HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-04-26 Budget Committee Minutes
Budget Committee Meeting
Agenda
April 26, 2003, 8:00am
Civic Center Council Chambers, 1175 East Main Street
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Marty Levine called the meeting to order at 8:07am.
ROLL CALL
Present: Budget Committee Members Cate Hartzell, John Morrison, Don Laws, Russ Silbiger, Jacquie Christensen, Marty
Levine, Jim Moore, Kate Jackson, Ray Olsen, Alan DeBoer, Dave Williams, Alex Amarotico, Regina Stepahin and Chris
Hearn.
Staff: Gino Grimaldi, Lee Tuneberg, Ken Mickelson, Paula Brown, Paul Nolte, Keith Woodley, Dick Wanderscheid, Scott
Fleuter, John McLaughlin, Mike Bianca, Mike Ainsworth, Richard Holbo, Tina Gray, Greg Case, Dave Hard, Scott
Johnson, Sharon Laws and Kirsten Bakke.
Others: Parks and Recreation Commissioner Jim Lewis, Jack Hardesty and Carl Hilton.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approval of minutes from previous budget meetings dated:
12/12/02 Budget Committee - Introduction
03/05/03 Economic & Cultural Development Grant Presentations
03/12/03 Social Services Grant Presentations
03/13/03 Social Services Grant Recommendations
DeBoer/Jackson m/s to accept the minutes as corrected. Voice Vote: ALL AYES.
PUBLIC INPUT
Jack Hardesty/575 Dogwood Way/ Represented the Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG). He suggested that
the City’s operating costs could be reduced by eliminating the City Source Newsletter. He also suggested three ways to
cut back on projected personnel costs for the FY03-04 Budget: 1) eliminate the position of Communications Manager, 2)
not fund the Housing Program Specialist position, 3) not fund the Assistant Attorney position.
Carl Hilton/2705 Takelma Way/Spoke about the benefits and future applications of AFN.
Committee Member Cate Hartzell handed out letters from herself and a citizen regarding the need for the Housing
Program Specialist position.
DEPARTMENTAL PRESENTATIONS
Public Works (continuance) 3-51 to 3-81
Public Works Director Paula Brown addressed the questions from the last budget meeting regarding equipment
replacement and vehicle purchases. She referred to a handout that detailed the Police vehicles and the AFN
bucket trucks. She clarified that the bucket trucks were small panel vans with bucket extensions. She noted that
the Police Chief and the Electric Director could speak directly to these equipment replacements in their
presentations.
Levine asked for clarification on the accounting of replaced equipment. Tuneberg explained that the value of an
asset’s proceeds is recognized in the trade-in as revenue and the full value of the new equipment is expensed or
depreciated in the Equipment Fund. There was a discussion regarding the replacement and typical life of city
vehicles. Brown clarified that the rate of replacement is determined by the use, number of miles and maintenance
of the vehicle.
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Williams asked how the GIS program is used and if it was a good financial investment. Brown responded that the
GIS (Geographic Information Systems) program produces maps, however, the real application links with the City’s
utility programs for accuracy when designing. Also, GIS is used for tracking the age and application for
replacement of water and sewer lines. The information base behind all the other layers is used for many
applications, including wild lands and flood plains maps. She concluded saying that the program is widely used
and asked for by citizens for information and typography.
Parks and Recreation 3-103 to 3-117
Parks and Recreation Director Ken Mickelson and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Jim Lewis presented.
Lewis began by reviewing the Commission’s commitment and core goals on page 3-104. He pointed out the
seven year history of Property Tax Rates for Parks on page A-4. He detailed the Commission’s priorities for
Capital Outlay.
Mickelson thanked staff and gave an overview of the Parks and Recreation’s FY03-04 budget. He referred to
page 3-106 and additional handouts. He talked about the extension of the Bear Creek Greenway (Dog Park to
Mountain Avenue Park), referring to the grants applied for and partnerships developed. He discussed future
trends and challenges, specifically declining fund balances and increasing costs of PERS and healthcare. In
addition, he pointed out that the Parks Department needs to eliminate the funding of two police positions. He
outlined contractual services and noted that if those were eliminated from their budget, it could drop by almost
$400,000.
Williams asked about the maintenance of the school grounds continuing. Mickelson clarified that it wasn’t included
in the Park’s budget. Williams talked about the seven year property tax rate history saying that it has actually
increased 38%. He asked for clarification about the need for two horticulturist positions and exotic plantings.
Mickelson spoke about the history of ballot measure 50 in relation to property taxes. Williams complimented
volunteer use. Discussion ensued regarding dropping fund balance trends and the anticipation of needs in future
years for new sources of revenue. Jackson clarified that the revenue from the Food and Beverage Tax is used to
purchase park land. Hearn clarified that Parks borrowed against the Food and Beverage Tax until it sunsets in
2009.
Morrison asked about the projections of lower levels of usage in the area of programs. Mickelson said he thought
it was a result of demographics. Moore pointed out that city employees have grown by 15% since FY94-95 and
Parks has grown by 60%; Parks has gone from 22 FTEs to 35.4 FTEs. He noted concern that the additional land
purchases cause maintenance costs to rise. Moore asked about the Golf Division future. Mickelson gave a brief
history of the Golf Course. Discussion ensued about the Municipal Golf Course and the development of a
marketing strategy.
Hartzell asked about the grounds maintenance of the schools. Mickelson stated that the $150,000 for 2 FTEs to
maintain the school grounds was not included in the FY03-04 budget. The Committee continued discussing the
possibility of continuing school ground’s maintenance with 1 FTE, even if no additional help was provided from the
Schools. Hartzell asked about a plan to revise SDCs, if the Youth Activities Levy (YAL) doesn’t pass. Lewis
confirmed the Park Commission’s support of the Levy. Morrison asked about school ground’s maintenance
efficiencies. Hearn clarified that the maintenance of the Briscoe School grounds would continue, even if the
school was closed. Jackson clarified field maintenance. Discussion ensued.
Jackson mentioned concern about the increase in staff without the correlation of services provided. Mickelson
responded that park acreage has grown. Jackson asked if parkland increase is related to increase in Personal
Services. Discussion continued regarding parkland maintenance.
Stepahin asked if it was the sense of the Commission that there were costs included in the Parks budget that
were contributing to the inaccuracy of the true cost of other departments needs. Lewis responded that it made
sense for the Parks to handle the maintenance issues, but the security issues should probably be handled by the
Police Department. Mickelson addressed the history of the collaboration with the Police Department. He said
currently that the Central Patrol position patrols the downtown area as well.
Williams/Hearn m/s to ask the City to recommend the same relief to continue funding the school’s
maintenance for the next budget year. Discussion: Committee discussed continuing school ground’s
maintenance and potential funding. Voice Vote: Motion passed 13 to 1; Silbiger Opposed.
Tuneberg said he would provide recommendations for ongoing school ground’s maintenance funding at the next
budget meeting.
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DeBoer pointed out that the Park’s CIP reflected $1.2 million through FY09, and there was only $450,000 left. He
noted that on page 4-66 in the Long-Term section, in the Parks fund, there was an excess of $120,000.
Laws commended the Parks Department on their budget presentation. Hearn said as this community fulfills its
infill policy, parks help to preserve and enhance the quality of life in Ashland. Morrison requested that Tuneberg
recommend funding for school ground’s maintenance for additional years. There was discussion of contracting
outside services for school ground’s maintenance.
Silbiger asked about the $64,000 difference in the adopted FY02-03 budget from last year’s to this year’s.
Tuneberg said he would check that difference.
Morrison/Olsen m/s to accept the Parks and Recreation Department budget as presented, and as
amended to include the City’s recommendation to continue funding the school ground’s maintenance for
the coming year and beyond. Voice Vote: ALL AYES. Motion passed.
Levine called for a 10-minute break.
Administration 3-3 to 3-13
City Administrator Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Paul Nolte and Administrative Services/Human Resources
Manager Tina Gray presented for the Administration Department. Grimaldi referred to page 3-3 and gave an
overview of the Administration Department. He talked about the elimination of the Administrative Services Director
position and combining Administrative Services with the Administration Department. He pointed out that due to
these changes the budget may be difficult to follow, but he assured the Committee of the accuracy in the collapse
of these two budgets. He noted an error in the Central Services Fund where $30,000 had been double budgeted.
He spoke to the issue of the Communications Manager and said he was looking at the functions of the
Administration and shifting duties of the positions in that department. He pointed out the issues the City is facing
and explained that he is reallocating resources, but not proposing increased staffing.
Moore clarified the reclassification of Administrative Services/Human Resources Manager. The Committee
discussed the history of the Administrative Services Director position. Williams asked about the percentage of
time the Communications Manager spent on the City Source Newsletter. Grimaldi said roughly 10% of the
positions time was spent on the City Source. There was discussion regarding the history, intention, cost and
priority of the City Source newsletter.
Silbiger commented that the Communication Manager position gets re-imagined every year and he recommended
the elimination of the position, saying that the job qualifications for that position were more on an administrative
assistant level.
Silbiger/Olsen m/s to eliminate the Communications Manager position from the Administration budget.
Discussion: The Committee discussed reexamining the Communications Manager position.
Grimaldi responded that he will get back to the Committee in a week regarding the City Source, but he would like
a minimum of six months to take a look at the Communications Manager position.
Laws/Moore m/s to postpone the vote on the motion regarding the Communications Manager position,
tabling it until next week, to hear the recommendations of the City Administrator. Voice Vote: Motion
passed 12 to 2; Amarotico and Hearn opposed.
Legal
City Attorney Paul Nolte gave an overview of the Legal Division’s budget reflecting an increase in staff
and relocation costs. He talked about external requirements that are out of their control. He stated that
they are still providing legal advice on the American Disabilities Act (ADA) even though it is over 10 years
old and are still spending considerable time proving the City’s compliance. He noted an increase in
workload due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) a new law imposed by
the Federal Government. Nolte pointed out other labor laws imposed by the Federal Government and the
legal work that is involved in each of those. He talked about internal requirements that are somewhat
within their control, saying that Ashland is a full service entrepreneurial city, and each program and
function takes some legal review. For example, everything from the Airport, the Ski Resort, Ambulance
Services, the Food and Beverage Tax and AFN require some legal review during the course of the year.
Nolte admitted concern over issues that they are not able to address. He informed that the Departments
need a legal audit and the programs need reviewing. He spoke of preventative law, reviewing programs
before a complaint is made. He talked about improving Food and Beverage Tax collections. He pointed
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out that the Legal Education program of elected and appointed officials could be improved. Nolte
commented on the importance of working with Planning in the development and implementation of
ordinances. For example, they are just now seeing legal issues in relation to trails and affordable housing.
He mentioned that they have recently assumed again, the preparation of formal complaints for the
Municipal Court, which had been done for a period of time by Police Department, due to time constraints
in Legal. Dispatch has now been combined and moved to the Medford Dispatch. He clarified that even
though it is something that Legal should be doing, it increases workload and a significant number of hours
are being devoted to formal complaints and Municipal Court. Nolte commended the work of his Assistant.
In conclusion, he said that the Legal Department should also be assisting with Labor issues.
The Committee discussed the impact of a part-time rather than full-time position, the option of contracting
services, health benefits and the reduction of the Assistant Attorney position cost in the budget.
Hartzell/Hearn m/s to accept the Legal Division budget as presented, with the change that less salary be
dedicated to the Attorney position, by reducing the Legal budget for the position by $20,000. Discussion:
Committee discussed the possibility of getting an experienced attorney for the proposed wage. Voice
Vote: Motion passed 12 to 2; Laws and Moore opposed.
Administrative Services
Human Resources Manager Tina Gray gave an overview of the Administrative Services Division budget.
She noted the overall reduction of $158,000, saying that it reflected the move of the Communications,
salary and functions to Administration. She said that Contractual Services increased due to dedicated
extra resources to Labor Negotiations. Hartzell clarified the .5 FTE move from conservation to
Administrative Services. Jackson asked about the proposed $45,000 in Contractual Services. Gray
explained that $20,000 is for labor negotiations for Police and Fire, $20,000 is for wellness expenses, and
$5,000 is for safety inspections.
Municipal Court
Gray continued the presentation giving an overview of the Municipal Court budget. She talked
about an increase in Personal Services. Silbiger asked about the decrease in positions and the
$20,000 increase in salaries. Gray explained that the increase was due to a reclassification of a
Court Clerk position, another position being filled and other step increases.
Senior Programs
Gray talked about a $12,000 increase in Personal Services and $1,000 increase for temporary
help. Moore asked about the Benefit increase of $10,000. Gray said it was due to the PERS
increase. DeBoer stated that it might be a mistake because the previous year’s was understated.
Tuneberg agreed to check the calculations.
Grimaldi reminded the Committee to include the $30,000 reduction in the Central Services Fund when making
their motion, because it was double budgeted.
Silbiger asked about the Administration budget changes in website hosting and development. Grimaldi responded
that he will get back to the Committee next week regarding the website.
Hartzell/Moore m/s to table the motion to accept the Administration Department budget, including the
error of $30,000 double budgeted in the Central Services Fund and the changes to the Legal budget; and
also wait to hear the recommendations from the City Administrator regarding the Communications
Manager position and the City website. Voice Vote: ALL AYES.
Fire and Rescue 3-41 to 3-49
Fire Chief Keith Woodley, Assistant Fire Chief/Fire Marshal Dave Hard and Fire/EMS Division Chief Greg Case
presented for the Fire Department. Woodley followed up on the value of the GIS program talked about earlier in
the Public Works presentation. He gave an overview of the Fire Department budget. He discussed performance
measurement goals, fire safety, accident prevention and instruction of 100% of the students in K-5 classrooms
throughout the City with 80% meeting competency. He talked about providing Community Emergency Response
Team (CERT) Training to 60 citizens, the five day turn around for fire safety plans review. He talked about their
goal to insure 100% of the Department employees meet annual and continuing recertification and education
requirements. In addition, he mentioned that they are still working on computerization of the Fire Department
records management program. He talked about wild fire fuels reduction efforts and funding.
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He continued discussing the goals for each division. He noted that in the Fire Operations Division they are looking
at integrating shift personnel into code enforcement work, continuing work on Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) compliance and they are redistributed administrative workloads. He talked about the
Thermal Imaging Camera donated by the hospital.
He said for the Emergency Medical Services Division their goals were to upgrade medical capabilities through the
purchase of Auto ventilator technology, continuing to meet ambulance service response times required by law,
implement an electronic data collections system and develop a system for the new HIPPA legislation. He said the
only significant budget change is the new position from the Baseline.
Fire Operations Division
Assistant Fire Chief/Fire Marshal Dave Hard presented the budget for the Fire Operations Division. He
noted that the budget was up significantly over the Baseline. He gave an overview of the Operations
budget and noted the position in the Baseline for the Fire Protection Plans Examiner.
Emergency Medical Services Division
Fire/EMS Division Chief Greg Case began the presentation by giving an overview of the Emergency the
Medical Services budget, noting that they are reporting electronically. He talked about grant funding for
the Ventilator program and pointed out a decrease in the volume with the addition of the CERT Training
Coordinator. He mentioned that they are noticing an increase in people taking the CERT Training
program. Case said they are working with the City Attorney in developing the HIPPA compliance
program.
Jackson asked for clarification regarding paperwork for HIPPA. Case replied that HIPPA directly relates to how
personal health information is handled and released, which involves a number of forms and policies. Woodley
said that essentially the budget impact is staff time for policy development, staff training and coordination for
implementation of the Act.
Jackson clarified that there was cost recovery for Ambulance Transports. Case noted on page 4-8 a reduction of
recoverable costs for Medicare. There was discussion regarding rate increases and dispatch service fees. There
was discussion regarding the need for the Fire Plans Examiner and the difference between the position in the
Baseline and the proposed position. Woodley pointed out that growth for administrative positions in the
Department has been nearly zero.
There was discussion regarding budgeting for technology.
DeBoer/Amarotico m/s to approve the Fire Department budget as presented. Voice Vote: Motion passed
13 to 1; Hartzell opposed.
Electric 3-91 to 3-101
Electric Director Dick Wanderscheid, Telecommunications Engineer Richard Holbo, Cable TV Manager Mike
Ainsworth and Electric Operations Superintendent Scott Johnson presented for the Electric Department.
Wanderscheid began by giving an overview of the Electric Department.
Conservation
Wanderscheid referred to page 3-101 and gave an overview of the Conservation budget. He pointed out
the move of .5 FTE to the Water Conservation budget from the Electric Conservation budget, resulting in
a shift of funding. He noted that the Conservation program dollars were down, reflecting less money
coming from Bonneville for conservation programs. He stated that otherwise it was a status quo budget.
Jackson asked about the $275,300 for programs on page 3-101 line item 610. Dick explained that those
program dollars go to customers for energy conservation rebates. Discussion ensued.
Computer Services
Wanderscheid gave an overview of the Computer Services Division budget. Telecommunications
Engineer Richard Holbo addressed software and replacement cycle upgrades. He talked about database
support for Fire, Building, Police and Public Works. He explained they are also working on HIPPA security
issues, which include regulations involving the transmission of data. He referred to the earlier discussion
with the Administration Department regarding the website cost, and mentioned that there would be costs
associated with the change either way.
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Wanderscheid mentioned that this fall they were developing a 5-year technology plan for the City,
involving all departments, where they will come up with a vision for the City, cost and timeline.
Silbiger asked about the $50,000 increase in Personal Services. Holbo clarified that the increase was
related to increases in PERS and Healthcare costs. Wanderscheid added that there was $40,000 in the
budget for a temporary Database Programmer. Discussion ensued regarding the temporary Database
Programmer. Jackson said that she would have preferred to see the temporary Database Programmer
listed in the position profile. Holbo clarified that Computer Services provide support for all computer
software systems used by the City. Discussion continued regarding the temporary Database Programmer.
Silbiger clarified that the drop in Contractual Services was due to the move of the website hosting and
development to Administration. Levine asked about the $7,000 not reflected in the change in the website
shift.
Hartzell asked about the line 602, Rental Repair and Maintenance, $67,000 expense disappearing after
the Baseline. Wanderscheid said he was not sure, but it could be a coding error. Tuneberg said he would
check for errors.
Discussion continued regarding the Conservation program and the new program, Earth advantage, which
supplements the Super Good Sense program. The Committee also talked about reducing rebate
amounts. Hartzell noted that it would be good to look at in a Council study session.
Electric Utility
Wanderscheid referred to page 3-95 noting line item 612 saying that the Franchises generate over a
million dollars in revenue. He noted that almost $3.2 million of revenue from Electric Utility. He walked
through the proposed increases in Electric Rates. He gave a history of the Bonneville contracts and the
BPA surcharge, saying that wholesale power costs have been increased by about $1.3 million a year. He
directed the Committee to page 4-42 pointing out the 7.5% proposed rate increase for base electric rates.
He then spoke of the second component in the rate increase, the surcharge increasing from 16% to
20.8%, which generates the difference in the wholesale power bills caused by the BPA surcharges. He
explained that the 7.5% rate increase is for other cost increases in PERS, healthcare, Central service
Fees, transmission costs and Franchise Fees. He explained that the Ending Fund Balance requirement
was only met by raising rates. He said that Bonneville is implementing another cost recovery clause that
would be effective in October 2003. He noted that every 10 million acre feet of water in the Columbian
River drainage is the equivalent of about $100 million in Bonneville revenue. He explained that they won’t
know the impact of this until August.
There was discussion about the 1.5 FTE positions returning from AFN to the Electric Utility. Discussion
continued regarding Electric Supply, Distribution and Transmission. Silbiger noted an error in
Transmission. Moore asked about the Reeder Gulch employee costs. Electric Operations Superintendent
Scott Johnson said it runs about $7,000 a year.
Telecommunications
Wanderscheid presented a status quo budget for AFN. He noted the reduction of one installer and the
return of 1.5 FTE to the Electric Utility. He said that Materials and Service were up by $148,000 due to
higher Central Services Fees, increased programming costs, Franchise Fees and bandwidth costs. He
stated that Capital Outlay is reduced reflecting the end of construction, and Debt Service is up due to
interest on loans. He referred to Page 4-46 explaining the Interfund Loans and internal borrowing. He
gave a history of the AFN Advisory Committee, and an update on High Speed data accounts. He related
the importance of updating the Business Plan for AFN and detailed changes and assumptions. He spoke
of the partnership with Rio Communications to provide high speed telephony for the School Districts,
saving them over $30,000 for the next three years. He alluded to unrealistic targets set in the original
Business Plan and the impact of the recession on Ashland’s economy. He expressed their desire to
revise the Business Plan based on all of the new factors and bring it back to the Advisory Committee to
rethink their strategy. He concluded saying that $8.6 million has been spent on building the AFN
infrastructure, and unfortunately at the end of this fiscal year 200 service addresses would still not be
serviceable. He talked about the AFN Service Agreement requirements. He estimated that to finish the
build out would cost about $400,000 and stated that it was not in the budget.
Discussion ensued regarding AFN construction loans. Silbiger provided charts detailing the loans and
internal borrowing, and revenue projections. Silbiger gave an overview of the charts on the overhead
projector. Tuneberg clarified construction loans, detailing principal and interest payments. Discussion
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ensued regarding loans and internal borrowings. Tuneberg pointed out that the internal borrowing roughly
approximated the difference in revenues and expenses on a budgetary basis from FY99 through this
time. He clarified that operational costs contributed to internal borrowings. Silbiger suggested putting the
revisions in the proposed budget. Discussion sustained. Wanderscheid confirmed that the AFN budget is
as lean as possible and the only answer is to increase revenue. He concluded that he would come back
to the Committee with revised numbers. Laws asked if the laws required the City to pay the Franchise
Fees to themselves. Wanderscheid responded that it would be difficult to compete with private sector
companies without having the same rules. Discussion ensued about Franchise Fees and pole
attachments.
Cable TV Manager Mike Ainsworth gave an overview of the marketing efforts and statistic for AFN. He
informed that technology hadn’t been used as a tool to promote economic growth.
Tuneberg proposed shifting $400,000 from Charge for Services down to Interfund Loans, which would
reflect the revision requested. Discussion continued regarding the market share percentage and
marketing strategy.
Laws/Jackson m/s to accept the Electric Department budget as revised. Voice Vote: Motion passed 13 to
1; Morrison opposed.
Discussion ensued regarding AFN marketing.
rd
The Committee agreed to start the next Budget Committee Meeting on Saturday, May 3 at 8:30am.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 2:16pm.
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