HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GGAF_02.08.2012
The General Government and Finance (GGAF) Advisory Subcommittee established by the Georgetown City Council
met at 1:0 0 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, in the City Hall Main Floor Conference Room, located at 113
East 8th Street, Georgetown, Texas.
MINUTES
These minutes were approved at the March 6, 2012 GGAF Meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m.
1. Review minutes from the January 3, 2012 GGAF Meeting – Danella Elliott, Administrative Manager
The minutes were approved unanimously.
2. Review and discussion of the results of the audit for Fiscal Year Ended, September 30, 2011 - Micki
Rundell, Chief Financial Officer, Susan Morgan, Finance Director, Lorie Lankford, Controller
Susan introduced Jerry McMillan from our auditing firm, CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP and noted that the CAFR will
be presented to coundil at the February 28, 2012 Council Meeting. Mr. McMillon told the committee that a lot
of work goes into preparing the CAFR, and commended staff on doing such an excellent job. Mr. McMillon
said that city staff prepares the CAFR in-house, which is invaluable. He said that the City of Georgtown
“compares with the best and is as good as it gets”. Patty agreed with his comment, and thanked staff as well.
He explained the process, outlined the auditing standards and went over the required communications. He
noted that there were no issues or findings and all opinions were clear.and felt it was a very good audit.
3. Workshop - Update on the City’s Sales Tax revenue profile including historical information as well as
sales tax revenue projections – Chris Foster, Chief Financial Analyst, Micki Rundell, Chief Financial
Officer
Chris Foster presented the this update report, based on data from the STARS (Sales Tax Analysis and
Reporting Services) provided much of the detail information and is the primary source for the historical review.
In addition, other sources include the Dallas Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The report identifies sectors of the local economy and their related contribution to the City’s sales tax revenue.
Wolf Ranch is also segregated.
The primary purpose is to provide the City Council an idea of where the Sales Tax Collections in 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.
Members Present: Patty Eason, Danny Meigs, Rachael Jonrowe, Joe Pondrom, Steve Fought
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Micki Rundell, Susan Morgan, Leticia Zavala, Terry Jones, Chris Foster
Chris answered questions and the committee was very impressed with the information. They did make
recommendations for the presentation to Council to make it more understandable and meaningful to the
listener. GGAF recommended changes (for better understanding and clarification) will be made to the
presentation before it goes to Council.
4. Authorizing payment of transaction fees to Tyler Technologies for online web payment processing in
the amount of $64,500 - Leticia Zavala, Utility Office Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer
Insite is the City’s online payment program for utility and municipal court payments made via the website. This
program was implemented in July 2006 and is used by the Utility Office and Municipal Court customers to pay
their utility bills and court fines on the City’s website.
The Utility Office processes approximately 26,000 payments per month. Online payments account for 13% of
this total and have steadily increased since the program’s inception. In 2006, the Utility Office received
approximately 1,000 payments per month via the website and now averages 3,500 payments per month.
The above cost includes web publishing fees, customer inquiry fees, and transaction fees. The Web
Publishing fees and the Customer Inquiry fees are a fixed annual cost. The transaction fees are $1.25 each
and based on the number of utility payments taken through the website. An estimate of 42,000 transactions
was used for 2012 based on 3,500 payments per month
This transaction fee would ordinarily be passed along to the customer, but the City has chosen to absorb the
fee because passing along any transaction or convenience fees for Utility payments disqualifies the City from
both the Visa and Mastercard Interchange Utility Rate of $.75 per transaction.
Depending on the type of card used, normal credit card fees could be anywhere from .89% to 2% of the
transaction, and would apply to all credit card transactions, not just the Insite online payments. If the City was
disqualified from the Interchange Program, an average charge of $500 would cost the customer anywhere
from $4.45 to $10.00 instead of the utility absorbing a set rate of $.75.
Unanimously approved.
5. Discussion and possible recommendation to renew the contract with Dataprose/CSG Systems, Inc. as
the City’s vendor for utility bill printing and mailing services at an annual cost of $190,400 - Leticia
Zavala, Utility Office Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer
In 2008, the City negotiated a contract with Dataprose Inc, through an inter-local agreement with the City of
Plano, to provide the City with utility bill printing and mailing services with 5 renewable annual terms. This is
the final renewal in the original contract. Dataprose changed its name to CSG Systems, Inc. in October 2010.
This inter-local agreement allows the City access to lower program rates achieved by participating with a much
larger volume group. The City also satisfies all of the legal requirements for competitive bidding by purchasing
through the City of Plano Inter-local Cooperative Purchasing Agreement.
The City currently prints and mails approximately 30,000 bills per month, including late notices and bad debt
notices. This has grown 7% from last year’s average of 28,000 bills per month. The City currently pays
approximately $0.515 per bill, which average about $0.14 for all printing and insertions costs along with $0.375
for all applicable postage. Seventy-three percent (73%) of the estimated annual contract cost of $185,400 is
related to postage expense and equates to $135,342.
Trying to find ways to reduce ongoing costs is a top priority. One of the goals for 2012 is to shift the
presentment of bills to the customer from the traditional “mailing approach” to an automated “e-mailing
approach”, potentially saving the cost of postage. This would be completely voluntary but based on the
feedback from our customers, many would welcome the change. Included in the above annual cost is $5,000
to proceed with the software modifications and set up fees to allow us to offer electronic bill presentment later
in the year.
Unanimously approved.
6. Consideration and possible action to renew the annual heating, ventilation and air conditioning
(HVAC) maintenance contract with HVAC Masters in the estimated amount of $120,000.00 – Terry
Jones, Support Services Manager
Bids were solicited for HVAC maintenance services, and an award was made to the best value contractor,
HVAC Masters, for a term of two years with options to renew for up to two additional one year terms. Based on
historical usage, approval was requested from and granted by Council on February 24, 2009 for the
anticipated annual amount of $82,017.00 during the original term and each renewal term. As a result of
several earlier than expected air conditioning replacements and some new installations as a result of building
renovations, staff is requesting an increase in the annual amount of for HVAC maintenance from $82,017.00 to
$120,000.00. This contract does not include a maximum amount and no amendment is required for the
increase.
In conjunction with the increase, staff requests approval to exercise the final renewal option on the contract
with HVAC Masters, extending through February 28, 2013 with an estimated annual total of $120,000.00.
Unanimously approved.
7. The meeting adjourned at 2:25 pm.