Calculated on General Fund.

? 2.75% growth in the digest.

? 1.34% average annual increase in all other revenues.

? 2% average annual increase in expenditures.

? No pay increase.

? Average salary is $31,659.00 based on 2001 actuarial report.



General Fund: City Manager Cavezza reminded everyone about the reason we have

a fund balance. He said that it assist the City with cash flow problems,

assist with credit ratings and could indicate a problem if there is not a

sufficient amount of fund balance. He added that it also assist us in terms of

debt. He explained that if we don?t have a sufficient fund balance; then, like

a lot of other cities in the country; then, there is the option of short-term

debt, which we have not had to do and would not want to do. He stated that we

have attempted to maintain ninety days and because of the economy, we have been

able to do that, but that has changed. He projected that if we go below sixty

days; then, he believes that we would have a problem, and in that case, we

would have to resort to short-term debt.



City Manager Cavezza, referring to FY-03, explained that there is a millage of

7.50 in the general fund. He pointed out that we started off this year with a

ninety-day fund balance and based on the 7.50 millage, we are generating $23

million. He maintained that the fund balance that was needed to balance the

budget was $5,425,000. which in affect brings our fund balance down to

seventy-three days. He said that if we equate the $5.5 million to millage;

then, that would be equivalent to $1.74 mills or 171 people, which is based on

the average salary of $31,659 from the 2001 actuarial report. He explained

that if we had to make up that $5 million that we took out of the fund balance,

and we did not have the fund balance to do it and we did not increase the

millage; then, we would have to reduce the workforce by 171 people.



In conclusion, City Manager Cavezza advised that if these assumptions are

correct; then, we would need to do something about the millage or reduce

employees or a combination of the two down the road. There were continued

discussions on this matter with Finance Director Love and City Manager Cavezza

responding to various questions.



Finance Director Love reported that the things that have not been considered in

these numbers are the vehicle insurance in 2005 and one million more dollars in

pension next year. Councilor Poydasheff said that we would need to come up

with some innovative ways to increase revenues. Chairperson Pugh said that we

are going to want to see more budget reporting on a monthly basis. Councilor

Smith suggested that if an item is put into the budget for the Council to vote

on funding or not and those items are not funded in the budget, it needs to be

identified exactly that this would require a mid-year adjustment, at which

time, City Manager Cavezza assured the committee that whenever we bring

anything to the Council, we would advise everyone of that.



At this point of the meeting with the time being 5:07 p.m., Fire Chief Roy

Waters was now present at the request of the committee members. Chairperson

Pugh informed Fire Chief Waters that we are trying to get a real clear

understanding regarding the firefighters and the ladder truck. She mentioned

that Councilor Poydasheff asked that we put nine firefighters back into the

budget and that would only amount to $154,794. because you already have

overtime in there and that would kind of offset the difference between that and

the $300,000. She explained that some of the Councilors wanted to hear you

talk about the analogy of the nine firefighters again. Councilor Suber then

asked if Fire Chief Waters needed the nine firefighters or if he was content

with the overtime, at which time, Fire Chief Roy Waters replied that he needs

the nine firefighters and what it is based on is several factors; first of all

it is to maintain minimum staffing on both the fire trucks and ambulances. He

explained that one of the primary concerns that he has right now is that

because of the call volume of the EMS and with that being recently certify;

they have to have the same amount of hours of training as we do, which is the

highest in public safety. He maintained that we have a difficult time meeting

that because they are out on calls; so, what we are trying to do is get enough

people to staff nine ambulances, which he understands EMS is funded for to

maintain those nine and still maintain minimum staffing on the truck. He

pointed out that he had asked for twelve and we cut it back to nine and now we

put an additional $200,000. in the budget to offset that to see if we can get

by. Councilor Smith asked these nine are for EMS, at which time, Fire Chief

Waters responded by saying no, they would be used on both and that?s what we

are doing right now. He said as a matter of fact, Chief Arrington has allowed

him to hire four firefighters in the place of paramedics that he has

appropriated right now, because he can?t hire paramedics, we can?t recruit them.



Regarding the concerns of adequate staffing of paramedics, Fire Chief Waters

stated that we have more ambulances in service since we started the new

staffing initiative about a month ago; than, we have had since we

consolidated. He explained that we are cross-training the firefighters, and by

the way, we are being more successful now than we have ever been and we are

putting firefighters/EMT?s along with one paramedic; then, we are taking a

paramedic off of the ambulance and putting he or she on the fire truck for two

reasons: number one to let he or she get the experience, so, they can compete

in the promotional process, and would be able to maintain their compasses and

their training hours for their state pension. He pointed out that we are

saving a little bit of money, but we are also accomplishing many things by

doing that, but we are not doing away with positions or anything like that. He

stated that right now, Chief Arrington can?t recruit paramedics; so, we are

doing the best we can to keep fire trucks and ambulances in service.



Mayor Peters stated that Fire Chief Waters had previously stated that he could

get by without the nine firefighters a while longer as long as we include the

overtime. He said that he believes what the committee members want to know is

do you need those nine firefighters January 1st or can you get beyond that with

the overtime, at which time, there were some comments made regarding allowing

the Fire Chief to hire two at a time. Fire Chief Waters responded to those

comments by stating that his preference would be to have them all at one time

to go ahead and get them through the firefighters training and put them in EMT

school, and that way with the certification, I could use them either as an EMT

or I could use them as a firefighter. When asked about the requested starting

date for the nine firefighters, Fire Chief Waters replied that he would like to

have them starting on July 1, 2002.



Councilor Poydasheff amended his motion to: Add the 9 firefighters for a

starting date of July 1, 2002. Seconded by Councilor Suber.



Councilor Allen asked if any of the nine firefighters would be reporting to the

new fire station that is coming on line, Fire Chief Waters responding by saying

no, regarding the new fire station in the East Industrial Park, we changed the

priority on it and the reason for it is funding, and we knew there were going

to be some real funding challenges; so, we moved it back somewhat so that we

could build the other stations that do not require staffing, bring it on at a

later time and then staff it; hopefully, funding permitted. He added that the

nine firefighters here, if that were approved, would have nothing to do with

that new fire station in the East Industrial Park.



Fire Chief Waters continued to respond to various questions of the committee

members, at which time, Councilor Suber once again asked about the need for the

ladder truck. Fire Chief Waters pointed out that we have four ladder trucks in

service now, but we have no reserve truck, because the reserve ladder truck is

in need of repair, and that would not be cost effective to do so.



After there were no additional questions for Fire Chief Waters, he departed the

meeting. Chairperson Pugh then called attention to the motion with Finance

Director Love informing the committee members that the cost would be

$309,588.00; this amount does not offset the overtime amount. This motion

carried by a vote of five to three with Councilors Allen, Rodgers and Smith

voting no and all others presents for this meeting voting yes.



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FINANCIAL PLAN:



City Manager Cavezza advised that we would provide the committee members with a

copy of the financial plan for reviewing purposes. Mayor Peters then requested

that Albright and Fortenberry receive all of the information that they need to

complete the audit report in October, Finance Director Love disagreed with this

comment, by stating that the information has to be out by September 30th, which

is the deadline as listed in the contract, and that date has never been missed

since she has been with the City.



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There being no further budget items for discussion, this meeting adjourned at

5:22 p.m.







Sandra T. Davis

Deputy Clerk of Council

Council of Columbus, Georgia