CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE

RHODE ISLAND

JOURNAL SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING

WORK SESSION OF CITY COUNCIL

September 26, 2018

Council Chambers, City Hall, 145 Taunton Avenue, East Providence, RI 02914

6:30 P.M. Open Session

 

 

I.                   CALL TO ORDER

 

Mayor Briden calls the meeting to order at 6:35PM.

 

II.                SALUTE TO THE FLAG

 

III.             WORK SESSION

 

A.     Review and Discussion of the FY 2018-2019 Budget

 

Councilman Botelho discusses fees received being put in the general fund instead of going to what they might have been thought to be raised for and this is just fee paying in order to do business.  Adding they don't really have a good handle on where this money goes and shouldn't it be taxes.

 

Acting City Manager Parella states it is mostly taxes paying for all services irrespective of these which are more specific charges for a service.

 

Councilman Botelho asks aren't the taxes they pay supposed to cover these items? 

 

There are some questions regarding the city clerk’s office. 

 

Assistant Mayor Britto asks if the fees collected could be geared specific to be used for those departments and no other departments.  

 

Finance Director Moore explains they could make money for example the fire rescue fees which raised $2 million this year and use it for the fire department but then they would have to raise other monies via taxes.

 

Councilman Botelho asks about the current capital expenditure in the fire department as they are looking for $2 million yet they bring in $2 million in revenue so it would seem to balance out.

 

Director Moore explains that may be the case in this one year but not in previous years.  However, the council can do that if they want.   

 

Councilman Botelho states he doesn't understand why not this is not reflective in the budgets they receive so they can see that offset. 

 

Director Moore explains it does show on each side but they can't really net that as it goes against GASB accounting practices.  All the money they get in general revenue is one pot of money to pay for those departments.

 

Councilman Botelho expresses this is unevenly distributed.

 

Acting City Manager Parella explains fire, police and city clerk are not necessarily earmarked and that they are to go back to general revenue but the money from concerts at Bold Point Park for example are supposed to go back and those should go back to recreation, such as grant that money is suppose to go back.  However, most other revenue should be reflected in each department’s budget but not earmarked for one particular thing.   

 

Assistant Mayor Britto likens it to donating to the United Way and wanting it to go to a specific program and it does.  Some people don’t want pay salaries and want it to go to programs.

 

Councilman Faria requests a listing of salaries in the budget. 

 

Acting City Manager Parella states they can list them there and that he did provide the council with a salary sheet adding that nothing precludes the city from posting this.

 

Councilman Faria asks about longevity and the Acting City Manager states that is a separate line item.

 

Councilman Faria discusses the miscellaneous line item in IT and notes they are tied on salary in that department with the City of Providence. 

 

Acting City Manager Parella states this is a line item in all department budgets and it's a variety of things which come out of that line item and which are unique to each department and that the Finance Director can provide the background materials which formulate that line item.   

 

Director Moore states the big ticket items are health benefits, retirees and liability insurance. Capital reserve is smaller.  He notes workers compensation is located on page 53 and indicates he has these line by line along with professional services.  Each department has this line item

 

Councilman Faria asks how much is spent on legal. Director Moore responds he is not sure he would have to look at it.

 

Councilman Botelho asks if the city shop’s around for the services the Interlocal Trust provides. Director Moore responds they do not.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto asks why the workers compenation is all at the end and Director Moore explains that is due to when they get billed which is August through September. 

 

Councilman Botelho asks under this arrangement if claims only came out to $100,000 what would happen.  Director Moore explains the Trust would make out that year.  Some years however they do not and it is a loss.  The Interlocal Trust is owned by the cities and towns and most all of the cities and towns go to the Trust.  They provide very detailed results showing every month how much they have spent for claims and a lot of times they have paid more than the city or town has paid them.  Once a month they go through everything.  The city goes on a year to year basis with them.  Acting City Manager Parella adds they do their own investigations for workers comp etc…

 

Councilman Botelho asks if any due diligence is done looking at competing companies.  Councilman Faria notes the city has been with them since the 1980s.  He asks if the city had a premium increase due to the large pay out.  

 

Acting City Manager Parella responds no its just like if they instead went to court and lost double they wouldn’t want the rate to double.  Director Moore adds that he hasn't seen anything that would speak to this and notes at the end it shows who came out ahead them or us and that would factor into the next years’ renewal for example, whether or not the health care premiums would go up.

 

Acting City Manager Parella states these are absolutely important and fair questions to go on the docket at a council meeting but for this budget they are locked in for at least the next half a year.  It isn't going to affect this budget but would be a good question for a future docket.

Mayor Briden agrees these are good discussion topics but if they want to focus on where to make cuts they should move forward and if they want to they can go department by department. 

 

Mayor Briden asks if 2.1% includes a 2% increase.  Acting City Manager Parella states yes that all unions and department heads in the budget are to receive the 2% increase.   Councilman Faria asks how many department heads are receiving this 2% increase and Director Moore states 8-9 the total amount around $20,000.

 

Mr. Luba notes the School Department is present tonight and asks if they have any questions for them.  Acting City Manager Parella explains when they looked at their school budget it was done very conservatively and most increases were due to state aid or lack thereof and he asked them to take $100,000 off and they did.  He explains that most of their budget is governed by RIDE.

 

Superintendent Crowley comes forward and passes out a detailed budget and the School Finance Director is present to speak.  They explain the School Committee reviewed their budget.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto asks about special needs and if they could elaborate.  The School Finance Director explains the process when a student moves in with special needs and the services the city must provide whether or not they remain or move until the age of 18 years.  They are required by the law to continue to educate and they need a therapeutic environment to do so.  If they move out of the community they are no longer responsible and the community they move into would be.  With DCYF they have 40 group home beds and DCYF puts children into those placements and they are educated in East Providence schools.  Certain legislation deals with foster homes and the Every Child Succeeds Act.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto asks how they estimate when they have no idea or control.  The response is that that use historical data and project it out based on the current needs.  The Superintendent adds she is working with Representative Amore to see if there is something they can do with the ESSA requirement for transportation because they have Bradley Hospital is in the district and therefore the costs can be higher.  

 

Councilman Faria asks how many employees work for the school in their IT department.  Superintendent Crowley states there are three one director and two technicians.

 

Mayor Briden suggests they move on to the mayor’s office and notes that he does not feel it should be higher than the current city manager’s budget.  

Councilman Botelho states that he understands where the Acting City Manager is coming from in increasing this budget and he spoke about this previously and about having a chief of staff and a public relations person and adding the receptionist. 

 

Mayor Briden states he would like to see two positions eliminated from that office.  It has a lot to do with the mayor working in conjunction with department heads just like the city manager working with planning and waterfront commissions to promote the city and the IT department being utilized and to tap into the resources the city already has.  He suggests cutting that $90,000 and eliminating the public relations position and the receptionist.

Assistant Mayor Britto states the mayor can use the current receptionist to assist.

 

Councilman Faria expresses concern over the mayor having a receptionist when they have a chief of staff and a secretary.   

 

Acting City Manager Parella responds the receptionist isn't in that office but under that umbrella of that office like harbor master or animal control are under police.

 

Councilman Faria asks how much they have to cut to get to 1.5% and the response is approximately $600,000.   

 

Mayor Briden expresses that he believes they can agree to disagree on this item.

 

Councilman Botelho expresses concern that he doesn't understand cutting a department budget which they are going to expect a lot more from.  This office is much more than the city manager office.  It does all those things and attends state house hearings, articulates on behalf of the people and in the charter there is a position for assistant city manager and it is very near sighted to cut this.

 

There is some discussion about the receptionist and the floating this position is used for.   

 

Councilman Botelho uses the analogy of coaching of a football team and adds that they are cutting the mayor’s staff and it makes no sense adding when he supported this change it was not to give less to get the job done but more.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto acknowledges that Councilman Faria makes valid points regarding consolidation and deconsolidation in regards to pay increase at the time of consolidation and at deconsolidation the pay was not adjusted however if they are going to do it for one they have to do it for all. 

 

Councilman Faria notes he thinks it is unfair for IT as he has a contract signed by Peter Graczikowski and that director received an additional $20,000 to do that job and they are not doing it anymore he would say the same thing to any person previously consolidated with the schools.  He asks if the printers, programs and software are listed with the individual departments. 

 

Acting City Manager Parella notes this has gone back and forth over the year and this particular year all the hardware will come out of IT.  In the recent past it was in individual budgets.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto asks Director Moore about the salaries regarding department heads and about the increase costs in some of the departments and asks if these are due to union contracts.  Director Moore responds this is correct last year the contracts were not resolved so the funds were in miscellaneous as a set aside.  There was $200,000 for contingency revises so it is really more like 4% the 2% previous and the 2% this year.  Director Moore notes the extra position in tax collection and the Acting City Manager acknowledges this was a transfer there from another department by the city manager and is not an additional position at this point.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto notes that this is not about cutting people he is asking specifically in regards to new jobs or positions that are not filled by a person.

 

They discuss the various purchase and professional services line items in department budgets.  There is also discussion regarding the solicitor’s office budget and Councilman Faria asks if three solicitors are necessary.  

 

Acting City Manager Parella notes that every person that the EPPD charges, one of the solicitors actually prosecutes, there are way too many arbitrations which require specific labor attorneys and this is why it's nice to cut but one of the reasons for labor disputes and thousands of dollars in arbitration can be due to manning issues.  It’s wise to be very careful of where cuts are made as it could cause gross understaffing.  

 

Councilman Faria states that with the legal profession it's a license to steal and money is power and they don't know if they will be appointed again.

Councilman Faria speaks about attorney Lauren Jones hired before they even made a decision and questions whether it was really needed. 

 

Acting City Manager Parella asks the council for guidance as it seems to him the process is that he proposes a budget and they have wide latitude.  Whatever they vote on is the budget once he gets advice and direction and consensus.  He is hearing that so far the .8% is out and this would get them to 2.1%, the public relations position is out as well, and this gives him a good idea of what the consensus is.  He adds that they can run with half of that and the question is what the constituency will get for a service with restricting things that for example the city clerk has proposed to make things run more efficient, every single constituent goes through that office.  

 

Councilman Botelho notes that this will be the 8th budget he’s overseen and the first 6 passed with no changes.  Last year during the hearing no one came up and spoke against it and Dan Landry actually asked to add an item.  They passed it with cuts.  He sees it as an admirable budget and he doesn’t intend on changing the city manager’s budget at all and he’s going to vote for the budget as is because it is an honorable budget.  Their role is not to manage the CEO given the burdens they have and the challenges they have.  Mr. Luba has been working with the city manager and provided the city with tremendous guidance and he approved this budget.  The school department budget passed all salaries and the council voted for it so to sit here and pick it apart makes no sense.  It addresses roads and infrastructure and so he just doesn't get it and he is seeing a disconnect.  With that said he is happy with the budget and he is going home.  Adding there is some weird game he is not going to be part of and he will see them at the hearing and hopes to have a meaningful discussion.

 

Councilman Botelho leaves the meeting.

 

Assistant Mayor Britto states it is not so much that the budget is bad they are just heading into the 4th year of an increase he just has to disagree with Councilman Botelho.  He asks that the city manager can get to that number with whatever cuts or eliminations he deems would be best. 

Mayor Briden agrees and asks if the city manager can come back and recommend.

 

Councilman Faria states when City Manager Chapman brought a conducive budget they still made many adjustments and that was a tough budget with a lot of contracts that year and they still tweaked it and had a half dozen workshops.

 

Acting City Manager Parella states over the last 5 years the average increase was .85-.9 yet in those 5 years every worker was under a collective bargaining agreements and look at the increase in salaries, and vehicles for example weren’t the same price 5 years ago, to put it in perspective the cost of personnel goes up by at least 2-5% and healthcare has gone up yet not even one full percent was the average of any tax increase.  There has been some pretty darn fiscally conservative budgets and the budgets have shrunken within the operating budget.

 

Mayor Briden notes last year they increased by 1.48% and that the 5 year average was .816 and the budget commission’s 5 year average was 1.6% over 5 years.  When changes take place and these changes undue changes that the budget commission put in place the reason the city is in a good place and has a good bond rating and they have the ability to discuss building a new high school is because of the budget commission and he generally supports changes they made and if not history will repeat itself and they will end up with a budget commission again.   Increasing employees in a department is not a good idea and they wouldn't cut where there is an employee in that position but that seems like an opportunity to save and restore what the budget commission did. 

 

Assistant Mayor Britto notes the tax increases are cumulative and he understands there will be a tax increase but the question is how much.

Acting City Manager Parella states the school funding issue added to the 2.3% in the hole and then adding the 2% in for contractual raises for all the bargaining agreements and there were some deep cuts.  The lack of state funding increases to the schools was a big obstacle.

Mr. Luba notes that part of that answer is the reimbursement.

 

Mayor Briden states he doesn’t want to be redundant but the opportunity lies in not adding positions and not undoing the changes from the budget commission. The goal would be 1.5% as last year was 1.48%.

 

Acting City Manager Parella notes that the consensus is to bring back a budget which calls for a percentage increase for 1.5%.

 

Mayor Briden adds responsible cuts as they don't want to compromise the operation.

 

IV.             ADJOURNMENT

 

A motion to Adjourn at 8:48Pm is made by Assistant Mayor Britto, seconded by Councilman Faria and on a roll call vote the motion passes unanimously 4-0 with Councilman Botelho Absent.

 

Approved by Council:  October 2, 2018

 

Attest:  _______________

                 City Clerk