Saturday, February 4th was a work session for the Corvallis City Council, City Manager Jim Patterson and each of the City Department Heads. Work Session #2 took place today, Feb 11th, see below dotted line. The two head coaches in Super Bowl XLVI have nothing on City Manager Jim Patterson. Patterson is a well prepared Coach/City Manager. Saturday, Patterson welcomed each of the attendees with a reading of the "Game Plan" so to speak. Setting the course for the morning session Jim Patterson established the guidelines, no decisions would be made by City Council during the two work sessions, the second taking place on Saturday, February 11th. Senior Directors would present information relative to their Departments, focusing specifically on the issues pertaining to the 2012-2013 budget. A "Q&A" session immediately following with Council having the opportunity to clarify points brought up by each Director. Per the game plan previously communicated by City Manager Jim Patterson, all decisions regarding Corvallis City Budget matters would go through five filters, "Resident Well Being, Public Safety, Livability, Infrastructure, & Economic Vitality". After the second Council work session on February 11th, the Corvallis Budget Commission will fulfill their responsibilities and ultimately present a budget to City Council in April 2012. The City Manager and Senior Directors balanced Budget Considerations are: 1- All budget actions must serve to enhance citizens' level of trust in City government. 2- Business as usual is not an option. 3- We must keep in mind the importance of our City of Corvallis bond rating. 4- We will not grow local government unnecessarily. 5- We will plan for a financially sustainable future. 6- We will incorporate the revised financial policies into the budget. 7- Any increases in staffing will be associated with an adopted legislative council action, reduction of staffing in another department, council adoption of new taxes or fees to support services, or increases in existing fee or tax resources. 8- Any proposal to reduce or eliminate services or financial support to the community should be considered very carefully with the future in mind and the potential impacts to our city. 9- Any proposal to reduce our work force should be considered very carefully, recognizing these decisions will impact employees and their families. 10- Our proposed budget should keep the City of Corvallis competitive and in line with the marketplace for wages and benefits for employees. A major game plan for major challenges. Business as usual is not an option any longer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corvallis City Council work session number two took place today, February 11th. Presentations were given by Parks & Recreation Director Karen Emery, Police Chief Gary Boldizsar, and Asst. City Manager Ellen Vollmer to the Corvallis City Council, Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning & City Manager Jim Patterson. Corvallis Finance Director Nancy Brewer presented some follow-up information as a result of questions from Budget work session #1. Finance Director Brewer also presented a summary of "Non-Departmental" items, by definition-All things that don't fit into a departments budget. City Manager Jim Patterson reiterated the point that no decisions would be made today. Also present in the audience were Corvallis Budget Commission Chair Jacque Schreck and Budget Commission Member Laurie Mason. Some issues discussed/takeaways included: Future funding of BEC (Business Enterprise Center) TBD Corvallis City residents vs non-city residents funding of Library $ City Manager Patterson "Having an Economic Development position would send a strong positive signal to Business in Corvallis and to the public." The City Managers Office is holding as a vacancy the position of Human Resources Manager. Sending strong message that everyone has to share in the struggle to balance the budget. Corvallis budgeting $132,000 towards unemployment insurance to allow for the potential of possible layoffs and or RIF. Not video taping Council meetings saves approximately $17,000. Ongoing Labor Negotiations critical to future budgeting methodology City Attorney Contract $$ Discussion of possible Business Services Fee and Fire Protection Fee City Manager Patterson reiterated correcting "Structural Imbalance" Finance Director Nancy Brewer reminded all that City revenues were increasing between 2-3% per year and City expenses were increasing at 6% per year. This has been ongoing for several years. City reserves are depleted and the graphing of revenues and expenses continue to go in negative slopes. Chief Boldizsar reported that police department staffing is the same as 15 years ago with significant increase in population (almost entirely due to OSU student growth). Corvallis Police Department would prioritize calls, first dealing with violence and felonies. Chief Boldizsar reported that the new 12 hr. shifts have worked well. Calls on aberrant behavior in neighborhoods can expect to get less response, per Chief Boldizsar. Police Department vehicle repairs have been contracted to one auto dealership in Corvallis for greater overall efficiency. Goal on emergency calls is 5 minutes, per Chief Boldiszar. City Finance Director Nancy Brewer, responding to a question from Councilor Raymond, advised that the dollars required to balance the new City Budget would be somewhere between $1.5 million and $2 million dollars in additional cuts. Next steps: City Manager Jim Patterson advised that City Staff & Department Directors would get together & look at all areas. They would look for meaningful cuts so that they will be balanced. Another Council Budget work session is scheduled for March 2012. A Corvallis City Budget will ultimately be presented to Corvallis City Council in April 2012.
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