The Finance Committee met 12/09/2024. It was a brief meeting lasting only 8 minutes during which the committee unanimously approved all action items and briefly discussed one information item.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
ITEM 24-1569: REQUEST TO APPROVE THE RELOCATION ORDER FOR THE LAWE STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT FROM COLLEGE AVENUE TO SPRING STREET – Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked if this was eminent domain purchases of land in order to widen the street. Deputy Director of Public Works Pete Neuberger confirmed that they were going to be widening the street and that these purchases were of narrow strips of land along the frontage of several properties to facilitate that widening.
ITEM 24-1570: REQUEST TO APPROVE CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR BMC ARPA GRANT ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT – Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland asked what the deadline was for using American Recovery Plan Act dollars. Finance Director Jeri Ohman responded that the deadline to use up the money was 12/31/2026 and that they wanted to extend the contract with BMC to that date so that BMC could provide help and guidance throughout the ARPA grant process.
Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) asked to confirm that the contract extension would not increase the cost. Director Ohman confirmed that it only changed the date the contract ended.
ITEM 24-1571: REQUEST TO APPROVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR LUMBINI ESTATES (SAKET LLC) – Alderperson Hartzheim asked if there was anything substantially different about this particular contract than contracts the city had entered into with developers in the past. Director of Public Works Laura Jungwirth said that in this contract the city had asked for a financial guarantee from the developer for the initial utility infrastructure and temporary pavement surface. Other than that, the rest of the contract was status quo.
ITEM 24-1572: REQUEST TO APPROVE WRITE OFF OF $49,609.68 OF ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE INVOICES AND $23,407.02 OF PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES (OUTSTANDING OVER ONE YEAR) – Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) said that she thought they were reaching the point where personal property taxes were no longer going to be a thing in Wisconsin. She wanted to know if this was the last set of write-offs that would include personal property taxes. Director Ohman said that the last set would be on next year’s list and then after that it would stop.
Alderperson Hartzheim asked if the city had had any success in trying to collect on these outstanding bills that had been written off. Director Ohman said that eventhough they had been written off the books for accounting purposes, the city did still try to collect on them, and “We actually have been receiving more funding coming in from our collection efforts.”
Alderperson Hartzheim asked if it was possible to try to collect on debts owed by organizations. Director Ohman said that it depended on the organization. She believed that if an entity was a sole proprietorship the city could follow through with collections.
24-1573: APPROVED BUDGET ADJUSTEMENTS – As an information item, the committee reviewed a number of library budget adjustments of nominal amounts that had been approved by the Finance Director. One of those adjustments was for $1,272 “To record City of Madison – Children’s Devices Reimbursement”. Alderperson Harzheim asked, “I’m trying to understand how the City of Madison comes into play with the City of Appleton.” Director Ohman did not have details on the specifics, but she said a lot of the budget adjustments were for donations and funding sources that the city was not expecting when they put the budget together.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1244667&GUID=0023C9C2-13F5-4CBD-984E-29AE23935A95
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