Notes

Outline

2003 Budget Presentation City of Rye, New York November 6, 2002 Julia D. Novak, City Manager

General Fund Budget Total Expenditures $21,956,706 Non Property Tax Revenue $6,546,894 Fund Balance Transfer $596,000 Property Tax Levy $14,828,812

Non Property Tax Revenue $1,675,000 in non-property taxes $1,874,441 in Intergovernmental Revenues $924,147 in Licenses & Permits $438,435 in Fines and Forfeitures $184,600 Use of Money & Property

Property Tax Increase Tax Rate proposed to raise the tax levy $110.52 2002 Tax Rate is $88.12 25.3% Increase

Property Tax Increase History From 1993 to 2002: City of Rye taxes increased 22.95% Combined Westchester County taxes increased 25.83% Rye City Schools increased 75.91% CPI-U has increased 23.62%

Median Tax Bill 25.3% increase on the median home assessed at $20,700 is $462. Total City tax bill would be $2,288 in 2003 “Per Capita” our residents pay $991 per year for City Services

What do You Get for $991 Police Department will respond to almost 14,000 calls with 5 civilian and forty-one sworn employees

What do You Get for $991 Fire Department will respond with three pieces of apparatus to roughly 900 calls for service – with professional firefighting supplemented by volunteers.

What do You Get for $991 Refuse will be picked up at the “back door” of our 5,100 commercial and residential properties twice a week – Recycling and Green Waste Once a week.

What do You Get for $991 6,227 street trees will be maintained 9.6 Acres of medians and grassy areas will be mowed

What do You Get for $991 53.4 miles of City-owned sewer lines, 1,495 manholes and 7 sewage pump stations will be maintained

What do You Get for $991 29.9 miles of storm drains, 1,245 catch basins and 400 manholes will be cleaned and maintained

What do You Get for $991 City streets will be swept at least once every 6 weeks Over 2100 streetlights will be maintained

What do You Get for $991 Residents can elect to participate in over 150 Recreation programs.

What do You Get for $991 Enjoy a quality play experience on 11 athletic fields at 7 locations that serve recreation, community and school district teams.

What do You Get for $991 Play tennis at one of 12 tennis courts, 6 of which are lighted. Enjoy family and neighborhood gatherings at our picnic grounds.

What do You Get for $991 Almost 30,000 visitors will enjoy the 47-acre Rye Nature Center.

What do You Get for $991 A full-time City Planner will support the Planning Commission and provide technical support on special planning projects and long-range planning initiatives of the City.

What do You Get for $991 The Building Department will make over 1,500 inspections and investigate zoning issues and issue 50 summonses  to protect the “quality of life” in the community.

What do You Get for $991 Engineering Staff will manage Capital projects. Issue surface water control permits. Issue street opening permits Inspect work done in the public right-of-way.

What do You Get for $991 Residents can get a variety of permits and licenses from the City Clerk’s Office during “regular” business hours.

What do You Get for $991 The Finance Department will issue 6,100 vendor checks, 800 purchase orders, 6,800 paychecks and 9,400 property tax bills

What do You Get for $991 The Assessor’s office will represent and defend the City in tax certiorari proceedings and capture the value of real property within the City – which helps keeps the property tax rate low.

What do You Get for $991 The question is – is this a good value? Is the cost of government in line with the outcomes articulated?

Outside Agency Requests Local Outside Agencies are level funded.

Outside Agency Requests Rye Free Reading Room requested an additional $77,247 – which would require an additional tax increase of .7%.

Outside Agency Requests Rye Youth Council requested an additional increase of $7,500 which would require an additional tax increase of 0.1%

Outside Agency Requests Thanks to the Rye Historical Society who recognized our difficult financial situation by requesting only what they received last year.

Comparison to July In July 2002 I presented a preliminary forecast that suggested the tax increase would be 29%. Staff promised to work hard to get the increase down as far as possible Departments decreased “discretionary” spending by 2.5% -- many came in voluntarily under their established targets.

Capital Budget In order to keep the Fund Balance as high as possible, several projects were eliminated from the CIP that was proposed in August 2002.

Capital Budget $2,566,500 Total Expenditures $1,901,500 Debt $465,000 Current Funds $200,000 State Aid What follows is the list of what is and isn’t included in the tentative budget.

North Kirby Lane $1,380,000 total cost Financed via the EFC $980,000 to be repaid through a special assessment for sewers $400,000 general City expense for storm sewer

Street Projects Summary $240,000 for Annual Street Resurfacing ($60,000 less then prior years – but $40,000 more then August thanks to Fee Study Recommendation) $50,000 for Annual Sidewalk Program

Street Projects Summary $15,000 for Traffic Safety Enhancements $180,000 for Traffic Signals Theodore Fremd & Elm Theodore Fremd & Central

City Hall Refurbishment Ergonomic Work Stations Accessible Service Counter Maximize available space

Public Safety Police Headquarters Air Vents in Exercise Room Flooring & Carpet in ongoing effort to rid the building of mold Replace toilets in cells

Public Safety Impound Facility This car was being “stored” as evidence Need a secure facility Storage for speed trailers and other equipment

Community Environment $50,000 to replace flat roof and point the brick work of the City’s 1927 Garage DEFERRED IN 2002 – MUST BE DONE TO MAINTAIN THE BUILIDING

Community Environment DPW Garage Lift System Ongoing problems with hydraulics 12 years old Holds 25 Ton pieces of equipment Needs to be replaced for workplace safety

Community Environment Fueling System

Recreation Skate Board Park $75,000 Increase Challenge

Recreation Disbrow Tennis Court and Fence $65,000 Full resurface of Courts New fence Deferred in 2002

Friends Meeting House $40,000 to stabilize the foundation and flooring.

Square House $25,000 to stabilize the foundation The exterior will be painted in 2003 with an existing appropriation.

Other Funds RCTV is funded from Franchise Fee Revenues and proposes appropriations of $173,960 vs. revenues of $180,701 Rye Nature Center requires appropriations of $354,575, which includes a General Fund transfer of $185,125 Boat Basin will increase fees between three and five percent and completely recover all operating and capital expenses.

Other Funds Rye Golf Club will raise rates 7% and presents a balanced budget of $3.8M Building and Vehicle Fund expenses are budgeted at $2,672,275 – including an increase of Debt Service assigned to this fund of $426,000 and Capital Projects totaling $682,000

Fleet Replacement Vehicles replaced in accordance with established guidelines: Staff Vehicles (assigned/take-home vehicles) 5 years/60,000 miles  Staff Vehicles (pool use vehicles) 10 years/100,000+ miles, depending on utility and performance New vehicles will not be purchased for pool use. Assigned take-home vehicles and unmarked police vehicles will be cycled into pool use.

Fleet Replacement Police Patrol Vehicle  Replace every two years Police Unmarked Vehicles 7 years/70,000 miles Light Trucks & Vans (passenger use) 10 years/80,000 miles

Fleet Replacement Light Duty Salt Trucks 7 years/80,000 miles Medium Duty Trucks 10 years/80,000 miles   Light Equipment Varies depending on usage (approximately 5 to 10 years) Heavy Equipment Varies depending on usage (approximately 10 - 20 years)

Exception New vehicles will not be purchased for pool use. Three “pool use” vehicles exceed 100,000 miles and will be replaced in 2003 Replace PEO vehicle with a second GEM zero emission all-electric vehicle Introduce two “hybrid” gas/electric vehicles in 2003

Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid vehicles achieve over 50 miles per gallon compared to12 achieved by Recycled Police Vehicles Purchase price Offset by auctioning police vehicles which sell for between $3,300 and $5,700

Financial Policies Tentative Budget is generally consistent with the Council’s Financial Policies

Financial Policies Current operating expenditures will be paid for from current operating revenues. No fund balance transfer for operating expenditures in 2003.

Eliminating the Operating Deficit 1988 $  332,836 1999 $  921,964 2000 $1,140,041 2001 $1,313,000 2002 $1,369,500 2003 $0 Cost = 10.1% of the tax rate increase

Financial Policies General Fund’s unreserved undesignated fund balance will be maintained at a level at least equal to 5% of the General Fund Tentative Budget forecasts reserves at 6.32% of 2003 revenues and 6.15% of expenditures.

Policy Discussions If the cost of government proposed with this budget is “too high” then… What is an acceptable cost of government? What are the service priorities?

Additional Reductions A 5% across the Board reduction would require a reduction of over $1M – and still require a double digit (16.1%) tax increase. Only $2.9M of the City Budget is within the “control” of Department Heads. Cutting “even” 5% would require a dramatic change in services.

What is 5% In our Police Department it would mean eliminating 3 Police Officers – and reducing daytime staffing levels. In Public Works it means eliminating four positions.

What is 5% In the Fire Department it means eliminating two paid positions – and require that we change our standard response from three pieces of apparatus to two. For General Government it means eliminating at least two positions.

Other Discussion Items I do not recommend that we dramatically reduce service levels. Residents receive a good value for their tax dollar

Other Discussion Items Do we “need” twice a week refuse collection? Should we turn off “every other street light”? Should we eliminate CDB beautification efforts and weekend clean-up?

Revenue Options Finance Committee has recommended a $75 surcharge for non-resident slip holders and members of the Golf Club – could generate $45,000. Finance Committee has recommended a mooring fee that could generate $50,000.

Revenue Options Recreation User Fee Study is being reviewed and is available for consideration. Move refuse collection from the tax levy to an enterprise fund and take $2M off the tax levy. If the County Executive’s Sales Tax is passed, Rye would receive $516,000

Rule of Thumb For every $118,000 of appropriation we eliminate (or new revenue we raise), the property tax rate can be reduced by 1% (approximately).

What’s the right number? If 25.3% is too high, what is an acceptable number? If it is 20.3%, we have to find $590,000. If it is 15.3%, we have to find $1,180,000.

Next Steps Staff is here to help.

Next Steps I have presented the “tentative budget.” City Council will hold workshops on November 12 and 13 at 7:30 PM. By November 21, 2002 any changes to the budget must be made in order to notice the Public Hearing on the “proposed budget” scheduled for December 2, 2002. Budget Adoption is scheduled for December 18, 2002.

Thank you Appreciate the efforts of the Department Heads who really worked hard at cutting their budgets.

Thank you They know how to stretch a dollar…

Special Thanks Finance and City Manager’s Office who work hard to crunch numbers and create the document you have before you this evening.