HomeMy WebLinkAboutSupplemental - Questions from Robert Goldberg /'y &jide,....tal
Budget Questions & Comments: Workshop 5/29/19
Position Allocation Plan (PAP)
Page 7, Police: The PAP shows 3.95 Police Aides (Part-time) for parking enforcement. This is an
increase of 2.32 from FY 18-19. The part-time salary cost on this increase will range from $63,842
(Step 1) to $77,595 (Step 5).
How many parking tickets will the additional Police Aides have to write for us to break even?
Is the plan still to deploy all or part of this new staff after 5 or 6 p.m.?If so, what enforcement
areas will they focus on?
Page 7, Community Development: The Director of Community Development title still has
"(Unfunded)" adjacent to it.
Is this correct?
Page 8, Public Works: The PAP shows a full-time Mechanic (1.0). This is a change from a 0.74 part-
time Mechanic in FY 18-19. Currently, there is no position of full-time Mechanic in the City's pay
structure. The current hourly pay range for part-time Mechanic is $22.09-$26.85. The lowest paid
full-time classifications (Grade 8: Maintenance Worker, Community Services Officer) have a pay
range that is 9% higher at $24.09-29.28 per hour.
Is staff proposing to add Mechanic to the full-time classifications at Grade 8, or would a lower
Grade be created?
Page 151, Fleet Maintenance, shows the expected FY 18-19 cost of our current part-time (0.74)
Mechanic at $23,100 with another$300 for PARS retirement. With the conversion to full-time, Total
Personnel Services will increase by over $40,000 to $160,000.
What would be the FY 19-120 budget for Total Personnel Services for General Fund Vehicle
Maintenance if we stayed at 0.74 part-time Mechanic?
The PAP indicates 40% of the new position would be paid for by the Sewer and Water Funds.
What is the cost impact, including employee benefits, of this proposal to the Sewer and Water
Funds?
The descriptive information for Fleet Maintenance on page 149 indicates that we currently already
have one full-time mechanic with two if the request above is approved.
Is the current full-time "mechanic"our Fleet Maintenance Program Manager?
The PAP shows 4.46 Water Operators. This is a change from a 4.00 in FY 18-19. The proposed
fractional number of positions implies the use of one or more part-time employees. However, Water
Operators are not listed on our part-time pay structure.
Is staff going to propose creating a part-time classification for Water Operator?If so, what
will be the pay range?
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Operating Transfers
Page 16: The middle of the page shows a transfer of$64,700 from the General Fund to the Street
Lighting District. However, at the 4/22/19 Council meeting, staff indicated (Item J) that the transfer
for FY 19-20 would be only $47,998
Why is the proposed transfer amount almost$17,000 higher?
Revenue Summary By Fund
Page 20, Charges for Services: "Inmate Fee from Other Agencies" (001-024-30841) is only $3000,
essentially no change from last year. However, in March, we signed an agreement to house up to 18
inmates/day with the US Marshals Service.
Why is there no anticipated revenue from this agreement shown in this account?
Page 21, Parking Citations (not including beach lots): Staff is expecting a $350,000 increase in
revenue for FY 19-20 vs the expected for FY 18-19. However, FY 18-19 estimated revenue already
reflects the full impact of new credit card meters in the Main St lots and the use of LPR for
enforcement for at least six months (I think). The only things that will change in FY 19-20 is the 150 ft
movement rule for commercial areas and the proposed hiring of 2+ parking enforcement officers.
What is the likelihood that these two improvements for FY 19-20 will increase parking citation
revenue by 37%?
Page 23, Tidelands: The estimated insurance reimbursement for 18-19 is $5,955,500. The original
estimated reimbursement for the pier fire was $4.7 million. However, the financial update presented
on 4/22/19 indicated that the reimbursement amount will probably end up being around $4.5
million.
Why is the City budgeting for reimbursement revenue that is likely to be$1.4 million larger
than what we are likely to receive?
City Manager
Page 49: "Contract Professional Services" is budgeted at $40,000 which is a $15,000 increase in the
budgeted authorization from last year. The account explanation on page 48 only lists
"Communication and consultant services."
Please provide a listing and cost itemization for the proposed$40,000 in professional service
contracts.
City Manager— Human Resources
Page 49: "Contract Professional Services" is budgeted at $87,000 which is a $37,000 increase in the
budgeted authorization from last year. The account explanation on page 54 lists the same
contractors as last year.
Please explain why the$37,000 increase in professional service contracts.
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Finance-Non Departmental
Page 68: The listing of Contract Professionals shows a new contractor—Clear Source.
What services does Clear Source provide and what are their fees?
Page 69: There is $20,000 budgeted for PERS Retirement. However, there are no employees on this
"Non-Departmental" page.
Please explain the nature and reason for this budget item.
City Manager-Information Systems
Page 70-71: After a 28% ($145,430) budget increase in FY 18-19, staff is proposing another 22%
($146,000) increase for FY 19-20. Besides adding Office 365, it is not clear to this layperson why our
IT costs are skyrocketing.
Please provide an itemized cost table or equivalent to show the source and necessity of the
proposed$146,000 increase.
Special Projects
Page 73: In FY 18-19, there was a transfer to the General Fund of$28,000 to cover operational
expenses related the City Clerk's Office Archival Plan and Public Works' GIS system.
Why is this not being repeated in FY 19-20?
SB Cable
Page 77: In FY 18-19, there was a transfer to the General Fund of$10,000 to cover operational
expenses for video streaming of meetings.
Why is this not being repeated in FY 19-20?
Police—Field Services
Pages 84-85: The proposed budget for Trainings and Meetings was more than doubled to $60,000
from FY 18-19 with the "actual" from FY 17-18 at just under $37,000.
Can staff provide some insight as to the necessity to substantially increase the training budget?
How many additional officer days "out-of-the-field"are anticipated if the increased training budget is
approved?
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Police— Parking Enforcement
Pages 92-93: "Contract Professional Services" is budgeted at $126,100 which is a $44,400 increase
from the budgeted authorization from last year. The account explanation on page 92 lists "Dixon" as
a new contractor for FY 19-20.
Is staff planning on seeking a new contract with Dixon Resources (parking consultant used two years
ago)?
If not, please explain how the additional$44,000 will be spent.
See additional questions above in section on Position Allocation Plan regarding the hiring of
additional Police Aides for parking enforcement.
Community Development— Planning
Pages 126-127: "Contract Professional Services" is budgeted at $165,000 which is an $80,000 increase
from the budgeted authorization from last year. The account explanation on page 127 lists "Housing
Element consultant" and "CEQA review" as new contractors for FY 19-20. Our current Housing
Element runs through October 2021, and the SCAG will not be adopting new local housing quotas
(Regional Housing Needs Assessments) until October 2020 (FY 20-21).
Why does staff want to engage a Housing Element consultant so far ahead of time?
What project does staff anticipate will require our hiring of a consultant for CEQA review?
See additional question above in section on Position Allocation Plan regarding the position of
Community Development Director.
Public Works—Street Maintenance
Page 147: Street sweeping is going up almost $52,000 (55%).
Please explain the basis for this increase.
Contract Professional Services are going up $200,000 (36%). The account explanation on page 146
indicates a consultant for "Pavement Management Plan" has been added. That cost us about
$21,000 in 2018. The Council was told last January that the new tree-trimming contract awarded last
January will increase FY 19-20 costs by $50,000. Thus, an approximate increase of$75,000 was
expected.
Please explain the basis for additional$125,000 increase.
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Public Works—Vehicle Maintenance
See questions above in section on Position Allocation Plan regarding promotion of part-time
mechanic.
Community Services: Sr. Services
Page 114: The budget was increased by$41,000.
What transportation services are being added?
Tidelands Beach: Marine Safety
Page 207, Aquatics: The proposed budget for Equipment/Materials is $29,100, more than double the
actual amount for FY 17-18 and estimate for FY 18-19. However, the account explanation on page
206 reads the same as in last year's budget.
Please provide further details regarding increased proposed expenditure?
Public Works: Beach Maintenance
Page 169: The proposed budget for Contract Prof Services is $453,500. This account should include
the biannual sand backpass every other year. FY 19-20 is a backpass year, but only $31,000 more is
budgeted than was in FY 18-19.
Does the$453,500 include an estimated backpass surcharge for FY 19-20?
What is the status of our current bid solicitation for berm/backpass services?
Proprietary Funds
Public Works: Vehicle Replacement Fund
Page 223: Capital Outlay-Vehicles shows an FY 17-18 Actual of only $6,505. However, the Council
approved $36,292 on 9/11/17 for the purchase of a police patrol car, and another$102,913 on
3/26/18 for the purchase of new parking enforcement vehicles.
Why aren't these purchases included in FY 17-18 Capital Outlay-Vehicles?
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Allocation of Reserves/Policy
Page 259: The table on this page shows the allocation of reserves supposedly based on the Reserve
Policy adopted by Council in July 2018. As presented to Council at that meeting, considerable
emphasis was given to having reserves be allocated in a "waterfall" fashion to a series of six
sequential "cascading" pools of money. While the table correctly shows the first pool as "General
Fund Unassigned," the July 2018 policy discussion indicated that funding the "Disaster/Hazard
Mitigation" pool would be the second priority. However, this is shown as the third pool on page 259.
Why are the reserve "pools"on page 259 not listed in funding priority?
It also appears from the table on page 259 that staff has not allocated the reserves in the expected
"waterfall" fashion to the extent reasonably possible. This is illustrated below:
Allocation of Reserves Proposed Budget Per Reserve Policy Reserve Policy
(In Priority Order) Year-End Funding Priority# Reserve Policy Target
20%of GF operating
1) General Fund Unassigned $1,020,900 $6,888,100 $6,888,100
expenditures*
10%of GF operating
2) Disaster/Hazard Mitigation $1,750,000 $3,358,835 $3,444,050
expenditures
3 months'worth of GF
3) General Fiscal Policy $7,475,991 $0 $8,610,125
operating expenditures
4) Vehicle Replacement $321,857 $321,857 Maintain$500,000 $500,000
5) Capital Improvement^ $44 $0 25%of SCyIPa r* total GF $4,784,575
25%of 5-year total
6) Tidelands Improvement $1,850,479 $1,850,479 $233,250
Tidelands CIP^^
$12,419,271 $12,419,271 $24,460,100
#To the extent reasonable feasible
*GF Operating Expenses = $34,440,500
**5-year total General Fund CIP cost = $19,138,400
^Staff informed the Council that the $4.7 million assigneded for the Swimming Pool would not "count" towards
a Capital Improvement Reserve. This is apparently is also the case for the $117,167 assigned for street
improvement.
^^5-year total General Fund CIP cost = $933,000
Why does the budget not allocate reserves per the funding priority presented in July 2018?
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