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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 1999-05-17 5-10-99 I 5-17-99 I Orange County Employees Association, a conference with the City's real property negotiator pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 relating to price and terms of payment for property located at 201 - 8th Street, a conference with legal counsel pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) relating to existing litigation, League for Coastal Protection versus Coastal Commission, and personnel matters pursuant to Government Code Section 54957. By unanimous consent, the Council adjourned to Closed Session at 10:25 p.m. and reconvened at 11:27 p.m. The City Attorney announced that the Council had discussed the items identified on the agenda, gave direction, and no other action was taken. ADJOURNMENT By unanimous consent, the Council adjourned the meeting until Monday, May 17th at 7:30 p.m. to hold a budget workshop. It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 p.m. Approved: g;:~r- ~h ( ci?b.rk ~ I I Attest: Seal Beach, California May 17, 1999 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 7:31 p.m. with Mayor Yost calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Yost Councilmembers Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow Absent: None I Also present: Mr. Till, City Manager Mrs. Stoddard, Director of Administrative Services Mrs. Yeo, City Clerk APPROVAL OF AGENDA Boyd moved, second by Campbell, to approve the order of the agenda as presented. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion carried 5-17-99 BUDGET WORKSHOP Mayor Yost announced this to be an informal workshop to consider the 1999/2000 fiscal year budget, initially a presentation by the City Manager commencing with revenue sources. The City Manager stated his intent to review briefly the purpose of the annual budget, then fund balances, a revenue and expenditure overview, a summary of the Capital Improvement Program, and the status of the reserves. I * The budget, what it is and is not, what the budget should be for a city the size of Seal Beach, one extreme is that a budget is a rigid document, no deviation unless there is an emergency, it is inflexible, mistakes or oversights or change of conditions that were not aware of during the budget process would need to be lived with for the entire year, that can lead to bad decisions, higher costs, and non-responsiveness on the part of the City; The other extreme is treating the budget as an entirely fluid document, only as a guideline for the City's work program with amendments ongoing throughout the fiscal year, that type document also becomes subject to undue influence from interest groups or whims that can create problems throughout the year, there is considerable strategic planning, priority setting becomes difficult, becoming an inefficient use of staff resources, an example would be when staff mobilizes in preparation for certain priorities or projects and is then required to stop in midst for another set of priorities, in that case all of the work effort has been lost, not a good expenditure of time and resources, loss of accountability as well; There is also a middle ground view, to treat the budget as a blueprint for the work program for the upcoming year which reflects the policies and priorities as established by the Council to implement key work and financial programs that the Council determines, the middle ground budget minimizes amendments to the significant changing circumstances that occur during the year that the Council determines requires a response by the City, as new opportunities or emergencies arise it is desirable to adjust to those during the fiscal year, a key issue however after adoption of the budget is that any change made takes money from one priority and places it into another, either from another project or from reserves, caution has been previously made with regard to taking money from reserves when there are inadequate reserves already, that would reflect a serious policy change with long term ramifications, it is hoped that will not be the case; An orderly work program requires setting a fixed target, the budget is viewed as just that based upon the information available during the process, the budget is a fixed target with some flexibility for changing conditions; The Council task is to establish policy and priorities for the income plan projected for the City, setting the reserve policy, as an example a review of this budget to determine if policy has been met thus far, it is felt it has; set a I * I * * * I I I 5-17-99 * pavement management program which is an objective means of going about the street maintenance, the sewer and storm drain master plans are important components of the budget, a policy determination of an appropriate employee compensation plan based upon the City's ability to paY1 If it is the intent to focus on the policy implications and overall priorities of the City, it was felt important to commence the budget review with the statement of change of financial position1 Reference was made to the Estimated 1998/99 Unreserved/Undesignated Fund Balance of $1.620 million, followed by the Carry Over or Encumbrances from the prior budget year of $632,000, that being money designated in the capital Improvement Program in past fiscal years until there is enough money accumulated for projects this year, add those to the Estimated Revenues of $13.2 million, add the Transfers In of $632,000 and that equals the total revenues for the fiscal year1 From the total revenues $1.5 million from Transfers Out is subtracted, transfers are funds that are to be used for special purposes, they are restricted, subtract the $11.6 million for Expenditures, the $918,000 for Capitol Improvements, the $173,000 Reserves for Capital Improvements, future capital projects, and the $280,000 Additional Reserves for Charter and contractual mandates, those are the expenditures; The goal is to have the Estimated Year End Fund Balance greater than or equal to the Estimated Beginning Balance, the End Balance is projected as $1.644 million, the target is to have at least a slight increase, it should be higher to meet the twenty-five percent reserve objective as previously discussed by the Council1 It was noted that as proposed the difference between the Beginning and Ending balances is about $23,6381 This gives a quick measure as to trends, this implies a modest but positive trend towards funding the reserves to the level that they should be if one looks at all of the demands on the General Fund versus the funds available this year 1 This represents a less than ideal but healthy condition, there are revenues sufficient to pay the bills1 Reference was made to the Reserve Requirements, specifically the Cash Basis, the Charter mandate of $1 million, Beginning Balance of $750,000, Ending Balance anticipated to be $825,0001 It was explained that the 1999/2000 budget proposes an additional $280,00 reserves, $75,000 towards the $1 million Charter requirement which will result in an $825,000 reserve, $105,000 towards the $900,000 OCCRMA requirement, the Ending Balance anticipated to be $505,000, and $100,000 additional for compensated absences for an Ending Balance of $427,000, this made possible to a great degree because of the lower cost of the PERS contribution this year, there is an addition of about $24,000 in Undesignated Emergency Reserves and $280,000 towards the deficiencies in the Mandated Reserves, both represent steady progress over recent years to fund those reserveS1 * * * * * * * * 5-17-99 * The intent is for the City Manager to present a brief overview of the budget process then a presentation on the budget itself; intent was indicated to continue the workshop until approximately 9:00 p.m.; Special Revenue Funds - those are funds restricted for a specific purpose, the Street Lighting District an example, the $141,100 anticipated in this budget can only be used for street lighting; these funds are not discretionary funds that the Council can use for any purpose; The Enterprise Funds - water and sewer, they can be used only for water and sewer programs, the water rates and capital improvement monies from the water bills go to these funds, again to be used only for those purposes; The Redevelopment Agency - the tax increment generated is just enough to pay the debt service and meet the low to moderate low income set aside, there are insufficient funds as yet for any actual capital improvements through the Redevelopment Agency, these are referred to as in and out funds; In the Capital Improvement Program there are a number of projects to be funded through the water and sewer enterprise funds yet not adequate monies to start the Master Plan type projects; The tentative recommended 1999/2000 budget presents no substantial changes to the ongoing work program of the City, primarily because there has been no major influx of revenue or expenditure demands, yet does improve upon the City's now stabilized but still precarious financial condition, however does show progress towards the mandated reserves and improves the unmandated reserves; Question was raised as to the Actual 1997/98 Homeowners Exemption Revenue Estimates, a typographical error; the response was that there was likely difficulty in the accounting records and when the books were actually closed the amount was misposted; Reference to Municipal Code Violations, shown decreasing by seventeen percent by the numbers given, is there a reason; response was that that depends on Code enforcement, those numbers will be reviewed again, it may have been compared to what was budgeted versus the revised estimate for the year; Reference to the Revenue Summary Graph - if all of the revenues are added, including the restricted funds for special projects, the Agency funds, and Enterprise funds, the total revenues are $26,470,047, over half of that, $13.9 million are General Fund revenues, that is the discretionary revenue available to the Council to prioritize, other than that the remainder is legally restricted with the exception of Capital, $204,050, which is maintenance and operation for each department, an example would be vehicle replacement is in the maintenance and operation budget, as well as small projects; Of the General Fund revenue, $13,209.957, about two thirds comes from taxes, the utility users tax, property tax, and sales tax in that order, there are various licenses and fees, the $1.1 million from the State includes the Vehicle In-Lieu, the I * I * * * * I * * * * I I I 5-17-99 * City needs to specifically keep a watchful eye on Sacramento with regard to that money as that is a significant piece of General Fund revenue; The total expenditures contained in the proposed budget are $25,555,538, the largest expenditure is public safety, Police and Fire, at $8.2 million, almost one-third, the Capital Improvements at $4.2 million, a small portion of that is in the General Fund this year, the larger amount is in the Special Revenue and Enterprise Funds; General Fund Appropriations - the nearly sixty percent for public safety is about average for cities in California; Inquiry was made as to the overall payroll for Police and Fire; response was in the General Fund it is $6 million, that is Police, Fire and general employees, this is the raw labor cost; the people expense is more than salaries, it is benefits as well; Basically the City is in pretty good shape, but not significantly different than a year ago, there has been some modest but steady progress to building reserves where there had been none, they are still inadequate, there are no major new revenue sources to look at any major policy or program changes; Question was posed as to how many sources of revenue there are to the City; response was that in looking at the revenue detail they are broken down into major categories; Look to the revenue detail - that starts with Governmental Funds - the General Fund with sub- sources for a total of $8.7 million; Licenses and Permits, Fines and Forfeitures, FranChises, Use of Money and Property, Subventions, Service Charges, Fees, Other Revenues, that makes about eight revenue sources in the General Fund; Explained that the Motor Vehicle In-Lieu is what is called the Car Tax, cities get a proportion of that; There are also Special Revenue funds, two Enterprise Funds, water and sewer, and the Redevelopment Funds; It was explained that the Quarantine Fees relate to Animal Services; The Capital Improvement Program - heading entitled 1998/99 Cumulative Reserves, that represents the amount of money set aside in previous years, if any, for projects that could either not be funded in one year because of the total cost or one that was not top on the priority list; the General Fund contribution to that category is shown as $222,000, set aside in the previous years; if there is a Cumulative Reserve and the process is to look at the Beginning Fund Balance and after expenditures and revenues are accounted for the desire was to keep that number constant, the Cumulative Reserve would not affect that because it has already been designated, it is not a new revenue or expenditure nor part of the Reserve Fund, therefore if the intent is to maintain the fund balance going to the Cumulative Reserve, it is no help unless there is desperation; The second column is 1998/99 Rollover Reappropriations - this is basically an encumbrance, funds for projects that did not get * * * * * * * * * * 5-17-99 * completed this fiscal year, this rolls over the projects that it was not possible to do this year as well as the related revenues, in some cases the delay was related to the fact that construction indexes were high so there were high bids therefore the option was to wait and see if competition brings the prices down, in other cases the staff just could not get to the projects; Column three is entitled New Designated Reserve - this requires some discipline and far sightedness, in this case the Council may designate a project that has high priority even though there are not sufficient funds to do it this year, this is a commitment to set aside some funds each year so there are monies available in future years to do the project, this year the designation is $173,000; As to New Funds To Be Expended - the total of which is $461,250, that is actual requests for next fiscal year for new capital projects - if the New Funds, Rollover Appropriations, and a portion of the Cumulative Reserve are added that equals $918,750, that is the total General Fund Capital Improvement Project list for projects this year, a little over half is new funds, the remaining was designated in previous years; It was suggested that further discussion of specific CIP projects be held over until the Public Works Department staff are present as most of the projects fall within their jurisdiction; Suggestion was that there be continued discussion of revenue and reserves at this session; It was mentioned that there was to have been a rollover of funds for improvements to Lampson Avenue, the amount was $40,000 plus $20,000, that is not seen nor are any funds seen for the repaving of CPE streets; Suggestion was made that revenues be discussed first to determine exactly how much money there is to work with; Comment was made that there are three major policy issues to consider, the expenditures need to be looked at, determine the amount of increase, reserves, and taxation, preference would be to address reserves first; Reference was made to page XIV, the Budget Summary, statement made that the Charter is what the City lives by, it is the Constitution, it would be difficult to vote for a budget that does not have the minimum mandate of the Charter for Cash Basis Reserve, $1 million, that amount is currently $750,000, a modest appropriation of $75,000 this year for a total of $825,000; technically it appears that the economy is doing well, it may get somewhat better, it may not, but it is the best that has been seen in years, therefore the recommendation is to fully fund the Charter mandated reserves of $1 million; There was general agreement that the desire is to reach the $1 million, yet uncertainty if it should be done all at one time; Question was posed as to the anticipated full funding date of reserves at the time the City Manager was employed, has the time frame changed, what are the thoughts now; the response was that there was no projected date, there were no I I * * * * I * * * * * I I I 5-17-99 * reserves, there were some monies in the unreserved fund balance, nothing beyond that, the financial plan presented in September projected 2001; Question, what has been the reserve balances in the past ten to fifteen years; responses were that in 1991 a TRAN was accomplished primarily to make payroll, there were no reserves, things were at a deficit before increasing the utility users tax, the County bankruptcy had an impact, there was no capital improvement program; Recommendation again was to vote at this meeting to fully fund the mandated reserves of $1 million, the Charter is violated for no other purpose except this; Mention was made that at the time the State took away considerable amounts of revenue from the cities, the utility users tax was raised as a result, then the County bankruptcy, there was no means of rebuilding the reserves; Question was posed if the desire of the Council would be to fund the $1 million mandated reserve all at one time; opinion was expressed that the way the reserves are being built now, gradually, a little at a time, is preferred; To fund the $1 million totally would require less than one percent of the budget, $175,000; suggestion was that the remainder be appropriated half this year, half next, the goal met by 2001; suggested too that a goal be set with a reasonable time frame rather than funding the remainder at one time; Mentioned that an action to fund the entire remainder will set the tone for the entire budget, $175,000 is not that much money, again, an unwillingness to vote for a budget without meeting the minimum Charter mandate, or, the Council can face the ramifications; Response was that in the last three years or so $750,000 has been accumulated, that is a quarter of a million a year, that is significant, it would be nice to continue with the quarter million, however there are other things that have been let go in capital improvements, if they are let go any longer there will be many unhappy residents, streets need to be repaved, delay makes projects more costly; the City has made strides to reestablish reserves, again, divide the balance to meet the $1 million reserve over two years, 2001; If the desire is to reduce the utility users tax, putting the money in reserves, and doing that all at one time will make it significantly more difficult; Counter comment was that if the money is not put into reserve it will just be spent; put the money in reserve first, then look at taxation, if money is not in reserve there is no money to deal with something like a pier fire or self-insured issue when it comes around or the City will be back to being broke, put money away now because the situation will not get much better, when Bixby comes along then other issues can be dealt with, the $1 million is a Charter mandate, this is the law, it is pretty easy to find $175,000 in this budget, new people, new space, last year the replacement of gas pumps was removed from the * * * * * * * * 5-17-99 * budget, this year $150,000 is again in the budget for gas pumps; these are policy issues that need to be addressed, the City Charter should not be violated; Suggestion that this issue be set aside for now and given some thought; mention was made that this relates directly with other budget policies, this meeting is to set policy, there are three major policies; total expenditures, does the Council want to allow expenditure of $13 million, again, what about reserves; Again, set aside this discussion and move on; question was what does the Council want to discuss, total expenditures or taxation; there are probably five people at this session who want to cut the utility tax but how many would say do it today; suggestion was that the Council pose their questions at this point; comment was" the questions are nit-picky, what is needed is to deal with the policy issues at this session, then come back at the next session with the department heads to deal with the individual items; again, there are three basic issues; total expenditures, is the Council comfortable with $13 million in the General Fund, $25 million in total, there is a Charter mandate for a million dollars in Cash Reserves, come up with $175,000 to meet that, the last item is taxation; Question was raised as to what would have been done some five years ago when there was no money and no reserves, it is understood that the intent is to reach the reserve goal, yet the question is what is the most rational way and how quickly, the suggestion has been to meet the goal all at once; It was asked who is going to penalize the City for not having met the Cash Basis reserve; to that the response was does there need to be threat of litigation, the Council needs to do what is right, the Charter is not to be violated; To the question as to who would come after the City, the response was that there are several other areas to which fund balance reserves have been designated, some are contractual obligations, OCCRMA is an example, there is some debt for past services to which progress is being made; there was caution that certain obligations are being neglected, there is no good faith effort yet they are contractual obligations; Council was urged to commence review with the Fund Balance and change to the financial position with a focus on broad policy issues, then work into more detail, question, if the Council were to fully fund the reserves where is it going to come from; there have been some reductions to the budget, certain purchases have been deferred, there is then employee compensation, all of these fit into a lot of competing needs and there is insufficient revenue to meet everything without a new revenue source, there is an attempt to balance, but until getting into the detail one can not see the impact if the intent is to fund things all at once; It was indicated that there was not disagreement with that logic, however General Fund expenditures are not being reduced, they have increased and more than one percent, the point is, each year as I I * * I * * * * I I I 5-17-99 * revenues build, the budget message says a four percent increase of revenues, is it being said that one and a half percent of the four percent then can not be put into the Charter reserve, agreeing that money should not be taken out of contractual and other necessary reserves to fund the Cash Basis, the money needs to be found elsewhere in the budget, the reserve deficiency is about $1.3 million, again, the Charter mandate reserve is $1 million, the provisions of the Charter are not broken in any other situation, however it has been convenient to delay the Cash reserve; It was noted that a number of things identified in the priority establishing session are not included in this budget, yet there are items included that were removed last year; Suggestion was made that if a quarter million dollars can be identified, it should be, and brought to the Council; Again, suggestion was made to postpone temporarily the discussion relating to funding of the Cash Basis Reserve, that further detail be the subject of discussion; comment was again made that if the full funding goal is just two years away that is good progress; the issue is priorities; it was mentioned too that if the money is not placed in reserves it will be spent, scenario was posed if something were to happen to the Bixby project inasmuch as the City is looking to that revenue in two years for capital improvement projects; Request was made for further discussion of revenue projections; Some turn around in property tax is finally being seen, the second largest revenue source, where in recent years it has tapered off; the Orange County Fire Authority was projecting a six percent increase, the City is being more conservative with five percent; were it not for the property tax and sales tax, and with the projected decrease in the utility tax, the City would be in a tighter position than it is today, the utility users tax is down about ten percent from where it was at the peak of $4 million in 1996/97; It was noted that one reason the property tax is going up is because the School District stopped taking intra-district transfers, therefore families with children at the elementary or middle school level and about to move to the next level are moving into the district; noted that property value in general has gone up as well; There is a revenue increase as a result of the hiring of an additional traffic enforcement officer, traffic is probably the number one neighborhood issue, also the parking meters in the City lots on Main Street, at the same time this requires additional expenditures, that due to the salary of the police officer, the motorcycle and fuel, collections from the parking meters, etc. Something needs to be done with regard to Code provisions and expenditure of parking meter funds; The estimated projection from the parking meters for next year is $130,000; Inquiry was made if the Director of Development Services has gotten involved with seeking new sources of revenue for the City; the response was * * * * * * * * * 5-17-99 * that the Director attended a couple of Main Street Improvement seminars on business development and promotions, he has spoken with the Business Association and Chamber, from that there have been a couple of success stories with oil industry businesses locating in the community, generating significant sales tax, the answer, to a limited degree yes; Concern was expressed with regard to the Rossmoor Shopping Center, the Center in need of being remodeled, yet the owners are content with making their six to seven percent a year, they also own the Los Altos Center in Long Beach which is very successful, possibly there needs to be conversation with Long Beach as to how that was accomplished, it is known that redevelopment is an unacceptable term to some, yet it is believed that there needs to be discussion with the owners as to how that Center can be refurbished; it was suggested that the Bixby Center may force their hand to do something; stated also that the staff looks forward to the day when there can be discussion with Rossmoor Center to rejuvenate it, Long Beach, unlike Seal Beach, has an active redevelopment agency therefore can do more; it is known that referrals from Bixby are being sent to Rossmoor Center, but they need to do something with the Center; Question was posed if overtures could be made to Rossmoor Center given the pending litigation; response was that it would be difficult, yet once the litigation is resolved the City has a vital interest in the success of the Center and the two should be able to work together; the Rossmoor Center should be explored for revenue enhancement; it was mentioned that Lucky's and Rite Aid are desirous of fifty to a hundred percent more space than they currently have, it would take a considerable expenditure to get the owners to develop it; Comment was that the General Fund budget is $13.9 million, a four percent increase over last year, $520,000, a half million more revenue, it is obvious the desire is to take a modest approach to funding the reserves; there has been considerable talk about this, when is there going to be discussion about tax relief, the Manager has mentioned a half point off of the utility users tax in about 2001 or 2002, that would be about $180,000, to bring it down a percent would be $360,000, therefore if one is not looking at reserves, not looking at revenues, then does the Council want to cut the utility tax, or does the City want to hold all of the revenues it currently has; again, the three things that should be considered are expenditures, revenues, and taxation, those are of greatest concern, and if there is a half million dollars more consecutively for the next two to three years the City should be in fairly good shape, that discounting whatever Bixby does, there are offsets to that, there are things that there is no control over, that is why the reserves are felt to be important; inquiry as to the viewpoint of the Council with regard to taxation, as the three policies will change how the budget is framed; I I * I * I I I 5-10-99 * One response was that the record reflects that there would be no vote to approve a budget that does not provide for a reduction of the utility users tax; As to parking meters, that is such a large issue that time should not be spent in a budget workshop on that issue, it should likely be discussed at a regular meeting where the public can express their views, the subject is too big to get into now as a revenue enhancement to the point that the utility users tax could possibly be reduced, this will take time as there are many pros and cons; Question was raised, if a cut of the utility tax by one percent was proposed would there be a vote for that; the response was yes; revenues are presently up, question again, cut the utility users tax now or wait a year or two years, everyone present has said at some point that the utility tax has to be cut; Suggestion was made that the expenditures be gone through line by line to see if anything can be cut, if $300,000 to $400,000 can be found, it could be put in reserves and then cut the utility tax; cut the budget by shifting money from capital projects or by reducing the departmental line by line budgets, maybe the City can not do all that it wants, and maybe new revenue needs to be explored; One percent of the utility tax would be $360,000, that plus $250,000 for reserves would be a considerable amount to be found in the budget; response was again that revenues are up five percent, $500,000 plus over last year; what needs to be done is to look at the expenses and determine where they can be trimmed, if that can be done, then the objectives can be met; it was stated that the department heads need to be present for review of the departmental budgets; Opinion was expressed that the expenditures should not be dealt with until the policy issues are addressed, the budget has been in the hands of the Council for a week, by this time it should have been reviewed and notations made, otherwise workshops are a waste of time; It was emphasized again that there is need to review the expenditures line by line, the department heads need to be present, things have gone up in small increments, there is no chunk of money to cover everything, there are things that should be in the budget that are not; Comment was made that the desire is to lower taxes, raise services, making everyone happy; Mr. Mario Rossi, long time Hill resident, applauded the Council for their thoughtful consideration of the many issues. He questioned how many are negatively impacted by the utility users tax, stating it is a relatively small part of a family budget, he would personally be opposed to seeing a reduction of $360,000 of revenue to the City. Mr. Rossi presented a request that something be done about the standing water/drainage problem on 10th Street at St. Anne's church. The City Manager noted that the Council has a copy of the Master Plan for Sewers and Storm Drains that addresses the large, multi-million dollar projects that requires reconstruction of streets, installation of * * * * * * * * 5-17-99 * culverts, etc., the St. Anne's situation is a localized drainage problem, identified as a solvable situation. It was clarified that there is presently no budgeted funds for repair of that street. Mr. Rossi mentioned his professional experiences as an architect, and suggested that possibly the standing water problem could be at least partially resolved by regrading a portion of that street rather than an extensive project of $100,000 or more. Councilman Snow asked if a profile of that street has been done from Pacific Coast Highway to the beach, to which Mr. Rossi responded that he presumed there has however was not certain. Reference was made to the comment that there had been a significant savings from PERS, about $450,000, $200,000 was committed to reduction of a debt of the Public Liability Fund, and inquired as to the remaining $250,000; response was that it is in the additional reserves of Fund Balance; It was noted that Leisure World contributes almost a half million dollars in water revenue, and inquiry made as to the population of College Park East and College Park West; response was one thousand seven hundred thirty-two meters in College Park East; to that question was posed as to how Leisure World is charged for their water usage; it was suggested that that answer best come from the Water Department or the City Engineer; explained however that water is ,an Enterprise Fund, the revenues and expenditures are basically a wash, a formula based upon the cost of water to the City, the imported and pumped water plus a small capital charge that will go towards rebuilding the system; Question raised as to the actual expenditure of $133,755 in 1996/97 for water capital improvements in Leisure World as compared to the proposed $12,342; response was it is believed to be the pump station at the end of Golden Rain; it was mentioned that there were four pumps,.a~d during tpe ~looding the water rose to within a half inch of shutting down the electricity that would have stopped the pumping, those pumps supposed to have been upgraded from four to six; it was said those are the pumps in the Alamitos Basin, that has nothing to do with Leisure World but it would impact flooding; There was uncertainty as to whether the number of pumps has been increased to six; to that it was reported that the prior councilmember has said they have been installed however they have not, one has been repaired though; It was noted that the drainage on Old Ranch Golf Course is to be improved which will move water faster towards the Leisure World channel, therefore it is critical that those pumps be operable otherwise the water will back up in the channel; Request was made for an organizational chart for the next meeting; department heads to be present; discussion will be of departmental budgets. I I * I * * * * COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilman Boyd stated he had presented his comments, that the reserves should be funded pursuant to the Charter mandate, Councilman Doane has spoken for a one percent reduction of the Utility Users Tax, possibly Councilman Snow 5-17-99 / 5-24-99 I as well, therefore an equal amount of money needs to be found in the budget. Councilmember Campbell said from her calculations there needs to be $577,273 to cover a one percent reduction of the Utility Tax and fund the Cash Basis Reserve. Councilman Snow said he is as interested in reducing the Utility Tax as anyone however this should not be hurried especially since the people in Leisure World are paying it and they know it is going to be reduced. Mayor Yost summarized this workshop as discussion of reducing the utility Tax and an increase of spending by placing it in reserves. Councilman Boyd countered that this would be a decrease of spending, he was not saying that the Utility Tax should be decreased, but if this is a policy issue then it needs to be said that it is or isn't, the same thing is going to be heard every year, that nothing can be cut because everything is essential City services, that is said in every City, until the belt is tightened how is a way going to be found to save money, there is a half million increase in revenue that is being spent. The response was that the reserves have gone from zero to $800,000, the City is getting there gradually, and the increased revenue has been placed in reserve. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, to adjourn the meeting at 9:01 with consent of the Council, p.m. I clerk Approved: It; ~n~'{}i t City Clerk Attest: Seal Beach, California May 24, 1999 I The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 7:02 p.m. with Mayor Yost calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Yost Councilmembers Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow Absent: None Also present: Mr. Till, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Badum, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Captain Schaefer, Police Department