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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/09/1993 City Council00491,, MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON September 9, 1993 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 9th day of September, 1993 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Councilman Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Joe Agnew, Councilman Present Tom Bogan, Councilman Absent (Arrived 7:20) John Dillard, Councilman Present Joel Marks, Mayor Pro-tem Absent (Arrived 7:58) and with five present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET FY 1993-94 Mayor Manning stated that he would have to leave around 7:45 p.m. and asked Councilman Pollard to give his proposal. Councilman Pollard stated that the budget process has been a learning experience for him and that he thinks the council in the past has been remiss in giving Mr. Hall guidance and in setting goals that we would want to set for the future. He said last year one thing that did get accomplished was to avoid taking money out of the savings accounts. Councilman Pollard said that is part of every budget we've seen so far and that everybody involved in that change deserves a pat on the back. He went on to thank the staff and council from the tax payers. Councilman Pollard continued stating that according to the numbers received so far, everything points towards rapid draw downs in our checking account balances. Councilman Pollard said he feels like if we continue that we will be in a situation where we are behind the 8 ball and every year we will have to raise revenues just to tread water. He said that we are missing a golden opportunity to do something really constructive and take some really positive steps forward to balance the budget and get ahead of the game. Councilman Pollard said he put together a budget, noting this is not "set in stone", and that he is not unreasonable, nor does he think anyone at this table is unreasonable. He continued, stating he thinks everybody wants to do what they feel is best for the city. Councilman Pollard said in conversations he has had with Dr. Manning, that seems to be the case. He went on to say we are all trying to do what we feel is best. He said he put this together by taking the 93-94 estimated revenues. Councilman Pollard said there are a couple of changes; one is the addition of $4000.00 for the pool to be open one extra day and another thing added is an income stream from the South Planning Unit in the amount of $4000.00. On the expenditure side, Councilman Pollard said he took the 92-93 projections, 004'9].O which are the actual numbers that are coming in right now for this fiscal year. He said this is the best estimate made from information from Mr. Hall and Mr. England. He continued stating we've had a good year, with good revenues, and noted the tax payers have done their share by paying the 5 cent tax increase from last year and have paid some big water bills, to help us get to this point. Councilman Pollard said on top of that the City Manager and all the employees in the city have managed to save some money over and above what their budget expenditures were last year. Councilman Pollard said it looks like this year we're going to come out basically not spending more than we take in, but looking forward to next year, he said he is not sure, because he does not think we can repeat it. He said a lot of the one shot revenues that are coming this year are not likely to improve next year, such as the water. He said he doesn't think we will improve on any litigation settlement like T.U. Electric at $125,000 and he said he is not sure what kind of savings we can expect on the budgets that we have been given up to now. Councilman Pollard said he has asked for information regarding savings in the line item expenditures, but has not been able to get those numbers. He said what he did was take the actuals (what we're finishing out this year with) and propose that if there is any way that we can hold the line, here is what we can accomplish and asked the council to look at the sheets we've been provided with over the last few days (the "pick list"), noting those items are located at the bottom of his budget sheet. He said there are things the council has said they want to do, for instance, Friends of the Family, Kid's Colony and noted there is money in this budget for those projects. Councilman Pollard said $60,000 is in for the ambulance even though we don't know if we are going to spend that amount, and funding is included for the Resource Office. 7:20 Councilman Bogan arrived. Mayor Manning explained the format of the budget sheet Councilman Pollard provided. Mayor Manning, asking for clarification, said the expenditures are what you say are actuals for this budget year we are in now and Councilman Pollard said that is right, based on what we've gotten so far. Mayor Manning said they are not the numbers projected for next year. Councilman Pollard said no they are the numbers coming in now, stating that basically, this is a hold the line budget. He said we have a budget funded by a residential tax base which of course leads to a large part of our problems. Councilman Pollard said our tax payers bear an inordinate amount of the burden and it's not their fault or our fault. He said everyone here is committed to raising that tax base as soon as possible. He said he has provided for employee raises of 3%, provided for some capital expenditures to invest in our infrastructure, and proposes to increase taxes 2 cents. Councilman Pollard said he can justify the increase by stating that one cent of that would be absorbed through capitals, noting there is about $150,000 worth of capitals in that column, which would more than offset the penny increase. He said that would give the tax payers their money's worth. Councilman Pollard said the other $56,000 can be justified because we have certain departments like the Library, who have been short changed for years and they need to be recognized, therefore a library secretary has been included. He noted the number on his sheet was not exactly the same as the number for the secretary on the "pick list". He said this also provides for a School Resource Officer to give more protection to our children, and 004916 said if we did not do this, we would be remiss. He stated again, this is a hold the line budget which will not be easy, noting that up to now, when he has expressed his concerns, he has been told that our revenues are always conservative and our expenditures are always overstated and that we're going to do better than that. Councilman Pollard went on to say that when he looks at the budget that we're being asked to approve, which shows draw downs in our checking account balances of close to $700,000., he thinks there needs to be a little more accountability than before. Councilman Pollard said these numbers may not be perfect, but that we need something to shoot for and at this time, he asked for the leadership of the Mayor to move toward this goal, and asked that the council talk about this because we don't have any goals right now. Continuing, he said we start out saying this is how much money we need to spend and then just say that sounds good or that sounds justified, and went on to say that maybe we need to look at it a little bit differently. Councilman Pollard suggested looking at putting our deficits in order and that we need to look at a problem that is going to be chronic, long term and that will not go away. Councilman Pollard we may not draw down our cash balances by $700,000, but that he is not sure how much we will draw down. He said judging from graphs he has seen on any of the information given, our cash balances will be depleted in two years and we will still be high on our expenditures and that we are going to have to look at the massive revenue side to cure our ills. He said if we don't do something positive and good for our tax payers, we are being remiss. He asked again that the budget take a little bit different turn this time and shoot for some of these goals. Mayor Manning said as he understands it, Councilman Pollard proposes to take the revenue estimates for next year's budget and the expenditures which are actuals for this year's (92-93) budget. He said you (Pollard) made a couple of minor reductions in the first two items (Friends of the Family and Kid's Colony) from the "pick list", by decreasing them by $3500.00. Councilman Pollard said that he did not know what total he would end up with when he was putting this together, noting he did this on his lunch hour today. He said this is not "set in stone", but we need to work toward a goal to balance the budget, stating that right now we have not stated a policy goal or even a commitment that we are going to balance it (budget), other than to say we will raise whatever revenues are necessary. Councilman Pollard said we need to have some goals and targets to shoot for so that we can have some objective criteria (by which) to judge performance. He went on to say that hopefully this will lead to a compliment on the merit based pay system, stating he thinks that anybody that can achieve these targets, even if they're off a little bit, he will not be concerned with. He said that when he looks at the fact that before we were drawing down $700,000 and now (with his budget) we're only drawing down $4600.00. He said can stand a little fudge. Councilman Pollard said at least there would be a goal to move toward this end (his budget proposal). He went on to say that he appreciates everyone giving of their time this evening, noting that no one was really happy about having to come to another meeting tonight. Councilman Pollard said he would answer any questions and help in any way he can. Mayor Manning said he wished the numbers that have been gone through so far were included, because he (Mayor) doesn't know what those numbers are and went on to ask if the City Manager had an opportunity to go over these figures. Mr. Hall said he had just 00491',: received the information and Councilman Pollard agreed stating it would be unfair to ask Mr. Hall what the differences are and that certainly he deserves time to look at this proposal. Councilman Pollard went on to say the revenues are coming off what the City Manager is forecasting for next year and the expenditures are coming off what we've already received as how we are finishing up this year. Councilman Pollard said the employees have done a good job holding the line this last year and that he would like to shoot for holding the line again this year. He said if we do that we will have established a mechanism whereby we can sequester funds for future infrastructure investments and we will have balanced a budget, basically doing something nice for our tax payers. Councilman Pollard said he put a tax increase in because he thinks we can justify the revenues and that he thinks the city employees need the raise, noting that 3% is not out of line. He said the CPI was up 3 1/2% and that he thinks it (3%) needs to be there. Again, he stated the numbers aren't perfect, but that he would like the council to give (them) serious consideration, noting they aren't going to be easy to achieve, but that we can come a lot closer than a $600,000 or $700,000 draw down. 7:20 p.m. Councilman Bogan arrived, and Mayor Manning explained the format of the sheet prepared by Councilman Pollard, stating the first group is projected revenues for this year, the next paragraph is actual figures for this year and the next group is the things we had on the "pick list" from last night. Councilman Lynch advised this includes a two cent tax increase. Mayor Manning said as he understands the proposal, the recommendation is that we hold the budget to the same monies that we expended last year. Councilman Pollard agreed, stating he would like a good honest attempt. Councilman Bogan asked about some of the additional insurance requirements and other items of that nature. Mayor Manning noted there was a 30% increase in electricity. Councilman Pollard said he thinks we can improve on that. Mayor Manning asked how we can improve when we're sent the bill from T.U.E., adding we can turn the lights off and turn the air conditioning down, but that he doesn't think we will experience a 30% reduction in our electric bills. Councilman Pollard said the 30% has some fudge in it and according to our discussions before, the budget as we've been looking at it up to now has been based on revenues that are conservative and expenditures that are liberal. Councilman Pollard said he thinks the fact that last year's budget closed the gap quite a bit is testimony to the fact that there is some fudge in the budget, and also that the employees are willing to work hard to hold the line on these items, as best they can. Councilman Pollard said that up to now, we have been like a ship without a rudder and we have not set a goal for what we want to accomplish and we have not made a commitment that we're going to balance the budget. He said he is not going to say this is it or else he won't support the effort, noting that he has been trying to work with the effort so far and that he will continue to do so. Councilman Pollard said that he took building permits and moved the funds into an area where we can fund fire, police, parks and recreation, aquatic park, library, etc. He said the $105,000 will be there for the next 4 years, noting he took it out of the general revenue fund and (this budget) will operate without that cash. He said he thinks long term we have to recognize that building permits are one shot things and we need to spend the funds on 0049! one shot investments. Councilman Pollard said he put this before the council so they could take a little different approach, and said if they (staff) wind up going $50,000 over budget, it looks better than $600,000. Councilman Pollard said he believes we never would spend $600,000 or $700,000 but that he is not sure what we will spend and that he hasn't been able to find out. He said he thinks we are in danger of spending $400,000 more than we take in and that this will solve that problem and provide leadership and guidance to Mr. Hall. Councilman Pollard said he thinks Mr. Hall got the message last year that as long as we don't pull out of a savings account that everything is O.K., as far as council is concerned. Councilman Pollard said he wouldn't say "vote for this or don't vote for anything", but he wants to make something work. Councilman Bogan asked what happened to the new position for the Animal Control Officer. Councilman Pollard said that was $10,000 extra to upgrade one of the two that we already have budgeted to a manager's position and that it is not in the pick list. Councilman Agnew asked about the additional funds for repair (street). Councilman Bogan asked if he left it out (A.C.O.position) and Councilman Pollard said he did. Councilman Bogan stated he will not vote for a tax increase. Councilman Pollard said he understands that position, and reminded Councilman Bogan that one cent is going to finance a School Resource Officer to protect our kids in school and to finance a Library secretary. He said we're adding two people we didn't have before and we're adding services. Continuing, Councilman Pollard said the other $56,000 is going to the capital fund for infrastructure investment. He said the budget we are looking at has a sign off from the council that says you can spend $700,000 more than you take in, and that he doesn't think the tax payers will go for it. Councilman Pollard said we can drop $56,000 or even $112,00,(which is the tax ~-~ increase of 2 cents), and to give about a $100,000 deficit but would still look better than $600,000 or $700,000 of red ink". Councilman Dillard clarified that with a two cent increase you have $100,000, and Councilman Pollard said, yes, based on $56,000 per penny. Councilman Dillard asked what the deficit would be without a tax increase and Councilman Pollard said about $110,000. Councilman Bogan said that's making everyone operate under last year's figures. Councilman Pollard said sixty percent of the budget is personnel resources, and that part has been addressed with 3% increases. Councilman Agnew said increased hospitalization has not been addressed and Councilman Pollard said he understood all that is loaded on pay increases. Councilman Agnew said pay increases are not loaded with hospitalization increases. Councilman Pollard said hospitalization expenses went down from last year rather than up. Councilman Bogan disagreed, stating that is not the way he understands it. Councilman Pollard said he thought we got a break. Councilman Pollard said to try and balance in one year, is asking a lot, but asked the council to think about setting a goal, setting a target. Councilman Bogan asked for the name of any city that balances their budget every year and Councilman Pollard said he knows a lot of cities that go to great lengths to avoid tax increases. Councilman Bogan said it (balancing the budget every year) is simply not done in municipal government. Councilman Pollard said they balance their budget or they throw their tax payers into debt. Councilman Lynch said if you're worried about a tax increase and re-election, not to ~ 0049! let it bother you because, they have extremely short memories, which was proved last year when we raised it (the tax) by 5 cents. Councilman Bogan said he does not care about that, noting we raised taxes enough last year so we wouldn't have to do it again this year, noting we have the highest tax rate out there. Councilman Lynch said we did it last year, with the understating that hopefully we wouldn't have to do it this year, but that we would take each year as it comes. Councilman Pollard asked what Councilman Bogan would do in two years when we are out of cash. Councilman Agnew said he will absolutely not support any tax increase. Councilman Pollard asked if you (Bogan) are going to say that in two years you will not vote for a tax increase again. Councilman Bogan said if we need a tax increase in two years then I'll vote for a tax increase...when we need it, but went on to say we don't need it this year. Councilman Bogan said he thinks we have adequate reserves and agreed that we are betting on the economy, but so is every city around here. Councilman Pollard said he can find cities that don't approach it that way, but said that you are (Bogan) the city councilman of this city and you're entitled to your opinion, but again said he can find several (cities) that take an entirely different view of how the tax payers should be treated. Councilman Bogan said they all have a decent tax base. Councilman Pollard agreed. Councilman Bogan continued stating we have to do the best we can for as long as we can." Councilman Pollard agreed, stating that he knows that Councilman Bogan is committed to that just like he is. Mayor Manning said he thinks everyone in the room has the same feelings and that is everyone wants to do the best thing for the city. Mayor Manning said he thinks what we will end up with is a difference in opinion and a difference in philosophy as to whether we can make it work. Councilman Pollard agreed. Mayor Manning continued stating that he will not say that Toby Pollard, Tom Bogan, John Dillard, Mike Lynch, Joe Agnew or Joel Marks are wrong in their opinion, but that they are different and that's what makes a good council." Mayor Manning said he is concerned that the numbers we are coming up with at the end of this fiscal year are numbers that Mr. Hall and the various directors have squeezed as tightly as they possibly could and have kept them as low as they possibly could. Mayor Manning said he believes there is not one ounce of fat in the numbers coming in. Going on, Mayor Manning said the problem with forcing those numbers into the next fiscal year, is they simply can't be done. Mayor Manning said costs have gone up, especially electricity, which has gone up significantly. He said businesses are going to be asked to pay a 30% increase, of which he has been notified already, and homeowners 15%. Mayor Manning said we are not looking at big increases overall, noting the proposed budget is only 8% over last year and even though that seems like a lot of money, he said he would be willing to bet that this budget will come in less than what the numbers are in the blue book (proposed budget). Councilman Pollard asked how much and the Mayor said he did not know, but that based on our history and the numbers that James has shown us and based on their (staff) history and their many, many years of experience in running a city and running the financial world within a city, he trusts them. He went on to say if he did not trust them, he would be strong in his effort to replace them. Mayor Manning continued stating when he sees numbers and they (staff) tell him revenues are understated and expenditures are overstated, 7 it is his belief those numbers are going to come right in line. Mayor Manning said if we could look back to the end of that budget season (92-93) and could have known we would have an extra $300,000 and not take that $150,000 out of our savings account, there would probably not have been a 5 cent tax increase last year. Councilman Pollard said we've been pumping record amounts of water and asked if the Mayor thinks we will do that much better next year. Mayor Manning said he did not. Councilman Pollard continued, stating he does not and that he does not believe anyone who does a lot of budgets would believe that we are going to close the gap on $700,000 worth of revenues. Mayor Manning said municipal budgets are volatile and it is difficult to measure with precision. He said if we strap them (employees) with last years numbers, our employees will run out of money about September and it will be hard to provide services through the end of the year. Councilman Pollard said the numbers aren't perfect, but that we have been lacking accountability in the budget. Mayor Manning stated that he likes the sheet Councilman Pollard prepared, noting it is easy to follow and that we might start using a "Pollard Sheet". Councilman Pollard said he will not take issue with someone if the numbers are missed, but we do need to have a target, going on to say if we make it the worst case scenario every time, then it's easy to look good. Mayor Manning said we could pass this, but they will come back mid year to re-do it because they will be out of money. Councilman Pollard said, "It has been made very clear during this process the budget can be adjusted, noting however, this does put an onus on the City Manager, and told Mr. Hall that he would look at this with a certain amount of trepidation, because he would be embarking on targets that are ambitious. Councilman Bogan asked why this is being brought up now, after everything was agreed upon. Councilman Pollard said that every time he asked if we can afford this long term, he was told that would be addressed later. Councilman Bogan said you (Pollard) agreed with everything last night and asked why we were allowed to waste all this time. Councilman Pollard said this will provide direction to the City Manager or we can continue to spend more than we take in. Councilman Pollard said we need to provide it now and went on to say that he will compromise. Councilman Pollard said this is something we need to shoot for, but we are willing to compromise. Councilman Bogan asked how many employees will be lost because life will be miserable for them and went on to say he wouldn't want to work here under those conditions. Councilman Pollard said the employees just finished operating under these numbers, stating the numbers will probably have to be adjusted up, but nobody will tell him how much. Councilman Pollard said that Councilman Bogan hasn't asked once how much are we going to do better than the budget says, and that it appears he doesn't care, as long as taxes are not increased in the next 12 months. Councilman Bogan agreed, stating again that he will not vote to raise taxes. Councilman Pollard said we just need to change the way the budget is looked at. Councilman Bogan said that Councilman Pollard needs to learn about city government before trying to change it. Councilman Pollard said we are all learning and making contributions. Councilman Agnew said he had looked at some of the line items put together by people who understand the city better that he does and sees no problems, however he said Councilman Pollard had failed to put in any growth for added expenses that are by law 8 00492 mandated by the State. Continuing, Councilman Agnew said, you (Pollard) have had 3 - 4 weeks to put this sheet together." Councilman Pollard reminded him that he did the budget on his lunch hour. Councilman Agnew said there would have been time, if he (Pollard) had wanted this done earlier. Councilman Agnew said he resents being allowed to go through 3 - 4 weeks, spending lots of hours and time, while you (Pollard) kept quiet and didn't put into it. Going on, Councilman Agnew said now at the last minute we are told we need to go with last year's numbers. Councilman Pollard said that adjustments can be made and said rather that getting upset, why not work to a consensus. Councilman Bogan said that is what we have been doing for 3 weeks and Councilman Agnew agreed, stating that he thought we had a consensus last night. Councilman Pollard said he has contributed, stating that several times he made the comment that he doesn't think we can continue (in the same direction). Councilman Dillard said we had a consensus on all line items, we didn't put it all together to see where we were headed until last night. Councilman Dillard said that Councilman Bogan came up with an additional $10,000 animal control, and that we ended up with another pick up truck and 2 police cars. Councilman Dillard said that what Councilman Pollard says has some merit, and went on to say that he is concerned and in between on what should be done. He said we shouldn't take Mr. Pollard to task because he came up with an alternate budget. Councilman Agnew said he likes the sheet Councilman Pollard prepared because it has good information on it and that he would like to see it in the process next year, going on to say had we had it earlier, the process might have been expedited. Councilman Pollard said he has not been trying to hide, again stating he mentioned 2 or 3 times that we cannot continue, and said if it is the consensus to go with it as it is, so be it, but let's work toward a goal. Councilman Pollard said that he feels it is necessary to move away from spending more than we take in, and that it became crystal clear last night that the budget would not be addressed as a whole, but piece by piece. Mayor Manning said perhaps Councilman Pollard was not strong enough in his questions if that is how he felt, but noted that this is asking us to start over again because that is the only way to go through and reach a consensus. Mayor Manning said he appreciates what Councilman Pollard did and that he thinks the city council, over the last 3 years, has made a lot of changes in how the budget is looked at and in understanding the process. Mayor Manning said the council is more educated and has more working knowledge of the city budget than in the past, but that his concern is that it is late in the game this year, going on to say he would be happy to look at new procedures in future years. Mayor Manning said he does not believe we will be as fortunate next year, but that he believes it will not be as bad as last year. Mayor Manning said he is satisfied with the budget as it was last night. The Mayor said he is inclined to stay with that for this year, going on to say we are all here for the same reason. Councilman Pollard thanked the Mayor for his time and said he had been fair. 7:53 p.m. Mayor Manning excused himself from the meeting and told the rest of the council to continue if they wished. Councilman Lynch said that he is willing to go for somewhere in the middle (of the 00492Z two). Councilman Bogan said he is not moving and Councilman Lynch said he appreciates that, but wished for once that Councilman Bogan would speak his own mind instead of being the echo. Councilman Bogan said this is a waste of time and excused himself from the meeting. 7:55 p.m. Councilman Bogan left the meeting. Councilman Lynch continued stating that rather than guaranteeing a $700,000 or $900,000 over draw, that he is willing to work toward somewhere in between. Councilman Agnew said he thought council came to a consensus last night or that at least there was a large number of people who came to a consensus and that he cannot come off that. Councilman Lynch asked what his opinion of the consensus last night is and Councilman Agnew said we agreed to what we have gone through for 3 weeks. Councilman Lynch said you (Agnew) got the wrong impression, stating that we went through item by item and we were pretty happy with what was in there and but that he thinks there was not a majority that was willing to say they would approve what was out there until it was put all together. Councilman Lynch said the idea was to have another meeting to see it all together. Councilman Agnew said he heard several people say they would buy into it (budget). Councilman Lynch said he is open minded enough that no matter what time the life saver is thrown he will look at it. Councilman Lynch said if we take away the 2 cent tax increase we have $110,000 over, and said that he wants to see what it will come out to if we add a certain percentage to expenditures. Councilman Agnew said that would be totally irresponsible since we know we have increases that we have no control over and that if we do that, and go with last year's numbers we will be forced to cut people. Continuing, Councilman Agnew said there are increases in electricity, hospitalization. Councilman Pollard said again that hospitalization went down. Councilman Pollard said we can make additions, but that this is obviously a waste of time because you (Agnew) don't want to work in that direction. Councilman Agnew said he had to leave and thanked Councilman Pollard for the form, stating it has lots of value. Councilman Lynch said we all have other things to do, this is a volunteer thing, but we shouldn't post meetings if we don't plan to attend. He continued, stating this is part of being on council; certain time is spent, certain things suffer. He said staff is here and I'm sure they have other things to do and they didn't come here to watch a bunch of fools, who if they didn't like the way the game is being played will pick up their ball and go home. Councilman Agnew said he resented that remark. Councilman Pollard, standing up to leave the meeting, said this is counter productive at this point. Councilman Agnew agreed and stood to leave also. At this time, Bill Hall asked Councilman Lynch to make a motion to close the meeting. Councilman Agnew said, as he left the room, there is no quorum. Councilman Lynch said if we have no quorum we will close the meeting. 7:58 p.m. Councilman Marks arrived. Councilman Lynch noted that now there is a quorum. Councilman Dillard said we need to tell Mr. Marks what is going on. Councilman Marks said we can do that outside and that we don't need to keep staff here. Councilman Lynch ~'~ 10 004920 agreed, stating there are no questions for them. Councilman Dillard said to go ahead and close the meeting. Councilman Lynch asked if they could go over the information with Joel. Patti Hicks, City Secretary advised that 4 councilmembers may not discuss business outside. Councilman Pollard asked if he could go over it with Councilman Marks one on one. That is acceptable. Councilman Lynch closed the meeting at 8:00 p.m. ~.W~i] h~ROVED: · ' g, yo ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRMC, City Secretary 11