COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS - - - Room 401, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday, October 18, 2001 9:25 a.m. - - - BILL 010542 - An Ordinance authorizing transfers for Fiscal Year 2002 from the General Fund, the Director of Finance -- Provisions for Other Grants to the General Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions. BILL 010569 - An Ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2002 within the General Fund from certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions to certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI, Chair COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN WILSON W. GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 (215) 561-2220 I N D E X BILLS 010542, 010569 PAGE ROBERT DUBOW, Budget Director .............. MARGARET TARTAGLIONE, City Commissioner's Office ................................ 3 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569
Good morning. The Committee on Appropriations is now in session. Will the Clerk please read the bills?
Bill No. 010542, an ordinance authorizing transfers for Fiscal Year 2002 from the General Fund, the Director of Finance -- Provisions for other grants to the General Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions. And Bill No. 010569, an ordinance 12 authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2002 within the General Fund from certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions to certain or all city offices, departments, boards and commissions.
Is someone from the Administration here to testify? Good morning.
Good morning. My name is Rob Dubow. I'm the City Budget Director and I'm here to provide testimony on both proposed ordinances. I'll start with Bill No. 010542, which makes FY 2002 budget appropriation transfers from the Grants Fund to the General Fund. The bill 4 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 transfers $5 million to allow the Finance Director to invest in community development financial institutions. The bill will allow the Administration to implement the investment strategies outlined in Bill No. 000546 which was passed last year by City Council. The community development financial institutions will make low interest loans to local businesses and community development corporations, promoting housing and economic development in the City's neighborhoods. Investing in community development financial institutions is particularly attractive because they highly leverage their loans and grants. I hope these comments have been helpful in describing the ordinance before you. And I respectfully request your favorable consideration of the bill. Do you want me to go to the other ordinance?
Bill No. 010569 includes five transfers, four of which would produce a net change in departmental appropriations and one that 5 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 would transfer appropriations between classes within the City Commissioner's budget but would not change the Commissioner's total appropriation. The requested transfers total 2.1 million in increased funding and would fulfill commitments made by the Administration to City Council during Council's hearings on the FY02 budget. During those hearings, Council asked the Administration to increase funding for the Defender Association, the Sheriff's Office, and the Register of Wills. In addition, Council asked the Administration to work with the City Commissioners to assure that it had sufficient funding to provide staffing for new voting machines. The increased funding for the Defender Association would total about 1.6 million and would cover increases in the starting salaries for attorneys to ensure parity with the District Attorney's Office, salaries for all existing positions in the Defender Association, and moving expenses. In order to make that increased payment, the City will need an increased Class 200 appropriation for the Finance Department which funds the Association's contract with the City. 6 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 The increased funding for the Sheriff's Office would total $471,632 and would cover the cost of hiring additional deputy sheriffs to provide 5 security at both traffic court and family court. 6 The increased funding for the Register 7 of Wills would total $40,000 and would fund raises 8 for 10 deputies and attorneys who had not received 9 salary increases in over three years. 10 These increases in appropriation are 11 made possible through savings of 2.1 million in 12 appropriations for the Department of Revenue-Sinking 13 Fund resulting from lower than projected interest 14 rates on short-term borrowing. As I mentioned earlier, the Commissioner's transfer would not require an increase in total appropriations. Instead, the ordinance requests an internal transfer of $225,000 from Class 200 to Class 100 to allow the Commissioners to hire personnel to operate the new electronic voting machines that will be used in the spring primary. The additional personnel costs will be offset by savings on maintenance of the machines that are being replaced. I hope these comments have been helpful. 7 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 And on behalf of the Administration, I respectfully request your favorable consideration this bill. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have.
Thank you very much. In regards to all the departments here, rather than bring them up, you have the information that we can put in the record?
Can you explain to the Committee what the CDFI is and what Bill 12 010542 means in terms that we can understand?
The community development financial institutions make loans and grants to small businesses and communities. What this bill 16 will allow us to do is have the Finance Director give money to those funds so that they can in turn help local businesses. And the way these work are the businesses eventually repay the loans, so in the end, we should be getting this money back.
Thank you. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam 8 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 Chair. Mr. Dubow, on the other bill I notice from the testimony we're now anticipating the new voting machines in for use in the spring primary.
Machines have actually been constructed and purchased? Can you give us a little more information about both delivery as well as how the public is going to know and get educated about these machines?
I'm going to ask the City Commissioner to come up to answer those questions.
As of today, there's 2500 new machines already arrived in the new 9 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 warehouse. We are in between two warehouses trying to get the November election on the old machines, so that's why we need to hire new people because by January -- I think it's January 4th or January 5th -- we would like to bring the machines to Council to demonstrate them.
Commissioner, if I could just make one additional request. A couple of us in our other capacities, there was a discussion about this at a ward meeting recently, and the committee people were inquiring as to what would happen leading up to the use of the new machines and how they and members of the public, Board of Elections, and just kind of everyone in general will get to have contact with these machines and know what they look like and how to use them.
What we're going to do, we're going into senior citizens homes, organizations, and both republican and democratic board meetings. We're going to bring the machines 10 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 and demonstrate them. And then what we're going to do, try to get about different places where we 4 can have the judges and the election boards. And 5 the reason we're waiting until after the November 6 election so people don't get confused. And we're 7 going to try to have them near departments like in 8 the malls and all that to demonstrate. So we're 9 gearing up and it's very busy between the new 10 machines coming in and the old machines getting ready because next week our machines start to get shipped out into poling places.
Okay. Thank you very, very much. I'm very excited to hear that. Thanks for the information.
No, that was all into 11 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569 the contract what -- I don't know, somebody -- I don't know what happened, but that was all in when we bid for the contract, who gets rid of them. The City has nothing to do with them.
Well, places like Florida that had problems. (Laughter.)
You want to share anything else with us today, Mr. Dubow?
Yes. And we also have one amendment to propose of the on Bill No. 010542, we'd like to change the 2 from 9.2 to 2.38 which would actually put it in the General Fund in the Director of Finance's Officer. And we'd like to ask for suspension of the rules for each ordinance. 12 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - 010542, 010569
I believe that concludes our hearing on appropriations. - - - 13 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC MEETING COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS - - - Thursday, October 18, 2001 - - - Public Meeting conducted by the Committee on Appropriations, held in Room 401, City Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the above date, to consider action on the following: BILLS 010542, 010569 - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI, Chair COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN WILSON W. GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ - - - 14 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - PUBLIC MEETING
Now we'll go into our public meeting. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that Bill No. 010542 be amended such that in the 2 section we delete the number 9.2, Director of Finance, and replace that with the number 2.38 for Director of Finance. (Duly seconded.)
Therefore, Bill 18 No. 010542 will be reported out of this committee, as amended, with the suspension of rules as permit first reading at the next Session of Council -- I'm a little head of myself. We just amended it. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you. Madam Chair I move that Bill No. 010542, as amended, be reported out of this committee with a favorable 15 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - PUBLIC MEETING recommendation, a further recommendation that the Rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session. (Duly seconded.)
Therefore, Bill 13 No. 010542 will be reported out of this committee, as amended, with a suspension of rules so as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 010569 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation, a further recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session. (Duly seconded.)
All those in favor? 16 10/18/01 - APPROPRIATIONS - PUBLIC MEETING (Aye.)
Therefore, Bill 7 010569 will be reported out of this committee with a suspension of rules so as to permit first the reading at the next Session of Council. I thank you all very much. - - - 17 C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of October 18, 2001, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS ___________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR and Notary Public