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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES OF THE LONG RANGE FINANCE COMMITTEE December 5, 2012 ROOM 406 The regular meeting of the Long Range Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, December 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, Bryan Schulz, Doug Pearson, Matt Lauritch, Deb Allison-Aasby, Jeff Herzig, Jason Hirschberg, and Tom Pech Jr. Members Absent: Jeffrey Thoms Staff Present: Peggy Steeno-Finance Director and Lori Burns–Administrative Assistant Guests: Gary Gray, a new resident to the City of Oshkosh I.APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 5, 2012 MINUTES No discussion / changes. Motion by Hirschberg, Second by Pearson, to approve the Committee Meeting Minutes of September 5, 2012. II.APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 7, 2012 MINUTES No discussion / changes. Motion by Pearson, Second by Pech, to approve the Committee Meeting Minutes of November 7, 2012. III.CITIZEN INPUT Guest Gary Gray - did not wish to address the Committee. IV.INFORMATION SHARING/HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS ~ (5:15 – 5:45) A. Discuss 2013 Budget Process Staff explained the 2013 Budget Process and the changes made this year to improve th the process/document. The budget was approved by Council on November 27. On the night of approval, the Council added back $549,638 to the Levy. $199,100 to Fire, $65,300 to Museum and Library, $17,400 to Senior Services, $137,000 to Capital Equipment, and $130,838 to increase the Fund Balance to comply with the Fund Balance Policy (this is the expected shortage in meeting the FB policy as of 12/31/2012). However, we will not know how year-end numbers come out until the spring of 2013, when all year-end work is completed. An analysis on the fund balance in relation to the policy will be completed at that time. Member Pech discussed his motion, at the Council meeting, to increase the Levy even more. This vote was lost, 2-5. Chair Buchholz asked Council members if they have th received any feedback since the budget was passed on the 27. Member Allison- Aasby received three handwritten messages, however nothing negative yet. Member Pech received some feedback stating they understand why he suggested what he did, but they were not in total agreement of the taxes being raised by that amount. Staff will put together an analysis, at a later date, showing what the approximately one million in equipment fund will save in the long run. The long-term goal is to create a revolving equipment fund that will be built up on an ongoing basis. However, that is not possible with these funds. These funds will be put directly towards the new equipment, etc. to lower the amount of debt the City takes on for these items in 2013. There was a brief discussion on what monies could be used to create such a fund, but the Committee decided to wait until a later meeting to get into those details. The topic of an equipment replacement fund is already on the Committee’s list of priorities and will be discussed in 2013. A discussion on educating the public followed, and the Committee remains steadfast in its thought that the City should continue to focus on getting the word out and educating the public on City matters. B. Discuss 2013 Tax Rates Staff provided information to the Committee on the established tax rates for 2012 tax bills. Overall taxes are increasing by approximately 2.9%. An example was given on a house with an assessed value of $100,000; the taxes would be going up about $65 for taxes, plus the cost for a garbage cart. By way of tax bill details, every taxing entity had an increase except the State. All information needed to create the tax bills has now been received by the state, and staff is finalizing the bills. The bills, along th with the insert will be mailed on December 7. C. Tax Bill Insert Staff thanked the Committee for their input on this year’s insert. Even with tight timing, we were able to get a lot of feedback that improved the end product that went out to our citizens. Committee Members felt the insert was improved compared to the one put out last year (which was the first time ever that an explanatory insert had gone out with the tax bills). There were some suggestions made for next year that staff will work on to improve the insert even more. V.DISCUSS PRIORITIES / TOPICS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS ~(5:45 – 6:15) Communications from Council / Mayor Staff shared the details on what the Mayor and Council have expressed that they may want the Committee to take on in the upcoming year. Five of the items are; 1) Debt, 2) More details on comparable spending for other WI Communities, 3) Capital Equipment Fund, 4) Find ways to grow the City’s Tax Base, 5) What to do with funds after TIF’s close, (one-time closure funds), Economic Development Initiatives, Capital Outlay. There will be much more on this in coming months. VI.ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES There was a discussion to recap the November Meeting agenda item on this topic due to so many members not being able to attend that meeting. It was decided that staff would request that Community Development Director, Allen Davis come back to the next meeting to go through this again. In addition, the Committee asked about the Prager Study and how it might affect the Committee. Staff will send out hard copies of the study to those that requested it, and the remaining members will read it online. VII.ADJOURMENT Motion by Pearson, Second by Schulz to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.