HomeMy WebLinkAbout2758 Levying Taxes ORDINANCE LEVYING TAXES
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ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE LEVYING TAXES FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 1995 TO AND INCLUDING JUNE
30, 1996, SUCH TAXES IN THE SUM OF $4,059,000.00 UPON ALL THE REAL AND PERSONAL
PROPERTY SUBJECT TO ASSESSMENT AND LEVY WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE
CITY OF ASHLAND, JACKSON COUNTY, OREGON
THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Ashland hereby levies the taxes provided for in the adopted
budget in the aggregate amount of $4,059,000.00 and that these taxes are hereby levied upon the
assessed value for the fiscal year starting July 1, 1995, on all taxable property within the City.
Section 2. That the City Council hereby declares that the taxes so levied are
funds:
General Fund
Cemetery Fund
Band Fund
Recreation Serial Levy Fund
Parks and Recreation Fund
Ashland Youth Activities Levy Fund
General Bond Fund (82 Water Bonds)
General Bond Fund (92 Water Bonds)
General Bond Fund (Hydroelectric Bonds)
Total
applicable to the following
Subject to the General Excluded from
Government Limitation the Limitation
$ 1,081,090.82 0.00
135,000.00 0.00
47,000.00 0.00
64,000.00 0.00
1,548,000.00 0.00
970,000.00 0.00
0.00 55,000.00
0.00 90,909.00
0.00 68,000.18
$ 3,845,090.82 $ 213,909.18
The foregoing ordinance was read in full and then by title only in accordance with Article X, Section 2(B) of
the City, Charter on the 16th day of May, 1995, and duly PASSED and ADOPTED at this single meeting.
Barbara Christensen,
City Recorder
SIGNED and APPROVED this //7 ay of May, 1995.
Reviewed as to form:
Paul Nolte, City Attorney
Catherine M. Golden, Mayor
H :\J ill\w p\budget \taxoral.3
May 3,
Mayor and City Council
1995
Jill Turner, Director of Finance
Budget
RECOmmenDATIOn: The Budget Committee recommends thepassage of the attached
Budget AppropriationsResolutionandOrdinanceLevyingTaxes. Attached arethe
minutes of theApril 20, 1995, Budget Committee meeting. In addition, staff
recommends that the proposed budget be changed: 1) to increase the
appropriations in the Debt ServiceFund to cover additional open space land
aquisition notes; 2) to have anadditional $17,000 in the Street Fund for the
Signal at Maple and North Main; and 3) to move $10,000 from materials and
services to personnel costs within theAshland YouthActivities LevyFund.
This will cover staffing associated with the communityrecreation program.
These changes are included in the appropriation resolution.
DISCUSSI(~: Besides formally approvingBudget appropriations andthe TaxLevy,
the following items were recommended:
1. Quarterly Budget Committee Meeting -- (Review team-- Brian, Gary, Don,
Martin, Regina, Brent) Brian Almquist
2. Social Services/CDBG Committee needs to meet again.
a. Review Youthworks 1994-95 allocation.
b. Formulate a long-term policy on CDBG allocations.
c. Refinethe overallgrant process (combining Social Services andCDBG
applications). Kelly Madding
3. Annual Economic Development Allocations.
4. Televising the Budget Committee meetings. Brian Almquist
Budget Committee Minutes
April 20, 1995 7:30 p.m. Civic Center
Wheeldon called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. Budget Committee members Hagen,
Golden, Stepahin, Laws, Hauck, Levine, Winthrop, Haworth, Thompson, Hartzell, Reid and
Bashaw were present. Staff present included Almquist, Turner, Hoggatt, Clements, Laws,
Woodley, Lovrovich, Hall, Christensen, Christiansen, Mickelsen, McLaughlin, Madding and
Batters.
Winthrop brought up the possibility of reviewing the social service grant recipients on a
quarterly basis, and said he needs more information before he will be ready to pass the
CDBG budget... Reid clarified that Winthrop was talking about the held-over allocation for
Youthworks...
After some discussion, Laws moved to add the condition that the money not be spent
unless Youthworks satisfies the snbcommittee by May 9. If Youthworks does not get the
money, the subcommittee will make alternate recommendations to Council for approval;
Levine seconded the motion. Ayes all, with exception of Hauck who did not vote due to
conflict of interest.
Haworth stated that she is on the Board of Directors tBr Youthworks and is a vendor to the
City; Wheeldon is on the Hospital Board, and is employed by OSF; and Laws will not vote
on the Senior Program budget due to conflict.
Thompson had a comment regarding the Community Dispute Resolution Center not receiving
grant money. He said that as a landlord he feels that conflict resolution through arbitration is
very useful. He would like to split the ACCESS allocation in half, with $1,500 going to
ACCESS and $1,500 going to the Community Dispute Resolution Center... Hartzell clarified
that the grant request is for a new program. The committee did not fund the request because
it seemed to be a duplication of services since it deals with the Juvenile Dept. Victim's
Assistance program.
The committee decided to discuss and modify the minutes, then vote on them as a group
rather than individually.
Regarding the monitoring issue, Turner suggested the committee ask staff to come up with a
policy and bring it to council. She does get a number of audits with the applications and said
that none of the organizations is going to not be doing its work without the City knowing
about it... Stepahin suggested that if they had had reports from Youthworks they would have
known the proposal was changing... Madding said the committee could monitor the growth
of the project, but that fund expenditures are already closely monitored... Winthrop said that
the larger issue is "where are we going with the block grant monies?" We should be prudent
in our spending because the money might not be available in a few more years... Laws put
monitoring in historical perspective, saying that the committee has gone through the
monitoring issue before. Although it was a popular idea, the interest to provide follow-up
Budget Committee Minutes -- April 20, 1995 Page 1
wasn't there... Stepahin said the subcommittee could meet in six months. This would allow
them to touch base, learn more, and have a better sense of the direction they want to go.
Turner said the Social Services/CDBG Subcommittee needs to meet again to decide the
allocation and if there is going to be a change in criteria.
Winthrop moved to have the Social Service/CDBG Subcommittee work with staff and
the Affordable Housing Conunittee to bring policy proposals to Council; Laws seconded
the motion. Ayes all.
Public Works minutes were discussed next. Hagen asked what happened to the Maple/North
Main turn lane line item... Staff considers this to be a permanent line item, but cannot
allocate the expenditure until the City knows what its share of the costs will be... The
$30,000 in line item 260-51-910.410 addresses a Council goal, and the $20,000 for the
TPAC sidewalk maintenance came from maintenance lnisc. concrete, maintenance streets,
and contingency.
Electric Dept/Community Development were discussed. Thompson asked if there is a way
to provide for duplication of the archive of historical photos that exists for Ashland. They
are a private collection at this time and it would be a shame to lose them to a fire or other
cause. The City, as well as the community, relies on them for historical information... Reid
said this would probably be a matter for tile Council to discuss.
The Central Service budgets were nexl. Tile change in tile Court's budget was noted...
Hauck restated that SOREDI is a regional organization. The Council should decide if the
City wants to be a member and pay dues... Turner noted that there is no appropriation for
SOREDI at this time... Winthrop is the liaison to SOREDI. He noted that Medford, Jackson
County and Grants Pass each give $25,000 to SOREDI annually, whereas Ashland usually
gives $2,500.
Hauck moved to create a line item of $3,500 for SOREDI in the Administration budget,
taking the money from the Central Services contingency; Winthrop seconded the
motion. Discussion: Reid would rather give SOREDI $2,500 and give the other $1,000 to
SOWAC for their loan program... Hagen asked why Ashland gives so much less than other
contributors... Laws said, "we figure we get less value than the others." Winthrop noted
that "in the past, Ashland has been aloof from the rest of the valley, not working with our
brother and sister governments." On vote, Harlzell voted no, all others, aye.
Golden asked what methodology for binding Economic Development Grants was used by
the subcommittee. Also, what were the criteria?.. Hauck said each subcommittee member
did their own allocations, which were then averaged to create the starting point for
discussion... Reid expressed concern at separating the large grantees into a two year cycle
while retaining the small grantees on an annual basis. This seems backward to her. OSF
has the time and resources to do annual presentations, whereas the smaller grantees need
consistency. Also, it doesn't allow for as much creativity in allocating dollars... Haworth
noted that some small groups don't even last two years. An annual review is appropriate in
these circumstances... Bashaw doesn't support a two year cycle, if for no other reason than it
is not an enforceable policy...
Budget Committee Minutes -- April 20, 1995 Page 2
Hartzell expressed some frustration with the "Economic Development" label. She feels this
is misleading. The issue in subcommittee discussion seemed to be focused on tourism rather
than economic development. If the focus is tourism, the subcommittee should be renamed to
more closely reflect the reality... Hagen noted that the subcommittees seem to have lengthy
discussions, and then rush to decisions in the last 15 minutes of the meetings. He would like
to revisit the allocation for the Museum and see it increased.
Golden moved to maintain the Econonfic Development Grant process on an annual
basis; Reid seconded the motion. Hauck voted no, all others, aye.
Laws asked, in keeping with the criteria, "how can we freeze the Museum while increasing
the Ballet, Symphony, Opera, etc?" The other entities aren't going to meet the criteria as
well as the Museum. The museum is hurting financially. This year is critical to their
survival.
Winthrop moved to support the subcommittee decisions; Reid seconded the motion. 8
ayes, 2 no's.
Golden noted that again, for a $70,000,000 budget, the committee is spending time on just a
few dollars. Golden moved to find $5,000 in additional hinds for the Museum on a one-
time basis; Haworth seconded the motion. Bashaw voted no, all others, aye. The
money will be transferred from the contingency.
Turner noted that the debt service category of the Hospital Fund had been changed by staff
since the subcommittee meeting, as shown on page 161.
Bashaw moved to approve the Hospital budget as amended; Goldeu seconded the
motion. Ayes all.
Turner listed some changes that had been made to the Park Dept. budget:
On page 167, for Capital Outlay, North Mountain Park has been included in
hnprovements Other than Buildings; the funds shifted from the contingency and
unappropriated ending t\md balance line items.
On page 169, the Recreation portion of the budget shows slight reductions in several
line items for an overall reduction of $5,000. This is in response to a $15,000
reduction in resources. The other $10,000 will come out of the contingency.
On page 181, Capital Outlay is reduced while Unappropriated Ending Fund Balance is
increased.
And on page 185, Travel & Training should be $5,000, and Transportation should be
$8,500.
Reid moved to approve the amended Parks budget; Winthrop seconded the motion.
Ayes all.
Public input was called for. John Nicholson handed out a paper with comments about the
economic development grants. The comments are attached.
Budget Committee Minutes -- April 20, 1995 Page 3
Laws noted that in the past, the Chamber had a hard time collecting money from its
members. The hotel/motel tax was voted on by citizens and approved. However, it was not
originally tied to the grants... Nicholson noted that he supports most of the grants, but would
call them something else... Hartzell asked if the completed grant applications are available
for public review... Turner said there is a copy at City Hall. It can be kept in the City
Recorder's office in the future.
Jack Blackburn said the equivalent budget contribution is $4,100 for each member of the
community. As someone who tries to follow what happens in the meetings, he would
appreciate a better public address system. He would also like to have the Budget Committee
meetings televised on the cable access station, citing a classic, well done debate that occurred
recently between two members as something community members could learn from.
Winthrop moved to request the City Administrator report to Council about televising
the Budget Committee meetings; Bashaw seconded the motion. Ayes all.
Hauck moved to approve all the Budget Conuniltee and Snbcoinmittee minutes; Reid
seconded the motion. Ayes all, with Laws abstaining.
Haworth moved to recommend the Budget as amended; Hauck seconded the motion.
Ayes all.
Golden moved to approve the tax levy; Bashaw seconded the motion. Ayes all.
Laws suggested the Budget Committee begin to meet quarterly, with one or two departments
reporting each meeting after a period of self-study. He would suggest hearing from all
departments over a two year period... Thompson said that would be especially useful to him
as a new member. Also, if reductions are required in the future, more in-depth knowledge
of departments will be important... Winthrop noted that for such a proposal, "the devil is in
the details." We will have to let staff know what we want to know and why so they can
proceed... Laws suggested one council member, one budget committee member, Almquist,
and Brown meet to discuss the proposal... Ahnquist said that if more demands are put on the
department heads something else will have to give. Some dept. heads are overloaded as it
is... Council has traditionally used the Budget Committee to review new programs and help
with Council responsibility... Levine, Thompson, Laws, and Stepahin will meet to
develop guidelines. The Budget Committee will meet again in several months to discuss
this and other issnes.
The meeting adjourned at 10:07.
Budget Committee Minutes -- April 20, 1995 Page 4