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2013 Annual Report of the Personnel and Finance
Committee of the South Bend Common Council
Date: December 30, 2013
To: The South Bend Common Council
The Office of the City Clerk
From: 5 I District Council Member Dr. David Varner, Chairperson
Personnel and Finance Committee
This Annual Report is filed as a requirement of Section 2 -10 (i) of the South Bend Municipal
Code which calls for a report from the Chairperson of each of the Council's Standing Committee
by the 2 "d Monday in December.
Duties:
The Personnel and Finance Committee is charged with the following duties pursuant to Section
2 -10 of the South Bend Municipal Code:
"Oversees the activities performed by the Department of Administration and Finance,
and reviews all proposed salaries, budgets, appropriations and other fiscal matters, as
well as personnel policies, health benefits and related matters ".
2013 Committee Members:
The member of the Personnel and Finance Committee this year include Council Member Karen
L. White, who serves as Vice - Chairperson; Henry Davis, Jr. and Valerie Schey, along with
myself as Chairperson. I would like to extend a special word of thanks to our citizen members
Jack Smith and Marc Brammer for their insights and perspectives. Jack Smith was always
present, not only for the Personnel and Finance Committee, but sat thru many hours of meetings
of other Committees and regular Common Council meetings, which is a true reflection of his
dedication to being involved and informed.
Meetings:
The Personnel and Finance Committee is by far the most active of all of the standing committees
of the South Bend Common Council. This year we met thirty -six (36) times, with nine (9) of
those meetings being dedicated to reviewing and discussing the proposed 2014 civil city budget.
2013 Personnel and Finance Committee Annual Report
Page 2
Personnel and Finance Committee Meeting Topics:
I would like to thank City Controller Mark Neal and Assistant City Controller John Murphy and
their staff for all of the detailed information which they have provided to the Council and the
Office of the City Clerk regarding fiscal matters. In my many years on the Council, this has been
by far the most informative fiscal data ever shared. As a result of the sharing of this data, more
informed decisions may be made and the public and the Council have greater opportunities to
monitor their tax dollars. The updated monthly reports from the Department of Administration
and Finance are an invaluable tool; as well as the CAFR and many other fiscal documents which
supplement the data provided during the budget review.
A variety of personnel and fiscal topics were discussed and reviewed by the Personnel and
Finance Committee this year, including:
• Bill No. 70- 12:Change to the South Bend Municipal Code of the Community &
Economic Development Committee to the Community Investment Committee of the
South Bend Common Council
• Reviewing the MBE/WBE Utilization Board Participation Report
• Bill No. 13 -17 Reviewing and approving Scrap Metal Licenses for 2013
• Cash Statement Review — updating the monthly Controller's cash report with Mark Neal,
John Murphy and Rahman Johnson
• Bill No. 13-36: Appointing the Council Attorney as the Council's Agent for Teamster
Negotiations
• Discussions of City -Wide goals and objectives to be addressed in the 2014 budget
• Bill No. 44 -13 : Rate of taxation for 2014
• Bill No. 45 -13: Appropriations for 2014
• Bill No. 46 -13: Enterprise appropriations for 2014
• Bill No. 54 -13: 3 -year wage ordinance for Teamster City employees
• Bill No. 66 -13: reinstatement of one (1) non - designated holiday
There was much "give and take" in the many discussions and debates leading up to the final
passage of the three (3) ordinances involving the 2014 budget for the civil city of South Bend.
As a result, the priorities of the taxpayers were being focused upon throughout these discussions.
Concerns and Recommendations for 2014:
South Bend Municipal Code Section 2 -22 Annual Reports reads as follows:
"The director of each department and the presiding officer of each executive board,
commission and authority shall prepare and submit to the Mayor and the Council by May
1 of each year, a report of the functions, projects and activities of each department, board,
commission or authority for the preceding fiscal year ".
2013 Personnel and Finance Committee Annual Report
Page 3
Unfortunately, this section of the City Code has resulted in minimal financial and relevant data
being filed which provides meaningful criteria to see if budget thresholds, goals and objectives
are being met. I believe that the Council and Administration need to collaborate on this, so that
the data being filed each May 1 s` is helpful to the overall budgetary process.
There are many deadlines set forth in the City Code, many of which are related to fiscal and /or
personnel. Currently there is no meaningful method in place [tracked by computer] to make
sure that these dates are identified, tracked and responded to -- so that the overall purposes of
those deadlines are met with fruitful discussions of the data required to be shared.
Addressing both of these concerns, I believe will further improve the collaboration on fiscal and
personnel matters between the Council and Administration.
2014 will be a negotiating year with the unions representing the sworn members in the police and
fire departments. The Council and Administration have worked hard for well over a decade to
develop a meaningful negotiating process which is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the
public safety departments and the taxpayers, which is respectful to the legal roles authorized to
be carried out by the legislative and administrative branches of city government. I would hope
that those good faith efforts and methodologies would continue next year.
It has been a pleasure to serve as Personnel and Finance Committee Chair this year. Thank you.
Most sincerely,
Dr-Davi'd Varner, Chairperson
Personnel and Finance Committee
South Bend Common Council
cc: Mark Neal, City Controller
John Murphy, Assistant City Controller