Council Budget and Finance Committee

Summary

Meeting Overview

The Urban County Council held a meeting on November 19, 2013, presided over by the Chair. During the session, the Council addressed six agenda items, heard eleven public comments, and took five votes.

The meeting included both informational presentations and formal actions. Two items were presented for informational purposes: an update of finances through October and a report on nuisance abatement and lien collections. The Council approved the debt management policy review. Two items were deferred to a future meeting: the urban services refund policy and a council links discussion. One agenda item—outsourcing internal audit functions—was withdrawn from consideration.

Attendance

The following individuals were present at the meeting on November 19, 2013:

Commissioners and Council Members: - Commissioner O'Meara - Vice Mayor Gorton - Council Member Stenet - Council Member Henson - Council Member Rosati - Council Member Sketchfield - Council Member Farmer - Council Member Akers - Council Member Kaye - Council Member Carey

Other Attendees: - Paul Schoeniger - Charlie Martin - David Barbary - Kevin Wente - Steve - Rusty Cook - Jennifer Burke - Gary Ludwig - Fred Brown - Gwen Pinson - Ed Lane - Julian Beard - Bill O'Meara - Sally Hamilton - Stacey Maynard - Melissa Luker - Bruce Sallee - Bill - Paul - David - Kevin

No absences or late arrivals were recorded.

Votes and Decisions

The council took five votes during this meeting, all of which passed by voice vote.

Debt Management Policy 49:56 Council Member Stenet moved to formally accept the debt management policy as presented, seconded by Council Member Massadi. The motion passed by voice vote.

Fund Balance Discussion Removal 1:40:35 Council Member Farmer moved to remove discussion of fund balance from the committee agenda, seconded by Council Member Ford. The motion passed by voice vote.

Internal Audit Outsourcing Discussion Removal 1:41:07 Council Member Farmer moved to remove discussion of outsourcing internal audit functions from the committee agenda, seconded by Council Member Ford. The motion passed by voice vote.

Risk Management Discussion Removal 1:41:38 Council Member Farmer moved to remove discussion of risk management from the committee agenda, seconded by Council Member Ford. The motion passed by voice vote.

Adjournment 1:41:38 Council Member Farmer moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Council Member Ford. The motion passed by voice vote.

Budget and Financial Actions

The meeting addressed funding for the internal audit function in 2014. An appropriation of $590,000 was approved to support the cost of the internal audit function for the upcoming year.

Public Comment

Debt Management Policy

Council Member Stenet [0:40:06] emphasized the importance of formally approving the draft debt management policy to refresh the council's memory and ensure long-term financial planning, despite the policy having been previously stalled.

Urban Services Refund Policy

Council Member Rosati [0:57:55] supported aligning the refund policy with utility practices, noting that service availability, not usage, determines billing. Rosati questioned the inconsistency in refunding streetlights but not street sweeping.

Council Member Stenet [1:02:24] advocated for eliminating the refund process by delaying tax assessments until services are available, citing the inefficiency and administrative burden of refunds.

Council Member Sketchfield [1:08:21] emphasized the need to ensure residents receive refunds for services not delivered and suggested working with the electric company to forecast installation timelines.

Council Member Henson [1:17:43] questioned whether Kentucky Utilities bears the cost of streetlight installation and expressed frustration over paying for lights that are not operational.

Council Member Akers [1:21:36] asked for a list of pending streetlight installations and suggested using building permits to predict when services should be billed. Later [1:30:03], Akers asked whether the council should consider providing compactors for trash collection, noting the need to focus on core services rather than expanding into ancillary ones.

Council Member Farmer [1:26:26] raised concerns about the cost of providing garbage service to residents who use private waste haulers and questioned whether refunds should be issued.

Council Links Discussion

Paul Schoeniger [1:34:30] proposed four improvements to the council links, including merging general government and general services, holding pre-meetings, involving all aides, and formalizing reporting processes.

Council Member Kaye [1:36:41] expressed concern about the proposed merger of general government and general services, noting the already heavy workload of the general government link.

Council Member Carey [1:39:02] suggested waiting until the end of the current cycle before making structural changes to the council links to maintain continuity.

Appointments

Rusty Cook was appointed to the position of Director of Revenue.

Contested Items

The November 19, 2013 meeting included two significant areas of disagreement among council members.

Urban Services Refund Policy

Council members engaged in a heated discussion regarding the refund policy for streetlight and street sweeping services. The debate centered on the fairness and efficiency of the refund process. Key concerns raised included the administrative burden of processing refunds, the timing of tax assessments, and the need for improved forecasting mechanisms. Multiple council members participated in this discussion, reflecting divided perspectives on how best to manage these service refunds and their impact on both the municipality and residents.

Council Links Structure

The council was divided on a proposal to merge general government and general services functions. Some council members expressed concerns about the resulting workload implications of such a consolidation, while others supported the structural change, arguing it would improve alignment and organizational efficiency. The disagreement resulted in a split vote, indicating the council could not reach consensus on this reorganization proposal.

Update of finances through October

1:00

Commissioner O'Meara presented a financial update covering the period through October. The presentation highlighted several positive financial trends:

Positive Performance Areas - Unemployment showed favorable movement - Revenue variances were positive overall - Year-to-date performance demonstrated favorable results - Insurance fees showed positive gains - Franchise fees showed positive gains

Areas of Concern - Employee withholdings experienced softness - Net profits showed softness

The presentation was informational in nature, providing the board with an overview of the municipality's financial position through the tenth month of the fiscal year. The overall assessment reflected mixed but generally positive financial performance, with gains in key revenue areas offsetting some softness in withholding and profit categories.

Nuisance abatement and lien collections

Melissa Luker presented a reference slide on nuisance abatement and lien collections 6:06. The presentation was provided for committee reference and was not discussed in detail during the meeting.

The item was informational in nature, with no substantive debate or discussion recorded.

Outsourcing internal audit functions

The council discussed the possibility of outsourcing the internal audit function during this agenda item.

Key Presenters and Discussion

Paul Schoeniger and Bruce Sallee led the discussion on this topic 10:32.

Key Points Presented

The presenters highlighted several factors relevant to the outsourcing proposal:

• No other public sector entity had successfully outsourced internal audit
• The office's internal audit function maintained strong standards
• The office had undergone peer reviews
• The current internal audit function was cost-effective

Outcome

Following the discussion, the council voted to remove the item from the agenda, effectively withdrawing the outsourcing proposal.

Debt management policy review

Council Member Stenet led a discussion on formally approving the draft debt management policy 40:06. The review examined the policy's goals, debt types, structure, and affordability targets.

Key speakers: Council Member Stenet and Mr. O'Meara participated in the discussion.

Outcome: The council passed a motion to formally accept the debt management policy.

Urban services refund policy

The council discussed the refund policy for urban services, with the item appearing approximately 50 minutes and 59 seconds into the meeting. 50:59

Services covered

The discussion focused on refund policies related to three urban services: streetlights, street sweeping, and garbage collection.

Key concerns raised

Council members identified several issues with the current refund policy:

• Inefficiency of the refund process itself
• Lack of service availability in certain areas
• Need for better timing of tax assessments

Participants

The discussion involved Charlie Martin and Council Members Stenet, Rosati, Sketchfield, Henson, Akers, and Farmer.

Outcome

The council deferred this agenda item to the January agenda, indicating that further discussion and action on the urban services refund policy would be postponed until that time.

Council links discussion

The council discussed proposed changes to the council links structure during this agenda item 1:33:54.

Key Speakers

Paul Schoeniger, Council Member Kaye, and Council Member Carey participated in this discussion.

Topics Discussed

The council considered several proposed modifications to the council links:

• Merging general government and general services functions
• Holding pre-meetings
• Involving all aides in the process
• Formalizing reporting procedures

Outcome

The discussion was deferred, indicating the council decided to postpone further action on these proposed changes pending additional review and consideration.