MINUTES CITY OF AMES JUNE 05, 2024 6:00 p.m.  304 MARTIN DR. - AMES, TEXAS WORKSHOP CITY COUNCIL MEETING  The City Council for the City of Ames, Texas met in a Workshop Meeting in council chambers at the Ames City Hall at 6:25 p.m. Mayor Barbara Domain called the meeting to order. Mayor Domain conducted the roll call, at that time the members of the City Council who were present were: Mayor Barbara Domain, Michael Trahan, Elizabeth (Liz) Hardy, and Eddie White. Alfred Freeman Jr. arrived late at 8:21 PM and Audrey Harrison was absent. Councilman Eddie White  led the prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.  CITIZEN APPREARANCE citizens present at this meeting. WORKSHOP AGENDA ITEMS:  Mayor Domain asked ift there were any citizens present who would wish to speak? There were no  1. CONSIDER AND DISCUSS 2025 BUDGET  Mayor Domain stated that she has provided the profit and loss statements for both the General and Utility account as well as the 2023 budget for both the General and Utility account. She also stated that Marivious has provided documents that included the deadlines for preparing the budget this year to be in compliance. Mayor Domain started with the Utility Account and explained that the only discrepancies in the report were under the contract labor. She explained that before we split the QuickBooks accounts, all transactions were processed from the Utility account. The contract labor should have been processed from the General account. There are some direct deposit entries that have been transferred to the General account, but they can'tbedeleted from the Utility account. Also, the money was transferred back to the Utility account. Councilman Trahan asked when the money came back to the Utility account what was it categorized as. Mayor Domain explained that the transfer was categorized as a credit back to the contract labor At this time, the council members continued to look over the profit and loss statements that were provided. Mayor Domain proceeded to explain each line item and provide details of any discrepancies that she may have noticed. Marivious asked about the trash(citizens) category. Wellona explained that thei trash(citizens) category was: for the monthly payment Councilman Trahan asked if we still had delinquent accounts that we are collecting on. Wellona explained that wel had about 7 or 8 accounts that we are still collecting on. Mayor Domain further explained that there are some accounts that we will not be able to collect  classification.  tol Live Oaks for the trash service.    due to extenuating circumstances. Councilwoman Hardy asked how much was left to collect on the past due accounts. At this time Wellona went to the front to calculate the amount owed on the delinquent accounts. Councilwoman hardy asked if the customers that made the agreements were sticking to the agreement that they made. Mayor Domain stated that most oft the customers are paying as agreed. We have a few that have called to While looking over the profit and loss statements, Councilwoman Hardy asked where the customer payments for the trash service was categorized. Marivious stated that Wellona said that the sewer and trash are combined. He also stated that they are budgeted separately. Wellona stated that even though the sewer and trash are budgeted separately, when the customer makes a payment, it is categorized to the water/sewer category. At this time Mayor Domain generated a few more reports to further breakdown the transactions sO that everyone could get a better understanding of the transactions. During this time, the councilmembers continued to look over the statements and discuss any concerns they may Councilman Trahan had a question about the sewer amount that we budgeted for 2024. Mayor Domain explained that the budget amount is based on the increased rate for the sewer, which was almost double from last year. We increased from $27.50 to $44.00. Also, the rate increase did not go into effect until March 1St. January and February payments were generated at the $27.50 rate for the sewer. Marivious stated that the budgeted tap rate increased to $25,000 for 2024 and it was only $12,000 for 2023. Mayor Domain generated a report directly from the bank transactions totaling the actual amounts deposited and paid for the sewer and trash. Mayor Domain explained that as of now, we have spent more than we brought in, but that was due to the purchase ofaj pump for the lift stations. She also explained that some of the transactions are one-time transactions that Marivious explained the City of Ames dates for fiscal year 2025 budget and tax rate. He stated that the dates on the right side ofthe page are the dates that we are required to adhere to sO that we will be in compliance. He also discussed the deadlines for the tax rates. After further discussion while looking over the profit and loss statements, Councilman Trahan asked if we should look at making budget cuts for next years budget. Marivious stated that he would like to see the numbers from 2023 before we make a determination if we: should make budget cuts or not. Marivious also stated that this meeting is our 1St budget workshop and since we are ahead of schedule as of now that we should schedule another workshop and have the financial reports for 2023. With the financial report we will have the actual numbers and it will provide al better starting part for creating thel budget for 2025. Councilman Trahan asked if any changes were necessary to use the 2023 holidays and benefits. The benefits will remain the same; however, a change to add. Juneteenth as aj paid It was decided that the next workshop meeting date would be scheduled later. In the meantime, we should determine ifwe are going tol be over budget and ifso, by how much,  alter the payment amount, but they are all still actively paying.  have had.  will not affect the budget every month.  holiday was suggested.    if budget cuts are required where will the cuts come from. Also, we need to have the  financial report for 2023 sO that we can start building the 2025 budget.  2. MAYOR'S REPORT  We attended a meeting with TDEM today to discuss the process off filing for public The SP2125 grant application must be submitted to TXDOT by June 12th, 2024. The maintenance team had free training today hosted by University of Texas  assistance due to the April 26th disaster declaration.  Arlington.  3. ADJOURNMENT  With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:49. PM. Motion made by: Councilman Michael Trahan Seconded by: Councilman Eddie White Alli in favor: 5 Opposed: Abstained:  Barbaral Domain Mayor  de Wellona Godfrey City Secretary