Mid-year budget report reveals anonymous gift of $850,000 to police and fire departments
Mid-year budget report reveals anonymous gift of $850,000 to police and fire departments
Recap of the Feb. 21 City Council Meeting
All council members were present at the February 21 Sebastopol City Council meeting, including Mayor Neysa Hinton, Vice Mayor Diana Rich, Councilmember Sandra Maurer, Councilmember Jill McLewis, and Councilmember Stephen Zollman.
Note of Conflict of Interest: In addition to being the co-publisher of the Sebastopol Times, the author of this piece is also a part-time contractor for the city of Sebastopol. The news reported in this article, and any opinions reflected therein, are not dictated by or reflective of the opinions of the city council or staff of the city of Sebastopol.
CONSENT CALENDAR
(Note: The consent calendar consists of items that are routine in nature or don’t require additional discussion, often because they’ve been discussed extensively at a previous council meeting.)
After declaring February as National Library Lovers Month, the council unanimously approved the consent calendar, which in addition to the minutes of previous meetings, included the following:
Approval of a resolution adopting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) policy, as required by Assembly Bill 2449, which requires the city to have an accommodations request policy for all city meetings, including designating a point person to receive such requests. See the full policy here.
Approval of a letter of support for Sonoma Clean Power’s proposal, “Superheat Long-Duration Energy Storage: Sub 24-Hour.” See the rather complicated description of this proposal here.
Approval of the 2023-2024 City Budget Committee meeting schedule
Approval of plans and specifications and authorization to bid the Parquet Street Sewer Line and Water Line for replacement and slurry seal.
Approval of the termination of the State of Local Emergency Regarding Novel Coronavirus (“COVID19”).
Approval of the transfer of ownership of a haz-mat trailer from the County of Sonoma to the City of Sebastopol.
Approval of the request from the Sebastopol Kiwanis Club to conduct their Annual Fireworks Show on July 3, 2023 at Analy High School.
REGULAR AGENDA
Council approves Phase 1 of the Bodega Avenue Bike Lanes and Rehabilitation project
The city council unanimously approved the plans for the Bodega Avenue Bike Lanes and Rehabilitation project, Phase 1, and agreed to put the project out to bid.
It is said that the mills of the gods grind slowly; so do the mills of government. This project has been in the works since 2009, when it was just a twinkle in the eye of the county’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan. And now at long last – with two grants in hand – the city is ready to start construction this spring.
It’s ironic that this project is called the Bodega Avenue Bike Lanes and Rehabilitation Project, because the bike lanes were by far the least popular part of the plan, and drew a host of critics who swore that the bike lanes were unsafe, unwise, unfit for children, and dangerous for adults. Several experienced bike riders vowed never to ride on them.
Unfortunately, the problematic bike lanes can’t be unhitched from the more popular part of the project, which includes resurfacing Bodega Avenue from High Street to Robinson Road and installing pedestrian safety improvements at five intersections.
All of the city’s transportation consultants said that the bike lanes had helped the city win the grant that will pay for the other improvements. No bike lanes = no grant = no improvements.
After initial attempts to make on-the-fly design changes to the bike lanes, the council bowed to fate (otherwise known as grant deadlines) and voted unanimously to approve Phase 1 of the project as is and put it out to bid.
The project won the council’s approval, because, as Councilmember Sandra Maurer, put it: “This project is hitting two out of three.”
Mayor Hinton said “The main thing is … it helped us get the needed funding to make it better than it is currently.”
All told, Phase 1 of the project will cost $1,235,000, with $1,095,000 coming from an OBAG grant (One Bay Area Grant) and the remaining $140,000 coming from Measure M Transportation Funds. The city has also received notice that it has been awarded a $2.24 million “Go Sonoma” grant for Phase 2 of the project.
Mid-Year Budget Adjustment’s big surprise: An $850,000 gift
Every year, at the midpoint of the fiscal year, the city does a mid-year budget adjustment.
The big news from this year’s mid-year budget report is that an anonymous donor gave roughly $850,000 to the Sebastopol Police Department and the Sebastopol Firefighters Foundation. The donation was split evenly between the two. The Firefighters Foundation is a private non-profit that benefits the Sebastopol Fire Department, but the Police Department belongs to the city. That means that the city got a much-needed one-time infusion of roughly $425,000.
Thanks in part to this donation, the city’s chronic budget shortfall declined from $1,152,426 to $849,129, a decrease of 35.7%.
A rise in other city revenues also helped lessen the budget crunch.
The staff report included the following explanations for the revenue changes:
The increase in property taxes reflects a routine adjustment based on actual receipts in December 2022.
Revenue from the Real Property Transfer Tax went down because, as financial director Ana Kwong explained, as interest rates increase, there are fewer homes bought, which lowers the transfer tax revenue.
Other sales taxes were adjusted downward based on a potential forecasted recession on the horizon.
Revenues produced by User Taxes and the Transient Occupancy Tax are now projected to be higher, based on previous years’ actual receipts.
Revenue from licenses and permits has increased based on current receipts, including the issuance of the permit to Piazza Hospitality for the Hotel Sebastopol.
Miscellaneous Revenue: This line item has increased, primarily due to the one-time donation described above.
Unfortunately, expenditures continued to rise for many city departments and programs.
Aside from additional hires and reclassifications, the mid-year budget adjustment report included the following explanations for the increase in expenditures:
City Attorney: The ACLU lawsuit against the city over the RV parking ordinance has already cost the city $77,823. The estimated cost through June 30th is an additional $100,000. The city attorney’s office is requesting $85,000 to cover this.
Assistant City Manager/City Clerk: The City’s Clerk’s office requested an increase of $7,438, which will go to pay for a new city website that was supposed to have been paid for last year, but will in fact be paid for this year.
The Engineering Department is asking for an increase of $17,000 to pay for the consultant who prepared the Caltrans Sustainable Planning Grant. (This expenditure was approved by the council last August).
The Fire Department is requesting an additional $55,500 as follows:
$20,000 for unexpected repairs to the department’s Wildland Fire Engine.
$28,000 for the City’s participation in a joint grant submitted by Sebastopol and Graton Fire Departments. This grant will replace Sebastopol’s aging contained breathing apparatus packs and cylinders, as well as aging extrication equipment. (To replace these units without this grant funding would cost $280,000.)
$7,500 for the Fire Services Study.
The Police Department is requesting an increase of $153,000, with $70,000 drawing from the donation by a private citizen:
$30,000: Requested for litigation costs associated with disability-related issues.
$17,000: For Retiree Health Savings Plan payout costs required by contractual obligations.
$18,000: To cover unexpected costs resulting from a Sonoma County Courts Audit for 2015-2019.
$18,000: Requested for expenses to dispose of accumulated explosives and fireworks accepted by the police department from residents and now required to be disposed of per a CIRA field audit and in the interests of public safety.
$35,000: Ergonomic retrofit for four offices. This $35,000 adjustment is to be covered by the one-time donation received by the Police Department.
$35,000: Towards the purchase of a $75,000 fully equipped police vehicle. $40,000 was already budgeted for this purchase. This $35,000 adjustment will be covered by the one-time donation received by the Police Department.
Councilmember Diana Rich, who is a member of the Budget Committee, defended the increases this way:
“I just wanted to make sure that the public is fully aware that this mid-year budget process was very carefully examined by the Budget Committee,” she said. “We were impressed by the staff’s vigilance, in terms of only requesting items that staff felt were essential at this point in time. I found that the process was very thorough … there is no fat in this request. I’m confident as a person who has been on the budget committee last year and really wants to get our belt tightened, that these amounts that have been requested really are essential for the functioning of our little town here.”
The long-awaited city staffing assessment report was included in the mid-year budget report.
The council voted unanimously to adopt the midyear budget adjustment and approved the proposed recommendations of the citywide staffing assessment report, including the new job classifications, descriptions and revised pay rates and ranges.
See the full staff report on the midyear budget adjustments here.
Yet another discussion about public comment
The gist of this agenda item was, How does the council want to call on public comment speakers once meetings resume with a hybrid format (i.e., both in person and on Zoom)? The council voted unanimously to adopt an alternating format, where they’ll hear first from someone who is there in person, then from someone on Zoom, etc. They also voted to give the mayor discretion to increase the amount of time available for public comment.
You can watch the Feb. 21 council meeting in full here.
The next regular Sebastopol City Council meeting is on Tuesday, March 7 at 6 pm.