Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-02-1994 CC Adopted Minutes budget studySTUDY SESSION MEETING - March 2, 1994 A study session meeting of the City Council of the City of Dublin was held on Wednesday, March 2, 1994, in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Civic Center. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., by Mayor Snyder. * * * * Ro",. ca,.,. PRESENT: ABSENT: Councilmembers Burton, Houston, Howard, Moffatt and Mayor Snyder. None. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Snyder led the Council, Staff and those present in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. City Manager Ambrose advised that this study session had been called in order for those issues to be identified which will impact the City's financial condition in the next few years and to identify those areas the City Council would like Staff to analyze that impact operating and capital expenditures and revenues before the preparation of the Preliminary 1994-95 Budget and CIP. Mr. Ambrose felt if Staff.had a little bit more direction on the front-end of the process, it might save time later in preparation. Mr. Ambrose gave a brief overview of the City's financial situation, utilizing overheads. Historical comparisons of revenues and expenditures for FY 1990-91 through FY 1993-94 estimates were reviewed. The per capita expenditures in FY 1990-91 were $542, compared to $492 in FY 1993-94. The per capita revenues in FY 1990-91 were $598, compared to $521 in FY 1993-94. Mr. Ambrose discussed revenues and advised that the two big unknowns relate to sales tax and the state budget. Operating expenditures will be affected greatly by: 1) Police Dispatch Costs; 2) Implementation of new 800 mghz radio system; 3) Animal Shelter; 4) New operating costs in Fire Service; 5) Traffic Signal Maintenance; 6) Street Lighting due to acquisition of street lights from PG&E; 7) Library Services; and 8) Legal Services. Also, there are a total of $9½ million in capital projects identified in the City's 5-Year CIP which are unfunded. Staff prepared a list of items where direction was requested from the City Councile These included: I. Should Staff use 1993-94 service level as the basic budget service level for 1994-957 II. How should the budget address unknown State Budget impacts on the City? *@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@ CM - VOL 13 - 83 Study Session March 2, 1994 III. How should 1993-94 Operating surplus be utilized? i.e., 1. Economic uncertainty in 1994-95 2. Placed into reserves 3. Used for one-time expenditures IV. How/What should be budgeted for increases in 1994-957 1. Employee compensation 2. Contractor compensation V. How should community group requests be addressed in 1994-957 VI. Should the cost of funding high priority objectives be included as additional budget increments to the current service level? VII. What additional issues/areas should Staff analyze in the budget? 1. Expenditures 2. Revenues VIII.Set a budget hearing date Cm. Burton asked what Staff could see as far as any additional revenue coming in. He asked if there would be some development occurring. Mr. Ambrose stated it is too early to project this. We will haVe some, but it depends a lot on the construction schedules. Cm. Burton asked if our fees were more or less set as a break even or if we come out ahead in developer fees, Mr. Ambrose responded that we are not really coming out ahead. As an example, on CUP's we don't come close to retrieving our costs when processing these. We recover no overhead. Cm. Burton asked if we were more or less locked in with the same revenue as we have this year. When are we able to say enough is enough at these things the County is throwing at us such as Police dispatch, the animal shelter, or are they just going to keep doing this? Mr. Ambrose stated as long as the State keeps taking it away from the County, they will try to recover it from Us. It would cost us almost $ 3/4 million a year to run our own dispatch center. Cm. Burton asked if Pleasanton and Livermore run their own dispatch centers. Mr. Ambrose stated they do, but these are 24-hour operations and they pay a lot more than we do also. Cm. Burton asked if Staff had run any totals. Mr. Ambrose stated there are so many unknowns that no totals had been run. The Fire budget will be looked at very cautiously. Most of the revenue sources we have are pretty inflexible. We don't yet know what the property tax figures are for this year. Cm. Houston discussed some preliminary calculations. With regard to VII, his recommendation was that the Police Chief and City Manager *@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@.@,@,@,@,@,@ CM - VOL ~ - ~4 Btud~ Session March 2, 2994 review 2 additional police personnel. Also review library service to determine what we can buy for our money. MaYor Snyder questioned if we make modifications, will this impact Pleasanton as well? Staff responded that we might possibly be locked in depending upon what Pleasanton does° Cm. Houston asked if Staff could review library service in $ hour increments° Mr. Ambrose stated Staff could look at full day instead of 4 hour increments° Cm. Houston also reiterated his request to review the Business Task Force Economic Development Director position, and do a study on Data Processing equipment to upgrade to a more desirable level. Cm. Burton clarified that these would be in addition to the $300,000± they are already looking at. Cm. Moffatt felt the Council needed to start prioritizing things. We have to have police service, fire service, street repairs~ etc. We should get down to the very basics of what we really need and then start adding things. It may be that we will have to choose between 2 officers or a computer system. Cm. Houston felt we need to start with the basic service level. Mr. Ambrose advised that what Staff will do is start out with the current service level included in the Current budget and then add those items that the Council has discussed as additional budget increments. Cm. Moffatt asked if they would look at the bare bones necessities and use this as a base. Mr. Ambrose stated this would be a zero-base budget. Cm. Burton stated he felt they went to the mat and reduced everything when we thought we were going to lose the $800,000 last year. We could start with this to decide where the options are. We know our revenues won't increase significantly this next year. Mr° Ambrose suggested that they start with this years budget and then instead of looking at every single item, look at the range of possibilities. Cm. Burton felt there was a good format already established. Mr. Ambrose indicated the summary could be put together differently thisyear. Each service level could be listed with an amount. ,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@ CM - VOL ~ -~5 Study Session March 2, 1994 Mayor Snyder stated with regard to III (How should 1993-94 Operating surplus be utilized? ioe., 1. Economic uncertainty in 1994-95 2. Placed into reserves 3. Used for one-time expenditures), he would select #1. Cm. Moffatt asked about IV (How/What should be budgeted for increases in 1994-957 1. Employee compensation 2. Contractor compensation), and how much should be budgeted for increases. Cmo Houston felt it should be included in the analysis and then it could be discussed. Mr. Ambrose advised that with our accounting system, we split these numbers and distribute them. He suggested some kind of a number be determined and it could be put in the contingent reserve. Cm. Houston suggested putting in 3% and use this amount for figuring purposes. Mr. Ambrose stated they can disagree with this in June if they want and it could be pulled out at that time° Cm. Burton discussed increasing Staff because of development activity° He asked if this would be included. He didn't feel the Council needed to be included in these types of minute decisions. Mayor Snyder commented that if we have a major developer come to us and say they need Staff, we have to look at what we will do. As was discussed at the Goals & Objectives meeting, we are down 4 people. The City Council must consider when to look at adding people to relieve the pressure° Cm. Moffatt asked if it would be possible to get an extra fee for fast tracking an application. Mr. Ambrose responded that it is, but the City Council must adopt the fee and we have to go through the public hearing process. Home Express has come in and requested fast tracking as they want to be open by May. Cm. Moffatt felt that on V, dealing with community group requests, we should take our current funding and then look at the deducts. Services for the community are most important. Mayor Snyder thought the Council should review them as they have in the past at budget time. Mr. Ambrose asked how they should be shown as some are funded and some are not. Cm. Houston felt we should send out a letter and have everyone line up or put their name in because after a certain period of time, we can't accept any more requests. *@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@ CM - VOL ~ - ~ Stu4~ Session March 2, 1994 Cm. Moffatt stated he would like to discuss some type of criteria for funding. Cm. Houston felt that all the requests may be different, so we won't have any specific criteria° Cm. Moffatt used Dublin-based as a criteria example. He wanted to · know if there was any criteria that could be looked at to help eliminate some of these folks who ask for money. Cm. Burton felt they should just open the door to everyone and then decide at the appropriate time. Mr. Ambrose asked about the Dublin Fine Arts Foundation and Dublin Substance Abuse Council as they were included in this year's budget. Cm. Houston felt they should take all the money that will be available and have everyone make requests. The Council will then decide how to divide it up. Mr. Ambrose asked if Community Television should be included in this group o The Council responded initially that it should. Cm° Howard felt that CTV should not be put in the same pot. There is a lot of confusion on the part of the public about CTV. Most people confuse it with Viacom. Mayor Snyder stated he felt this should be in a separate pot as it is a service of its own° The Council agreed. Cm. Moffatt asked about getting into the Americans with Disabilities Act aspects of paratransit. Mr. Ambrose stated paratransit could be put in as an additional increment and the Council~could either fund or not fund it. He would back out those directly requested contributions to groups and they would not be part of the basic service level. Cm. Houston stated on VI, he had stated some things that he felt were high priority. Mayor Snyder pointed out that there were 37 goals & objectives listed with high priority, but with differing Staff time requirements. He felt that in many cases, a decision will have to be based on dollar figures. It should be kept separate as the information is needed in order for them to make a decision° In discussing VII, additional issues/areas for budget analysis, Cm. Moffatt felt there was a hole in the revenues, we utilize for the school district. We are taking care of their football field and maybe the costs can be shared. *@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@*@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@ CM - VOL ~3 - 87 Study Session March 2, i994 Cm.'s Houston and Howard will be meeting as the liaison committee with the school district next week and issues such as this will be discussed. Mr. Ambrose reviewed ancient history and discussed the events related to Kolb Park. Dublin San Ramon Services District built what was known as Kolb Park on school district property. In 1978, when Proposition 13 was passed, DSRSD said they could no longer maintain the park and said, "it's yours school district". The school district said they couldn't maintain it either. Those who have been in the community for years know what happened to Kolb Park and the investment that had gone into that facility. Mr. Ambrose explained the hesitation and concern on the part of the City Council when the City entered into the facility use agreement with the school district. The City put in close to $ 3/4 million in a school district facility, the football field and complex at Dublin High School° What must be considered is what guarantee do we have that those improvements or investment in the community will be maintained and not let go? We maintain the turf and they maintain the fixed structures. Cm. Moffatt pointed out that on paper we have committed to $3½ million in improvements. Mr. Ambrose advised that the school district has a $36 million bond issue that they just Passed and a portion is for facility upgrades, including existing facilities° There is some overlap there, so we will need to know what they plan on doing° There's certainly no need for the City to carry something in its Capital Improvement Program if they plan on doing it. Cm. Moffatt indicated that he really liked the program we are in regarding utilizing some of the school properties for recreation programs. There could be an adjustment to some of the policies related to what they are doing and what we are doing. Maybe a realignment should take place. · Mr. Ambrose pointed out that the other part of the agreement involves scheduling. The City schedules all facilities within the City. Cm. Moffatt felt this was a great concept and we should maintain it, but maybe we should take a look and realign some of the aspects. Cm. Houston asked if he meant realign to get more money? Cm. Moffatt stated it was difficult to talk about specifics at this point but we should have a better understanding after the liaison committee meets with them. Mayor Snyder stated he felt there needed to be a greater mutual understanding of the agreement under which we operate. We did it for the benefit of the community and many of the school district parents and staff members believe it was done for the benefit of the school *@*@*@*@*@*@*@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@.@,@,@,@,@ ~ - VOL 13 - 88 Study Session March 2, 1994 district and that they should have exclusive use of the facilities. If we can't clarify this, he suggested that the City back away from the entire program. There is animosity created out of the conflicts that arise. Cm. Burton felt the school district will have the money for capital improvements as a result of their bond issue° Mr. Ambrose stated the bond money cannot be used for maintenance. Mayor Snyder stated he was concerned with regard to revenues and the Governor's budget situation. Some of the philosophy was explained at an ABAG meeting the other day. The one thing that stands out very clearly is the basic $2.3 billion for immigration which is the key to the whole thing. The unitary tax situation also could certainly be an element. The rollover figure coming out of Sacramento is $6 billion and nobody wants to address this. Someday, this has to be addressed and it has to be paid by somebody° We need to be prepared at some point in the future to be a part of that payoff, The Council selected the date of Wednesday, June 15th to hold the Budget meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m., and to continue on Thursday, June 16th if necessary. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, the study session was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. a~or ~ *@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@.@,@,@,@ CM - VOL 13 - 89 Study Session March 2, 1994