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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES OF THE LONG RANGE FINANCE COMMITTEE August 7, 2013 ROOM 404 The regular meeting of the Long Range Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, August 7 2013, in Room 404, at Oshkosh City Hall, 215 Church Avenue. The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Harold Buchholz, at 5:20 p.m. Members Present: Harold Buchholz, Jeff Herzig, Bryan Schulz, Jeff Thoms, Deb Allison- Aasby, and Tom Pech Jr. Members Absent: Doug Pearson, Matt Lauritch, and Jason Hirschberg Staff Present: Peggy Steeno-Finance Director and Lori Burns–Administrative Assistant Guests: Gary Gray, a Citizen of the City of Oshkosh I.APPROVAL OF JUNE 5, 2013 MINUTES No changes/updates. Motion to approve minutes was made by Herzig, Second by Thoms. Motion passed unanimously. II.CITIZEN INPUT None III.INFORMATION SHARING / HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS – (~5:20 – 5:50) A.Distribution of the recent Moody’s ratings – Steeno discussed the negative outlook assigned in 2012 and maintained in 2013 regarding the Storm Water Utility borrowing. The borrowing we are doing is not sustainable. If we continue on this path, the City would not be able to cover any shortfalls and would have to take money from the General Fund Reserves to make the debt payments. The city needs to continue to increase the Storm Water Utility rates. This year the rate was increased from 20.80 to 26.92. The elevated debt ratio is what is pushing it over. The entire increase this year was for debt coverage only, not for operating. Member Schulz asked if the utility has a three to five year model. Steeno stated yes, since 2009. This is the five-year CIP done by Public Works. There is a model done each time we do a borrowing. There is a borrowing model Sheet. Steeno stated Moody’s only cares that we are going to pay our debt. They do not look at the projects or assets. Their job is to tell the investors that we have the ability to make our payments, are we a credit risk. Steeno stated the Storm Water reserve is now over five million dollars and an Aa3 for a utility is pretty good. Member Thoms is concerned this could hinder the general obligation rating. Steeno stated no it would not. B.Recap of Council Workshop #1 for the 2014 Budget –(~5:50 – 5:55) Steeno shared the packet she used for this workshop to just keep the Committee appraised as to what is going on. The 15 – 20 pages of comparisons were data compiled by the Committee previously. Steeno stated the preliminary equalized value for 2013 is going down again. C.Distribution of the debt analysis provided to the Council –(~5:55 – 6:20) This was page 42 of the packet. G O debt only. In 2013, there was an extra three million. 2.6 million was for the EDA grant / Aviation TIF. In 2014 the goal is to not borrow any more than the 12.6 we are paying off. In 2010, 20 million was taken on for Storm Water Utility. D.Notify Committee of next council workshop – 8/14/13 @ 5:30 PM – (~6:20 – 6:27) Steeno stated this would be live on cable channel 10. This workshop would touch on the 2012 Audit, cuts, and the Health Insurance Fund. The next workshop, #3, th will be held on September 25 from 5:30 – 7:30. This would target the CIP and follow up with the regular process. Steeno is planning to release a budget around th October 15. E.Other – (~6:27 – 6:30) Citizen Survey. This was just an informational item for the Committee. Member Schulz stated he wanted to see this on the next meeting’s agenda. IV. EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT FUND - (~6:30 –6:50) A.Recap the work on this item to date. Steeno feels this topic is a top priority for the committee to address. The intent is to take the equipment out of the CIP. CIP is for infrastructure. The rule for CIP is; more than $10,000 and ten years, it is CIP. Less than ten years in life, it should not be in CIP. B.Plan to Proceed – Council will have to come up with a policy. The handout pages are just the work the committee has done to date. 1.Brainstorm 2.Define 3.Draft Policy – continue with this to come up with the best policy recommendation Steeno will gather sample policies from other area committees and email them to the Committee. V.NEXT AGENDA Review the Citizen Survey, short discussion. Draft Policy – Equipment Fund - by October have a recommendation to Council VI.ADJOURMENT Motion by Schulz, Second by Herzig to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.