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Ord. 1177-1 03-28-05ORDINANCE NO. 1177-1 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1177, THE 2004- 2005 ANNUAL BUDGET ORDINANCE, BY AUTHORIZING CERTAIN ALTERATIONS TO THE GENERAL FUND (FINANCE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL FOR MUNICIPAL PURPOSES); AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER OR HIS DESIGNEE TO TAKE ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO FACILITATE THE CHANGES IDENTIFIED HEREIN WITHOUT FURTHER APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A REPEALER CLAUSE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY BECAUSE THE NEED TO ADJUST THE CITY BUDGET INURES TO THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC AND, THEREFORE, BEARS DIRECTLY UPON THE HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE OF THE CITIZENRY. WHEREAS, the City Council is authorized by law to make changes in the City budget for municipal purposes and for emergency appropriations to meet a pressing need for public expenditure to protect the public health, safety, and welfare as a result of unusual and unforeseen conditions; and WHEREAS, said amendments are necessary to remove funds from the General Fund -Contingency; now therefore, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS: Section 1. That the City Manager or his designee is authorized to make alterations to the General Fund as set out in the Executive Summary, attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, as authorized by law for municipal purposes and for emergency appropriations to meet a pressing need for public expenditure to protect the public health, safety, and welfare as a result of unusual and unforeseen conditions. Section 2. That the City Manager or his designee is authorized to take all actions necessary to facilitate the changes identified herein without further approval of City Council. ORDINANCE NO. 1177-1 Section 3. Declaration of Emergency. The Council finds and determines that the need to adjust the City budget inures to the benefit of the public and, therefore, bears directly upon the health, safety and welfare of the citizenry; and that this Ordinance shall be adopted as an emergency measure, and that the rule requiring this Ordinance to be read on two (2) separate occasions be, and the same is hereby waived. Section 4. Savings. All rights and remedies which have accrued in favor of the City under this Chapter and amendments thereto shall be and are preserved for the benefit of the City. Section 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid, unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof. Section 6. Repealer. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed, but only to the extent of such conflict. Section 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and approval by the City Council. PASSED and APPROVED on First and Only Reading this the 28th day of March , A.D., 2005. TOM REID MAYOR 2 ORDINANCE NO. 1177-1 ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM: DARRIN M. COKER CITY ATTORNEY 3 City of Pearland Interoffice Memorandum To: Bill Eisen From: Andrea Gardner (\6 Kevin Fuller Date: March 03, 2005 Subject: Staffing Needs of the Finance Department Due to current needs in the Finance Department. We are requesting to add a Senior Accountant position. The job duties of the Senior Accountant position would include, but may not be limited to the following: 1. Reconciling sub -ledgers to the general ledger, to include identifying, researching and resolving discrepancies, proposing journal entries or other appropriate correcting measures as may be necessary 2. Creating and maintaining schedules to support line items on the balance sheet, such as various receivables, accrued liabilities, prepaid items, deferred revenue and/or charges, etc. 3. Performing a "vendor audit", identifying duplicate vendor files, and performing necessary steps to combine and consolidate such files wherein history is retained intact. Periodically perform upkeep upon completion of "master" audit. 4. Performing audits of other functions in the Finance Department, including accounts payable, payroll, and petty cash. Perform other audit functions as assigned (i.e. — Utility Billing, etc.) 5. Serving as a liaison to the external auditors, preparing schedules, running reports, answering questions, etc, as necessary. 6. Preparing & maintaining inter -fund transfers schedule 7. Reconciling payroll 8. Performing quarterly audit tests in Utility Billing, Municipal Courts and Building Permits 9. Reconciling accounts payable 10. Reconciling all bank accounts 11. Performing purchasing card audits 12. Updating Finance Department policies and procedures 13. Other Duties as assigned Failure to add this position will cause the City to incur additional audit fees and increased overtime for existing personnel. Additionally, by adding this position we will be more likely to reduce the possibility of situations as were previously experienced in Municipal Courts and would ensure other departments are following accounting policies and procedures. Another benefit will be the more timely completion of the unaudited monthly financial reports and the audit process up to and including the completion of the CAFR. Adding these positions would be a major asset to the department and would help satisfy the concerns expressed by the external auditors and us as a result of the FY04 audit process. When the external auditors were here in December, they highly recommended an internal auditor position be added. This position would satisfy many needs in the department. I hope this proposal meets your approval. Thanks for your time. City of Pearland Interoffice Memorandum To: Bill Eisen From: Andrea GardneC. r' Meg McNulty Date: March 21, 2005 Subject: Staffing needs of Utility Billing Department I am requesting a Full Time Delinquent Account Specialist to be added to our department. Due to the historically low staffing constraints in the Utility Billing department it has been impossible to collect on the delinquent accounts. The City's continuing growth is resulting in an average increase of 300+ accounts monthly. The addition of MUD Districts exacerbates this increase of utility customers. As the number of accounts continues to rise, the percentage of customers who do not pay their utility bills or are faced with circumstances where they are unable to pay their utility bill will increase. The job duties of the Delinquent Account Specialist would include and may not be limited to the following: 1. Sending letters to delinquent accounts five days after the payment date has passed. 2. Issue service orders for accounts to be locked out until payment has been made fifteen days after due date. 3. Communication with customers regarding their accounts and taking payments for services to resume. 4. Issue work orders for field staff to unlock meters and resume services. 5. Determine if accounts qualify for payment plans and enter information into system. 6. Determine if payment plan customers are conforming to the terms of the plan. 7. Issue Service Orders for reviewing locked out meters to confirm non -usage of water. 8. Enter collection data into computer and maintain records and files pertaining to Utility billing/Collections. 9. Other duties as assigned The ramifications of not adding this position until the new budget year are: 1. Experiencing marginal success by utilizing a temporary clerk to focus solely on delinquent account collections, from November 2004 through January 2005 we collected an additional $58,756.46. With a full time dedicated staff member we would be able to make a significant impact on the delinquent account collections. 2. With an amnesty program in place for three weeks in February, we were able to decrease our delinquency amounts by $100,000. 3. For the weeks of March 7 — 18, we have collected $41,347.85. 4. Without the additional headcount, we would be unable to continue our efforts to lower the delinquency rate. This would place a burden on the City to continue to pay for water and wastewater services. 5. Delinquency rates will continue to rise. Adding this position is an important step in the continuing efforts of this department to continue the cash flow that is vital for the City. Thank you for your time and consideration.