85  Dunn City Council Special Called Meeting Budget Work Session Tuesday, May 19,2020 1:00 p.m., Dunn Municipal Building  Minutes  PRESENT: Mayor William P. Elmore Jr., Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Turnage, Council Members J. Wesley Sills, April Gaulden, Frankl McLean, Billy N. Tart, andl Dr. David L.I Bradham.. Public. Notice, relating to the Also present: City Manager Steven Neuschafer, Assistant City Manager Mathew Boone, Finance Director. Jim Roberts, Executive. Assistant Connie Jernigan, and City Clerk Tammy Williams. Participating via WebEx: Public Utilities Director Heather Adams, Public Works Director Vince Washington, Planning Director George Adler, Chief Building Inspector. Steven King, Chiefo of Police Chuck West, Parks and Recreation Director Brian McNeill, Human Resources Director Anne Thompson, Librarian Mike Williams, and by telephone: City Attorney Tilghman Mayor Elmore opened the meeting at 1:00 p.m. and Council Member Tart gave the invocation. Afterwards, Motion by Council Member Turnage and second by Council Member Bradham to adopt the May 19,2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and NC Department of Transportation City Manager Neuschafer presented MOU with NCDOT toi include the construction of the private sewer line for) JPDI Properties, LLC (P/'s Truck Bodies) as part oft the City's construction contract with Temple Grading and Construction. The MOU also relieves the City of any responsibility related to the ownership, maintenance, and operation of the private sewer extension and the City will be reimbursed at 100% by Motion by Council Member Bradham and second by Council Member Tart to authorize City Manager Neuschafer to execute the MOU between the City of Dunn and NCDOT for the Public and Private sewer extensions tos serve JPF Properties, LLC. Motion unanimously approved. A copy oft the MOUi is incorporated City Manager Neuschafer reviewedl his budget message to Council andl began his discussion talking aboutt the unknown impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Based upon projections published by the NC League of Municipalities, the overall budgetisr reduced by 2.8% ina anticipation ofd decreased: revenues. The City staff has beeni instructed tol limit expenditures tot those prioritized! by management. Restricted: spending such as street resurfacing, drainage and utility projects will move forward. He: also reported on the proposed feei increases to include a 2% on garbage and recycling due to contractual increase from Republic Services; water rate increase of3.3% tor replenish fundl balance and cover repair costs; 6% ons sewer rates neededt toj pay for debt services on sewer projects; and 75 cents per month increase on storm water fees to cover street sweeper debt service. The budget provides for infrastructure improvements and will utilize the majority of funds received from the Powell bill and vehicle license tag fees. Concerns were expressed by Council about trash Plans are to continue to progress on three building construction projects: renovations for the Police Department and computer server location at City Hall; Public Works and Utilities facility; and the office consolidation for the Parks and Recreation Department. He also shared that the budget would fund three new employees for the Public Works Department tol handle asphalt resurfacing andi repair operations and a new administrative position int the Planning and Inspections Department. Three permanent: staff reductions have been madei inl Recreation, Library, and) Public Works. Thel budget does not propose a COLAi increase for employees but includes up to 2% for meriti increases in) January. The budget includes a balanced budget for He reviewed the Water and Sewer Fund revenues and expenditures to include a balanced budget of $6,696,000. He shared! how expensive repairs are related to water and sewer projects. He also went through the proposed rate increases: for water, sewer, and storm water fees. He made them aware that the City of Dunn rates arei inl line with other communities nearby and/or ofs similar population. Het told Council that the budgeti is concentrated onr reducinge expenditures for the first six months and: also includes funds for the. Ashe Avenue Dog! Park and Garden. Het then reviewed the Capital Items list that is not aj part oft thel budget! because He reviewed the real cost on rate increases with comparisons for residential average users using 2940 gallons havinga a monthly increase of $3.75. The actual bill comparisons show that the larger user will have the! highest percentage increase duet tot the tier system used byt the City. Council Members' Turnage and  Special Meeting Conditions, is incorporated into these minutes as Attachment: #1.  Pope. Also on WebEx: Eliot Duke with The Daily Record. CALLTO ORDER ANDI INVOCATION Council Member Turnagel ledi int the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA ADJUSTMENT/ ANDA APPROVAL meeting agenda asp presented. Motion unanimously approved. ITEMSI FORI DISCUSSION. AND/ORI DECISION (NCDOT) regarding) 195 Widening Project NCDOT fora allo costs associated with the project. into these minutes as Attachment: #2. FY2020-2021 Budget Work Session  pickupa and ther many complaints received fromi residents.  the Generall Fund of$11,275,000.  thesei items are purchased withl borrowedi money.    86  Bradham expressed the importance of publicizing this information to the residents so that they can  understand thei increases and whyt thesei increases arer needed. Mayor Elmore recessed the meetinga at 2:07 p.m. The meeting wasi reconvened: at2 2:18) p.m.  City Manager Neuschafer reviewed the General Fund beginning with the Revenues. He shared that the City practiced conservative budgetingi inl lasty year's! budget but revenues have been decreased more this year due tot the unknown impact of Covid-19 including reducing Ad-Valorem taxes to 96.7%. He reviewed the Powell Bill revenues and how they are calculated by the State with the City receiving $19.11 per person and $1,580.13 per mile. Hes sharedt that Powell Bill funding! has steadily decreased overt thej past 10y years. Ins sales tax distribution, the staffi is projecting a reduction in collections. Iti is estimated that the City might have a 20% loss in April - June 2020. The Cityi is using the most conservative models based on expert projections. Sale of Cemetery Lots budget has been increased as staffi is proposingi increasing price per lot to $1,000 and doing away with the discount for purchasing multiple plots. These prices arei inl line with other communities inc our area. Thel Membership Fees for the Recreation Center has been taken out of the budget because staff does not) plan ont reopening the center due tot the cost ofr maintaining equipment and providing staff. He also stated that there is a small amount residents participating at the center and it keeps the City from the Council Member Sills inquired on ways the City might help businesses in an effort to grow Dunn. City Manager Neuschafer reviewed the incentives programs, such as rebates and grants available to small and larger businesses. Het told Councili incentives: are generally based ont the number ofj jobs created. City Manager Neuschafer reviewed the General Fund expenditures. The budget includes ani increase for the Downtown Service District to employ a full-time director as part of the Main Street Program. Travel and Training and Departmental Supplies have been reduced in each department. He stated that a lot of training opportunities arer not happening rightr now anyway due to Covid. He also explained) how the Water and Sewer Fund shares in the expenses for administration and facility cost at 35% in some expenditure accounts. Human Resources expenditures have been moved out of Administration Miscellaneous and moved into Wellness under Non- Departmental. Het told Council that the proposal for the Contract Landscape Services has come in above projected budget with only one bid received. Staffi is currently looking at alternatives for handling the landscaping throughout the City through rebid or reducing landscape areas. Council Member Bradham stated that when looking at changes, iti is important to weigh cost versus quality with the City's Mayor Elmorea asked aboutl Insurance: and wheni it was up for bid. City! Manager Neuschafer: stated that] he did notl know ofat time wheni insurance hasl been put up for bid. Miscellaneous is where we can gets some oft the money for special projects, such as the dog park, as long as revenues come in as expected. In the Police Department budget, Mayor Pro Tem Turnage recommended that everything be done to maintain accreditation through CALEA. City Manager Neuschafer added that the City has realized some fuel cost savings duet to Covid andl buyingi inb bulk. Councill Member Sills expressed concerns ont the cell phone expense. Neuschafer said that about half of the expense is MiFi for Police Vehicles. Assistant City Manager Boone added that usingt the cell phone asa al hot spot does not work as efficiently as the MiFi. He added that he had recently worked with Verizon goingt throught thel bill linel byl linet for officers and endedi up saving about $3,500 Under planning and Inspections, demolitions has been decreased tot try and handle more in-house. Under Street/Cemetery Department, he pointed out the large expenditure the City is paying for street lights throughout the City. He reminded Council that the City has to pay whether they are working or not soi if street lights are out, we want tor report sot they can be repaired as quickly as possible. Hea also addedt that no money! has been budgeted for replacing old: sidewalk. Sanitation linei item showst the 2% increase in the solid waste contract. He reviewed the Powell Bill/Street Resurfacing page and where those funds come from Her reviewed and explained Debt Service pages and compared itto the Debt Schedule distributed by Finance Director. Roberts, which shows debt service fora a 5-year period. Under Contributions to Non-Profits, the only item listed is $195,000 for Dunn PAL. Dunn Recreation has been reduced significantly including the reduction of two employees and the fitness equipment The largest reduction in the Library was in Council Member Sills recommended the City look into a Beautification and IT committee, especially if there are no costs involved. He also expressed some reservations concerning the budget. Council Member Bradham expressed appreciation to City Manager Neuschafer and his staff for putting this budget together during such tough times. Mayor Elmore again thanked the staff and reminded Council that an additional  competing withl locall businesses.  image beings soi important as wer move forward.  ayear.  within thel budget  administration; going from 4to 36 employees.  meeting can bes scheduled: ife enough concerns: are expressed by Council Members.    87  With nof further business to discuss, motion by Council Member Sills and: second by Council Member McLean  toa adjournt ther meeting at4 4:22 p.m. Motion unanimouslyapproved.  OPORATE SEAL H CAR  Mayor  Attest:  ARF  base  City Clerk Cly