HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/08/2008 07A Draft Minutes 11-13-2007 Adjourned Meeting0
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ADJOURNED MEETING
NOVEMBER 13, 2007 -- 8:30 A -M - 12 00 NOON
COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL
BUDGET REVIEW
Roll Call
Present:
Council Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Micah
Cawley, Norm Johnson, Bill Lover, Neil McClure, and Susan Whitman
Staff- Dick Zais, City Manager; Rita DeBord, Finance and Budget Director; and
City Clerk Moore
Mayor Edler asked the City Manager to speak about the recent Supreme Court ruling on
Initiative 747, removing the 1 % lid He also asked about the $20 car tab issue that may possibly
be coming up Mr Zais reported that the Council Budget Committee talked about the 1 %
property tax issue last week. When the announcement was made by the Supreme Court, the
Governor's office issued some preliminary guidance and anticipated the Legislature will be
taking the matter up soon The City of Yakima's budget has been submitted and, for the record,
is balanced on the presumption that there would be the continuation of the 1 % adjustment in
property tax and new construction The $20 car tab issue also has other options in it and is not
something that has to be acted on in any timeline Mayor Edler spoke as an independent
member of the Council wanting to go on record that he has little confidence in our Legislature
taking care of this They promised to backfill and have failed to do so Cities like the City of
Yakima are now beginning to feel the weight of the decisions that are being made at the
legislative level He also went on record stating that making budgetary decisions with the
surplus that is hanging over our state makes it difficult to 1) heed the advice of our Governor,
and 2) to trust our Legislature
2 Public Works Department
Chris Waarvick, Director of Public Works, gave opening statements on the Public Works budget.
They will continue with surface preservation of streets as well as working more closely with
schools and neighborhoods to encourage traffic safety He pointed out that Refuse has
accomplished a goal, set over seven years ago, to fully automate all refuse accounts Parks is
engaged in two important studies, 1) a Metropolitan Parks District, and 2) a regional aquatic
center This was the first year of the full four -field wheel at Kiwanis Park. The skate park will be
under construction next spring Transit expanded their service area to Selah and potentially
with Union Gap Mr Waarvick identified a number of Transit policy issues, one of which is a
rate increase He also handed out a fuel conservation plan.
• Administration -- pgs. PW 1 -11 — no policy issues
Mr Waarvick responded to a question regarding an increase personnel benefit that it related to
a retirement cash -out for a long -term employee
BUDGET REVIEW — NOVEMBER 13, 2007
• Streets and Traffic -- pgs PW 12 -31 — no policy issues
Council Member Johnson suggested attempting to obtain assistance from Olympia on the
crosswalk requested for 16th Avenue and Hathaway Shelley Willson, Streets and Traffic Is
Manager, explained the street maintenance schedule They have a program whereby every
street should be addressed in a 12 -15 year cycle That pushes the outer limits of adequacy; 5 -7
years would be better on heavily traveled streets, but on less traveled streets 12 -15 years is
probably adequate When asked, Mrs Willson responded that approximately 20% of our City
streets are beginning to fail in our current schedule They are updating their pavement rating
and will include newly annexed streets in the West Valley area Also discussed was street
lighting and the potential of utilizing LIDs to obtain streetlights City Manager Zais pointed out
that the Streets budget was reduced approximately $100,000 as part of reduction effort. Also
discussed was the proposal to move the 2008 fall leaf budget to Refuse
• Transit -- pgs. PW 32 -46, PI -PW 2,4
Purchase three heavy -duty, low -floor transit buses — budgeted The new buses will replace 17
year old vehicles that have become expensive to maintain The new buses are more fuel
efficient. Mr Mehin, Mr Zais, and Mr Waarvick responded to a question from Council Member
Lover about replenishing funding from capital reserve funds
Add one half -time DA II position — Budgeted. The position is to handle administrative work and
transit information calls
Bus fare fuel surcharge — Unbudgeted This policy issue raises fare rates for a revenue
increase of $30,000, recovering only a small portion of costs Discussion covered the increase
of Dial -A -Ride fares Monthly bus passes will not increase
Dial -A -Ride equipment purchase — Budgeted It was noted we received a grant toward the
$280,000 expense, whereby the City will pay only 20% of the cost, or $56,000
• Refuse -- pgs PW 47 -55, PI -PW 6,9
5% Refuse rate increase — Budgeted. Nancy Fortier, Refuse Manager, explained the increase
is to cover anticipated expenses in 2008 The last increase was 3% two years ago
2% rate increase to take over the fall leaf program and add Dial -a- Dumpster program —
Unbudgeted. Mrs Fortier advised that, with the completion of the automated system, they
reduced personnel by a half -time person in 2008 Plus they expect to be able to cover the leaf
removal program with current staffing She explained the proposed change to the program
where they will utilize disposable bags eliminating the need to remove the leaves from plastic
bags The operation and costs were described in detail Moving the cost burden of the program
from Streets to Refuse allows for additional street services Council Member Lover commented
that he thinks the increase is too high The Dial -a Dumpster program was explained Council
Member Lover commented that he thinks this could be funded through ONDS and it should not
be part of a rate increase consideration Council Member Lover also pointed out the need to
change the job title of Crew Leader as there is no crew involved anymore
• Equipment Rental -- pgs PW 56 -67, PI -PW 11
Richard Wonner, Fleet Manager, said the major impacting item is the fuel situation Over the
last three years, the budget for fuel has doubled He described steps being taken to deal with
this cost increase He also spoke about the rise in fleet service demand due to the City's
increase in size and population
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BUDGET REVIEW — NOVEMBER 13, 2007
Install vehicle wash fluid containment system — budgeted. Mr Wonner explained the need for
this system The fleet consists of about 500 vehicles, in total about 700 pieces of equipment,
many that have to be cleaned on a daily basis When they pressure wash them, there is an
accumulation of debris that washes off There is a moderate risk with regard to waste, and the
sludge has to be collected, eventually plugging up the underground trench Wastewater
collections must come out with the vactor truck With regard to stormwater issues, the situation
will get worse
• Parks and Recreation -- pgs. PW 68 -92, PI -PW 14
Denise Nichols, Parks and Recreation Manager, advised that she will be retiring during 2008
She gave an overview of the state of the Parks Division Although she has a dedicated staff,
things are getting more difficult with budget constraints There have been, and will continue to
be, some hard choices to make The public wants many services, but the cost of those services
continue to increase Parks acreage has expanded in the last ten years and there has been
significant development. Although this enhances the quality of life for citizens, it also includes
maintenance costs This year Parks was asked to make some tough choices, and the 2008
budget reflects close to $200,000 in reductions She shared what has been reduced
The RSVP program through the Harman Center
The summer concerts and summer cinema
The budget for taking care of trees in parks and City rights -of -way
A Parks maintenance technician was eliminated
Downtown maintenance subsidy is no longer provided
Professional services reduced
Tahoma Cemetery subsidy reduced
Reduced vehicle maintenance replacement fund
Other areas Supplies, Miscellaneous accounts, Small tools
An unfavorable reduction was Fisher Golf Course It is fully funded in the 2008 budget but is
dependent on a subsidy close to $100,000 That subsidy will continue to go up year after year
unless we find some cost containment.
Fisher golf course review — Unbudgeted. This item is based on Council direction to form a
subcommittee They are looking at some promotional and marketing ideas at the golf course to
enhance rounds of play We were directed to not make any changes in the golf course for 2008
until the committee has a chance to weigh in There was discussion on the role of the
committee and the need to discontinue subsidizing from the general fund budget.
15% general fee increase — Budgeted. Mrs Nichols corrected the policy issue to a 15 % -20%
increase across the board 2008 shows a $0 25 increase in the rate at the pools All fees are
going up, except Fisher Golf Course Council Member Cawley would rather look into cutting
people rather than increase fees
Harman Center Improvement /Parking lot — Budgeted Last year, working with the Engineering
Division and a subcommittee from the Harman Center, a study was done on realigning the
parking stalls The cost is estimated at $35,000 Council Member Lover thinks it can be done
for less
• Cemetery -- pgs PW -93, PI -PW 25
20% fee schedule for Tahoma Cemetery — Budgeted. Mrs Nichols explained this will keep the
cemetery within the market. City Manager Zais explained there have been at least three
studies looking at the cemetery, and there are legal constraints We can only use the interest
101 on the Endowment Fund As a result, it always comes back to fees being necessary in order
to maintain the cemetery Council Member Johnson suggested the Legislature be
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BUDGET REVIEW — NOVEMBER 13, 2007
approached with regard to changing the ruling on the Endowment Fund (perpetual care) to
free up money for upkeep Council Member Cawley again asked if there was the possibility o40
reducing staff to get more money rather than increasing fees affecting citizens Mr Waarvick
responded that cutting people causes work not getting done Council Member Lover asked
what is causing the fee increase Mrs Nichols advised that in order to reduce the subsidy
from $120,000 to $90,000 she shifted some staff out of the cemetery It will now be managed
by a crew of two full -time maintenance workers They used to have four part-time seasonal
workers, and that has been cut in half Council Member Johnson asked to see a comparison
of costs for Toppenish and Zillah's cemeteries
Meeting Conclusion
Mayor Edler commented that today's budget review is one of the most difficult because these
are the items that seem to always be on the chopping block. It is a huge challenge to continue
to reduce dollars from our Street Division knowing our streets are failing It doesn't make a lot
of business sense to allow infrastructure to fail We have also reviewed the quality of life
issues, a strategic direction priority, and here we are saying we have reduced $200,000 from
that particular budget. These are difficult choices
City Manager Zais gave a few highlights of capital dollar investments There has been a
significant contribution of REET 1 dollars and grants supplementing our capital improvement
budget for both the Fire Department and Parks Mrs Nichols spoke about the receipt of a
$500,000 grant from the IAC for development of upper Kiwanis including the east side skate
park. The Harman center parking lot is another capital budget item In addition, we have set
aside $50,000 to rehabilitate Franklin pool
3 Adjournment 0
McCLURE MOVED AND WHITMAN SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 20, 2007 AT 8 30 A.M — 12.00 NOON FOR COUNCIL BUDGET REVIEW
IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS The motion carried by unanimous voice vote
The meeting adjourned at 11 37 a m
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY
ATTEST
COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
CITY CLERK DAVID EDLER, MAYOR
Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office
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