MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
Held April 3, 2000,
For the purpose of reviewing Revenues and the General Government section of the FY 2001 Proposed Budget

The meeting began at 8:07 p.m. It was held in the Council Room of the Municipal Building.

PRESENT WERE: Council members Rodney M. Roberts, Alan Turnbull, Thomas X. White, Ed Putens and Mayor Judith F. Davis.

STAFF PRESENT WERE: Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; Jeff Williams, City Treasurer; and Anne Marie Belton, Exec Sec.

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Diane Oberg from the Greenbelt News Review and Karl Hille from The Gazette.

Mr. McLaughlin began the meeting with an overview of General Fund budget. He explained that the FY 2001 budget includes a five (5) cent tax increase. City residents will receive a three (3) cent tax credit on their county tax bill due to the tax differential program resulting in a net tax increase of two (2) cents. Mr. McLaughlin continued with a brief review of the remaining items in the Budget at a Glance section of the budget (page 13).

Mr. McLaughlin explained that the City’s assessable base has no growth (ref. page 2) in commercial and residential property. Mr. White asked if the data on the assessable base explanation would be beneficial to the Federal Government to show them that Greenbelt truly is experiencing no growth in the area. Jeff Williams mentioned that Montgomery County has a person on staff whose job responsibility is to challenge abatements issued to businesses by the State Department of Assessment and Taxation.

Mr. Williams then gave an overview on revenues and expenditures. Revenues are only up .6%. Real Estate revenues are essentially flat this year. Personal property taxes are budgeted at $7.3 million higher than the state estimate. Target will be moving into Beltway Plaza in the near future, but we will not see the personal property tax impact of this business until FY 2002. Admissions & Amusements are steady. We have budgeted $51,000 higher on Highway User Tax than the state estimate.

An accounting change has caused a one time revenue windfall of $146,000 in Recreation revenues. A new state law that allows real property taxes to be paid in two installments will reduce cash that is available to invest. Staff believes that this will be offset by higher interest rates. Mr. Turnbull asked what happens with the tax bills of homeowners who own their homes. Mr. White asked for a copy of "new" bill.

Mr. Williams went on to discuss expenditures. Employee benefits have increased half a million dollars from FY 2000. This is due in part to a 10% health care increase and another 1.66 % increase in deferred compensation contributions to non-pension plan personnel. Insurance costs were budgeted at a 10% decrease from FY 2000. However, a letter received 03/31/2000 says that savings may be less than previously indicated. Mr. Williams is checking into this matter. Electric costs are expected to decrease by 7% due to deregulation.

Mayor Davis inquired about the Street Permits budget figure. Mr. McLaughlin explained that this is a one time fee based on new streets in the City. Mayor Davis also inquired about why dog park fees are a one time only fee. Mayor Davis made a suggestion to possibly have the licenses renewed annually. Mayor Davis questioned why Fines and Forfeitures was budgeted at 0. Mr. McLaughlin explained that when monies become available from a seizure by the police, staff will come to Council with a plan of how to spend it. Mr. Turnbull asked if the Red Light Camera program will be coming on board. Mr. McLaughlin responded by saying that it was not budgeted in case it didn’t happen.

Mr. McLaughlin briefly reviewed the Accomplishment for FY 2000 and Issues and Services in FY 2001 in General Government. Mr. White brought up the point of Information Technology as a Management Objective for Council. Mr. Turnbull suggested having the City set up an e-mail account for each council member. Mayor Davis suggested having possibly four (4) meetings per year as a Council at various community sites, as an outreach program to the community. In the Administration budget Mr. Putens suggested creating a coalition to aide in the utility deregulation. A general discussion on archiving brought about the question of which was better, CD-ROM or microfiche? In the Community Promotion budget Mr. Turnbull expressed his wishes to have more programming shown on a more frequent basis. More cycling through of the current programs and eventually more programming was suggested. In the Public Officers budget Mr. Putens suggested that the ACE Scholarship amount be raised from $1,000 to $5,000. This is listed as an unmet need.

The meeting ended at 10:35 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Anne Marie Belton

Executive Secretary

City of Greenbelt, Maryland
City Offices, 25 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Phone: 301-474-8000 FAX: 301-441-8248