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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1996-09-05 TOWN OF ITHACA SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 6, 1996 8 : 00 A. M. At a Special Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County, New York held at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York there were present : PRESENT : Catherine Valentino , Town Supervisor ; Carolyn Grigorov, Councilwoman ; David Klein , Councilman ; Ellen Harrison , Councilwoman ; Edward Conley , Councilman ; Mary Russell , Councilwoman ; John P . Wolff, Councilman . ALSO PRESENT : Joan Lent Noteboom , Town Clerk/ Director of Administrative Services ; Daniel Walker, Director of Engineering ; Fred Noteboom , Highway Superintendent ; Jonathan Kanter , Director of Planning ; Andrew Frost , Director of Building and Zoning . EXCUSED : John Barney, Attorney for the Town . CALL TO ORDER : Supervisor Valentino called the meeting to order at 8 : 15 a . m . , and led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance . Supervisor Valentino stated that the purpose of this meeting was for a budget workshop . Supervisor Valentino - Each Board Member has received the estimated fund balances . The cover sheet for each fund shows the estimated for end balance . Councilman David Klein - The second page shows the budget appropriation fund balance transferred to revenues . Is the estimated fund balance with or without the transfer? Joan Lent Noteboom - The appropriated fund balance of last year automatically goes into the fund , it is either received or spent . That would not be figured into this . The appropriated fund balance has already been appropriated for the ' year of this budget within the total revenues or the total appropriations for the year. Councilman Klein - Have these already been drawn ? Mrs . Noteboom - Yes . Supervisor Valentino - . The adopted budget , revenues and expenses , would balance out including that amount . Councilwoman Ellen Harrison - Why is the total of the estimated revenues significantly lower than the actual revenues of last year? TOWN BOARD MINUTES 2 SEPTEMBER 6,1996 Mrs. Noteboom - These are estimated revenues from August 1 to December 31 . These estimates ar based on what the Town has already received this year and what is anticipated to be received until year end . The Town ' s revenues will be lower. Councilman Klein - The second column has the appropriated fund balance? Mrs . Noteboom - Yes . Councilman Klein - Would the transfer show up in the final 'column? - . Supervisor Valentino - Yes , because it would not show up in revenues . It would only show in the Town' s expenditures . This shows the real anticipated revenues less the appropriated fund balance . Mrs . Noteboom - The cover sheet total is what we anticipate to be the actual physical cash . Councilman Klein - Does the estimated fund balance of $ 313 , 113 . 00 include the $ 163 , 647 . 00 amount of budget appropriated previously? Mrs . Noteboom - Yes . Councilman Klein - The Town is projecting a surplus of approximately $ 137 , 000000? Mrs . Noteboom - Yes. The Town would have recouped between $ 231 ,414 . 00 and $313 , 112 . 00 thi year , so we will have a little more this year than last year . Supervisor Valentino - Some of the things that we noticed were the estimates of interest that are substantially higher than what was estimated in the budget . The. Town 's sales tax money is ahead of what was estimated in the budget . The fund balance at the end of the . year , after internal adjustments , looks like we are going to be close to where the Town was last year . The Department Heads have put in a tremendous amount of time by going through the account number -categories to track revenues in relation to the expenditures . Youth programs have taken a huge amount of time to sort through to figure out where they belong in the appropriation lines . Most of the categories coincide with what the State says on where the accounts should be . The staff has been able to track the expenditures and revenues in a better way. We have taken a few numbers and eliminated categories that were miscellaneous accounts . Joint Services has been broken down into paper supplies , computer cost supplies , etc , to help the staff keep . better track of expenditures for supplies . It will be a Tittle harder this year to look at the numbers because there have been significant changes . to comply more closely to the State regulations . The Town will be developing a budget that will be easier for people to understand and track . It will more accurately reflect things in the proper accounts . Some of the revenues were not showing in their proper accounts , so with the help of the Department Heads , the Town is beginning to get a budget that accurately reflects expenditures in the proper lines . TOWN BOARD MINUTES 3 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 Mrs. Noteboom - The Estimated Fund Balance sheets are a tool for the use of developing the budget . The Town Board can use these balance sheets to determine the amount they may wish to appropriate towards the 1997 Budget , Councilwoman Harrison - What could the Board do with this other than reappropriating this toward the budget ? Mrs . Noteboom - By law , there are two things that need to be done . If there is an excessive fund balance consistently, several years in a row , the Comptroller requires that it be reappropriated into the budget, or you must turn it back to the County , so they can lower the tax rate . Most Towns would use it in the budget process . Supervisor Valentino - Some of the fund balances seem to be growing every year. We need to review them. The way the money has been invested and broken out into different categories is being sorted out because it has not been accounted for or tracked very well . All the money is there , but it might be in the wrong categories . Mrs. Noteboom - VVe have been over budgeting in some areas which made the fund balance increase each year. Supervisor Valentino - We are getting more comfortable each day with getting a handle on things . Services to other government monies is the 1 % sales tax received from the County as reimbursement for some of our programs such as the Learning Web and Gadabout . Mrs . Noteboom - They will be in their proper account codes next year . Councilwoman Harrison - There are two different packets here . How do they relate to each other? Mrs. Noteboom - There is a Department Head estimate to what they are expecting to spend until year end . Councilwoman Harrison - Is this the Supervisor' s recommendations ? Mrs . Noteboom - No , the estimated balance is just a tool . Councilwoman Harrison - The last column is for the estimated total appropriations for 1996 ? Mrs. Noteboom - This is just an estimate for what the Town is going to spend between August 1 and December 31 . Councilwoman Harrison - This would be a new column for the estimated actuality for 1996? TOWN BOARD MINUTES 4 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 Supervisor Valentino - Yes . These should be very accurate numbers , unless there is a big expense that comes up in the meantime . The Supervisor' s recommendation for 1997 would be the tentative budget . Mrs . Noteboom - The Department Heads , the Supervisor, and I will finalize the numbers in the 1997 Budget estimate Department Head column . Then the Supervisor and I will work (week of September 16 through September 19 ) to finalize the tentative budget with the Supervisor's Recommendations . The Supervisor will file it with the Town Clerk as the Tentative Budget . The Tentative Budget will be presented to the Town Board on October 3 at the regular Town Board meeting . Supervisor Valentino - The only thing that will not be changed would be the salaries of the elected officials . Mrs . Noteboom - Their salaries can be changed before the Board adopts it as the Preliminary Budget , but once it has been adopted as the Preliminary Budget , the salaries cannot be raised , they may be lowered . Fred Noteboom - On Page 10 , Sale of Equipment ( B2665) , the Highway Department anticipates approximately $8 , 000 . 00 next year for the sale of equipment . On Page 14 , Services to Other Governments ( 62300 ) , is what the County pays the Town to snow plow Counter roads . The County said that the Town should receive approximately $ 13 , 255 . 00 next year . Sale of Equipment ( DB2665) , would be approximately $24 , 000 . 00 . Miscellaneous ( DB2770 ) , has not been budgeted before , but the Highway Department does bring in some miscellaneous revenues at times . Councilman Klein - Do you know what the 1994 revenues were for the Highway Department? Mr. Noteboom - No . Gail and I plan to start tracking revenues in 1997 , but a lot of revenues were not passed along to the Highway Department from the Accounting Department . The new accounting package will keep better track of revenue items for each department . Councilman Klein - What would be miscellaneous revenue ? Daniel Walker - If a developer paves a road and did not do a good job , and they want the Town to fix it , they will pay the Highway Department to repave it . Mr. Noteboom - CHIPS (DB3501 ) , would be 546 , 000 . 00 for next year . I am a little worried about that because the Town was originally told they were going to receive $48 , 000 . 00 , but after the State budget was passed , the number changed to $46 , 000 . 00 . Councilman Wolff - Is the CHIPS funding based on a formula ? TOWN BOARD MINUTES 5 SEPTEMBER 6, 1996 Mr. Noteboom - It is based on the miles of road that you have . The more miles of roads you have the more money you get . Capital projects need to be separated from the maintenance projects , and they need to be kept in balance . The Village and the City receive more than the Town . Councilwoman Harrison - Where would the expenditures be toward the bikeways? Mr. Noteboom - In the 87140 account. The construction accounts will be on Page 12 , ( 8714402) , they are used for building these structures and for the bikeways or parks . Supervisor Valentino - The construction account will be used to complete some of the ADA requirements that need to be done next year. Mr . Noteboom - When the budget was done last year, there was not a clear- cut answer of the expenditures for ADA. Since then a representative came in to help us determine some less expensive methods of doing things . Councilwoman Harrison - What is in the construction estimate ? Mr. Noteboom - I put in approximately $50 , 000 . 00 for the 1997 budget to see what direction the Town Board wanted . There are a number of undeveloped park sites and trails , if the Town does not start budgeting for them in a consistent manner , they will never get completed . Councilwoman Harrison - The $ 50 , 000 . 00 estimate for the coming year, is not money that is required to do the ADA improvements? Mr. Noteboom - Approximately $ 10 , 000 . 00 will be . Councilman Klein - Will the construction be related to a Park Plan ? Mr. Noteboom - Yes . Supervisor Valentino - When we did not receive the money from the two grants for the trails , we decided to budget those monies to move forward on the bikeway and walkway trail project . Jonathan Kanter - There have been discussions with Mr. Baldwin , was one of the key owners of the William and Hannah View Bikeway . Mr . Baldwin feels he is ready to move ahead with the legal process for easements and land transfers . There will be a community meeting to start designing the project . Mr. Noteboom - The Highway Department turned back a lot of money a few years back because we could not accomplish the work . TOWN BOARD MINUTES 6 SEPTEMBER 5 ,1996 Supervisor Valentino - The item that impacted the budget for this year were those related to flood repairs . Councilman Klein - Approximately $ 100 , 000 . 00 was for the flood damage . Other construction was not completed because of those repairs . Councilwoman Harrison - The Board talked about setting up an account or Fees In Lieu of Park Land , how is that being handled ? Mr . Kanter - That is a special account . Mrs. Noteboom - A new line item could be set up in the revenue section of the { B } Fund for those fees . Councilwoman Harrison - Does the Board want to establish a Capital Fund to contribute money towards land acquisition for construction ? Mrs. Noteboom - That would need to be done through a separate fund . Attorney Barney says we can not set up . an actual Capital Reserve because of legal requirements . The staff will be working on a way to structure this within the budget so it would be identifiable . It would probably be in its own separate cash account . Councilwoman Harrison - The construction needs to be realistic as to what can be accomplished in a year. The Board may not want to put in $ 500 , 000 . 00 because we would not be able to spend that kind of money , but on the other hand , the Town might want to put additional money beyond what projects for reserves ro' actually is going into this year's construction line to enable us to have money In re s p � that come up . Supervisor Valentino - We can look into that . Mr . Noteboom - The County has not reconstructed Warren Road and there should be some sort of sidewalk made , especially because of its proximity to the schools . Councilman Edward Conley - Isn 't there a lot of foot traffic between the two schools ? Supervisor Valentino - Yes , there is a lot of traffic . Councilman Klein - There is a walkway coming from BOCES , that crosses Warren Road , it then passes Dewitt School . There is a walk way coming up Winthrop Drive , but it ends at the school . Along the water tower there is a lot of traffic , and there is no walk way . Councilwoman Harrison - Does a walkway make sense along Warren Road? Would this be narrow enough for bikes? Walkways do not always go along the roads . TOWN BOARD MINUTES 7 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 Councilman Klein - There are some connected walkways and some paved walkways . Mr. Noteboom - It does not seem like we would have to give up road way, because Warren Road has enough right- of-way to accommodate a separate walk way . Councilman Klein - Is the County talking about rebuilding it? Mr. Walker - The County is talking about putting drainage underground . Councilwoman Harrison - Would it be done this year? Mr . Noteboom - No , but in 1997 it should be done . Councilwoman Harrison - Could a map be presented to the Board to show the existing walkways? Mr. Noteboom - Yes . Supervisor Valentino - Did the Highway Department budget this year for the salt storage building? Mr . Noteboom - That is in the A5132 . 210 line . Supervisor Valentino - Was $50 , 000 . 00 put in ? Mr. Noteboom - Yes. There are problems in the winter time because of the weather. We try to keep the salt in a shed . Superrisor Valentino - There are a few things I am concerned about . The salt storage , and the need to provide adequate cover for the expensive highway equipment . The maintenance shop is undersized , so an amount would need to be set up in the budget to set aside for that . Mr. Noteboom - Are there limits on setting up a Capital Projects Fund? If money for the project comes from current appropriation a referendum vote is not required . But we should check with Attorney Barney to make sure . Councilman Klein - If the Board took the Fund Balance and put $500 , 000 . 00 into the Highway Department it would not be subject to a referendum . It would be a budget transfer . Supervisor Valentino - The Town Board would need to talk about adequate cover for the equipment and expanding the maintenance shop over the next few years . Councilwoman Mary Russell - Do you have an estimate for this ? Mr . Noteboom - These are all major things , $ 500 , 000 . 00 would not be out of the question . TOWN BOARD MINUTES 8 SEPTEMBER 5 , 1996 i Supervisor Valentino - The Town needs to plan for that and put things in the budget . The Town would need to budget for a bond payment , so we do not feel the impact of it in one year. There are things that could be done within the budget to appropriate the money over time . Mrs. Noteboom - The drug and alcohol testing for the Highway Department employees will be under the Brush and Weed category . It is entitled incorrectly on Page 16 , it should be Miscellaneous Brush and Weed . Supervisor Valentino - Where is it right now? Mrs . Noteboom - Under the A Fund under Highway Superintendent . That would need to be changed . Supervisor Valentino - What was the increase in the overall budget for the Highway Department? What is the increase in the appropriations overall? Mr . Noteboom - The (A) Fund accounts have a 56% increase , because the $50 , 000 . 00 for construction was added . The ( B ) Fund accounts are approximately a 2% increase . The ( DB ) Fund accounts are broken down individually , they are actually the same as before . Councilwoman Carolyn Grigorov - How did you get Worker' s Compensation down to $ 13 , 047 . 00? i Mrs . Noteboom - The Worker' s Compensation is based on the number of claims the Town has had in the previous years , and the experience rating within the group . We have not had as many claims as before . One of the biggest claims , the court ruled the Town was responsible for only 16 months because the injury had occurred through another employer, so we were able to remove that person from full funding of worker' s compensation . Supervisor Valentino - I have told all the Department Heads that every claim is to be treated as a disability. The Town will go from there to decide if it is worker' s compensation claim or not . The Town has started a risk retention fund , which is in the budget this year under the A Fund account . This fund is for small injuries such as a cut on the hand . The Town would pick up those costs instead of sending in a claim . This fund was funded at $ 10 , 000 . 00 , but will be reduced to $3 , 000 . 00 next year in the (A) fund . Councilman Klein - It would be strictly for worker' s compensation? Mrs . Noteboom - It would be for worker' s compensation , and also for water and sewer claims . Councilwoman Grigorov - Would this only be in the Highway Department? Mrs . Noteboom - No , it would be in the (A) Fund because it would be for any eligible worker . This would be a town wide expense . Any worker has up to 18 months to file a worker' s compensatio claim . If vie take the smaller injuries , and send them to the emergency room , the Town would pay the TOWN BOARD MINUTES 9 SEPTEMBER 5 , 1996 fee . We will still fill out all the paper work . The paperwork will be ready but it will not be sent in unless the injury is ongoing . Councilwoman Grigorov - How many workmen are covered under the $ 13 , 000 . 00 ? Mr . Noteboom - There are 19 men . Supervisor Valentino - There are approximately 30 employees covered in all , but this is just for the Highway Department portion . Mrs. Noteboom - The Town will be figuring out the amount to be appropriated in each fund for worker's compensation using salaries and the risk factors they give us for the certain departments . It will not be broken down for each employee , but a percentage of the total bills by the salaries paid out of that fund . This is the closest way we can come to properly appropriating for it . Since the Highway Department has the highest risk , their percentage factor would be higher than other departments . Supervisor Valentino - One of the things that reduced our Worker' s Compensation was when the Town suggested moving to the company used by the Association of Towns . Since then our company has been giving us favorable rates . Mr . Walker - The only change in the Engineering lines are for some of the equipment lines , such as the 1440 . 200 , which was $31 , 750 . 00 , it should be $20 , 250 . 00 . There is approximately $ 12 , 000 . 00 worth of computers that would be going into the Shared Services line item . Supervisor Valentino - This is another thing we will be doing this year , putting the computer purchases under Shared Services so they are all in one place to keep track of what is being spent for the computers . It would also help the Department Head ' s who have been budgeting for individual computer lines . Mr . Walker - The 1440 . 400 line item would be for paper , pens , and engineering copying supplies . Those could be rolled into the Shared Services account because it is paper and supplies . It will not be taken out of the budget , but shifted to another line item . Supervisor Valentino - Line items will be shifted in a lot of the budget items , so things will be coordinated in a better way. Mrs . Noteboom - Central Data Processing will be used for the computers , printers , maintenance , repairs , software supplies , education , and training . Everything that would be needed for the technology of computers and printers would be in that grouping . Councilman Wolff - What about consulting services ? Mrs . Noteboom - That could be in the 1400 also as a separate line item . TOWN BOARD MINUTES 10 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 Supervisor Valentino - There is going to be a lot of categories we have not used in two or three years that will be gone , but there will be a lot of new ones added to break things out in a way that would be easier to track . Councilman Klein - What about the conferences and schools ? Mr. Walker - There is $ 750 . 00 per person in the estimate , and I would be looking to breaking that down more in the future . It also includes periodicals which will have a separate line item . Councilman Klein - Have you had an opportunity to track the benefits of some of those programs that your employees have gone to the last few years to see if they have been able to apply what they had learned? Mr . Walker - Yes . Everything , all conferences we have sent people to have been job related . The training would be specifically job related as staff gets into the GIS system . There would be individual training to utilize that software . The other training is going to be more general if the Town gets a network. Word processing packages need to be organized and people need to be trained so everyone understands what is happening . Mrs . Noteboom - Under Finance Law of the Town Law , anyone who attends a conference or a seminar including elected officials for a cost of more than $ 100 . 00 a month must prepare and submit a written report of that conference or seminar to the Town Board at their next meeting following the seminar. Mr. Walker The numbers on the water benefit assessments are based on the number of benefit units . Staff does not have a final number on that yet . Mrs . Noteboom - The water benefit charges per units ? Mr . Walker - Yes , and Bolton Point benefit charges . The Board needs to realize that ' the Town' s benefit assessment has two components . One is the debt service to the general distribution system which is the water benefit charges . That is a charge of $ 68 . 00 per year per unit . The Bolton Point benefit charges were set up in the 1970 ' s to pay the bonding cost for the water plant . Councilwoman Harrison - A contract to do what? Mr. Walker - The Town owns the total distribution system within the Town . The Bolton Point project was the water plant which is jointly owned by the Town and five other municipalities . The debt for Bolton Point will be paid off this year . The total benefit assessment will be approximately the same as it is this year : The number of units have not changed . There would be no increase in the benefit assessment rate because of the appropriations . There is $ 118 , 000 . 00 that would go to contractual . The Bolton Point Benefit Charge of $ 119 , 500 . 00 in 1996 was paid , so there will not be a charge fro Bolton Point for next year . Other money from the capital distribution system keeps things rennin Other capital improvements at Bolton Point that the Town would be responsible to contribute in th TOWN BOARD MINUTES 11 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 next few years. would depend on what happens with the regional water site . The benefit charges do not fully cover the bond payments for water . The benefit charges help pay 80% to 90 % of the capital debt service . Councilwoman Harrison - Where does the rest come from ? Mr. Walker - The revenue from water sales of the water accounts . If the Town cannot make it with the water sales then it comes out of the General Fund , Councilwoman Harrison - Is this something that needs to be rectified? Mr. Walker - No. The Town could charge benefit assessments on the tax bill , which is not technically an attached benefit , and use that for capital expenditures . The Town could not use it for operating costs . Councilwoman Harrison - The benefit charges are paying most of the capital costs ? Mr . Walker - Yes . Councilwoman Harrison - The water bill is used for bearing some of that cost ? Mr. Walker - Correct . The benefit assessment is charged based on potential use . People are being assessed to pay the cost of those capital improvements to make the water available . Councilwoman Harrison - Has the staff been talking about redoing the benefit assessment formula ? Supervisor Valentino - Yes , I am in the process of appointing a committee to do that . Councilwoman Harrison - The committee could look at a way to deal with some of the issues of development pressures to decide where water needs to be used . Mr. Walker - The meter water sales are based on what people pay on their water bills . It is $3 . 05 per 1 , 000 gallons, which is a flat rate . The consumption is up this year from last year. The Town did not raise their rate last year, although Bolton Point did . The consumption will stay pretty much what it has been. The Engineering Department is looking at $ 1 , 300 , 000 . 00 as total estimated revenues for this year based on the projections of the water sales . Last year I did a detailed analysis of consumption records for several years , and the $ 1 , 276 , 730 . 00 is based on actual consumption . The Town has not had much change in the water utilization . Water service charges of $ 2 , 000 . 00 are miscellaneous charges for repairs on customers ' line that they are responsible for. The Town is responsible for everything from the property line back into the buildings . Supervisor Valentino - $ 3 , 000 . 00 sounds more realistic , because the Town is going to try to do a few more of those than what Bolton Point has been doing . TOWN BOARD MINUTES 12 SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 Mr . Walker - These are revenues that get charged back to the Town . It has been a little higher because the Town had been using contractors . This is a reimbursement of costs . Councilwoman Harrison - What is in the miscellaneous ? Mrs. Noteboom - Each Department Head needs to figure out what the miscellaneous fund would be made up of. Mr. Walker - The Town does not charge the water service surcharge anymore . VVe looked at the $ 1 , 170 , 000 . 00 for 1995 , the water service for the metered water sales , then added $ 256 , 000 . 00 to that. The metered water sales were the Bolton Point rates only. We added a 20 % surcharge for the Town's component. The bills got complicated with the water charge and a water surcharge on them . The Town is charging a flat rate with the components built into that . Councilwoman Harrison - Wouldn 't that increase the metered water sales by that amount? Mr. Walker - In 1995 there was a very high consumption . Ithaca College had a very wet year in 1994 to irrigate their football fields . Ithaca College buys 40 % of the Town of Ithaca' s water . The Town of Ithaca has an unstable rate structure for water consumption . Councilman Klein - Does the Countr/ Club irrigate their golf course ? Mr . Walker - Yes they do , as does Cornell University . Services to other governments has been engineering services that the Town Engineer supplies to Bolton Point . Interest and earnings is based on the interest received for investing funds . Supervisor Valentino - The Board will be recommending that the water rate stay stable this year . Mr . Walker - $3 . 05 per 1 , 000 gallons . Councilman Klein - Under Services to Other Governments , the agreement to Bolton Point was the Town was going to service the master meter project for a fee of $ 10 , 000 . 00 ? Mr . Walker - Yes . Supervisor Valentino - You are budgeting $ 10 , 000 . 00 for next year? Mr . Walker - Yes , and I am anticipating that there would also be related services . Supervisor Valentino - I am recommending leaving the $ 120 , 000 . 00 we paid on the bonds for Bolton Point in the budget to put towards capital projects . If the Town has major projects coming up for water TOWN BOARD MINUTES 13 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 the $ 120 , 000 . 00 would cover what the bond payment would be . The Town has a - very good fund balance because those expenses do not have big capital expenses coming up within the next few years . Councilwoman Russell - Do the fund balances in the water accounts have an effect on the tax rate? Mrs . Noteboom - Not the General Fund Balance , just the water. The water and sewer funds are funded solely through sale of water or the unit charges on the taxes . Supervisor Valentino - The Town could appropriate some of the fund balance in the water fund . Mrs . Noteboom - The Town Board is obligated under the law to lower those fees if there is an excessive fund balance . Mr . Walker - Over the last several years the Town extracted any capital improvements from the budget. The Supervisor requested that I pull capital improvements out , and I have . To paint one water tank would be approximately $ 200 , 000 . 00 . 1 have two tanks that need to be painted . Councilman Klein - Are they in the budget? Mr. Walker - One is in the budget . We are going to try and spread it out to complete one a year. There is some benefit to doing two at the same time , but it is not that great . Supervisor Valentino - Some of that will be included into this budget to keep that rate stable . Mrs . Noteboom - The Engineering Department has $50 , 000 . 00 of expenditure that they could appropriate to another line item . That $ 50 , 000 . 00 is included in the fund balance . It was for the water and sewer adjustments of the units that did not match the tax roll . Councilman Wolff - Could the $ 50 , 000 . 00 be used for any use ? Mrs. Noteboom - It could be used for water only . If they kept the same budget they had last year and wanted to keep all the fees the same they could appropriate an extra $50 , 000 . 00 in one of the line items or they could decide not to keep the $50 , 000 . 00 in the budget . If there is a big fund balance , we may need to add another $ 50 , 000 . 00 because the Town has not had a contingency fund before . Mr . Walker - The Administration Account includes 25 % of the salary for the water and sewer maintenance supervisor . Councilwoman Harrison - Why are those line items blank right now? Mr. Walker - Those are salary items . We still need to get the final salaries . The personnel services and labor overtime is for the Highway and Parks people to do emergency repairs , and also if a TOWN BOARD MINUTES 14 SEPTEMBER 5 , 1996 contractor repairs something . The Highway Department charges their time directly to this line item . If the park employees spend the day reseeding lawns where we dug holes they would charge their time against this line item . The equipment line item was to purchase a big vacuum cleaner for $ 15 , 000 . 00 . That is half the cost . The vacuum would be used to clean out valve boxes . Miscellaneous is for tools on the emergency trailer . It is not a hazardous material' s response trailer, but it is set up with pumps and other equipment for excavating and repairing water lines during emergency breaks . Utilities are the high costs . The electricity to run the pumps to the water pumping stations should be the same for next year . Repairs to lines is up a little . In 1995 , it was down , and for 1996 , it was stable . This year , I am trying to break out some of the costs that have been charged to that line which are not appropriate . We need to chlorinate to maintain chlorine residuals . That line item is down to $ 85 , 000 . 00 from $ 115 , 000 . 00 . It depends on what kind of winter we have . Councilwoman Harrison - Has some of the money been going to this line maintenance ? Mr. Walker - The line maintenance will be the new vacuum cleaner. The line maintenance is to keep valve boxes clean and make sure there is access to the lines . Capital improvements are plans for valve replacements , such as the one on King Road which needs to be reconfigured to service Danby Road . Contractual expenses , common water supply is where the biggest change is going to be . The Bolton Point water charges come out of the water sales , that is their $2 . 55 per 1 , 000 gallons . Out of the $3 .05 that the Town charges , we pay $ 2 . 55 directly to Bolton Point , West Hill water is what the Town buys from the City. The Town was making payments to the City and to Cornell University . I will be breaking that out . The Town does purchase water from Cornell for the Forest Home area . Councilwoman Harrison - The $ 210 , 000 . 00 in the last budget was for both the City and Cornell? Now it is being broken out and reduced by $45 , 000 . 00 ? Mr . Walker - It would be more like $ 180 , 000 . 00 , there is no reason that should increase so much . Supernsor Valentino - I think we are getting a better handle on the budget this year than in past years . We did not realize the Town was carrying that kind of fund balance . That is why some repairs and things were deferred. As we worked on the budget last year , we thought that the Town was short on funds , but now it looks like we could put those deferred items back in . Councilman Klein - Would it make sense to do two water tanks since the Town does not have to pay the $ 119 , 000 . 00 to Bolton Point ? Mr . Walker - The problem with the water tanks is that we were going to do the insides and the outsides . Mayne we could work on the whole tank at once . If we plan to do a tank a year , that would take appro)amately 10 to 12 years . We have not painted a tank for more than 10 years , but we have cleaned and inspected them in the meantime . Councilwoman Harrison - Is there a big change in the sewer rents? TOWN BOARD MINUTES 15 SEPTEMBER 5,1996 Mr . Walker - No . Councilwoman Harrison - Are there any major changes the Town Board should know about? Mr . Walker - No . Revenues should be within approximately 5 % of what it was . Councilwoman Harrison - Some of the use charges are paying some of the capital? Mr . Walker - Yes . Councilwoman Harrison - The Town does not have any cases where we come to closure on debt service ? Mr. Walker - The major debt service the Town has is $ 2 million for sewer and water . That occurred in the 1989 water and sewer improvement project . There are some small bonds that are of fairly high rates which the Town could pay off. Supervisor Valentino - I will be setting up a meeting with the bank to review them because most of the water and sewer bonds are at 7 % rate , which is very high . The City has renegotiated some of theirs at a lower rate . Some of them depend on how they were set up in the first place . I will have a meeting with the bank to renegotiate some of those for a better rate , and hopefully pay off some of the little ones . The Fire Protection District is straight forward . The Lighting Districts were just redone . Some of the Lighting Districts might have a slight decrease in their rate because they were carrying high fund balances and were over paying so adjustments will be made . There is still a lot of work to do , but hopefully the budget should be in everyone ' s hand by September 20 . ADJOURNMENT . As there was no further business to come before the Town Board a motion was made by Councilwoman Harrison , seconded by Councilman VVoitf to adjourn the meeting . Motion was carried unanimously . Supervisor Valentino adjourned the meeting at 10 : 00 a . m . s peJe oan Lent Noteboom , Town Clerk/ Director of Administrative Services . -" Next Regular Town Board Meeting - September 9 , 1996 c@ 5 : 30 p . m . * ' Minutes Transcribed by Deborah A . Kelley .