Plainfieldbudget-fy2009-cbac-report

2008-09 Citizens Budget Advisory Committee for the Betterment of Plainfield Plainfield, NJ November 10, 2008 1

Citizen’s Budget Advisory Committee • 16 concerned people from many backgrounds, careers & perspectives – all with the intent of improving our City • Key areas of expertise: – – – – – – –

Social Worker and Buyer at Lord & Taylor Sr. Project Manager, Board of Education Member Sr. Budget Analyst, Process Management Consultant Marketing Consultant & Corporate Business Manager Corporate Accounting Manager Director, City of Plainfield Administration & Finance And many others

• The advice and recommendations are at NO CHARGE 2

CBAC Perspective • Task: provide recommendations to City Council and Administration for 2008-09 • Reality: too little time and too much $ already committed • Compromise: help with 2008-09 changes as appropriate, but set the stage for long-term strategy and priorities

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CBAC Perspective What We Are: • Practical • Pragmatic • Persuasive • Purposeful • Proactive

What We Are NOT: • Political • Personal • Pedantic

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Citizens’ Perspective (emails)

• I have a question and this is not meant to be disrespectful. Does anyone in the budgeting process have a background in accounting or own their own business? • I look at it like this. Plainfield is already being hit with a large amount of foreclosures. If the city continues to raise taxes, Plainfield will become a ghost town. With the economy the way it is, it’s disturbing that our city administration would even consider raising taxes. • You can’t spend what you don't have. For example why do we have two people sitting at a desk all day at the entrance to city hall. That’s $50-60K plus benefits. • Teach people to multitask. I have never seen so many people in a city hall. • Also what about all these tax abatements on properties? And churches keep popping up on every corner. They should pay taxes. This city has more churches and temples than any town. The population is not any larger. If it is give out more liquor licenses so we can generate more revenue and open more restaurants and bars. • This town needs more industry, not more housing. Business brings people which brings revenue. Until our schools are fixed, we should not build more housing. If we had better schools, we could bring better families and businesses which would generate more revenue and then create more housing. Instead we do it backwards. We need to look to Newark as an example. We have vacant buildings everywhere. Let's make it easier for businesses to start up and move here. Bring this city back to life. • Get rid of the illegal housing. Better the low income housing.

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Citizens’ Perspective (emails) • I would like to see the streets repaved, matching color awnings or signs on the

store fronts in our downtown area. • Better trash cleanup in some neighborhoods. (Let's face it some neighborhoods litter more than others). The city is aware of this and on Sunday when I attend church there is so much garbage on the street on West 4th and 5th Sts. • More city services like having the city repair the sidewalks and update the curbing in the neighborhoods. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _

• I'd would like to see a reduction in the mayor’s public relations staff since we hear so little from this mayor. Also I'd like to see reductions in moneys spent for perks that might have come to be expected & looked at as standard business expenses. • One thing that still annoys me is that my taxes have significantly increased over the last 10 years, and during that same period I was forced to use the PMUA which now charges an average home owner $1,300 each year. Since we are obviously facing a recession I think this is one time the city needs to make serious cuts and become proactive.

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CBAC Observations • Accuracy & Quality of Presentations & Info – How can we expect parking tickets and pot holes to be “high quality” if we’re not?

• Technical Competence & Productivity – IT systems and user expertise are huge bottlenecks

• Customer Service Orientation – Several City Employees forget who pays them • Must make all “touch points” valuable and productive • Help vs. hindrance (examples)

– Make outcomes simpler • Currently too much focus on process • All Forms on the City web site 7

CBAC Observations • Process is very late, fiscal year is 1/3 over – Our recommendations are just scratching the surface, more substantive cuts and efficiencies are possible – Consider changing to calendar fiscal year to better manage revenues & expenditures

• Disappointed in City Council attendance and somewhat passive responses • “Goals and Objectives” are neither, more like job descriptions • Where are maintenance and repurchase plans for fleet, buildings, equipment, etc.? 8

CBAC Observations The Citizen’s Plan for the Revitalization of Plainfield report was prepared in October 1995 by the Citizens’ Committee for Social and Economic Revitalization of Plainfield. It’s worth reviewing to create a framework for Plainfield’s vision. To summarize: •   Plainfield needs to present itself as a community in which people want to live. This includes ensuring houses are well kept, and zoning ordinances are enforced •   By making Plainfield look desirable, people will want to move here •   Businesses will want to locate to Plainfield in order to capitalize on the growing population •   Housing prices will increase based on a thriving downtown and housing stock 9

Keys to Success Effectiveness is “Getting the Right Things Done Right” – Peter Drucker

• Vision for the City not well defined • Strategy and Priorities to implement the Vision – City Objectives and Goals to align with strategy and vision – Department Goals align with City Objectives – Align goals and objectives with compensation

• More accurate understanding of duties, tasks, costs and expected outcomes • Continued desire to improve through motivation 10

Comparisons with Other Cities City

2000 Population

2006 Budget

Spending/Resident

Rahway

26,500

$41,030,000

$1,548

Plainfield

47,829

$64,719,000

$1,353

New Brunswick

48,573

$59,535,000

$1,226

Piscataway

50,482

$43,226,000

$ 856

Irvington

60,695

$78,069,000

$1,286

Edison

97,687

$99,050,000

$1,014

Proposed 2008

47,829*

$70,158,522

$1,467

* - Assuming the population is now ~50,000, the annual cost/resident = $1,403

Source: Rashid Burney, 2006

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Comparisons with Other Cities City

2000 Population

2007 Budget

Spending/Resident

Rahway

26,500

$43,011,843

$1,623

New Brunswick

48,573

$72,349,045

$1,489

Plainfield

47,829

$67,733,964

$1,416

Irvington

60,695

$85,200,000

$1,404

Edison

97,687

$106,626,911

$1,092

Piscataway

50,482

$45,687,668

$ 905

Proposed 2008

47,829*

$70,158,522

$1,467

* - Assuming the population is now ~50,000, the annual cost/resident = $1,403

Source: Marc Dashield, 2008

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Key Long-Term Priorities •

IT – IT technology enhancements and training to get us into this decade

•

HR – Mid- to long-term HR staffing and retirement plans – Performance measurements and compensation to align with goals and objectives – Bi-lingual staff in key departments to align with changing demographics

•

Cost Control – Contract negotiations and annual raises – Systemized bidding process for contracts

•

City Development – Developer friendly environment – Funds for anticipated long term building and equipment upgrades

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CBAC Approach • Total Team developed priorities, – Public Safety – Improved Schools – Economic Development – Communications (IT & other) – Beautification

POINTS 30 ? 25 ? 20 ? 15 ? 10 ?

• We divided up key sections and provided recommendations based on priorities 14

CBAC Approach • Total Team developed priorities & scorecard: Priority

Grades from each Committee Member based on the common A-F scale (10/27/08)

Public Safety & Crime Prevention

C

D+

C

C

C

D

C

C

C

Public Schools (performance, reputation)

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

D

Economic Development (businesses, jobs)

D

F

D

D

F

D

F

D

D

Communication (timely, accurate)

D

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

D

Beautification (buildings, trees, etc.)

C

C

C

C

F

D

F

C

C 15

Overall Budget Recommendations – 1 •

Significant progress made in last three years to reduce operating expenses – 2008-2009 budget facing extraordinary conditions

•

No (0%) Budget increase is deemed necessary as citizens perceive current services are not adequate (why pay more for services we are not happy with?) – Lack of efficient processes – Budget presentations were so sloppy that the Budget Committee has no confidence in the city’s ability to effectively manage it

• •

Negotiate more favorable cost of living increases and reasonable expenses for contract employees (medium- to long-term) Do not fill any open positions until deemed fiscally viable by the council – Council should confirm any positions that become available through retirement or voluntary separation – Fire department should examine the impact of OT vs. hiring (additional workman’s comp, hiring costs, health benefits, pensions, etc.) 16

Overall Budget Recommendations – 2 • Remove Dudley House from City payroll, have non-profit run the organization • Freeze non-contract salaries for 18 months • Have 6-day staffing for Inspections Department – Many dwellings can only be seen on weekends – Schedule appointments as appropriate – Department should be self-sustaining

• Initiate a 4-1/2 day (salary) work week for several weeks to save 10% as necessary • Have one person oversee workman’s comp claims • Initiate a group insurance (vs. self insurance) policy – Need analysis & guidelines for prospective insurers

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Overall Budget Recommendations – 3 • Total recommended expense cuts = $2,503,743 – Does not yet include full reconciliation or department alignment – Total could be over $3,000,000 depending on what’s implemented

• Revenue increases from Municipal Court, Police Summons, Inspections and Recreation – – – –

Increase Municipal Court $ by 15% to match July-Sept. 2008-09 Zero Tolerance for Code Enforcement (30-60 days) Nominal fees for usage of community pools, facilities, etc. Study ROI for new police equipment (radar, etc.)

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Suggested Expense Cuts – Orig. Department

Member(s)

Legislative/Executive Administration & Finance Other Salary Increases Economic Development

Cecil Carrie/Jeanette Carrie/Jeanette Ana

Public Works & Urban Development Inspections Recreation Dept. of Public Works

Robin Robin Ana

Public Affairs & Safety Police Fire Community Activities Centralized Accounts Salary Adjustments Total Account Review

Bill Lee Cecil Don Don Nancy

Total Recommended Cuts

Savings ($184,102) ($43,865) ???

($13,781) ($47,968) ???

($697,374) ($511,740) ($115,000) ($29,000) ($500,000) ($1,741,153)

($3,883,983) 19

Suggested Expense Cuts – Rev. Department

Member(s)

Legislative/Executive

Cecil

Administration & Finance

Carrie/Jeanette

Other Salary Increases

Carrie/Jeanette

Economic Development

Ana

Savings ($184,102) ($43,865) $0 $40,000

Public Works & Urban Development Inspections

Robin

($13,781)

Recreation

Robin

($47,968)

Dept. of Public Works

Ana

($35,000)

Police

Bill

($247,374)

Fire

Lee

($36,500)

Community Activities

Cecil

($115,000)

Centralized Accounts

Don

($29,000)

Salary Adjustments

Don

($50,000)

Total Account Review

Nancy

Public Affairs & Safety

Total Recommended Cuts

($1,741,153)

($2,503,743)

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CBAC Questions & Observations • $2.5MM in potential cuts – reasonable, doable? – Focus on effectiveness & customer service

• What are the true implications of the PMUA contract? – How does PMUA add to or relieve the tax burden?

• Public Works, Public Safety, Municipal Court, HR and Planning appear to be on top of issues • Are grants (primarily CDBG) being appropriately distributed to Plainfield? 21

Next Steps • Create an understandable vision which can be clearly understood by Citizens (tax payers) and followed by City employees • Make IT a priority • Start budget process earlier and have a Citizens Budget Committee involved • Recognize those who provide excellent services • Lots of “Positives in Plainfield” – need to highlight those

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Appendix

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Inspections My comments on section  #4 Inspections. Dept 330-002 * For FY 2009 there is a elimination of a Code Enforcement Officer position being replaced by Recreation Program Specialist. I would think more revenue is to be gained from a Code Enforcement  Officer so I would recommend to the board to not approve of the change  without a valid explanation. * For FY 2008 the longevity amount for Secretarial assistant is $339,077. Is this correct ? Needs an explanation regardless. * Why is the Director of Inspections receiving a 9% increase in salary for FY2009 ? Are they assuming additional responsibilities? I would take last years - 2008 expenditures and mirror the expenditures by line items for 2009. For example FY2009 - AC#204 telephone $0 request but FY 2008 expenditure was $2971.66. Example 2; AC#228 Other Contracts and Services FY 2009 request $10,300 but FY 2008 expenditure was $3020.67. I know that budgets should be some what flexible but there should be some accountability by line item. This is one of those measurable performance indicators that seems to be taken for granted or simply ignored. Budget Recommendation; FY 2009     Salary & Wages                       $1,064,161   (I am still questioning salary of Director)                 Overtime               $3,200         (2008 actual expenditure   $1800)                  Bottled Water                               $0         (-$9 96)                   Training Aids & programs           $5,000         (-$ 3682)                 Total Budget Recommendation   $1,102,081   vs Adm Rec of $1,115,862  ( -$13,781)        

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Recreation     My comments on section #4 Recreation Dept 370-001 Again I would I would recommend the following budget based on last years expenditures; 101 S & W $263,000 102 Seasonal $453,000 104 Over time      $2,000 205 Building Rental         $1,275 206 Machn. Rental         $1,160 213 Janitor/Laundry    $1,430 215 Printing                $840 216 Photog/Blueprint        $825 217 Advertise                $650 218 Travel Allowance        $600 219 Prof.Contr.Serv.        $500 222 Meetings                $500 223 Memberships      $1,000 228 Other Contrac.      $6,500 229 Author Field Trips        $6,000 231 Build. Maint.                $100 232 Other                $2,000 234 Equip.Repair        $1,000 237 Material/Supplies        $1,000 238 Uniforms/Clothing        $5,000        Total         $748,380  Budget Recommendation vs Adm. Rec. of $796,348 (-$47,968) My comments on section  #4 Recreation Other Dept 370-002      Total Budget recommendation of $14,000 with line items matching up to last year. Savings of -$1500. If $8,310 was spent last year on #256 chemical & gases why was only $3,500 requested ?

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Centralized Accounts and Miscellaneous – Here are my comments regarding Centralized Accounts and Miscellaneous. – Centralized Accounts show total spending of $1,801,000 for 2009 vs. $1,772,000 for 2008. The $29,000 increase is in one account: gasoline. Based on the significant current decreases in fuel costs, I suggest we keep the amount at the 2008 level of $310,000 vs. the proposed 2009 level of $339,000. – Miscellaneous: The municipal debt shows a decrease in 2009 of approximately $1,900,000 vs. 2008 due to reductions in the principal amount on both municipal bonds and capital lease obligations. This implies the completion of a sizeable portion of these obligations. I assume this is correct, unless someone else remembers otherwise. The Capital Improvement Fund line item shows $20,000 in 2008 vs. $340,000 in 2009. I don't recall the reason for this increase, however maybe another committee member does. If not, then let's find out. Pension costs, which total approximately $5,800,000 in 2009, I believe are contractual and therefore are not subject to change unless the employee headcount changes. Furthermore, Social security and unemployment payroll taxes of $1,570,000 are a function of payroll costs and are also not subject to change unless the headcount changes. There is a line for Salary Adjustment of $900,000 in 2008 vs. $400,000 in 2009. I honestly can't recall what this was. If any other committee member recalls this item and is comfortable with it, then fine. Otherwise, we should ask what it is. – Finally, as I discussed on Monday evening, I strongly believe we should hold off on filling any open positions included in the budget. This would result in savings on not only salaries but also on medical insurance, payroll taxes and pension costs. – In addition, I suggested increasing the municipal court revenue by 15%. 26

Legislative / Executive and Community

•

Consistent with the views expressed at Monday's budget committee meeting, here are my recommendations with respect to section 1 (Legislative Executive) and section 6 (Community Activities). Basically I compared the budget amounts for 2009 vs. the prior year expenditure and suggest the following reductions. Mayor's Office City Council City Administrator Corporation Counsel City Clerk Public Information & Media Total Section 1 Deductions

- $ 36,102 - $ 13,500 - $ 8,000 - $ 52,000 - $ 25,000 - $ 50,000 - $184,102

Library Art Council Independence Day Total Section 6 Deductions

- $100,000 - $ 10,000 - $ 5,000 - $115,000

Total Deductions for Section 1 & 6

- $299,102

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Police •

Below are my comments about the Police Department. This is a difficult situation for me personally, because these officers put their lives on the line every day, and frankly, work in a town that requires more effort on their part than many surrounding towns. 1) there should be an immediate freeze on all overtime ($500,000) unless there's a specific emergency situation that requires "all hands on deck" 2) I don't know if this is negotiable with the Police Unions but for 6 months or so, we should put holiday pay as regular pay (~$100,000) 3) Other Expenses (in the Admin. Dept.) $53,476 last year and $150,850 this year (a difference of $97,374) 4) We have 6 captains @ $129,243, 9 lieutenants @ $112,038, 23 sergeants @ $9597K (depending on longevity), and 13 officers @ $49-56K (depending on longevity). 5) The Service department has $10,000 for Food and Drugs. 6) Narcotics has increased their salaries by $449K. This is part of a reorganization, and based on salary decreases in other departments, is pretty much a wash.

•

Total Recommended Cuts = $697,374; Realistic Cuts (-$50K in O/T) = $247,374

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Fire Line 232 pg 4. ($449,000) fire hydrant repair. Shouldn’t this be included under Public Works? Is this an item that could be given to American Water Co. to maintain along with other sewer/water services in town? Freeze hiring for 2009. PFD is looking to hire 8 new cadets ($59,405 x 8 = $475,240) – not doable… Eliminate OT pay and replace it with comp-time to be used annually or forfeited. Saves $25,000 Eliminate public education. Saves $15,000 - instead perform annual inspections of every home in Plainfield. There are 9,130 residential homes and 532 exempt homes which would equate to 1.79 inspections per week for a roster of 112 firemen. What is the purpose of cell phones, radio service is sufficient saves $9,000 Elimination of professional membership, books & publications saves $2,500 if not contractually obligated line 238, the dept members should be required to purchase their own equipment and take the appropriate tax deductions (equates to $432 savings per person to the budget) All new hires for 2010 will be cross trained for inspections and code enforcement to give city additional coverage missing after 5pm and on weekends. Instead of building a new facility on South Ave., PFD should look to take advantage of existing structures and sites such as Muhlenberg Campus. Additional goals of PFD should be to certify all personnel 1st response EMS; create junior academy to teach youth about fire safety and careers; implement a volunteer FD to create pool of candidates who serve the community first for consideration of future hire.

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Total Accounts (same items in different places) 255

Books and Publications total

$

17,300

260 and 232 Bottled Water total

$

4,150

257

Food & Drugs

$

18,700

262

Meeting Refreshments

$

1,000

222

Meetings, Conventions

$

72,500

223

Memberships

$

28,180

224

Misc. Expenses

$

400

264

Office Furniture and Equipment

$

9,300

237

Office Materials & Supplies

$

67,250

267

Other Equipment

$

14,000

(two different accounts codes were used)

209

Other Expense General $ 466,000 [these are Fire Department expenses for Uniform Fire Safety Act and Office of Emergency Management]

232

Other Expenses [the top three are Public Information Police Admin. Bureau Library if you take those three out, the total would be

262

$1,009,292 $ 110,000 $ 150,850 $ 499,355 $ 249,087

Other Material & Supplies

$

33,081

A grand total of

$1,741,153

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Community Relations & Social Services -- #1 Dept 335-001 Community Relations and Social Services 1. Why is the “Assistant Director of Public Works“ heading this department with a salary of 99.7K? and using over 25% of the grant for this social service department. 2. Why are departmental salaries doubled from last year? 3. Is this department Plainfield Action Services? 4. Why wasn’t this department presented to us? 5. How could LY salaries total 46.2K and this year require 108.4K with a grant of 194K… the numbers don’t add up 6. At the bottom of Attachment A this is a line item under longevity amount for 10K with no identifier under the title. Dept 335-002 Bilingual Daycare 1. This is a great program that is entirely grant funded, there are no listings for LY salaries. WHY NOT?

Dept 370-003 Senior Citizens Center 1. It looks like they used a grant to give huge salary increases WHY? 2. Supervisor = 50 % salary increase 3. Sr. Program Analyst = 39% salary increase 4. Secretarial assistant = 30% salary increase 5. Sr. Citizens program aid = 40% salary increase 6. Chauffer = 39% salary increase 7. Part time Chauffer = 14.9 % salary increase 8. Sr. Citizen’s program aid = 15.9% salary increase 9. Recreation leader arts and craft = more then doubled salary 10. Why couldn’t they use the grant money, giving the “standard 3.5%” salary increase. The grant money should fund reasonable salaries and not be used for huge increases. This money could be used elsewhere. 11. Even if you look at the bottom line gross salary numbers LY: 213,488 vs TY: 234,084 = 9.6% salary increase

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Community Relations & Social Services -- #2 335-003 Dudley House 1. If this is currently not functioning and the workers have been laid off, the program should remain suspended until grant monies are received to continue the program. 2. This is an important program for this and surrounding communities and extraordinary efforts should be made to get it up and running with the appropriate grant funding ASAP! 330-001 Health Department 1. Again unreasonable salary increases 2. Health Officer = 88% salary increase 3. Assistant Health = 42% salary increase 4. Health Educator = 28% salary increase 5. Senior Investigator Communicable = 39% salary increase 6. Public Health Nurse = 67% salary increase 7. Supervising Registrar – Vital Statistics shows a large salary decrease, almost 20K is the job changing to parttime. Is this a result of the closing of MRMC and fewer birth and death certificates needed? 8. Senior Clerk Typist = 27% salary increase 9. Community Service Aid BIL = 10% salary increase 10. One position was eliminated but if you look at the raw number for the department there is still more then a 9% salary increase overall 11. On the second page there are 2 lines with 64K and 71.5K with no descriptors, what is this? WIC Program 1. There are no salaries shown for LY and no grant information shown. This program has been in existence for years. 455K expected from the city. Is this another lost grant???????? Or is WIC Grant funded????? Animal Control 1. Why do we need 10K over LY spending? 2. Why did we overspend LY appropriations by double? Bottom line: A lot of money could be saved if there were really 3.5% salary increases and not these overblown increases with no explanations. And I cannot believe that 20+% increases are due to raises that did not occur LY. Show me where. Without the proof there should be no approval.

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CBAC Observations •

•

•

1-     The budget committee feels that in looking at processes described by the departments in the budget meetings, there is still a great deal of inefficiency in how the city is run. Prime example is in the budget presentation with the many inaccuracies in budget numbers, and even spelling errors. The committee is not convinced that the city is running at optimum efficiency and therefore does not see any reason for an increase in taxes. There should be no tax levy until processes are aligned. 2-     The Budget Committee feels that the city council members themselves should have higher expectations for what comes out of the administration office regarding the budget. To that end, the lack of attendance by the full council was disappointing to the Budget Committee members. We feel that this is one of the most, if not THE most, important responsibility of the council (who receives payment for this position). The lack of participation on the part of some council members led us to believe that the city’s lack of vision and planning does not lie exclusively with the administration. 3-     What is the vision for the city and what are the priorities? We saw budget lines asking for money, but there was no cohesive thread running through the departments illustrating a vision for Plainfield. The Committee decided to create their own priorities as to what we believe are important quality of life issues within any city. Listed below are five categories, which we believe are important in every city. We graded each category against the services we feel we are getting from Plainfield. This is of course non-scientific, but we believe has some merit across the city.

PUT IN RANGE INFORMATION • • • • •

Public Safety Economic Development Schools Communications (includes IT – Public Relations) Beautification

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CBAC Observations In October 1995, there was a Citizen’s Plan for the Revitalization of Plainfield report prepared by the Citizens’ Committee for Social and Economic Revitalization of Plainfield. It is a report worth reviewing in order to create a framework for Plainfield’s vision. To summarize the report: ∀ •         Plainfield needs to present itself as a community in which people want to live. This includes ensuring houses are well kept, and • zoning ordinances are enforced ∀ •         By making Plainfield look desirable, people will want to move here ∀ •         Businesses will want to locate to Plainfield in order to capitalize on the growing population ∀ •        Housing prices will increase based on a thriving downtown and housing stock 4-     For what is the PMUA extra revenue being used? • 5-     We recommend an 18-month salary freeze on all non-contract employees. • 6-     Do not fill any current unfilled positions. • 7-     INSPECTIONS Department should be staffed at least 6 days a week. Many violations, like observing multi-dwellings in a single family home, can only be viewed on weekends. Inspections should be a self sustaining unit with revenues paying for the department • 8-     Contract negotiations do not appear to have the city’s interest in mind. Some items that are negotiated, and are concern to the committee, are uniform cleaning. All people not under a binding contract must supply and clean their own clothes. In these hard times, it seems that there is a lack of support for the city of Plainfield. Items like this should be eliminated from the next round of contracts. • 9-     The municipal court revenue should be increased by 15% in order to take into account the first three months of the 2009 fiscal year actual revenue realized. If you annualize the July through September 2008 actual revenue it comes out to about 15% higher than last years revenue. • a. City should have ZERO tolerance on the position of code enforcement. • b.     The time allotted to citizens who have violated codes should be dramatically reduced to 30 –60 days maximum. This should be strictly enforced as the ramifications go beyond the violator, and extends to ALL citizens of Plainfield. • 10-  Study of newer police equipment and ROI should be conducted and council should be an integral part of the study.

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CBAC Observations • •

•

•

• • •

11-  There should be a position whose sole responsibility is to oversee workman’s comp claims. 12-  The budget committee is concerned that there may be department heads getting two full time salaries but performing only one job. The committee would like to council to look into this and assure the committee that this is not the case. 13-  Numbers consistently do not match documents give to the committee. For example, professional services in Economic Development in the budget book total $35,000. On the Professional Services Contract handout, the total is $25,000. In addition, there are professional services listed in the budget book (Finance and Administration) and not listed in the handout. This lack of synchronization causes the Committee to wonder of the accuracy of all of the budget numbers. 14-  Some departments should be more self-sufficient by charging nominal fees for services. For example, the Plainfield Recreation Department can raise revenue by charging nominal fees for their programs and pool participation. Charging $5.00 or less for entrance to the pool, or $30.00 for a season pass to the pool also results in community buy in. Fees quoted are for example purposes only. The director of Recreation is better equipped to know what the market can bear in charging for services. 15-  Goals and Objectives should be more quantifiable. 16 – Dudley House should be taken over by a non-profit, but no monies should be appropriated by the city. Where are the employees of Dudley House working at this time? 16- Planning, Dept of Public Works, Public Safety Departments seemed to be doing a good job

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