Finance Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Finance Committee Information: 360.753.8447 Wednesday, October 14, 2015 5:00 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 5:02 p.m. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 15-0979 Approval of September 9, 2015 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 4.A 15-0980 Oral Reports - Status Reports and Updates (Local Improvement Districts as a Financing Tool) Administrative Services Director Jane Kirkemo addressed the issue of Local Improvement Districts (LIDs) and why the City does not use this financing tool more often. Ms. Kirkemo explained that LIDs are a legal financing tool and do not go against the City's debt limit. However, LIDs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the City. General obligation bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the City. When interest rates are low, demand for purchasing general obligation bond debt is more attractive because it is less risky and yields nearly the same return as LID debt. LIDs were often used when interest rates were high, but when interest rates declined so did demand for purchasing LID debt. Also, since the early 2000s, cities have the authority to use a levy lid lift for multiple years. Previously, cities could only "lift" the tax rate for one year. A levy lid lift is a more viable option than establishing a Local Improvement District at this time. The report was completed. 4.B 15-0958 Creation of a Development Fee Fund and a Parking Fund Administrative Services Finance Manager Dean Walz proposed the establishment of two new General Fund subfunds for development fees and parking. State auditors would like these programs to be separated out. It creates cleaner, more visible accounting. City of Olympia Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 14, 2015 Development Fee Fund: · Development fees would be receipted to the Development Fee Fund. ·Expenses to be supported from development fee revenues would continue to be accounted for in the General Fund. · The Development Fee Fund would reimburse the General Fund for expenses which are to be supported by development fees. · For 2015, the reimbursement to the General Fund would be the 2015 budgeted amount for development fees. · Any development fee revenue not used to reimburse the General Fund would remain in the Development Fee Fund. Parking Fund - All parking revenues and expenses would be separated into a new subfund to make it easier to find and understand Parking's finances. Mr. Walz stated ordinances would have to be written to create the two new General Fund subfunds. Committee member Selby moved, seconded by Committee member Jones, to direct staff to draft the two ordinances to create the proposed General Fund subfunds for development fees and for parking to present to City Council on consent. 5. ADJOURNMENT Chair Cooper adjourned the meeting at 6:00 p.m. The next Finance Committee meeting will be Friday, October 23. November Meetings - Since both regularly scheduled November meetings fall on holidays, the Committee proposed November 13 at noon for their November meeting. City of Olympia Page 2