09-08-03 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 8.2003 the committee is still conducting budget hearings with the various City departments. The Committee will have a recommendation on these bills at the September 22, 2003 meeting of the Council. Mayor Stephen J. Luecke made the presentation for these bills. Mayor Luecke informed the Council that the operating budget covers the costs of providing services to citizens as well as debt service. The capital budget will be submitted in January or early February. Mayor Luecke stated that Bill No. 64 -03 is for the purpose of setting the tax rate to levy the property taxes that are used to help fund operations. It will set a tax rate for the Corporation General Fund, the Park and Recreation Fund, the Fire Firefighters Pension Fund, Policeman's Pension Fund and the Cumulative Capital Development Fund, with a total Civil City rate at $4.0366. The Redevelopment rate of $ 0.1573, is to fund bonds from the Redevelopment Commission for Studebaker and the College Football Hall of Fame. He noted that these rates are a guess because the City has not yet received a certified assessed value for the total property valuation from the Assessor. Mayor Luecke stated that the proposed 2004 budget is balanced and fiscally responsible. It meets the needs of the citizens and the workforce. At a time when other governmental entities have cut back programs and frozen wages, the City is able to fully fund essential services and provide fair compensation for employees. Mayor Luecke further stated that he has been and will be realistic about the current fiscal condition and financial responsibility of the City. While the City is fiscally sound and has growing revenues, it is not flush with resources to do everything. Operating and Capital costs need to be prioritized. Mayor Luecke commended department heads and division managers for the work they have done in putting these budgets together. Mayor Luecke thanked the Council for the attention they are giving during the committee hearings by delving into the details of these various department budgets and understanding how dollars are being expended to serve the residents of the community. Balancing South Bend's needs has never been easy and balancing the needs for next year will continue to be challenging. There are many reasons for this and many of those challenges are out of the control of the City. The City faces escalating medical, pension and liability costs. Mayor Luecke stated that this budget includes all operating expenses as well as debt service. It does not include new capital requests. The property tax levy increase assumes the maximum allowable increase in the levy to support the operations of the Civil City. The General Fund revenues including property taxes are expected to increase by about $2.9 million. For the first time gaming revenues appear in the budget and add about six hundred eighty -three thousand ($683,000.00) because of action taken by the state legislature last year. Police and Fire pensions continue to experience annual funding shortfalls which the City has been able to supplement in the past with some special distributions from the state as well as the General Fund. The drop retirement option program also adds a challenge. This is a deferred retirement option program that allows police and firefighters to announce a retirement date up to three (3) years in the future and to begin accumulating a cash payout that can be taken at retirement. After declining from $5 million in 1999 to $1.3 million last year, Local Roads and Streets has an increased funding to $3.3 million for 2004. Mayor Luecke noted that budgeting guidelines were provided to the department heads and division managers and for the second straight year they were asked to hold supplies to a zero per cent (0 %) increase and were asked for a zero per cent increase in other services. Last year a one and one half