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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GGAF_02.01.2011 L:\Division\finance\Share2\GGAFSub\GGAF Meetings\2011\3.1.11\3.1.11DRAFTMinutes2.1.11.doc The General Government and Finance (GGAF) Advisory Subcommittee established by the Georgetown City Council met at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, in the City of Georgetown Council Chambers, located at 101 East 7th Street, Georgetown, Texas. MINUTES These minutes were approved at the March 1, 2011 GGAF Meeting. Dale Ross called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. 1. Review minutes from the December 2, 2010 GGAF Meeting. The minutes were approved. 2. Discussion regarding the 2010 fiscal year audit with the City’s external auditors. Lorie Lankford introduced Ben Crowder and Dave Phillips from Clifton Gunderson, LLP. Mr Phillips explained that they are wrapping up their review of the CAFR. He anticipates an unqualified opinion, as it has been for several years. There are no significant issues and the accounting policies are laid out and seem appropriate. All transactions are accounted for in the proper year and all estimates are reasonable. There were no difficulties or major corrections. The found no material weaknesses and no significant deficiencies. He noted that there were good controls in place and good evidence of review, however he did mention a few “housekeeping” items such as making sure signatures were obtained for having someone review wires that could be done with one person. Lorie noted that had already been done, as it was a bank enforced policy. He also mentioned that someone should look at voided checks on a periodic basis. Micki said that procedures were in place to better document transactions. Mr. Phillips said that producing the CAFR is a very manual process, and that the new system hopefully will have a module for account mapping. He noted that the City of Georgetown has very skilled people who understand the financials, and he was very impressed with the quality of staff. Members Present: Dale Ross, Chair, Danny Meigs, Patty Eason Members Absent: None Staff Present: Micki Rundell, Laurie Brewer, Leticia Zavala, Mike Peters, Jessica Brettle, Lorie Lankford, Kevin Russell L:\Division\finance\Share2\GGAFSub\GGAF Meetings\2011\3.1.11\3.1.11DRAFTMinutes2.1.11.doc 3. Consideration and possible action to review and amend the bylaws for the General Government and Finance Advisory Subcommittee. Micki explained that this item amends the Bylaws that were approved in October 2010. The changes include: 1. The addition of two (2) citizens to GGAF as approved by City Council. 2. The changes also clarify membership terms, eligibility and Council policy requirements. 3. In addition, a Vice-Chair position was added to the Bylaws. 4. Language was added authorizing the ability to place items that are routine in nature such as purchases previously approved in the budget on the Council agenda without going to GGAF. This is intended to prevent having a GGAF meeting if all the items are routine in nature, and such items need to be on a Council agenda due to timing of purchase or bid. In which case, such items will be discussed and reviewed by the Chair of GGAF prior to being placed on a Council agenda. The changes were approved by the committee. 4. Consideration and possible action to authorize Specialized Public Finance, Inc. (SPFI) to proceed with the preparation of the required bond offering documents for the upcoming April 2011 bond issues. Micki explained that this action officially begins the April 2011 bond issuance process by authorizing the City’s financial advisor (SPFI) to begin work on the Official Statements needed for the bonds. This item does not authorize the bond issue or determine the final amount of total bonds issued. The 2010/11 Annual Budget included debt funding for certain capital improvements. In addition, several items have been approved after the budget was adopted (land purchase for Fire Station 2 renovation and possible purchase of land for a GUS auxiliary location on Williams Drive). The TOTAL ESTIMATED PROCEEDS (Net of Issuance Costs) is $7,270,000. Debt service for the tax-supported bonds is estimated to have a NET impact on the 2011/12 tax rate of $0.0077. This is based on overall increase in debt service, net of the reduction in next year’s CO debt payment. It also is the based on the 2010 tax base. The Self-Supporting CO bonds will be repaid through existing operating revenues of the utility or by GTEC. Final amounts of this issue may be increased or decreased due to timing of various Capital Improvement Projects or other market related conditions. Market conditions are currently favorable for “Bank Qualified” issues (those being less than $10 million.) This issue is intended to meet that threshold. The “not to exceed amount” will be included in the CO notice/action that will be presented to City Council on March 8. The total face value of the bond issue will increase to include issuance costs. 5. Update of Personnel Policy #220 on Overtime for non exempt employees. Kevin Russell informed the committee that the update was to clean up the overtime language on the guidelines to administer overtime pay to manage time and fiscal resources and still comply with applicable federal and state wage and hour regulations. The “Policy” section of the rules, which is set by council, will be modified to reflect the City’s change to the firefighters and a reduction of the work cycle from 212 hours to 106 hours (from a 28 day cycle to 14 day cycle). Additionally, there will be the creation of a “call-back” code which is specific for use by public safety employees. 6. Review the draft calendar for the 2011/12 Budget Process. Laurie Brewer noted the key dates for the 2011/12 budget process. Dates may change as the dates for Truth in Taxation (the State Comptroller’s guide for tax rate notices and adoption), as well as dates for the Williamson County Appraisal District certification dates, become finalized. L:\Division\finance\Share2\GGAFSub\GGAF Meetings\2011\3.1.11\3.1.11DRAFTMinutes2.1.11.doc Finance staff will begin attending board and commission meetings in February to get input for the budget process. The Capital Improvements Program process has begun, with staff updating projects for the five and ten year CIP. The process will closely follow last year’s timing. Micki commended Laurie on her work with the planning process and noted that she is working with divisions on their Strategic Plans, linking them to the 2030 Plan and Council priorities. Patty Eason said the calendar was easy to read, and she really liked the layout. 7. Consideration and possible action to approve a two year extension with Valley View Consulting. Laurie Brewer introduced Bill Cook from Valley View Consulting. She noted that Council approved a contract with Valley View Consulting in February 2009 after a request for qualifications process. Services provided include advice on market conditions, analysis of risk/return relationships between various investment alternatives, review of the City’s investment policy and reporting to ensure compliance with changes in the Public Funds Investment Act and assisting in the purchase and sale of investment securities. Valley View Consulting is registered with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide investment advisory services for the next two years. The City has used this firm for over ten years for investment services and staff recommends continuing this arrangement for the next two years. Funds for this service are budgeted in the Finance Administration department. The contract is based on a retainer plus a per transaction fee. Included is a monthly fee of approximately $200, plus a $400 per transaction fee. The estimated transaction costs are approximately $16,400, including investments for GTEC and GEDCO, as well as, bond proceeds. Total annual cost is not expected to exceed $18,000. The City has been pleased with the level of services provided by the vendor. The contract provides for an extension, upon approval by the City. Advisory service contracts require Council approval, per the Public Funds Investment Act. This item will be on the next City Council agenda. 8. Discussion and possible authorization to disburse funds for the payment of Insite fees to Tyler Technologies in the amount of $59,000 annually. Insite was implemented in July 2006 as the City’s on-line payment program, used by the Utility Office and Municipal Court customers, to pay utility bills and court fines from our website. This has become a very popular method of payment for utility customers, with a 8% increase in program participation over the last year and a 26% increase the year before. We are currently averaging over 2,600 payments a month, accounting for 11% of the total utility payments made. This $59,000 cost includes web publishing fees, customer inquiry fees, and transaction fees. The Web Publishing fees and the Customer Inquiry fees are a fixed cost annually. The transaction fees are $1.25 each and based on the number of utility payments taken through the website. This is a fee that would ordinarily be passed along to the customer, but the City has chosen not to do so. Passing along any transaction or convenience fees disqualifies the City from both the Visa and Mastercard Interchange Utility Rate of $.75 per transaction. Depending on the type of card used, these fees could otherwise be anywhere from .89% to 2% of the transaction, and apply to all credit card transactions, not just Insite payments. The committee approved this item. 9. Consideraton and possible approval of City Council Video Projection and Streaming equipment and services from SwagIt Productions, LLC for $52,900. Mike Peters explained that staff developed requirements and solicited proposals for a City Council video production and streaming solution that will produce live video via Suddenlink Channel 10 and via the City website, produce scheduled video for Suddenlink Channel 10 at other times and allow on-demand viewing of historical Council meeting content via the City website. L:\Division\finance\Share2\GGAFSub\GGAF Meetings\2011\3.1.11\3.1.11DRAFTMinutes2.1.11.doc Of the seven proposers that responded, three were selected for additional short list review. Those three proposers included two proposals that involved in-house production of the Council meetings using local equipment, and one proposal that involved outsourced (remote) production of each meeting. Staff determined that the outsourced approach (from SwagIt, LLC) was both cost effective and required very minimal staff resources to operate, and as such was a superior solution to the in-house proposals. SwagIt, LLC has numerous City and County governments as clients, both within Texas and elsewhere in the US and Canada. Several of their clients have existing integrations with the MuniAgenda product used by Council. Mike and Jessica Brettle gave a presentation and examples of the services provided by Swagit. Total first year project costs (both one-time and ongoing) are estimated as follows: SwagIt Productions, LLC $52,900 Suddenlink $ 7,000 Total $59,900 This item will be presented to City Council at the next meeting. The committee was supportive of this system. 10. The meeting adjourned at 3:00 pm.