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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GGAF_09.25.2013 The General Government and Finance (GGAF) Advisory Subcommittee established by the Georgetown City Council met at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25, 2013, in the Friends of the Library Room of the Georgetown Public Library, located at 402 West 8th Street, Georgetown, Texas. MINUTES The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. These minutes were unanimously approved at the November 1, 2013 GGAF Meeting. The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m . 1. Consideration and possible approval of annual appropriations to several large Information Technology vendors for maintenance services during the FY 2014 fiscal year – Mike Peters, IT Director Mike explained that this item is for the annual IT software maintenance agreement renewals for several recurring vendors for the FY 2014 fiscal year. All items relate to previously purchased products and maintenance renewals have been requested each year at this time. Maintenance agreements include access to 800 numbers and an infinite number of calls. New releases are also included. 1. Sungard Public Sector, Inc. (Sungard) in the amount of $139,000 for IT software maintenance expense for the Sungard OSSI CAD/RMS system (Public Safety Computer Aided Dispatch System). OSSI is a sole-source system. 2. SHI Government Solutions (SHI) in the amount of $115,000 for IT software maintenance expenses related to the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (Microsoft-branded server, database and client software licensing and maintenance). SHI is a Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) vendor. 3. Verizon Wireless (Verizon) in the amount of $113,500 for wireless data services. Wireless data services involve communication from City systems to computers in Police and Fire vehicles, GUS field vehicles, Code Enforcement and other miscellaneous users. GPS tracking for certain vehicles is also included. Verizon is a Department of Information Resources (DIR) vendor. 4. Modis Inc. (Modis) in the amount of $113,000 for IT temporary staffing services related to an IT Enterprise Architect and a Systems Analyst for the Enterprise Asset Management Project. Modis is a Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) vendor. 5. Tyler Technologies (Tyler) in the amount of $105,000 for IT software maintenance expense for the Incode system (Financial, Court and Utility Billing Systems). Incode is a sole-source system. 6. Flair Data Systems (Flair) in the amount of $72,000 for IT hardware/software maintenance expense (Cisco Phone System). Flair is a Department of Information Resources (DIR) vendor. 7. Presidio Networked Solutions, Inc. (Presidio) in the amount of $65,000 for IT hardware/software maintenance expense. This item is for the annual IT software maintenance agreement renewals for Cisco networking equipment, Cistera call recording system and Xmedius Fax server system. Presidio is a Department of Information Resources (DIR) vendor. 8. Electsolve Technology Solutions and Services, Inc. (Electsolve) for the amount of $50,400 for annual software maintenance of the City’s Meter Data Management System. Electsolve is a sole- Members Present: Steve Fought, Tommy Gonzalez, Joe Pondrom, Karen Ivie Members Absent: None Staff Present: Micki Rundell, Susan Morgan, Mike Peters, Trina Bickford, Laura Maloy, Chris Foster, Cynthia Nguyen, Jennifer Bills, Chris Bryce, John Sullivan source system. The committee suggested that Mike investigate and explore other options, such as a “level B type” of service for something other than “unlimited” which might be a more cost effective option. Unanimously approved, with direction for Mike to explore other options which might result in a worthwhile reduction in annual contractual costs (i.e. “pay per use” vs “unlimited”). 2. Review minutes from the August 28, 2013 GGAF Meeting – Danella Elliott, Executive Assistant Unanimously approved. 3. Discussion and possible action to recommend a funding plan for 2013-14 Lone Star Rail payment – Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer Micki reminded the committee that City Council approved funding for the Lone Star Rail project at the September 10, 2013 Council Meeting. The payment is for membership in the District beginning October 1, 2013, but funding for this $49,500 payment is currently not allocated in either the 2012/13 Annual Budget or the 2013/14 Annual Budget. Micki explained that because this payment has been approved, the funding must be identified. She went over the funding alternatives included below:  2012/13 “Transportation Department” funds from unspent street maintenance dollars  2013/14 “Transportation Department” street maintenance dollars used for seal coat and other repairs o Traditionally not all funds are spent and expense could be reallocated to the Street Maintenance Sales Tax SFR since sales tax revenues where greater than budgeted  GTEC – either year – increased sales tax in 2013 has not been appropriated o This would require action by the GTEC Board  GEDCO – this could be an allowable expense for future Economic Development The GGAF Committee’s recommendation was to pay the $49,500 from current year (2013) appropriation within the Transportation Department, and requested that a detailed proposal for the economic/rail impact study be provided. Unanimously approved. 4. Update on the impacts of the Affordable Healthcare Act and the City’s Healthcare Plan for 2014 – Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer and Chris Foster, Chief Financial/Utilities Analyst Chris Foster and Micki gave an overview of what the PPACA (aka Obama Care) is and how it will impact the City, as well as the City’s proposed 2014 Healthcare Plan and related Employee Contributions. As previously discussed, the City is moving forward with its plan for Self-Insurance in January 2014. A self-funded health insurance program has been discussed with the City Council since last spring as an option to help the City manage its ever increasing healthcare costs while providing the best possible healthcare options to our employees. In a self-funded or self-insured plan, the City assumes the financial risk for providing healthcare benefits to its employees. In practical terms, the City will pay for claims out-of-pocket as they are presented instead of paying a pre-determined premium to an insurance carrier for a fully insured plan. “Stop-loss” insurance would then be in place to cover claims considered catastrophic in nature, thus capping the claims exposure. The Council approved moving forward with this plan in July and incorporated the related funding into the 2013/14 Annual Budget. Staff has been working on developing the details of the Plan and related contribution rates for employees. And while all the details are not yet finalized, the total anticipated out-of-pocket claim amount has been actuarially determined. This has allowed the staff to move forward and develop rates for next year, which begins January 1, 2014. In order to meet the enrollment time frame, it is necessary to determine employee rates and begin the open enrollment process, currently scheduled to begin in late October. The City’s Employee Benefit Committee reviewed options and recommended these rates be adopted at their meeting, held prior to the GGAF meeting on September 25. In order to mitigate excess rate increases for employees, the staff (and GGAF) recommended using the City’s Contingency Funds if reserves greater than $300,000 was needed to pay claims. By using the City’s reserve, the Plan can fund the targeted $1,000,000 reserve over 3 years, and thus make the 2014 rates more manageable for employees. The Board recommended approval of the Plan and related employee rates. Unanimously approved. Anticipated funding for the Plan, including $300,000 towards the Plan Reserve, is included within the 2013/14 Annual Budget, with the balance being collected through the recommended Plan employee contribution rates. 5. Resolution to formerly establish the City’s decision to implement the Self-Insurance Program for employee health care beginning January 2014 – Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer and Susan Morgan, Finance Director Staff recommended that GGAF review and recommend to Council a resolution for adoption. This will clearly establish the Council’s intent, the fund structure and reserve policy for this new program. The resolution does not change what has already been proposed. It just makes it official in the Council record. The resolution will allow the creation of an internal service fund within the City’s fund structure to account for the management of this program, as well as, the use of Contingency Reserves if needed to act as the Reserve until funds have been collected within this ISF. Unanimously approved. 6. Consideration and possible recommendation to reaffirm the proposed changes to the City’s franchise agreements with Pedernales Electric Cooperative and Oncor that impact franchise fee revenue – Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer and Chris Foster, Chief Financial/Utilities Analyst Both GGAF and City Council have reviewed these items several times over the past 18 months, but staff felt in was in the best interest of the subject to request reaffirmation of GGAF’s previous recommendation to approve these franchise agreements. As a reminder, Franchise Fees are paid to the City (General Fund) for use of the City’s Right-Of-Way by utility companies that do business within the City’s corporate limits. Both Oncor and PEC had previous franchise agreements with the City. The changes are as follows:  Oncor Electric Utility – The fee would now be calculated on the kWh sold rather than total revenue o This is the same methodology used by GUS Electric in determining it’s franchise payment to both the City of Georgetown and City of Round Rock  $0.002629/kwh = 4% gross revenue o The per kWh rate is equivalent to the same rates as previously received by the City when calculated on gross revenue o This stabilizes the City’s revenue in the event that Oncor electric rates are lowered and thus result in lower revenues  Pedernales Electric Cooperative(PEC)– This change actually increases the percentage of revenue the City receives from PEC from 2% to 4% of total revenue o PEC is not willing to adopt the kWh methodology for franchise fee payment calculation o This increase results from a clause in the City’s current agreement with PEC that states if any other PEC city receives an increase in Franchise Fee percentage, then all other cities are entitled to that change  San Marcos adopted a progressive rate of 6.5% that leveled at 4.5% o It was the previous recommendation of the GGAF and Council to adopt the Franchise Fee of 4% for PEC customers inside the City of Georgetown  This rate is the same as in Round Rock and Cedar Park Unanimously approved. 7. Consideration and possible action for approval to award blanket agreements for paper products and janitorial supplies to Gulf Coast Paper Company for an estimated annual total of $70,000 and to V- Quest Office Products for office supplies with an estimated total of $80,000 – Trina Bickford, Purchasing Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer After review of available group purchase contracts as well as the results of several years’ competitive bids, it was determined the contract with Gulf Coast Paper Company offered under the BuyBoard interlocal purchasing organization presented the best value for the City for both paper products and janitorial supplies and the contract with V-Quest Office Products under the TIPS/TAPS interlocal purchasing organization presented the best value for office supplies. Gulf Coast has supplied paper products and janitorial supplies to the City for several years, and has provided excellent customer service and quality products. Use of the BuyBoard contract rather than independently performing a competitive bid process for the City provides more favorable pricing based on a larger group. V-Quest, a local vendor, has provided excellent service to the City for several years as the holder of the current blanket order for office supplies. Additionally, V-Quest has worked closely with the City to ensure the City’s needs are completely met, even if the best solution was available from a source other than V-Quest. Staff recommends continuation of both successful relationships under the interlocal contracts through fiscal 2013/14, at which time the requirements will be reevaluated. Items included on the blanket agreement will be provided on an as needed basis. The total costs are based partially on historical usage; however, the City’s usage has been increasing and is expected to continue to do so, especially as the Public Safety Complex begins operations. Unanimously approved. 8. Adjourned at 2:22 p.m.