FC011221FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
January 12, 2021
Elected Officials Participating Virtually
Councilmember Diane Buckshnis (Chair)
Councilmember Vivian Olson (joined 6:05 p.m.)
1. CALL TO ORDER
Staff Participating Virtually
Dave Turley, Finance Director
Brian Tuley, IT Supervisor
Scott Passey, City Clerk
Jeff Taraday, City Attorney
Phil Williams, Public Works Director
The Edmonds City Council virtual online Finance Committee meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m.
by Councilmember Buckshnis. Selection of the Finance Committee Chair was added to the agenda.
2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
1. Computer Decommissioning and Surplus
Mr. Tuley described the policy for surplusing computers; after their useful life of 4-7 years (depending
on device type) has expired, they are surplused and donated to a non-profit organization,
InterConnection.org that provides technology to underserved individuals. He responded to a question
regarding erasing the hard drives.
Action: Forward to Consent Agenda
2. November 2020 Monthly Financial Report
Mr. Turley highlighted:
• REET revenue is higher in 2020 than 2019
• General Fund revenues are $39AM
• General Fund budget is $44M
• General Fund expenses are $39M ($4M less than budget)
• General Fund expense budget is $49M ($10M under budget)
• Retail Sales and Use Tax only $219,000 less than last year
o Through December, sales tax is 98.5% of last year ($150,000-200,000 less than 2019)
• Tax revenues and Licenses and Permits revenue is lower than 2019
• Intergovernmental revenue is higher than 2019 due to CARES Act funds
• Charges for goods and services are less than 2019 due to Parks program fees and plan check
fees
• Fines and Penalties revenue is lower than 2019 (fewer traffic and parking tickets)
• Received final retro billing for South County Fire at the end of 2020, amount slightly lower than
predicted, $804,000 for 3 years. 2021 will be billed at new 2020 rate.
• Miscellaneous revenue is lower than 2019
• Sales tax revenue is $7.5M in November and $8.3M at the end of December, just slightly
below 2018 and 2019 ($8.4M) and higher than 2017 and prior years
01/12/21 Finance Committee Minutes, Page 2
Questions and discussion followed regarding grants for the Edmonds Waterfront Development
project, overtime due to weather events, utility funds repair and maintenance over budget, adding
2019 as a comparison since 2020 was such an outlier, and praise for the City's investment portfolio.
Action: Forward to Consent Agenda
3. Finance Committee Planning Ideas
Suggestions included the following:
• Presentation on claims, e.g. how much has been paid for water damage claims
• Budget calendar
• Aging infrastructure
• General Fund subfunds
Action: Information only
4. Finance Policies
Suggestions included the following:
• Financial Reporting Policy
• Leak Adjustment Policy
• Building Maintenance Policy
• Lease Policy
• IT Policy
Action: Discussion only.
5. Waiving Rent Payments for the Chamber of Commerce from January -June 2021
Councilmember Buckshnis suggested waiving the rent through September. Councilmember Olson
suggested forming a subcommittee to discuss a different permanent rent arrangement for the
Chamber. Mr. Turley advised the Chamber's January rent had not been billed or collected. He pointed
a typo in the agreement (packet page 50), January 2020 needs to be changed to January 2021. A
brief discussion followed regarding why June was selected as the end date.
Action: On tonight's Consent Agenda
3. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 p.m