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CASSELBERRY CITY COMMISSION Minutes of July 12, 2016 — Budget workshop Page 2 of 3 tri Presentation: City Manager Randy Newlon introduced Finance Director Rebecca Bowman who gave a PowerPoint presentation covering in detail the projected revenues and proposed expenditures for Fiscal Year 2017 City Budget including revenue and expenditure comparisons, personnel related matters, debt service, and proposed capital improvements program projects. The total proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2017 is $46,917,151, representing an overall increase of approximately 9.63% over the adopted budget for FY 2016 of $42,795,681. This increase of $4,121,470 is primarily due to increased capital spending in the Infrastructure Surtax Fund to advance capital projects and includes the final $515,000 loan payment for purchase ofthe golf course. Ms. Bowman explained that staff was requesting that the millage rate be set at 3.1201 mills. She stated that this would be the second year of the reduced rate, noting that the budget had to be reduced by 2.3299 mills from 5.45, as a result of fire consolidation; however, however, property taxable values did increase in the 2017 budget by 5%. She stated that most of the growth was driven by the appreciation in the tax base, which was partly derived from sales of real property. Ms. Bowman advised that the proposed budget included a 3% increase in employee salaries, but the requested increase did apply to either the City Commission or the City Manager. She added that also included in the 2017 budget in salaries was a 5% increase in police salaries due to the recent Collective Bargaining Agreement that was approved and a 3% increase for the Teamsters bargaining unit. She explained that a Teamsters Collective Bargaining Agreement was currently being negotiated and the 3% had been built in, as it was anticipated there would be a new agreement in the near future. She also noted that total staffing was reduced by 2 from 195 employees down to 193. Discussion: Discussion ensued regarding various subjects including the following: improvement projects planned for the Carriage Hill community; salary increases; Lake Concord Park playground equipment; cost of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for utility services; cost and function of smart metering and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); fire consolidation's effect on the budget; and comparisons of proposed millage rate to the surrounding cities, feasibility of a decrease in the millage rate and the effect a decrease would have on projected revenues. No changes to the proposed budget were discussed by the City Commission other than thepossibility of a reduction in the millage rate. The Commission as a whole expressed appreciation to staff for their hard work in preparation of the budget and for continuing to work hard to keep the City moving forward. CONSENSUS: Commissioner Meadows was in favor of a small reduction in the millage rate; however, City Commission consensus was to set the tentative millage rate at 3.1201 mills. The City Commission will set the tentative millage rate at the July 25, 2016 regular meeting. Once the tentative millage rate is set, the City Commission may reduce the millage rate at the public hearings, but they cannot exceed the tentative millage rate set at the July 25, 2016 meeting. The first public hearing for the