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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-2013 City Council study session -budget MINUTES APRIL 22, 2013 SARATOGA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING FISCAL YEAR 2013-2014 BUDGET STUDY SESSION SARATOGA CITY HALL—ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Hunter called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT Council Members Chuck Page, Manny Cappello, Howard Miller, • Vice Mayor Emily Lo, Mayor Jill Hunter ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: Dave Anderson, City Manager Debbie Bretschneider, Deputy City Clerk John Cherbone, Public Works Director James Lindsay, Community Development Director Mary Furey,Finance and Administrative Services Director Michael Taylor, Recreation and Facilities Director Monica LaBossiere, Human Resources Manager Mainini Cabute,Administrative Analyst II REPORT ON POSTING OF AGENDA Deputy City Clerk Debbie Bretschneider reported that pursuant to Gov't. Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on April 19, 2013. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ON NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS None COUNCIL DIRECTION TO STAFF None 1. Fiscal Year 2013/14 Budget Study Session Recommended Action: Review the proposed Fiscal Year 2013/14 Operating and Capital Budgets to be brought before the Council at the May 15,2013 Proposed Budget Hearing,review the status of the Fund Balance Reserve,and review the revised language of the Fund Balance Reserve Policy. 1 PROPOSED FY 2013-14 OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGET Finance and Administrative Services Director Mary Furey went over the agenda for the meeting and provided a report on the Proposed Budget Hearing. Finance and Administrative Services Director Mary Furey and City Manager Dave Anderson addressed Council questions about the Proposed Fiscal Year 2013-2014 Operating and Capital Budget. Council Member Page asked about the Vehicle Replacement Funds and what is being replaced. Public Works Director John Cherbone had a list of the vehicles and equipment to be replaced and along with Community Development Director James Lindsay answered questions about the list. Council Member Miller expressed an interest in having the hybrid cars leased due to rapidly changing technology, instead of purchased. Council Member Page agreed that the City should look into leasing the vehicles. Council Member Page noticed a discrepancy in Debt Service with the amounts listed for a bond on page 7 and page 9 of the FY 2013-14 Operating Budget report. Finance and Administrative Services Director Mary Furey will follow up to correct the budget schedule. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES City Manager Dave Anderson presented the report on Organizational Changes, which is detailed in Attachment 2B. He presented the themes of this report: converting long- term temporary employees to regular employees, acting on deferred promotions within the organization, and new hires in the Community Development and Finance and Administrative Services Departments. Community Development Director James Lindsay answered questions from the Council on extending Building counter hours with new employees and on who will be in charge of code compliance. Council Member Page and Council Member Miller had questions about eliminating the Temporary Forestry Intern listed on the Proposed Staffing Revisions. They both thought intern funding was a good use of City money. After discussion, Council agreed to keep $15,179 in the budget to hire one or more interns in any area needed, at the discretion of the City Manager. City Manager Dave Anderson discussed the changes in the Finance and Administrative Services Department. An assessment had been provided by Municipal Resource Group that suggested adding an Accounting Supervisor/Manager 2 position to manage the day-to-day workload to allow the Director of Finance and Administrative Services to work on the larger projects. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Finance and Administrative Services Director Mary Furey presented the Capital Improvement Plan(CIP)new funding , including the ADA compliant signals Citywide signal upgrade. Staff answered questions about the Prospect/Saratoga Avenue OBAG project. FUND BALANCE RESERVES Finance and Administrative Services Director Mary Furey presented on the General Fund/Fund Balance Reserves by reporting that the City is ending the fiscal year with net operations of approximately 1.9 million to flow into specific reserve accounts as per the budget policy. Council Member Page asked if there is an opportunity to fund a reserve for infrastructure replacement. Council Member Miller mentioned that the Finance Adhoc Committee had worked on a policy for fund reserves and asked Finance and • Administrative Services Director Mary Furey to look for the Facility Reserve report in previous minutes of the Finance Adhoc Committee. Council Member Page agreed that starting a reserve to fund new facilities or replacements would be a great legacy to leave with the City. FUND BALANCE POLICY Finance and Administrative Services Director Mary Furey presented the change in language of the Fund Balance Policy. After the Council discussed the changes, they agreed to the new policy. COUNCIL DIRECTION: Council provided direction to staff to: -Look into leasing instead of buying replacement vehicles -Correct Debt Service amount on pages 7 and 9 of budget report -Continue forward with the Organizational Changes, including keeping budget funds for an intern -Create a Fund Balance Reserve for facility replacement/major rehabilitation project, funding it with an initial allocation of$300,000 ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hunter adjourned the meeting at 7:58 p.m. 3 Minutes respec ly submitted: Debbie Bretschneider, Deputy City Clerk 4