City Manager's Report 2/16/2009
Departmental Budget Reviews
Budgets for all City Departments have been submitted and meetings have been held with all the Departments to review these budgets. City Departments have been very good about submitting budgets which try to meet the goals set by the City Council for the coming year budget. No matter how you cut it, it is going to be very difficult which I am sure is not going to come as any surprise to anyone.
As indicated in the attached memo from Chief Trull, the Berlin Fire Department is currently down six people with injuries which creates staffing, overtime and budget difficulties for the Department. Hopefully, these firefighters will be on the mend and return to work soon.
The School Board is having a public hearing on the budget it has developed at 6pm on Wed. February 18, 2009, at the Berlin High School Library.
While it sounds like the projected increase in state education aid may remain intact, it is clear that the Governor has done what prior state administrations have done when the state runs in to budget trouble, which is to shift the state's financial problems to the local level by decreasing state revenue sharing to localities. This combined with some likely reductions in assessments and some other local revenues will undoubtedly make what was going to be a difficult budget that much more difficult.
Adding to the difficulty of course is not knowing the exact extent of any of these proposals, but when you talk about suspending all revenue sharing payments, all meals and rooms tax distributions and a reduction of the state's obligation to fund 35% of the employer retirement contributions for police, firefighters and teachers. According to NHMA, this is about 2/3rds of the state general fund money that is normally provided to cities and towns. The Governor has indicated that he expects this loss to be made up with stimulus money. The problem with that is that no one has any idea how much stimulus money (if any) there will be which can be used to make up some or all of this revenue gap. Secondly, even if stimulus money is somehow able to make up some or all of the gap, it is only one time-money, which means that all that has happened is that the financial shortfall is not in any resolved but simply put off for another year.
The House Finance Committee will be holding hearings around the state on this budget proposal. The closest one will be in Whitefield on Monday, March 9, 2009. No time has been scheduled yet. In all likelihood, it will be in the evening, which unfortunately is a Council Work Session night.
NHMA Membership Meeting
The New Hampshire Municipal Association (NHMA) is obviously very concerned about the State Budget and the impact it will likely have on cities and towns. They have scheduled another membership meeting for Monday March 2, 2009 at 9:30am at NHMA (LGC) offices in Concord specifically to vote on potential new or expanded state revenue sources to help close the funding gap in the state budget. Now they also have the Governor's budget to chew on which is worse for municipalities than they expected. We have a packet of information developed by NHMA relating to the impact various changes in the state budget or state revenue might have on cities and towns which is a bit too large to include here for anyone who would like to review it.
Administration Model for Commercial/Industrial Property Tax Exemption Ordinance
Since Berlin is the only municipality to have adopted an ordinance under HB 1651, the new state law which allows for property tax exemptions for new commercial and industrial construction, we realized that we needed to develop an administrative model to follow in order to administer this new law. I have been working with new Economic Development Director, Max Makaitis and Assessing Coordinator Sue Warren and the NH DRA to get the development of this administrative process complete so that we are ready to utilize this new economic development tool for any business which is in a position to utilize it.
Rt 110 Phase II Public Informational Meeting
NHDOT has scheduled another Public Informational Meeting in the City Hall Auditorium at 6:30pm on Thursday February 19th. We need to have the same type of turnout that was obtained at the last hearing on this important matter for the City. Probably as a result of that last hearing, the momentum seems to have swung much more toward Alternative 4E. That momentum needs to be maintained.
DES Stimulus Funding Meeting
On Friday the 26th, Roland Viens of BWW, Jay Poulin of HEB and I attended to another session held by the NH Department of Environmental Services on the proposed stimulus funding. Nothing major seems to have changed in what is expected. It is clear that DES expects to dispense the money in the same way it dispenses State Revolving loan fund money and that the criteria for eligibility will essentially be the same as those also.
Master Plan Economic Development Meeting
On Wednesday the 11th, another Master Plan Forum was held at the College for the purpose of reviewing for the public the draft Economic Development Chapter of the Master Plan and obtaining public input on it.
North Country Animal Rescue
On Thursday February 5th, a meeting was held with Rusty Gray of the North Country Animal Rescue Service and City staff to explore possibilities for working together. It was agreed that staff will try to put together a list of possible locations where an animal rescue facility might be placed.
ATV Meeting and Snowmobile Tour
The next meeting where Chris Gamache of the NH Trails Bureau will be here to discuss further connections of the ATV trails network in Berlin will be at City Hall on Friday February 20th.
Also Mr. Gamache has announced that the annual District 1 Snowmobile Tour with Ray Burton will be on Wed. Feb. 25th, 2009, beginning at the Waumbek-Methna Snowmobile Clubhouse on Route 2 in Jefferson, at 8:30am. The flier on that is attached.
BEMS Annual Report
Each year we receive an Annual Report and Financial Statements from the Berlin Emergency Medical Service with whom the City contracts for ambulance EMS services. These reports are available in the office for anyone who would like to review it.
Legislative Matters
Another annual bill to introduce binding arbitration of interest disputes in collective bargaining has been re-introduced again this year as HB 631. A hearing on it will be held Thursday, February 19, at 1pm in LOB Room 307. The passage of such legislation would essentially take the power of the purse away from local elected officials and give it to an unelected third party who is given the power to make spending decisions for the local government. Nothing could be more undemocratic and financially irresponsible, not to mention that it violates Article 28-a of the New Hampshire Constitution which requires that when the state passes on new costs to municipalities, they are required to provide the funding for it also.
NHPR Story Corps
Attached is a flier from New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) promoting the fact that they will be in Berlin with a booth during the month of June 2009. Their purpose is to obtain North Country local color stories for the overall American Story Corps program. These stories are then told on the radio and housed in the National Archives to be shared with future generations.