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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 2526 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 2526 �'FT�gfO ��oFFORT,�A To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 27, 1975 �rexay Subject: LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND EXPENSES As requested by the City Council on August 19th, there is attached a copy of the Legislative Program activities during the 1975 legislative session. Also attached is a schedule of Objective Detail on expenditures and appropriations. A program has been initiated and responsibilities assigned for review and comment on the proposed State Constitution. It is intended to make informa- tion available to the City Council as a basis for developing an official City policy on those articles of the proposed Constitution which would affect city governments. Respectful submitted, e4t__ ` R. N. Line City Manager RNL:ms Attachments ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS --- LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM BUDGET DATA 1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1974-75 1975-76 Descri. tion Actual Actual Re-Estimate Adopted Budget Proposed 1101 Salary $5,225 $15,323 - $16,640 $19,956 1121 Overtime 56 - - - - 1201 Scheduled Temporary Help 3,993 599 - - - 1221 Extra Help 52 - - - - Sub-Total $9,326 $15,922 $16,778 $16,640 $19,956 2101 Office Supplies $ 649 $ 654 $ 40 $ 600 $ 300 2102 Postage 108 55 68 200 97 2215 Miscellaneous Expenses 2,017 1,230 2,715 3,380 2,000 2401 Minor Equipment 149 - - - - Sub-Total $2,923 $ 1,939 $ 2,823 $ 4,180 $ 2,397 3120 Other Professional Services $ - $ 70 $ - $ 500 $ - 3213 Private Auto Allowance - - 970 1,000 2,534 3220 Travel Expenses 3,806 5,110 3,778 3,506 1,466 3303 Printing - Inside 1,027 128 72 - - 3304 Printing - Outside - - 45 - - 3312 Office Copy Service 248 106 300 300 150 3504 Telephone 1,399 1,207 1,735 1,650 1,059 3601 Repair and Maint- enance 20 - - - - 3701 Building, Land (Apartment) 1,325 390 1,560 2,760 - 3804 Transfer to Capital Reserve 69 125 92 - - 3901 Dues and Memberships 500 773 630 592 515 3912 Other Contractual 1,799 2,043 2,351 2,650 700 Services Sub-Total $10,193 $ 9,952 $11,533 $12,958 $ 6,424 4304 Furniture and Fixtures $ - $ 1,106 - - - 4310 Office Equipment 660 330 - - - Sub-Total $ 660 $ 1,436 - - - ACTIVITY TOTAL $23,102 $29,249 $31,134 $33,778 $28,777 INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE Rodger N. Line,--City-Manager DATE.-__-u1-y- 2, 1975 B . J. Pumphrey, LEGAL _I.S . Ttnti: _Summary_ report on activities in the 64th Legislature There were 429 bills introduced in the 64th Legislature that would directly affect the City of Fort Worth, either financially or operationally. Of the total number of bills introduced we objected to 156 and favored 273 . There was one bill passed that we objected to and 273 passed that we favored. Based on an analysis of only 17 proposed measures, the cost to the City would have been $10 ,996,775 or 63 .15 cents increase in the tax rate. The City could receive $13, 321,000 from favored bills passed. It is therefore necessary that the City of Fort Worth maintain a vigorous and continuous Legislative Program in order to protect the rights of the citizens, the interests of the City and to effectively communicate with all branches of the State Government. B. J. Bill) umphre Intergovern ental Specialist P.1-.tachment. GJP :hpo fr ,. CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS -�' � " '`': ;',a` ""- � "'" 1000 Throckmorton Street B. J. (Bill) Pumphrey Fort Worth, Texas 76102 1"tergovernmental Specialist 335-721 1 Area Code 817 June 23 , 1975 Mr . R. N. Line City Manager City of Fort Worth Dear Sir : The continuation of the Legislative Program within the City of Fort Worth is attributable to the foresight of the Fort Worth City Council and the City Manager. With- out your enthusiastic support the program would never have developed nor would it have attained the goals that it has during the past six months . The program received excellent cooperation from all de- partm,�nts of the City government and provided a means of gathering the necessary information to be relayed to the Legislators in Austin, Texas . Submitted herewith is a "Special Report" on the City of Fort Worth Legislative Program , as well as a summary. 'espectfully submitted , B . J. (Bill) Pu hrey BJP:hpo Attachments . SPECIAL REPORT The Legislative Program for the City of Fort Worth was created for the express purpose of establish- ing and maintaining effective communication between Local and State government officials . The program has provided a method to present and promote the views of the City on proposed legislation which could affect the operation of the local government , thereby, helping to adopt favorable legislation and suppress legislation considered to be unfavorable. The primary goal of the Legislative Program is to aid in making governments work in harmony with each other , thereby reducing conflict and yet , leaving each with the controls necessary to maintain good, sound government. The Intergovernmental Specialist ' s most important role is to collect facts, statistics and technical or specialized information and to relay this data by con- sultation with legislators on all matters of concern to the City of Fort Worth government. Another important part of the Legislative Program is polling Legislators -1- on particular bills and determining when assistance of the City officials is needed . The Intergovernmental Specialist must at all times maintain contact with as many Legislators as possible . In the event of a called session of the State Legislature , he must be able to obtain informa- tion and prepare strategy in regard to proposed Legislation which might affect the City of Fors Worth . The Intergovernmental Specialist will also act as an observer and be given the authority to express opinions given to him by City of Fort Worth Officials . The 64th Legislature of Texas convened the 8th day of January, 1975 . Arrangements were made with the Texas Legislative Service to send copies of all bills which could have any impact whatsoever on the City of Fort Worth, to the Interc;,overnmental Specialist in Austin. One additional set of the identical bills was mailed daily to the office in Fort Worth. These bills were reviewed daily by the -2- Intergovernmental Specialist in Austin, and in Fort Worth by an Assistant City Attorney and clerical aide , Managers and the affected Department and/or Division Heads for their review and opinions . When opinions were returned, they were compiled in Austin. The Intergovernmental Specialist was then able to express the views of the City of Fort Worth to members of the Legislature, with whom the Intergovernmental Specialist had a close relationship. At all trues during the session we had excep- tionally good cooperation from all members and committees of the 64th Legislature. At various times during the Session it was deemed necessary to have persons from Fort Worth travel to Austin in order to personally express the opinions of the City to various committees. Twenty- thrto: such testimonies were arranged and proved effective. The 64th Session of the Legislature produced -3- over 728 bills that might have an effect on Fort Worth. It was determined that of the 728, only 429 actually did affect the operation of the City. of the 429 bills , the City of Fort Worth opposed 156 of them and was in favor of 273 . As a point of interest, let me state that it is just as hard to pass legislation that is favorable to the City as it is to defeat legislation unfavorable to the City. In the Legislative Session there are no sure things. Therefore, the enormity of that task should not be over-simplified. Following is a recap of the 429 bills proposed which would have affected the City of Fort Worth, broken down by departments . -4- Total Opposition Favorable Proposed City Manager ' s Office 2 6 8 Ralph Hardy 9 7 16 Thompson III 4 0 4 Sturns 0 2 2 Dobbs 3 14 17 Legal Department 12 8 20 City Secretary ' s Office 2 19 21 Aviation - Preston 2 2 4 Research & Budget 1 4 5 Odell NIP 0 1 1 Planni,ig - Human 13 28 41 Public Works - Jack Graham 2 6 8 2raffic Engineer - Santerre 4 21 25 Water Department - Robinson 1 2 3 Tax D,:partment - Reed 20 42 62 Electric - Page 9 2 11 health Department-Bradshaw 2 23. 25 Park & Recreation - Campbell 0 1 1 Fire Department - Himes 22 23 45 -5- Total Opposition Favorable Proposed Police Department - Walls 24 32 56 Human Resources - Aughinbaugh 9 25 7 Public Library - Mable Fisher 0 1 1 Personnel - Priore 15 2 17 City Manager ' s Office - Ivory 0 1 1 Purchasing - Blackwell 0 1 1 We opposed 156 bills and were in favor of 273 b—' lls , a total of 429. Personally, I know of no other City that did as well as Fort Worth on the outcome of their goals during the 64th Session cf the Legislature. Just to give you some idea of the cost of some of these bills that we .)pposed had they passed , as well as some of the . : l.ls that passed which were favorable to the City of Fort north : PROPOSED FIRE & POLICE LEGISLATION-OPPOSED SENATE BILL 526 - Introduced by Harrington - This was an overall change in amending 1269m Civil Service Law. I do not know what the effect would have been , dollars and cents wise , had this bill passed. It failed on the Senate floor . -6- SENATE BILL 853 - Introduced by Brooks and Williams and HOUSE BILL 732 - Introduced by Jones (Companion Bill) . This granted authority to order the cities to pay the firemen or policemen lost wages, grants , any other remedy the court deems appropriate , award reasonable attorney ' s fees to the firemen or policemen , or assess court costs against the city if the District Court rules in favor of the firemen and police- men when cases are appealed to them for settlement. Each case would vary, but an estimated minimum cost to the City of Fort Worth would be $7 ,455 . This bill did not pass but was amended to read "That if the cost also went against the firenten or policemen then they would have to pay reasonable attorney ' s fees to the city for the court costs" so this was really a swap out bill . HOUSE BILL 219 - Introduced by Willis - This bill in- volved longevity pay for policemen and firemen for an increase from $4.00 to $5 .00 per month up to and including 25 years in the department. Estimated cost to the City of Fort Worth for Fire Department only was $92, 660 per year. I do not have the figures for the cost of the Police Department had this bill passed; this bill did not pass . -7- ROUSE BILL 372 - Introduced by Salem - This bill would increase the minimum base salary for Firemen and Policemen from $220 .00 to $700 .00 per month cities having population of 5 ,000 or more and reduce the required years of service to earn the maximum longevity pay from 25 to 10 years . The estimated cost to the City of Fort Worth if this bill had passed; no cost to increase from minimum base salary. Years of service reduction would require approximately $192, 660 per year. This would increase at varying amounts from year to year. This bill did not pass ; it was killed in Committee. HOUSE BILL 536 - Introduced by Bryant - This bill concerns benefits paid for death or disability to firemen from heart or lung diseases. Estimated cost to the City of Fort Worth, a minimum potential of $35,000 a year . This bill did not pass , it was killed in Committee. -8- SENATE BILL 269 - Introduced Y.y Williams (Companion bill) . HOUSE BILL 1108 - Introduced by Joe Allen - Description : Firemen and Policemen receiving lump sum payment for total accumulated sick and vacation leave on termination of service . Estimated cost to the City of Fort Worth $313 , 500 per year . This was a companion bill, killed in Committee . HOUSE BILL 1118 - Introduced by Baker - Age requirement for beginning position of firemen and policemen increased from 36 years of age to 46. This bill did not pass, it was killed in Committee . HOUSE BILL 1808 - Introduced by Mattox, et al - Right of a lire fighter or policeman to bargain collectively by either one of the following methods : 1 . Upon receiving a petition signed by quali- fied voters in such city, town, or political sub-division in numbers not less than a majority of those who voted in the last pre- -9- ceding general election the governing body shall within 90 days adopt the provision of this Act ; or 2 . Upon receipt of petition signed by qualified voters the number of which is the lesser of 5% of 20,000 of the quali- fied voters voting in the last preceding general election in such city, town, or political siib-division shall either adopt this Act to become effective within 30 days after the beginninj of the next fiscal year of said such city, town, or political sub-division or hold an election within 60 days after said petition has been filed with said governing body. If at said election a majority of the votes cast shall favor the adoption of this Act then such governing body shall place this Act into effect within 90 days sifter said election . -10- An election estimate cost $25 ,000 . This bill did not pass ; it was killed in Committee. MOUSE BILL 1857 - Introduced by Denton - Proposed legislation removes the 90 day limitation for sick leave upon termination from the fire service and provides for lump sum payments for unlimited accu- lated sick leave . Estimated cost to the City of ' ort Worth $288,000 per year . This bill did not pass ; killed in Committee . SENATE BILL 702 - After studying Senate Bill 702 , it is evident that under Section 3 , entitled "Participation, " that the Fort Worth Fire Department could be a vote of the fire fighters to remove them- selves from the pension fund of the City of Fort Worth and place themselves under this Act. Section 3 , Paragraph B , reads participation in this plan is by option. That option shall be exercised by a majority vote of the qualified firemen in each local -11- department. "Upon such vote , each qualified fireman in the department shall be considered a member of the Fund. " According to the proposed retirement benefit calculations , in my opinion it would be possible for an employee to retire at a greater monthly salary than he is currently drawing . Under Section 7 , entitled "Benefits , " it states that each member fireman shall receive a retirement annuity payable in monthly in- stallemts beginning at retirement age, and under Section 2, entitled "Definitions , " retirement age is defined as age 60 ; reading further under Section 7 , paragraph 2 entitled "Guaranteed Sums , " reads as follows : "Each member fireman who contributes one dollar per month shall be guaranteed a monthly pension of fifty dollars . Each member fireman who contributes a specific percentage of his salary shall receive 11 times his average percentage contribution multiplied -12- by his averages monthly salary over the term of his service . " Paragraph 3 continues by saying : "For each year of additional service in excess of fifteen years , a member firL:man is entitled to receive an additional 7% of his monthly retirement annuity. " Section 7 , paragraph B , entitled "Disability, " states that if :,n employee is disabled in line of duty, he shall receive $8000 per year, payable weekly. If he is partially disabled, he shall receive a percentage of the $8000 according to percentage of disability . Furthermore, should his disability continue to age 60 , the fireman shall be entitled to either his retirement or his disability allowance , whichever is the greater . Paragraph C, entitled "Accidental Death" states that if an ernployee is '.tilled in line of duty, his beneficiary shall receive $50,000 lump sum payment, or if a member should die for any cause, at any time be- fora the member fireman realizes the return of monies contributed to the fund on his behalf, his beneficiaries -13- shall be entitled to an amount equal to those un- realized coi,. ributions . Section 8 , concerns funding of the Fund - The fireman is the sole determinate as to how much he shall contribute to the fund and his determina- tion, and his alone, determines the amount the City must contribuLe ; the minimum amount the fireman may contribute is one dollar or 3%, whichever is lie greater, but an individual employee fireman may annually elect to contribute a larger amount not to exceed 7%. There is only one safeguard for ti►e City and that is if the individual fireman wishes to contribute more than 3%, he must obtain the approval of his employer . The employer is required to con- tribute to the Fund an amount equal to twice the contribution of the member fireman, and if the Fund should be found actuarially unsound, then the state cont�_;.)utes sufficient funds to make the fund sound. I estimate that the average fire fighter that retires would probably have thirty-five years of -14- service and one that would retire at this time would probably have an average annual income of $4,000 . If h�_s contributions were the same as the Fort Worth fire fighters have been contributing, i .e. , 7 1/2% then for the first 15 years he would receive 66% of his $4 , 000 , or approximately $2600 annually; added to this would be the additional 20 years of service multiplied times 7%, which would be 140% of the $2600 , or a total pension of $6240 . Under the Ci~y pension, he would receive approxi- mately $4 ,450 per year , but individuals who received disability retirement would be eligible for pension of $9000 per year. It is further unclear in the law as to wether or not a fire fighter could start receiving his pension at age 60 and yet continue to work drawing his full salary as a fire fighter also. It is not possible for me to place a dollar cost on t`:is bill because of the vague language, and -15- the large number of options open to the fire fighter. This bill was killed on the Senate floor . -16- PROPOSED TRAFFIC ENGINEERING LEGISLATION - FAVORED HOUSE BILL 1364 - Introduced by Byrd - Proposed legis- lation eliminates the need for the city to install "Stop" or "Yi`ld " signs at approximately 600 locations . This is called the "T" Dill , or "T" Intersection; in csther words, where a street runs into a main thoroughfare and dead ends. This will be a savings to the city of an initial cost of $21 ,000 , and an annual recurring cost of possibly Y3 , 000 per year . This All did pass . SENATE BILL 761 & 762 - Introduced by Senator McKnight - This bill passed , It is the reorganization of the Texas Highway Department ,nd Texas Mass Transit Commission into the Texas Department of Highway and Public Transportation. additionally pi -vides $31,000 , 000 over a two year period for public transit capital improvements . The City of Fort Worth urbanized area will be eligible to receive a "by formula " approximately 12% of the 60% designated to the urban- ized areas over 200 , 000 , or this could amount to $2 , 160,000 that the State would contribute to the City of Fort Worth if the City matches the ratio which would be approximately -17- $1. , 600,000 . With the State and City funds then the Federal Government would match in the neighborhood of $13 , 300 .000 . This would be an 80% Federal and 20% local and state matching fund . The City of Fort Worth would be eligible to submit application for state funds which reverts to the discretionary program. In other words , if we do not use the $2, 160 , 000 this amount will be returned to the discretionary fund and smaller cities of under 200 ,000 would be eligible to pick up this money and use it for their own public transportation system. Senate Bill 752 , which is the Mates Transit Bill, will be beneficial to the City of Fort Worth. This is :)ne of the few times that the City of Fort Worth has received money from the State for a project of any significance. Also, the Mass Transit Bill, either Senate B--.11 761 or 762 , will generate $13 , 300 , 000 for mass trar:sit . This bill passed. TRAFFIC ENGINEERING - OPPOSED HOUSE BILL 95 - Introduced by Bock - Painting the inter- sections of the school zones, which in the C-J-y of Fort Worth -18- would have been 24 , 624 intersections . The cost to initiate this program would have been $4,000 , 000 plus . Also, it would have been $3, 200 ,000 for the upkeep or to continue this program. House Bill 95 was killed by the author after he and I had a meeting anc' discussed the merits of the bill and he agreed that this bill would cost that kind of money , so he pulled this bill down, which sa\_-A the City, as you can see, $4,000,000 initial cost and $3 , 200 ,000 a year thereafter . This bill did not pass . PROPOSED TAX LEGISLATION - OPPOSED HOUSE BILL 1989 - Introduced by Olson - Would have required open space land devoted to agriculture to be appraised on the basis of its productivity, regard- .,.:!ss of its ownership. It would have required assess- ments on fringe land in the city to be appraised at $100 to $200 an acre , rather than $1000 to $2000 an acre. There is no exact estimate of the number of acres involved ; however , at least 5000 acres would be affected with a potential loss of from $5 .00 to -19- $6.00 an acre in actual taxes, or approximately $30 ,000 per year had this bill passed. This bill was killed in Committee. HOUSE BILL 1747 - Introduced by Wyatt - Would have exempt certain vehicles of less than 6,000 lbs . on a permissive basis , even though Ft. Worth taxes only business automobiles , there very likely would have been public pressure to adopt this exemption by losing city taxes on at least 500 vehicles at approxi- mately $7500 .00 per year . This bill did not pass . SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 61 - Introduced by Jones - Would have changed the statute regarding taxation of in- tangibles. This was to be a permissive tax enactment by each jurisdiction, and a loss of all intangibles , which includes bank assets , would have amounted to about $1 ,000 ,000 per year in actual loss . This bill did not pass ; it was killed in Committee. HOUSE BILL 1463 - Introduced by Peveto - It has been estimated that the City would have a possible loss of tax- able revenue of $5 ,000 ,000 per year . House Bill 1463 was killed in the Senate Committee Hearing . -20- SENATE BILL 647 - Introduced by Scwartz - Would have required the tax office to mail no less than 50,000 of the taxpayers a notification relating to homestead exemption. Postage on this alone, at ten cents each would have been a $5 ,000 per year cost to the City. This bill was killed on the floor. -21- If consideration is given to the limitations of cities ' taxing authority and to the fact that financing only those laws identified above would have imposed approximately a 63 .15 cents per hundred dollar valuation additional tax burden on the City, it is evident that the state legislation does impose a critical financial strain on our City. Furthermore, these financial im- positions erode the authority of local elected officials to discharge their responsibility in making political decisions . -22- WORKLOAD STATISTICS 1/8/75 - 6/2/75 Bills introduced before the 64th Legislature 3540 Bills received from the Legislative Service 728 Bills killed in committee, calendar, or on the floor 156 Bills sent to City Manager/Assistant City Manager, Department Heads and/or Division Heads for opinions 728 Opinions received from City Manager/Assistant City Manager, Department Ileads and/or Division Heads 429 Final copies of Bills passed House and Senate , sent to various City Staff Member 103 Committee Hearing attended 6 per week, average 15 hours per week for 2 1/2 months 300+ Senator and House Representative visited each day - average 30 'Pestiu.onies arranged 23 T- rant County Delegation luncheon 2 Mi-es traveled since October 1974 through 17 ,230 June 3 , 1975 Correspondence mailed out - Total 977 Number of photocopies made 10/1/74 - 6/1/75 4 , 211 -23- I . CURRENT GOALS OF T11E INTERGOVERNMENTAL SPECIALIST I ' A. To keep the City Council, Administrative Staff and Department Beads informed as to legislation affect- ing City government. Objective - to provide a copy of proposed legislation to all affected parties . Measures of effectiveness - Number of copies sent out Number of opinions received B. To assist the City Council , Administrative Staff and Department Heads in developing and carrying to success- ful completion any legislative program necessary to better the City government in its job of serving the citizens of Fort Worth. C . To maintain liaison with the State Legislature at all times. Objective - Arrange luncheons for members of the Tarrant County Legislative Delegation as often as feasible. Measures of effectiveness - Number of luncheons held. Objective - To attend as many legislative functions State- wide as possible. Measures of effectiveness - Number of functions attended. -24-