City Council meeting

The regular meeting of the Nixa City Council was called to order by Mayor Brian Steele. Attending were Council Members Shawn Lucas, Justin Orf, Jarad Giddens, Aron Peterson, Darlene Graham, and Amy Hoogstraet. The Pledge of Allegiance was given.

Jennifer Evans, Finance Director, began the discussion with an overview of the 2022 operating and capital budget. This presentation is available for review at City Hall. Evans started off with information on how the budget is structured. Evans informed Council there will be some significant changes to the look of the budget in 2022 and gave an overview of those changes. Evans explained the layout of the Budget Dashboard. This Dashboard is available at City Hall for review. Council asked questions about ARPA funds with Evans responding. Evans presented information on Revenues – General Fund: Administration Taxes: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 15.73% over the 2021 budget. This includes a 2% increase in sales tax, a 2% increase in use tax, and a 2.7% increase in other taxes over projected 2021 totals. Administration Sales/Fee/Fines: an increase in budgeted revenue will be 5.95% over the 2021 budget. The increase in this area is due to sanitation fees collected based on actual Year to Date (YTD) revenues. All other lines remained flat. Administration Other: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 6.82% over the 2021 budget. The increase in this area is due to interest earned. All other lines remained flat. Administration Transfers In: there will be a decrease in budget revenue by 18.05% due to a 25.33% decrease in Administration Fees and a 5.59% decrease in Fee In-Lieu Of (FILO) taxes. Administration Fees are charged to the Enterprise fund for services that the General Fund performs. Overall, the Administration Department is increasing revenues by 3.9%, or $353,787 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. Police Grants: there will be a decrease in budgeted revenues by 31.82% or $7,000. This amount always varies from year to year. Police Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be a decrease in budgeted revenues by 28.8%, or $38,300. Police Other: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 3.84% over the 2021 budget. This increase is in interest. All other lines remained flat. Overall, the Police Department is decreasing revenues by 23.49%, or $44,050 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. Parks Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be an increase in budgeted revenues by 1.79% or $18,200. This increase includes proposed aquatic admission increases and additional revenue generated from the dog park. Parks Other: there will be an increase in the budgeted revenue by 27.74% or $21,500 over the 2021 budget. Overall, the Parks Department is increasing revenues by 2.02%, or $40,200 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. Matt Crouse, Parks Director, presented information on fee changes for the aquatics center, which have not changed since 2008. Rate changes would occur for pool passes and pool parties that are both private and during open hours. Lastly, Crouse gave information on the dog park rates. Council asked about tag and licensing requirements for the dog park. Planning & Development Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be a decrease in budgeted revenue by 7.52% or $29,500 in building permits. Evans presented information on Revenues – Special Revenue Funds: Streets Grants: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 75.54% over the 2021 budget. This increase is STP funds for several projects slated for 2022. Street Taxes: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 18.44% over the 2021 budget. This is a 2% increase in sales tax and a 9.58% increase in County Aid Road Trust (CART) funds. Street Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be an increase in the budgeted revenue by $99,000 over the 2021 budget. This increase is due to the anticipated sale of surplus items. Street Transfers In: there will be transfers from other departments to allocate expenses incurred from the Central Garage. Overall, the Street Department is increasing revenues by 49.86%, or $2,221.479 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. Evans then presented information on Revenues – Enterprise Funds: Electric Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be a decrease in budgeted revenue by 6.68% or $1,229,300 which accounts for the overall reduction in revenues for this department. Overall, the Electric Department is decreasing revenues by 6.60%, or $1,219,300 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. Water Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 3.59% due to incremental increase in rates, all other lines remained flat. Water Transfers In: there will be transfers from other departments to allocate expenses incurred from Utility Billing. Overall, the Water Department is increasing revenues by 25.5%, or $729,524 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. Wastewater Sales/Fees/Fines: there will be an increase in budgeted revenue by 2.73% due to an incremental increase in rates. Other: there will be a decrease in budgeted revenue by 10.69% or $28,500 due to the impact fee actual Year to Date (YTD) forecast. Overall, the Wastewater Department is increasing revenues by 1.64%, or $53,250 over the 2021 budgeted revenues. ARPA Funds: in 2021, the City received $2,271,601 and in 2022 the City will receive another payment of $2,271,601. Council discussed Parks membership rates, marketing campaigns, and ARPA funds for membership dues. Council asked if there was any information on the Electric Rate Study. Doug Colvin, Assistant City Administrator and Public Work Director, stated he would be presenting information on the Electric Rate Study at the next Council Meeting. Evans presented information on Expenses: Personnel: proposed changing is staffing levels include adding one (1) full-time Parks Building and Grounds Maintenance position, adding one (1) full-time Wastewater Utility Worker position, adding one (1) full-time Public Works Inspector, eliminating two (2) full-time positions in Municipal Court, and eliminating one (1) full-time position in IT. The proposed changes in wages would include a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) of 4.67%, no merit increase, and an adjustment to LAGERS contribution reducing the employee contribution from 4% to 2%. Evans stated that the City has a goal to become a non-contributory employer. Council asked about LAGERS contributions. Next, Evans gave a brief overview of proposed Police Department pay increases. Joe Campbell, Police Chief, discussed the current pay rate of officers compared to competing agencies within our jurisdiction and how the pay rate is making retention and recruitment difficult. Crouse gave information on the minimum wage increase that will be affecting the Parks Department. Lastly, Evans listed all the additional items that are included in Personnel Expense. The personnel budget would be increasing by 4.93% or $584,849 City-wide over the 2021 budget. These increases would be 43%, or $253,090 in the Police Department and 25%, or $143,182 in the Parks Department. Evans presented information on Operations with Colvin adding a few items of note in Public Works and Liles discussing the change in IT services. Overall, the operations budget is increasing by 8.354%, or $1,549,339 city-wide. Council asked questions about previous salary surveys, with staff responding. Evans next discussed City Debt. Changes to the debt included McCauley Park being paid off in 2021 and the addition of vehicle lease payments for Police, Street, Electric, Water, and Wastewater. The total outstanding debt (not including vehicle lease payments) as of December 31, 2021, is $2,867,000 with payments due in 2022 totaling $1,365,169 (including vehicle lease payments. Three (3) bond issues will mature in 2023. Capital was the next area of the budget discussed. Liles presented information on ARPA Funds with a total fund amount of $4,543,202 received by the City. Liles stated that ARPA funds could not be used to help make membership payments, as was stated previously in the meeting. Lastly, Liles noted that the Nixa Community Foundation would distribute any monies allocated for Non-Profits. Council discussed the ARPA funds. A 5-minute recess was taken at 7:15 p.m. The meeting was called back to order at 7:26 p.m. Information on Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) was presented by Evans and staff. CIPs are included in the 2022 operating and capital budget presentation and detailed project information is available for review at City Hall. Administration (CIPs) were presented by Liles. There were three (3) projects rolled over to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget and three (3) new projects added to the 2022 budget. Total CIP cost for Administration is $1,117,388. The Police Department CIPs were presented by Campbell. One (1) project rolled over into the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and one (1) project was removed from the 2022 budget and pushed to 2023. Council held a discussion on the Shooting Range and the project that was pushed to 2023. The total CIP cost for the Police Department is $680,000. The Parks Department CIPs were presented by Crouse. Three (3) projects were rolled over into the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and seven (7) projects were added to the 2022 budget. Council held a discussion on McCauley Park upgrades. The total CIP cost for the Parks Department is $1,392,000. Stormwater CIPs were presented by Colvin. One (1) project rolled over into the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and one (1) project was added to the 2022 budget. The total CIP cost for Stormwater is $740,000. The Street Department CIPs were presented by Colvin. Five (5) projects rolled to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and 13 projects were added to the 2022 budget. The total CIP cost for Street is $5,866,982. Jeff Roussell stated that the four (4) largest CIPs were reimbursable through STP funds. Central Garage CIPs were presented by Colvin. One (1) project was rolled over to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and three (3) projects were added to the 2022 budget. A trench drain project was pushed to 2023 and has been pushed from the CIP list many times. The total CIP cost for Central Garage is $31,295. The Electric Department CIPs were presented by Colvin. Six (6) projects rolled over to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and 10 projects were added to the 2022 budget. The total CIP cost for the Electric Department is $5,496,750. The Water Department CIPs were presented by Travis Cossey, Assistant Public Works Director. Three (3) projects rolled over to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and six (6) projects were added to the 2022 budget. The total CIP cost for the Water Department is $1,230,000. Utility Billing CIPs were presented by Evans. One (1) project rolled over to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and one (1) project was added to the 2022 budget. The CIP total cost for Utility Billing is $65,000. Wastewater CIPs were presented by Cossey. Four (4) projects rolled over to the 2022 budget from the 2021 budget, and eight (8) projects were added to the budget. The CIP total cost for Wastewater is $3,242,000. Council held a discussion on wages for police officers. Liles provided information on the need to look for additional revenue sources with Council. Liles provided information on a public safety sales tax or a general sales tax. Council and staff discussed the options that were available. Council discussed the budgeted amount for Christmas lights. Council questioned what sales tax revenue could purchase for the Parks Department. Liles discussed ARPA funds, with Council discussing how to distribute those funds. Council gave direction to see if a partnership could be made with the vinegar plant to use their scales instead of purchasing or building scales for the Wastewater Department. Liles requested guidance on how to proceed with police officer wages. Colvin discussed the interns that were budgeted for the Electric and Water Departments.

Mayor Steele called for a motion to adjourn. Giddens made a motion to adjourn at 8:53 p.m. with Graham seconding and all Council Members voting aye.