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

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Data Subcommittee ReportDavid Beatty, Jeff Francis, Nolan Langweil, Larry Mires, Susan Mesner and Susan ZellerThe data subcommittee was formed early in the Budget Review Committee’s process, and metinitially on July 3, 2012 to discuss what data should be collected to meet the City Council’scharge to the Budget Committee of comparing Montpelier to other communities. The BRC haddecided at its June 21 meeting to examine Barre City, Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington,Hartford, Middlebury, Rutland City, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, Springfield, Waterbury andWinooski.The committee agreed that due to the short time frame and limited volunteer resources thescope of its effort should be limited to analyzing expenditures across communities, and thatincluding an analysis of revenue would be overwhelming. David Beatty provided a five-yearanalysis of Montpelier’s expenditures, across every major category and subcategory, which hehad compiled from Montpelier FY 2013 budget report (See Appendix Date 1). The committeediscussed assembling similar data for other towns, recognizing the difficulty in constructingviable comparisons given the wide variability among towns in assigning expenditures to budgetcategories. The general consensus was to focus the comparison on five major expenditurecategories - Police, Fire, Public Works, Debt, and Other—and to limit the preliminary analysisto nine towns: Barre City, Brattleboro, Burlington, Hartford, Middlebury, Rutland City, St.Albans, Springfield, and Winooski.The next phase included accessing a variety of town reports and financial statements toassemble a spreadsheet comparing the selected towns across budget categories identified atthe previous meeting. As before, questions arose on comparability of data across towns.Aside from obvious differences that can result in large discrepancies in spending (e.g., a paidfire department versus volunteer fire department), local decisions on how to allocateexpenditures, such as salaries and benefits, render comparisons on individual budget items ofquestionable value. The resulting comparison table compiled from individual town FY 2011audited financial statements - “Statement of Net Assets” and the associated “Statement ofActivities” - indicate the wide variability in how towns report expenditures (see Appendix Data2). A related table shows the data for the same budget categories just for Montpelier over a 5-year period, as well as the associated rates of annual growth (see Appendix Data 3).Volatility of some budget expenditures from one year to the next was noted, and the groupsuggested using a three-year average when available to provide a more accurate picture of atown’s expenditures. Subcommittee members also discussed the need to find other metricsthat would allow statistical comparisons (an idea first proposed in the larger Budget ReviewCommittee), and brainstormed a preliminary list: town population, daytime population, medianhousehold income, miles of paved road and sidewalk, and various property tax statistics.The Data Subcommittee was producing an expanding volume of comparative data, as well asmetrics that could more accurately capture an “apples-to-apples” comparison of town budgetdata. However, there was a growing unease among all members of the subcommittee as tothe value of comparing the data and the work required to ensure that various towns’ statisticswere consistent across categories. Through discussions, the committee eventually concludedthat such a task, if possible, required more time and resources than available from a volunteerPage 36 of 88
committee under a short deadline. This conclusion was reported back to the full BudgetReview Committee.Recommendation: The City should take measures to create a system in which intercity/towncomparisons sought by the Council could be made with some confidence andurge the League of Cities and Towns to consider establishing such a system.NOTE: Please refer to Data subcommittee reference tables in the Appendices section:Appendix Data 1 – Montpelier Five (5) Year Financial DataAppendix Data 2 – Nine City Financial ComparisonAppendix Data 3 – Montpelier Five (5) Year Growth[END DATA SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT]Page 37 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 and 12: 2: View City and staff responses to
Page 13 and 14: Building Inspector, half the depart
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: Attachment 3NOTE: The following cha
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
Page 63 and 64: Recommendations:1. Time did not all
Page 65 and 66: nights, the shift coverage is only
Page 67 and 68: Significant Fall Hazards (SigHAZ):
Page 69 and 70: Further rationale for the above sug
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Page 73 and 74: 3. Roughly what is the percentage o
Page 75 and 76: Recommendations for DPW1. If Montpe
Page 77 and 78: [END PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE REPO
Page 79 and 80: According to the 2009 National Citi
Page 81 and 82: Table of Montpelier Recreation Depa
Page 83 and 84: during the school year. The Public
Page 85 and 86: 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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