Loading...
E/1. Resolution 4696 - General Fund/Municipal CourtCity of Kalispell Post Office Box 1997 - Kalispell, Montana 59903-1997 -Telephone (406)758-7700 Fax(406)758-7758 REPORT TO: Mayor Kennedy and City Council Members FROM: Amy Robertson, Finance Director Chris Kukulski, City Manager SUBJECT: Budget Amendments- Resolutions 4696,4697,4698,4699,4700,4701 MEETING DATE: May 20, 2002 BACKGROUND: The City Council will hold a Public Hearing for comment on the City's proposed amendments to the budget as required by law. Budget amendments are needed in the (I )General fund to pay for public defender fees in the Court budget and to pay overtime in the (2)Fire Department budget. The Fire department overtime has been severely impacted by individuals who are out on worker's compensation and OSHA requirements (see attached) (3)A budget amendment is needed to increase appropriations in the Airport fund to pay the costs of snow removal and maintenance by the Street department. (4)A budget amendment is needed in the Downtown Tax Increment fund to appropriate all estimated available funds of the district. This will allow us to enter into contracts before year end. (Due to the sun -setting of the district, a budget amendment is needed in the TIF district even if we were to distribute funds back to taxing jurisdictions to have budget authority to write the checks.) (5) A budget amendment is need to cover the increased costs of electricity in the Light Fund. (6)A budget amendment is need to appropriate funds for the Self -insured Health Insurance fund. This budget amendment will provide budget authority to the maximum annual amount the City could be liable for health claims this year. The funds are available to make these amendments. RECOMMENDATION: Adopt Resolutions 4696 through 4701. ALTE ATIVES: At Council's discretion. Z CQ��ADW�� Amy H. Robertson Chris A. Kukulski Finance Director City Manager Report compiled: May 13, 2002 Kalispell Fire/Ambulance Dept. 336 1 st Ave. East • P.O. Box 1997 Kalispell, MT 59903-1997 March 4, 2002 To: Chris Kukulski, City Manager From: Randy Brodehl, Fire Chief Re: Current overtime situation Nm.= Telephone 406-758-7764 Fax 406-758-7758 Chris, Through March 4, 2002, the Fire Department overtime expenses are $50,749.55. Our budgeted amount for the year is $16,000.00. While we have transferred $31,491.00 into that account from other line items, it still remains that we are already more than triple what we had budgeted. This has been compounded by several factors that I have attempted to describe below: The budget for 2000/2001 was $16,000. Our "actuals" were $40,953. This was two and a half times the anticipated budget, and was two and half times greater than the "actuals" for the year prior. We did not anticipate this when formulating our budget for 2001/2002. Instead, the number used was about the same number as the year prior. 2. Since 1994, the personnel staffing requirements for fire department response in the United States has been a minimum of four firefighters (see information below). Kalispell did not respond to this federal requirement at that time. When I came, I changed our staffing to the minimum allowed by federal regulations. This was to protect the lives of the firefighters, give us the minimum number of personnel on scene to make an interior fire attack, and to decrease the City of Kalispell's risk of citation. Since 1994, several fire chiefs have been held personally liable for firefighter deaths and injuries when operations were performed outside of allowable standards. (See the case in court right now: Oneida County vs. Baird which was a firefighter death and injury case where the chief officer has been charged with negligent homicide, because the Department was not in compliance of OSHA 1910.134 and .120 as referenced below.) The State of Montana, Department of Labor and Industry has adopted the OSHA standards for all fire department applications. We are regulated in this area as follows: -OSHA 1910.120 Immediately Dangerous to Life or Heath Atmosphere (IDLH) Paragraph (q)(3)(v) ...requires that 'operations in hazardous areas (emphasis added) shall be performed using the buddy system in groups of two or more." In addition, paragraph (q)(3)(vi) states that "back up personnel shall stand by with equipment ready to provide assistance or rescue." This section means that as a minimum the buddy system must be used within the hazardous area (entry by at least two persons) and at least two additional personnel shall stand by outside the hazardous area. Thus, there must be at least four individuals at the site. One of the two individuals outside the hazard area can be assigned to another task, provided that the second assignment does not interfere with the performance of the standby role. 1910.134 Procedures for interior structural firefighting. In addition to the requirements set forth under paragraph (g)(3), in interior structural fires, the employer shall ensure that: (g)(4)(i) At least two employees enter the IDLH atmosphere and remain in visual or voice contact with one another at all times; (g)(4)(ii) At least two employees are located outside the IDLH atmosphere; and (g)(4)(iii) All employees engaged in interior structural firefighting use SCBAs. Note 1 to paragraph (g): One of the two individuals located outside the IDLH atmosphere may be assigned to an additional role, such as incident commander in charge of the emergency or safety officer, so long as this individual is able to perform assistance or rescue activities without jeopardizing the safety or health of any firefighter working at the incident. NFPA 1710 5.2.2 Operating Units. (While technically not mandatory by federal law at this writing, it is referenced by OSHA In their explanations regarding 1910.134 and 1910.120) Fire company staffing requirements shall be based on minimum levels for emergency operations for safety, effectiveness, and efficiency. 5.2.2.1.1 These companies shall be staffed with a minimum of four on -duty personnel. -Insurance Services Organization (ISO) 570 A On -Duty Strength (OM) The total number of members on duty with companies shall be taken as a yearly average considering vacations, sick leave, and other absences. 3. Toby Hubbard, Firefighter/Paramedic has been off duty since January l la', due to a work related knee injury. He will be off at least through October of this year. While most of his costs are covered by Workers Compensation, all cost associated with overtime to fill his position are not. Cost to date are approximately $9500.00. He will be off from nine to 12 months. Total cost in overtime for this budget year will be approximately $25,300.00. We can anticipate that our cost from this accident during the next budget year will be $40,000.00. Cliff Willis, Fire Captain, returned to work in August of this year after being off over six months with a work related shoulder injury. Most of the costs for the overtime coverage occurred in the prior budget year, however, about $4,000.00 occurred this budget year. 4. We have just filled a firefighter position that has been vacant for two months. This delay was due to negotiations over the Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal position. While we waited for that to finish, we had to fill those shifts with overtime. Also during that time, we have had to fill the Fire Marshal's position with a lieutenant off the floor, further reducing our staffing. We are actively working to reduce the impacts of overtime. We have moved 1.1 FTEs to the Building Department. One of the items up for review during negotiations will be a change in hours worked from 24 hours on and 72 hours off, to 24 hours on and 48 hours off. This will significantly reduce our overtime by giving us additional daily staffing without increasing the number of personnel. As soon as our Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal is up to speed, we will begin to use the Deputy Fire Marshal during the day for additional coverage. And, we are running a test on using a daytime ambulance driver to increase our staffing during peak workloads. Our fire salary line item is beginning to catch up because of the openings we have had. We anticipate that there may be enough in this line item to make a significant transfer at the end of the budget year to cover costs associated with overtime. Another item that is impacting us is the effects of more than $50,000.00 being held by Medicare, while they make some adjustments to their system. We are beginning to catch up in that fund, having gained about $25,000.00 this past month. We have also made some recent changes in our collections and billing that are assisting us there, but we have yet to see the results due to the lag time in collections. In retrospect, this update should have gone to you much sooner. I will do my best to keep you apprised of this type of information in a timelier fashion in the future. Please let me know if you need additional information of clarification. RESOLUTION NO. 4696 A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL, MONTANA, AS SET FORTH IN THE 2001-2002 BUDGET ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR PUBLIC DEFENDER FEES FOR THE KALISPELL MUNICIPAL COURT. WHEREAS, in the budget adopted by the City of Kalispell for the 2002 fiscal year, certain detailed and itemized estimates of expenditures for public defender fees have proven inaccurate in the operation of the Municipal Court for the 2002 fiscal year, and WHEREAS, the overall expenditures of the said Fund are currently not in excess of the total of such estimates of expenditures adopted in the City's budget for the 2002 fiscal year, however, it does appear that the total of the budgeted appropriations in said classification will exceed such estimate for the balance of the 2002 fiscal year, and WHEREAS, the appropriate fund would be General Government, Municipal Court, with the appropriate expenditure line item 1000-406-410360-351, and WHEREAS, On May 20, 2002 at 7:00 o'clock P.M., in the Council Chambers, City Hall, Kalispell, a public hearing was held on appropriating funds from the General Fund in the amount of $10,000.00 for the purpose of funding the increase in public defender fees for the Municipal Court. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. That the annual appropriation for Kalispell Municipal Court is hereby amended by allocating an additional $10,000.00 from the General Fund for the purpose of funding the increase in public defender fees. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND SIGNED BY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL, THIS 20TH DAY OF MAY, 2002. Pamela B. Kennedy Mayor ATTEST: Theresa White City Clerk res\budget0l-02\4696 general muni.wpd