Finance Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Finance Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Friday, April 24, 2015 12:00 PM Room 207 1. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Jim Cooper, Committee member Nathaniel Jones and Committee member Cheryl Selby 2. CALL TO ORDER Chair Cooper called the meeting to order at 12:02 p.m. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 15-0411 Approval of April 8, 2015 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 4.A 15-0395 Continued Discussion on Funding Options Committee member Jones asked for clarification on whether Transportation was exclusively using a least-cost approach to pavement management. Public Works Transportation Director Mark Russell discussed the prioritization of maintenance and affirmed they use a least-cost approach. Administrative Services Director Jane Kirkemo clarified that the department also uses a worst-first approach -- both methods have always been employed in pavement management. There is also a backlog of streets that could have been saved at one point under the least-cost method but due to lack of funding, now need to be repaved. Following up on a previous Committee meeting, Committee member Jones asked staff for a long-term comparison of revenues and expenditures on a per capita basis. Meeting attendees disagreed on exactly what information to present and how to present it in a meaningful way to help the public understand the funding gap. Assistant City Manager Jay Burney said staff needs time to think about what/how to present information. Committee member Jones wants to be able to have a way to explain to voters why we are in the financial situation we are in and what it will take to improve it. Chair Cooper listed four options the City Council could take for a sustainable budget: 1) Maintain status quo. This results in major cuts in three to five years, mostly in Parks. (There is no statutory requirement for Parks.) City of Olympia Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes April 24, 2015 2) Direct all Voted Utility Tax (VUT) funding to land acquisition, development, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of newly acquired land. This results in Parks O&M cuts everywhere except VUT properties 3) Direct all VUT funding to Parks for O&M. This results in no land acquistion. 4) Implement an Olympia Metropolitan Parks District (MPD) and dedicate VUT funding to land acquisition and the development and O&M of VUT properties. This results in a well-funded Parks department with sufficient funding for acquisition and development. Committee members Jones and Selby both support option four, but Committee member Jones remarked that many details will need to be sorted out to be able to educate the public. For example, how much money are we talking about? What will we get for this money? What parcels are we talking about? Ms. Kirkemo stated the success of the proposal includes citizen education on what we will use the funds for and how an Olympia MPD works. Committee member Jones then inquired what the next steps are to move forward. He believes the Committee is ready to bring the concept (i.e. MPD) forth at the Council meeting on May 5. He acknowledged there are pieces of information missing and asked City staff for help. The Committee agreed they would like to see a measure for funding an Olympia MPD on the November 2015 ballot. Chair Cooper said he would like to see dollar amounts attached to his options, along with Non-voted Utility Tax to see what it looks like. The Committee agreed to forward funding recommendations for consideration at the May 5 Council Study Session under File 15-0437. 4.B 15-0407 Oral Report - Update on Discussions about Patrolling Budd Inlet and Olympia’s Harbor Area Committee member Selby began discussion by reminding everyone that the State previously funded the Olympia Harbor Patrol. When that funding was lost, interested parties met to brainstorm ideas on how to save the program. Committee member Selby and Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts met with Harbor Patrol volunteers and the Port of Olympia. The Port has agreed to enter into an interlocal agreement with the City whereby they would take over ownership of our vessel and the Harbor Patrol program. The volunteers will staff the program. Since the new program will not have authority to issue citations, it will be rebranded as "Harbor Ambassadors" rather than Harbor Patrol. The plan includes a three-year transition period where the City splits costs with the Port. The City will fund the program with $8,000 per year for three years to help cover the cost of rebranding (logo, uniforms, etc.). Chief Roberts indicated the Port and volunteers will work with the Sheriff's office on enforcement issues. The report was discussed and forwarded to the May 5 City Council meeting for consideration under File 15-0416. City of Olympia Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes April 24, 2015 5. ADJOURNMENT Chair Cooper adjourned the meeting at 1:44 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3