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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. 277 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 2 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 278 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 3 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 279 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 4 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 280 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 5 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. 281 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 6 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. 282 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 7 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. 283 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 8 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: 284 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 9 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 285 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 10 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. 286 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 11 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. 287 City of Denton city Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 12 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. 288 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 13 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. 289 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 14 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. 290 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 15 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. 291 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 Page 16 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. 292 City of Denton City Council Minutes 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. 293 City of Denton City Council Minutes September 7, 1993 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 294 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. 295 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. 296 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. 297 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. 298 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