Published: November 02, 2009 10:43 pm      

New Albany City Council OK’s masterplan, questions 2008 audit

Nearly $1.3 million in EDIT funds approved to fill general fund gap

The New Albany City Council passed a downtown masterplan, took

corrective action toward fixing its 2009 budget and listened to Mayor Doug England’s plan for juggling public safety expenses Monday.

Councilman Steve Price abstained and Council President Dan Coffey

voted against the masterplan, as the remaining seven members lent their approval to the blueprint for future development from the Sherman Minton Bridge to East Sixth Street.

Price said he wasn’t “against the dream” but abstained over concerns the city may be asked to help fund a multi-million dollar parking garage as part of the Scribner Place phase two masterplan.

The council approved a resolution — which required only one reading — stipulating Scribner Place phase two will be included in the city’s comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is a 20-year guide for planning in the city that was approved in 1999.

Scribner Place phase two wasn’t vetted publicly in a way that encouraged input from landowners it could potentially impact, Coffey argued. The masterplan was voted on and approved by the New Albany Redevelopment Commission and Plan Commission in public meetings prior to its acceptance by the council.

The resolution does not include any financial obligations by the city.

Part of the plan suggests a multi-use development be built on top of a parking garage to form a public plaza.

There has been talk the parking garage could be funded with city tax dollars, an idea Coffey said he objects to.



EDIT to supplement general fund

To bridge the gap between the 2009 general fund budget and the property tax receipts received by New Albany, the council approved using nearly $1.3 million in Economic Development Income Tax money that will mainly cover salaries in the police and fire departments.

The appropriation will be used for the general fund in addition to a prior $500,000 EDIT allowance that was approved for hiring five new police officers. City Controller Kay Garry also cut $110,000 from other departments served by the general fund, which will account for a nearly $1.8 million shortfall.

Councilmen Kevin Zurschmiede and Price voted against the appropriation, which passed 7-2 on first two readings. The final reading on the EDIT usage will likely be held at the next council meeting Nov. 19.



England: Use EDIT, pitch LOIT

The New Albany fire and police budgets will likely be $1.5 million short next year, England warned the council when addressing the body at the onset of the meeting.

The mayor talked previously about shutting down a fire house or possible layoffs to offset the gap, but suggested Monday the council use EDIT money for 2010 and take a hint from Clark County to fix the problem thereafter.

Last week, the Clark County Council passed the Local Option Income Tax, a move that England said could fund public safety for Floyd County without cutting services.

The Floyd County Council rejected a LOIT proposal last year, as the New Albany council does not have a vote on the matter. But England said the city council could lobby the county body to pass LOIT.

“There’s no other way out,” England said. “You can get rid of the entire [administration] and you won’t have $1.5 million.”

The remarks were part of a heated sequence between England and some members of the council who accused the administration of lack of accountability stemming from the city’s audit report for 2008.

The report, prepared by the State Board of Accounts, cited several instances of poor financial record keeping, including lack of receipts to justify travel expenses and a void of logs for cell phone and car use by city employees.

“It looks like there's no management,” Price said of the audit, which was the first review of the city books since England regained the mayoral seat last year.

England defended his administration’s oversight, and said shortfalls in the police and fire department are due to underfunding, not overspending.

He said public safety “has not been funded for the past two administrations.”

But England doesn’t support constantly using EDIT funds to supplement the fire and police departments, which is why he called on the council members to support LOIT.

Former council member Maury Goldberg said the council would limit its options by continuing to budget EDIT money for operating expenses. The 2010 budget calls for $875,000 of EDIT money to be used to supplement the sewer utility.

“It takes away whatever flexibility you have in the budget,” he said to the council during the public comment portion of the meeting.

As for the state audit, there have been discussions by the police and fire unions, as well as some council members, to ordering a second audit by a private firm to review the city’s books.

But Zurschmiede said he contacted the state board of accounts and was told such an audit would violate state statute, as it would require the city to pay for duplicate services.

Coffey disagreed, as he said the state audit was not comprehensive and thus a second, more complete audit would not violate that law. Coffey said he would check into the matter with the state board of accounts.

Police and fire union representatives have stated they may be willing to pay for a second audit so they know exactly what the financial state of the city is, and will be able to determine better how to shape their requests and contracts.

Zurschmiede said he was told by the state board of accounts their audit was complete, and another audit would only cover the same material already analyzed.