PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
REGULAR/BRIEFING SESSION
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1988
The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met as the Committee of the Whole on Thursday, June 9, 1988, at 5:00 p.m. in Suite 300, City Hall, 324 South State.
The following Council Members were present: Florence Bittner Thomas Godfrey Wayne Horrocks Roselyn Kirk Sydney Fonnesbeck Willie Stoler Alan Hardman.
Council Chairperson Godfrey presided at the meeting.
BRIEFING SESSION
Linda Hamilton reviewed the evening’s agenda with the City Council. She indicated that all of the items on the agenda pertained to the proposed Fiscal Year 1988/89 budget. She indicated that the Council should hold the public hearing on the Library Budget prior to considering the items pertaining to the City’ S Enterprise Funds and General Fund budgets. She said that after the Library Budget was passed, the Council should consider the ordinance pertaining to fees for City services before making their motions concerning funding levels in the Enterprise and General funds.
Ms. Hamilton reviewed the series of notions prepared by the staff. She indicated that the motions required by law were identified by hand written stars in the margin. She said that staff had developed notions for all funding reductions and increases which had been discussed by the Council Members either in meetings or with staff members.
The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met in regular session on Thursday, June 9, 1988, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 324 South State Street.
The following Council Members were present: Florence Bittner Tom Godfrey Wayne Horrocks Roselyn Kirk Sydney Fonnesbeck Willie Stoler Alan Hardman.
Mayor Palmer DePaulis, Roger Cutler, city attorney, Kathryn Marshall, city recorder, and Lynda Domino, chief deputy city recorder, were present.
Councilmember Godfrey presided at and Councilmember Horrocks conducted the meeting.
Police Chaplain Ferdinand Johnson gave the invocation.
The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to approve the minutes of the Salt Lake City Council for the regular meetings held Tuesday, May 24, 1988, Wednesday, May 25, 1988, and Thursday, May 26, 1988, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(M 88-1)
DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
#1. RE: An ordinance amending Sections 8.04.070(D), 8.04.080(B), 8.904.150(A), 8.04.070(G) of the Salt Lake City Code, increasing animal licensing fees.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to adopt Ordinance 30 of 1988, increasing animal license fees, with Section 2(B) amended to state two dollars instead of four dollars, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Godfrey said that the fee listed in Section 2(B) of the ordinance needed to be amended to state two dollars instead of four dollars.
(O 88-14)
CITY COUNCIL
#1. RE: An ordinance amending Section 9.08.020(B) of the Salt Lake City Code, reducing monthly garbage collection fees from $4 to $3 for single-family residences; $8 to $6 for duplexes; and $12 to $9 for triplexes.
ACTION: Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded to adopt Ordinance 31 of 1988 reducing monthly garbage collection fees, effective January 1, 1989, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman, and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey, and Kirk voted nay.
Mayor DePaulis vetoed the ordinance. He indicated that he would submit his veto in writing to the City Recorder.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Fonnesbeck asked what the loss of revenue would be if the fees were reduced. Lance Bateman, finance director, said approximately $550,000 a year or $275,000 for six months. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said this would be an ongoing loss. Councilmember Kirk said she was concerned about the loss of revenue because she didn’t think this fee could be reduced in such a tight budget year. She said she thought this fee was more fair than a property tax increase. Mayor DePaulis said he would veto this as a matter of policy. Councilmember Hardman said he thought the $4.00 per month garbage fee was an unfair tax to levy upon the people. He said this fee was more than a 10% increase for those on fixed and low incomes. He said currently the general fund subsidized the enterprise fund 40% which meant that at some point in the future the garbage fee would have to be increased to $6.00 per month. He thought if the Council didn’t begin to reduce the garbage fee, and eventually eliminate it, then the Council would have to raise the fee at some point. He thought this was unacceptable and he thought phasing it out over a period of time was responsible and reasonable.
Councilmember Godfrey said when this fee was imposed last year the Council was short of funds and they voted for the garbage fee because it was more palatable than a property tax increase. He said they had ways to control the garbage fee and he thought it was better to levy a fee for service rather than increasing the property tax in any way. In reference to those on a fixed income he said the Council should look at the city’s abatement program in addition to what is available through the county. He thought this would solve the problem and be more reasonable and responsible. He said in the last year he had received about five complaints and he didn’t think this was as big a problem as Mr. Hardman thought.
Councilmember Hardman said 3% of the people were taking advantage of the abatement process. He said many would not take advantage of the process because they viewed it as a subsidy or handout and many people didn’t understand the process which was lengthy and bureaucratic. He didn’t think increasing the abatement amount would solve the problem since he didn’t think that many more people would take advantage of it and said the remainder of the people would have to pick up the subsidy. He thought this should go back in to the general fund since garbage collection was one of the basic functions and services of government.
Councilmember Kirk said this was a fee as opposed to a tax and she said her concern was that if the Council eliminated the fee they would increase the possibility of increasing taxes next year, which meant that businesses would pay for garbage collection when they received no benefit. Councilmember Stoler said he opposed this fee last year and supported Councilmember Hardman. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said if they were eliminating the fee she could vote for it but she said they would only shift it from one fund to another.
She said two years ago at the last budget tax meeting people indicated that they thought the city was tied too much to the property tax and needed to find a different source of funds. She said at that time the Council requested the Mayor to consider mechanized garbage and the fee that went with it. She said if this passed then next year they would be faced with making up the money taken this year plus finding the money for next year. She didn’t think this was responsible.
Mayor DePaulis said he lived in Councilmember Hardman’s district and when he ran for the Office of Mayor last year he didn’t hear from residents about this issue and said it was not a major issue in this city. He said he represented the entire city and thought Councilmember Hardman was incorrect in his view. He said he had a computer list of over 1,500 names of people who were on the abatement program. He said it was automatic that once they received an abatement from the county then they automatically received the city abatement. He said it didn’t take any extra effort.
He said the mechanization had been well received by people in the city and in terms of cost savings he said administration estimated that the cost for four garbage bags a week was $41.60 per year and the garbage fee was only $48.00 per year. He also said there were 3,035 extra containers that people requested and he thought this showed how much people appreciated the service. He didn’t think reducing the fee was an appropriate action in view of the stress that the general fund was under and didn’t think it was appropriate to have a $550,000 deficit the following year. He said he understood the Council didn’t want to make up the deficit from the general fund and said if they took it from the reserve fund then they would interfere with the opportunity to replace cans, packers, and build for the future in order to avoid an increase in the fee.
Councilmember Hardman said he spent two months knocking on doors in his district and said this fee was a problem with the people, especially with the elderly and fixed income. Mayor DePaulis said this wasn’t his experience and he too did door knocking and campaigning. Councilmember Hardman said he thought people were apathetic and adopted the attitude that no one listened and he thought this attitude fueled tax limitation initiatives. Mayor DePaulis said if this went into a tax limitation situation and the Council put garbage collection in the general fund, then it would be cut which would force the city to raise fees.
Mayor DePaulis said the subsidy from the general fund was for the bonding on the mechanization process for the packers and cans. He said he proposed a $6.00 fee which included the annual trash pick up and the entire bond proceeds but the Council didn’t want a $6.00 fee and instructed him to reduce it. He said he couldn’t promise what would happen in the future and said $4.00 would cover the cost unless they moved the annual trash pick up or the amount subsidized from the general fund. He said the county fee was $6.00 and he thought it would be inappropriate and imprudent at this time to cause a deficit in next year’s budget.
(O 88-16)
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
#1. RE: An ordinance amending Section 9.08.010(0) of the Salt Lake City Code, “Public Buildings and Places”, which excepts from that definition all buildings owned by the city so that the city can collect garbage from all city-owned buildings.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to adopt Ordinance 32 of 1988 relating to definitions of garbage and refuse, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(O 88-11)
#2. RE: An ordinance amending Section 2.52.010 of the Salt Lake City Code, as last amended by Bill No. 38 of 1987, relating to compensation of Salt Lake City Corporation officers and employees.
ACTION: The Council did not take action on this ordinance.
(O 88-10)
#3. RE: Ordinances relating to compensation plans for 100, 200, 400, and 500 series employees.
ACTION: The Council did not take action on these ordinances.
DISCUSSION: Roger Cutler, city attorney, said these compensation plans were a result of the failure of collective bargaining negotiations this year. He said they didn’t reflect the preliminary negotiations or agreements but were less than what had been discussed with the unions. He said they preserved the status quo with a few minor changes and did not provide for payment of merit steps, which a majority of the Council had indicated they wanted. He said the Council might want to consider these later since they didn’t need to adopt them until June 30 and he suggested they continue action to another meeting.
(0 88-19, 0 88-20, 0 88-18, 0 88-17)
#4. RE: An ordinance adopting the final budget of the Salt Lake City Library for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, and ending June 30, 1989.
ACTION: Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Fonnesbeck seconded to approve the 1988-89 library budget in the amount of $4,973,679, and adopt Ordinance 33 of 1988 adopting the final budget of the Salt Lake City Library for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, and ending June 30, 1989, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Stoler said he supported a five-year capital improvements program since results would be more apparent but said he reluctantly supported the motion.
(B 88-4)
#5. RE: An ordinance determining the rate of tax levy and levying taxes upon all real and personal property within Salt Lake City, Utah, made taxable by law for the year 1988. Setting a date for a public hearing to obtain comment concerning an increase in the rate of the library and/or general fund tax levy upon all real and personal property within Salt Lake City, Utah, made taxable by law for the year 1988 in compliance with the Utah State “Truth in Taxation” law.
ACTION: Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to adopt Ordinance 34 of 1988 determining the rate of tax at .004370 in the amount of $23,021,838; and levying taxes upon all real and personal property within Salt Lake City, Utah, made taxable by law, for the Salt Lake City General Fund Budget, Fiscal Year 1988-89, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye, and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to adopt Ordinance 34 of 1988 determining the rate of tax at .000872 in the dollar amount of $4,594,689, and levying taxes upon all real and personal property within Salt Lake City, Utah, made taxable by law, for the Salt Lake City Library Budget, Fiscal Year 1988-89, which motion carried all members voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to set a tentative date of Thursday, August 4, 1988, at 5:00 p.m. for a public hearing to obtain comment concerning an increase in the rate of the library and/or general fund tax levy upon all real and personal property within Salt Lake City, Utah, made taxable by law for the year 1988, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(O 88-21)
#6. RE: An ordinance adopting the final budgets of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, and ending June 30, 1989.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Fonnesbeck seconded to adopt a legislative intent directing the fire department to develop a fee schedule for inspection of hazardous materials, which will result in generating revenues which will help reimburse the city for reasonable costs incurred in conducting such inspections, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to follow the list of motions as received in the packet pertaining to the budget, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmembers Bittner and Stoler who voted nay.
Revenue Adjustments:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to adjust the general fund revenues to reflect current projections as follows: Decrease the projected property tax revenue by $1,104,370; increase projected sales tax collections by $519,040; and decrease interest income by $315,000 and interest expense by $179,400 for a net decrease in interest revenue of $135,600, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to increase the general fund revenue projections by an additional $30,172 to reflect an increase in animal licensing fees, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to increase the general fund revenue projections by an additional $27,000 to reflect the establishment of inspection fees for hazardous materials and in increase in building inspection fees for structures where hazardous materials are stored, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Bittner moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to not charge the enterprise funds for police and fire services, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Enterprise Funds:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that merit increases for employees in the enterprise funds be approved with funding to come from their respective contingency funds, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman, and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Garbage Fund:
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded to reduce the amount budgeted in the garbage enterprise fund for reserve for replacement of garbage packers and cans by $270,000, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye, and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey, and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded to reduce the transfer from the general fund to the garbage enterprise fund by $270,000 to reflect the elimination of a reserve for replacement of garbage packers and cans, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey, and Kirk voted nay. Mayor DePaulis indicated he would veto the above two motions. And indicated he would submit his reasons in writing to the City Recorder.
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded to reconsider the motion reducing the transfer from the general fund to the garbage enterprise fund by $270,000 to reflect the elimination of a reserve for replacement of garbage packers and cans, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to not reduce the transfer from the general fund to the garbage enterprise fund by an additional $270,000 to reflect the elimination of a reserve for replacement of garbage packers and cans, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Airport:
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Fonnesbeck seconded that $13,700 be transferred from the airport travel/training budget to the airport contingency fund, which motion failed, all members voted nay except Councilmember Kirk who voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that $7,275 be transferred from airport car allowances to airport contingency reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Kirk and Stoler voted aye, and Councilmembers Hardman and Godfrey voted nay.
Golf Course Fund:
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $681 be transferred from the golf travel/training budget to the golf contingency fund, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Stoler who voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that $1,000,000 from the golf course enterprise fund balance be appropriated to the golf course enterprise fund capital improvements budget for the construction of new golf courses, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Public Utilities:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce the amount charged to the garbage fund for billing costs by $110,000; the increased costs for the billing to be absorbed by the public utilities fund, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Fonnesbeck who voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $15,850 be transferred from the public utilities travel/training budget to the public utilities contingency fund, which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Hardman, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay, and Councilmembers Bittner and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded that $3,900 be transferred from public utilities car allowances to public utilities contingency fund reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Kirk and Stoler voted aye, and Councilmembers Hardman and Godfrey voted nay.
Across the Board:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $600,000 for merit increases for employees be restored to the general fund and internal service funds and applied department by department on a city-wide basis, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey, and Kirk voted nay.
Administrative Services:
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to restore $28,600 in the general fund to the administrative services department animal control division and increase the staffing document by one FTE for the humane education officer, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the administrative services department general fund travel/training budget be decreased by $8,452, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye, and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $8,000 be transferred from the fleet management internal service fund travel/training budget to the fleet management internal service contingency fund, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye, and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $13,885 be transferred from the data processing internal service fund travel/training budget to the data processing internal service contingency fund, which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that administrative services department general fund budget be decreased by $1,650, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck and Godfrey voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $750 be transferred from the data processing internal service fund car allowances to the data processing contingency fund reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck and Godfrey voted nay.
Attorney:
Councilmember Bittner moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that the attorney’s office other charges and services budget be decreased by $24,252, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the attorney’s travel/training budget be decreased by $1,687. Councilmember Stoler moved a substitute motion and Councilmember Hardman seconded that the attorney’s travel/training budget be decreased by $4,226, which motion failed, Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay. The Council then voted on the original motion, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, and Godfrey voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that the attorney’s office general fund budget be decreased by $900, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
City Council:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce the city council office budget by $3,542, eliminating funding for two interns, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the city council’s travel/training budget be reduced by $14,087, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Development Services:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce the development services other charges and services budget by $3,880, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the development services general fund travel/training budget be decreased by $29,583, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Hardman seconded that the development services budget be reduced by $28,100 eliminating the secretary position in the local business advocacy program, and reducing the staffing document by one FTE, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the development services general fund budget be decreased by $5,700, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Finance:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the finance department budget be reduced by $30,000, eliminating funding for one internal auditor, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the finance department general fund travel/training budget be decreased by $19,722 (50%), which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the finance department general fund budget be decreased by $900, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Bittner moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded that the finance department general fund travel/training budget be decreased by $7,874 (20%), which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmembers Fonnesbeck and Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded that the municipal building authority internal service fund be reduced by $319,257 to reflect a change in accounting method, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Fire Department:
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded that the fire department budget be increased by $175,000 to fund the six-month operating cost of Station #15, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that the fire department other charges and services budget be reduced by $2,377, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that the fire department budget for the hazardous materials unit be reduced by $75,000 and that 3 FTE5 be eliminated from the staffing document, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck and Godfrey voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the fire department travel/training budget be decreased by $19,722 (50%), which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the fire department travel/training budget be decreased by $7,874 (20%), which motion failed, Councimembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to restore funding of $27,000 in the fire department budget for the fire prevention specialist and the FTE associated with the program, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Stoler who voted nay.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded that the fire department budget be decreased by $4,500, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Mayor’s Office:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to decrease the mayor’s office travel/training budget by $26,766, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded that the mayors office budget be decreased by $3,600, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck and Godfrey voted nay.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Hardman seconded to eliminate the risk management early retirement contingency of $100,000 from the risk management internal service fund, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Stoler seconded to increase the risk management internal service fund budget by $9,500 to correct a computer error in the budget draft, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Parks and Recreation:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce the parks department other charges and services budget by $2,800, eliminating funding for drug testing, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the parks department general fund travel/training budget be reduced by $2,817, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the parks department general fund budget be reduced by $900, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Police Department:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce the police department budget by $19,000 and eliminate one FTE from the police records division in the staffing document, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck and Godfrey voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to restore funding of $190,000 to the police department budget for the sworn officer crime prevention unit, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the police department travel/training budget be reduced by $8,452 (50%), which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $8,000 be restored to the police department budget for the police chaplain contract, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that the police department budget be decreased by $11,700, reflecting a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to restore funding of $69,400 to the police department budget for the crime analysis unit, which motion failed, Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman, Kirk and Stoler voted nay and Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck and Godfrey voted aye.
Public Works:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the public works general fund travel/training budget be reduced by $8,452 (50%), which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Hardman, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner and Stoler voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the public works general fund travel/training budget be reduced by $3,374 (20%), which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the public works general fund budget be decreased by $3,600 to reflect a 25% reduction in car allowances, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Godfrey who voted nay.
Capital Improvements Program:
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded that the $890,000 appropriated to the Foothill #10 Fire Station be reduced by $175,000 to $715,000; the $175,000 to cover the costs of operating Fire Station #15 for 6 months, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Fonnesbeck who voted nay.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the $890,000 appropriated for construction of Fire Station 10 be reduced by $300,000, consistent with the Mayor’s proposal to offset the revenue shortfall, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmembers Kirk and Fonnesbeck who voted nay.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the capital improvements program budget be increased by $135,000 for the North Temple parking lot project to be funded by Redevelopment Agency tax increment funds, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded that the capital improvements program budget be increased by $1,500,000 for the Central Business District beautification project, to be funded by $900,000 Redevelopment Agency tax increment funds and $600,000 property owner assessment, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to decrease general fund transfers to the capital projects fund by $475,000, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Council- member Fonnesbeck who voted nay.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to increase the CIP budget by $155,000 for the West Temple storm drain project to be funded by Redevelopment Agency tax increment funds, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Governmental Immunity Fund:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that the amount to be appropriated to the governmental immunity fund be reduced by $200,000 and general fund revenue be increased by $200,000, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $30,000 be appropriated from governmental immunity fund balance to the governmental immunity fund, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Municipal Affairs:
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce funding from the municipal affairs budget in the amount of $7,000 for the Sister Cities program, which motion failed, Councilmembers Horrocks, Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Stoler voted nay and Councilmembers Bittner, Hardman and Kirk voted aye.
Non-Departmental:
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to reduce general fund revenue by $26,942 to reflect a revenue shortfall, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that general fund transfer to the risk management internal service fund be reduced by $100,000, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to reduce the transfer from the general fund to the garbage enterprise fund by $110,000 to reflect shifting of cost allocation for utilities and garbage billing from a proportionate costing policy to an incremental cost policy, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Fonnesbeck who voted nay.
Councilmember Hardman moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded that $19,220 be appropriated from the garbage enterprise fund balance to the garbage enterprise fund, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmembers Fonnesbeck and Godfrey who voted nay.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that the general fund contingency line item be reduced by $100,000, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Additional Allocations:
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that $10,000 be appropriated to the miscellaneous grants fund for an emergency shelter grant from Housing and Urban Development, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded that $56,000 be appropriated to the miscellaneous grants fund for an emergency shelter grant from Salt Lake County, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
General Motions:
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to adopt Scenario 3 which would be an across-the-board cut of .005241% ($419,846) in order to balance the budget, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Finneseck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay. Mayor DePaulis vetoed this motion. And indicated he would submit his reasons in writing to the City Recorder.
Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Bittner seconded to approve the 1988-1989 general fund budget totaling $79,648,000 and all other budgets as presented and altered by Council motion, and adopt Ordinance 37 of 1988 adopting budgets of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988 and ending June 30, 1989, which motion carried, Councilmembers Bittner, Horrocks, Hardman and Stoler voted aye and Councilmembers Fonnesbeck, Godfrey and Kirk voted nay.
Mayor DePaulis said he reserved the right to veto this motion.
DISCUSSION: Revenue Adjustments: (1) $27,000 to reflect the establishment of inspection fees for hazardous materials and an increase in building inspection fees for structures where hazardous materials are stored. Mayor DePaulis said Fire Chief Pederson indicated that $27,000 was a reasonable amount. (2) Increase general fund revenue projections by $29,500 to reflect an increase in fees received from the golf course enterprise fund for police and fire services. Councilmember Bittner suggested that the Council not make motions regarding the enterprise funds at this time and said she didn’t want to vote on each separate enterprise fund but wanted to vote on the policy issue.
Councilmember Godfrey said he had many questions about charging the enterprise funds and was concerned about the method of charging the funds and setting precedent. He said they hadn’t decided whether they would charge the enterprise funds based on fair market value or “in lieu of taxes”; and there was an issue about property in the county and how the city and county would work out various issues.
Enterprise Funds: (1) Merit increases for employees in the enterprise funds be approved. Mayor DePaulis asked Louis Miller, director of airports, and LeRoy Hooton, director of public utilities, if there was enough money in their contingency funds to handle this. Both Mr. Miller and Mr. Hooton indicated there was. Councilmember Kirk said if the Council made this commitment then they would make a commitment to fund merits in the general fund budget because it wouldn’t be possible to give merits to just a portion of the employees. Councilmember Horrocks said it would be discriminatory if they didn’t do all employees.
Garbage Fund: (1) Reduce amount budgeted in the garbage enterprise fund for reserve by $270,000. Mayor DePaulis said he assumed that the Council wanted to take this action in order to reduce the monthly garbage fee in which case he said he opposed this and would veto the action. (2) Reduce transfer from the general fund to the garbage enterprise fund by $270,000. Mayor DePaulis noted that he would use the same reasons for vetoing these motions as he used to veto the ordinance reducing the monthly garbage fee, and said he would submit his vetos in writing to the City Recorder.
(3) Reconsider the vote to reduce the transfer from general fund to garbage enterprise fund by $270,000. Councilmember Hardman said Linda Hamilton, Council Executive Director, brought to his attention that when the Council voted to approve the ordinance reducing the monthly garbage fee, this handled the motion to reduce the transfer from the general fund to the garbage enterprise fund by $270,000 and so they had defunded the garbage enterprise fund twice which was not his intent.
Airport: (1) $13,700 be transferred from the airport travel/training budget to the airport contingency fund. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said her experience had been that the vast majority of training and travel at the airport was almost mandated in order for certain programs to continue to exist so she said she assumed any cut from their travel/training budget could mean the loss of programs at the airport. Mr. Miller said loss of funding would mean a reduction in training more than a reduction in travel.
He said their law enforcement officers needed ongoing training in order to maintain their status and a reduction would hamper their programs. Councilmember Hardman asked if this was a staff recommendation or a recommendation from a council member. He also asked if it related to the merit increases. Councilmember Horrocks said this was proposed by the staff and Councilmember Kirk said this was the 20% cut in travel that the Council passed in a straw vote.
Councilmember Stoler said he opposed this in order to be consistent with other motions he wanted to make. Councilmember Bittner said that since the purpose, as she understood it, for the cuts in travel/training was to fund other programs which the enterprise funds did not contribute to, she suggested they not make cuts to the enterprise funds. Councilmember Kirk said the Council needed to be consistent if they were going to cut other travel and training then they needed to do the same in the enterprise funds. Mayor DePaulis said when they talked about a 20% reduction in travel/training he was concerned but thought there was room for discussion, however, he said he was unwilling to talk about a 50% reduction in travel and training. He said the cuts would have to be done across the board and he told the Council that the travel budgets had not been increased for at least four years. (2) $7,275 reduction in car allowances. Councilmember Kirk said she favored the 25% reduction in car allowances. Mayor DePaulis said initially when they met in executive session and he talked about reducing salaries he said car allowances were a compensation item which had a direct bearing on a reduction in salary.
He said the car allowance was received as salary and he thought after their discussions they had a good agreement that they were not going to reduce salaries or compensation. He also said car allowances were an executive prerogative as part of the executive pay program and he said administratively this was an item he had been working on in consideration of new recommendations. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said they were dealing with the funding and not the concept and she said this was the Council’s prerogative.
Public Utilities: (1) Reduce amount charged to garbage fund for billing costs by $110,000, to be absorbed by public utilities fund. Councilmember Fonnesbeck asked Roger Cutler, city attorney, to respond to this. Mr. Cutler said the question was asked whether or not they could change from a pro rata formula for cost sharing when they changed from a bi-monthly to a monthly billing. He said they agreed to a formula proposed by the Council staff to be based on an incremental cost theory and said he would have to study the $110,000 figure to determine if it would factually be justified as a bonafide cost increment method.
Cam Caldwell, Council staff, said the $110,000 figure was the difference between the $250,000 billed last year and the $140,000 credit discussed with the public utilities staff. Mayor DePaulis asked if $110,000 represented the true cost. Jim Lewis, public utilities, said as far as the incremental cost basis it was a true cost. He said last year they agreed to share the cost on a proportional basis and now they wanted to change the basis to incremental cost.
LeRoy Hooton, director of public utilities, said when the garbage fee was put on the water bill it was agreed that this was part of the incentive to bill monthly. He said the Public Utilities Advisory Committee had recommended not to bill monthly because of cost. He said they could afford it by sharing the cost so they felt this was a fair allocation but now they would have to cut back on the watermain replacement programs to fund the short fall.
Mayor DePaulis said this was a change of philosophy which would change the way they prepared budgets in the future and may change how the Council received budgets.
Across the Board: $600,000 for merit increases for employees. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said she had to vote “ no” and explained that she felt strongly about giving merit and pay increases to employees, and with very few exceptions in the last 9 years the Council had always approved merits and raises. She said this year’s budget was exceptional and said that in her opinion the cuts that would have to be made in order to give merit increases would destroy the budget. She said if the $600,000 could be found by cutting programs legitimately she would support merit increases but her first concern was for the good of the city and she promised that she wouldn’t let this happen two years in a row. She said if there was money in the middle of the year she would support giving it to the employees.
Councilmember Bittner said that people who worked for the city had a right to a fair wage and the budget problems of the city should not be borne by the employees. She said that cutting merits should be their last resort and she thought that over the years the city could have cut the numbers of employees through attrition so more money would be available. She said they had a commitment to the employees and they were the city’s best resource so she felt the Council owed them a merit increase. Councilmember Stoler agreed with Councilmember Bittner that the employees needed this consideration and he felt they had an obligation to the employees.
Councilmember Kirk said if there was no profit in a business then the employer couldn’t give raises and she said in the years that the budget allowed for raises the employees received them. But she said when things were bad she thought the employees like any employee in a private business would understand if there was no money available. She didn’t think the Council was balancing the budget at the expense of the employees. Councilmember Godfrey said he couldn’t vote for merit increases because the city did not have the money.
He was concerned that by giving the merits the Council would set a precedent that the Mayor and the negotiating team would no longer be dealing with the employee unions and that the Council would be dealing with negotiations. He thought the Council’s job was to set policy and not be involved with negotiations. Councilmember Stoler said it was a matter of establishing priorities and he felt the employees were a priority.
Mayor DePaulis said he would have proposed merits and cost- of-living increases if it would have been possible. He said in very tough times he was taking a tough stance and said voting for merits would mean a $600,000 increment which was not in the budget. He said in the last few weeks he had watched the Council anguish over trying to refund serious cuts which he had proposed in order to balance the budget without a tax increase. He asked the Council to declare where they would get the money for merit raises. He said the employees deserve a raise and if it was possible he would have proposed it; but he said it was not possible.
Administrative Services: (1) Decrease administrative services department general fund travel/training budget by $8,452. Councilmember Kirk asked what percentage of the total training budget this amount represented. Councilmember Stoler said it was 50% which included animal control, the city recorder’s office, and fleet management. Mayor DePaulis said this was a severe cut and reminded the Council that the City Recorder had brought a convention to Salt Lake City and these funds had also brought economic development to the city.
Kathryn Marshall, city recorder, told the Council that she was recently elected to the Board of Directors for the International Institute of Municipal Clerks which would require some travel and IIMC would only pay part of the cost. She said when she discussed with the Council the issue of getting elected to the board and the issue of bringing the international convention to Salt Lake, the Council had given their support in both efforts and she said since she was now a board member she would have to do some travelling. Councilmember Kirk agreed that cutting half was drastic.
(2) Transfer $13,885 from the data processing internal service fund travel/training budget to the data processing internal service contingency fund. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said she was concerned about the investment in data processing and then not providing for the necessary training. Rodger Neve, director of administrative services, said that every six months all vendors updated their software and said they had to participate in the update or couldn’t keep up with the software. He said companies only kept one release of software for one year.
Councilmember Kirk said when she had complained about the cost of data processing early in the budget process, she was voted down by everyone telling her more money was needed for data processing and now the feeling was different. Councilmember Hardman said they weren’t eliminating training and travel but said he wanted the city to send fewer people to the seminars who would then come back and train the other employees.
Councilmember Horrocks said he was concerned about training and said he felt it was important. Councilmember Stoler agreed with Councilmember Hardman about sending only one person to training sessions. Mr. Neve said particularly in the field of data processing they were very specialized because there were so many software releases. He said they were not duplicating efforts to train people and only sent as many people as they needed to.
Attorney: (1) Decrease attorney’s travel/training budget by $4,226. Councilmember Hardman asked if $4,226 was 50% and Councilmember Stoler said yes. Mayor DePaulis expressed his concern about cutting travel by this much and reminded the Council that sometimes a city attorney had to travel in order to defend the city in a case. He also reiterated that travel had not been increased in four years. Roger Cutler, city attorney, said he just found out recently that one of his attorneys had to go to Washington for a week regarding a pipeline at the airport and said this one surprise would probably cost $2,000 to $2,200. He said they couldn’t afford not to be represented and said $8,000 was not much of a budget for the kinds of cases they got surprised on. Councilmember Godfrey said Mr. Cutler turned in one of the most austere budgets he had seen and said he did not support these kinds of cuts in order to fund merits. Mayor DePaulis expressed his concern for even cutting this budget 20%.
City Council: (1) Reduce city council’s travel/training budget by $14,087. Mayor DePaulis said he understood that the Council’s travel budget last year was $16,000 and this year they increased that to $29,258. He asked if this cut was off the increase or of f the base amount. Councilmember Stoler said this was 50% off the increase. Councilmember Godfrey said this year’s budget reflected the Council’s actual travel which was about $29,000 and Councilmember Bittner said they overspent last year’s travel budget.
Mayor DePaulis said the Council had just discussed sending one person to seminars instead of several and indicated that the Council sent several to various conferences. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said this was a difficult policy issue with the Council if four elected officials could decide who could or couldn’t travel because there would be a problem with equal representation under the law. Mayor DePaulis was concerned with the message being sent to the city employees and indicated that the Council was inconsistent. He asked the Council how much their travel budget was in the Redevelopment Agency.
Craig Peterson, director of development services, said it was $17,500. Councilmember Kirk said she also thought this was inconsistent. Linda Hamilton, Council Executive Director, said at year end she was projecting that the Council will have spent about $22,000 in travel and training. Councilmember Bittner said she understood that the Council would also restrict travel. Mayor DePaulis suggested that the Council reduce $19,000 by 50%.
Development Services: (1) Decrease development services general fund travel/training budget by $29,583. Craig Peterson, director of development services, said they had a program whereby they gave training seminars and travel to building inspectors as an incentive for the number of “stop” cards issued for work which was in violation. He said because of this program the revenue from “stop” cards had doubled over the last year. He said by cutting this budget they would either have to restrict all travel from the planning department or they would have to stop the incentive program. He said it would probably be more cost effective to reduce travel other than the “stop” card incentive program, which would limit the planners and capital planning people who were heavily involved in national programs.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck indicated that many people had spent several years trying to bring the NARO convention, 3,000 people, to Salt Lake in the next few years and she was concerned this cut would defeat their efforts. (2) Eliminate the secretary position in the local business advocacy program. Councilmember Godfrey said that staff indicated last week that the Council had cut too far according to what the Council’s priority list intended, which was to make the necessary cuts to fund crime prevention and crime analysis.
Finance: (1) Eliminate funding for one internal Auditor, $30,000. Mayor DePaulis said this troubled him because it eliminated the auditing function team which monitored grants and checked all administrative functions. Lance Bateman, finance director, said this position was currently vacant but this was the position that discovered the problems with the HDC and also audited grants and CDBG funds.
The position was also used to monitor items, such as all the revenue sources, that the external auditors suggested the city maintain a constant watch over. He said this was a very important position which performed the kinds of audits that the Council staff wasn’t hired to do. Councilmember Horrocks asked how long this position had been vacant and Mr. Bateman said about four months. Mayor DePaulis said he held this position vacant after the Council’s budget retreat because of the uncertainty of the budget and not because the position wasn’t necessary.
(2) Decrease the finance department general fund travel/training budget by $19,722. Mr. Bateman said they had a lot of training because of the professional people in the finance department but he also had required travel with the bonding. He said it was important for the city to have this money available in case they needed to make rating presentations. Mayor DePaulis reiterated that 50% was extremely excessive.
Fire Department: (1) Increase the fire department budget by $175,000 to fund the six-month operating cost of Station #15. Councilmember Kirk indicated that this action would allow the city to build Station #4 and then close Station #15. She indicated that she had met with the neighborhood about this issue and they had suggested part of this plan. She said this would give the city six months to purchase the land and she thought this would be a good way to handle this situation because the neighborhoods wouldn’t feel like anything was being taken away from them.
She said this had been a very cooperative neighborhood project and there was a good consensus in the neighborhood. Councilmember Hardman asked for clarification about exactly what this scenario would do with the fire stations. Councilmember Kirk said that this $175,000 would keep Station #15 open until a new station was built; after which time the old Station #4 and Station #15 would close. (2) Fire department budget for the hazardous materials unit be reduced by $75,000 and 3 FTEs eliminated. Fire Chief Pederson said they would still have a three-man unit but this would impact their ability to function. He said they had considered providing an extra man by taking someone off an engine company and said this unit was the 16th busiest in the United States. He said Salt Lake City had a critical situation with hazardous material. (3) Decrease fire department travel/training budget by $19,722. Fire Chief Pederson said this budget reflected 82% training and to reduce the budget this much would annihilate his ability to train his fire fighters.
He said he had six paramedics scheduled to go to school and this cut would eliminate his ability to provide paramedic services. Councilmember Hardman asked if the training was local. Chief Pederson said the paramedics attended a six-month residency program at Weber State college. He said his budget included training for the paramedics, fire fighters, EMT5, and engineers. He said most of their training was done at the National Fire Academy and because of reductions his people supported their own per diem cost (food and lodging) to attend the academy.
Mayor’s Office: (1) Increase the risk management internal service fund budget by $9,500. Steve Fawcett, finance department, explained that they had a projection system which developed personal services and in order to get the total budget, they merged these figures with the other figures in the budget. He said the insurance line item for the risk management employees was budgeted in the personal services projection system but there was a problem with the program so the numbers were not being properly transferred systematically.
Parks and Recreation: (1) Reduce the parks department other charges and services by $2,800, eliminating funding for drug testing. Councilmember Kirk said she thought this was in the budget twice and Councilmember Horrocks said it was and said this item was in the Mayor’s budget.
Police Department: (1) Reduce the police department budget by $19,000 and eliminate one FTE from the police records division in the staffing document. Ed Johnson, acting police chief, said this would be an additional cut from the nine that they already recommended and would be another program to be taken away. (2) Reduce the police department travel/training budget by $8,452. Mayor DePaulis said he thought there may be a misunderstanding on the part of the Council that administration would do these programs even if they were eliminated.
Acting Police Chief Johnson said programs would be cut, such as portions of crime analysis and crime prevention. He said much of the money used to investigate recent high profile cases came from their travel and training budget. He said the programs that were cut would not be funded and said 80% of the budget was used for training. (3) Restore $69,400 to the police department budget for the crime analysis unit. Councilmember Stoler said the information would still be gathered and the manpower was still available to do that. He said he didn’t think there was much demand by individuals for this
information. Councilmember Godfrey said the Council couldn’t expect the Mayor to do a program without the funds. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said they had received a lot of public comment about this program and said that crime analysis was a key element in solving the Hoffmann case.
Public Works: Reduce public works general fund travel/training by $8,452. Brad Stewart, public works department, said public works was one of the largest departments and had one of the largest staffs of professional people. He said they had responsibility for tremendous assets in the form of infrastructure and small creative ideas saved a lot of money. He cited several examples of employees who had saved the city money because of information they brought back from seminars. He said training was important in keeping their professional edge sharp.
Capital Improvements Program: (1) Reduce $890,000 appropriated for construction of Fire Station 10 by $300,000 to offset the revenue shortfall. Mayor DePaulis said he asked to “borrow” this amount of money, which was the land acquisition portion of the CIP. He said he recommended that as money became available this amount be refunded. He said this money was not available to be spent anyway for the first six months of the budget year and they currently did not have a site for Fire Station 10.
General Motions: (1) Across-the-board cut of .005241%. Councilmember Fonnesbeck read Scenario 3, which would be additional cuts: Administrative Services-$15,708; Attorney-$5,882; City Council-$2,952; Development Services-$16,979; Finance-$20,372; Fire-$83,692; Mayor-$9,291; Non-Departmental-$58,126; Parks-$27,783; Police-$106,201 and Public Works-$72,862.
Councilmember Fonnesbeck said she was concerned because these were blind cuts and the Council wouldn’t know what areas would be cut. She said there would be a lot of things that the departments couldn’t cut and she was concerned that they might have to lay off people. She said the merit increases amounted to only a few dollars a month yet people might be laid off in order to fund the merits. She said employees would suffer and so would the city. She added that by making across-the-board cuts the Council was turning over all of their budget making control to the administration.
Councilmember Stoler said the money being taken in the cuts would go back in to the various departments in the personnel areas or specific projects. Roger Cutler, city attorney, said there was a question as to whether or not the Council was abdicating and illegally transferring their budget making power to the Mayor and he was concerned about illegal delegation if the Council didn’t tell the Mayor where to cut. He said he wasn’t prepared at this time to say whether or not this was illegal but the Council was raising an issue which was very close to abdicating their responsibility. Mayor DePaulis said he would have to immediately veto the motion. He said he would submit his reasons in writing to the City Recorder which would include the following: (1) the Council was not making policy but was just closing a gap, (2) he thought this was an inappropriate way to do a budgeting process, and (3) because of the legal question.
(2) Ordinance adopting budgets of Salt Lake City, Utah, for fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, and ending June 30, 1989, totaling $79,648,000. Councilmember Godfrey opposed this action because he said the Council had been inconsistent and he thought the Council had abrogated their responsibility by approving across-the-board cuts, which in some cases would contradict what the Council was trying to do. He said he was also upset because for two months the Council had been going through a process identifying what they felt were the key programs to be funded and then the merit issue was raised.
He said by giving $600,000 in merits, some employees would probably lose their jobs. He strongly urged the Council to reject this budget. Councilmember Kirk said she thought there was a hidden agenda to discredit the Mayor and she thought the Council appeared in an embarrassing light. She said she would not vote for the budget. Councilmember Bittner disagreed with Councilmember Kirk and said they hadn’t had one budget meeting or discussion where she had not been completely up front about merit raises.
She said the only reason the merit issue was not on a priority list was because the Council was told this was part of union negotiations. She said she had been open and consistent from the beginning. She said when she was elected she voiced her opinion that the city needed to look at the staffing document and cut administrative staff through attrition. She resented the implication that she was inconsistent and irresponsible.
Councilmember Stoler agreed with Councilmember Bittner and said he also had supported personnel cuts through attrition. He voiced his concern about administrative pay raises and said he did not see a sincere effort in the budget cuts to find the money for merit raises. Mayor DePaulis said no administrative increases were given other than what was approved by the Council in the Williams Study. He said the increase in compensation to the executives was given over two budget years and included a decrease in bonuses and exclusion of longevity.
He said the Council had decreased executive compensation through some of their actions at this meeting. However, he said the Council increased their staff’s salaries this year far beyond the pay levels recommended by the human resources department. He said increases were 13-20%. Councilmember Bittner said the 100 and 200 series employees were re-evaluated and she said essentially this was what they did with the Council staff. Mayor DePaulis reiterated that the Council staff increases went far beyond what was recommended by the human resources department.
(B 88-5)
PUBLIC UTILITIES
#1. RE: An ordinance amending Sections 17.16.670 and 17.72.030 of the Salt Lake City Code to reflect an increase in city water rates offset by a decrease in sewer rates to establish a reserve for the acquisition of private watershed lands.
ACTION: Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to adopt Ordinance 38 of 1988 relating to culinary water rates and payments, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(O 88-12)
PUBLIC HEARING
Salt Lake City Library Fiscal Year 1988-89 Budget.
RE: A public hearing at 6:00 p.m. to obtain public comment regarding the recommended Salt Lake City Library Budget for Fiscal Year 1988-89.
ACTION: Councilmember Kirk moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to close the public hearing, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Mary Stevens, 672 8th Avenue, president of the Friends of the Library, said the library was doing a wonderful job on a limited budget. She said the library was one of the top in the country and served not only the recreational readers but was very necessary to the business community as a resource. She said the branch libraries were a necessity to the neighborhoods. She said they needed as much money as they could get and reminded the Council how well the library had managed and saved. Councilmember Kirk said she received two letters expressing the same tenor as Ms. Stevens.
(B 88-4)
COMMENTS
Bernice Cook, Peoples’ Freeway Community Council, referred to the retention basin in the Jefferson Circle area and asked if the streets in this area were public. She said a lady managing some apartments had told three little boys they couldn’t ride their bikes on the street to Jefferson Circle. Mayor DePaulis said the streets were public access streets and he told Ms. Cook to let the children know it was public space.
Gordon Ottley, union representative for the 100 and 200 series employees, said if the Council didn’t support the merit increases, the membership would be insulted. He said they were hard working, productive people and were faithful employees. He said they didn’t ask for a cost-of-living raise but the merits represented money that the employees earned.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Kirk seconded to adjourn the meeting and reconvene on Sunday, June 12, 1988 at 12:00 Noon, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
The meeting adjourned at 12:30 a.m.