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MINUTES
GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND FINANCE (GGAF) ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE
OF THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN, TEXAS
The General Government and Finance (GGAF) Advisory Subcommittee met at 1:30 p.m. on
Monday, February 8, 2010, in the in the Georgetown Municipal Complex Williamson Room,
located at 300-1 Industrial Blvd, Georgetown, Texas.
Keith Brainard called the meeting to order at 1:40 p.m.
1. Approval of the minutes from the January 5, 2010 meeting – Danella Elliott
The minutes were approved.
2. Summary regarding “Other Finance Agenda Items and Items of Interest”
Micki explained that the new “summary section” worked well last month, and we will continue this format for
items that will be placed on upcoming City Council Agendas that are either routine in nature or mandated to be
reviewed/approved by the City Council. Backup information for each item will be included in the GGAF
agenda packet. Each item will not be specifically addressed during the GGAF meeting unless there are
questions or comments by Subcommittee Members.
A. Approval of payment to First Southwest Asset Management, Inc. in the amount of $23,930 for arbitrage
calculation services.
First Southwest prepares the arbitrage rebate calculations for the City. This calculation is required annually by
the Internal Revenue Service and is reviewed by the City’s external auditors annually. This calculation
includes the 16 outstanding bond issues for the City. An additional $2,000 is charged separately to the
Georgetown Transportation Enhancement Corporation for its separate sales tax revenue bond issue. Funds
were included in the 2009/10 budget in Finance Administration in account 540-5-0302-51-330 for this service.
The City will be working towards a partnership with Williamson County to procure these services for the
upcoming year.
Members Present: Keith Brainard, Chair, Patty Eason, Dale Ross
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Micki Rundell, Paul Brandenburg, Laurie Brewer, Lorie Lankford, Leticia Zavala,
Mike Peters, Marsha Iwers, Terry Jones, Kathy Ragsdale
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B. Approve the purchase of gasoline and diesel from Texas Fleet Fuel/Fuelman in an estimated annual
amount of $30,000.
In our continuing effort to reduce fuel costs and offer more efficient fueling operations, we are requesting the
approval of the use of Fuelman for the automated refueling of City vehicles. This refueling option will be used
primarily by Fire apparatus assigned to Fire Stations 2, 3 and 4, and for Police vehicles stationed at Sun City.
Our motorcycles are also given Fuelman cards because they need to use premium fuel and we do not carry
premium fuel at our site. This particular refueling system allows our City vehicles to refuel at approximately five
sites throughout Georgetown. It is extremely inconvenient, time consuming and inefficient to have many of our
vehicles drive to the City refueling site behind the Parks and Recreation Building at the end of College every
time they need fuel. Not to mention the time it takes them out of service driving back and forth during these
refueling trips. Having several options for refueling closer to these emergency services vehicles improves our
efficiency substantially.
During the past year our automated refueling system was down for approximately four days while we relocated
the equipment to a new building. During this time we were able to utilize Fuelman with little or no
inconvenience to the employees. So not only does Fuelman provide a more efficient means of refueling for
some of our vehicles, it also gives us a backup refueling source in the event our primary site is not functional.
Estimated amount of this contract is $30,000.00 annually. The cost per gallon for us to utilize Fuelman at their
fueling sites is .08 per gallon. Prior year’s usage has been in the $20,000.00 range but with increased fuel
costs and more vehicles utilizing this method we anticipate some increase. We currently have six Fire
apparatus and four motorcycles that utilize Fuelman on a regular basis.
C. Approve 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 26% increase in program
participation over the last year and a 33% increase the year before. We are currently averaging over 2,400
payments a month, accounting for 10% of the total utility payments made.
D. Approve the renewal of the Dataprose, Inc contract for utility bill printing at an annual cost of $188,000.
Two years ago, after extensive research, the City initiated a new contract with Dataprose, Inc. to provide the
City with utility bill printing and mailing services, with the option of 4 annual renewals.
We recommend the renewal of this contract because it is currently based on the City’s Interlocal Agreement
with the City of Plano, giving us access to program rates that we would not otherwise have, because of our
much smaller size. The City also satisfies all of the legal requirements for competitive bidding by purchasing
through the City of Plano Interlocal Cooperative Purchasing Agreement.
Additionally, with the implementation of a new CIS scheduled for later this year, we feel that it would be more
prudent to wait until we know the billing system we will be using, before acquiring a new bill printing and
mailing system that must interface with it.
The City currently prints and mails approximately 29,000 bills per month, including the late notices and bad
debt notices. We pay an average of $0.505 per bill, which includes all programs and postage.
E. Approval of cellular and data phone service from Nextel/Sprint and AT&T in an amount not to exceed
$50,000.
This item will authorize cellular costs for all City departments through April. The City is currently implementing
a new cell phone policy that allows use of personal devices with a stipend allowance in place of City cell
phones. Estimated cost savings can be as high as $24,000 annually.
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Staff is requesting approval for the purchase of cellular telephone service and data Blackberry service, for use
by City employees, from Sprint/Nextel and AT&T for a period of three months. The $50,000 included in this
item is an estimate based on current usage only. As stewards of taxpayers’ money, staff is evaluating options
and rate plans to ensure efficient use of City funds. Staff anticipates returning to Council in April for approval
of the remaining amount of appropriation needed for the remainder of the year after policy and rate plan
changes have been implemented.
As a result, staff is in the process of reviewing the current cellular phone policy and working with Departments
to determine the best way to reduce cost and make the process easier for all parties. Effective last year, all
City employees who used a City cell device were taxed on the value of their plan. This was done to be in
compliance with IRS guidelines regarding fringe benefits. Therefore, tax expense costs were being incurred
by our employees, many of which were still carrying two phones; one personal and one City. As part of this
policy update, the City will offer a stipend for employees that choose to use their personal phone for City
business. In addition, those employees that choose to retain a City device will NO LONGER BE ALLOWED
TO USE IT FOR PERSONAL USE, thus eliminating the taxability issues. A stipend will be considered taxable
income to the employee and will be authorized and approved by the Division Director and City Manager. This
option will save the City an estimated $24,000 annually, and require less staff time to manage the program.
By purchasing through the State of Texas purchasing contracts, we satisfy all the legal requirements for
competitive bidding.
Keith asked if there were problems with morale for a switch in cell service and Micki said “no”, Police
and Fire could possible go to a pager service.
F. Approve $78,200 for costs associated with the migration of the existing network infrastructure from
Novell to a Microsoft Active Directory platform.
The restructure of the existing information network was the first step in ensuring the current City network
infrastructure was adequately positioned to support future committed software applications such as the new
Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System (CAD/RMS) for police and fire, a new Customer
Information System (CIS) for utility billings, and an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) that would provide
the basis for 2-way communication into the home and become the basis for “smart” home technology.
The bulk of the restructure expenses are licensing costs for the new Microsoft Active Directory environment.
Dell Computers is the only provider for the licenses on the Texas DIR, but the VMWare server and associated
software will be purchased through other DIR vendors.
Total project cost of $78,200 is needed to move the City’s current Novell infrastructure into an Active Directory
environment and includes a contingency of $6,000 which is outlined below.
Microsoft User Client Access Licenses - $11,000
Microsoft Windows Server 2005 Processor Licenses 25,000
Additional VMWare Server and associated software 29,000
SQL Database Server Processor Licenses 7,200
Contingency 6,000
Total Project Cost: $78,200
G. Presentation of the City’s Financial and Investment Report for the Quarter Ending December 31, 2009.
The report is in DRAFT format. Final accrual entries may not have been made in time to finalize the report
prior to the GGAF meeting. The final report will be included on the February 23rd agenda. Keith noted that it
was well done.
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H. Presentation of the City’s 2010 Debt Overview
This information is updated and presented annually to City Council as part of the annual debt issuance
process
I. Report to City Council on the summary of consultants and contractors used by the City of Georgetown in
the past two years, as requested at the December 8, 2009 Council meeting.
This is the report as requested by Council and includes a summary, as well as detailed information regarding
the City’s contracts, consultants and outstanding master service agreements.
J. Presentation to City Council regarding the City’s Sales Tax revenue profile including historical information as
well as sales tax revenue projections.
This information was originally requested by GEDCO and is being provided to City Council as an overview of
sales tax data in preparation for the upcoming 2010/11 budget. The primary purpose is to provide the City
Council an idea of where the Sales Tax Collections by the City come from, what economic sectors are
changing, and a projection of revenue for the next few years based upon Staff’s internal modeling.
K. Update on current active projects.
Active Directory Conversion: Migration from Novell to Microsoft Active Directory is scheduled for the
weekend of February 13th -14th. This upgrade is necessary to support several new systems being
implemented in the near future, particularly the new CAD-RMS system for Public Safety scheduled to start
implementation in March. It will also support a number of new policies and features to standardize user IDs,
improve password efficiencies, “sync up” email addresses with citywide domain, and provide for a simplified
access to the network through VPN services.
Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management System (CAD/RMS): This City approved the purchase of
the Sungard OSSI CAD-RMS system in December 2009, with a tentative implementation start date of March
1st. CAD-RMS requires that the Active Directory environment (discussed above) be in place prior to
installation of its software. Project planning activities involving OSSI and City PD, FD, GIS and IT departments
have begun, and the project kick-off meeting has been scheduled for February 24th.
IT Master Plan: Culmination of departmental interviews, “best practices” recommendations, and defined
projects are discussed and aligned with the overall City technology vision in the Master Plan document. The
IT Steering Committee has been formalized with appointed members from various departments that represent
high use technology systems. Bylaws have been approved and processes are in development to provide
recommendations to City management in the following areas:
Improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness through technology;
Developing, updating, and implementing the IT Master Plan
Aligning proposed technology expenditures with guidelines set forth in the IT Master Plan;
Reviewing general technology issues and best practices;
Identifying and addressing technology needs of individual departments and divisions
Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI): The City began the process of finding and implementing a new
automated metering infrastructure (AMI) to replace the existing advanced meter reading system (AMR) in July
2009. This project upgrades the existing one-way communication system (meter to office) with two-way
communication (meter to office and back to meter) and allows for time of use rates and provides basis for
“smart house” technology. Timeline as follows:
Development and release of RFP – July/Aug 2009
RFP deadline – Sept 2009
Evaluation workshops and top 2 vendors selected – Nov 2009
Vendor interviews – Dec 2009
Reference checks – Jan 2010
Site Visits – Feb 2010
Evaluation and final recommendation – Mar/Apr 2010
Contract Negotiations – May/Jun 2010
Start initial implementation – Jun/Jul 2010
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Customer Information System (CIS): The City began the CIS replacement process in October 2009 to align
with the AMI project to support the new enhancements that will be available with the new technology.
Providing such data to the customer base will lay the foundation for new services such as billing time of use
rates and help customers with “green” initiatives. Timeline as follows:
Development and release of RFP – Dec 2009
Pre-Bid conference, Q&A, RFP deadline – Jan 2010
Evaluation workshop and top vendors selection – Feb 2010
Vendor interviews – 1st quarter 2010
Reference checks – 1st quarter 2010
Site Visits (optional) – 2nd quarter 2010
Evaluation and final recommendation – 2nd quarter 2010
Contract Negotiations – 2nd/3rd quarter 2010
Start initial implementation – 3rd quarter 2010
3. Consideration and possible action to authorize Specialized Public Finance, Inc. to proceed with the
preparation of the required bond offering documents for the upcoming April 2010 bond issues.
This action officially begins the April 2010 bond issuance process by authorizing the City’s financial advisor
(SPFI) to begin work on the Official Statements needed for the issues. This item does not authorize the bond
issue or determine the final amount of total bonds issued.
The 2009/10 Annual Budget included debt funding for certain capital improvements. Due to the timing of
projects, as well as, additional prior year ending balances in the Water Services Fund, the proposed 2010
bond issues include the following projects:
TAX SUPPORTED BONDS:
Estimated
2008 Bond Authorization – GO Bonds Tax Impact**
DB Wood Intersection (construction) $ 1,320,000 $0.003468
Certificates of Obligation
Fire Station 5 (Land purchase/preliminary design) 250,000 $0.000701
SELF-SUPPORTING BONDS:
Certificates of Obligation
AMI – Phase 1st Year (7 year bonds Water/Electric) $ 3,000,000
Stormwater Improvements (Maple St & NW Blvd) 1,000,000
REVENUE BONDS:
Water Services:
Lake Plant Expansion & 2006 Annexation Infrastructure $10,000,000
TOTAL ESTIMATED PROCEEDS (Net of Issuance Costs) $15,570,000
Debt service for tax-supported bonds is estimated to impact the 2010/11 tax rate by $0.004169**, of which,
$0.003468** and was approved by the voters in November 2008. The remaining bonds will be repaid through
existing operating revenues of the utility funds and will not require an additional rate increase in 2010/11. The
revenue bonds are included in the current budget and in the 5 year CIP funding models.
** Represents the tax impact based on the 2009 tax calculation used in the 2009/10 budget
Final amounts of the debt issues may be increased or decreased slightly due to timing of various Capital
Improvement Projects or other market related conditions. The total face value of the bond issue will increase
to include issuance costs.
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4. Discussion and possible recommendation to approve funding to incorporate additional IP telephone
system upgrades and assign the phone upgrade contract to Flair DataSystems, Inc. for $225,000.
Staff is requesting additional funds to implement features for the new AMI/CIS systems. Originally, a phased in
approach was proposed whereby a call center environment would be activated once a new CIS system was
implemented in 6 – 12 months.
In an attempt to gain efficiencies with the GMC remodel of the GUS area, a unique opportunity to reconfigure
the utility office area and incorporate a full call center environment is being proposed. Adding new modules
such as a new contact center solution and an interactive voice response module with the basic telephone
upgrade would allow a fully functional call center environment at a more affordable price than purchasing
stand-alone modules in the future.
The City is currently using a shared line appearance feature that rings multiple phones when a call comes in
and is very inefficient. The contact center solution provides a fully integrated self-service application that
improves customer response time by providing various features such as:
automatic call distributor,
interactive voice response system,
computer telephony integration,
agent and desktop services
These features are offered in a single-server, contact center “in a box” deployment which allows us the
flexibility to scale to larger more demanding environments. Although the interactive voice response module
would be predominately utilized by the Utility Office call center, the product could be leveraged throughout the
city in various business units such as Municipal Court, GUS dispatch, and Public Safety.
Additional funds will be needed to fund the new call center features and are available in the AMI/CIS project
budget.
Staff recommends assignment of the overall contract in the amount of $225,000 to Flair Data Systems which
includes initial phone system upgrade expenses of $140,000, call center expenses of $75,000, and a
contingency of $10,000. The City originally intended to use InterNetwork Experts (INX) for this project but can
achieve cost savings within the overall project by utilizing a different vendor for both the initial upgrade and
phone center phases. Micki answered Dale’s question about estimated useful life. She explained that it
is similar to what we have now, but we are adding hardware and software upgrades from time to time.
Instead of cost savings, it will be cost avoidance since the current system is going out of maintenance
in about 6-12 months.
5. Presentation and possible recommendation of the Information Technology Master Plan and
Assessment
Members from the IT Steering Committee were present for Mr. Michael Musavi’s presentation and explanation
of the IT Master Plan. He answered questions regarding the plan. In May 2009 Council approved an
information technology assessment and Master Plan development as part of the project management contract
with Westin Engineering for the procurement of a new AMI/CIS technology.
A preliminary report and assessment of the City’s information technology structure was provided to the
subcommittee in September 2009. The DRAFT IT Master Plan addresses the steps needed to align the City’s
technology goals with those of “best in class” cities that are leveraging information technology to provide high
quality and efficient services to their citizens.
The report defines and articulates the information technology vision and aligns its technology services with the
overall City’s business strategies. The resulting plan includes recommended organizational changes,
technology implementation projects, business process improvements, and implementation schedules and
expenditures that will be required over the next five years.
The report also focuses on four goals of the Technology vision statement and formulates strategies that align
with those overall goals.
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6. Discussion regarding the 2009 fiscal year audit with the City’s external auditors
Steve Niemeier, partner with Brockway, Gersbach, Franklin & Niemeier, PC presented the results of the
2008/2009 external audit and the preliminary management letter. During the audit, Mr. Niemeier interviewed
all the members of the GGAF subcommittee and the Mayor. He has prepared a response to the concerns or
observations conveyed to him during those meetings and discussed with the committee. Mr. Niemeier noted
that their firm did “a lot” of testing and found no exceptions, the internal controls are strong and there were no
surprises during the very detailed audit. He said that this speaks very highly of the COG Finance Division and
was especially complementary of Lorie Lankford for representing the City in a very professional manner,
noting that she and her staff were very attentive to their requests. The Board members told Mr. Niemeier that
they appreciated the diligence and hard work from their audit firm.
7. The meeting was adjourned at 3:06 p.m.