Minutes September 07, 1993276
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 7, 1993
The Council convened into a Special Call Session at 5:15 p.m. in
the Civil Defense Room.
PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Smith; Council Members
Brock, Chew, Cott, Perry, and Miller.
ABSENT: None
1. The Council held a public hearing and considered a proposed
ordinance annexing and zoning a tract of 23.25 acres located north
of and abutting Ryan Road on Forrestridge Drive. (The Planning and
Zoning Commission recommended approval, 7-0).
The Mayor opened the public hearing.
No one spoke in favor.
No one spoke in opposition.
The Mayor closed the public hearing.
Consensus of the Council was to proceed with an ordinance for
consideration.
2. The Council held a discussion and gave staff direction
regarding the 1993-94 fiscal year budget.
Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, stated that he would present the
various issues identified by Council for a tentative decision on as
many issues as possible. The remaining budget issues needed to be
dealt, with before next Tuesday evening. The beginning budget
balancing was as followed:
1. civic Center - the expenditure column had been budgeted twice
for the Civic Center so a double expenditure figure could be
removed for a positive $16,000.
2. Judge/personal service category - the Council had allocated
funds for a part-time judge to help with a juvenile court which was
not included in the base line budget resulting in a decrease of
$12,500.
3. Collection funds- these were the collection funds which the
tax attorney agreed to pay the City for the delinquent tax program.
As attorneys were changed, the revenue would come in but also go
back out for new equipment for the tax office.
4. Ambulance funding for small cities - $13,500 would be added
due to the increase in fees.
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5. Planning support service - the proposed budget transferred a
position from the Planning Department to the Solid Waste
Department. The salaries had been transferred but not the support
costs which needed to be transferred from the Planning Department
to the Solid Waste Department. This would remove $3,673 to the
fund balance.
6. County library funding - the funding from the County was
reduced $2400 which was reflected in the decrease.
With all of the above adjustments, the budget process would begin
with a positive $17,773.
Major Budget Issues
1. General fund reserve level - Prior policy of the Council was to
keep 8-10% of the general fund in an unreserved account for
unexpected expenditures which might occur. The proposed budget
took the balance to a projected 10.13%. This would utilize
$527,432 of the reserve to help balance the budget. Options
included allowing the balance to stay at its current level and find
an additional $527,000 in new revenues or additional cuts, use
$527,432 of the balance as a resource to help fund the 1993-94
budget or reduce the fund balance below the 10.13% level and
utilize the additional funds to offset other revenues or fund
additional expenditures.
Consensus of the Council was to defer this item until later in the
meeting.
2. Revenues
A. Property tax - The proposed budget was submitted on an
effective tax rate of $.7490 per $100 valuation. The current rate
was $.7180 per $100 valuation. Options included keeping the
current rate which would require an additional $256,355 for the
general fund, keeping the effective rate or increase the actual
rate over the effective rate and every one cent would add $183,111
for use to balance the budget.
Council Member Cott stated that if the Council wanted to reduce
spending, it needed to reduce the rate as assets went down. He
felt it would be easier to sell the citizens on the increased sales
tax if the property taxes were reduced. He suggested keeping the
rate at the $.7180 level.
Council Member Miller stated that a governmental entity was
different from a private business. The tax base was going down but
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the demand for services was not. He felt that it was necessary to
bring in the same amount of money to provide the services which the
citizens expected.
Mayor Pro Tem smith suggested deferring a decision on this item
until the Council was further into the process.
Consensus of the Council was to defer the item until later in the
meeting.
B. Sales Tax - The proposed budget included a 3% growth in
receipts over the estimate for this current year. Every 1% from
that 3% level would net $62,000 of revenue.
Consensus of Council was to defer the item until later in the
meeting.
C. Ambulance fees - Council had already passed and adopted
an ordinance increasing the ambulance fees.
D. Park and Recreation fees - With the completion of the
North Lakes facilities this year, a major issue of concern was the
lighting and field maintenance costs. The two costs would be
$17,000 per year to light the new fields and $62,000 to maintain
the fields. The proposed budget suggested dividing the costs
between the property tax payers who would pay the $62,000 to
maintain the fields and the users of the facilities who would pay
the $17,000 to light the fields. A $3.50 fee per participant per
activity would be charged through the various athletic programs.
Options included not charging a fee which would require an
additional $17,000 of revenue increases or expenditure reductions,
splitting the additional costs between the taxpayers and the
participants, or charging a fee for both the additional maintenance
and lighting expenses.
Council Member Chew stated that he would like to see the $17,000
put back in the budget and not charge the participants.
Council Member Perry felt that the fee might be too high for some
families, especially if more than one child participated in a
sport. If there were no arrangements for children who might not be
able to pay the charge, he would like to see the money left in the
budget to pay for that item.
Council Member Brock stated that the athletic leagues had fund
raisers all the time. There were individuals who could not pay all
of the expenses and the leagues used their fund raisers for those
fees. The extra fee might be excluding young people who might want
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to play. If some of the children played in more than one sport,
the families would be paying the amount more than once.
Council Member Miller asked if the existing lighted fields were now
paid for by the users.
City Manager Harrell replied no but that the money received would
spread to those fields also.
Council Member Miller felt that taxes should support these
facilities and be part of the parks program. There were enough
fees now that the participants had to pay. He supported the idea
to keep dollars in the general fund for this item.
Council Member Cott stated that uniform coSts were great but he did
not support the cost coming out of the general fund. He supported
a different fee which was a one time fee for the entire season. He
suggested a one time fee of $5 per year per person.
Consensus of the Council was to include the $17,000 in the general
fund and not have it as a park fee.
3. Pay Plan adjustments
A. Salary adjustments - The proposed budget indicated a two
part adjustment to the salary structure. A market adjustment plus
a pay for performance element which would provide for an average
increase for an employee based on performance of 4.64%. This would
not fully implement the Mercer plan but was a good step. There was
also a proposed 4% increase for police and civil service effective
January 1, 1994 with the other increases being effective between
January and April depending on the pay plan for the employee.
Options included full funding of the compensation program which
would require an additional $364,000 for an average increase of
6.44%, delaying the compensation program and providing no increases
with a savings of $603,000 or implementing the range adjustment and
performance based pay increase.
Council Member Miller stated that he supported the recommendation
of a 4.64% increase for the employees. He also supported the idea
of a 4% increase for the fire and police employees who were still
on step increases but proposed for the fire and police employees
who. were at the top of the range a 4.6% increase which was closer
to the average increase of 4.64% which the other employees would be
receiving. In the fire ranks there were 91 employees, 13 who would
receive step increase and 78 at top. In the police ranks there
were 111 individuals, 30 who would receive step increases and 81
who were at the top of the range. He knew it was difficult to
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compare civil service with the other employees as they were in a
different pay plan but he did not feel that should be used to
confuse the two issues. On the Mercer Plan the market rate was the
mid-point for salaries but the market rate for civil service was
the top of the range which was not a fair comparison. The proposed
increase for top of the range civil service would be $22,136 and
coupled with that was the incentive pay plan for $76,000. He
proposed not proceeding with the incentive pay plan for this year
and fund the increase for civil service from those dollars. Until
the basic pay issues were taken care of, something different should
not be started.
Council Member Chew agreed with Council Member Miller regarding the
4.6% increase for top of the range civil service but suggested
deferring a decision on the incentive plus program as such a
program might be needed.
Council Member Brock expressed a concern regarding a raise of this
overall size. There had been raises in the past and she was not
sure that one needed to be as much as was proposed. She noted
that the City of Dallas had not had any increases for several years
and just this year was proposing a modest increase. She suggested
postponing action on the incentive pay plan.
Mayor Castleberry asked Council Member Miller if he were proposing
no merit increases in the Mercer plan.
Council Member Miller stated that he was suggesting an increase as
proposed in the budget of 4.64% with Mercer but also a 4% increase
for step civil service and a 4.6% increase for top of the range
civil service.
City Manager Harrell stated that the City of Denton did not have
any step increases and all increases were based on merit
performance. The City of Dallas still had a step program and for
several years did not have any cost of living increases but still
had step increases.
Council Member Cott stated that two years ago emDloyees were told
that the City was going to correct the pay program which raised
expectations at that point. The City had not gone a great deal
along the lines of what the program was supposed to be. He felt
that the Council needed to implement the staff's recommendation.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith stated that this year the City had l~ss by far
than in prior years. An adjustment was needed in what went out and
what was coming in.
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Chew motioned, Miller seconded to adopt the raises as proposed plus
a 4.6% increase for top of the range civil service employees. On
roll vote, Brock "nay", Cott "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "nay", Chew
"aye", Perry "aye',, and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried
with a 5-2 vote.
B. Incentive plus - Consensus of the Council was to defer
this item until later in the meeting.
4. Benefits adjustments
'A. Health insurance - The'proposed budget projected a 20%
increase in health insurance premiums. Recent negotiations
indicated a proposed increase coupled with shared risk arrangements
of 8.72% which would give a savings of $94,000 to the general fund.
If the Council wanted to be conservative and keep 14% in the budget
for negotiations, there would be $50,000 to apply towards budget
balancing. Either of those two estimates had to be tentative and
were a best estimate of what was going to happen. Until bids were
in or the negotiations finalized, the exact figures would not be
known.
Council Member Perry did not want to take money
program as health benefits were very important
putting the $94,000 back into the health program.
away from the
and suggested
Mayor Pro Tem Smith felt that it would not be wise to count on the
entire $94,000 to help balance the budget.
City Manager Harrell stated that this issue was currently on two
tracks. One track was to continue negotiations with the doctors
and hospitals. If the details were worked out and all involved were
willing to go with the shared risk arrangement, the increase would
be 8.72%. At the same tine, the City would be submitting a bid for
coverage. The bids might be better than the proposed current
increase. On the other hand, the bids might be higher and the
shared riSk arrangement not completed. If the bids were higher
than the 14% decided on by Council, changes to the benefits would
have to be made or the fund balance used to make up difference.
council Member Brock asked if the issue of having
system would be in the bids.
City Manager Harrell stated that the actual benefit package would
not be adjusted. It had been thought that payment for the package
would go up 20% but a more realistic figure was that it would go up
8.7-14%. Coverage for the employees was not being reduced.
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City Manager Harrell replied yes.
Consensus of the Council was to hold 14% for possible usage for the
insurance rates and use $50,000 to help balance the budget.
B. T.M.R.S. Adjustment - This proposal was for a two part
adjustment to the program. The first option was a benefit increase
to go from a 5%, 2-1 match to a 6%, 2-1 match with the employee
picking up an additional 1% cost of the program. The cost for that
option would be $114,335. The second option was an enhancement to
the retirement eligibility requirements and for an employee to buy
back prior military and public service credits. The second option
would cost $34,620 with the total package costing $148,955.
Funding only the contribution increase would give $34,620 to the
general fund and funding only the enhancement program would give
$114,335.
Council Member Miller recommended
recommendation for both options.
supporting the staff
Mayor Pro Tem Smith asked for an explanation of the military credit
and prior service buy back provisions.
Tom Klinck, Director of Human Resources, stated that the military
credit and prior service buy back provisions would have no cost to
the City.
Consensus of the Council was to follow the staff recommendation for
both options.
C. Tuition reimbursement - Currently the reimbursement was
at an 80% level and the recommendation was to go to a 50% level for
the next fiscal year. To restore the level to the 80% would cost
$7,197.
Mayor Castleberry asked for the percentage of employees who stayed
with the City who took advantage of the program.
Klinck re~lied that of the 100 Darticipants over %he las% 2 years,
only 2 or 3 had to pay back the money used as they had left before
the 2 year time frame.
Council Member Brock asked for the number of people using the
program at any given time.
Klinck replied that during the two regular semesters there were
approximately 33-35 individuals. Ten or so employees used the
program in the summer sessions.
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Council Member Miller supported increasing the rate to the 80%
level. There were restrictions for the program in place and to
reduce the rate to 50% was not adequate.
Council Members Brock and Chew agreed.
Consensus of the Council was to keep the reimbursement rate at the
80% level.
5. Positions - The positions suggested in the proposed budget
fell into three categories: new programs, workload demand
increases; or restructuring. The restructuring positions were due
to a reorganization of departments and had no net cost to
implement. The second category of new programs were those'
positions needed due to new programs being added. To not fund the
new positions would be cause to not do the programs. The third
category involved delayed implementation of needed positions and
were program enhancements. A final position suggested a new
recreation specialist position at the MLK Recreation Center which
would cost $30,144 which was not included in the proposed budget.
Mayor Castleberry asked if there might be a restructuring of a
bilingual individual from a current employee without adding an
individual.
City Manager Harrell stated that there was an individual at the
director level. There was no one at this level to transfer into
that position.. The job level of the individual would depend on
what that person would be doing. If the individual would only be
supplementing staff at the center, the position could be a building
attendant position. If the individual were to do recreation
activities, a recreation specialist would be required. Both needs
could be met with a recreation specialist.
Mayor Castleberry asked what was done at Denia.
City Manager Harrell replied that the director was bilingual at
Denia.
Council Member Perry felt that the volume of users at the MLK
Center called for a specialist for the Center.
Consensus of the Council was include the recreation specialist
position in the budget.
Council considered the other proposed positions:
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A. Warrant Clerk - Harrell stated that this position would be at
no cost to the City. The Finance Department would be eliminating
funds in its temporary and overtime budgets to accommodate the
position. Currently the position was handled on a temporary basis
which was not cost effective with much retraining of duties
required each time a new individual was hired.
Consensus of the Council was to include the position in the budget.
B. Library Clerk II and Library Page - Harrell stated that these
positions were proposed by the Library Director in conjunction with
her reorganization. The Librarian III position would be eliminated
and two Library Clerks II and a LibrarY Page would be added. The
three positions would be a less net cost to the City than the
Librarian III position. This reorganization would provide better
service to the patrons of the Library. There was no additional
cost for these positions and actually would be a savings.
Council Member Cott suggested using one position to report to-the
Director which would allow the Director to oversee the new branch
and the computer equipment.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith felt that the arrangement was the proposal of
the Director and she should proceed with that.
Consensus of the Council was to include the positions in the
budget.
C. Receptionist - This position would be in Customer Service and
would be at no net cost to the budget. There would be a reduction
in the temporary/seasonal category to fund this position.
Consensus of the Council was to include this position in the
budget.
D. Public Information Officer - The proposal was to fill this
position with an individual currently in the Utility Department.
The position would work half in the Utility Department and half in
the general fund. General government work would be new releases,
stories, etc. for the media.
Consensus of the Council was to include the position in the budget.
E. Building Maintenance Technician II and Administrative
Assistant I - These positions were related to moving into the
Denton Municipal Complex. The Technician II would begin when the
move was made to the Complex and was only a half year funding. The
additional square footage which would be associated with the new
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Complex required adequate staff for maintenance. The
Administrative I position would assist the Superintendent of
Facilities Management in organizing and monitoring on-going
projects which were essential to move into Denton Municipal
Complex.
Council Member Cott questioned bidding the building maintenance to
a private firm.
City Manager Harrell replied that all contract cleaning was with a
private contractor. This would provide maintenance to the building
during the day. If the Council was not in favor of funding the
positions, then the City should not move into the Denton Municipal
Complex because problems would be created if the move were made and
adequate staffing were not in place.
Consensus of the Council was to include the two positions in the
budget.
F. Light Equipment Operator and Seasonal Groundskeeper - This was
staff required to do maintenance on the new North Lakes fields.
Consensus of the Council was to include the position in the budget.
G. Civilian Jailer - The cost for this position would be $24,060.
Currently there were two jailers overseeing the jail. A long term
goal was to have a jailer on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
With this position there would still be times when there would be
no supervision of the jail.
Consensus of the Council was to include the position in the budget.
H. Building Maintenance Technician II - The maintenance
department was operating with light staff compared to the amount of
work needed and the number of buildings to cover. This would help
increase the current staff to maintain the current buildings. The
position would be filled on April 1, 1994 and next year would be a
full time position.
Consensus of the Council was to include the position in the budget.
I. Secretary - CMO - this position would be made a full-time
position from a three-quarters time position. The cost would be
$5,545 including an upgrade in a computer area.
Consensus of the Council was to include the position in the budget.
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6. Other Agency Contributions - The proposed budget increased the
funding level for the Human Services Agencies by 2.5% which was
consistent with other departments.
Council Member Chew suggested funding as per the Human Services
Committee recommendation which would require an additional $30,995.
Council Member Miller supported that recommendation. These were
leverage dollars which might help provide funding from other
agencies.
Council Member Cott stated that the Council needed to stop spending
and that these agencies did well with what they had.
Council Member Perry stated that he supported Council Member Chew's
position. Money was coming into the system for these purposes and
the City needed maximize that as much as possible.
Mayor Castleberry stated that these were not the only agencies in
the City and that there were other agencies providing help to the
citizens. He favored a 2.5% increase but not one as large as
proposed by the Committee.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith agreed with the Mayor.
Council Member Brock stated that the people who spoke at the budget
public hearing were individuals who gave hours of work to these
agencies. There was no dollar amount on the value of the work done
by these agencies.
City Manager Harrell stated that $114,444 represented what was
given to the agencies this year. $117,335 represented a 2.5%
increase which was included in the proposed budget. The amount
recommended by the Human Services Committee was $148,300 which
would require $30,995 to include in this budget.
Council Member Perry asked about Block Grant funds.
City Manager Harrell stated that th~ Block Crant money wa~ $75,000
last year and this year would be $100,000 which was above the
amount proposed for human services.
Chew motioned, Perry seconded to fund the Human Service agencies at
the requested level by the Human Services Committee which would
require $30,995 extra in the budget. On roll vote, Brock "aye",
Cott "nay", Miller "aye", smith "nay", Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and
Mayor Castleberry "nay". Motion carried with a 4-3 vote.
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7. Transportation - SPAN/HandihoP - The recommendation was for
a 2.5% increase which was proposed in the budget. If the funding
were kept at the current level there would be $1,387 to reallocate.
If the Council granted a 2.5% increase, the funding was included in
budget.
Council Member Chew left the meeting with a potential conflict of
interest.
smith motioned, Perry seconded to budget a 2.5% increase. On roll
vote, Brock "aye", Cott "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry
"aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously.
Council Member Chew returned to the meeting.
8. Tax Exemption for persons over 65 - The recommendation was to
increase the exemption by $1,000 to $21,000. options were to leave
the exemption at its current amount which would provide $18,302 for
the fund balance, increase the exemption to the $25,000 level
immediately which would necessitate finding $73,208 for the budget
or raise the exemption $1,000 to the $21,000 level.
Council Member Cott stated that he had received comments from
individuals with children who resent this favoritism to the
elderly.
Council Member Brock stated that she would oppose raising the
amount at this time as it should be based on a need. At one point
it was assumed that older individuals needed such assistance. She
felt that it was hard to ask young families to take up the slack
when deductions were given just for being elderly.
Council Member Miller stated that if Council decided to not grant
the exemption, then it needed to look at the whole program. The
original amount was $16,000 and a prior Council decided to raise it
to $25,000. Did Council wantto do away with the whole exemption.
council Member Brock stated this was a different Council from one
which started the program and felt that the exemption should not go
up this year.
Mayor Castleberry stated that many of the individuals who would
benefit from this exemption needed such due to their limited
incomes. There were many individuals who were only living on
Social Security who owned a home and needed the exemption.
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Council Members Perry and Chew agreed with the Mayor to increase
the exemption.
Council Member Brock asked if $1,000 was added last year.
City Manager Harrell stated that there were four years when $1,000
was added but that it was not added last year.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith stated that she was in favor of keeping the
exemption at its current level. There was nothing magical about
$25,000 and the current level was favorable.
Perry motioned, Chew seconded to increase the exemption by $1,000
to $21,000. On roll vote, Brock "nay", Cott "nay", Miller "aye",
Smith "nay", Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye".
Motion carried with a 4-3 vote.
9. Fire Reserve Fund - Several years ago, a fire reserve fund was
established to help phase in the fiscal impact of opening a new
fire station. Within the 1992-92 budget, a plan was developed to
use the reserve funds. The proposed budget used $137,000 of the
reserve to offset 1993-94 expenditures.
Consensus of the Council was to proceed with staff recommendation.
10. Street Improvements - The proposed budget included a plan to
charge a three percent user fee to the Sanitation Fund as a street
rental charge and allocate it to street maintenance. This would
allow the City to do approximately 37 additional blocks this year
over the programmed amount.
Mayor Castleberry stated that the 3% would come from solid waste
and not from increased fees.
City Manager Harrell replied that it would be related.
Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the staff
recommendation.
11. Legal Assistance - There were two major packages included
within this category. One was funding $28,000 to provide
assistance to the Legal Department regarding employee
relations/civil service matters. The second package for $20,000
was the upcoming consideration of a new zoning ordinance. It was
acknowledged that there were still ~t~p~ to compl~t~ for the zoning
ordinance to get to the point of deciding whether or not the
Council wanted to proceed with the ordinance. By putting $20,000
in the budget, the Council would not be committing to the service.
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If Council decided to proceed with the ordinance, there would be
funds to proceed with the project.
Council Member Cott recommended delaying the zoning ordinance for
a year and use $20,000 for balancing the general fund.
Council Members Perry and Chew agreed.
Council Member Miller felt that the Council should proceed with the
ordinance. There had been a citizens group working for two years
on the project and much input from the development community. If
the Council studied the issue, it still might not proceed with the
project.
Council Member Perry felt that this would almost commit the Council
before consideration of the ordinance.
Council Member Brock felt that it would not commit the Council to
spending the money, only to keeping the option open to have the
funds available to further study the issue.
Mayor Castleberry stated that he was in favor of studying the issue
but was not ready for the $20,000 in the budget. He felt staff
should keep working on the project but not budget for the dollars.
Chew motioned, Cott seconded to remove $20,000 out of the budget
for the zoning ordinance legal assistance and retain the funds for
the employee relations legal assistance.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith asked if continuing to study and work on the
ordinance would require additional legal assistance.
City Attorney Drayovitch stated the Legal Department would have to
move other legal aspects around to accomplish the task.
Council Member Miller stated that the Planning and Zoning
Commission was currently working on the item and it would not take
a year to look at all of the legal aspects.
City Attorney Drayovitch stated that if Council proceeded with the
ordinance, expert advise would be needed on how to frame the
ordinance.
On roll vote, Brock "nay", Cott "aye", Miller "nay", Smith "nay",
Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion
carried with a 4-3 vote.
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12. Court of Record - options and funding requirements - The Court
of Record Committee recommended to implement the Court of Record as
the city moved into the Denton Municipal Complex which would be
approximately May of 1994. At the same time there would be
implemented a day and night court operation set to begin when the
move to the Denton Municipal Complex was completed. As part of the
construction project, it was recommended to build a part of the
shell for a second court room but would not be finished at this
point. If all of those recommendations were done and the increased
revenue and expenditures were added, there would be a negative
funding of $14,960 which would have to be added into the budget.
The only way to balance and have revenue/expenditures offset would
be to not build the shell of the second court room.
Chew moved, Perry seconded to approve Option Three. On roll vote,
Brock "aye", Cott "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Chew "aye",
Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried
unanimously.
13. Library Funding - This was a request of Council with no change
indicated in funding.
14. Poison Control Funding - This was a request from the County
for $10,676 for Poison Control Center funding. It had been implied
that if the City did not contribute any funding, a like amount
might be subtracted from the City's ambulance funding. Last year
the Council determined that the local hospitals plus the 800 number
gave sufficient resources needed for these type of activities. The
County made a contribution to Parkland for their operation.
Council Member Perry asked if this system was working.
John McGrane, Executive Director for Finance, stated in 1995 an
additional amount would be added to phone bills for poison control
so that this would only be a temporary funding.
Consensus of the Council was to not provide funding.
15. Pollce/Pire Communlca%ion ~qulpmen~ - Council had requested
information regarding whether police and fire had enough
communication equipment and the cost to correct any gaps. For the
Fire Department, $38,305 would be needed and in the Police
Department $66,000 would be needed. Any kind of increase would help
meet the needs.
Mayor Castleberry asked if those amounts were included in current
budget.
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City Manager Harrell replied no.
Council Member Miller stated that there were tactical officers
working without hand held equipment and some fire fighting
equipment without current communications. He felt there was a need
for adequate communications for both areas. As he understood, of
the $66,000 for police, $45,000 would provide hand held
communications for each of the 15 tactical officers and of the
$38,000 for fire communications, $25,000 would provide minimal
coverage. There was a need to have public safety grow as the City
grew.
Miller motioned, Chew seconded to include in the budget $45,000 for
police communications and $25,000 for fire communications. On roll
vote, Brock "aye", Cott "nay", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Chew
"aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried
with a 6-1 vote.
Harrell stated that there was one item remaining concerning the
general fund which was in the recycling area. The recycling
coordinator position had implications in the general fund. In an
effort to save general fund dollars when it became apparent that
the Public Utility Board was going to recommend a new recycling
position be created, it was felt that rather than hiring a new
person to do the job, there was an individual in the Planning
Department who had the expertise for the position. That position
would be transferred from Planning to Utilities Solid Waste. The
position would continue to work on Keep Denton Beautiful and would
add the recycling coordinator duties. If Council did not want the
recycling coordinator funded but wanted to keep the position in
Planning for Keep Denton Beautiful, then $47,845 plus $3,500 would
need to be added back into the general fund.
Council Member Chew asked if the recycling coordinator could
perform the same tasks as the Maintenance Worker II.
Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated no that those
were two different positions. One physically gathered the
materials for recycling while the coordinator would increase and
enhance the recycling effort for all programs.
In a related budget topic, Council Member Cott stated that $1
million was not enough for the South Lakes Park in terms of safety.
There were very few lights proposed for the area and no police
patrols. He suggested delaying the acceptance of the grant and
delay the project until it could be done properly.
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September 7, 1993
Page 17
Rich Dlugas, Parks and Recreation Director, stated that the maximum
amount of any grant would be $500,000. The first phase of the park
involved areas which the neighbors indicated were priorities such
as hike/bike trails, lakes, etc. Staff would continue to have the
neighborhood involved and would hire a consultant to assist with
the project.
Mayor Castleberry stated that this was not a budget item for the
next year's budget and could be discussed at a later date.
Council Member Cott insisted that safety be the first issue for the
park.
Utilities Major Issues
1. Electric
Rates - The Public Utilizes Board recommended a 3.2% increase
in rates.
Positions - Three positions would be deleted overall in
electric - two production plant trainees and one metering utility
service worker. The rate increase was primarily driven by TMPA
charges and increases in gas costs.
Council Member Cott stated that the rate increase assumed that the
City would begin to use the current $50 million of reserve. He
suggested not using that reserve for the purpose of keeping rates
lower than they could be. He suggested a larger rate increase and
a lower reduction in the reserve.
Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated that the bond
covenants required each fund to stand on its own. There had been
an underfunding in the wastewater over the last 8-10 years. Most
of the $6 million which the Wastewater Department owed the Electric
Department was due to a failure to raise rates enough to cover
depreciation on the $7-8 million the Federal government gave to
help build the plant. Since the cash was not needed to pay for the
debt service, r~v~nue~ were not rai~ed enough. For 1994 th~r~ would
be no draw on the reserve but would start in 1995 at $1-2 million
per year with some years at the $3-4 million to level the increases
in the 4-6% range until approximately the year 2004 when the rates
would level out.
city Manager Harrell stated that after the budget was completed the
Public Utilities Board adopted philosophy would be brought to
Council to review in detail.
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Page 18
Cott motioned, Chew seconded to include in the budget the proposed
electric rates and positions. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott
"aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye,', Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and
Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously.
2. Water
Rates - A 4% increase was proposed in the budget.
Positions - There would be a net zero position with one part-
time lab assistant being added but deleting a full-time
construction manager position. The rate increase was in
anticipation for the next large payment for Lake Ray Roberts.
Council Member Cott left the meeting.
Brock motioned, Chew seconded to include in the budget the proposed
electric rates and positions. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Miller
"aye", Smith "aye", Chew "aye,', Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry
"aye". Motion carried unanimously.
3. Wastewater
Council Member Cott returned to the meeting.
Rates - The Public Utilities Board recommended to Council a
13% increase which would be approximately a $2.16 per month
increase.
Positions - There were no new positions proposed. One
temporary part-time position had been deleted. The rate increase
was driven by federal requirements for additional wastewater
treatment requirements.
Cott motioned, Chew seconded to include in the budget the proposed
rates. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott "aye", Miller "aye", Smith
"aye", Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye".
Motion carried unanimously.
4. Sanitation
Rates - A $.50 per month increase was proposed for residential
customers with an overall increase of 8% for commercial customers
and a $.50 increase per cubic yard at the landfill. There was a
new program which was proposed to go into effect with the adoption
of the budget which concerned the collection of yard waste. The
Public Utilities Board had recommended that a special Wednesday
pickup for yard waste be instituted and residents would no longer
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 7, 1993
Page 19
be allowed to put yard waste out with regular trash. The first six
bags of waste would not have a charge and any bags above that would
be $.50 per bag. In conjunction, the first cubic yard of brush
would be free and any after that would be $4 per cubic yard. It
was felt that such a program was needed to get trash and yard waste
out of the landfill. The debris would be deposited at the
wastewater treatment plant for future use as mulch. This
essentially was a no cost program as the revenue received would be
used to cover the additional costs to run a route on Wednesday.
Council Member Miller asked if this was a state mandate to ban this
material from the landfill.
Bill Angelo, Director of Community Services, stated that in two
years it would be a state mandate.
Council Member Miller asked for the terms of reduction in the
landfill.
Angelo replied that the State had adopted a goal of 40 % by January
1994 for all wastes in the State of Texas. The current City
program was at 4.2% waste diversion from the landfill and this
program would bring it up an additional 10%.
Council Member Brock stated that several Council Members had
indicated that a high priority was to increase the City's recycling
efforts but she thought that it would be an item which the Council
would be working out over a period of time. There had been no
discussion of whys or wherefors regarding recycling but had been
presented as part of the budget package. Council should be
discussing this in work sessions and have pubic hearings on how to
deal with these issues.
Council Member Cott suggested delaying the issue until the
procedures suggested by Council Member Brock had been completed.
Council Member Chew stated that he was not ready for a proposed
recycling budget.
Council Member Miller felt that there were parts of the program
which the Council might want to continue such as the recycling site
expansion. The City already had a waste oil collection agreement.
He asked if the in-house and office paper recycling was mandated.
Angelo replied that the in-house portion was a state mandate. The
office paper was not a city mandate and was part of the free
service currently provided to the Denton Independent School
District and to several other entities.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 7, 1993
Page 20
Council Member Miller stated that cardboard recycling was not only
beneficial to participants but also to the City as it reduced the
amount of cardboard going into the landfill.
Council Member Cott suggested not budgeting for any of these items
and studying them carefully after the budget process.
Council Member Miller stated that he did not want to drop all of
the items. Some areas were already started and some were extensions
of current services.
Council Member Perry felt that the Council needed time to look at
the issues and consider them in detail.
Council Member Brock stated that part of the City's exclusive
provider arrangement indicated that private companies could still
pick up recycled material which they were doing. She requested
information on whether the City was giving away cardboard which
might be profitable to the City.
Nelson replied that the cardboard companies were suppose to be
picking up just cardboard but were in reality taking out more than
cardboard. The cardboard project would be a break even project and
would require a bailer which would get the materials to market. If
the City had a bailer for the cardboard project, it then could use
it for the plastics project. The city was already doing an oil
recycling project and the recycling facilities had been asked for
several times. The recycling coordinator had been suggested by the
Task Force and the master plan by HDR which stated that a recycling
coordinator was needed to help to market the program.
Mayor Castleberry asked if the maintenance worker II position was
part of the in-house mandate at this time.
Nelson replied that if the position were not filled, the litter
crews would have to continue doing the recycling work.
City Manager Harrell stated that several years ago the City put on
a two person litter crew who worked the entire City and over time,
the amount of time spent on litter cleanup had gone to other items.
The litter crew could continue to work with the recycling projects
but it would cut time off from litter pick up in the community.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith stated that she had strong feelings about the
litter situation in Denton and was in favor of having the
individuals working strictly on the litter situation.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
Septem~e~ 7, 1993
Page 21
Council Member Chew asked if the City maintained the current in-
house program and the current outside programs, would the
maintenance worker II position have to be filled.
Nelson replied yes if the Council wanted the litter crew to
dedicate their full time efforts to litter cleanup.
Angelo stated that currently the City was only collecting white
paper and computer paper from City Hall, the Service Center and the
Data Processing Center. The new State mandate indicated that white
paper had to be collected from all City facilities and cardboard
and aluminum from most facilities. The DISD had asked about the
City collecting cardboard and aluminum from them. The City would
charge for cardboard pickup but was not charging for white paper
pickup.
Council Member Cott asked why the DISD was not charged a fee for
white paper pickup.
Angelo replied that several years ago the City agreed to help the
DISD and did not charge them for the service. When the City
started picking up white paper the market was good and thus did not
charge for the service.
Council Member Cott suggested setting up a rate schedule for pick
up of white paper.
Council Member Miller suggested that the following be included in
the budget: recycling site expansion, cardboard recycling, waste
oil collection additional sites, and in-house recycling and the
maintenance worker II.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith indicated that she was in agreement with
Council Member Miller but would include yard waste/composting for
the landfill savings. She did not have a problem with 6 bags per
week and a $.50 increase. She was also in favor of plastic
recycling and as long as the City had the bailer should consider
that project.
City Manager Harrell stated that if Council funded the recycling
projects except for the recycling coordinator, the plastic
recycling and the cable swap, a decrease could be made in the
amount of rate increase.
Mayor Castleberry stated that there was a recommendation to proceed
with the recycling site expansion, the waste oil collection, yard
waste/composting, cardboard recycling, and maintenance worker II.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 7, 1993
Page 22
Council Member Perry suggested preparing a schedule of charges for
the white paper recycling for other entities.
Brock motioned, Mit~ler seconded to fund the recycling site
expansion program, the waste oil collection program, the yard
waste/composting project, the cardboard recycling project, and the
maintenance worker II position.
Council Member Chew asked if the motion included pursuing the fee
structure for the outside agencies.
Mayor Castleberry responded yes.
On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye",
Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion
carried unanimously.
City Manager Harrell stated that based on the projects which the
Council approved to fund, there would be a 1% reduction off the
commercial rate to 7% and a $.25 increase for the residential rate.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith suggested keeping the residential increase at
$.50 in order to keep a cushion to go through with other projects
the Council so decided.
Miller motioned, Perry seconded to keep the residential increase at
$.50 cents and the commercial rate at 7%. On roll vote, Brock
"aye", Cott "aye", Miller "aye", smith "aye", Chew "nay", Perry
"aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried with a 6-1
vote.
Nelson stated that at a previous meeting staff had shown Council
what the rate structures would be and when an analysis of the
different costs was done, the biggest portion of increases were
necessary in the small dumpster sizes. In order to get the rate
structure balanced, it would be best to keep the 2-3 yard
containers at the present rate and decrease the rate for the larger
containers.
City Manager Harrell reviewed the sanitation positions which were
not connected with recycling. Those positions were a residential
position of a utility technician for billing collection and
analysis; two positions in the commercial division for one driver
and a second supervisor; one position in the disposal division
which was a state mandated landfill supervisor; and the positions
in the recycling division of a heavy equipment operator to run the
brush grinder and one maintenance worker II.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
September 7, 1993
Page 23
Council Member Chew suggested deferring the $75,000 incentive
program to help balance the budget and reduce the fund balance
reserve to 10% from 10.73%
City Manager Harrell stated that if the Council used $37,040 from
the fund balance which would put it at the 10% level, $76,000 from
the incentive program and increased the sales tax by 1% the budget
would be balanced.
After discussion by Council it was decided to set the tax rate at
$.7479 and balance the budget as proposed by the City Manager.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
ACCO014C