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Home My WebLink About11/02/2010 Adjourned Meeting 355 YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW NOVEMBER 2, 2010 – 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 NOON COUNCIL CHAMBERS – CITY HALL 1. Roll CaII Present: Council: Mayor Micah Cawley, presiding, Assistant Mayor Coffey (after 9:30), Council Members Maureen Adkison, Dave Edler, Rick Ensey, Dave Ettl and Bill Lover Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Cutter, Rita, Cindy, Edna and City Clerk Kloster 2. Council Budget Review by Priority /Department /Service Unit Resource Management • City Manager – City Council; Human Resources; Legal City Manager Zais announced the retirement of Carol Maples, Civil Service Chief Examiner, who is leaving after 24 years of service. There have been reductions in the City Council budget in training and travel for both 2010 and 2011. The City Manager's office did furloughs this year and reduced professional services next year by dropping membership in ICMA. Furloughs have not been included in any of the 2011 budgets, although it still remains a contingency option. Sheryl Smith, the Director of Human Resource, described the various programs they oversee. The general portion of their activities is the hiring process and regular human resource functions. We self- insure health, unemployment, and worker's compensation and purchase stop -loss insurance from commercial carriers. Furloughs were discussed. Council Member Edler asked what percentage of an across - the -board salary reduction would be required to save the amount necessary to balance the budget? City Manager Zais pointed out that the current budget does not include any salary increases with the exception of police command ranks. He said a 1% decrease in compensation is about $650,000, affecting all budgets; but that cannot be unilaterally imposed without negotiations with the major unions. Council Member Lover suggested Council supply Human Resources and their negotiating teams a letter of support for the equalization of the employee share of healthcare premiums. City Attorney Cutter reviewed the Legal budget including their proposed Tiers 1 and 2. Tier 2 would be the loss of two personnel; a part-time employee who provides assistance to the prosecutorial side and the receptionist. They have already experienced losing a senior attorney and a prosecutorial position. They have tried to do as much of the work as they can without using outside counsel, but it has • become quite a strain to continue to meet the requirements. When asked what the liabilities are of the potential cuts, Mr. Cutter admitted it is hard to quantify but when they are asked to provide advisory services for a department and can't do so in a timely manner, the department has to make a choice of going forward without legal advice. Risks are lawsuits, contracts that don't have protective terms and other liability exposure. Senior Assistant Attorney Harvey discussed the risk management 356 ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW NOVEMBER 2, 2010 budget and advised that the major components are the annual premiums and expenses in defending cases. City Manager Zais noted a significant increase in the expense side resulting from the mill site property. Major contributions toward that project are expected. We also hope most of the expense will be offset by other coverage. • Finance — Information Systems; Finance Finance and Budget Director DeBord reviewed the Department's accomplishments. She also noted they have . been without an Information Systems division manager since February. Those savings were diverted to an assessment using an outside consultant. She gave a brief overview of the resulting reorganization proposal. • Community & Economic Development — Licensing; City Hall Maintenance; Engineering Director Morales reviewed their accomplishments from 2006 through 2010 and reorganization efforts implemented to gain more value. The permit center has been at the forefront of the development of software for online permitting and licensing to accommodate the loss of approximately 10,000 man hours from 2009 to 2011, a reduction of five positions. The new Paladin system is being used by animal control, the building inspectors, the code compliance officers, the permit center, the planning division, etc. It is integrated and centralized thereby allowing greater efficiency. With regard to City Hall maintenance, he advised a retirement left a position vacant. City employees now do their own maintenance and the impact is visible. One major project currently occurring is the removal of asbestos on the 3 & 4th floors. Engineering is a revenue center for the city; they leverage money. In 2010 there were over $30 million in projects compared to $2.7 million in 2009. They anticipate $20 million in 2011. This year they propose the elimination of a development engineer position and will have the work handled by design engineers. It is an expectation for staff to have at least 80% of their time billed to projects. City Engineer Mayo pointed out that 30 % -50% of the applications that get submitted require design review and many man hours are expended with no front end charges. If the applications do not proceed, there is no revenue. He suggested that area could be looked at as a future revenue source. Director Morales advised that a proposed reduction is to share an assistant planner position with the Parks Division. Also an assistant planner will be retiring mid -year and that position will remain vacant. They are proposing to reduce the contract services of the Hearing Examiner by attempting to process projects internally that require Class 3 review and use the examiner for the most complicated and controversial cases. With the loss of the development engineer, if development increases, they may have to work by appointments rather than on- demand availability. If Tier 2 is required, it would mean the loss of another construction inspector. 2 3,57 • ADJOURNED MEETING - BUDGET REVIEW NOVEMBER 2, 2010 • Public Works — Streets Administration; Streets & Traffic Interfund Public Works Director Waarvick said this is an insurance transfer. The Traffic interfund deals with downtown CDY lighting equipment costs. Economic Development • Finance — Debt Service CERB - No discussion • Public Works — Streets Maintenance Joe Rosenlund, Streets and Traffic Operations Manager, provided a description of Tier 1 and 2 impacts. He also advised what street maintenance was accomplished this year. He said they did chip sealing on Nob Hill Boulevard and 18 Street but did none in the residential areas. The projection for next year is that they will not even be doing chip sealing on the arterials. Their focus will be shifting to reactive rather than preventive maintenance. They will continue with crack sealing when they are not plowing snow. He advised that there is nothing left to cut in the materials budget so any future cuts will have to be personnel. He currently has two traffic technicians doing data collection on road conditions and once it is complete, he will bring Council a report that explains the condition of our roadways from failed to excellent, and what the projected costs would be to fix them based on average cost and type of treatment needed. This will enable us to better prioritize the workload. • Police — Parking Enforcement These are funds generated from parking enforcement and it is more or less self supporting. It is not money from the lots. • Community & Economic Development — Hearing Examiner; Comprehensive Planning; Planning Administration — see above CED Director Morales advised that the Deputy Director position was left vacant. From a revenue standpoint, it means the time available to pursue grants is extremely challenging. We must be very selective on what we apply for and we may be missing opportunities. Customer Service & Communications • Finance — Copy Center; Utility Services No expected changes in the copy center although they are looking into equipment needs. Finance and Budget Director DeBord reviewed the major changes in Utility Services over the last year. • City Manager — City Clerks; Legislation; Records City Clerk Kloster described what her division does. It was noted that the budget for election costs will require adjustment due to the expenses for the special election set in motion. Council Member Lover advised he will be proposing a policy issue to discontinue home delivery of Council packets. 3 358 ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW NOVEMBER 2, 2010 Strategic Partnerships • City Manager — Purchasing City Manager Zais complimented Purchasing Manager Sue Ownby for the successful accomplishment of combining the County /City purchasing efforts. • Finance — Conference of Governments; Annexation Ramp down; Community Policing No discussion. 3. Adjournment ENSEY MOVED AND ADKISON SECONDED TO ADJOURN. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 11:48 a.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY ,�y1 14 4 Cc. ' FIBER DATE OUNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: 40-2,grzyczk 11€)-a3tu 42,a, CITY CLERK MICAH CAWLV, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 4