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1992-08-11, 12 & 13 Budget Work Session CITY OF SOUTHLAKE 667 N. Carroll Avenue CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORK SESSION August 11, 1992 7:00 p.m. MINUTES COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Gary Fickes; Mayor Pro Tem Rick Wilhelm; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Farrier. Members: Mike O'Brien, Jon Michael Franks, Barry Emerson, Stephen Apple. STAFF PRESENT: Curtis Hawk, City Manager; Billy Campbell, Director of Public Safety; Jerry Williams, Deputy Director of Public Safety, Fire Services; Greg Last, Director of Planning; Chris Terry, Assistant to the City Manager; Mike Barnes, Director of Public Works; LouAnn Heath, Director of Finance; and, Sandra L. LeGrand, City Secretary. The Work Session was called to order by Mayor Gary Fickes at 7:00 p.m. The City Manager, Curtis Hawk, gave an overview of the Revenue Budget, indicating he would like to maintain a three (3) month operating budget. LouAnn Heath, Finance Director, gave a summary of all the funds; projected revenues and expenditures. Councilmember Apple indicated he did not want to see the fund balance go down. Councilmember O'Brien stated he has a problem with spending City funds for various community projects (Sister City, Teen Court, Keep Southlake Beautiful). He would like to see a purchasing agent that could save the city money, keeping all purchasing in one department. The City Manager, noted there are not any projects in the proposed budget that were not discussed and approved by the City Council. The Mayor stated he feels a city is more than "brick & mortar ". Councilmember Farrier stated part of the roll of a good government is to provide seed money to get programs started. Councilmembers Farrier and Emerson stated they do not want the cable channel program funded at this time. Donna Higgins, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce was present, stating they have kept the funding where it was last year for Southlake Economic Development Council. She referenced some of the projects of the SEDC including: Economic Profile, Southlake of the 90's Brochure, Property Profile, Business Retention Survey . Sally Hall, Dottie Morris, and Jason Weddel were present making a presentation in regard to the Teen Court Program. Budget Work Sessions August 11,12,13, 1992 page two Departments Discussed: General Government; City Secretary /Mayor /City Council; City Manager; General Government Support. (Tape #1 Budget Work Sessions). Meeting Adjourned at 10:30 p.m. WORK SESSION: August 12, 1992 COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Gary Fickes; Mayor Pro Tem Rick Wilhelm; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Farrier. Members: Barry Emerson, Mike O'Brien, Jon Michael Franks, Stephen Apple. CITY STAFF PRESENT: City Manager, Curtis Hawk; Director of Public Safety, Billy Campbell; Deputy Director of Public Safety, Fire Services, Jerry Williams; Deputy Director of Public Safety, Police Services, Malcolm Jackson; Director of Planning, Greg Last; Director of Public Works, Mike Barnes; Director of Finance, LouAnn Heath; Assistant to the City Manager, Chris Terry; and City Secretary, Sandra L. LeGrand. The 2nd day of Budget Work Session was called to order by Mayor Fickes at 7:15 p.m. Teen Court President, Buddy Luce, and Coordinator, Ralph Hopkins were present and spoke on the Teen Court Project, and funds needed for Fiscal Year 1992 -93. Luce stated he is confident the school will share the expense with the City. Park and Recreation Board Chairman, Janet Murphy was present stating the Park Board wants to save the money for park land and not spend it on items shown in the proposed budget. The have ask for a full time park coordinator, and staff changed the position to a 1/2 time employee. They feel a full time person could attract suitable applicants, and promote new programs at the park. The issue of part time or full time park coordinator was placed on hold until later in the budget process. Councilmember Emerson stated he wants to try and generate more dollars from development dedication fees. Departments Discussed: Municipal Court, Park and Recreation, Fire Services; Police Services, Public Safety Support; Finance. (Tape #2 Budget Work Session Budget Work Sessions August 11,12,13, 1992 page three The City Manager stated if Council is going to try staying with .4550 or less on the tax rate, a public hearing on the tax rate is not necessary, if they plan to raise the tax rate, a public hearing on the tax rate will be necessary. It was the consensus of Council that the rate remain at .4550 or less. The second budget work session was adjourned at 10:30 p.m. WORK SESSION: August 13, 1992 COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Pro Tem Rick Wilhelm; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Farrier. Members: Barry Emerson, Mike O'Brien, Jon Michael Franks, and Stephen Apple. COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: Mayor Gary Fickes. CITY STAFF PRESENT: City Manager, Curtis Hawk; Director of Finance, LouAnn Heath; Director of Public Safety, Billy Campbell; Director of Public Works, Mike Barnes; Greg Last, Director of Planning; Chris Terry, Assistant to the City Manager; Jerry Williams, Deputy Director of Public Safety, Fire Services, and, Sandra L. LeGrand, City Secretary. The Budget Work Session was called to order at 7:00 p.m., by Rick Wilhelm, Mayor Pro Tem. A Fee Schedule was presented by Greg Last. Councilmember Farrier stated he feels we are taking money out of the City pocket by adjusting plating fees. He would like to see comparisons using a PUD. Departments Discussed: Building Inspection, Streets and Drainage, Community Development, Public Works Administration, Utility Fund, and Wastewater. (Tape #3 Budget Work Session) Curtis Hawk, City Manager, presented a salary review (a copy of the memorandum from Hawk is hereby attached to the minutes). The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m. AMY M. .r Gar§ ic. -s ATTEST : , , ov on nwf l e 4. m andra L. LeGrand City Secretary t- ' 6 •. • * 11 1 �1� *� ,`````` � City of Southlake, Texas M E M O R A N D U M August 13, 1992 TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council FROM: Curtis E. Hawk, City Manager SUBJECT: Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest City Council Meeting, August 18, 1992 1. Comments on the proposed FY92 -93 Annual Operating Budget. The budget before you for consideration is one that staff has labored over for more than 5 months. It hasn't been easy; it hasn't been simple. Because of the dynamics of the community, its been difficult and complex. We think it is responsible and responsive -- responsible because it is within our ability to pay; responsive because it addresses service demands within that ability to pay. There is nothing new in the proposed budget - - no surprises. This is to say that every proposed line item and every program has been either debated or at least discussed with City Council. This holds true for both the proposed expansion of existing programs and activities, or the proposed additions of new programs and activities. It is important to recognize how we got to the proposal we submitted. It did not start last April. In 1987 and 1988, the City Council committed itself to growth when it entered into contractual agreements to build water and sewer facilities. History has proven that two things are needed to build a City: water and sewer. To borrow a phrase, build a sewer system and people will come. Changing the zoning to less than one acre lots did not bring growth. The TRA Big Bear Creek Interceptor Sewer brought growth. The City Council that hired me in September, 1988, was concerned about two overriding challenges: to manage the growth that was sure to come; to develop a professional staff to do so. The City Council had adopted the FY88 -89 Annual • Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 2 Budget before my appointment as City Manager. For reasons that do not need discussion here, the FY87 and FY88 Budgets were essentially deficit budgets (the undesignated fund balance at year end was $ - 12,629 for FY87 and $ - 90,531 for FY88). The City Council in FY88 -89 had to borrow $225,000 to meet operational needs. Over the last four years, the City Councils have led the City of Southlake from that low point of deficit spending to a position of financial integrity, all the while enabling us to slowly build to a position to where we are able to respond adequately to service demands in critical areas. Our work, however, will be never ending until we reach build out, at which time the nature of the organization must change. Our charge, your charge, the charge of City Councils since 88 -89, is to responsibly and responsively address service demands extant, all the while planning for future needs so that future City Councils will be able to continue to address service demands in a responsible and responsive way. We have been able to meet the challenges so far. Our first objective was to guide the City to where our financial condition would enable us to sell bonds at an affordable interest rate. That we have managed to do so in a time when our debt has grown significantly speaks well for the direction and leadership of the City Council. Our second objective was to begin development of a professional staff. Again, under the direction and leadership of the City Council, we have overcome organizational conflict and have established the foundation of a professional municipal organization. However, the organization must be as dynamic as the community if we are to address the present and future needs, and to do so within the ability and willingness of the Community to pay for the expected level of service. The above is where we came from to get to where we are today. The budget before you is our recommendation of what we would do to respond to present and future needs. The water and • Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 3 sewer systems have given the jump -start to growth in our community. That decision is irrevocable. Our decisions now will concern the quality of growth. Quality of growth and quality of life are more than symbiotic. They are a necessary benefit to each. The budget before you represents the efforts of 5 years of planning to get to where we are today, on the verge of getting the kind of quality commercial growth that will enable us to be the best community in the metroplex. Commercial growth and residential growth are symbiotic. Our charge in presenting this budget has been to present you a plan that will enable you to have control over the quality of growth and the quality of life in Southlake. My budget letter and my comments in budget discussions have highlighted continuing programs, expanded programs, and new programs. Bear with me while I recapitulate. Growth Management. Two positions in the proposed budget will directly impact our ability to effectively manage growth in the coming year: the Engineer -in- Training (E.I.T.) and the Planner. Without these two (2) position, our inability to respond to the workload will result in the organizational equivalent of ventricular fibrillation. A third position, the part time administrative intern, will enable us to more effectively plan for future needs. Oualitv of Life. There are many aspects of quality of life. Public safety is perhaps the most salient aspect of quality of life. Four (4) positions are directly related to public safety: two (2) firefighters, one (1) public safety officer (PSO), one (1) traffic enforcement officer. These four positions are necessary for an adequate response to calls for service. The number and nature of calls for service clearly indicate the need for additional employees. The number of Police Patrol and Fire Suppression /EMT Service staffing has remained constant over the last four years - -a period of significant housing and population growth. Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 4 Two other positions in the proposed budget pertain to quality of life. One position, the Building Maintenance Worker, pertains also to quality of work life in the municipal organization. City Hall is in use an average of 3 nights per week, sometimes more /seldom less. The only attention given to daily operational needs (e.g., minor cleaning, minor repairs, lighting replacement, etc.) comes from the City Manager, the Directors, or whomever we can find to break away from their regular job to assist. As a result, often times the building is not as it should be. The same is true of the community building in the park, and this year we will add an additional building. Another position in the proposed budget impacting the Community's quality of life is the Leisure Service Coordinator. A part time position as proposed, the position would provide a person to coordinate park related activities and the use of park facilities, as well as serve as liaison with the Park and Recreation Board. These kinds of activities are now being performed by various other City staff, which in effect takes away from other responsibilities. The coordinator will not be responsible for park planning, including grant applications, except in a peripheral manner. Planning will continue to be a function of the Community Development Department. The proposed budget provides funding for other programs that are quality of life indicators: the Sister Cities program, Keep Southlake Beautiful program, the Volunteer program, the Public Access Cable program, Teen Court program, and expansion of our contribution to the Roanoke Animal Shelter as a method of providing for a measure of animal control. Only the Teen Court program ($10,000) and the additional contribution to the Animal Shelter ($25,000) have a substantial cost. Each of these programs, however, are what makes Southlake different from other cities and which helps attract the quality growth we seek. Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 5 Organizational Development. The budget proposes implementation of several changes that enhance organizational development and our ability to respond to the challenges set out above. One is the creation of a Community Development Department, an upgrade of the Planning and Zoning Division of Public Works. This change will structure the operating departments by functional areas. Another is the addition of professional staff (the E.I.T. in Public Works; the Planner in Community Development). Additionally, the budget proposes to implement innovative ways to staff, through the employment of our first cross- trained Public Safety Officer and the first attempt at job- sharing. The Public Safety Officer has been well discussed. Rather than follow the calf path of traditional methods of public safety staffing, the City Council acted two years ago to consolidate the Fire and Police service into one Public Safety Department. Our goal is to improve service efficiency and at least equal service effectiveness. We believe we will be able to improve our effectiveness also. The Coordinator in the Park and Recreation Division as proposed will continue the look at innovativeness in staffing problems. We are proposing to staff the position through the use of job sharing. The concept of job sharing lends itself well in certain types of employment. The concept holds that many highly capable people who have been out of the job market by choice would return if the hours were shorter. Employees in job sharing positions would be regular employees hired to work half -time and would receive the same pay and benefits as similar full time employees, but at one half the rate. This concept would appear to be ideally suited for a community such as Southlake. Typically, job sharing is more attractive to higher educated, higher income communities. Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 6 Budget Integrity. Budget integrity deals with managing the various funds within the appropriate parameters. The budget before you proposes to transfer responsibility to pay for the relocation of the 20" water line along FM1709 from the General Fund to the Utility Fund. This leaves $250,963 in FY92 -93 going from the General Fund to support Utility projects - -The 1990 TRA Denton Creek Revenue Bonds and the 1990 TRA- Southlake Sewer System Contract Revenue Bonds. Requirements for funding these two projects will likely keep them in the General Fund for some time to come. Our intent is to limit the additional use of General Fund revenues to support additional Utility projects. The budget proposes to fund park improvements through the Special Revenue Parks /Recreation Fund. The Park and Recreation Dedication Requirements, as found in Article VII of the City's Subdivision Ordinance, specifically provide'for the use of such funds to make recreation improvements on park land. The budget as presented Tuesday night proposes to spend $75,000 to make ballfield improvements: replacement of lights on Field #1 ($30,000); construction of new ballfield #4 ($10,000); lighting of new ballfield #4 ($35,000). Our rationale in making the recommendation was focused on the desire to keep the tax rate at the current $0.4550 level, and the recognition that Bicentennial Park is primarily used by ballfield users. It is an appropriate use of the funds. Given comments from the Park Board and City Council, it makes sense to not light the new ballfield #4 in that it will be a temporary facility. Should the City Council decide to fund the other $40,000 in improvements, the Council should consider reserving the $91,852 balance for other improvements in the future if the City passes the one half percent sales tax for park purposes. Any funds required as part of exactions can not be used as potential matching funds for park development, therefore, careful consideration should be given prior to spending park dedication funds for land acquisition if other Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 7 sources of revenues will be available any time soon. The budget proposes to utilize $338,089 from the undesignated fund balance as it is estimated to be at the beginning of the year. Our goal has been to establish and maintain the undesignated fund balance at a level equal to three months operating expenditures (25 %). The last two years saw a rapid increase in the General Fund Balance due to higher than anticipated growth in revenues. Our proposal would maintain the fund balance at 15% of expenditures until such time as we have enough history to trend growth patterns. It is important that we maintain the fund balance at somewhere near this level in order to protect our bond ratings and to respond to unforeseeable occurrences. Utilizing a portion of the fund balance at this time is appropriate in that the unexpected growth which generated the greater- than - anticipated fund balance will pay for a portion of the cost of that growth. Stable Tax Rate. We have paid particular attention to the need to maintain the tax rate at the current level. It will only work if growth continues, however, without growth the ability to pay for debt already incurred or committed to will be severely impaired. It is important that we maintain the ratio of the M &O portion of the tax rate to the total rate. We have been able to do so in the proposed budget before you for consideration. Given the situation with school taxes and other taxing entities, there will be additional pressures on City Council to maintain the tax rate constant. We perhaps will be able to do so in future years, but only with growth in the revenue base. Additional Deletions. The budget proposal before you represents our best good faith effort to address community needs given the direction of City Council. Should the City Council ask staff which of the proposed personnel to delete, it would be the Building Maintenance Worker and the Coordinator in the Park Division. This reduction would save Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Agenda Item Comments and Other Items of Interest August 13, 1992 Page 8 $42,775 and would approximate the estimated cost of constructing the additional ballfield 14 and replacing the lights on ballfield 11. Deletion of the Building Maintenance Worker and the Coordinator would least impact our service delivery. City Council's Budctet. The proposed budget represents the recommendations of your City Manager and Department Directors. Once the budget is adopted it becomes the City Council's budget as well as ours. Our work has been difficult and complex as mentioned above, however, your task in the process is considerably more difficult. I am glad that we do not have to vote because the decisions you make will set the direction of the community for years to come. This may be in many ways the most difficult budget a City Council will consider in Southlake, in this decade.