 City of Essex Junction annual meeting six o'clock. So we'll get started on the moderator for your for this meeting today and First I'd like to do some Get the introductions going and so I'm going to introduce the City Council president Raj Chala and he'll introduce other members of the council and so I'm Raj Chala city council president for the city of Essex Junction Thank you for joining us tonight I'd like to introduce the city council Council, maybe you can wave in your zoom window vice president Amber Tebow Marcus Serta our clerk Andrew Brown and Elaine Haney and we have I think don't have Everybody in view here, but city department heads are here with us to this evening Regina Mahoney is our city manager Colleen Dwyer is our HR director Chris Caborio is our fire chief Police chief Ron Hogue the Essex police department Wendy Hisco our light our director of libraries Rick Jones public works Karen Lemna our assessor from the town of Essex Brad Luck director of EGRP Chelsea Mandigo wastewater department She's our water quality superintendent Susan McNamara Hill our clerk and treasurer Jess Morris director of finance Ashley Snellenberger communications and strategic initiatives director and Chris Uen our community development director I don't see any of our representatives on the call right now. So I'm I will Call them out if they show up tonight. So thanks for joining us. All right. Thank you Raj So this meeting is an informational meeting and as such we are not going to have motions or voting All all the motion all the voting will take place by Australian ballot, which we'll talk about later in the meeting So today is the opportunity to go over each of the articles that will be voting on next Tuesday on the 9th or early if you're voting your ballot ahead of time and give the city council a chance to Give a quick overview of each article and then for people to ask questions So all the questions you'll want to raise your hand the button at the bottom of the zoom and we'll just take people in order and So all the questions will go through me and I'll direct them over to the city council president and to whoever might be needed to answer Answer your question at that point in time and then We're all going to be you know, we might all have different opinions and such and we're all going to be respectful to each other As we ask questions, that's always important that we're all a community working together And one thing I wanted to read just based on some past events So the city council previously had a meeting disrupted by any Semitic and racist hate speech The city council does not tolerate such actions and strongly condemns them Well, it may not always be possible to prevent hate speech from occurring during public comments Council will continue to take measures to make it more difficult to express such views. So again Trying to be all respectful and and friendly here. So all right With that Let's get into the part of the meeting so the first article is article one and It is read this way shall the voters approve an annual general fund budget in the amount of 12,000,004,124 Dollars for fiscal year July 1 2024 to June 30 2025 11,110,000 and 346 dollars of which is to be levied in taxes against the city grand list So that is the article and Raj got a presentation on the screen here for you to take people through Great. Thanks, Steve So this is the second budget for the city. We're currently in our first full city budget about nine months in Primary expense increases in this budget include salary and health insurance rate increases The addition of a new x76 childcare tax The transition from part-time to full-time of a finance billion coordinator and Increases in our general liability property and casualty insurance an increase to our IT contract and Costs associated with setting up a stormwater utility This budget is a 5% increase from FY 24 the current year And the impact on a home assessed at $280,000 is 170 $170 increase over your property tax bill from last year This moves the general fund tax rate 6.6% which is a six point six so excuse me Little over a six cent increase And again repeating that the impact on an average Assessed home of $208,000 is $170 this good Property tax revenue makes up 91% of I'm sorry property taxes make up 91% of the Revenues for the city budget global Foundry's property is 6% of that number City businesses represent 11% of property tax revenues and miscellaneous revenues from Community development fees and the clerk's office make up the remaining 9% This is a rather busy pie chart It's intended to point out the big players in the budget this year first and foremost among them health and human services which are Essex rescue and our contract with Essex police This is a little over three million dollars and 25% of our budget The next largest expenditure By department is our streets department at 13% our recreation department at 9% and the Browning library at 8% Okay, I am gonna stop sharing the slides there Steve because We next go on to the perfect If I can get my mouse to the right start Well, you can leave them shared for now case there's a specific question on one of the pages So does anyone in the audience Would anyone like to ask questions on Article one in the budget and you can hit the raise hand button at the bottom of the screen, okay I'm not seeing any questions So let's go on to article two Shell the voters of the city of Essex Junction set the property tax exemption for disabled veterans at $40,000 as allowed in state statue Set exemption to remain in effect for future taxable years until amended or repealed by the voters All right Anything you'd like to say on this rock? Sure, this is Something that was in place when we were part of the town We had as a community voted to have this level at $40,000 and now that we're a city We need to take this step to raise it from the base Potential $10,000 and then I'll say that this is a Reduction in the assessed value not in the tax bill. So this discount Available to qualified disabled veterans would come off of their assessed value of their home $40,000 property tax exemption. I'm sorry got that part all clear Veterans do need to apply for this program and This is something the community has been Participating in for for quite some time So we're this is largely a housekeeping measure to continue what we've been used to doing in the past years Okay, thank you. Does anyone have any questions on article two and this exemption? Okay, I'm not seeing any questions. So I'm going to move on to article three Shell the voters approve extending the one cent capital improvement tax also known as the economic development tax as Established in 2016 to be reconsidered at annual meeting in 2027 Right Go ahead, Roch Sure, as you mentioned, this was first started in 2016. This extension will take us for three years to FY 26 This fund has been used for All kinds of things in the community public parking improvements Signage bike racks We are currently planning on using the balance and future funds for our match To a rather large federal grant to renovate the Amtrak station in town as well as amenities such as I think benches bike racks charging stations for the soon-to-be completed crescent connector project The impact of this on an in-home value to two hundred and eight thousand dollars is twenty eight dollars a year if this is approved Okay Thank you. Does anyone have questions on article three and the one cent capital improvement tax? All right, lots of questions tonight So we're going to move on to article four So shall the voters approve holding the 2025 annual meeting on Tuesday April 8th 2025 at which time the voters shall vote by Australian ballot for the election of officers the voting on the city budget and any other business Included in the warning for the meeting Go ahead, Raj So we've done this every year. We this time of year we vote on the date to hold our meeting the following year Last election last April we all approved for charter changes that have since been signed by the governor They were signed by the governor after We needed to warn this election. So we are back in the position of Participating in the selection now by voting on the date for next year In subsequent years the city council will decide based on input in the calendar When to set voting For the subsequent April for the subsequent voting day which could be April it could be time meeting day in March But this year this is where we are right now having to set the date by ballot Okay Thank you for that description Does anyone have question on article four and when we're holding the annual meeting at 2020 So let's move on to article five Which is to elect city officers required by law Including moderator two city council members and two library trustees So as a reminder for article five The voting is by australian ballot, which we've mailed. I believe we've mailed one out to everyone ahead of time Which people can turn in To the clerk's office to the polling location or to Work to mail Or just vote in person All those options exist the voting in person will be tuesday from seven to seven seven a.m To seven p.m at the champlain valley exposition in the blue ribbon billion 105 pearl street And if you have any questions on that you can certainly contact the city clerk And then the those running for officers For those slots so for moderator. It's a one-year term And i'm the only person on the ballot and you can write in For city council, there's two positions for a three-year term and there's four people Plus right in but we have a gton codka Timothy miller jason struthers and amber tibault On the ballot for that For library trustee three-year term We have caron hergen schmeyer And also the ability to write in And then for library trustee five-year term. We have no name on the ballot, but you can write in someone for that position So that is um The details about article five Does anybody have any questions about logistics on article five? Okay We're doing real well tonight Okay, i'm going to stop sharing Okay, so uh the next thing up Um Is a public to be heard And i know we had a couple things the city council wanted to share first and then people can Talk about anything on their mind regarding Business in the city of s6 junction so uh raj did you want to go first on that and introduce Well, I just want to remind folks. I think you you've already took uh You already kind of gave the information for annual meeting and voting next tuesday Um Folks should have received a ballot in the mail it's getting uh to the point where It might be a little tricky to put your ballot back in the mail at this point and better to Bring it to to lincoln and either bring it into building or leave it in our drop box Uh near the entrance door You can also bring it to the cve On tuesday april 9th between 7 a.m. And 7 p.m Um Ashley selenberger can give us an update on the strategic planning process we've been under what we've had underway Sure, we are in the final stages of our strategic plan and we are asking residents to give us um some feedback We have our second stakeholder survey, which is currently live right now and it will be available till april the 12th So please go out and take that survey you can go to our website and find the link to the survey And we hope to get your responses from that and then we will share the final report to the city council towards the end of may Thank you Thank you, ash And one more thing, um, I don't believe councillor brown is with us this evening I think he had a conflict, but I just wanted to recognize his service to the community Um I've prepared something I can I can read so forgive me because I'll probably forget something if I don't read it um Andrew brown was first elected to the village trustees in april 2012 He began his term as chair of the newly formed capital review committee and he served on that board for six years Looking back to 2012's annual meeting. Um, that meeting featured a presentation and discussion Regarding the newly proposed crescent connector project um, that project will be completed this fall it Featured exploration of emerged services the beginnings of the conversations around consolidating services with the town And it as well as the beginning of the heart and soul effort with a presentation by summa corbec There were also discussions of the rent beginnings of the renovation for the amtrak station some of which have been completed Most of those renovations will be coming in the next Year or two we hope Um Andrew Andrew served as a trustee and counselor for 12 years Was elected trustee president in 2019 and was the city's first council president He led the board through coven Our successful push for independence and the hiring of our city's first municipal manager virginia mahogany I deeply appreciate andrew's patience and mentorship. We had some serious issues to contend with and separation advantage There were disagreements and I appreciate the regardless of the result of those disagreements respect and friendship remained We will miss his deep knowledge of municipal budgeting his insight Institutional knowledge of the community and most of all the sense of humor We look forward to honoring him later this month. Um At a future city council meeting That's it steve. All right. Thank you rush And certainly congratulations to andrew brown on his time serving the city Um, all right. Is there any anyone that would like to bring up any questions about anything dealing with the city of s extraction Andy sent up. You've got your hand up. So unmute and go ahead Hi, um back when we voted to have these information meetings It was before the days of zoom and I don't think any of us really expected that we would be watching This meeting on a device not getting together in person. Um, you know continuing our Building a share of feeling of community Is there any way that we can bring a live meeting back again? The town does it and it just seems So good to have everybody together the different organizations In the town show up at that meeting like we used to have and It's a good way to to see people talk to people Yeah, thank you for your concern. Andy. Um, rosh. Did you want to respond? Sure I agree andy and I we we moved that meeting up for a couple reasons We had that meeting. I believe it was january 10th. I don't have that date right in front of me With a brunch Uh and a presentation of the budget in its draft form And one of the biggest reasons we did it then Was it provided an opportunity to present the work we've done to date on that budget? Take input from the community so that we still had time to make changes to it And take that input and put it to use so Because we're voting by austrian ballot now We knew that when we did this meeting people would have already voted And the budget would have been set and the opportunity to have input on a draft budget while it could still be changed would have been over So we opted to do ours early When we had a decent draft document to present to the community So that's that's sort of where we're at. We are I think very open to Modifying this process. Um, but in the age of I'll say in the age of mail ballots and And voting by voting by ballot instead of in person at annual meeting Where where we can still change the budget Um, we're still trying to figure out how the community can have get together And have input in a setting like we're used to To offer ideas on changes to the budget or or thoughts so that's sort of we ended up here Are we going to continue those meetings? I believe we are and as I say, you know, well, we're constantly looking at How things are working and and is there an improvement to be made there? Um Yeah Andy I'll just add in briefly that that meeting that roge is referring to Was a moderated meeting So it kind of had the look and feel of the type of meeting we used to have other than you weren't actually voting on anything but I thought that was going to be specifically on You know going over the budget and Going that was strategic planning. I didn't know it was going to be an open type of meeting And you know, I'm looking here and I see 23 participants the bulk of which Our city council and staff Um, it's not bringing the community in unfortunately That's actually precisely why we wanted to do this in january. Um, where we had far far more Uh folks show up. Um I think, um Many have already voted including myself. Um, you know, so we're Hoping to build on the Meeting we had this year. Um, when we do it again next year Thought we had a pretty good turnout. We didn't have the kind of turnout that we would have in a On a wednesday night at the high school years ago But we're working on that And It didn't include a meal one of the so I think we're You know, we're we're trying to trying to get the participation while accommodating statute which this meeting does And um Like I said earlier make sure folks have an opportunity to make comments on the budget while it can still be changed While those comments and while that input can still be put to use Understood. Thank you Thank you, andy, uh for your for your question Other Questions or comments anyone would like to make? Okay Well any last chance? You know Steve we uh, we glossed over or something on the very first slide of the presentation for today, which which was kind of cool And not a lot of members of the public, but they might enjoy this But I think staff will also enjoy seeing this or get a little kick out of it I don't know. Regina if you can share the first. Oh, yeah, I remember now. Yeah, we flipped through it. Yeah, let's bring that up Um Since we're through the business we can might as well talk about this So this um document from 1978 was found by a resident when they were going through their Parents home Are you bringing that up Regina? I can't remember who shared the first time You're muted Uh, sorry. Okay. Let me try it again. It's been I know I'm calling an audible here Let me do this How about now? Nope Nothing No Uh Sorry Well, at least it's just for this right? I mean It's making me crazy because once I turn to presentation slide I everything I can't see anything Uh There we go. It's coming up. There we go. Perfect So this is a document the village sent out to residents on the potential savings They would see from a separation in uh, november of 1978 One of my favorite lines in this. I don't know if you can see it. It's kind of in the middle um According to our computer I guess computers at that point were Pretty dang novel I think if you scroll down First of all, the assessment blew my mind at $35,000, but um, the budget was all of um 100 and 159 thousand This has been going on a long time Uh, the separation Want me to go to the next slide? Yeah, sure Did it change? Yes, yep. Okay Yeah, so we just thought folks would get a kick out of uh Seeing how long this process has played out Um And what the numbers were from 1978 Yeah, very nice And that is all I have Yep, nice little bit of history. All right Anybody have anything else to share? Looks like uh, we can uh Entertain a motion to adjourn the uh annual informational meeting at 628 So moved Second right All right. Thank you everybody