HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CC-2011-01-31
COMMON COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Regular Meeting 6:00 p.m. January 31, 2011
PRESENT:
Mayor Peterson
Alderpersons (9) Coles, Dotson, Rosario, Clairborne, McCollister, Zumoff, Rooker,
Cogan, Mohlenhoff
OTHERS PRESENT:
City Controller - Thayer
City Clerk – Conley Holcomb
Planning & Development Director – Cornish
Deputy Director of Economic Development – DeSarno
Youth Bureau Director – Green
Acting Fire Chief – Dorman
Superintendent of Public Works – Gray
GIAC Director – Fort
Director of Human Resources – Michell-Nunn
City Chamberlain - Parsons
EXCUSED:
Alderperson Myrick
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Mayor Peterson led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS:
2.1 Budget Strategy Session
Mayor Peterson previously released the following message and questions for Common
Council consideration:
“The City will likely face the most difficult budgetary challenges that it has seen in
decades. A worst case scenario could include a 2% property tax cap (or the CPI, which
ever is lower) on the levy with no exclusions, possible reductions in state aid, and it
remains unknown if any significant mandate relief will become available. Add to this
scenario the expected increase in pension and health insurance costs, and 2012 could
bring a deficit of 3.5 million dollars.
• What are your priorities for the city?
• What is your philosophy defining our core, essential services?
• What do you feel is your constituency's strongest needs for city services?
• How will/should the city look 5 years from now?
• What information might you need to lay out a strategy plan?
Mayor Peterson explained that Governor Andrew Cuomo would release his New York
State budget tomorrow, February 1, 2011, and that she has been invited to participate in
a conference call with Lt. Governor Duffy tomorrow morning regarding the Governor’s
proposal. In anticipation of reduced State aid and a newly created property tax cap, she
stated that she would like to begin to prepare a strategic plan for the 2012 budget, and
possible 2011 mid-year budget amendments. She stated that she does not believe a
blanket percentage reduction across all departments is the best approach for the City.
Mayor Peterson further reported that she has sent an e-mail to all departments
requesting information on what services the City is legally required to provide.
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A roundtable discussion followed on the floor with Council members responding to the
Mayor’s questions:
Alderperson McCollister:
What are your priorities for the City?
• Adhere to the City mission: Ithaca a great place to create, dream, live, learn,
work, play.
• Provide accountable, responsible government that allows us to do those things at
a tax burden people can afford.
What is your philosophy defining our core essential services?
• Focus on the basics first: clean air and water, streets and sidewalks in clean and
good repair, well-maintained parks and amenities; police and fire. I’m a
proponent of "broken windows" theory of urbanism set in 1982 by the social
scientists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, which states that monitoring and
maintaining urban environments in a well-ordered condition may prevent further
vandalism as well as an escalation into more serious crime.
• Understand the distinction between false economies, or short-run economies, vs.
long term impact and long-term investment. For instance, if you defer road
maintenance because you "can't afford it," you need to remember it’s much
costlier later to repair, both because of the time value of money and the more
things degrade, the more expensive they are to replace.
• There will always be trade-offs and nuances in what you do and don't support.
You can't support everything you'd like; nor should you.
What do you feel is your constituency's strongest need for services?
• The Third Ward experiences many town/gown tensions having to do with proximity
to Collegetown and Cornell: dilapidated properties, noise, garbage problems,
frictions between owner-occupants and renters. Thus, we depend heavily on
good police coverage to enforce quality of life issues, and good building code
enforcement. Those are the enforcement signals that make residents feel that
it's stable enough to invest in their homes.
• Like most other wards in the City, the Third Ward has an aging infrastructure of
water, sewer, gas lines, and roads. We need a coherent and streamlined policy
from the BPW to get thru the priority list for sidewalk and road repair.
How will/should the City look 5 years from now?
• Focus on economic development strategies that play to Ithaca's comparative
advantages. As dire as things are, it's important to remember that as a university
town we have unique strengths: a thriving food & wine scene, vibrant music, art,
theatre communities, a beautiful natural environment and waterfront, a historic
building and housing stock.
• More progress in shared services, cooperation, even consolidation among the 16
separate municipalities of Tompkins County. e.g, TCAT, SJC of the Waste Water
Management Treatment Facility, Health Consortium. At very least, better
coordination with the Town of Ithaca on planning, development and infrastructure
issues.
• Retire as much debt as possible, try to reduce the variance in the tax rates
among the various municipalities in the county so that we're not pitting one
municipality against the other. City will always be more expensive with so much
tax exempt property but hope in 5 years there's more regional focus.
• Examine value and cost savings of moving toward a city manager form of govt.
You'd have to pay more up front for a position, but over time the increased
efficiencies, accountability could result in substantial cost savings.
What information might you need to lay out a strategy plan?
• Need more budget review information. Have a consistent template: some
departments present in lengthy detail with many spreadsheets, (PW); others
submit a more narrative letter. I want to know what I'm evaluating.
• Need survey information that's not just Ithaca based, but regionally based.
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• Need accountability measures: better relationship between funding and
outcomes, different in the more intangible areas. For instance, easy to measure
whether streets in good repair because we see them; less easy to measure
outcomes such as in youth services and elsewhere.
• Want to get a handle on labor and pension costs, one of the biggest budget
items and where we have room to maneuver. Huge part of our budget
encumbrance. Public works and public safety are two of the largest budget
items, and both essential core part of government but they should not be exempt
from review.
Alderperson Coles:
Priorities for City –
During a financial crisis, my priorities for the City are:
• Public safety and well-being
• Maintenance of infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, snow removal)
• Fire protection
• Youth services
Defining “Essential Services” –
• Same as above
A.) We can best deliver those services by holding on to our experienced, devoted
staff as much as possible. Having to retrain new staff will be expensive and
ineffective and delivering essential services might be impaired.
B.) At a time of unemployment, underemployment, hunger, etc., the City’s values
need to be reasserted. Youth services for example, provide warm places,
food, guidance, learning and ultimately hope when those essential needs are
becoming increasingly scarce.
Five-year Picture –
Hopefully, in five years the City will look no different than it does now. “In time of crisis,
first do no harm”
What information do you need for a strategy toward our financial well being?
• What city operations are mandated by law?
• Salary freezes (what will be necessary to put this in place as a policy?)
• How can various departments be re-organized to maximize the City’s ability to
provide services?
• Is there greater efficiency of operations and services that we can achieve?
(Analyze jobs vs. service deliveries)
• What will actually be saved if we were to eliminate certain positions? (What are
bargaining restrictions, bumping rights, what can/cannot be negotiated with labor
units)
• Can borrowing for non-essential capital projects be deferred? The recent
practice returning as much of the operating costs to the operating budget might
not continue because we might have to borrow more for routine operations.
• More detailed analysis of the relationship between debt load and the cost of
borrowing. How might this change during economic hardships?
Alderperson Zumoff:
General philosophy –
Review the list of expenditures
• Consulting contracts (large expense) vs. youth pizza parties (smaller expense) –
how do you choose? Cut a few large expenses or more, smaller expenses?
• 2011 budget – perhaps expenditures approved as part of the 2011 should be
deferred in order to save money for 2012.
City Controller Thayer explained that the New York State Comptroller’s Office is
currently conducting a risk assessment of city operations. This may result in audits of
particular operations or areas.
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Alderperson Mohlenhoff:
What are your priorities for the city?
• For all residents to receive the best possible value for their tax dollar
• For city departments and staff to be responsive, efficient, and accountable
• For citizens to have open access to information that is easily attainable and
digestible
What is your philosophy defining our core, essential services?
This is easily defined in three sentences:
• What are we required to do by law or city charter?
• What should we do?
• What would we like to do?
I do not support an “across the board” cut for any reason. When households take a look
at their budgets, they cut out things like going out to eat, renting movies, and luxury
purchases. They do not cut money that goes to rent equal to money that goes to a night
on the town.
I support the development of city-wide performance measures. Performance measures
provide meaningful indicators of how dollars are expected to turn into results.
What do you feel is your constituency's strongest needs for city services?
• I believe this should be addressed through a scientific, data driven citywide
survey.
How will/should the city look 5 years from now?
• Vibrant neighborhood hubs that are attractive to retailers & developers that build
the tax base
• Completed waterfront trail with fully developed inlet and waterfront attractions,
retail spaces, and restaurants
• Early phases of a performance measures system are in place in all city
departments
Jim Collins, “Good to Great” talks about Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals –BHAGS
• Creation of a Government Center
• Implementation of a City Manager position
• Fast track retail development on city property
• 62% of city property is tax exempt; request relief from the State, expanded
PILOT programs
• Explore public-private partnerships (i.e. Golf Course, IMPP, etc.)
Little Ideas:
• Green Document Distribution practices –eliminate mailing agendas; use
electronic copies whenever possible; eliminate paper handouts; require all
documents to be double sided, etc.
• Website Improvements –staff time is spent on answering simple questions that
could be provided through a user friendly website
• Streaming Video of meetings –elimination of the production of meeting minutes
• Comprehensive Parking Management System –collection of data, increased use
of technology for collection, etc.
• One Sheet Budget Submissions -Require each department to submit a one page
budget cover sheet that provides comparable data
• Staffing adjustments –could some departments share admin support, would
increasing a position to 45 hrs per week be more cost effective, etc.
What information might you need to lay out a strategy plan?
• Analysis of essential services (what is required by law? What mandates directly
affect the city?)
• User friendly budget documents –an educated public is key to moving forward
• Budget that clearly identifies sources of revenue in comparison to expenditures
Mayor Peterson explained that the Performance Measures Working Group has received
an offer to have a professional, scientific, survey completed at reduced cost for the City.
This would be a phone survey, and the survey package will include data analysis. She
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stated that this will be an excellent way to obtain resident feedback on city programs
and services. She further noted that she will be revising the set of questions given to
Common Council members and will share them with neighborhood associations to
encourage neighborhood dialogs on these topics.
Mayor Peterson further reported that the Tompkins County Council of Governments
(TCCOG) will be discussing mandate relief, and she will be pursuing the topic of tax
exempt property due to higher education facilities.
Alderperson Dotson:
Priorities / Philosophy –
• Self-sufficiency into the future:
Land use / Building Code enforcement
Downtown Density
• Equity issues – don’t make disproportional cuts that impact people
Core Services –
• Life safety
• Safe water supply
• Well maintained infrastructure
• Transit service
Questions -
• How do we provide services? How can we change the way we look at things?
• The budget is a public process, and the City needs to hear from residents.
• The budget process needs to be fixed / the public doesn’t realize how the city is
funded
• Are shorter work weeks or furloughs an alternative to layoffs?
Information needed –
• Outline of labor negotiations / what do the costs and contracts look like?
• Overtime structures (how can you make reasonable cuts without increasing
overtime costs)
Alderperson Rooker:
Identified Needs –
• Housing / density / code enforcement
• Economic development
• City Manager
• Consolidation / fees for services
• Communication with the public: open, honest, consistent, concise, and easy to
understand
• Infrastructure – deferred maintenance is not a preferred option
• Youth services – investment in the future
Alderperson Rosario:
Philosophy / Essential Services –
• Government has an obligation to protect our natural rights of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness; balancing the individual’s self-interest with the community
interest in order to uphold the basic decency and dignity of all.
• What is essential towards meeting that obligation is securing our public safety
and that our most basic needs are met. For example, ensuring water is safe to
drink; that we’re living in safe, decent housing conditions; that our bridges,
streets, sidewalks are safe to use; that peace is maintained.
Priorities –
To help us further determine the prioritization of funding for city services, I thought it
might be helpful to propose a series of questions inspired by a resolution adopting city
budget priorities by the Fort Worth City Council in January of last year (2010) for their
current fiscal year 2011 and beyond. They defined priorities into two overall
service categories: “Public Services” and “Administrative Services.” Then they outlined
characteristics of these services in priority order to evaluate funding for these programs.
(The original 2010 resolution can be found at
http://www.fortworthgov.org/government/info/default.aspx?id=73352)
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I recast below their proposed categories and characteristics into questions to help us
determine prioritization of funding for our own services. These questions are integral to
determining a strategic approach to addressing our budget challenges, as opposed to
ad hoc and “across the board” steps.
Public services are those services provided by the City that have a direct impact on
residents of the City. In order of priority:
1. Does this public service have an immediate or near-term effect on public safety
or require emergency response?
2. Does this public service meet a requirement established by federal or state law
or regulation, a requirement of the City Charter, or an existing long-term
contractual obligation?
3. Will this public service, if not provided, have a long-term and potentially severe
effect on the general public?
4. Is this public service necessary in order to construct, reconstruct and or maintain
City infrastructure?
5. Will this public service, if not provided, have a long-term, but not severe, effect on
public safety?
6. Does this public service provide funds to the City through a direct revenue-
generating or collection function, or by leveraging additional dollars through
grants/other support?
7. Does this public service have a beneficial effect on the lives of a significant
segment of the population and do not constitute the core service of any outside
entity?
Any other public service, program or activity that does not meet the priorities set
forth above shall be considered a complementary service.
Administrative services are those services that have an indirect impact on residents of
the City. In order of priority:
1. Does this administrative service meet a requirement established by federal or
state law or regulation, a requirement of the City Charter, or an existing long-term
contractual obligation?
2. Will this administrative service, if not provided, have an immediate or imminent
effect on the ability to deliver a core service?
3. Will this administrative service, if not provided, have a long-term and potentially
severe effect on the organization?
4. Will this administrative service, if not provided, eventually have an effect on the
ability to deliver a core service?
5. Is this an administrative service that is beneficial, but not critical, in the delivery of
a core service?
I would include the following additional questions:
• Can we reduce costs of those services deemed most essential without negatively
impacting their delivery?
• Can these services be shared with other municipalities? If so, what would the net
savings be?
Can these services be contracted to a private provider without negatively impacting their
delivery? If so, what would the net savings be?
Additional considerations:
Over 70% of our budget is made up of personnel costs, and the rising costs of
employee benefits has erased (and set to outpace) the increase revenue from sales
taxes (employee benefits costs grew from $9.5 million to $12 million from 2007 to 2011,
while sales taxes grew from $9.5 million to $12 million from 2005 to 2011). With all
labor contracts up for negotiation this 2011, there is no doubt that the City’s fiscal future
hinges on what we obligate ourselves to. Our goal should be fair, reasonable and
financially sustainable agreements.
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With over 60% of the City’s property tax exempt, our 8 year old memorandum of
understanding with Cornell University regarding its voluntary contribution needs to be
updated.
Alderperson Cogan:
Priorities –
Constituent services would need to be ranked alongside internal services; however, he
would need information regarding what services the City is legally required to provide in
order to complete that task. He stated that he does not believe that residents currently
receive full value for their taxes.
How the City should look in five years -
• Transition to a City Manager form of government
• Have fewer Common Council members
• Have a standard format for departmental submissions to the budget and that all
Common Council members should receive these submissions electronically
Alderperson Clairborne:
Essential Services –
• Quality of Life issues: Youth services, public safety
• Economic development: mix of national chain and local businesses, increased
amount of accessible, mixed housing
• Creative ways to support human resources (ie. workforce management, shared
resources)
• Maximize financial resources in delivery of services (“roll over” incentives)
Information Needs –
• What services is the City legally required to provide?
• Ways to balance financial needs with the taxpayers ability to pay
Constituent Needs –
• Street maintenance
• Listen to local expertise
• Balance tax level with debt level
Alderperson Rooker noted that Alderperson Myrick was not able to attend the meeting;
however, he relayed that his definition of essential services included infrastructure
maintenance, Planning Department, Building Department, Ithaca Police Department,
Ithaca Fire Department, and Youth Services.
Mayor Peterson noted that the City’s economic development meetings have included
County representatives, and the City also participates in the Tompkins County Council
of Governments (TCCOG). The City has joined in discussions about the following inter-
municipal initiatives:
• Creation of a Center of Government
• Consolidation and shared services
• Health Insurance Consortium
• Youth Services (Recreation Partnership, and Town of Ithaca financial support for
use of Cass Park)
• Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant
Recapping the meeting, Mayor Peterson noted:
• Legally required services: information is being collected from all 13 departments
and will be disseminated when available
• Budget template: she supports the idea and noted that it has been attempted in
the past. She requested volunteers to work on this initiative. Alderpersons
Mohlenhoff, Coles, Rooker agreed to work on this issue along with the City
Controller.
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• Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with Cornell and Ithaca College: the
Cornell MOU (voluntary contribution) is 8-years old. If they were required to pay
property taxes, they would be paying approximate $24 million instead of the $1.1
million contribution they currently make which is linked to the CPI
• What services generate revenue? A system to analyze revenue generating
programs need to be developed (assess each department or overall program?)
• Property Tax Cap: A number of articles have been distributed for Council’s
information
• User fees / tiered structures: A number of issues are currently being studied such
as parking management, trash tag fees, use of city property, etc.
• Desirable development: development doesn’t always equal lower property taxes
and should be reviewed carefully
• City Manager / City Administrator form of government: this topic was reviewed
extensively 8 years ago and a job description was created. Common Council
should review the materials that have already been developed. This initiative is
not a “quick fix” as it requires a mandatory referendum and cost issues need to
be taken into consideration.
Alderperson Clairborne noted that a change in the structure of government would shift
the duties of the Mayor and how Common Council would interact with both the Mayor
and the Manager/Administrator. He stated that he believes this would remove a layer of
accessibility between the public and their government.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding the public groups that are discussing this
topic and the informational series the local media will be running on different structures
of government.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
______________________________ _______________________________
Julie Conley Holcomb Carolyn K. Peterson,
City Clerk, CMC Mayor