The city staff indicated that the growth in sales tax revenue for the city has substantially slowed. From about 10% last year to about 2.5% this year. They confirmed that trend by checking both regionally and state wide. It remains to be seen if this is a precursor to a broader economic slow-down in the months ahead.
Kudos to the new city manager, David Morgan, for his initiative in restoring the road maintenance line item back into the baseline budget and presenting it at the Friday meeting. He also created a "special fund" for the surplus FY 2015 money for the council to distribute within 90 days after the end of FY 2015 which is September 30, 2015. These moves are consistent with the budget policy established by the city council last year.
The council also provided direction to the City Manager and Police Chief to bring forward the proposed agreement to participate in a regional SWAT team with Cedar Park and Leander. That proposal will be on a future regular city council meeting agenda. (Editorial comment: The council should also request the Police Chief develop written guidelines as to when and how the SWAT is to be deployed!)
Finally, it appears the staff is working on a plan to assume operation of the water treatment and waste treatment plans with city employees. They orally indicated they believe they have the technical capability and that $5M will be saved over the next 5 years. The City operates three water treatment plants and five wastewater treatment plants. Water Services retains ownership of
these plants and contracts for their operation. The City’s current utilization of its water supply is 35% ground water and 65%
surface water.
A rigorous cost-benefit analysis, which includes the lifetime health insurance and pension benefits of the city employees required to operate the plants, needs to be done and presented to the citizens/council before any changes in operation of the plants is proposed.
The City will be determining a source of revenue to fund the EPA Phase II regulations (salamander rules), the Regional Stormwater Plan, and other requirements regarding stormwater control within municipalities. The most likely revenue source is through a combination of stormwater fees and developer fees paid in-lieu of onsite detention. The other option is to add $1.25 per month to each resident's stormwater bill.
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