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Min 08/18/1994 656 Wichita Falls,Texas Memorial Auditorium Building August 18 , 1994 The City Council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, met in special session on the above date in the Council Room of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 10: 00 o'clock a.m. , with the following members present: Michael Lam - Mayor Leon Mallonee - Councilors Terrance E. Loughry - Angus Thompson - Bill Daniel - Harold Hawkins - James Berzina - City Manager Gregory Humbach - City Attorney Lydia Torres - City Clerk J.W. Martin - Absent Mayor Lam called the meeting to order. Mayor Lam stated that the purpose of this special called meeting is to have a Public Hearing on the 1994-1995 proposed Budget. Budget hearings were held August 16 and 17 where staff presented reports of the budget, their proposals and requests. Mayor declared the Public Hearing open on the 1994-1995 proposed City Budget. William C. Young, 1018 Widows Lane, commended the Council for the budget they had and for cutting the tax rate down a little. He mentioned he had heard something on T.V. last night about Certificates of obligation. He suggested that they go to the bond issue, and if they did he would support it. No one else wished to be heard. Mayor Lam declared the Public Hearing closed. Mayor opened the meeting to the Council for further discussion °rect d previously budget and further lookdirection some otheraff. Staff different had been d issues to be brought up today. Mayor commended the City Manager for a good tight t dthe et and also the employees for the good work they provide o City and the citizens. He stated that he would like to see the rate lowered by one cent. He asked the City Manager for some indications of what would have to be done to reflect the one cent decrease in the rate. City Manager stated that the rate is presently 67. 36 and talking about going to 66. 36, it would be 4/5 of $235,000, which is $188 , 000 . Mayor said that it would be his proposal to decrease the proposed budget by $188,000 leaving the items to be decreased at the City Manager' s discretion. Councilor Thompson agreed with Mayor' s proposal, and he suggested looking at the possibility of decreasing in the fire stations. Staff has done an excellent job of putting this budget together. Councilor Hawkins agreed that the tax reduction should be looked at but he disagreed with decreasing in the fire stations. There is a deficiency there and it needs to be addressed. Also, we will need to make certain that we are able to fund McGrath Creek when federal funds become available. He asked the City 657 Manager to do an audit of his staff, especially the first, second and third lines of management. We are in a position right now where we have an Airport Administrator making more money that the City Clerk. We have some positions that have reached beyond in pay for what their job is. Councilor Mallonee commented that he was happy with the budget the City Manager presented. He said he could go either route, accept the budget as presented or go with the Mayor ' s proposal. However, he would really like to see us leave the $188,000 in there because he felt like we were going to need it. Councilor Mallonee pointed out that he did not want to limit the City Manager by telling him where to decrease the budget. Councilor Thompson clarified that when he mentioned the fire station he did not mean that $150,000 should be taken from there, it could be taken from anywhere. He had mentioned the fire station because that station needed to be relocated and there was nothing we could do with that station except relocate it. The budget is a good budget. Councilor Daniel said we all want to hold down taxes and would like to decrease as much as possible. Instead of talking in terms of dollars we should talk in terms of projects and give Staff guidance. We are not in the business of making profit but we are in the business of making progress and I would not want to take that opportunity from the City Staff or the City of Wichita Falls. Councilor Daniel supported the budget as presented. He said that in future budgets he would like to see more attention paid to individual line items. Councilor Loughry agreed with Mayor Lam' s proposal to decrease the tax rate by one cent. He mentioned that the property managment person could be utilized to to take over the lake lots. Another place we could cut money is health insurance by looking into the County coming in with us. We are also getting top-heavy by giving percentage raises, and by trimming at the bottom. He felt this needed to be looked into. Councilor Martin has asked that in his absence Councilor Hawkins give his comments. Councilor Hawkins stated that Councilor Martin did not want the budget to be reduced at all. He asked that the City Manager look for more money in his budget to go toward the relocation of the fire station and the building of a training facility for the Fire Department and Police Department. Councilor Hawkins commended him for that because this was very necessary. We need to be very conscious if we do cut the one cent off unless we budget and hold the line on the budget and put the $235, 000 in reserve for the new fire station and make it a line item. That is the way I could accept holding the line by having an actual line item. Councilor Thompson agreed with putting that $150,000 in an escrow account. Councilor Thompson said he would like to decrease taxes but there are some needs that have gone unmet for a long time. He commented that it appears the majority wants to leave the budget as it is and do some changing in the management of the staff. He suggested leaving the rate as it is; but look at the staff. Mayor commented that we were not voting today but giving staff requests of things to do. Mayor would like to see what it would take for a one cent reduction. Councilor Hawkins said probably both goals could be accomplished if City Manager could show us where we could do this if we left the rate and then Council could make their decision. Councilor Mallonee wanted to know how much we were talking about based on the 1993 budget and leaving the rate as it is. City Manager replied that if you leave the rate at 67. 36 and when that is cut to 62 .215 we have eliminated $40,000 and that was done not to go over 30. Councilor Mallonee stated that if You put that on the one cent you would reduce it to $233 ,000 or $188, 000 from where it is proposed. 658 City Manager commented that a lot of what Council was suggesting here was already being done and he gave several examples. There were some good comments made here about where to go get the money. The lake lot person is in there because that was the will of the Council after you dealt with Lake Kickapoo, and I think that is an excellent idea. I think at one point I was even told by the Council that they would like that included in the budget. Regarding being top-heavy maybe it would be beneficial for a Council sub-committee to look at what the city pays compared to other local industries pay and what other cities half our size pay. I take very complimentary your comments about the budget which was submitted to you and I think it is one of the very best budgets that has come along in many years. The reason is that there was some potential to address some problems that have been left. The idea of establishing a reserve is something we have done with the fire station relocation and with the signalization. Now I will speak to cutting the taxes. This budget has been gleaned of capital improvements and you have seen the results of this by having to add people. My main argument about not cutting the rate any further is the pay raise, which is the biggest single increase. That is an on-going every year thing, and once you move it to that level that is the level you start at next year. We are able to do it this year because of the growth rate and to take a tax that has been held very flat on the rate by the Council and to now negate it, you would be throwing out the growth that essentially people have done for this community. We are moving to a higher level of operation because of things like adding people and pay raises. The last place I would go to find the money is in the pay raises. We put in there what we thought was saleable and affordable, but it is anchored on the fact that tax rate is producing more money this year and if we take that and basically cut out the growth we really dig a hole for future funding of budgets. I just hate to see us take a growth period that we have waited ten years to enjoy and essentially trash can it because you want to cut the rate. In response to the directive I will show you where you can do it and then you can vote on it later. I ask you to remember that how you vote will not only affect this budget but future budgets. Councilor Loughry suggested that instead of waiting until things need to be repaired, upgradeed, updated, we should make plans and prepare for the future in advance. . City Manager responded that we address situations with a limitation of dollars and with an orderly systematic approach that works. In that process we are going to be open for criticism. He asked Council not to limit those dollars now that they actually have some growth, but to do some of these programs. Councilor Thompson said he understood what Councilor Loughry was saying because over the years the question has been asked on why more was not done with infrastructure. We have been cutting the budget back continuously until we have been backed into the wall. Councilor Daniel stated that unless we address the capital projects as they need to be addressed we will continue to have operational costs. We are justified in spending capital and equipment dollars if we keep the budget where you propose and keep tax rate where it is or drop it a little. But down the road for the next ten or twenty years, you just want to allow us to save operational money and that is true for the fire stations. It is going to cost in capital money but by decreasing fire stations you save dollars in staff and save money down the road. Mayor stated that we are going to have to ask the citizens to pay for a pretty healthy utility increase, and that is going to help pay for a good part of this budget. Let' s not forget that those dollars are going to have to come from a 25% increase in water and sewer rates and that in effect is a tax increase. 659 Mayor directed the City Manager to put the requested information in their boxes and prepare an ordinance with a blank for the adoption of the budget on September 6, 1994. The City Council adjourned at 11: 00 a.m. PASSED AND APPROVED this day of 1994. � l Michael Lam, Mayor ATTEST: IJJ mo /h Wou y a Torres City Clerk