HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 02.23.2009 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: CouncilAbsent:
Keith Brainard, Gabe Sansing, Dale Ross, Ben All Council Present
Oliver, Pat Berryman, Bill Sattler, Patty Eason
Staff resent:
Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Patricia E. Carls, City Attorney; Jessica Hamilton, Assistant City
Secretary; Micki Rundel, Director of Finance and Administration; Leticia Zavala, Controller; Edward G.
Polasek, Principal Planner; Jordan Maddox, Planner III; Elizabeth Cook, Acting Director of Community
Development; Lorie Lankford, Accountant; Thomas Benz, Systems Engineering Director; Kevin Russell,
Director of Human Resources; Glenn Dishong, Water Services Director;
A Workshop discussion of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
2008 -- Leticia Zavala, Controller and Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration
With a Powerpoint presentation, Rundell explained the item and gave an introduction of the Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report. She said financial reporting is required by State law, City Charter, and bond
covenants. She said the Council is required to hire an external auditor. She noted the many duties and
advantages the auditors bring to the City. She said the purpose of financial reporting is to present fairly the
financial results of operations, disclose compliance with budget, bond covenants and other policies, and it is
used by governmental accounting, professionals, bond rating analysts, etc. She defined GAAP (Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles) and GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board). She listed the
various components of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). She said the government -wide
statements are broken up into two parts: governmental activities and business -type activities. She explained
each of those two parts.
She said there are two statements in the government -wide statements which are the statement of net assets
and the statement of activities. She noted the statement of net assets is $374.8 Million and she spoke about
each portion of that total. She said there is $47.2 million of unrestricted funds and listed the type of funds that
are considered unrestricted. She noted the statement of activity is $112.1 million of program expenses, which
includes depreciation but not capital. She listed various portions of these expenses. She spoke about the
change in net assets, saying the City had $12.2 million of governmental activities and $16.3 million of business
type activities. She listed the various types of business activities included. She said the City elected to take the
"modified approach" and added this separates Georgetown from other cities in the area. She explained the
definition of "modified approach." She said the funds reported on CAFR are the amount needed and funded to
maintain the adopted rate. She noted the PCI for 2008 increased to 93. She gave Council an overview of funds
and spoke about the many major governmental funds including the general fund, GTEC, General Capital
Projects- Facilities, and general debt services. She mentioned major proprietary funds and listed those funds,
including the enterprise and internal service funds. She noted the major funds in the proprietary area are the
electric funds and water services funds.
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Rundell gave Council the highlights of the 2008 fiscal and budgetary policy. She spoke about compliance and
stated the utility debt times coverage ratio. She said, in the contigency reserves, the required minimum is
$13.35 million. She added that amount was met. She noted all of the budget expenses were within
appropriated amounts for the 2007/08 Operating Plan. She mentioned the audit reports and said there were
new auditing standards for 2008. She said the City receives a "clean opinion" and noted there is a report on
internal controls. She said the City had one significant deficiency, but no material weakness was found. She
showed Council the matrix the auditors use to determine weaknesses. She said the significant deficiency was
an inadequate segregation of duties between payroll processing functions and the personnel functions.
Speaker, Lisa McKinnon, of Brockway, Gersbach, Franklin & Niemeier, P.C., thanked the Finance department
and said that a lot of other cities do not prepare their own CAFR. She spoke about the new auditing standards
that were put into place. She noted, this year, the auditors spent a lot more time on processes. She said they
spent a lot more time with utilities and planning. She said, if a significant deficiency is found, it needs to be
reported to Council in writing. She said the only deficiency is that Payroll had the ability to change pay rates.
She added that problem has already been fixed. Mayor asked and McKinnon said that this deficiency is fairly
common among smaller institutions. She noted it is difficult to understand the fee structure of the City's system
and noted it needs to be computerized and standardized. She spoke about the AMR system and the Incode
billing system and said those programs are starting to become a problem. Brainard said the Finance committee
had its inaugural meeting and he commended Micki Rundell and her staff for their fine CAFR. Brainard asked
and Rundell said City employee, Lindsey Daniels, has an auditing process in place. Brainard asked and Rundell
said Daniels reports to Rundell. Ross said the City's CAFR is an incredible document and Rundell noted every
year the City is recognized for it. She thanked her staff and introduced each of them to Council.
B Update of the 2008/09 Budget Priority Listing and preliminary discussion of the priorities for the 2009/10 Annual
Budget, as well as, overview of the 2009/10 Budget Calendar -- Micki Rundell, Director Finance and
Administration and Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager
Brandenburg explained the item and handed a memo to Council. He said this upcoming budget will be one of
the most difficult budgets the City has had to experience in a long time. He spoke about the memo and said it
was broken down into three areas. He said the three areas of focus are essentials only, identifying increased
efficiency, and preserving the City's future. He defined each of those three areas and what they entail. He said
staff will be carefully reviewing the need and not the want of budget items. He said it is becoming highly
competitive in terms of bids for projects. He said, regarding increased efficiency, it is time to look at innovative
ways of saving money. He spoke about preserving the City's future. He noted the City has to be wise about
where it invests its money. He said these are trying times and staff will try to give Council monthly status
updates. Brandenburg said, internally, the City is looking for a status quo budget. He spoke about taxes and
public safety. He noted it is important to maintain a level of competitiveness in salary and benefits. He noted he
does not anticipate many new programs from staff. He referred Council to a copy of the previous year's
priorities. He said he would like for Council to review those and note which ones should still be considered a
priority. He said the next step is for Council to set its priorities for the budget. He said, between now and the
first meeting in March, Council should look over their priorities for next year's budget.
Berryman asked and Rundell confirmed staff will be bringing Council a ranking of the budget items to vote on.
Rundell said she would like to get everything finalized by March. Mayor asked and Rundell said she would like
for Council to look at what was voted on last year and determine which ones they consider priorities.
Brandenburg said staff will attach dollar amounts to the priorities as well. Sansing said he hopes the City would
consider the fact that every person is going through a tough time. Eason said and Brandenburg agreed items
remain on the priority listing, but some of those may not get funded this year. Rundell went over the Council
budget calendar and said there are two budget meetings which will be held outside of the regular Council
meetings. Rundell spoke about future Workshops on debt as well as the mid -year review. There was much
discussion.
C Annexation Report -- Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Principal Planner and Elizabeth Cook, Acting Director of
Community Development
This item was pulled by staff.
D Consideration of the 2030 Plan Annual Update and Possible Direction to Staff regarding the list of proposed
Comprehensive Plan Amendments -- Jordan Maddox, AICP, Planner III and Elizabeth Cook, Acting Director of
Community Development
With a Powerpoint, Maddox gave Council an update on the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. He spoke about the
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Charter required plan elements and he mentioned the Parks Master Plan, Housing Plan, Infrastructure Plan, and
the Transportation Pian. He listed many several proposed 2030 amendments. He said they are mostly clean up
and clarification items. He noted there are two citizens proposed amendments and he explained those
amendements. He mentioned some other implementation items for the year. He said Planning has been
working closely with the Economic Development department to come up with a good list of short term and long
term projects. He reviewed many land -use goals, policies, and actions. He said there will be public workshops
on the UDC Amendments and staff will be coming back to Council with any and all information. He spoke about
the goals for this year and added staff is looking for direction to continue this process.
Berryman asked for clarification on the priority listing given to Council. Oliver asked and Maddox said items
number 4 through 11 can be done sometime this year. Maddox said the priority listing can be changed at any
time. Brandenburg said staff has normally done one amendement per year depending upon the cost. Berryman
asked and Maddox said the public safety element is high on the list because it was a Council priority last year.
Maddox explained the public safety element. Oliver said and Maddox agreed much of the amendments are
substantive and others are clean up items. Oliver said he thinks Economic Development needs to be brought
up the list and become more of a priority. Berryman agreed. Brandenburg said this entire process is required by
the City Charter. There were many questions about the items on the amendment listing. Mayor asked and
Polasek said the $80,000 expenditure as it applies to Historic Preservation will look at the inventory of historic
structures in newly annexed areas west of 1-35. Polasek added Historic Preservation encompasses more than
just the downtown area. Sansing asked and Maddox said every amendment must be presented to Council by a
specific Board or Commission. Brainard and Sansing mentioned the possibility of having a Public Safety
Commission. Oliver agreed.
Meeting recessed to Executive Session under Sec.551.071, Sec.551.086, Sec. 551.087, Sec.551.074 of the
Open Meetings Act -- 5:28pm
Meeting returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:33pm
The meeting was adjourned at 06:33 PM.
Appr v d . Attest:
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Mayor George Garver it Secre ayssica Hamilton,
Deputy
City Council Meeting Minutes/February 23, 2009
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