CITY OF  SOUTH SALT LAKE

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING

 

 

COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING                               Wednesday June 17, 2009

7:00 p.m.

 

CITY OFFICES                                                          220 East Morris Avenue

South Salt Lake, Utah 84115

 

PRESIDING                                                                Council Vice Chair Marilyn Brusch

CONDUCTING                                                          Rea Goddard

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/

SERIOUS MOMENT OF REFLECTION                  Council Member Marilyn Brusch

 

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS                                             Sgt. John Ferguson

 

COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:

            Marilyn Brusch, Casey Fitts, Boyd Marshall, Michael Rutter,

            Shane Siwik, and John Weaver

 

COUNCIL MEMBER EXCUSED:

            LeRoy Turner – member present by electronic (telephone) connection

 

STAFF PRESENT:

Mayor Robert D. Gray

David Carlson, City Attorney,

Kyle Kershaw, Finance Director

Larry Gardner, Community/Economic Development

Craig Burton, City Recorder

Karen Rynearson, Deputy City Recorder

Cherie Wood, Assistant Mayor

Mont Roosendaal

Terry Addison

                                                                                   

OTHERS PRESENT:

See Attached List

 

Council Member Brusch welcomed Roy Turner who is present by electronic connection.

 

Council Member Weaver remarked that at last week’s meeting he made remarks that were both inappropriate and unkind.  He offered to the Council his apologies.  He told Council Chair Turner that he has the thankless job of being the Council Chair and he can only imagine its difficulty.  He apologized to Mr. Turner for his comments.  He thanked Mr. Turner for the things he does in his capacity as Council Chair.  He thanked Mr. Marshall for his candor.  He has considered Mr. Marshall’s comments carefully and pledged to him that he would do better. 

 

Council Member Marshall said “Thank you.”

 

Council Chair Turner thanked Council Member Weaver for his kind thoughts and said let’s go forward from here.

 

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AND VOTE

 

1.  APPOINTMENT BY THE MAYOR.  Mayor Gray has interviewed a gentlemen for an opening on the Planning Commission and introduced Steven Cornell to the Council.  He expressed an interest a while back in serving.  We are trying to get some good quality, professional people and he meets the criteria.  He lives at No.12 West Crystal Avenue and has been here about 15 months.

 

After college, Mr. Cornell went to architecture school at the University of Virginia and got a Master of Architecture, a Certificate in Historic Preservation and a Master in Architectural History.  He moved back to Salt Lake City and has been working here for the last four years with CRSA, an architecture firm.  Their main focus is sustainable architecture, community planning and historic preservation.  He originally grew up in Utah County and moved up here a couple of years ago.  He is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve the City

 

Council Member Siwik made the motion to approve the appointment of Steven Cornell as a member of the Planning Commission.

 

MOTION:                   Shane Siwik

SECOND:                   Michael Rutter

Voice Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

Council Member Siwik congratulated Mayor Gray on the quality of people we are getting on the Planning Commission.

 

2. RESOLUTION DESIGNATING POLLING LOCATIONS FOR EACH VOTING PRECINCT IN SOUTH SALT LAKE.  Mountain Shadows has requested that they will no longer do elections from their area.  The County has moved that area to the south side of 3900 South, the Dominguez Park Apartments.

Council Member Siwik advised that the River Run HOA would likely let the City use their facilities.  Mr. Burton said we will make a note for the future.

 

Council Member Fitts moved that the Council pass the resolution designating polling locations for each voting precinct in South Salt Lake for the 2009 municipal elections.

 

MOTION:                   Casey Fitts

SECOND:                   Marilyn Brusch

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

3. 2009/2010 CERTIFIED TAX RATE

            a.  RESOLUTION ADOPTING CERTIFIED TAX RATE AND ESTABLISHING THE AMOUNT OF REVENUES GENERATED BY SAID TAX RATE.  Finance Director, Kyle Kershaw, said this is generated by the County.  The Council is not raising taxes in the eyes of the law.  There has been no discussion on raising property taxes this year.  By adopting the 0.002664 in the amount of $4,572,436 that is what the Council will do. 

 

Mr. Kershaw noted that the certified tax rate calculation ended up in revenue being more than he would have estimated by about $146,000.  He questioned the County Auditor last week.  They gave us credit for new growth – new buildings that get on the tax roles, or a certain recalculation of RDAs.  The tax increment decays over a 10- or 20-year life span and as it gets returned the amount of that reduction gets put on as new growth because it’s leaving the RDA rolls and going on the regular tax roles.  We were notified yesterday that there might be a problem because there were some law changes as to how personal property in how it affects RDAs could have resulted in an inflated amount of new growth. 

 

Again, Mr. Kershaw called the County Auditor’s office and they said they are aware of this and it’s being recalculated.  Mr. Kershaw asked if we were supposed to go ahead and adopt our tax rate and then in a month or so reflect the correction.  At this point, they don’t know what they’re going to do.

 

The recommendation was to adopt the certified tax rate, submit our tax rate to the County, and they’ll know our intention is to go with what the County adopts.  We may have to come back and address this.  They asked us to advise our Council of the situation. 

 

Council Member Marshall moved to pass the resolution adopting the tax rate for the year 2009 in the amount of 0.002664.

 

MOTION:                   Boyd Marshall

SECOND:                   Shane Siwik

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

Mr. Kershaw advised that Craig Burton will sign the documents tomorrow as City Recorder and we’ll turn those into the County.

 

4. 2009/2010 CITY BUDGETS

            a. ADOPT BUDGET FOR EACH FUND SEPARATELY.  Kyle Kershaw advised that City staff did not complete the budget.  They have a running total of where the Council is based on the discussions of last week.  We understood there was some consensus on a couple of cuts.  There was some agreement on what items to add as far as some economic growth and some other types of things.  We took the total number of things from the increase last week in the certified tax rate, incorporated a couple of cuts discussed, that there appeared to be some agreement on, and just went down the list and tried to fit in as much on there as was discussed, until we ran out of money.  All we did was keep a score card and that’s where it is now.

 

The agreed upon cuts were in tuition incentives/reimbursements and the administration training budget.  There was about $14,000 from those two cuts, plus $146,000 and that gave us about $160,000 and then we went down the list until the $160,000 was gone. 

 

Council Member Marshall said this is one of the hardest budget years the City has ever had to deal with since he has been involved.  Everyone has done a good job trying to make sure the right things are done.

 

Council Member Fitts asked Mr. Roosendaal about the priority list of a couple of large items that are past due for replacement and are very high priority needs. 

 

Mr. Roosendaal expressed about the items they look at each year that come due for replacement.  The two items he chose as high priorities are items that are past their useful life.  The importance of the equipment was taken into account and they are high dollar items and are hard to replace.  There are other things that we take care of first and that’s the reason they chose those two. 

 

Mr. Roosendaal prepared a memorandum on these items.  A copy of the memorandum is attached to these minutes. 

 

 

Mr. Roosendaal said we put in for a purchase of a fire engine to replace one of ours.  There’s a rebuild in the budget for the ladder truck. 

 

In response to Council Member Rutter’s question, Mr. Roosendaal said that one of our sweepers is out every day.  He said to ask questions on the subject to Mr. Pay.  The vac truck is more for an emergency necessity system for our sewer system.  Right now the vac truck goes out only on emergencies - and they come frequently.  Mr. Rutter said he would like to see how much it would cost to have such a vehicle available to our City for 24/7.  Mr. Fitts said he feels it would be more expensive to outsource such services. 

 

Council Member Fitts said when you’re talking about a 10 percent savings, with interest rates from the fire engine, he thinks we would be throwing away money if we didn’t try to address it before the end of the year.

 

Mr. Marshall asked Mr. Roosendaal to put together some things on costs and bring it back to the Council next month and see if there are other ways to take care of this. 

 

Mr. Kershaw explained that what the Council will see in the financial statements ending on June 30, 2009, the Ambulance Service Fund will have a negative cash deficit of about $752,000.  It means that the Ambulance Service Fund is using some other fund’s cash to buy that start-up equipment.  The Interfund Loan is effective July 1, 2009.  Let’s assume that we’re going to print out a financial statement on July 2.  The Ambulance Service Fund would have a positive cash amount of $872,000 until the operating expenses will draw that down.  Some time in July the City will make an accounting entry.  There will be about $1,600,000 of cash moved from the Capital Fund into the Ambulance Fund.  The loan was effective July 1, so $1,600,000 will come over.  At June 30 we’re in the hole $750,000.  On July 1, $1,600,000 comes across in the form of a loan.  By the end of June 30, 2010, it would be a “wash.”  Mr. Kershaw said cash from another fund was used to support the checks written for this equipment.  Fund balance in the Capital Fund will be reduced by $1,600,000 because that’s what was used for the loan.

 

There was some discussion about the economic development professional proposal.  We would have to see how this service fits with the definition of professional services that we have in our procurement manual to make sure we follow the correct procedure.  We would set up the contract and then order services from them.  The City would also try to offer other incentives.  The Mayor would also want to discuss things with the Council. 

 

Council Member Weaver thinks that we need to discuss garbage fees.  We’re using General Fund monies to continue to subsidize to a certain level.  There is a basic inequity in the structure that still exists.  He thinks there is still some work to be done there.  There’s a problem with the Council’s budget and we need to be prudent.  We occupy positions as public servants.  The intent is that compensation that goes along with public service should never be to the point where it represents a significant piece of any individual’s pie.  In the context of the rest of the world, we are wealthy beyond our wildest imaginings.  He suggests that we take a long, hard look at what compensation is for city council members.  Is what we do on a part-time basis really worth more than two times what the Mayor does on a full-time basis.  Would it be more appropriate to allow Council people to choose either the stipend or the benefits, to whatever is most beneficial to them, but to keep the costs down?  There needs to be an element of sacrifice on the part of those who are in public service.  If we do it for the compensation, it compromises the person’s ability to use good judgment. 

 

Council Member Marshall said he would like to talk about these matters during the remainder of the year before next year’s compensation issues.

 

 

Council Member Rutter moved that the Council adopt the General Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $21,497,828.

 

MOTION:                   Michael Rutter

SECOND:                   Boyd Marshall

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Nay

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Nay

Turner                          Nay

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Member Marshall moved that the Council adopt the Capital Improvements Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $4,049,750.

 

MOTION:                   Boyd Marshall

SECOND:                   John Weaver

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Nay

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Nay

Turner                          Nay

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Member Brusch moved that the Council adopt the Water Utility Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $2,009,000.

 

 

 

 

MOTION:                   Marilyn Brusch

SECOND:                   Casey Fitts

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Member Fitts moved that the Council adopt the Sewer Utility Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $1,670,000.

 

MOTION:                   Casey Fitts

SECOND:                   Boyd Marshall

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Member Weaver moved that the Council adopt the Ambulance Service Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $1,122,337.

 

MOTION:                   John Weaver

SECOND:                   Michael Rutter

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Nay

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Nay

Turner                          Nay

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

 

 

 

 

Council Member Siwik moved that the Council adopt the Sales Tax Debt Service Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $522,766.

 

MOTION:                   Shane Siwik

SECOND:                   Marilyn Brusch

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Member Fitts moved that the Council adopt the Housing Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $475,554.

 

MOTION:                   Casey Fitts

SECOND:                   Marilyn Brusch

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

 Council Member Brusch moved that the Council adopt the Insurance Reserve Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $429,500.

 

MOTION:                   Marilyn Brusch

SECOND:                   Boyd Marshall

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

 

Council Member Marshall moved that the Council adopt the Fire Truck Debt Service Fund Budget for 2009/2010 in the amount of $204,300.

 

MOTION:                   Boyd Marshall

SECOND:                   Casey Fitts

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

b.  ORDINANCE ADOPTING BUDGETS FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2010.  Council Member Rutter moved that the Council pass the following Ordinance to adopt the 2009/2010 Budget, with the individual fund budgets as follows:

 

“City of South Salt Lake, South Salt Lake, Utah

Official Budget for Fiscal Year

Ending June 30, 2010”

 

            With the individual fund budgets therein in the following amounts:

 

                        General Fund                                                    $ 21,497,828

                        Capital Improvements Fund                                   4,049,750

                        Water Utility Fund                                                 2,009,000

                        Sewer Utility Fund                                                 1,670,000

                        Ambulance Service Fund                                       1,122,337

                        Sales Tax Debt Service Fund                                    522,766

                        Housing Fund                                                           475,554

                        Insurance Reserve Fund                                            429,500

                        Fire Truck Debt Service Fund                                   204,300

 

                                                                                    Total    $ 31,981,035

 

            be, and is hereby, adopted effective July 1, 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOTION:                   Michael Rutter

SECOND:                   Boyd Marshall

Roll Call Vote:

Brusch              Nay

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Nay

Turner                          Nay

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Member Marshall moved to adjourn.

 

MOTION:                               Boyd Marshall

SECOND:                               Casey Fitts

Voice Vote:

Brusch              Aye

Fitts                              Aye

Marshall                       Aye

Rutter                           Aye

Siwik                            Aye

Turner                          Aye

Weaver                        Aye

 

 

Council Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

 

 

 

 

                                                                        ______________________________

                                                                        Marilyn Brusch

                                                                        Council Vice Chair

 

 

 

___________________________________

Craig D. Burton, City Recorder