Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/08/1988 Special Meeting ao6 NOVEMBER 8, 1988 SPECIAL MEETING - BUDGET REVIEW The City Council met'in session on this date at 8:30 A.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Yakima, Washington. Council members present were Mayor Pat Berndt, Clarence Barnett, Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan, Lynn Carmichael, Jerry Foy and Bernard Sims. City staff members present were City Manager Zais, John Hanson, Director of Finance and Budget, and City Clerk Roberts. FIRE DEPARTMENT 4 Fire Department personnel present and available to respond to Council's questions were Chief Beeson, Deputy Fire Chief Martin, Battalion Chief Vance and Battalion Chief Nugent. Referring to unemployment compensation, Mayor Berndt asked if the City is aggressive in challenging claims. John Hanson stated the question would be more appropriately asked of the Personnel Officer. Council members and staff briefly reviewed the budget line items for travel and training, overtime, emergency medical calls, and the mutual aid runs. Battalion Chief Nugent described the duties and responsibilities in the Training Division and Battalion Chief Vance described the duties and responsibilities in the Support Services Division. Council member Sims explained the computer print out • regarding the Fire Department's proposed 1989 budget he had previously distributed to the Council. Battalion Chief Vance gave a brief report on the status of the radio communication system, commenting some of the . radios went on -line yesterday. Council member Foy asked why the overtime account (page 241) was increased by 12.5% over the 1988 year end projected budget, which was decreased by 42% 'from. the 1988 budget. Discussion ensued on staff's proposal to increase - the fire alarm monitoring fees. Council member Foy questioned if the City should leave that function to the private sector, especially when this service is disruptive to the dispatchers. Mr. Vance explained there is a 60 -90 second delay before the signal gets through the private security's system, and longer if it's a major -holiday such as Mother's Day.'Chief Beeson said he spoke with one vendor who indicated the City should be taking care of all of the fire monitoring. systems. He stated later this year there will be a follow -up report on the hard -line system. Referring to page 249, Council member Sims pointed out in Account 490, the balance should be $8,070; $4,960 should be $5,675 and $20,000 should be $13,545. Council member Sims referred to page 256 and commented that the total of the reserve account is $105 more than what is stated in the budget; $627,043 instead of $627,298. Referring to the Medical Emergency Response Vehicle listed under capital outlay requests on page 257, Council member Barnett asked if there were going to be any Union or re- organization problems under this concept? Chief Beeson reported he is not aware of any problems. He said staff will have an extensive report on December 6th on EMT and station re- location. Responding to Council member Sims' question regarding professional services on page 264, Mr. Hanson stated those funds are budgeted for the Fire Pension system. City Manager Zais commented that funding for the pension systems, both Fire and Police, is the first priority from property taxes. This comment led to a brief discussion regarding the levy for the Fire pension and the $3.60 property tax limitation. (Council member Beauchamp temporarily absent at 9:50 a.m.) Chief Beeson distributed supplemental information on the major policy issue regarding the proposed increase of monthly fire alarm fee. Battalion Chief Vance reviewed the policy issue on page 266 regarding an amendment to the Fireworks ordinance which would limit the sale of fireworks to juveniles and discharging fireworks only on July 4th between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. He spoke about the monetary fire loss which normally occurs around the 4th of July and the need for increased manpower during that time, which is costly. Following an explanation by Chief Beeson, Council discussed the policy issue found on pages 267 -268, regarding the personnel reassignment and surplus property declaration of Station No. 2. Chief Beeson indicated the response time to Station No. 2's area from the other stations which would service that area is well within response time standards. He commented he believes the rating by the Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau will not change for that area, based upon information he received from the Bureau. NOVEMBER =8, 1988 0 0 7 SPECIAL MEETING - BUDGET REVIEW Council recessed for approximately five .minutes. • • POLICE . • Staff members present from the Police Department were Chief Pleas Green, Marsha Devine, DA IV, and Captains Don Blesio, Reid Follansbee, and Tony Wentz. Mayor Berndt asked about the practice of stacking calls. Chief Green commented it is not uncommon that property calls dispatched between - 2:00 p.m. to 1:00. a.m. to have up to a two hour time delay; however, officers are taken off other calls for life - threatening calls. Discussion followed regarding the account for jail costs not being increased for 1989, on page 217. Chief Green stated he will probably return •requesting an increase for 1988 and 1989. He stated the actual jail fee information . comes after the first of the year since it is based on actual expenses for the past year. Council member Barnett requested a major policy issue be considered to set aside additional funds for jail costs. It was the general consensus of the Council not to add this as a major policy issue, but add $50,000 to the City's Contingency Fund. Council member Foy suggested Council write Fredericks and Nelson Department Store and request one of its surplus vans to use as an emergency response van. Captain Wentz explained the radar display unit listed as one of the capital outlay requests. Council members held a lengthy discussion on Major Policy Issue A on page 223, Law Enforcement Operations Need. Council member Barnett stated Council needs to give authorization now for the hiring of additional police officers since it takes so long to hire and train them. Council member Foy suggested authorization be given to hire 12 new officers and - the personnel to support them. He asked if the Nob Hill Water Company is really 'a utility or an association? He questioned if the Cable TV Division is really a utility? He said if those are utilities, then that is a source of revenue to be researched. He said Council will have to consider a half percent increase in retail sales tax and ask the Legislature for the ability to implement that increase. Council member Sims commented we need a ,funding source to pay for the additional personnel and asked if the in -lieu tax could be increased an additional percentage for this purpose. City Manager Zais stated the City imposed a 2% in -lieu tax for Parks purposes and that amount could be re- allocated or . increased. He further commented that there comes a time after staff is increased when the facility becomes inadequate for the Department's needs. He said Council is going to have to make a determination that somewhere in this budget money must be reduced in order to pay for whatever number of officers Council wants to hire, or new revenues are infused. He said Council can go back through the budget and reduce about a half million . dollars to try to finance police officers, however, the ,.support staff to back up these officers is also needed. Mayor Berndt stated she would like to investigate the lottery tax as a potential source to fund law and justice needs. She said if • the sales tax is increased, it would be an 0.8% difference between the City and the County, which would impact the City businesses. City Manager Zais stated AWC is looking for Legislative approval to broaden the use of the Transit sales tax. He said the City can increase the sales tax by another 0.3% for Transit purposes. Council member Barnett expressed concern about increasing taxes or instituting any new tax due to the low median incomes for this City. (Council, member Beauchamp present) Council member Carmichael spoke about the fluctuation in the sales tax and the devaluation of the property tax, and commented other sources need to be considered. She said even if authorization was given to hire 10 -12 police officers, it can't be done all at once. She III said we need to look at changing the internal mechanism to put people on line. City Manager Zais stated he drafted a letter to the Governor for the Mayor or Council to sign that outlines the City's fiscal problems and the urgent need for an enhancement in resources for local law enforcement. and criminal justice. He stated that the meeting held yesterday with other Eastern Washington cities indicated they were not healthy financially. He commented that the City's budget is balanced on carry - • over resources from the previous year and some small increase in revenue resources. Council member Barnett stated if it is too much to fund the full amount of officers requested, perhaps we can at least go back to the 1976 authorized level. He said throughout this budget there are requests funded from the General Fund and that amount could be used for Police. • 0 0 8 NOVEMBER 8, 1988 SPECIAL MEETING - BUDGET REVIEW Council member Foy stated it is time to go to the public and ask them what they want and how they want to fund it. He suggested a survey in the newspaper asking the public to check off the funding options that should be considered.'Council member Buchanan commented that•additional officers could be freed for patrol duties if additional clerical assistance is hired. Mayor Berndt stated another issue the Council should address is immigration reform. She said if an illegal is convicted on a drug charge they can't become a citizen; however, no one is following up on that. Dave Siegley; Vice- President of First Interstate Bank, advised Council about problems the bank is experiencing due to drug.paraphernalia being thrown on the grounds, prostitutes and groups of people hanging around the bank bothering' customers. He stated customers are withdrawing their accounts with the bank because they are afraid to come to their facilities and people, in general, have expressed concern about going downtown because of drug related problems. He stated he is recommending the bank hire private security officers to patrol the bank's property. He said something needs to be done by the City to address this problem. Ron King, Lodestar Communications, agreed with Mr. Siegley, - stating that it is known in the advertising business that Columbia Center (Tri Cities) has targeted $50,000 to advertise in the Yakima area. He said sales are going to be lost. Referring to Council member Foy's earlier suggestion about using utility taxes, City Manager Zais stated staff can research to determine if the' Cable TV and /or Nob Hill Water Company are subject to the utility tax. Council recessed for ten minutes. DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Staff members present from the Department• of Community & Economic Development were Glenn Rice, Director, and Don Skone, Planning Manager. Planning Division Referring to the major policy issue requesting an additional Associate Planner position to permit the Division to pursue an active annexation program, Don Skone stated the map on the wall indicates the annexations finished this year. He stated there are two annexations in process. City Manager Zais stated the annexation issue is one that will emerge next year with discussions with the County Commissioners. He said staff is preparing a report with alternatives pertaining to annexations. Council_ member Barnett expressed concern about the high percentage increase for some of the zoning application fees. Mr. Skone stated staff. reviewed the existing fee. schedule based upon the amount of work involved tried to adjust the fees accordingly. He distributed a chart of the current fee schedule for comparison purposes. Code Administration Division • Robert Shampine, Code Administration Manager, was present to respond to Council's questions. Council member Carmichael complimented Mr. Shampinet" regarding all the favorable comments she heard about him and his staff's cooperative relationship with the building industry. Referring to Service Unit 149 on page 147, Council member Sims corrected the year from 1988 to 1989, and said the same is true on page 150 under Service Unit 626. Referring to the 'major policy issue on page 159 regarding the water distribution system at City Hall, Council member Foy suggested a capital fund line item be started for this building. City Manager Zais stated staff can research the 392 Capital Improvement Fund to see if it can be used for this type of capital improvement. Community Development Block Grant Glenn Rice stated this budget was approved in August of this year. Council member Foy asked if the City's contribution to the Coalition for the War on Drugs is going to continue to be funded through this budget. City Manager Zais stated it will be funded through the Block Grant_Program as long as it is eligible. He stated the City's.. contribution for the Coalition has been changed from $50,000 to $37,000. NOVEMBER 8, 1988 oo / SPECIAL MEETING $ DCET REVIEW Cable Communications David Eyles, Cable TV Coordinator, was present to respond to Council's questions. Council member Foy stated it is his understanding that Cooke will now start another enterprise in its building and perhaps staff should look at our franchise because it says Cooke would pay the City a percentage of its gross receipts. Discussion followed regarding the revenue generated, and in particular, the revenue generated by the new fee schedule. Yakima Center Kathy Coffey, General Manager, and Jim Elliott, V &C Board member, were available to respond to Council's questions. There was a brief discussion regarding the slight increase in hotel /motel tax receipts budgeted for 1989; Bob Wheeler commenting it is primarily due . to the Rio Mirada motel being annexed into the City. Council member _Foy cautioned staff to schedule the remodeling work so as not to interfere with their bookings. Mr. Elliott advised Council that the remodeling work will be scheduled in July and August when the bookings are low. There was also a brief discussion regarding the catering contract which expires in December of this year. Referring to the capital improvements for the Center, City Manager Zais suggested Council might want to tour, the facility. Glenn Rice suggested if Council wants a tour of the facility, it might be appropriate to meet with the Center Advisory Commission for a luncheon meeting at that sane time. Capitol Theatre Steve Caffery, Manager, was present to respond to Council's questions. City Manager Zais commented that the .repair and maintenance account's budget, which was dropped from $14,000 to $11,000, has been of concern to Mr. Caffery. He stated he wanted Mr. Caffery to . know that should something happen that would exceed this budget, he would support Mr. Caffery coming to the Council for an appropriation from other revenues. Trolley Jerry Henderson, President Yakima Interurban Lines Association, was present to respond to Council's questions. Council members discussed the revenue generated from the track and equipment salvage project, needed capital improvements, and appearance around the Trolley barns. The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m. to permit a five minute recess prior to the regularly scheduled Council meeting. / READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: ►, ,�i; , � k 'a r i' , I' ,I '�1 CO r� R DA CO IFL opER DA E (; MAYOR ATTEST: / CITY CLERK • •