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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
Thursday, February 12, 2009, in the City Hall Main Floor Conference Room, located at 113
East 8h Street, Georgetown, Texas.
Approval of minutes from February 12, 2009 meeting at the March 4, 2009 GGAF Meeting.
Discussion on how to communicate information to the Council from this committee. The decision to make the
minutes available to Council by posting them on the website (to ensure members can easily
understand what the committee is doing) would be sufficient. Nothing that this committee does precludes
what the Council does or decisions they make. The purpose of this committee is only to take a closer look
at certain issues, ask questions and provide further information or direction if needed.
These minutes were approved at the March 4, 2009 GGAF Advisory Subcommittee meeting with the
following clarification and changes.
Clarification: Refer to “Keith” instead of “Mr. Brainard”. On the issue of longevity, change sentence to:
Keith has a problem with paying “longevity” to employees after one month of employment. His concern is
calling it “longevity” (suggestion would be to call it “bonus” or “morale booster”).
Clarification: Patty said that she also suggested setting up educational meetings to try and involve more
employees and to get more employees interested in the 457 plan.
Members Present: Keith Brainard, Chair, Patty Eason, Dale Ross
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration, Kevin Russell, Human
Resources Director, Leticia Zavala, Controller, Finance and Administration
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1. Keith Brainard welcomed everyone to the meeting and called the meeting to order at
1:38 p.m.
2. Discussion and direction to staff regarding the scope of items to be reviewed by the
Sub-Committee.
Keith Brainard explained that the Charter provides a listing of items that the committee should plan to address.
There are a lot of expenditure items that go to Council that are not overseen by a subcommittee. The
committee discussed what needs to be reviewed before going to Council. Discussion: They do not want to see
everything. Purchases for equipment such as vehicle purchases (because it is part of facilities), as well as,
major contracts or projects such as the animal shelter remodel or parking lots are seen at the Council level and
committee members do not want to see these items prior to going to Council.
Items to be brought before the GGAF Subcommittee are financial related contracts, bond issues and
major expenditures (play it by ear as to what constitutes “major”). Micki explained professional contracts
$15,000 and over, materials $25,000 and over up to $50,000 are on consent. Expenditures $50,000 and over
are placed as a regular item on the agenda. They have no problem with thresholds approved during the
budget process.
MIcki explained about the IT Steering Committee. It is a cross divisional group of key infrastructure users
charged with creating a “Master Plan” for IT in helping determine direction for technology. The City is getting
ready to make some major decisions and large purchases to replace the CIS and CAD systems. The
committee is going to make sure it is efficient and mandate and develop a strategy. An RFP is going out next
week to hire a consultant and do an assessment of our technology. Since IT falls under the purview of general
government, Micki asked how much involvement the committee wanted to have regarding the contract. The
committee feels they do not have the expertise to be involved in the choices, but wanted to be kept
abreast of what was going on through e-mail or sharing paperwork.
Compensation and Benefits Discussion: Mr. Brainard wanted to plant the idea of giving the employees an
inducement to not use their sick leave, such as paying 1/4 or 1/2 of their sick leave upon termination so that
they may be less inclined to “use it or lose it”. Mr. Ross thought having PTO (Paid Time Off) instead of
Vacation or Sick days would make employees less likely to “lie” about being off to save their sick leave.
Longevity: Mr. Brainard has a problem with paying longevity to employees after one month of employment.
He believes we should pay employees fairly and what they are worth, but one month does not constitute
longevity. Micki explained the history of the longevity payments. Local Government Code also requires that
Public Safety be awarded longevity pay and most cities have elected to pay all employees so that there is no
appearance of discrimination. Mr. Brainard would like to see it be performance based rather than just showing
up for work.
He asked for figures on Public Safety and Non-public Safety, broken down into groups (i.e. 0-4 years,
etc). Micki said she would break it down by department also.
3. Review and recommendation to staff regarding the selection of the City’s Investment
Advisory service.
Leticia Zavala explained the bidding and advertising process for selection of the Investment Advisory Service.
We use on-line bidding software, look at previous bidders and send them the link, and we are required to
publish it in the paper. There were 4 responses and any one of them could an adequate job. The deciding
factor was cost. Bidders were asked to include what their costs would be both per trade and fixed cost.
Discussion on how the evaluation grid point system is determined. Mr. Brainard and Mr. Ross stated that the
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10 points for previous relationships seems unfair. Patty Eason said that it wasn’t always an advantage. It
could keep an inadequate company from getting another job with the city if they performed poorly in the past.
Mr. Ross said it was all about process, and he would like to make sure to give the appearance of a fair process
and there could be no biases for any particular firm or individual. Micki was asked to use her best
judgement to re-evaluate the grading system and break it down to include quality of personnel Mr.
Brainard is uncomfortable with the previous relationship point system and would like to see some
criteria grid for quality of personnel.
Micki explained the difference between the Investment Advisory service and our Financial Advisor. The
committee is comfortable going with the recommended firm of Valley View Investment Services.
For an informative item on the next agenda, Micki will bring criteria for the different types of contracts,
as different contracts require different detailed criteria and invite Terry Jones to explain the process
taken in the past.
4. Review of the City’s 457 plan administrator and possible recommendation to City
Council regarding approved City 457 plan administrators.
Kevin Russell explained that we do not have a 457 plan. The City is a plan sponsor and we participate in
ICMA’s 457 plan. We basically contract with people to provide us with a plan and administration. There is no
cost to the City so there is no requirement for a bidding process when adding providers. The City has
previously had only one plan and this year we are trying to offer employees another plan and provide that as an
option. Nationwide has agreed to come and do a presentation as a possible new provider.
Micki noted that this is a pass-through program and the City has no financial responsibility. Mr. Brainard said
that it is our fiduciary responsibility to provide employees with a cost effective plan that works to their benefit
and would like to bid out this service so that each provider will possibly sharpen their technology. There are
varying levels of service, depending on the provider. Patty Eason suggested that we get more information out
to the employees and have meetings to find out what they actually want. Dale Ross would like to know what is
available out there and the cost. It is all about the value of the proposition and what you are getting for your
dollar. Mr. Brainard said that if we bid this service, we can change the contract and require that the employees
will be able to keep the same type of funds they currently have, they will just transfer to the new provider “as is”
with no cost to the employee. Mr. Brainard thinks the employees are currently not getting a great deal
regarding the portion of their contribution going to administrative fees each month. The best way to find out
what the best deal is in terms of price and service is to bid it. Mr. Brainard has been through this process
before and realizes that each company will “sharpen their pencils” to provide the best deal to obtain the
business. To just automatically give it to a specific company will not require them to sharpen their technology
or try to provide anything better for the employees. Mr. Ross said that in any organization, the most valuable
asset is the people and we need to do our best to keep the talented employees.
Mr. Brainard’s hope is that by January 1, 2010, the City will have auto enrollment for all new hires and the City
will make matching contributions.
Mr. Brainard will provide “off the shelf” sample contracts to put together an RFI to send out. After
receiving the qualifications and information, Patty Eason would like to get a group together and involve
employees and get their input. Also, they would like to get a group of employees who are already
participating in a 457 plan to identify things they like or don’t like about their existing service.
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5. Discussion and direction to staff regarding monthly and quarterly financial reports, to
include format and content.
After discussion, the committee would like for the monthly reports to include:
Fast Facts, to include:
Variance reports (with an additional line added with explanations and with the difference calculated)
Weighted average earnings rate
Average cost of bonded debt
Unobligated funds (i.e., after a reduction in a budgeted item, explanation of what these excess
funds can be used for)
Brief narrative overview
Updated on projects with exceptions included
Completed projects
Building permits and “wildcard” graphs
The targeted goal for the report to be completed and distributed to the committee, Paul Brandenburg and
Council is by the 3rd week of the month.
6. Determine future meeting dates of the Subcommittee.
The committee decided that they will meet no less than quarterly and there is no need to set a date for a
future meeting at this time. If the committee needs to meet to discuss an item, a meeting will be set with a time
limit. Mr. Brainard asked Micki to share the bond information with the committee before it goes to Council and
they will decide if a meeting should be set. Mr. Brainard would like to be updated periodically through e-mail or
phone calls.
7. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m.