2013, 06-18 Workshop MINUTES
SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING
SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL
City Council Chambers
11707 E. Sprague Avenue
Spokane Valley,Washington
June 18,2013 9:30 a.m.
Attendance:
Councilmeinbers Staff
Tom Towey,Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager
Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Dean Grafos, Councilmember Mark Calhoun,Finance Director
Chuck Hafner, Councilmember John Holman, Community Development Dir.
Rod Higgins,Councilmember Eric Guth,Public Works Director
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Rec Director
Ben Wick, Councilmember John Whitehead,Human Resources Manager
Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney
Others in Attendance: Greg Bingaman,IT Specialist
Mike Hoffman,Valley News Herald Raba Nimri,Accountant Budget Analyst
Nina Culver, Spokesman Review Michelle Rasmussen,Administrative Assistant
Bill Bates, Planning Commission Chair Rick VanLeuven,Police Chief
Ron Schmidt,Fire Commissioner Carolbelle Branch,Public Information Officer
Ed Pace Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk
One or two other citizens
Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and welcomed everyone. He explained that this is
an informal gathering to examine the draft budget for 2014; said he hopes to take from this meeting a
philosophy that is sustainable for the future of our city, and said that is sometimes more important than
the budget figures as the philosophy will be the reality in the future.
Workshop Overview
City Manager Jackson gave a brief summary of the process for today's workshop; said the worksheets in
the notebook are draft worksheets as the preliminary budget won't be delivered to Council until
September; he brought attention to the Draft Business Plan, which he explained shows a type of
"snapshot in time"and said the worksheets help guide the Plan;that once the final budget is adopted, staff
goes back to the business plan to make sure it matches; he said this plan is published once a year and after
publication, staff begins working on the next publication. Mr. Jackson explained that each Department
Director will review their individual budget. Mr. Jackson also noted there are supplemental budget
requests under Tab 12,which items are not currently included in the budget but have been requested, and
said staff feels those requests have merit. After discussion of the plan, Mr. Jackson said we'll discuss
capital projects and he noted that the spreadsheets, similar to the TIP (Transportation Improvement Plan),
can be used to track those projects; he said we will also discuss financial objectives at the begirming as
well as at the end of the meeting,wants to look at possible Council goals, and if time permits,we will end
the meeting with a brainstorming session.
Mr. Jackson said that page 9 in the Business Plan contains the program descriptions and shows where we
try to consolidate everything in the Plan, and said this will give Council an idea of functions of the
various departments, adding that each department section also contains an organizational chart which lists
responsibilities, goals and strategies for the year. For example, Mr. Jackson mentioned that the top of
page 66 shows that the department is within their maximum allowable increase of 1% for non-wage
issues; he said that wages, salaries, PERS benefits, and health care are represented in the wages and
salaries, which he explained actually increased more than 1%, but stressed that the non-wages were
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 1 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
capped at a 1% increase. Mr. Jackson pointed out the theoretical reduction of 3, 6, and 9% and of the
possible ramifications of such reductions. He also went over the Fiscal Policies, Objectives, Commitment
and Challenges as noted on pages 6 and 7 of the Business Plan; he said we have to constrain our spending
even in the good years and he stressed that the #1 fiscal policy for financial management to "Maintain
basic service levels with reduced resources" is actually a powerful statement. He spoke of the other
information contained on those two pages, including that we have been and continue to be committed to
minimizing personnel costs/overhead since incorporation; that staff considers the potential future costs
and sometimes contracting is more of a cost over time, and said later today we will discuss bringing in-
house at least one contracted service. Concerning grant opportunities, Mr. Jackson said one of the things
we want to discuss is defining grant requirements and whether we want to have grant requirements before
moving forward, all while keeping in mind sometimes it could take ten years to complete these projects,
but he said they have a way of getting done. Mr, Jackson said we are very proud of the extremely low
debt we have incurred and there might be circumstances in the future, especially concerning solid waste
where we will examine those issues, particularly when it comes to making a determination on whether we
want to own the transfer station; he said we all support the policy of not issuing a debt unless there's a
revenue source for dealing with that debt. Concerning fiscal policy #6, prioritizing spending and
minimizing mid-year additions of projects and appropriations, he said we have been fairly flexible and
had a number of budget amendments; but suggested the focus be on the budget process and strive to look
at the coming year within that process and proceed according; he said the likely best way to handle issues
is, if possible, to put a project off until the subsequent budget cycle. Councilmember Grafos said he
agrees with maintaining service levels, and prioritizing the basic levels of spending, and to make staff and
Council aware that other items would be extra and would need justification. Councilmember Hafner
agreed but added that flexibility is needed as well in those circumstances where we would need to"strike
while the iron is hot." City Manager Jackson said he agreed as we would not want to miss an opportunity
for the sake of following protocol; but that the goal is to work as hard as possible to fit those in the
following budget process. Mayor Towey agreed with the need to keep focused on the service level and to
evaluate projects as they come; Councilmember Higgins and Wick also agreed, with Councilmember
Woodard adding that if there is a loss of revenues, adjustments will have to be made; and Deputy Mayor
Sehimmels added that he also agrees with prioritizing the need,rather than the want.
City Manager Jackson said that we have an extremely sound budget; we have a 50% ending fund balance,
and a $5.4 million service stabilization fund if needed; he said we don't have enough money for every
project, and again stressed that sometimes it just takes time to get the projects done; adding that when the
Finance Committee met, they went over these policies as well. Concerning page 7 of the business plan,
Mr. Jackson said there is an established goal of retaining a minimum general fund ending balance of 50%
of recurring expenditures; and said we don't want that to drop below that figure; and said you can't have
reserves and spend them too. Councilmember Woodard remarked that over the last three years, we only
went into the reserves about one-half million; and that we didn't access them in 2011 or 2012, but did in
2010. Mr. Jackson replied that he would have to research those figures. There was discussion about
defining what the basic services are and of the priorities should a cut become necessary. Mr. Jackson said
that the services we provide are the core level we want to offer our community; and said if we had to
reduce any of the services we are providing now,we'd be cutting into the core level;he said if there was a
drastic downturn, we'd start to look at some of the support services; that in such a scenario, we would
look at the importance of maintaining parks and pools even in an economic downturn; he said we have
dwindled this reserve down over the last few years; and that we are providing those core services as
efficiently and economically as possible; and said the core services are equal and it would be difficult to
cut any of the programs. Mr. Jackson added that we do face challenges; that we are doing a good job of
funding street preservation and can sustain the current level to 2016; but we can also look at other
opportunities to roll some of that funding forward, so the concept would be to extend the program rather
than take away additional funds. REET (real estate excise tax) funds were mentioned and Finance
Director Calhoun said they have peaked at about $2.7 million; they declined in 2011 to about $900,000;
that we now have $1 million budgeted for 2013, and even though that may sound good, that is still about
half of what they were in 2007. Mr. Jackson said we have not heard anything definitive concerning the
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 2 of I I
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
State Legislators and our at-risk shared revenues; he said our budget depends on us receiving full
allocation of liquor revenues from the State, and if they reduce that,we will be changing our budget.
Councilmember Hafner brought up the subject of our law enforcement contract and said we want to make
sure we have money available for a safe city; that without a safe city, parks and roads aren't worth
anything and families won't move into our community; said we need a plan to provide deputies for the
future. City Manager Jackson said this topic will be discussed more later, but said that he has spoken
with the Sheriff and with our Chief, and during 2014 we will devote the vast amount of our analyst time
at looking at those measures and looking for efficiencies; that the cost per officer is approximately
$150,000; our law enforcement and public safety budget is about $24 million and with a property tax of
$11 million, that doesn't even cover half of the cost; that one of the things the #4 financial objective on
page 7 addresses is that the budget is not taking that permitted 1% increase, but he said we could take it
and focus that money on law enforcement, an option to discuss later; that unless things improve
dramatically, it will take additional people to provide that revenue as there is not a lot of general fund
money available to add officers or programs; that it needs to be a multi-year plan; and he said we are
proposing to spend in this budget almost exactly what we project in revenues; and said we will need
$300,000 excess this year to add those officers for next year.
Budget Worksheet Overview
Finance Director Calhoun began by explaining that the formula used in the past few years is used for this
budget as well; he said it is set up with recurring and nonrecurring activities; he said 2014 revenue
projections are based on revenues from the last five years; said he understands the importance of not
being overly optimistic or pessimistic and has tried to be as realistic as possible, and when not certain,
said he takes the more conservative number. Mr. Calhoun also noted the figures do not include taking the
1% property tax increase; and said some of our budget process is dependent upon the State's budget
process, such as liquor excise tax and profits. Finance Director Calhoun also briefly explained some of
the miscellaneous department revenues, investment interest, the fiend balance in general, the street fund,
mentioned the continual decrease of telephone tax which he said is likely due to people moving from land
lines to cell phones; and went over the stormwater fund page,which he said will be explained further by
Public Works Director Guth.
1.Legislative
City Manager Jackson briefed Council on information concerning the Legislative Department, which is
City Council, with the larger sheet showing actual figures for past years as well as hypothetical 3, 6, and
9% reductions; and that the yellow sheet shows the actual breakdown of line items. He explained that the
figures under postage reflects about 1,500 letters a year welcoming new businesses into the City, and said
that travel is up slightly to cover increases in such things as air travel and hotel accommodations.
Councilmember Wick noted the large increase in taxes and benefits and Mr. Calhoun explained that the
biggest cost in payroll and benefits would be the health insurance estimate. In response to further
questions from Councilmember Wick, Mr. Calhoun said that the City pays 100% of the premium for
councilmembers, and in other departments, 40% of the cost is covered by employees. Mr. Jackson added
that the cost also depends if a Councilmember has a single or a family plan; he said other departments are
not including payroll and benefits in the calculations as we know that will increase about 3 to 4%.
2. General Government
Finance Director Calhoun gave a synopsis of the General Government budget, which included mention of
the many nonrecurring items and mentioned the one-time transfer to the new Capital Reserve fund; he
said the recurring expenses are up about 1.73% but the budget overall is down about $7+ million dollars;
said the general fund covers a lot of ground; he spoke of the $150,000 contingency used to finance
professional services with about $85,000 committed so far; mentioned the accounting and auditing figure
of$90,000 which he said is the same amount as past years; and then briefly went over the second sheet
including intergovernmental services, capital outlays, debt service, and interfund payments for service,
which are transfers to such things as risk management or capital projects.
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 3 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
3.Executive and Legislative Support
Mr. Jackson explained that the slight increase in professional services is to account for such things as
legal consulting; and said advertising expenses are the legal notices for meetings, hearings, etc. done
through the clerk's office; he noted printing and binding decreased as a result of not printing as many hard
copy council agenda packets.
At 11:00 a.m.,Mayor Towey called for a ten-minute break;the meeting reconvened at 11:10 a.m.
4. City Attorney/Legal Support
City Attorney Driskell explained his departmental budget figures; said the outside counsel is the largest
expense and they are proposing the same amount as last year; said outside counsel is used for such things
as litigation connected with erotic boutiques, or to assist in the shoreline regulations. He said the 2011
and 2012 amounts were higher since we were operating with one attorney most of that time; said he feels
the figures will be stable next year for most other expenses except the Spokane County MS; said they are
proposing a new program and instead of allocating that to general government, the proposal is to include
this in their line item. He also referenced supplemental budget requests under Tab 12, for $2,500 to help
with the legal marijuana legal issues. Also under Tab 12, Mr.Driskell explained they included $1,500 for
service by publication, and explained that they are having an increase of cases involving the death of a
property owner without a will or other mechanism to transfer the property, and that someone comes in
and lives on the property, and said the most effective way to give notice is notice by publication. Mr.
Driskell said they are also proposing an increase in filing and recording fees in anticipation of the state
legislature increasing the filing fee from$240 to $290.
5. Operations and Administration Services
This department includes the deputy city manager, administrative analysts,the public information officer
and Human Resources; and Mr. Jackson said very little has changed in this budget, and there is one
supplemental item under Tab 12 to account for a wellness grant. Councilmember Hafner asked if Mr.
Jackson is planning on having a deputy city manager and if so is the idea to have someone with economic
development experience. Mr. Jackson responded that he plans to have a deputy city manager.
Concerning economic development, Mr. Jackson said he and Mr. Hohman have been working together
and are proposing to use a senior planner to interface with major economic development partners, and
then begin to grow that program; said the concern is when we hire someone and put them into economic
development, we want to be ready to work with them and let them know what we want to do instead of
having someone hired to tell us what we need; he said that program will be handled through Community
Development, but we are not ready for that yet. Mr. Jackson reminded everyone that is one of the ways
we operate so efficiently; that originally we were going to have someone come in and draft a plan, but
instead have decided not to do that; and said we may have enough focus in a few years as we need to
know how to implement a plan once we have one. Concerning Tab 12, Mr. Jackson explained that about
$40,000 is being requested for doing additional mailers; that he estimated a city-wide mailing costs about
$12,000, and these funds would be used for several mailers; the also noted we are publishing the Hot
Topic newsletter four times a year and desire to do additional advertising other than through the typical
media releases; and said we will come back to the supplemental items to determine what we want to
include.
6.Human Resources
Human Resources Manager Whitehead said that these figures are similar to past years and he briefly gave
the budget highlights; adding that Tab 12 also shows a supplemental request for receiving grant funds for
the Wellness Program, which program saves an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 annually as we are awarded a
2% reduction in premiums for those employees who select the Health First plan. Concerning increase in
health premiums, he said he is researching with AWC (Association of Washington Cities)to help prepare
for that added expense; and Mr. Jackson noted that any adjustment in that regard will not greatly impact
the overall budget.
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 4 of 1
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
7.Finance and Information Technology
Finance Director Calhoun explained that his department includes 10.75 FTE (full time equivalent)
personnel; he noted the"professional services"is the additional help desk assistance brought in,which he
said varies from year to year; he said in 2012 they hired a seasonal person to perform that task. Mr.
Calhoun went over the other items under his department including travel, mileage, and training,which he
explained also includes training for the IT Specialists. As an example, Mr. Calhoun said that last fall one
of the IT Specialists attended a class on hackers. Noted under Tab 12,he explained, is a request to hire an
additional help desk technician at a cost of approximately $65,000 in the first year. Mr. Calhoun
explained that we normally spend $100,000 annually for vendors to provide routine maintenance work for
about 700 hours a year. Mr. Calhoun said they propose to hire a help desk technician to cover the more
routine work which will flee up the IT Specialists for other more technical tasks. Mr. Calhoun explained
that after about the fifth year we would hit the breakeven point, assuming the vendor didn't increase their
costs. He also noted that the two IT specialists are called out throughout the year, but if one person is
unavailable due to absence, the work force drops by 50%. Councilmember Hafner said he likes adding
personnel without adding to the expense.
S. Community Development
On shown on page 1, Community Development Director Holunan said they are proposing an overall
budget increase of 3.92%; said that perhaps in his zeal last year to try to free up as much funds as possible
for street preservation, that there was an actual decrease from 2012 to 2013 of-3.65%. Mr. Hohman
explained that some of the services provided for us by Spokane County were actually split between two
budget items; said they did a three-year analysis of expenditures and with the assistance of Senior
Administrative Analyst Koudelka, a $20,000 shortfall was projected in the GIS services. Mr. Hohman
said he hopes to come forward with a budget amendment to restore some of that. Mr. Hohman also
reviewed budget items such as software licenses such as PALADIN software, which he added is
anticipated to go live August 1. Under Development Engineering, he explained that he moved the
supervision of the engineering tech to the people in the permit center; said he moved the Code
Enforcement Officers last year into the Planning Division, but didn't increase the fuel; and said the
Building Division budget decreased as other items moved to other divisions. Mr. Hohman said the new
structure works well and he would like to maintain that for the ongoing future, but continue to fine-tune
where needed. Mr. Hohman noted the one change not reflected is the designation of a senior planner to
move into the Economic Development realm; and said once the Shoreline Master Plan gets completed,
Senior Planner Mike Basinger will move into Economic Development, Mr. Holunan said he has no
supplemental requests this year.
The meeting recessed for lunch at noon; and Mayor Towey reconvened the meeting at approximately
12:30 p.m.
9.Public Safety
Spokane Valley Police Department; Police Chief VanLeuven pointed out Addendum B in the Business
Plan concerning public safety services; and said there are a number of changes in the first addendum as
shown on page 115. He explained that since 2010 because of the losses agency-wide in the Sheriffs
Office, there are now about sixteen people less; he explained the basic patrol as shown on pages 116-117
and said there is an average of seven to eight people working on a shift; he said about 33% of the property
crimes were not investigated due to lack of staff; but there has been success in property crimes
investigation due to the team and intelligent policing. He said officers pay particular attention to crimes
against people, as well as property and stolen vehicle crimes; and said he and Lt. Lyons have been
working with Mr. Jackson and Mr. KoudeIka in performance reviews. Mr. Koudelka said the first page of
the business plan (115) needs clarification as the Commissioned Officer Worksheet number includes
employees for the entire Sheriffs Office; he said the ten-year history of the number of dedicated officers
in Spokane Valley has remained constant.
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 5 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
Chief VanLeuven said that some of the challenges his department is experiencing this year are being
experienced agency-wide;that at the end of this year about forty deputies agency-wide will be eligible for
retirement and that in the next five years, that number will jump to 91; he said the challenge is when they
hire a new deputy, by the time they do the initial testing, background checks, academy, and training, it
actually takes about a year to get a new hire fully trained;that in the last few years he said they have hired
several lateral-transfers, who are generally older and more experienced than a typical new hire; which
adds to an already ageing department. Chief VanLeuven said that the position requires a lot of physical
activity, and the oldest patrolman is about 65. Chief VanLeuven noted that the sheriff's office is aware
that Mr. Jackson has expressed his desire to try to make sure all our Spokane Valley positions are filled;
he said we have one of the best property crime units with an 85% success rate; and that they also
investigate stolen vehicle thefts while some agencies don't; and he added that Spokane Valley has a high
stolen-to-recovery rate. Chief VanLeuven stated that they have had success in Facebook advertising to
find out who the owners are of the stolen/recovered property. Chief VanLeuven said that the false alarm
policy continues to be effective and the number of registrations increase annually.
Court, Jail and Other Public Safety Contracts: Senior Administrative Analyst Koudelka discussed the
intergovernmental services and noted costs have grown by less than 1% per year; he said they are facing
many potential retirements in 2014 and as noted,the process is lengthy to get officers ready, so there will
be training costs associated with that issue; the said mostly likely we will have some inflationary
escalators apply and have multiple year costs that might come due in 2014, adding that there is some
allowance in the contingency fund for those fluctuations. Another impact, Mr. Koudelka noted, is that
some positions in the business plan, such as category 4 officer, show positions that we don't pay for; and
said the one paid for by grants and seizure funds will be reduced in 2014 so those positions will move
back into the shared category; and said a combination of all that leads to an increase of about 7%, or $1.3
million over the previous year's budget, including the $300,000 contingency. Mr. Koudelka explained
that most allowances are in the law enforcement line item; he said at this point it is unknown how some
issues will end up, such as public defender standards and other items currently in process; he said we try
to be specific to capture what we believe are costs for that particular year, and when we know about
carryover that might result in costs for another year,we try to separate that out to make it less confusing.
There was discussion about overall public safety costs, training for the new hires, cadet salaries, keeping
the same number of officers in Spokane Valley unless Council wishes to make changes; charges per
commissioned officer and what that includes such as uniforms; keeping the retirement issue separate from
the need for more officers; levels of service; mention that we have not cut or added officers; and the link
between level of service and number of officers. City Manager Jackson mentioned as we do before adding
any employee, one looks carefully before adding more personnel; he said this will be addressed in the
2015 budget as he is not fully confident about adding officers now as we need to understand more about
our force and where those officers need to be and if efficiencies can be gained elsewhere. Mr. Jackson
said if Council decides to add officers, we will need more time to review the issue; and said any increase
in officers would be negotiated through the contract; and the Sheriff's Office would have to agree with a
timeframe about when to make those additions. Chief VanLeuven reminded everyone it takes about a
year to get a patrolman on board; and that lateral hires come in quicker but also come in at a higher pay
scale. Mr. Jackson mentioned that the overtime goes into the cost per officer figures. Mr. Koudelka said
that all the cost for commissioned officers goes into the pot and are split up, with some costs dedicated
and some shared, and are split out determined by how much we use those; that overtime is a category
thrown into the pot used to calculate the per officer time; that it is beneficial to us to hold down all the
overtime costs for our City, but sometimes we have to pay officers overtime due to other officers being
absent due to injury or illness.The question arose about the overtime costs and Mr. Jackson said he would
have to research that figure.
Further discussion ensued about retirements, recruiting, lead-time, costs, overall staffing, levels of
service, call load and population, and of the issue of finding eligible recruits to fill positions; and that it
has been ten years since we added first responder deputies. Mr. Koudelka said Chief VanLeuven is
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 6 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
working with some realtors to see what they can do to reduce the call load and take more responsibility,
adding that several cities have done that; he said false alarms are another area that waste resources of our
officers, and that we are conducting an exhaustive analysis of our needs. Chief VanLeuven added that
they are looking at loss prevention techniques for certain locations and are examining ways to have the
best efficiencies concerning how staff is used; and that they hope to bring more information to Council
once that analysis is complete. Mr. Koudelka said staff has been meeting with Lt. Lyons and going
through the data to make sure we have a complete understanding of all the services we receive and the
information about calls and types of calls. Mr. Koudelka said they have made a lot of progress and when
he gets to a point where he feels he has everything he needs, he will meet with Mr. Jackson to get
direction on how and in what timeframe to proceed. Mr. Jackson said on the outside, that would occur
next year, but it doesn't have to be that long and later this year discussions can begin about law
enforcement;he said we need to understand the fundamentals and arrive at a decision pragmatically rather
than politically, and will take a look at this in 2014. Couneiltnember Grafos said he wants this prior to
2014 as it will take more than a year before any action can be taken; that the issue is the timeframe to
make intelligent decisions based on community, and said he would like it brought to council in a timely
manner. Councilmember Woodard said he would like to see a report perhaps this fall from the loss
mitigation officer on some of the projects he's working on and the results; and Chief VanLeuven said he
can provide that; and that it is that officer's dedicated job to empower people through knowledge or safety
tips, on how to reduce people from being victims of crime.
Mr. Koudelka then reviewed the remainder of the information concerning expenses and revenues, and
said that the costs for Geiger have increased significantly with several years of double digit percentage
increases; that this year it was a little more controlled; but we have a large increase in the number of days
we use at the jail; that in 2003 the cost per day was between$50 and$60, and now that daily cost is about
$110; he said there is a settle and adjust provision for most contracts and at the end of every year they
make a projection; he said the process is working better but it still gets complicated. Mr. Koudelka also
noted the repairs to the precinct building and some of those improvements are noted under Tab 12. Mr.
Koudelka said they are also examining the possibility of a JAG grant for this year to further enhance
security at the front desk in that building, to add bullet-proof speaker boxes.
10.Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation Director Stone went through the figures for the six divisions within his department,
and said overall this results in an increase of .5% for 2014. Brown's Park and the idea of volleyball
leagues was mentioned, along with the possibility of future potential for that park; and Mr. Stone said
there was an increase in the public's interest in wanting to know about the facilities and programs, which
cost is reflected under printing and binding. He said Mirabeau Park has other potentials for such things as
a guided walking tour, geology reports, and the idea of having the various features used for educational
lesson plans. Mayor Towey asked about the taxes and benefits going up while other departments have
gone down, and Mr. Calhoun said he will check those figures. Mr. Stone also noted there is the potential
to take the design for the Gateway and make a template for all signage for parks; he noted the recreation
programs recover 100% of their costs; he said we continue to contract with the YMCA to operate the
three swimming pools, and the professional services increased $4,000 from last year; that it will cost
about $35,000 to re-paint the Park Road Pool and they are using new products to hopefully get ten years
of use from the pool painting. Mr. Stone said the Senior Center is fairly self-explanatory as is
CenterPlace; that the janitorial services cost have been the same for the last five years and the contractor
does an extremely cost-effective and efficient job. Concerning advertising, Mr. Stone said they are not
anticipating receiving any LTAC (lodging tax advisory committee) funds, and Mr. Jackson said there is
the possibility of continuing with our past funding levels as it is an existing use, and the legal department
is researching that issue, Mr. Stone noted Tab 12 contains a supplemental budget request for 50 chairs for
CenterPlace; that they take out the 50 worst chairs and replace them and said they would only surplus
chairs that are not repairable. There was also some discussion about gate modification at Brown's Park
and other items for that park including installing between eight and twelve sand volleyball courts,
replacing the restroom, and adding a picnic shelter. The Centennial Trail was briefly mentioned with Mr.
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 7 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
Stone explaining that we are responsible for maintaining about 6.5 miles of the trail, all as according to an
agreement.
At approximately 2:17 p.m., Mayor Towey called for a recess; the meeting reconvened at 2:30 p.m.
11.Public Works
Public Works Director Guth said that he is proposing a 1% increase for 2014; he explained that he has
five divisions in three general funds and he described some of the changes, such as fuel, equipment repair
and maintenance including oil changes, which were handled under different items and are being tracked
individually; and tires and repairs for four+ vehicles. Mr. Guth said under Engineering and Architect,
they have slated $40,000 for a consultant to assist in planning in grant engineering; that they are currently
using Century West; and have $8,000 set aside for contingency for miscellaneous work not anticipated at
this time. Mr. Guth said the software licenses and maintenance are related to supplemental requests
adding one auto cad Iicense; and under conference registrations, he noted a modest increase of$600 due
to the cost of those conferences and training increases. He said the street fund includes traffic engineering
and maintenance and said his staff is performing more in-house activities for smaller projects. There was
also some discussion about wages for 2013 and that contracted drivers are paid as part of the contract.
Mr. Guth said the bridge inspection report is scheduled for this fall and he anticipates spending close to
what was spent in the current year.
Councilmember Wick remarked that the Engineering and Architectural figure dropped about $100,000;
and Mr. Guth explained that he and Mr. Koudelka have been discussing that topic; that there were some
old "understandings" that have since been clarified; and that the street masterplan decreased, as it was
usually budgeted $100,000 to pay for scanning, database, evaluation, and reporting; he said the streets
have been scanned and the policy is now to scan the streets every two years, so that was reduced for 2014,
however, he said those figures will increase again in 2015. Mr. Guth said the winter/snow services were
split with about$70,000 for the Poe Contract, and$70,000 for WSDOT(Washington State Department of
Transportation) for projects on Trent and Pines; and said based on last year's snowfall, he feels this was
an area where they could relax a little; and said he will try this approach for a year and see how that goes.
Mr. Guth also noted one of his goals is to develop a fleet management program, which includes saving
some funds annually for future vehicle replacement. Councilmember Hafner noted it appears there are no
school beacons for this year and Mr. Guth concurred; and said the school zone beacons are in the capital
fund and said we have matching funds for that. Mr. Jackson said that perhaps Mr. Calhoun can research
that, adding that perhaps this would be a nonrecurring activity. Mr. Calhoun said we have not yet applied
for the grant associated with the beacons, but that he will research that issue. Mr. Guth said the
Stormwater Division had mostly modest changes from the previous year; and said he noted an error under
IT support under"other services"as the $1 0,000 needs to be changed to $7500.
Mr. Guth also spoke about the stormwater maintenance funds which includes Poe Contract as well as
landscaping, vactoring and sweeping, plus about a 10% contingency; figures under the shop include
charges for oil changes and miscellaneous repairs which were not previously charged under that category.
Mr. Guth noted the repair and maintenance of the Euclid Facility is split 50/50 with the stormwater fund.
As shown under Tab 12, Mr. Guth said they are requesting a new position, which would be a full time
planning and grants engineer, funded 37.5% from the general fund, and 37.5% from the street fund, and
25% from the stormwater fund; he said we currently try for grants for most of our projects and that we
contract out a great deal of this with Century West, who provides us with an engineer who comes to our
office two days a week and uses our computer, work station, and whom we pay $80,000 a year for that
service. Mr. Guth said that person does an excellent job but many times there are questions or issues
associated with his service that arise during the other three days of the week. Mr. Guth said he feels with
the current workload, a full time position would be beneficial, and the difference in cost would be
minimal; he said he feels we could hire someone for about $100,000 a year to work full time, for five
days a week, compared with the $80,000 we currently pay a year for someone to work two days a week;
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 8 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
he said he does not foresee the grant environment slowing, and there would be plenty for that person to do
in applying for,researching, and managing our grants.
Other issues Mr. Guth addressed included the proposal to add one auto cad license and change the stand-
alone license to a network license for greater flexibility; the proposed purchase of 1.5 pickups as they
currently have three vehicles shared among twelve people; under Tab 12 to include a hawk signal at
Splash Down on Mission Park and to purchase a VMS Trailer. Mr. Guth explained that a VMS trailer is a
variable messaging system; that we currently spend about $15,000 annually on these signs and he
proposed to buy one in 2014 and one in 2015, and said they are safety issues as having a sign saves
having to pay a contractor to provide the signs. Deputy Mayor Schimmels asked if we expect to increase
support staff at the decant facility, and Mr. Guth replied that we do not. City Manager Jackson reminded
everyone that these issues are for discussions as Mr. Calhoun will advise whether we can afford the
desired items.
Discussion included the desire and importance of maintaining our buildings; positive reactions to the
Hawk Signal as well as to the idea of hiring a full time employee for less than the cost of contracting even
though at some point, the employee will cost more than the contract; some voiced the opinion of the
benefits of contracting versus hiring as if the economy were to slow down, we would not want to have to
lay off any employees, while contracts can be negotiated; and mention from Mr. Woodard that he would
still like to have an eventual discussion on the long-range goals for snow plows, and said he'd rather have
more contracts than employee increases.
12. Supplemental Budget Requests
Discussion of the overall budget requests and changes included mention that a full-time grant engineer
costs $20,000 more than a contracted engineer, but the contractor would only work two days compared
with the full-time employee working five days a week; mention that one of the reasons for the high cost
of the police precinct maintenance is due to the concrete floor; Councilmember Hafner stated his concern
with replacing 50 chairs in Parks and Recreation; some questioned the priority of Brown's Park volleyball
courts; it was felt further explanation was needed for the VMS Trailer, and Mr. Guth explained that the
device provides notice to the public about upcoming road closures, cleanings,etc and can be programmed
to use as a traffic device. Concerning the grants engineer position, Councilmember Woodard stated that
he has been anti-grant since he came on the Council and said at some point there won't be money for
grants, or we'll get to the point where we won't like all the stipulations that come with grants. Mr. Guth
added that this individual would do most of their own administrative work so the cost would be just the
salary and benefits for the person. Concerning capital projects, Mr. Jackson said Council will have
another opportunity for discussion when the budget is brought forward, and said it will be important at
that time to discuss other recurring costs, Mr. Calhoun distributed copies of an updated sheet for street
preservation,which he said would be discussed later.
13.Potential Capital Projects
City Manager Jackson said that this includes projects that staff or Council has brought up over the last
few months, such as the Sullivan Bridge or Barker Road Grade Separation; and said these two issues are
placing an immediate demand on the City's cash; and after going over the list, Mr. Jackson asked for
Council comments or concerns. Councilmember Wick asked about the previous idea of partnering with
Liberty Lake for a gateway sign; and Mr. Jackson said funding would be an issue and an option would be
to reduce the fund balance; and Mr. Calhoun also noted the funds might be taken from the general fund
reserves. Councilmember Wick also mentioned the former Ad Hoc Economic Development Committee's
idea of promoting access to the River and improving trailheads. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Hohman both
agreed that as we work through the shoreline program, the public access plan could be discussed further.
Councilmember Woodard asked about park signs, and Mr. Jackson replied that we currently have a 55%
ending fund balance, and we could use some of those funds and reduce the balance slightly. Other
projects discussed included building a city hall and converting our lease payments. Councilmembers
were then asked to place colored dots on the chart on the wall to indicate project priority.
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 9 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
The results of the project chart with Council priorities:
Sullivan Rd West Bridge Replacement—6 votes for#1 priority
Balfour Park Development—no votes
Phase II Appleway Trail(Univ—Evergreen) 2 votes for#2 priority, and 2 votes for #3 priority
Phase III Appleway Trail(Evergreen-Corbin)—no votes
Phase I Appleway Landscaping(Dora-Park)—2 votes for#2 priority
Phase II&III Appleway Landscaping(Park-University)—no votes
Business Route Signage—no votes
Joint Site Design—Balfour Park/Library—no votes
City Hall--1 vote for#1 priority, 2 votes for#2 priority, and 1 vote for#3 priority
Barker Rd BNSC Grade Separation--1 vote for#3 priority
Sewer&Roads at Industrial Property East of Flora—no votes
Transfer Station—1 vote for#2 priority; 2 votes for#3 priority
Access Projects—River—1 vote for#3 priority
Discussion included notice that the Sullivan Road West Bridge Replacement is the obvious top priority;
some of the completed projects were discussed such as the West Gateway project at Thierman and the
Mission Avenue Trailhead and Mr, Jackson said those completed projects can be removed from the list.
It was also mentioned that Council previously decided not to proceed with the quiet zones. Concerning
the prioritized projects listed above, Mr. Jackson said staff will work to put together funding options and
said these will be a work in progress. Recurring general fund expenditures were discussed and Mr.
Jackson said if the desire is to add peace officers in the future, we need to start to build capacity for that
into the general fund; he said we can't spend everything in 2014 and we need to be very careful when it
comes to adding programs and/or services; and said now is the time to start thinking about that and put it
all into perspective as there is a limited capacity in the general fund for recurring expenses. Mr. Calhoun
also briefly mentioned cost of any future bond payments. Mr. Jackson and Calhoun reminded everyone
that these figures are projections and assumptions but we have to have a starting point; with Mr. Jackson
noting we must be very cautious when it comes to recurring expenses and to think very hard about law
enforcement; that we need to manage our general fund very carefully to handle the priorities we already
have; he said staff will continue to refine this and will schedule other meetings concerning the budget,
with the entire budget scheduled to come before Council September 14.
14.Financial Objectives
In the interest of time, this item was not specifically addressed.
BRAINSTORMING:
The following ideas were mentioned and briefly discussed:
1. Solid waste
2. Add 2012 actual to general fund summary
3.Public safety efficiency
4. Economic development—discuss partners--City Role
5. Public Safety--anticipate cost
6. Street preservation—long term fitnding
7. Consider 1%property tax
8. Sustainability
9. Work within our mean
10. Basic services
11. Freshen advertising—public safety—roads
12. Common sense Ievel of service
13.Land(park) acquisition
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 10 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013
General closing comments included Councihnember Grafos expressing his appreciation to Mr. Calhoun
for his work and that he would like to see a column of the 2012 actual expenses in front of the 2013
budget; he said if we added the actual wages and benefits to each department under each heading, we
could see at a glance a more clear entire budget picture. Councilmember Wick said the biggest item is
public safety; adding that we don't want to lose sight of the goals of the Ad Hoc Economic Development
Committee. Councilmember Higgins mentioned the need to be "in front of the curve" when it comes to
public safety due to the anticipated lead-time in adding personnel. Deputy Mayor Schimmels said he
feels Council needs to look at allowed property tax, and if council wants more services, the 1% property
tax might be an option. Mayor Towey stated the feels while all the ideas are good,the most important job
this Council has is to make sure of the sustainability of this City and how we handle services to the
citizens and at what level, and to have a philosophy to make sore our programs are sustainable.
Councilmember Hafner added that the feels sometimes the most difficult thing is to come up with ideas for
our City, and to spend money within our means, to keep the 50% fund balance and continue to provide
basic services; to fund projects that we can afford and maintain; and to advertise the City more often.
Councilmember Woodard said our advertising needs to include specific things unique to Spokane Valley,
such as no parking meters, and reduced crime; and that we have never had a reduction of service. Mr.
Jackson said he is working with MBI on advertising and taking some of their advice on how long these
ads should run; while working on new ads for permitting, public safety and roads, and said it might be
possible to add in the free parking. Councilmember Wick asked about the park master plan and potential
land acquisition. Mr. Stone said the plans to have the Park Master Plan available for Council review in
August or September.
There being no further business,the meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
ATTES . Tomas B.Towey,Mayor
ll /3-41/Wih
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Workshop minutes:June 18,2013 Page 11 of 11
Approved by Council:July 23,2013