05-Council Minutes from the meetings of August 16, 17, and 23, 2010

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5. Fire Response Insurance Receipts. City Council will be asked to implement a program to bill insured, non-resident persons who consume Fire Department resources. The estimated revenue is $15,000. 6. Sanitation Fees. Since 1992, the City's residential sanitation rate has been $14.00. Over the previous year the Finance Department began allocating the indirect costs to provide the services of the Sanitation Department (including street sweeping, brush pickup, compost site, and "free" monthly landfill privileges) using the methodology advanced by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Because the residential sanitation fee did not increase in 18 years but the operation costs obviously did, these indirect costs were being supported by all citizens (sanitation customers and non-customers alike) through the General Fund. As a result of changing the method used to track sanitation expenses that allow us to more clearly identify the indirect costs, Council authorized an increase of the sanitation fee to $15.89 to eliminate the General Fund's subsidy of this enterprise operation and thereby adding $178,445 in additional revenue. The City's landfill agreement expires September 30, 2010, and with two landfills now in the area, it is expected to be a very competitive environment that will benefit the City. In addition, Council is also investigating the option of contracting with a private company for collection of residential sanitation if it offers significant savings and terms for employee and equipment acquisition are satisfactory. Between lower landfill fees and savings from third-party collection, there is a good possibility residential sanitation fees may decrease. 7. Court Fees. Tougher economic conditions for those convicted in municipal court and a decrease in the number of citations issued by police officers has lead to a 16.6 percent ($55,000) decrease in budgeted court fines. 8. Interest Earned. A 50 percent ($150,000) decrease in interest income is predicted due to record-low interest rates and a reduction in the fund balance due to the use of reserves for capital projects in FY 2009-2010. Expenditures 1. Group Medical. Employees are provided medical insurance through the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Employee Benefit Pool (TML-IEBP). The City budgets $425/month/employee and allows the employee to choose one of three health plans with different options and different premiums that are all under $425. The difference between the premium and the $425 is placed into a health savings account (HSA) for each employee. Our plan year follows the calendar year and premiums for the two plans that the vast majority of employees have opted for are anticipated to increase approximately three percent with the net effect of decreasing the HSA benefit for the employee by about $11.00. 2. Fuel. Vehicle and equipment fuel is a significant component of operations. Over the previous 12 months, the General Fund purchased 72,280 gallons of unleaded gas and 6