Budget and Audit Committee Special Meeting: January 28, 2020
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Budget and Audit Committee Special Meeting - January 28, 2020
The Sacramento City Council's Budget and Audit Committee held a special meeting on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at City Hall Council Chamber in Sacramento. The committee reviewed the FY2018/19 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and the FY2019/20 Midyear Budget Report, heard public testimony, and forwarded both items to the full City Council for approval.
Consent Calendar
- 2020 Regular Meeting Schedule: Approved unanimously, setting the committee's meeting dates for 2020.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Timothy Davis (community member): Expressed support for the midyear budget's addition of 20 Community Service Officers (CSOs), citing benefits for traffic control, reducing officer workload, and creating a pipeline to police officer positions.
- Katie Fleming (FUEL Network attorney): Thanked the city for continued funding; reported 207 legal consultations, over 4,000 'know your rights' sessions, and representation for 30 Sacramento residents in removal proceedings in 2019. Noted a new rapid response attorney and the Attorney of the Day program.
- Christina Niazeva (FUEL Network client): Shared a personal testimony on how the program helped her family seek asylum, emphasizing the importance of continued funding.
- Genevieve Levy (Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services): Highlighted successful cases leveraging FUEL funding for DACA and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and a case of a 14-year-old juvenile; urged continued support.
- Mao Vang (La Familia Health and Youth Program Manager): Shared a story of a young man who obtained residency through FUEL assistance, noting the network's impact on the immigrant community.
- Diana Campos (Sacramento Act, Rapid Response Hotline): Reported over 1,000 hotline calls in the past year, highlighted cases preventing family separation, and asked for increased funding.
Discussion Items
- Selection of 2020 Vice Chair: Councilmember Guerra was nominated and unanimously selected as Vice Chair, effective next regular meeting.
- FY2018/19 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR): Osvaldo Lopez reported a clean audit with an unmodified opinion. General fund tax revenues exceeded budget by $11.2 million, and department operations saved $8 million, resulting in $19.5 million in one-time general fund resources and $6.5 million for Measure U, totaling $27 million. General fund economic uncertainty reserve stood at $55.2 million (11.2% of budget), and OPEB trust at $49.9 million (12.5% of liability).
- FY2019/20 Midyear Budget Report: Tara Filipich recommended a $12.9 million increase in general fund and Measure U revenues, a $2 million gas tax audit release (not in resolution but to be included next week), and net available resources of $81 million. Recommendations included $2.3 million in general fund changes (including illegal dumping program) and $6.7 million in augmentations (mostly police) for 20 limited-term CSOs, 20 new vehicles, a rescue vehicle, and overtime. After midyear actions, available fund balance is ~$33 million. Projections show expenditures exceed revenues starting FY2021/22.
- Budget Oversight and Police Overtime: Councilmember Schenirer raised concerns about police vacancies (617 officer positions, 560 filled as of July 5, 2019), budget methods, and overtime costs (last year $12.8 million vs. $3.3 million base). He requested real-time tracking and periodic updates; the city manager suggested quarterly updates to the committee.
- CSO Positions and Recruitment: Councilmembers discussed the benefits of CSOs as a pipeline; Mayor Steinberg supported them but noted future funding sustainability; Councilmember Guerra emphasized linking community academies and workforce training.
- Measure U and Future Budget: Mayor Steinberg proposed carrying over $36 million (later clarified as $33.4 million plus $2.76 million expected end-year balance) to fund Measure U projects and reserve; he supported investments in youth and infrastructure. A request was made for a schedule of Measure U committee items.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Approved the 2020 meeting schedule unanimously.
- Vice Chair: Councilmember Guerra selected unanimously.
- CAFR: Approve and forward to City Council (motion passed).
- Midyear Budget Report: Approve and forward to City Council (passed unanimously).
- Next Steps: Budget items will be reviewed by the full City Council; the meeting adjourned to closed session with the full council resuming at 5:00 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. Uh sorry I'm a few minutes late, but welcome to uh the city council's reconstituted budget and audit committee. Um, would the cook please call the role and let's establish a quorum. Councilmember Jennings. Here um we do have a quorum of full compliment of members. Um can I ask uh councilmember Geta if he would consider being vice chair of the committee? Is that uh thank you all right? Okay, very good. Uh we may wish to uh pass the consent calendar first, which is your 2020 regular meeting schedule. Okay, um moved and seconded the regular meeting schedule, which will never be changed even to a moment notice. Okay, all in favor, please say aye. Aye, opposed abstain excellent. Okay. And then do we want to vote on item three, which is selection of a vice chair? Okay, I nominate Vice Mayor Getta. I mean the council member Geta, former Vice Mayor. Thank you. All in favor, please say aye. Aye, opposed abstain. Very good. Thank you. All right, let us move now to uh the meat of the agenda. Item four, correct? Item four is the 2018-19 um comprehensive annual financial report of the CAFR. Can you see that? Okay, all right. Good afternoon. My name is Osvaldo Lopez. I am the county manager, and today I'm pleased to share with you the year-end results for the fiscal year 2018-19 and the comprehensive annual financial report, also known as the CAFRE. The CAFRE present the city's financial conditions and the results of activities for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2019. As required by the governmental accounting standard board or GASBY, the city implemented two new accounting and financial reporting standards during fiscal year 19. You can see uh the list on page two of your staff report. Um the independent audit firm Macias Genie and Ocono have audit our financial statement as required by the city charter. I'm pleased to report that we had a clean audit and receive an unmodified opinion. Now, moving on into the financial results in fiscal year 1819, general fund tax revenue exceeded budget by 11.2 million. This is reflected on page three of the staff report right here. Is the 11 million, and there is a breakdown if you're interested in the details. In addition to those um 11.2 million, department operations resulted in 8 million in savings. You can also see the number here, um, page three of your report. But we have additional details on page five. So this page here just break it down by department. At the conclusion of the year end process, 19.5 million in one-time resources equivalent to less than two percent of fiscal year 19 approved revenue and expenditure budget will be added to the fund balance to general fund. It is important to note that for CAFE purposes, General Fund and Major U are two different funds. So in addition to the 19.5 million related related to general fund, we also have an additional six point five million in new resources that were generated by by major U. This means that the total new one-time resources are approximately 27 million. And the mid year report will go into additional details on recommendation for the uses of these resources. Can I are done? No, I have more. No, keep going. Okay.
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