Mayor Russ' Touchberry Council Members: Aaron Brown Tiffany Johnson-Wilson Richard G. Waring, IV Kima Garten-Schmidt Bob Jackson Matt Halter  Town Administrator Lisa Wallace Town Clerk Beth Messervy Town. Attorney G.W. Parker  F  -  1847 MERVILLE  TOWN of SUMMERVILLE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING FY25 BUDGET RETREAT - Day #1 Thursday, January 25, 2024  MINUTES  ATTENDANCE  Present: Mayor Russ Touchberry, Councilmembers Kima Garten-Schmidt, Bob Jackson, Aaron Brown, Tiffany Johnson-Wilson, Matt Halter, and Richard G. Waring, IV. Also in attendance were Town Administrator Lisa Wallace and Town Clerk Beth Messervy. A quorum was met. Public and press were duly notified. The meeting took place at the Cambria Hotel at 405 Sigma  Drive, Summerville, and was livestreamed from the Town's website.  CALLTO ORDER AND WELCOME  Mayor Touchberry called the meeting to order at 8:45am on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Town  Administrator Lisa Wallace gave a briefoverview oft the day's agenda.  FY24LOOK BACK:  Finance Director Rhonda Moore stated that the last audited financial statement from 6/30/2023 showed a surplus of$1.3 million. She reviewed a 3 year revenue summary with property taxes and licenses being the bulk of the Town'sr revenue stream. She stated that $72 million in projects were funded in) FY24-25 ($40 million committed from other sources, and $32 million  pending from other sources). BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS:  Ms. Moore reviewed the FY25 budget goals, as well as assessed value/millage assumptions. She reported that both TIF districts are performing better than anticipated. Ms. Wallace explained that the Midtown TIF funds are budgeted, with some oft thei money being spent on the new public safety complex. Ms. Moore reported that Dorchester County handles the budgeting for the Oakbrook TIF. Ms. Moore then reviewed what affects property tax revenue, showing a sample property tax bill from Dorchester County on an in-town residential property at 4%. She also showed a graph representing the relationship between tax revenue and expenses that the Town  incurs.  REVENUE PROJECTIONS:    Special Town Council Meeting Minutes April2 25,2024  Page 2  Ms. Moore reviewed the revenue projections for FY25, including those from property taxes, franchise fees, business licenses, building permits and fees, court fines, government revenues,  parks and recreation, transfers in, and miscellaneous income.  FUND BALANCE POLICY:  Ms. Moore explained that she believes that the Town will be $1.3 million "to the good" this year ini terms of fund balance. Mayor Touchberry confirmed with Ms. Moore that our Fund Balance policy is in place because the Town technically goes "in the hole"$12 million when the fiscal year begins because ofwhen: most revenue comes in and: most expenditures are due. He reiterated that the Town has tol be careful spending at the beginning oft the fiscal year.  DEPARTMENT BUDGET REQUESTS: Administration Department:  Ms. Wallace reported that not much had changed in the Administration Department's budget from last year and that there arei no new positions. Ms. Johnson-Wilson stated that she wants a staff audit report included in the budget. Mayor' Touchberry said that the new Town Administrator needs to bei involved in that decision after he or she is settled in the job. Ms. Johnson-Wilson also stated that there needs to be a Purchasing Agent in the Administration Department. Ms. Wallace reported that therei is onei ini the Financel Department.  Finance. Department:  Ms. Moore stated that the Finance Department, in conjunction with the Building Department, is requesting a new position of"Citizen Concierge" tol help citizens navigate the permitting process. She reported that the new position would also back up business license and building  permit clerks when not helping citizens.  Municipal Court:  Judge. Jameson reminded Council that the court's function is not to create revenue. He also stated that recovering fines that are owed to the Court has been a big issue, but that the Clerk of Court will work with Finance to find a way to recover as much owed money as possible. Currently, there is $5.1 million of unpaid fines since 2010. Judge Jameson stated that he intended on asking for raises for his court clerks, reiterating that since he started the job, the Court is more efficient with less personnel. He stated that he does not anticipate hiring a new  person for a few years, but that he would benefit from an intern.  Building and Inspections:  Rebecca Brown, Deputy Building Official, reported that the department is keeping their vacant positions open but not funding them for FY25. She stated that thei uniforms line item increased because the department needs bullet-proofvests for their code enforcement officers. Some discussion followed regarding the costs associated with demolishing uninhabitable and  abandoned houses. Engineering:  Bonnie Miley, Town Engineer, reported that her department is fully staffed, including a: new Staff Engineer who handles among his daily duties traffic engineering. She stated that shei is  requesting four sidewalks in the capital requests.  Emergency Communications:    Special Town Council Meeting Minutes- - April 25,2024  Page 3  Shawn Gibbons reported that the extra money requested in personnel is for a new position and that most oft the other operating expenses were staying the same. He stated that the majority of the new computers requested to stay in compliance werei moved to capital requests.  Police Department:  ChiefWright reported that the biggest increase in salaries isi in overtime for his officers because the department is seeing more and more: incidents when they have to call in off-duty officers. He stated that hei is increasing his training budget to keep up with the current offerings, and that computer maintenance is down because they moved it elsewhere in the budget. ChiefMelcher reported that hej proposed a 10%i increase inj pay because the Town of Summerville Fire Department has the lowest paid starting salary in the state. He stated that the larger line item in his budget is air packs. Chiefl Melcher reminded Council that their overtime is unfortunately necessary SO that the department does not cut back on any service to the citizens. Jessi Shuler, Director ofPlanning, reported that she is asking for ai new position tol be funded in her budget - Zoning Enforcement Officer. She stated that there has been a significant increase in zoning enforcement issues and that the current code enforcement officers cannot handle the extra workload, and are also not trained in zoning laws. She said that this position will help recoup  Fire Department:  Planning Department:  money in collecting fees for violations. Parks and Recreation:  Amy Evans, Parks and Recreation Director, stated the pesticide technician position that she requested was: not funded in the proposed budget before Council, but that it is needed. She stated that her operations budget stayed relatively the same and that what is being requested is  less than what she budgeted for in 2023.  Streets Department: included in the line item. department budget reports. ** Maintenance Department:  Mark Campbell, Streets Manager, presented his proposed budget. He pointed out that the street signs line item was increased from last year because the request for more crosswalks has been **Council recessed for lunch at 12:05pm. They reconvened at 12:51pm and continued with the  Ronnie Cooper, Maintenance Manager, reported that he has two positions open and is having trouble filling them because oft thel low salary in comparison toj jobs in the private sector.  Building and Grounds: service and repair. Stormwater Department:  Frank Neal, the Director of Community and Economic Development, reported that thei repair and maintenance line item includes proposed town-wide contracts forj janitorial services and HVAC    Special Town Council Meeting Minutes - April2 125,2024  Page4  Ryan Dews, Stormwater Manager, reported that most ofl his line items stayed the same from last year. He did point out that the cost ofs stormwater control projects has increased quickly, sO that line item has been increased from the previous year. He also stated that while he likes the 6% proposed raise for staff, he does not think it will be enough for his employees who start out at  $15/hour.  PROPOSED FY25 BUDGET  Ms. Moore gave a summary oft the proposed fiscal year 20251 budget, including a 6%1 merit increase in all departments. Mr. Jackson asked how much it would cost to get the raise to 8%, Ms. Moore gave al briefhistory oft the COLA and merit raises given by the Town for thej past 8 years. Mr. Jackson stated that he believes the proposed 6% increase in salaries needs to be more and across the board. Ms. Wallace explained that the 6% is not across the board, but rather merit-based at the determination of the department heads on an individual employee basis. Ms. Johnson-Wilson stated that the Streets Department employees should be paid more than administration employees. Ms. Evans stated that the lower paid employees need a higher percentage salary increase. Ms. Moore: reported that reassessment by Dorchester County could change the numbers of the budget, allowing for more of an increase in salaries. Mr. Brown stated that the Town needs to establish ai minimum wage that is valuable to the employee and that department heads should have complete autonomy to give merit based pay raises. He also stated that the Town should have a workable base COLA increase before any merit-based pay Ms. Johnson-Wilson asked Mr. Campbell iftheir batwing mower would be able to handle the landscaping ofNorth Maple Street and Bear Island Road. Mr. Campbell stated that iti is wide enough, but Ms. Wallace pointed out that Mr. Campbell does not have enough staff on his crews toi maintain that landscaping. Ms. Evans also pointed out that the Town does not have the staffto spray and edge those roads. She stated that her department was never trying tol handle. North Maple, and that they tried to maintain Bear Island Road, but there wasn't enough staff tol keep up Ms. Wallace stated that she and Ms. Moore would go back to rework the numbers to accommodate Council's request for more than a 6% increase in salaries.  and Ms. Moore reported that it would be an additional $650,000.  raises are given.  with the demands oft the landscaping.  CAPITAL RECOMMENDATIONS  Ms. Moore: reported that there was a combined $61 million worth of capital requests, but that the Town could not fund accommodate all oft the requests. She presented the requests, along with staff's recommendation for funding. ChiefMelcher pointed out that thel Purvis Alerting System in the capital requests for $650,000 is critical to fund because it affects emergency  communications.  Chief Wright stated that 38% oft the police department' s fleet needs to be deadlined byi industry standards, sol his request for more cars wasi necessary. Ms. Johnson-Wilson stated that the Town needs a fleet replacement plan in place before Council continues to approve purchasing vehicles. Mayor Touchberry stated that he trusts staffi to know when their vehicles need to bei replaced, and ChiefWright stated that the PD has a policy inj place that actually has more: frequent replacements of vehicles than one would expect. Mr. Moore explained that a good portion ofthe    Special Town Council Meeting Minutes- April25,2024  Page 5  equipment that needs to bei replaced, vehicles included, can be attributed to the fact that parts are becoming obsolete. Ms. Garten-Schmidt stated that in all oft the years of capital requests, it has been her observation that staff only come to Council when it is absolutely necessary toj purchase something new. She thanked the department heads for using vehicles as. long as they have been. Ms. Wallace stated that she and Ms. Moore would look into al lease/purchase agreement for the Purvis Fire system. Ms. Johnson-Wilson stated that she was hoping to see a fingerprint system ont the capital projects list. ChiefWright explained that the department is exploring grants for the system, but that it takes two trained employees to run the system that would need to be Mayor Touchberry challenged Council to come up with a policy for capital funding in the next 6  funded. months.  PRESENTATION OF OTHER FUNDS:  Ms. Moore gave an overview of the Hospitality Tax funds, Impact Fees fund, and Sanitation REQUEST FROM DORCHESTER COUNTY COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Ms. Wallace explained that the DCCOi is requesting $250,000 for the construction of their new homeless shelter on Miles-Jamison Road. Some discussion followed regarding the organization'smission. Mr. Waring made ai motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to fund the $250,000 request from General Fund Balance with stipulations (put a lien on the property ift the building does not get constructed). The motion carried 6-1 with Mr. Halter in opposition.  fund.  ADJOURN:  Mr. Waring made ai motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to adjourn thei meeting. The motion carried unanimously, and Mayor Touchberry adjourned the meeting at 3:18pm.  Respectfully Submitted, PeWypMRy Beth Messervy, Town Clerk  APPROVED:  TTY Russ Touchberry, Mayor