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2020-10-27 FEDRAC MINUTESCity Council Finance/Economic Development/Regional Affairs Committee Tuesday, October 27, 2020 5:00 p.m. SUMMARY MINUTES Meeting held remotely via Zoom CALL TO ORDER: Council Chair Hoang Tran called the meeting to order at 5:01 p.m. COMMITTEE MEMBERS VIA ZOOM: Chair Tran and Councilmember Koch mar. COUNCILMEMBERS VIA ZOOM: Council President Honda; Councilmember Baruso, Councilmember Assefa -Dawson, and Councilmember Craft. STAFF MEMBERS VIA ZOOM: Finance Director Ade Ariwoola; Accounting Manager Chase Donnelly; City Attorney Ryan Call; IT Technician Xiao Guo; Executive Assistant to the Council Jeri-Lynn Clark; Contract Administrator Autumn Gressett and Administrative Assistant Jennifer Pettie. PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comment. Finance Director Ariwoola stated he is needing to add a Resolution to the Agenda: Finding of Substantial Need for Purposes of Setting the Limit Factor for the 2021 Property Tax Levy. Motion made by Councilmember Kachmar to add the Resolution to the Agenda; motion seconded by Chair Tran and carried 2-0. A. Approval of Summary Minutes - September 22, 2020 Meeting Motion made by Council member Koch mar to approve the minutes from September 22, 2020 as written; motion seconded by Chair Tran and carried 2-0. B. Vouchers: Presented by Finance Director, Ade Ariwoola. Finance Director Ariwoola summarized the September vouchers. Council President Honda sent some questions through email earlier to the Finance Director and the questions were answered and sent back to all Councilmembers. Councilmember Assefa-Dawson asked when we have to re­issue a check do we have to pay fees? Finance Director Ariwoola stated the bank will charge a fee to cancel a check, but we do not charge the citizens. Council member Assefa-Dawson then asked if we can post the Utility Tax Rebate Program in SHAG and other senior housing properties? CM Assefa-Dawson added King County housing has several senior/disabled buildings in Federal Way. Finance Director Ariwoola agreed, that would be a great idea. Council President Honda stated we have a Senior Commission and some of the members live in SHAG and can help get the word out so we have more participating in the Utility Tax Rebate Program. Motion made by Councilmember Kachmar to forward the September Vouchers to the November 4th, 2020 consent agenda for approval; motion seconded by Chair Tran and carried 2-0. C. Monthly Financial Report - September 2020: Presented by Finance Director, Ade Ariwoola. Finance Director Ariwoola displayed his presentation on the screen and wanted to know which presentation method is preferred, this method or the prior way of presenting. Council members preferred the display method. Notable areas include: • General & Street Fund • Utility tax • Community Development permits and fees • Jail Services • Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) • Hotel/Motel Lodging tax • Police Department Overtime • Traffic Safety - Red Light Fund • Federal Way Community Center • Dumas Bay Centre Chair Tran stated since COVID-19 hit in March there hasn't been much going on in terms of people being on the roads as most have been staying home, but asked why have we spent so much in Police Overtime? Finance Director Ariwoola answered part of the overtime is to replace officers while they are in training or if an officer is sick. He suggested if the committee would like more information, Finance Director Ariwoola can ask Chief Andy Hwang to discuss Police Overtime in further detail. Councilmember Kachmar would like Chief Hwang to do an overview of what has transpired during COVID-19, why we have an increase in overtime, and whether we are properly staffed. Council member Koch mar asked if the business license fee is a set amount no matter the size of business or is it dependent on the number of employees? Finance Director Ariwoola stated it does depend on the number of employees and minimum gross income. Finance Director Ariwoola added since business licensing is now done through the state that has greatly increased our total revenue. Councilmember Koch mar asked if the City has looked into having a company that recoups the money that has been lost for the government? Finance Director Ariwoola stated we currently do that with Utility Tax and since 2015 we have received about $80,000. The City hires a business that audit companies to make sure we are receiving the proper Utility Tax funds. Motion made by Councilmember Kachmar to forward the September 2020 Monthly Financial Report to the November 4th, 2020 consent agenda for approval; motion seconded by Chair Tran and carried 2-0. D. (Added) Finding of Substantial Need for Purposes of Setting the Limit Factor for the 2021 Property Tax Levy: Presented by Finance Director, Ade Ariwoola. Finance Director Ariwoola explained according to state law, we are supposed to take the lower of 1% or the Implicit Price Deflector (IPD) increase in Property Tax. The current IPD is 0.6%. We need to pass this Resolution so we can collect the full 1%. The reason our Property Tax is one of the lowest is because we started low and we failed to take advantage of the 1%. Motion made by Councilmember Kachmar to forward Option 1, to the November 4th, 2020 consent agenda for approval; motion seconded by Chair Tran and carried 2-0. MEETING ADJOURNED: The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.