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05/24/1999 - Budget Minutes Tigard Water District Budget Meeting 1999/00 Fiscal Year May 24, 1999 Members Present: Beverly Froude, David Strauss, Gretchen Buehner, Norman Penner Staff Present: Mike Miller Visitors Present: George Rhine The Tigard Water District budget meeting for fiscal year 1999/00 was called to order at 6:08 p.m. Commissioner Strauss discussed the following highlights: budget very similar to previous years budget with the exception which are addressed in the letter included attorney fees raised by$2,000 due to a higher level of activity surrounding the water supply situation. He continued by stating that the proposed budget also provides $300 for Board minutes which will hopefully enable the Board to receive minutes on a regular basis. The City staff support of$1,500 is a decrease from the previous budget due to past history. Other than that Mr. Strauss is similar to the budget approved last year. Commissioner Strauss stated that the Budget Committee is made up of members (10) from the Tigard Water District Board members and five additional citizens. Commissioner Buehner questioned the outstanding issue of insurance? Mike Miller stated that he had spoke with Loreen Mills,Risk Manager for the City of Tigard and she said that the fee won't change and she will attend the meeting in June. Commissioner Buehner questioned once again that there is enough budgeted to cover this issue. There was a brief discussion regarding the decrease budget costs for staff support? Commissioner Strauss stated that the decrease was directly related to the amount of dollars used the previous budget year. Commissioner Buehner stated that in the event that legal fees go up substantially with the issue of water supply source, can funds in contingency cover these costs? Mike Miller stated that we can use up to $1,274 which is 10% of the total budget out of contingency without further approval by the Budget Committee or you have the flexibility of changing that figure at this time. Commissioner Penner stated that this he felt this line item`Should be increased due to the need for increased legal advice. He continued by questioning if everyone was aware that there is an agreement between the four of the governmental Tigard Water District June 14, 1999 Page 1 entities that make up the Tigard water system and that three of these entities have voted or decided to go to the Willamette as a long term water source. He stated that Tigard is faced with a possible citizen vote and could feasibly, if the citizens vote against the Willamette, could cause some serious questions about the contractual obligations that the City of Tigard and the other entities face and how it will be solved. Commissioner Penner stated he would like to make a motion but requested the assistance of the other members in determining how much to increase this line item. Commissioner Buehner stated that she thinks this should be increased to at least $5,000. Commissioner Penner made a motion to change the line item for attorney fees from $4,000 to$6,000. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Buehner. After a brief discussion by the members it was decided that Commissioner Penner would amend his motion to include the addition of$400 to the contingency fund, which will change that line item from $1,274 to$1,674. Commissioner Strauss stated that this would be subtracted from the ending balance and change the total from $44,000 to $31,086. The motion was voted upon unanimously. Commissioner Buehner asked Mr. Miller to clarify the amount of revenue generated (1%), location on budget outline and what if funds are not used are they carried over into a special fund? Mr. Miller stated that is displayed on the top portion of the budget outline and the unused portion of funds is carried over as an ending balance. Mr. Miller stated there was a suggestion to look at public relations funding which is actually proposed at $4,000. The members questioned the cost of the mailer that was sent out during this fiscal year. Mr. Miller stated the costs to be $800 for mailing, printing and other costs about $1,200. This was a mailing that was handled in house with no design costs. Mr. Wegner, Public Works Director for City of Tigard stated that during the next year, it is planned to do 2 or 3 public relations mailings for the Tigard water service area. A motion was made to raise the proposed budget amount for public relation costs from $4,000 to$6,000 and add$200 to the contingency fund. This would reduce the ending balance$2,200. The motion was seconded and voted upon unanimously. Commissioner Buehner stated that since the District is taking in some new property into the District (Section 47) a portion which included a portion already in the District and a portion that is not already in the District, will this require a new line item or does it need to be addressed in the budget? Mr. Wegner stated that this would not require any budget consideration since this area will be out of the urban water fund. A motion was made and seconded to accepted the proposed budget as amended. The motion passed unanimously. Tigard Water District June 14, 1999 Page 2 Commissioner Strauss asked what could be done with the ending fund balance of approximately$28,000? Mr. Wegner stated that the water funds can only be used for water related items. When the City of Tigard took over the operation and maintenance of the water system, this question was raised and it was determined that these funds would have to be turned over to a water system for improvements or such. The Tigard Water District Budget Committee meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. Tigard Water District June 14, 1999 Page 3