Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-20 Finance and Safety Minutes 4e y City of Tukwila Finance Safety Committee isoa FINANCE AND SAFETY COADMTEE Meeting Minutes August 20, 2007- 5: 00 p. m. PRESENT Councilmembers: Jim Haggerton, Chair; Joan Hernandez and Dennis Robertson Staff: David Haynes, Mike Villa, Trina Cook, Kevin Fuhrer, Mary Miotke, Rhonda Berry and Kimberly Matej Guests: Chuck Parrish CALL TO ORDER: Committee Chair Haggerton called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. I. PRESENTATIONS No presentations. H. BUSINESS AGENDA A. Resolution Sunnortina Simple Maioritv for Local School Levies Council President Verna Griffin has submitted this resolution for the Committee's consideration, and full Council support if deemed appropriate. A constitutional amendment will be on the November general election ballot for the simple majority approval of school levies. Currently, a supermajority is required. This resolution, if supported by full Council will encourage Tukwila voter's to vote yes on the election ballot, changing approval requirements for local school levies to a simple majority from its current supermajority. Since Tukwila community members utilize several school districts for educational opportunities, the Committee requested one change to the resolution in the last whereas. Tukwila School District should be replaced with local school districts. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO AUGUST 27 COW. B. Proposal for Exnenditures Relative to Police Denartment Seizure Funds Staff is proposing three purchases for the police department with the use of seizure funds. Funding sources are not available for these purchases in the current budget. These expenditures will include the purchase of concealable revolvers, surveillance van modifications and GPS mapping devices totaling approximately $12,500. The Committee feels these purchases are well justified and will be very useful in assisting the police in responding to incidents. Committee members initialed all appropriate purchase orders. INFORMATION ONLY. C. Block Watch Newsletter Inquiries have been made as to what happened to the Block Watch Newsletter that was previously sent to residents. Feedback received appears to suggest that residents found this newsletter useful. Police Chief Haynes briefed the Committee on the formation of a Police Public Relations Committee approximately one year ago. The Public Relations Committee meets monthly. Chief Haynes discussed that one of the decisions of this committee was to discontinue the distribution of the Block Watch Newsletter and focus police reporting efforts in the Hazelnut. Reasons for this decision Finance & Safety Committee Minutes Auaust 20. 2007 - Paae 2 included time, resources and fmancial constraints as well as consolidating useful information into an existing City publication. Additional information regarding reporting methods will be discussed in the business agenda item below. DISCUSSION ONLY. D. Content and Frequency of Police Activity Reports for City Council This item was placed on the agenda at the Committee Chair's request. Recent interactions with community members have resulted in inquiries regarding local police activity. Some Councilmembers are hearing citizens say that they would like to know what is happening in their neighborhood (type of activity/offenses) and if things are improving or getting worse. Committee members discussed that the Finance and Safety Committee, as well as Council, used to receive regular reports on police activity identified on maps representing the neighborhoods throughout the City. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons of reporting crime statistics, police activity and calls for services. Several examples of other jurisdiction's statistical reporting were included in the agenda packet for review. Jim Haggerton stated that he would like to start with basic information being distributed to staff and elected officials. He suggested returning to the reporting that has been utilized in the past with a breakdown of police activity into T Districts. Staff has crime statistics, police activity and calls for service information available. However, in order to identify the information the Committee would like receive on a regular basis, certain factors need to be discussed further. Those include: . In an officer's normal day, what is noteworthy vs. routine activity . Problem identification and addressing such . Static information, not a comprehensive look at data . Unusual City demographics . City image - reality vs. perception . Allocation of City resources Due to meeting time constraints, the Committee was not able reach a conclusion regarding this discussion. Committee Chair Haggerton suggested that the Finance and Safety Committee members discuss this issue further at a future meeting so that they can determine specifically, what they would like to see. Staff was directed wait to hear back from the Committee on this issue before preparing information for future meetings E. Sales Tax Revenue Report Staff discussed the continuing trend of actual sales tax revenues being higher than budgeted projections. The cause of this increase can again, be attributed to new construction activities. It is possible that another increase may be seen in future sales tax revenues due to the upcoming back to school shopping and the approaching holiday shopping season. Staff reminded the Committee that we will continue to be cautious with this increased revenue as much of it is attributed to one time activities. A request was made for staff to incorporate the referenced month on the pie chart entitled City of Tukwila, sales Tax by Type. Councilmember Hernandez stated that she found the recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) distributed by Finance to be a very informative publication. Finance & Safety Committee Minutes Auaust 20, 2007 - Paae 3 F. Second Quarter Reports The Committee did not seek any significant clarifications on the status of program goals as outlined in the Second Quarter Report. ill. ANNOUNCEMENTS No announcements. IV. MISCELLANEOUS Meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m. Next meeting: Tuesday, September 4,2007 - 5:00 p.m. - Conference Room 3. Tuesday meeting is due to Labor Day Holiday on Monday, September 3. ~11 II Committee Chair Approval Minutes by KAM.