Report of the Montpelier City Council's Citizen Budget Review ...

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an emphasis that the City Council is responsible to determine which projects arecore as well as which projects to fund and conduct.3. Given the concerns stated in the Matrix report about the noticeable impact onboth staff and attention to services resulting from the Planning Department’sfocus away from core services, as well as the employee responses notedbelow, the City Council and the City Manager should identify core functionsand how they will be addressed in the Planning Department’s annual workplan.In the Summary of the Employee Survey section of the Matrix report, the consultantsnoted that 84% of employee responses received were positive (i.e., either ‘stronglyagree’ or ‘agree’).“With the exception of the Planning & Development Department, all departments hadover 80% positive responses. In the Planning & Development Department, 55% ofresponses were positive.” (Matrix Report, p.221)This marked discrepancy, in conjunction with the concerns described in the otherRecommendations, highlight and emphasize the importance of the subcommittee’srecommendation that City Council and the City Manager be involved in establishingand approving the Planning Department’s annual work plan before approving itsbudget.4. As part of establishing its annual priorities, the City Council should alsoconsider when and how other organizations can appropriately initiate andimplement projects now initiated by the City Planning Department.The Planning subcommittee agrees with helping all citizens within the community.This recommendation is intended to urge City Council to consider all possiblesources of that support. We urge City Council to continually ask the question “isthere someone else offering this service?” in order to avoid any duplication ofservices. This kind of strategic planning has become crucial for government and allnonprofits as funding dollars are stretched. Food sustainability, time banks,neighborhood organizing and others are all worthwhile efforts that are, and can be,addressed by local and regional nonprofits.5. With the discussion of hiring a new full-time assistant City Manager to replacethe part-time Assistant City Manager position, the City Council shouldconsider whether both the planning and development functions should behoused in the same department. The community development position now inthe Planning and Community Development office could be moved to the CityManager’s office, supervised by a full-time Assistant City Manager, or directlyby the City Manager.A major portion of the work done by the Planning and Community Developmentoffice relates to community and economic development. This includes grant writing,grant management, promoting Montpelier businesses, helping with communityprojects, administering housing programs, and working on special projects like thebiomass heating plant. According to the City Manager, if you leave aside thePage 12 of 88
Building Inspector, half the department’s work pertains to planning and zoning andhalf involves community and economic development work.According to the City Manager, concerns have been expressed in the past as towhether these divergent planning and development duties should be housed in thesame department. One portion of the department (zoning, building permits, etc.) isregulating development, while the other portion is promoting and working ondevelopments, creating potential conflicts of interest, or the appearance of apotential for a conflict of interest, and thereby undermines public confidence in theDepartment’s impartiality. Splitting up the department and bringing the economicdevelopment work into the City Manager’s office has been considered more thanonce, according to the City Manager, but never acted upon, in part due to concernsit might require hiring more employees – specifically two department heads, one forplanning and zoning and one for economic development.6. In the 2009 National Citizen Survey, 67% of Montpelier citizens interviewedcited the city’s economic development services as “poor” or “fair” (Figure29). Based on these responses, as well as information gathered during theprocess of this study, the committee highly recommends these areas forfuture study as soon as feasible:• Economic Development: Policy, Staffing, Management, and Implementation• Revenue Responsibilities of the Planning Department: Policy Management andImplementation• Grant Writing: Oversight and ManagementPublic Safety Subcommittee Recommendations1. Time did not allow for a review of police services therefore, we believe that areview of operational efficiency and effectiveness of the police department inthe near future is necessary and appropriate.2. The City of Montpelier should arrange for professional development for itsPublic Safety Department Heads in the specific areas of optimizing fiscalmanagement and finding operational efficiencies.3. Budget presentations and information regarding public safety cost centers(police, fire service, ambulance, dispatch and emergency management)should be presented distinctly and separately in order to enable the mostdetailed analysis by each individual public safety function.4. Budget targets should be established by the City Council with appropriatespecificity and conveyed to the City Manager. The City Manager should bedirected by the council to apply those targets. Department Heads (includingPublic Safety) should develop and present budget recommendations thatmeet the targets. Public Safety Department Heads should be directed toprepare budgets for their respective departments that, in their professionaljudgments, have the least detrimental effects on overall public safety inMontpelier, while considering effectiveness and efficiencies.Page 13 of 88
Page 2 and 3: Table of ContentsTRANSMITTAL LETTER
Page 4: 1. EXECUTIVE S UMMARYa. Charge from
Page 7 and 8: f. Summary of RecommendationsThe BR
Page 9 and 10: available through VLCT. This will s
Page 11: 2: View City and staff responses to
Page 15 and 16: should undertake this analysis prio
Page 17 and 18: Equipment, Streets, and Wastewater
Page 19 and 20: 2. INTRODUCTIONa. History and Backg
Page 21 and 22: Administration and Finance Subcommi
Page 23 and 24: • Barre: City Clerk/Treasurer als
Page 25 and 26: Key Questions:• What is the FTE s
Page 27 and 28: Population 2010Total Admin/Fin Budg
Page 29 and 30: Budget Process Subcommittee ReportD
Page 31 and 32: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS:The p
Page 33 and 34: Attachment 1Budget Process Subcommi
Page 35 and 36: Attachment 3NOTE: The following cha
Page 37 and 38: committee under a short deadline. T
Page 39 and 40: Total Long Term Debt per Capita:Lat
Page 41 and 42: Five City/Town Comparative Chart- D
Page 43 and 44: Department of Public Works over a p
Page 45 and 46: Health Benefits Subcommittee Report
Page 47 and 48: The following graph looks at change
Page 49 and 50: Matrix Subcommittee ReportJean Olso
Page 51 and 52: Planning Subcommittee ReportJane Ka
Page 53 and 54: Notes from Each Community:Much of t
Page 55 and 56: • Barre City: The Planning Depart
Page 57 and 58: Planning Departments by Town Exhibi
Page 59 and 60: and the City Manager should identif
Page 61 and 62: Public Safety Subcommittee ReportBo
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Recommendations:1. Time did not all
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nights, the shift coverage is only
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Significant Fall Hazards (SigHAZ):
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Further rationale for the above sug
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3. Roughly what is the percentage o
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Recommendations for DPW1. If Montpe
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[END PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE REPO
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According to the 2009 National Citi
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Table of Montpelier Recreation Depa
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during the school year. The Public
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Montpelier Barre Brattleboro Middle
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RECOMMENDATIONS• Other cities and
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Tax ComparisonsAppendix AMunicipal
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City/TownMedianMunicipalTax BillMun
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available for circuit breaker reduc
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2). PROPERTY TAX TARGET: Do you hav
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considering the adoption of a Capit
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, · 1deductible, combined with a H
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Appendix Budget - 41/1DATE:TO:FROM:
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Other Employee-related increasesHea
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City of Montpelier 2012-13 Goals an
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Date Subcommittee Montpelier Growth
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Data Subcommittee Nine (9) City Fin
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Data Subcommittee - Montpelier Five
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Montpelier 20.1 2/ Annual Report /
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Montpelier 2012 / Annual Report / 2
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DireCt Debt Service Ratios - Debt P
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• In order to make the assessment
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The Center Director conducts betwee
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The Department has initiated the co
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SECTIONRECOMMENDATIONENTITY /INDIVI
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SECTIONRECOMMENDATION8.1 (5) The Fi
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City of Montpelier - Department of
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City of MontpelierUSER: TPROVENCHER
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Asset Value & DepreciationAsset 10P
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REGULARLaboratory Preventative Payr
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City of MontpelierUSER: TPROVENCHER
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Work Order SummaryLabor Part Other
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Work Order SummaryWO#W/SMAINT24902
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Work Order SummaryWO#MHS24899 [COOL
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SCOPE OF WORK PERFORMEDDuring JUNE
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October 2012 Work, StreetsCulvert r
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RIDGE STREET RECONSTRUCTIONMONTPELI
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(0 C4.March 8, 2012I acknowledge th
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APPENDIX Rec 1FEBRUARY 2012 CITY CO
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those together.Mayor Hooper said th
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Council Member Timpone said they ha
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on, so they can perform their fiduc
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in terms of understanding the impli
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