City Council Committee Agendas

Mount Vernon City Council Finance Committee Minutes September 28, 2016 Present: Councilmembers Fiedler, Hulst, Hudson, Lindquist, Molenaar, Quam, and Ragan, Mayor Boudreau Staff present: Finance Director Huschka, City Attorney Rogerson, Human Resources Director Bartlett 1. Minutes were approved. 2. Financial Update: • Sales Tax – the January through September 2016 collections are up 8.8% over the same period in 2015 excluding the sales tax generated from the jail construction project. This is part of a consistent upward trend this year. Overall the tax revenue is up 12.6% over the same time period in 2015. The estimated revenue collections are predicted to be $520k over the budgeted revenue. 3. Budget Update: • Alicia will present 6 budget amendments at the next Council meeting. Alicia reviewed these proposed amendments: 1) Fund 304, Capital Improvements - REET I Dog Kennel Project (2015/2016) $ 74,532 (total b udget $135,546) Library roof project (2015/2016) 49,630 (total b udget $120,098) Total Amendment $ 124,162 2) Fund 314, REET II - Streets 2016 annual overlay program $ 150,000 College Way & Riverside signal repairs 12,000 Total Amendment $ 162,000 3) Fund 102, Arterial Streets Riverside Dr. (I-5 detour) restoration $ 114,124 Hoag Road sidewalk gap rpoject 71,566 (total b udget $378k w/$242k grant) Total Amendment $ 185,690 4) Fund 001, current Expense Fund Downtown Subarea Plan (new) $ 10,000 Public private partnership contract - Planning services contract, 30k to 80k 50,000 Plan review & inspections, 25k to 35k 10,000 Total Amendment $ 70,000 City of Mount Vernon Finance Committee September 28, 2016 Page 2 5) Fund 317, College Way @ I-5 Widening (Capital Project) Budget established in Dec 2013 $ 424,000 Budget supplements 5,809,000 project budget $ 6,233,000 Transfer City funds out of project (return to fund 102) 753,515 New Total Budget $ 6,986,515 6) Fund 322, Downtown & Waterfront Area (Capital Project) Budget established in 2007, amended 5 times Current capital project budget $ 24,215,967 Budget supplement 4,998,803 Additional funds & budget needed 1,600,000 New Total Budget $ 30,814,770 4. Business License Municipal Code – Alicia reviewed proposed updates to the City’s municipal code, Chapter 5.04 for Business Licenses. In order to move to the State of Washington’s Business License Services (BLS) administered by the Department of Revenue (DOR), the City will need to update and simplify certain elements of our city code. The anticipated conversion to the State system is April – June 2017. The City will retain full regulatory control. There is an $11 fee that the state charges for a processing fee. One of the significant benefits is compliance and capturing all new businesses. Code revisions include moving to a flat fee and removing separate classifications. Annual renewals will no longer be in January of each year but rather will match with a business’s state license renewal. Code updates will also specifically address BLS administering our licenses. Staff will bring back code revisions for City Council’s final review; however, adopting a new ordinance will need to be timed with the conversion to the State’s BLS system which will be towards the end of the second quarter 2017. 5. Investment Policy – Alicia reviewed an updated investment policy for the City which would be an amendment to Chapter 3.11 Mount Vernon’s Investment Policy. A finalized version of this update will be presented again to City Council for consideration. 6. Purchasing policies review – Alicia reviewed the City’s purchasing policies with City Council. 7. Solid Waste Utility Municipal Code – Alicia led a discussion regarding a requested change in the Solid Waste Utility code for recycling services. After review of the current code and the requested change by a citizen, it was concluded that it was not in the best interest of the Utility to make a code change related to four-plex units and the number of recycling cans that the City currently bills for. 8. Labor & Industries (L & I) claims update – Kandy provided an update on the number of claims and the status of these claims. In 2015 there were 25 claims; at this time there have been 15 claims filed for 2016. The Police Department represents 48% of the claims. The City’s experience rating is .84 which means that we are 16% better than expected and results in more than $85,000 in savings for the billing by L & I. The stay at work program has netted $15,646 in savings. Adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Submitted by Rebecca J. Wade