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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 2002-05-29 5-28-02 / 5-29-02 Attest: ~ ~JY'\ 9-"~ City Clerk Approved: I Seal Beach, California May 29, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 6:01 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Campbell, Doane Absent: Councilmember Yost Councilman Yost arrived at approximately 6:04 p.m. Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Mr. Danes, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Chief Sellers, Police Department Captain Schaefer, Police Department Ms. Arends-King, Director of Administrative Services Chief Cushman, Lifeguard Department Lieutenant Pounds, Lifeguard Department Mr. Vukojevic, Deputy City Engineer Ms. Hull, Assistant Finance Director Ms. Yotsuya, Assistant to the City Manager Ms. Yeo, City Clerk I APPROVAL OF AGENDA Antos moved, second by Larson, to approve the order of the agenda as presented. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson None Yost Motion carried ANNOUNCEMENTS In response to a request from Council, the City Manager advised that a revised press release will be issued to the newspapers advising of the changed budget workshop meeting dates and times. I PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no comments from the public. BUDGET WORKSHOP - FISCAL YEARS 2002/2003 & 2003/2004 The City Manager pointed out that the proposed budget package consists of five documents, the primary budget, budget reduction strategies, management report, the CIP, and budget I I I 5-29-02 in brief, available to any interested person at a cost of $39. The Manager commenced an overview of the budget as follows: * There is no change to the utility Users Tax rate, reserves are fully funded, no additional full time employees, and no potential State revenue reductions are included as part of the proposed budget; * Seal Beach generates about $2,000 per capita in sales tax revenues per year, the Statewide average is about $3,000 and the County is about $3,500, a fairly large disparity of sales tax revenue generation, Seal Beach has a fifty-four percent sales tax leakage rate, that indicates that people are going elsewhere to obtain the goods they need; * From the Assessors Office it was found that there are 6,125 total land parcels, 1,904 are limited by Proposition 13, therefore while the residents live in the fifth most expensive community per home price in the County that does not translate to revenue to the City; * There are no revenues from Boeing or Rossmoor included in the budget projections, the reason for that is because when projections started it was thought that the Bixby shopping center would be operational in 1999/2000, it is now 2002/2003, there is still no hotel in place, if was felt it would be better to be more conservative; * Financial Overview - General Fund revenues for 2002/ 2003 are estimated at $17,073.784, $16,992,541 for 2003/2004, the decrease of revenues is primarily due to an anticipated decline in building permits as is shown on the monthly financial reports, next year there should be Hellman, some Rossmoor, yet a reduction in overall building activity; * General Fund Expenditures - within this budget expenditures for 2002/2003 are projected at $17,364,775, a two percent increase, for 2003/2004 projected at $18,041,854, a four percent increase, this primarily due to the increase in police and fire benefits, there are also a few increases that can not be avoided, the NPDS permit is increasing from $20,000 to $90,000, that is State mandated, and even though the risk management pool has been changed, which results in the saving of some money, in the post 911 world property and liability insurance costs are starting to rise so those increases will likely be seen in the future; * Deficit - the General Fund deficit in fiscal year 2002/2003 is projected to be $290,991 and $1,049,313 in fiscal year 2003/2004, these are recurring costs/ deficits as a result of pension costs, one time revenues will not help as these costs will occur each year, the revenues, when the reserves are subtracted, are less than is needed for the expenditures, therefore a deficit; * Options to balance the budget - there are $1,928,050 proposed expenditure reductions, $367,825 in revenue enhancements, that is enough to address the deficit, 5-29-02 also address the utility users tax, the fiscal health of the City can be restored by reducing expenditures, increasing revenues, or a combination of both; * A chart showing a five year undesignated revenue projection was shown, reflecting that if there were I no reductions, no adjustment to revenues, by 2006/ 2007 all of the reserves will have been used and the City in a worse position than the present, in other words there are not enough reserves to save the City from the upcoming situations; * Budget Highlights - a graph was shown of a five year revenue versus expenditure projection, expenditures on a climb and revenues basically flat, utility users tax in fiscal year 2002/2003 is $3,900,000, the same for 2003/2004, property tax increases from $3,291,278 in 2002/2003 to $3,386,227 in 2003/2004, sales tax too is equal in both fiscal years in an amount of $2,100,000; * There are certain expenditures that are increasing and those are difficult for the Council to control, expenditures can be cut but there are corresponding service reductions, basically police, fire, and general administration; * The utility users tax is at $3.9 million, up from last year, property tax is $3.2 and sales tax is $2.1 million, the various restaurants, etc. in the Bixby Center are factored into the sales tax estimate; I * Mention was made that it had been hoped that the sales tax would have been better when the Bixby Center opened however that was offset by the closing of so many stores in the Rossmoor Center as well as the construction delays -- one would think that now the sales tax will go up -- response was that sales tax has gone up from 2001/2002, that is shown in the sales tax consultant reports; * Question - the senior citizen utility users tax exemption, is that plateauing in terms of decreased revenue -- response was that it is believed it has, it is between $100,000 to $150,000, there is an influx of applicants each year after the Golden Rain News runs a news release relating to the exemption, it is believed there are about fifteen hundred exemptions, it is somewhat difficult to project the revenue as specific numbers can not be obtained from the utility companies, that are private information, sales tax estimates are somewhat easier because of the numbers from the sales tax consultant, they assisted with the $2.1 estimate; I * The top three expenditures, police, fire, and general administration, in the past there was a de-centralized personnel function however that is being brought into the City Manager's office whereby recruitments, fingerprinting, background checks, etc. can be done by one person, at present fifty-three percent of the General Fund is dedicated to police and fire, increasing to fifty-five percent in year 2003/2004, and a response was that the fire budget does not include lifeguards; I I I 5-29-02 * It was pointed out that the water and sewer funds are also at a deficit, enterprise funds are supposed to be self-supporting by rates, the water fund rates have not been adjusted since 1997, the sewer fund was last looked at about five years ago, the operating revenues are basically $2 million for water and $400,000 for sewer, increases in the utility and labor costs are driving the expenditures .up, there is a pass-through for MWD water, essentially there is a $275,000 deficit in the water fund, about $72,000 in the sewer fund; * There are about $17 million in capital improvement expenditures for 2002/2003, the revised CIP projects that are needed but unfunded is about $41 million, the major projects this year include the Marina Drive bridge and the regional bike trail, they are grant funded, a comment from the public at an informational meeting was to do away with these projects which would then help the General Fund, the response was that being grant funded they do not impact the General Fund; * Question was raised as to when work will begin on the 405 overpass -- response was that that project is tied to other things, first, there was direction to see if OCTA could take over the project to be tied to their 405 project, it made no sense from a public policy standpoint to widen the bridge and then maybe ten years later knock it down to lengthen it, staff is working with OCTA, the other holdup is the Boeing project whereby their development impact fees will help pay for the bridge widening, staff is working with CalTrans to obtain what is called a design exemption that would allow striping for three lanes on each side, that would involve taking the bike path away, the restriping would provide an interim condition until the project can be worked out with OCTA and CalTrans to do the bridge once and correctly; * As to a time frame for construction, estimate was five to ten years, the desire is to not spend millions of tax I payer dollars now and then have to do it again in the not too distant future; * It was mentioned that the County had a similar situation when the 55 freeway was widened, there were three bridges involved, in that case CalTrans had to replace in-kind what they took out and pay for the lengthening of the bridge otherwise they would not have gotten a public works permit for the project, and a contact person in the City of Santa Ana was suggested as he was able to obtain a federal grant to pay for the County, Santa Ana, Orange and Tustin's obligations for the widening of all three bridges; * With regard to fleet management, staff is developing an understanding of what the City's fleet is and is not, an inventory has been done of all of the vehicles, they have been evaluated, equipment is going to be surplused that has no use or is obsolete, a replacement cost has been estimated of around $2.5 million for all of the rolling stock minus what is no longer needed, the annual funding is about $320,000 to keep the fleet at current level, this budget reflects about $77,000 due to the City's financial condition basically for patrol cars and motorcycles and a beach tractor, staff is proposing a 5-29-02 lease/purchase option with Ford Motor Credit to get past the current situation, the intent is to do the same as was done with the computers, have a level of purchasing over a number of years; As to the financial impact of a utility user tax reduction -- the reduction percentages ranged from 1/2 percent to 5 percent, 1/2 percent would be $172,000, that plus the deficit of $290,991 would be $463,491, a 5 percent reduction would mean $1,777,000 plus the deficit of $1,049,313 which would be about $2.8 million; * I * Strategies and Revenue Enhancements - in addition to parking meters and the Transient Occupancy Tax - each department was called upon to submit reductions, they are listed in order numbered from 1 through 53, a synopsis of each with the amount of savings: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 Eliminate Orange County Regional Airport Authority membership - $5,500; Eliminate contribution to Fourth of July fireworks display - $5,000; Reduce summer deployment by eliminating night duty lifeguards, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - $9,100; Cancel Professional Services Agreement with Washington lobbyist - $36,000 to $43,200; Convert one full time parking enforcement CSO position to two part time parking enforcement Police Aide positions - $20,000; Eliminate detective position - $99,000; Eliminate detective sergeant - $130,000; Eliminate quarterly community newsletter for 2002/03 and 2003/04 - $15,400; Freeze Deputy City Clerk position and outsource meeting minutes preparation - $29,000; Eliminate contract with Cypress Police Department for court liaison services and hire part time civilian liaison position - $5,000 to $20,000; Decrease parks, beach and pier maintenance service levels by reduction of labor through layoffs of two crew leaders, two maintenance workers and part time workers - $200,000; Decrease parks, beach and pier maintenance service levels by eliminating part time workers - $30,000; Outsource animal control services but retain no - kill shelter services - $67,000; Eliminate Archaeological Advisory Committee - $5,100 to $7,600; Close city Hall on Friday (would be open 11 hours per day Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. - $7,000; Eliminate break lifeguard during summer deployment - $2,500; Eliminate one Patrol Sergeant position - $133,000; Eliminate Police Officer position - $99,000; Eliminate current Planning Commission and have City Council serve as the Planning Commission - $21,850 and $6,500 to $9,100; Reduce Planning Commission meetings from semi- monthly to monthly - $11,050; Reduce summer lifeguard deployment in Surfside from 2 to 1 guard on weekends and holidays - $3,200; Reduce summer lifeguard deployment services by eliminating Tower 5 position that serves aquatic I I #23 #24 #25 I #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35' I #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 I #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 5-29-02 sports area - $9,800; Eliminate Environmental Quality Control Board - $9,700 to $18,200; Eliminate Support Services Sergeant position - $133,000; Change one sworn Support Services Sergeant position to a civilian manager position - $60,000; Eliminate Support Services Corporal position - $5,000; Change the Capital Improvement Program to not fund Project 4909, Traffic Volume Study - $5,000; Eliminate Crime Prevention/Drug Education Police Officer - $99,000; Provide drug education at McGaugh School with a part-time officer - $91,500; Eliminate Street Tree Planting budget from the Capital Improvement Program - $25,000; Elimination of Grant writing Professional Services - $10,000 and $5,000; Change the Capital Improvement Program to not fund Project 50017, Signal Uninterrupted Power Supplies for Traffic Signals - $10,000; Eliminate Special Department Funds for Planning Department Records Retention Program - $2,000; Explore cost recovery for building yearly berm on beach or leave berm up on a permanent basis - $50,000; Decrease mowing and edging services in City parks and medians - $30,000; Eliminate Surfside beach cleaning - $20,000; Eliminate miscellaneous park and landscape maintenance for small maintenance projects for 'City Council and resident concerns - $6,000; Reduce service during summer deployment by operating rescue boat on weekends and holidays only - $3,500; Replace seven paid part-time crossing guards with Senior Volunteers - $8,000; Reduce off-season part-time deployment from 3 part- time during week and 5 part-time on weekends to 1 seven days a week - $99,000 and $49,500; Eliminate providing surf class equipment - $2,500; Eliminate Police Captain position - $183,000 - Captain King has taken a position with the University of San Diego, leave position vacant, move Recreation back to City Hall and place under the supervision of the Assistant City Manager; change one sworn Police Captain position to a civilian manager position - $70,000; Eliminate all non-essential work not considered necessary for public health, safety and welfare such as service for special events - $15,500; Eliminate vandalism repair funding from Contract Professional Services account - $5,000 and/or $2,500; Eliminate provision for portable restroom service currently provided at Marina, Heather, and Edison parks - $3,150 and/or $1,500; Defer building new lifeguard field tower - $6,500; Eliminate San Replenishment Program - $75,000; Reduce hours of contract accountant - $10,000 and/or $5,000; Reduce off-season lifeguard deployment service level from 3 to 2 guards, Monday-Friday and 5 to 4 guards on weekends during off-season - $33,000; 5-29-02 #51 Reduce off-season lifeguard deployment service levels by not deploying a guard one day/week - $5,000; #52 Eliminate one Motor Officer position - $44,000; #53 Elimination of Police Motorcycle 'take home' privilege - $7,500 to $9,000. Total potential budget reductions - $1,928,050. I * Revenue Enhancement Strategies - Implement Parking Meter Program on Main Street - $292,825 to $425,100 and Increase Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) - $75,000, total potential revenue enhancements - $367,825. Recommendation was to review all budget documents, by consensus determine if the Utility User Tax rate should be reduced and if so, by what amount, address the current deficit, make the appropriate expenditure reductions to offset the lower Utility Users Tax rate, and adopt the two year budget, Capital Improvement, and Fleet Management Plans. To the question as to what happens at the start of next year with the adoption of a two year budget, the City Manager explained that there will be a mid-year review, these are merely projections, the revenues and expenditures can be adjusted up or down, a two year budget allows planning out two years in advance, it focuses on two years, reduces staff time, reduces the work of the Council in the second year, this is dependant also on what happens at the State level in October or November. I Councilmember Campbell suggested that there be an A and B list of budget cuts, the A list would get to a balanced budget, the B list would be cuts that would need to be made should the State take away the Vehicle License Fees. with regard to the list of potential cuts she stated she had sorted them by the most to the least expensive, and then by department, which she distributed to the Council and staff. The Manager clarified that his request had been that the Council make a decision relating to the Utility Users Tax, then add that to the deficit numbers. Councilman Doane noted that he had campaigned on the Utility Users Tax issue for a long time, explained that when first enacted he voted for the UUT with the condition that it then be reduced each year, it has not been reduced and he has voted against adoption of the budget with the UUT included since then, he would still like to reduce it, however, until the makeup of the City changes to the point that it realizes revenue from other sources he stated he did not see how it could possibly be reduced. Councilmember Campbell mentioned a situation in another State where a city filed bankruptcy after a tax increase was turned down by the voters, subsequently the judge through the bankruptcy out and directed the city to impose the tax on its residents to regain solvency. Councilman Yost said he does not like to say that something will be done and then not do it, that is the reason he suggested a half percent UUT reduction. Councilman Doane reminded that that amount would then need to be added to the deficit. with regard to the two year budget, Councilman Yost said things are presently in such a flux it is impossible to determine what the situation will be in even a year therefore possibly it would be well to go back to a one year budget system. The City Manager explained that the revenues can be projected with some degree of accuracy, they are fairly simple, stable revenue sources, I 5-29-02 I the same with the expenditures, the biggest variable is the State. Councilman Antos said according to the information provided a one-half percent reduction of the Utility Users Tax would be $172,000, the recent vacancy of a Police Captain is $183,000, therefore by not filling that position that could be the half percent UUT reduction for this year, the Council would then need to look at other reductions and the enhancements. He noted the action of the Council at the last meeting to look at a newsrack ordinance which would not generate a lot of money yet it would require an annual license fee to maintain the racks as well as limit certain liabilities, there will be a Public Works permit that will cover the newsrack being properly located, that should be full cost recovery. Councilman Yost said he used the half percent UUT reduction because it was somewhat equal to the amount of tax being paid by the Bixby shopping center, however in turn that is an offset to the amount of senior citizen exemptions. Councilmember Campbell noted that the UUT reduction just adds to the existing deficit, there could be an unforeseen emergency that requires a large expenditure, she is uncomfortable having revenues that close. Councilman Doane said during his review of the budget he tagged reductions that was felt would hurt the least, with that there still remained a deficit of $400,000, then by not filling the Captain position that would reduce the deficit to $236,000, except for the Captain position he did not touch the Police Department, yet he identified a number of cuts in the Public Works Department. Councilmember Campbell reminded again that there are some things that can not be cut, Public Works as an example needs to have a certain degree of maintenance of effort to qualify. for Measure M funds, it may be of benefit to review each of the cuts suggested, some can be lumped together or modified. Councilman Yost stated he would not mind going through the budget page by page to get a better feel for the document as a whole yet keep the proposed cuts in mind. Councilman Doane again reminded that the City Manager had suggested that a decision be made on the Utility Users Tax first as that could change the numbers, his feeling is that the full amount of deficit needs to be known so that the Council is aware of what they are striving for. I Doane moved, second by Campbell, to not lower the Utility Users Tax. It was mentioned that depending on what happens with the budget there could be a reduction at a later time. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane Larson, Yost Motion carried After brief discussion as to the process for review, the Council commenced discussion of the proposed budget reductions alphabetized by department as provided by Councilmember Campbell. * Questioned reason for having the Orange County Regional Airport Authority membership, Item 1 - response was City can be a member without paying yet that means the City has no vote, the Authority has been informed that the City does not have the money to maintain its voting membership, meetings are attended for the purpose of gathering information, also, as a non-voting member if there are lawsuits involved the City has no liability; I * Objection was raised to the freezing of the Deputy City Clerk position, Item 9, the City Clerk needs the help, 5-29-02 it took four budget cycles to get the Deputy position back - explanation was that it freezes the position yet there are monies left to provide some contractual services to prepare minutes, etc. - direction was to leave the Deputy position in the budget for now - the response of the City Clerk was that this was the only means available to her to help in the reduction of the budget deficit, yet the Deputy is very much needed, leaving the position open could depend on how the budget decisions go overall - comment was made that the responsibilities of the City Clerk are more than minutes, the Political Reform Act, elections, etc., there needs to be a system in place before two years go by, preference would be that the position not be vacant; I * Item 2, it is presumed that there are monies for the July 4th fireworks show this year, the budget cuts reflect a reduction of that money for next year, this may be a good time to eliminate this $5,000 expense and then have a local civic group raise the money to fund it in the future - response was that this is a citywide issue, not just Old Town, this is a joint effort with Cypress, Los Alamitos and Rossmoor, if Seal Beach does not participate they get upset, a civic group downtown is not going to contribute money for fireworks held at the Air Station, private donations were sought in the past, that did not work - comment was that another employee would be preferred over fireworks; * Cancel agreement with the Washington, D. C. lobbyist, Item 4 - caution was voiced in that this person helps with obtaining money for things like sand for Surfside and advises on federal issues relating to the Naval weapons Station, an example would be base closures, it is not as easy to fly someone to Washington D. C. to lobby on behalf of the City as it is to go to Sacramento, the City does not get inside information from D.C. as to what is being considered, this person oversees that for this community - question was raised if it is not likely that the Navy has people in Washington that would be lobbying for the same things - the response was that they have different interests; I * It was suggested that possibly beach related things be separated out and consideration given to an assessment district for those - response was that it is believed that funding of a consultant though an assessment district is not a legal expenditure; * Quarterly newsletter, Item 8 - indicated consensus was to delete that expenditure; * Reduction of hours of contract accountant, Item 49- this person works on Saturdays, this was the only cut that Finance could make, this is an excellent accountant - no decision made; I * Elimination of grant writing professional services, Item 31 - comment was that the $10,000 has been budgeted for several years, it is basically not used - no clear direction, believed to be deletion; * Close City Hall on Fridays, Item 15 - explained that the cost saving is basically in the area of energy - reminder was the availability of Building Department I I I 5-29-02 services, inspections, permit issuance to contractors, that is likely the busiest department on Fridays - this is not a personnel saving item - there was indication to leave City Hall Friday hours in tact; * Eliminate Planning Commission, Council serve as Commission, Item 19 - not felt to be a good idea; * Reduce Planning Commission meetings to semi-monthly, Item 20 - comment was that that decision could be based upon the anticipated amount of work, if not necessary they would not meet, there will be times in the near future where there will be a number of study sessions relating to the General Plan and Local Coastal Plan - to a question as to whether the City Attorney needs to attend the Planning Commission meetings the response was yes, absolutely - explanation was that at present if there are no items scheduled for a regular meeting it is canceled, with regard to City Attorney attendance at study sessions it is possible that attendance would not be necessary as no decisions are being made - no clear direction, indication to leave as presently exists; * Elimination of Archaeological Committee and Environmental Quality Control Board, Items 14 and 23 - suggestion that they not meet unless necessary - explained that the EQCB does a great deal of work, attends meetings at the Naval Weapons Station relating to their cleanup efforts, deals with Hellman, Gum Grove, wetland restoration issues, etc. - noted that the saving would be mostly staff time, preparation of minutes, paper and copying costs, etc. - suggestion that they meet on an as needed basis - suggestion too that their duties be reconstituted to only deal with EIR's - the Council response to that was no - explained that the General Plan requires the City to have an Archaeology Committee, the intent was for it to deal with the Hellman land - suggestion was that it be deemed to be an Ad Hoc or on-call Committee; * Eliminated providing surf class equipment, Item 41, $2,500; * Summer lifeguard services in Surfside, item 21 - suggested that services be eliminated because it is a private, gated community - response was that it is a private and public beach, the public beach accessed by Anderson Street; Off-season lifeguard deployment - item 40 - explained that there is part-time deployment during the winter off-season - this item would retain the Chief and Lieutenant during winter season, eliminate the three part-time - question was raised as to the rescue ratio during that period - response was that it depends on the time of the year, sometimes there will be twenty in a day - this would basically require the closing down of headquarters during the day, no incoming or outgoing phone calls, etc. - Suggestion was to have two part-time rather than three during the week and two rather than five on weekends, that would provide reduction of $49,500 rather than $99,000 - it was noted that boat rescues are difficult 5-29-02 for one person, two to three persons are needed for medical aids, there would need to be reliance on fire personnel, etc.; * There was agreement that the building of a new lifeguard field tower, Item 47, could be deferred for a year, $6,500; I * Reduction of rescue boat use during summer deployment to weekends and holidays only, Item 38 - it was stated that the boat will be sent out if there is surf or a rescue no matter the budget, confirmed however that the majority of activity does occur on weekends; * Eliminate Tower 5 that serves the aquatic sports area during summer deployment and reduce summer deployment by eliminating night duty on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Items 22 and 3 - comments were that they did not want to delete any more, if anything should happen it is always hindsight; * Public Works - confirmed that none of the proposed cuts are maintenance affected, these cuts could be made without impacting staffing, if cuts were to go deeper there would be a problem; * Suggestion that the Sand Replenishment Program, Item 48, be eliminated and make it an assessment district, including the berm; * Eliminate Surfside beach cleaning and make it an assessment district as well, Item 36 - noted that that can be accomplished by just not doing the cleaning - mentioned that if service levels on the beach are reduced then it will need to be reduced on all beaches, they are public beaches; I * proposal to eliminate vandalism repair funding, Item 45 - comment was made that this is needed, something that the City needs to stay on top of; * The portable restrooms at Marina, Heather and Edison Parks, Item 46 - noted that there are not permanent restroom facilities therefore there should be portable facilities indicated that this should continue; * Eliminate miscellaneous park and landscape maintenance for small projects of the City Council and residents, Item 37 - explained that these are basically City Council requests; * Question was raised as to the impact of item 11, decrease of beach, parks and pier maintenance service levels by reduction of labor through layoffs of two crew leaders and two maintenance workers - there is one crew leader and two maintenance workers for the beach, one crew leader and two maintenance workers in Parks and Landscaping, if four people were laid off this would be a bare minimum staff, this would require reorganization and moving employees around, the beach is raked once a week in the winter, once a day in the summer, if crew leaders are eliminated the service would be every other day, they also clean the sand from the parking lots and Seal Way - it was noted there is an alternative of $150,000 which would add a few more man hours - I I I I 5-29-02 indication was that there was not support for laying off full time employees, the they are workers, if there is a vacant position that is another matter; * It was mentioned that item 12 eliminates the part-time parks, beach and pier workers for a $30,000 savings - explanation was that that is the landscape part time people; * The Traffic Volume Study, CIP Project 4909, Item 27 - suggestion was that it be done only every other year - comment was that there are some projects that require traffic counts, it needs to be done at least every five years - determination was that' it be deleted from budget this year; * CIP Project 50017, uninterrupted power supplies for traffic signals, Item 32 - question if this is a safety issue or battery backup - explained that it is battery backup - question if it is a legal requirement - explained that the California Vehicle Code states that when one comes to an intersection and the signals are out it then functions as a four-way stop - some risk managers say put stop signs on sawhorses, others say put nothing out because the Vehicle Code states drivers are supposed to know that they must come to a stop - decision was to delete from budget; * Non-essential work not considered necessary for public health, safety and welfare such as service for special events, Item 44 - question, how much would be saved if the outside events that come to the City and use the beach, etc., totally non-City events, . were required to pay their associated costs - response was that staff reviewed the time tickets for all events for the past year, the entire Christmas setup, lights, pre-parade set up, cleanup, float preparation, City Hall, breakfast with Santa, about $10,000 labor time, fireworks was about $1,500 for set up and assistance, 10K Run was about $1,200 labor time, for the Sand Castle event litter pickup increased, use of the tractor to build up and tear down the sand, about $1,000 cost, Springfest about $600, Car Show about $450, etc., there is full cost recovery for events coming to the City from outside - comment was that it is felt that full cost recovery should be explored yet on the other hand events bring people to the community who in turn spend money from which the City receives sales tax and the City is showcased, that is what brings people to the community, there are benefits in addition to cost recovery - comment too was that people entering some of the events have to pay to enter, the events are making money, if there are City costs they should be paid to offset the costs - a couple of businesses want to eliminate the Car Show yet that is Seal Beach, the Christmas parade makes no money yet brings a lot of little children to town - it was mentioned that the City should not be supporting outside events or charities with Public Works personnel - counter comment was that the Sand Castle contest had environmental and educational displays throughout the event which is also a benefit to the community; * Suggestion was that the City Manager prepare a list of the various types of events and related costs; 5-29-02 * With reference to the 10K Run, it was noted that it was initially structured so that the charitable organizations that ran it kept all of the money, the locals did the work, it was then restructured so that the different organizations in the community staff it, then after expenses half of the revenue is returned to the different groups, the other half goes either to the City or a cause, possibly there should be a restructuring of the organizations that run the events to see if the City is being short-changed - noted also that there are no profits until the City is reimbursed for its costs; I * The direction was to leave item 44, special event services, in tact for the time being - explore cost recovery but do not eliminate services completely; * With regard to cost recovery for beach berm, Item 34 - question, what type of cost recovery - response was an assessment district or work something out with the residents in the area; * Question as to amount of cuts thus far - response $246,500, if the budget is to be balanced for the first year it is $290,000, second year is $1.49 million; * A member of the audience claimed that some groups are charged for events, some are not, there needs to be an equal playing field; * Miscellaneous landscaping, item 37, to the question as to how much of the $6,000 is used, the response was most all of it - direction was to leave it in for now and come back to it; I * Item 42 was the Police Captain vacancy; * Question was if there are any other vacant positions in the Police cuts - response was no; * Replace crossing guards with volunteers - it was felt that could be done - comment was that staff would need to talk to the volunteers and it would be necessary to have a person oversee them, if someone is off there would need to be a Community Services Officer to fill in - it was stated that this would be legal - preference would be to convert one full time parking enforcement officer position to two part-time parking enforcement Police Aid positions - indicated intention was to leave item 39 and accept item 5; * with regard to item 28, drug education program - mentioned that this is Officer Paap, no one else can do what he does, feeling is that this needs to be kept - response was that next year he may retire, he could however be hired back on a contact basis for a small amount to do this service - potential retirement date is July, 2003 - items 28 and 29 are tied together; I * Question was if there is anyone else from this list that may be thinking of retiring - response was that if there are it would not be until the second budget year - there is a possibility of two sergeants, item 24 and item 25 - mentioned also that should the action be to eliminate staff positions there would definitely be a need for I I I 5-29-02 some realignment of personnel - items 24 and 7 are attrition cases - if a Captain and some sergeant positions are eliminated it is not certain that that model will work - staff may need to come back to Council on the personnel reorganization as to whether it will or will not work - comment was that with the potential of these retirements that is nearly $250,000, possibly this should be left for now; * Weighing front line services, it was requested that consideration be given to Animal Control as a tradeoff for public safety personnel; * With regard to item 53, the motorcycle 'take home' privilege, question was posed as to how many people that impacts - response was that it is a benefit, this is one of few communities in Orange or Los Angeles Counties that gives no benefit for motorcycle operation, nor is there another city in Orange County that does not allow this privilege, this gives qn officer time to take care of the bike, it is believed that none of the personnel want to leave their bike at the Station given the potential for danger, it is a safety issue, it is believed it is a negotiated item as well; * It was stated that the court liaison services, item 10, is one that could more easily be done, convert to a civilian court liaison position - it does not impact WestCom - intent was indicated to accept this proposed reduction; * As to the elimination of one motor officer position, item 52, a concern was expressed inasmuch as they issue traffic citations which in turn generates revenue, it is also a safety issue - it was noted that a motor officer not only responds to traffic situations but also to burglaries, robberies, etc. - it was clarified that motor officers are on a 3/12 schedule; * Animal Control Services - it was stated that in terms of giving up a motor officer versus an animal control officer, the preference would be to retain the motor officer, Long Beach will provide the animal control services, by contract they currently provide service between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., the no-kill shelter will still benefit the community, the motor officer provides a greater public service; * To the question as to where an animal is taken if picked up by Long Beach now - the response was that it can be stipulated that the animal will stay in Seal Beach, they will do that if they are asked - animals picked up by Long Beach now are kept in Seal Beach, Long Beach does not want to house Seal Beach animals, their facility is at capacity - indication was that Animal Control Officers would be eliminated before a motor operator, if that is what is necessary, however preference would be to eliminate neither; * To out source animal control services but retain no-kill shelter, item 13, it was noted that would mean two positions - suggestion was that when one of the ACO's retire it could be left vacant and covered by Long Beach - it was mentioned that if any of the layoffs are done that will require discussions with the labor groups 5-29-02 under the requirements of the Meyers, Millias, Brown Act - no direction was given on this item; * Question was posed as to the total of cuts thus far, are the current reserves still funded - the response was that the numbers need to be calculated and incorporated into the spread sheet; I * Inquiry was made of the Police Department if they could function without the additional Captain position - the response was that would then mean that City Hall would pick up a lot more work that the Captain now performs, however if Sergeants are cut the question then becomes whether or not there is enough supervision and it may be better to cut an officer position to retain a Sergeant, it then becomes a management problem; * Mention was made that at this point it appears that there will be some net reduction in personnel numbers in the Police Department, it will be up to the Manager and Chief to work that out and bring it back to the Council - comment was that the Seal Beach Police Department has a great record of solving crimes, that is the direct result of the Detective Bureau, even bringing people here from out of State, the preference is that nothing be done to reduce the Police Department, specifically the Detective Bureau and officers - mention was made that because of the high dollars it appears some will be cut, this is also an issue of re- engineering. Recap of direction of Council was to tentatively approve reduction of Item 1, O.C. Regional Airport Authority, Item 8, quarterly newsletter, Item 47, defer building new lifeguard tower, Item 38, operate rescue boat on weekends/holidays only during summer employment, Item 41, surf class equipment, Item 31, grant writing services, to not approve items 19 and 20, eliminate Planning Commission and reduce meetings to monthly, designate Item 14, the Archaeological Committee as Ad HOC, approve Item 42, eliminate Captain position, Item 28, contract for the drug education officer in the second year, Item 10, eliminate court liaison services with Cypress, Item 5, convert one full time CSO position to two part-time Aide positions, Item 32, to not fund the traffic signal uninterrupted power supply project, Item 27, not fund the traffic volume study project, unresolved were Item 37, miscellaneous small projects for Council and resident concerns, and Item 24, Support Services Sergeant. I ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the to adjourn the meeting until May 30th at 6:00 p.m. meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m. Council, This I & clerk Approved: ~~ Mayor 5-29-02 / 5-30-02 Attest: 9~...1JJ~ City Clerk I Seal Beach, California May 30, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Campbell, Doane, Yost Absent: None I Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Mr. Danes, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Mr. Vukojevic, Deputy City Engineer Chief Sellers, Police Department Captain Schaefer, Police Department Ms. Arends-King, Director of Administrative Services Ms. Hull, Assistant Finance Director Chief Cushman, Lifeguard Department Lieutenant Pounds, Lifeguard Department Ms. Yotsuya, Assistant to the City Manager Ms. Yeo, City Clerk APPROVAL OF AGENDA Doane moved, second by Antos, to approve the order of the agenda as presented. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Antos reported a request that the Council speak louder or use the microphone, and mentioned that there were members of the audience that wished to ask questions relating to budget issues. PUBLIC COMMENTS No comments were made at this time. I BUDGET WORKSHOP The City Manager requested Council direction relating to the two proposed revenue enhancements, parking meters and the Transient Occupancy Tax. Councilman Doane mentioned that about two years ago an ad hoc committee was formed to look into all parking issues, parking meters was the last issue to be discussed at which time the discussions became rather controversial, all members participated, eventually the vote to submit the issue to the Council was eleven to three in favor of meters, at that time