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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 City Council Special Budget Work Session Meeting Minutes August 17 2017 Page 2 of 7 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 City Council Special Budget Work Session Meeting Minutes August 17 2017 Page 3 of 7 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 City Council Special Budget Work Session Meeting Minutes August 17 2017 Page 4 of 7 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 City Council Special Budget Work Session Meeliug Minutes August 17 2017 Page 5 of 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 City Council Special Budget Work Session Meeting Minutes August 17 2017 Page 6 of 7 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 City Council Special Budget Work Session Meeting Minutes August 17 2017 Page 7 of 7 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 0� gYYTOk,N at •°°� ��''a Cid Letic a Brysch City Clerk; City of Baytown