HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 04/15/2013 - MINS 04 15 13 WS (Migrated from Optiview)l
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Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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This summary is provided as a convenience and service to the public, media, and staff. It is not the
intent to transcribe proceedings verbatim. Any reproduction ofthis summary must include this notice.
Public comments are noted and heard by Council, but not quoted This document includes limited
presentation by Council and invited speakers in summary form. This is an official record ofthe Milton
City Council Meeting proceedings. Official Meetings are audio and video recorded
The Work Session of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on April 15, 2013 at
6:00 PM. Mayor Pro Tern Bill Lusk presiding.
Councilmembers Present: Mayor Pro Tern Bill Lusk, Councilmember Matt Kunz, Councilmember
Lance Large, Councilmember Karen Thurman, Councilmember Joe Longoria and Councilmember Burt
Hewitt.
Mayor Lockwood was absent.
Mayor Pro Tern Bill Lusk:
• Work Sessions are an informal setting to update Council on business items.
• No votes will be taken during these sessions.
• There are three (3) items on our Agenda tonight.
• Public comment is allowed that is germane to an Agenda Item.
• If you wish to speak you are required to fill out a comment card and tum it into the City Clerk
staff.
• Public comment will be allowed for a total of 10 minutes per agenda item and no more than 2
minutes per person.
• Public comment will be heard at the beginning of each Item.
• Once the item is called, no other comment cards will be accepted.
Sudie Gordon, City Clerk, read Agenda Item #1.
1. Discussion of Fiscal 20 13 Mid-Year Budget Adjustments.
(Presented by Stacey Inglis, Assistant City Manager)
Stacey Inglis, Assistant City Manager
This is the mid-year budget adjustment.
This process just cleans up everything in our budget based on activity to date and future projections.
The General Fund, which is the main operating fund for the city, has a revenue appropriation increase of
$293,416.00 and the expenditure appropriation increase is $1,300,583.00.
We are anticipating taking $907,167.00 out of the fund balance.
At the end of fiscal year 2012, the fund balance totaled $10.1 million.
This is a very healthy fund balance considering our policy requires that we keep two months of
operating budget in the fund balance which totals about $3.2 million.
We are using the fund balance for the Public Safety Communications equipment.
As you know, one of the five North Fulton cities decided not to participate in this endeavor, therefore,
that increased the amount the other cities will have to provide for the service.
Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, April IS, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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JOur increased share is $500,000, so the total cost for us to participate in this project will be $2.5 million.
$1 million of this amount is already budgeted for this fiscal year, so the remaining $1.5 million will
either have to be budgeted next fiscal year or we can split it up.
We have proposed splitting the cost in half; $750,000 budgeted for this fiscal year and then the
remaining amount budgeted for the next fiscal year.
The remaining portion of the $907,000 that we are anticipating taking out of the fund balance is to pay
for an operating transfer from the General Fund into the Capital Projects Fund.
At the end of fiscal year 2012, a budget amendment of $271,000 was approved to be moved from the
General Fund into the Capital Projects Fund to pay for the architectural cost for the Public Safety
Building.
We did not do this budget transfer because, at that time, we were moving forward with the project and
we would be reimbursed for this cost by that issuance.
So, we decided not to do the transfer with anticipation that the debt issuance that we were planning to do
would cover this cost.
Now, we have stopped the project because we were waiting on the outcome of the LOST negotiations.
So, it is cleaner to do that transfer from the General Fund into the Capital Projects Fund.
The remaining amount from the $750,000 for the Public Safety Communications project and the
$907,000 that we were proposing taking out of the Fund Balance is $157,000.
So, a portion of that is being covered with revenues that have increased and a portion is coming out of
the Fund Balance.
So, at the end of the Fiscal Year 2013, the total Fund Balance will be about $7.1 million.
Regarding Revenue Amendments, there are several Revenue Amendments that we have proposed.
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The main ones are an increase in property taxes by $285,000 and this is simply based on tax collection
rates over the past few years.
They were at 96% the last fiscal year and 96% the previous fiscal year.
When I did the projections for this fiscal year, I used an 83% projection so I am proposing to increase
that by $285,000 just to bring it in line with what we truly anticipate property tax collections to be for
this fiscal year.
We are proposing to increase franchise fees by $100,000 which is based on collection rates over the past
three years.
Building permit revenues were increased by $100,000 which is due to higher than anticipated
collections.
Kathy Field, Community Development Director, reported that we have 300 new homes being built in
Milton which has contributed to higher building permit revenues.
We would like to use these additional funds to offset a Software Engineer that we will discuss in a few
minutes.
Mayor Pro Tern Bill Lusk:
Is that net or gross?
Stacey Inglis:
Net JStacey Inglis:
Court Administration fees and Fines and Forfeitures combined are decreasing by a total of$150,000
which is based on a trend of lower than anticipated revenues.
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Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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Councilmember Thurman:
Why has that amount decreased?
Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager:
We are offering more Community Service opportunities in lieu of paying a fine.
Councilmember Longoria:
My guess is that the city that decided not to participate in the Public Safety Radio System will change
their mind and eventually decide to participate. How will that affect the amount we have budgeted to
pay for this service?
City Manager Lagerbloom:
We would have to make that decision at the point they ask to be included. However, I do not anticipate
the authority allowing them to have anything other than a subscription based membership.
Councilmember Thurman:
I thought that since John's Creek decided not to participate it would cost us $200,000. Is it now going to
cost us $500,000?
City Manager Lagerbloom:
It has always been a total project cost of$16 million. Based on our percentage, it was originally going
to cost us $1.9 million but since John's Creek decided not to participate, our cost is now $2.4 million.
Stacey Inglis:
Now, let's talk about expenditures.
We have an increase to the Defined Benefit Plan.
We are currently paying 5.31 % to the Pension Plan for each employee.
Based on previous discussions, the council has expressed an interest in leveling out the amount that is
contributed for each employee to avoid large fluctuations in the future.
So, in order to make this happen, 9% is the percentage that we should be contributing for each employee
going forward.
Increasing this funding now will greatly improve our financial status because we will have to report
these liabilities on our financial statements in the future.
Currently, we are not required to report this information.
The appropriations for group insurance have decreased to reflect the actual cost resulting in a savings of
roughly $65,000.
As you may recall, we previously decided to put these funds toward hiring an Economic Development
Coordinator.
Several other personnel changes have been made as well.
The Finance Director is now the Assistant City Manager.
Those costs were originally in the City Manager's Department and now they are included in the Finance
Department budget.
The Human Resources Manager recently accepted a position with another city so that person was
replaced with an Administrative Services Manager.
She performs duties for both Human Resources and Finance.
This employee was originally in the Finance Department as the Payroll and Accounts Payable Clerk.
So, now that position is open as a part-time position.
Work Session ofthe Milton City Council
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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We have split that job with a part-time position in the Special Events Department.
The position in the Special Events Department was originally part-time so we have made that position a
full-time position.
The Community Builder position is no longer being funded by the Georgia Council on Developmental
Disabilities Grant program.
So, if we continue to fund that position we will have to pay for it.
A firefighter was transitioned into an EMS Trainer position leaving a firefighter vacancy.
This position would be a new position that would have to be budgeted.
We actually have two new positions that would need to be funded; a firefighter and a software engineer.
The Software Engineer position is basically a position that we have been living without.
In the Information Technology world, there is a hardware person and a software person that makes
things run smoothly.
We have a hardware person and so now we need a software person.
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I We have a good computer system; however, it doesn't always work the way it should and it constantly
needs tweaking to make it run smoothly.
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City Manager Lagerbloom:
We are looking for a person who can take the data that our computer system can generate and turn that
information into useful reports. We would then like to be able to decipher this information and use it to
make important decisions going forward.
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Councilmember Longoria: ]
Chris, I would like to schedule a meeting with you to further discuss this situation. Software
Information Technology is my expertise and I would like for us to explore our options regarding this
issue.
City Manager Lagerbloom:
Okay. That would be great.
Stacey Inglis:
We are putting $75,000 in the budget to cover the cost of cleaning up the Justin Adams property.
Councilmember Thurman:
As I understand it, a lien will be placed on his property for that amount so that eventually we will get
that money back.
City Manager Lagerbloom:
This is just an estimate based on what the property looks like today. We will put a bid out for a
company to clean up the property. However, when we take companies to see what the clean-up will
entail, the job can change within 24 hours depending on what Justin does next.
Stacey Inglis: J
I will continue reporting on the budget. For every department, each line item for the Budget
Amendment notes is outlined in the grey shaded area of the budget. This is just a summary of what we
have previously discussed.
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Work Session ofthe Milton City Council
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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Councilmember Lusk:
Are you anticipating that the cost of our health insurance benefits will increase next year?
Sam Trager, Human Resources Director:
Yes, everything I have read indicates a 10-20% increase in the cost of health insurance. We are out to
bid for insurance brokers and I am looking at the different options that are out there. We are on top of
this situation and realize that we may potentially have increased health insurance costs next year.
Councilmember Thurman:
What is the total increase due to the change in our funding strategy for our Pension Plan?
Stacey Inglis:
The total increase for the remainder of this year is $114,000.
Councilmember Thurman:
So, we are anticipating a $230,000 increase per year to increase the funding to our Pension Plan.
Sam Trager:
At the minimum funding that is required by GMA, the funding went from 5.31 % to 5.8% which would
have caused the rates to go from $289,000 to $342,000 for next fiscal year. When we go to the 9%
funding, we are anticipating an increase of$185,000.
Councilmember Thurman:
So, it really is almost $300,000 more than the amount we funded previously in our budget.
Sam Trager:
Your $238,000 is the correct number. Right now we are paying about $289,000 and it is scheduled to
increase to $342,000. Ultimately, at the 9% funding, it will cost $527,000.
Councilmember Thurman:
I know we put some funds in our budget for sidewalks. Do we know when those will be put in?
City Manager Lagerbloom:
Yes, sidewalks are in the works right now and you will see them soon.
Sudie Gordon, City Clerk, read Agenda Items #2 and #3.
2. Discussion of RZ13-08 To adopt a new Use Permit within Article IX, Division 5,
Miscellaneous Uses, Section 64-1840 -Barns or Riding Areas.
(Presented by Kathleen Field, Community Development Director)
3. Discussion of RZ13-09 -To Amend Chapter 64, Zoning Ordinance, Article I, In General,
Sec. 64-1 Definitions as it Pertains to Barns and Riding Areas.
(presented by Kathleen Field, Community Development Director)
Work Session ofthe Milton City Council
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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JRobyn MacDonald, Principal Planner:
We are going to discuss Agenda Items #2 and #3 together.
At the March 19,2012 meeting, you approved a text amendment to the AG-l District as it pertains to the
location of barns.
For certain situations, barns and riding areas are required to obtain a use permit.
However, we did not have a use permit so that is why we are before you today for your consideration.
The first text amendment, RZ 13-08, is a new use permit for barns or riding areas.
I have also included in your packet a copy ofthe AG-l District that highlights the situations in which a
use permit is required.
This is not codified with the latest fencing requirements.
The standards are fairly similar to other use permits that we have created.
A 75 foot setback for parking; certain hours of operation; the height of a barn or riding area is limited to
40 feet, loud speakers and public address systems are prohibited, sound levels are limited, and lighting is
restricted to our zoning ordinance.
A barn means a structure housing livestock.
A riding area means an area utilized for equestrian purposes including practice sessions, shows, etc.
which mayor may not be covered or have designated seating structures.
Councilmember Kunz:
Does a bam have to have livestock?
Robyn MacDonald: J If a citizen wants to build a barn, we ask them if it will house livestock. Some structures are built to
look like a barn but are not intended to house livestock. If it does not house livestock, then the 100 foot
setback would not apply.
Councilmember Thurman:
I know we have a horse counci1. Have they been consulted regarding this issue?
Robyn MacDonald:
No, not on these specific text amendments.
Councilmember Thurman:
I think it is important that we get their input.
Robyn MacDonald:
Okay, I will contact them.
PUBLIC COMMENTS (None)
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Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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After no further discussion, the Work Session adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Date Approved: April 22, 2013.
Sudie AM Gordon, City Clerk
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