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8.
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| City Council Regular Meeting |
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| BACKGROUND |
In accordance with applicable statutes and the City Charter, the City Manager submitted a budget proposal to the City Council for consideration on August 7, 2020. The City Council held public hearings for the Proposed Budget on August 25, 2020 and September 1, 2020.
In the General Fund, Staff has proposed adding up to 4 new positions based on the results of the staffing study and to act on the recommendations from the classification and compensation study including an adjustment based on the Employment Cost Index. Each of the studies were performed by an independent firm.
Also proposed in the budget is an update to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Unified Development Code. The plans help the City continue to grow in the right way using the most recent information available for the plans.
Facilities Maintenance is proposed to increase their annual maintenance budget by $55 thousand to continue regular maintenance and upkeep on City facilities and buildings.
The General Fund will also allocate $200 thousand from its excess reserves to fund additional streets, sidewalks, parks and drainage projects.
The Water & Sewer Fund will add mainline detection devices to assist in finding large leaks in the system. This should increase the overall efficiency of the water system by reducing water loss.
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fund will add 4 new positions: a Full Time Instructor for EMT and other classes and 3 Paramedics. These positions should pay for themselves through reduced contract labor costs and overtime reduction as well as additional revenue generation.
The Drainage Fund will allocate funds to begin the Amazon Channel improvements estimated to cost $300 thousand.
The Schertz Economic Development Corporation is scheduled to payout an estimated $3.1 million in incentive payments and contribute $4 million to make improvements to Tri County Road.
**Change Memo**
Staff has submitted changes to the original proposed budget for council consideration.
GIS is proposed to be combined with IT. This is reflective of these two departments merging together administratively as recommended by the staffing study. There is no fiscal impact to this change.
Staff received quotes on its medical insurance coverage on August 28th and finalized their review on September 4th. The original estimate for medical insurance was a 5% increase in cost for existing plans. Subsequently, the costs came in higher and staff began assuming it would be about 9%. Those costs have been finalized at an 8% increase and will be an additional $90,400 in the budget. $71,500 of that will be for the General Fund, $8,700 for the Water & Sewer fund, $29,200 for the EMS Fund, and $2,000 for the Drainage Fund. There will be no changes to the carrier or plan benefits.
A one time cost to outfit Building 11 on Commercial Place to house the Engineering department is proposed as well. The cost for furniture, office supplies, and computers is estimated at $81,300.
A recurring cost of $23,000 to grant police officers certification pay based on their college education level is proposed. This will match police to the certification pay already awarded to firefighters and paramedics.
Staff recommends council set aside $90,500 in the FY 2020-21 to address compression issues that were raised after the study. This is expected to be the first step in addressing the issue as staff develops a plan and may not be all funding required to fully address the issue. Staff shifted the 1% savings from insurance to help address the compression issue, bring the total up to $90,500 which is more than was shown at the September 1 meeting.
A copy of the proposed budget is available for view on the City’s webpage www.schertz.com. Also included on the same page of the website are copies of the PowerPoint presentation to City Council, and the property tax notice required by the state statutes.
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| GOAL |
| Per state statues and the City Charter, the city must adopt a budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year beginning on October 1st. |
| COMMUNITY BENEFIT |
This budget will provide for additional resources to areas identify by citizens, city council, staff, and an independent firm for strategic staffing levels.
It will also provide for additional capital improvements for streets, sidewalks, drainage, parks, water utilities, and sewer utilities. |
| SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDED ACTION |
| Staff recommends that the City Council approve the second and final reading of Ordinance No. 20-T-31, adopting the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020, and ending September 30, 2021. |
| FISCAL IMPACT |
| General Fund |
$37,474,811 |
| Tax I&S Fund |
7,094,861 |
| Water & Sewer Fund |
24,738,545 |
| Capital Recovery - Water |
206,000 |
| Capital Recovery - Sewer |
208,000 |
| Drainage Fund |
1,445,564 |
| EMS Fund |
9,732,293 |
| SEDC |
8,144,799 |
| Special Events Fund |
32,100 |
| PEG Fund |
185,500 |
| Hotel Occupancy Fund |
253,930 |
| Park Fund |
125,000 |
| Tree Mitigation |
70,000 |
| Library Fund |
21,200 |
| Historical Committee |
11,750 |
| Total: |
$89,744,353 |
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| RECOMMENDATION |
| Staff recommends that the City Council approve the second and final reading of Ordinance No. 20-T-31, adopting the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020 and ending September 30, 2021. |
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