HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC WORKSHOP SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 JEFFERSONVILLE COMMON COUNCIL
WORKSHOP
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019
6:00 P.M.
The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met for a workshop in Room 101, 500
Quartermaster Court,Jeffersonville, Indiana at 6:02 P.M., on September 3, 2019. The roll call was
conducted and those present were: Councilperson Paris, Councilperson Maples, Councilperson Gill,
Councilperson Hawkins, Council President Zastawny, and Councilperson Samuel, Councilperson White
arrived at 6:07 P.M., Councilperson Ellis arrived at 6:14 PM.
1. HEATHER METCALF—BUDGET
City Controller Heather Metcalf stated there would be adding to EDIT on page 33. The transfer out to
the Homeless Fund for$50,000 will be under City Council. The Homeless Fund will be set up. On the
next page for Oak Park will be increased by$15,000 bringing the total to $40,000. The total for EDIT is
now$2,329,892. Council President Zastawny asked if Councilperson Paris requested the increase for the
Oak Park and he did. Council President Zastawny asked if that would be enough to get done what needs
to be done and Councilperson Paris said he believes so. This is a great start to make a difference.
Councilperson Hawkins said that initially it was$10,000 and it was always the expectation that would
need to be increased over time.
Councilperson Owen noted there was some discussion and not including any new firemen for next year.
We are hiring six this year. We are working towards staffing a new apparatus as a long term goal.
Councilperson Owen said he would like to continue pushing towards that goal. District 4 is underserved
and they serve River Ridge and may be one of the busiest of the City. It is causing a gap of coverage for
our residents. This is something we really need to be paying attention to. He met with Joe Hurt along
with Controller Heather Metcalf, Councilperson White, and Councilperson Hawkins. To add another 6 it
would be about half of a million dollars. He doesn't know if he can advocate for 6 because he doesn't
know where six would be funded from the budget. Councilperson Gill said she would like to do the
homework because the roundabout ties them up as well as the new homes being developed. We are
going to have to roll up our sleeves because there is very little room in the budget. We may even have
to weigh out some of the other new employee requests. Councilperson Owen said there was not a solid
plan on how to do that. Councilperson Samuel said that his recommendation is that we ask the
Administration where they would like for that money to come from.The General Fund has $54,000
unspent. This is the Mayor's budget and should be involved.
Councilperson Gill said she would like to have a conversation for the 2 new Police that was left up in the
air. There were questions regarding those new employees. Councilperson Samuel said he spoke with
the Chief and he was told that there would not be 3 in law school, there would be only one. The two
new hires will allow the police to be proactive with some issues.
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Councilperson Owen said that a lot of the capital expenditures have been moved to LOIT. We talked
about the other new employees and how they will be funded. EDIT is helping out with Parks but we are
not going to be using EDIT for the Fire Department. Council President Zastawny noted that LOIT has
been increasing but that has not always been the case, there have even been years that LOIT has
decreased. Councilperson Hawkins noted that that end of the City needs another apparatus. As we
grow out there we have to put this as a priority. He is not very hopeful that he can find a half of a
million dollars in the budget, but it needs to be a priority. If it's not now it needs to be soon that these
firemen get put out there. It's not a matter of if something catastrophic is going to happen it's a matter
of when. If the Mayor doesn't make this a priority then we need to. We could say that River Ridge
needs to be doing this and we can and will pressure them to contribute to that. Councilperson Gill
asked if there had been any recent talks with River Ridge. Councilperson Hawkins is not sure where that
was left, but he believes that they are willing to give land or a facility but that does not give us what we
need. There are some apparatuses that are in reserves that could be used. Councilperson Samuel said
he believes they have two at Station One. If the need is much greater at River Ridge why can't we move
one of those teams to Station Four. Councilperson Hawkins said he wanted to discuss with the Chief
about the allocating the services based on the census. Councilperson Ellis asked if there was any way we
could mandate money from River Ridge. Councilperson Zastawny said that multimillions of dollars
comes from the result of River Ridge. It's not like it is a zero impact and zero revenue to the City.
Councilperson Samuel said we are going to keep having issues like this and when we are adding people
our General Fund is not able to keep up with that. He has always been against using LOIT for funding
staff. But if there is a way to structure something that says we are going to fund it contingent on the
Payroll tax dollars. The issue is we don't control the Payroll Tax Dollars and if a bunch of people who
want to change something begin at the County we may hit a decrease. Councilperson Gill said she
doesn't think there would be support for that and once they are hired they would be an employee of the
City. Councilperson Zastawny said he is comfortable supporting 1 or 2 new employees and taking a
chance, but he is uncomfortable with hiring an additional 5 or 6 on tap of that.
Councilperson Samuel asked if there was any more discussion changing the property tax levy. There has
not.
Councilperson Maples asked for Police Merit Legal Services has requested $9,000 but the Fire Merit is
steadily increasing. Clerk Conlin said she never received a response but the increase for testing.
Councilperson Maples said they have only spent$2000 so far. This is only through June and she just
received another claim. She wouldn't go down to $9,000. If they go to Indianapolis for anything then
there is that fee in there as well. Councilperson Gill asked if they said why they put in $1000 for
Business Meals and Travel. It was in there last year and the budget was copied over. Police Merit has
never asked for that. Fire Merit under Legal Services will be decreased to $10,000.
Councilperson Samuel said regarding the Public Arts when we put the money in originally it has been
around $100,000. The majority of that was supposed to go toward art. That line is being decreased
while other lines are going through the roof. Controller Metcalf said that the budget for 2019 was quite
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high, but all of that money will not be spent this year. There will be money that left over and we will
come back to true it up once we have a true idea of where those funds stand. Councilperson Samuel
said he knows they have been tagged for maintenance on that building. Councilperson Samuel said he
would much rather that money go towards art as opposed to upkeep of the building. Council President
Zastawny said that a lot of it come down to the timing of things. We are planning ever dollar out. We
are doing more projects in collaboration with Main Street Events where we weren't partnered in the
past.
Councilperson Paris said under contractual for River Stage, he has been paid from that while in his band
and it's his biggest paying gig. They may need to negotiate a little better. He is not against the River
Stage but he would like to see that negotiated down. Councilperson Owen said they have had those
conversations too and it is something they are aware of. Councilperson Samuel said he believed that
the highest paying gig was about$28,000. The only way to address that is to cut it and then for them to
work within the new budget.
Councilperson Zastawny asked Controller Metcalf for the schedule. The public hearing date is
September 16th with an adoption date of October 7th. It would be nice to have this finalized by
September 11th or 12th
Councilperson Owen mentioned the contribution for civilian HSA. This would be about$55,000.
Councilperson Zastawny said that he would like to see this happen, Councilperson Gill said that may help
lower the insurance costs. Councilperson Owen said we could budget a number and have to come back
and increase it no matter what we do. Councilperson Hawkins said that we just found $20,000 and he
would be in support of using that for this contribution. It would be a separate line item called HSA
contributions under the Council Budget. Councilperson Hawkins and Councilperson Owen both
supported $35,000.
Councilperson Owen said there was another request from the Finance Department. They would like to
make a pitch to bring up their employees payroll increases. This would $17,305 from the General Fund.
This would affect 6 people in the department. She wanted to advocate for her people. They were told
by Administration to stay within the budget and this is her opportunity to advocate for her people.
Councilperson Samuel said he would recommend doing the same and sending that to the Administration
and let them find that money. Councilperson Owen said that he is advocating for this as well. This
includes the City Controller. She does have some that are at the 35% level. This is in addition to the
Performance Increase Pool. Councilperson Owen made a motion to increase $17,304.65 with Council
President Zastawny seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-1 with Councilperson Ellis voting against and
Councilperson Gill voting neither for nor against the matter. Councilperson Samuel said he thinks the
Mayor needs to be aware of this.
Council President Zastawny said we will meet again at September 16th at 6:00 PM for budget workshop.
Councilperson Owen made a motion to Adjourn at 7:01 PM.
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APPROVED BY:
d Zast:wny, President
APPROVED BY:
1:16c.
Vicki Conlin, City Clerk
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