05/07/2001 - Minutes City of Tigard, Oregon
Revised Budget Committee
Meeting Minutes
May 7, 2001
Members Present: Mike Benner, George Burgess, Irene M. Moszer, Sydney L.
Sherwood, Greg Zuffrea, Jim Griffith, Craig Dirksen, Brian Moore, Joyce E. Patton, and
Ken Scheckla.
Members Absent: None.
Staff Present: Bill Monahan, Craig Prosser, Tom Imdieke, Ron Goodpaster, Margaret
Barnes, and Heather Burris.
Visitor: Martha Bishop.
Call to Order: George Burgess called the meeting to order at 6:32 PM. All members
were present.
Approval of Minutes: The meeting minutes of May 15, 2000 were approved. MSP
The meeting minutes of April 30, 2001 were approved. MSP
Ethics Training: Bill Monahan noted that an Ethics Training will be provided to all
employees as well as volunteers. This training will be held Monday, July 16th , at 7:00
PM in Town Hall. An invitation is extended to all Budget committee members to take
part in this training.
Mayor and City Council: The Mayor and City Council budget is primarily made up of
Personal Services and Contractual Services. Wages have remained the same for this
fiscal year. The last increase for City Council wages occurred in 1999. The City Council
budget reflects an increase of approximately $2,000.00 for this year, primarily due to an
increase in fees, dues and subscriptions, and also travel and training.
Irene Moszer asked why utility costs were so low. Craig Prosser responded that the
utility costs are primarily cellular telephone costs.
City Administration: The City Administration Department is proposing an increase in
FTE's from 15.80 to 19.80. A total of four new positions are proposed.
City Management: Personal Services costs have increased due to the new employees
hired in the last fiscal year and their eligibility for benefits. The budget has built in a
25% increase for medical benefits for this year. Overall, the City Management budget
shows an increase of 9.1% in Personal Services and a 7.9% decrease in Materials and
Services. For this fiscal year, the City Management Division proposes a$30,000
increase.
George Burgess asked what a Community Connector is (as shown in the Effectiveness
Measures). Bill Monahan answered that a Community Connector is a citizen within the
community who makes a commitment to help bring the community together by passing
along information given to them from Liz Newton. Ken Scheckla and George Burgess
made other suggestions on how to better distribute this information to the public.
George Burgess noted that the City Management Division does not show the number of
volunteers or number of volunteer hours in the Effectiveness Measures. Bill Monahan
made a note of this and will be including this information.
Human Resources: The Human Resources Division is proposing an increase of 0.5
FTE's. Currently one staff person works part-time as a Human Resources employee and
part-time as a Network Services employee. This change would allow for a full-time
employee in Human Resources and a full-time employee in Network Services. This
increase is necessary due to the increase of employees in the City of Tigard.
Ken Scheckla asked why the number of applications received this year would be going
down. Bill Monahan responded that this year a lot of the entry level Police Department
positions have been filled as opposed to last year.
Personal Services costs are increasing 26.2% and Materials and Services costs are
decreasing 7.6%. The Human Resources Division is proposing an increase of 15.7%.
Network Services: The Network Services Division is requesting an FTE increase of 3.5
positions. This increase would include the transfer of the Police Systems Specialist from
the Police department, addition of a Web Master, increase of an existing Senior
HR/Telecommunications Analyst to full-time Network Technician, one new Network
Technician, and one Software Support person. This would increase the Network Services
budget 30.8% for the fiscal year.
Jim Griffith asked why utilities increased drastically for this Division. Craig Prosser
responded that in prior years the telephone costs were budgeted under Property
Management. This year, the cost is being transferred to Network Services.
Ken Scheckla asked if there would be enough room in the "Niche"building for the
additional staff. Bill Monahan reported that the training room would be changed to allow
workstations for the new employees.
Risk Management: The Risk Management Division requested no additional FTE's.
Personal Services are up 8.1%. This increase is primarily in Professional and Contractual
Services for additional legal services due to the upgrading of City contracts. Materials
and Services are up 3.8% for an ergonomic workstation. The Risk Management Division
is proposing an increase of 5.2% for the fiscal year.
City Attorney: The actual budget for attorney fees citywide will be approximately
$154,500 for the year, however, that amount is distributed throughout all departments.
The City Attorney has a proposed budget for citywide services of$25,000 for fiscal year
2001/02.
Finance: The Finance Department proposes an increase of 14.5%, and 1.05 FTE
positions. Personal Services are up 11.6% and Materials and Services are up 23.8%.
Finance Administration: The Finance Administration Division would like to achieve
the following goals for this fiscal year: develop a catalog of all city fees and charges and
develop a process to review these fees and charges; enhance the support to Departments
for annual rate reviews and rate settings; provide more active support to Departments in
dealing with financial issues; develop a citywide capital financing strategy; update the
City's cost allocation plan, and enhance franchise management by actively reviewing all
franchises for compliance and initiating a regular audit program. Franchise Fee revenue
makes up 15% of the General Fund.
The overall budget for the Finance Administration Division is up 54.8%. This increase is
due to an increase of one FTE position, City Attorney costs related to franchise
management, and increased advertising and printing costs for the budget document.
Joyce Patton noted that the Effectiveness Measures did not include any statistics in
regards to auditing. Craig Prosser responded that the Effectiveness Measures would be
revised to include this.
Ken Scheckla asked why the travel and training costs have increased. Craig Prosser
responded that costs are up due to the addition of the new position.
Financial Operations: The Financial Operations Division would like to achieve the
following goals for this fiscal year: implement GASB 34 requirements prior to July 1,
2002; complete the annual audit by November 15, 2001; participate in the City's annual
budget process; review rates and penalties; review the options for changing the City's
financial software; and implement outsourcing of the utility billing receipting process.
The overall budget for Financial Operations increases by 16.9% from FY 2000/01. This
includes a small increase in hours for business tax field reviews. Materials and Services
increases 45%. This increase is primarily due to the outsourcing of utility billing
payment, online utility payments, new meter reading equipment and software, credit card
fees for online payments, and replacement of worn office equipment.
Ken Scheckla asked what percentage of utility customers are delinquent. Tom Imdieke
responded that approximately 3% of Tigard customers are delinquent in paying their
water bills. Jim Griffith asked if the Business Tax is the same as a Business License.
Craig Prosser responded that the City of Tigard does not have a Business License, only a
Business Tax. Business Tax revenue is approximately $230,00 a year.
Office Services: The Office Services Section would like to achieve the following goals
for this fiscal year: continue to respond to the Finance Department customer service
survey and implement changes requested by customers; continue to work with the Web
Steering Committee; continue to work towards a paperless City Council; develop and
conduct a room reservation survey; and provide data entry support for increased traffic
citation volume.
The overall budget for Office Services increases by 4.2%. Personal Services will remain
constant with an increase of 1.8% and Materials and Services increases 8.6%. This
increase is due primarily to the increased cost of postage.
Records: The Records Section would like to achieve the following goals for this fiscal
year: identify records that have met retention requirements, complete a bi-annual records
destruction; train staff on records issues, file storage, and retention; and continue
microfilming of records.
The overall budget for Records is up 2.7%. Staffing levels remain constant.
Municipal Court: The Municipal Court Section would like to achieve the following
goals for this fiscal year: study the feasibility of implementing software to allow
customers to pay over the internet; increase court hours to accommodate additional
customers; continue to study feasibility of processing misdemeanor and certain juvenile
cases through Municipal Court; and quickly respond to relevant changes in Oregon law
following the 2001 legislative session.
The overall budget for Municipal Court decreases .8%. Staffing levels are constant with
one vacant position to be filled with the implementation of photo radar.
Police: The Police Department has proposed a 2.5% increase for fiscal year 2001/02.
Staffing levels remain constant, with the transfer of one FTE employee to the Network
Services Division and the addition of one FTE.
The Police Department is comprised of three divisions: Police Administration,
Operations, and Support Services. Every Division supports the Operations Division.
This year the Police Department had added three Workload Measures to reflect more
active involvement in community policing.
Police Administration: The overall budget of the Police Administration Division
increases 7.5%. This increase is due primarily to costs related to accreditation of the
Department, the development of a fitness program, and the photo radar program. The
cost of the photo radar program is expected to be offset by revenue.
Police Operations: The overall budget for the Police Operations Division is up 4.9%.
Staffing has increased one FTE person, due to the transfer of one position from the
Support Services Division. The budget includes an estimated payment of$129,000 to the
photo radar vendor. The Police Operations Division also wants to purchase thermal
imaging equipment. The cost of this equipment is approximately $48,000. The Police
Department is currently seeking a grant to purchase the equipment.
Ken Scheckla asked how long it would take to get the grant. Ron Goodpaster responded
that the process would take approximately three to four months. Joyce Patton asked at
what response time level would priority I calls be considered unacceptable. Ron
Goodpaster responded that four minutes was considered an excellent response time to
priority I calls. Improvement would be needed once the length of time reached five
minutes.
Support Services: The budget for the Police Support Services Division is down
approximately 2.4%. Staffing is down 1.83 FTE due to the transfer of one person to the
Operations Division and one position to the Network Services Division, and the
budgeting of a grant-funded position for a full year in FY 2001-02 vs. 10 months in FY
2001/01.
The Support Services Division is requesting the addition of one additional
Property/Evidence Clerk to maintain evidence inventory, storage and checkout. There is
currently only one Property/Evidence Clerk who is responsible for approximately 5,500
pieces of property.
Joyce Patton noted that the Effectiveness Measures included information in regards to
computer services that will no longer be included in the Police Department's budget.
Ron Goodpaster responded that the Effectiveness Measure would be transferred to the
Network Services budget.
Craig Prosser noted that the Police Department's proposed budget would have two
additional changes. The first is a typing error that will reduce the budget by$27,000.
The second is a change in the Police Department's retirement fund that will increase the
budget by $14,000.
Library: Margaret Barnes presented the Budget Committee with the Library's FY
2001/02 proposed budget. Over the last year, the Library incurred five to six staff
changes in both management and general staff. For FY 2001/02, the Library is
requesting a slight increase in staff of 0.7% and a total budget increase for the
Department of 9.8%. The additional staff hours would allow the Library to remain open
later on Friday evenings.
Library Administration: The Library Administration Division increases 14.6%. This
increase is primarily due to the increased cost of postage and office supplies. Staffing
levels remain constant.
Library Readers Services: The Library Readers Services division increases 14.9%, and
staffing is up one FTE person due to the transfer of one position from the Technical
Services Division. Personal Services increases 17.4% due to the additional position and
part-time staff now receiving pro-rated City benefits. Materials and Services increases
9.9%. This increase is primarily due to new workstations for staff and increased funding
for purchasing new books and other materials.
Library Technical Services: The Library Technical Services Division decreases 20.4%
due to the transfer of 1.4 FTE to other divisions.
This Division is responsible for the processing and cataloging of all materials. The
Division is working on a method to perform their tasks in a more timely manner with the
configuration of workstations.
Library Circulation: The Library Circulation Division increases 20.9%. Most of this
increase is due to an increase in Materials and Services. The Library needs to lease a new
check-out machine, and is purchasing a new check-in machine.
George Burgess asked why the population served has decreased over the last year.
Margaret Barnes responded that this number is derived from a formula determined by
WCCLS. George Burgess also asked why the materials checked in per year are greater
than the materials checked out. Margaret Barnes responded that the Library takes in
materials that were checked out from neighboring Libraries.
Debt Service: Tom Imdieke reported that the City of Tigard has very little debt. The
Debt Service is comprised of General Obligation Bonds, Bancroft Bonds and Bond
Anticipation Notes. The final payment of the General Obligation bonds is scheduled for
FY 2003.
Strategic Planning Meeting: Bill Monahan reported that there would be a Strategic
Planning meeting during the City Council session next week, Tuesday, May 15th at
7:30PM. An invitation was extended to the citizen members of the Budget Committee to
attend this meeting.
Public Comment: There was no public comment.
George Burgess recessed the Budget Committee meeting at 9:12 PM.