HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 11.23.2010 CC-WThe City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor
George Garver presiding.
Council Present:
Patty Eason, Gabe Sansing, Danny Meigs, Bill
Sattler, Pat Berryman, Dale Ross, Tommy
Gonzalez
Council Absent:
All Council Present
Staff Present:
Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Mark Sokolow, City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Micki
Rundell, Chief Financial Officer, Laurie Brewer, Assistant Finance Director; Jim Briggs, Assistant City
Manager; Robert Fite, Fire Chief; Wayne Nero, Police Chief
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A Overview of the September 30, 2010 year end preliminary financial information -- Micki Rundell, Chief Financial
Officer and Laurie Brewer, Assistant Finance Director
Ross, Berryman absent.
With a Powerpoint presentation, Rundell reviewed how the City ended the previous year in terms of financials.
Ross arrived at the dais.
Rundell said the numbers discussed today are preliminary and have not be audited. She added this
presentation shows the difference between estimated and actual numbers. She said the City ended this year
with $7.4 million in sales tax and added that is about a 7.7% increase from last year. She said Wolf Ranch was
at about the same revenue as last year but noted, the base line sales tax increased to 7.8% higher than last
year. She spoke about the eighth of a cent sales tax that goes toward the general fund to offset property tax.
She said the actual amount for that tax was $931,851, which was 11 % more than budgeted. She said this will
have a better impact on next year's tax rate. She said Georgetown's sales tax revenue is better than the
surrounding areas with regards to the slow economic conditions. She noted this is attributed to the disposable
income of Georgetown residents and the fact that those residents actually shop in Georgetown. She showed
Council a graph of the sales tax history in Georgetown as well as a graph of the sales tax per capita. She
described how the growth in population effects the growth in total sales tax revenue. She said the City ended
the year with $8.5 million, or 100 days, of excess fund balance or operating expenses. She said there were
$723,000 worth of funds more than projected. She said that extra money results from higher revenue and sales
tax and operational savings. She said development related revenues were 8% higher than they were last year.
She showed Council a graph showing valuation totals as related to construction permits over the past five years.
She described the other general fund revenues including franchise and return on investment, court fines, parks
and recreation and interest. She said, overall, the total revenues were within $37,000 of projections. She said,
in summary, the overall fund balance was $723,000 higher than projected, the revenues were on target and
expenses had operational savings. Rundell spoke about special revenue funds and said the majority are going
to end the year higher than anticipated due to revenues being higher or expenses being lower than anticipated.
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She said the parks restricted funds have $799,000 in fund balance. She noted the tourism fund ends in $59,000
less than projections and added the revenues were less than the City had last year. She noted tourism did have
operational savings that offset that revenue. She described the revenue for the internal service funds, including
the facilities maintenance fund, joint services fund, fleet services fund and information services fund. She
described the debt service fund and said it was $107,000 more than projected because tax collections were
good and the debt service was not as high as originally though. She noted the fund balance is $2.3M or 5%
more than projections. Rundell said this excess will be used to offset debt service for next year and, therefore,
help to lower the tax rate.
Berryman arrived at the dais.
Rundell spoke about the airport fund and said they came in positive with $118,000 more than projections. She
said they have a 35% higher working capital than what was originally projected. She described the utility funds
and said, even though there is an economic slowdown, the City's utility funds continue to grow. She said there
are 21,071 electric customers, 20,543 water customers and 18,413 waste water customers. She showed
Council a graph showing the the continual increase of all the utilities and the expansion of services to
customers. She spoke about the electric fund an added it ended up $756,000 less than projected. She said the
service revenue was $1.2M less than projections but it was within 2% of the total amount. She said the CIP
expenses are a little less than projected. Sattler asked and Rundell said there is no separate fund for the PCA
and added it is part of the electric fund in itself. She described the water services fund and said revenues are
$135,000 more than projected and expenses were $9.9M less than projected. She said this is due to the timing
of the water plant expansion. She said storm water drainage has a fund balance of $2.1 M more than projected.
She listed the many capital projects that were completed over the year including the utility office renovation, the
Georgetown Utility System renovation, improvements to the Grace Heritage Center, energy management
upgrades city wide, facilities shop construction, electric improvements, curb and gutter for storm water, Oak
Tree Bridge and College Street Bridges and water service infrastructure improvements. She concluded and
said the balances were higher than anticipated in most funds. She added their are some timing of expenditures
that created negative variances particularly in the special revenue funds related to grants. She spoke about the
year end budget amendments that will come back for Council for approval and what those would include. She
reviewed the timeline for the rest of the budget process. There was much discussion.
B Presentation, discussion and possible action on the Public Safety facilities plan -- Paul E. Brandenburg, City
Manager
With a Powerpoint Presentation, Brandenburg described the plan for the Public Safety and Training Complex.
He spoke about the history of facilities in Georgetown. He said the City adopted a facility plan in 2003. He said
the five year needs of the facilities plan laid out in 2003 have now become immediate needs. He listed those
facility needs. He said, since 2007, the City has had six facility discussions with Council talking about these
various components. He said the issues of additional fire stations is being addressed. He continued to describe
the immediate needs including Georgetown Utility System electric satellite station and Municipal Court. He
listed the proposed solutions for each of those facility needs. He showed Council a needs assessment and the
difference in population, city limits, calls for services and violations in the City between 2003 and 2010. He
spoke about the police station and listed its immediate needs and current issues. He said the police station also
has limited public parking and added the fleet is unsecured, which is a major concern. He showed Council
pictures of the current station and described the issues and problems with the space. He described and listed
the improvements being requested for a new police station.
Brandenburg listed the current intermediate needs for the City's facilities (2010-2015) including a new fire
station #5 and a new police department complex. He spoke about doing a public safety and municipal court
needs assessment. He showed Council a map of the future public safety complex proposed site. He spoke
about the future needs and a 60,000 square foot facility that would house the Police Department and Fire
Administration. He said it would be jointly shared and used by both departments. He added the study that was
done on this facility states the building and complex will serve the needs of the community until 2030 and a
population of about $120,000. He showed Council a drawing of the public safety complex and he described
each component of that project. He described the finances for the project and said the total cost estimate is
$42.5 million, including issuance costs. He said the total tax impact is estimated at less than six cents. He listed
the next steps in the process including council approval to move forward, whether or not to set a Spring or Fall
election, appoint a citizen bond committee to review, analyze and assist the City with this project, conduct public
information and education and, finally, conduct the election. He showed Council a timeline if they chose to hold
an election in the Spring. He spoke about the outlook options for other immediate facility needs and the plan of
action if the bond passes or fails.
Mayor asked and Brandenburg said it would be $17 million to renovate the Albertson's building. Mayor asked
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and Brandenburg said it would about about $30 million to get the bare bones public safety facility out on DB
Wood. Sattler asked and Brandenburg said the cost of the fire station is separate from the cost given to
address the other facility needs. Sattler asked and Brandenburg said the fire station should be completed by the
end of 2011. Gonzalez said the City needs to go forward and commit to building the public safety facility,
especially since the City has already bought the land for the project. Brandenburg said that would be good and
positive direction to staff so that the City could focus on that project. There was much discussion. Rundell said,
when the City sells the Albertson's building, that money will go toward paying down some of the debt and bonds
for the Albertson's. Eason said Gonzalez covered what she was going to ask related to the cost benefits of
either the Albertson's building or the new project. She noted she agrees with what he is saying about putting the
emphasis on the new building. She said she would expect that the bond committee could go over all of these
options and determine how best to pursue this project. She said it has been more than obvious for a long time
that the City has deplorable conditions for our police and the City just needs to do the right thing by going
forward and moving on with this. Ross said he thinks this should be an all in deal and suggested that the City
get the amount down below $40 million. Ross said he does not know what part of the plan someone would
categorize as a luxury item, considering the current strategies the fire and police chiefs have in place. He said
this new facility will help those new strategies take place. He said there should be some synergy with respect to
savings if the City does all of this at the same time. Rundell said the City will not have to have bond insurance
with its great bond rating. There was discussion regarding possible cost savings to the project.
Meigs asked and Brandenburg said staff would like direction to form a bond committee of local professionals
who will review the project and work with staff and then come back to Council with recommendations on how to
move forward. Berryman said her only concern is leaving the old library empty for so long. She said there
needs to be a better way to utilize that space and use it take some pressure off of the overburdened space in
the current police station. Brandenburg said there is some storage in the old library right now. He added the
Blue Santa program uses the building, as well as summer classes for the Palace Theatre. He said there are
some things that could be moved over there, but security is definitely an issue. Berryman said she thinks there
need to be some consolidation of departments which would free up some buildings that could be sold and
generate some income. Berryman said there are some business owners that are interested in utilizing the old
police station for a restaurant and added that is a potential option as long as they are wiling to keep the
historical integrity of the building. Brandenburg said the City could also lease it out and added he knows there
are various other types of uses for that building. Sansing said he agrees with what Berryman is saying about
not wanting to leave the old library empty for so long. Sansing asked and Brandenburg said Gina from Brinkley
Sargeant is the one who came up with the renovation numbers. Sansing spoke about the estimated costs of
renovating the facility because he feels the estimates are a little high. He said it seems all of Council agrees it
should be an all or nothing project.
Brandenburg said a lot of time and thought has gone into this project and added the bond committee that is
formed will be able to scrub this down a little further. Sansing said Georgetown is a city of 50,000 that still
needs to be smart about how it spends its money. Brandenburg said they are trying to be visionary and look to
the future in sizing these facilities to accommodate over 100,000 people. Sansing said the City needs to keep in
mind that the public pays for the facility, votes for the construction of it, but the public does not necessarily use
this facility. Mayor said the City has spent a lot of money on the current 911 facility and added why would the
City consider moving the station out of the new facility. Nero said one of the issues with the dispatch would be
having the long term ability of staying in one place in the future. He said their.preference would be to have the
space in the new facility to accommodate the future needs, whether or not they will move to the new space
immediately. Sattler asked about the schedule given to the Council and whether or not other construction
methods were considered. Brandenburg confirmed that all construction methods are an option.
Motion by Meigs, second by Sansing to move forward as indicated in Brandenburg's comments.
Sattler made a suggestion that each Councilmember be able to appoint three members to the bond committee.
Brandenburg asked and Sattler confirmed two members per Councilmember would be fine. Brandenburg said
staff would like to engage the services of other professional citizens with experience in this field as well. He said
the appointment of the committee will be on the next agenda for consideration. Gonzalez asked, when the
committee item comes back to Council, that Brandenburg provide a list of people staff would like to see serve on
the committee. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0
Recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.072 and 551.087 -- 5:10 pm
Return to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:20 pm
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The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM.
Secretary ;bssica Brettle