Laserfiche WebLink
REGULAR MEETING <br />SEPTEMBER 14. 1999 <br />BILL NO. 73-99 A BILL OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br />SOUTH BEND APPROPRIATING MONIES FOR THE <br />PURPOSE OF DEFRAYING THE EXPENSES OF THE <br />DESIGNATED ENTERPRISE FUNDS OF THE CITY OF <br />SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR <br />BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2000, AND ENDING <br />DECEMBER 31, 2000, INCLUDING ALL OUTSTANDING <br />CLAIMS AND OBLIGATIONS, AND FIXING A TIME <br />WHEN THE SAME SHALL TAKE EFFECT <br />Mayor Stephen Luecke inquired of the Council if the above referenced three (3) bills could be <br />combined for Public Hearing purposes. After discussion, and opinion by legal counsel City Attorney <br />John Broden that the matter was up to the Council discretion, Councilmember Kelly made a motion <br />to combine the above bills for the purpose of Public Hearing. Councilmember Sniadecki seconded <br />the motion which carried by a voice vote of seven (7) ayes. <br />Mayor Stephen Luecke made the presentation for these bills. <br />Mayor Luecke stated that the three (3) bills presented today for consideration represent the operating <br />budget for the City of South Bend for the year 2000. Mayor Luecke thanked City Controller and <br />Department heads for their hard work on this budget as well as the Common Council for their <br />attention to the details of the budget. He noted that the Council has already spent approximately <br />seventeen (17) hours in committee meetings reviewing this budget. <br />Mayor Luecke noted that this budget is an operating budget that shows expenditures of <br />approximately one hundred nineteen million dollars ($119,000,000.00) for day to day operations as <br />well as debt service. It does not include a new capital budget which will be presented early in <br />February 2000. <br />The proposed budget assumes the maximum allowable five per cent (5 %) increase in Property Tax <br />revenue for the City. The funds receiving property tax revenue include the General Fund, Parks <br />Department, Police Pension, Fire Pension and Cumulative Capital Development Fund. This levy <br />will be reviewed in early October and an adjustment will be made to reflect the approved amount <br />of total levy per state statutes. Property taxes fund seventy -six per cent (76 %) of the operation of <br />the general fund but only forty -one per cent (41 %) of total expenditures. The budget reflects no <br />growth in supplies with a two per cent (2 %) increase otherwise. <br />Some of the unusual expenditures include an expenditure of one hundred thirty thousand dollars <br />($130,000.00) for the rehabilitation of the elevators in the County -City Building as the City's <br />contribution, a ninety thousand dollars ($90,000.00) increase in operating costs for the Morris <br />Performing Arts Conter which is scheduled to open in January 2000, and seventy -six thousand <br />dollars ($76,000.00) for the Fire Department for additional personnel costs incurred as the result of <br />contracts with various community medical providers. <br />Mayor Luecke stated that the Self- Insurance Employee Benefit Fund had a very difficult year in <br />1998 with regards to claims expenditures. This high claim experience along with a "catch -up" <br />period on behalf of the City's third party administrator during 1998 resulted in approximately $1.2 <br />million dollars of health insurance claims paid in excess of the original $3.8 million dollar budget. <br />Additionally, the City's Police and Fire Pension Funds continue to experience funding shortfalls as <br />a result of the increasing number of retirees that are receiving pension benefits coupled with the base <br />pay increased for the Police and Firefighters on which the pension payments are determined. <br />Also, five (5) funds are not balanced for the year and these funds will need to rely on existing fund <br />cash balances to support the projected 2000 deficiency. Those funds include the Motor Vehicle <br />Highway, Street Department, Human Rights, HUD, Police and Fire Pension Funds and Project <br />Releaf Fund. <br />