The fate of Concord’s golf course and management of its parking fund provoked debate from the city council while it approved a $65 million operating budget, $10 million worth of capital improvement projects and the city manager’s new contract Thursday night.
Although the night ended with relatively few changes to city manager Tom Aspell’s original proposed budget, councilors spoke passionately about the fate of the two enterprise funds, both of which have struggled in recent years to remain solvent or have operated at a loss.
Members of the public voiced support for Beaver Meadow Golf Club, touching on the course’s historic nature and said having the course is a quality-of-life issue.
“Not everyone uses every facility,” said Concord resident Bob Norton, “I believe we have a commitment to public places. … It ought to be a fundamental part of this budget.”
The course has operated at a loss three times since fiscal year 2013 and is expected to do so again this year. But the council committed to supporting the project, approving $485,000 worth of capital improvements, most of which come from the general fund. The council also approved an event tent at $30,000, which will come from the general fund.
Mayor Jim Bouley said multiple groups that use Beaver Meadow for events have complained about not having enough space to seat large groups. Having a larger tent, he said, would hopefully increase revenues.
When Ward 2 Councilor Allan Herschlag questioned continuing to support the golf course through taxpayer dollars, the discussion got heated.
“Ninety-six percent of the golf course fund are being funded by the golf course. We’re short 4 percent – that’s it,” said Ward 3 Councilor Jennifer Kretovic. She went on to say that the fund’s continuing contribution to the general fund – around $79,000 a year – keeps the course from being above water.
But it was Herschlag’s statements about the future of the parking fund that generated the most discussion.
Some last-minute changes designed to drop the projected tax rate increase included a motion to keep $100,000 worth of non-metered ticket revenue in the general fund will leave the parking fund, which has been headed towards being insolvent, with a projected $50,000 deficit.
Mayor Jim Bouley said the change, which is one of the several recommendations put forward by the Parking Committee, was critical to reducing the projected tax rate increase.
Council Linda Kenison, who sits on the Parking Committee, said returning the money seemed like “a step backward” from what the city was trying to accomplish.
“Why would we turn over $100,000?” she asked. “Why not $50,000?” Kension eventually voted in favor of the change; Herschlag was the only councilor to vote against the change.
But Bouley said the projections for how much more revenue the parking fund will generate based on the changes are uncertain; he said the city should be able to make up the $50,000 “without much difficulty.”
But Herschlag said he didn’t think the Parking Committee had done enough to ensure that the fund be able to support itself, saying the committee had rejected previous recommendations that would have made the fund solvent.
“There was never a serious effort to fund it in a manner so it would be self-sufficient,” he said. “I don’t find that acceptable.”
Herschlag would go on to say he appreciated the time and energy the Parking Committee has taken over the last two years to hash out changes to the parking plan, which will go into effect July 1.
But it was too late.
“I take umbrage about that comment,” said Ward 4 Councilor Byron Champlin, who sits on the Parking Committee. “We didn’t please everyone with it (the parking system changes), but we tried to be sensitive to costs to visitors and residents with incremental changes. Our whole motivation was to be fiscally sound.”
Ultimately, the operating and Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) passed with few changes. Herschlag was the sole dissenting vote on both votes.
There are about $4 million in new expenses in this budget, about half of which relate to compensation and employee benefits.
About $375,000 will go toward the operation of the new community center scheduled to open in June. A little over half of that money is related to an added full-time maintenance technician and nine part-time employees.
About 10 miles of streets will be paved in the upcoming fiscal year and an additional 5 miles in the next fiscal year. The city is looking to continue rehabbing the Concord Municipal Airport and plans to make traffic signal improvements to the North Main Street/Bouton Street/Interstate 393 intersection.
About $775,000 worth of improvements to the city’s stormwater system and $655,000 to replace city highway, water and wastewater treatment and parks and recreation vehicles were among the $10 million worth of capital improvement projects passed. About $4.8 million of that coming from the general fund and bonded notes, according to budget documents.
There is also a separate $510,000 item proposed to replace fire department vehicles.
Councilors approved pushing $41,168 worth of impact fees to survey Whitney Road for a potential extension project back to 2020 after it had tentatively been moved to 2019.
Bouley said the city should meet with stakeholders in the project – which could include the Monitor, he said, based on the paper’s recent announcement that it would move printing operations from Sewalls Falls Road to the former Rivco building in Penacook – before moving forward.
Aspell received full marks from councilors Thursday night, who praised his leadership and budget-building skills before approving a 1 percent raise.
Evaluation of Aspell’s contract took place during a scheduled nonpublic session.
Aspell’s base pay has increased from $113,000 to $169,949 from 2006 to 2016 – a 45 percent increase.
His current contract also provides fringe benefits like a $100-a-month telephone allowance, a $400-a-month car allowance, and $75 a month to maintain his computer. On top of the regular contributions to his pension with the New Hampshire Retirement System, the city paid another $16,145 into a special city manager retirement account. He gets 30 sick days a year and a paid three-month sabbatical every three years. Those benefits, like his salary, have increased over the years.
Bouley said the only change that occurred to Aspell contract was the pay increase, which councilors supported unanimously.
“This person is in charge of a $65 million-dollar company,” said at-large Councilor Fred Keach. “I think his compensation is where it should be.”
The $65 million budget is a roughly 5.3 percent, or $4 million, increase from this year’s adopted budget of $61 million.
But when you compare the actual estimated amount spent during this fiscal year, the numbers are much closer. The current budget grew $2,055,520 over the last year, for a total estimated fiscal year 2018 budget of $63,865,387.
That increase was due to supplemental appropriations approved by the city council during the course of the year, mainly for one-time items that were funded from surplus or other revenue sources and most going to reserves or other one-time purchases, said deputy side manager of finance Brian LeBrun.
Big items that contributed to that increase were a $975,000 annual surplus appropriation to reserves; an addition $772,000 from a state highway block grant that went into the highway reserves fund, and $120,000 in street excavation fees as a transfer to the highway reserve fund.
Moving the $100,000 worth of non-meter parking ticket revenues back to the general fund brought the projected tax rate increase from 3.96 percent to 3.71 percent, a 25 cent reduction. For taxpayers, that means the property tax rate will increase from $9.84 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $10.09 per $1,000. That’s about an extra $62.5 a year for a home worth $250,000.
The budget goes into effect July 1.