City Council

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes City Council Tuesday, October 29, 2013 6:00 PM Council Chambers Special Meeting with Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) 1. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones, Councilmember Jim Cooper, Councilmember Julie Hankins, Councilmember Steve Langer and Councilmember Jeannine Roe Excused: 1 - Councilmember Karen Rogers 2. BUSINESS ITEM 2.A 13-0892 Meeting with the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) CNA Steering Committee Chair Bob Jones welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda for the evening. He recognized the hard work of the City in organizing the meeting and acknowledged Councilmembers at the table. Mayor Buxbaum highlighted the strengthening relationship between the City Council and neighborhoods. He discussed the budget being a 365-day, year-round process and noted the importance of public participation. He touched on budget documents and public involvement opportunities on the City's website and briefly discussed how the budget goes hand in hand with the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Buxbaum indicated tonight's meeting is to engage in dialogue between the City and neighborhood associations for the proposed 2014 budget. Administrative Services Director Jane Kirkemo gave a brief demonstration on how the public can access 2014 budget documents from the City's website and highlighted the budget dashboard. She discussed components of the budget including revenues, expenditures, services, current financial outlook, potential programs at risk in the future and upcoming meetings on the budget. Discussion Included: - How State legislation impacts City budget decisions. - Litigation costs. - Councilmanic debt. - City building maintenance deficiencies. - Comparison of City budget with cities of similar size. - Affordable Heath Care Act impact on City health insurance cost estimates . City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes October 29, 2013 - Process for selecting funded projects. City Manager Steve Hall discussed the continuing issue of expenses increasing faster than revenue. He indicated conversations for future budgets will include efficiencies , benefit costs, partnerships, labor costs, and regionalization to create new revenue streams in order to achieve a sustainable budget. Discussion Included: - Consider providing monthly financial reports to better inform the public and create more valuable public input on budget/program priorities. - Reach out to community experts to consider budget details, such as creation of a budget advisory committee. - Council direction has been to listen year-round to budget input from all citizens rather than creation of a budget advisory committee. - In addition to educating the public on the budget, engage the City advisory committees on the budget at a deeper level. - Impact of lost online sales. - Performance measurements and performance-based budgets. - Peer reviews by outside agency peer groups to increase efficiencies . Mayor Buxbaum closed the meeting by encouraging continued partnering with neighborhood associations and the larger community. The discussion was completed. 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m. City of Olympia Page 2