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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-18 Finance and Safety MinutesCity of Tukwila Finance and Safety Committee FINANCE AND SAFETY COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes October 18, 2011— S: 00 p. m.; Conference Room #3 PRESENT Councilmembers: Kathy Hougardy, Chair•, Joan Hernandez and Dennis Robertson Staff: Peggy McCarthy, Jennifer Ferrer, Derek Speck, Mary Miotke, Stephanie Brown, Jack Pace, Mike Villa, Gail Labanara and Kimberly Matej Guests: Ellen Gengler, resident; and Scott Plack, Group Health Cooperative CALL TO ORDER: Chair Hougardy called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m. I. PRESENTATIONS No presentations. II. BUSINESS AGENDA A. Business Licensing and Revenue Generating ReQulatory License Fee Staff is seeking Council approval of the following items relative to Business Licensing and/or the Revenue Generating Regulatory License Fee: Ordinance: Business License Relating to Housekeeping Items Staff is seeking Council approval of an ordinance that will make housekeeping changes to the current Business License ordinance. Last year, the Finance Department assumed the responsibilities of business licensing from the City Clerk's Office. The proposed modifications are summarized below: Change all references from City Clerk designation to Finance Director and/or Department as appropriate. Remove section relative to Trailer Park Establishments as the Code is outdated and no longer needed. Other operational efficiencies including, but not limited to: requiring a UBI number and mirroring sections relative to cabarets for clarity and consistency. Committee Members were in agreement regarding the above proposed changes. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO OCTOBER 24 COW FOR DISCUSSION. Ordinance: Combined Fee Business License Revenue Generating Regulatory Licensing (RGRL) Staff is seeking Council approval of an ordinance that implements a combined business license and RGRL fee of $67 per full -time equivalent (FTE). Per direction and requests given at the September 7, 2011, Finance Safety Committee meeting, staff has conducted public outreach regarding this proposed change including: a presentation at the Chamber, direct mail, utility billing inserts and information made available via the City website. Staff received 11 written comments from the above outlined outreach, with both negative and positive comments regarding the fee combination as well as general comments about the RGRL implementation. Implementation of a combined fee will benefit over 70% of Tukwila businesses which will be paying less than last year's total assessment for the business license and RGRL fees. In addition to assessing this $67 structured fee, which offers ease of application, uniformity and proportionality, staff is proposing the ordinance be amended to specifically exempt court interpreters from Finance Safety Committee Minutes October 18.2011— Paae 2 this combined fee. Court interpreters have been exempt from similar fees in the past and staff recommends continuing this process via an exemption in the ordinance. After the above discussion, Peggy McCarthy, Interim Finance Director, commented that staff has identified some administrative changes that she recommends making to the ordinance that do not affect the substance of the ordinance, but merely simplifies and adds clarity to application and implementation of the Code. Although those changes were not available for Committee review, Committee Members agreed that these non substantive changes could be submitted to the October 24 COW for review and discussion. Committee Chair Hougardy requested that Finance staff include an example of the new Business License/RGRL application form in the upcoming Council agenda packet. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO OCTOBER 24 COW FOR DISCUSSION. Update: Non Profit Status and the RGRL As an information only item, staff returned to Committee for additional discussion of RGRL fee impacts and the exemption of non profit businesses. As the initial requestor of this information, Committee Member Robertson requested that this item be tabled until a time when this exemption represents a significant revenue issue to the City. The item was the removed from additional discussion. INFORMATION ONLY, NO FURTHER DISCUSSION AT THIS TIME. B. Resolution: Cancellation of Past Due Outstanding Warrants Staff is seeking approval of an annual resolution writing -off unredeemed and outstanding items which will be reported to the Washington State Department of Revenue by November 1, 2011. This includes the cancellation of outstanding General Fund Claims and Payroll Checks, Municipal Court Checks and Foster Golf Gift Cards. This year's cancellations total $1,800.90. All cancellations will be remitted to the Washington State Department of Revenue Unclaimed Property Section. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO OCTOBER 24 COW FOR DISCUSSION. C. Resolution: Non Represented Emplovee 2012 Wase and Benefit Package Staff is seeking full Council approval of a resolution regarding Non Represented Employee Wages and Benefits for 2012. Staff and Mayor Haggerton are recommending a 3% increase to non represented positions A, B, C and D61 level employees, a market adjustment for non represented positions D62 -F102, and a benefit reduction of City medical contributions from 10% to 8 After a lengthy discussion, Committee Members requested staff research the information below, provide details and return to a future Finance Safety Committee meeting for additional discussion: Provide, in table format, a summary of all unions, appropriate contracts durations and significant cost compensation issues; Provide, in table format, position/job comparables for other cities and benefit summaries; Provide an example of a monetary figure being passed on to the non represented employee related to the benefit reduction of City medical contributions from 10% to 8 Committee Member Robertson expressed his desire to consider a long -term compensation strategy in which the City reviews and considers all employees city -wide as compared to reviewing represented and non represented groups separately and at different times of the year. RETURN TO COMMITTEE WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. D. Ordinance: Council Compensation The current ordinance setting Council compensation is set to expire on December 31, 2011, and in response staff has prepared a draft ordinance setting the Council compensation schedule through December 15, 2015. Finance Safety Committee Minutes October 18, 2011- Paae 3 Council compensation is currently, and has been $1,050 per month, since 2005. A comparison of compensation for elected councilmembers in other cities (Valley Communication cities) shows that compensation of Tukwila City Councilmembers falls below the current mean of comparable cities by $63.00 annually. Per Tukwila Municipal Code, this stipend may be reviewed and increased, as appropriate, to the level of said (Valley Communications) cities. Staff has prepared a draft ordinance maintaining the current Council commendation level, without increase. Two Committee Members concur with the draft ordinance as submitted. The third Committee Member has expressed the desire to forward this item without recommendation and defer to full Council discussion. FORWARD TO OCTOBER 24 COW FOR DISCUSSION. III. MISCELLANEOUS Meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m. Next meeting: Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:00 p.m. Conference Room #3 q Committee Chair Approval Min s by "M.