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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. 165 166 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. 167 168 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. 169 170 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. 171 172 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. 174 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. 17.6 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. 177 178 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 --~