MINUTES SUBJECT TO CORRECTION BY BURLINGTON BOARD OF FINANCE. CHANGES, IF ANY, WILL BE RECORDED IN THE MINUTES OF THE NEXT MEETING OF THE BOARD. | |
BURLINGTON BOARD OF FINANCE
CITY HALL
BURLINGTON, VERMONT
MINUTES OF MEETING
March 21, 2016
APPROVED – 4/11/16
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mayor Miro Weinberger [arrived 5:21 PM]
Jane Knodell
Karen Paul [arrived 5:23 PM]
Sharon Bushor
Kurt Wright [arrived 5:20 PM]
OTHERS PRESENT:
Bob Rusten, CAO
Rich Goodwin, Assistant CAO
Eileen Blackwood, City Attorney [arrived 5:30 PM]
Susan Leonard, HR
Ben Pacy, HR
John Vickery, Assessor
Laura Wheelock, DPW
Martha Keenan, DPW
Chapin Spencer, DPW
Norm Baldwin, BPW
Nate Lavery, BSD
City Councilor Hartnett
City Councilor Roof
[Note: Minutes reflect the order of the published agenda.]
1.0 CALL TO ORDER and AGENDA
Until the arrival of Mayor Weinberger, Bob Rusten facilitated the meeting of the Board of Finance on March 21, 2016 and called to order at 5:17 PM.
1.01 Agenda
MOTION Jane Knodell, SECOND by Sharon Bushor, to approve the agenda. VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
2.0 PUBLIC FORUM
There were no comments from the public.
3.0 APPROVAL OF BOARD OF FINANCE MINUTES
3.01 March 7, 2016
MOTION by Sharon Bushor, SECOND by Jane Knodell, to approve the 3/7/16 Board of Finance minutes with the following correction(s)/clarifications(s):
· Item 4.01, FY16 Capital Budget, sentence reading: “Jane Knodell clarified the request for more information….” – insert “on other possible uses of the unassigned fund balance” after “more information”;
· Item 4.01, FY16 Capital Budget – note that Sharon Bushor made the friendly amendment.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
4.0 BOARD OF FINANCE APPROVAL
4.01 Authorize Legal Books and Westlaw Research Services
MOTION by Karen Paul, SECOND by Sharon Bushor, to authorize the City Attorney to enter into contracts with Thomson Reuters for legal books and Westlaw research services for a 36 month period beginning March 2016.
DISCUSSION: Attorney Blackwood stated staff is targeting as much as possible the resources needed. There were no further comments.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
4.02 Authorize Contract for Emergency Repair of College Street Parking Garage Elevator
MOTION by Karen Paul, SECOND by Sharon Bushor, to authorize the Public Works Director to enter into a contract with Bay State Elevator for up to $75,000 and use of contingency funds up to an additional $10,000 for emergency repair of the College Street parking garage elevator.
DISCUSSION: Sharon Bushor mentioned the ability to address emergency repairs immediately. Bob Rusten said the Mayor can do a budget amendment up to $50,000. There were no further comments.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
5.0 APPROVAL AND RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL
5.01 Reclassify BT Customer Service Rep and Residential Sales Consultant Positions
MOTION by Sharon Bushor, SECOND by Jane Knodell, to approve and recommend to City Council for approval the authorization to reclassify two Customer Service Rep positions and two Residential Sales Consultant positions to four Customer Service Sales Associate positions at BT.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
5.02 Issue Negotiable Bonds for Needed School Capital Improvements
MOTION by Karen Paul, SECNOD by Sharon Bushor, to approve and recommend to City Council for approval the authorization for the school commissioners to direct the CAO to pledge the credit of the city by issuing negotiable bonds in the amount of $2 million in FY17 for needed school capital improvements.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
5.03 Street Capital Carry Forward for Use in FY16 Street Capital Budget
MOTION by Sharon Bushor, SECOND by Jane Knodell, to approve and recommend to City Council for approval the authorization for use of $150,000 in Street Capital carry forward funds made available for use in the FY16 Street Capital Budget. VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
5.04 Amend Allocation from Unassigned Balance to Capital Budget
MOTION by Jane Knodell, SECOND by Karen Paul, to approve and recommend to City Council for approval the authorization to amend the budget allocating an additional $702,201 to the previously approved $525,000 for a total of $1,227,201 from the Unassigned General Fund Balance to the Capital Budget, and further, to consider at the Board of Finance meeting in April a further recommendation for use of the remaining Unassigned Fund Balance in connection with a city-wide reappraisal.
DISCUSSION: The following comments were made:
· Mayor Weinberger explained there is $3 million remaining in the unassigned fund balance after the commitment of $1.227 million and calling out near term for the city-wide reappraisal does not preclude considering the possibility of other potential uses of the unassigned fund balance. The Administration has not identified any other items to come forward as a competing use for the funds. The FY16 budget has $1 million of unassigned fund balance. It is envisioned when discussing the reappraisal and the budget that progress will want to be made toward the goals with the unassigned fund balance policy discussed last year.
· Sharon Bushor requested having discussion in April of where else the community would benefit by having additional dollars put in to augment what is already in place. Ms. Bushor said she was unhappy no one talked to her about whether or not to move this forward since it is a concern of hers. Ms. Bushor said the desire is to give the Administration feedback. Mayor Weinberger assured staff did go back and confirm use of the funds. There is the FY16 contingency money ($500,000) that is unspent. There are emerging needs, such as adding police capacity around the opiate challenge as one example. The Administration is looking down field to where the collective bargaining agreements are headed and the goal around the unassigned fund balance. It may be harder to get there in future years than in FY15 so if there is potential to set aside a good amount now to go toward the goal then that is important to do. Sharon Bushor clarified her suggestion is not to spend the entire $3 million amount, but to set some aside.
· Kurt Wright said there should be discussion of use of the undesignated reserve funds in support of having the police force in general at full numbers. Mayor Weinberger said the discussion can be later in April when more information is settled.
· Jane Knodell thanked the Mayor for supporting her request to discuss the reappraisal. The state is projecting that by 2020-2021 the CLA would be at a level to warrant a general reappraisal. There is concern about selective reappraisals and impact on rents in the city. Having the discussion is an investment in ensuring equity in property tax collection. A work session will be held on the property tax system and the roles of various entities, oversight mechanisms, whether the charter allows the Board of Civil Authority to assume responsibility or if a charter change is needed, and impact on rents. Reassessment of multi-family properties has the potential to work against some of the goals the city is trying to achieve with the Housing Action Plan. The issues are all connected.
· Kurt Wright said he has heard from owners of multiple properties. Tax increases will be passed on to the renters. If there is concern about affordability the city must be careful not to make Burlington less affordable.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
5.05 Authorize Vehicle Purchases for Parks & Rec and Fire Department
MOTION by Sharon Bushor, SECOND by Kurt Wright, to approve and recommend to City Council for approval the authorization to purchase vehicles for the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Fire Department with financing through a lease/purchase with KeyBank in the amount of $369,691.16.
DISCUSSION: Sharon Bushor thanked Martha Keenan for the streamlined attachment on the bids and the statement on maintenance. Bob Rusten noted staff discusses every vehicle request and whether a vehicles is really needed or not. There were no further comments.
VOTING: unanimous; motion carried.
6.0 ADJOURNMENT
With no further business and without objection the meeting was adjourned at 5:42 PM.
RScty: MERiordan