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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 02/06/1986 - WorkshopMINUTES CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS FEBRUARY 6, 1986 5:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Luther Jones Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Jack Best Council Members: David Berlanga, Sr. Leo Guerrero Joe McComb Frank Mendez Bill Pruet Mary Pat Slavik Linda Strong Acting City Manager Ernest Briones City Attorney Bruce Aycock City Attorney Hal George Assistant City Secretary Dorothy Zahn Mayor Luther Jones called the meeting to order in the Council Chamber of City Hall. Assistant City Secretary Dorothy Zahn called the roll of required charter officers and verified that the necessary quorum of the Council and the required charter officers were present to conduct the meeting. Acting City Manager Ernest Briones explained that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Capital Improvement Bond Program and informed the Council that Mr. Jim Seal, representing M. E. Allison and Company, Inc., Financial Consultant, and representatives of McCall, Parker and Horton, Bond Attorney, were present to provide information to the Council. Mayor Jones indicated that some of the Council Members had other meetings to attend and had requested that the meeting be adjourned at 6:30 p.m. A motion was made by Council Member Frank Mendez that the meeting be adjourned at 6:30 p.m., seconded by Council Member Pruet and passed unanimously. Acting City Manager Briones referred to the letter received from Mr. George H. Moff, Chief Appraiser of the Nueces County Appraisal District, in which he indicated his concurrence with the staff's projection on a ten percent growth rate for the next six years, as based on the prior ten-year growth pattern. Mr. Jim Seal addressed the Council in regard to the projections and the anticipated required tax increase to support the proposed Bond Program and stated that he agreed completely with the staff projection that an average of MICROFILMED Discussion of Current Concerns February 6, 1986 Page 2 growth of 10% for the next six years is correct. He informed the Council that if this does not prove to be true, the sale of the bonds could be extended over a longer period of time with no problems. He also stated that he completely agreed with the financing assumptions that had been made by the staff. Council Member Mary Pat Slavik questioned Mr. Seal extensively in regard to the levying of additional tax to support the budget in August in view of the revenue sharing funds that may be lost. Mr. Seal agreed with Mrs. Slavik that all taxes will have an effect on the City's Aa Bond Rating, but his firm will keep a close watch on this aspect of the Bond sales. Mayor Jones commented that Proposition 14, which was passed a few years ago, was the only action that adversely affected the City's bond rating and pointed out that the City has now again acquired the Aa rating which they had before the passage of Proposition 14 which limited the tax rate. Council Member Guerrero asked for Mr. Seal's opinion of increasing the proposed bond program by as much as $50 million dollars. Mr. Seal stated that he would have to prepare more calculations before he could give an answer on that but he was of the opinion that $50 million dollars, in addition to what is already planned, might be too aggressive for the City. He assured the Council that he would have no problem with recommending $10 to $15 million dollars more which would be a reasonable amount. Acting City Manager Briones explained to the Council the revenues generated from the Reinvestment Zone 1 and stated that the Bond Attorney's have some questions about using those funds for debt service. He then asked a representative of McCall, Parker & Horton to explain this. Mr. Jeff Leushel stated that they are concerned about the pending litigation over the Reinvestment Zone tax collection in the City of El Paso which is pending before the State Supreme Court. He explained that they are concerned that there is a possibility that the monies that have been collected by the Reinvestment Zone may have to be returned to the various taxing entities involved in the zone. He stated that, therefore, his firm questions whether the funds in the Reinvestment Zone could be used to pay debt service. Acting City Manager Briones assured the Council that there is a way of funding the improvements in the Reinvestment Zone, such as the Marina and the Coliseum, with direct revenues from the Reinvestment Zone. In response to Mrs. Slavik question, Mr. Leushel explained that the tax reform act of 1985 has provisions that are applied retroactively to January of 1986. He agreed with Mrs. Slavik that this has caused some of the cities, such as Houston, to withdrawn their bonds from market at this time. He assured her, )iscussion of Current Concerns February 6, 1986 Page 3 however, that the bill does not impact upon this City in going forward with this Bond election. In a further reference to the Reinvestment Zone funds, Mr. Utter informed the Council that a reduction of about forty to forty—five percent would occur if the taxes collected from Corpus Christi Independent School District and from Del Mar College had to be refunded. He stated that the Reinvestment Zone is receiving about $1 million dollars a year at this time but the funds that are considered to be School District and Del Mar College District funds are being held in escrow . Mr. Leushel referred to the idea of having only one bond issue to be considered by the voters. He stated that the singleness of purpose doctrine states that bond propositions cannot be combined unless they are directly related, i.e., streets and drainage on the same street project could be considered to be related. He expressed the opinion that the idea of having one bond proposition would probably not survive the opinion of the Attorney General which is required. He stated that his firm, therefore, advises against there being only one proposition. He expressed the opinion that at least seven issues would be required, but they will examine this a little closer. He provided further explanation by stating that the propositions need to be related enough so that the voters know exactly what is included. He assured the Council that no cities have single purpose bond elections unless it is a one issue matter. Acting City Manager Briones assured the Council that the staff will work very closely with the bond counsel and bond advisors to set up propositions in accordance with the law. Assistant City Manager James K. Lontos provided a report to the Council of the various neighborhood meetings and the projects discussed. He stated that the staff can work with the Planning Commission to recommend additional projects if the Council desires to increase the bond issue. Council Member Pruet stated that according to the neighborhood public meetings, there had been many requests for additional allocations for parks. He suggested that some of the additional $10 to $15 million dollars be allocated for park improvements. Mr. Briones stated that the program can be increased but it will be necessary to either increase the tax to pay for the program or lengthen the time of the program. Mr. Lontos stated that the Planning Commission and all of the projects; the last meeting of the Planning workshop meeting; and at that meeting, the Planning recommendations to the City Council to be considered by evening, February 17th. the staff will review Commission will be a Commission will make the Council on Monday Discussion of Current Concerns February 6, 1986 Page 4 Council Member Slavik inquired about the receipt of the Freese Nichols report, and Mr. Lontos replied that they have received a draft copy for staff review; the staff has reviewed it and sent it back to Freese Nichols; and they are in the process of making revisions. He stated that some of his staff members plan to meet with one of the Corpus Christi '90 Committees tonight to discuss this further. He stated that at this time, the report is just a draft but some recommendations have been taken from the report. Council Member Strong recommended that the Council be prepared to stay as long as necessary on February 17, 1986 at which time they will make their decision on the items to be included in the bond program. There being no further business to come before the Council, on motion by Council Member Mendez, seconded by Council Member Strong and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m., February 6, 1986. DZ/mj I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the Special Workshop Meeting of the City of Corpus Christi of February 6, 1986. WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, this the ;atKday of \-11/V.1:041l_' , 1986. Armando Chapa, City Secret'3ry City of Corpus Christi, Texas Luth=r J.fs, MAYOR