Finance Committee

City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Monday, January 13, 2014 Immediately Following Committee of the Whole Council Committee Rooms Finance Committee Michael Schnetzer, Chair Karen J. Angelou Ryan P. Jolley Thomas R. Kneeland Brian D. Larick Jamie Leeseberg Stephen A. Renner Kimberly McWilliams, CMC, Clerk of Council Finance Committee Meeting Minutes January 13, 2014 ROLL CALL: Present 7 - Karen J. Angelou, Ryan P. Jolley, Thomas R. Kneeland, Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Stephen A. Renner, and Michael Schnetzer ADDITIONAL ATTENDEES Jennifer Teal, Joann Bury, Dottie Franey, Gen. Williams, Mayor Stinchcomb, Anthony Jones, Matthew Holdren, Karl Wetherholt, Sue Wadley, Alan DeLeora, Chief Murphy, Press, mulitple members of the public. ISSUES - From Finance 1. Performance Measurements Teal gave brief update; Administration has heard the desire for more current and up-to-date data; in most cases departments are already collecting this data; we are looking at a way to collect it and format it that is consistent and always interprets the same way; have many great examples and best practices to look at; first kick off meeting was today; the plan at this point is to work with each department and create a consolidated reporting plan with the ongoing data collection; planning to provide a mockup with first quarter reporting that Finance would typically do in April; looking at 2013 close; starting conversation with Council and public; does this make sense and get collective buy in on final product; make that something we provide regularly; very excited about the process; not creating anything new; just pulling it into one place and in a common language. Schnetzer asked what was found when looking at other communities; do you envision it being similar to the current yearly presentations or do you imagine something like a Crystal Report with a drop down menu. Teal stated in a perfect world we would create a robust visual display; think that is place to evolve to; the tools, expertise and data are there; want a comprehensive one page visual with links for more in depth information; would be a live thing not something that sits on a shelf. Angelou asked if there is software available to us currently. Teal answered there are a number of kinds; in the private sector, this is the hot, exciting thing so vendors are everywhere; we have some software in house with that capability; that may be the direction we pursue; first goal is measures and data plans; how do we collect that; what does that look like. Larick stated certainly expect it to start out as simple spreadsheet. Teal stated there is an SAP product that builds that; it is time consuming; gets message out in a useful way. Kneeland stated majority of work is in the prepopulation. Larick asked Teal to talk about managing these data points; objective is to collect and provide City of Gahanna Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes January 13, 2014 information to help everyone understand and improve how things are performing. Teal stated each department director and program manager is already collecting, managing and responding to key pieces of data that impacts their area; all see very focused view; benefit will be in getting the 10,000 ft. view of all of it at once. Mayor stated this will help us communicate that to Council and the public. Angelou asked how does this fit into performance measurement. Larick stated that is an annual comparative between municipalities. Teal said it will fit into that; we need to decide if the measures they ask us to fill in make sense; in some cases they do; the question and concern always comes back to we don't always feel is apples to apples comparison; from a collection standpoint it is a good tool; this is a great opportunity to validate whether or not they are of value to our departments; can help us evaluate the benefit of participating in the comparative consortium; it's not the only thing an entity should use; is a good thing to use. Kneeland cautioned against getting mired in data and not saying anything; how do we see controlling that and how do we apply those to an outcome. Teal said that is the crux of this first step; don't need to know all the things you measure; what are the key items you measure; each department would only be looking at one or 2 key indicators; as data grows and tools develop, are there other things to measure further; we all have many things to do and just collecting data is not most beneficial. Kneeland said he wants to maximize our time in collecting data. Schnetzer asked what are some of the other communities being looked at. Teal stated state of Michigan has added some strings to local funds; have to have some dashboard on website that meets certain standards; Doral, Florida has a lowtech but meaningful one in place; Boston is best; think this is an area for us to be innovative. Schnetzer asked about a timeline. Teal answered we are planning to have a working model by first quarter review in April . Kneeland asked about Council office. Larick stated the office is gathering data; working on timelines as collectable data and quantity. ISSUES - From Council 1. Reserve Policy Schnetzer stated we are picking up from last year; would like to move away from fixation on number and work through a systematic way of getting to that number; feel the best approach is a risk based approach; is there a consensus that the risk based is the way to go. No objections from Council. Schnetzer suggesting going through piece by piece; don't have to tackle it all in one meeting. Larick asked is it to work on policy structure and then level, or level then policy structure. Schnetzer answered the first items would be what are appropriate uses of reserve; then move on. No objections from Council. Schnetzer stated my goal was to get a consensus with how we're going to move City of Gahanna Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes January 13, 2014 forward; Teal already provided a good deal of information; will take it upon myself with Teal's help to carve out pertinent points. Renner asked for overall timeline. Schnetzer stated several weeks to couple months. Larick stated he wouldn't be surprised if this took several months. Schnetzer stated maybe 6,7,8 committees. Kneeland asked if we will also be able to establish standard terms as we do this. Angelou stated found this grant policy very necessary. Schnetzer said for next Finance Committee, we will establish an outline. FIN DOC Reserve Policy Outline Jayme D. Maxwell, CMC, Reporting City of Gahanna Page 3