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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-2001 CITY OF AUBURN FINANCE COMMITTEE November19,2001 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Jeanne Barber called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM in the Council Work Area located in the Mayor's office. Members present included: Chair Jeanne Barber and Member Stacey Brothers. Vice Chair Pete Lewis was excused. Councilmember Rich Wagner arrived at 6:51 PM to serve as the third committee member. Others present during the meeting included: Mayor Charles Booth, Finance Director Shelley Coleman, Human Resources Director Brenda Heineman, Public Works Director Christine Engler, and City Clerk Danielle Daskam. Guests present included Bill Peloza and Rich White (of Boeing). The meeting was tape recorded. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of the November 5, 2001 Finance Committee meeting. Member Brothers moved and Chair Barber seconded to approve the November 5, 2001 Finance Committee minutes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0. B. Correction to October 15, 2001 minutes to reflect correct payroll period: "Payroll check numbers 264892 to 265058 in the amount of $553,703.47 and electronic deposit transmissions in the amount of $739,271.84 for a grand total of $1,292,975.31 for the pay period covering September 1327, 2001 to Soptombor 26 October 10, 2001. Member Brothers moved and Chair Barber seconded to approve the correction to the October 15, 2001 Finance Committee minutes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0. Finance Committee Minutes for November 19, 2001 Page 2 III. CONSENT ITEMS A. Vouchers 1. Claims F4.9.5 Claims check numbers 305618 through 306218 in the amount of $2,979,270.58 and dated November 19, 2001 and wire transfer in the amount of $506,698.81. 2. Payroll F4.9.2 Payroll check numbers 265222 to 265382 in the amount of $506,574.80 and electronic deposit transmissions in the amount of $726,906.57 for a grand total of $1,230,481.37 for the pay period covering November 1, 2001 to November 15, 2001. Member Brothers moved and Chair Barber seconded to approve the consent items. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0. IV. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. Ordinance No. 5602 A4.1.1 An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Auburn, Washington, announcing its intention to award the contract for shod-term disability insurance for Driver, Sales and Warehouse Union Local 117 (Finance Clerical Employees) and unaffiliated city employees, and long-term disability insurance for unaffiliated city employees to the Standard Insurance Company, through Superior Insurance. Human Resources Director Heineman presented Ordinance No. 5602. The ordinance authorizes the City to award the contract for short and long-term disability insurance to the Standard Insurance Company. The contract replaces the provider for short-term disability insurance and provides for a new long-term disability Finance Committee Minutes for November 19, 2001 Page 3 insurance benefit for unaffiliated employees at a net annual cost of approximately $13,000. Member Brothers moved and Chair Barber seconded to recommend City Council adopt Ordinance No. 5602. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0. B. Ordinance No. 5609 A3.11.2.2 An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Auburn, Washington, announcing its intention to include a number of new provisions in the City's deferred compensation plan document, adopted under Ordinance No. 3644, as amended, to be rewritten or amended and approved no later than December 31, 2002. Human Resources Director presented Ordinance No. 5609. The ordinance outlines the City's intent to modify the City's deferred compensation program to comply with changes in the law. Member Brothers moved and Chair Barber seconded to recommend City Council adopt Ordinance No. 5609. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0. V. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. GASB 34 Finance Director Coleman updated the Committee on implementation of GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board) 34 accounting standards. Ms. Coleman presented a memo from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) dated October 2, 2001 regarding GASB 34. According to the AWC memo, GASB 34 sets new reporting requirements for the annual financial report which the City must implement in 2002 for reporting in 2003 to avoid "qualified opinions" or "findings" from the state auditor on the City's annual financial report. Ms. Coleman pointed out that GASB's schedule for implementation is one year later. The state auditor's office is requiring early implementation to coordinate with some larger cities that have already implemented GASB 34. Finance Committee Minutes for November 19, 2001 Page 4 Finance Director Coleman discussed the impact of implementing GASB 34 on the Finance Department. One component of GASB 34 is infrastructure inventory and cost and whether to utilize depreciation or a modified approach. Infrastructure includes streets, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, street lighting, parking lots, sewers, storm drains, and water lines. Infrastructure funded from an enterprise fund has already been capitalized; however, projects, such as streets and parks, funded by the General Fund have not. Mayor Booth suggested creating a position for the purpose of conducting the infrastructure inventory. Public Works Director Engler noted that the 2002 proposed arterial street budget includes funding for an asset management program to ascertain basic streetscape information and identify infrastructure value. Finance Director Coleman agreed that additional help will be needed to implement GASB 34, and suggested it may be more efficient to delay implementation until 2003. The estimated cost to implement the accounting side is $150,000 to $200,000. Cost considerations also need to be given to the infrastructure inventory. (Councilmember Rich Wagner joined the Committee at this time.) In response to a question from Member Wagner, Ms. Coleman advised that early implementation of GASB 34 standards will not affect the City's bond rating. Finance Director Coleman will present new information on GASB 34 implementation as soon as it is available. B. Safety/Risk Manager Human Resources Director Heineman advised that presently the City shares a safety officer position with the City of Puyallup. The City of Puyallup has cancelled the contract with the City of Auburn as they plan to make their safety officer position full time. Ms. Heineman proposed adding a program improvement to the 2002 preliminary budget that would change the City of Auburn safety officer position from a contract expense to a full time position. The position would monitor workers compensation claims and assist with risk management responsibilities. The net cost of the program improvement is $26,800 in 2002. Finance Committee Minutes for November 19, 2001 Page 5 Finance Director Coleman recommended including the program improvement in the 2002 Final Budget document. The Committee concurred. C. Public Defender Contract Human Resources Director Heineman proposed increasing the public defense contract compensation due to a large increase in caseload. The $144,000 fiat compensation rate for 2001 was based on 1,600 cases. The public defense caseload will exceed 2,000 by the end of the year. Director Heineman proposed amending the contract to increase the compensation in 2002 to $159,000. There was no objection from the Committee. VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 7:10 PM. Approved the ..-~){~ day of December, 2001. ~~n~e Barber, Chair Damelie Daskam, City Clerk f:\clerk\finance\fca~2001 fcml 1-19