MEETING MINUTES OF THE BROADWAY TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL CALLED WORKSHOP MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2025 5:00 p.m. The Broadway Town Council met in a special called workshop meeting on Monday, April 28, 2025, in the Council Chambers of the Broadway Town Hall. The following members were present: Mayor David L. Jordan, Vice-Mayor, Beverly L. London and Council Members Chad L. Comer, Travis M. Driver, Richard E. Fulk, Douglas W. Harpine, and Joan H. Shifflett. The following staff members were present: Town Clerk, Donna Lohr; Finance Director, Susan Smith; and Deputy Treasurer, Kim Clark. Mayor Jordan welcomed everyone to the workshop meeting. He then called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Ms. Smith advised that the budget information had been distributed to Council members via email. Ms. Smith then distributed some additional information in hard copy form which included recommendations from the Finance office, as well as some notes from the finance committee, and then finally the overall budget numbers. The ad will be finalized depending on whether there are any changes from Council at tonight's meeting. Ms. Smith adviséd that anything in red is additional from last year's budget. Anything that was struck through in last year's budget has been removed. Ms. Smith advised that there is a proposed increase to the trash fees of6.8%, which is the CPI-U (2.8%) + 4%. Ms. Smith advised that meals tax is proposed to increase to 6%. Mr. Driver asked how much it had increased last year. Ms. Smith advised it had increased a half percent last year. Council members briefly discussed the farmland lease. Council members: reviewed the budget document and asked Ms. Smith several questions regarding the amounts recommended in the budget. Mr. Harpine asked why the amount of Sales Tax from the County, line item 10-3000-170, was decreased. Ms. Smith advised that she had gone with a conservative number for revenue, but she could increase that number for expected revenue if Council wished. Council requested the number be increased to $380,000. Council members then discussed increasing the trash fees revenue, line item 10-3000-200, and requested that number be increased to $340,000. Council then discussed the proposed increase to the meals tax, from 5%1 to 6%. After a brief discussion, Council members opted to noti incréase the meals tax to 6%. They advised Ms. Smith to leave the meals tax rate at 5% for the next fiscal year. Council members proceeded to discuss the water rent revenues, line item 20-3000-210. Council members asked why this number would be lower than the current budget ifitis] proposed to increase the water rates. Ms. Shifflett advised that if you project the current "actual" number, and add a 3% increase, the revenue will still not be close to $660,000. Council members requested that Ms. Smith decrease the recommended number to $600,000. Council members then discussed the wastewater sewer rent line item, 30-3000-210. Council members requested that Ms. Smith increase the recommended number to $525,000. Council members briefly discussed the possibility of increasing the cigarette tax rate. Ms. Smith advised that thisis a difficult number to budget for. Council discussed the current "actual" numbers as well as the projected numbers for cigarette tax. Council decided to leave the recommended $57,000 as expected revenue for cigarette tax for the 25-26 budget. Council members then discussed the community center building. Ms. Smith advised that she had spoken with the daycare center director, and they will be having their meeting next Tuesday. The Directori is waiting on some reports back from the Virginia Department ofHealth regarding the facility. The Directoris unsurei ifthey will be utilizing the community center building in the future. Mr. Harpine asked Ms. Smith to include something in the budget as income from the community center building, 14 MEETING MINUTES OF THE BROADWAY TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL CALLED WORKSHOP MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2025 5:00 p.m. either for rent from the daycare facility or income from renting out the facility to citizens for parties or other events. After some discussion, Ms. Smith advised that she would include $6,000 as revenue for community center rental income, which would show up as its own revenue line item in the proposed budget. Ms. Smith then noted that the out-of-town connection fee will be 150% above the in-town fee. This increase must bei included in the Town Code verbiage ifthis increaseis accepted by Council. The water and sewer connection ordinance will need to be reviewed and changed by the Town Attorney. Council members then discussed possibly increasing thei in-town connection fees. Council determined to leave the in-town connection fees as they currently are. Council members discussed the effect that the 3% increase to water and sewer rates would have on its customers. Council members determined that until last year, regular increases in the water and sewer rates had not been done. The town has aging infrastructure that needs to be considered for repair and replacement and the increases can go towards paying fort those items. Council members agreed with the recommended 3% water increase and the 3% seweri increase. Ms. Smith referenced a chart indicating how Broadway compared to the other' Towns regarding thei minimum sewer rate. Currently Broadway is much lower than all the other neighboring localities. After much discussion, Council members agreed to increase the minimum sewer amount to $12.50 monthly, or $25.00 bi-monthly. Ms. Shifflett remarked that the water and sewer rates had increased by 5% last year. Ms. Smith advised that she recommends raising the water and sewer: rates every year. The cost of production and treatment of water does not decrease. Council members then moved on to discuss the expenditures side of the budget. Ms. Smith advised that under General Admin, line item 10-4200-120, the salaries line item has a proposed 4% increase. Council members discussed the need to determine cost ofliving increases versus merit increases in the future. Mr. Comer advised that once the new town manager is in place, evaluations could bei made, and at that point, merit-based increases could be considered. Ms. Smith then advised that the health insurance is increasing 18%. She stated that ifCouncil wants to explore other options for health insurance: in the future, that needs to be done in January, as the rates are locked in by the end of March for the next fiscal year. Ms. Smith advised that some of the items in the budget that are in red print are just additional information and to clarify what items fall under each line item. Ms. Smith explained that under the Donations Line Item, that number increased due to the increase in population. The $21,000 for Broadway Volunteer Fire Department is a pass-through fund. Mr. Comer requested that funds be included in the budget in the event that Council wants to make a donation to the Rescue Squad and Fire Department. Ms. Smith asked how much Council wants to include. Council members agreed to include a total of$20,000, or $10,000 for each organization. Mr. Fulk advised that someone needs to find out from the County what amount of money comes to the Town of Broadway from money that was collected from residents of the Town of Broadway for services provided by the rescue squad. Council members then discussed whether or not to include the $5,000 for the Schultz Theatre. After much discussion, the council determined that $5,000 could be given to the Schultz Theatre, but they must apply for the Arts grant in order to receive the $5,000 from the Town. If the Town does not receive revenue from the Arts grant, the Town does not pay out the $5,000. Ms. Shifflett advised that she is not in favor of providing donations. She advised that the Town's 15 MEETING MINUTES OF THE BROADWAY TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL CALLED WORKSHOP MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2025 5:00 p.m. priorities need to be providing water and sewer service, repairing and replacing infrastructure, and putting money back into the Town's reserve funds. She further advised that, knowing that the Town does not have the amount of reserves that it should have, and knowing the size of the Town and what the Town's needs are, she cannot in good conscious agree to provide donations. With the exception ofMs. Shifflett, Council members agreed to keep the $1,000 donation for the Plains District Museum. Mr. Fulk then asked about a donation fort the Village Library. Mr. Fulk advised that the Town provides a donation to the library every year. Ms. Smith advised that Council had decided to take that donation out last year. Mr. Fulk responded that the contract with the library states that the Town will make a donation every year to the library. Mr. Fulk provided a copy ofthe lease agreement and Memorandum ofUnderstanding with the Library for council and stafft to reference. Ms. Smith noted that she can include the $2,000 in the proposed budget for FY 25-26, but Council needs to vote to appropriate the funds ifthey want to donate to the library in the current budget, since that donation was taken out at last year's budget meeting. Council members requested that Ms. Smith increase the postage line item to $8,000. Council members requested that the office supplies line item be increased as well. Mr. Travis M. Driver advised that the police overtime line item was likely to come down duet to the new Chiefnow being here and the other officers not having to work as much overtime. Ms. Smith agreed to decrease the police overtime line item from $25,000 to $20,000. Under Highways/Public Works, Ms. Smith advised Council that she had made a note that for future considerations, salaries might be moved from wastewater to highways, but this would cause a larger transfer from the 30-wastewater fund at year end. Ms. Smith advised that decision could be made by the Town Manager for future budgets. Ms. Smith then stated that funds for the bridge inspections have been included in the street maintenance fund for this year, as well as the cost of salt, and the Norfolk/Southern lease. These items were not included in previous budgets. Council members then moved on to review the Park Expenditures. Council members instructed Ms. Smith to increase line item, 10-9000-150, Capital Outlay-Park, to $250,000. Council members then reviewed the water line item expenses. They discussed the possibility of eliminating the inclusion offluoride in the water, but no decision was made. Council members made no changes to the line items for water expenditures. They also reviewed and discussed wastewater expenditures. Council members asked Ms. Smith to increase the utilities and fuel line item, 30-8300-280, from $550,000 to $575,000. With no further discussion on the proposed budget for FY25-26, Ms. Clark distributed: information that will bei included in the formulation ofa Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Ms. Smith explained that this is a very early stage for creating a CIP. She stated that as projects are being completed, they are checked off the list of capital projects that are included in the plan. Ms. Smith has asked department heads to prioritize their projects to help in creating the timeline for the plan. Ms. Smith advised that she will make the adjustments to the budget that Council requested at this evening's meeting. Ms. Lohr will send the notice of public hearing ad to the newspaper this week. Mayor Jordan thanked the staff and finance department for the time and effort involved in creating the proposed budget. He stated that the explanation and information provided to Council is much appreciated. 16 MEETING MINUTES OF THE BROADWAY TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL CALLED WORKSHOP MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2025 5:00 p.m. Other Business Under other business, Mayor Jordan advised Council that a meeting needs to be held to appoint the new Town Manager, who is expected to begin his new position on Monday, May 5, 2025. Mayor Jordan suggested having a Special Called Meeting on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. He advised that the new Town Manager would not be there for that meeting on Wednesday, as he would not be moving to the area until Friday, but the meeting could still be held. Council members agreed to that date and time for the Special Called Meeting to appoint the Town Manager. With no further business to discuss, at 7:24 p.m., Mr. Travis M. Driver made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Douglas W. Harpine seconded the motion which passed on the following voice vote ofmembers: Ayes: 7 Nays: 0 AMe - Mayor 9221 David L. Jordan Sewa ohs Town Clerk Donna Lohr 17