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CC - Minutes - 04-24-12 - SpecialMINUTES OF THE ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 24, 2012 6:00 PM the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. PRESENT: Mayor Armenta, Mayor Pro Tem Low, Council Members Alarcon, Clark, Ly STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Allred, City Attorney Richman, Assistant City Manager Hawkesworth, Community Development Director Ramirez, Director of Parks and Recreation Montgomery- Scott, Public Works Director Marcarello, and City Clerk Molleda. 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE There were none. 2. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER & STAFF A. 2012 -13 Budget Development Workshop Recommendation: That the City Council provide comments and direction regarding development of the 2017 -2013 Fiscal Year Budget. City Manager Allred advised the City Council that the City started out with a significant deficit of $3.6 million and staff has been working very hard to reduce that deficit. Council will see the progress as staff goes through its presentation. Assistant City Manager Hawkesworth presented the staff report and PowerPoint indicating the reduction of the deficit was related to a number of one -time cost savings the City was able to take advantage of in the current year in regards to the Sheriff's Department contract. The State also took away all of the City's Vehicle License Fees to balance the State's budget last year. The City has seen increases in insurance costs and the City sold some Proposition A money this year, which is not an on -going revenue stream. He advised that coming into the budget year, the City had about $1 million shortfall. Unfortunately, the State Legislature eliminated Redevelopment and the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund which was approximately $2 million of annual ongoing revenue that the Community Development Commission and the City used to fund programs. In addition, the federal government took $607,000 away from the City for CDBG and HOME Fund programs. Mr. Hawkesworth advised the City Council that the General Fund Budget is usually about $16 million plus the CDBG and Redevelopment Agency funds bringing it to approximately $20 million. However, with the state eliminating CDBG and Redevelopment, revenues took a much larger cut than 10 %. Rosemead City Council and the Successor Agency to the Rosemead Community Development Commission Joint Meeting Minutes of April 24, 2012 Page 1 of 6 Mr. Hawkesworth told Council about the steps taken to solve the deficit noting the City Manager eliminated all of the vacant positions, which were the part -time Community Development Director, part -time City Engineer, part -time Code Officer, Senior Planner, Administrative Intern in the City Manager's office and a part -time Animal Control Technician. All of these positions are currently vacant, will be eliminated in the current budget and will not be funded. Staff also proposed the elimination of the Redevelopment programs since the City no longer has redevelopment funds coming in. He advised the City Council of the programs staff is proposing to eliminate, as well as a number of public works consulting contracts related to redevelopment projects. The elimination of these programs and vacant positions saved the City about $340,000. He advised the Council that when staff prepared the Request for Proposal for sanitation services an upfront payment of $1.6 million was included, with the idea that $800,000 would be used this fiscal year and next fiscal year to help balance the budget until the actual franchise fee begins in the latter part of 2013. The City Council also authorized staff to offer a retirement incentive program in which five fulltime staff members took advantage of, eliminating those positions. The increased work will be absorbed by the existing staff providing a net savings of over $400,000. Mr. Hawkesworth informed Council the City's Chief of Police and staff reviewed Public Safety and eliminated the contract for one of the provisional officers leaving one probation officer dedicated to Rosemead. Also, staff reduced the number of CSO shifts. As a result the City only has two overlapping shifts per day rather than three. He explained the City is still providing the level of service, it merely targeted the level of service toward the peak hours to better assist in the field where it is needed most. The Public Safety Center has been closed on Saturdays to walk -in traffic; however, Code Enforcement Officers are still working on Saturdays providing code enforcement, animal control, and related services. The Assistant City. Manager advised the City Council that the City was fortunate to receive some revenue increases based on existing fees. These fees do not take into account any fee increases that Council has to take action on. He discussed property taxes are projected to go up by about $5,500. Sales tax and sales tax -in -lieu, which is the sales tax the City receives from property tax, is projected to go up by $227,000. The City's Vehicle License Fees will go up by about $100,000 based on cost of living and population numbers. The Business License fees will increase by $35,000 as a result of the new business license fee structure that was implemented last year. He reminded council that Rosemead High School and San Gabriel High School are using the Aquatic Center for athletics and they have contributed some funds toward the maintenance of the facility. Those funds, combined with the revenue the City receives from rental of the facility, is projected to be about $30,000 next year. He also mentioned that building permits are going up and staff is cautiously optimistic that the City will receive funds from building permits. Mr. Hawkesworth summarized stating the City started with a proposed deficit of $3.6 million, and with the deductions implemented and the revenue increases, the deficit is reduced to $1.25 million. Mr. Hawkesworth advised Council of the reductions Staff is proposing in their departments to reduce the remaining deficit. Rosemead City Council and the Successor Agency to the Rosemead Community Development Commission Joint Meeting Minutes of April 24, 2012 Page 2 of 6 General City Proposals Mr. Hawkesworth explained that staff developed an amoeba organization plan which requires all fulltime staff to work special events and other designated events that are important in the community, allowing them to use flex time during the week so the City doesn't incur any overtime costs. The projected savings is Staff has talked to the school districts who seem to be open to transferring the crossing guards program to the Districts. The Districts would assume the responsibility of employment and management of the program. The City would transfer all of the equipment and help to provide initial training, in addition to allocating $25,000 to each school district to help fund the crossing guards. This would save the City $45,000. Staff is proposing to publish the historic sketch book in electronic form in lieu of printing since printing is very expensive especially in light of the low volume. This would save the City $7,000. In addition staff is proposing the elimination of printing the City calendar. Staff has also been able to allocate several of the City's vehicles, equipment, and technology costs to some of the City's special revenue funds saving the General Fund about $31,000. He also informed the Council that staff is actively negotiating with the employees and he thinks the City will save about $100,000 through various benefit changes. Public Works Proposals Mr. Hawkesworth advised staff is recommending engineering services related to traffic surveys and studies be reviewed in -house to determine whether it is necessary to contract the services to the traffic engineer. This would be a significant savings. In addition, staff will only call Traffic Commission meetings if there are items for the agenda. In response to Council Member Ly's questions, Mr. Hawkesworth and Mr. Allred explained that the in- house Assistant Civil Engineer would assist in reviewing some of these issues so the City won't have to pay the contract Traffic Engineer. Next, Mr. Hawkesworth advised that staff is proposing to reduce the frequency of custodial services for low profile City facilities such as park restrooms, which would save the City about $22,000. Staff can check the facilities to see if they need to be cleaned. Mayor Armenta expressed concerns about this because most of the complaints are regarding the restroom facilities needing to be cleaned. She suggested keeping a log of when they are cleaned to protect staff and the City. Mr. Marcarello advised staff would, also check on the facilities to make sure the contractor is doing what it is supposed to. Assistant City Manager Hawkesworth informed Council that staff intends to make sure costs are allocated to special revenue funds, where appropriate, especially relative to vehicle maintenance. Following an analysis, staff realized a fair amount of these costs can be allocated to special revenue. In addition, staff is Rosemead City Council and the Successor Agency to the Rosemead Community Development Commission Joint Meeting Minutes of April 24, 2012 Page 3 of 6 proposing to sell the City's Proposition A fund balance to the City of Industry which is expected to generate approximately $500,000 in General Fund revenues. Parks and Recreation Proposals Mr. Hawkesworth reviewed Parks and Recreation's proposed budget for 2012 -2013. He advised staff is reducing the reliance on part -time staffing for facilities, programs and events using the amoeba organizational structure for many of the programs. This includes getting most of the recreation coordinators and supervisors out in the field, actually working in the programs, rather than just supervising. City Manager Allred added this proposal will reduce the number of part -time employees City -wide and particularly in the Parks and Recreation Department. He indicated that since 2009, the City has reduced the fulltime workforce by about 20 %. With regard to Parks and Recreation part -time employees, the reduction of the number of employees will be far greater than 20 %. Parks and Recreation Director Montgomery-Scott confirmed for Mayor Armenta that part -time employees are actually phasing themselves out and the City -is not filling those positions. Mr. Hawkesworth explained staff was proposing to shift the after school program to a drop -in based program from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm for all of the facilities and parks and reduce the program to three sites. The program will be staffed based on the number of children so there is an adequate ratio of staff to students. By doing this, the City will save approximately $96,000. Mr. Montgomery-Scott confirmed there is no fee associated with the after school program, the City absorbs the entire cost. He also confirmed the hours can be shifted from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Wednesdays to meet the needs of the children. Mr. Hawkesworth noted staff is proposing to eliminate paid part -time staff on senior excursions. He explained there are a number of seniors who volunteer at the Senior Center and staff will utilize them to volunteer as the group leaders on these tours and they get to go for free. Mayor Armenia asked what the liability of the City will be should something happen and there is no Rosemead staff on the excursion. City Attorney Richman responded that the participants sign waivers before they attend these events. The waiver will be clear that there is no representative from City staff and that they understand they are assuming all risks and liability. That will put the City in the same position as having a staff person present and may actually reduce the liability. Further discussion on the logistics of using a volunteer group leader continued. Mr. Hawkesworth advised the City Council that the El Monte Union High School District is also facing severe budget cuts and they drastically reduced the number of adult school classes they offer. The District is removing all adult school classes from offsite facilities which will include those held at the Rosemead Community Center. The City will save money because the staff members won't be setting up and tearing down the classrooms throughout the day and staff is looking at replacing some of the classrooms with the City's contract class programs. Mr. Hawkesworth informed Council staff will consolidate the senior lunch program to one location at the Garvey Center. He stressed there would be no reduction in the number of meals available. He reminded Rosemead City Council and the Successor Agency to the Rosemead Community Development Commission Joint Meeting Minutes of April 24, 2012 Page 4 of 6 the City Council that this was previously discussed at a council meeting and this is attributable to the loss of CDBG funds. Mr. Hawkesworth informed Council the number of weekend event rentals for senior clubs will be reduced from three to one per year. He advised Council that due to decline in enrollment in the pre - school program and the City's poor cost recovery, staff proposes to reduce the pre - school program to two sites, the Garvey Center and the Rosemead Community Center and begin offering program options so that rather than operating a five day a week morning class and a five day a week afternoon class staff would offer a three day a week or two day a week class to give the parents additional options. Staff is also proposing to increase the fees to recover all costs. He noted the City has four pre - school teachers and they would all remain in the classroom so none of the preschool teachers would be laid off or shifted out of teaching. Finally, Mr. Hawkesworth proposed not scheduling, or eliminating, certain-special events. He suggested the 5K/10K fun walk, the Christmas performance, and Caroling be eliminated. Staff suggests the City continue holding Breakfast with Santa, the tree lighting ceremony, and some of the holiday events. The elimination of some of these events will save the City approximately $23,500. Staff is also proposing to adjust fees to cover costs of various items, which will be on the regular Council agenda. He advised that Consolidated Disposal has already committed to donate $4,000 to the Concerts in the Park. He advised the total cost for Concerts in the Park is $20,000 and staff is working toward having Consolidated Disposal sponsor all of the concerts. He advised the City currently spends $16,000 a year on the Lunar New Year event. He advised staff is preparing to issue a Request for Proposal identifying an event provider which would significantly reduce the subsidy. Staff is maintaining $5,000 in the budget since there may be some nominal costs to the community, but staff believes there are some event providers who will be able to do this with little or no cost to the City. Mr. Hawkesworth advised the City Council that with everything discussed this evening if the budget is approved, the remaining deficit will be less than $100,000. So it is reduced from $1.2 million to less than $100,000. He noted that staff will continue to evaluate the programs and opportunities to completely eliminate the operating deficit and staff will continue to monitor State legislation and the November ballot measures for potential negative effects on the City's budget. City Manager Allred advised Council that staff was pretty close to balancing the Budget. There will not be a surplus, if the budget gets balanced. He cautioned the City Council that the budget does not include legal fees for litigation so those would have to come from the General Fund reserves during the course of the year. Mr. Hawkesworth presented the list of Capital Improvement Projects. He said staff will be lobbying the Oversight Board to allow the City to use the $7 million in Redevelopment Bond Proceeds. Those projects would be above and beyond the projects in the budget. He advised the majority of the CIP projects for Fiscal Year 2012 -2013 are funded through grants and special revenues. Mayor Pro Tenn Low thanked staff for working so hard to balance the Budget noting the tough time everyone is going through. She suggested reducing the City Council's salary. She felt that Council has Rosemead City Council and the Successor Agency to the Rosemead Community Development Commission Joint Meeting Minutes of April 24, 2012 Page 5 of 6 asked all of the employees who work for the City to reduce their budgets and she felt Council should take a stand and reduce the Council's salary by 10 %. Mayor Pro Tern Low also asked if there was any way to save some money in travel expenses as part of the Budget crisis. City Manager Allred stated the actual Budget document will include details on travel that Council may want to address. Staff has already made some reductions in that area. Thereafter followed a lengthy discussion regarding what other cities were doing with their travel budgets and each Council member individually being cautious. No direction was given. Council Member Ly also thanked staff for this project noting it was very difficult. He also asked the cost to run an election. Mr. Hawkesworth advised that approximately $60,000 is budgeted for a regular election. Council Member Ly suggested the City look at running an all -mail ballot election to save money. Mayor Armenta disagreed because the people love to go to the polls to vote, especially the naturalized citizens that never had that opportunity in their home country to go to the poll and actually place their ballot in the box. Council Member Clark commended staff for their hard work and also for keeping the reserve at $15 million. She addressed Mayor Pro Tern Low's statement about reducing Council's salary stating the State has already reduced Council's salary by eliminating redevelopment which is a 14% reduction. She also agreed with the Assistant City Manager about the travel budget. Thereafter followed a discussion among Council regarding reducing Council's salary and consolidating the City's elections with the County in an effort to save money. There being no further business to come before the City Council Mayor Armenta adjourned the meeting at 7:10 pm. The next regular City Council meeting is scheduled to take place on April 24, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Carol Cowley, Interim City CIA APPROVED: Sandra Armenta, Mayor Rosemead City Council and the Successor Agency to the Rosemead Community Development Commission Joint Meeting Minutes of April 24, 2012 Page 6 of 6