dhyatt
05-09-2005, 01:06 PM
Citizen Budget Review Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: 5/9/05
The kick-off meeting was held at Town Hall, Building C from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. on Thursday May 5.
The attendees are listed below and are in random order.
District B Councilor Mr. Nels Roseland (6:30-7:30)
At-large Councilor Michael Joyce
Mr. Walt Sliva
Mrs. Vickie Maxwell
Mr. Scott Korbin
Mr. Harold Weinbrecht
Mr. Brent Miller
Mr. Don Frantz (6:30-8:30)
Mr. Mike Ihnat
Mr. John Finn
Mr. Kim Wattenbarger
Mr. Mathew Danielson (6:30-8:30)
Mrs. Kelly Commiskey
Mr. Joe Coletti
Ms. Katherine Haney (6:30-8:00)
Mr. Don Hyatt
Mr. Adam Arnold with The Cary News
The purpose of this meeting was to provide participants the Preliminary Budget Overview documents provided to Town Council and the documents provided to Council at the April 26 Capital Budget Work Session.
Mr. Joyce stated that District D Councilor Ms. Dorrel sent her best wishes to the group. District C Councilor/Mayor Pro Tem Mr. Smith had a prior commitment and also sent his verbal support of the group. Mrs. Robison had a prior commitment and states that she will be willing to participate in future meetings.
Mr. Roseland discussed a letter co-signed by Mr. Joyce that was submitted to the Town requesting a budget model to be submitted to Council that reflects a 10% cut in government spending with the exception of the Police Department. He discussed some specifics included in the letter and stressed that those items listed in the letter were requested to be considered, but “not limited to” in the 10% budget model.
Discussions mainly focused on solid waste collection and recycling programming. The purpose of this meeting was to provide an overview of the budget process and Mr. Joyce focused the group away from the specific debate of any single issue. Mr. Roseland departed the meeting at 7:30.
Mr. Joyce facilitated the meeting by outlining the preliminary budget overview documents by discussing page one of that package. The general discussion focused on the Staff recommendations, historical/current projected percentages of tax revenue, growth, expenditures, and debt. Mr. Korbin requested from Mr. Joyce that we obtain more information pertaining to the town’s projected 1.6%tax base growth. His specific question was based on how debatable is that percentage and what is the towns justification of that percentage. Mr. Joyce will send an email to Staff requesting that information.
Mr. Joyce illustrated the use of the budget by explaining page 45. Then the group focused on the use of the 10 year Capital Improvement Plan pages that begin after page 95 of the Preliminary Budget Overview package.
No discussion occurred pertaining to the slide show presentation from the April 26 Council work session. The focus from the work session package was on the Appendix materials of that package, which begins on page 139. This Appendix material is not included in the electronic version of the April 26 work session and the hard copy is the only form the participants have.
Focus on the Appendix material was to outline the use of the project status reports and what areas the group or individual will include as possible findings to create a budget reduction list that will be submitted to council and Staff to possibly eliminate the 27 million dollar new debt proposed by Staff in the current budget model.
Mr. Miller suggested that we create a list that has the number of participants that are for/against any single line item on the budget reduction list we create. This provides Council a clear picture of the level of interest by the group for any item listed. Mr. Hyatt stated he could create such a list or poll on his carypoltics.org website. Mr. Hyatt also stated that he will create a forum section of his web site to allow the group to work online instead of weekly meetings.
The group discussed the best days for bi-monthly meetings. It was decided that the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month would best for possible meeting days, with the exception of May. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, May 17 to coincide with the next council work session on May 19.
The purpose of the May 17 meeting is to focus on the list creation and to allow participants to break into smaller groups and form a smaller list that Mr. Joyce will compile. The group can decide at that meeting if they wish to meet on Tuesday, May 24 to discuss the materials presented to Council on May 19.
Mr. Joyce stated that all requests for additional information should be channeled through him so we do not overwhelm Staff and to ensure we are not duplicating our requests.
Post Meeting Notes:
1) Participants are encouraged to attend the May 19 Council work session. Mr. Joyce will need to know how many will be attending so he can inform Staff of the extra seating requirements.
2) Mr. Hyatt will inform the group that was present when his web site forum is operational. Mr. Joyce will contact the individuals that could not attend this meeting due to prior commitments.
3) Mr. Joyce is willing to meet individually or with smaller groups that miss a single meeting to ensure they are “up-to-speed” on the groups progress.
4) Once Mr. Hyatt has our forum running, we can begin creating our lists. This will provide more opportunity to move forward when we meet.
5) A list was created for the Appendix materials of your package. It was sent twice to the group. The first was a partial list to illustrate the format. The second version is the draft being sent to the Town Manager. Once Staff indicates which items cannot be considered and the funding source of the remaining items, we will discuss the line items as a group.
Any questions please contact Mike Joyce at 460-8558 or mike.joyce@townofcary.org
Date: 5/9/05
The kick-off meeting was held at Town Hall, Building C from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. on Thursday May 5.
The attendees are listed below and are in random order.
District B Councilor Mr. Nels Roseland (6:30-7:30)
At-large Councilor Michael Joyce
Mr. Walt Sliva
Mrs. Vickie Maxwell
Mr. Scott Korbin
Mr. Harold Weinbrecht
Mr. Brent Miller
Mr. Don Frantz (6:30-8:30)
Mr. Mike Ihnat
Mr. John Finn
Mr. Kim Wattenbarger
Mr. Mathew Danielson (6:30-8:30)
Mrs. Kelly Commiskey
Mr. Joe Coletti
Ms. Katherine Haney (6:30-8:00)
Mr. Don Hyatt
Mr. Adam Arnold with The Cary News
The purpose of this meeting was to provide participants the Preliminary Budget Overview documents provided to Town Council and the documents provided to Council at the April 26 Capital Budget Work Session.
Mr. Joyce stated that District D Councilor Ms. Dorrel sent her best wishes to the group. District C Councilor/Mayor Pro Tem Mr. Smith had a prior commitment and also sent his verbal support of the group. Mrs. Robison had a prior commitment and states that she will be willing to participate in future meetings.
Mr. Roseland discussed a letter co-signed by Mr. Joyce that was submitted to the Town requesting a budget model to be submitted to Council that reflects a 10% cut in government spending with the exception of the Police Department. He discussed some specifics included in the letter and stressed that those items listed in the letter were requested to be considered, but “not limited to” in the 10% budget model.
Discussions mainly focused on solid waste collection and recycling programming. The purpose of this meeting was to provide an overview of the budget process and Mr. Joyce focused the group away from the specific debate of any single issue. Mr. Roseland departed the meeting at 7:30.
Mr. Joyce facilitated the meeting by outlining the preliminary budget overview documents by discussing page one of that package. The general discussion focused on the Staff recommendations, historical/current projected percentages of tax revenue, growth, expenditures, and debt. Mr. Korbin requested from Mr. Joyce that we obtain more information pertaining to the town’s projected 1.6%tax base growth. His specific question was based on how debatable is that percentage and what is the towns justification of that percentage. Mr. Joyce will send an email to Staff requesting that information.
Mr. Joyce illustrated the use of the budget by explaining page 45. Then the group focused on the use of the 10 year Capital Improvement Plan pages that begin after page 95 of the Preliminary Budget Overview package.
No discussion occurred pertaining to the slide show presentation from the April 26 Council work session. The focus from the work session package was on the Appendix materials of that package, which begins on page 139. This Appendix material is not included in the electronic version of the April 26 work session and the hard copy is the only form the participants have.
Focus on the Appendix material was to outline the use of the project status reports and what areas the group or individual will include as possible findings to create a budget reduction list that will be submitted to council and Staff to possibly eliminate the 27 million dollar new debt proposed by Staff in the current budget model.
Mr. Miller suggested that we create a list that has the number of participants that are for/against any single line item on the budget reduction list we create. This provides Council a clear picture of the level of interest by the group for any item listed. Mr. Hyatt stated he could create such a list or poll on his carypoltics.org website. Mr. Hyatt also stated that he will create a forum section of his web site to allow the group to work online instead of weekly meetings.
The group discussed the best days for bi-monthly meetings. It was decided that the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month would best for possible meeting days, with the exception of May. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, May 17 to coincide with the next council work session on May 19.
The purpose of the May 17 meeting is to focus on the list creation and to allow participants to break into smaller groups and form a smaller list that Mr. Joyce will compile. The group can decide at that meeting if they wish to meet on Tuesday, May 24 to discuss the materials presented to Council on May 19.
Mr. Joyce stated that all requests for additional information should be channeled through him so we do not overwhelm Staff and to ensure we are not duplicating our requests.
Post Meeting Notes:
1) Participants are encouraged to attend the May 19 Council work session. Mr. Joyce will need to know how many will be attending so he can inform Staff of the extra seating requirements.
2) Mr. Hyatt will inform the group that was present when his web site forum is operational. Mr. Joyce will contact the individuals that could not attend this meeting due to prior commitments.
3) Mr. Joyce is willing to meet individually or with smaller groups that miss a single meeting to ensure they are “up-to-speed” on the groups progress.
4) Once Mr. Hyatt has our forum running, we can begin creating our lists. This will provide more opportunity to move forward when we meet.
5) A list was created for the Appendix materials of your package. It was sent twice to the group. The first was a partial list to illustrate the format. The second version is the draft being sent to the Town Manager. Once Staff indicates which items cannot be considered and the funding source of the remaining items, we will discuss the line items as a group.
Any questions please contact Mike Joyce at 460-8558 or mike.joyce@townofcary.org