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2008-06-08 That the city of Beverly, for value received, waive any and all rights of reversion as establ... Page 1 of 4 Beverly Meeting Minutes From: Fran MacDonald [fmacdonald@beverlyma.gov] Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 10:56 AM To: minutes@beverlyma.gov Subject: 08.jun5sp.doc Special Meeting Beverly City Council 7:00, PM June 6, 2008 Roll Call: Councilors Present: John Burke, William Coughlin, Judith Cronin, Patricia Grimes, Kevin Hobin, Donald Martin, D. Wesley Slate, Jr., Maureen Troubetaris, Timothy Flaherty Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: Led by Councilor Martin Communications from His Honor the Mayor: #155 June 5, 2008 Honorable City Council City Hall Beverly, MA 01915 Dear Honorable Council: I recommend that the Trash Fee which sunsets annually be approved for the upcoming fiscal year at the same rate of $25 per household per quarter which has been charged since its inception. The purpose of the fee is to partially offset trash related costs. Because the community has fully embraced recycling, our trash disposal costs have been lowered. One could argue that a modest reduction in the Trash Fee would serve to reward citizens for their recycling efforts. At the same time you may wish to consider that the City operates a packer truck each day picking up trash whose costs do not get charged to the Sanitation Account. Likewise, street sweeping which removes litter from our community is not charged to Sanitation. I welcome discussing the entire matter with you at your convenience. I do request that you approve the Trash Fee for FY 2008-2009. The budget you have received tonight is based on the fee remaining constant at the current rate. Very truly yours, William F. Scanlon, Jr., Mayor Refer to Finance and Property #156 6/16/2008 That the city of Beverly, for value received, waive any and all rights of reversion as establ... Page 2 of 4 June 5, 2008 Honorable City Council City Hall Beverly, MA 01915 Dear Honorable Council: I present to you tonight the proposed operating budget for FY 2008-2009 for the City of Beverly. Expected revenues of $97,544,245 are up 3.30/0 from last year's original budget. The City-funded portion of the Beverly school budget is up 6.20/0 from last year's approved budget. All other expenditures are up by 1 % over last year. With the exception of snow and ice the year soon to end is expected to do so with very modest favorable variances in both the revenue and expense categories. Similarly the school system is expected to end this fiscal year on budget. The one outstanding budget issue is the snow and ice account which is over budget because of the very difficult winter which affected all local communities. I will discuss the resolution of this issue shortly. The community, the state and the entire country face very difficult economic times. The recent vote on the override proposal was, in my view, much more of a vote on the state of the economy than it was a vote on education. But the voters have spoken, and we now need all city and school officials, both elected and appointed, to come together and do the very best we can for the children of Beverly. We all regret that children who have attended the McKeown School this year will attend a different school next year. All our elementary schools are, however, in excellent physical condition and all programs for our elementary school children will remain in place in the coming year. The repurposed McKeown School which will serve as an alternative middle and high school will provide more of an opportunity to control our rapidly rising special education costs. The upcoming budget contains $680,000 in additional school funding beyond the original budget target so that we can operate five elementary schools rather than only four. I believe the five-school plan, which was first proposed by three different School Committee members and subsequently approved by a majority of that board, is sustainable. My role was finding the funds to make this proposal work. At the May 7th School Committee meeting, dialogue and discussion with the Superintendent narrowed the savings gap between the four- school plan and the five-school plan to $680,000. At that time I determined to try to find that money to save an elementary school. The Superintendent's numbers for costs and savings of the five-school model have been modified several times since the 7th of May. The School Committee has voted in favor of the five-school model. I have offered to pick up the one-time expenses associated with Unemployment Compensation and moving costs that will be incurred by the plan's implementation, up to $200,000 to be charged against the Reserve for Unforeseen line which is carried in my budget. I have also agreed to allow the Superintendent to incur other costs up to $100,000 against that same Reserve for Unforeseen because of the uncertainty inherent in certain estimates he had to make. The total Reserve for Unforeseen is budgeted at $615,000. As to the source of the $680,000 in additional funding, a combination of efforts and events has made that available. We have for several years had in place a Trash Fee of $25.00 per quarter for each family. The fee was introduced at the same time our trash disposal costs more than doubled because of the expiration of a very desirable contractual arrangement with the Saugus incinerator. All trash fees are placed in the sanitation account where they are used exclusively for trash collection and disposal costs. General Fund revenues are also transferred into this account because trash fees collected represent less than half of our actual total trash costs. In recent years three things have happened. First, the Beverly community has truly embraced recycling. In 2007 the amount of trash delivered to the incinerator dropped from 18,425 tons to 14,933 tons, saving us over $250,000. This year through May our total trash delivered to the incinerator is down again from last year. We are in the process of distributing some 840 toters to our citizens with over half of them now in the hands of residents, but we will only see the positive impact of these placements as the new fiscal year unfolds. Second, last year we renegotiated the trash and recycling collection contract at essentially the same cost as the previous contract, and we included a provision that generates revenue for the City as waste paper prices rise. Since it requires less energy to convert waste paper into new paper than it does to start with trees, the value of waste paper has risen as the price of oil has risen. Because of that, we will shortly receive $60,000 from this source and expect similar results in the coming fiscal year. Third, it is also true that while we have never raised the Trash Fee, our collections have exceeded our estimates. As a result, the $680,000 can be made available to the schools by transferring a smaller amount of money from the General Fund to the Sanitation Account than we have historically and then directing the available funds to the schools. Other subjects of note reflected in this proposed budget include the combination of the Engineering Department and the Department of 6/16/2008 That the city of Beverly, for value received, waive any and all rights of reversion as establ... Page 3 of 4 Public Services under the direction of Michael Collins who currently directs the Department of Public Services. We will shortly replace Frank Killilea who recently retired and is now working part-time on special projects. Michael Collins' title will become that of Director of Public Services and Engineering, and we will recruit another professional engineer to be the Director of Engineering and that position will report directly to Michael Collins. This merger should generate efficiencies and result in a more comprehensive approach to all engineering issues including the conversion of much data to computer based files. We will essentially operate the two departments as one service friendly organization. There are no other significant organizational changes proposed in this year's budget. As earlier mentioned, the fiscal year that ends this month presented very difficult snow and ice conditions and resulted in a $600,000 budget overrun. Every local community faced this same issue. The City will be seeking certification of Free Cash early in the new fiscal year and once it is certified I will then request that you appropriate the funds necessary to cover this expense from that source. I am pleased to say that the City plans no other dependence on "Free Cash" in the coming year. For next year water and sewer rates will rise by 4.50/0 to a combined $7.25 per 100 cubic feet. This increase is necessary to continue to provide a safe and dependable water supply for our residents. With this increase the cost of one gallon of water including disposal will rise to almost one cent. . The City continues its efforts to negotiate contributions from non-profit organizations. Endicott College has been providing the Beverly School system with $40,000 per year in funding and will do so again next year. Endicott has also recently purchased a property on Hale Street. Dr. Wylie, President of Endicott, has agreed to provide funds to the City of Beverly as follows: In addition to the $40,000 donation to the schools, the City will receive $43,333 in 2008. Endicott will also pay the real estate taxes on the recently acquired building in fiscal 2008-2009. In calendar years 2009, 2010 and 2011 Endicott will provide the City of Beverly with $110,000 in each year. These funds are intended to support the City of Beverly and serve to recognize that the College is important to the City and the City is important to the college. I am very pleased to have reached this agreement with Endicott College and Dr. Wylie. I continue to work in my role as Chair of the North Shore Coalition of Mayors and Town Managers with our legislators and other legislators on Beacon Hill to try to create a municipal relief package intended to help cities and towns. On the table for discussion are several promising measures including local option decision making on joining the Group Insurance Commission (the so-called GIC) as well as passage of a law that would give cities and towns more revenue by taxing utilities for poles and wires. Mary Grant, our hardworking State Representative is staying very close to this subject but as I speak to you tonight the outcome of those efforts is not clear. Very truly yours, William F. Scanlon, Jr., Mayor Order read once and adopted 9-0 Vote Refer to Finance and Propertyl Committee of the Whole #157 Call for Special Meeting June 5, 2008 Reports from Committees: #155 The Committee on Finance and Property to whom was referred the matter of Trash Fee have considered said matter and beg leave to report as follows, to wit: Submit the accompanying order and recommend its adoption Ordered: That the City Council will hold a Public hearing on Monday, June 23, 2008 at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers, Third Floor, 191 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA relative to the Sanitation and Recycling Fee First Passage: June 5, 2008 6/16/2008 That the city of Beverly, for value received, waive any and all rights of reversion as establ... Page 4 of 4 Public Hearing: Final Passage: June 23, 2008 June 26, 2008 Order read once and adopted 9-0 Vote #156 The Committee on Finance and Property to whom was referred the matter of FY 2009 Budget have considered said matter and beg leave to report as follows, to with: Submit the accompanying order and recommend its adoption Ordered: That the City Council will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, June 23, 2008 at 7:30 PM in Council Chambers, third Floor, 191 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA relative to the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. First Passage: Public Hearing: Final Passage: June 5, 2008 June 23, 2008 June 26, 2008 Order read once and adopted 9-0 Vote Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM Frances A. Macdonald, CMC City Clerk 6/16/2008