Bill Reddish Show WICO 1320 AM

Terry Cohen will be Bill's guest Monday April 28th at 7:40 a.m. The topic will be the proposed FY '09 budget.

“Different” Budget Process Clouds Transparency

At the council’s first budget work session on April 22, we learned from the police personnel committee that the chief of police had requested additional officers for the department. According to Page 402 (see it here) of the Mayor’s Proposed Budget book, no such request had been made. The fire department personnel committee advised us of the chief’s request for additional firefighters to meet minimum response standards again, per Page 424 (see it here) of the Mayor’s Proposed Budget, no such request was reflected.

In his opening remarks, City Administrator John Pick stated that the administration decided to do things differently this year. He said that department heads were told to submit a budget at no more than 3% increase than the current year and anything additional would be kept separately as “supplemental budget” for consideration if the budget offered room for additions. Thus, unlike last year, the mayor’s proposed budget book and line-item detail do not consistently show requests as “unable to fund.” This has left the council with a false impression about what was requested by some departments, including police and fire, especially since this “supplemental budget” information was not provided in any form to the council.

Upon learning this situation at the meeting, held seven days after the proposed budget was delivered by the mayor on April 15, we immediately requested to have the full budget requests as soon as possible so we could better consider the context of the figures in the mayor’s budget and analyze budgetary priorities for optimum delivery of essential services to Salisbury taxpayers.

Further, this new methodology does not allow the public to see easily what departmentally requested items were cut from the mayor’s proposed budget. The public would only see cuts and additions to the budget made by the council, and the council would be hard-pressed to recommend additions or substitutions responsibly without knowing the departmental requests that had been cut by the mayor.

We feel this approach gives the public a skewed impression of priorities and diminishes transparency and accountability. For example, some people (including us) were under the mistaken impression that the chief of police had not requested more officers because that is what the mayor’s budget book stated. We now know this is untrue.

As of mid-day Friday, we have received a packet of “supplemental budget” information, the police and fire requests having been delivered Wednesday. We will be reviewing this packet so that the budget can be better prioritized and will share some of our budget observations on this website.

We encourage citizens to look at the budget and form their own conclusions. As the Salisbury Charter requires, the budget, budget message and all supporting schedules are public records. By charter, this information is supposed to be kept in the Department of Internal Services, open to public inspection. Also per charter SC7-15, “The Mayor shall cause sufficient copies of the budget and budget message to be prepared for distribution to interested persons.” The county library downtown has traditionally kept a copy as well.

For your convenience, at right under our pictures, you’ll find links to downloadable PDFs of the “Next Year/Current Year Budget Analysis.” This provides detailed information about the proposed budget accounts. We hope you will review your areas of interest (the document is broken into several files for downloading ease and focus area review) and contact council members with your questions, concerns and suggestions.

More Budget Information to Come Soon

Later tonight or tomorrow morning, there will be more information posted here about the proposed FY09 budget. In the meantime and throughout the weekend, we hope you will take time to enjoy the Salisbury Festival, the Fire Department's Medals Ceremony and other great events taking place in our city. Enjoy!

Line-item Budget Comparison Detail Available Here

The mayor's proposed FY09 budget was released on April 15. We are pleased to provide the line-item comparison detail on this site in Adobe PDF format. This large document is broken into smaller ones, primarily by cost center to make it easier for citizens to see their area of interest, such as police or public works.

Click on the links at right to download and read using Adobe reader. Please share with us your comments and questions by using the email links, also in the column at right.

Mayor's Proposed Budget to Be Presented Today

The Mayor's Proposed FY09 Budget will be presented today at 4 p.m. in conference room 305 of the Government Office Building downtown. Below is a schedule of the council budget work sessions, legislative sessions and public hearing. More information about the FY09 budget will be posted here as it becomes available.

Budget Calendar for FY09

All meetings take place at the Government Office Building (GOB) on N. Division St. Downtown.

April 15 – Deadline for Mayor’s submission of proposed FY09 Budget
April 22 – Council budget work session, 4:00-6:30 p.m., Council Chambers
April 24 – Council budget work session, 9 a.m.-3:00 pm, Room 305
April 28 – Council Meeting, 1st reading of proposed budget and establishing a date for a public hearing, 6:00 p.m., Council Chambers
April 29 – Council budget work session,4:00-6:30 p.m., Room 305
May 7 – Council budget work session,9 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Room 305
May 8 – Council budget work session,4:00-6:30 p.m., Room 305
May 12 – Council Meeting, Public Hearing on FY09 Budget and Public Hearing on Constant Yield Tax Rate, 6:00 p.m.
May 13 – Council budget work session,9:00 a.m. – 12 noon, Room 305
May 20 - Council budget work session,(if needed)4:00-6:30 p.m., Room 305
May 21 – Council budget work session,(if needed) 4:00-6:30 p.m.
May 27 or Jun 9 – Council Meeting, 2nd reading and adoption of budget, 6:00 p.m., Council Chambers

Driving Positive Change for Management of Taxpayer Dollars

On tonight’s council agenda, Ordinance 2051 returns for first reading to allocate additional funds to certain items in the budget, this time from unspent funds in the FY08 budget as well as from the surplus. Councilwoman Campbell and I are pleased to have been the impetus for this better management of taxpayer money.

The Hydrilla treatment of Schumaker Pond is no longer in this budget amendment because, per a proposal from Councilwoman Cohen, the funds are to be transferred from unspent zoo salaries (due to vacancies). Being an intradepartmental transfer, this is not required to come before council and only requires the mayor’s approval of the transfer request from the department head. The city’s portion of the treatment is also less than the previously ordinance-requested amount of $8,000, as we have learned that the actual cost of the City’s portion of the chemicals is $5,828.

The administration is also taking funds from these same unspent zoo salaries to cover the additional money required for the FY07 audit. This overage was due to work by the auditors being done after December 15 at their “busy tax season” rate. This amount of $14,692 is part of the budget amendment ordinance.

One area that we negotiated a lesser figure for is the legal services increase, originally requested at $88,750. We have requested a joint meeting of the council with the mayor and the city attorney to discuss cost control options for these services, since this is the third year in a row that additional budget requests for the city attorney have been necessary. Right now, that discussion is scheduled to take place at the council’s additional work session April 21.

We recognize that the city must continue to have legal representation. We also recognize that the administration must be accountable to the taxpayers by projecting and operating within a realistic budget. (Budget amendments require four votes to pass.) Therefore, at the council’s April 7th work session we offered an increase to the soon-to-be depleted account to provide essential legal services to protect the citizens of the city.

With the FY09 Proposed Budget anticipated from the mayor tomorrow, we will continue to keep taxpayers updated on the city’s financial matters. We hope to continue to stimulate good fiscal policy and management of taxpayer money for achieving optimum delivery of services, especially in these uncertain economic times.

City Council Agenda April 14, 2008

CITY COUNCIL MEETING
- 1 -
AGENDA
Meeting #7 APRIL 14, 2008 6:00 p.m. City/County Government Office Building Room 301

6:00 p.m. CONVENE – LORD’S PRAYER – PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
6:04 p.m. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
6:06 p.m. CERTIFICATES OF RECOGNITION/PRESENTATION/PROCLAMATION – Mayor Barrie P. Tilghman
• Comcast Academic Challenge of Maryland winners – James M. Bennett High School
• Proclaiming April as “Fair Housing Month”
6:20 p.m. PRESENTATION ON NEW FIRE STATION – Fire Chief David See/Mr. Finith Jernigan
6:25 p.m. PRESENTATION – Planning, Zoning and Community Development Director Jack Lenox/KCI Technologies
• Comprehensive Plan – Water Resources Element 1
6:45 p.m. APPROVAL OF MARCH 24, 2008 MINUTES 2
6:47 p.m. AWARD OF BIDS – Director of Internal Services Pam Oland 3
6:55 p.m. MANUFACTURING EXEMPTION REQUEST – Director of Internal Services Pam Oland
• Spartech Polycom 4
7:00 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING – City Attorney Paul Wilber (public comments only – no vote taken)
• Ordinance No. 2048 – amending the Zoning Code, Title 17, to establish regulation and operational standards for adult entertainment businesses 5a
• Ordinance No. 2049 – amending Chapter 5.08 of the Salisbury Municipal Code to enact additional regulation of adult entertainment businesses and to make the terminology and definitions consistent with those employed in Title 17 of the Code 5b
7:10 p.m. ORDINANCES - City Attorney Paul Wilber
• Ordinance No. 2047 - 2nd reading – adoption of 2006 State Fire Prevention Code 6a
• Ordinance No. 2051 - 1st reading – FY08 budget amendment appropriating funds for the General Fund, Water Fund, Sewer Fund, Marina Fund and Parking Authority Fund budgets 6b
7:25 p.m. RESOLUTIONS – City Administrator John Pick
• Resolution No. 1647 - appointments to the Friends of Poplar Hill Mansion Board of Directors 7a
• Resolution No. 1648 - appointment to the Marina Committee 7b
• Resolution No. 1649 - accepting donation of lumber and materials for the Salisbury Zoo from the Zoo Commission to replace Waterfowl and Bison public access boardwalks
7c
• Resolution No. 1650 - accepting grant funds in cooperation with the Maryland Office of Highway Safety to provide for overtime reimbursement to police officers participating in DUI enforcement 7d
• Resolution No. 1651 - authorizing the mayor to sign a water supply agreement with the City of Fruitland for the construction of an emergency water supply connection between the municipalities 7e
• Resolution No. 1652 - declaring that Manhattan Square, LLC is eligible to receive Enterprise Zone benefits for property located at 213 E. Main Street 7f
7:55 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS
8:00 p.m. ADJOURN
Copies of the agenda items are available for review
in the City Clerk’s Office Room 305 - City/County Government Office Building
410-548-3140
or
on the City’s web site
www.ci.salisbury.md.us
The City Council reserves the right to go into closed session as permitted
under the Annotated Code of Maryland 10-508(a)


Agenda Items for Special Meeting – April 22, 2008
• Ordinance No. 2048 - 2nd reading - amending the Zoning Code to establish regulation and operational standards for adult entertainment businesses
• Ordinance No. 2049 - 2nd reading - amending Chapter 5.08 of the Salisbury Municipal Code to enact additional regulation of adult entertainment businesses and to make the terminology and definitions consistent with those employed in Title 17 of the Code
Proposed agenda items for April 28, 2008 (subject to change)
• Ordinance - 1st reading - introduction of FY09 budget and establishing date of public hearing
• Ordinance - 1st reading - bond ordinance amendments
• Ordinance No. 2051 - 2nd reading – FY08 budget amendment appropriating funds for the General Fund, Water Fund, Sewer Fund, Marina Fund and Parking Authority budgets
• Resolution – changing Cecil Street from two-way to one-way southbound between Carrolton Avenue and E. College Avenue and changing Spring Avenue by eliminating left-in and left-out turns at E. College Avenue/Spring Avenue intersection

Salisbury City Council Agenda for April 7, 2008

SALISBURY CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA
- - - - - - - - - - -
APRIL 7, 2008
CONFERENCE ROOM 305
GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING
4:30 p.m. Presentation for Dalian, China to become a Sister City to Salisbury, Maryland – Sister Cities Association of Salisbury/Wicomico County (George Whitehead/Derek Wu)
5:00 p.m. Affordable Housing and Revitalization Fund proposal – Councilwoman Deborah Campbell
5:45 p.m. Review of RFP for old Fire Station #16 – Karen Reddersen
6:10 p.m. Review of RFP for efficiency study on Internal Services Department – Pam Oland
6:35 p.m. Appropriations
• Update from Administration on supplemental appropriations and
discussion of Council-Administration joint plans
• Ensuring compliance with State law on supplemental appropriations
7:05 p.m. Establishing a policy for City involvement in litigation (introduction)
7:15 p.m. Discussion – posting work session minutes on web site
7:25 p.m. General discussion/upcoming agendas
7:30 p.m. Adjourn
The Council reserves the right to convene in Closed Session
as permitted under the Annotated Code of Maryland 10-508(a)

Funding Schumaker Pond Hydrilla Treatment Is Possible

By Councilwoman Terry Cohen
At the Monday, March 24, council legislative meeting, funding for the triennial treatment of Hydrilla, a troublesome non-native aquatic plant, in the city-owned Schumaker Pond was not made due to the project’s inclusion in an omnibus supplemental appropriation ordinance of $294,890 that Councilwoman Campbell and I could not support as one entire package to be withdrawn from our surplus, despite our support for expenditures such as the Hydrilla treatment.

With new information in hand, I sent a request the morning of April 2 to fellow council members to support a recommendation to the mayor to approve a transfer of unspent zoo salaries due to vacancies to fund the Hydrilla treatment and the Recreation and Culture Division’s share of the Pollution Liability Insurance paid out. The justification is outlined below:

At the March 24 meeting, the Schumaker Homeowners Association representative said the bill for the chemicals used to treat Hydrilla was about $8,700. This homeowners association has partnered with the city and county since about 2001, paying for one-third of the cost of the treatment. The city pays two-thirds, and the county donates skilled labor to properly apply the treatment.

Checking with the county yesterday, I learned the cost is $8,740.80, thus making the city’s portion just $5,827.20, instead of $8,000 as requested in the supplemental appropriation ordinance. On March 26, while discussing whether to cull the geese population in the city park and zoo, Department of Public Works Director shared that if council desired to do that, he could take the necessary $3,000 from unspent zoo salaries due to vacancies this year.

The anticipated amount of savings on zoo salaries for this fiscal year ranges from $55,000 to $66,000, depending on when the remaining vacancies (non-grant/zoo commission funded) are filled. The Hydrilla treatment ($5,827.20) and the Pollution Liability Insurance ($4,600) would be a total transfer of $10,427.20, leaving a substantial $44,500 to $55,500 in unspent zoo salaries intact.

Such a transfer by the mayor does not require the council’s recommendation or approval, but it enables the time-sensitive project to move forward and meet its mid-May timeline and enables the council to put forward a unified effort with the administration to continue a valuable partnership with the citizens and the county for good stewardship of a city-owned environmental asset. It uses unspent funds from another environmentally-conscious entity, the Salisbury Zoo, rather than taking funds from the city’s surplus.

Considering that the Schumaker Pond Hydrilla treatment was requested by the Department of Public Works, but was unable to be funded in the mayor’s proposed budget last year. Despite discussions by council to add it back in, it was not funded in the final FY08 budget. Therefore, it seems fitting that we work together to utilize unspent departmental resources to get this important job done. My request for putting a spirit of cooperation in action is especially timely given the mayor’s remarks about the city’s environmental commitment in her State of the City address on Monday, March 31.

In addition to Schumaker Pond, Councilwoman Campbell and I continue to look for ways to better manage the city’s resources to achieve better environmental policy and good stewardship of our waterways. Special thanks go to those citizens who have already answered Councilwoman Campbell’s call for volunteers to work on filtration retrofits for our storm water release points to the Wicomico River and its tributaries. Others are welcome to contact her to work on this project.

Campbell's Statement As Provided to the Daily Times

In reference to a legal memorandum drafted by City Attorney Paul Wilbur at the Mayor’s request and concerning my testimony in Civil Case C07-0068 - Silverstrim, et al. for Judicial Review of the Decision of the Salisbury Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals, my testimony concerned only personal events that occurred prior to my election to the City Council.

The only item that I could have testified to, in connection to my position as a member of the City Council, was a document written by the President of the Housing Board in his official capacity and sent to the Mayor in her official capacity, that the City refused to authenticate prior to trial. Upon my arrival in the court to authenticate the document, the City then decided to stipulate to the authenticity of this document. So my testimony to authenticate that document was not necessary and was not given.

At no time did I waive my legislative immunity. Further, Mr. Paul Wilbur was present as Council for the City of Salisbury at this hearing. Had there been any question of my testimony or legislative immunity, it was incumbent upon Mr. Wilbur in his capacity as City Council to advise me of my legal rights. Mr. Wilbur never counseled me as a member of City Council not to testify to personal events that occurred prior to my election to City Council, as the events testified to had no bearing on my official legislative status. When asked how I had voted on specific matters I referred to the meeting minutes provided and responded.

The Honorable Donald C. Davis pointed out how the laws were written to protect the landlords in his opinion from the bench:

----------"Some of the problems that have been identified and the shortcomings that are identified with the manner in which the building official and the Board handled the case are, I think, inherent in the language of the Statute itself. . . . I think it could well be argued that the language in a number of these provisions in the Statute sort of favors the landlords in that it requires the landlord to provide the minimum necessary to show that he or she is entitled to the authorization but does not require the landlord to show or to attest that the facts are such that he may not be, or she may not be entitled."

"The burden of disproving anything that the landlord would say in the way of showing that the bare minimum requirements have been satisfied is placed on the opponents. And it is indeed true that in these cases, just the nature of the situation is such that the only person who had ready access to the evidence that would disprove it is the landlord him or herself. . . .But wisely or unwisely the City by enacting this ordinance as it did has placed the burden on the neighbors, not the landlord."

Another question an investigative reporter should ask, is how a confidential legal memorandum drafted by the City Attorney wound up in the hands of a reporter. Who disclosed this information? Has this jeopardized the City's interests more than anything I could have testified to?

Seeking Volunteers for Environmental Solutions For Waverly Storm Drain Project and Others By Councilwoman Debbie Campbell

As many already know, the vote on the Waverly Storm Drain project was a particularly difficult one for me, as well as for Councilwoman Cohen. We are supportive of the project to move storm water out of residents' yards, but believe concerns we raised about moving the problem to another area of the floodplain, the blank-check opportunity for change orders to be paid by city taxpayers, and the adverse impact to our already endangered river are valid issues to be addressed.

It is possible to be environmentally responsible to our river at the same time we devise relief for property owners. This should not need to be an "either/or" choice.

To the end of finding solutions on this issue, I have continued to pursue ways of treating storm water released into the Wicomico and its tributaries. I have done quite a bit of research and was able to make contact with the Center for Watershed Protection. They have expressed interest in assisting with retrofit proposals and have shared a link to their recently released Urban Storm water Retrofit Practices manual, which will provide you with much more information on the retrofitting process – everything from scoping (e.g. to address problems such as downstream flooding, water quality, etc.) to site assessment to concept design.

The manual is available for download, free of charge, from their website. Center for Watershed Protection

If you scroll about halfway down their home page, you will see a link for the manual – just click on it and the download process will begin. I’d recommend that you take a look at Chapter 1, which provides some basics about storm water retrofitting. Chapters 2 and 3 get into some of the technical details, describing the locations where retrofitting can be accomplished (Ch. 2) and the storm water management practices that can be used (Ch. 3). Chapter 4 provides details about identifying storm water retrofit opportunities – this describes the protocol that one would follow to actually come up with a concept and design for a storm water retrofit.

I have also identified some potential sources for grant funding for at least some of the implementation. At a recent meeting, the city administration presented a list of projects to fund with some unspent bond proceeds. I suggested that retrofit of the Waverly system be added, but only Councilwoman Cohen supported my suggestion, so it died due to lack of support by the council. Therefore, I have been pursuing other funding options.

The work on this particular issue may have yielded a resource for solutions that will be much more far-reaching and could benefit the river and our community beyond what I had anticipated. This could be a "silver lining" in the debate and offers a great opportunity for us to effect city-wide storm water treatment options for existing release points to our river.

Because city staff resources are limited and because projects have an additional level of success when citizens are involved early in the process, I am asking for citizen volunteers to work with me or independently on developing these resources into a set of options for the city to consider for implementation. Please contact me right away so that incorporating a filtration method into the Waverly Storm Drain project can be addressed as soon as possible, with the added benefit of developing resources and sound policy options for the rest of the city's waterway release points.

Campbell Shares Funding Resource for Nonprofits

Councilwoman Debbie Campbell recognizes the efforts and value of nonprofits
working to improve Salisbury, so she passes along word of this valuable resource.

Thanks to the Foundation Center, many funding opportunities with the potential to benefit local groups are described in one easy resource listing. Many are nationally available, while others are limited to certain geographic areas or by other criteria.

To name just a few nationally available programs accepting Requests for Proposals (RFPs) right now are:

1.) "Project Ignition" provides grants for students to develop safe driving messages for students in grades 9 - 12.

2.) ***Target Corporation's Local Store Grants provide funding for literacy, arts and family violence prevention initiatives.

3.) ***Patagonia, the famous outdoor gear and clothing company, is offering funds to 501(c)(3) nonprofits or those with a comparable sponsor that work to protect and preserve the environment, with small grassroots organizations especially targeted.


To learn more about these many exciting opportunities, visit the Foundation Center's RFP resource page at Foundation Center. If you would like to subscribe to their wonderful RFP Bulletin, go to RFP Bulletin

Audio Files of Council Meetings Now Available on On Your Side

While we celebrate seeing audio files of council meetings starting to appear on the city website, our own tech volunteer did some experimenting of her own. The result is, On Your Side is able to offer downloads of audio files as well.

Please be patient when downloading audio files from either site. Even on DSL and cable, these large files can take a while to open or save to your computer. We hope you enjoy the increased accessibility to city government information this provides.

Kudos for Council Meeting Audio Online

Thanks go to Salisbury City Clerk Brenda Colegrove and Asst. City Clerk Kim Nichols for their work in getting the audio of the March 24 City Council Meeting on the city's website. You'll find the link to it on the right hand side of the home page, City Website under the column "Announcements."

At our Feb. 21 public input meeting, citizens requested online audio access to meetings. Mrs. Colegrove, who was in attendance to take minutes for part of that meeting, informed us then that she was working with City Administrator John Pick to make that happen. To all involved, thank you for making this information easily accessible to the public.

Mayor's State of the City Address Is Mon., Mar. 31

Mayor Tilghman will deliver her annual State of the City address in a live broadcast on PAC 14 on Monday, March 31st, at Noon, in the Council Chambers, Rm. 301 of the Government Office Building, N. Division St. Salisbury.

2ND OPEN GOVT. FORUM STIMULATES CITIZEN INITIATIVES

Salisbury City Council members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen held their second public input meeting Tuesday night on the topic of increasing transparency in city government. After a brief recap of developments from the previous such forum held in February, participants were introduced to citizen-driven initiatives on budget oversight and governmental accountability taking place in other locales.

Following the presentations, attendees were given an opportunity to toss out questions about a wide variety of topics. Then they broke into work groups where they defined projects of interest. These included collection of public safety data, a spending affordability analysis for short- and long-term planning, and access to line item financial data of the city, to name a few.

“We were pleased to see a number of new faces during this meeting,” Campbell said, noting that some previous participants also came while others who could not attend noted their desire to stay involved. “These citizens are ready to roll up their sleeves and make a positive contribution,” Campbell added.

Further details from the meeting will be forthcoming on this website within the next day or two. For more information, contact council members Debbie Campbell at 410-860-0893 or Terry Cohen at 410-845-0296.

CAMPBELL, COHEN TO HOLD 2ND OPEN GOVT. PUBLIC INPUT MEETING

At the request of participants in their first public input meeting on increasing transparency in Salisbury City Council, council members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen will hold their second public input meeting Tuesday, March 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Meeting Room 1 (basement) of the Wicomico County Free Library.

This second forum will be mostly workgroup-style to enable participants to have a more focused experience in developing their particular areas of interest. The first meeting, held in February at Las Palmas Restaurant, provided a long list of citizens’ questions and ideas about public accessibility to records and information, opportunities for communication by the city with its constituents, and disclosure of who is doing business with the city, to name a few topics.

A recap of the previous input meeting, held Feb. 21, can be viewed on this blog at the following link: Previous Meeting Recap

Light refreshments will be served. The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, email or call either Councilwoman Debbie Campbell at 410-860-0893 or Councilwoman Terry Cohen at 410-845-0296.

Budget Amendment Requests of $318,765 To Be Considered by Council March 24

At the March 24 legislative session of the Salisbury City Council, the council will be asked to amend the budget to allow for another $318,675 in expenditures (the total as of March 18, subject to change). As of the night of March 19, the briefing book for the meeting is available for download from the city’s website at: Briefing Book

However, no information on the budget amendment ordinance is included in the online briefing packet as of the March 19 posting. Below is a list of the changes to the budget requested by the draft ordinance:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SALISBURY, MARYLAND that the City’s Fiscal Year 2008 General Fund, Water Fund, Sewer Fund, Marina Fund and Parking Authority Fund budgets be and are hereby, amended as follows:

1) Increase the current surplus account for the General Fund (01000-469810) by $257,267
2) Increase the other miscellaneous account for the General Fund (01000-456911) by $7,350
3) Increase Internal Services by $44,962
4) Increase City Attorney by $88,750
5) Increase Municipal Buildings by $58,125
6) Increase Fire by $5,300
7) Increase Public Works – Recreation & Culture by $16,600
8) Increase Debt Service & Other Uses by $50,880
9) Increase the current surplus account for the Water Fund (60100-469810) by $22,248
10) Increase the Water Fund expenses by $22,248
11) Increase the current surplus account for the Sewer Fund (60100-469810) by $29,762
12) Increase the Sewer Fund expenses by $29,762
13) Increase the Transfer from General Fund for the Marina Fund (60300-469110) by $3,330
14) Increase the Marina Fund expenses by $3,330
15) Increase the current surplus for the Parking Authority Fund (10100-469810) by $2,138
16) Increase the Parking Authority Fund expenses by $2,138

The budget amendment is scheduled last in the agenda before public comments (but is subject to change). Citizens are encouraged to attend the meeting, to be held at 6 p.m., in Council Chambers, Room 301, on the third floor of the Government Office Building, N. Division St., in downtown Salisbury. Those who cannot attend can watch it on cable television’s PAC14 channel. Those without cable but with computers can watch it on PAC14’s streaming video at
Pac 14

Councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen will continue to inquire about issues concerning these budget requests and fiscal process as a whole. At the March 17, 2008, work session, the council majority (Louise Smith, Gary Comegys and Shanie Shields) declined to advance Campbell’s charter change recommendation to tighten language concerning the transfer of public monies, which was similar to that of state law.

Also declined by the council majority was Cohen’s request for the council to review and approve minutes of work sessions and other non-legislative meetings for which the Open Meetings Act requires (OMA) minutes to be taken. However, the OMA does not require these minutes to be approved by the public body. Cohen noted that since minutes of these meetings are open to public inspection, approving them would be a “best practice” to ensure that information available for public inspection would accurately reflect the representations and actions of council members. She said she also spoke with a member of the Maryland Attorney General’s office who said they should be approved by the public body.

Cohen also requested, in accordance with the City Council Rules of Order, that an item be added for to the March 24 agenda for the council to have the city clerk’s office add work session and other non-legislative meetings’ minutes to the city website. Cohen’s requested item was not added to the agenda.

UPDATE

Council President Louise Smith responded today (March 20) to Cohen's request for an agenda item March 24 to add work session and non-legislative meeting minutes to city website. Smith said she'd move the request to the pending list for available future work sessions.

Budget Account Deficits Still Pose Problems

Councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen were featured in Part 2 of WMDT’s news coverage of the city’s budget problems aired Thursday, March 13, at 6 and 11 p.m. To read the written version, click on this link: Salisbury City Budget Problems?

On behalf of the Tilghman administration, City Administrator John Pick maintained the following in the WMDT interview:

"We've got the ability to move money from one account to another with the approval of the mayor," Pick said.

Campbell and Cohen pointed out that the administration is not consistently doing what Pick said. Based on Cohen’s review of documents and a meeting with administrative staff, checks are being cut to vendors without the proper advance authorization to “move money” between accounts that Pick references. In at least one case, money was never moved between accounts within a department. Money was simply paid out from one account to cover the expenses of another.

Whether appropriations occur at a “line-item” level or a program “level” is still debatable. However, when money is not properly transferred and tracked between accounts, the likelihood increases that necessary items may have funding pulled.

“You wind up with an unrealistic picture of what financial resources you have to work with at any given point in time,” Cohen said. “That kind of poor financial management can result in priorities not being achieved, necessary maintenance not being done, and the purpose of appropriations not being served.”

Campbell referred back to the cautions issued by the audit communications released approximately six weeks ago.

“The audit said our internal financial controls are weak. We had an unusually large number of adjustments. Over $10 million was not properly accounted for. Our financial information is untimely, inaccurate and unreliable. The audit said there was more than a remote chance that errors or fraud could go undetected,” Campbell explained.

On the issue of the report Campbell and Cohen are seeking to have “dumped” directly from the financial system so that the council can be assured of seeing the numbers in their raw form, Council President Louise Smith reversed her former position of support of Campbell and Cohen’s request at this time after discussions with the administration.

Account Overdrafts, Obstructed Access Top Story on WMDT

Council members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen were featured tonight on WMDT Channel 47's 6 p.m. newscast. They addressed issues re: the still-unresolved deficits in city financial accounts, most notably the $45,000 over expenditure in insurance accounts. Neither transfer approvals by the mayor nor budget amendment approvals were obtained from the city council prior to cutting the insurance payment checks.

While the city administration has maintained that these appropriations are not specified in the budget ordinance and that the budget ordinance determines appropriations, Campbell and Cohen referenced numerous sections of the charter, state law, portions of the budget ordinance, quarterly reports, and the approved budget book to demonstrate why the budget ordinance does not excuse the administration for over expending accounts.

The report sought by but denied to Campbell and mentioned in the WMDT newscast is the expense portion of the "Next Year/Current Year Budget Analysis" which is provided to the council at budget time. The revenue portion of the report had already been provided to the council. While the report contains three columns of information relative to the budget, for which planning is still in progress, the bulk of the report is comparisons of current and previous year expenditures against budgeted amounts.

Unlike the report actually received, this report reflects a data dump directly from the city's financial system, thereby ensuring no modifications that might yield inaccuracies. Both Campbell and Cohen suggested to the city administrator that the "in-progress columns" could be caveatted by a simple cover memo or physically cut off the report requested if the administration felt so strongly about it being in the hands of council members.

For the written report of the WMDT newscast, go to:
City Council Talks Budget Concerns

A second segment of the story will air Thursday night on the 6 p.m. newscast.

Councilwoman Campbell Convenes Highly Successful Affordable Housing Resources Forum

On Thursday, March 6, Councilwoman Debbie Campbell convened a panel of state experts to discuss access to resources for the development and preservation of affordable single-family and multifamily housing. The audience included developers, construction industry professionals and local non-profit partner representatives. Topics included state programs that provide:

* grants and loans for development of new affordable single-family and multifamily housing;
* grants and loans that make home ownership affordable;
* grants and loans for the renovation and preservation of existing rental units;
* funding for energy efficiency and lead paint abatement in owner occupied and rental properties; and
* grants available to income-qualified seniors so that they can make modifications needed to remain in their homes.

Examples of “green” construction and some of the resources available to encourage environmentally friendly construction were also discussed. All employers who attended were encouraged to sign up for the State's "Live Near Your Work" program. Through this program, the state matches employer contribution dollar for dollar, and the current list of participating employers includes businesses of all sizes from very small and mid-size to the very large.

Participants brought their own “brown bag” lunches to council chambers in the Government Office Building in downtown Salisbury and enjoyed a casual atmosphere while listening intently. There was an active and instructive free-flowing dialog between presenters and participants that maximized the value of the information, Campbell observed.

PowerPoint(R) presentations on the various topics will be available. Campbell is making arrangements to have copies of the meeting handouts available at the joint city/county planning office.

Based on the sizable attendance, the scope of questions raised and comments from participants regarding the usefulness and quality of the information presented, the session was evaluated as a “resounding success.” Future sessions on foreclosure prevention, local resources for home ownership, and “green” construction and development are planned for the near future.

To view the Power Point presentations: (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)

Multifamily property financing tools

Single-family loans and grants for owner occupied and rental properties

Special Loan Program for homeowners - seniors grants

Overexpenditures of Accounts Identified During Council Work Session

At this week’s Monday night Salisbury City Council work session, year-to-date reports for FY08 were shared by the director of Internal Services-Finance, Mrs. Oland. Councilwoman Campbell raised the question about figures indicating that several accounts showed an over expenditure above what was budgeted/appropriated by council. Most notable was the second quarter report showing an over expenditure of 72% in one insurance account and another over expended by 14%.

After Mrs. Oland and City Administrator John Pick both confirmed these expenses above budget, as well as other over expenditures noted in a year-to-date report ending January 30, Councilwoman Cohen raised the issue that over expenditure is forbidden by the City Charter. She also asked what would be done about it, and Mr. Pick replied that the administration would come before council requesting a budget amendment.

These after-the-fact remedies remind the public of change orders for contractual services or goods that were essentially already obtained prior to coming before council for approval. Both Councilwomen Campbell and Cohen are taking action to research the issue of the over expenditures which have now come to light.

Consensus Reached to Post Minutes of Commissions, Boards and Committees Online

We'd like to thank the council for reaching consensus in tonight's work session to have the administration post the minutes of the city's commissions, boards and committees on the city website as soon as possibly feasible. We hope to stimulate more citizen interest and participation in these entities by enabling people to easily see what business these groups conduct.

We appreciate the people who took the time to attend our Feb. 21 public input on increasing transparency in Salisbury city government and made suggestions like these to help further that goal. Please mark your calendars for the follow up public input meeting on transparency, to be held work group-style on Tuesday, March 25, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. in Meeting Room 1 (in the basement) of the Wicomico County Library.

The Simple Request to Discuss a Line-Item Budget By Councilwoman Terry E. Cohen

The February 25, 2008, Salisbury City Council meeting began with a simple, but meaningful request by Councilwoman Campbell to add an item to the agenda to discuss changing the council’s budget process from its “program level” review and approval to the more detailed line-item level.

It’s important to note that Mrs. Campbell was not asking the council to actually make that decision with their votes on the motion, only to add discussion of it to the agenda, at which time a decision might be made, deferred to a work session, or addressed in another manner. The need to bring it up that night is due to the department heads already being in the midst of developing their FY09 budgets.

I seconded the motion, and it failed in a vote of 2 to 3, with Smith, Comegys and Shields voting “nay.” I should have raised discussion on the motion, and for not doing so, I apologize to the constituents. I made the point in another motion-to-amend discussion that, there seems to be no record of official action or consensus taken by the council to stop reviewing at a line-item level and begin approving the budget at a “program level.”

Last year during budget deliberations, council did discuss some areas in line-item detail, but some were more rushed through because it was a “program level” budget. This year, we have scheduled some day-long budget work sessions to approach the budget with greater detail and oversight – now especially important in light of the revelations from the city audit and the current issues involving corruption in a portion of county government. Yet, this does not guarantee a line-item process and approval.

If the result is still just a council “program level” budget with a listing of limited line-items changed, packaged with the mayor’s budget message, then the ability to monitor compliance with the line-items is impaired. As well, the public is given very little detail about how their tax dollars are being spent without great effort on their part.

I am disappointed that the remainder of the council didn’t join me in supporting Mrs. Campbell’s modest request to amend the agenda to at least discuss the issue. If we, as a council, are going to demand accountability, fiscal responsibility, and government in the sunshine from the administration, then we should, as a council, at least be willing to discuss demanding it of ourselves as well – especially at a time when such discussion is becoming time-critical and the public trust has been shaken by city and county events.