Budget and Audit Committee Meeting - March 2, 2021
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Budget and Audit Committee Meeting – March 2, 2021
The Budget and Audit Committee of the Sacramento City Council met on March 2, 2021 from 3:05 p.m. to 4:31 p.m. via teleconference. The committee approved the consent calendar (City Auditor’s Recommendation Follow-Up Report) and received and filed the Measure U Community Advisory Committee’s recommendations for Fiscal Year 2021/22 priorities. Discussion focused on transparency, process improvements, and the need to better align Measure U spending with voter expectations.
Consent Calendar
- City Auditor’s Recommendation Follow-Up Report for the six-month period ending December 31, 2020 – Accepted and forwarded to City Council for final approval. Motion passed unanimously (4-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dr. Karin McIntosh Sako (District 7 resident) voiced support for participatory budgeting and the People’s Budget of Sacramento, urging the use of community engagement surveys to prioritize 911 alternatives for mental health crises, affordable housing, and homeless outreach services, while decreasing the police budget.
- A caller from District 4 thanked the Measure U committee for its presentation and strongly encouraged the committee and City Council to adopt the recommendations without delay, emphasizing the need for transparency, line‑item expenditure lists, and genuine public input.
Discussion Items
- Measure U Community Advisory Committee Recommendations Regarding FY 2021/22 Priorities – Chair Flo‑Jean Cofer presented the committee’s recommendations, which were organized into three areas:
- Priority Setting: Homelessness/affordable housing (including rental/mortgage assistance), participatory budgeting (recommending $15 million), inclusive economic development (focusing on workforce recovery, reducing administrative barriers, broadband access), and preventive investments in public safety (operationalizing sections 2C and 3F of the October 27, 2020 resolution).
- Process & Efficiency: Goal setting (departments to submit strategic, measurable goals tied to council priorities), adoption of specific management partners recommendations (Nos. 1, 8, 31, 33, 36), cost‑sharing and savings opportunities, quarterly revenue/expenditure reporting, expanded community polling, and prioritizing investments that achieve multiple goals.
- Council Communications: Agenda items involving Measure U funds should include the fund source on cover pages; committee recommendations should be agendized as discussion items with a written response within 60 days.
- Committee Member Comments:
- Councilmember Vang asked about the process for responding to committee recommendations and suggested creating a formal feedback loop. She emphasized the need for a clear alignment between committee recommendations and existing city efforts.
- Councilmember Jennings highlighted the lack of movement on 39 cost‑saving recommendations from the Management Partners report and urged better communication and written status reports for the committee.
- Mayor Steinberg proposed reframing the debate by measuring cumulative city investment in inclusive economic development since April 2019 (when the second half‑cent of Measure U took effect) rather than trying to separate Measure U from general fund dollars. He committed to amending the enabling ordinance to clarify the committee’s role and to produce a transparent report of additional investments in these categories.
- Chair Cofer noted that current tracking of Measure U is inadequate, saying the police department “couldn’t at a basic level tell me what I’m getting for those dollars.” She supported the mayor’s proposal but stressed the need for goal‑setting and outcome‑based metrics.
Key Outcomes
- Motion passed to receive and file the Measure U committee recommendations (unanimous).
- Mayor Steinberg announced he would work on amending the enabling ordinance to give the Measure U committee a clearer role in evaluating combined Measure U/general fund investments since April 2019.
- Staff directed to explore producing a budget addendum detailing additional city investments in inclusive economic development (as defined by the committee) from April 2019 forward.
- Follow‑up discussion will be agendized at a future Budget and Audit Committee meeting to track progress on the ordinance change, management partners recommendations, and other process improvements.
Meeting Transcript
Mr. Maristaff is ready when you are. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone. The city council's budget and audit committee will please come to order with the clerk, please call the role to establish reform. Councilmember Gedda. Here. Councilmember Jennings. Here. Councilmember Vang. Here, Mayor Steinberg. I am here. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone. Today we are going to hear the Measure U Community Advisory Committee's recommendations regarding fiscal year 2021, 2022 priorities. Mr. Jasso, are you introducing the item or do I turn it right over to Chair Copher? So, Mr. Mayor, we do have one item on consent, item one, which is auditors' recommendations. I have no callers for this item. Okay, very good. Let's take a motion then on the uh auditors' recommendations. I'll move consent, Mr. Chair. I'll second. Okay, very good. Please call the roll. Thank you. Councilmember Gatta. All right. Councilmember Jennings. All right. Councilmember Vang. Yes. And Mayor Steinberg. Yes, very good. Now we get to the one discussion item, which is I described earlier as the Measure U Committee's recommendations. I see Chair Cofer on the screen. Mr. Jasso, do you want to make the introduction? However, you want to do this? Sure. The item will be presented by members of the Measure U Committee, I believe, led by Chair Kofer. And it is their recommendation for the fiscal with respect to Measure U expenditures for the fiscal year 2122 budget. And it's the opportunity to present that to council. Very good. Thank you very much. I welcome Chair Cofer. And the floor is yours. Okay.
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