HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-23-1996 Budget Work Session
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FINANCE COMMITTEE
(Budget Work Session)
COMMISSION-COUNCIL CHAMBERS
January 23, 1996
5:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Hons. Larry E. Sconyers, Mayor; J. Brigham,
Chairman; Handy, Vice-Chairman; Bridges and Beard, members; Jim
Wall, Interim Attorney; A. B. McKie, Jr., Controller; John
Etheridge, Human Resources Director; Charles Dillard, Interim
Urban Services Administrator; Linda Beazley, Interim Suburban
Services Administrator; Max Hicks, General Supt. of Waterworks
Operations; Drew Goins, Asst. Com. of P.W. & Director of
Engineering; Walter Hornsby, Asst. Administrator; George
McElveen, Director of Water & Sewerage; Tom Wiedmeier, Director
of Water Pollution Control; Lena Bonner, Clerk of Commission-
Council and Nancy Morawski, Deputy Clerk of Commission-Council.
Also Present: Wayne Partridge and Sylvia Cooper of the
Augusta Chronicle, Gale Mino of WBBQ Radio, other members of the
news media and Hons. Todd, H. Brigham, Kuhlke, Zetterberg and
Powell, Commission members.
Mr. McKie: I would first like to report to you on something
you asked me to do at the last meeting and that is to try to work
out a cash flow model for the Golf Hall of Fame so that they can
"meet their timetable for the completion of their project.
Basically, we can take some $250,000 out of our general reserves
and advance to them before the sales tax money starts coming in
and then allocate sales tax money through the remainder of the
year and take care of their needs. Our model on the sales tax
project and theirs differs by some $600,000. Our collections
would not allow us to do it all by the end of September as we
would have liked to so we will have two more months tagged on.
But we can work this out within our current schedules.
Mr. Handy: I move for approval.
Mr. Bridges: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: At the last Public Services Committee meeting
the new proposed water rates and water rate study was presented
to you. There was some concern about the overall drop in cash
flow and its impact on our budgets next year. It was projected
at that time that the cash flow would fall short some $1.5
million dollars. We were asked to look at that and see if we
could recommend some changes or review it to possibly come up
with a revenue neutral cash flow for the two systems which
accomplishes the same goals. That is, all persons in-city, out-
of-city and county would be on the same rate, no matter which
system. The south Augusta base rate of 3,000 gallons in the
amount of $14.70 is the base which we're beginning with and the
west Augusta rate should fall and the City of Augusta rate should
go up as well. Additionally, we looked at the concept that we
might change some elements of cost from fixed to variable so that
those who use more water would pay a higher total dollar amount
and in doing so, it would not necessarily impact their monthly
bill that much. We made those changes and I can report to you
that the new rates that we will propose at the next committee
meeting will keep that $14.70 south Augusta rate the same. The
average for the homeowners in south Augusta before the 10,000
gallon usage per month will drop anywhere from 20 cents to 40
cents so there is a decrease on that system. The only people on
the south Augusta system who will pay more are those who use
30,000 gallons a month or more and based on a 30,000 gallon
usage, their bill will increase $3.10. On the west Augusta side,
before 30,000 gallons a month, the drop ranges from $6.64 to
$7.38 per month for the average bills. Above 30,000 gallons,
there is a comparable drop. In the city before 10,000 gallon
range, it is an increase from $1.55 to $2.29 and again, these are
per month. The industrial rates almost all come down
considerably so we will have a much more competitive industrial
rate structure in the future than we've had before. We are
comfortable with this and recommend it to the Public Services
Committee. I have a couple of things I would like to add. One
is to ask the engineers to develop two additional water rates
which might help in community development. One is a raw water
rate which could be used for any incoming industry that wishes to
have non-processed water. We have a number of wells in the
county and we are drilling more. If we could devote raw water to
an industry and attract them with that at a very cheap rate, then
I think that would give us a competitive advantage or something
to advertise to lure industry. The other, for processed water,
is to develop an incentive rate for the first five years for
. water rates such as we have with ad valorem taxes on amendment 65
in the urban area and 73 in the suburban area. I would not
propose that we give away free water but that we do develop a
discount rate so that they are charged basically variable costs
for the water and we don't worry about the capacity charge. The
capacity charge is designed to cover the fixed cost of the plant
and that's our water system. With a new industry that would not
affect our capacity that much. Our main cost would be our
processing costs so if we sold at that rate for five years, we'd
be revenue neutral for the new industry and give them a
substantial decrease. I'll write this up and further explain it
but that's something I'd like to propose as well as the rates.
Also in the water rate structure there is Canal revenue which
heretofore has gone into the water system and become
indistinguishable from any other water revenue. Back in 1989
when the then City set up the Canal Authority, it was thought
that the Canal revenue would be used to fund that. Since our new
rate structure has accomplished everything that we want to and
will be revenue neutral, I would propose that we do take the
Canal revenue and move it to the Canal Authority fund, which is
under the total control of Council unlike some of the other
Authorities and is fully integrated with the government's books.
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You have total control over expenditures. There is no
discretionary spending on their part. You would not relinquish
control of that revenue; it would simply be dedicated to the
Canal and the development plan that the Authority has worked out.
They hope to go to washington this spring and are looking for
some substantial federal capital grants. In their entire capital
program they are short some $4 million dollars over ten years.
So if we could devote that $400,000 per year for ten years, I
think we could demonstrate that we have sufficient local funding
to take care of that capital program and perhaps induce federal
government grants.
Mr. Handy: I move we receive it as information.
Mr. Bridges: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: I have one thing to report to you that Mrs.
Beazley, Charles and I discussed. We are moving some departments
around in terms of where they are budgeted from old County to old
City. The Sheriff's Department is doing all the ordering and
basically is administratively controlling the Jails and the
Police Department. For ease of operations they are placing all
of their purchase orders through the County purchasing system.
So consequently, we have moved the City Police and Stockade
budget over to the County ledger. Conversely, the Fire
Department is doing just exactly the opposite and we are moving
the County fire funds and associated revenue over to the City
general ledger. This is for administrative ease. By adding the
County fire group to the City general fund, the revenue for the
former County Fire Department was based on insurance premium tax,
ad valorem tax in the suburban district and business and
occupational licenses in that district. There was a tax cap for
ad valorem tax which caused considerable financing problems for
that Fire Department for a number of years and was the principal
reason that we were always short of equipment or our personnel
staff did not meet the necessary ISO requirements. By placing it
in the City general fund, we would be able to use other revenues
such as court fines, transfers from the County side to support it
so that we can endorse at least some of the additional fire-
fighters that the Chief is requesting. Also, it would give you
an opportunity to make a decision on the pay disparity. It gives
us a latitude to address some key issues that we would not have
had had we kept it in a separate special revenue fund. We do
need to speak to the delegation about making a change in that tax
cap to give us the administrative ability to move these things
around. We're just trying to make things easier on operations.
On the water side I meant to mention something. When the
Committee meets again, we are going to propose a restructuring of
the debt of the two systems into a combined system debt
consolidation. That will do two things for us. Principally it
will give us a level debt structure out through the year 2010.
Right now we are facing early, heavy payments which go down in
the future. If we level those out, we can save about $2.5
million in cash flow to the system and about $1.5 million over I
the next two or three years. The second thing it does is that it
eliminates the restricted covenants on the tap fees in south
Richmond County that have been somewhat of a hindrance to
development and will allow you to go back and set countywide fees
so that everyone will pay the same tap fees. In the bond
covenants that we propose, we could develop some restrictive
language such that the cash flow savings generated by this
restructuring is submitted to renewal and extension first after
debt service so that we begin to build back the integrity of the
two.
Mr. McKie: Glenn is going to tell you about the 1995
unaudited results.
Mr. Greenway: First I'd like to talk about the general fund
and these are preliminary figures. The general fund revenues are
about $1,150,000 over budget. Expenses in the general fund are
about $650,000 under budget which equates to about $1,800,000
surplus in the general fund which is about $600,000 less than
last year but is still good. This is strictly for the County.
Special revenue funds did show using more funds but that was
specifically budgeted. Capital projects, we spent a lot less so
we showed about $16 million dollars added to fund balances but
those funds are committed. The water system looks like it will I
be about $3.7 million to the good and landfill, we have not
analyzed the post closure and closure costs. It will probably
take another two to three weeks to determine those numbers.
Mr. McKie: We will next have the department heads who were
scheduled to make their requests to you. You have information in
your packages on these requests. There is very limited endorse-
ment for any new personnel requests. The exception would be in
the public safety area for the firefighters because that has a
direct bearing on our public safety. We would like to have Human
Resources and the administration team review all available
positions and see if we have any excess employees that might be
transferred as a result. The only ones we would endorse at this
time would be public safety and professional, principally
engineering. These are discrete jobs that you will not likely
find a qualified person in another department. Insofar as the
disparity goes, the total cost of the Fire Department pay
disparity is $782,000. That is split about half and half between
the lower ranks and the Lieutenants and above. Over at the
Sheriff's Department, the issue is complicated by the fact that
you have two dissimilar pay schedules and a longevity system in
place for the City that does not let us make a clean cut at a
certain rank. We thought we could do that and recommend that we
initially address pay disparity only for Privates so that we
could hire new people and get on with the public safety efforts. I
In reviewing it, we really can't do it because we have a number
of Privates that have in excess of ten years of service or five
years of service and if we address only Privates, we have new
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Privates or those with longevity making more than Lieutenants who
have not been adjusted. We think we will have the funding to
address that this year if we hold the line on the tentative
budget that has already been passed, if we do not add new people
except the minimum number necessary, we think we can address the
disparity on both of those departments but recommend that HR or
an appropriate body come back to you with recommendations
specific to individual jobs and levels. I think we will have the
funds during the course of the year. John feels that he can do
it and begin with Public Safety first.
Mr. Etheridge: I think we can do it and it would be better
to begin with Public Safety. I know it will take us about a
month to take a good look at both areas. We're ready to do it
and can probably begin next week in the Public Safety area.
Adding personnel is not necessarily the best way to solve
problems.
Mr. Kuhlke: Didn't Mr. Brigham give you that approval at
the last Committee meeting? I think that's already been done.
Mr. Etheridge: Back through the Committee that Human
Resources falls under, Administrative Services.
Mr. Kuhlke: That's right.
Mr. Etheridge: We're ready to go.
Mr. McKie: We'll begin with Engineering Department.
Mr. Goins: I'm requesting three additional positions in the
Engineering Department. We've lost five of our eight engineering
positions and we're requesting to fill three positions, one in
the design area, one in the contract administration area and the
other in the Traffic Engineering area.
Mr. Bridges: I move that we receive this as information.
Mr. Handy: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: Next is Mrs. Attaway with the Inspectors
Department. We need the position of Commercial Building
Inspector filled in our department. We would still need this
positions filled after we merge with our County counterpart
because he is also short-staffed.
Mr. Handy: I move that we receive this as information.
Mr. Brigham: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: Next is the Port Authority, Mr. Rick Toole.
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Mr. Toole: I'm a volunteer working as Chairman of the
Augusta Port Authority. We lost our Executive Director a little
over a year ago and an assistant was hired and he was lost in the
reduction in force in June. My secretary and I have been acting
in their places. This Authority really needs full-time attention
as well as clerical support and we could use the help.
Mr. Handy: I move we receive this as information.
Mr. Beard: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: Next we have Mr. Dave Whittington of the City's
Carpenter Shop who handles a multitude of work throughout the
urban services area.
Mr. Whittington: We provide all the carpentry work,
painting, plumbing and maintenance for the inner city. At this
time I have four people and we have done around 450 to 500 jobs a
year. I'd like to fill some positions if I could in order to
maintain the level of craftsmanship that I have over the past
years.
Mr. Handy: I move that we receive this as information.
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Mr. Beard: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: We now have Mr. Barry Smith of the Trees, Parks
and Cemeteries Department.
Mr. Smith: I have asked for two Superintendents in the
Cemeteries, one for Cedar Grove and one for Westview. Westview
has the most burials of the three and Magnolia is very historical
so we need someone there to greet the public and do the clerical
work. We need laborers in the Cemeteries. I'm also asking for
park attendants for Riverwalk and Pendleton King Park. It's a
seven-day a week operation and if it is to remain that way, we do
need the help. We also need tree pruners #1, #2, #3 and other
personnel in Trees & Parks, including an equipment foreman. I'm
asking for 26 people to bring us back to what we were in June and
it would be a total of $313,000 in personnel. We would also be
glad to use inmate laborers if we can get them, especially in the
Cemeteries. I was told that we could no longer get inmate
laborers at this time.
Mrs. Beazley: I had discussed that with the Sheriff. He
says that he cannot send the inmates out to work without a
certified guard and he does not have enough to send people out
with the inmates. RCCI can possibly schedule those crews but
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they would have to have a guard with them. We learned this
morning that they are not going over to North Augusta either and
working and that was an agreement that the City had with them
that they would supply some of the inmate labor. I told the
group this morning that I would talk to the Sheriff about that.
He feels that he cannot allow the prisoners to go out and work
with City employees because if they escape, then that's a
liability and he can't do that.
Mr. Smith: The problem will come in the spring when the
growing season starts. Right now we can handle it.
Mr. Todd: You may need to request s~me certified guards.
Mr. Kuhlke: I'd like to know how a person becomes a
certified guard and would it be possible for some outside
agencies to provide the help we need on an as-needed basis?
Mr. Smith: I'll look into it.
Mrs. Beazley: I can answer the first question. As to the
certification of guards, it's my understanding that you could
take one of your employees, send him out to RCCI and Warden
Leverett has a 20-hour program and they can be certified. They
may have to be certified every year and maintain that certifi-
cation but it's my understanding they don't have to be full-time
certified deputy sheriff. It just has to be a certified guard
and he has a program to certify employees to do that.
Mr. Smith: I'm ready to go whenever you are.
Mr. Brigham: Can you get any community service people?
Mr. Smith: We do get a few but not on a regular basis.
Mr. Beard: I so move that we accept this as information.
Mr. Bridges: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Ms. Nelson: Back in September we submitted letters with
documentation to all departments and outside agencies that were
approved in the referendum to come back and make their funding
requests and prioritization of projects. Once these were
gathered, they were then matched against our collections. The
urban district is well within the allocation and has a little bit
of contingency available. The suburban district has four or five
projects that are requesting to be considered out of turn, such
as Skinner Mill Road, Whitehead Drive area, Belle Terrace, Public
Health facility, part of the Discovery Center, part of the Golf
Hall of Fame and part of the Recreation complexes in south
Augusta. We are $3 million dollars over what we are expected to
anticipate for collections and it will be up to you to make any
decisions as far as what projects will be pushed back.
Mr. Beard: I move we receive this as information.
Mr. Bridges: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
Mr. McKie: We have Mr. Tom Beck here from the Recreation
Department.
Mr. Beck: We have a couple of new requests. There are two
positions that need to be addressed and one is at Savannah Place.
We got a grant three years ago for Savannah Place and with the
grant was a request for two full-time people and two part-time.
We already had one full-time person in place and this request is
to fund the second position, which is a full-time park
maintenance worker. This position was originally approved but it
was not funded last year and we have a person in the job
currently in a temporary slot. This request would fund it full
time. The second request is for a full-time recreation center
coordinator at Minnick Park on Kissingbower Road. We have a
temporary person in there with a good program and a lot of
activity going on.
Mr. Beard: I move that we accept this as information.
Mr. Bridges: Second.
Motion adopted unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting
was adjourned.
Lena J. Bonner
Clerk of Commission-Council
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