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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/16/2019 City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 irp GLEND47 Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 16, 2019 9:00 A.M. Budget Workshop Meeting Council Chambers City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember lan Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Absent: Councilmember Jamie Aldama Also Present: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Michael Bailey, City Attorney Chris Anaradian, Assistant City Manager Julie K. Bower, City Clerk WORKSHOP SESSION 1. FY2019-20 BUDGET WORKSHOP Presented by: Vicki Rios, Director, Budget and Finance Amy Lindsay, Budget Administrator, Budget and Finance Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Phelps said the proposed budget aligned with the priorities of Council and the City Manager's Office and the four perspectives of the strategic plan: • Community • Finances • Processes • Organization Mr. Phelps said the following full-time employee positions were being requested: Small Business Specialist; Chief Data and Analytics Officer and two Deputy City Managers. He proposed the creation of a new department called the Department of Organizational Performance. Vice Mayor Clark asked how the proposed initiatives improved the employee and community experience. Mr. Phelps said an internship program and workforce development improved employee engagement and the surveying tool and the census outreach helped connect residents with human services resources. Ms. Rios presented a budget overview. Budget challenges included: • Continued focus on reaching fund balance goal • PSPRS increases • Debt service increases • Deferred facilities and parks maintenance • Health care costs City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 2 of 9 • Risk Management and Worker's Compensation increases Councilmember Turner asked what the debt service increase amount was and how long it would remain at that amount. Ms. Rios said it was an increase of $3.5 million to the total of$34-35 million. It would remain at that amount until approximately 2033. Vice Mayor Clark asked how much the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority (AZSTA) would pay the City toward Camelback Ranch. Ms. Rios said the payment was estimated at $3 million per year and approximately $60-70 million over the course of payment. Vice Mayor Clark asked how much of the debt service amount was attributed to the arena and Camelback Ranch. Ms. Rios said the $34-35 million was related to the arena, Camelback Ranch, media center and other properties in and around the entertainment district. Councilmember Turner asked the annual amount of the General Obligation Bond debt. Ms. Rios said it was approximately $20 million a year. Councilmember Turner asked if the $34-35 million debt service was related to the General Fund. Ms. Rios said it was. Ms. Rios said budget highlights included: • Balanced budget • Meets regulatory and contractual obligations •Addresses inflationary cost increases • Improves and enhances productivity •Assumed salaries •Assumed employee benefit increases Ms. Rios said the proposed operating budget was $430 million. The General Fund operating budget request was $218.5 million. The approximate cost breakdown was: • Police - $96 million • Fire - $48.5 million • Other - $37 million • Public Facilities, Recreation and Special Events - $14 million • Public Works — $9.5 million • Non-Departmental - $12 million Ms. Rios said the estimated beginning fund balance for FY19-20 was $45,438,950. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how much the City still owed the Cardinals and AZSTA. She asked what the total settlement payment was. Ms. Rios said the City would pay $2.1 million this year and $3 million next year. She said the total settlement amount was approximately $15 million. City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 3 of 9 Amy Handlong, Assistant to the City Manager, presented an overview of the City Manager's Office's operating budget and requests. Councilmember Turner asked for the rationale behind proposed staffing changes in the City Manager's Office. Mr. Phelps said one of the proposed deputy city manager positions would focus on public safety to achieve operational efficiencies and the other proposed position would result from the elimination of the Director of Public Affairs position. Councilmember Turner asked if the proposed positions were at-will positions. Mr. Phelps said that was correct. Brent Stoddard, Director of Public Affairs, presented an overview of the Public Affairs operating budget and requests. Vice Mayor Clark asked why internal premiums had increased. Ms. Rios said premiums for workers compensation and risk management had increased. Councilmember Turner asked if the effectiveness of cable communication was tracked. Mr. Stoddard said it was difficult to track its effectiveness. Councilmember Turner said a digital broadcast might be more effective than the cable broadcast. Vice Mayor Clark asked how much money was dedicated to producing television content. Mr. Stoddard said producing content for television was no longer the target so there was not a dedicated dollar amount. Mr. Stoddard presented an overview of the Mayor and Council Office's operating budgets. Vice Mayor Clark requested that the Council Assistant position that was eliminated the previous year be restored and the current executive assistant position be converted to a Council Assistant. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the proposal should be addressed when all Councilmembers were present. Ms. Bower presented the City Clerk's operating budget. David Beard, City Engineer, presented an overview of the department's operating budget and requests. He requested the current temporary Administrative Support Specialist position be converted to a full-time employee (FTE). Councilmember Turner asked if the funding source for the requested FTE was the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF). Mr. Beard said that was correct. Vice Mayor Clark asked why there was a 37% reduction in the administrative costs for pavement management. City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 4 of 9 Ms. Rios said a vacant FTE position in CIP administration was taken from Engineering and used to partly fund the reorganization in the City Manager's Office. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the cost for construction inspections had increased by 114%. Mr. Beard said that change was due to a transfer of funds within the department. Vice Mayor Clark asked why Utilities and Landfill Street Lighting had decreased by $286,000. Mr. Beard said the decrease was a result of the LED conversion. Councilmember Turner asked if expenses for the Bank of America building were booked elsewhere in the budget. He asked where revenues were booked. Ms. Rios said expenses were not booked anywhere else and revenues were booked into the General Fund. Councilmember Turner asked for the revenues. Mr. Beard said revenues for the Bank of America building were approximately $1.1 million. Michelle Woytenko, Field Operations Director, presented the department's budget and requests. Vice Mayor Clark asked why internal premiums had gone down by $12,000. Ms. Rios said that internal premiums had decreased in the Field Operations administration division but not in the Solid Waste and Landfill divisions where riskier operations took place. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for the fully-loaded cost of the Safety Program Manager position. Ms. Woytenko said it was nearly $100,000 a year. Councilmember Turner asked if street sweeping could follow bulk trash pick-up. Ms. Woytenko said the street sweeping schedule was adjustable and the optimum amount of sweeping was being assessed. Councilmember Turner asked from what source the Litter Control Service Worker FTE was funded. Ms. Woytenko said it was funded by the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. Councilmember Tolmachoff said an improved teleconference system in the Council Chambers would be beneficial. She asked if it could be funded from the Facilities budget. Ms. Rios said infrastructure-related projects were funded by the building maintenance reserve. She said staff would look into costs and provide Council with information. Mr. Phelps said staff would work on an interim solution, but the long-term solution would be part of the holistic redevelopment of the City's major buildings which was under way. Vice Mayor Clark asked why custodial services was down by $50,000. City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 5 of 9 Ms. Woytenko said $51,000 was transferred from Custodial Services into Facilities Services. Vice Mayor Clark asked why Field Operations administration salary had increased by $106,000. Ms. Woytenko said the increase was due to a change in the way it was budgeted. Trevor Ebersole, Transportation Director, presented the Transportation operating budget. Vice Mayor Clark asked if there was a plan that outlined where right-of-way enhancements would be made. Mr. Ebersole said there was a plan. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the $2.5 million increase in right-of-way was related to the right-of-way enhancements. Mr. Ebersole said that was correct. Vice Mayor Clark asked why there was a drastic decrease in the Traffic Studies budget. Mr. Ebersole said the funds were moved to Traffic Design and Development. Vice Mayor Clark asked about the decrease in the Fixed Route - Maintenance and Repair budget. Mr. Ebersole said the funds were moved to the Dial-a-Ride budget to help cover shop charges. Vice Mayor Clark asked why $210,000 was requested for Transportation Education. Mr. Ebersole said the Transportation Education staff handled public outreach and education. Councilmember Malnar asked if it was possible to identify City rights-of-way to determine who was responsible for maintenance. Mr. Ebersole said staff would collaborate with stakeholders to properly identify City rights-of-way. He said that if blight was identified, the City would clean it up. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked why costs for Fiesta Bowl had decreased. Mr. Ebersole said there was one less event, so those savings were moved to the Stadium Operations account. Councilmember Turner asked if the City was paying for all right-of-way enhancements or if community service labor would be used. Mr. Ebersole said the City would be paying for all right-of-way enhancements but community service labor could be used to offset costs. Councilmember Turner asked how long the train was allowed to block the intersection at 59th Avenue and Glendale Avenue. Mr. Ebersole said the train was allowed to block the intersection for 15 minutes. Rob Sweeney, Interim Assistant City Manager, presented an overview of the Audit Department's budget and requests. The proposed budget included moving the funding for one FTE from City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 6 of 9 Personnel Services to the Contractual Services line item. He proposed the return of a Council-appointed audit committee to focus on internal audit functions. Councilmember Malnar asked what the benefits were to having an outside consultant rather than the auditor position. Mr. Sweeney said an outside consultant would provide an elevated level of independence and provide higher level resources and capabilities. Councilmember Malnar asked how many audits were anticipated under the new process. Mr. Sweeney said the amount would vary depending on the outcome of the audit planning process. Councilmember Malnar asked if the audit committee was in the City charter. Mr. Sweeney said the audit committee was removed from the City Code. He recommended it be added back to the Code under the independent internal audit function. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what the focus of the external audit would be. Mr. Sweeney said that would be determined by the audit committee. Mr. Phelps said the audit committee would make a recommendation to Council based on a risk assessment. Council would then approve the recommended audit plan. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how ethics complaints would be handled under the proposed plan. She asked how the audit committee would receive the complaints. Mr. Sweeney said the department would ensure there was a process whereby residents or employees could make confidential complaints. Mr. Phelps said the audit committee would decide how it wanted to receive complaints. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how many audits were performed in FY18-19. Mr. Sweeney said 18 audits had been performed. Jim Brown, Human Resources Director, presented an overview of the Human Resources and Risk Management's budge and requests. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the Administration budget had increased by $224,000. Ms. Rios said that was a position in the Water Department that was moved to Human Resources. Vice Mayor Clark asked if $100,000 was for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance contract. Mr. Brown said that was correct. Councilmember Turner asked why Council had not received feedback regarding requests to discuss merit pay. Mr. Brown said that issue would be handled organizationally through the workforce development City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 7 of 9 component of the Strategic Plan. He agreed a performance management plan needed to be reviewed. Mr. Phelps said a workshop was scheduled for the Fall to address the issue. Vice Mayor Clark asked Mr. Brown to provide Council with initiatives that were scheduled through the upcoming fiscal year. Ms. Rios provided an overview of Budget and Finance's operating budget and requests and the Non-departmental operating budget. Vice Mayor Clark asked how many employees were assigned to Collections. Ms. Rios said there were four employees in Collections. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the Administration budget was up by $254,000. Ms. Rios said that was as a result of a claim against Budget and Finance. Vice Mayor Clark asked what the difference in responsibilities was between an accountant and a senior accountant. Ms. Rios said an accountant preformed more routine transactions and reconciliations while a senior accountant performed more complex transactions. Ms. Rios said the department's budget request included a supplemental to convert one Tax and License Analyst FTE to a Tax Auditor for the Residential Rental Program. Vice Mayor Clark asked if home-based businesses were expected to self-report to the Tax and License Department and were home-based businesses required to be licensed. Ms. Rios said some types of business required a license. She said the department relied on multiple programs to find home-based businesses located in the City. Vice Mayor Clark asked if there was a dedicated line for residents to call and identify home-based businesses in their area. Ms. Rios said a dedicated line could be considered. Vice Mayor Clark asked if there was a formal procurement policy. Ms. Rios said there was a policy. The policy was last updated on March 30, 2017. Mr. Bailey said the procurement policy was constantly being amended to reflect best practice. Councilmember Turner asked if the department shopped banks for competitive banking fees. Ms. Rios said the department put out RFPs for banking services and investment advisor services approximately every five years. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the cost for the From the Heart Program was not charged against the program. Ms. Rios said that was how the program was set up. City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 8 of 9 Mayor Weiers expressed concern about the way contributions to the From the Heart program was advertised to residents. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the Budget and Research budget was down $27,000. Ms. Rios said that was due to a salary reduction. Vice Mayor Clark asked why internal premiums were up 282%. Ms. Rios said that was as a result of the claim against Budget and Finance. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the Professional Services budget was down by 48%. Ms. Rios said that was due to the movement of$48,000 into Collections. Vice Mayor Clark asked why Advertising and Marketing was down by $1,200. She asked what the department was advertising. Ms. Rios said the department had the annual budget published in the newspaper. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the Collections staff were contract employees. Ms. Rios said they were full-time employees funded by the Water Department. Vice Mayor Clark asked why there was a reduction of$2 million in the Non-Departmental budget. Ms. Rios said approximately $1 million was moved to Miscellaneous Services. The rest was the result of an overall reduction in the Non-Department budget. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what line item contained the City's membership dues. Ms. Rios said it was in the Memberships and Subscriptions line item. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 3:37 p.m. I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Glendale City Council of Glendale, Arizona, held on the 16th day of April, 2019. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 6th day of May, 2019. Jelly. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes -April 16, 2019 Page 9 of 9