Minutes September 11, 1990164
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
September 11o 1990
The Council convened into the work session at 5:15 p.m. in the
Civil Defense Room.
Present: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Boyd; Council
Members Alexander, Ayer, Gorton, Hopkins, and
Trent
Absent: None
1. Council held a discussion and gave staff appropriate
direction regarding the 1990-91 Program of Services and
accompanying tax rate.
Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, opened the discussion regarding
the 1990-91 Program of Services and tax rate by illustrating
various tax rates and the revenue the rates would generate. He
explained the revenue generated by the current tax rate
($.6183), the adjusted proposed tax rate ($.6298), the original
proposed tax rate ($.6483), the effective tax rate ($.6553) and
the maximum tax rate ($.6689). Depending on the services the
Council wished to add or delete from the proposed budget, the
tax rate would have to be adjusted to provide revenue for the
services.
Mr. Harrell stated that the County anticipated setting a tax
rate at approximately 3% more than the effective rate level,
and the school district had adopted a tax rate just under the
rollback rate. The adjusted proposed rate recommended by staff
which would generate enough revenue for the proposed budget
would be less than the effective rate. The various tax rates
outlined by the City Manager were meant to be used as a
guideline during discussions, and staff was prepared to adjust
the rate as Council saw necessary.
Because of the increase in the Denton Central Appraisal
District's budget, the City would be required to add $20,450 to
the city's proposed budget. Staff would request direction from
the Council on how to proceed.
Council Member Ayer asked if the proposed budget included the
$150,000 for the fire station fund, no pay increases, and the
10% reduction in Human Services and SPAN funding.
Mr. Harrell concurred that the items were all included in the
proposed budget.
Council Member Hopkins requested that the City Manager lead the
Council through the issues as outlined in the Budget Discussion
Guide of August 28, 1990.
Mayor Castleberry stated that a straw vote would be taken on
each issue in order to get a consensus of opinion.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 2
Mr. Harrell stated that a consensus vote could be taken, but
that nothing would be binding until the Council adopted the
formal budget at the next regular Council meeting.
Mr. Harrell reported that the first issue had been the General
Fund reserve level. The proposed budget called for the reserve
level to remain at 9.7% which fell into the 8-10% guideline set
by Council and would leave approximately $2.5 million in the
General Fund reserve fund.
Mayor Castleberry asked for a straw vote. The consensus of the
Council was to keep the reserve level at 9.7%.
Council Member Alexander recommended that if funds became
available that the level be maintained at 10%.
Mr. Harrell reported that the next issue was setting the
property tax rate and could not be decided upon until all other
issues were settled.
The Mayor directed Mr. Harrell to proceed with the next issue
and Council would consider the property tax rate level later in
the evening after all issues had been discussed.
Mr. Harrell stated that sales tax revenue was projected at a
conservative 2% growth rate. Mr. Harrell assured Council that
the number would have to be monitored closely throughout the
year.
The consensus of the Council was to maintain the projected
sales tax revenue at a 2% growth rate.
The proposed budget stated that approximately $100,000 in new
revenues would be generated by an increase in fees and fines.
Mr. Harrell reported that after refinement of the fees and
fines the actual number would be $102,750. Mr. Harrell also
stated that in order to come up with the figure of $20,450 for
the increase in the Appraisal District budget, the additional
monies generated from the fees and fines had been applied to
the $23,200 needed for the Appraisal District.
Council Member Gorton requested that the Council be provided
with some interim feedback on the ambulance fees and what the
city's collectibles have been ~or ambulance service.
Council Member Hopkins stated that she did not feel that any of
the fees, including the ambulance fees, were out of line.
The consensus of the Council was to increase fees and fines as
outlined by staff in the proposed budget.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 3
Mr. Harrell stated that the goal of the Council had been to
build up a reserve level to open Fire Station ~6 and fund the
additional personnel that would be needed. The proposed
funding level for the reserve fund was $150,000 which would
make a grand total at the end of the next fiscal year of
$615,000 which could be drawn on for funding for the new fire
station.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that the original intent was to put
more money in the reserve fund.
Council Member Ayer asked if the intention of the reserve
monies were to fund Fire Station ~6 when it opened or would
part of the funding be absorbed in the regular budget.
Mr. Harrell stated that operations, maintenance and personnel
for the new fire station would be approximately $480,000.
Rather than making the budget grow from $150,000 to $480,000 in
one year when the new fire station came on line, the intent
would be to increase the figure from $150,000 to
$200,000-$225,000 and take $250,000 out of the reserve fund to
make the $480,000 needed. The following year increase the
amount to $300,000 and take $180,000 out of the reserve fund.
The proposed method would allow the city to grow into the new
funding and not take a major hit on any one budget.
The consensus of the Council was to contribute $150,000 to the
reserve fund for the new fire station.
Because of the tight budget, Mr. Harrell stated that there were
absolutely no new positions requested in the proposed budget
for either the General Fund or the Utility Fund, and in fact,
three positions were recommended to be eliminated and three
others be held vacant for part of the year. The positions to
be eliminated were the Animal Control Supervisor position at a
savings of $20,200, the Plumbing Inspector position at a
savings of $39,500, and the Maintenance Worker at the Airport
at a savings of $11,000. In addition, the staff proposed to
downgrade the Quest operation and eliminate all support
personnel for the Quest operation for a savings of $11,000. In
addition, the Park Planner would be held open for one half of a
year which woul4 save SZ0,000o the Recreation Specialist would
be held open £or three quarters of a year which would save
$18,000° and the Civic Center Supervisor for three quarters of
a year which would save $18,000. The net savings for all
positions would be $137,700.
Council Member Trent expressed concern over the elimination of
the Maintenance wor~er at the Airport which would limit the
number of mowings at the Airport to four. Mr. Trent stated
that he felt that due to the long growing season the Airport
would need to be mowed more often and the City would not
realize the $11,000 savings.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 4
Council Member Hopkins stated that she was under the impression
that Staff had assured Council that arrangements had been made
for more mowing operations.
Mr. Harrell reported that the original proposal for four
mowings was determined by using contract labor. By using the
citY'S Parks & Recreation Department and paying some overtime
plus a machinery charge for their services, the Airport would
be mowed five times during the summer and regular mowing around
the Administration Building for a net savings of $11,000. Mr.
Harrell also stated that if the federally funded student
workers would be available next summer, one would be hired in
order to mow more frequently.
Council Member Trent stated that there would be a lessening of
the maintenance of the Airport and thus the appearance of the
Airport would deteriorate. Because of the many corporate
executives and dignitaries who use the Denton Airport, Mr.
Trent was concerned that the appearance be maintained.
Council Member Gorton explained that the Council had been faced
with exactly the same scenarios in the past when the City had
to assume the mowing of the right-of-way's for the State. Mr.
Gorton agreed that the Airport was indeed a gateway to Denton.
However, the other gateways to Denton,--such as Fort Worth
Drive, Dallas Drive and University Drive were probably only
being mowed four times a year. Mr. Gorton felt that if the
Airport needed to be mowed more often that the other gateways
should be considered part of the package.
Council Member Ayer stated the Council's concern about
appearances was evident by the attention to the beautification
program. He stated that the two kinds of mowing done at the
Airport included agricultural expanse and the other area around
the terminal. Council Member Ayer felt four mowings a year
would be adequate for the large expanse areas, but the close in
areas would require more.
Council Member Trent stated that the elimination of the
Maintenance Worker at the Airport deleted the entire work force
not like eliminating one person out of a entire crew of three
or more where the other workers could pick up the slack.
Council Member Hopkins stated that she felt staff had made a
major effort to try to alleviate the concerns Council might
have about sufficient mowing activities at the Airport.
Council Member Alexander stated that his real concern was
eliminating any position and the level of ~e~vice the Council
would be providing when approving the tax rate. Alexander
supported the suggestion of leaving the positions that were
proposed to be held open for part of the year be held open for
the entire year.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 5
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd agreed that the elimination of employees
would reduce the level of service in all the department's that
would be effected. Boyd proposed that the Council look at the
funds available at the end of the budget discussions and
determine if the need to eliminate any positions were still
necessary.
Mayor' Castleberry recommended that a decision on this issue be
made after the other issues had been discussed.
Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, ~eported that Council would need
to find $137,700 in additional, funds in order to retain the
positions recommended for elimination or put on hold in the
proposed budget.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd requested that if Council were going to
consider retaining the employees that the position of Internal
Auditor also be considered at a cost of $31,545 annually.
Harrell reported that the next major issue to be considered was
salary adjustments. The proposed budget recommended
elimination of merit pay increases and no annual pay
adjustments. At Council's request, staff prepared seven
alternatives for pay ad)ustments and outlined advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Mayor Castleberry requested a consensus for staff direction
from the Council. The consensus was that some increase in
compensation be made for city employees with the exception of
the three Council employees.
Council Member Hopkins recommended that Council seemed to be
leaning more toward Alternatives #3 or #4 or some variation of
those and that time need not be taken to explain Alternatives
#1 or #2.
Council Member Ayer concurred that he was leaning toward some
variation of Alternative #4. Ayer stated he did like the one
time payment or bonus concept as presented in Alternatives #3a
or ~3b and preferred to do something that was permanent.
Council Member Alexander concurred that a one time payment did
not send a message of stability or permanence to city
employees. He also stated that Council should consider
maintaining the effective tax rate at the current level as
decisions were made.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that the pay study underway was
designed to eliminate many of the inequities in the current pay
plan including Civil Service.
Mayor Castleberry inquired as to the status of the pay plan
study.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 6
Mr. Harrell responded that the pay plan would be completed in
early 1991 and would require a substantial amount of money to
implement in the following budget year.
Mayor Castleberry explained that the pay
targeted to be implemented in the 91/92 budget.
that he favored merit increases.
plan study was
He also stated
Council Member Gorton stated that the main problem with
Alternative ~4 was the delay in merit increases from October to
January. He stated that a one time lump sum payment would not
be any kind of guarantee to the employees. An increase needed
to be something that would be a guarantee and not negotiable
next year in case funding problems caused delay in
implementation of the new pay plan.
Council Member Hopkins stated that total implementation of the
new plan would not be possible all in one year and would have
to be phased in.
Council Member Ayer reminded Council that a vote had been taken
to implement the Freeport Amendment in the next fiscal year
which would mean a reduction in income.
Council Member Alexander stated that when the Freeport
Amendment was adopted Council had made a point to state that
the Chamber and proponents of the amendment would need to
assist in educating the citizens of Denton that in order to
maintain the current level of service, implementation of the
amendment required a tax increase for Denton citizens.
Alexander stated that Council needed to consider the effect of
the Freeport amendment on future budgets when setting the tax
rate for the next fiscal year.
Mayor Castleberry summarized that most Council Members seemed
to endorse Alternative #4 with some variations.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd recommended that a decision on the item be
held until later in the discussions at the same time the
positions were considered since perhaps there were some issues
to be discussed that could be settled fairly easily.
The consensus was to reconsider the issue of compensation for
city employees later in the discussions.
Mr. Harrell explained that the benefit adjustment of a $13,000
contribution to the fire pension plan was mandated by state law.
The consensus was to implement the $1~,000 contribution to the
fire pension plan.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 7
The Human Services Committee provided the Council with several
options for the allocations of funds. Mr. Harrell stated that
the Committee's recommended allocation to the agencies provided
for a total of $134,700. At Council's request, the Committee
provided their reallocation of funds retaining the same level
of funding as in FY89 of $112,800 plus $2,800 for the Community
Food Bank. The final alternative provided by the Committee was
a reallocation of funds by agency implementing the 10%
reduction in funding to $101,520 plus $2,800 for the Food Bank
as recommended in the proposed budget.
Council Member Hopkins stated that she would never agree to any
decrease in budgeting for transportation because of its
importance to the city.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that the agencies needed to be
studied to determine if they were viable city functions. The
city would have to deal with the results of not having the
agencies and their services in our courts, police department,
etc. Also, many groups use city funds as seed money for other
grants from public and private sources. He felt that the
Council should maintain funding at last year's level because of
the long term returns.
Council Member Ayer stated that the Council should not reduce
funding from last year's level of $112,800 and should add the
$2,800 necessary for the Food Room. Ayer stated that the bulk
of the transportation money was for Handi Hop which was a
project originated by the city and contracted to SPAN.
Council Member Alexander concurred with the recommendation of
maintaining funding at the current year's level plus $2,800 for
the Food Bank.
Council Member Trent stated that he had been impressed with the
Human Service Committee's presentation and recommendation and
realized that there were other agencies that could be added to
the list. He questioned if funding of the agencies was truly
the function of government. He stated that with the pressure
on the proposed budget that even though he was sympathetic to
the needs of the agencies, Council must draw the line and use
the funds available for the maximum good of all citizens.
Trunt recommended accepting the staff's recommendation for a
10% decrease in the proposed funding level.
Council Member Gorton clarified that the current funding level
of $112,800 had not included the $2,800 for the Community Food
Room.
Council Member Ayer concurred with Mr. Gorton and stated that
the recommendation would require $14,080 of additional revenue
to fund the agencies at the current level of funding plus the
Food Room.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 8
The consensus was that funding should be maintained at the
current year's level of $112,800 plus $2,800 for the food bank.
Council Member Gorton pointed out that some decreases in
allocations to agencies were built into the Human Services
Committee recommendation, and by maintaining the current
funding level, Council was not necessarily maintaining the same
level of funding for some agencies.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd recommended that the SPAN transportation
funding remain at the current level of $46,000 which would
require $4,600 of additional funds be added to the proposed
budget.
Council Member Ayer pointed out that the majority of the
funding was for Handi Hop with only $10,000 for SPAN
transportation.
Council Member Trent felt that the Council was continuing to
put a lot of pressure on the proposed budget by trying to
stretch the dollars in too many ways which would require
Council to scramble to find the dollars needed to fund the
pro)ects.
Council Member Ayer stated that none of the decisions thus far
were binding, and Council was negetiating the points and may
need to review some of the decisions made.
Council Member Alexander
required to vote the tax
were recommending.
reminded Council that they would be
rate to support the increases they
Consensus was to maintain funding for transportation at $46,000
which would require $4,600 in additional funds to be added to
the proposed budget.
Mr. Harrell stated that the next issue to be considered was tax
exemptions for persons over 65. The Council goal was to raise
the exemption to $25,000 over a period of years. The proposed
budget increased the exemption $1,000 from $18,000 to $19,000.
Consensus was to increase the exemption for persons over 65 by
$1.ooo.
The proposed budget recommended that the four building projects
which were part of the CIP program be placed on hold until the
city's financial condition improved. The building projects
included two recreation centers, the law enforcement center,
and the second library. Under the proposed budget, no bonds
would be sold and the projects would be put on hold.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 9
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that the city made a commitment when
urging citizens to support the bond issues that there would be
no tax increase. In order to fund the projects now, Council
would be required to pass a 5~ tax increase. Council had a
choice of breaking the promise of no tax increase or delaying
the Council's promise of building the four projects. Boyd felt
that accepting the issue as proposed in the budget would be the
best decision.
The consensus was to delay the four building projects which
were part of the CIP program.
Mr. Harrell stated that the number one priority of the Council
was street maintenance and improvement. Staff prepared a
program addressing the issue which would cost approximately
$370,000 and would require an approximate 2~ increase in the
tax rate which would allow an additional 7 miles of city
streets to be improved in the next fiscal year. The project
was not included in the proposed budget because funding could
not be identified,
Council Member Gorton stated that although Council had been
unable to increase street maintenance funding, CIP money had
allowed for a few additional projects to be completed.
Council Member Ayer stated he was concerned that the street
maintenance and improvement item had been identified as
Council's number one priority, and Council would not be able to
do much about addressing the problem. To do anything
significant in street work required hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
Council Member Trent stated that Council must prioritize their
obligations and requested the number of miles of streets which
would be improved without implementing the new program.
Mr. Harrell stated that approximately 16.9 miles of hot mix
overlay, 16.5 miles of patching and 1.5 miles of street
construction for the next year was included in the budget
excluding bond fund projects.
Consensus was to maintain the street funding at its current
proposed level and not adopt the new program w~ic~ would cost
$370,000.
Mr. Harrell stated the next issue was a series of budget
reductions. The first reduction would be in youth athletic
officials. The city currently funded one half the cost of the
officials. By eliminating the funding of officials, the city
would eliminate $15,500 in cost. The Park Board recommended
that youth athletic official funding be reinstated or do away
with administrative charges which would amount to about $12,000.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 10
173
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd questioned if the city only charged
administrative fees when officials were being provided.
Mr. Harrell stated administrative fees were charged to all
recreation programs-using city facilities. The intention of
the administrative fee was to recapture a small portion of the
general fund cost of p~eviding the facility for those using it.
Council Member Ayer stated that Council had been provided with
a survey of other communities which charged administrative fees
which in some cases had charged administrative fees and had not
provided officials. By approving the proposed budget the city
would not be out of step.
Council Member Gorton stated he had no problem charging the
administrative fee as long as a legitimate service was being
provided for the fee. Mr. Gorton also stated a concern about
no per use fee for use of the tennis courts except for under
the lights. He stated that he wanted to ensure that the cost
of the North Lakes complex was being distributed in a fair and
equitable manner.
Council Member Ayer requested staff survey neighboring cities
to ascertain fees being charged for use of tennis courts.
Consensus was to eliminate the city's one half funding for
youth athletic officials at a savings of $15,500.
Mr. Harrell reported that the proposed budget eliminated
additional funding for the reserve fund for potential lawsuits
as had been done for the past couple of yea=s. The balance of
the reserve fund was approximately $400,000 and recommended
that no money be added to the fund.
Council Member Hopkins questioned if any funds had been removed
from the reserve fund.
Mr. Harrell stated that no funds had been removed, and all
funds were still in reserve.
Consensus was to accept the recommendation of staff not to add
to the reserve fund for potential lawsuits.
Mr. Harrell stated that a new program concerning auto accident
liability improvement was reflected in the proposed budget at a
savings of approximately $50,000. The second item the City
Manager wanted to inform Council of was the comprehensive
report which would be sent to Council concerning reroofing City
Hall. The recommendation on the reroo£in~ item would be to
issue a small CO in connection with the auto leasing program.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 11
Mr. Harrell detailed the main points of the utility budget.
The Electric Division proposed a 0% increase in proposed
electric utility rates and no new net positions.
Consensus was to accept the electric portion of the Utility
Department budget as proposed.
Mr. Harrell stated that the Water/Wastewater Divisions had
requested no new net positions. The Public Utility Board
recommended a 9.97% increase in the proposed water rate and a
9.46% increase in the proposed wastewater rate.
Consensus was to accept the water/wastewater portion of the
Utility Department budget as proposed.
Mr. Harrell stated that the Sanitation Fund also requested no
new positions and recommended implementing the pilot curbside
recycling program. The proposed rate increase for the Solid
Waste Division was 6% as recommended by the Public Utility
Board.
Consensus was to accept the solid waste portion of the Utility
Department budget as proposed.
Council Member Trent questioned the necessity of budgeting
$620,000 in the Overtime Salary line item of the Utility budget.
Robert E. Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities explained
that restoration and provision of service by the Utility
Department was not a matter of choice. The Electric
Production, Water Production, and Water Reclamation plants
operate 24 hours per day. In order to maintain the level of
service every day of the year, the plant must be manned on
holidays and coverage maintained during vacation and sick leave
absences. Relief shifts covered a portion of the time, but
often the coverage required personnel to work in excess of 40
hours per week. Maintenance activities at the plants required
personnel to be available at the time of the breakdown. Field
operations such as Water and Sewer Field Services, Electric
Distribution, and Substations and Communications required
on-call personnel to be available to restore service to our
citizens with the least amount of inconvenience. In
Communications, installation and repair of radio service for
our public safety vehicles required a lot of extra time to
complete the conversion to the 800 Mhz system.
Mr. Harrell stated that the Council had a legitimate
responsibility to discuss any line item in regard to amount of
money spent. Once the line item and the need for reduction had
been identified, staff could report the type of services
offered to the citizens for the line item and allow Council
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 12
175
to make policy decisions on level of service. Extra services
would require increased costs and the Council needed to
determine if the service were worthwhile for the city. The
overtime costs associated with the Utility Department were the
direct result of the level of service provided to Denton
citizens.
Council Member Trent stated that every day of the year the city
was paying for 106 hours of overtime in the Utility Department
and wondered if it were necessary.
Mayor Castleberry recommended that if the issue did not impact
the budget decision that evening, it should be discussed
further at another time.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that reduction of the overtime figure
would neither reduce rates nor create a greater surplus in the
utility fund and would not impact the general budget.
Council Member Alexander stated that the elimination of the
overtime line item would require hiring additional personnel to
provide the citizens with service and cost savings would not be
realized based on the cost of new personnel.
Council Member Gorton explained that
financial liability that the city would
would be FICA. Additional full time
complete benefit packages.
the only additional
incur with overtime
employees would add
Council took a ten minute recess.
Mr. Harrell stated that all the items which had been discussed
as possibly being added to the proposed budget included $20,450
for the Appraisal District, $137,700 to retain positions,
$31,545 for an internal auditor, $466,555 for employee
compensation for Alternative #4, $14,080 for the social
agencies as recommended by the Human Services Committee, and
$4,600 for SPAN transportation totalled $675,000 and required
setting a tax rate of $.6640 which was 1.3% over the effective
rate.
Mayor Castleberry directed Council of the need to start making
some hard decisions.
Council Member Hopkins stated the she did not think it would be
appropriate to add a position to the proposed budget and
recommended that the Internal Auditor position be eliminated
from the list of items to be discussed.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd agreed with Hopkins to eliminate the
Internal Auditor position and recommended that Council also
follow staff's recommendation in the proposed budget of
eliminating three positions and support personnel for Quest and
holding three positions open for a portion of the year.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 13
Mayor Castleberry requested the City Manager and Finance
Director figure the amount of tax revenue needed if the
internal auditor were eliminated and staff recommendations were
adopted.
Mr. Harrell stated that Council would need to set the tax rate
at $.6554 to generate $505,685 needed which was .0001 over the
effective rate.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that he was not willing to go above
the effective tax rate even for such a small amount and an
effort needed to be made to balance the budget at the effective
rate.
Council Member Alexander suggested that one way to balance the
budget at the effective tax rate would be to delay the
implementation of one of the positions put on hold for the next
fiscal from mid year until the beginning of the next fiscal
year.
Council Member Boyd stated that a small change in the estimate
of the sales tax receipts would not be out of line. He also
stated that Council had in effect adopted without discussion
Alternative ~4 for employee compensation, and there was room
for discussion.
Mr. Harrell explained that Alternative #4 closely resembled the
current pay plan. Employee merit increases would be reinstated
with a three month delay on everyone's anniversary date. The
second point of the alternative provided for an annual pay
increase to be effective January 1, 1991.
Council Member Gorton discussed a decrease in the traditional
5% merit rate being capped at 4%.
Tom Klinck, Director of Personnel stated there would be
administrative problems concerning capping merits on a step pay
plan system.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd recommended reinstating the merit increases
effective October 1st and delaying annual pay adjustments for
another quarter.
Further discussion occurred concerning the option of
reinstating the merit adjustments and delaying annual pay
adjustments by at least another quarter or six months or even
splitting and awarding half in January and half three months
later making an effort to offset the increased health insurance
costs which would become effective January 1.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 14
Council Member Ayer asked if figures could be provided to
implement the reinstatement of merit increases effective
October 1 and annual pay adjustments implemented in two stages.
Mr. Harrell stated that the cost of reinstating merit increases
to October 1 would be $65,653. Annual pay adjustments
implemented one half in January and one half in April would
decrease the cost by $50,451. If the second half of the pay
adjustment were delayed to May, the decrease in cost would be
$67,268. If the annual pay adjustment were delayed until May,
the total increase to the proposed budget would be $504,070
which translated into a $.6551 tax rate which would be under
the effective rate.
Council Member Alexander voiced his support of the alternative.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd agreed to the alternative because of the
value of pay plan increases to assist in recruiting and merit
increases in retention of employees and employee moral.
Council Member Trent stated that
budget was irresponsible because
business man.
he felt that the proposed
of the effect on the local
Council Member Hopkins stated that she h~d given a great deal
of thought and concern to the proposed budget. In looking to
the next fiscal year, the city would not see an appreciable
increase in the tax base because taxation was based on what was
in place on January 1st. The Freeport Amendment would take
effect and decrease funds by an additional $600,000. Hopkins
did not think taxpayers would be willing to cut services. She
felt confident to approve a tax rate close to the effective tax
rate would be the best the Council could do and still maintain
the level of service the taxpayers wanted.
Mayor Pro Tem Boyd concurred with Council Member Hopkins
comments.
Mayor Castleberry asked for a consensus for the employee
compensation proposal.
The consensus was to accept a modified Alternate ~4 which
restored merit increases effective October 1, 1990, and delayed
the annual pay adjustment to one half January 1, 1991, and one
half May 1, 1991, with one dissenting vote from Council Member
Trent.
The consensus of the Council was to eliminate the three
positions and staff support for Quest recommended by staff and
to delay filling three positions for a portion of the new
fiscal year.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 11, 1990
Page 15
The Council requested that the additional funds requested for
the Appraisal District's proposed budget be included in the
City's proposed budget. Presentation and approval of the
proposed budget for the Appraisal District would be made at the
next regular Council meeting.
Council Member Alexander stated that he strongly disagreed with
Council Member Trent on two points. First, he felt that the
proposed budget was not, a budget out of control and was the
result of a lot of hard and intense work by a competent staff.
Alexander stated that for the first time in five years not one
single person appeared at the public he,ring to ask the Council
to reduce a single item in the budget. Secondly, Council
Member Alexander stated that he did not believe that all
budgets have "fat" in them. Alexander stated that he did not
feel the proposed budget had "fat" in it and "fat" was a
negative term used to talk about government which contributed
to a negative feeling among the public about their government.
Alexander felt that it was the responsibility of the Council to
turn that opinion around. Council Member Alexander stated that
the City of Denton does a great job providing a high quality of
service for the least amount of taxing.
Council Member Trent stated that if the staff had put together
such a fine budget he did not understand the need for the
Council to increase the funding level in excess of $500,000
which indicated to him that staff had not incorporated enough
programs into the proposed budget. Council Member Trent stated
that whether anyone were present to speak at the public hearing
or not that it was incumbent on Council to do what was right
and be responsible.
Council Member Ayer motioned, Hopkins seconded to adjourn the
meeting. The motion carried unanimously.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
BEWATY ~L IA~s
DEPUTY CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAy
5095M --~