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who want to operate in Paris. City employees in the Community Development <br />Deparhnent have worked hard and obtained the necessary certificates/licenses to provide <br />plan review and inspection services. In other changes, I have made one part time Police <br />clerical position full time and moved the Parks Supervisor to the long vacated Parks <br />Superintendent position and eliminated the Parks Supervisor position. This supervisor has <br />been performing the duties of this vacated position. I have also eliminated the disparity <br />between the Street Superintendent and the Water Distribution Superintendent pay grades. <br />Finally, I have placed the Human Resources Officer in Finance Office budget. Given the <br />interdependency of human resources and payroll & benefits, this is the only operationally <br />practical place for this position to be located. <br />Capital Projects Fund & <br />Equipment Replacement Fund <br />Historically, money for the Capital Projects Fund and Equipment Replacement Fund has come <br />from General Fund reserves. In practice, money should also come from the Water & Sewer Fund <br />reserves for water and sewer capital expenditures. In this budget reserve money from both the <br />General Fund reserve and Water & Sewer reserve are transferred to the Capital Projects Fund <br />and Equipment Replacement Fund to pay for non-reoccuring or infrequently occurring capital <br />items. Water & Sewer reserves are also replacing funds used for earlier water and sewer related <br />projects originally funded by General Fund reserves. <br />Concluding Comments <br />Several looming fiscal issues must eventually be addressed. There are street, sidewalk, and <br />drainage projects that need to be under taken. The City should consider establishing a drainage <br />district to help pay for these costs. Rehabilitation and renovation of city facilities is also needed, <br />City Hall being a good example. Just walk around the building and view its crumbling fagade. <br />The City's water and wastewater infrastructure (including distribution, collection, and treatment) <br />needs rehabilitation and improvement. The wastewater treatmenf plant master plan alone calls <br />for $35-40 million to replace the existing plant. Deteriorating water and wastewater <br />infrastructure present a significant challenge to our utility rate structure. However, beginning <br />with the 2012-13 fiscal year, the City will have a drop in its water & sewer debt payments of <br />approximately 2.2 million dollars per year. Therein lays our opportunity to seriously address this <br />issue. <br />City government is the form of government that has the widest ranging impact on the daily lives <br />of our citizens. We are in the unique position to take action and see immediate results. The staff <br />will be exploring options to address upcoming fiscal issues so that the City will be ready when <br />those issues have to be addressed. <br />I appreciate the efforts of the City staff during the preparation of the proposed budget with <br />special thanks to Cathy Flippen who downloaded the data from the financial system and put the <br />budget together in the book form you now hold in your hands. And I wish to thank the Council <br />for its consideration of this budget document. <br />8 <br />