 Good evening and welcome to our continuing coverage of town meeting 2019 here at channel 17 We're happy to have you and we're going to be talking about the Winniske City budget and Ballot items and we are a couple of them are bond items So I've got them in there and we have Jesse Baker who is the city manager and Nicole mace who is the mayor So thank you both for being with us tonight. Thank you long land. I really appreciate it So we want to start we have a presentation for the budget and ballot items and I think it's always Good to read and understand what the strategic vision is of Winniske because you are really a very much of values driven community So why don't we start with that that is correct? So a few years ago the council decided to work with the community to be very very clear about where it was we were Hoping to get to as a city and so the statement is is up. I don't know if it's on the screen at the moment, but we're committed to being a affordable livable diverse community where the role of government is to foster and guide investments in economic vitality municipal infrastructure Housing and ensuring that are we have safe healthy and connected people. So those four areas have really been Areas that we've devoted a lot of time attention to and which our budget is intended to carry forward from what has been years of planning to into action and Can I just ask you just quickly? I don't want to use up your time because I know you've got a lot to say but just say How how does the budget process work and how do you get? Feedback from the community about how to inform the budget and these values So as Nicole said the strategic vision really guides our work. It's the community's value It's what we align our city work plans to So in the fall in October that we staff sit with the council and set some goals for our budget We then as staff go back and develop a budget. We do that in conjunction with our commissions as well So we have a pretty extensive commission structure where we have community voices at the table guiding how these values are reflected in our operations We then bring a proposed budget to the council at the beginning of December We go through a series of six or seven public meetings where we really dive into the weeds of our each department operations What's in the budget? What's proposed for new initiatives new projects? And then ultimately at the end of January the council decides what to put forward to the voters Got it. So what are the high high levels? What's the high level on the budget this year? I see it's budget Does a number of it's a critical budget for the city really we've had years of planning as I mentioned before and this budget both maintains current level of services and moves forward for large capital projects Two of which have been approved by the voters over the past year our main street revitalization project and the Myers Memorial Pool Reconstruction and two that are just critical infrastructure needs for the community water and street improvements to Hickok Street and New downtown parking infrastructure that we're going to go through during the presentation. All right And if I can just emphasize a little bit I think it's really important to acknowledge that the community has spent years going through a number of planning efforts many of Which have been covered here at CCTV from our main street project to our parking study our transportation master plan our community economic Development strategic plan and those plans have really rolled up into this call for action Our voters approved to bond votes last year And this is the budget that enables those projects to move forward as well as Hickok Street and our new parking garage So I think it's really important to reflect back that the community has spent years building towards these four votes And really laying a strong foundation to make sure that if if we receive approval from the voters were able to execute Relatively quickly. Yes. I want to just remind folks that if you have any questions We are at 8 6 2 3 9 6 6. We'd love to hear from you This is a good time for Winniski residents to weigh in with any questions They have on the budget or upcoming valid items for the March 5th boat So the Main Street revitalization project. How is that reflected in the budget? so this project This year in FY 20 is $155,000 engineering expense The total cost of this project is expected to be around $23 million and we've identified some federal sources in terms of low-interest loans and grants But this year we need to move forward. We're in the phase of Final design phase for the full project and so that will incur about $155,000 in expense Just as a reminder this bond vote was presented in May of last year was approved with 63 percent Approval and at that time we were projecting about a four to six percent tax rating impact for that project The annual debt cost for the engineering that we're going to incur in FY 20 If we rely solely on the property tax to fund that would be about a three cent increase to the tax rate Luckily, we don't have to rely solely on property tax revenues and we'll talk about that a little bit later But certainly the next council is really going to need to wrestle with The pace timing and scope of that project moving forward so that we can you know Manage that $23 million cost over the course of several years and what's the highlights of that Main Street revitalization? What's going to be different? Sure, so Right now the water and wastewater lines under the street are about 100 years old We're experiencing some pretty significant water breaks along those lines. So it's a full reconstruction Subgrade up so new water lines wastewater lines We're going to run the utilities along Main Street and then improve the streetscape So bump out the sidewalk allow for new street trees green space along the road And put in some bike improvements as well. So it's it's not where this circle is It's Main Street up towards the interstate exchange exactly It's the mile of road between the railroad bridge right north of the rotary to exit 16 All right, so trees and pools So the pool Has been closed for a few years now this past august voters approved Gave us bond authorization for up to 3.8 million dollars to support the reconstruction of this valued community asset On the estimated cost for this fiscal year is 300 thousand dollars We have we're excited to announce today. We received a grant from the state of vermont for close to 150 thousand dollars So we are really as a council been very committed to identifying Sources of revenue to offset the impact on the property tax We have a pool fundraising committee that has a goal of raising some funds to support the construction of the Slide and a shade structure. So we're really excited about the prospects for moving forward This spring with construction And this again this investment in the fy20 budget allows us to do that Excellent and then hickok street water improvements. That is a bond request for this ballot It is so one of the things we heard Through the previous planning efforts was our neighbors really wanted us to focus on the neighborhoods as well As improving the infrastructure in our core downtown and along our gateways So the hickok street area has needed some work for a long time needs some infrastructure improvements So this is primarily a water replacement project We're going to replace the water lines underneath the road and then repave the road It's it's focusing on one of our most important neighborhoods And doing so with no impact to the tax rate no increased impact to the tax rate We can fund this project slowly solely through our water rates our wastewater rates and our existing debt service Capacity within our general fund. So I get the I'm getting the impression that the infrastructure Underneath when is ski needs to be replaced As it does across the state. Yes, exactly. So you're you're planning to do it in sections as opposed to one big undertaking Okay, and um, you're going to talk. Are you going to talk about the impact on the water rates of this? We will and Few slides and the abnaki garage talk about that So, um, this is a new parking infrastructure that we're proposing for Abadaki way. Um, so the lot right now between ccv and river run in our core downtown It's currently used as a parking lot this new parking infrastructure will allow us to alleviate some of the parking pressures in our current garage therefore Creating some new space some new accessibility for our residents and visitors to Park close to the downtown the restaurant community, etc It also allows us to fully develop the tiff district So a couple of years ago. We had permitted a hotel At the bottom of the rotary in winewski that ran into some legal challenges Some concern about where that was situated and how the traffic flow would work So with this project, we will move that hotel development to lots what we call lot 7d The corner of winewski fallsway in abnaki way The hotel developer is on board with this will then subdivide the lot We will build our parking infrastructure on one side between ccv and the hotel And then the hotel will go on that prominent corner at the corner of abnaki way in winewski fallsway And we're really excited about we're excited to successfully wrap up the tiff district in five years We're on track to do that and that downtown master plan always envisioned a hotel in our downtown So I think this is really bringing the community's vision for our vibrant downtown community to fruition And this is the last lot that the city owns in that In the tiff district and it's currently being used for parking So we really believe that this project maximizes the potential of that space and meets a critical need for From our residents and business partners So so those are that's a general obligation bond It is so they're both general obligation bonds, but that bond will be paid solely through the parking fees Within our parking fund. So there again will be no impact to the taxpayers as a result of this construction Okay, so so when we talk about our level services budget So this budget obviously maintains current levels of services as we said earlier We had some assumptions built into that That lead to increases including a 2.8 cost of living adjustment increases in health insurance We also projected a modest increase in the grand list because The pace and scale of development can be difficult to predict. So we always air on the side of caution in terms of estimating new revenue Generated by development, but we're we're anticipating about 40 000 dollars in new property tax revenue for the general fund Which will offset the need to Raise property taxes and here's the the so now. So what does it mean to me slide? So this budget will result in a six cent tax rate increase for musky residents When you look at a 225 thousand dollar home, that's roughly 137 dollars a year an increase When we talked about The main street project and the pool project With our community at the time that the bond votes were being presented We had estimated somewhere between I think eight or 11 and 17 cent tax rate impact for those projects So, uh, how did we get to six cents with funding both of those projects and Maintaining our without cutting operations That is because we've identified some new revenues to offset the tax rate impact So council was really clear with the community that in order to move forward with Some of these major infrastructure projects that we were going to be pursuing every possible avenue to offset the Impact on the property tax So one option that we are presenting to the voters that they will need to approve on town meeting day Is the local option sales tax and a local option rooms meals and alcohol tax And that's something that brollington has Yes, yes Williston has yes Most other surrounding communities Have those okay. So we are essentially an outlier at the moment because we do not collect a local option sales tax We've worked with the business community And they seem on board with this as a way to ensure that You know when uski is a destination for many Vermonters and and non-vermonters and if we're going to be investing in Our water sewer and road infrastructure that This is a good way to ensure that those visitors contribute to those costs as well So on that slide, could you bring that slide up again kevin that There's a lot of information on that slide and it's a little hard to read So what's the most important part on this slide jesse that people should be looking at So I think the most important thing to think about when we're considering the local options tax Is it really is a way to diversify our revenue streams to bring revenue into the city? That's not solely property tax revenue not solely our residents But as nicole said as we become a destination How do our visitors contribute to that infrastructure that they're walking over driving over parking in etc I think it's really important to note that when uski right now is in a donut hole We are surrounded by other communities that already Benefit from this diversified revenue stream. So how do we Capitalize on that and bring those revenues into the city The council has been very clear that these new revenues. We're projecting about 277,000 in the first year collected go solely to capital So we're not Tapping that revenue resource to pay for operations. It's solely going to our increased cost for main street and the pool So the sales tax is projected to raise 144,000 and the rooms and meals Is the meals and alcohol is projected to raise about 133,000 correct And I think it's important to note that the sales tax does not apply to essential items like food clothing medical items Shoes etc. That was also really important. Well, you can't buy those things in winiski. Can you Buy a few things. Well, you know what I mean? I mean winiski is primarily A rooms and meals and We have some clothing stores that are pretty fantastic Yes, yes, we do Corrected the block building. Yeah, and it's actually projected that the sales tax will bring in more revenue than the rooms and meals and alcohol tax That's that what the state data shows us Because we don't have a hotel yet. We don't have a hotel yet. Are you gonna have a supermarket soon? Well, we have commodities in our downtown So we we've achieved that for the downtown I think from a large-scale supermarket perspective The market is very hard to make work in winiski because shaws is you know an eighth of a mile from our border. Yeah, got it. Okay So in terms of the water projects we um We do we have identified new revenue through increases to the water and sewer rates. Um, so we're Presenting a two and a half percent. We've approved actually this council two and a half percent increase to the water rate And a three percent increase to the sewer rate Taken together that'll have a collective impact of around 32 dollars a year and an increase If we go to the next slide, you'll see again, it's a little hard to read But you can see our rate history um for water and wastewater rates Have not increased those rates since 2012 and even with these increases We're about in the middle of the pack in terms of our neighboring communities This council if you can see the chart you'll see some years We had an 18 percent 19 percent increase and then years of no increase So I think the attitude now is the the better approach to ensure we're you know having Putting money aside for these capital these infrastructure needs that that we now have a plan to address that we would see regular moderate increases On an annual basis rather than nothing for years and then a spike Got it. Okay, and you're not part of this the Champlain water district or are you we are yes, and so how do these water rates Tie into the Champlain water district So the communities that are part of the Champlain water district buy wholesale water from the district and then we operate the distribution system So we buy the water that we manage the pipes under the streets We manage obviously the wastewater treatment plant where the water ultimately goes And the rates we charge cover both our wholesale purchase cost as well as our operation and capital cost to run the distribution system Are you seeing any increases from them for the cost of what they provide? They've made a small increase this year But again along the lines of nicole as nicole was just saying In order to stay up to date and sustainable with the cost of operations So a household's looking at a combined Property tax and water rate tax of about 170 thousand dollars give or take if their house is worth about 250 170 dollars. Yeah Yeah, okay, great. So you've got this slide here past tax rate increases or lower than inflation Yeah, so um, this is just to um, you know, I think most wanouski Voters will see a six percent increase and say well, that's higher than we've seen And so we just wanted to remind folks that this was intentional So for the past five years Council and the city manager's office worked really hard To hold the the line on increases and spending and really try to keep them at or below Inflation and as I said earlier the water and wastewater rates have not increased since 2012 because we knew we were coming into these Critical infrastructure needs and that we would need to be asking our taxpayers to support these investments. So All of that is intended to again We're excited about the fact that we we were able to present this budget with a six cent increase And move forward with main street and the pool And maintain high Levels of service to our to our residents. I think you know when you when we thought about a potential 11 to 18 percent increase To fund just main street and the pool to be able to come back to our voters and say Um, the final budget in this slide has more detail in terms of the split, but um, when you break out the sixth sense 2.4 Percent of that is for operations and then the the remainder is for main street and the pool. So kudos to to jesse and her team for really being thoughtful and creative about ways to diversify the revenue to to make sure we can actually move forward on the projects but Not place the entire burden for doing so on the property tax So for folks who might have just joined us jesse, would you just recap for us? Sure So this the budget items the four different ballot items We will be asking the voters to vote on on town meeting day really Bring to fruition what we've already heard from them. They want main street to be revitalized They want the pool to be reconstructed They want us to invest in our neighborhood infrastructure And they want us to successfully wrap up our tiff district This this budget while a six percent increase a six cent property tax increase As you said a hundred and seventy dollar impact for the average property tax paying family over the year Really lets us get to that place where we can implement We've been talking and planning and talking about community values and and visioning for our community for many years This lets us put shovels in the ground and get these things to fruition for our residents and our neighbors All right, olive, would you like to come and remind everybody when to come and vote? Can I just say one thing this last slide talks about the four? Questions that will be on the ballot box The first is the prove the amount to be raised by property taxes The second is to approve the bond vote for hickok street The third is the bond vote for the abnaki garage and the fourth is a one percent local option Tax on sale sales and rooms meals and alcohol We need four yes votes in order to move forward with this community vision For example, if the local option sales tax fails and then we really need to rethink the entire budget Because so much of what is included in the budget relies on that additional revenue moving forward So really appreciate the opportunity. It's a complicated budget The pieces fit together like a puzzle and so we're hopeful that we do see Four yes votes when folks come to vote and when do they do that olive? Tuesday March 2019 from 7 a.m to 7 p.m At the senior center at the senior center, that's right And um, we can't say vote early and often but we do want you to come and vote And not to forget that election day town meeting day is march 5th So thanks so much for watching and thank you so much for presenting the winiski budget and bellions Jesse Baker and Nicole mace. Jesse Baker is the city manager. Nicole mace is the mayor of winiski and olive is Our co-host here. So thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. I'm glad