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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 22,2011 Page 15 Mayor Roe noted the difficulty in predicting income to the Forfeiture Fund; and asked Chief Mathwig to address how those funds were used or how they were ap- plied; whether for operational costs or special purchases. Chief Mathwig advised that the funds were used for day-to-day costs, as well as special purchases. Chief Mathwig noted that the funds were used to purchase small handheld devices, which hadn't been paid from tax levy funds for at least ten (10) years; Attorney General fees paid to the City Attorney were paid from that fund; new laptops had been purchased from drug forfeiture funds; and office chairs that received heavy use by officers and their heavy gear, came from those funds, negating funding through the CIP for a number of years. Fire Chief Tim O'Neill Chief O'Neill noted that the majority of the 2012 cuts were not actually cuts, but due to reinventing the Fire Department; and how pensions were funded, transfer- ring that funding from the Relief Association to PERA for part-time firefighters. Chief O'Neill advised that it was the department's hope to retain that pension re- duction moving forward; and advised that two (2) firefighter positions were elim- inated by transitioning them into one (1) battalion chief position. Echoing the comments of Chief Mathwig, Chief O'Neill noted the need to fund the CIP as proposed, allowing the department to sustain its equipment, apparatus and build- ings. If the new fire station did not move forward, Chief O'Neill opined that this would create some major maintenance issues for the City and its fire department to address. In future budgets beyond 2011 and 2012, Chief O'Neill asked that consideration be given to reviewing the hourly wages of part-time firefighters, currently averag- ing $13.42 per hour and no longer consistent with a lot of similar levels in the community; with starting part-time firefighter wages currently at $9.00 per hour. Community Development Director Patrick Trudgeon Mayor Roe clarified that this department was one of the City's non tax-supported departments. Mr. Trudgeon concurred, noting that the majority of the funds were fee sported or u:per based; with the only tax-supported fund being that of code enforcement, a shift made by the City Council last year, and in expressing his appreciation to the City Council for that action, advised that this allowed his department to have a more consistent and stable budget. Mr. Trudgeon noted that the department had cut one (1) position last year; and further noted that the proposed cuts didn't affect his department except the addi- tional staff time required to fulfill the duties handled by those potential cuts to other positions. As an example, Mr. Trudgeon advised that restoring the Recep- tionist duties it had helped his staff; since when that position was part-time, that