Loading...
Minutes 1995-09-05 r . MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE BUDGET STUDY SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 215 EAST BRANCH STREET ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA [ The City Council of the city of Arroyo Grande met at 7:00 p.m., with Mayor A. K. "Pete" Dougall presiding. 1. FLAG SALUTE Mayor Dougall led the Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag. 2. ROLL CALL Present with Mayor Dougall at the beginning of the meeting were Council Members Michael Fuller and Michael Lady. Mayor Pro Tern James Souza arrived at the meeting at 7:50 p.m. Absent was Council Member Drew Brandy. Staff members present were City Manager Bob Hunt, City Clerk Nancy Davis, Police Chief Rick TerBorch, Finance Director David Bacon, Planning Director Doreen Liberto-Blanck, Parks and Recreation Director John Keisler,' Director of Building and Fire Kurt Latipow, and Public Works Director John Wallace. 3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Making general comments on the budget and Utility Users Tax; giving their views on what methods should be used in studying and approving the budget and stating where budget decreases or increases should be made were PAT DEMPSEY, 436 Collada Corte; BERNARD LANDSMAN, 579 Newman Avenue; FRED FLANN ELL , 550 Via Vaguero; TONY DETWEILER, 202 Avenida De Diamante; KERRY BOYLE, 881 Turquoise; JOHN KEEN, 298 N. Elm Street; PETE GALLAGHER, 1064 Rogers Court; JUDY TAPPAN, 1525 Chilton Ave., and JIM STEGALL, 354 Corbett Canyon Road. 4. PROPOSED CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE FISCAL POLICY Mr. Hunt referred to his September 5, 1995, memorandum on the Proposed City of Arroyo Grande Fiscal Policy and recommended the Council review, modify as appropriate, and adopt the policy. He said the adoption of the Fiscal Policy will facilitate the development of the City's annual budget. He said it encompassed a wide range of issues, all impacting the fiscal stability of the City. He said it would serve as a guidepost for the discussion leading to the adoption of the FY 1995-96 budget and could be ; i reviewed annually as part of the budget process. He referred to , , additions/modifications that were suggested concerning , l operational efficie~cy and economic development. Council Member Fuller asked if mid-year or quarterly reports on the department budgets would be provided to the Council, and City Manager Hunt said yes. 1 . . 19 CITY COUNCIL BUDGET STUDY SESSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 It was moved by Fuller/Lady, and the motion passed unanimously to approve the City of Arroyo Grande Fiscal Policy dated September 5, 1995. 5. FISCAL YEAR 1995-1996 PRELIMINARY ANNUAL BUDGET a. City Administration/City Attorney The city Manager explained contents of the Preliminary Fiscal Year 1995-96 Annual Budget. He said the budget was easier to understand, as Council had directed, and it would be further refined for better understanding in subsequent years. He said a separate capital improvement summary was provided and a separate fund established for the Utility Users Tax, showing the designated expenditures. Mr. Hunt said the budget document contained a Base Budget, which maintained the current levels of service the Council indicated were essential to the community; Supporting Information, which provided in greater detail many of the proposed expenditures on a department-by-department basis; and Budgetary Impacts, which addressed the reduction or elimination of the Utility Users Tax. He said projected revenue increase for 1995-96 is 6.3 percent, while expenditures increased .6 percent, after removing those additional program areas the Council indicated it wanted to review. He said the City Council ran an extremely lean operation, both in terms of its overall cost of government and the number of public employees required to provide the level of service provided to the citizens of the community. He pointed out that travel expenses for the council, City Manager and Planning Department in the budget document are not indiscriminate travel expenses, but are in the context of the Council's direction to look at enhancing the City's economic development program. He thanked city staff members for assisting in the preparation of the budget, including the Finance Department, Administrative Secretary Mary Bassett, and particularly Chief TerBorch and Administrative Secretary Susan Lintner. The city Council, City Manager, Community Promotion, Printing/Duplicating, Taxes/Insurance/Bonds, and Retirement/Fringe Benefits areas of the budget were discussed by the City Manager. He listed proposed expenditures and said there had been a shifting of fringe benefit costs to the respective departments to more accurately show the full cost of operating the department. Mr. Hunt referred to a memorandum from Council Member Brandy and 2 20 CITY COUNCIL BUDGET STUDY SESSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 told the Council that a Computer Techno,logy Committee had been established at the City, and staff members of every department were members. He said no computer equipment would be purchased r unless it is authorized by the committee chair and vice chair, who will review the proposed purchase to ensure it is needed, cost-effective and compatible with the City's existing hardware and software standards. Council Member Brandy was unable to attend the meeting but made suggestions and comments about the budget in a memorandum dated September 5, 1995. After Mr. Hunt's presentation, Council Members discussed the following (Council Member Brandy's written comments are incl uded) : 1. The budget requests for computer equipment and the feasibility of departments passing older, usable equipment to other departments. 2. Removing all computer equipment requests from the budget until the computer inventory is completed, and then ordering all computers at once to achieve lower cost. 3. The cost-effectiveness of the city's print shop compared to having printing done by private printing firms. 4. The cost-effectiveness of lease-purchasing or renting equipment. 5. Eliminating travel and training and membership and subscriptions costs from the City Attorney's budget. 6. comparing Arroyo Grande's city Attorney contract costs with other cities of our size in the County. 7. Centralizing all telephone costs in one non-departmental budget area. 8. Centralizing all small tool expenditures in one non- departmental budget area to gain some economy of scale in purchasing. 9. Centralizing all Maintenance of Grounds and Maintenance of Office Equipment accounts in one non-departmental budget area. 10. Exploring the option of implementing centralized purchasing. Mayor Dougall referred to his report entitled, "The General Fund 3 . 21 CITY COUNCIL BUDGET STUDY SESSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 Budget without the utility Users Tax." He said, after removing the Utility Users Tax revenue from the budget and subtracting expenditures from revenues, there is a deficit of $36,291. He said that deficit could be made up from the report's lists of services and supplies and operating equipment expenditures. He said the Council should take its time in studying the budget and do it right. MR. FLANN ELL AND MR. LANDSMAN asked questions and made comments concerning the cost of the city Attorney, the preparation of a personnel cost list, preparing a statement of intent (Fiscal POlicy), and the feasibility of directing the departments -to prepare budgets with no Utility Users Tax and no contingency funds. b. Finance Department Finance Director Bacon listed his department's mission statement, goals and objectives and accomplishments. He reviewed his department budget, including salaries and fringe benefits, and services and supplies. Council Members discussed the following (Council Member Brandy's written comments are included): 1. Removing the requested computer equipment until the city-wide inventory is completed and the equipment can be "ordered in bulk. 2. The cost-effectiveness of lease-purchasing. 3 . Requesting a breakdown of the data processing figures in Account 208. c. City Clerk City Clerk Davis listed her department's mission statement, goals and objectives and accomplishments. She reviewed her budget and a Policy Item concerning hiring a part-time employee to assist her in preparing a Comprehensive Decentralized Records Retention Program. Mayor Dougall referred to Council Member Brandy's memorandum, which suggested that advertising costs in the various departments be put in one location, the city Clerk's Office, to ensure accountability and avoid any duplication of costs. d. Planning Department Planning Director Liberto-Blanck referred to a report she gave to the Council and listed her department's responsibilities, accomplishments, and goals. The report also contained a chart showing typical Conditional Use Permit Costs and increases since 4 2.2 . CITY COUNCIL BUDGET STUDY SESSION SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 1991. Ms. Liberto-Blanck referred to her Budget Narrative report that [,',' included program objectives. She said because of the wide-range involvement of staff, the name "Planning Department" was a misnomer. She recommended that the name of her department be changed to "Community Development Department". She said since 1991, when her department lost approximately 60 percent of the staff, the number of applications and responsibilities have increased. She said the number of pre- application reviews have significantly increased along with the number of telephone and counter inquiries. She said by the end of the year it is projected the department would process about 155 applications (not including home occupation permits and business license applications) with a staff of 3. She said that compared to San Luis Obispo (in a 12 month period) at 215 applications with a staff of 13.5 people; Paso Robles, 135 applications with a staff of 6 people, and Grover Beach, 40 applications with a staff of 5 people. The Planning Director discussed her department's goals, including economic development efforts, work on ,the proposed James Way annexation, follow-up grants, code enforcement, and outreach. Council Members made comments and asked questions about the following (Council Member Brandy's written comments are included) : 1. The increased costs of advertising and mailing notices to the public. 2. The costs involved in changing the name of the department. 3. The fact that many in the business community feel the Planning Department is "business friendly." 4. The necessity of increasing the number and training of the Planning staff in order to increase the economic development in the city. 5. The possibility of hiring a consultant one-half or three- l fourths time to handle some of the Planning Director's duties so she can devote more time to economic development. 6. The possibility of assigning the duty of researching grants to:'>'; the new planner position. 7. The designated items in the contractual account. 5 . 23 CITY COUNCIL BUDGET STUDY SESSION SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 8. The implications of hiring an associate planner or consultant, the costs involved, and the duties of that person. MIKE FREDERICK, 1015 Evy Lane; JOHN KEEN, 298 North Elm Street, and FRED FLANNELL, 550 via Vaquero, gave their views on the need for more Planning Department staff and hiring specialists to do the various tasks. e. Police Chief TerBorch referred to the Proposed Police Department Budget - FY 1995-96, and reviewed the department's accomplishments and goals and objectives. He discussed the need for increasing the staff levels in order to meet rising workload requirements and reduce the amount of overtime usage. He said the cost of a new sergeant and officer would be $99,000. He said the purchase of two vehicles would bring the department back into its regular replacement schedule. He said the purchase of mobile video cameras was the completion of a project started last year. He ,said the computer hardware purchase was part of a three-year upgrade of the department's computer system. Council Members discussed the following (Council Member Brandy's written comments are included): 1. Instead of hiring one Police sergeant and one Police officer in FY 1995-96, promoting an existing officer to sergeant, filling the vacant position due to the promotion, and hiring of one new police officer. Hiring of the second new police officer could be considered as part of the FY 1996-97 budget process. 2. Purchasing one Mobile Video Recording System this budget year and postponing the other two to subsequent fiscal years. 3. The number of out-of-town service calls answered by the Arroyo Grande Police. 4. The economic feasibility of lease-purchasing police vehicles and equipment. 5. The number of incident calls received from Arroyo Grande High School and the possibility of sharing the policing of the high school with the other cities. 6. The low Workmans' Compensation claim rate in the department. 7. The utilization of police reserves. 6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. 6 -----------.-.- 2~4 . CITY COUNCIL BUDGET STUDY SESSION SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 7. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Souza/Lady, and the motion passed unanimously to adjourn at 10:30 p.m. to Thursday, September 7, 1995, at 7:00 r p.m. , when ~Budget Study Session will continue. 'c "', \. ATTEST: ~~a.~ NANCY A. AVIS, CITY CLERK l ',',' 7