MINUTES OF THE METRO COUNCIL

BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING

Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Metro Council Chamber

Members Present:  Rex Burkholder (Chair), David Bragdon (Vice Chair), Bill Atherton, Susan McLain, Rod Monroe

Chair Burkholder called the meeting to order at 1:36 p.m.

1.  Consideration of the Minutes of June 12, 2002

Zoo Emergency Action Briefing

Chair Burkholder asked Pete Sandrock, Metro Chief Operating Officer, to brief the committee on the Zoo’s emergency request to the Council to move $300,000 from contingency into the Zoo operating fund. Mr. Sandrock explained that, because of an unanticipated increase in Zoo attendance at the end of March, 2002, the Zoo was confronted with a shortage of operating funds and made the decision to shut down services at two cafes and the Zoo train in order to control expenses. There was general agreement among committee members that this was not a good decision. The action of the Council to move $300,000 to the operating fund allowed these services to be reopened quickly with only a few hours’ interruption in service to Zoo customers.

Mr. Sandrock said that he was working with Jeff Tucker, Parks Department Finance Manager, to review the Zoo’s budget numbers, and it was clear that, although the $300,000 was sufficient to resume operations, the Zoo was still operating on a narrow margin. He said the next step would be to ask for as much as $500,000 in appropriations for Zoo operations. Casey Short, Manager of Financial Planning, explained that this action would not actually transfer money to the Zoo but would increase the Zoo’s appropriation in case it was needed. He continued that the Zoo had the money to meet its obligations, but without this action would not have the spending authority necessary to pay its bills.

Councilor McLain said she did not want the general public to get the erroneous impression that the Zoo was not financially sound. She suggested making it clear that the action taken by the Council on behalf of the Zoo ensured compliance with Oregon budget law and did not mean that the Zoo had inadequate funds to continue operations.

2.  FY 2003-04 Budget Assumptions

Chair Burkholder referred the committee to a handout entitled “Budget Assumptions Matrix for FY 2003-04” (a copy of which is included as part of the meeting record) and explained that the matrix listed the assumptions used by departments in formulating their budgets. He said that the goal in the next two Budget and Finance meetings was to set as council policy a certain range of directions for departments to follow.

Jennifer Sims, Director of Administrative Services, added that the Council’s input on assumptions and priorities formed the foundation of the Metro budget. Some of the goals in setting assumptions were to establish consistent guidelines for departments; to determine what the available resources were; and to ensure that Metro was complying with its policies.

Casey Short, Financial Planning Manager, talked about the factors that are considered in arriving at budget assumptions. He would like to receive as much direction as possible from the Council by the end of July and receive final confirmation of assumptions in early September in order to publish the budget manual by September 15, 2002.

Kathy Rutkowski, Budget Coordinator, went over the three budget assumption categories: global assumptions, personal service assumptions, and department assumptions. She said that she had attempted to not only identify the assumptions but also the authority behind the assumption, and then to determine the range of options in terms of flexibility.

3.  Presentation and Discussion of Long-Term Funding Matrix

Chair Burkholder directed the committee’s attention to the long-term funding matrix in the agenda packet. He explained that the matrix was a compilation of ideas resulting from discussions in the Budget and Finance and Council Informal meetings. He asked the committee to review the matrix to see if it adequately covered the issues that were raised in terms of potential demands on Metro for its funding authority. The next step would be to present the matrix to the full Council for review and discussion.

The committee was generally in agreement with the content of the matrix but suggested small changes in the organization and layout. An updated matrix will be available at the July 10 committee meeting.

4.  Capital Asset Management Policies Update

Chair Burkholder referenced a memo from Mike Burton dated June 25 (a copy of which is included in the meeting record), which reminded departments that they were required to comply with the Capital Asset Management Policies, adopted by the Council in October of 2001, in preparing their CIP requests.

Casey Short reported that Pete Sandrock met with department directors at a recent cabinet meeting and stressed the importance of complying with the policies. Mr. Short said that the CIP manual would be issued on July 10 and that included in the development of the next year’s CIP would be the first-time inclusion of the Capital Asset Management Policies. He added that, of the eleven policies, seven are already done by Metro and four are new policies. The new policies were summarized in Mike Burton’s letter, referenced above. Mr. Short added that although these policies had been adopted and would begin to go into effect with the preparation of the current CIP, costs related to compliance with the policies had not been incorporated in the FY 2002-03 budget but could be included in the 2003-04 budget.

Councilors Monroe and Atherton emphasized the importance of complying with Policy #7 having to do with renewal and replacement. Councilor Atherton added that it was also important to know the status of renewal and replacement at any given time.

5.  Councilor Communications

There were no councilor communications.

There being no further business before the committee, Chair Burkholder adjourned the meeting at 2:44 p.m.

Prepared by,

Claudia Wilton

Council Assistant

ATTACHMENTS TO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR THE MEETING OF JUNE 12, 2002