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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES OF THE LONG RANGE FINANCE COMMITTEE September 5, 2012 ROOM 406 The regular meeting of the Long Range Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, in Room 406, at Oshkosh City Hall, 215 Church Avenue. The meeting was called to order by Chair Harold Buchholz, at 5:15 p.m. Members Present: Harold Buchholz, Jeffrey Thoms, Bryan Schulz, Matt Lauritch, Jason Hirschberg, and Doug Pearson Members Absent: Jeff Herzig, Tom Pech Jr., and Deb Allison-Aasby Staff Present: Peggy Steeno-Finance Director I.APPROVAL OF AUGUST 1, 2012 MINUTES No discussion/changes. Motion by Hirschberg, Second by Schulz, to approve the Committee Meeting Minutes of August 1, 2012. Motion passed unanimously. II.CITIZEN INPUT None III.INFORMATION SHARING/HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS (~5:20 – 6:00 ) A. Cancellation of October 3, 2012 Meeting Staff requested that no meeting be held in October due to budget preparation work. The Committee agreed to the cancellation. B. Possibility of a Special Meeting if Requested by Council Due to the ongoing budget processed, the Committee discusses the possibility of a Special Committee Meeting if requested by Council to consider any time sensitive, budget-related items. C. 2011 Audit Staff informed the Committee that the 2011 Audit is now completed. Staff also distributed the link for online access of the entire audit, and offered a printed copy of the audit to any Committee member that wanted it. The content of the audit, including the auditor’s opinion, which was ‘unqualified’ meaning no issues, was discussed. Auditors are th attending the September 11 Council meeting to give a presentation on the outcome. Discussion followed regarding the opportunity to get the CAFR award and steps required to receive this. th D. Discussion on article in the newspaper September 5 The Committee asked about the article on the upcoming budget process and the situation the City is facing with increased labor costs for its three represented groups – Police, Fire, and Transit. It was discussed that the 2012 budget was completed anticipating that all employees would be contributing a greater amount for health insurance and paying the entire employee share of the WI Retirement System contribution. The City will need to cover about 1.2 million dollars in labor costs for these three units. Fund balance will be impacted and may go below what the Fund Balance Policy states. The Fund Balance Policy was approved by Council with a minimum balance goal of 16% of general fund revenues. The potential deficit in 2012 will need to be covered. The Committee discussed whether they need to make a statement regarding the Fund Balance to the Council. Suggested was an official reminder to urge Council to take the 2012 deficit into account when setting the 2012 tax rate. The Committee feels that would be premature. The Committee decided that if the Fund Balance goes below the amount called for in the Policy that would be the time to consider a communication to council. Staff will communicate the Committee’s concerns to the City Manager so that he understands the Committee’s feeling on this. E. Budget Kickoff Packet Staff shared the assumptions given to the departments for creating their 2013 draft budgets. 2013 pay / raises were discussed. It was explained that a 1% Merit Pool for those employees in the pay for performance range and step increases for the employees not up to the PFP range yet are going to be included in the draft that goes to Council. The new classification and compensation plan was also discussed, and a question was asked regarding the City loosing people with the new pay scales put into effect. Staff could not confirm or deny that that was the reason but it is certainly a possibility. There was a comment that this could make the City lose some talented employees. It was discussed that the City Manager is having each department complete a 5% Savings Options exercise. Due to the known increases in some areas, this is going to be necessary to balance the 2013 budget. While not all of the options provided to the City Manager will likely be used, it would be extremely hard to arrive at a balanced budget for 2013 without some changes. The Committee commented on the impact of the central garage renovation on the budget and CIP. The Health Insurance Fund was also discussed. The Committee discussed the current tax rate and the potential to increase it in order to replenish the fund balance back to levels as stated in the policy. IV.COMPARISON OF CITY OF OSHKOSH SPENDING (BY FUNCTION) TO THE SPENDING OF OTHER WI COMMUNITIES 7 (~6:00 –:00) The report to Council has been refined since the last meeting. The Committee reviewed the layout of the report and memo to be presented to Council in the very near future. Staff will complete the revisions agreed to and get an updated draft to the Committee by email so that it can be sent to Council for their first meeting in October (October 9). At this point in the meeting (6:45 pm) there was a motion by chair Buchholz to continue the meeting another fifteen minutes. Motion seconded by Thoms and passed unanimously. The discussion on this item was wrapped up. V.BRAINSTORM ON CONTENT OF MAILER TO BE INCLUDED WITH PROPERTY TAX BILLS This item was deferred until the November Meeting. VI.DISCUSS PRIORITIES / TOPICS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS This item was not discussed. VII.ADJOURNMENT Motion and second to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.