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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-10-2023 Study Session Meeting Summary Minutes MARANA AZ CELEBRATING 45 YEARS MARANA TOWN COUNCIL STUDY SESSION 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 Second Floor Conference Center, January 10, 2023, at or after 6:00 PM Ed Honea, Mayor Jon Post, Vice Mayor Patti Comerford, Council Member Jackie Craig, Council Member Herb Kai, Council Member John Officer, Council Member Roxanne Ziegler, Council Member SUMMARY MINUTES CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Honea called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM and directed the Town Clerk to call the roll. All Council Members were present, constituting a quorum. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE: Led by Mayor Honea. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Council Member Ziegler moved to approve the agenda as presented. Vice Mayor Post seconded the motion. Motion passed, 7-0. DISCUSSION/DIRECTION/POSSIBLE ACTION D1 Relating to Budget; presentation, discussion and direction regarding the framework for development of the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget and its role in the implementation of the Strategic Plan (Terry Rozema and Yiannis Kalaitzidis) Council Study Session Meeting January 10,2023 Page I 1 Town Manager Terry Rozema and Finance Director Yiannis Kalaitzidis presented on this item. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is on file with the Town Clerk's Office. Mr. Rozema introduced the topic and said this next fiscal year's budget will be based on what is anticipated to happen in the economy over in the next several months. He discussed Town's Strategic Plan 5, including the Town's vision, mission, and five focus areas. Mr. Rozema highlighted some of the Town's accomplishments and initiatives realized so far during the current fiscal year within those five focus areas. Council Member Ziegler mentioned the importance of cherishing our heritage, and asked if the Town would be hiring a historian to help preserve the Town's history. Mr. Rozema explained there was a position request for a historian, but there may not be funding for new position requests for the upcoming fiscal year. He said the position may need to wait for another fiscal year. Council Member Comerford expressed concern about the traffic backed up on Interstate 10 at the Tangerine Road exit. Mr. Rozema said the Town was working on interim improvements to help alleviate the problem. Council Member Craig asked about the open space master plan. Mr. Rozema stated it was not scheduled to go forward this upcoming fiscal year and Development Services Director Jason Angell confirmed it was scheduled in the strategic plan to be completed in 2025. Finance Director Yiannis Kalaitzidis presented on the Town's economic and budget outlook for fiscal year 2023/2024. Mr. Kalaitzidis emphasized that this is only the first look at the numbers and that things could change. He said the Federal Reserve is anticipated to continue to raise interest rates as we go into the first half of the new fiscal year. Because the future is uncertain and could involve an economic downturn, Mr. Kalaitzidis recommended a conservative approach at this stage. Please see the PowerPoint slides for further information. Council Member Craig asked for confirmation regarding whether a conservative budget would preclude the Town from spending in the event additional spending was needed. Mr. Kalaitzidis explained that was the case, but that the budget will reset every year. Deputy Town Manager Erik Montague said the Town's approach was to be reasonably conservative, not overly conservative or overly aggressive. Council Member Ziegler asked when the Permanent Base Adjustment took effect. Mr. Kalaitzidis said it would be effective for the new fiscal year and that the Home Rule option would also remain in effect during that time. Mayor Honea said that in 45 years, the Town has never been in a position where it needed to spend more money than it had budgeted. Mr. Kalaitzidis and Mr. Rozema said the Town had a year of prosperity during the previous year and held some money in reserve,which will help the Town prepare for the year ahead. Mr.Kailitzidis went over a preliminary outlook on revenue deceases for next year and addressed questions related to the PowerPoint slides. Please see the slides for more information. Council Study Session Meeting January 10,2023 Page 12 Mr. Kalaitzidis explained that the Town is currently looking at a significant reduction in state-shared revenue due to a one-time increase in a prior year resulting from the postponement of and income tax filing deadline during the pandemic. Mayor Honea said that part of the distribution was based on population, and he asked for confirmation that the Town's percentage of state-shared revenue would increase as a result of increased population. Mr. Kalaitzidis said he would look into it and provide an update, and that any such increase was not currently factored into the budget outlook. Mr. Kalaitzidis went over the graphs and tables as shown in the PowerPoint slides. He said there was a consensus there will likely be a downturn in the economy in the coming year. Mr. Kalaitzidis said department heads we asked to maintain current service levels when putting their budgets together. Council Member Craig asked if current service levels could be maintained with so much growth in the Town. Mr. Kalaitzidis explained that department heads would take into account what it would take to maintain current service levels with the growth factored in. Mr. Rozema said the Town also had vacancy savings over the last two years available in addition to the money held in reserve from the last fiscal year. Vice Mayor Post mentioned reserve fund money could be used in a tough year. Mr. Montague explained that the budget stabilization fund is available to use at the Council's discretion, but that vacancy savings were a one-time resource. A discussion then ensued related to maintaining five-star service levels and the realities of the forecasted economic conditions. Preliminary ideas to balance these were proposed, including: using reserve funding to maintain service levels, asking employees to step up and offering overtime pay, finding ways to show employee appreciation, looking at federal grant money, continuing tuition reimbursement, getting the Council out to more community events, creating a list of department projects organized by priority, and maintaining unity between the Council and Town staff. Vice Mayor Post and Mayor Honea noted the Town may be in a good position to hire during a downturn if people leave other organizations as a result of the downturn, and that it might also be in a good position to pursue certain capital improvement projects. Mr.Rozema thanked the Council for their comments.He said the Town's focus right now with respect to the budget would be on employee retention rather than hiring. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS Pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03, the Town Council may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public, to discuss certain matters. El Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A), Council may ask for discussion or consideration, or consultation with designated Town Council Study Session Meeting January 10,2023 Page 13 representatives, or consultation for legal advice with the Town Attorney, concerning any matter listed on this agenda for any of the reasons listed in A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A). FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Notwithstanding the Mayor's discretion regarding the items to be placed on the agenda, if three or more Council members request that an item be placed on the agenda, it must be placed on the agenda for the second regular Town Council meeting after the date of the request, pursuant to Marana Town Code Section 2-4-2(B). ADJOURNMENT Mayor Honea asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Vice Mayor Post moved to adjourn the meeting. Council Member Ziegler seconded the motion. Motion passed, 7-0. Meeting adjourned at 7:36 PM. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council Study Session Meeting held on January 10,2023. I further certify that a quorum was present. David L. Udall, Town Clerk .64<S66' MARANA ESTABLISHl: [.) ; 97 / Council Study Session Meeting January 10,2023 Page 1 4