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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations - 08/18/2015 E„NT q� w, OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES August 18, 2015 Committee Members Present: Les Thomas, Chair, Dana Ralph and Bill Boyce. The meeting was called to order by L. Thomas at 4:00 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL. 2. CHANGE TO AGENDA. Item number nine of the agenda was changed to an action item supported by an added memo. 3. APPROVAL OF THE CHECK SUMMARY REPORTS DATED 7/1/2015 THROUGH 7/15/2015 AND 7/16/2015 THROUGH 7/31/2015. D. Ralph moved to approve the check summary report dated 7/1/2015 through 7/15/2015. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. D. Ralph moved to approve the check summary report dated 7/16/2015 through 7/31/2015. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES DATED JULY 21, 2015. B. Boyce moved to approve the Operations Committee minutes dated July 21, 2015. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. S. NEW POSITION FOR THE CITY OF KENT CLASSIFICATION/POSITION LIST. Finance Director Aaron BeMiller asked to convert a Finance Analyst position to a new Accountant position. The new Accountant will work closely with the current Senior Accountant whom is responsible for a significant body of work which includes, but not limited to, the production of the City's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), coordinates the City's year-end process, serves as the liaison with the State Auditor's Office, and interprets and implements new GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board) pronouncements. Mr. BeMiller explained the result of the converted position will be that some duties of the Senior Accountant will be able to be shifted to the new Accountant creating better workflow and fewer bottlenecks especially during year-end and CAFR preparation. Additionally, by working closely with the Senior Accountant, this position will gain complex governmental accounting knowledge and experience necessary for the continuation of services during any vacancy in the Senior Accountant position. There would be no change in total FTE as there is a vacancy that can be used for this position. The overall budget impact will be approximately $6000 per year and is in within the existing budget. Operations Committee Minutes August 18, 2015 Page: 2 D. Ralph moved to authorize the Mayor to create an Accountant position title and add such position to the City's approved classification/position list at the salary range of AF34. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 6. 2008A BOND PROCEEDS. Mr. BeMiller discussed the best course of action moving forward with the remaining bond proceed balance of about $900K available from the bonds sold in the amount of $24M in 2008 to fund a myriad of projects. A decision will be made to reallocate those funds towards either debt service or a capital project. For accounting purposes the Department is recommending that it go towards one project rather than split amongst a variety. Typically, the IRS would like to see the monies go toward another capital project and if used for debt it can only be applied towards the principal portion of debt service. As part of her budget plan, Mayor Cooke is in discussions with department Directors and will present her proposed options to full Council September 29. 7. LID FUND. Mr. BeMiller discussed the City's current accounting practice related to Local Improvement District (LID) Fund projects and bond payments. The City's LID is used to record any special assessments resulting from the formation of an LID for a specific project. When it's time to close a capital project, project expenditures and revenues need to balance in order for the project to be closed and capitalized. In several LID projects, street operating monies were used to balance the revenues with the expenditures. Now that the bonds are paid-off and the City is still collecting LID monies which need to be used for the projects for which they were assessed, it's time to take the available LID project monies and swap them with the street operating monies. The Street Operating monies will be put back in the Street Operating Fund. Finance will include a budget increase for the LID fund in the third quarter supplemental budget adjustment. This increase is necessary for the City to move the Street Operating monies back into the Street Operating Fund. Mayor Cooke will bring this to full Council during the September 29 meeting. S. WASPC ACCREDITATION AND EVIDENCE ROOM. Police Chief Ken Thomas proposed to reallocate funds budgeted for four unfilled part- time positions in the police cadet program to pay for a new full-time position of Evidence Custodian that will assist the police department in better managing the ever increasing demands of evidence, property and crime scene processing. Although the department received a rating of 128 out of a total 130 points, it was found to be out of compliance with the evidence and property processing standards of Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) accreditation assessors. Operations Committee Minutes August 18, 2015 Page: 3 The result of reallocating these funds will be that four part-time police cadet positions would be eliminated. In turn the department will be able to significantly increase the productivity of the Evidence Unit, allowing the department to meet WASPC accreditation standards and deliver a higher level of police service to the community. The budgetary impact of this change is $1,407 in 2015 and $2,337 in 2016. B. Boyce moved to authorize the Mayor to use funds budgeted for four unfilled part- time positions in the police cadet program to cover the cost to hire a new evidence custodian position and add that position to the City's approved classification/position list at the salary range of AF23. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. The meeting was adjourned at 4:27 p.m. by L. Thomas. Jennifer Hays Operations Committee Secretary