HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 3DRAFT Finance and Investment Committee Special Meeting
Town of Los Altos Hills
Town Hall, Monday, December 3, 2012
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm by Chairman, Jean Mordo.
Members present: Allan Epstein, Frank Lloyd, Jim Lai, Frank Lloyd, Stan Mok, Jean
Mordo, and Roddy Sloss.
Members absent: Kjell Karlsson, Susan Mason, John Radford and Bill Silver
Staff present: Yulia Rasulova, Administrative Services Director, Richard Chiu,
Public Works Director, and Richard Lee, Finance Manager,
Public Present: Gary Waldeck, Vice Mayor
Approval of minutes:
Minutes of the November 7, 2012 meeting were approved as submitted.
Review of private streets:
Richard Chiu informed the Committee that there are approximately 128 private streets that can
be annexed by the Town. If and when they are brought up to the Town’s standards in
accordance with current town council policy , it would costapproximately $20 million. Property
owners will be responsible for financing through privately
arranged financing or with the
Town’s administrative support through either a special assessment or a Mello Roos District.
Assuming all the private streets are annexed by the Town, which is considered unlikely, the
incremental recurring cost is estimated to be $5,000 to $10,000 per year per street. Mr. Chiu
excused himself from the meeting.
RFP Fee Study review:
Yulia Rasulova presented a proposed RFP for both Overhead Allocation and Fees including
timing, and the related existing fee schedule, and took questions. The FIC encouraged Ms.
Rasulova to proceed with the RFP.
FY 2012 Audit and CAFR timetable and a status:
Ms. Rasulova noted that audit field work is completed and that staff will prepare the MD&A
disclosure, resolve open questions on accounting policies for reserves and investments and
expect the auditors to be ready to sign off before month end. A final draft CAFR will be
presented at the next FIC meeting in January.
Westwind Barn status:
Ms. Rasulova presented six PowerPoint slides on the subject noting that the staff is proceeding to
look for solutions to lower town’s projected net running cost of the Barn to $75,000 a year or
less. Actions are 1) renting 5-6 empty stalls; 2) adjusting rents to market levels; 3) studying the
year around riding program costs to determine if third party bids should be solicited; and 4)
soliciting 3rd party proposal to manage the Barn including supervising onsite employees.
Sewer Fund Review:
Messrs. Epstein and Sloss presented 14 PowerPoint slides handed out at the meeting highlighting
recent history and status of the Sewer Fund and related operations and proposing three different
strategies to address rate increases: 1) defer until minimum reserve levels were reached in 2017;
2) raise fees next year by 36% plus a 4% annual cost of living increase thereafter; or 3) increase
fees by 50% in 2014 and again by 40% in 2019. The Committee favored the second alternative
by a vote of 4 in favor, Mr. Sloss in favored of choice 1) and Mr. Epstein abstained.
Tasks were identified for completion in the slides. In addition, Messrs. Epstein and Sloss will
prepare a 5 slide summary presentation for the January 24, 2013 Council meeting and Ms.
Rasulova will develop an RFP for a third party study to confirm the work presented.
Report by Jean Mordo and John Radford on recent Council activities of interest:
Chairman Mordo announced that the FIC has been expanded to eleven members and that Gary
Waldeck will be joining the committee effective in the first meeting in 2013.
Presentations from the Floor:
Frank Lloyd provided copies of two IRS bulletins related to Independent Contractors related to
the Westwind Barn discussion in the previous meeting.
Proposed topics and dates for future meetings:
The next FIC regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 14, 2013 at 4pm. A CAFR
presentation is planned by the Finance staff and the auditors.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:45 pm
Respectfully submitted by Roddy Sloss, Committee Secretary