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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2011-08-22 Special 08/22/11 3661 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( AUGUST 22, 2011 )( MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HEID ON . MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2011, AT 6:30 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR DAVID SMITH . MAYOR PRO-TEM JIM HILL COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL BARKER (left at 9:38 PM} COUNCILMEMBER PAT MCGINNIS COUNCILMEMBER JOHN SCOTT COUNCILMEMBER DEIRDRE BROWN (arrived at 6:40 PM) CITY ATTORNEY ARNOLD POLANCO (Ieft at 7:45 PM) CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER CITY SECRETARY ME�INDA WELSH Councilmember Enochs was absent from the meeting. SPECIAL SESSION Mayor Smith called the meeting to order and asked if anyone would like to speak regarding the Closed ' Executive Session issue of Wight Reafty Interests, Ltd. vs. the City of Friendswood. No one spoke. GLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION Council convened into Executive Session in accordance with the Texas Government Code, pursuant to Section 551.071 — Consultation with attorney concerning pending or contemplated litigation; a settlement offer; or a matter in which the duty of the attorney requires it. (Wight Realty interests, Ltd. vs. City of Friendswood, in the 405'"Judicial District Court, Galveston County, Texas) Council convened into Open Session at 7:45 PM with no action taken later in the meeting. SPECIAL SESSION Mayor Smith opened the discussion befiveen Council and Staff regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2011- 2012 General Operating Budget for the City of Friendswood. Administrative Services Director Cindy ', Edge presented a PowerPoint presentation o� water and sewer rates. She stated there are many rate setting factors that determine what the rate needs to be such as the operating expenses, which on the water utility side includes the cost of the surface water, debt obligations that are specific to water, current and future capital projects, and bond reserve requirements. She noted that the two utilities are considered separately. She stated for the sewer utility they look at operating expenses which includes the cost of treatment at the Blackhawk Wastewater Piant, debt obligations that are specific to sewer and current and future capital projects. She stated they look at aIl of the components and determine what rate is needed to meet those obligations. There are assumptions made whe� they set the rates such as li usage for each customer or aIl of the rate types, are based on what normal weather is and then consider the number of new service connections. This year has been far from normal and has created different I factors in what is seen in rates and revenue structures. She stated in 2004, the City was preparing to borrow money for projects so they looked at rates based on the winter quarter average method, adjusted it to 80 percent of the water consumption and did away with the winter quarter average method. � j I I � I 08/22/11 3662 In January of 2009, the rates were increased to accommodate what was used above the minimum was at $3.50, when the City was ready to issue bonds they found that several things had changed; money did not have to be borrowed for the Panhandle because of a grant, so less was borrowed than anticipated, and got good interest rates. In Iight of that, the minimum was changed from $3.50 to$2.90 and went from 80 percent to 70 percent in October of 2009. Staff does not propose any changes to the current water rate but will ask for an appropriation to cover some of the operating expenses that have incurred due to the drought such as overtime, cost to repair Iines, concrete repair, electricity, and any funds Ieft over will go toward capital projects. The sewer rates were working under normal conditions but the drought situation has caused more watering and consequently dramatic increases in water bills. Staff started seeing big bills in April and citizens are complaining about the inequity of the sewer portion of their bills. In order to create a more equitable fee, Staff is proposing to cap the sewer consumption at 15,000 gallons per month so the most a citizen would pay for sewer would be about $50.00 a month. Staff did a comparison of Friendswood to other cities and Friendswood is on the lower side on the water and the sewer is not so bad. League City, Pearland, La Porte, and Baytown have a sewer consumption cap. If Council approves the cap then Staff will prepare a resolution for the September 12, 2011, Council meeting. Some citizens would Iike to make the cap retroactive but there is no successful way to do that but because of the billing schedule there will be a bit of a retroactive effect. City Manager Roger Roecker stated of the eight cities used to compare water rates, Friendswood is the second lowest in rates. Councilmember Brown stated these rates do not include Municipal Utility Districts. Councilmember McGinnis thanked Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge and stated he has gotten several comments from residents regarding this, asked if there are a Iot of households that are well above ', 15,000 and Cindy Edge answered yes, the average is 10,000 gallons on a monthly bill but stated there I are a lot of really Iarge bills this summer. She stated there are a lot of citizens with personal lines and the I City can help adjust the bill if there are leaks. Councilmember McGinnis asked about residents purchasing a meter just for irrigation and getting charged the minimum rate for sewer, and Gindy Edge stated yes. Gouncilmember Hill asked if the City does cap the rate how much would a citizen save if he uses 30,000 gallons a month and Administrative Services Deputy Director Katina Hampton answered that they would save $43.50. Councilmember HiII stated the City can use the extra revenue to cover expenses of repairs and $30.00 a month will not break someone who uses 30,000 gallons of water a month, and might also help them conserve if they pay more. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated there are not many complaints about water usage but it is the sewer rate calculations that are raising complaints. Mayor Smith stated he would rather cut the rate back on the sewer bili and increase the tax rate for the General Operating budget. Councilmember Hill asked if the sewer fund can pay for the new backhoe for the Public Works Department and Public Works Director Kaz Hamidian stated there is one in the current proposed budget for Council's approval. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated the rate cap is for residential only, not commercial. Mayor Smith asked if it is possible to bill based on the season of the year and reduce the rate by 50 percent at peak summer months and go back up in the winter and Cindy Edge stated that is possible if ' that is what Council wishes. Mayor Smith stated a compromise would be a seasonal rate. � I 08/22/11 3663 Councilmember McGinnis stated he likes the seasonal rate idea, and thinks the rate reduction could be June, July, and August, this year has been bad. Councilmember Hill stated it would need to be done for four months because of the billing schedule. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated some of the bigger bills are in September and October. Mayor Smith suggested July, August, September, and October. Councilmember Barker suggested reducing the rate for six mo�ths. Councilmember Brown suggested one consistent change, and stated it is easier to do administratively, is contacted by elderly citizens about the water bill, prefers a more uniformed approach. The City can put a cap at 17,500 uniformly through the year. Councilmember Scott stated Staffs recommendation is fine with him. The City is trying to prevent penalizing people on the sewer rate when they are not adding to the sewer function, and thinks StafPs idea is a great approach. Councilmember McGinnis stated he agrees with Counciimember Scott, want to show residents that they are heard, and keep it simple. Councilmember Hill stated it should be consistent throughout the year and cap it at 15,000 gallons. Councilmember Barker stated cap it at 15,000 gallons or whatever. Mayor Smith asked Cindy Edge to prepare a resolution to that effect for the September 12, 2011, Council meeting. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated the 15,000 gallon cap wiil not harm people who use the minimum but any other change would negatively affect them. Mayor Smith stated those who Iive in apartments or town homes that do not have Iots of loads of clothes to wash wiil not be affected as much but it will help those trying to save their foundations. The City Manager stated Council approved a waiver for certain credits and anyone who thinks they are , eligible should contact the Utility Billing department. Councilmember Brown stated it is one waiver a year and Cindy Edge answered that both can be used one time a year. Mayor Smith stated it is not for the unusual watering of this season but for an example of someone discovering their water being stolen and their water biil tripled, there is latitude for those situations. Cindy Edge stated the worse the problem the better it will help. City Manager Roger Roecker began discussion on the General Budget and stated there is $85,000 in unappropriated and available for appropriation, and the first item is repealing the telecom sales tax exemption. Assistant to the City Manager Nick Haby presented a PowerPoint presentation explaining repealing the sales tax exemption. He stated that other cities have repealed the sales tax exemption and doing so ; would allow the State to collect City sales tax on cell phones, land lines, fax machines, pagers and mobile I radio service. The State still collects their 6.25% from these services, but they do not collect or pay out Iocal sales taxes unless the City, County, Special Purpose District, or Transit Authority repeals the exemption and opts to collect local sales taxes as well. He stated Staff came up with two different estimates on how much additional sales tax the City might gain from repealing the exemption. The first assumption is that there are 8,000 average telephone bilis of �75.00, in that case there would be an I additional �108,000 a year in sales tax and that is a conservative figure. i � O8/22/11 3664 i The second assumption is 10,000 average telephone bilis at$85.000 and there would be �153,000 more in sales tax. Houston Area cities that have repealed are Pearland, Webster, Missouri City, Texas City, � Dickinson, Deer Park, Santa Fe, Houston, Pasadena, Galveston, Sugariand, Conroe, West University ! Place, La Marque, Kemah, Seabrook, Clear Lake Shores, Tiki Island, Piney Point Village, Angleton, Jersey Village, Katy, Hitchcock, Montgomery, Rosenberg, and The Woodlands Township. The City Manager stated the next slides will show an increase in sales tax of$65,000 which is the amount for over two thirds of the year, and this is because it will take time to implement if Council approves. City Manager Roger Roecker stated the next item for consideration is increasing building permit fees to make them comparable to other cities. Community Development Director Morad Kabiri stated in the last two years Staff has looked at how Friendswood fares compared to eight other cities in the surrounding area regarding keeping up with the cost for providing service and Friendswood is on the Iower end of the spectrum. Friendswood does not charge for after-hour reconnects or permits but an inspector is paid two hours overtime plus the cost of the vehicle, and stated the base fee for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical is $10 whereas other cities are �25 to �100 for the same service. If the City had charged for these services in 2009, it would have generated $53,000 in additional revenue. For budget purposes, $40,000 is estimated in additional annual revenue should Councii choose to approve and will make it effective January 01, 2012. The City Manager stated the intent is not to be the most expensive city in the area but to be comparable to what other cities charge for the same services. City Manager Roger Roecker stated that the last proposed change revenue for discussion is in the water and sewer transfer to the General Fund of approximately $23,500. The methodology was evaluated and one area was changed from an allocation of ten percent to twelve percent. He stated the next slide is in the area of expenditures. Staff found some corrections in the budget itself that needed to be fixed. The City Secretary will end the �12,000 consultant contract, there will be a $6,460 reduction to Contract Services in the City ManagedEconomic Development budget. Staff is looking at other options for fuel decrease, met with the school districts to discuss other fuel options but nothing is firm. The Police Department will save $8,600 in salary due to the retirement of a longtime employee. Public Works Director Kaz Hamidian identified additional savings in Public Works for $8,200. In the Mayor and City Council budget, there is a $3,000 reduction in Special Events, and there is discussion to reduce Contract Services. The dollar amount should have been $50,000 rather than the �65,000 so if it is not renewed that is the grant writer's fee. He stated the Community Development Department suggests removing the $3,000 membership fee to the Dickinson!Clear Creek Watershed Group, and stated these changes equal $71,000, and the summary total is �a366,153 proposed funds available with proposed uses for streets at $216,153 and merit increases at$150,000. Mayor Smith asked City Secretary Melinda Welsh what special events would it preclude Council from doing if there was a proposed $3,000 reduction in Special Events and the Ciry Secretary replied she did not think it would have a significant effect, is mainly for the volunteer dinner and since the City is not i holding that event any Ionger the reduction should not affect other activities. Mayor Smith clarified that the City would still be able to host the Galveston County Mayor and Council's Association Dinner and the City Secretary stated yes. Councilmember Brown stated she believes more can be cut from the Special Events budget. Mayor Smith stated different budget years look different because different people go to the annual Texas Municipal League conference or to different training. The Mayor asked the City Secretary how the budget gets split up and what the effect will be if they reduce the budget and she stated it is used for a number of different things and it changes every year, and hosting the Galveston County Mayors' and Councilmembers' Association meeting is an example. She further stated if the money is not budgeted then it must be taken from another part of the budget and that can cause hardship. The reduction of$3,000 was a conservative amount because Council has their own idea about what it might be used for and she was not sure of future plans. Mayor Smith asked about the DickinsonlClear Creek Watershed Group membership fee, and asked Councilmember Hill what his i thoughts were as the liaison to that group and Councilmember HiII stated the City should stay in the group one more year because of the Mud Gully project but only seven percent of Friendswood is in Dickinson li Bayou. � 08/22l11 3665 Community Development Director Morad Kabiri stated the membership is �500 a year for the Dickinson portion and nothing has been done in the last couple of years that has been of benefit, can be weaned off but it is not that much savings. Councilmember Hill stated the City only attends meetings every other month so keep $2,500 for Clear Creek and remove Dickinson. Mayor Smith discussed the Contract Services of $50,000 in Mayor and Council's budget and Councilmember Brown stated all of the grants that the grant writer gained were state and federal and those funds are drying up, have been no private grants or proposed private grants in the reports, is fine with not funding the contract any further because Friendswood is not getting its money's worth. Other cities had a reduced fee for this firm. Since Sherry Riveron is a citizen of Friendswood she could volunteer her services to improve the City. Councilmember Barker stated he agrees that Friendswood can do without it at this point. Councilmember Hill stated grant money is drying up. Mayor Smith stated if grant funds are becoming more difficult to acquire getting rid of the grant writer seems counterintuitive, � when it is easy is when they are not needed, is concerned about going back to where the City was a few years ago and not having someone in the game not paying attention. Councilmember McGinnis asked how this was acquired in the first place, was it an unsolicited proposal or was there a bidding process. He stated that Councilmember Brown's comments about City of Nassau Bay having such a remarkable difference in fees concerns him and Mayor Smith stated Sherry Riveron is a Friendswood resident who was getting into the private consulting business after having worked with cities and municipalities for several years, the opportunity came for her to start her business in Friendswood as a consulting firm as well as a law firm. Mayor Smith stated he brought it before Council and Council voted to hire the Riveron Law Firm to act as a consultant aiong those lines. He stated there were a lot of discussions about it. The City needed results and p�ofessional services and the City has benefitted from it, having a contract of this type means one gets out of it what one puts in and direction must be given. The City Manager stated he is not lobbying either way but the grant that was awarded was the water and sewer grant to the Panhandle. Staff assisted but Sherry Riveron was instrumental in bringing the $2 million grant with no City participation for the project, ended up being a �1.4 million project and she is currently helping the City use the remaining funds for other economic development needs such as the median. Councilmember Hill asked when the contract is up and Mayor Smith stated he thinks the fiscal year. Councilmember Hill asked if Staff can pick up where Sherry Riveron leaves off and the City Manager stated Staff has always been very much aware of the need to search for grants and Staff works hard to do that. Councilmember McGinnis asked if this is a retainer or per hour contract and Mayor Smith stated a retainer is the best way to describe it. Councilmember Brown stated the grant contract itse�f is different than being the administrator on the grant, will still be the administrator on current contracts. She stated Nassau Bay also received the same grant for their area that Friendswood did for the Panhandle, and this is the first time she has heard such a glowing account of how instrumental Sherry Riveron was with the Panhandle grant. She stated she thinks she heard the City Manager basically say that the Economic Development Department played a minimal part in it, and perhaps money can be saved there by ', removing the economic development component if Sherry Riveron is the one who can make grants ! happen because that has been the greatest accomplishment of Economic Development in the past coupie of years. She suggested homework should be done on the comparisons given to Seabrook and Nassau Bay. Friendswood had one of the lowest or mid-range ratings for the Parks Grant at 52 points aker significant input from Staff and limited involvement from Sherry Riveron. Ms. Riveron has attended Council meetings and not spoken up when grant questions were raised, is not sure that it is not direction from Council but a lack of willingness by the grant writer to participate with Council. Council has given direction that they are interested in any and all grants not just state or federal, if one can read, write and follow directions one can submit a grant appiication and used the Laura Recovery Center and the grant award of a Toyota Prius as an example. The Fire Marshal's office has received grants for years, believes that Economic Development Coordinator Karen Capps did a lot of work on the Panhandle grant. Grant writers are helpful when there is money to pay, would Iike to have one on Staff. There have been no awards since January, and a bidding process could be done to see what other grant writing processes there are. City Manager Roger Roecker stated he did not intend for his comments to be misconstrued toward lack of effort on Economic DevelopmenPs part and Mayor Smith stated he did not hear that from the City Manager's comments. 08/22/11 3666 i _ Mayor Smith stated he needs to hear what Council wants to do with this item. Councilmember Barker stated he has always questioned if this money was well spent. Staff did a lot of work on these grants and the City jumpstarted Sherry Riveron into this business but it was a different economy when it began and is becoming an area of diminishing returns on the investment and is against funding. Councilmember Hill stated he is grateful for Ms. Riveron's efforts and she will make a lot of money as the administrator of the current grants, and Staff has stated they can live without it. Councilmember McGinnis stated given the ongoing recession he is inclined to say the City can live without and tighten its belt. Councilmember Scott stated he agreed and Councilmember Brown stated the same. Mayor Smith stated he considered that any City that would consider working with someone with this type of expertise, Ms. Riveron has a gift for this, has created opportunities with the City of Friendswood and other cities, has accomplished a lot and when considering the dollars received one must consider overhead to run a business, to build an argument that only she is benefiting from this and the relationship is one sided is unfair, and is difficult to do when so many things come before Council. The funds spe�t on this service have come back in spades and he appreciates Sherry Riveron's efforts. Mayor Smith stated the total reduction number for the savings to the General Fund needs to be reduced by$2,500 because the Clear Creek Watershed is staying in. Councilmember Hill asked about the repeal of the telecom sales tax and Assistant to the City Manager Nick Haby stated Council has to pass an ordinance and send the ordinance to the State in order to repeal. Councilmember McGinnis stated in the prior discussion, in the questions he sent he asked to run the numbers on the cell phone subsidy and the personal automobile use subsidy to make sure they are actual expenses, is Staff using their car on a day to day basis for City errands. City Manager Roger Roecker stated the vehicle allowance was given to twelve employees. The City looked at the cost of vehicles and maintenance and an allowance is less expensive. The criteria are after hour use and using vehicles for day to day activities. Mayor Smith asked if a savings was found and the City Manager stated Friendswood is competing against other cities for employee benefits, aliowance is $450 a month, policy states they will look at area cities on an annual and bi-annual basis and peg allowances at 90 percent of the area and the City is at 85 percent of the area, believes it is the most efficient way to provide this resource to employees. He stated Staff has purchased cell phones and plans in the past and the allowance is more cost effective, other cities have looked at our policy, is streamlined in the administration of it. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated it is tiered to the Ievel of use by each employee and is used to compensate the employee for using a personal phone for business use. Councilmember McGinnis stated the federal per mileage reimbursement rated is$.55 and per mile so that would imply that someone is driving 900 miles a month for City business, asked if each employee who has that subsidy uses their personal vehicle to that extent and the City Manager stated that he cannot say that. Counciimember McGinnis stated the other option is City owned vehicles that can be used and City Manager Roger Roecker stated that it is a competitive issue and part of a compensation package. Councilmember McGinnis asked if it is a justifiable expense, and could be an area to tighte� the beit. Councilmember Brown asked if the cars are being treated as salary and not expensed and Cindy Edge stated the car expense is a taxable fringe benefit. Counciimember Brown stated going forward this is something to consider. Councilmember Barker asked if the telecom sales tax repeal means an added tax and Mayor Smith stated yes, is not being charged right now but it depends on the carrier. Councilmember Barker stated he is against it. Councilmember HiII stated he is on the fence. Councilmember Brown stated she is against. i Gouncilmember Scott stated he is also against. Councilmember McGinnis stated he much prefers a consumption tax but residents will bear the brunt of any of it. I � i I I O8/22/11 3667 Councilmember McGinnis asked Community Development Director Morad Kabiri about the comparisons to the other cities for the building permit fees. Morad Kabiri stated the comparison included League City, Pearland, Missouri City, Sugarland, Stafford, Bellaire and two others, and Friendswood was either last or second to Iast for cost of fees, and with that being said the proposed change would move Friendswood up to mid-range relative to the other cities. Mayor Smith stated to reduce the total savings by$65,000 for the telecom sales tax. Councilmember Brown stated she does not agree with raising the effective tax rate. There was much discussion held about the homestead exemption issues, thought there would be a discussion of the homestead exemption at this meeting so she was prepared for a different discussion than the ones tonight. Mayor Smith stated Council can have a discussion about increasing taxes by doing away with the homestead exemption, and the general consensus was not to discuss. Mayor Smith asked if there are any more pieces that need to be worked on before Council gets down to how to spend the money and Councilmember Brown stated increase cuts, there are many other cuts that can be made. Mayor Smith asked if everyone is comfortable with the cuts Staff has presented and Councilmember Barker clarified cuts and not revenue additions and Mayor Smith stated he is talking about the additional revenue sources that Staff has identified to total $300,000; water and sewer transfer, additional Staff funds, the $84,725 and there was a general consensus of approval, with Councilmember Brown stating some of it is based on the assumption of raising taxes and Mayor Smith argued that it is an effective tax rate increase. Mayor Smith asked what other reduction in costs and Councilmember Barker stated the Joe Gonzalez contract. City Manager Roger Roecker stated it used for Staff development and one Council retreat and ' would request that it remain in the budget at$17,000. Counciimember Barker stated this has diminishing retums, does not serve the purposes it used to serve and is a crutch to some extent, used to be more money and the City Manager stated it was reduced Iast year and are using it for Staff development and a Council Retreat. Gouncilmember Barker stated the cost for a four hour meeting plus travel time is astronomical in his opinion. Councilmember Hill stated he understands if the City Manager thinks he needs him but maybe he can cut back to fewer meetings. Councilmember McGinnis stated Joe Gonzalez has been helpful but this is one area to say maybe it can be cut this year, wants to support for Staff so he � is on the fence. Councilmember Scott stated that Joes is a great facilitator and he helps Staff but in this economic climate every opportunity needs to be looked at for reduction in operating expenses. Councilmember Brown asked what comprises the �37,000 for Contract Services and City Manager Roger Roecker stated Staff development and Council Retreat for �17,000 and �a20,000 for videoing the meetings. Councilmember Brown stated Staff is able to facilitate meetings, is opposed to the $17,500 and use the funds on merit increases for Staff. Mayor stated the City cannot afford not to keep him. Staff needs a point of reference and fresh ideas and contacts from other communities, conflict management, and Joe Gonzalez has experience in this and it will cost more money by not having someone of his specialty available, and will not save money by cutting this Staff development. Joe Gonzalez brings connections to other cities and brings a better way to do things because of his connections, would be a � big mistake, his track record speaks for itself. Council has not spent time working together and being coached because he has been cut from Council's budget. Mayor Smith asked Council to weigh in further. Councilmember Barker stated a case can be made for new ideas. Joe Gonzalez's philosophy and views are the same old thing and the same old views, has been working with this City for years and Council and Staff are getting the same old party line again, need fresh ideas and it may be holding Staff back a Iittie bit by Ietting them develop in those roles again a�d thinks it is a place to cut. Councilmember Hill asked if � can have a facilitator for �1,500 a day. Councilmember McGinnis stated Councilmember Hill's idea � sounds like a reasonable suggestion. The library long range planning meeting had a facilitator and Library Director Mary Perroni agreed that the facilitator was voluntary. Councilmember McGinnis stated he has had good retreats with Joe Gonzalez but the City may need to consider another alternative. I , I I 08/22/11 3668 � The City Manager asked what Council's goals were for the evening, if it is cherry picking then that is fine, � and stated facilitating was used for Staff but would not ask any one of them to facilitate a Council Retreat because it needs to be a professionaf that has those skilis, and stated if Council has no desire for retreats � then there will be savings there. Councilmember Brown stated she heard a valid point raised about using a volunteer facilitator, retreat can be held without one, is not hearing from all Staff that this is what is needed, thinks some Staff may not need a facilitator, $7,500 can be kept in the budget for facilitator but not$17,500. Mayor Smith stated Gouncil needs to take a step back. Council has hired a City Manager to take care of Staff and the day to day operations of the City and for Council to direct him as to whom he needs to use as his facilitator is inappropriate. If Council wants to cut funding for a specific item associated with actions taken at the City then make the arguments for that but it is crossing the line in telling the City Manager who he can use. Council should Ieave the Staff development to the City Manager, asked Council to back off from that thinking and focus on whether or not retreats should be funded. Gouncilmember HiII stated the City Manager may hire whomever he pleases for $7,500 but he does not have to use Joe Gonzaiez for Council retreats. Mayor Smith stated the overall point is that Staff has developed this budget along with reductions and Council has made it clear that there is no interest in retreat settings, and the City Manager is making the point not to micromanage when it comes to Staff development, is tying his hands to manage the way Council has asked him to manage, understands that some would like to see Joe Gonzalez go away but he has not heard a plausible alternative. Councilmember Hiil asked the City Manager how much Joe Gonzalez is paid per meeting and he answered that inciudes tv✓o half-day retreats and several hours afterward, so three visits for Council meetings and then numerous Staff development. Mayor Smith asked how much of the �17,000 would cover a Council retreat and the City Manager stated he would guess �7,000 and that covers before and after the retreat and not just the retreat. Mayor Smith stated there is assessment and analysis time after the retreats, is a significant amount of expertise to work with elected officials, you get what you pay for, and suggested to make the reduction for Council retreats but keep the Staff development. Councilmember Brown stated she is ready to reduce it to 57,500 and the City Manager can decide to use the money as he wishes. Councilmember McGinnis stated he is still on the fence, wants to respect the City Manager so he will wait on the analysis but phiiosophically he is with Councilmember's Brown and Hill, is not trying to hammer the City Manager and is a difficult process and respectfully states it must be gone through. Councilmember Scott stated he is not interested in micromanaging the budget, bottom line must be gotten through, if the City Manager feels that it is money well spent he trusts his judgment. Councilmember Hili stated he will wait for the analysis. Councilmember Brown stated she would like to see $200,000 in cuts because she can make them happen line by line, at this time the City is not getting any return from economic development so she proposes to cut the Contract Services because there is no basis for the Staff proposed numbers. Mayor Smith stated he did not give Councilmember Brown the floor and asked Council to bring up any item they choose for discussion and Council will collectively decide whether or not to discuss because it is 930 PM. Gouncilmember Brown stated she can make $200,000 in cuts, the first is in Mayor and Councii's Gommunity Events and Mayor Smith stated that had been discussed. i Councilmember Brown stated she wanted to discuss Travel Reimbursements for City Council and there was a general consensus to discuss. Councilmember Brown proposed decreasing the line item from �6,662.00 to $3,313.00 which was what was actually used in Fiscal Year 2010. Mayor Smith asked City Secretary Melinda Welsh if 2010 was a heavy travel year and she stated it was a light travel year and stated $3,313:00 would not normally be enough for every Counciimember to attend the annual Texas Municipal League Conference. The exception this year is that it is in Houston so travel will not be as expensive, stated the newly elected official training in Austin, Legislative Updates, Houston-Galveston Area Council are aIl paid for out of Travel Reimbursements. Councilmembers McGinnis, Scott, Hill, and Barker agreed to the reduction. Councilmember Brown proposed decreasing Operating Services for Council from $4,441 to $2,000. The City Secretary stated Operating Services covers food, retreats, and Council meetings. Councilmembers Barker, Hill, McGinnis, Scott agreed to the reduction. � 08/22/11 3669 Councilmember Brown proposed a further reduction of $3,000.000 in Community Events. The City Secretary stated the Community Events account pays for the committee, commission and board volunteers' meals at the State of the City address in lieu of the volunteer dinner, the Galveston County Mayor and Council's Association dinner, the State of the City address and miscellaneous monies that surround Council's events. Mayor Smith asked the City Secretary what in her opinion is the appropriate amount for that fund and she answered that her proposed $3,000 reduction was very conservative and if Councii determines another $3,000 is acceptable but there may not be funds to host impromptu events. Councilmember Brown darified the proposed reduction be to�10,471. Councilmember Brown proposed a reduction in City Secretary Travel Reimbursements from $4,479 to $3,200. City Secretary Melinda Welsh stated the department has been in transition for the past rivo years and she was not able to travel and attend the mandatory trai�ings to keep up her Texas Municipal Cierk's certification, and the Deputy City Secretary is also becoming certified and will be attending more than usual, and most seminars are at the end of the year because of the electio� period. Cpuncilmember Brown stated she would withdraw the item. Councilmember Barker left the Council Chambers at this time. Councilmember Brown proposed decreasing the City Manager Economic Development Contract Services from �79,000 to possibly $39,000. Mayor Smith stated he is not interested in discussing this budget item. Gouncilmembers Scott and McGinnis agreed with Mayor Smith and stated although this might take too long to go through tonight she did submit some questions regarding this area that might be a good opportunity to scrub that area again. Mayor Smith stated if every Councilmember submitted pages of questions they would be there ali night. This is not the first time some of these items have been discussed. This is the fifth meeting to discuss the budget and it needs to be decided. Councilmember Brown discussed Decision Packages that are funded, specifically Utility Billing software and printing services she has marked as a no in her notes but did not write down any explanation, the Concerts in the Park, Teen Court overtime, prosecutor pool and multi-function copier for Animal Control are items she suggested not be funded. Concerts in the Park was the first discussion and Councilmember Brown clarified that this was only to deny additional funds requested this year of ', $1,209.00. Community Services Director James Toney stated the funds are royalty fees for the concerts, ' there woufd be a reduction of the number of concerts if this is not fu�ded. Mayor Smith and li Councilmembers Hill and McGinnis denied the reduction. Councilmember Brown proposed a denial of Teen Court overtime of �a4,537. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated the Teen Court program is being managed by a volunteer but there needs to be at least one person from Municipal Gourt Staff to be there to assist on Teen Court nights. Councilmembers Scott, McGinnis, and HiII agreed to discuss. Councilmember McGinnis asked what will happen to Teen Court if the overtime is not provided and Councilmember Scott asked if a volunteer could do the work and Mayor Smith stated the documents generated are real official documents that must be prepared by trained Staff. Councilmember Brown stated the purpose of Teen Court is to alleviate some of the other court's functions and keep them from being repeat offenders and Staffs regular time should be used rather than Staff overtime, suggested using exempt rather than non-exempt personnel and Cindy Edge stated the oniy non-exempt Staff inember in Municipal Court is the Court Administrator and she is already there on Wednesday, and are trying to keep someone from having to be there on two consecutive evenings. Council denied this reduction. Councilmember Brown asked about the prosecutor pool and Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated a number of cases go to straight to County and County is not dealing with them and they are being kicked out. Staff believes that if there are several cases that are being tried and Friendswood can provide � a prosecutor at the County Ievel then there will not be the reputation that offenders who can appeal to � County will not be punished. 08/22/11 3670 �_ Police Chief Bob Wieners stated it is a problem and the Iocal attomeys are playing the system, are two � ways to handle a charge, filed and dealt with in the Municipai Court or appealed to County and it becomes a loophole. Councilmember Brown stated she would withdraw the item. Councilmember Brown asked about the multi-functioning copier for$7,500 and Chief Wieners stated it is less expensive to buy the copiers than to lease them. The copier is needed to function in the Animal Control facility, computers and fiber optic are being put in now, and current copier is old and needs to be repiaced and will be sold as surplus. Counciimembers Scott, McGinnis, and HiII denied the reduction. Councilmember Brown stated she will let someone eise go next. Mayor Smith stated this puts$310,000 into savings. Gouncilmember Brown stated she is prepa�ed to discuss the City Manager Economic Development budget without going line item by line item. Mayor Smith asked how many more she has and she stated there are two or three for every department and Councilmember McGinnis has a couple of pages. Mayor Smith stated he is not going to last another two or three hours. Council did not say five meetings ago that Council would go line item by Iine item. Counciimember Brown stated her understanding was that Staff was going to do a general cut and there was going to be information about homestead exemptions and that has switched so she modified her discussion. Mayor Smith stated the process is going to be figured out for the remainder of the meeting and whether or not there should be another meeting. Councilmember Nill stated if Councii wants a certain amount cut from the budget then tell Staff that number and let them make their own cuts, does not want to go line by line by line because Staff knows what they need far better than he does. Councilmember Scott agreed that at the end of the day Council has to decide if there will be revenue increased or not and based on that Staff is required to balance the budget. Councilmember Hill asked if the effective tax rate increase is going to be approved and Mayor Smith stated there is a budget that has been presented to Council with no significant revenue change from the I properties that were taxed last year versus the properties that were taxed this year so the rate is going to change based on keeping the revenue the same, has understood that the direction to Staff was an effective tax rate, their job is to incorporate the changes that have been made tonight, come up with an effective tax rate and present it to Council, has not been decided is where the$310,000 will be spent, his suggestion is to go back and calculate the effective tax rate and decide where the money will be spent and that will be the budget. Councilmember McGinnis stated he does not recall voting specifically on streets or merit and Mayor Smith stated that still needs to be done. i Councilmember McGinnis stated this exercise is hard but it is necessary when the country is in a recession, is happening in the company he works for now and in the company he worked for previously. It is uncomfortable but a worthwhile exercise, thanked Staff for answering the questions but his sentiment is still to come up with efficiencies and the City needs to be frugal in 2011, knows it is difficult for Staff to hear this and do not take it personally. The bottom line is that he is okay with an effective tax rate but the 2011 budget still needs to be scrutinized. Mayor Smith stated the last thing to do is to give direction but that cannot happen until the other Councilmembers are here because there is no consensus tonight. Councilmember Brown stated there is a consensus and Mayor Smith stated it takes four votes. Councilmember Brown stated she heard Councilmember Hill direct Staff to go back and see if there are more areas to cut and Councilmember Hill stated he thought there was a consensus on the effective tax rate and Mayor Smith stated part of the problem is he hears different things from each Councilmember. Councilmember Mc�innis stated the City Manager needs to go through the budget more discreetly and there are questions Councilmember Brown needs answered specifically. Mayor Smith stated Council needs to decide to give direction to go with or I not. Councilmember Brown asked for a consensus for streets and Mayor Smith stated Councilmember I Brown �eeds to let him run the meeting. Councilmember Brown asked for the f�oor and Mayor Smith i stated no because he had addressed the question to Councilmember McGinnis. � 08/22/11 3671 Councilmember Brown Ieft the Council Chambers at this time. Councilmember McGinnis stated he defers comments for now to hear from Councilmember Brown. Councilmember Brown returned to Council Chambers at this time. Mayor Smith stated if Councilmember McGinnis does not want to make a decision on it he wiil close the meeting and continue the discussion at another meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 10:13 PM. May avid J.H. Smith Attest: � �� FRI@N�� � � �-�.,;��..���l � � Melinda Welsh, TRMC � � a City Secretary ,� � s�,�r� �F 4��P� �