Frederick City Council Public Meeting - May 16, 2024: Budget Adoption and Ordinances
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Frederick City Council Public Meeting - May 16, 2024
The Mayor and Board of Aldermen held a public meeting on May 16, 2024, at 7:00 PM. The meeting included a proclamation for Stop the Bleed Day, appointments to city boards, approval of a consent agenda item, and the introduction and adoption of several fiscal year 2025 ordinances, including the budget. The meeting lasted approximately 43 minutes.
Consent Calendar
- Alcohol on Public Property: Approved a request from the Asian American Center of Frederick to serve alcohol at the "Asian on the Creek / Thai Water Festival" at Carroll Creek Linear Park on June 1, 2024, pursuant to Section 6-19 of the City Code. (Motion by Alderman Russell, second by Alderman McShane; passed 5-0.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during either public comment period.
Discussion Items
- Proclamation: Mayor O'Connor proclaimed May 23, 2024, as Stop the Bleed Day in Frederick. Gina from Risk and Safety highlighted the campaign's importance; the proclamation was adopted 5-0.
- Appointments:
- Robin Rose appointed to the Weinberg Center for the Arts Board of Directors for a three-year term (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2027). (5-0)
- Maureen Connors reappointed to the Ethics Commission for a three-year term (May 17, 2024 – May 16, 2027). (5-0)
- Ordinance – Master Fee Schedule (FY2025): Introduced and approved. City Clerk Phyllis Hane noted changes to airport, engineering, pretreatment, parking, planning, police, and recreation fees, including a new differentiation between city and non‑city resident golf fees at Clustered Spiers. Alderman Russell expressed support, noting the fee schedule is not the vehicle for policy changes. (5-0)
- Ordinance – Employee Positions, Grades, and Civilian Pay Scale (FY2025): Director of Budget Katie Barkdoll presented. Alderman Kazemchak moved to amend: (1) upgrade all administrative assistant positions from Grade 2 to Grade 3; (2) remove the Economic Development Specialist position and replace it with a Grants Manager (Grade 7) in the Budget Office. Motion passed 4-1, with Alderman Russell opposed (citing concerns about singling out one position without a comprehensive salary study).
- Ordinance – Real Property Tax Classification (Sec. 8-14): Amended to align the vacant property tax escalation table with the definition of habitually vacant (starting at year three instead of year four). (5-0)
- Ordinance – Tax Rate (FY2025): Adopted unchanged rates: real property at $0.731 per $100 of assessed value; business personal property at $1.55 per $100. Includes escalation rates for habitually vacant properties. (5-0)
- Ordinance – Budget Adoption (FY2025): The Mayor had previously amended his proposed budget to add $50,000 for community event support and $5,000 for Flowers over Frederick. Alderman Kazemchak offered a successful floor amendment: increase donations by $50,000 for Pride events in June, increase donations by $50,000 for Federated Charities, increase expenditures by $86,793 for admin assistant upgrades, decrease professional services (Mayor’s office legislative services) by $50,000, decrease Economic Development GROW program by $50,000 (reducing the increase from $75,000 to $25,000 over last year), and offsetting revenue/expenditure adjustments (increased income tax $72,691, grant tax $1,450, water revenue $10,481, and decreased airport contingency $2,171). The motion also included fund shifts for the Grants Manager position. The amended budget passed 5-0.
Key Outcomes
- Proclamation adopted unanimously.
- Appointments approved unanimously.
- Consent agenda item approved unanimously.
- Fee schedule ordinance adopted 5-0.
- Employee positions/pay ordinance adopted 4-1 (Ald. Russell opposed).
- Real property classification ordinance adopted 5-0.
- Tax rate ordinance adopted 5-0.
- FY2025 budget ordinance adopted 5-0 with amendments.
- The city’s FY2025 budget and related ordinances take effect July 1, 2024.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the mayor and board of Alderman Public Meeting for the 16th of May. We begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation. Under God, invisible liberty justice. We are going to make a proclamation this evening. I'll ask the board to join me on the floor, and we'll be joined by some of our staff. We are joined by members of our risk and safety and training team. This is a proclamation for Stop the Bleed Day, May 23rd, 2024. Whereas Stop the Bleed is a national public health campaign launched at a White House ceremony in 2015, whereas its goal is to save lives by training people across the country how to stop traumatic bleeding, whereas successive bleeding is the leading cause of death for those under the age of 40. Whereas the campaign is a public-private partnership led by the U.S. Department of Defense and supported by a number of organizations, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Stop the Bleed Coalition, the American Red Cross, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the American Heart Association. Whereas the campaign is based on the lessons of the Department of Defense learned in Afghanistan and Iraq on the best ways to treat traumatic injuries involving severe blood loss. Whereas each year on the fourth Thursday of May has been proclaimed Stop the Bleed Day by the campaign to engage the public to learn more about how to become empowered to save lives. Now, therefore I'm Michael O'Connor, mayor of the City of Frederick to hereby proclaim May 23rd, 2024 as Stop the Bleed Day in the City of Frederick and encourage all residents to participate in the Stop the Bleed campaign by learning how to stop traumatic bleeding, signed by the mayor on behalf of the Board of Alderman and our residents. And Gina, I'm gonna turn it over to you to say anything. Thank you very much, Mayor and Board for taking care of this. It's a very important cause for me. I am an EMT outside of here. And we also have our employees as well take stop the bleed for the simple fact that between blood loss and CPR it can effectively save a life. So we want our folks and as well as the residents to be able to go out and save a life if need be. Thank you both very much. We appreciate you being here. Thank you. And I've taken that training, and it's not fun necessarily, but it's important. Thank you. Thank you. So moved. Second. Motion by Alderman Shackleberg, second by Alderman Russell. All those in favor. 5-0. Thank you very much. A couple of appointments this evening to the Weinberg Center for the Arts Board of Directors. Appointment of Robin Rose to a three-year term, July 1st, 2024 to June 30th of 2027. So move. Second. Motion by Alderman Shackover, second by Alderwoman Nash. All those in favor. That is 5-0. Thank you very much. And reappointment of Maureen Connors to a three-year term on the Ethics Commission, May 17th, 2024 to May 16th, 2027. Move for approval. Second. Motion by Alderman McZemchek, seconded by Alderman Russell Russell. All those in favor. That is 5-0. Thank you very much.
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