City of Monroe Finance Committee of Council

July 24, 2012 Report

by Angela Wasson

The Finance Committee of Council met on July 24, 2012 in the Council Library located at 233
South Main Street, Monroe, Ohio.
Present were: Suzi Rubin, Council Member; Lora Stillman, Council Member; Steve Black,
Council Member; William J. Brock, City Manager/City Engineer; Kacey L. Waggaman, Director
of Finance; and Angela S. Wasson, Assistant to the City Manager/Clerk of Council.
Mrs. Stillman asked how quickly Mrs. Waggaman felt she would be caught up on the Finance
Reports. Mrs. Waggaman felt she could have one maybe two caught up by the next meeting, but
completely caught up she was unsure.
Mrs. Waggaman announced that we may be losing another staff member. Mr. Whitaker has been
courted by Huber Heights for over $2.00 per hour; they pay 1% of PERS, 100% of premium, and
$4,000 out of $5,000 of their deductible. Mr. Brock said it is not a new thing in the Dayton area.
Mrs. Stillman asked how they are getting their revenues above their expenses. Mr. Brock
advised they have a larger tax base. He will probably be leaving in September as they are
creating a position for him.
Mrs. Rubin noted the no hiring through attrition. Mrs. Stillman didn’t see how we can’t replace
this position. Mr. Brock indicated that he set a level for some of these positions and you can
only go so far down in positions. The strategy would be to replace the Finance Specialist. Mrs.
Stillman felt he needed to run that through the rest of Council because the verdict was no hire
and didn’t recall anyone agreeing to until you hit a floor. Mr. Brock didn’t recall a decision
being made it was more as if it was a good thing. Mrs. Stillman suggested he be proactive. Mr.
Brock said we are going to have a discussion again about dispatch as we are losing one there and
one in planning.
Mrs. Rubin suggested coming to Council with a minimum staffing number where we are happy
to do attrition, but this is the minimum number so we can put our stamp of approval early on.
That way you don’t have to come to Council every time.
Mrs. Stillman’s understanding is that we were not to hire, so if it comes to Council’s attention
that you hired it would not be in his best interest. Mr. Brock stated that he told Council that he
lost an Operator/Laborer and hired back to that level. Mrs. Stillman felt it was always good to
reiterate.
Mrs. Waggaman reported that she will be switching our credit card program from PNC to US
Bank and she is tired of waiting on PNC to deliver what they keep promising. For the past year
we have this new program coming out and it was supposed to be there in October and I already
made that decision and PNC called the City Manager’s office asking who the Finance Director
was. US Bank will provide additional functionality and had a demo where she invited the
departments to look at it. Mrs. Stillman asked how much it will cost to switch. Mrs. Waggaman
said it will be cheaper to switch and it will take a couple of months to get all the departments
switched over. For most of the users it will be switching the cards and the departments trained to
log in. US Bank can upload into Munis so we will have a lot better detail.
Mrs. Waggaman indicated that we had the post audit last week and reviewed the Management
Letter, which was attached to the invitation from the Auditor. Mrs. Waggaman was advised that
Council did not receive an invitation. The CAFR was completed and it is on the City’s website.
I am looking at refinancing of our 2003 bond issue where interest rates are right now could be a
savings between $300,000 to $400,000 on that. You could get most of the savings on the front
end as it goes all the way out to 2024 or you can have a level savings of about $30,000 per year,
or save it on the back end. She will review the different options. In 2020 the payment itself
drops $5,000 anyway, so it may not make sense to drop the payments on the backend. Mrs.
Waggaman advised we usually go with 5/3 for underwriting, but this is from Baird and she wants
to speak with 5/3. The rate is 2.3 savings of 8.2%. It looks really good, but she wants to make
sure she isn’t missing something. They also feel they could improve our rating as they compared
us to other cities. We would request a rating increase at the same time we reissued the bonds.
Mrs. Stillman asked what they make off of this. Mrs. Waggaman explained that is
approximately 10% of the issue, which is typical, and bond counsel is $35,000. $300,000
includes the fees.
Mrs. Waggaman noted the Income Tax Commissioner is on medical leave and unsure when she
will return.
Mrs. Rubin asked if she had any idea why we are down. Mrs. Waggaman explained it is in the
net profits and a little in the withholdings. We found a couple of places where we were not
getting the withholdings, but we are now. With the net profits several businesses had extensions
and we don’t know if they will owe us money until they file in November.
Mrs. Stillman asked about the grant acceptance tonight on a project that we rejected the bids on.
Mrs. Waggaman explained that we do not get that grant money they pay it to the contractor, so it
will just go away.
Mrs. Stillman asked which number on the appropriation ordinance was changed. Mrs. Wasson
advised it was under the operating expenses under Council.
Mrs. Waggaman stated on the new report that Mr. Black is using he had asked, after the last
report went out, that the expenses were higher in January and it was because of transfers, which
were really not an expense of the department it is an expense of the General Fund. I was
thinking about taking the transfers out. Mrs. Stillman suggested making a note at the top of the
report that it does not include transfers.
Mr. Black asked how far behind we are on the reports. Mrs. Waggaman indicated she is through
March. Mr. Black commented that we will have to look at cuts next year if we are removing
over ½ million from our budget over the next four years we need to do something.
The Finance Committee meeting adjourned at 6:16 pm.