HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 14
MINUTES OF FINANCE AND INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Town Hall Breakout Room
Follow up highlighted in blue
The meeting convened at 6:00.
Members present: Craig Jones, Jean Mordo, Karl Kneip, Jim Lai, Frank Lloyd,
Stan Mok, Lalla Stark
Members absent: Wilf Corrigan, Doug Norby
Staff Present: Sarah Ragsdale
Approval of Minutes of the August 25, 2005 Meeting
Draft minutes were approved with the following additions:
• Jones added the reference to the discussion of possibly having a motion
supporting the Charter School. No action was taken on this.
• Mordo added the direction given to the staff to prepare a 3 year forecast to
be discussed with the Committee to understand the amounts likely to be
available for investment.
• Mordo also added the assignment given by the Committee to Mok and
Norby to analyze the yields of the various instruments authorized under
our revised policy for the various maturities, with the goal to discuss a
proposed allocation.
Appointment of 2 Council members to the Committee
A brief discussion ensued, the highlights of which are that the charter for the FIC
is not changed in any way. It still must address topics as directed by the Council,
but remains free, even encouraged to, address any topic it deems relevant.
Mordo to update roster and email to all.
Election of Officers
A motion was made by Lai, seconded by Lloyd to appoint Mordo as Chair.
Approved unanimously. Mordo volunteered to do the minutes.
RFP for Investment Management Services
Ragsdale’s draft RFP was discussed. Consensus was that we needed to modify
to specify that the services we are looking for are mainly for execution of
transactions in a safe and efficient way. We will require a limited amount of
investment advice, since our investment choices are quite restricted. This is
important for the prospective bidders to understand the level of fees they can
expect. Ragsdale will revise draft to be presented to Council on 9/15.
Mok and Lai volunteered to screen the bids, and down select to 2 or 3 for
the FIC to decide.
The schedule was also slightly adjusted, with November 2 being the target date
for interviews by the FIC and selection of finalist.
The date for the November FIC meeting was correspondingly changed to
Wednesday November 2 at 5:00PM to allow for more time.
Legal fees
Ragsdale presented a schedule of legal fees for the last 3 fiscal years, and the
current year. A short discussion followed.
Charter City
Lai presented a first draft presentation to the Council on the potential advantages
of adopting a charter. The main advantage is the ability to supplement revenues
with a property transfer tax. Even a modest rate, amounting to a fraction of the
standard real estate fee, would result in an average of around $1 million a year.
The other advantages are minor, or of no interest to LAH. We agreed that Lai
will get additional information as follows:
• Size of charter cities, i.e. how many CCs are there below 10,000 in
population.
• Distribution of the property transfer tax rates in other CCs.
We need to articulate well why we would do it. Raising additional revenues
with such a tax could provide a steady source of funds for infrastructure
improvements:
• Sewers
• Undergrounding
• Roads, etc.
Finally, we need to explain to the Council the proposed process if there is
an interest, i.e. survey of residents, information mailing, hearing, etc., as
well as the legal process required (ballot measure).
We will review the revised presentation on 10/3.
Budget
We agreed to have Ragsdale prepare an appropriation for $1800 (annual rate)
for the Committee, to allow us to have food- a necessity given the hour of the
meeting.
Next meetings
Monday, October 3 at 6:00PM
Wednesday, November 2 at 5:00PM
Monday, December 5, at 6:00 PM
Minutes were approved as presented at the October 3, 2005 FIC meeting.