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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-25-STB-BUDGET-FINAL-minutesSPECIAL TOWN BOARD BUDGET MEETING Town of Ulysses September 25, 2019 Audio of the minutes are available on the website at ulysses.ny.us. The meeting was held at the Ulysses Town Hall at 10 Elm Street, Trumansburg. Notice of Town Board meetings are posted on the Town’s website and Clerk’s board. ATTENDANCE: TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Supervisor- Liz Thomas Board members- Nancy Zahler, Richard Goldman, John Hertzler, Michael Boggs Deputy Town Clerk- Sarah Koski (excused during executive session) Project Assistant- Michelle Wright OTHERS PRESENT: none CALL TO ORDER: Ms. Thomas called the meeting to order at 8:04am. Ms. Thomas explained that today’s meeting was a continuation of last night’s Town Board meeting in which she introduced the 2020 tentative budget. Ms. Thomas made some changes to the budget after last night’s meeting which the board reviewed. No reserves were added to the B fund. Planning software funds expanded by $1,000; $30,000 was added to install heat pumps at town hall, and the town hall CE fund was increased for an anticipated electrical upgrade. After reviewing these changes made to the A and B funds, the board moved on to discuss the DA fund. Mr. Goldman asked about increases to employee benefits. Ms. Wright explained that in general, a 10% buffer is used to calculate employee benefits. There is an increase in benefits because of the addition of a new Recreation Director position and Recreation department staff. Mr. Goldman asked Ms. Wright where she got the state retirement numbers. These numbers are calculated by the state. Ms. Wright replied that there is a financial benefit to pay the calculated amount prior to the year being budgeted. Mr. Goldman was concerned that the highway department health insurance costs were quite high. Ms. Thomas and Ms. Wright said they will flag these numbers to make sure they are accurate. Ms. Wright suggested adding an executive session at the end of today’s meeting to go over the details of retirees’ retirement costs. Revenues in the DB fund – no property taxes are levied for this fund. Sales tax is one of the main revenues. In the DA fund, Capital equipment reserves number comes from the capital equipment plan. 2 DB fund – State requirements have changed which allows for some leeway between the DB5110.4 fund and the DB5112.2 fund (capital improvement funds for roads). Ms. Zahler will check with Mr. Stewart to see if more funds might be needed for oil and stone road improvements as the cost of oil is expected to rise. Ms. Thomas noticed that there is not a reserve fund for road repair and will check into setting up such a fund if allowed. Ms. Wright noted that Mr. Stewart recently acquired road maintenance software from the Cornell Local Roads program which will help to budget funds for paving. Ms. Zahler asked about the interest and earnings applied to the DB fund. Ms. Wright will be able to add the correct interest and earnings to each fund prior to adopting the final budget. Water District 1 (CARS) - There is a repair reserve that CARS could use if there are repairs needed to the line running from the Village line to the CARS facility. The town is currently negotiating a contract with CARS. Water District 2 (Sure Save) – there is no repair reserve since Sure Save is entirely responsible for repairs on their water line and the line is not significantly long. Ms. Zahler asked about plans for the Grassroots festival becoming part of Water District 2. Ms. Thomas replied that Grassroots is no longer pursuing that possibility at this time. Water District 3 (Jacksonville) - Water administration funds are used for the Town Clerks work. Ms. Zahler asked about the change in water units. Ms. Thomas replied that those units in the tax rate sheets and were based on numbers supplied by the Town Clerk. Water Transportation and Distribution funds are associated with the Water District Operator and any pieces of equipment needed to maintain the water system. There is an increase this year which will allow more remote- read radio meters. The debt repayment for building water district 3 has five more years of repayment. Money is being put aside in an equipment reserve to trade in the Water District truck in the future. HA Capital Fund – Water District 3 Aerator budget. This is funding and expenses for the entire aerator project, including engineering, legal and bonding fees, construction and debt service. Ms. Wright explained that multi-year construction projects are outside of the regular budget per the State Comptroller guidelines. The budget was created with input from MRB Engineering and Municipal Solutions (consultants). Mr. Goldman noted that the legal and bonding fees are nearly 20% of the projected bonding amount. Ms. Wright noted that the town needs to balance this fund year by year, and that with state grant reimbursement these numbers don’t tell the entire picture. Water District 4 – a small water district comprised of three houses on Dubois Road. Due to the small size of this district, the budget is correspondingly modest. Fire and EMS – Fire- only property tax can be used as a revenue. The EMS budget has some extra fund balance from billing that can be used as a revenue. 3 HB Capital Fund – Cemetery Road Bridge Replacement. Similar to the HA-Aerator fund, this is a fund that will balance from year to year. The initial budget was put together by the county. A BAN amount is projected for 2022 to cover cash flow during the construction phase of the project. There are three contracts related to this project: one with the state, one with Barton and Loguidice, and an MOU with the county. The contract with the state is with the Comptroller and the town cannot submit expenses for reimbursement until the contract is fully executed. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Ms. Zahler moved to go into executive session at 9:19am for the purpose of discussing the salary and benefits of a particular employee, seconded by Mr. Hertzler and passed unanimously. Mr. Goldman moved to end Executive Session at 9:37am. This was seconded by Ms. Zahler and passed unanimously. ADJOURN: Ms. Thomas moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:38am. This was seconded by Mr. Goldman and passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sarah Koski, Deputy Town Clerk 9/30/19