2018-09-06 Special Meeting of the La Porte City Council (Amended)

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Councilmember Earp made a motion to remove $380,400 from the project budget and proceed with the north side fence and sidewalk, and reserve the south side for a later date. Councilmember Engelken seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Earp, Kaminski, Zemanek, J. J. Martin, Earp and Engelken Nays: Councilmember Ojeda Absent: Councilmember K. Martin City Manager Corby Alexander recommended not reducing Motor Pool Lease Fees of $236,000, and Council agreed. City Manager Alexander recommended no Public Works Reduction of Force of $974,000. Councilmember Earp withdrew his request, and Council agreed to no Public Works Reduction of Force. City Manager Alexander recommended to not reduce Fleet Maintenance by $159,000. Councilmember Earp withdrew his request, and Council agreed to leave it in there. City Manager Alexander recommended to reduce contingency by $100,000 to $250,000 instead of $350,000. Council agreed. City Manager Alexander advised a new position request of $102,000 was miscoded on the large spreadsheet of the budget, and there is not a request for a new position. He clarified this is not a savings because the money is still in the budget, but this item was simply miscoded on the large spreadsheet provided to Council. Regarding the next item, City Manager Corby Alexander brought up the position of tax assessor/collector. There is $100,000 in the budget to fund this position. He stated it is his understanding that Council still wants this position, and staff will continue efforts to bring this position back in-house. Councilmember Zemanek asked if staff is pleased with the work performed by Goose Creek Consolidated School District. Mr. Alexander responded yes. Councilmember Ojeda stated it would reduce La Porte citizens' confusion if the bill did not say Goose Creek because our citizens think they're paying Goose Creek taxes. City Manager Alexander stated they will work on that. Mayor Rigby asked Council whether there is an objection to removing this position from the budget. There was no Council objection to removing the position from the budget. City Manager Corby Alexander informed Council that there has been an increase of $600,000 over the past three years for Electric Franchise Fees. No further franchise fee increases are anticipated. City Manager Corby Alexander recommended eliminating funding of $430,000.00 for Phase 1 of a Private Fiber Network. Staff will come back to Council next April regarding this issue. Council agreed with the $430,000 reduction (b) Discussion and possible action to propose a Fiscal Year 2018-2019 tax rate for the City of La Porte and establish public hearing dates (if applicable) as required by State law - J. Weeks Assistant City Manager Jason Weeks presented a summary. He stated that this item is being discussed because if Council decides to consider a rate other than the $.71 which the proposed budget was based on, if it goes higher than the effective tax rate, then the Mayor will need to announce the public hearings and the date to adopt, which is in the agenda item background. Page 6 of 9 September 6, 2018 Council Meeting Minutes