The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2024-07-30 City Council Minutes - Budget WorkshopCALDWELL CITY OF CALDWELL CALDWELL CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOPS FY-2025 LOCATION Caldwell Police Department Community Room 110 South 5th Avenue Caldwell City Hall 205 South 6th Avenue DATE' ° :' TIMEILOCATION AGENDA ITEMS Thursday 4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP May 23, 2024 CPD Community Room Budget Discussion Thursday 4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP May 30, 2024 CPD Community Room Budget Discussion Thursday 4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP June 20, 2024 City Hall Budget Discussion Tuesday 4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP June 25, 2024 City Hall Budget Discussion Monday 4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP July 15, 2024 City Hall Budget Discussion Tuesday 4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP July 30, 2024 City Hall Budget Discussion Any person needing special accommodations to participate in the meeting should contact the City Clerk at 205 South 61h Avenue or call #455-4656 prior to the meeting. Cualquier persona necesitando comodidades especiales para participar en la reunion debe contactar at Secretario Is Ciudad en 205 South 6th Avenue o flame al #455-4656 antes de la reunion. BOOK 65 PAGE 149 CALDWELL CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP MINUTES July 30, 2024 4:00 pm Mayor Wagoner opened the meeting at 4:00 p.m. at Caldwell City Hall in the Council Chambers. Present: Doty, Dittenber, Allgood, Williams. Stadick, and Register. ' Councilot Stadick provided remarks for city staff members when compiling a budget: FIVE POINT FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: I: Will it simplify operations? 2. Will it create process efficiency? 3. Will it deliver an acceptable return? 4. Will the results be low costihigh value? 5. Can it be executed flawlessly? PRESENTATION #1: CITY FINANCE DIRECTOR — RAELYNN NORTH Raelynn North, City Finance Director, provided updates on the proposed budget document by use of a PowerPoint presentation and financial spreadsheets. Cash Balance: After review of the financial spreadsheets with the Council Members, Ms. North reported that the Association of Idaho Cities recommends a 25% budgetary reserve. The Financial Policy for the City of Caldwell recommends a 30% reserve, which has been observed with the proposed budget. Foregone: Discussion was held concerning the potential use of foregone with Ms. North explaining that the calculated amount of $290,000, which is currently available for use by the City of Caldwell. Use of foregone increases the base budget on an ongoing basis. Mayor Wagoner reported that other Idaho cities have indicated their interest to use foregone this year due to the limits ' put in place by the legislature last year affecting cities under House Bill 4389. Employee Insurance: Ms. North reported on the employee health insurance increased premiums. Discussion followed regarding the premiums in relation to a proposed COLA amount for the employees. Capital List: Discussion followed concerning pending projects. It was noted that improvements to the Simplot Stadium have been removed from the project list. Details were provided regarding the Quiet Zone project and its current status. Requests for additional employees: Ms. North noted that the list included part-time seasonal positions for the new swimming pool to open in May 2025. DISCUSSIONAND RECOMMENDATIONS. Councilor Allgood inquired about projected revenue from the new R.V. park located at the Caldwell Event Center. It was noted that a conservative estimate of $24,000 revenue was included in the budget. Councilor Stadick inquired if the Airport Director position replaced other staff positions at the airport when he was hired last year. Councilor Williams confirmed that the original proposal brought forward involving an Airport Director was a restructure of the existing personnel within the Airport Department. Councilor Doty inquired about specific projects outlined by the outgoing Parks & Recreation Director at the various park sites. Ms. North reported that the Parks & Recreation Fund includes new playground equipment at Memorial Park & Luby Park. ' Discussion was held concerning expenses relating to The Car Park. It was noted that additional information would be provided to the Council Members prior to the upcoming Special City Council Meeting scheduled on August 26, 2024. Councilor Allgood inquired about the Urban Renewal Agency assisting with the Economic Development Department salaries. Ms. North reported that the URA budget was recently presented to their Board of Commissioners outlining the support of $226,800 for Economic Development staff salaries. This ongoing amount is dependent upon projected income from the new URA North Reallocation Area. Chief Frawley expressed his appreciation to those who assisted with the finalization of the fire union negotiations. He requested consideration of salary increases for the fire deputy positions using salary savings. Councilor Williams asked if the salary proposals would be sustainable. Chief Frawley reported that with the use of technology and cost BOOK 65 PAGE 150 sharing within the department, the proposed increases would be sustainable. Discussion followed regarding how such a change would impact the budget. Fire Chief reported that overtime and operations could be adjusted to compensate for the proposed salary increases. It was recommended that Chief Frawley and the Finance Director review the budget for possible adjustments. Councilor Allgood inquired about the future of the partnership with Canyon County and City of Caldwell concerning Gabiola Field. The Mayor reported on a recent meeting held at the site with Ken Wheeler, Juan Avila, and Daniel McDonald. A plan was discussed regarding improvements being made to Gabiola Field starting this year. ' In response to questions from Councilor Allgood, Ms. North confirmed that the Golf Pro position has been posted by the HR Department. The assistant at Purple Sage Golf Course will remain in his current position. In response to questions from Councilor Stadick, Ashley Newbry (Public Works Deputy) reported that proposed fee increases for water services will be brought forward in September for Council's consideration. She also noted that the proposed budgetary projections for the Wastewater Treatment Plant are associated with continued operations within the department. REVIEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS: 1) Travel & Meetings: ➢ It was recommended that spending on food items involving staff meetings (in house or meeting with community members) should be held at a City facility and not at local restaurants or coffee shops in order to curtail these expenditures. ➢ Ms. North reported that all travel budgets across the board were reduced by 5%. 2) Proposed employee positions were reviewed: ➢ The HR internship budget be reduced to allow for the Mayor's Community Outreach Assistant position. ➢ The Parks & Recreation administrative assistant request should be eliminated. ➢ The Facilities Department is to be provided with two additional employees. ➢ Move forward with looking to include the new ground crew position in the Parks Department; however, the position would be delayed until a new Parks & Recreation Director has been appointed. 3) Valley Regional Transit: ➢ It was determined that the amount of $345,000 would be allocated for Valley Regional Transit. 4) Community Outreach/Community Relations: ➢ Councilor Stadick asked that an additional amount of $30,000 be added to the Caldwell Veterans Memorial ' Hall for serving the veterans in the community. Canyon County is appropriating $36,500.00 for the CVMH. ➢ Discussion followed regarding the various community outreach opportunities. It is recommended that requests for donations by community organizations, sponsorships, or contributions be determined on a case - by -case basis. 5) Graffiti Clean -Up: ➢ Councilor Allgood recommended that the graffiti budget should be routinely evaluated as the program progresses under the direction of Caldwell Police Department and City Hall staff. 6) Public Works/Engineering Projects: ➢ It was recommended that the proposed intersection improvements at Linden/Cleveland (estimated cost of $300,000) remain in the budget due to public safety concerns. 7) Office space at 621 Cleveland: ➢ Public Works and Fire Administrative staff members should remain at the City Hall Annex facility at this time. 8) City Attorney Legal Services Contract: ➢ The proposed Legal Services contract as submitted by Mark Hilty be brought forward for consideration. 9) Foregone: ➢ It was recommended that the amount of $290,000 foregone be included in the budget with provision for its usage within the Caldwell Police Department and Caldwell Fire Department budgets. It was noted that a workshop will be held on August 191 to discuss proposals for the relocation of Fire Station No. 1. Ms. North reported that the tentative budget would be presented at the City Council meeting on August 5, 2024 and the public hearing conducted on August 20, 2024. The workshop dismissed at 7:18 p.m. CIT6._. PAGE 151 APPROVED AS WRITTEN THIS 19'^ DAY OF August 2024. Councilor Dittenber ATTEST: Debbie Geyer, City Clerk V� Mayor Wagoner ,•uunu•.. JAN 15 ��'•.,;� COUNT ��•r`•