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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-26 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Study Session Minutes—October 26, 2015 Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the regular Anacortes City Council study session of October 26, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Liz Lovelett, John Archibald and Matt Miller were present. Council Review of 2016 Budget Mayor Gere invited Council to review the proposed 2016 budget for all departments other than Public Works whose budget was reviewed at the October 12, 2015 study session. General Fund Revenue Finance Director Steve Hoglund reviewed the general fund revenue streams included in the proposed budget including fund balance transfers for one time expenditures. The largest revenue streams included property tax, retail sales tax including a 1% increase, and utility taxes. Mr. Hoglund referenced the trends used to project revenues and reported that sales tax collected year to date was up 4.8% compared to prior year and 4.1% compared to budget. Mr. Walters asked that the budget policies included in the final budget book be explicitly presented to Council for adoption along with the budget ordinance. Councilmembers requested a summary of total projected revenue by source, not broken into funds and departments, compared to prior year. Ms. Lovelett noted that property tax supplied less than 10% of total budgeted revenue. In response to a question from Mr. Archibald, Mr. Hoglund observed that if revenues came in stronger than projected as had been the case in recent years, budgeted expenditures of cash reserves might be able to be covered by current year revenue instead. Museum Department Museum Director Steve Oakley presented his department's 2015 accomplishments and proposed 2016 budget. He explained one time expenditures listed on Lines 745 and 770. Mr. Oakley pointed out that the estimated $28K cost to paint the Carnegie Building, last painted in 1999-2000, had been removed to balance the budget and said that cost included pressure washing, painting and repair of windows that were suffering water intrusion. Mr. Johnson asked Mr. Oakley to obtain a quote to repair the windows only; several councilmembers urged early preventive maintenance and repair of the windows. Mr. Oakley answered councilmember questions about visitation statistics at the museum's three facilities, discussed the possibility of raising admission fees at the W.T. Preston and instituting admission fees at the museum and Maritime Heritage Center, and explained the fees charged for research requests and photo sales. Planning, Community and Economic Development Department Planning Director Don Measamer presented the proposed 2016 budgets for the Planning department, Building department, and the Community Development Fund, assisted by Senior Planner Libby Grage. Mr. Measamer highlighted the focus of the department for 2016 including completion of the Comprehensive Plan update, development of supporting development regulations and design standards, adopting 2015 international building codes, evaluating building permit fees, ongoing scanning of address files, critical areas updates, reviewing planning fees, and working with the Legal department to revise the sign ordinance and parking regulations. He noted the proposed addition of a half-time position or contracted consultant to focus on economic development. Councilmembers discussed potential focus areas for economic development including a broadband fiber network and improvements along south Commercial Avenue. Mr. Walters requested a written justification for the proposed position, and an alternative for a full time position. Mr. Walters requested a calculation of how much of the Building Department budget was covered by permit fees. Ms. Lovelett encouraged indexing permit fees to avoid larger, less frequent increases. Legal Department Assistant City Attorney Darcy Swetnam presented her department's proposed 2016 budget, noting increases and decreases from the prior year for the first full year with in house counsel. She observed that the use of outside legal counsel was expected to continue to diminish but that the budget needed to provide for hiring specialists if unanticipated matters arose. She clarified the roles of the staff included in the salary line item including the attorney, legal assistant and part of the executive secretary. Mr. Walters Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes October 26, 2015 1 requested that this department be renamed the City Attorney's Office. Mr. Walters urged that all expenditures for outside legal counsel be handled by the Legal department. Mr. Miller said Council expected outside legal costs to continue to decline. Fire/EMS Department Fire Chief Richard Curtis introduced Assistant Chief Jack Kennedy and Division Chief Nick Walsh to assist in presenting the proposed 2016 budget for the Fire/EMS Department. Chief Curtis reviewed the department's goals for 2016. He said the budget was largely unchanged other than the addition of one position. Chief Curtis explained one-time expenditures for replacement of SCBA bottles on Line 606, training for five new volunteers on Line 646, and replacing the roof over the apparatus bay at Fire Station 1 on Line 677. He explained that the addition of one 24-hour firefighter/EMT position was expected to decrease overtime costs by approximately$80K and would also help the department recruit high quality candidates for that more desirable position. Mr. Miller reported that the Personnel Committee had reviewed the proposed position and supported the addition. Mr. Johnson asked about the removal of training center modifications on Line 722. Chief Curtis explained that at the time the budget was prepared the scope and potential cost of the solution was still unknown; he added that he had just received an estimate of approximately$60K to address the runoff concerns at the facility. Mr. Walters said that work needed to be fully funded, out of cash reserves if necessary. Councilmembers discussed with Chief Curtis the unbudgeted CFP project to underground the overhead lines in front of Fire Station 1. The Chief advised the current cost estimate was approximately$35K including participation by PSE. Mr. Walters said that was a high priority. Councilmembers discussed the merits of that proposal. Mr. Hoglund answered councilmember questions about the underfunding of the Fire/EMS equipment rental fund. Chief Curtis answered Mr. Johnson's questions about the tower replacement at Fire Station 2. At Mr. Miller's request, Chief Curtis said he would consult with the Public Works department about the possibility of coordinating that work with the telemetry project. Library Department Library Director Sheri Miklaski presented the library's proposed 2016 budget. She summarized the library's mission and goals for 2016. Ms. Miklaski highlighted the library materials budget increase and explained that a portion of the increase was due to reclassification of expenses from a different budget line but that a real increase in materials expenditures was also proposed, using revenue from passport processing services, to achieve a per capita materials investment more on par with other communities of similar size. She explained the one-time expenditure on Line 1041 for migration costs to the new Integrated Library System software. Ms. Lovelett urged finding a way to waive non-resident library card fees for families with children in the free and reduced lunch program. Mr. Johnson suggested that service clubs might be able to fill that role. Mr. Walters asked if there could be cost savings if the library were to absorb all or part of the museum. Ms. Miklaski said the museum had a different mission and expertise and that she was not aware of other libraries that oversaw museum functions so could not speak to potential cost savings. Mr. Walters asked if more public access computers were needed at the library. Ms. Miklaski provided examples of unmet demand for computer access. Parks and Recreation Department Parks and Recreation Director Gary Robinson presented his department's proposed 216 budget with the assistance of Recreation Manager Dustin South, Washington Park Manager Bob Vaux and Operations and Forestlands Manager Jonn Lunsford. Mr. Robinson provided an overview of the department's structure and its range of services including Washington Park, Grand View Cemetery, the Anacortes Community Forestlands and the Depot Arts and Community Center. He listed highlights of the 2016 budget including the Storvik Park restroom and spray pad, upper restroom repairs at Washington Park, beautification of city facilities, and improvements at the Depot, the Tommy Thompson Trail, and Volunteer Park. Mr. Robinson explained the addition of a .75 FTE position to support beautification of facilities around the city. Mr. South summarized the recreation program budget on page 38 of the proposed budget. He said that Line 901 included the Recreation programs share of the quarterly A Town is Our Town publication. Mr. Walters asked staff to provide the total cost of the A Town publication. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes October 26, 2015 2 Ms. Lovelett expressed a need for more maintenance and custodial support for the Depot. Mr. Robinson indicated that need had recently been addressed to the satisfaction of the tenants. Mr. Robinson and Mayor Gere described the intended function of the new .75 FTE maintenance position devoted to upkeep at specific city facilities. Mr. Walters opposed the proposed position and suggested contracting out for those services instead. Councilmembers discussed with Mr. Robinson the pros and cons of hiring versus contracting for this type of work. Mr. Lunsford briefly summarized the operations budget line items on page 38 of the proposed budget. Mr. Walters asked Mr. Hoglund for a list of the expenditures included in Line 949, Taxes & Operating Assessments. Mr. Robinson indicated the proposed budget for Grand View Cemetery, Fund 102, was essentially unchanged from the prior year. Mr. Vaux summarized the proposed budget for Washington Park Fund 107. He said revenues and expenditures were both holding steady and still showing a small net gain. He advised that the campground pay machine had reached the end of its useful life and would need to be replaced before long, possibly out of accumulated fund balance. Several councilmembers expressed support for replacing the machine; Mr. Vaux said the cost to replace it would be $15,897.42. Mr. Archibald asked staff to consider measures to slow the speed of traffic on the loop road. Mr. Robinson concluded with a review of the proposed expenditures from Parks Capital Improvement Fund 108 on page 54 including the Storvik Park restroom and spray pad project. Mr. Robinson advised that bids had recently been opened for the Washington Park upper restroom remodel and had been significantly higher than the$35K budgeted so staff were considering options. Police Department Police Chief Bonnie Bowers reviewed her department's proposed 2016 budget. Chief Bowers highlighted the department's successes in 2015 with crime prevention, accreditation, the School Resource Officer and the new narcotics canine team. She explained fifteen line items in the budget including Lines 485- 488, 494, 497, 506, 511, 512, 515, 518, 527, 538, 534, 540 and 548. Chief noted that a citywide fiber optic network could save the department significant funds on communications bills. She confirmed for Mr. Walters that the 911 charges on Line 534 were not optional. Mr. Archibald inquired about Line 513 and asked if additional expenditures on preventive programs could reduce the cost of future calls for police services. Chief Bowers described the programs funded in that line item and acknowledged that additional funding for diversion programs could be well spent. Mr. Walters asked Chief Bowers to provide evidence of the effectiveness of those programs. The Chief answered councilmember questions about the expenditures in Lines 511 and 497. Councilmembers discussed citizen requests to expand animal control expenditures on controlling roaming cats. Ms. Lovelett reported that most constituents she had spoken with did not want to spend more funds to enforce cat regulations. Mr. Archibald suggested having the Public Safety committee address the question further. Judicial Department Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh presented the proposed 2016 budget for the Judicial department including the municipal court and the public defender's office. She explained the increase in Line 267 due to an increase in the County contract and the one-time expenditure proposed in Line 265 for capital improvements in the courtroom to be paid out of pass thru funding from the Reserved Court Account. Mr. Walters asked staff to evaluate the financial impact of not contracting with Skagit County for judge services. Human Resources Department Ms. Schuh presented the proposed 2016 budget for the Human Resources department. She listed the percentage change in the health insurance premiums of the several programs offered. She described the new MSDS on line database reflected in Line 374 and explained that the new insurance Line 398 had previously been budgeted as a non-departmental expense but had been moved to the Human Resources Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes October 26, 2015 3 budget. Mr. Walters asked if the budget included a COLA for non-union employees. Ms. Schuh said that a COLA for those employees had not yet been finalized but that typically in the past it had mirrored the Teamster COLA which was 2.25% for 2016 and that the draft budget had been calculated accordingly. Legislative Department Mr. Hoglund presented the proposed 2016 budget for the Legislative department. He noted that the cost of the A Town is Our Town publication was reflected in Line 222 and that the staffing for Channel 10 had been increased from a .25 FTE to a .5 FTE on Line 237. Ms. Lovelett asked if benefit packages could be extended to councilmembers as well as employees. Ms. Schuh explained that would require a quorum of councilmembers to opt into the program and that the city would have to pay at least 50% of the premiums. Executive Department Mr. Hoglund presented the proposed 2016 budget for the Executive department. Mr. Hoglund and Mayor Gere described the proposed Communications Specialist position. Mr. Walters suggested that position would need a supporting budget for professional services. Mr. Miller noted that the position had not been presented to the Personnel Committee and requested a more detailed job description. Finance Department Mr. Hoglund presented the proposed 2016 budget for the Finance department including Information Technology. He noted several increased expenditures that had previously been budgeted as non- departmental but had been moved to the Finance department budget. Mr. Hoglund explained that Line 310 was a transfer of General Fund cash reserves to the road maintenance program in Fund 104, in addition to current year property tax allotted to that fund. He pointed out that Line 312 had proposed a new IT position for a security specialist but that had been removed to balance the budget. Councilmembers discussed the merits of reconsidering that position. Mr. Hoglund noted that funding had been removed from Lines 344, 358 and 359 for the records management system and VOIP phone system pending solid cost estimates. Mr. Walters urged funding all three items out of general fund reserves and Ms. Pickett echoed the need to update the phone system. Ms. Pickett thanked staff and the mayor for working so hard on the budget. She urged her colleagues to develop a way forward to address the 2006 study on the need for seismic bracing of City Hall. Mr. Walters urged deciding whether to leave the building or keep it before spending any more money on it. Mayor Gere advised that at the next meeting Mr. Hoglund would bring forward the property tax resolution but that the city had until the end of December to adopt the budget. She asked councilmembers to email her and Mr. Hoglund listing anything they wanted changed, included or added so staff could make a future presentation addressing those requests. Mr. Walters confirmed that staff would bring back to Council a list of potential changes to the Mayor's proposed budget. There being no further business, at approximately 9:30 p.m. the Anacortes City Council study session of October 26, 2015 was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes October 26, 2015 4