2008-06-09 Special CC Packet/q ~~
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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
MONDAY - - - JUNE 9, 2005 - - - 6F00 P,M,
Time : Manila y, June 9, 2 0 0 8, 6: O O p, m.
Place: Council Chambers, City Hall, corner of Santa Clara Avenue
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and Oak Street
Public Participation
Anyone wishing to address the Council on agenda items or business
introduced by the Council may speak far a maximum of 3 minutes per
agenda item when the subject is before the Council. Please file a
speaker's slip with the Deputy City Clerk if you wish to speak on
an agenda.
Pledge of Allegiance
Af"'fAnf~a
1. Roll Call
2, workshop an the City's Two-year Financial Plan and Capital
Improvement Projects for Fiscal Years 2008-10.
3. Adjournment
~ Sign language interpreters will be available on request. Please contact
the City Clerk at 747-4800 or TDD number 522-7538 at least 72 hours
prior to the Meeting to request an interpreter
• Equipment far the hearing impaired is available for public use. For
assistance, please contact the City Clerk at 747-4800 or TDD number 522-
7538 either prior to, or at, the Council Meeting
• Accessible seating for persons with disabilities, including those using
wheelchairs, is available
• Minutes of the meeting available in enlarged print
• Audio Tapes of the meeting are available upon request
~ Please contact the City Clerk at 747-4800 or TDD number 522-7538 at
least 48 hours prior to the meeting to request agenda materials in an
alternative format, or any other reasonable accommodation that may be
necessary to participate in and enjoy the benefits of the meeting
Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Proposed Budget
Issue Bin Items
June 9, 2008
Police Department Issues
1. Please explain the reasons and activities creating the need for overtime in the
Police Department.
Generally, overtime is the direct result of officers extending or adding shifts to their
schedules in order to accommodate shortages created by vacancies resulting from
long-term illness or injury, mandatory training, scheduled vacations, family leave,
and other leaves as well as some vacancies due to retirements and attrition. With up
to one full year required to hire and train a police officer, an unexpected retirement
can add to the overtime need. Additionally, the use of overtime is affected by the
need to respond to and investigate criminal acts; last year's homicide investigation
required a significant use of overtime to solve the crime.
The Police Department's budget proposal calls for the department to reduce $22,000
from the annual overtime budget. This reduction should not be difficult to achieve
given current staffing levels.
2. What is the history of animal shelter donations and what are the projections
for the future.
The animal shelter has received a variety of donations over the past several years,
including $60,352 from one estate in 2007 and $51,691 from a trust in March 2008.
In early 2008, the Police Department was notified of a potential donation of
approximately $270,000. In May 2008, the Department was then advised that this
donation was actually going to be approximately $153,000. The amount was
substantially less than initially expected due to costs associated with the bequest,
such as legal fees. Although it is difficult to project future large donations, the
department and the animal shelter are working to find other donation opportunities
and are reviewing other revenue sources related to the animal shelter operation.
3. Can the animal shelter donation be invested to make the money last longer,
i.e. like an annuity?
While it is possible to invest the donations provided the bequest has no specific
restrictions limiting the City's ability to do so, it will be difficult to do so given the
small size of the donation. Therefore, staff would invest the funds in the City's
regular portfolio, which earns approximately 4%. In addition, the budget proposal
incorporates the anticipated donations into the revenue assumptions. Therefore, if
the Council directs this action, and a fiduciary trust fund is created in order to
separate the earnings, the difference in the revenue assumptions would have to be
Issue Bin Responses
Page 2 of 15
incorporated into the proposed budget, and the department would have to identify
the reductions that would accommodate such a decrease.
4. What level and type of services does San Leandro receive by contracting with
the City of Fremont foranimal shelterservices?
There are two key elements of the animal services function in local government:
animal control and sheltering. The City of San Leandro contracts with the City of
Fremont-run Tri-City Animal Shelter for animal shelter services for $79,823 per year.
The contract with Tri-City allows for the care, feeding, boarding, maintenance,
euthanasia, disposal, redemption, and adopting of dogs, cats, and other domestic
animals. Under this arrangement, the residents of San Leandro travel to Fremont to
retrieve their lost pets.
The City of San Leandro continues to fund two Animal Control Officers and a shelter
facility to address enforcement, deal with emergency situations, and transport the
animals to the Tri-City facility. Further, licensing in San Leandro is handled by the
Finance Department, while the Alameda Animal Shelter licenses pets in Alameda.
In order to contract for animal shelter services with Fremont or another agency, such
as the City of Oakland or the County, the Police Department would have to perform
an analysis of both the cost of contracting the shelter services and the options
related to providing the animal control functions. It would be likely that the City
would employ a similar model as that used in San Leandro, necessitating, at a
minimum, the funding of two Animal Control Officers for a total of $195,172 annually
in salary and benefits with additional costs for operations.
5. Can the City provide our animal shelter services to other cities for a fee?
There is kennel space available in the animal shelter from time to time; however it
can reach capacity depending on the time of year. In addition, there are only three
cages suitable for those canines identified as potentially dangerous. If the City
contracted with other agencies, there is the possibility that the capacity may be
exceeded in both the general kennel spaces and in those for Potentially Dangerous
Dogs.
Further, accommodating additional animals in the animal shelter also would raise a
variety of other issues for the shelter operations. For example, there could an
increased opportunity for introducing disease into the pet population, and there is no
veterinarian on staff to deal with this concern. Given the current resources in the
animal shelter, providing services to other agencies does not appear to be cost
effective.
Issue Bin Responses
Page 3 of 15
6. Please provide more information on the Senior Dispatcher position reduction.
What effect does this have on the Communications Center?
As part of the Police Department's budget reduction plan, staff proposed the
unfunding of one Senior Dispatcher to capture a savings to the department while
minimizing service disruption. The Senior Dispatcher serves in the role of a shift
supervisor. Originally, the department funded and staffed four Senior Dispatchers to
maximize supervision throughout the workweek. One of those positions was
eliminated to create the Communications Supervisor. Two of the currently allocated
supervisor positions are filled, and the remaining one has been vacant for
approximately two years.
The department chose to unfund one Senior Dispatcher because there is sufficient
supervision at this time with the addition of the Communications Supervisor.
Although, there is overtime every month in the Communications Center, not filling
the third Senior Dispatcher will not increase the use of overtime.
7. Are there other cities that would use our jail for a fee?
After reviewing the possibility of offering other cities the opportunity to use the
Alameda Police Department (APD} jail for a fee, it does not appear to be a feasible
option, as it would not generate revenue. The surrounding cities employ one of two
approaches to providing jail services; the city either provides the direct service by
staffing and operating a holding facility or it contracts with the County.
Several surrounding agencies operate their own jail and do not require need
additional space for their prisoners. Similar to the Alameda facility, the jails in
Berkeley, Hayward, and San Leandro are Type 1 facilities. APD staff contacted the
jail supervisors at these facilities and was informed that all of these agencies
regularly operate at one-third to one-half of their capacity on any given day. This is
primarily due to their status as Type I jails, which means that no prisoner remains in
the jail in excess of 96 hours. The jail never reaches capacity because prisoners are
moved to court daily (except weekends and holidays}. Since there is capacity in the
other local facilities, it is not likely they would pay to transfer someone that they
could absorb as part of their normal operation
Of these agencies, Berkeley is the only one that contracts out its services; UC
Berkeley's Police Department pays a flat rate of $1,500 per month, regardless of the
number of bookings. The transportation and court issues do not arise since the
arrests occur within the Berkeley city limits. On occasion, they book California
Department of Corrections (CDC) parole arrests, but CDC will not pay more than
$68.22 per day per prisoner.
Those agencies that do not operate their own facility book prisoners through the
Alameda County jail facilities at no cost if they do not exceed its previous three-year
average of bookings. This method of charging and collecting booking fees has
Issue Bin Responses
Page 4 of 15
changed in recent years. Alameda County currently collects booking fees from the
Jail Access Appropriation per AB 1805 (CH 78 Statutes of 2006). Rather than
invoice an agency monthly, the booking fees are taken from the appropriation, up to
apre-determined limit. Once the agency exceeds its previous three-year average,
Alameda County directly invoices the department at a rate of $254.09 (full booking)
or $180.80 (partial booking). This would leave other agencies with no incentive to
contract for the City of Alameda's services.
8. How much does the General Fund receive from moving violations?
The City receives approximately $180,000 a year from the County for its share of
moving violations occurring in Alameda. These funds are received in a special
revenue fund and transferred in full to the General Fund in support of Police
operations. In addition, Traffic School Fees are collected by the County and
remitted to the City of Alameda. This is approximately $70,000 per year and is
recorded in the General Fund in support of Police operations.
9. What are the uses of the parking citation revenue?
Parking citation revenue, net of those issued in the Civic Center Garage, are
collected and recorded in the General Fund in support of Police operations, including
parking enforcement. These revenues do not offset the costs the Finance
Department incurs to process the citations and collections.
Fire Department Issues
1. What are the savings and the impacts of Fire staffing changes-the reduction
of the vacant Administrative Management Analyst and the Training Captain
(upon retirement)?
The reduction of the Administrative Management Analyst will save $103,762. This
position, which was authorized but never filled, would provide the Fire Department with
a non-sworn professional capable of doing research, forecasting, budget oversight,
project management, management studies, and grant applications. This position would
also be responsible for the implementation of new initiatives such as an Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) subscription service, bondingltax initiatives, other new fees,
and a host of other projects. While the position's impact on the day-to-day operations of
the department is moderate, the position would greatly assist the department in solving
its long-term budget and management issues.
The Fire Department currently has two Training Captains. One of the captains is
retiring in July 2008 and the position will be held vacant. This reduction will save the
department $197,083. Training is essential to ensure the safety of our members and
the quality of our services. Most training is mandated by OSHA or other state and
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Page 5 of 15
federal regulations and must be refreshed each year. There topics that firefighters must
be trained in each year, including:
• Confined space operations
• Illness and Injury Prevention
• National Incident Management System (NIMS)
• Emergency vehicle driving
• Incident Command System (ICS)
• EMT/Paramedic Continuing Education
• Blood borne Pathogens
• Wildland Firefighting
• Structural firefighting and live burns
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
By reducing this position, the department will be unable to conduct a recruit academy. If
vacancies should occur, the department will need to send recruits to another agency's
academy. The alternative of not hiring recruits to fill vacancies would lead to the use of
additional overtime.
2. Please explain the savings, impacts, and implementation of the proposal to
manage overtime through a rotating fire company closure.
The rotating closure of up to one fire company on days when staffing falls below 27
firefighters on duty is projected to save $820,581 in overtime costs. This will be
accomplished by alternating closure between the two truck companies located at fire
stations #1 and #2. Truck companies are responsible for ventilation, forcible entry,
search and rescue, utility control, salvage property conservation, and vehicle extrication.
They are not normally staffed by paramedics, and they generally do not respond to
medical calls, which comprise approximately 80% of the department's calls for service.
Some of the impacts of this proposal are:
• An additional engine company will need to replace the truck on fire responses
• Less depth of resources to manage multiple incidents which occur 37% of the
time
• Potential for longer response times which may impact property loss, business
interruption, and rescue and medical service delivery
• No second alarm capability requiring more frequent County mutual aid
• Complicates dispatch procedures and will require manual intervention
A review of the Fire Department's calls indicates that 63% of the time, the
department has one call in progress, while 37% of the time there are multiple calls in
progress. The multiple calls could be two or more emergency medical, two or more
fire, or some combination thereof. Should two or more incidents occur
simultaneously, the response times could increase with one truck rotated out of
service. In such a situation, the Fire Department would rely on the City of Oakland
Issue Bin Responses
Page 6 of 15
for mutual aid. According to a letter recently received from Oakland's Fire Chief,
Oakland provided mutual aid approximately 35 times over the course of two years.
Development Services Department Issues
1. What is the acreage in the Redevelopment areas and please explain how tax
increment works in a Redevelopment area?
The acreage in the Alameda redevelopment areas totals 3,664 acres. It is allocated
among the three areas as follows:
• Alameda Point Improvement Project = 2,566 acres
• Business Waterfront Improvement Project = 873 acres
• West End Community Improvement Project = 225 acres
The following describes how tax increment works in the Redevelopment area:
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(A) Before a redevelopment project area is formed, all property tax revenue goes
to the county, city, schools, and special districts. In a blighted or
underdeveloped area, the tax revenue is usually stagnant or lags behind the
increases in land values of areas that do not have these characteristics.
(B) When the redevelopment project area is formed, all tax agencies continue to
receive the tax revenue they received before the redevelopment agency was
formed.
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(C} In addition, the redevelopment agency shares an increase of two percent
annually, a mandatory amount of the increased property tax revenues with
the county, school districts, special districts, etc., using a formula in the law.
This is intended to offset significant detrimental fiscal impact due to
redevelopment. The redevelopment agency passes these tax revenues
through to the taxing agency each year. In Alameda, the Redevelopment
Agency, known as the Community Improvement Commission, or CIC, also
gives other negotiated funds to the School District to assist with the goals of
the District.
(D} Twenty percent of the "tax increment must be set aside into a special fund for
low- and moderate-income housing programs administered by the
redevelopment agency, or CIC. In addition, the CIC of Alameda requires all
new housing projects to provide 25 percent of its units, for-sale or rental, to
low- and moderate-income families.
(E) As property is sold and as new construction (private and public) occurs in the
redevelopment area, the assessed value of the property goes up. This causes
tax revenue to increase even though the tax rate does not change. The
increased tax money is known as "tax increment." It is used by the
redevelopment agency to pay the expenses of improving the area and
eliminating blight.
(F) At the end of the redevelopment project (typically 35-45 years), after all
agency debts are paid, the redevelopment project is terminated and all tax
revenue from the increased assessed value created by redevelopment of the
area goes to all other tax agencies in the project area in proportion to their tax
rates.
2. How much is Alameda Point contributing towards the cost of services
provided?
Alameda Point pays for the Development Services staff who work on base reuse
issues. In addition, the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority (ARRA) will
allocate $2.7 million to the General Fund in both FY 2008/2009 and FY 2009/2010
through its annual Municipal Services payment to the General Fund. In addition, the
proposed budget includes a payment by ARRA of $480,000 towards its General
Fund loan.
Issue Bin Responses Page 8 of 15
Alameda Recreation and Parks DepartmentlGolf Issues
1. Please provide an analysis of the operations involved in maintaining the
Meyers House, including any difference between revenues generated by the
trust and costs.
Current annual expenditures to maintain the exterior of the Meyers House are
approximately $40,000. The department receives reimbursement from the East Bay
Foundation Trust in the amount of $13,000 to $18,000 each year; the remaining
expenditures of $22,000 to $27,000 are currently being absorbed in the Park
Maintenance Division budget. These expenditures only cover the maintenance of
the grounds and do not include major capital items such as roof replacement or
painting. If the City was unable to continue to operate the grounds as a park, the
property would revert to the Trust, and they would be free to use the property in
whatever manner they chose. This option could force the Alameda Museum to
vacate the inside of the property and relocate.
The current FY 2008-2009 budget reflects a General Fund expenditure of $25,000 to
maintain the property. This will be supplemented with an additional $13,000 to
$18,000 from the Meyers Trust. These funds are allocated in the Non-departmental
account for Cultural Arts. This account includes the allocations for the maintenance
of the grounds of the Meyer's House as well as the $50,000 for the Alameda
Museum; $46,000 of this amount is appropriated for the rent subsidy and $4,000 for
the matching grant.
2. What resources can be applied to keep all ten free park sites open?
All ten free park sites would remain open if the $25,000 in general funds allocated
for the Meyers House in the FY 2008/09 budget proposal were redirected to this
effort.
3. What is the impact of eliminating the Senior Clerk position?
The elimination of the full-time Senior Clerk Position will result in the duties being
reassigned to existing staff. This transition will be aided by technological
advancements that have been instituted in recent years. For example, one of the
Senior Clerk's major responsibilities is processing program registrations. The online
registration system, which was implemented in the last few years, currently
processes approximately 30% of the program registrations. This technology has
resulted in a reduction in the number of in-person transactions formerly conducted
by this position. This position was selected for elimination because it would have the
least effect on the department's ability to provide core services to the community.
The individual currently in this position will be transferred to the Housing Authority.
Issue Bin Responses Page 9 of 15
4. What savings are achieved by reducing night lighting?
There is a savings of $7,500 realized per site.
5. What are the savings associated with the elimination of the ARPD special
events?
The Recreation and Park Department currently provides a total of 17 City Special
Events. These activities offer a wide variety of recreational experience to thousands
of youth, adults, and families each year. The total annual expenditures for these
events are $68,500. The elimination of the Run for the Parks and Art in the Park
special events will save $15,000.
6. Why was there growth in ARPD staff, from 24 to 30, over the past 5 years?
In 1997 there were a total of 24 positions in the Recreation and Park Department.
By 2002, this number had increased to 30, a net increase of six positions. Four of
those positions were added to provide additional programming to the community and
are currently funded through the use fees generated by the activities provided. No
General Fund monies are expended to pay for these positions. The remaining two
positions consisted of one position transferred to the Recreation and Park
Department from Public Works, and subsequently eliminated in 2005, and one
additional Park Maintenance Worker funded through the Bayport Assessment
District. It is important to note that in FY 2008/2009 and FY 200912010, the
department will have 28 positions, but four of those positions will paid out of the
Athletic Trust Fund, which is the department's revenue-generating account. The
remaining 24 positions are General Fund positions.
7. Please provide a briefing on the Golf Complex -budget, master plan, and
deferred maintenance.
The Golf Complex continues to experience a significant downward trend in terms of
both revenue and the number of rounds being played. As of April 30, 2008, the total
number of rounds for the current fiscal year is down 13,187 when compared to last
fiscal year, and the Golf fund balance has been reduced by approximately $770,000.
The months of May and June are expected to be stronger and should reduce the
deficit to some extent.
Staff continues to attempt to identify and enact cost-saving measures as
appropriate. For example, both the General Manager and Golf Services Manager
positions remain vacant. Every aspect of the operation has been reviewed to
determine potential savings and to increase efficiencies.
The National Golf Foundation anticipates completing the master plan in the near
future. The plan will be brought to Council along with a recommendation for the
future operation of the complex at their meeting on July 1.
Issue Bin Responses
Public Works Department Issues
Page 10 of 15
1. What is the impact of eliminating two tree crew employees? What are the net
savings? Will we have more deferred maintenance?
One of the proposed cuts for the Public Works Department is the elimination of the
two-person street tree crew for a total reduction of $155,000. The crew, which
consists of a team leader and a maintenance worker II, performs smalUyoung tree
pruning, new tree plantings and emergency response to downed limbs. These
reductions will require that emergency response to tree-related issues be addressed
by an independent contractor. Staff anticipates a moderate delay in response to
broken limbs during actual storm events as the contractor may have other storm-
related responsibilities. In addition, there will be less over-all pruning of young trees
and no planting of new trees.
The proposed budget provides $50,000 to fund an independent contractor to
perform emergency response work and some young tree pruning. The net savings,
therefore, is $105,000. Staff anticipates that the reduction in the pruning of
smalllyoung trees will impact the future tree pruning requirements of the trees as
they mature. This could result in poor tree structure that may lead to a greater
number of downed limbs during storms. Staff will monitor the effectiveness and
responsiveness of using an independent contractor for these services to determine if
the City should continue to contract out this work in future years.
Planning and Building Department Issues
1. How are Planning and Building funds spent? What can they be used for?
What are the restrictions on funding sources?
The Planning & Building Department's proposed budget for Fiscal Years 200812009
and 2009/2010 includes expenditures totaling $4.2 million. Approximately 70%, or
$2.85 million, is allocated to personnel costs for staff that provides planning and
building services to the community. The remaining 30% of the budget is dedicated
to services and supplies, which have been significantly streamlined to ensure that
the department continues to be acost-covered operation over the next two fiscal
years.
The department's expenditures are fully offset by the revenues collected through the
fees it charges for planning and building services. There are restrictions to how
these funds are utilized. Pursuant to the State's Health and Safety Code, Section
19132.3, "The governing body of a county or city, including a charter city, may adopt
an ordinance prescribing fees for filing applications pursuant to this chapter, but the
fees shall not exceed the amount reasonably required by the local enforcement
agency to issue permits pursuant to this chapter, and shall not be levied for general
revenue purposes."
Issue Bin Responses
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The department has a Records Management fund set up specifically for the
collection and use of revenues for records management purposes. Pursuant to the
State's Health and Safety Code, Section 19852, "The governing body of a county or
city, including a charter city, may prescribe such fees as will pay the expenses
incurred by the building department of such city or county in maintaining the official
copy of the plans of buildings for which it has issued a building permit, but the fees
shall not exceed the amount reasonably required by the building department in
maintaining the official copy of the plans of building for which it has issued a building
permit." The revenues collected may only be used by the Planning & Building
Department for records management purposes.
The department also collects a Community Planning Fee in order to recover a
portion of the costs necessary to update and maintain the City's General Plan and
Zoning Ordinance. Again, pursuant to State law, revenues collected through the
Community Planning Fee may only be used for these activities, and not for general
revenue purposes.
2. Can we use some of the money to expedite permit processing to get increased
property valuation to help the General Fund?
Staff is currently meeting or exceeding its target turnaround times for plan check
reviews. Until June 2007, the department did not consistently have two plan check
engineers on staff. Over the last year, with the benefit of having two staff engineers
dedicated to plan check review, the department has improved its turnaround time
significantly. Following the receipt of plans from applicants, the department's
turnaround time for review typically ranges between one and two days, and for
complex projects, up to five business days. While the department had found it
necessary in the past to utilize the services of an independent contractor, this is no
longer necessary because at this time, delays in issuing permits are directly
attributable to the applicants' response to plan check comments. However, it may
be necessary to use a contractor in the future if the need arises or if there is an
especially large and complex project being reviewed.
3. What are the sources of funding for the remodeling of the Carnegie Building?
An outside consultant conducted a nexus study two years ago to evaluate the
department's fee schedule, which was increased by a percentage commensurate
with the Bay Area Consumer Price Index, and subsequently adopted by the Council.
The study concluded that direct and indirect costs associated with providing
Planning and Building services, including the costs associated with the development
and operation of the one-stop permit services center for the community, were
appropriate uses of the fee monies collected. A portion of the fees not used to cover
operating costs has been directed to a Capital Improvement Fund for permit center
improvements. The feasibility study and design services related to the Carnegie
Restoration and Preservation Project have been appropriated from these funds.
Once the design is completed and the estimates for the restoration project are
Issue Bin Responses
Page 12 of 15
finalized, staff will pursue various sources of grant funding to help complete the
project.
Finance Department Issues
1. What is the decline in home sales and prices in the recent past?
Comparing the Feb-Apr 2007 quarter to Feb-Apr 2008 quarter, sales have declined
46.9% (from 179 to 95), and prices have declined 8.2% (from $688,400 to $631,902.
(Source: Trulia Real Estate Search}
2. Please provide the detail of the transfers and other revenues generated by the
enterprise funds.
Schedule of Enterprise Fund Transfers To the General Fund - FY09
Payment In-Lieu of Tax (PILOT)
Return on Investment (R01)~
Franchise Tax -Electricity
Franchise Tax -Telecom
Annual Maintenance
Cost Allocation Plan (CAP)*
Estimated Surcharge (revenue)
Subtotal Assessed
Rebated amount
Total Less Rebated Amounts:
AP&T SEWER GOLF FERRY TOTAL
408,932 599,597 198,262 - 1,206,791
360,212 - 99,040 - 459,252
3, 000, 000 - - - 3, 000, 000
122, 000 - - - 122, 000
- 397,000 27,000 - 424,000
625, 372 281, 953 282, 639 - 1,189, 964
- - 171, 960 - 171, 960
4,516,516 1,278,550 778,901 - 6,573,967
- - 271, 000 - 271, 000
4, 516, 516 1, 278, 550 507, 901 - 6, 302, 967
~ ROI and Surcharge are reflected as rebates back to Golf in the proposed FY09 & FY10 Plan
3. Please provide the detail of the $9.1 million in "Transfers from Other Funds"
identified in the General Fund Revenue chart.
The transfers to the General Fund from other funds are detailed in Attachment 1.
4. What is the proposed policy for addressing the Other Post Employment
Benefits (OPEB)?
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Page 13 of 15
Staff recommends adding the following elements to the City's Financial Policies as a
new section entitled "Other Post Employment Benefits":
• It is the goal of the City Council to provide compensation that recognizes the
service of its employees within the financial abilities of the City to meet those
obligations over the long term.
• It is the goal of the City Council to achieve over time full funding of the retiree
health benefits through continuous review of the benefit plan, the costs of the
plan, and prudent use of an Internal Revenue Code Section 115 Trust.
• It is the goal of the City Council to include in each budget the costs of required
actuarial studies and the costs of the Annual Required Contribution (ARC) to the
extent that resources are available.
As a starting point, staff recommends that at June 30, 2009, funds that add to the
fund balance of the City's General Fund be reviewed and those available to be
allocated as a contribution towards the OPEB unfunded liability be appropriated to
an Irrevocable 115 Trust. This funding mechanism should remain in place until such
time as revenue sources become available to begin increasing the ARC.
5. What is the overall cost of the Retiree Health Benefit program? Please provide
examples of public safety employee OPEB costs.
The present value of retiree medical benefits for both active and retired employees
as of January 2007 is $105,660,000. However, that portion of the benefit which has
been earned and for which the City is obligated is $75,377,000. In order to fund this
obligation, the City will need to pay into an irrevocable trust approximately $4.4
million each year. For an example of public safety employee costs associated with
this program, please see the memorandum provided as Attachment 2.
6. Should we pull some of Public Works out of the General Fund (e.g. sewer
fund) similarto whatwe've done with Planning and Building?
Special revenues used to support Public Works are first recorded as special revenue
funds. Transfers occur for two purposes: to meet the Cost Allocation Plan and to
fund annual maintenance projects. Cost Allocation Plan funds are transferred on a
monthly basis in accordance with the plan to cover work performed by Public Works
in meeting the purposes of the special revenue funds. The annual maintenance
project costs are reimbursed by transfers from other special revenue funds as the
costs occur. As there are no excess revenues transferred to the General Fund,
there are no inadvertent increases to the fund balance. Therefore, it is not
necessary to restructure the General Fund for the purpose of identifying the non-
generalfund resources.
Issue Bin Responses
Page 14 of 15
7. Please detail the non-General Fund sources for annual maintenance costs.
Attachment 3 is a pie chart that was included in the budget presentation and
provides the details of the sources of the annual maintenance costs included in the
Public Works budget.
8. Please provide the details of the proposed refinancing included in the budget
assumptions.
The Police and Equipment Certificates Of Participation (COPs) were originally
issued in 1990 to provide funding to construct and equip the new Police Facility and
the COPs for Library and Golf were originally issued in 1996 to provide funds for the
seismic retrofit of the Carnegie building, in conjunction with a FEMA grant, and to
build the Teaching Academy and Driving Range at the Golf Complex. Attachment 4
provides the agenda item presented to the City Council at the June 3 meeting. The
action on this item was continued.
As the proposed budget was developed during the preparation of the structure of the
debt service refinancing, the following assumptions of savings incorporated into the
budget were conservative:
FY09 FY10
Police FacilitylGeneral Fund $149,437 $149,437
Police FacilitylConstruction Impact Fee 90,000 90,000
Library 119,320 115,585
Golf 67,118 70,790
Total $425,875 $425,812
9. Please provide the detail of the amount and status of the funds contained in
fund balance forthe General Fund.
The estimated fund balance as of July 1, 2008, per the proposed budget, is
$14,192,013. That fund balance includes $400,000 designated for Fire Station 3
and $350,000 estimated to pay for a potential overtime obligation. These monies
are not available forgeneral City services.
In addition, donations received by the Mastick Senior Center and the Alameda
Animal Shelter, and donations and grants received by the Police Department for
non-animal shelter services, such as State Community Oriented Policing grants, are
also included in the General Fund fund balance until they are spent for their
designated purpose. These monies are also not available for general City services.
Issue Bin Responses
In addition, the following has been advanced to other funds:
Page 15 of 15
Advanced From Amount
Alameda Point Improvement Project $1,258,995
Alameda Redevelopment & Reuse Authority -FISC 2,400,000
Alameda Power and Telecom 2,200,000
Total $ 5,858,995
Items Brought Forth by Councilmembers for Future Discussion
1. Policy: All General Fund payments from the Golf Complex must continue.
2. Princi le: Flatten the organization.
3. Princi le: Sustain external services at the expense of internal services.
4. Policy: Refinance for hard assets only, not ongoing operations.
5. Policy: Use the fund balance for one-time expenses, not ongoing services.
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