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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES OF THE LONG RANGE FINANCE COMMITTEE November 7, 2012 ROOM 406 The regular meeting of the Long Range Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, in Room 406, at Oshkosh City Hall, 215 Church Avenue. The meeting was called to order by Chair Harold Buchholz, at 5:20 p.m. Members Present: Harold Buchholz, Bryan Schulz, Doug Pearson,Matt Lauritch, and Deb Allison- Aasby Members Absent: Jeff Herzig, Jason Hirschberg, Jeffrey Thoms, and Tom Pech Jr. Staff Present: Peggy Steeno-Finance Director and Lori Burns–Administrative Assistant Guests: Allen Davis, Community Development Director, Kelly Nieforth, Economic Development Specialist, three UWO Students, and a new resident to the City of Oshkosh I.APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 5, 2012 MINUTES Approval held over to the December 5, 2012 meeting. II.CITIZEN INPUT Guests introduced themselves, but did not wish to address the Committee. (Note: Order of Agenda Items Changed - Item V. was held prior to item III.) III.INFORMATION SHARING/HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS ~ (6:05 – 6:40) A. Review of Comparison of City of Oshkosh spending (by function) to the Spending of Other WI Communities Report Presented to Council on October 9, 2012. th Staff let the Committee know that the report was delivered to Council on October 5, and th presented at the October 9 Council Meeting. There was a lot of positive feedback received from Council regarding the report. And, the Council concurred that the Committee should continue to look into the items noted, specifically the debt burden. B. Discuss 2013 Draft Budget Staff walked the Committee through the Executive Summary previously sent out to all Committee members in mid October. Other items discussed were: (1) Fees – departments are using the format that the LRFC established, and three departments have already brought these forward to council for approval, (2) debt burden, (3) comparable city spending, and (4) new format of the budget including the performance management initiatives. C. Added Item for Discussion by Council Member Allison-Aasby Member Allison-Aasby explained to the rest of the Committee that she would be suggesting (as a Council Member) that the Committee take on some items that will assist the Council in the next year or so. Member Allison-Aasby met with Mayor Tower to discuss items/tasks that they feel they need to continue with for future budget decisions. We should expect Council to assign some additional tasks as well as identify items on the current topics list that are priorities for the Council. Chair Buchholz stated the Council needs to give clear direction to the Committee. This topic will be brought forward in the near future. IV.2012 TAX BILL INSERT ~(6:40 – 6:45) Members discussed the samples they received from Staff as well as commented on the 2011 insert so that improvements can be made for this year’s insert. The consensus is to keep the dollar bill graphic for this year as it was so well received. Suggestions followed on a few modifications that could be made, including updated charts and an explanation of the link between the operating budget and the capital improvement plan. A suggestion was made to add some of the positive things that were accomplished during the year, i.e. garbage / recycling. Staff will create this year’s insert and send a draft to the Committee (if time allows) prior to including with the tax bills in early December. V.ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES A. GUESTS – Allen Davis, Community Development Director and Kelly Nieforth, Economic Development Specialist(~5:20 –6:05) Strategic Plan – Regional Revolving Loan Fund Community Development Director, Allen Davis, introduced the tasks given to him upon employment with the City. The strategic plan, economic funding / revolving loan fund, healthy neighborhoods / revitalization, TIF’s, and CDBG funding. Davis outlined the new law that went into effect to extend the life of a TIF one more year if th used for revitalizing neighborhoods. This takes a TIF from 27 years to a 28 year with the funds from the last year going to ‘improve the City’s housing stock’. Davis handed out a TIF chart that was put together by him and Finance Director Steeno. The status of the TIF’s was discussed briefly. The Committee is expecting the Council to request that LRFC make a recommendation on what should be done with the City’s portion of excess funds upon closure of a TIF. With CDBG funds being reduced substantially, the Regional Revolving Loan Fund is a viable and valuable option for the City to look into for economic development initiatives. Davis and Nieforth explained the concept of the Regional Revolving Loan Fund. They explained that the city needs approximately one-half million dollars to buy into the pool. There is currently approximately $6.6 million available in the pool. Businesses can ask for up to $500,000 loans initially, and then more in later years. There will be a process for them to go through to obtain the loans. Discussion followed on who will be administering this. The Administrator could be a public or private entity. The purpose of the Regional Revolving Funds is to de-Federalize the monies, providing more local control and availability, providing much more leeway on what can be done with the money. Loans are usually for private businesses, rather than not for profit entities. Any questions can be directed to Allen Davis or Kelly Nieforth. VI.ADJOURMENT Motion by Lauritch, Second by Schulz to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.