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Minutes September 08, 1992466 CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES SEPTEMBER 8, 1992 The Council convened into the Special Call Session at 5:15 p.m. in the Civil Defense Room. PRESENT: ABSENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins; Council Members Brock, Perry, Smith and Miller. Council Member Chew 1. The Council considered adoption of an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Services Program for Aging Needs (SPAN) to provide public transportation services in.the City of Denton. Catherine Tuck, Administrative Assistant, stated that this was a contract with SPAN for funding. The City would be receiving the money directly and the contract outlined how the money would be passed on through to the Agency. The following ordinance was considered: No. 92-149 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING ANAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY oF DENTON AND SERVICES PROGRAM FOR AGING NEEDS (SPAN); AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT; APPROVING THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS THEREFOR; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Perry motioned, Brock seconded to adopt the ordinance. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Miller "aye", Hopkins "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. Council Member Chew joined the meeting. 2. The Council held a discussion and gave staff direction regarding the 1992-93 fiscal.year budget. Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, stated that in accordance with the budget calendar, this evening would work through the remaining budget issues which had not been resolved. Next week the Council would consider the ordinance adopting th'e budget. Review of additional information presented to Council during the previous week: (1) Memo regarding the North Texas Poison Control Center - the Center had requested $6000 to continue their service to the City of Denton. A memo had been provided which detailed what other cities were doing° (2) Reauest for continued employment of athletic supervisor - Council had requested information regarding the possibility of 467 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 2 keeping the athletic supervisor position which had been recommended to be eliminated. Staff had provided information regarding the possibility of reducing temporary/seasonal hours within the Parks and Recreation Department to pay for this position. If Council wanted to implement that option as a policy decision, $32,600 would be needed. (3) Economic Development Contributions - Several Council Members had questioned the additional $20,000 allocated in the Utility department budget for economic development. There was the possibility that Council might wish to redirect some or all of that money towards the City's economic development as opposed to funneling that money to the Chamber. That would provide more relief in the General Fund. (4) Operation of the Cable Channel - a question had been asked if there were duplication of expenses between the program to operate the City's channel and the program to televise the Council meetings. Staff had indicated that there was no duplication. Some of the equipment needs would be the same but most would be independent. Harrell reviewed the Major Budget Issues with Council and asked for Council direction. 1. Fund Balance - the proposed budget assumed that the fund balance would remain at 10% which would free up $298,000 to use toward balancing'the budget. That money was already in the budget and if Council did not want to use that fund level, they would have to find an equivalent amount of money. Consensus of the Council was to keep the fund balance at 10%. 2. Revenues A. Property Taxes 1. .Effective tax rate - the budget was predicated on taking the tax rate from $.6851 to $.7180 which would bring in the same amount of revenue as last year. There would be no more tax revenue to the City as last year. If the Council wanted to keep the rate at $.6851, approximately $600,000 would have to be found. No decision was made on .this item at this time. Howeve~ the consensus of the Council was to work toward the effective tax rate. 2. Truth in taxation - Council could increase taxes by 3% above the effective tax rate which would be $.02 above the 468 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 3 $.7180 and would be a $394,000 increase. 3. Additional $.01 increase - each additional $.01 increase would net $183,000. No decision was made on this item at this time. B. Sales tax 1. A 4% growth rate was built into budget which would net $216,000. 2. Additional 1% increase - every increase would add $54,000 to the budget. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the 4% at this time but the item might be reconsidered later in the meeting. C. Utility sales tax - this item was not included in the budget. Denton was one of the few cities in the metroplex which still exempted natural gas and electric consumption from the sales tax. If the Council wanted to repeal that exemption, $198,000 could be used in the budget. Council Member Miller stated that the utilities were taxed now but not for the 1% City tax. The tax would be effective January 1, 1993 as the numbers in budget reflected. City Manager Harrell replied yes that the numbers reflected that time frame. John McGrane, Executive Director for Finance, stated that the repeal on the electric side could be effective as soon as it was sent to the State. Generally there was a quarter delay in order to get the billing in order. Council Member Perry asked what that would mean to the average utility bill. MoGran~ r~pli~d~that it would be approximately $.60 to the electric customer and gas would be slightly less. Totally it would be approximately $.80 per month per customer. Council Member Chew felt that there was no alternative but to proceed with repealing the exemption. Council Member Smith asked if the funds would go into the General fund or the Utility Fund. 469 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 4 City Manager Harrell replied that it would go into the General Fund. Council Member Brock felt that repealing the exemption was much better than considering an additional tax rate. Consensus of the Council was to repeal the exemption and include $198,165 in the budget with a starting date of January 1, 1993. Council Member Smith pointed out that the utility bills were already going up and this would add to it. Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated the total increase for a utility customer would be approximately $4.50 and this would only add.approximately $.50 to the bill. D. Health Inspectiqn Fees - currently the City was subsidizing the cost for inspection fees for grocery stores and restaurants and this would help equal out that amount. A $10 per category increase would net $9,140. A reinspection fee would also be included. These amounts were not included in the proposed budget. Council Member Perry asked what the average increase would be per restaurant. City Manager Harrell replied that the fee was based on the number of employees. A restaurant with 0-5 employees currently was paying $55 with the proposed fee at $65. 40+ employees had a fee of $220 which would increase to $230. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins asked for the fee for a restaurant with approximately 20 employees. City Manager Harrell replied that the current fee was $115 with the proposed fee at $125. Council Member .Chew felt that the fee should not be increased any more than $10. Council Member Brock felt that it was a large increase for smaller businesses and not for the larger businesses. Would there be a way to make the increase more equitable. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins felt that due to the fact that this service was subsidized heavily, the fee should go up some but perhaps not the same amount for smaller establishments as for larger establishments. 470 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 5 After discussion, consensus of the Council was to increase the fee $10 per category. 3. Pay plan alternatives A. Full implementation of Mercer would cost $938,837 B. Implementation of Mercer at 1% would cost $236,951 if implemented October 1. Per month delay of implementation would realize $19,746 per month. C. Implementation of Mercer at 2.6% would cost $433,131 if implemented October 1. Per month delay of implementation would realize $36,094 per month. D. Implementation of Mercer at 3.4% would cost $586,531 if implemented October 1. Per month delay of implementation would realize $48,878 per month. E. 1% across the board would cost $333,237 with $16,836 realized for each month of delayed implementation. F. Implementation of Mercer at 2% would cost $333,237 if implemented October 1. Per month delay of implementation would realize $31,111 per month. All of the across-the-board increases would be done at the same time. With Mercer, the implementation would be staggered. Council Member Chew stated that since the 15% increase in health insurance would be affecting all of the employees, he would like an across-the-board increase for all employees. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins felt it was important to begin implementation of the Mercer Program. To not implement Mercer would represent a break in policy. She felt it was important to implement Mercer in some part, perhaps a 2% Mercer with a possible one month delay. Council Member Miller stated that in private business, there was a feeling that if the dollars available got below a certain amount pay for performance could not be done. During these economic times, there was something to be said for an across-the-board increase. Council could believe in the plan and not be able to implement it at this time due to the financial situation of the times. Given the fact that employees would have to pay for increased health insurance, increased utilities, etc., a 2% increase would be in order. Council Member Brock stated that the City had made a big commitment to the Mercer concept and even though only a small increase might be given, whatever was given would help. At every level of public service, there was more and more emphasis on performance. She would like to see more done in the direction to give increases to those individuals with good performance. 471 City of Denton city Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 6 Council Member Perry indicated that he would like to try to implement Mercer at 2.6% and hold the funds with a delayed implementation. He asked if there would be any employees working in the City who would not receive an increase due to their poor performance. Tom Klinck, Director of Human Services, stated that approximately 10% of the employees would be rated in the "far exceed category", 20% would be rated in the "frequently exceeds category", 65% in the "meets expectations" category and 5% in the "below expectations" category. Under this system, that 5% group would not receive any increase. This was different from an across the board increase. Council Member Perry felt that veryfew employees would stay on the job who would not get through a probationary period. He asked if there were employees other than those in that 5% category who would not receive an increase. Klinck replied that the average employee, one in the 65% category, would receive an increase. There was 5% programmed into the budget for poor performance which would be approximately 30 employees. Council Member Brock asked for an explanation of Mercer. Was there an appeal process if an employee received a poor rating from a difficult supervisor. Klinck stated that there was objective performance criteria built into the review. The next level manager must review the evaluations and sign off on the evaluation before it went to the employee. Any evaluation in the "frequently exceeds or far exceeds" category would"be ~reviewed by the Executive Director for the department, the Director of Human Resources and the City Manager as would be the case for the unsatisfactory category. There was a problem solving procedure for someone who had a difficulty which could not be resolved with the first level manager. Council Member. Chew stated that 65% of the organization were overachievers. Klinck replied that 65% would meet the requirements of the job. Council Member Chew asked for the percentage of employees who would receive an increase. Klinck replied 95% of the employees would receive an increase. City Manager Harrell stated that with a 2.6% increase an employee 472 city of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 7 eligible for an increase might receive'an increase ranging from 4% - 0% depending on the employee's performance level and depending on where his salary ranked based upon competition. If the employee were low in competition with area salaries and was a "superman", he would receive a 4% increase. If the employee were at 100% of competition but was a "superman", he, would receive a 3% increase. There were two variables to work with for an increase. Council Member Miller stated that an across-the-board increase did not necessarily mean that an incompetent employee would receive an increase. If 5% of the employees were not receiving an increase under Mercer due to poor performance, the same group rules would apply for an across-the'board increase. City Manager Harrell stated that last year there was a partial implementation of Mercer. For any employee who ~id not receive more than a 3% increase, a 3% across-the-board increase was given. Council Member Miller stated that the problem was the number of dollars the Council had to work with. The dollars available made it difficult to implement Mercer, He had some fundamental problems with the pay for performance type of programs. Pay was not the only motivator for good job performance. Such a program did not foster teamwork when employees were pitted against each other. City Manager Harrell stated that last year with the 3% increase, an employee had to be performing adequately to receive the increase. A point had been raised if there was enough money available to make Mercer meaningful. The former system did not allow for those workers who put in an extra amount and did not allow for any flexibility for those who were doing more than all the others. Council Member Chew felt that if the program could not b~ ~. adequately funded, it would not do what it was intended to do. Council Member Smith felt that a decision had been made to go with Mercer. Mercer. was the adopted program and that program should be followed. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins questioned if a 2% increase could be done with a one month delay plus take out the TMRS and health insurance increase provisions. Council Member Perry suggested a 2.6% increase and a delay of three month~. Mayor Castleberry stated that he liked the Mercer Program and liked 473 city of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 8 the idea of merit. He suggested a 2% increase starting October 1 but could also go with a 2.6% increase with a delay which would work out the same as the 2% increase. Council Member Perry asked if there was a long term difference between the 2% increase and 2.6% increase. The short term difference might not be great but what about the long term difference. Klinck replied that the quartile 4 increases were one-time lump sums. With the 2.6% increase there would be a higher percentage increase for 70% of the employees in the first 2 quartiles. It would be a more meaningful raise as opposed to the 2% increase. It would be at a later time but would be more meaningful. Council Member Miller stated that he would like to see an increase but was not in agreement with the Mercer plan. There were too many variables for that type of plan. It was not the best use of the dollars available. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins stated that the Council could study and evaluate Mercer in the future to determine if the program was working properly. Hopkins motioned, Smith seconded to implement a 2.6% increase beginning January 1, 1993 with no TMRS increase. Council Member Brock suggested that staff look at other ways to reward employees for performance and not just center on pay. Council Member Chew stated that he did not agree with the way the increases would be given but was glad the employees would be receiving an increase. He suggested looking at all incentives for employee increases and market adjustments. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Miller "nay", Hopkins "aye", Smith "aye", Chew "nay", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry ,aye". Motion carried .with a 5-2 vote. 4. Benefits adjustment city Manager Harrell stated that he felt Council had a question regarding continued City contribution for employee TMRS and suggested a possible consideration of this issue next year during early budget deliberations. ',474 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 9 5. Position reductions - Harrell detailed the recommended position reductions. The impact on the budget would be a $116,384 reduction which was already included in the budget. If Council wanted to put any of these positions back in budget, money would have to be found for that position. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the recommendation. 6. Service reductions Harrell detailed the recommended service reductions. None of these were reflected in the budget. A. Eliminate extra mailing of tax notices - consensus of the Council was to proceed with the service reduction. B. Eliminate tree trimming program - consensus of the Council was to proceed with the service reduction. C. Reduce police budget Council Member Chew asked if the sensitivity training program would be eliminated. City Manager Harrell replied that that program was not eliminated. Council Member Perry felt it best not to reduce too much especially in in-house training so as to continue upgrading the force. City Manager Harrell replied that the reductions would be in travel, training, and some positions would be held open. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the service reduction. D. Reduce library budget - Council Member Chew suggested cutting the reduction in half rather %hah the full $1S,O00. Mayor Castleberry stated that the Library Director might not feel comfortable with the cuts but she could live with it. Joella Orr, Library Director, stated that she was not comfortable with the cuts in staff training but she did not want to cut books. City Manager Harrell stated that the Library budget last year was 475 city of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 10 $1,051,000 and this year it would be $1,039,000. The police department, even with the decrease of $47,000, had an increase in their budget while the Library had a decrease. Council Member Miller stated that there had been a newspaper story about not purchasing new books this year. Orr replied that there had been cuts the adult circulating books, some reference books, compact disks and videos. These had been cut the first time to meet the target number and then had to cut again with the 2% reduction. The next cut would be in the children's materials. There would never be total elimination of new books but some cuts. The Library Board recommended limiting the number of books individuals could checkout. Council Member Brock stated that the cuts had included eliminating membership in state and national associations. Was this still included in that figure. Orr replied that that would be taken out of the book budget to pay 'for those memberships. council Member Miller asked what happened to those books which needed to go to the book bindery. Orr replied that the Library was given books during the year and sometimes could find a new book to replace the damaged one. If the book was a classic it would be kept until the money was available for it to be rebound. If the book were not a classic it possibly might be discarded. Council Member Perry stated that the Public Utilities Board had budgeted an additional $20,000 for'economic development. The City and Chamber were doing well in economic development with' City contributions. The City would assume an additional obligation with Peterbilt. He suggested putting the $20,000 into the City's economic group and free that money for the amount the County did not give for the library. McGrane replied that the money could be used to help off set the Economic Development Office for the City which was a General Fund function. Any dollars that would go towards that function would be reallocated. Mayor Castleberry asked for the purpose of the additional $20,000. Bob Nelson, Executive 'Director for Utilities, replied that the money was available for the City's and Chamber's economic 476 city of Denton city Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 11 development effort. The Economic Development Office for the City did a tremendous amount of work. city Manager Harrell suggested taking $18,860 and offsetting it with the $20,000 an~'give the extra to the City's Economic Development Office. Council Member Chew felt it was a good idea to give the money to the City's Economic Development office. Council Member Smith asked if the $18,000 which was cut from the library budget was in addition to the first reduction in the library budget. Orr replied that $12,000 would come from children's books. Council Member Smith asked if the Library was sharing in the reduction as other departments were. Orr replied that if the one-half of the $18,000 were restored, the Library would be in the same category as other departments. City Manager Harrell stated that when all of the departments had hit the target number, it was determined that the budget still would not balance. The departments had to reduce another 2% from all department budgets. The average reduction was 1% with some departments having a 0% reduction and some having a 2% reduction. He suggested giving $9,430 to the Library, $2,000 to economic development and $9,000 to help balance budget. Council Member Miller asked how that was economic development coming from the Utility Department. City Manager Harrell replied that economic development had been funded from the City's property tax dollars. This suggestion was to cut back the support from the property tax. Council Member. Miller asked if this was a shift in philosophy or was this a one time changel The suggestion then had been to not fund the Chamber of Commerce E~onomi~ Development Program for $80,000. The funding would be at $60,000. Mayor Castleberry stated that the $20,000 was earmarked by the Public Utilities Board to increase economic development funding and the base of operation. To not use the funds for economic development would be going against the recommendation of Public Utilities Board. 477 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 12 Council Member Miller felt that there was the feeling in Council to provide a temporary increase to the Library but suggested not doing it through the economic development funds. He suggested waiting until the Council got to the bottom line of the budget and saw where the funding would come from. He suggested restoring half of the cut in the Library and not use economic development funds. Mayor Castleberry stated that he was comfortable with Council Member Miller's suggestion. Council Member Perry stated that he was comfortable with using the $20,000 for the Library, etc. After discussion regarding the use of the $20,000, Miller motioned, Chew seconded to restore one half of the Library cuts as a line item and look later on how to fund. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Miller "aye", Hopkins "aye", Smith "aye", Chew "aye", Perry "nay", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried with a 6-1 vote. E. Budget documents - the recommendation was to reduce the quality and quantity of the City budget document. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the recommendation. F. Animal Control - the recommendation was to eliminate routine patrolling between the hours of 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with-the re'COmmendation. 7. Agency Contributions - the recommendation was to use the baseline funding from last year and reduce it by 1% for human service funding. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the recommendation. 8. Reduce transportation funding - the recommendation was to reduce the funding by 1%. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the recommendation. 9. County Funding for Library - this'item had already been dealt with. 10. Split Tax Payments -.if the Council wished to reinstate the split tax payment option, $20,000 would have to be found for the budget. .. Consensus of the Council was to not reinstate the option. Zl. 78 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 13 11. Over 65 Exemption - four years ago, a program was started to gradually increase this exemption to $25,000. Currently the exemption was at $20,000. This amount was in the budget and the Council could delay increasing the amount a year and put that money back into the budget. Council Member Chew felt that if other agencies were cut this year, then this should also wait a year. He suggested applying the money to other areas. Council Member Miller felt that the increase should be delayed for a year. Council Member Brock stated that she did not feel right taking an exemption for age reason only. Council Member Smith agreed with the suggestion to wait with the increase. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins stated that this was the opposite direction of what previous Councils had done. The intent was to provide this exemption for the over 65 individuals in the City. This represented a direct conflict with philosophy of previous Council and she was opposed to that change. Consensus of the Council was to take $17,026 out of the budget and not increase the exemption by $1000 for this year. 12. Cable Television Funding - this was included in the Community Service Administration Budget. 13. Swimming Pool Improvements - if the Council decided to proceed with Phase II, the out-of-pocket expenses would be $309,000 or if Council wanted to issue certificates of obligation, the annual cost would be $46,000. Council Member Miller felt that Phase II had to be done as each year the project was delayed, there would be more to do. He was in favor of issuing the certificates of obligation. Council Member Chew felt that Phase II must be done and to fund the project with the certificates of obligation. Council Member Smith and Council Member Perry agreed. Council Member Brock felt that if the project were not done soon then there might be more expensive repairs to do in the future. city of Denton city Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 14 479 Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the bond sale. 14. Public Safety officer staffing - this suggestion was included in the proposed budget which involving changing a uniformed officer position to a non-uniformed position. Consensus of the Council was.to proceed with the change. 15. Fire Reserve - this program had begun several years ago to prepare for the staffing of a new fire station. The budget proposed to draw down the reserve by $137,000 and was programmed into the budget. Future years would lessen the amount taken from the reserve fund. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with plan. 16. Mowing - additional ~owing would be realized this next year with the addition of Loop 288 and South Lakes. There had been a like reduction in the present mowing. If the Council wanted to restore all of the mowing $41,751 would be needed. If the 30 aces of North Lakes were mowed 6 times per year $2,160 would be needed and 3 times per year would require $1,080. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with mowing North Lakes 3 times per year. 17. Library automation - the figures for a new system would include $315,245 for purchase of the system and $63,049 for a lease/purchase of the system. Council Member Chew stated that the amount represented one-third of a cent on the tax rate. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins suggested'waiting until the new building was ready. City Manger Harrell stated that Council could probably wait until the next bond.issue. Staff was receiving complaints and those complaints would probably intensify. Council Member Miller felt that the system could be used for a few more years. Computers were changing so much and technology might change for the better in a few years. Orr stated that the cost was going down slightly which was also encouraging. 480 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 15 Consensus of the Council was to wait for at least a year before considering 'this item. Council Member Miller stated that he would like to reconsider the pay plan options. Some of the police and fire positions would not receive an increase as they were at the top of the range. He felt that they should not be the exception to the rule and should receive at least a 2% increase. They did not fit in the Mercer program but the command ranks and people in those steps would receive an increase. There were some positions which would not receive an increase. He felt there should be a 2% adjustment for those employees. City Manger Harrell stated that there were some people who were at the top of the range and not eligible for an increase. There were also some people in the police pay plan who had periodic steps and who might not receive an increase this year but would receive on the following year. Council Member Smith felt that there were some employees who were not at the top of the range but rather in between steps on the pay plan and thus would not receive an increase no matter what others received. City Manager Harrell stated that in the police officer rank there were approximately 37 individuals who would not receive an increase. Their pay plan did not allow for an increase this year. Of those 37 individuals, 23 were at the top of the range and the remaining were in the pay plan. Council Member Miller stated that those employees eligible for a step, although it might be next year, would receive more than 2%. The plan took care of those employees. Were there some employees who would not receive an increase at all. City Manager Harrell replied yes. There were 23 police officers and 25 fire fighters who were not eligible for any kind of an increase. Council could give a 2% lump payment to those employees. council Member Miller stated that he would like to do some type of increase for those employees. City Manger Harrell indicated that an across-the-board 2% increase for those Civil Service employees not eligible for command rank increases effective January 1, 1993 would cost approximately $60,000. That money would fund a 2% increase to police and fire employees at the top of the range and not eligible for step increases. Harrell reviewed the step increases available to the City of Denton city Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 16 481 police and fire departments. Council Member Perry stated that those employees would have to deal with health insurance increases as would the other employees. City Manager Harrell replied that that was correct. If a 2.6% increase were given to all City employees beginning January 1, 1993 through April 1, 1993 a 2% lump increase would be a greater increase than the average 2.6% increase. The increase could be given any time during the year and it cost would be the same. Council Member Perry thought that the Civil Service pay plan for fire and police was equivalent to the Mercer plan over the total force. He thought they had built in the same kind of pay increases over the period of time. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins knew that it was not part of the Mercer program but thought it was taken care of in the civil Service. program. Council Member Perry felt it was not equitable between the two systems. city Manger Harrell stated that there were three different ways to deal with this suggestion. One way was to give everyone who would not receive an increase.including the 14 police and top of range in police and fire a 2% increase which would require $48,161. A second alternative was to deal only with top of range employees which would require $37,536. Alternative three would involve top of range and would increase the top of range step by 2% effective January 1 and would cost $28,152. The down side of that increase was that it would increase future costs as opposed to a lump sum payment. Council Member Miller indicated~tha~ he was in favor of the last alternative to,increase the top of the range by 2% effective January l, 1993% Council Member Chew agreed with alternative three. Council Member Perry asked if this would be equitable with all other employees. City Manger Harrell replied that it was the most equitable discussed so far. Council Member Perry stated that these two groups had special pay plans with special steps and special regulations. Would increasing 482 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 17 the top of the range and alternating the plan give them an advantage over the long run over the average City employee. Council Member Smith asked if there were still some people who would not be at a step level and who would not receive an increase. City Manger Harrell stated that there were 14 police officers who were in between steps and who would not receive an increase. Mayor Castleberry stated that if 2% were added to the top of the range level, all of the levels would get out of synchronization. Council Member Brock stated that the step system was established as a special benefit for Civil Service and granting an increase would interfere with how that worked. Council Member Miller felt that if an increase were given for command ranks and for everyone else, then it would be equitable to. do an increase for those at the top of the range. Council Member Brock asked if it would permanently add another Step. Council Member Miller replied no that it would only increase the top step by 2%. City Manager Harrell stated that the current top step for a fire fighter was $28,518 and the new amount would be $29,088. The police officers top step was $31,773 and the new increase would be'~ $32,408. Miller motioned, Chew seconded to increase the top step for Civil Service for police and fire by 2% effective January 1, 1993. On roll vote, Brock "nay", Miller "aye", Hopkins "nay", Smith "nay", Chew "aye", Perry "nay", and Mayor Castleberry "nay". Motion failed with a 5-2 vote. City Manager Harrell reviewed ~he possibilities for balancing the budget. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins suggested increasing the sales tax an additional 1%. City Manager Harrell suggested allocating the $20,000 of economic development money by keeping $3000-$4000 and put in the City economic development office. Consensus of the Council was to split the amount between the City 483 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 18 and the Chamber so that $10,000 would be used to increase the City's economic development efforts. The Council directed the City Manager to find rest of the $7,334 to balance the budget. Mayor Castleberry stated that this would put the City at the effective tax rate. Council Member Miller stated that he was in favor of the swimming pool project but had a problem when all of the senior police officers and senior fire fighters would not be receiving an increase when everyone else was. The senior people were not receiving an increase due to an inequity in the system. Council Member Smith stated that the increase was not done for everyone. Fourteen people would not receive an increase. Council Member Miller replied that they were in a pay plan scheduled for an increase next year. When an employee reached the top all increases stopped unless Council did something. City Manager Harrell reviewed the utilities sections of the budget. 1. Recycling Currently the household hazardous waste program at $16,500, the paint swap program at $9,575 and the waste minimization and recycling program at $6,000 were included in the budget. There was no city-wide recycling program included in the budget which would cost $1.25 per month per customer. A voluntary recycling program would cost $3.25 per month. Council Member Perry asked if the household hazardous waste and paint swap program applied to residents only. City Manager Harrell replied that the program applied primarily to residents but .that there was no intent to limit commercial participation. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the above three mentioned programs. Council discussed the city-wide recycling program and the voluntary recycling program. Council Member Brock stated that she assumed that the $117,000 needed for the voluntary recycling project was projected on the 48'4 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 19 number of participants. Bill Angelo, Director for Community Services, stated that it was projected on a 20% participation rate or 3000 customers. The voluntary program would cost more than the city-wide program due to the time involved. Council Member Brock asked if there would be a time for people, to sign up for the program and if the 20% figure was not reached, then the program would not be done. Angelo stated that that type of a decision would have to be made ahead of the program. If Council approved the package, a date would be set for signing up and if the participation rate was not received, then evaluate whether or not to do the program. Council'Member Brock asked about the advertising for program. Angelo replied that it probably would cost $2000-3000 for advertising. Council Member Miller stated that Council did not have to decide this issue for this budget as it was not part of the proposed budget. He suggested that it be studied further and Council consider it at a later date. City Manager Harrell reviewed the utility fees recommended by the Public Utilities Board for the 1992-93 budget. Those included a 5% rate reduction in the electric rates, a 6% rate increase in the water rates, a 10% rate increase in the wastewater rates, and a 3.5% rate increase in the sanitation rates. Chew motioned, Smith seconded to follow the recommendations from the Public Utilities Board except for the wastewater rate which should be increased to 15%. On roll vote, Brock "~ye", Miller "aye", Hopkins "aye", Smith "aye", Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry ,,aye,,. Motion carried unanimously. Council Member Miller asked about the possible funding for the Poison center as council had not taken any action on that item. City Manager Harrell stated that there was no money for that purpose. Consensus of the Council was to not provide funding for the Poison Center. council Member Miller stated that some advertising needed to be City of Denton City Council Minutes September 8, 1992 Page 20 done for citizens as to what to do in an emergency situation. Mayor Castleberry asked for a staff report on how this would be handled. With no' further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m. ~ ~N~P~.R~WALT~RS FY SECRETARY iTY OF DENTON, TEXAS ACC000B6 BOB CASTLEBERRY, MAYOR/ CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS/ / 1992-93 BUDGET BALANCING CHART PER COUNCIL DECISIONS ISSUE + - TOTAL County Funding - Library 12,806 <12,806> Utility Sales Tax - repeal 198,165 185,359 Health Insp. Fee Increase 9,140 194,499 Mercer (2.6% in January) 324,849 TMRS 108,500 <21,850> Library Funding 9,430 <31,280> Over 65 EXemption 17,026 <14,254> Pool 46,000 <60,254> Mowing North Lakes 1,080 <61,334> 3 times per year Sales Tax (+1%) 54,000 <7,334> 485 PAGES 486 THROUGH 500 LEFT BLANK PURPOSELY. PAGES 487 THROUGH 500 REMOVED.