Minutes: Finance: April 2010

City of Evansville
Finance & Labor Relations Committee

Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 8, 2010, 5:30 pm
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

I. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Acting Chair Mason Braunschweig. Present: Alderpersons Mason Braunschweig and Diane Roberts. Also present: Mayor Sandy Decker, Finance Director Lisa Novinska and City Administrator Dan Wietecha.

II. Approve Agenda. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to approve the agenda. Motion approved 2-0.

III. Minutes of March 4, 2010. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to waive the reading of and to approve the minutes as presented. Motion approved 2-0.

IV. Citizen Appearances. None.

V. Water & Light Bills. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to accept the Water & Light bills in the amount of $754,334.86. Motion approved 2-0 on a roll call vote.

VI. City Bills. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to accept the City bills in the amount of $1,640,538.94. Motion approved 2-0 on a roll call vote.

VII. Unfinished Business:
a. Purchasing Policy. Wietecha said this was a place-holder on the agenda until the formal policy is drafted.

b. TID #5 Audit. Wietecha said the statutory audit for Tax Increment District #5 had been completed through December 31, 2009. Except for the East Main Street Bridge, all infrastructure items identified in the September 2005 project plan have been completed. A comparison of actual expenditures versus the project plan leaves some $400,000 available for additional projects; the $85,000 budgeted for the bridge would reduce this.

The district has $3.9 million in debt to be repaid by tax increment collections over the life of the district, expiring in 2031. At a current collection around $150,000 per year, the debt would not be fully paid until 2035. Appreciation in the value of properties throughout the district would increase the amount collected in each year and accelerate the repayment. Such appreciation is anticipated over the life of the district, especially with the improvements to the downtown infrastructure, but is difficult to predict with the current real estate market.

Wietecha noted that project plan could be modified in the future. He emphasized that the limited financing available requires any project undertaken must be a priority. Further, any direct assistance to an individual business should continue to have safeguards to ensure collection of the full amount of the loan even if tax increments fall short. The Committee noted that it did not want to deter businesses from applying for assistance.

VIII. New Business:
a. Budget Amendments and Reclassification. Wietecha explained that the proposed resolution had four parts. One, it enables lighting upgrades with the receipt of a $133,496 grant and $6,700 incentives. Two, it reclassifies the July 2009 transfer from the EMS Fund to the General Fund as a transfer from the EMS Fund to the Capital Projects Fund. Three, it approves the construction on the Police/EMS remodeling project to date. And, four, it budgets for a few pending items in the Police/EMS project including reconstructing the EMS portion of the garage.

The state’s Expenditure Restraint Program considers the pass-through transfer of moneys from the EMS Fund to the General Fund to the Capital Projects Fund as spending by the General Fund. This would result in the city’s ineligibility for the Expenditure Restraint Program in 2011. Novinska noted that this program has meant $50,000 to $60,000 in revenues for the city the last few years. Reclassifying the transfer according to its intended use in the Capital Projects Fund is the best solution to retain the city’s eligibility for the Expenditure Restraint Program. The Committee said the reclassification should be for the full amount of the $301,901 transfer.

The Committee discussed the pending construction items. In January, it had removed these items from the year-end budget amendments in Resolution 2010-01, wanting a firm number for reconstructing the EMS portion of the garage. There is still not a firm number and the scope of the reconstruction is unknown. The reclassification may have brought the project’s budget back for consideration, but that could be addressed separately without including the prospective remodeling work.

Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2010-07, Approving Budget Reclassification and Amendment to the 2009 Budget and Budget Amendment to the 2010 Budget. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to amend the motion by revising Resolution 2010-07 to reclassify the entire transfer, to remove the budget amendment for prospective work on the Police/EMS remodeling project, and to correct a couple typos. Amendment approved 2-0. Original motion, as amended, approved 2-0 on a roll call vote.

b. Closed Session. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to meet in closed session per Wisconsin Statutes 19.85(1)(e) to deliberate the purchasing of public property at 535 East Main Street, and to subsequently reconvene in open session. Motion approved 2-0 on a roll call vote at 7:00 pm.

c. Sale of 535 East Main. The meeting returned to open session at 7:12 pm. The Committee had no recommendation to Common Council at this time.

IX. Adjournment. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.