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Home My WebLink About11/27/2007 Adjourned Meeting 7, 2 ADJOURNED MEETING NOVEMBER 27, 2007 - 8:30 A.M. - 12:00 NOON COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL BUDGET REVIEW 1. Roll Call Present: Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Micah Cawley, Norm Johnson, Bill Lover, Neil McClure (after 8:45 a.m.) and Susan Whitman Staff: City Manager Zais, Director of Finance and Budget DeBord and City Clerk Moore Mayor Edler elected to let two subjects be covered out of sequence in order to accommodate the schedules of those who came to present. • Yakima Basin Storage Alliance - Black Rock project Bob Hall, Finance Chairman, spoke regarding their request for continued support of the Black Rock Project. The draft of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) will be presented to the public in early January. There will be an open 60 -day period for public input. Then a120 -day period will occur for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to answer the comments. Their expectation is to have the EIS completed in December 2008 and ready for presentation to the new President and Legislature in January of 2009. Council Member Bonlender confirmed that the Council Economic Development Committee unanimously supported this budget request. Council Member Lover stated, if we are to continue funding this request, the money should come out of the general fund so all citizens are paying for it rather than just those on domestic water and irrigation. Rockey Marshall spoke in support of the project referring to the positive impact it will have on labor and the economy. He said they are projecting the construction phase could create 6,000 additional jobs in the community. • Healthy Families Linda Kraft , Contract Director of the Healthy Families project, said they have met their targets for service delivery and Washington, DC has taken note, There are five sites up and running throughout Yakima County, each with waiting lists for relationship education helping young couples learn how to create a better bond. She described the current programs and future goals. r 7 3 NOVEMBER 27, 2007 — BUDGET REVIEW 1. Finance Department • Information Systems - pgs. F 5 -14; PI -F10 Rita DeBord, Finance and Budget Director, gave a brief introduction describing the divisions of the Finance Department. She noted that the City did receive a reaffirmation from Standard and Poors for our A credit rating and that the state auditors also gave an unqualified opinion, which is the highest rating they can • provide. During the past year the Council Budget Committee was formed and asked for information for potential budget cuts. Information Systems reduced approximately $100,000 from their budget this year. Finance Department Re- organization — Budgeted & Unbudgeted Mrs. DeBord spoke about division staffing. They did not feel it was appropriate to recommend any staffing reductions, but looked at how they could reallocate the funding they do have to be more efficient and effective. First would be some realignment of personnel. The second component is transferring staffing and workload from Information Systems to the Finance Division. The third component is a salary increase for the Financial Services Manager because of the increased responsibility, and the fourth component is looking into consolidation of the cashier and utility service representative function. This will require working with the union and employees. Implement an E -mail Management & Archiving System — Budgeted Mrs. DeBord described how we do a good job in backing up for catastrophe recovery, but, E -mail has grown in importance and is becoming critical in the courts. This request is about the ability to recover e -mail messages during the discovery phase of trials. The suggested system will archive, organize, and will give us the ability to identify e -mail that.is needed and pull it out of the system without going through every single message in someone's mailbox. This is probably the first step in more archiving systems. In answer to Council questions, Mrs. DeBord described reduction impacts on the department. The current replacement cycle for computers is now about ten years. Just like the problems with streets, if you don't keep up, it'll cost you more later. Compared to 2004, the Information Systems base budget (not including .3% money for PD or SCAP) has experienced a 20% cut. This is at a time when every other department is asking for help in becoming more efficient. City Manager Zais pointed out that this is a budget cut that the average citizen is not going to see, but we see and feel it. Also discussed was the regional effort to try to bring together a new data base system for City /County /Prosecutors. There were no requests with regard to the main budget categories of the Finance Division. • Utility Services pgs. F 15 -19 • Community Services pgs. F 20 -22; • Financial Services pgs. F 23 -28; PI -F1 • Police Pension pgs. F 29 -30 • Firemen's Relief and Pension pgs. F 31 -33 • State Examiner pg. F 34 • SunDome pgs. F 35 -36 2 NOVEMBER 27, 2007 — BUDGET REVIEW • District Court pg. F 37 • Transfers pg. F 38 • Public Facilities District pg F 39 -40 • Contingency pg. F 41 • Capitol Theatre Reserve pg. F 42 • Risk Management pg. F 43 -46 • Cemetery Trust pgs. F 47 • • Bonded Debt pgs. F 58 -65 • Wastewater - pgs. CM 53 -74; PI -CM 18; PI -CM 29 Wastewater Cost of Service & Rate Study /Connection Charge Study — Budgeted. This was the subject of a study session on October 30, 2007. Doug Mayo, Wastewater Manager, described how all elements of the rate proposal are intertwined. Also discussed was the impact of increased strong wastes and how businesses can reduce these costs by reducing their wastes. Del Monte's strong wastes and cost impacts were discussed in detail. Issue $5.5 million of Revenue Bonds for Future Capital Improvements & Increased Capacity — Budgeted. Mr. Mayo explained that the 1978 bond pays off allowing for debt capacity to support significant needs at the treatment plant and continuing the capital program outlined in • the facilities plan. • Wastewater Capital Reserves pgs. CM75 -77 • Wastewater Collection System Project pgs. CM 78 -80 • Wastewater Facilities Project Fund pgs. CM 81 -83 • Water - pgs. CM 84 -107; PI -CM 30 Cost of Service and Rate Study for Water Operating and Capital Improvements /Adjustment to Installation Fees for 3 /4" & 1" Water Services — Budgeted (3.5% increase) Dave Brown, Water and Irrigation Manager, referred to the October 9, 2007 Study Session held on this subject. He explained the three options proposed. Council Member Lover emphasized that this is a basic service and needs to be considered as a safety issue. City Manager Zais spoke of the history of the irrigation system and the Aquavela water rights. • Domestic Water Improvement pgs. CM 108 -110 • Irrigation pgs. CM 111 -121 • Irrigation Improvement pgs. CM 122 -124 • Stormwater - pgs. CED 99 -103; PI -CED 41 Implement Stormwater Operating and Capital Improvement Program /User Fees — Budgeted City Manager Zais informed Council that this was acted on at the last meeting. The budget will be adjusted and the item will be put in the wrap -up document to reflect the ordinance that was passed. 3 , 7 5 NOVEMBER 27, 2007 — BUDGET REVIEW • • Stormwater Capital pgs. CED 104 -105 Mr. Zais explained that the budget wrap up session will be held next Tuesday and Council will be voting on the policy issues. Once the final vote is taken, the decisions will be put into ordinances or contracts to be brought to the meeting on December 11, 2007. 3. Adjournment McCLURE MOVED AND CAWLEY SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO DECEMBER 4, 2007 AT 8:30 A.M. FOR THE BUDGET WRAP UP MEETING FOLLOWED BY THE BUSINESS MEETING AT 6:00 P.M. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 11:07 a.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY jij • „ AL'* C•UNCIL ME nrem7 DATE C O I L M E M R DATE ATTEST: limit ( a ' 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 4