HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 13DRAFT - Finance and Investment Committee Meeting
Town of Los Altos Hills
Town Hall Council Meeting Room
Monday, September 13, 2010
Chair Allan Epstein called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m.
Members present: Allan Epstein, Frank Lloyd, Jean Mordo, Stan Mok, Bill Silver, Roddy Sloss, Lalla Stark
Members absent: Jim Lai, Frank Lloyd
Staff present: Nick Pegueros, Finance Director
Public Present: John Radford
Approval of minutes: The August 2, 2010 meeting minutes were approved as submitted.
Report by Jean Mordo on Recent Council Activities of Interest:
Updates on Hidden Villa zoning change request, Fremont bicycle lane study proposal, and electric vehicle
charging stations were discussed.
Report by Nick Pegueros on Recent Finance Department Activities:
The temporary full time accountant is continuing to perform well. Staff is requesting that Council make the
Finance Manager position exempt. A formal hiring process for a Finance Manager is planned for September –
October.
Tyler financial software conversion is underway and conversion of historical information is planned for this
month.
Town management would like to study Sewer System replacement requirements for the purpose of evaluating
the annual sewer fee. The FIC volunteered to assist with this effort based on work already performed in
connection a rate study project undertaken last year. Access to the Town’s historical Sewer records is requested
in order to continue this work. Mr. Pegueros will investigate sewer installation and repair historical records and
report on availability.
Annual Review of Town’s Investment Policy:
After discussion, the Committee recommended paragraph 15.1 be eliminated (calling for a quarterly review of
the Town’s investments by the FIC). The FIC requested the Town’s Finance Director to confirm with the
Town’s independent auditors that matters discussed in paragraph 10 of the policy are covered in the scope of the
annual independent audit of the Town’s financial statements.
Discussion of Town’s response to Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury Report – Cities Must Rein in Unsustainable
Employee costs
Copies of the Town Manger’s August 26, 2010 response were distributed to the FIC and discussion focused on
points in the cover letter. The entire letter is scheduled for discussion at the next Town Council meeting on
September 16, 2010.
The Committee was in agreement with Town Management’s recommendation on point number three regarding
establishment of a $700,000 contingency pension cash reserve at the rate of $70,000 per year.
Regarding point number one, salary schedule modification, Committee members encouraged Town management
to eliminate steps between pay grades because actual and proposed procedure may be unnecessarily
cumbersome considering the Town’s size and work force.
DRAFT Minutes of September 13, 2010 Finance and Investment Committee meeting – page 2.
Regarding point number two, ‘establish a two tier employee pension system’ and possible future proposals to
‘reduce the Town’s cafeteria plan contribution’ and ‘share pension costs with employees’, the Committee
recommended a survey of current practice and current proposals under consideration by town’s and agencies
with whom the Town competes for employees be completed before requesting that the Council address these
matters.
Proposed topics for future FIC Meetings
Committee members expressed interest in the following topics:
1. Further study of potential pension liability to the Town. In this regard, Roddy Sloss will circulate to
Committee members for future discussion estimates he extrapolated from the 2009 CalPERS pension
report.
2. Sewer system replacement cost study discussed in Mr. Pegueros report, above.
3. Review need to establish procedures for formal periodic review of major recurring third party costs such
as insurance, police, and sewer services.
4. Review need for expansion of annual budgetary process to look forward five years instead of one year
along with incremental attendant effort to anticipate long term recurring services such as streets, sewers,
and employee costs.
5. Implement periodic intra year financial reporting including budget to actual estimates.
Next FIC meeting is scheduled for October 4, 2010.
Adjournment - The meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Roddy Sloss – Committee Secretary