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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/19/1981 Adjourned Meeting 038 ADJOURNED MEETING -- BUDGET REVIEW NOVEMBER 19, 1981 The City Council met in session on this date at 1:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Yakima, Washington. Council members present were Assistant Mayor Don Hinman, Lynn Buchanan, Lynn Carmichael, and Shirley Doty. Mayor Betty L. Edmondson and Council members Clarence Barnett and Henry Beauchamp absent. ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING Larry Wright, Acting Director of Economic and Community Development, asked Council to make a correction in the years II/ on Page 11 of the 5 Year Comparison of the Budget to add a year to each column. He spoke about the distribution changes in the budget and commented that although the dollar amount is about the same this year as in the past, two individual positions have been cut to three-quarter time. He stated that the City's portion of funding for the hearing examiner will be funded from this Division. He commented that this Division is about 93% labor intensive. Referring to the policy issues on page 114, he spoke about the Yakima Conference of Governments organization and the work in which they are involved. He stated staff has some concerns about what we can receive from YCOG because they are geared to help rural cities. He stated he has some concerns about how effective this Division is really going to be. He stated they will be able to provide minimum service in the cut-back management. He spoke about some of the areas in which developers are going to have to take on more responsibility for their developments. He described some of the work projects for next year. Council member Doty stated that the Planning Commission should have the opportunity to do some of the planning for the future. There was discussion regarding the ability of staff to work with the developers when staff is being reduced. CODE ADMINISTRATION Lou Roederer, Code Manager, asked Council to make a correction on Page 126 of the Budget to delete the capital outlay items. He briefly reviewed the City Hall Budget. He commented that the $25,000 for major maintenance repairs has not been budgeted this year and if there are any major repairs next year, it will have to be taken from the Contingency Fund. He stated that in 1982, it is proposed to take over the entire City complex maintenance. City Manager Zais stated that this whole program is being programmed for study to see if it is a better method. There was concern expressed about all the items not being budgeted, and being dependent upon the Contingency Fund. II/ Mr. Roederer next reviewed the budget for the Inspection Division. He commented that it is proposed to delete one Inspector position in 1982, which would bring his Division back to the same level of personnel as in 1979. He gave information regarding the revenues generated by permit fees and the number of inspections performed, which are both greater than projected for 1981. He spoke about the morale in his Division and the discussion his men had in order to find ways to save that one position. He stated that the employees are willing to make sacrifices if it would save the Inspector position, i.e. 35 hour work week and/or using private vehicles in their jobs. He commented that he believes that if there is any reduction in fire calls, it's because of the job these men are doing. He stated he has gone back into the field to make routine inspections. City Manager Zais stated that the use of private vehicles would save the City money for maintenance and replacement and it would be a tax advantage for the employee. Mr. Roederer commented that the tax advantages depend on what income tax bracket you fall under and what your existing tax exemptions are. He stated that these Inspectors are responsible for the increased amount of revenue collected for 040 NOVEMBER 19, 1981 business licenses. He further commented that radios would have to be installed in the private vehicles to provide timely service to the public. There was discussion about the amount of money involved to reinstate the positions slated to be deleted in this Division. City Manager Zais referred the Council to Page XV in the budget message for this information. Council members expressed their concerns about the effect the budget cuts will have on the City. CABLE TV Bruce Crest, Cable TV Coordinator, stated that in the last few weeks he has been trying to work out problems between the two cable companies about their service areas. He gave information about the compromise that was finally reached and referred to a map indicating their service areas. He stated that by next year, about 99% of the City will have cable available. He stated that all the franchise costs have been reimbursed to the City by Cox Cable and Yakima Valley Cablevision. City Manager Zais referred to the memo written by City Attorney Andrews about what the City is legally obligated to do with the 5% franchise fee we receive, and discussion followed. In closing Larry Wright commented that everybody within the Community Development Department is reasonably service oriented and the level of service we can provide depends on the number of people and projects we will have. ENGINEERING Dennis Covell, Director of Utilities and Engineering, stated that Engineering is responsible for the development of con- tracts for private facilities. He reviewed a chart on the trend of personnel for this department for the years 1973 through 1982 proposed. He stated that it is proposed in 1982 to cut three Construction Inspectors to three-quarter time. On Page 262 he made a correction, stating that there is no supervision for Engineering. Council member Hinman expressed his concern about all the projects that are contracted out, and stated that as the funding decreases, he would like to start building in the capability to do most of these projects in-house. Mr. Covell stated that the 1982 proposed budget reflects a 22.6% decrease from last year. He spoke about the reductions in his budget from last year and stated that the capital outlay has been cut from $27,000 to $7,000. He referred to the policy issues on Page 168 of the budget. He stated that the issue of most concern is item number four regarding funding for reconstruction of streets when Federal funding becomes non-existent. There was discussion regarding the use of bond issues for that purpose. Mary Hersey, AFSCME Union Representative, stated that the cutting of three Inspector positions to three-quarter time is of great concern to the Union. She stated that that cut is not necessary and greatly affects two of the employees who are close to the time for retirement. Chris Perks, Engineering Division employee, distributed a paper listing concerns of the Engineering staff and some alternatives. He gave some information about other cuts that could be made in the budget in an effort to retain the three Inspectors full time. He gave information regarding the sacrifices the other Engineering staff members would make towards this goal, including taking compensatory time rather than overtime pay and continue using personal equipment on the job. He stated that after considering these budget cuts and keeping the three Inspectors full time, the Engineering budget would still be decreased 29% from last year. The second alternative he suggested is that if budget cuts have to be made next year in personnel, then delete one position instead of wounding three people by cutting them back to three-quarter time. He pointed out that if these people can bump to a lower position because they can make more money, then those three Inspector positions would have to be filled and it could take quite a bit of time to do that. Mary Hersey stated that the 0 4 1 NOVEMBER 19, 1981 salaries of these Project Inspectors are reimbursable out of the project funds. She commented that by cutting Inspectors the City would lose control of those projects. She stated that this department has cut their budget even more than asked. City Manager Zais stated that he appreciates the concern exhibited by the employees and thanked them for the alternatives offered. Assistant Mayor Hinman suggested that this be considered at budget wrap-up. TRAFFIC ENGINEERING Hank Hein, Supervising Traffic Engineer, stated that there are three proposed personnel changes to be made in 1982. He stated that one change is to delete one Traffic Sign 11/ Specialist, which is an individual who does more than just that function. He distributed two hand-outs regarding the history of the personnel in this Division and reviewed it with the Council. He stated that the work has increased each year, and the personnel has dropped. He stated that staff will be coming back to Council regarding the Street Light Bond Issue. He spoke about the reduced amount of work that the Division will be able to handle if the budget goes through with the deletion of the one Traffic Sign Specialist. There was some discussion about the contracted electrical work for other entities and concern was expressed that Yakima might be subsidizing those cities. Mr. Hein stated that the City is not subsidizing them when you look at the employees or equipment, but he is not sure about the City's overhead being reimbursed, i.e. heat, maintenance of shop facilities, etc. He stated that one sedan has been deleted from the budget and he will be using his private vehicle and be reimbursed for mileage. He referred to the Traffic Engineering service levels for 1981 and 1982. He stated that staff is at about 75% level of service and will drop to about 55% level in 1982. He commented that striping and pavement marking is now at 65% level and will drop to 40%. (Council member Buchanan absent after 5:00 P.M.) Mary Hersey expressed her concern about deleting the one Traffic Sign Specialist position, which is a $26,000 savings. She stated you have to look at what that savings will cost. She stated that this would be cutting the size of the crew by 25%, and cutting productivity by 40%. They cannot do the amount of work that has been done before. She commented that now there is 10 months to one year lag time for some orders to be filled. She gave an example about a traffic sign requested for Second Street, south of Yakima Avenue by the crosswalk in front of the Larson Building. She stated that the City has a big investment in the individual in this position. She stated that he is a trained maintenance person on the striper machine and that is a real craftsmanship. When that maintenance expertise is cut so that the only person that can repair that machine is the working supervisor, then the productive time is also cut. Assistant II/ Mayor Hinman stated that this needs to be further considered at budget review time also. The meeting was adjourned at the hour of 5:08 P.M. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY 4 1 1 . DATE COUNCIL AI MBER ° It A 10111 /AP DATE COUNCI EMBER ATTEST: / Arial' " CITY CLET