Loading...
2000/01/22CITY OF ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 11, 2000 (HELD JANUARY 22, 2000) MID -YEAR BUDGET REVIEW CITY HALL WEST GORDON HOYT CONFERENCE CENTER - 2ND FLOOR 201 S. ANAHEIM BOULEVARD, ANAHEIM The City Council of the City of Anaheim met in Adjourned regular session. PRESENT: MAYOR: Tom Daly PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Lucille Kring, Tom Tait, Shirley McCracken ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBER: Frank Feldhaus PRESENT: CITY MANAGER: Jim Ruth CITY ATTORNEY: Jack White CITY CLERK: Sheryll Schroeder . FINANCE DIRECTOR: Bill Sweeney BUDGET MANAGER: Jeff Stone SR. MGMT. ANALYST: Edina Goode Mayor Tom Daly called the Adjourned Regular Meeting to order for the purpose of a Mid -year Budget Review Workshop (8:47 a.m.), all Council Members being present with the exception of Council Member Feldhaus (entered the meeting at 10:45). Presentations were then made first by the City Manager and subsequently, the Finance Director, both of which were supplemented by (Power Pointe) slides, hard copies of which were submitted in booklet entitled, Annual City Council Workshop, January 22, 2000 — made a part of the record. City Manager, James Ruth. The purpose of the meeting is to review City goals, achievements and workplan status, budget/fiscal projections, upcoming challenges and to receive Council direction and priorities. In the past few years, the City's goals have been and continue to be — is ensure public safety, build the economy, enhance neighborhoods and community services, maximize assets and maintain infrastructure. The City Manager then briefed the achievements/workplan status under each of the goals (see pages 4 through 9 of the submittal) some highlights being, under Ensure Public Safety — crime continues to decrease (50% since 1991), low fire loss experience (down 22% in residential and 21% commercial/industrial), the new medical transport company is meeting objectives and have exceeded standards 94% of the time. Build the Economy — resort revitalization is nearing completion (all projects on schedule and within budget), an aggressive marketing program is under way to attract businesses to the City, hill and canyon area is experiencing economic growth, new owners of the East Anaheim Shopping Center are very interested in investing a substantial amount in rehabilitation of that important center. ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES, JANUARY 22, 1999 Enhance Neighborhoods and Community Services -- park development continues and new parks have been added to the system (Ross Park, Colony Park, Vermont Park, Deer Canyon Park all in various stages of development), downtown and east end community centers now open (400,000 people have utilized the downtown center since it opened and 5,800 people have utilized the East Anaheim facility since September, 1999). A report will soon be submitted to the Council identifying a number of sites in the City that are problematic along with strategies for improvement, General Plan/Zoning Ordinance 5 -year plan proposed subject to Council direction (from central downtown to the west end, there are 6,500 acres encompassing approximately 50% of the population of the City where staff has worked with the neighborhoods to identify issues), beautification of corridors is planned (workshop with Council on Tuesday, January 25, 2000), significant progress made in "cleaning up" Beach Blvd. (Also see booklet submitted, Neighborhood Improvement Fund — Annual Report FY1998-99 — December 1999, "Helping Neighborhoods Help Themselves" — made a part of the record.) Maximize assets — competitive electric rates a priority (still 15% under Edison and competitive in commercial rates; staff will be giving a series of recommendations in June in terms of how they would like to proceed, with Council support, in the Utility operation), cost competitive City servies regularly reviewed (343 functions within the City are privatized, staff will continue to look at further possibilities). Maintain Infrastructure — long-term requirements being addressed (spent $36 million this year on infrastructure improvements), resort and freeway improvements are on schedule, Anaheim and Beach Blvd. landscaping - significant enhancements made (staff will continue to seek direction from the Council in terms of those priorities.) City Manager Ruth turned the presentation over to the Finance Director to report on the state of the City's economy. Bill Sweeney, Finance Director. His presentation was a detailed briefing of the information contained on Pages 10 through 28 of the booklet submitted (hard copies of the Power Pointe slides) which covered the following: General Fund — Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 — Preliminary Projection Detail (he emphasized the fund will be in balance at the end of the FY) Revenues - (Property Taxes, Sales and Use Taxes, Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT), Business License Taxes, Motor Vehicle License Fees, Fees and Charges, Others, Transfers (Net), Expenditures — (Labor, Other Operating, Debt Service, Capital Outlay (Total Expenditures, $152,842,958 — Surplus (Shortfall), $70,325) — Property Tax (from FY 91 projected to 2004). The Property Tax graph (Pg. 11) included in 2000 an estimated one-time ERAF (Education Revenue Augmentation Fund) reimbursement from the State.) At this point in the presentation, questions were posed by Mayor Daly relative to ERAF as well as property tax revenues and why they did not reflect a higher growth considering the residential developments that have come on line especially in the hills area; both Mr. Sweeney and Jeff Stone, Budget Manager answered the Mayor noting that if there is no turnover in properties, revenues would not go up more than 2%. Redevelopment Agency in -fill projects do not affect the General Fund and "The Canyon" (Northeast Industrial Area) is not reflected in the figures. Mr. Sweeney noted that the growth is encouraging but to think that they are going to get more than 3% in the aggregate is unrealistic outside of the Redevelopment area. Mr. Sweeney continued with his presentation (starting on Pg. 13 through 15) — Transient Occupancy Tax (from FY 91 projected to 2004 — the projections for 2001 and out assume the Disney properties will open by January 2001 - TOT estimated at $44.8 million for 2000 projected to $78.7 million for 2004), TOT Room Sales Subject to Tax, TOT Breakdown. It was at this point that discussion and questions by Council were posed relative to the TOT, what the revenues are used for (Visitor and Convention Bureau, Drug/Gang Program and net discretionary funds), whether the City's TOT rate (15%) is a deterrent, etc. Mr. Sweeney reported that he has not heard anyone not coming to Anaheim because of the TOT. 2 ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES, JANUARY 22, 1999 Mr. Sweeney's presentation continued (see pages 16, 17 and 18) - Sales Tax (FY 90 projected through 2004), Business License (no recommendations forthcoming to increase any business licenses/fees in the coming year). He (Sweeney) encouraged the Council to pull up the website, feecitydeals.com which shows Anaheim with a lot of zeros (no fees or special taxes) in critical categories. He emphasized that Anaheim is a very low-cost City. The City does not get any complaints about business license taxes or fees. Motor Vehicle License (budget is $13.3 — estimated that the City will receive $13.9 million). The assumption is that the State will continue to backfill that revenue source. His advice to the Council is that they pay close attention to what the State does in this regard. The balance of Mr. Sweeney's presentation dealt with the General Fund (Pages 19 through 28) — FY 2000 — Preliminary Projection Detail (Revenues, Projections, Trends), Transfers (from/to), Preliminary Projection Detail — Revenues and Expenditures (Projections, Trends), Net Discretionary Draw by Department (Pie Chart showing distribution of General Fund Revenues 64% of which goes Police (45%) and Fire (19%), FY 2000 Update Recap (TOT projected to be slightly below budget, Sales Tax projected to be under budget by 2.2%, total revenues and expenses projected to be slightly under budget, projecting essentially a break-even position), General Fund — FY 2001 — Preliminary Projection Detail (Revenues and Expenditures), Labor Expenditure Projections, Other Operating Projections, Projected Net of Revenues Over Expenditures (99/00 Est., $70,325 — 00/01 Projected, $76,122 — and Projections from $3,185,993 in 2001/2002 up to $5,678,096 in 2004/2005), and Future Status of Reserves as a Percent of Expenses. During and following the foregoing presentation, Council Members posed questions for purposes of clarification and/or commented relative to certain aspects of the data presented which were answered by either Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Stone or the City Manager. Discussion revolved around financing for the Resort Area (labor and maintenance), employer's PERS share is going down again effective July 1, 2000 due to the tremendous returns PERS has been able to generate in investments. Mr. Sweeney also clarified for the Mayor that current law does not provide for a reimbursement on PERS. He reported that there are a number of proposals throughout the State about enhancing certain types of retirement benefits. Public Safety personnel now have the option of going to a higher benefit. It used to be 2% at 50 with a maximum of 75% of salary. State law has been changed. Local jurisdictions can go as high as 3% at 50 and the maximum amount raised from 75% to 85%. He noted it is optional and not mandated. Council Member Tait suggested that there be a workshop on the issue. Other issues discussed were labor costs, the strong reserve position of the City, funds for capital improvements, etc. City Manager Ruth clarified that for several years, little or no General Fund money has been allocated for capital improvements but that revenues for such improvements came from grants, Redevelopment money, park -in -lieu fees or one-time money over which the Council has discretion. s City Manager Ruth explained further, it is not that capital projects are not being done -- $36 million was spent last year in Public Works along and $10 million in undergrounding utilities or $46 million. It is the parks, open space, libraries, etc. that are General Fund obligations which present difficulties; Council Member McCracken. Even though there have been increases in employee benefits and costs, Anaheim over the last ten years has funded major capital projects. Perhaps if they had a summary of what has been accomplished, it would be helpful. Bill Sweeney. Staff can submit such a report; City Manager Ruth. They will provide historical data going back five years and forward five years as well. Council Member Tait asked, relative to funds for capital improvements, how they might accumulate money for a new park (as an example); Bill Sweeney. The best way would be for the Council to create a special fund calling it whatever they wished. If they want to accumulate money out of the General Fund, he would create a separate fund and capitalize it on an ongoing basis. The Council has the authority on any given Tuesday to create a separate fund. 3 ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES, JANUARY 22, 1999 Mr. Sweeney, before concluding, stated he feels the numbers presented are conservative with one caveat. They have made a number of assumptions on the Transient Occupancy Tax. The assumption is that, as an example, Pointe Anaheim is going to happen in 2002 which will generate a lot of room tax (approximately 1,050 rooms). They have a very elaborate model relative to projected rooms and rates. The unknown is what new properties will come on line and what affect that will have on demand. That is why staff would never recommend that Council appropriate those funds until building is started on the facilities. In concluding, Mr. Sweeney stated they are presenting a balanced budget this year. There will be a little bit of a surplus but they are essentially going to break even. This is probably the most difficult year of the last several years since it is right before the opening of the new theme park (Disney), the opening of the Convention Center, construction is almost completed. He noted, however, it needs to be kept in perspective that it wasn't too many years ago when there was a structural deficit. They have gone from having multi-million dollar deficits to a balanced budget over the last four years which is a remarkable fete without raising taxes. Mayor Daly. What has been presented is the core of the City's operation -- $150 million with a budget of $750 million. There are also many capital projects not presented today that the Council approves once a year. He feels that future presentations should link the two. Last year (in the Budget Workshop) Lisa Stipkovich, Executive Director of Community Development, talked about Redevelopment. Redevelopment funds are sometimes used to fund capital projects. That should all be on the table. The good news is they have a variety of options to choose from. He would much rather have all the available money and trends laid out in the future; Bill Sweeney. They can do that but one of the reason they don't try to get that degree of detail takes a great deal of time. City Manager Ruth then briefed the Upcoming Challenges, Pages 29 — 31; 19 challenges were listed some of the highlights being — completing the massive construction program (very high priority - on schedule and going to be coming to some conclusion by December of 2000), turning future revenue increases into neighborhood benefits, maintaining the City's extensive infrastructure, developing strategies to address the most problematic sites, enhancing neighborhoods and corridors (workshop 1/25/00 will address these latter issues), dealing with electric utility deregulation, attracting and retaining outstanding staff (he noted a substantial number of employees will be retiring in the next three to four years) labor expectations (challenge being Unions expectations vs. reality), maintaining low crime rates, providing cost-effective public services. At the conclusion of the final presentation, City Manager Ruth answered questions posed by the Council on several of the challenges presented. Also during the discussion, specific requests were addressed as follows: Council Member Kring - (1) Complaints regarding raised sidewalks; City Manager Ruth explained that money for sidewalks doubled last year but prior to that funds had been decreased considerably. This year, the budget is $300,000. Council Member Kring stated she would like to see that budget increased. (2) Complaints from people getting tickets in construction areas, particularly at Brookhurst and LaPalma. She asked that the matter be discussed with the Police Department asking for some tolerance during these difficult times and to consider giving warnings first. Council Member Tait. He would like to see medians, especially those with drought -resistant plants redone with grass, landscaping, etc., so that they will be "first class"; Mayor Daly. He would like to see that done as well. He would also like detail as to where in the existing budget they deal with median maintenance, construction, landscaping and potential devices to create segregated funds to do what Council Member Tait suggested, i.e., "beefing up" the landscaping. (City Manager Ruth stated the Workshop on Tuesday, 1/25/00, will be addressing some of those issues.) 4 ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES, JANUARY 22, 1999 Council Member Tait continued that an area of great importance to him is that the money projected to be gained from the Resort Area, the $5 million to $10 million potential, that it does not get sucked into a "black hole". He would like to see the Council take the majority of that money and direct it to be spent on neighborhoods. He is interested in having staff submit a proposal taking 70% of that money and dedicate it to improving neighborhoods, if not all of it. He would be in favor of setting up a separate fund. Council Member Kring interjected and noted, relative to the Resort Maintenance District, some of the smaller businesses are concerned with their assessment, particularly those on the corners/boundaries of the Resort Area and still facing many more months of construction. They are concerned about losing their business. (Further discussion followed on the issue wherein Council Member McCracken noted that some of the people on Ball Road feel the same). City Manager Ruth stated that staff would look into the issue also noting, however, that it would make it difficult if they start making exceptions. • Council Member Tait also addressed crime rates and praised the fact that crime rates in the City remain low; however, he would like to change the statement "maintaining low crime rates" to "achieving lower crime rates". He believes they can go even lower and that should be one of their goals — to have the lowest crime rate in the County. Mayor Daly. Relative to challenges, he wants to add the retail situation in the City, its shopping centers. Addressing aging strip commercial is important. They also have to look at ways to understand better the challenges, limitations and potential of the Festival Shopping Center, Anaheim Plaza and anyplace else in town where there is an existing center and where they would like to see that center perform better, the East Anaheim Shopping Center (at Lincoln and State College) being an example. What does the new land owner (of the center) want to do, what does staff think can be done, etc. All Council Members have talked about retail opportunities and challenges in the City. The City should be focusing on how to make the most of existing centers. He believes the Council needs to be centrally involved in the City's retail strategy including downtown. • Council Member McCracken. When City Planning staff is looking at some of the problematic areas, she feels they need to develop a strategy on how the City is going to deal with industrial areas surrounded by residential and how they are going to work with those property owners. She has discussed some of the properties with the City Manager and staff, i.e., the properties at Lincoln, Manchester, Broadway, Loara, and the property around Ross School all currently zoned industrial. Those properties have freeway access and some have freeway visibility. Planning staff indicated it would be 20 years before anything happened with those properties but she does not share that view. She feels they should be proactive and work with those property owners now. Council Member Feldhaus entered the Conference Room (Gordon Hoyt Center) — 10:45 a.m. After additional discussion and comments, Mayor Daly, on behalf of the Council, thanked staff for the in-depth and informative presentation. He particularly noted that Mr. Sweeney's projections over the past few years have been "phenomenal" in terms of their accuracy. ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES, JANUARY 22, 1999 ADJOURNMENT: By general Council consent, the adjourned regular meeting (from January 11, 200) was adjourned (10:45 A.M.). SHERYLL SCHROEDER CITY CLERK •