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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/14/2008 City Council 008662 July 14,2008 Work Session MINUTES OF WORK SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON JULY 14, 2008 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 6:06 p.m. on the 14th day of July 2008, at City Hall, 6800 Main Street, The Colony, Texas, with the following roll call: John Dillard Allen Harris John Marshall Jeff Connelly Kirk Mikulec Perry Schrag Joel Marks Mayor Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Mayor Pro-tern Councilmember Present Present Present Present Present Present Present (arrived 6:20 p.m.) And with six council members present a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. Discuss council priorities to include but not limited to the city's budget, tax rate, long term financial planning, personnel matters, infrastructure, and sales taxes, and provide direction to staff. Mayor Dillard read the agenda item then turned the meeting over to City Manager Dale Cheatham. Dale said he received some questions prior to the meeting. First he said the value ofa lf4 ofa cent reduction in the tax rate equates to about $55K. He provided handouts with information on the Hotel Occupancy Tax and Special Event funds. Dale also passed out information on subsidies for the past few years for Five Star, and the CDC budget and forecast. He also said that the CDC indicated they will contribute $75,000 next year for operation and maintenance costs for Five Star. EDC is also willing to make some contributions for administrative costs of rent and utilities, and some toward the General Fund and Debt Service Fund toward projects. Basically, he said that there would in essence be a "swapping" of debt service payments with the EDC. Specifics on the contributions will be available after further evaluation. Dale provided an explanation of the need for increased staffing for the Fire Department shifts, adding that to date they are over budget in the overtime account. In regard to the city's overall financial position, he indicated the city is financially sound, that revenues may be higher this year in the general fund that originally thought, and that there is an indication there will be an increase in the tax base that was not anticipated. The certified tax values will be available July 25th. Dale then asked the council what they want to see done in regard to the tax rate. Mayor 1 008663 July 14,2008 Work Session Dillard and council members Marshall and Marks were not in favor of changing the tax rate. Councilmember Mikulec indicated he would be in favor of a 'l'2 cent reduction only after salary increases of3-5% for employees are factored in. Council members Connelly, Harris and Schrag stated they would like to see a reduction. After further discussion, council generally agreed to aim for a 'l'2 cent reduction in the tax rate. There were some suggestions on methodology for implementing a reduction based on ad valorem tax increases. Council members were then asked to prioritize personnel needs and those are summarized as follows: Councilmember Marshall- Develop steps for public safety, cost ofliving increases for other staff, any new positions should include public safety first and add a Battalion Chief for Fire. He also listed benefits, specifically help for family insurance coverage. Councilmember Mikulec- Staff increases (salaries), add Battalion Chief and reduce overtime in the Fire Dept., add steps based on dollars available. Councilmember Connelly- Cost ofliving,jailers in 2-3 years, reduce Fire OfT, and leave the remainder up to the city manager to prioritize. Councilmember Schrag- Look at all critical positions (Public Safety first) and provide a cost of living increase and/or steps for all staff. Councilmember Harris- In favor of outsourcing, add public safety steps, add positions for jailers and Battalion Chief, cost of living increases. He added that he is opposed to employee longevity pay and would prefer to restructure those dollars into merit pay (except as required for public safety), and if possible an across the board adjustment for all. Councilmember Marks- Leave longevity as is, add step increases and cost of living, and public safety positions. Mayor Dillard- Cost ofliving, steps for public safety, additional public safety positions. He added that we need to be competitive in order to keep our employees, and possibly help in regard to family health insurance coverage. Dale told the council that the steps were very important to Fire personnel and Fire Chief Nolen agreed. Police Chief Joe Clark said that he feels there's an issue with the starting pay and need to adjust those first, and then address the steps. A discussion about possible signing bonuses followed as a means to recruit qualified applicants. Councilmember Marshall asked whether the employees are aware of the dollar value associated with the holiday, sick and vacation days. Dale advised that periodically that information is given to the employees. 2 oa866'~ July 14,2008 Work Session In response to some of council's comments, Dale said that increasing salaries for existing employees is a higher priority for him than adding new employees however, he does plan to include a Communications Officer and those named as most important by the council in the budget. He also emphasized that longevity pay is very important to the employees, and with only one council person requesting to change it, he will leave it in the budget. Dale also said that in order to significantly decrease Fire OfT more personnel would have to be added [than is being requested]. Lastly, he does not feel helping some employees help with their family health insurance coverage is equitable to those who do not carry family health coverage. Discussion on priorities for infrastructure items followed. Streets, sidewalks and alleys are the first priority for council members Marks, Schrag and Mikulec with buildings secondary. The police building is the first priority for Mayor Dillard and council members Harris, Connelly, and Marshall with streets secondary. Dale said that streets will have to be put on the back burner if both buildings are done [at a cost of more than $10M]. Council had no input on changing the Long Term Financial Plan. Next was discussion on possibly reallocating the 4A and 4B dollars. Mayor Dillard suggested that since both have made verbal commitments to providing funding to the city for certain projects that they should not proceed with discussion on this. Council discussion followed as to whether the commitments were to be considered temporary or permanent (yearly). Councilmember Schrag suggested the commitments be approached by project to include written agreements. Councilmember Connelly said he would like CDC to commit to funding more than $75,000 towards Five Star. And with no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. APPROVED: Jo n Dillard, Mayor C y of The Colony AITEST/) , . ~~!J~~ ristle WIlson, TRMC, CMC City Secretary i.