Annual Financial Report Year Ended June 30, 2018
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Cityof Burlington,Vermont Annual Financial Report Year Ended June 30, 2018 2018 Table of Contents City Government Miscellaneous City Organizational Chart. 2 Annual Town Meeting. 80 Mayor’s Message . 3 Salaries . 82 City Officials Appointed by the Mayor . 6 Facts & Figures . 101 Vermont Legislators. 7 General Obligation Debt Mayors of Burlington . 7 Appraised Valuation City Council . 8 Tax Exempt Property Summary City Council Standing Committees. 9 Management Letter . 102 City Department Information. 10 Audit Summary . 108 Important Dates . 11 Burlington School District City Holidays . 11 Audit Summary . 113 Board of School Commissioners . 12 City Commissioners . 13 Neighborhood Planning Assemblies . 15 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Regularly Scheduled Design/Production: Futura Design Commission Meetings . 16 Printing: Stillwater Graphics Justices of the Peace . 17 Cover Photo: Courtesy of Sasaki/Trent Bell Photography Department Annual Reports Project Management: Airport, Burlington International . 18 Olivia LaVecchia and Linda Murphy, Mayor’s Office Arts, Burlington City . 19 This report also is available online at www.burlingtonvt.gov. Assessor, Office of the City . 22 Thanks to the following for the use of photos throughout Attorney, Office of the City. 23 this report: Burlington City Arts, the Department of Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, Andrew Krebbs, and Kyle Tansley. Church Street Marketplace . 26 Clerk/Treasurer, Office of the City . 28 Code Enforcement . 30 Community & Economic Development Office . 31 Electric Department . 35 Fire Department . 40 Fletcher Free Library . 44 Human Resources Department . 47 Innovation & Technology . 49 Parks, Recreation & Waterfront . 50 Planning & Zoning Department . 56 Police Department . 59 Public Works Department . 62 School District . 68 Telecom, Burlington . 73 Regional Organizations Annual Reports Burlington Housing Authority. 74 Chittenden Solid Waste District . 75 Green Mountain Transit . 77 Winooski Valley Park District . 78 1 2018 Annual Financial Report City Organizational Chart WARD CLERKS & SCHOOL INSPECTORS OF COMMISSIONERS4 THE VOTERS ELECTION4 MAYOR CITY COUNCIL 4 AUTHORITY TO: AUTHORITY TO: • Carry out laws and ordinances • Set City policy with Mayor • Pass legislation through passage • Appoint department heads of ordinances subject to Mayor’s • Assure performance of jobs by veto* subordinate officers • Pass resolutions with Mayor* • Recommend measures • Approve Mayor’s budget • Approve supplementary • Act as Chief Peace Officer interbudgetary transfers • Prepare annual budget • Set annual tax rate with Mayor • Act as Chair of Board of Finance • Establish rules for City Council meeting conduct CITY OFFICERS & COMMISSIONERS! KEY DEPARTMENT HEADS (for list, (for list, see page 6) see pages 13-14) Elected at large 4 Elected at large by ward Appointed by the Mayor subject to City Council approval ! Appointed by the City SUPERINTENDENT L BOARD OF Council or City Council FINANCE M with Mayor presiding AUTHORITY TO: L Appointed by the Board of School Commissioners • Act as trustees of public money • Establish accounting system * Ordinances relate to external matters while • Provide monthly reports and PRINCIPALS resolutions relate to annual audit internal matters • Select official depository M Mayor, Chief Administrative • Authorize budget line item changes Officer (non-voting), Presi- • Be responsible for care and dent of City Council, and control of public buildings three Councilors elected by the City Council City of Burlington 2 Mayor’s Message am proud to present you with the City of Burlington’s hard to keep this plan affordable, I2018 Annual Report, which documents another year and thanks to aggressive cost mitiga- of tremendous progress in strengthening the City’s fi- tion measures, when borrowing is nances, reinvesting in our infrastructure, and ensuring fully phased in about five years from that Burlington is a City of Opportunity. Reflecting on now, the average Burl ington house- all that we accomplished together in 2018, I am partic- hold will see an approximately $5 in- ularly grateful for the engagement of Burlingtonians crease in its monthly water bills as a and the dedication of City staff, Department Heads, result of this plan. MiroMiro City Councilors, and the many volunteers on our Weinberger Great Streets boards, commissions, and Neighborhood Planning As- Mayor In 2018, the Department of Public semblies. It is a privilege and a joy to work with and for Works also broke ground on our first Great Streets proj- such a passionate and engaged community. ect on St. Paul Street. The Great Streets Initiative focuses on building our downtown streets to new standards to make them safer, greener, more vibrant, and better at protecting Lake Champlain from stormwater runoff. These improvements are largely being funded by pay- ments that the City negotiated with Champlain College as part of the development of their new downtown housing at 194 St. Paul, and by our Downtown Tax In- crement Financing (TIF) District. When St. Paul Street is finished, the newly rebuilt street will incorporate green infrastructure like rain gardens and permeable pavers, reconstructed and widened sidewalks to accom- modate increased pedestrian traffic and outdoor seat- ing, and downtown amenities like new benches and undergrounded utilities. Financial Stewardship Reinvesting in Burlington’s Infrastructure City Debt Policy In an important step for the stability of Burlington’s fi- Second Year of Sustainable Infrastructure nancial future, in fall 2018 the Burlington City Council Plan Construction voted unanimously to adopt a first-known debt policy We continue to implement the Sustainable Infrastruc- for the City. The policy outlines a target and a maxi- ture Plan that voters passed in 2016, and as we look mum for the amount of General Obligation debt that back on our second year of work, we can see that we are the City can incur, as well as for the amount of “over- making real progress. One example is our roads and lapping debt,” or the total amount of combined General sidewalks. In 2018, the Department of Public Works re- Obligation debt incurred between the City and the constructed nearly 3 miles of sidewalks and paved more Burlington School District. The new policy projects that than 7 miles of roads. That’s up from a typical year of the owner of a $250,000 home will see approximately about 1 mile of sidewalks and 3 miles of roads prior to $300 a year in new property taxes as a result of the plan 2017. At the same time as we perform this work, the to re-envision Burlington High School, and up to a max - City is now also reconstructing curbs and relining and imum of an additional $250 a year in property taxes for replacing our water mains. new municipal debt over the next decade if future Clean Water Resiliency Plan In the fall, voters passed the Clean Water Resiliency Plan, a seven-point initiative to stabilize, modernize, and upgrade Burlington’s wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. The plan marks a huge step forward in our 150- year-long effort to create a City that thrives in balance with our natural setting, and will enable us to protect our lake by making necessary im- provements to our wastewater treat- ment plants, updating our pump stations, relining and rehabilitating our pipes, and employing a number of other strategies. The City team worked 3 2018 Annual Financial Report Mayor’s Message This concept is different from past ideas for Moran in a crucial way: It is affordable and achievable. The City has about $5.4 million of voter-approved economic de- velopment funds reserved for Moran in our Waterfront TIF District to complete the first phase of the project quickly, and with no impact on Burlington property tax rates. City of Opportunity Affordable Housing The ongoing shortage of housing remains one of our largest social challenges as a region. By addressing it, we will address many of our other key issues and concerns. For those of us concerned about climate change, one of the most effective things we can do is develop land use investments in City infrastructure are approved on bal- lots in upcoming years. This new policy is designed to continue our financial progress as a City, support much-needed and histori- cally important levels of community investment, and reassure our taxpayers that we are nearing the limit that they will be asked to invest in our infrastructure. Moving Projects Forward Moran Plant: Iconic, Affordable, and Doable Throughout my Administration, the City team has worked to bring resolution to long-stuck projects. Early in 2018, I asked the City’s Community and Economic Development Office to take a creative relook at options to stabilize and activate the Moran Plant along our wa- Photo: Owen Leavey terfront. Instead of a full redevelopment (too expen- sive) or a full demolition (also very expensive), I wanted policies that foster density instead of sprawl. For those to see if there was any other path. In December 2018, of us concerned about the cost of living in Vermont, the team presented its idea to the City Council, and it’s one of the best ways to share costs over a larger tax base like nothing we’ve seen before. Called “FRAME,” the is to build more housing. For those of us concerned new concept would peel back much of the exterior of about income inequality and Vermont remaining a the building to reveal the structure beneath, and in the place where New Americans and other newcomers can process, transform an eyesore into a sculptural land- thrive, one of the best ways to ensure access to oppor- mark along our waterfront, create new opportunities tunity in our region is to create more homes. for events and recreation, and add bathrooms and other The City is working hard to make this happen by amenities to the recently reborn northern waterfront. breaking down regulatory barriers to housing produc- Down the road, the structure could also provide a tion and by expanding our housing trust fund – and we “frame” for other activities, like ice skating or outdoor are beginning to see real progress.