Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 6/19/2001 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, HELD TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2001, AT 5:30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Scruggs, with Vice Mayor Eggleston and the following Councilmembers present: Clark, Frate, Goulet, Lieberman, and Martinez. Also present were Martin Vanacour, City Manager; Ed Beasley, Assistant City Manager; Rick Flaaen, City Attorney; and Pamela Oliveira, City Clerk. A statement was filed by the City Clerk that the one ordinance and one resolution to be considered at the meeting was available for public examination and the title posted at City Hall more than 72 hours in advance of the meeting. ORDINANCE 1 . FISCAL YEAR 2000-2001 BUDGET AMENDMENTS Mr. Charlie McClendon, Management and Budget Director, presented this item. During the course of Fiscal Year 2000-01, some changes in operation took place that were not anticipated in the preparation of the Fiscal Year 2000-01 budget. The changes described in this budget amendment will transfer funds to the appropriate department and line item so that they are properly reflected in the budget records. The majority of the changes (Items 1-31) resulted from the Fiscal Year 1999- 2000 carryover reconciliation process. When departments prepared their Fiscal Year 2000-01 budgets, they estimated the amount of carryover savings they would have. At the end of the fiscal year, the Budget Department reconciled each department's actual savings with their estimated carryover and then increased or decreased their budgets to match their actual savings. Carryover reconciliation transfers to or from the Contingency Account do not have any effect on the actual Contingency Fund balance because additional carryover increases the Contingency Fund balance at the beginning of the year above what has been budgeted. Additional amendments include the transfer of appropriation from the Sanitation Fund to the Landfill Fund in order to create a separate budget for the new Recycling Division (Items 32-47). 1 The final budget transfer (Item 48) was necessary to consolidate two Paradise Lane capital project accounts. Appropriation in Streets Fund Account Number 12-8912- 8300 was transferred to the Flood Control Account Number 65-8918-8300 to accurately reflect charges to the Paradise Lane project. The recommendation was to waive reading beyond the title and adopt an ordinance approving the Fiscal Year 2000-2001 budget amendments. Ordinance No. 2197 New Series was read by number and title only, it being AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS BETWEEN BUDGET ITEMS IN THE ADOPTED FISCAL YEAR 2000-2001 BUDGET; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. It was moved by Clark, and seconded by Goulet, to approve Ordinance No. 2197 New Series. Motion carried on a roll call vote, with the following members voting "aye": Clark, Goulet, Lieberman, Eggleston, Martinez, Frate, and Scruggs. Members voting "nay": none. PUBLIC HEARING - RESOLUTION 2. REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2001-2002 BUDGET, PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION Mr. Charlie McClendon, Management and Budget Director, presented the Fiscal Year 2001-2002 budget. This balanced budget reflects the careful planning and teamwork of employees throughout the organization. After three special Budget Workshops held in April of 2001, the City Council completed its review of the proposed Fiscal Year 2001-2002 budget. The Workshops provided the Council with the opportunity to closely analyze and evaluate all aspects of the budget. Some of the most exciting projects in Glendale's history are currently underway, including the new Coyotes arena, redevelopment of Manistee Town Center; the City Center Master Plan for downtown Glendale, the West Glendale Area Plan, the General Plan Update, and a Comprehensive Transportation Plan, to name just a few. A long "to do" list was included in this year's budget. Nevertheless, staff was confident that their sound financial policies will ensure the City's continued stability, even considering the unpredictability of the State of Arizona and national economies. Glendale's economy continues to grow at a steady pace. While the City is not experiencing the explosive development witnessed throughout the 1990s, as evidenced by slightly slowing revenues, the City's growth rate remains solid, as does the local economy. With the financial policies the City has in place, Glendale will continue to thrive throughout the coming years. The City's strong financial management expertise is also evidenced by its continued outstanding bond ratings. Standard and Poor's Corporation and Moody's Investor Service rate the City's general obligation bonds as "AA" and "Aa2" respectively. These excellent ratings confirm my confidence that the City of Glendale will remain in top financial condition as it embarks on a new fiscal year. Feeling confident in Glendale's long-term financial well being, the Fiscal Year 2001-02 budget process was kicked off by establishing the goals of the Mayor and City Council for the upcoming year. Once a consensus was reached, staff began the process of accomplishing the following Fiscal Year 2001-02 goals: • Economic Opportunities Fund Continue the $1,000,000 "Opportunities Account" to enable the City to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities to foster new economic development activities throughout the City. • Property Acquisition Appropriate $330,000 for land acquisition for various uses. • Transit Reserve Fund Allocate an additional $300,000 to the Transit Reserve Fund started in Fiscal Year 2000-01, bringing the fund's total to $450,000. • Northwest Valley Traffic Study Earmark $50,000 for a traffic analysis study in the burgeoning northwest area of the City of Glendale and surrounding areas. • Geographic Information Systems Designate $56,000 for ongoing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staffing and $54,000 for one-time contractual staffing and equipment needs. • Paint, Plant, Pave & Sign Program Enhancements Increase funding to the Paint, Plant, Pave & Sign (PPP&S) Program by $50,000. 3 • Right-of-Way Beautification Appropriate an additional $200,000 for right-of-way beautification throughout the City of Glendale and $50,000 for ongoing right-of-way maintenance needs. • Right-of-Way Beautification in Specific Locations Designate $1,048,000, plus $13,600 in ongoing maintenance costs, for the following six additional right-of-way projects: • 75th Avenue, Bethany Home Road to Maryland Avenue • 67th Avenue, Sweetwater Avenue to Thunderbird Road • Butler Avenue, 47th to 51st Avenues • . 47th Avenue, Northern Avenue to Butler Drive • Union Hills Drive, 59th to 67th Avenues • 57th Drive, Median south of Utopia • Habitat for Humanity Set aside $100,000 for the potential purchase of Habitat for Humanity lots. • Adult Center Service Improvements Commit $222,392 for service improvements at the soon-to-be-relocated Glendale Adult Center. • Police Department Staffing Needs Designate $1,312,264 for additional Police Department staffing and equipment needs. • Random Gunfire Locator System (ShotSpotter) Appropriate $277,500 for the purchase of a random gunfire locator system to cover two square miles of the City and $49,500 in ongoing maintenance costs for the system. Once funds were set aside to meet the Council's goals, staff was advised to proceed with preparing their departmental budgets. They were informed that the Leadership Team would only consider requests wherein a critical need was demonstrated. 4 Further, staff was requested to assist the Leadership Team by: • Submitting supplemental budget requests only for those items that their base budgets would not support and that were urgently needed. It was suggested that staff consider reallocating existing base budget funds to. cover new expenses when appropriate. • Scrutinizing every request before submittal to the Leadership Team. It was requested that employees explore innovative and creative alternatives to requesting additional funding, including researching the best practices of comparable organizations. • Justifying every request with facts and figures. Budget additions were not considered unless staff provided sufficient back-up information warranting them. • Prioritizing all supplementals. Each department was required to assign a priority number to each submitted supplemental, i.e. if they requested ten supplementals, they were prioritized and numbered one through ten. Staff followed this direction by limiting requests to essential needs and prioritizing them effectively. This enabled the Leadership Team to make the necessary decisions and present a balanced budget to the Mayor and City Council. Continuing the trend started last year, staff members remain focused on service improvements through utilizing new technologies. This year's budget includes the following technology improvements that will benefit all City departments: • In order to stay on the cutting edge of new technology, the Information Systems Department received approval to hire an additional Database Administrator. This employee will provide support for PeopleSoft and Oracle databases and web applications. • Information Systems also received funding to hire a consultant to assist in the implementation of the PeopleSoft Workflow Module, which will greatly enhance the City's payment processing and expenditure tracking systems. This addition will move the City further ahead towards "paperless" processes. • In order for the City to create applications on the web for citizen use, the Information Systems Department will purchase Oracle licenses and an additional server. Potential utilization of this product include viewing utility bills and processing utility bill payments, viewing sales tax information, and applying for and paying sales tax fees online. 5 • The Fire Department will purchase pre-planning software designed to allow fire personnel to review building details so that, in the event of an emergency, they would be familiar with the layout of the involved building, thus avoiding any potential hazards inside. Firefighters will also use this program for tactical training operations. In addition to the above-mentioned technology improvements, some other enhancements to the Fiscal Year 2001-02 budget include: • The newly formed Community Partnerships Department will launch two new community-based pilot programs: Homeowners' Association (HOA) Training and a Community Mediation Pilot Program. The HOA training curriculum would offer HOA board members and interested residents the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to successfully manage HOAs. Ninety percent of respondents to a recent survey of Glendale HOA board members expressed interest in attending this type of training course. • The Community Mediation Pilot Program would train and certify community members to serve as mediators for community/neighborhood disputes that arise. Many cities throughout the United States use community mediation as an effective service to resolve conflict in a structured, supervised and voluntary environment. • To keep up with the increased workload resulting from the hiring of additional police officers, the City Court will hire two additional court information clerks. Funds have also been allocated for additional interpreting and public defender services in the City Court. • The Economic Development Department received funding to hire an Economic Development Research Assistant who will be charged with creating maps, demographic reports and other related materials to provide to prospective businesses considering a location in Glendale. • The Marketing Department has been charged with preparing and marketing a new speed reduction public information and education campaign. A portion of the campaign will specifically target young drivers. • Funds were approved towards the construction of a mausoleum and related uses in the City's cemetery, located at the southwest corner of 63`d and Northern Avenues. 6 The City has a lot going on and each and every City department works as efficiently as possible. To enable the City to accurately measure that performance, Dr. Lou Weschler, a consultant specializing in performance measurement, was brought in to assist each department in identifying its performance indicators and how to better measure them. The results of their initial collaboration can be seen in the Operating Budget portion of this document. Dr. Vanacour stated that the Fiscal Year 2001-02 budget includes some of the most thrilling projects he has seen in his 16 years as Glendale's City Manager. He said he was gratified to be a part of this exciting time and proud to lead a team of such committed and talented people at all levels of the organization. The recommendation was to conduct a public hearing, waive reading beyond the title, and adopt a resolution accepting the budget for Fiscal Year 2001-2002. Mayor Scruggs opened the public hearing on Agenda Item No. 2. As there were no comments, Mayor Scruggs closed the public hearing. Resolution No. 3477 New Series was read by number and title only, it being A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, ADOPTING THE ESTIMATES OF THE AMOUNTS REQUIRED FOR THE PUBLIC EXPENSE FOR THE CITY OF GLENDALE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2001-2002; ADOPTING A FINAL BUDGET; SETTING FORTH THE REVENUE, THE AMOUNT TO BE RAISED BY DIRECT PROPERTY TAXATION FOR THE VARIOUS PURPOSES; AND GIVING NOTICE OF THE TIME FOR HEARING TAXPAYERS FOR FIXING THE TAX LEVIES. It was moved by Martinez, and seconded by Frate, to pass, adopt, and approve Resolution No. 3477 New Series. The motion carried unanimously. NEW BUSINESS 3. RISK MANAGEMENT TRUST FUND CONTINGENCY TRANSFER Mr. Charlie McClendon, Management and Budget Director, presented this item. The Risk Management Program continues to perform very well in meeting its objectives and protecting the City's assets. Subtle changes made in the commercial insurance programs for property and equipment have kept the premium levels relatively low despite the City's steady increase in asset values. Organizational growth, rising values of existing assets, and the acquisition of new assets will always be key factors when considering the mix and levels needed in both the self-insured liability area and the commercially-insured property area. 7 As a result of recent acquisitions, the annual cost of the City of Glendale's commercial programs increased from $392,666 in Fiscal Year 1999 to $434,372 in Fiscal Year 2000. While the City's insurance rate remained relatively stable, $100 million worth of property was added to its policy, which resulted in the increased premium. New facilities covered under the new premium include the newly renovated Sine Building, the Civic Center, and Water Treatment Plant expansions. In addition to the increased premium and some significant, unexpected claims settlements, it has been necessary to hire outside counsel to handle several claims due to this year's staff shortage in the City Attorney's Office. This has added several thousand dollars in expenses. All of these factors contributed to the exhaustion of the Fiscal Year 2000-01 budget appropriation. As a result, it was necessary to transfer $195,000 from the Risk Management Contingency Fund to cover the remaining Fiscal Year 2000-01 expenses. The recommendation was to authorize the transfer of $195,000 from Risk Management Trust Fund Contingency Account Number 76-2458-7000 to Risk Management Trust Fund Account Number 76-1435-7312. It was moved by Lieberman, and seconded by Clark, to authorize the transfer of $195,000 from Risk Management Trust Fund Contingency Account Number 76-2458-7000 to Risk Management Trust Fund Account Number 76-1435- 7312. The motion carried unanimously. 4. BUDGET TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Mr. Charlie McClendon, Management and Budget Director, presented this item. Past and current pricing volatility in the motor fuels market has created a $500,000 budget shortfall in the Equipment Management Fuels Division Fiscal Year 2000-01 motor fuels budget. To close out the Fiscal Year 2000-01 budget, a $500,000 transfer from the Equipment Replacement budget to the Fuels Division budget is required. The City currently uses over 1,100,000 gallons of motor fuels annually and fuel pricing has escalated to record highs state and nationwide. Fuel pricing during late 1999 rose to just under $1.00 per gallon and the City is currently paying an average of $1 .45 per gallon, or approximately $495,000 more than 1999 fuel prices. The $500,000 increase to the Equipment Management fuel services budget will provide adequate funding to purchase motor fuels for the City fleet throughout the 2002 fiscal year, based on current market pricing. The overall impact of the increased fuel costs will be borne primarily by the larger fuel-consuming departments such as Police, Sanitation and Transit. 8 The recommendation was to authorize the transfer of $500,000 from the Equipment Replacement Fund budget, Account Number 41-6255-8400, to the Equipment Management Division's motor fuels budget, Account Number 16-6257-7442. It was moved by Lieberman, and seconded by Frate, to authorize the transfer of $500,000 from the Equipment Replacement Fund budget, Account Number 41-6255-8400, to the Equipment Management Division's motor fuels budget, Account Number 16-6257-7442. The motion carried unanimously. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS There were no comments from the Council. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. j- ♦ /Pamela OIi eira - City Clerk 9