HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Meeting of the Ames City Council 01/31/2014 M INUTE S OF T HE S P ECIAL M EE TING
O F T H E A M E S C IT Y C O U N C IL
A M E S, I O W A JAN U A R Y 31, 2013
T h e A m es C ity C o u n c il m e t in sp e c ial sessio n at 2 :0 7 p.m . o n Ja n u a ry 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 , in th e C o u n c il
C ham bers of C ity H all, 5 15 C lark A ven ue, pu r suant to law w ith M ayo r ProT em M atthew G oo dm an
p re sid in g an d th e follo w in g C o u n cil m em b e rs p rese n t: A m b e r C o rrieri, T im G a rtin , an d C h ris
N elson . C ou ncil M em ber Peter O razem arrived at 2:37 p.m . C o u n cil M em ber G loria B etcher
arrived a t 3:21 p.m . M ayor A nn Campbe ll and Ex officio M e m b er A lex an d ria H arv e y w ere ab se n t.
F Y 2 0 1 4 /1 5 B U D G E T O V E R V IE W: Ci ty M a na ge r Ste ve Schaink er told the Cou ncil that the FY
2014/15 budget he w a s re c om m e nding totaled $23 6,821,276. H e re ported that the re w ill be no
prop erty tax rate increase; it w ill rem ain at $1 0.86 /$1 ,00 0 o f assessed valuation . M r. Sch aink er
co m m en d ed th e w o rk o f D ep artm e n t H ead s an d their staff w h o h a d dev elo p ed o p e ratin g b u d g ets
in the G eneral Fu nd that call for a decrease in exp end itures o f $15 ,00 0 in F Y 2 01 4/15 com pared
to the prior year ’s A dopte d.
M r. Schainker also advis e d that the on ly u tility ra te inc reas e program m ed for 20 14/15 w as for
s a nita ry sew er (8%). He informed the City Cou ncil that the recently c omple te d Lon g-Ra nge
Fa cility Study ha d identified a significant number of needed capita l im provem e nt projects for the
2 4 -ye ar-old W P C P lan t. T h o se im p rov em en ts w ill n eed to b e co m p leted o v er th e ne x t fiv e y ears
and w ill ne c e ssita te a s e rie s of ra te inc reas e s, be ginning w ith the 8% inc rease in FY 2014/15.
F inan ce D ir ector D uan e Pitcher stated that the C ity’s levy m akes up 33 .13 % of a property’s total
tax b ill; th e S ch o o l D istrict m ak es u p 4 4 .7 2 % (if in th e A m es C o m m u n ity S ch o o l D istrict);
20 .34 % is the C ou nty’s share (includes the C ity A ssessor); and 1.81 % go es to D es M oines A rea
C o m m u n ity C o lle g e D M A C C ). He reported that the recently passed State legislation, which
reduced the taxable value on commercial and industrial properties from 100% to 95% of their
assessed value, resulted in a loss of $48,265,140 in taxable value.
M r. Pitcher gav e a com parison of C ity P rop erty T ax V aluation s and T otal L evies to b e collected
for fiscal y ear 20 13 /14 for the 1 3 largest cities in Iow a. A m es has the secon d-low est total city tax
levy per $1 ,000 va lua tion. M r . Pitc he r re itera te d tha t, for FY 2014/15, the total tax levy/$1,000
taxable valua tion w ill be $10.86. M r. Sc ha inke r cautioned tha t the propose d budge t did n ot
include the levy if the co nv ention center b on d issue p asses. F inan ce D irector Pi tcher presented
a b reak d o w n of th e tax lev y , in c lu d ing G en era l, E m p lo y e e B e n e fits, a n d T ra n sit. T h e lev y rate
per $1 ,000 w ithout debt servic e equates to 7 .2734 9. Net de bt servic e adds 3.58189.The change
in d ollar value eq uate s to a chan ge in the do llar value of the levy of 1.17 % ($2 96 ,00 7). H e no ted
that, w ithout Local O ption Tax, the le vy w ould b e $1 2.68.
C o u n cil M em b er N elson ask ed staff to p ro v id e an h isto rical sum m ary of th e tax lev y . M r.
S ch aink er co v ered th at in form atio n , w h ich w as o n P ag e 2 3 o f th e S p ecial R ep o rts.
F in a n c e D irecto r P itch er p rese n ted an an a ly sis o f ch a n g e s in ta x a b le v a lu e for res id e n tial,
co m m erc ial, in d u strial, an d u tilitie s (n o t in c lud in g u tilitie s s u b ject to ex cise tax ). H e sp e c ific a lly
n o ted th a t th e perc e n tag e o f asse sse d v a lue su b jec t to tax atio n fo r resid en tia l p ro p erties w ill
increase fr om 52 .8% in F Y 20 13 /14 to 5 4.4% in F Y 2 01 4/15, yielding $41 ,35 6,21 7 in ad dition al
taxab le valuation . C om m ercial prop erties w ill decr ease by $41 ,63 4,23 8 and ind ustr ial prop erties
w ill d e c rease by $6 ,6 2 9 ,35 5 du e to ro llb ack . H o w e v e r, $5 2 4 ,2 3 9 w ill be rec e iv e d fro m th e n e w ly
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es tablished State Repla c e m ent Tax p r oc e e ds w ill be re c e ive d. The net c ha nge on existing
property is -0.84.
T he P olice and F ire T rust Fu nd w as exp lained by M r. Pitcher. H e described the use of applied
princ ipal to low e r the e stim ate d ta x rate . For FY 20 14/15, the ta x rate is es tim a ted to b e 0.7833 1.
The D e bt Servic e c ost alloc a tion for 2014/15 w as re vie w e d b y M r. Pitcher . H e nam e d the
p ro jec ts fo r w h ich th e b o n d p ro c e e d s are u sed . T h e 2 0 1 4 /1 5 C IP G en era l O b lig atio n issu e w ill
equ ate to $9,84 0,00 0. M r . P itcher prov ided a sum m ary o f current and prop osed total deb t service
from 20 13/14 to 2 018/19. T he FY 2014 /15 D e bt Se rvice Levy w ill be 3.5818 9/$1,000 valua tion.
C ity M a na ge r Sc ha inke r reporte d that a nother proje c t not inc luded in the debt s e rvice le vy is the
R e se a rch Pa rk. Fund ing str a tegy for that proje c t w ill nee d to b e developed afte r c e rtific a tion of
th e b u d g e t.
M r . Pitcher ga ve a deta iled analysis of do lla r value and per c e ntage chang e of tota l le vy by
prop erty typ e. R esiden tial increased b y 5 .72 %, C om m ercial decreas ed b y 5 .45 %, Ind ustrial
decre a sed by 3.41%, a nd U tilities decre a sed by 6 .58%. The percentage change in taxable value
equates to 1 .17%. H e a lso ga ve an ana lysis of change in ta x dolla r paym ents by property type
from FY 20 13/14 to 2 014/15. A five-ye a r com parison of the perc e nta ge of ta xa ble valuation by
p ro p e rty typ e to to tal tax ab le v a luatio n w as sh o w n to th e C o u n c il.
Sa m ple tax calc ula tions for residentia l, com m e rcial, a nd industria l proper ties w ere provided b y
M r. P itch er.
A s um m a ry o f c ha nge in tax asking f or 2014 /15 w as pre sente d by Finance D irector Pitc he r. The
tota l c ha nge in the G ener al Levy w ill be $1 07,659, Em ployee Bene fit Le vy w ill be $90,920,
T ransit L evy w ill be $3 5,91 5, and D ebt S ervice L evy w ill be $6 1 ,5 1 3; this results in a total
change in ta x as king of $2 96,007.
The costs of City se rvic e s for 20 14/15 pe r r e side nc e fr om prope rty ta xes (based on a $1 00,000
h o m e) w ere su m m arized , as fo llo w s:
Streets/Traf fic $ 139
Polic e Protection 136
Fire Prote c tion 89
Li brar y 77
R e c reation and Parks 56
Trans it 36
G enera l Supp ort Ser vices 2 3
Pla nning 10
S torm Sew er 6
R eso u rce R eco v ery 6
A nim a l Control 5
B u ild in g an d G rou n d s/A irpo rt 5
Inspections/Sa nita tion 3
TO TA L $ 591/$100 ,000
A n h istoric bre a kdown of the budget, specif ically valuation inc reas e s and rollback, from 1993/94
to th e p resen t w as g iv en b y M r. P itch er. H e also rev iew ed th e F u ll-T im e E q u iv alen ts (F T E s)
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recom m end ed for 20 14 /15 . T he o nly in crease in FT E s w ill be for T r ansit. M r . Sch aink er
ex p lain e d ho w th e co sts o f th e n ew 5 .6 F T E s w o u ld be allocated .
F inan ce D irector Pitcher brou gh t the C ou ncil’s attention to the m od est increases being p rop osed
for deve lopment-re la ted fees for FY 20 14/15.
C ity M anager Sc ha inker no te d that inform ation w a s inc lude d with the Spe c ial Reports to the
C o u n c il pertain in g to the A S S E T allo c a tio n , C O T A fu n d ing , F a ll G ran t P ro g ra m fro m C ity
C ounc il Specia l A lloc a tions ac c ount, a nd Public A rt Com m iss ion.
T h e mee tin g reces se d at 3 :3 7 p .m. an d re c o n v e n e d at 3 :4 1 p .m.
B udge t O ffic e r N ancy M a ste ller ou tline d the Fund Sheets beginning w ith the G e ne ral Fund .
U n d er th e T ran sfers sectio n , C ity M an ag er S ch aink er ex p laine d the “E lectric - in L ieu o f T ax es”
line item . M s. M a ste ller c ontinued the explanation of Fund Shee ts, inc luding Spe c ia l Revenue
Funds [e.g., Local O ption Sales Taxes , H otel/M ote l Ta x, Leas e d Housing, Road U se Ta x, City-
W ide A ff ordable H ousing, Tax Inc rem e nt Fina nc ing, Em ployee Benefit Property Ta x,
F ire/P olice Pen sion R etirem ent, FE M A /20 10 W ind and Flood , Parks and R ecreation Sp ecial
R e venu e s, Don a nd Ruth Furman Aqu atic Cente r Con struction , Libra ry Friends Foundation,
Li brar y Donations and G rants, U tility A s sista nc e , Public A rt D ona tions, D e ve lope r Projects, and
E co n o m ic D ev elop m en t (R e v o lv in g L o an s an d F o rgiv ab le L o an s)]. A lso d escribed b y M s.
M asteller w ere P erm an en t F u n d s (C em e tery P erp e tu a l C are T rust, F u rm an A q uatic C en ter T rust),
D ebt Servic e (paym e nt of principa l and inter e st on G e ne ral O bliga tion B onds, ISU par ticipa tion
in the rep aym ent of bo nd s issued to fun d F ire capital acqu isition s), C apital Projects - Sp ecial
A s se ssm e nt, - Stre e t Cons truction, - A ir port Construction, - A m e rican Recover y and
R einv estm en t A ct E n erg y B lo ck G ran t, - V ario u s C o n struc tion G ran ts, an d - B o n d P roc eed s.
E nterprise F un ds w ere sum m arized b y B u d g et O fficer M asteller for the W ater U tility, W ater
C on struction (accou nts for proceeds received from the S tate R evo lving L oan Fu nd ), Sew er
U tility, San itary S ew er Im prov em ents, Sew er Sinking (accou nts for State R evo lving F un d loan
p ay m en ts fo r sew er u tility p rojects), E lectric U tility , P ark in g O p eratio n s an d Im p rov em en ts,
T ransit O peration s, G S B T ransit T rust, T ransit C apital R eserve, and T ransit A gen cy Interm od al
F acility (for co n struc tio n o f th e F acility ).
R eferen cing tex t o n certain b u d g et pa g es tha t states th ere is an u n restricted b alan ce, e.g., W ater,
C o u n cil M em b er G artin req u e ste d to h a v e a lin e item ad d ed to po in t o u t th at th e fun d s w ere
really d ed icated fo r futu re larg e p rojects.
M s. M asteller con tinu ed w ith the E nterprise F un ds (S torm Sew er U tility, A m es/IS U Ice A r ena,
Ic e A ren a C a p ital R eserv e (acco u n ts fo r co n trib u tio n s fro m the C ity an d IS U ), H o m ew o o d G o lf
C o u rse, an d R eso u rc e R e c o v e ry .
In tern al S e rv ice s w ere su m m a rize d , in clu d in g F le et M ain ten a n c e , F lee t R e p lac e m en t,
Inform ation T echn ology , C om pu ter R eplacem ent, R isk M anag em ent, and H ealth Insurance.
C ity M a n a g e r S c h a ink er stated that $2 4 7 ,0 0 0 had b e e n p lac e d in th e C u rren t Y ear A d ju ste d to
be use d for the La nd U se Polic y Pla n upda te, $1.1 m illion ha d be e n placed into the bu dget for
C ity Hall Phase II renovations, a nd $250 ,000 h ad been a llocate d for perm it softw a re for the
Inspections D ivision.
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M r. Sc ha inker b rought the Cou nc il me mber’s attention to the Proje c te d U tility Incre a ses for FY
2 0 1 4 /1 5 th rou g h 20 1 8 /1 9 th at h e h ad d istrib u ted to them . H e e m p h asized that th ese w ere th e b est
estim ate at this tim e; ho w ever, are sub ject to ch ang e.
AD J OU RN M ENT: Mo v e d by Nelso n to a djo u r n th e mee tin g at 5 :0 8 p.m.
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D ian e R . V o ss, C ity C lerk A n n H . C am p b ell, M ay o r