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09-09-02 Council Meeting Minutes
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09-09-02 Council Meeting Minutes
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City Council - City Clerk
City Council - Document Type
Council Mtg Minutes
City Counci - Date
9/9/2002
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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 <br />he is grateful for the hard work of the department heads, division managers and staff who have made <br />this possible and would like to thank City Controller Rick 011ett and Tom Skarbek for their hard <br />work in putting this budget together. The Mayor stated that the City continues to face new <br />challenges with rapidly increasing insurance costs and pension liability squeezing resources. The <br />full impact of reassessment and tax restructuring is still unknown. A new formula for capping the <br />growth of the property tax levy will yield fewer dollars next year. The downturn in the economy will <br />mean reduced revenue from local option income taxes. Most of these changes will impact the <br />amount of funds that are available for the Capital Budget in January. <br />Mayor Luecke stated that the budget does show a surplus of revenues over expenses and that is <br />intended. That surplus will help fund the Capital Budget next year. Nevertheless, they expect to <br />present another strong capital investment plan for 2003. He noted that the administration stands <br />ready to meet the challenges by improving efficiency and finding more economical ways to provide <br />services. The Mayor noted that he is proud of the operating budget that is being presented and at this <br />time asked City Controller Mr. Rick 011ett to highlight some of the key factors of the budget. <br />City Controller Rick 011ett, 14th Floor, County -City Building, South Bend, Indiana, thanked the <br />Council for going over the budget with the administration, department heads and fiscal officers and <br />he thanked Mr. Tom Skarbek for putting this budget together. <br />Mr. 011ett informed the Council that the proposed 2003 budget is balanced and fiscally responsible. <br />The administration has been realistic about current fiscal responsibilities and financial <br />responsibility. While the City is fiscally sound and has growing revenues, it is not flush with <br />resources to do everything and priorities will have to be made. <br />Mr. 011ett noted that while many issues are sizeable, there are also opportunities that are sizeable <br />as well. The TJX project and other redevelopment projects are good funding problems to have. The <br />City has a long list of projects that will need to be addressed and it is good to look for funds to <br />accomplish great results. Balancing South Bend's needs has never been easy. He noted that <br />balancing the needs in 2003 will not be the most challenging the City has had to face but it will <br />probably be more difficult than the current year for many reasons. Mr. 011ett noted that national, <br />state and local economies are still on the mend. There are also escalating medical, pension and <br />liability costs. Budgeting is one way to give some perspective to balancing resources, demands and <br />priorities. As precise as the printed numbers look, they reflect the assumptions used and the <br />programs needed to serve citizens. The numbers are reasonable estimates for next year but <br />unexpected events must be planned for. He noted that last year there was a great increase in medical <br />and health costs. <br />Mr. 011ett stated that this budget includes all operating expenses as well as debt service. It does <br />not include new capital requests. The property tax levy increase assumes the maximum allowable <br />5% for the Civil City. General Fund revenues including property taxes are expected to increase by <br />$3 million or over 5.4 %. Personnel costs include base salary increases of 5.3% for all Police <br />Officers that range from 4.7% to 5.6 %. For Firefighters that figure is 2.8% with a range of 2.15% <br />to 4.05 %. Teamsters and Non - Bargaining employees will see a 4% increase. The Police and Fire <br />Pensions continue to experience funding shortfalls. The state pension laws have positively impacted <br />the overall funding but they are not going to hold for the longer term. The catch up funding the state <br />provided in December 2001 and additional distribution from the Public Deposit Insurance Fund will <br />cover the City to 2003. However, by 2004 and beyond, it can be expected that there will have to <br />be a transfer of funds to the Pension Funds from the General Fund. Mr. 011ett noted that full time <br />employees have declined 29.3 from last years budget through attrition. Additionally, Local Roads <br />and Streets and the Street Department will have fewer funds to work with. Over the last two (2) <br />years estimated funds for their capital expenditures decreased from $2 million to $1.3 million. <br />Mr. 011ett further advised that the Mayor's guidelines for expenditures for the 2003 budget included <br />0% increase in supplies and 1.5% for other services except in unusual circumstances. The total <br />U1" <br />
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