ccswks 04-11-1990
188
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
APRIL 11, 1990
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session,
Wednesday, April 11, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the
Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The
following members were present: Mayor Earl W. Sawyer, presiding;
Earl P. Hartzog; Hal Baldwin; Barbara Stanhope; Mary Marsh; and
Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry Sweatt and
Deputy City Secretary Alice Austin.
'1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: Mr. Charles Sharpe advised,
that last November and December, the Guadalupe County Appraisal
District and the County held a couple of seminars to talk about
centralized tax collection. The Appraisal District is currently
in the process of working on their budget, and they are doing
some improvements to their computer system. He advised that the
Appraisal District had not gotten an answer back concerning
whether or not the City of Schertz was considering any
central ized collection system, which might save the taxpayers
some money. He wanted to know if there was anything they needed
to know in preparing their budget. They would appreciate the City
letting them know.
Mayor Sawyer advised that he did not think that the Council had
seriously considered this. Mr. Sharpe advised that the Appraisal
District was not vying for the position of centralized tax
collector, but they were in the middle of budgeting and they were
concerned with what their computer needs might be.
Mr. Baldwin asked if Mr. Sharpe was asking if we are interested
in going on line with the Appraisal District or if we are
interested in the bill ing and collecting. Mr. Sharpe advised
that what he was asking was if the City had any thoughts of
centralized tax collection with the Appraisal District.
Mr. Baldwin advised that he did not remember any discussion after
the first two meetings other than talking about putting in the
equipment to go on line with the County.
Mr. Sweatt advised that purchase was discussed, early in the
fiscal year, of some equipment that would allow us to go on line
with the Appraisal District; but because of the timing, there was
no savings to be realized at the time. The item has been
budgeted as an item for fourth quarter purchase.
I
Mayor Sawyer asked that this item be place on the April 25
Workshop Agenda for further discussion.
'2 Discussion of final reading of an ordinance
conveying .0003 acres of land unto Von Scheele Company.
Mayor Sawyer asked if there were any further questions. There
were none and Mayor Sawyer asked that this item be placed on the
April 17 agenda.
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#3 Discussion of proposals for "Official Notice of
Publication".
Mayor Sawyer advised that there were three bids received; one
from the Herald, one from Zei tung and one from the Light. He
advised that the Recorder did not meet the deadline. He advised
that City Staff recommends the Herald Newspaper group as the
company to publish the official notices for the City of Schertz.
Mr. Sweatt advised that he would like to point out as part of the
discussion, because of the arrangement, if it were the Council's
wishes it would be possible to waive informality in the bidding
process, possibly in the manner in which the proposals were
solicited. He advised, however, that neither he nor the city
attorney recommended doing this. He advised that one of the
positive aspects of this process was to lower what we project to
be our estimated cost based on previous expenditures for
publishing services. He advised that one of the sidelines of the
proposal is the monthl y distribution process of the newsletter
and that he felt this was a very positive opportunity. The Herald
has offered, as a separate charge of $12.50 per thousand, the
monthly distribution of our newsletter, either every month or at
our direction.
Mrs. Marsh advised that she felt the price was very good and had
anticipated that it would be higher for the distribution of the
newsletter.
Mr. Sweatt advised that as part of the bid specifications we
asked for a statement on use of recycled material. We were
advised at least one company said that material is not available.
One of the proposers said that 35% of the material they use is
recycled.
Bill Lindemann, Publisher of the Herald Newspaper, advised that
his response was based on the current vendor that they are using.
Their vendor is Christopher Press which is located on Houston
Street in downtown San Antonio. He advised that Christopher
Press buys all of their newsprint from certain vendors and these
vendors do not have recycled newsprint. He advised that unless
they changed printers and went with some other printer that since
they were only one of several customers, that they could strongly
encourage Christopher Press to pursue the recycled paper. He
advised that he had called her to check.
Mr. Sweatt advised that we believe that it would be appropriate
to designate an alternate daily for those instances in which time
publications absolutely require a very close time frame. In the
award we may be asking for an al ternate for certain emergency
conditions where we have to meet certain publication
requirements.
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Mr. Hartzog asked who Mr. Sweatt was recommending. Mr. Sweatt
advised that at this stage the Seguin paper was currently
providing that service to us on an emergency basis. He advised
that any paper could conceivably perform this service; however,
the Zietung circulation information included in the proposal does
not suggest a large subscription list.
Mayor Sawyer said that what Mr. Sweatt wants is for Council to
allow staff to advertise in another paper when staff deemed it
necessary to publish a notice in an emergency.
Mayor Sawyer requested this item be placed on the Agenda for 04-
17-90.
#4. Discussion of Annual Audit Report for FY 1989-90.
Mayor Sawyer advised that since some of the Council had questions
concerning the audit report at the 04-03-90 meeting that Mr.
Melick and Mr. Armstrong had been asked to come to this meeting
so they could talk about the audit report.
Mr. Sweatt advised, that before Mr. Melick began, he would like
to make a couple of remarks and provide an opportunity to clarify
some specific questions. He advised that the last meeting
afforded an opportunity for a lot of misunderstandings and that,
while there was no argument as to numbers, the use of information
is sometime critical to understanding. He advised that he
believed that in the case of the information presented at the
last meeting there was an opportunity for some grave
misunderstanding. He advised that he had asked Mr. Mel ick to
speak on the numbers presented as to how they relate to
depreciation rather than those that were or iginall y presented.
He also advised that he felt we failed to have an opportunity, as
the audit committee did, to review some of the more positive
aspects as well. He advised that in some instances we may,
perhaps in the budget presentation in the 88-89 numbers, have
failed to recognize some mid-year changes in the budget and
actual reflections may be somewhat different than what the
financial report really was. He advised that Mr. Melick needed
to speak to the entrepreneural accounts before and after
depreciation. He also needs to further clarify the general fund
as being not necessarily in the hole as was indicated but in fact
with a remaining fund balance.
Mr. Melick advised that he agreed with Mr. Sweatt in a number of
instances. He advised that we have a ninety page audit report
and as a result it is easy to interpret things in a variety of
ways. He advised that the report was awesome in bulk if you do
not have the gist of it. He advised that mainly what is in the
report is a collection of balance sheets and income statements
for various parts of the city. He advised that the city's two
main funds are the General Fund and the Water and Sewer Fund. He
advised that on pages 3 and 4 there is a listing of assets for
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the General Fund and that another type of fund was a special
revenue fund which is revenue sharing which is no longer in
effect and the library fund which was transferred into a special
revenue fund this year. The debt service fund holds monies to
retire bond debts the city has that are not reported in the Water
and Sewer Fund. The Capital Projects Fund is were the proceeds
from bonds are retained and used for making significant
improvements. General Fixed assets is that equipment the city
has purchased over the years and still has on hand. He advised
that on page 65 and 66 there was a further rendition of fixed
assets.
He advised that the general long term debt represents the
outstanding bonds that have not been retired. These are general
obligation bonds and do not include revenue bonds.
He advised that in an enterprise fund when you buy something it
is not reflected as a expense, it is reflected as an asset and
that over the years you reflect the wasting away of that asset in
an account called depreciation.
Mr. Melick presented a series of charts for the enterprise funds,
which are Water and Sewer and SAFES. He advised that in the
enterpr ise fund the graph reflects revenue minus expenses (net
income). In 1986 there was a little surplus, in 1987 there was a
deficit, in 1988 there was a surplus of about one hundred and
seventy thousand dollars and that during that year there was
settlement of a law suit which brought revenue into the
enterprise fund of three hundred and twelve thousand dollars. In
1989 there was a minus figure. He advised that this was after a
provision for depreciation.
He advised that the General Fund for those same years reflects a
surpl us of about one hundred thirty thousand in 1986, in 1987
about half that surplus, in 1988 a lesser amount and then in 1989
a deficit. He advised that this was due to some unexpected
increases in expenses.
Mr. Melick advised that if Council would keep a cash reserve to
cover approximatelY six months of expenditures they would have
approximately three hundred thousand dollars as undesignated
cash.
Mr. Hartzog ask about the money transferred from the Library.
Mr. Melick advised that this was shown in a special fund.
Mrs. Marsh said that on page 24 the report stated "Expenditures
may not legally exceed budgeted appropriations at the fund level.
During the year, several supplementary appropriations were
necessary." Mr. Sweatt advised that what this speaks to is the
intra fund transfers that were made. Mr. Melick advised that the
expendi tures in the General Fund should not exceed the total
budget for that fund.
192
Mr. Sweatt advised that as long as the total expenditures for the
General Fund did not exceed the total revenues there was no legal
problem, but if the expenditures exceeded the revenues that would
be a deficit budget.
Mrs. Marsh asked if you run out of money is it legal to borrow
money to cover a deficit. Mr. Sweatt advised that it was. Mr.
Melick advised that this had to be reflected in the budget.
Mrs. Stanhope asked if there were specific areas of
report that she could look at that would give her
overall picture. Mr. Melick advised that cash and
deficits and surpluses were the items she should look
the audit
a better
trends in
at.
Mr. Baldwin advised that they had talked at length in their audit
committee meeting about a better type of report to keep a better
handle on things. He advised they had discussed a quarterl y
update and have it available during the year. One thing we need
to do when we recognize that revenues are going to fall short is
to amend that portion of the budget, and if we feel it necessary
amend the expenditure portion of the budget at the same time. He
advised that it is hard for the manager to operate a budget if
you don't get some direction from Council. He advised that
Council needs to keep a closer eye on the budget.
Mrs. Marsh advised that the quarterly report needed to be more
detailed. Mr. Baldwin advised that if you take the budget and
quarterly report together, you can keep up fairly well.
Mr. Sweatt advised that this month it was our intention to bring
a mid year report and recommended adjustments to Council. This
will give a pretty good idea of where we are going this year. He
advised that this will allow Council to easier identify major
categories.
'5 EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mayor Sawyer called
session at 7:58 pm under Article 6252-17 Vernon's
Statutes, Section 2 (f) to discuss land and
acquisition for FM 3009 widening.
an executive
Texas Civil
right-of-way
Workshop resumed at 8:55 pm.
'6 Consider and take action, if any, on above item '5.
Mrs. Stanhope made the motion that we permit to proceed with
certain acquisitions along 3009 right-of-way. Mrs. Marsh
seconded the motion which carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Hartzog, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
17 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: 1. Clean up campaign going
well. No complaints regarding location. Have had personnel
around the area and the site has remained clean.
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2. Recycling Study Committee had second meeting.
3. Memo dated April 10 regarding nominations for membership in a
certif ied development company. LCRA is creating a non-profit
corporation to work in the areas of economic development
concerns. Mayor advised that it might be well to authorize a
letter to them nominating Mr. Sweatt. Mrs. Marsh asked what this
would cost. Mayor Sawyer advised that this would cost nothing.
4. Mr. Sweatt advised that he had distributed a sample badge.
This seems to be the least expensive. Cost would be
approximately $16.20.
Mrs. Marsh advised that she had a raised logo in mind. Mr.
Sweatt advised that he would get additional prices.
'8. ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Earl Hartzog~~ Had call
concerning street in front of 418 Maple. Mr. Sweatt advised that
this is on the schedule but the weather has not been good.
1?~rbq:r;:~ganhop~: 1. Mrs. Stanhope advised
a Housing Authority meeting and they were
speeders. They have not seen a patrol car.
speeding was worse on Saturday and Sunday.
are UPS and the mailman. They are concerned
killed.
that she had attended
still concerned with
She advised that the
The worst offenders
with someone getting
2. Some of the senior citizens expressed concern over
transportation on Senior Citizen Day. Mr. Baldwin advised that
he was trying to make arrangements for that.
H~~_1?~ldwiD: Advised that Senior Citizen Day was less than three
weeks away, and that donations were needed for prizes. He asked
if Council would each take a number of businesses and contact
them in regards to donations. He advised that he fel t personal
contact worked best.
K e nnE3J;tL__Gl: e ~JLwa lJi_:_ 1 .
9:00 am on Saturday.
Opening Day ceremonies for baseball at
2. Planning and Zoning finished CIP and Council should be
getting a letter for next workshop. He advised that P&Z had done
an outstanding job in spite of Rimrock.
3. He advised that he had received a report from BVYA. Mayor
Sawyer asked if something could be put into the newsletter about
BVYA selling cookies.
9. ITEMS BY MAYOR: 1. Mayor Sawyer advised that he
had attended the VFW meeting on the 9th. They had an election
and Jimmy Gonzales was elected as commander.
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2. Mayor Sawyer advised that he fel t Council had made a wise
decision in appointing Mr. Eloy Esquivel to the Housing Authority
Board. He advised that the Board was actively seeking a
director.
ATTEST:
On a motion made an duly seconded
9:28 pm.
ldc~fof schErt z~exas-
'10 ADJOURNMENT:
the meeting was adjourned at
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Deputy City Secretary, City of Schertz