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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-24-12 Fiscal Affairs CommitteeCHUCK ENGELKEN, CHAIR .b JOHN ZEMANEK Councilmember District 2 Councilmember At -Large A Alternate Member 1 DARYL LEONARD Councilmember District 3 JAY MARTIN TOMMY MOSER �xa Councilmember District 5 Alternate Member 2 Councilmember District 4 CITY OF LA PORTE FISCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the City of La Porte Fiscal Affairs Committee to be held on Monday, September 24, 2012, at 5:00 p.m., in the La Porte City Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, regarding the items of business according to the agenda listed below: 1. Call to Order 2. Consider approval of minutes of the July 23, 2012, meeting of the Fiscal Affairs Committee — P. Fogarty 3. Consider approval or other action authorizing the City Manager to assign $1,500,000.00 in the General Fund future health care expenses and assign encumbrances for future expenditures — M. Dolby 4. Consider approval or other action increasing working capital reserves for the Utility Fund from sixty - ninety days (60-90 days) to ninety-one hundred -twenty days (90-120 days) — M. Dolby 5. Consider approval or other action regarding reimbursement to Mayor Rigby for City Manager recruitment expenditure (dinner Rigbys/Alexanders) — Chairman Engelken 6. Set date for next meeting — M. Dolby 7. Administrative Reports — C. Alexander 8. Committee comments regarding matters appearing on agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies — Committee members Engelken, Leonard, Moser, Martin, and Zemanek. 9. Adjourn In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of La Porte will provide for reasonable accommodations for persons attending public meetings. To better serve attendees, request should be received 24 hours prior to the meetings. Please contact Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary, at 281.470.5019. CERTIFICATION I certify that a copy of the September 24, 2012, agenda of items to be considered by the Fiscal Affairs Committee was posted on the City Hall bulletin board on September 18, 2012. Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary I certify that the attached notice and agenda of items was removed by me from the City Hall bulletin board on the day of 12012. Name and Title Page 1 of 1 September 24, 2012, Fiscal Affairs Committee Agenda CHUCK ENGELKEN, CHAIR Councilmember District 2 Committee Member DARYL LEONARD Councilmember District 3 Committee Member TOMMY MOSER Councilmember District 4 Committee Member JOHN ZEMANEK Councilmember At -Large A Alternate Member 1 JAY MARTIN Councilmember District 5 Alternate Member 2 MINUTES OF MEETING OF FISCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE JULY 23, 2012 The Fiscal Affairs Committee met on July 23, 2012, at 5:00 p.m. in the La Porte City Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, to consider the following items of business: 1. Call to Order Chairman Chuck Engelken called the meeting to were Daryl Leonard and Tommy Moser. Also Zemanek, who arrived at 5:10 p.m. order at 5:02 p.m. Committee Members present in attendance was Alternate Member 1, John 2. Consider approval of Minutes of the April 23, 2012, meeting of the Fiscal Affairs Committee — P. Fogarty Committee member Leonard moved to approve the minutes of the April 23, 2012, meeting of the Fiscal Affairs Committee. Committee member Moser seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Chairman Engelken, Committee Members Moser and Leonard Nays: None Absent: None 3. Receive and approval annual review of the Investment Policy — M. Dolby Finance Director Michael Dolby presented the annual Investment Policy and informed there were no changes to the Investment Policy; and no action was required by the Committee members. 4. Receive and review Third Quarter (FY2012) Investment Report — M. Dolby Treasurer Shelley Wolny presented the Third Quarter (FY2012) Investment Report. Committee member Moser asked Treasurer Shelley Wolny to clarify that she indicated the City of La Porte has $60 million invested. Treasurer Shelley Wolny responded yes. 5. Receive and approve the Audit Engagement Letters for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012 — M. Dolby Finance Director Michael Dolby and Auditor Tom Pedersen, of Whitley Penn LLP, presented the Audit Engagement Letters for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012. Page 1 of 3 July 23, 2012 Fiscal Affairs Committee Minutes Alternate Member 1, John Zemanek, arrived at the table at 5:10 p.m Chairman Engelken asked Committee members if there were any areas of the City they wished to have audited for the year. Committee members responded none at this time. Chairman Engelken directed Finance Director Michael Dolby and Auditor Tom Pedersen to perform the standard audit. Alternate Member 1 Zemanek questioned if audits were done on external vendors that collect funds on behalf of the City. Mr. Pedersen responded these areas are typically not tested. Finance Director Michael Dolby advised staff would confirm if an internal audit can be conducted on fees collected by Republic Waste. Chairman Engelken requested Mr. Dolby provide a report of findings to the full City Council. Chairman Engelken requested the report and staff conclusions regarding the remittance of sales taxes for Food Fair. Committee member Leonard moved to approve the Audit Engagement Letters for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012. Committee member Moser seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Chairman Engelken, Committee Members Moser and Leonard Nays: None Absent: None 6. Receive and review months of March, April and May (FY2012) Purchasing Card Expenditures — M. Dolby Finance Director Michael Dolby presented the months of March, April and May (FY2012) Purchasing Card Expenditures. Chairman Engelken advised staff to continue providing the purchasing card expenditures on a quarterly basis. Committee member Moser questioned if there was a possible incentive for business advantages for the local vendors in the City of La Porte. Mr. Dolby advised he would check with the Legal Department and report back. 7. Consider approval or other action regarding reimbursement to Mayor Rigby for City Manager recruitment expenditure (dinner Rigbys/Alexanders) — Chairman Engelken Chairman Engelken commented this item is a request for reimbursement to Mayor Rigby for dinner expenses during the City Manager recruitment phase (dinner: Rigbys/Alexanders). Alternate Member 1, John Zemanek commented there was an ordinance adopted by Council that the city would not pay for Councilmembers' spouse expenses at functions like dinners. Chairman Engelken questioned if the date of the receipt was prior to the employment contract being signed by City Manager Corby Alexander. City Secretary informed the dinner was during the time the contract was being negotiated, and the Alexanders were in town searching for a home. Ms. Fogarty added there is an ordinance in place governing city council travel, which includes language regarding spouse's dinners. Page 2 of 3 July 23, 2012 Fiscal Affairs Committee Minutes Committee members Leonard and Moser to get a legal ruling on whether this is a reimbursable expense in that there is a travel ordinance which might govern. 8. Set date for next meeting — M. Dolby The Committee set October 22, 2012, at 5:00 p.m., as the date and time for the next meeting. 9. Administrative Reports — C. Alexander City Manager Corby Alexander distributed information and discussed the history of sales tax revenues. 10. Committee Comments — Matters appearing on agenda; Recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; Inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policy. Chairman Engelken welcomed City Manager Corby Alexander to his first Fiscal Affairs meeting. 11. Adjourn There being no further business, Chairman Chuck Engelken moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 5:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary Passed and approved on the 24th day of September, 2012. Chairman Chuck Engelken Page 3 of 3 July 23, 2012 Fiscal Affairs Committee Minutes REQUEST FOR FISCAL AFFAIRS AGENDA ITEM Agenda Date Requested: September 24, 2012 Requested By: Michael Dolby, CPA Director of Finance Department: FINANCE Report: Resolution: Ordinance: Exhibits: Exhibits: Amount Budgeted Source of Funds: N/A Account Number: Amount Budgeted: Amount Requested: Budgeted Item: YES NO SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION A resolution regarding GASB 54 was passed by City Council during September 2011. The resolution delegated the authority to assign fund balances for a specific purpose to the City Manager following approval by the Fiscal Affairs Committee. Staff is requesting the fiscal affairs committee to authorize the City Manager to assign $1.5 million dollars in the general fund for future health care expenses. Staff is also requesting the Fiscal Affairs Committee to approve the assignment of encumbrances for specific future expenditures. In accordance with our GASB 54 resolution, the city council will commit funds for current capital projects for: Public works, Parks, Police, Planning, Economic Development, Information Technology, Fire and, Golf Course for water, wastewater, drainage, streets, sidewalks, public facilities, and infrastructure improvements, and public facilities. The approximate amount of the projects is $4 to $11.5 million dollars. Staff will come back to council at a later date with the amounts committed. Action Required by Fiscal Affairs Committee: Consider approval or other action authorizing the City Manger to assign $1.5 in General Fund for future health care expenses and assign encumbrances for future expenditures. Approved for Fiscal Affairs Agenda Corby D. Alexander, City Manager Date REQUEST FOR FISCAL AFFAIRS AGENDA ITEM Agenda Date Requested: September 24, 2012 Requested By Michael Dolby, CPA Director of Finance Department: FINANCE Report: Resolution: Ordinance: Exhibits: Exhibits: Amount Budgeted Source of Funds: N/A Account Number: Amount Budgeted: Amount Requested: Budgeted Item: YES NO SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION During the public hearing for the budget, Council wanted staff to review working capital requirements for the Utility Fund. Currently, the fund's policy is 60-90 days. Staff would like to expand the working capital days to 90-120 days for several reasons. First, the additional working capital requirements will allow the utility fund to build its reserves for future contingencies, capital improvements and increased bond ratings. Second, the Utility Fund relies upon user fees to fund its operations; consequently, increasing reserves will allow the fund to adjust for cash cycles, where higher levels of cash are present during summer months and transfers of cash to the general fund for contributions to overhead and support functions. Furthermore, the utility funds rates have been increased over the last three years and passing along additional rate increases are not favorable. Utility Funds have to consider infrastructure cost and age. The cost to replace older infrastructure, which may have a greater likelihood for repairs, will be higher than normal. Therefore, staff feels that it would be prudent to raise our working capital reserves to insure the utility fund remains self sufficient. Action Required by Fiscal Affairs Committee: Consider approval or other action to increase working capital reserves for the Utility Fund from 60-90 days to 90-120 days. Approved for Fiscal Affairs Agenda Corby D. Alexander, City Manager Date City of La Porte Accounts Payable Check Requisition Vendor #: Due Date 7127/12 Vendor Name: Mayor Louis R. Rigby 604 W. Fairmont Parkway La Porte, Texas 77571 You are re aired to attach recei is with all check re uisitions Description: Reimbursement for City Manager recruitment expenditure (dinner Rigbys/Alexanders). Account # Project # I Invoice # Commodity Date Code Amount $$ 1 00160675102015 1 1 1 1 7/12/12 1 126.23 1 [ I Total Amount Due: $ 1 126.23 1 Remarks: Prepared By : Sharon Harris Date: tevised 8/15/97 Approved By: Date: 7/ 12/ 12 Ayt'n'' 4-- }s►ness E:� ,:eases Fora.. ,._ ,_ WHO Rigbys and Alexanders WHAT 126.23 WHEN 9-Jun-12 WHERE Houston Yacht Club WHY City Manager recruitment expenditure. Additional Information: i dinner Rigbys and Alexanders PT YES, A BUSINESS EXPENSE (I certify that this expense is a legitimate business expense for the City of La Porte, and will not be ;e considered earnings to the employee) :;ted above to be checked, and the Department Director i Please tape Receipt Here WHO Name of Person(s) Present WHAT" Amount and Explanation of Expenditure WHEN Date and Time Name of Restaurant Event Attended Additional Information: !Vote any specific details or explanation to further explain/justify expenditure. Be sure to attach all necessary documentation.