budget worksession Minutes
March, 2010

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, MPT Lofgren, CMs Ahrens, Dennison and Wilkinson. Also present were TA Murphy, Clerk Harper and former CM Jeff Gourley.

1. Mayor

Announcements: US Census representatives will be at the Town Center March 18, 25 and April 1 to hire census takers for Berwyn Heights.

Budget discussion: Mayor Calvo said that tonight's budget discussion has 3 parts: 1) an overview of contents of Councilmembers' budget binders; 2) an overview of the budget procedures; and 3) going through the budget major activity by major activity. TA Murphy gave an overview of the budget binder, which includes a summary of the FY 2011 budget and memorandum highlighting the major budget changes, communications with the Town Council and department directors, and detailed budgets for each department and major activity. Mayor Calvo explained that a major activity is a budget category containing a number of related line items, such as the Public Works building budget. The budgeted amount of a major activity is binding and can only be changed with a budget amendment. A line item is an appropriation within a major activity, such as electricity costs in Public Works building, which can be changed by the department director.

Mayor Calvo outlined the budget process for the benefit of those Councilmembers, who have not gone through it before. At a budget worksession, TA Murphy will usually provide some updates or detailed information on a particular subject and then the Council will discuss the details of the budget. For example, the goal of tonight’s meeting is to walk through the entire budget by department and identify questions and issues that should be addressed. At the next meeting, the Public Works director will discuss his budget and capital items needed. Health insurance will also be a topic of discussion in March. TA Murphy has proposed a balanced budget, which can only be changed by a vote of the Council. Any Councilmember can propose to make a change to the budget at any time by making a motion, which needs to be seconded. However, proposed increase in expenditures must be paid for with offsets or new revenue. Cuts can be set aside in a “kitty.”

The Council reviewed expenditures for each major activity of the budget.

• Mayor & Council – increases are driven mostly by MML conference costs and number of officials attending

• Town Administration  - budget is driven by salaries, which make up 2/3 of the budget; website overhaul to provide electronic payment option would be under Network & Software Support; electronic payment processing fees would need to be accounted for and would likely be charged to customers as a service fee.

At 7:52 p.m., the Council took a 5 minute break

• Municipal Building – roof repairs and installation of energy efficient lighting are planned. Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) grant expected to pay for lights.

• Town Center – Maintenance & Repairs is the largest line item, which is determined by regular inspections and service. Repairs to the Senior Center light fixtures and the entry door are needed. Senior Center telephones could be replaced with a less expensive system, with 2 lines having same number.

• Police – Budget is proposed to decline by 5% due largely to cut of 1 police officer; the International Chiefs of Police conference was also cut. The Overtime budget was increased to help offset the loss of an officer. The Gas & Oil budget is based on a price of $3.75 per gallon, and may be less than projected. CM Wilkinson said that he would prefer to keep the 8th officer and requested a breakdown of the costs associated with employing an officer. Mayor Calvo said that he is looking for ways to restore the officer but can't find anything that would save as much money.

• Public Safety Miscellaneous – consists of appropriations supporting the Volunteer Fire Department and Neighborhood Watch/Emergency Preparedness.

• Code Compliance – Budget is very tight and driven mostly by salaries. Last year, the Communications line was increased because the Code Director was given a blackberry to communicate with the office from the field. Council opted against funding an electronic code tracking system because of cost. A less expensive system could possibly be developed using such available resources as the Maryland Department of Planning's mapping system or PG Atlas. Council might consider sending Director Solomon to a conference to investigate different systems and software.

• Van – Budget pays for maintenance of a call-a-bus provided by the County. Not used as much as in previous years.

• Public Works Building – Budget is mostly flat. Communications expenditures are less than what was budgeted. TA Murphy will try to find out why.

• Public Works Streets & Sanitation – This is the largest and most complex of the Town's budgets, proposed to decrease by 5% with the elimination of a vacant full-time position. To compensate, the Temporary Help appropriation has been increased by $10,000. Other notable changes include a drop in solid waste disposal fees by $12,000, which is probably due to the high number of vacant homes right now and increased recycling. Leaf Collection costs declined by $2,000, which may be due to a rainy fall and the December snow storm. Due to heavy snowfall throughout the winter, Snow & Ice Removal and Overtime costs exceeded the budget. Snow also took a heavy toll on vehicles and equipment, which is likely to make Maintenance & Repairs go over budget. This line item is highly variable. There is no assurance that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse municipalities for some of their expenses.

• Recycling – Supplies and Maintenance & Repairs appropriations were increased to pay for recycling bins (previously paid from Streets & Sanitation budget) and possible future repairs to the old trash truck used for recycling. This year, the trucks needed $9,000 in repairs. Next year, a new trash truck is programmed for purchase from vehicle replacement fund, probably resulting in less maintenance costs. If the oldest truck breaks down, it will be surplussed. The amount budgeted for repairs in FY 2011 might therefore be reduced. Recycling budget pays for 1/5 of full time salary (1 day per week) and 2 temporary staff. The Temporary Help budget may be too low. The Miscellaneous budget pays for promotional material.

• Parks & Recreation – Budget is proposed to decline by 6%, mostly due to Internet service switching to I-Net. Funds in Volunteer Appreciation line were increased to pay for gifts. Some funds were switched from Youth Services and Historical Committee to the Recreation Council appropriation.

• Cable – Capital Outlays for the I-Net will decrease, as installation is complete, while the Participation Fee will go up. Cable PEG grant should pay for expenditures associated with broadcasting. Ceiling cameras in the Council chamber or streaming worksessions over the Internet may qualify for the grant funds.

• Insurance – Workers Compensation may go up because there were some claims this year. Liability insurance remains at previous levels.

• Employee Benefits – Pension Contributions will increase 31% to make up for interest losses by the Maryland State Pension System. Health Insurance is budgeted to go down slightly because of the proposed reduction in force. However, rates in the long term will continue to go up, because of the Town's aging work force. Over last 5 years, health insurance nearly doubled. Town may consider joining Prince George's County health insurance pool and check out other insurance companies such as Kaiser Permanente, to contain costs. Town may ask employees to absorb a share of health insurance increases. One option is to give employees a fixed amount of health dollars and let employees choose the insurance they would like.
  Street Sweeper appropriation is $20,000. Town may consider dropping out of the program. It pays for Ό of the cost of the Four Cities program but does not need it to the same extent as its larger neighbors.

• Debt Service – Town will be debt free next year.

• Public Safety Taxing District (PSTD) – Town may consider moving Volunteer Fire Department under this budget, because there is a small surplus in the PSTD budget. Revenues have held up better than general fund revenues.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 p.m.

Signed: Kerstin Harper, Town Clerk

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