CC Minutes - 06/11/07 City Council Meeting

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Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency and reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council at 8:07 p.m. 4. PUBLIC HEARING and ACTION: Resolution 4909 Adopting a Supplemental Budget; Making Appropriations for the City of Eugene for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2006, and Ending June 30, 2007 Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. John Barofsky , 2010 Hubbard Lane, thanked Kitty Murdoch, Budget Manager for the Central Services Department, for providing him with information about the supplemental budget. He said he had reviewed it and did not see much out of the ordinary. He favored most of the changes, such as the half-day seminar for creating multi-cultural alliances and the increase of funding to the Neighborhood Matching Grants. He had one question regarding $200,000 in stolen wire. He had not seen the memorandum discussing it, written by Public Works Maintenance Director Jeff Lankston, that the budget referred to and he hoped that ways to mitigate the situation were being explored. He also wondered how much of the Unappropriated Ending Fund Balance (UEFB) would be brought forward to the beginning working capital. Ms. Murdoch indicated that they would not know the amount of marginal working capital until the audit was completed in the fall. City Manager Taylor asked Executive Director for the Public Works Department, Kurt Corey, to speak about the stolen copper wire. Mr. Corey explained that 100,000 feet of copper wire had been lost to theft over the previous summer and fall at a total cost of $375,000. He said the supplemental budget request represented the amount above what the department could afford to replace. He further explained that the loss of wiring and lighting was occurring on off street bicycle paths and was not eligible for road funds. Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. Councilor Bettman noted that $75,000 had been deducted from the Central Services Department expendi- tures on City Attorney appropriations and reassigned to other departments of the City. She asked if that was all for attorney services in those departments. Jim Carlson, Executive Director for the Central Services Department, replied that this was something the City did every year and the money was all for legal services. He explained that when the budget was developed General Fund legal services were allocated to departments based on historical trends. He stated that a contingency line item was maintained in the Central Services Department and this was the time of the year when actual expenditures for legal services were reviewed and accounting adjustments were made. He underscored that the City did this every year. Councilor Bettman asked why the City’s insurance did not pay for copper wire theft. She averred that the City had a “huge” risk reserve. Mr. Carlson replied that the basic answer to the question was that the risk fund did not cover capital improvements that were not inside of facilities. He noted that, as an example, the City’s insurance did not pay for damage to streets or to storm sewers. Councilor Bettman repeated her question, asserting that theft was theft and should be covered. Mr. Carlson reiterated that it did not cover theft of capital investments. He said if someone steals a stop sign the City has to purchase a new one with Road Fund money. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 11, 2007 Page 5 Regular Meeting