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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFollowUp1 Julia Medzegian From:Jamie D. Thomas Sent:Wednesday, January 18, 2017 4:41 PM To:Don Persson; Carol Ann Witschi; Ed Prince; Armondo Pavone; Ryan McIrvin; Randy Corman; Ruth Perez Cc:Jay B Covington; Jan Hawn; Denis Law; Julia Medzegian Subject:Finance Committee Follow Up Attachments:CAG-16-186 Atlas Advertising.pdf; CAG-16-011 BRADLEY BERKLAND HAGEN HERBST.pdf; COW Q&A 10-10-2016.docx Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged Follow up to 1/9/2017 Finance Committee: 1. Almond Bellevue,1,216,Temporary Position Cynthia Volkmann Utility Systems Office Aide Secretary II)Clerical Assistance,Dec 12 16,2016”why does utility systems have a temporary employee?Per Teresa Phelan, Administrative Secretary:The temporary worker is performing similar duties as our vacant Secretary II position, including processing invoices,tracking contracts,finalizing documents,and answering phones.When our full time Secretary II left in October,we were left in an unusual circumstance.We were unable to post the position as a full time Secretary II because it was included in our division’s new program request for staffing changes in the budget.We submitted a new program request to add a Sr.Program Specialist to the Utility Admin Staff at the same time converting this full time Secretary II position to part time.We didn’t want to post the position as a full time position because if the new program request was approved,then the position would be changed to a part time position effective January 3, 2017.And we didn’t want to post it as a part time Secretary II because if the budget request wasn’t approved then we would have a part time Secretary II filling a full time position.”The temporary office aide will continue to help out until the Sr.Program Specialist and Secretary II positions are filled,which will be posted in January. 2. Atlas Advertising,75,000,Marketing consulting services for the Renton Community Marketing Campaign”, specifically what services are being provided by the consultant?The project is broken down into three stages,but the end result is to provide a strategic marketing plan and brand development”.For additional details,please see the attachment CAG 16 186 Atlas Advertising”. 3. BMI,724.50,MUSIC LICENSE FEE SUPPORTING COMMUNITY SERVICES ACTIVITIES NEIGHBORHOOD PICNICS, SCREEN ON THE GREEN,CLEAN UPS AND MISCELLANEOUS CITY EVENTS.”What events does the City use the license for and how is the fee determined?The City actually pays annually to each of the big three”music licensing agencies: Broadcast Music Inc.BMI),SESAC,and American Society of Composers ASCAP).For 2016,the ASCAP fees totaled 670 in 2016 and SESAC fees totaled 1,230.Each agency uses their own algorithm for charging fees based on number of events,classes,etc.that are hosted by the City each year.We cannot pay just one licensing agency because the agencies argue that unless you can determine which songs your bands are going to play,and which license house they are with,they you need to pay the fees.And that goes for the canned music your sound guy might be playing too.”They may or may not cover the same list of artists. 4. Bradley,Berkland,Hagen,Herbst,2,000,Cable consulting service November and December 2016”what services does the cable consultant provide?Do they help with negotiating new franchise agreements?If so,how much do they charge?How often do franchise agreements expire?They provide ongoing support for customer questions/complaints and periodic ordinance compliance review and FCC regulation updates,as needed as it relates to our cable franchise. For detailed information on the scope of the services provided,please see the attached document CAG 16 011 Bradley Berkland Hagen Herbst”.Cable franchise agreements have a duration of 10 years,and our most recent Comcast franchise agreement was signed in 2014 through 2024)and we had a separate scope contract with Michael Bradley to help us negotiate our agreement with Comcast.All other utility franchises are separately managed by CED,as dictated by our code. 2 5. How much has the City spent so far on the new website design?No additional money has been spent since the COW Q&A update from 10/10/2016.Please see item 4 in the attached document COW Q&A 10 10 2016”for more information. Please let me know if you have additional questions. Jamie Thomas Fiscal Services Director City of Renton 425 430 6929 C:\Users\jmedzegian\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\36MWJBC5\COW QA 10- 10-2016.docx ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT M E M O R A N D U M DATE:October 14,2016 TO:Randy Corman,Council President Members of the Renton City Council CC:Denis Law,Mayor Jay Covington,Chief Administrative Officer Administrators FROM:Jan Hawn,Administrative Services Administrator SUBJECT:2017 2018 Proposed Budget Responses to Questions The Committee of the Whole asked several questions which staff promised to respond to during`the meeting on October 10.Below are the responses to those questions. 1. How is the proposed budget determined? The proposed budget is developed by using the current adjusted budget as a baseline, adjusting salaries and benefits for known changes e.g.,cost of living adjustments, changes in medical premiums or pension rates),reducing the number for any one time expenditures included in the current year’s budget,and adding departments’changes that have been approved by the Mayor as part of his proposed budget. 2. Please provide more detail with regard to Other Services and Charges”throughout the budget. Attached is the breakdown for Other Services and Charges”by department and division.Common examples of line items included in this category,as shown in this report,are professional services,travel/training,advertising,insurance,utilities,repair and maintenance.Please note that the level of detail provided in this report is greater than the summary version included in the budget document.As such,in some departments,there are several divisions that roll up into the total and sometimes more than one fund is included.An example,to illustrate this point,is in Community Services Facilities.Both the internal service fund and the leased property fund shown on Page 10 of the attachment roll up into the facilities”total presented in the proposed budget on Page 3 64. C:\Users\jmedzegian\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\36MWJBC5\COW QA 10- 10-2016.docx 3. Please provide greater detail with regard to the Executive Department increases in operational costs and citywide communications costs. As noted by Preeti Shridhar,much of the cost increases included in the 2017 2018 Proposed Budget are not new.They have been incurred this year as well;however,the Executive Department was able to use salary savings to cover these costs in the past. With full staffing,that approach is no longer sustainable. As illustrated in the Highlight of Budget Changes”on Page 3 9 of the proposed budget, the increase of approximately 1 million from the 2016 original budget as compared to the 2017 proposed budget is made up of: The transfer of 450k per year due to transferring Emergency Management to the Executive Office; Previous adjustments already approved by Council in 2016: o $17.8k wage adjustment based on Independent Salary Commission’s finding; o $10k for 0.125 FTE increase for the Office Assistant; o $51k for 0.5 FTE increase for Secretary; o $169k for transfer of various citywide membership and dues from Other City Services;and o $94k for Tourism promotion; New requests totaling 279k: o $73.8k for Inclusion program; o $16.6k for Executive operations increased costs; o $7.6k for intergovernmental relations; o $50k for Policy Analyst contract; o $35k for citywide communications costs;and o $96k for 0.7 FTE for Emergency Management Coordinator. Each of the department budgets include a similar section highlighting budget changes. Further detail regarding the new requests is shown below. 003.513.10.41.003 Contracted Services 0 budgeted for 2017 2018 Asking 200 for 2017 2018 State of the City photography 003.513.10.41.005 Community Relations 0 budgeted for 2017 2018 Asking 50,000 for 2018 community survey done every two years) C:\Users\jmedzegian\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\36MWJBC5\COW QA 10- 10-2016.docx 003.513.10.43.002 Training/Schools 1,500 budgeted for 2017 2018 Asking additional 2,100 for 2017 2018 registration for conferences,SCA events, chamber events 003.513.10.43.008 Lodging 5,000 budgeted for 2017 2018 Asking additional 1,000 for 2017 2018 hotel for USCM,WCMA,ICMA,AWC conferences;staff retreat 003.513.10.49.001 Memberships/Dues 174,558 budgeted for 2017 2018 Asking additional 13,196 2017)17,868 2018)increase in membership dues for PSRC,USCM,AWC,CISR,SCA,ICMA,and WCMA.Prior to 2015,annual membership dues for AWC,Communities in Schools,Sound Cities,and Puget Sound Regional Council were paid for from the Other City Services Department.A budget adjustment was made after the 2015 2016 Budget was adopted to transfer these membership expenditures from Other City Services to the Executive department.In total,these memberships are approximately 170,000 per year,which is why there is such a large increase in the Executive department’s Other Services and Charges”between 2014 and 2018.The corresponding reduction is shown in the proposed budget on Page 3 94. 003.513.10.49.006 Miscellaneous 0 budgeted for 2017 2018 Asking 150 for 2017 2018 raffle baskets for employee picnic and volunteer recognition event 4. What is the amount paid to date to the City’s web consultant and what has been accomplished to date?What are the major milestones to keep Council updated and get their input? Council approved a contract with CivicLive to create a new website for the City of Renton on July 29,2016.This is a five year contract with a one time implementation fee of 91,000,travel costs not to exceed 5,500,and an annual software service fee of 15,900. The invoices paid to date per the contract terms includes 25%at contract signing 22,750)and 10%for the Envisioning and Planning Phase 9,100). Website work to date includes establishing needs and building the foundation for the new website,process overview,overview of the City’s web needs,external research of other websites,department needs and functionality,division meetings with content providers on content creation,editing and software needs,Google Analytics to determine page visits and content migration plans.We are currently waiting for C:\Users\jmedzegian\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\36MWJBC5\COW QA 10- 10-2016.docx homepage wireframe options.We will provide regular updates to Council,especially as we achieve milestones. 5. Why is the proposed budget for 2017 2018 lower for Special Operations in the Police Department? This decrease can be pinpointed almost exclusively to regular salaries and benefits, which is almost entirely offset by the increase in the Police Administrative Services Division.This happens because the dollar amounts presented in the budget are driven by our live”payroll system which reflects the account numbers to which police officers are currently being charged.In the Police Department and in the Fire Department when they were still with the City),officers are often shifted between divisions on a fairly regular basis to meet workload demands,but sometimes the general ledger account numbers to which they are assigned are not changed as officers move across divisions.Additionally,the Police Department has had numerous vacancies due to retirements and resignations.As a result,staffing in other divisions were reduced in order to maintain staffing in the patrol division.As new officers are hired,their salaries are assigned to Patrol.Once our staffing increases as a result of officers completing training,we select an officer to go to other divisions like Special Operations.It is important to note that,in total,the Police Department budget is correct,but the divisions may be skewed from one to another depending on which division they are currently assigned. NOTE:In many cases,the salaries and benefits are lower in 2017 2018 than the 2016 year end estimates.This is a result of each department’s or division’s share of the health insurance rebate that will be paid prior to the end of 2016.The total citywide adjustment to salaries is 1.8 million. 6. Why is there an approximate 800k increase in Other Services Charges in Community Economic Development in 2017 Page 3 43)? The increase in this particular line item is the result of the addition of the Downtown Façade Improvement Program in CDBG in 2016.This figure 814,090)is shown on Page 8 of the attached detail for Other Services Charges.