City of Colona Finance/Admin Committee met Sept. 22.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
Call to Order: 3:34pm
Roll Call: Jen Legare, Mick Painter, Deb Shady-Dahl (phone), Amanda Stablein, Larry Swemline
Public Comments:
● Don Ropp: DR expressed concerns about major moves in the city and the budget, specifically in regards to taking over the road, projected state funding decline, and declaring surpluses with the TIF. Surplus would go to the school, which is in need since they are ranked so low in the nation in regards to funding per what he heard and learned at the 2022 IML conference.
Old Business:
1. Employee Handbook:
JWright made suggested changes – most were verbiage changes or changes within requirements by law. We looked at all union contracts in conjunction with the employee handbook and discussed how we could make them all a bit more uniform, understanding that union contracts are negotiated. There are some differences, as well as wording in general that needs to be reviewed and addressed in the employee handbook. Some examples could be:
○ Overtime pay over 8 hours a day vs over 40 hours a week
○ Full-time vs part-time needs to be defined in writing
○ Vacation days - protocol of how they can be used
○ Health insurance responsibility after retirement
○ Sick Days in regards to FMLA
Jen will talk with JWright about changes and review items with him. We will revisit this document again to discuss further changes.
2. Final ARPA funds have been received.
○ Deposits: $698,253.72
○ Expenses: $46,235.24
○ Balance: $652,018.48
New Business:
1. Authorized Signers (bank accounts): This will be on the agenda 9/26/22 for approval. Due to the changes in council, an additional signer is warranted. It was suggested that DShady-Dahl be added as an authorized signer for all City of Colona bank accounts.
2. Credit Cards: This will be on the agenda 9/26/22 for approval. Due to the changes in council, it was suggested that a City credit card through Blackhawk Bank be made available to MPainter with a limit of $5,000.
3. Budget FY 2023-2024: Proposed budgets from each of the departments have been submitted. It is currently estimated that there will be a 15% decline in state revenue. There are also amounts that have been estimated based on the fact that the rates will not be available until later this fiscal year: SUTA, retirement, health insurance, salary increases, etc. Minimum wage will increase in January, and the cost of materials, supplies, resources, and equipment have been going up consistently. Based on this projection and the proposed first drafts of budgets, it is estimated that the general fund would be in significant deficit. A chart with tax levy rates ranging from 4.95% (deficit of $492,106) - 65% (surplus $36,431) was presented. Members of the Finance/Admin committee will be meeting with department heads on Tuesday, October 4, to discuss proposed budgets in attempts to make adjustments needed to eliminate that deficit.
4. Bridges: LSwemline is concerned with the current state of the bridge on E420th Street (near Oakwood Veterinary Services). He suggested that this bridge in particular needs to be inspected and addressed immediately.
Adjournment: 4:35pm Motion to adjourn by LSwemline, second by DShady-Dahl.
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