2017 08 17 WS Minutes, Special BudgetMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BUDGET WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
AUGUST 17, 2017
The City Council of the City of Baytown Texas met in a Special Budget Work Session on
Thursday August 17, 2017, at 4:30 P M., in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall
2401 Market Street Baytown Texas with the following in attendance
Laura Alvarado
Council Member
Robert Hoskins
Council Member
Charles Johnson
Council Member
David McCartney
Council Member
Chris Presley
Council Member
Terry Sam
Council Member
Stephen DonCarlos Mayor
Rick Davis
City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez
City Attorney
Leticia Brysch
City Clerk
Keith Dougherty
Sergeant at Arms
Mayor DonCarlos convened the August 17, 2017. City Council Special Budget Work Session
with a quorum present at 4:30 P M., all members were present
DISCUSSIONS
Discuss the City of Baytown Fiscal Year 2017 18 Proposed Budget
City Manager Davis presented the agenda item and stated that staff delivered a balance budget
for FY 2017 18 based on the following three (3) objectives (1) the implementation of Council s
goals as found in the Strategic Plan and Implementation Plan (2) to support key marquee
projects and capital projects, and (3) to build the financial solvency of the City He noted that
staff was ready to receive any and all input the Council felt was appropriate regarding the
budget, and would make any changes additions and/or modifications to the budget that Council
felt were needed City Manage Davis further stated that the hope was to bring back this item for
the Council's review and the next meeting on the 24th or the following meeting on the 31st
Additionally City Manager Davis stated that there s one item that will remain pending, which
relates to how to move forward with the hash collection and recycling services
Mayor DonCarlos called for the Council members to begin their comments on the budget
Council Member Presley stated that he does not have any major issues with the budget being
presented however he would like to see in next year's budget that more resources are invested in
the south side of the City He noted that it s important to stay ahead of growth, as it's critical to
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the development of the City He further noted that he's happy to see said planning currently
being done because it was not always done in the past by prior administrations Council Member
Presley stated that he understands the need for infrastructure to the north of the City in order to
deal with the explosive growth in such area but noted that it was important that he advocate for a
bit more of a balanced approach to next year's budget He stated that the citizen surveys were
very important and was very happy with the results of sand surveys because of the investment
seen on Texas Avenue and the Brunson He further noted that the surveys were not an absolute
and there are a number of areas in the older areas of the City, parts of Districts One and Two,
that need attention to its infrastructure such as roads and sidewalks to include beautification of
the medians, landscaping and esplanades Additionally Council Member Presley stated that it s
important to maintain the momentum to all areas of the City, such as expanding the before
mentioned medians throughout Garth Road not lust to the north of the City, but also to the south
end where Garth Road meets Decker Drive which has also seen some development
Mayor DonCarlos stated that in the future he would like to hold a work session dealing with the
specific needs of various districts prior to the beginning of the budget process, in order to ensure
that the needs of the entire City are included at the forefront of the budget process
Council Member McCartney stated that all of the council districts have needs such as those of
District Six that include the mitigation of overflows and road improvements in Bay Oaks
Harbor He stated that he was happy to hear that after his comments at the last budget discussion,
Administration was able to identify monies to deal with some of those roads in Bay Oaks
Harbor He noted that in his opinion, there was a better budget process under former City
Manager Garry Brumback, whereas, he had each Council Member complete and submit a list of
needs/wants for their district which was then prioritized and made a part of the budget process at
the beginning He stated that now Council feels like they're seeing the budget as a completed
product, which makes it difficult for Council to then try to add things on the back end of the
budget process He further noted that he would appreciate having input on what needs to be put
into the budget before it is put together instead of afterwards Additionally, he noted that he
would have liked to see the dredging of the Manna, in order to allow for larger vessels to come
into the area.
Council Member Alvarado noted that she s also ok with the budget being presented however
she too would have liked to see more things trickle down to other areas of the City She noted
that she brings up the need for a master plan for a number of reasons, one of them being how
City Hall looks and how it does not look welcoming to others She further noted that City Hall is
only one (1) area of District One, but there me other areas in this district that also need attention
and have some dire needs. Council Member Alvarado noted that she agreed with the comments
made about recognizing the district's needs and working together to prioritize those needs, in
order to balance out the needs of the City as a whole She stated that she questioned the median
placement around the mall that's currently in the process of being development and noted that
District One is also an entrance to the City that could also benefit from beautiful medians,
landscaping and cleanliness Additionally, she stated that she understood the need for the
medians on the north side and is ok with moving forward with such but also questioned the
timing of said development
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Council Member Presley concurred with Council Member Alvarado and noted that there are
other entrances and corridors throughout the City that need attention, not lust those on the north
side of the City
Council Member Hoskins stated that in the past two (2) budget seasons Council identified a
number of items that were considered important, but yet, have continued to be deferred He
stated that in his opinion it's time to stop deferring such items important to the Council and
direct staff to place these items in the budget and get it done now for example, the placement of
the median on Garth Road on the south end and not on the north side. He noted that the
development to the north will take cue of itself and the City needed to invest in the south side of
the town He further noted that the University of Houston did a survey and identified that the
south side of Baytown by the water was the best area to develop and we need to pay attention to
this area which is not in his district Council Member Hoskins stated that he has a grave concern
with the Police Department facilities and stated that there are some officers that are sitting at
their desks with an umbrella because of the leaky roof He stated that some of these maintenance
issues should already be in a plan to have these things corrected immediately and if monies need
to be added to the budget to get these items corrected then it needs to happen He further noted
that long teen, it s important to replace the police headquarters with something that's nicer
appropriate more functional for the work being conducted and not scattered across the City in
defunct and outdated business purchased years ago. As it relates to the Fire Department, Council
Member Hoskins stated that although the City is doing a good ,lob all wheels should be fully
staffed He stated that his biggest concern relates to the environmental affairs and spills and
further noted that sufficient momes were not being allocated to correct the issues with overflows
as the City is spilling sewage into the bayou, and more can be done to fix this problem
During further discussion, Council Member Hoskins stated that many years ago the City had
water and sewer lines all the way up to people's houses and sometime in the 1960's the City gave
these lines from the headers to the home, to each homeowner He noted that the City gave these
lines to the citizens and now complaining because they're having trouble maintaining them,
which is causing sewer overflows that end up in the bayous He stated that if there s something
that could be done to help these homeowners fix their broken lines it should be done with the
money being added in this budget to make it happen Mayor DonCarlos stated that he asked
Administration to get the Legal Department to create a program and bring back to the Council
within 30-45 days of this meeting with a report of what can legally be accomplished to fix these
private lines Mayor DonCarlos further noted that he would like a program that eliminated
the $25.00 fee associated with these broken lines, as it is not working and also have a plumber
on contract in order for the City to fix these private lines once we get an agreement in place with
the home owners allowing the City to come on their property and correct the problems with their
lines and they then in tum pay the City back in agreed upon installments Additionally, Mayor
DonCarlos stated that the program need to be ready to go so that a significant impact can be
made on the overflow issues and noted that he'd like for this program along with the money to
support it be added to this year's budget
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Council Member McCartney asked if there could be a program similar to a Public Improvement
District (PID), whereas the costs we added to their property taxes similar to what was done in the
past with streets City Attorney, Ignacio Ramirez stated that the City currently has a program to
deal with this type of work through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Council
Member Alvarado further stated that this program is not as robust and has some limitations in
that many of these properties are rental and the agreements cannot be made with the property
owners who are many times not interested in the program
The Council requested to have statistics from the CDAC regarding the use of the CDBG program
and how many properties have taken advantage of the PSLIP program that was started in 2007
specifically, how many letters sent out and how many were repaired and still paying the penalty
Public Works Director, Frank Simoneaux, noted that the issue regarding this program is a legal
one and related to the use of public monies to fix private lines Mr Stmoneaux further noted that
staff is currently looking at other legal options to deal with these lines but are at a standstill as it
relates to fixing these private lines with public monies and stated that the estimated cost to fix the
lines are between $1,500 to $1,800 Additionally, Mr Simoneaux noted that the program limiting
the sale of a property with faulty sewer lines, until such time as they're corrected, is already in
place City Manager Davis noted that staff continues to work with TCEQ regarding a program to
allow for the use of environmental fees to deal with these lines but have no formal answer at this
time, but will look at a way of putting this program together and report back to the Council as
soon as possible Council Member Hoskins stated that staff needed to flunk outside the box and
look at places to find these monies whether it is in the general fund or an increase in the water
and sewer fee, in order to increase the budgeted amount that will get these residential and public
lines corrected now
Council Member Hoskins stated that roads that need improvements need to identified,
specifically an update to the road conditions index report which should be brought back to the
Council for review in order to identify the roads that need to be included in this year's budget He
stated that there are other proposed roads that can either be funded from bonds or general funds
such as Fischer Hill but the items that have been promised to citizens in the past should be
completed first before adding other items during the current workshops, whereas, Council
identify everything outside of what has already been promised
Council Member Hoskins further stated that his last item of concem related to the tax rate in
which he recommended a decrease of the tax rate down to a 80203 in the current budget to
give citizens and City of Baytown partner companies (IDAs) a good faith decrease in their cost
showing that we're good stewards of the tax payer's monies He noted that there was talk of other
types of remedies that would results in a bigger tax relief but his proposal could be done in the
budget right now Council Member McCartney asked how much the proposed decrease would
impact revenue In response to Council Member McCartney's inquiry, Council Member Hoskins
stated that it would be an estimated decrease in revenue of $2.028 million Council Member
Presley stated that the Council discussed lowering the tax rate next year versus the current year
and asked how can the City do more projects this year and at the same time cut the tax rate and
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hence the revenue Council Member Presley further noted that he s in favor of a slight decrease
in the tax rate but felt that it seemed like a conflict at this time Council Member Hoskins stated
that the City had an increase in revenues this yew and could have left the expenses down but
didn't do that and instead increased the spending to match the revenues in which the City did
not have to do that
City Manager Davis noted that in fact the City did have to match the expenditures to the
revenues and when asked to explain further noted that when revenues go up expenditures have
to go up to meet it He clarified that expenditures mean to appropriate monies for different uses
a part of which was the addition of twelve (12) days to the City's operating fund balance and the
addition of personnel to meet the goals set by the Council, in which these items could be scaled
back in order to pay for the types of programs Council wants He further stated that if Council
reduces the tax rate it will then reduce the revenues which will result in the decrease of the
appropriation of monies on the expenditure side He noted that staff would pay for this tax
decrease through the elimination of the additional personnel and the added days to the fund
balance Additionally City Manager Davis noted that if revenues increased by $100 million, the
expenditures would also increase by $100 million in order to balance even though the monies
may not necessarily be spent
Council Members McCartney and Mayor DonCarlos noted that the comments they have received
from their constituents is that they prefer that the City fix the problems that we have first and
then lower the taxes Mayor DonCarlos noted that this is where he believes the State is going
down the wrong road in trimming back City tax rates He noted that homestead exemptions
would be the option in order to have meaningful tax relief, but it cannot be done without the
State's authority to do so Mayor DonCarlos stated that through the homestead exemptions,
homeowner's would be able to receive hundreds of dollars of tax relief instead of $3 a month
He further noted that any reduction in the City's tax rate would be more symbolic because the
average homeowner with a reduction of two (2) cents would get $2136 back per year Mayor
DonCarlos stated that he agreed with Council Member Hoskins that the tax rate is too high and
should be reduced but noted that in his opinion the public understands that the City is becoming
fiscally better with each passing year as the IDAs kick in. He further noted that the consensus of
the Council has been to use the additional monies to completely take care of some projects that
have been in need for a really long time and ultimately raise the quality of life for the citizens
over frankly what is $10.00 worth of tax relief He stated that currently he would like to see the
Council leave the tax rate as it is and reduce the number of days put in reserves into next year's
budget, in order to use that surplus to start gradually reducing the tax while getting some of the
much needed projects completed. Mayor DonCarlos stated that the positive to getting tax relief
in the form of exemption for homeowner s is that it helps out residential in a meaningful way,
without affecting industrial agreement payments Council Member McCartney stated that he s
not concerned about giving industry a break in what they pay with their IDA s being that they
were paying lower than their fair share for decades but is more concerned with helping citizens
Council Member Presley stated that the incremental phase seems to be a more prudent approach
to tax relief
City Manager Davis noted that staff hopes to have the detailed discussion in which Council
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referenced during today's discussion regarding district prionties beginning in November He
noted that these discussions will continue throughout the year as a part of the visioning and
prioritization workshops
Council Member Johnson stated that many of his concerns were already mentioned by other
members of council and noted that he discussed with City Manager Davis the possibility of the
funds for the medians and landscaping to the north of the City being re allocated to for some of
the road improvements needed in the Districts One and Two He also noted that the building of
the new Convention/Hotel Center on Bayland Island will bring lots of attention to this area so
ways to beautify and improve the areas surrounding this space should be made He stated that
he's concerned with the police facility and recommended that the time, monies, effort and right
people be made so that the facilities are repaired now
Assistant City Manager Troller stated that regarding the comments made by Council Member
Johnson related to the Special Operations Unit, the staff has already been removed from the old
substation which is going to need the replacement of the entire roof over to the radio shop He
stated that the three (3) staff members that are a part of Building Facilities along with Chief
Dougherty and himself have been out the substation to see what repairs were needed for such
building He noted that the repairs were not something that could be done in-house, therefore,
would have to be coordinated with roofers to replace the entire roof Assistant City Manager
Troller stated that staff is seeking various options considering the long term use viability, and
timelines in order to make the best decision both short and long teen of the substation
During further discussion Mayor DonCarlos inquired as to where the staff was relocated to
Council Member Hoskins stated that the staff was in a metal building without interact
connection, as well as, a number of things that they typically had in their offices Police Chief
Dougherty stated that the personnel (approximately 14) and equipment were relocated to the
radio shop on Cedar Bayou and they're currently looking at all of the possible options He noted
that they're currently seeking bids for the costs for the substation and when questioned as to why
the EOC building was not selected for relocation he stated that the EOC was occupied
City Manager Davis stated that the City has an architect currently completing an assessment to
consider all long tens viable options for the Police Department facilities and complex, which
will be brought back to the council for further review and direction at a September meeting.
Council Member Sam noted that years ago, himself and at that time Council Member Brandon
Capetillo recommended that the police facility needs be addressed, whereas, the costs has now
increased considerably He noted that Council needs to continue to support the Fire Training
Field and some of the structural problems that have come up with the tower He farther noted
that he wanted to see Public Works and the Parks Departments be given the resources that they
need in order to deal with all of their new events and duties to include mowing street stripping
crosswalks, etc.
City Manager Davis stated that he will provide Council with an update on the fire field at a
future work session. He further stated that staff will bring forth an itemized consensus from
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Council of the discussion in order to implement in this budget proposal and adjustments will be
made per the council's direction Additionally, he noted that he'll provide Council with an update
on the latest polls related to the trash collection and recycling services at a future meeting.
ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the August 17,
2017. City Council Special Budget Work Session at 5:30 P M
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