The State of the City February 2012 We see an opportunity in every difficulty. We are accountable to citizens for every tax dollar and are.
Download ReportTranscript The State of the City February 2012 We see an opportunity in every difficulty. We are accountable to citizens for every tax dollar and are.
The State of the City February 2012 We see an opportunity in every difficulty. We are accountable to citizens for every tax dollar and are committed to delivering efficient, effective, performance-based, outcome driven cost-effective services. We will explore new ways of thinking and operating. This includes shared services among cities and counties to save money and improve service delivery. Government must be conducted openly and transparently to gain trust. Research and understanding costs and benefits are key to decision-making, and sharing carefully framed, viable options with citizens in a two-way dialogue to build consensus for public policy decisions is important. Citizen safety is paramount in all decisions. Working collaboratively to develop a strategy for fiscal strength is critical. A team approach to economic development that leverages relationships with existing economic development and educational organizations is key. Elyria must better align and market its assets within the region to position itself to grow jobs, increase incomes and attract investments. Having a vision and a plan that is constantly revisited and monitored will strengthen us. Customer service is key. Mayor Holly C. Brinda, MPA – focus planning and community engagement, resource & economic development, marketing & community relations Safety Service Director Mary F. Siwierka, BA – focus public services, customer relations Asst. Safety Service Director Dan Jaykel, MPA – focus public safety Asst. Safety Service Director Elayne Siegfried, Esq. – focus human resources & risk management Has approximately $185 million in assets $86 million in liabilities $99 million in net assets The General Fund, five categories of services offered to the public, has fluctuated between $34 - $27 million in the past five years. FUNCTION CATEGORY APPROX. % OF BUDGET Public Safety 50% Health 6% Culture & Recreation 5% Community Environment 3% General Government 36% Income Tax: 68% State of Ohio Local Government Fund: 5.4% Estate Tax: 1.3% Other: 25.3% Summary of Major General Fund Revenue Sources 34,748,685 State of Ohio Local Government Fund to be slashed by 25% in 2012 from $2,281,240 in 2011 to $1,636,20 in 2012 & additional 25% in 2013. 40,000,000 Sources 30,000,000 30,338,239 31,420,529 28,865,313 30,136,679 21,744,466 2008 19,427,064 21,420,850 19,930,166 20,603,624 2009 2010 20,000,000 2011 2012 (Est.) 2,521,424 2,163,326 513,321 2,192,211 590,755 2,281,240 904,042 1,636,240 641,639 400,000 10,000,000 0 Income Tax Local Estate Tax Government Dollars Budget Estate Tax is scheduled to be repealed 1/1/13 and will eliminate this source of revenue for all municipalities (Est. annual revenue loss $400,000 - $650,000. With these anticipated reductions, Elyria will be forced to operate with $1.8 less in the General Fund. Income projections may not hold: Comparing January 2012 to January 2011 collections are down over 17% (refunds to employers withholding & net profit accounts) - despite a 8% overall increase from 2010-2011. Reductions in the Local Government Fund and repeal of the Estate Tax in 2013 means Elyria must eliminate over $1.8 million from its General Fund over the next two years – including $1 million this year to maintain a necessary $3 million carry-over. This $1 million reduction in 2012 does not include the expiration of the $3.7 million Safer Grant that paid for 23 firefighters over two years and other grants that will expire. Initiate State of Ohio Performance Audit Conducting contract review/re-issue RFPs Assessing impact of captive systems Scrutinizing purchase orders; centralizing purchasing for some items/adding cooperative purchasing programs Five-year capital outlay plan/equipment sharing Monitoring overtime with Chiefs/Dept. Heads Reducing vehicle expenses Adjusting fees to market rates Exploring and executing shared services across municipalities/region Adopting and publishing a City Report Card that shares status of goal attainment Modeling personal sacrifice: eliminated longevity and vehicles for senior staff; mayor gave up vehicle & travel allowance/makes annual voluntary contribution . Applying for additional grants including a SAFER grant to support Fire Department. Working with employee groups to identify cost savings Recognizing employee process improvement and cost-saving efforts Strengthening the tax base with strategic economic development incentives, adapting design review With partners, adopt three tier (region, county, city) economic development strategy. Align assets to region & market. Expand Elyria’s economic development tool kit; add local Job Creation Tax Credit (income tax credit); Expand our Alternative Energy Conservation Loan Fund; Add SIDs & create a Financial Security offering tax incentives to private investors and use the pooled funds for matching grants to downtown or other business investors. Take leadership in developing a county-wide land bank. BENEFITS Allow Elyria to be eligible to receive a portion of Ohio’s $335 million award from the nationwide mortgage settlement. Enhances ability to acquire property for economic development and business and residential retention purposes. Enhances ability to return properties to productive use. Enhances ability to demolish blighted properties. Increases property values. Requires no primary city obligation dollars; funding from interest/penalties on unpaid/delinquent real property taxes & DTAC assessment collection fee. POWERS Nonprofit community improvement corp. that can purchase, receive, transfer, hold, manage and lease property. Engage in code enforcement & nuisance abatement. Acquire/manage unimproved or underutilized property and forfeited lands. Purchase delinquent property tax lien certificates. Contract with government & other entities. Issue bonds, apply for grants, make loans & borrow money. NOACA – regional transportation planning NEOSCC – regional planning: economic development, environment, housing, connecting systems, data/GIS, communications Team Lorain County & Lorain County Chamber of Commerce memberships County-wide health district: current discussion County-wide police dispatch & communication systems: current discussion County-wide broadband system: current discussion County-wide waste water treatment: current discussion Lorain County MetroParks affiliation – current discussion Council encouraged to adopt transparency legislation. Website to share more information: meetings, budgets, spending data, contracts, salary & pensions, audits, etc. City Report Card and annual performance reports Annual community planning forums to update the city’s strategic plan – aligned with budgeting process. Initiate Mayor’s 24 Hour Action Center Televise City Council Meetings; post video archive on website Engage citizens in monthly Spotlight Elyria Television Show Monthly Mayor’s Night In Weekly Media Updates Community E-Newsletter Mayor’s Office on Volunteer Engagement M.O.V.E. Volunteers being recruited to provide time, talent & treasures to support recreational and educational programming for children & teens and community building activities: Fireworks, Finwood Holiday & MLK Celebrations, flower baskets and more. SUMMER 2012 COMMUNITY PROJECTS Raise $15,000 to replace broken diving board & stand at East Park. Raise $15,000 to help sponsor four one-week summer recreational math & science camps and a combination recreation/arts camp. Recruit screened volunteers. Recruit caring adults to work with 30 at-risk female students at Elyria High School Additional Pool Invest. TBD Raise $1,200 for MLK Holiday Commission Recruit 50 volunteers and raise $50,000 to offset cost to hold the Holiday Celebration at Finwood Estate. Begin planning for 2013: raise $120,000 to support community fireworks display: $35,000 show, $75,000 for city support services. Bring Human resources under one umbrella. Update/adopt job descriptions & an evaluation system. Develop a personnel policy manual. Create more formal on-boarding orientation for new employees. Revise the records management and retention process. Review healthcare administration: contract, contribution formula, coordination of benefits, wellness program. Reform worker’s compensation processes: safety training & audits Training staff to encourage ownership and empowerment of service recovery situations Instituting the Mayor’s online 24- hour Action Center; designing more interactive website “Right tooling” employees, replacing antiquated computers, updating software that impact service delivery Streamlining processes for citizen damage claims Developing standard resident notification processes for road and other work/situations that impact them Adjusting hours of service operations to better meet resident needs How many gallons of water does the city pump per year? How many water towers are there? How many miles of roadway is there to maintain? How many potholes do you think the city fills each year? How many internet cafes are there and how much revenue do they generate? How many tons of trash does the city collect annually? How many incident calls do you think our police officers respond to each year? How many fires and lifethreatening emergency calls do our firefighters respond to annually? How many children attend safety town each year? The City pumped 4.3 BILLION gallons of water per day in 2011 to Elyria, Amherst, Sheffield, and Carlisle Township. There are five water towers in Elyria; Clark, Furnace & 16th Streets hold 1 million gallons each; Chestnut Commons holds 250,000 gallons And Murray Ridge holds 750,000 gallons. The City maintains 52 square miles of roadway and fills over 5,000 potholes each season. The City collects nearly 17,000 tons of residential trash each year and nearly 3,000 tons of recycled materials. In 2011 that amount tripled for recyclables. The police department responded to 34,750 calls and initiated 8,736 calls for service for a total of 43,486 incident calls in 2011. The EPD & EFD helped 450 children learn at Safety Town. The Fire Department responded to 3,750 calls: 268 fire calls resulting in an estimated $1,950,910 in personal property damages, 2,185 lifethreatening emergency medical responses, 1,285 service calls and 12 mutual aid responses. Elyria has 5 Internet Cafes that generate $95,300 for the City: Annual fee $2500 x 5 & $30 per terminal (2,760) Opportunities for Enhanced Service Delivery STATE OF IT Over 50% of the city’s 209 computers are 5-8 years old. REMEDIES 101 computers are 8 years old or older with 2001 software. All departments are losing productivity due to computer down time and antiquated software. Ready to roll out a tracking system that will catalogue computer and other equipment and software issues and plan for future needs. Exploring a life cycle approach for computers that takes into account maintenance and replacement needs. In a national search for Chief Engineer Middle Avenue Water Main Project: 2nd to 16th – cost: $1.27 million; replacing smaller lines; increased flow and fire protection Lift Station Repairs: Turner, Overbrook, Pinewood – cost: $2.4 million; combination of increased capacity & compliance with NPDES Permit West River Road: 57 to 254, sewer repair, resurfacing, widening in some parts – cost $2.9 million (city 80%); Start July – end November, 2012. Lorain Blvd. resurfacing: 57 to Lake Avenue to remedy poor road conditions – cost $585,000 (city $65,000) Start May – end September 2012. Street sweeping program – spring & fall – cost $165,000 clean debris from catch basins to prevent drainage issues. Furnace Street Water Main Replacement Project: To be re-bid – bids ranged from $940,000 to $1.25 million. Original budget was $800,000. Replace 5,300 linear feet of 4” x 6” water main, 150 water services, install 16 new fire hydrants. SR 57/49th Street Bridge: ODOT Administered project Stage 1 plans submitted to ODOT Stage 2 plans to be submitted in April. Project cost $28.437 million $9 million approved by NOACA City submitted for TRAC funding (Transportation Review Advisory Council) Project includes changing the I-90 ramps, removal 49th St. Bridge at Midway & Griswold roads. 2011 PROJECTS & BEYOND Under contract to demolish 12 properties, with additional 18 properties in progress stages: condemnation/demolition CURRENT ASSISTANCE Served 25 homes with emergency home repair dollars and over 30 homes with emergency repair Identified and working with homeowners in 15 lead hazard/abatement homes. February 1 – March 16 Elyria residents can apply for assistance to improve their homes through the Community Housing Improvement Program. Renovated, energy-efficient homes are also available for purchase though the Neighborhood Stabilization program. For more information call 3261541. Received 1043 complaints involving property maintenance, public nuisance, zoning and permit related concerns. The City had the personnel to investigate and resolve about 40%. Issued 3,196 building permits – a 25% increase from 2010. New Lab Building at LCCC New Taco Bell Restaurant – 117 Middle Ave. Two New Family Dollar Stores – 400 Oberlin Road & 401 Lake Avenue Addition to PSC Metals 800 Infirmary Rd. Blue Sky Restaurant on Cleveland Street Working to refine Design Review Guidelines: graduated approach (more stringent core city and entrance/ exits and more open in some other areas) and more acceptable alternative building materials to make Elyria more business friendly. Land Bank to provide more leverage and assistance to the City with existing and future properties. Community Task Force exploring Rental Housing License Program to ensure properties are maintained, and safe. Trying to open two pools and provide programming at four recreation centers for 2012 with combination reallocation of funds/philanthropic support. The Nature Center is back in full operation and we hope to have collaborative programming wit h the schools this summer. The entrance to the Cascade Park 19 acres entrance will be open and the pavilion open for rentals. The two new pavilions at South & West parks are complete and open for rentals. Having a very successful season at Ice Rink. Rentals/utilization at 100%. Planning for concert series this summer (sponsorships) and working with Main Street Elyria on flower baskets for Ely Square. Reviewing cemetery fees to seek income/cover costs. Continuing conversations with MetroParks regarding potential affiliation agreement for Cascade. WATER PUMPING The department pumped over 4.3 billion gallons of water in 2011 to Elyria, Amherst, Sheffield and Carlisle Township. The department is in negotiation for the sale of water to two additional communities. WASTEWATER TREATMENT On February 2 Ohio EPA Inspectors concluded after a thorough inspection that the Waste Water Pollution Control Plant is in compliance with its discharge permit and the plant is being effectively managed and maintained. Elyria continues to explore ways to make participation in a pending county-wide waste water treatment project costeffective for residents despite study results to the contrary. 2,094 Seasonal Flu Shots 1,140 Travel Immunizations 1,892 children’s immunizations 1,262 Help Me Grow visits Made 832 restaurant inspections for licenses/complaints Lead screening for Head Start pupils at their centers Re-design of pre-natal care coordination program Public health nurses provided coordination of services for 200 families Conducted child nutrition and dental programs Continuation of conversation regarding a joint health service delivery system for the county Maintained 73 firefighters at three fire stations with assistance of SAFER grant (funded 23 firefighters). The grant expires 6/30/11 Emergency responses increased by 983 calls in 2011. 268 fire calls and an estimated $1,950,910 in property damages Made 12 Mutual Aid responses to surrounding communities Received 5 Mutual Aid Responses Responded to 2,185 Emergency Medical Responses – these are only the life threatening emergencies Made 1,285 Service Calls Completed 11,739 hours of training With EPD, investigated 60 known arson cases and have obtained 17 convictions to date. Arson conviction rate in Elyria is 28% higher than state rate, which speaks well for the relationship between the departments. Assisted with another successful year of Safety Town with 450 children in attendance. Every Monday morning provide blood pressure checks for senior citizens at East Recreation Center and open houses throughout the city. Sponsored an October Open House where 350 residents learned how the EFD protects the public. Use a community-wide Safety Summit, with all key constituents, to assess the coordination and delivery of emergency medical care. Apply for a SAFER Grant to maintain 23 fire fighters and keep three stations open. Train all firefighters in the Blue Card Command System to enhance response to type 4-5 incidents. Update the EFD’s data collection and analysis software. 83 sworn police officers Responded to 34,750 calls from citizens and initiated 8,736 calls for service for a total of 43,486 incidents. The Neighborhood Impact Unit has pursued and has had successful hearings to end liquor licenses for the Red Fox, Toy Box, Ely Inn and Uncle Vics/MardiGras . This is resulting in less violence downtown. NIU helped the Lorain County Drug Task Force by completing 16 controlled drug buys Assisted other agencies in 4 search warrants: seized 71.7 grams of crack cocaine, 87.7 grams of powder cocaine, 1,228 grams of Marijuana, 32.5 doses of ectasy, 1,228.1 grams of heroine, 44 doses f oxycontin and seized $85,616 in cash As a member of the Lorain County Drug Task Force completed 26 arrests, 8 search warrants, seized $47,000 and 3 hand guns. NIU officers wrote 338 citations and made 518 arrests in 2011. They obtained 5 federal indictments for firearms violations, seized 8 hand guns and 1 shotgun. NIU officer met monthly with 15 block watch groups The EPD Investigative Unit: Investigated 431 cases – 140 cleared by arrest or indictment, 40 remain open Investigated two homicides: one murder/suicide, one murder Presented 257 felony cases generated by Patrol Division to Grand Jury – 93 % True Billed Assigned 72 burglaries, 18 robberies, 24 felonious assaults, 7 arsons Youth Bureau investigated 142 sex crimes and crimes against or by juveniles Responded to 1,321 crashes – the highest in any city in Lorain County and higher per capita than most cities in the state. Further investigation is pending “Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more…” …Anthony Robbins