HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 10Finance and Investment Committee Special Meeting
Town of Los Altos Hills
Town Hall, Monday, September 10, 2012
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Chairman, Allan Epstein.
Members present: Allan Epstein, Kjell Karlsson, Jim Lai, Frank Lloyd, Susan Mason,
Stan Mok, Jean Mordo, John Radford, Bill Silver and Roddy Sloss.
Members absent: none
Staff present: Rob Stout, Interim Part Time Finance Director, and Richard Lee,
Finance Manager, and Yulia Rasulova, newly hired Administrative
Services Director
Public Present: John Harpootlian and Gary Waldeck (in audience)
Approval of minutes:
Minutes of the June 11, 2012 Special meeting were approved as submitted.
Report by Finance Department Staff:
Rob Stout introduced Yulia Rasulova who is joining the Town staff as Administrative Services
Director on September 24, 2012. Rob Stout will remain for a short transition period.
Richard Lee reported the annual audit will be completed before December 31, 2012 and the
auditors will begin year end field work in the last week of November. Committee members
expressed interest in having the audit completed earlier and regular periodic financial reporting.
Richard Lee presented an update of the Roadway Impact Fee refunding to date. A discussion
resulted in a recommendation that the Finance Staff present a memorandum to Town Council as
a basis for Council consideration of the need for supplementary refunding process action.
Rob Stout summarized the California Public Employees Pension Reform Act of 2013 and
delivered a 46 page handout describing the legislation expected to go into effect on January 1,
2013. Generally the law caps pension benefits, extends retirement ages for “new employees”
and mandates minimum cost sharing standards for all employees. Currently Town staff is
working with its actuary to analyze the impact on the Town’s new and existing employees. A
report to the FIC and Council is planned for November.
Report by Jean Mordo on recent Council activities of interest:
Mr. Mordo updated the Committee on the status of negotiations with the Library Commission.
After considering the Town’s grievances, the Library commission did not offer any substantive
changes. The Town and other similarly affected governments are considering further action.
page 2. Minutes September 10, 2012 Finance and Investment Committee Meeting
Report by Rob Stout on proposed fee increases:
Mr. Stout noted that the staff is recommending Council adopt cost of living building and
planning fee increases and adopt new fees of 0.11% of building permit value for new
construction. There is legal clarity for cost of living fee increases however new fees of the type
contemplated are less clear although not unprecedented. An opinion on the matter from the
Town’s attorney will issue before it is further considered by Town Council.
Report by Roddy Sloss on prospective Sewer Fee increases:
Mr. Sloss noted that sewer fees have not been increased since 2007 and that presently costs and
fees are approximately in balance and that cash reserves are approximately twice as large as
annual fee collections. Nonetheless, during the annual budget preparation process, town
management noted the need to consider another sewer fee increase. Mr. Sloss encouraged town
management to address issues enumerated in an August 28, 2012 memorandum he sent to them
before beginning the Sewer fee increase process to make the resulting report more useful and
accurate.
Election of Officers for the Committee:
In keeping with Town policy, the Committee elected the following officers to begin service
immediately and serve for one year terms:
Chairman: Jean Mordo
Vice Chairman: Allan Epstein
Secretary: Roddy Sloss
Committee members thanked the Messrs. Epstein, Silver and Sloss for their past service.
Presentations from the Floor:
None.
Proposed topics and dates for future meetings:
The next FIC regular meeting scheduled for October 1, 2012 at 4pm. Mr. Mordo will poll
members for topic suggestions.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:50 pm
Respectfully submitted by Roddy Sloss, Committee Secretary