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Finance Commission Minutes <br />September 10, 2019 <br />Page 6 of 12 <br /> <br /> <br />City Manager Trudgeon indicated the Finance Commission may want to submit guidance or <br />recommendation to the city Council regarding the City Manager’s recommended budget & tax <br />levy. He reviewed the information with the Commission. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murray asked how the city is doing on finding a new Finance Director. <br /> <br />Mr. Trudgeon indicated the city is actively reviewing possible candidates and if things go as <br />planned there will be a new Finance Director in place by the beginning of December. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murray thought that Info and Tech should be separated out from under the <br />Finance Department and wondered if that has been done. <br /> <br />Mr. Trudgeon explained the Metro INET is the consortium that is operated by the city and <br />provides services to forty plus local government entities. He indicated he did not have a specific <br />plan at this point but is working on it. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murray indicated a previous member of the Finance Commission brought up <br />some security and liability issues with the technology and asked if that is going to be considered. <br /> <br />Mr. Trudgeon indicated it will be. One of the things the city will need is a dedicated network <br />security specialist. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murray noted on page 6 of the budget Attachment A, he noticed there will be four <br />million dollars in Capital Expenditures under Water, Sewer and Storm and he thought the sewer <br />lines are being replaced on an ongoing basis and he wondered if that program is coming to an <br />end at some point. <br /> <br />Mr. Trudgeon did not think the program is going to be ended. He explained every year the city <br />replaces so many linear feet of sewer. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murray thought this was a three- or four-year program and he wondered if this <br />was going to drop off or drop down significantly in a year or two. <br /> <br />Mr. Trudgeon hoped it will. He noted the city was in a major reinvestment and does not know <br />what the timeframe is, and the city Engineers have also looked to extending the life by lining the <br />sewers. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murray asked if the cost of living increase of three percent was worked into the <br />budget and wondered if that was negotiated. <br /> <br />Mr. Trudgeon explained the city has union and non-union employees. There are five unions and <br />the majority of the unions have negotiated a three percent COLA, cost of living increase, for this <br />year and future years with a three-year contract. The city does try, the best it can, to match the <br /> <br />