Budget and Audit Committee Meeting – March 1, 2022
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Budget and Audit Committee Meeting Summary – March 1, 2022
The Budget and Audit Committee of the Sacramento City Council met on March 1, 2022, at 3:06 p.m. via teleconference. The meeting included a consent calendar item and two discussion items: the Sacramento Utility Rate Assistance Program (SURA) and an update on the Participatory Budgeting Pilot Program. Public comments were heard on both discussion items and on matters not on the agenda.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1 – City Auditor’s Activity Report for the 2nd Quarter of FY 2021/22: The committee unanimously approved a motion to accept the report and forward it to the City Council for final approval.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (SURA): Barry Boyd spoke in favor of maintaining the current program structure, noting the ongoing pandemic and the need to support low-income households. He suggested that additional state and federal infrastructure funds could be used to sustain the program.
- Item 3 (Participatory Budgeting): Lambert Davis expressed hope that the North Area, particularly Del Paso Heights, would receive funding and requested more information about the process. Barry Boyd suggested using commercial and community radio for outreach and argued that $500,000 per zone is insufficient; he referenced Seattle’s $30 million model and called for “real monies” (10–30 million) to make a meaningful impact on historically underinvested communities.
- Matters Not on the Agenda: Barry Boyd and Lambert Davis spoke again, with Davis urging the city to celebrate Grant High School’s boys basketball championship and requesting more support for youth programs. Barry Boyd reiterated support for making the participatory budgeting process binding and increasing funding.
Discussion Items
- Item 2 – Sacramento Utility Rate Assistance Program (SURA) Recommendation: Bill Busath, Director of Utilities, presented a proposed change from the current structure (which provides different discounts for legacy and non-legacy participants, averaging about 40%) to a flat 36% discount for all 8,700 participants. The proposal would simplify administration and avoid a budget increase, unlike the current structure which would require an estimated $570,000 increase for FY23. Committee members discussed the trade-off: the 36% discount would reduce the average benefit for 1,300 legacy participants by about $22 per month (from $63.31 to $41), while allowing the program to stay within budget and potentially serve more customers in the future. Councilmember Jennings expressed concern about the impact on legacy participants and proposed keeping the current structure until a solution for those 1,300 households could be found. Councilmember Vang supported the program’s importance but sought more data on legacy participants’ demographics. Mayor Pro Tem Guerra suggested that phasing out the legacy subsidy as participants leave the program could be a viable path. The committee agreed to table the item and direct staff to return with a plan that protects legacy participants while exploring expansion, including long-term sustainability analysis.
i Item 3 – Update on the Participatory Budgeting Pilot Program and Playbook: Ash Roughani, Special Projects Manager, and Measure U Committee member Dana Kivill, along with consultants Michael Kusak (Participatory Budgeting Project) and Ellen Kimball (Third Plateau), presented the pilot’s design. The $1 million in Measure U funds will be split evenly between two focus areas in north and south Sacramento, identified using the Community Vulnerability Index and Healthy Places Index. The process includes idea collection (April–May), proposal development by community delegates, and a vote in August (open to residents 14+). A $30,000 mini-grant program will support community-based organizations for outreach. Councilmember Vang and Councilmember Jennings praised the planning and requested regular updates and toolkits for council offices. Mayor Steinberg raised a key question: whether the community vote on project spending would be binding on the City Council. He emphasized the importance of this distinction for the pilot’s legitimacy and broader adoption of participatory budgeting. The mayor directed the city attorney to provide a legal opinion to the Budget and Audit Committee at its next meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar item approved unanimously.
- SURA (Item 2) was tabled; staff directed to return to the Budget and Audit Committee within two months with a proposal that addresses legacy participant impacts, explores phasing out legacy subsidies, and includes a long-term sustainability analysis.
- Participatory Budgeting Update (Item 3) was received. The committee directed the city attorney to report back to the Budget and Audit Committee on whether the community vote can be binding. Staff will provide regular updates and a communications toolkit to all council offices.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, thank you, Madam Clerk. Um, thank you everyone for joining us for the the budget and audit committee of the Sacramento City Council. On uh we're gonna call this meeting to order uh at uh on March 1st, 2022 um at 306 p.m. Uh, you know, happy women's history month, everybody. Uh March 1st here. Madam Clerk, if you could please call the roll. Thank you, Councilmember Jennings. I'm here. Councilmember Vang here, Vice Chair Getta. Here. And I expect the mayor momentarily. Thank you very much. Uh Madam Clerk, if uh if we can go ahead and if those folks can rise uh to join us for the uh pledge of allegiance. Salute pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic with one nation under God, individual with liberty and just for all. Thank you. And uh, you know, madam clerk, I don't I don't think I have a copy of the land acknowledgement here. If uh my if you don't mind taking that over while I uh catch this little guy here, real quick. Well do Mayor Pro Tem. Um to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu Valley and Plains Mewak, the Putwin and Wyntu peoples, and the people of the Welton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the native people who came before us and still walk besides us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather today an active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples history, contributions, and lives. Thank you very much. Um Madam Clerk, first item on the agenda, please. First item is the consent calendar. You have one item on the consent calendar, which is a city auditors activity report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 and 2022. And I have no hands raised to make public comment. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. All uh, since there's no members of the public, let me bring this back to the committee. Are there questions from the committee? And if not, I'll entertain a motion on the consent calendar. I don't have any questions, but I would move the item. Thank you. Uh it's been moved, properly moved by uh councilmember uh Jennings and seconded by Councilmember Vang. If the clerk could please call the roll. Thank you, Councilmember Jennings. Yes, Councilmember Vang. Yes, and Vice Chair Gatta. Aye. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Uh, if we can move on to our items on the discussion calendar. So the first item on the discussion calendar is item two, the Sacramento Utility Rate Assistance Program Recommendation. All right, good afternoon. This uh Mr. Buseth. Good afternoon, Vice Mayor and Committee members. Um staff is bringing up the PowerPoint presentation. Um I'm Bill Busath, uh Director of the Department of Utilities. Today I'll be presenting a proposed structure and benefit change for the Sacramento Utilities Rate Assistance Program or SURA. I'll present the budget ramifications of the new proposed structure and the existing structure. Should this committee decide to keep the existing program structure in place?
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