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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/14/2009 Special Meeting / Study Session 6 9 , YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING —STUDY SESSION APRIL 14, 2009 — 9:30 — 11:00 A.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS OR CED CONFERENCE ROOM YAKIMA CITY HALL 1. Roll CaII Present: Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Assistant Mayor Micah Cawley, Council Members Kathy Coffey, Rick Ensey, Bill Lover, Neil McClure, and Sonia Rodriguez Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Cutter and City Clerk Moore 2. Review of Priorities of Government budget process Mayor Edler called the meeting to order at 9:47 a.m. and advised that the meeting was scheduled for a round -table discussion on the priorities of government. ENSEY MOVED AND LOVER SECONDED TO HAVE THE CITY OF YAKIMA IMMEDIATELY SWITCH ITS CURRENT BUDGETING PROCESS TO THE PRIORITIES OF GOVERNMENT BUDGETING SYSTEM USED BY THE COUNTY AND USE IT TO DEVELOP THE CITY'S 2010 BUDGET. Discussion Points Council Member Ensey • City has a credibility problem, citizens question the need for and use of tax dollars. • If expenses overtake tax revenues, top priorities will be protected. • The priorities of government method is more transparent. Council Member Lover • Supports the gray boxes representing priorities. • Priority issues should be approved by the Council prior to moving forward with budget writing and this method would force that. Mayor Edler • Questioned the City's priorities of government and the results of a public survey on priorities. Council Member McClure • Emphasized that the City already has priorities and questioned what were the County's. 470 SPECIAL MEETING — STUDY SESSION PRIORITIES OF GOVERNMENT APRIL 14, 2009 Mayor Edler • Questioned whether the City was in a financial crisis. City Manager Zais responded that we are not in crisis but must adjust our spending to the downward moving revenue projections. Staff has prepared options to do that and has presented them to the Budget Committee and the Council. • The Streets Department is lower on the priority list and therefore, is being asked to take the biggest budget hit. He spoke about the impacts of not maintaining roads and the potential of a street utility being approved by the state to do so. Council Member Lover • Questioned whether stormwater money can be used to repair streets because pot holes collect stormwater. Council Member McClure • Reacted to the motion being made at a meeting that was supposed to be a study session on the subject. • Questioned the County's credibility. • Suggested the major problem is a lack of understanding of our current budget and that it could be presented in a clearer format. • Expressed serious concern about the competency of making a decision on something without the facts that will affect the organization for a lifetime. Council Member Rodriguez • Uncomfortable with rushing a decision. • Questioned whether the City could make the budget more transparent. • Wanted an opportunity to review more information and discuss the pros and cons. Council Member Cawley • Claimed that streets are failing even after putting money into them (referring to chip sealing). • Said our City government is not as efficient as it should be. • Questioned the budgeting practice of estimating expenses high and revenues low. • Said we study things too much; it's time to change the budgeting process. Council Member Coffey • Thinks the County budgeting process is more transparent than the City's process. • Said we always run out of time to implement a change in the process. • Commented on how long the City Manager would be at the City and involved in budgeting. • Have to be able to understand the budget, and have the community understand and be involved in it. • She also discussed the practice of estimating expenses and estimating revenues, which may not require utilizing reserves by the end of the year. 2 AA . 4 7 ; SPECIAL MEETING - STUDY SESSION PRIORITIES OF GOVERNMENT APRIL 14, 2009 EDLER MOVED AND RODRIGUEZ SECONDED TO AMEND THE MOTION TO TAKE A FIRST STEP OF UTILIZING THE COUNTY'S SOFTWARE MODEL TO DISPLAY OUR PRIORITIES BEFORE MOVING INTO THE SYSTEM. Council Member Rodriguez • Will be receiving a briefing from Finance and would prefer to make a decision on the changeover after that. Requested slowing things down. Council Member Lover • Delaying the decision will cause us to miss the 2010 budget cycle. • Wants to reverse the current process where staff inputs information to the budget and Council reviews and approves /denies, to having Council give the input to staff first. Council Member Coffey • Stated that the Budget Committee, with the City Manager's assistance, has been working toward this change. • Emphasized the need to move ahead now in order to implement it for the 2010 budget cycle. Mayor Edler • Spoke of the frustrations of committees discussing issues in detail and the rest of the Council not being aware of those details. Council Member Rodriguez agreed. • City Manager Zais • We can adapt our methodology into the County's outline to make the City's budget more transparent, more understandable. • Staff has been working with the Budget Committee on how the budget is built. • It will not be an easy transition and we are seeking guidance from the State Auditor's office on how revenues and expenditures are classified, categorized and projected. We have to adhere to the state budget accounting reporting model. • He raised a point Commissioner Leita made that there were FTE reductions in their model. The priorities of government model does not always insulate and protect the top priorities from being reduced. • There were 41 positions eliminated in the County's budget. The Sheriffs Department was reduced by a number of deputies and assigned counsel was also reduced. • He described his understanding of how the County's priorities of government budgeting process works; e.g. telling department directors what their revenue growth will be and leaving them to determine how they will meet expenses with that revenue allocation. • Described the City's current approach to protect public safety from steep reductions based on our priorities. We have not laid off any police officer positions during his tenure. 3 472 SPECIAL MEETING — STUDY SESSION PRIORITIES OF GOVERNMENT APRIL 14, 2009 • Explained how reserves are established and used and how the process was set twenty years ago by Council. Roll call vote on the amendment: The motion failed by a 4 -2 vote; McClure passed on voting. Edler —yes; Ensey —no; Lover —no; Rodriguez —yes; Cawley —no; Coffey —no; McClure — Effective immediately I resign from the Council so I will not vote. He then left the meeting. Roll call vote on the original motion: The motion carried by a 4 -2 vote Edler-no; Ensey -yes; Lover -yes; Rodriguez -no; Cawley -yes; Coffey -yes, but also told the City Manager that she wanted to be sure he was clear that this is to change the methodology, not just the flowchart. 3. Audience comments - None 4. Adjournment CAWLEY MOVED AND ENSEY SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO APRIL 21, 2009 AT 5:00 P.M. IN THE CED CONFERENCE ROOM FOR A COUNCIL WORKSHOP REGARDING COUNCIL COMMITTEES. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY a/( 'COUNCIL MEMBER DATE C UNC L MEMVA DATE ATTEST: Jj CITY CLERK DAVID EDLER, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A DVD of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office. • 4