Council wants more information on administration's $30K transfer request WATCH THE VIDEO

The Hillsboro City Council said it needs more information to consider a request for a $30,000 line item transfer requested by the Hillsboro administration for "special projects," which includes redesigning the city's website and paying outside legal counsel for "options" regarding talks with Hillsboro's local chapter of the International Association of Firefighters. 

While the administration stressed they were not asking for additional funds, one council member asked why in the past month, the administration could not have told council they would need a $30,000 transfer. Additionally, the president of council said there was concern to make sure there were not "redundancies" in the budget regarding legal counsel, as the city has a law director and a deputy law director. 

During council's regular June meeting, held Monday in the Hillsboro Municipal Courtroom in the Highland County Justice Center, Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Rick Giroux presented legislation to council requesting a transfer and to adjust appropriations by moving $9,000 from the recreation fund to the general fund. 

Giroux explained that the $9,000 was to cover the additional costs of a code enforcement officer at the Hillsboro Police Department. While it is not a new position in the HPD, the city recently stepped up its enforcement of ordinances such as uptown parking and noxious weeds and grass on un-mowed lawns. 

He then asked council to include an addendum onto that legislation in an additional amount of $30,000. 

"How much?" council president Lee Koogler asked, and Giroux repeated he was requested $30,000.

Giroux said, "These are not appropriations. This is just moving money around in terms of the budget council approved."

"I understand transfer legislation," Koogler said. "I'm just making sure the number (is correct). So $39,000 total?"

The $30,000 would be coming out of the street construction fund and going into the city's professional services fund. Giroux said that there was enough money to cover the street projects that are planned for the year. Next year, he said, he hoped they would be able to supplement that fund with additional grant dollars. 

Koogler asked for Giroux to be more specific regarding what special services required the additional funds. 

"There's other projects the mayor is looking to explore," Giroux said. "The monies that are being moved have already been subsidized by moving from the motor vehicle license tax and state highway funds. Priorities that may have been priorities in previous administrations are not necessarily the priorities of (Hastings') administration and will be allocated a little bit different. But it's all within our original budget. It's just moving money around." 

Council member Dave Shoemaker said that he understood that when you have a general budget with uncertain funds that additional appropriation transfers are often required throughout the year. However, he has problems with a "blanket" transfer. 

"I personally would like to see it broken down so we know where it's going," he said. "I think we owe the citizens that because it is their earnings (that's funding it)."

Finance committee chairperson Pete Pence asked how much was in the professional services fund originally, and Giroux said he did not have that figure. 

Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis is on vacation this week and was not in attendance at the council meeting. 

Giroux said that he would have had it written into the legislation, and not added as an addendum, but "unfortunately, it was a last-minute adjustment needed to cover expenses." 

When council considered the resolution - which did not require three readings because it was in regard to a transfer in the previously-approved budget - council member Bill Alexander asked for additional information on why the funds were needed. 

"What is the need for us to be moving the $30,000? The street fund, do we have excesses in that? And what professional services is it that we're looking at?" Alexander asked. 

Some large-scale street projects will continue, while others will be put into the 2013 budget, Giroux said, so that funds can "shift to other priorities. Our revenue stream, as you know, is still rather uncertain at this time, with the fire issue (regarding contracts for services with area townships)."

Approximately $5,000 of the funds will go toward "legal services," according to Giroux. 

"What kinds of professional services? I mean, you said legal representatives, representation. What is it that we now have (that needs that type of representation) that we did not have before?" Alexander asked.  

Giroux said, "It's not so much a need. It's a catch pot, a resource for the administration to have to pursue other projects. One of the things that the mayor was considering was the redesign of the website ... which is an economic tool that we don't really have. When you're considering a substantial economic development program, and we're desperate to get there, one of the first things we'd like to do is look at our website and create a more interactive website and more aesthetically pleasing website." 

Shoemaker asked if the city IT director Eric Daniels would be utilized in the creation of the website. Giroux said that Daniels might be used to an extent, but part of what was being considered was outside the scope of his expertise. 

Giroux had a similar answer regarding why additional legal counsel was needed.

As previously reported by The Highland County Press, the city has retained the Blaugrund, Herbert, Kessler, Miller, Myers, Postalakis, Inc. firm for work on "labor issues" with Hillsboro Fire and Rescue. According to a contract signed in April, the city will pay $15,000 for the legal representation from the law firm Ice Miller, LLP in proceeding with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. 

"We're not spending $25,000 specifically on a website," Giroux said. "That's just one of many projects."

Koogler said, "So you just want to make sure you have additional money in your coffers for professional services?" Koogler asked, and Giroux said that was correct. 

Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings said that he wanted to clarify some issues. 

"Some of these professional services, obviously, we've retained specialized legal counsel. As you know we're talking to the IAFF (International Association of Firefighters)," Hastings said. "That's one expenditure we have. We may incur some more expenditures in trying to get some legal counsel on a few of these, I believe if I'm not mistaken, some of the ordinances done for code enforcement, there was expense as to getting more, finding out what some of our capabilities were to improve our code enforcement."

Approximaltey a dozen Hillsboro firefighters were in attendance during the meeting.

Giroux said the city needed to look at its codified ordinances in general. 

"The code book has not been updated in some time," Giroux said. 

There is also a need for "a $10,000 contingence, if a need may arise over the course of the next six months and remainder of this fiscal year," Giroux said. "We're getting all the work we originally planned to get done, so it's not that we're asking for additional appropriations beyond what was originally budgeted. We're just simply moving money internally to use it for better uses to get the agenda moving forward. And we knew that was going to be the case. When we submitted that budget, that budget was designed essentially designed and redesigned in six weeks."

Koogler said that he believed council wanted to make sure that the people on staff were being utilized. 

"We have Mr. Daniels on staff, we have Mr. (Fred) Beery (the elected Hillsboro Law Director), we have the assistant law director (Laura Curliss, hired by Hastings in January)," Koogler said. "I think our goal for council is always to maximize and utilize the resources that we regularly pay for, and then if a special need arises outside of that for other counsel that does require expertise outside the general norm of what they would practice, certainly I could understand that, and I think council does. I think council is needing the assurance, in terms of a transfer, that it falls outside the scope of, really, what we're already paying for." 

Koogler said that he felt he could usually anticipate the wishes of council, based on the types of questions they were asking, and he asked council members if he was articulating their concerns correctly. 

Several members nodded or voiced agreement. Council member Bonnie Parr said, "You're totally correct." 

Giroux said the administration was not wanting to "bypass" attorney resources already available, and they are "using our internal resources to their maximum capability. But there are certain limitations we have (and in those areas it needs to be) contracted out. Every city does that." 

Hastings said, "I think what people are wondering here is this large chunk of money is being moved over, and a part of it - I'd say a healthy part of it - is specialized labor services (in) regard to our fire contract, and looking forward into our options, with what we are doing. I don't think that's any secret that we've retained specialized legal to explore every option we have. This is a decades-old problem and not necessarily going to be solved in months. It has cost us some money in the short term, I think, to solve a long-term problem. At the end of the day, it will probably be money well-spent for everybody." 

Alexander asked if this was money that was needed immediately or if it was something council could consider in committee. Giroux said that if council had problems transferring the entire amount, they could consider approximately $10,000 on Monday and put the remainder into committee for consideration. 

Alexander said, "Quite frankly, speaking only for myself, I'm not going to vote for something that is going to be used for labor negotiations when we're not in the process of doing a labor contract." 

"I didn't say they were negotiations," Hastings said. "I said, 'our options.' (It's) under more the auspices of our labor counsel looking at various options, one of them being the IAFF contract."

Parr said, "I think that you surely would have known last month what you were going to want money for, toward asking for it, right now. I mean you've been working on this stuff, and it looks like you would have known, that you could have asked ahead of time." 

Giroux said that it's "a moving target" and at the beginning of the year it was "very difficult to gauge" specifically what expenses the city would incur in these areas. 

Koogler put the transfer of the $30,000 into the finance committee for review. 

Council then voted 6-0 to approve the resolution for the $9,000 transfer, as presented. 

Following the meeting, the Highland County Press addressed Hastings and Giroux, asking if they could be more specific regarding what the legal counsel was working on with the IAFF.

Hastings said that because the city was "in talks" it would be "imprudent to discuss what our options are right now, because we're exploring our options. I know that sounds very 'Catch 22' but it's kind of what that is."

Giroux said that because the matter was going to committee, there will be further talks on the specific items the funds will go toward. However, they could not elaborate Monday on what those items are.

"I guess when the committee gets briefed, everybody gets briefed, because it will be public record," Giroux said.

Hastings did say that he did "not foresee" an additional outside counsel being hired, rather the funds would go toward law firms that had already been retained by the city.

After being asked repeatedly by The Highland County Press to elaborate on the "options" the counsel was investigating, Hastings said, "To be honest with you, I don't even know what those options are. Because when (Giroux) brought up the transfer, I don't get in the weeds, meaning I don't micromanage expenditures ... I don't go down to an invoice level."

"This is a routine moving money around," Giroux said. "It's done by every city that there is. Just like I mentioned to counsel, we didn't have the benefit, really, of designing a budget."

The HIghland Country Press asked what options there could be to discuss with an IAFF chapter that were not regarding labor or contract negotiations, and Giroux said he could not answer.

"That's why we have retained labor counsel. It's a delicate issue," he said. "I would like to think the taxpayers are getting the most value for their dollar. HIllsboro residents are the people we ultimately work for. Ultimately, the goal is to benefit them. The long-term goal is to fix the problem, make it fiscally efficient, make the operations efficient, provide the services that everyone expects, at a rate that we can afford."