Finance Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Finance Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Friday, November 13, 2015 12:00 PM Room 207 Special Meeting of the City Council to Conduct Business of the Finance Committee 1. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Jim Cooper, Committee member Nathaniel Jones and Committee member Cheryl Selby OTHERS PRESENT Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum Councilmember Julie Hankins 2. CALL TO ORDER Chair Cooper called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 15-1018 Approval of October 14, 2015 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 3.B 15-1079 Approval of October 23, 2015 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 4.A 15-1010 Oral Reports - Status Reports and Updates (Review of Preliminary 2016 Operating Budget) The Finance Committee discussed the 2016 operating budget. Discussions will continue at a special Finance Committee meeting to be scheduled for Friday, November 20 at noon. EXPENSES City Manager Steve Hall began the 2016 budget discussion by asking everyone to bear in mind that the City will start off 2017 $1.5 million in the red due to the loss of the Toyota dealership plus another proposed increase in retirement costs. Staff began the discussion by assigning the critical needs to one of four categories: City of Olympia Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes November 13, 2015 - Stay Tuned (The Committee need not deal with these items during this budget cycle.) - Now & Easy - Needs More Information - Tough Choices Critical needs in each category were reviewed and the Committee was given an opportunity to ask questions and decide if any of the individual critical needs needed to be moved to a different category. The following changes were made: * Volunteers in Parks was moved from Stay Tuned to Needs More Information. * Update on Street Light upgrades was added to Stay Tuned. * Parking lot signage was moved from Now & Easy to Needs More Information. * Renewable Energy Credits was added to Now & Easy with a cost of $8,500. * Two items, Downtown Restrooms and Downtown Sanitation Plan, were combined in the category of Needs More Information. Comments made about individual critical needs include: Stay Tuned * Sea Level Rise January 2016 Study Session - No General Fund money has gone to this in several years. * East Bay Erosion - More information will be available on costs in early 2016. Now and Easy * Display Cases - Committee member Jones imagined these being rotating displays, not static ones. * Urban Forestry Assessment - Assistant City Manager Jay Burney noted once a problem is identified the City becomes liable for damages associated with that issue. Staff is confident the City will receive a grant. There is presently approximately $110,000 available for hazard trees. Needs More Information * Parking Lot Signage - Mayor Stephen Buxbaum suggested looking at something smartphone-based rather than lighted signs, which would be expensive and a possible violation of our own sign code ordinance. * Downtown Restrooms/Sanitation Plan - Mayor Buxbaum stated documentation and communication to the public is needed to let them know what the problems are and determine an action plan. This necessarily involves consideration for the homeless. He urged the use of data to support the sanitation action plan. For example, be able to indicate where the hotspots are, what the problem hours are, etc. Chair Cooper inquired whether funding would be needed to gather information and develop the plan. * Ambassador Program Enhancements - Mr. Hall indicated the City is trying to help this program become less dependent on City funds. One idea is to offer matching City of Olympia Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes November 13, 2015 funds to get partners involved. * Council Direction on Bike Path Connections - BPAC needs to give its proposal to full Council. Chair Cooper wants a written update of the Bike Path Plan and a work session in early 2016. * Volunteers in Parks - This item needs an expense amount assigned to it. Tough Choices * Police Training - Mr. Hall indicated the department needed $130,000-$200,000 to catch up on training needs and another $70,000-$80,000 for on-going training needs. Mayor Buxbaum stated his displeasure at having his list of training needs labeled under "catch up." He was emphatic about finding a way to support the needs of the Police department. Mr. Hall said the department probably has a need between $1 million and $1.5 million but not all of it can be funded in 2016. He said right now the City only has money for the basic training. Chair Cooper asked for a training schedule to be able to create a reserve. * Historic Society - Committee member Jones wants to restore funding here but needs staff recommendation on what is being done now and what is needed. * Prosecution Support - Without additional funding staff will not be available for Police training or other assistance such as adult entertainment ordinance or marijuana changes. REVENUES Chair Cooper asked what the impact would be to use cable tax revenue currently assigned to building repair and maintenance toward a different source. Public Works Deputy Director Debbie Sullivan stated $1.4 million is needed to address critical needs of building repair and replacement. She requested $1.3 million for 2016 and pushed out replacing the air conditioning for the Washington Center. She indicated the air conditioning failed at the Fire Station and the roof failed at the Maintenance Center this year. Reassigning the cable tax revenue would be a detriment. Committee member Jones asked about the impact to road repair if $420,000 of REET money were used elsewhere. Public Works Director Rich Hoey replied it would likely reduce chip seal projects by $500,000. They could also delay bike path and pedestrian improvements to free up about $300,000. Chair Cooper asked how quickly the Transportation Benefit District (TBD) can increase the annual fee to $40 because it would provide an additional $700,000/year. Ms. Kirkemo will find out what kind of notice is required for a public hearing, which would be required before increasing the rate. After the public hearing, the State Department of Licensing requires six months' notice prior to the rate increase taking effect and then notices are sent out six weeks in advance. It is unlikely the City would receive any additional TBD funds in 2016. The discussion was continued to the Finance Committee November 20, 2015. City of Olympia Page 3 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes November 13, 2015 5. ADJOURNMENT Chair Cooper adjourned the meeting at 2:00 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4