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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-24-2003 Meeting I FINANCE & APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ROOM - November 24, 2003 2:00 P. M. PRESENT: Hons. Bob Young, Mayor; Shepard, Chairman; Hankerson, Co- Chairman; Bridges and Williams, members; Harry James, Staff Attorney; George Kolb, Administrator; E. W. Reece, Tax Assessor; Lena Bonner, Clerk of Commission. . Also Present: Stacey Eidson of the Metro Spirit, Heidi Williams ofthe Augusta Chronicle, other members of the news media and Hons. Cheek and Colclough, Conimissioners. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS: 2. Declare the items listed on the attached sheets as surillus and available for auction. 3. Receive as information anno.uncement o.f the 2003 Public Auctio.n o.f surplus/excess go.vernment pro.perty fo.r December 13, 2003 at 1568 Broad Street, Augusta, Geo.rgia. 4. Appro.val o.f an Addendum to. the agreement with A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. to add Merrill Lynch & Co.mpany for Augusta Richmo.nd Co.unty go.vernment to. maintain the services o.f an investment banker to. pro.vide o.ngo.ing financial adviso.ry and underwriting services for debt-financing and refinancing o.n current and future debts. I 6. Mo.tio.n to appro.ve the purchase o.f 28 video. camera units at $4,750 each to.taling $133,000 fro.m Kusto.m Signals, Inc. (so.le so.urce vendo.r). 7. Co.nsider abatement o.f 2003 taxes o.n Map 140, Parcel 7.02. 8. Appro.ve refunds o.f taxes o.n ten acco.unts paid in erro.r fo.r vario.us reaso.ns; see attached fo.r years and amo.unts. 9. Mo.tio.n to. appro.ve Augusta Public Transit's grant applicatio.n to. the Federal Transit Administratio.n (FT A) and to the Georgia Department o.f Transportatio.n (GDOT) fo.r FY 2003 Discretionary Statewide Bus Program. (See backgro.und info.rmatio.n under Item 5 on Public Services agenda) 10. Mo.tio.n to. approve additio.nal funds in the amount o.f $125,000 fo.r court appointed legal services. 12. Consider abatement o.f 2003 taxes o.n property acquired by the City. I 13. Motion to amend the Augusta Richmond Co.unty City Co.de by adding a new Section 3-7-32 for municipal airpo.rts to. prohibit weapons. 1 Mr. Chairman: Second. I Mr. Bridges: I so move. Motion adopted unanimously. 1. Consider a request fro.m HarvestPo.intUnited Pentecostal Church fo.r an abatement o.f 2003 taxes. At this time Rev. Walker appeared before the Committee regarding the above item. He stated that he thought the tax exemption had been filed on the property at the closing and discovered that it had not been filed. Mr. Reece: They acquired the property in December but they were making renovations and it was not available for use until after the first of January. Therefore, it does not meet the requirements for being exempt for tax purposes for the year 2003. Rev. Walker: It was used for storage purposes as of January 1. We started using the house for Sunday school in February. Mr. Bridges: I make the motion that we abate the taxes for 2003 for the church. Mr. Williams: Second. I Motion adopted unanimously with the Chairman out. 5. Reports from the Internal Auditor regarding Recreation Department Audit - Administrative Office, Recreation Facilities, Co.mmunity Centers and Parks. At this time Mr. Cosnahan appeared before the Committee and dis.cussed the findings concerning their audits of the various offices in the Recreation Department. Mr. Bridges: I make the motion that we accept this as information. Mr. Hankerson: Second. .Mr. Chairman: Could we amend the motion that the auditor check again during the first quarter of next year to be sure that the corrections have been made as recommended? Mr. Bridges: I'll accept that. Mr. Colclough: I think the department head or the Administrator should let us know that the items have been corrected. I 2 I Mr. Kolb: I agree that the department head should respond back. Mr. Howard noted that some steps had already been put in the place to make the necessary changes. Mr. Hankerson: I would suggest that the Finance Director follow up on this. Mr. Bridges: I'll accept that instead of having the auditor follow up. . Motion adopted unanimously. 11. Report fro.m the Senio.r Citizens Co.uncil for the month of Octo.ber, 2003. Mr. Hammond made a presentation regarding the above report. Mr. Bridges: I move that we receive this as information. Mr. Chairman: Second. After a short discussion, the motion was adopted unanimously. 14. Discuss the renewal o.f the contract between ARC and the Co.liseum Authority and the refinancing of the Co.liseum Authority's bond indebtedness. (Requested by Commissioner Bridges) I Mr. Bill Johnson with Banc America Securities appeared before the committee and explained that savings will be achieved with the refinancing of the bonds. He stated that they are asking for a renewal of the contract so that the refunding bonds can be sold. Mr. Kolb: We have been discussing this with them and are proposing a change to the contract. When the bonds were first issued, there was not enough hotel/motel tax to pay the debt service so they added the 30% beer tax in order to meet those payments. That is no longer the case today. What was actually pledged, as I understand it, was 50% of the hoteVmotel tax and 30% of the beer tax. In2002 we sent them a payment of$2 million dollars and the bond payment was about $1.2 million so there was an excess of about $800,000 ofhoteVmotel tax that went to the Coliseum. We are proposing that Augusta would take care of all of the obligations of the bond indebtedness including sinking funds and all reserves that have to be taken care of but that we not designate a funding source for it. To pledge 100% of the hoteVmotel, which would be near $4 million dollars, is more than paying off the debt service for the Coliseum. Mr. Jolmson: George and I have a meeting scheduled for December the 9th to discuss this further. I After a discussion, Mr. Kolb: I believe the current contract says 50% ofthe hoteVmotel tax and 30% ofthe beer tax, not 100%. This contract says all revenues 3 derived from the levy of the hotel/motel tax and that is $3 1/2 million dollars and that is more than enough. You start taking money away from the CVB and they get the other half of the hotel/motel tax. I don't think that it should be a percentage. It should be that we will pay whatever debt obligations that the Coliseum may have with respect to this issue. If you choose not to take it out of the hotel/motel tax, you can do that. Y Oil would have that option. The point is today under the current arrangements, you do not have that flexibility and you should have it. I Mr. Bridges: I'm going to make the motion that George and Jim bring a recommended contract back to us after their meeting on December 9. I make that in the form of a motion. Mr. Hankerson: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Lena J. Bonner Clerk of Commission nwm I I 4 I FINANCE & APPROPRIATIONS AGENDA COMMITTEE ROOM - November 24, 2003 2:00 P. M. 1. Consider a request from HarvestPoint United Pentecostal Church for an abatement of 2003 taxes. 2. Declare the items listed on the attached sheets as surplus and available for auction. 3. Receive as information announcement of the 2003 Public Auction of surplus/excess government property for December 13,2003 at 1568 Broad Street, Augusta, Georgia. 4. Approval of an Addendum to the agreement with A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. to add Merrill Lynch & Company for Augusta Richmond County government to maintain the services of an investment banker to provide ongoing financial advisory and underwriting services for debt-financing and refinancing on current and future debts. 5. Reports from the Internal Auditor regarding Recreation Department Audit- Administrative Office, Recreation Facilities, Community Centers and Parks. I 6. Motion to approve the purchase of28 video camera units at $4,750 each totaling $133,000 from Kustom Signals, Inc. (sole source vendor). 7. Consider abatement of2003 taxes on Map 140, Parcel 7.02. 8. Approve refunds oftaxes on ten accounts paid in error for various reasons; see attached for years and amounts. 9. Motion to approve Augusta Public Transit's grant application to the Federal Transit Administration (FT A) and to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for FY 2003 Discretionary Statewide Bus Program. (See background information under Item 5 on Public Services agenda) 10. Motion to approve additional funds in the amount of$125,000 for court appointed legal services. 11. Report from the Senior Citizens Council for the month of October, 2003. 12. Consider abatement of2003 taxes on property acquired by the City. 13. Motion to amend the Augusta Richmond County City Code by adding a new Section 3-7-32 for municipal airports to prohibit weapons. I 14. Discuss the renewal of the contract between ARC and the Coliseum Authority and the refinancing of the Coliseum Authority's bond indebtedness. (Requested by Commissioner Bridges) I I I