111620 Study Session Mins Adopted • Forth
Augusta
South Carolina's Riuerfront
MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 16, 2020
Robert A. Pettit, Mayor
J. Robert Brooks, Councilmember
Pat C. Carpenter, Councilmember
Fletcher L. Dickert, Councilmember
David W. McGhee, Councilmember
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Eric H. Presnell, Councilmember
Kevin W. Toole, Councilmember
ORDER OF BUSINESS
• STUDY SESSION
The study session for the City Council meeting of the City of North Augusta of November 16,
2020, having been duly publicized, was called to order by Mayor Pettit at 6:01 p.m. in Council
Chambers on the third floor of the Municipal Center and adjourned at 6:57 p.m.
Per Section 30-4-80(e) notice of the meetings was sent out by email to the current maintained
"Agenda Mailout" list consisting of news media outlets and individuals or companies requesting
notification. Notice of the meetings was also posted on the outside doors of the Municipal Center,
the main bulletin board of the Municipal Center located on the first floor, and the City of North
Augusta website.
Members present were Mayor Pettit, Councilmembers Brooks, Carpenter, Dickert, McGhee,
Presnell, and Toole.
Also in attendance were James S. Clifford, City Administrator; Rachelle Moody, Assistant City
Administrator; Kelly F. Zier, City Attorney; Cammie T. Hayes, Director of Finance and General
Services;Richard L.Meyer,Director of Parks,Recreation,and Tourism;John C.Thomas,Director
of Public Safety; Thomas C. Zeaser, Director of Engineering and Public Works; James E. Sutton,
Director of Public Services; Lillian E. Hodges, Director of Planning and Development; J.D.
McCauley, Manager of Human Resources; Ricky Jones, Manager of Information Technology and
Sharon Lamar, City Clerk. The members of the public and the media were also in attendance.
• ITEM 1. CITY COUNCIL AGENDA: Items on the November 16,2020 Council
Agenda-Council Discussion
Minutes of Study Session of November 16,2020
City Administrator, Jim Clifford, led Council's discussion of the November 16, 2020 regular
• meeting agenda.
ITEM 2. PERSONNEL: Budgeted Employee Raises—Council Discussion
Jim Clifford, City Administrator, led Council in a discussion of two options to disperse 2020
budgeted employee merit raises. There was a consensus of Council to consider a resolution at the
next regular City Council meeting on December 7, 2020. The proposed resolution would approve
the 1% Annual Salary Bonus alternative for December 2020 with a 2% Merit increase effective
January 2021.
Please see ATTACHMENT#2 for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation slides.
ITEM 3. FINANCE: Status of Certain Riverside Village Parcels—Council Update and
Discussion
Jim Clifford, City Administrator, led Council in an update and discussion of Riverside Village
parcels taken to the delinquent tax sale on November 9, 2020. The property owner had presented
payment for taxes to Aiken County, but not the City of North Augusta. Six parcels were sold to
the highest bidder at auction and seven parcels were defaulted to the North Augusta Forfeited Land
Commission.
Please see ATTACHMENT 43 for a copy of the handout to Council.
AP VE THIS DAY OF Respectfully submitted,
, 202
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Sharon Lamar, City Clerk
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•
ATTACHMENT #2 11/17/2020
:
North Augusta
Council Study Session — 16 November
2020
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Budgeted Employee Raises a-
FACTS:
Previous Council guidance to analyze and present a 2%merit-based employee raise back-dated to 1 July 2020.
Ratings Agency recently updated City Bond Rating
Overall City revenues are down
North Augusta carried$331,000 into the Capital Project Fund at the end of the 2019 budget year -
City is on a¢Iide path with the General Fund revenue to reward employee performance with either the previously
directed 2%merit increase,or with a bonus structure
- 244 total eligible employees(staff only-Mayor&Council excluded)
Staff options provided include a 2%merit increase;the difference is timing
Assumptions:
City Council wishes to reward employee performance
City needs to contribute at least$331,000 into the Capital Project Fund at the end of the 2020 budget year
City Council wishes to pass a resolution on 7 December
•
1
11/17/2020
2% Merit Increase ( 1 July 2020)
Pros:
Based on previous Council guidance Total costs:
=Contributes to employee pension system
Employees were aware of this option 2%at mid year(1%) 170k
General Fund 120k
Cons: Sanitation 20k
•Only benefits 196 employees(80%of workforce) Stormwater Sk
•Based on 2019 performance reviews Utilities 25k
•High cost to the city
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Alternative: 1% Annual Salary Bonus
Pros:
• Provides a benefit to 240 employees
Total costs:
o Provides 2%merit increase in Ian 2021 based
2020 performance evaluations 1%Lump Sum Bonus 119k
= Provides a larger buffer in the General Fund General Fund 83k
Lower Cost to the City Sanitation 13k
Starmwater 6k
Utilities 18k
Cons:
Not the directed course of action
Doesn't pay into employee retirement
•
2
11/17/2020
•
Side by Side Comparison
. . ..............
Total employee benefit 196 240
Total City Cost $170,000 $119,000
General Fund $120,000 $83,000
Sanitation $20,000 $13,000
Stormwater $5,000 $6,000
Utilities $2S,000 $18,000
Date of 2%merit increase 1 July 2020 1 January 2021
•
•
3
ATTACHMENT #3
• Tax Status of Certain Riverside Village Properties
The City of North Augusta took 13 properties in Riverside Village with unpaid city property taxes
to the delinquent tax sale on Monday, November 9. Combined, the properties owed
$943,264.75 in city taxes for 2019. County taxes were paid for these 13 properties.
At the delinquent tax sale, properties are sold in a public auction to the highest bidder.
Properties that do not receive bids are designated to either the Aiken County Forfeited Land
Commission (if county taxes are not also paid) or the City of North Augusta Forfeited Land
Commission.
Of the 13 Riverside Village properties available for auction, seven (7) were sold to the highest
bidder; six (6) properties did not receive any bids and were designated to the City of North
Augusta Forfeited Land Commission. The City collected $77,000 from bids on the properties
that sold at the tax sale. The remaining properties have a collective outstanding tax balance of
$880,418.63.
Parcel Owner Outcome Bids
007-14-19-001 Riverside Village B Sold to highest bidder $60,000
007-14-19-005 Riverside Village C Forfeited Land Commission -
007-14-19-007 Riverside Village D Forfeited Land Commission -
007-17-02-008 Riverside Village G Forfeited Land Commission -
007-17-02-006 Riverside Village H Forfeited Land Commission -
007-17-02-009 Riverside Village H Sold to highest bidder $3,000
• 007-17-02-010 Riverside Village H Sold to highest bidder $3,500
007-17-02-011 Riverside Village H Sold to highest bidder $1,500
007-17-02-012 Riverside Village H Sold to highest bidder $4,000
007-17-02-013 Riverside Village H Sold to highest bidder $5,000
007-17-02-004 Riverside Village I Forfeited Land Commission -
007-13-42-003 Riverside Village K Forfeited Land Commission -
007-18-05-002 Greenstone Hammonds Ferry Forfeited Land Commission -
For tax year 2019, deadline to pay city taxes was May 1, 2020 without penalty. Properties taken
to the delinquent tax sale had unpaid taxes (which includes late payment penalty) as of the
close of business on Friday, November 6, 2020. The City participates in the delinquent tax sale
coordinated and hosted by Aiken County annually in November.
Property owners have up to one year to redeem their properties that are sold to the highest
bidder at the delinquent tax sale. If the owner does not remit the delinquent tax payment, plus
interest, within one year, the tax title is transferred to the bidder and the owner relinquishes the
property. If a property is held by the Forfeited Land Commission, at the end of the one-year
redemption period, it is disposed of pursuant to the procedures established by the Commission.
•
Effective 11 November 2020