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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/10/2019 - City Council - City Council Meeting Minutes - Steven C Lacy, Mayor 10-10-2019 Council Workshop Minutes Page 1 of 7 CITY OF EAST WENATCHEE 271 9th Street NE * East Wenatchee, WA 98802 Phone (509) 884-9515 * Fax (509) 886-6233 City Council Workshop East Wenatchee City Hall 271 9th St. NE East Wenatchee, WA 98802 Minutes Thursday, October 10, 2019 In attendance: Josh DeLay, Finance Director Mayor Lacy Randy Harrison, Police Chief Councilmember Sterk Josh Toftness, Streets Manager Councilmember Detering Chancey Crowell, Municipal Court Judge Councilmember Crawford Trina Elmes, Events Director / PIO Councilmember Magdoff Mary Beth Phillips, Court Administrator Devin Poulson, City Attorney Tom Wachholder, Proj. Development Manager Ike Laswell, Information Technology Maria Holman, City Clerk Ben Fauconnier, Sergeant 4:30 p.m. Council Workshop. Councilmember Magdoff opened the meeting. 1. Property Tax Levy, Finance Director Josh Delay presented the Property Tax Option for 2020 Budget. i. Option B, current (2019) Levy of $1,795,455.04 + Allowable 1% Increase of $17,954.55 + New Construction $15,610.95 = Levy for 2020 $1,829,020.54 as the preferred, or, ii. Option C, current (2019) Levy of $1,795,455.04 + Allowable 1% Increase of $17,954.55 + New Construction $15,610.95 + Banked Capacity $1,790.49 = Levy for 2020 $1,830,811.03. Councilmembers consensus to present both Option B or Option C for consideration of the 2020 Tax Levy No decision was made by the Council. 2. Finance Director Josh DeLay presented a 2020 Significant Preliminary Budget Change summary to the Council. 10-10-2019 Council Workshop Minutes Page 2 of 7 All Funds a. 2.5% COLA for exempt staff, plus a step increase (additional 2.5%) per the Mayor's recommendation b. 3% COLA for Local-846 union, plus a step increase (additional 2 - 3% depending on the step) c. 3.5% salary increase for the Teamsters union, per their agreement, and Comment provided by Councilmember Detering, Councilmember Magdoff, Councilmember Sterk, and Mayor Lacy regarding COLA’s d. General liability insurance is expected to rise 10% per our insurance broker Comments provided by Councilmember Sterk, Councilmember Magdoff, Mayor Lacy, and City Attorney Devin Poulson regarding liability insurance No decision was made by the Council General Fund The proposed addition of a Human Resources budget - Mayor Lacy proposed that Teresa Allen become a department head and creating an HR budget that would move Mrs. Allen out of the Legislative budget. Teresa's salary, benefits, training, cell phone, etc. would be moved out of the Legislative & Finance budgets, and into the new Human Resources Budget created. Mayor Lacy presented information regarding the HR budget to the Council. Comments provided by Councilmember Crawford and Councilmember Detering. No decision was made by the Council a. General Government • $12,000 increase from last year for the Wenatchee Valley Museum. The full $120,000 is now planned to come out of the General Fund (the Museum may still apply for and receive Hotel-Motel taxes, which could shift some of the cost to the Hotel-Motel Tax Fund) • Futsal field $20,000 • Additional $15,000 to "Our Valley, Our Future" Comments provided by councilmember Magdoff, Councilmember Detering, and Mayor Lacy that the $15,000 would be continued funding to “Our Valley, Our Future”. No decision was made by the Council 10-10-2019 Council Workshop Minutes Page 3 of 7 b. Legislative • Increase in public defense contract of roughly $40,000 (we have applied for grant funding for this- the grant application is pending) • The proposed addition of a half-time Executive Secretary to the Mayor in the Legislative budget with an estimated cost of $45,000 for salary, benefits, training, and travel Comments provided by City Attorney Devin Poulson, Councilmember Crawford, Councilmember Magdoff, Councilmember Detering, Mayor Lacy, and Municipal Court Judge Crowell. No decision was made by the Council. c. Information Technology • $25,000 for a disaster recovery backup system • $4,000 increase for training • $4,000 increase for travel Information Technology Manager Ike Laswell spoke to the Council regarding the IS Department. Comments provided by Councilmember Magdoff, Councilmember Sterk, Mayor Lacy, and Councilmember Crawford. No decision was made by the Council. d. Legal • The proposed addition of a full-time Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Legal budget with an estimated cost of $105,000 for salary, benefits, training, and travel (Amber's salary moved out of Legal and into Finance) $9,500 increase for litigation expenses City Attorney Devin Poulson spoke to the Council regarding the Legal Department. Comments provided by Councilmember Detering, Councilmember Magdoff and Councilmember Crawford. No decision was made by the Council. e. Municipal Court • $8,500 increase in Mary Beth's salary to catch her up to the average of our comparable entities per the City's comparable entities policy Finance Director Josh Delay presented information to the Council. Comments provided by Mayor Lacy, Councilmember Crawford, and Councilmember Magdoff. No decision was made by the Council. 10-10-2019 Council Workshop Minutes Page 4 of 7 f. Public Works • $7,000 increase in salary for Tom after a re-analysis of his position per the Mayor's recommendation $5,000 increase in engineering support services Mayor Lacy spoke to Council regarding Tom Wachholder’s proposed increase to his position No decision was made by the Council. g. Central Services • $12,000 increase in Capital Outlay for heater improvements/repairs for City Hall • $5,000 increase for external scanning services City Clerk Maria Holman spoke to Council regarding the $5,000 increase for external scanning. Mrs. Holman requested the total for 2020 be a one- time $12,000 with plans to request a grant from the Washington State Archives for the same. No decision was made by the Council. h. Law Enforcement • $25,000 increase in Overtime Salaries • 7,000 increase in Fuel Chief Harrison said they have been minus 2 officers and minimum staffing issues. Comments provided by Councilmember Detering, Councilmember Crawford, Councilmember Crawford, Finance Director Josh DeLay No decision was made by the Council. i. Planning • $13,000 increase in Professional Services Request by Community Development Director Lori Barnett for Long Range Planning and Shoreline Master Program, etc, also eligible for grants to offset. Comments provided by Councilmember Magdoff and Councilmember Crawford. No decision was made by the Council. 10-10-2019 Council Workshop Minutes Page 5 of 7 Transportation Benefit District Fund a. $15,000 increase in funds transferred to the Street Improvements Fund for overlay projects and, b. The potential loss of all revenue associated with this fund due to Initiative 976. Comments provided by Councilmember Magdoff, Councilmember Detering, and Mayor Lacy. No decision was made by the Council. Debt Reserve Fund a. The transfer out of the entire fund balance ($660,000) to the Bond Fund to start paying off bond debt out of the Bond Fund. Comments provided by Councilmember Magdoff, Councilmember Crawford, Councilmember Detering, and Mayor Lacy. No decision was made by the Council. Hotel/Motel Tax Fund a. All Hotel/Motel tax revenues will now go into this fund. Transfers will be made to the Events Fund, as needed and approved Comments provided by Councilmember Lacy, Councilmember Detering, and Councilmember Crawford. No decision was made by the Council. Events Fund a. $33,500 increase for Christmas decorations Events Director Trina Elmes presented to Council a request to purchase an extra-large artificial Christmas tree for City Hall instead of brining a fresh cut tree every year. Comments provided by Mayor Lacy, Councilmember Detering, Councilmember Crawford, and Councilmember Magdoff. The consensus was to wait until the City Hall Campus remodel is done so we have storage space for the tree. No decision was made by the Council. Bond Fund a. $505,000 increase to begin paying off bond debt, and the increased payment for the 10th Street Public Works Trust Fund Loan Comments provided by Councilmember Detering and Councilmember Magdoff. 10-10-2019 Council Workshop Minutes Page 6 of 7 No decision was made by the Council. Street Improvements Fund a. Large increases in expenditures and city matching funds due to a few potential large projects starting b. It will be necessary to supplement this fund from the Capital Improvements Fund in order to keep it out of a negative fund balance Comments provided by Councilmember Magdoff and No decision was made by the Council Storm Water Capital Improvements Fund This fund is no longer needed due to the termination of the Interlocal Agreement with Douglas County for stormwater-related services. The State Auditor's Office requires capital projects for utilities to be reported in an enterprise fund. The monies remaining in this fund at 2019 year-end will be transferred over to our new Stormwater Fund (401). Stormwater Fund Brand new fund for 2020 to account for revenues and expenditures related to stormwater fee collection. We are expected to receive roughly $2,500,000 from Douglas County in addition to whatever is leftover from the Storm Water Capital Improvements Fund. Capital Improvements Fund • Reader board - $65,000 • $150,000 transfer to Street Improvements Fund to keep that fund from going negative Equipment Purchase. Repair & Replacement Fund • $122,300 increase in police vehicles - requesting four new cars versus the two they received last year • $14,000 increase in street vehicles • This fund will need a larger than the normal inflow of sales tax to avoid going negative if all these purchases are approved Comments provided by all Councilmembers, and Mayor Lacy. No decision was made by the Council. 3. Department Head Budget Discussions: a. Municipal Court Judge Chancey stated that the Court will need an additional person in the near future, but no request was made at this time. b. Project Manager Tom Wachholder spoke to Council regarding Stormwater changes for the City.