HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GGAF_06.19.2014 Minutes of the Meeting of the
GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND FINANCE ADVISORY BOARD (GGAF)
City of Georgetown, Texas
June 19, 2014
These minutes were approved at the August 27, 2014 GGAF Meeting.
The General Government and Finance Advisory Board met at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 19, 2014 in the
Georgetown Public Library Classroom, located at 402 West 8thth Street, Georgetown, Texas.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Keith Brainard, Chair, Joe Pondrom, Jerry Hammerlun, Ralph Mason
MEMBERS ABSENT: Tommy Gonzalez
STAFF PRESENT: Paul Brandenburg, Micki Rundell, Susan Morgan, Laurie Brewer, Jackson Daly,
Kimberly Garrett
A copy of these minutes, containing detailed information on the items listed below will be available in the Finance
and Administration Office, located at 113 East 8th Street, Georgetown, TX and can be found online at
http://agendas.georgetown.org/
Executive Session
In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon’s Texas Codes, Annotated, the
items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session that follows.
Regular Session – Called to order at 2:00 p.m.
The GGAF Board may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to convene an Executive Session at the request of the
Chair of the GGAF Committee for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code
Chapter 551.)
Public Wishing to Address Council
On a subject that is posted on this agenda: Please fill out a speaker registration form. Clearly print your name and
the letter of the item on which you wish to speak and present it to the Chair or Board Liaison, preferably prior to the
start of the meeting. You will be called forward to speak when the Board considers that item.
On a subject not posted on the agenda: Persons may add an item to a future Board agenda by contacting the Liaison
prior to the creation of the agenda for the following meeting, with the subject matter of the topic they would like to
address and their name. The Board Liaison can be reached at 512-930-3676 or by email at
danella.elliott@georgetown.org
Statutory Consent Agenda
The Statutory Consent Agenda includes non-controversial and routine items that Board may act on with one single
vote. A board member may pull any item from the Consent Agenda in order that the Board discuss and act upon it
individually as part of the Regular Agenda.
Legislative Regular Agenda
A. Review and discuss certain sections of the Fiscal and Budgetary Policy changes – Micki Rundell,
CFO
After the detailed review of the Fiscal and Budgetary Policy and proposed updates at the April 23, 2014
GGAF meeting, several items continued to be reviewed with comments provided by members.
After a lengthy discussion and clarification, the GGAF Board’s recommendations on the four areas
discussed are highlighted in yellow:
• Use of unexpected and unappropriated General Fund balances
L. Use of Unanticipated and Unappropriated General Fund Balances - Within 90 days after fiscal
year end, staff will report the projected general fund balance to Council. In the event that unexpected,
unbudgeted amounts are determined to be available in the General Fund after year end, these funds
may be used for any of the following purposes, as approved by the City Council:
1. to fund capital projects;
2. to fund equipment purchases in lieu of issuing debt;
3. to reduce outstanding city debt, including bonded indebtedness and unfunded pension liabilities;
4. to fund contingent liabilities such as the benefit payout reserve, cemetery trust fund, and similar
obligations of the city;
5. to take other steps to reduce property tax rates or mitigate any future increases;
6. to hold those funds in reserve for future commitments or contingencies that may be pending,
and/or
7. to fund an economic uncertainty reserve of up to three (3) percent of annual General Fund
operating expenditures.
• Retirement plan funding targets and retire COLA provisions
1. The City has established 80% as the minimum funding goal for the City’s unfunded pension liability.
The City’s funded pension liability is 81.3% as of December 31, _2013, as disclosed by TMRS. The
City’s ultimate goal is 100%, but will be achieved reasonably over time.
2. The City may elect to make an annual 1-time payment prior to further fund the City’s unfunded
pension liability. Such payment will be approved and authorized by the City Council prior to
December 31 in order to be recognized in the following year’s TMRS employer contribution rate
calculation.
3. Retirement Cost-of-Living Adjustment
a) Within 60 days of when the TMRS annual funding update becomes available each year, staff will
review and prepare a summary of costs and options for potential cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for
City of Georgetown retirees.
b) Consistent with state statutes governing the Texas Municipal Retirement System, the city may provide
an automatic COLA for members of the TMRS who are retired from the City of Georgetown and
receiving a monthly retirement benefit from the TMRS.
c) The city council may adjust the COLA provided to city retirees based upon the funding level of the
city’s pension plan, as calculated by the TMRS, as follows:
When the funding level of the city’s
pension plan is
The COLA should
be
Less than 70.0%
Zero
70.0% to 79.9%
0.3% of CPI
80.0% to 89.9%
0.5% of CPI
90.0% and greater
0.7% of CPI
d) Adjustments made pursuant to subsection b. should reflect the effect of the prospective change in the
COLA on the funding level of the city’s pension plan.
• Surplus property
A. Departmental Capital Maintenance & Replacement – The City also utilizes department capital
maintenance and replacement schedules for specialized assets and equipment necessary to
provide services.
1. Parks and Recreation - As part of the City’s on-going maintenance program, the City also
recognizes the need to regularly maintain and replace grounds, equipment and facilities that are
part of the City’s Parks and Recreation system. Separate replacement and maintenance schedules
will be maintained for these items including, but not limited to, playground equipment, buildings,
sport courts, trees and grounds, and restroom facilities. The City’s goal is to provide level on-
going funding to ensure safe, well-maintained facilities for its citizens.
2. Public Safety Equipment – As part of the City’s on-going maintenance program, the City also
recognizes the need to regularly maintain and replace specialized equipment in Police and Fire.
Separate replacement and maintenance schedules will be maintained for these items including but
not limited to for Fire: SCBA’s and other firefighting equipment and protective gear; and for
Police: bullet proof vests, armaments and other tactical equipment. The City’s goal is to provide
level on-going funding to ensure proper protection for employees and citizens.
B. Surplus Property
1. From time to time it is necessary to dispose of certain vehicles or equipment that have been
procured with City funds and used in City services. Individual surplus property items with
expected sales value in excess of $10,000 must be approved by the City Council prior to
disposition.
2. City staff will maintain reports and records of all surplus property dispositions in accordance with
good internal controls. A report of all disposed items in excess of $1,000 will be included with the
quarterly financial reports provided to City Council.
• Internal audit program
GGAF’s recommendation is for Council to direct staff to work with the new external auditors after they are
hired to outline the needs and expectations of that function. This direction will be used to develop a plan
and estimate costs to implement that function effectively over the next two to three years, whether it be a
contract or an internal city position.
The GGAF Board also made a few changes to the Debt section of the Fiscal and
Budgetary Policy.
A. Types of Debt –
1. General Obligation Bonds (GO’s) – General obligation bonds must be authorized by a vote of the
citizens of Georgetown. They are used only to fund capital assets of the general government and
are not to be used to fund operating needs of the City. The City’s full faith and credit of the City
as well as the City’s Ad valorem taxing authority backs general obligation bonds. Conditions for
issuance of general obligation debt include:
• When the project will have a significant impact on the tax rate;
• When the project may be controversial even through it is routine in nature; or
• When the project falls outside the normal bounds of projects the City has typically done.
For debt programs that include multiple projects that will be issued over multiple years at the
discretion of the City Council, the City will may approve a Contract with the Voters to manage
future property tax rate impacts. The Contract with the Voters will be included in educational
information for all applicable GO Bond elections, and will include a maximum annual tax rate
increase and a cumulative total per bond authorization maximum tax rate increase. The City will
include these impacts in its annual Debt Condition report.
The City Council will carefully manage the unissued GO Bond authorization through annual
review of related projects to ensure full disclosure on future timing of projects included in the
bond package. Timing of authorized projects and related bond issuance will be included in the
Annual Budget and published on the City’s website. Any changes to this schedule require specific
Council authorization.
The recommendations will be presented at a Council Workshop and placed on the City Council
Agenda on June 24th.
B. Presentation, discussion, and direction regarding the phasing, funding, and priorities for the 5-Year
Capital Improvement Plan for Parks, Downtown, Sidewalks and City-wide Facilities – Laurie
Brewer, Assistant City Manager; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer
Laurie explained that General Capital Projects planning is a collaborative effort among several
departments. Staff has been meeting since February to discuss projects and funding sources. The five-year
plan, and any recommended changes, will be reviewed at the June 24, 2014 regular Council workshop and
included in the five-year business plan update.
She noted that staff was requesting direction and guidance, and that this item will be discussed at next
week’s Council meeting. Ron Hobbs has provided better ideas in reference to costs, as well as, flexibility
in doing different things. She went over the information listed below:
The proposed Parks CIP for 2014/2015 includes funds for the River Trails expansion design, VFW Park
renovation, Founder’s Park improvements, Village Park improvements, Blue Hole design, Emerald Springs
improvements, constructing a new splash pad, and the Williams Drive Pool improvements.
The Downtown Master Plan and Infrastructure CIP will address items identified in the Downtown
Master Plan as priorities for Downtown. For 2014/2015 the proposed funds will be used for on-going
funding for general repair and maintenance, ADA sidewalk repairs, streetlights, tree replacement, and
burying downtown utilities. New capital improvements include historic district street signs, design work
for the Grace Heritage Center rehabilitation and design work for a canopy in the library courtyard.
The Sidewalk CIP works in conjunction with the streets department to add appropriate sidewalks and
streetscaping. In 2014/2015 the streets department is requesting to renovate 11th Street between Main and
Rock Streets and 2nd Street between Austin Ave. and College Street. To capitalize on the work that is
already proposed to be completed, this CIP request funds to complete the sidewalks on 11th and 2nd Streets.
The Fire Stations/Public Safety CIP for 2014/2015 requests funds for the Fire Station 6 ESD partnership
and for the emergency warning system. The General and Utilities Facilities CIP requests funds for the
conservation department’s facility at the Westside Service Center. The City Center CIP requests funds for
portions of phase I of the City Center project. This includes renovating the current GCAT building, design
work to turn the current Council Chambers into the Visitor Center, design work to renovate the old library,
and design work for the old police station.
Jerry feels that the Project Manager is moving too fast and we need to slow down and research a little more.
Keith noted that this is a lot of information and there are a lot of questions. The GGAF Board suggested
holding a Special GGAF meeting to go further into detail on the projects, requests, etc. and thus be able to
provide direction. The Special Meeting will be scheduled within the next week or two and Board members
will be informed.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 pm.
_____________________________________
Board Chair