FEDRAC MINS 10-28-2003
City of Federal Way
City Council
Finance/Economic Development/Regional Affairs Committee
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
5:00 p.m.
City Hall
Mt. Baker Conference Room
MINUTES
Committee Members in Attendance: Chair Michael Park, Member Mary Gates, Member Eric Faison.
City Council Members in Attendance: Mayor Jeanne Bur bidge, Deputy Mayor Dean McColgan, and Council
Member s Lin da Koch mar an d Jack Dovey.
Staff Members in Attendance: Iwen Wang, Management Services Director; David Moseley, City Manager;
Derek Matheson, Assistant City Manager; Pat Richardson, City Attorney; Michael Olson, Deputy Director of
Management Services; Patrick Doherty, Deputy Director of Community Development; Tho Kraus, Financial
Management Supervisor; Krista Bird, Commander – Public Safety Department; Greg Fewins, Deputy Director of
Community Development; Jason Suzaka, Management Analyst.
Others in Attendance: Tom Pierson, Federal Way Chamber of Commerce; Erica Hall, Federal Way Mirror; H.
David Kaplan .
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Michael Park called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
Tom Pierson of the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce announced that the Chamber is having an
Economic Vitality Committee meeting on Thursday, November 6. The committee will be discussing
many of the same issues as tonight’s Council study session and is looking into putting together a panel or
stakeholders meeting. He offered to join forces with the Council on these issues.
3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
a) Approval of the September 30, 2003 meeting minutes
Motion to approve the September 30, 2003 meeting minutes. Motion seconded and carried.
b) Legislative and Regional Affairs Update
Presented by Der ek Math eson
St a ff an d t h e l obbyi st h a ve been wor ki n g on t h e l egi sl a t i ve a gen da for 2004, which will be ready
for FEDRAC in November an d r eady for adoption in December .
Tax Increment Financing: Staff will be lobbyi n g coun t i es a n d t h e st a t e Spea ker of t h e House i n
order to get the item passed in the House of Representatives. Currently, Federal Way only has
A-1
authority to use this tool for property taxes at the local level. Staff is hoping to expand its use in
the upcoming legislative session.
COPS Grant: This federal grant was cut in half to $600 million, with no money for additional
hir ing. $200 million was added, but was limited to school resource officers only. Staff is joining
with other cities to try and expand its use.
Internet Taxation: Congress is considering a bill that would tax internet access. However, th e
current language could put local utility taxation on cable and phone service in jeopardy, since
both of those services are used for internet access. Staff is working to get this changed.
Regional Transportation Investment District: Last month, the County Executive released his
criteria for RTID. The criteria were not friendly to south King County projects. Staff is working
on a letter to go to the board criticizing the executive’s list. The executive has released his
budget; it is being called a “no new taxes” budget; however it does include a number of increases
in fees and some shifts between funds. Also included is $10 million in incentive money for cities
to an n ex th eir design ated ar eas. However , th is is n ot en ough mon ey because of th e costs to ser ve
th ese r esiden ts.
Solid Waste: The City continues to oppose the County’s $7 million plan to shift money from the
solid waste fun d to th e gen er al expen se fun d. Public Wor ks Dir ector Car y Roe h as been wor kin g
with the county in seeking options that will generate rent in a way that will minimize harm to
residen ts.
c) Official Newspaper
Presented by Greg Fewin s
Councilmember Gates complimented staff on the research done on this project.
Motion to recommend to full Council to not make any changes to the official newspaper.
Motion seconded and carried.
d) Update on Cable Franchise Negotiations
Staff stated that there is no update for this item. The item was stricken from the agenda and
ten tatively placed on th e agen da for th e November meetin g.
e) 2003 Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Acceptan ce
Presented by Commander Krista Bird
Councilmember Kochmar stressed the importance of the voice-stress analyzer as an important
tool for the Police Department, suggesting that some of the leftover money be used to purchase
the analyzer.
Regar din g r eplacemen t r eser ves, we do n ot collect r eplacemen t mon ey for th e taser s because th ey
do not meet the requirement threshold; however the bigger equipment we do.
Motion to accept the 2003 LLEBG award in the federal amount of $54,558, a local match in
the amount of $6,062, for a total award amount of $60,620 and approval for purchasing
authority and forward to full Council for approval. Motion seconded and carried.
f) Tourism Grant Awards
Presented by Patrick Doherty
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Mr. Doherty reviewed the awards with the committee. Regarding the farmer’s market grant
request, the LTAC felt that while the concept was a good idea, they proposal was not detailed
enough that the committee felt they could award money for the request. There was also
discussion as to whether or not the idea was appropriate for this kind of program. LTAC decided
that they would issue an RFP (Request For Proposal) on Friday to garner interest in such a
market.
Mr. Kaplan explained the rationale behind LTAC’s decision-making process. He suggested
setting aside money for event planning, and some for market development of tourism.
Motion to approve the Tourism Enhancement Grant awards and forward to full Council at the
November 18, 2003 meeting for approval. Motion seconded and carried.
g) September 2003 Quar terly Financial Report
Presented by Th o Kr aus
Ms. Kraus reviewed the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) with the Committee. Revenues are
slightly (-0.1%) below budget; other revenue trends remain the same: REET is well above
budget, and utility and sales tax revenues are below budget.
Expenditures show a 3.3% favorable variance (spending below the budgeted amount), with all
depar tment below budget, with the exception of City Council, Muncipal Court, Dumas Bay
Centre, and Knutzen Family Theatre.
Councilmember Gates reiterated that the City anticipated the fluctuations in sales tax revenues,
hence the larger than normal contingency set aside in the budget.
Councilmember Kochmar inquired about the status on police overtime expenditures. Ms. Kraus
stated that projections for the end of the year show approximately a $550,000 savings vs. 2002;
however, the overtime expenditures will still be over budget. Chair Park suggested that for next
budget season the Council needs to revisit the budgeted amount for police overtime and consider
what is an appropriate amount, since it appears that expenditures are well over the projected
amount from last budget season. He suggested that the public safety committee take a look at jail
costs – specifically comparing the number of days inmates are staying in Yakima County to
measure how much money the city is saving in jail costs.
Deputy Mayor McColgan asked if utility tax revenues will spike back up. Staff replied that
revenues were overestimated. Reasons include: 1) The 1% utility tax took effect Feb. 1, but the
City didn’t collect until Mar. 1; 2) Rate reductions by the power companies; 3) Current
difficulties collecting from utility companies. Staff estimates a $750,000 shortfall. Utility tax
revenue expenditures are doing fine, and the City will be using some of the debt service pre-
funding from next year to retire the Celebration Park bonds and make up the next year for the
shortfall.
Motion to accept the September 2003 Quarterly Financial Report and forward to full Council
for approval. Motion seconded and carried.
h) Vouchers
Presented by Th o Kr aus
Ms. Kraus presented the vouchers for approval. The committee requested an update from staff on
a comparison of the two businesses hired for maintaining the city fleet. Staff will bring the
update at the January 2004 meeting.
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Motion to accept the vouchers and forward to full Council for approval. Motion seconded and
carried.
4. OTHER
None.
5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
6. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
November 25, 2003 at 4:00 p.m. in the Mt. Baker Conference Room.
7. ADJOURN
Chair Michael Park adjourned the meeting at 5:45p.m.
Recorded by Jason Suzaka