05/09/2005 - Minutes City of Tigard, Oregon
44W Budget Committee
Meeting Minutes
May 9, 2005
Members Present: Mike Benner, Craig Dirksen, Mark Haldeman, Sally Harding, Katie Schwab, Sydney
Sherwood, Nick Wilson, Tom Woodruff, Susan Yesilada and Jason Snider(to be appointed).
Staff Present: Roger Dawes, Maureen Denny, Bill Dickinson, Tom Imdieke,Al Orr, Craig Prosser, and
Michelle Wareing.
Visitors: Martha Bishop, Gretchen Buehner, and Kevin Harding
Call to Order: Mark Haldeman called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
Approval of Minutes: Initially the meeting minutes of May 2, 2005 were approved, however upon further
discussion later in the meeting, it was noted that Public Comment was not included. The minutes from
May 2, 2005 will be revised and redistributed for approval.
Handouts: Tom lmdieke discussed the three handouts. The first memo from Margaret Barnes addressed
the question raised last week about which day was the least busy at the Library. Based on an analysis of
March 2005, Thursdays register the lowest in average numbers of visitors per hour and items checked
out per hour. Margaret Barnes stated no one day logs the lowest statistics in all categories and the
amount of activity on any given day of the week may also differ from month to month.
The second memo from Roger Dawes was in response to the question asking how many legal FTEs our
*4w" current attorney might use during a fiscal year. Based on FY 2003-04 data, the memo states that
attorney hours were 48% of an FTE, legal aide hours were 5% of an FTE, and clerical hours were 5%of
an FTE. Billings from July 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005 reflect that attorney hours are 38%of an FTE,
legal aide hours are 1% of an FTE, and clerical hours are 2%of an FTE.
The third memo prepared by Michelle Wareing addressed the impact of the Travel and Training budgets
on Materials and Services. Total citywide proposed budget for Travel and Training is$210,873 which is
an increase of$22,889 over current fiscal year. Of the total citywide travel and training budget for
FY 2005-06, $63,336 (about 30%) is for mandatory or liability-related training for Police, Public Works,
and Building Inspection staff. Of the$63,336 amount, a little over$13,000 will be paid for by grants or
other funds. A spreadsheet was attached to the memo showing different comparisons of expenditures.
Tom Imdieke encouraged Committee members to review the memos and raise any questions at the next
meeting.
Police: Chief Bill Dickinson and Assistant Chief AI Orr presented the Police budget. The primary mission
of the Police Department is to respond to emergency calls(911 calls), followed by responses to all other
calls for service. These calls are prioritized and dispatched by WCCCA.
The second priority is follow-up investigation. A certain percentage of calls the Department responds to
involve criminal action, the most serious of which are investigated through the Detective Unit and the less
serious of which are investigated by Patrol Officers. Most calls involve some follow-up activity.
The third priority is prevention and education. When the Department is not responding to calls for
service, one goal is to reduce the calls. The Department is constantly working towards trying to educate
the public on crime prevention.
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Funding sources for the Department come from the General Fund. Fines, penalties, and alarm permit
fees generated by the Police activities go into the General Fund. Since 1999, the Department has
aggressively pursued grants and has received funds of approximately$500,000,from federal and state
grants. The Department has recently entered into a contract with Tri-Met that covers the cost to field an
officer. The Department receives some overtime reimbursement from contracts and grants.
Major factors affecting the budget are:
1. Replacement of patrol cars. The City has cut back on vehicle replacements in the past few years.
Only wrecked vehicles have been replaced. Now, several vehicles have high mileages and are
becoming costly to keep on the road. The Department would like to be able to turn over five cars
per year on a five-year replacement cycle. The recommendation for vehicle replacement has
come from the City's Fleet Manager.
2. A total of about$250,000 in grant funded equipment is included in the Police Department budget.
The majority of the grant dollars will be used to replace portable radios and purchase new
satellite phones. Also, the remaining mobile data terminals(MDTs)will also be replaced. The
Department replaced the majority of the MDTs in FY 2004-05, which was also funded partially
with a grant. This equipment will not be purchased, if the grant dollars are not received.
3. Training --an unfunded mandate. Handouts were presented showing requirements from the
state and from the City's insurance company for training. The training budget has increased due
to the increase in requirements.
4. Overtime. The overtime is lower than FY 2000-01. If the officers claim the money versus
compensatory time off, they must be paid per the terms of their labor contract.
Tom Woodruff asked if the labor agreement requires a minimum overtime. Chief Dickinson said it
would depend on the circumstances. If an officer is called back to work within an hour of their
shift, it is considered a shift extension. If there is more than an hour or on a day off, they will be
paid a minimum of three hours (referred to as a"call-back").
Mayor Dirksen asked if overtime is primarily due to officers needing to work their shift and also
required to be at court. Chief Dickinson stated there are several different categories; operational
—coverage for shift minimums; operational—significant crime call at the end of a shift requiring
the officer to finish necessary paperwork; training related; and court time. Craig Prosser pointed
out the Department had prepared Issue Paper#6 which goes into the factors affecting overtime.
It also includes an article from the National Institute of Justice examining key issues regarding
Police overtime.
Councilor Woodruff asked if overtime decreased by adding back the two officers, noting that the
proposed budget is a significant increase from before the two officers were added. Chief
Dickinson stated the Department is in the red for its overtime budget. The Department took a
reduction in the overtime budget for FY 2004-05 and he is asking for a budget that more
accurately reflects what occurs.
Mark Haldeman recalled last year, that the Tigard Police Officers Union was the one claiming the
additional officers would decrease overtime. He recalled the Chief thought it would be more of a
wash. Chief Dickinson agreed. If the Department could eliminate the shift coverage overtime,
the maximum savings would be$28,000.
Councilor Harding asked where the savings of overtime came from. Chief Dickinson stated one
of the low years was due to the Balloon Festival not taking place. The Department budget has
not included staffing of events such as the Balloon Festival or 4th of July. This year, the budget
reflects the cost for these events. Councilor Harding asked if the Department could use other
agencies reserve officers so the City could save money. Reserves from many different reciprocal
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agencies are used already. The Tigard reserve unit is currently working at two-thirds of optimum
capacity and the Department is working to try fill some of the vacancies. Councilor Harding
asked for a breakdown of the overtime. Craig Prosser referred the Committee to the previously
mentioned issue paper.
5. Addition of two officers. Chief Dickinson stated that one position is for another motorcycle officer
to help improve traffic pursuant to Council goals. The Chief stated that he feels the ratio of
officers to citizens is too low. The Department covers 1-5, Hwy 217, and 99W. If the state
troopers are unavailable, which is common as only a few troopers are assigned to the area,
Tigard is responding to most of the calls even though they are state roads and highways.
Councilor Sherwood asked how many of the calls to the Department regard meth-related crimes.
Chief Dickinson stated some sources claim as high as 85%, but he feels if all meth-related crimes
were eliminated, the crime rate would not go down by 85%. The property crimes are higher than
average while the violent crimes are less than average in Tigard. Fraud and identity crimes are a
large percentage of the property crimes, as well as shop-lifting at Washington Square. About
28%of the call load is associated with the Washington Square business district.
Mayor Dirksen asked as the call volume goes up, is there a maximum number of calls per officer
that can be sustained and is the answer to reducing the calls per officer increasing the number of
officers. The Chief stated he would like to have a staffing ratio that is higher than what the
Department currently has. Mayor Dirksen asked if the call-ratio was a good basis for calculating
the staffing levels needed. The Chief stated that there is a point where additional staffing is
needed or there is a reduction in services if the call-level is too high. Some communities decide
not to respond to private security company alarms or minor traffic violations, for example.
Katie Schwab asked if areas that do not provide full Police service, if there were private
companies that provided alarm response. In the case of alarms, there are private security
companies that will respond. Some companies will verify it is not a false alarm and then contact
the authorities. Katie Schwab asked if there were any studies that showed if crime increased
under this scenario. Chief Dickinson stated this is fairly new and there are only a few agencies
across the country trying this out.
Councilor Woodruff asked if the Department charges for false alarms. After 3 false alarms there
is a charge. If there is another one within a certain time frame, the fine increases. The fee
increased in last year's fee schedule.
The Department's authorized staffing level has not changed greatly since FY 2000-01. The
increase reflects the Tri-Met funded position. The Department anticipates the expansion of
Washington Square and the opening of Bridgeport Village will increase police activity.
Councilor Sherwood asked if Washington Square might fund a position. The Chief responded
that the Washington Square management is willing to provide a storefront, but not funds for a
position. The Department budget has no provisions for staffing a storefront. Mayor Dirksen
stated with the eventual expansion of the Police Department facilities, perhaps a substation at
Washington Square would postpone the need for capital funds. Craig Prosser mentioned that
prior to 1999, the City did an analysis of the cost of serving Washington Square and the revenues
generated. As this was prior to his working for the City, he did not know off-hand what the results
were. One thing the staff could do this summer is to take another look and see if this would
provide data leading towards a storefront. Councilor Wilson noted that in the budget document
Washington Square is one of the top 10 property taxpayers in Tigard and the enterprises may feel
they are already sufficiently paying for Police service through their taxes.
Chief Dickinson summarized what the Department would deliver for the funds budgeted:
- A full service Police Department;
Answer all calls;
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Decrease crime by working with and educating youth;
Work with citizens and businesses in crime prevention;
Community policing;
Streamline hiring, improve retention;
Update policy to gain accreditation;
- Reduce lawsuits; and
Maintain commitment to traffic safety.
Mark Haldeman asked for an update for the approved positions from last year. The positions were hired
and have gone through the academy. Unfortunately, the Department lost a few officers to other agencies.
Two officers have gone to Portland Police Department, which pays more than Tigard. Tigard's pay scale
is equivalent to cities with similar population.
Mark also asked for an explanation for the Professional and Contract line item increase of$48,000. This
is due to contract services to support and maintain the many databases used within the Department, plus
the connections to other agencies databases. This year the Department is adding 25 MDCs. The
Department requests two part-time, contracted positions for installation of the hardware and software.
The upgrade of the MDCs is required by federal mandates for encrypted communications. The Small
Tools and Equipment line item includes$156,500 for portable radios which are contingent upon receiving
federal grants. This also includes a contracted position to improve the crime analysis function.
Councilor Woodruff asked if no changes were made, how much would the budget increase over last year.
Mark Haldeman estimated that if vehicles were not replaced and the grant-contingent expenditures were
removed, the increase would be approximately$200,000.
Sue Yesilada asked about the 30% increase in costs for the additional benefits from FY 2004-05 and
FY 2005-06. Chief Dickinson stated that the cost for the additional two FTEs is approximately$150,000.
Craig Prosser stated the sworn Police Officers are the only City employees that are members of PERS
and there was a pension contribution rate increase of about 14%that contributes to the overall benefits
increase.
Finance: Tom Imdieke, Interim Finance Director, presented the Finance Department budget. The total
Department budget is up 4.7%and actually one of the smaller City Departments at 6%of the City's total
operating budget.
The Finance Department is composed of Finance Administration. This Division has 3 FTEs—Finance
Director, Management Analyst, and Administrative Assistant. Finance Administration is responsible for
debt management, business tax, special assessment billings, financial forecast and budgeting, financial
analysis, and franchise management.
The City has been working in cooperation with other cities in Oregon in putting together a regular program
of auditing the franchised utilities to insure they are paying the full amount due to.the City. The PGE audit
resulted in a payment of$300,000. The Northwest Natural audit is still ongoing; however, the audit is not
finding many discrepancies. Qwest and Verizon are putting up a lot of resistance and progress is slow.
Katie Schwab asked if the City would be impacted by the utilities asking the State to create a new bill
allowing them not to pay franchise fees. Craig Prosser said yes, the City would be affected. He
mentioned that HB 3353, which was written by telecommunications industry, would prohibit all fees and
charges. The bill appears to be dead at this time.
The second division is Financial Operations, which handles Utility Billing, Payroll, Purchasing,
Accounting, and Cash Investments. Staff remains constant. The increase in the budget is mainly due to
the licensing and maintenance costs for the accounting software. Travel&Training is up in anticipation
of several new modules of the existing financial software being added in FY 2005-06. The mailing and
receipting of utility bills has been outsourced to Clark County Public Utilities. This saves the Department
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from having to purchase new equipment and hire additional staff to handle the increase in utility bills.
Also, the mailing of the utility bills has been outsourced.
Administrative Services is listed in two sections; one is Office Services. This Division contains the City
Recorder, switchboard, central mail facility, website support, desktop publishing, room reservations,
clerical support, records and file management, and copier maintenance.
The other part of Administrative Services is Municipal Court. This includes parking and minor traffic
citations, limited misdemeanors, municipal code violations, and the City's youth court.
Overall there are no changes in the total FTE in the proposed budget. The function of City Recorder was
transferred to Office Services during the fiscal year and absorbed in the FTE count for that section.
Factors affecting the budget include the need to replace a high capacity printer in Utility Billing. Over
108,000 utility bills are printed every year along with late notices. The printer is over five years old and is
experiencing significant maintenance and performance problems. It is recommended it be replaced.
Another factor affecting the budget is the anticipated increase in postage. This affects the Office Services
Division that does the bulk mailings on a citywide basis as well as the Financial Operations Division
because of utility bill mailings. The impact is calculated to be well over$3,500.
There are also some smaller increases to meet the contract terms for an outside auditor, maintenance
fees for the financial software, and the contract with the Municipal Court Judge.
The Department has included additional training dollars for the City Recorder and for staff, if additional
financial software modules are implemented.
With the exception of Municipal Court,which is funded through the General Fund, the rest of the Finance
Department is funded by multiple City funds based on projected usage and budgeted in the Central
Services Fund.
Some of the major goals next year will include accepting passport applications at the City Hall front
counter. This will hopefully generate up to an additional$160,000 in revenue to the City if the program is
similar to surrounding cities. The Department is exploring the opportunity for Municipal Court to be able
to receive payment of fines for tickets or submitting explanatory letters regarding traffic citations over the
web. The Department would like to look at the possibility of grant dollars to supplement the Youth Court
operations.
Finally, there will be a high level of effort regarding financial analysis associated with the possible
formation of an urban renewal district in the City.
Sue Yesilada asked about the increase over the last few years in wages. Tom Imdieke explained that the
individual that is in the City Recorder position is a long term City employee and therefore is at a higher
step in salary. There are two other positions in a similar situation.
Councilor Harding asked about the increase in Office Expenses line item in the Financial Operations
Division. Tom Imdieke responded that this primarily relates to the increase of postage for utility bill
mailings.
Councilor Harding asked why Clark County processed the City's utility bills. Tom Imdieke responded that
after analysis, it was more cost effective to contract this with Clark County instead of investing in
equipment and staff to continue to process payments in house.
Social Services and Community Events: Michelle Wareing presented the Social Services and
Community Events budget. The policy is to set total community events and social service grants at.5%
"" of the prior year's operating budget. In addition, the City budgets two set-asides, each for$10,000. The
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emergency housing fund assists occupants of housing declared to be unsafe, and the Affordable Housing
set-aside assists providers of low-income housing. The Proposed Budget includes$122,500 for Social
Services and $51,375 for Community Events.
Several of the Social Services grant applications were not awarded at the full request amount due to the
number of requests and amount of the requests. Three Community Events—Balloon Festival, Broadway
Rose,and 4th of July are guaranteed a certain level of funding. All Community Events grants were funded
at full request.
There is a technical adjustment to reduce the amount granted to Tualatin River Keepers by$3,200 as
they originally requested funds through the Social Services and the Community Events. The Social
Services subcommittee decided to show both requests as Community Events. The request was moved to
the Community Events but was double counted in Community Events. This will reduce the total Social
Services and Community Events to$170, 675. Less the$20,000 set-asides, total Social Services and
Community Events grants will be within the goal of$151,000.
Debt Service: Michelle Wareing presented the Debt Service budget. The City has three types of debt
outstanding currently. The first one is for a general obligation bond (GO)that is paid from collection of a
special property tax levy. Assessments,which are paid with money collected from property owners in the
Local Improvement District (LID), are the second type of debt and the final type is a loan through the
Oregon Economic Community Development Department(OECDD) used to expand Cook Park. This loan
is being paid from Park system development charges(SDCs). Total Debt Service is$2,225,175 and
includes$400,000 for additional bond calls.
Public Comment: Gretchen Buehner asked what the cost of the Friday Night Music program. She would
like to see it reinstated, even if it was quarterly instead of monthly.
She would also like to set up a program for the Portland Baroque Orchestra to perform at the Library. It
was recommended the orchestra apply for a Community Events grant next fiscal year. She will provide
contact information so she can receive the application packet next year.
The Budget Committee was recessed at 8:45 PM until May 16, 2005.
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