HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/22/1993 City Council00494&
MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
HELD ON
September 22, 1993
The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order
at 7:05 p.m. on the 22nd 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 Present
John Dillard, Councilman Present
Joel Marks, Mayor Pro-tem Absent
and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed:
1. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE BUDGETARY PROCESS FOR THE YEAR
1994-95
Mayor Manning called the meeting to order and asked Councilman Pollard to present
the information he had relating to budget preparation. Councilman Pollard stated he had
reviewed the budget documents of several other cities and handed out copies of some of the
forms he felt might be useful in preparing our budget. Councilman Pollard stressed it was
the Council's responsibility to give clear direction and leadership to the staff on what the
Council feels are the most important concerns and how to use the financial resources of the
city.
He went on to state that the Council must have certain information clearly showing
where the money comes from and where it has gone in the past as well as where it is
needed in the future. This includes the assessment of the use of one time revenue sources
which cannot be counted on in budget preparation. Goals and priorities must be established
to use the money in the most effective way, perhaps as seed money for capital items or debt
reduction. The most important thing is for the Council to take the lead in setting goals and
objectives for staff.
Mayor Manning indicated much of this has been done already at the retreat held
earlier this year. He went on to urge the Council to be careful not to overload staff with
requests for information. Need to be sure it is useful and meaningful and not just reports
for the sake of reports.
City Manager Bill Hall said staff would welcome direction from Council. Finance
Director James England explained the budget prepared for 93/94 includes some of the ideas
mentioned by Councilman Pollard. It has been enhanced significantly from previous years
to include more detailed information and narratives to describe programs and services. Mr.
England stated that staff will add any information the Council would need for future
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considerations.
Discussion continued on various approaches to initiating the budget process and what
information would be needed.
Mayor Manning expressed his appreciation of Councilman Pollard's work. He
suggested each councilmember study some of the budgets provided from other cities and
pull out what is useful to us. He suggested a regular schedule of Work Sessions to keep the
budget process on track and it was agreed to meet quarterly. This would allow staff time
to prepare any information requested. It was suggested that the next meeting be held the
third week of November. At that time, Council would have reviewed the other budget
documents, including our own, and could determine what information they needed for the
January meeting.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
APPROVED:
- ' ~layo~- -h
ATFEST:
Sandie Chance,
Deputy City Secretary
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