MEETING OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM
August 16, 2001
Minutes
The Board of Trustees of the Houston Community College System held a
Meeting of the Finance Committee on August 16, 2001, at the HCCS
Administration Building, Chancellor’s Conference Room, 12th Floor, 3100 Main,
Houston, Texas.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT
Jay K. Aiyer
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT
Michael P. Williams, D.Min, Chair
Herman Litt
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
Bruce A. Austin, Ex-Officio
Herlinda Garcia
ADMINISTRATION
Bruce H. Leslie, Chancellor
Charles Cook, Vice Chancellor, Academic Development
Patricia Williamson, Vice Chancellor, Institutional Development
Margaret Forde, President, Northeast College
Zachary Hodges, President, Northwest College
Sylvia Ramos, President, Southeast College
Gloria Walker Executive Director, System Accounting Operations
Michael Kyme, Executive Director, Purchasing
Nat Campos, Executive Director, Human Resources
OTHERS PRESENT
Arturo Michel, Bracewell & Patterson
Mary Page, President, Faculty Association
Other administrators, interested citizens and representatives from the news
media
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Aiyer called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. and declared the meeting
convened to consider matters pertaining to the Houston Community College
System as listed on the duly posted meeting notice.
Houston Community College System
Finance Committee – August 16, 2001 – Page 2
ANNUAL END-OF-YEAR AUDIT
Juan Torres, Mir, Fox & Rodriguez, presented an overview of the process for the
annual end-of-year audit report for 2000-01 and responded to questions from the
Board Members. An audit calendar was developed with the management team
and a draft of the report will be provided to management by November 16, 2001.
Dr. Leslie will review the final report with the Finance Committee before seeking
Board approval in December. The Trustees asked that administration ensure
compliance with recommendations made in the last audit report.
ASSET MANAGEMENT/INVENTORY CONTROL/CAPITALIZATION
THRESHOLD POLICIES
The Chancellor recommended adoption of a formal policy on inventory control
and asset management and increasing the capitalization threshold from $700 to
$5,000 to put HCCS in line with state limits and to increase staff efficiency. Ms.
Walker added that this policy would ensure our compliance with GASB
accounting practices and reporting requirements approved by the Coordinating
Board.
QUOTATION THRESHOLD FOR GOODS AND SERVICES
Mr. Kyme presented a proposal to revise the current purchasing policy and
increase the threshold for obtaining quotes for goods and services from $700 to
$5,000. He explained that Purchasing staff currently spends about 75% of their
time processing orders less than $5,000. A higher threshold would increase
efficiency and allow staff to negotiate better contracts, establish vendor
partnerships, and provide better customer service.
Under the new policy, purchases less than $5,000 would require one quotation;
$5,001 - $9,999 – 3 quotes; $10,000 – 24,999 – 3 quotes from approved vendor
list; $25,000 + - would require competitive bidding. Mr. Kyme informed the
Trustees that a vendor base was available on the State of Texas website and
through the HCCS website. Dr. Leslie noted that Mr. Kyme would make a
presentation on the restructuring of the purchasing process at an upcoming
meeting.
RENEWAL OF AGREEMENTS/CONTRACTS OVER $24,999
Dr. Leslie presented the list of agreements and contracts to be renewed. He
explained that the Board approved renewing contracts on an annual basis.
Beginning in 2002 contract renewal will take place in April.
CONSIDERATION OF MARKETING FIRM
The Chancellor explained that an RFP was advertised to attract a large pool of
possible candidates to provide marketing services. Four firms have been
interviewed so far, with one additional firm to be considered. He will present a
recommendation at the upcoming Board Meeting.
Houston Community College System
Finance Committee – August 16, 2001 – Page 3
The firm’s primary charge is to perform an evaluation of existing marketing and
infrastructure, make recommendations on ways to improve marketing and create
a strategic marketing plan. An effective marketing strategy would be crucial in
preparing for a bond election and in meeting “Closing the Gaps” goals.
EMPLOYEE PARKING PROGRAM
The Board previously approved a recommendation to establish an employee
parking fee program; however, employees had expressed concerns over the fee
structure. Dr. Leslie proposed a modification of the original proposal - instead of
3 levels of fees, there would be only one option whereby faculty, staff or
administrators could pay for reserved parking. Mr. Villarreal conducted an
analysis on the cost of implementing the model and found that the modified
program would be less expensive to implement and would resolve concerns of
faculty and staff.
EFFECTIVE AND ROLLBACK TAX RATES
Ms. Walker explained that the Truth in Taxation law required HCCS to publish
the effective tax rate and rollback rate in local papers. If assessed valuation
increases by a certain amount, citizenry has the opportunity to petition for a
rollback. Ms. Walker recommended that the current tax rate of 8.2 cents be
continued. She reviewed the tax calendar and responded to questions from the
Trustees.
TAX COLLECTION AGREEMENT WITH FT. BEND TAX ASSESSOR
Dr. Leslie recommended approval of an agreement with the Ft. Bend Tax
Assessor for tax collection services. The City of Stafford has indicated they do
not want to continue collecting taxes for HCCS. The Chancellor added that Ft.
Bend would charge considerably less for those services.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
Minutes Prepared by:
Reliable Transcription Services
Reviewed, Finalized and Submitted by:
Herman Litt, Secretary
Board of Trustees
Minutes Approved as Submitted:
August 25, 2005