Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting - October 16, 2019
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Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting - October 16, 2019
The Budget and Government Efficiency Committee met on October 16, 2019, to review the Fiscal Year 2019 Year-End Performance Report, approve several contract extensions and refunding proposals, and hear public comment. The committee approved all action items unanimously, including a two-year extension of the Ontario Systems contract and authorization for economic bond refinancing.
Consent Calendar
- The committee approved the record of actions from the September 11, 2019 hearing unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ms. Welch addressed the committee, expressing frustration with the city's budget transparency, police and fire overtime costs, water estimates, franchise fees, and what she perceived as unfulfilled council promises. She urged the city to disclose more financial details.
Discussion Items
- Fiscal Year 2019 Year-End Performance Report (Informational Item): Rolanda Trevelle (CFO), Sarah Mahon (Assistant Director, Department of Finance), Adam Jones (Financial Operations Manager), and Jose Mendoza (Principal Accountant) presented the report. Revenues were less than 1% higher than third-quarter projections, expenditures about 1% lower, resulting in an excess equity of approximately $25.4 million. Deputy COO Johnny Perkins noted the reopening of La Jolla Cove street and the 101 Ash Street building's 83% completion, with first employee move-in in mid-November. Councilmembers asked about cannabis tax breakdowns, homeless outreach data (Assistant Chief Paul Conley stated about 11% of touches connect to services), the Navigation Center's opening around Thanksgiving, smart streetlight sensor concerns, and the status of rape kit testing funding (Chief Dave Nisleit reported $500,000 was allocated in FY18 for instruments and overtime, with $202,000 returned to the general fund). Vice Chair Kate raised concerns about using excess equity for homelessness services and asked for metrics.
- Ontario Systems Contract Extension (Action Item): The City Treasurer's Office requested a one-year extension with two additional one-year options to continue using the Revenue Plus Collector System while transitioning to a new system. The annual cost is approximately $240,000. The IBA suggested limiting to two years and requiring progress updates. Councilmember Montgomery moved to approve a two-year extension, which passed unanimously.
- Economic Bond Refinancing (Action Item): Debt management proposed advanced refundings of 2012/2013 lease revenue bonds (savings ~$600,000 annually to general fund), 2012 Convention Center bonds (~$450,000 annually), and 2012 PFFA water bonds (~$1.9 million annually to water fund). The refundings would be taxable due to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The committee voted unanimously to forward to City Council.
- NASPO Cooperative Agreement with Verizon (Action Item): The Department of IT requested approval for a cooperative agreement with Verizon through NASPO ValuePoint for wireless communications. The agreement has a not-to-exceed amount of $19 million through August 2024, with volume discounts from over 2,000 public sector customers. The IBA noted Verizon represents 72% of city cellular spend (~$3.9 million in FY19). Councilmember Montgomery asked about financial benefits and EOCP compliance, then moved approval, which passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the September 11, 2019 hearing record (unanimous).
- Approved a two-year extension of the Ontario Systems contract (moved by Councilmember Montgomery, seconded by Vice Chair Kate, passed unanimously).
- Approved forwarding economic refunding proposals to City Council (moved by Vice Chair Kate, seconded by Councilmember Montgomery, passed unanimously).
- Approved the NASPO cooperative agreement with Verizon (moved by Councilmember Montgomery, seconded by Vice Chair Kate, passed unanimously).
- The committee will reconvene on November 13, 2019 at 9 a.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the budget and government efficiency committee. I will now call the meeting to order. Just a few remarks before we get started. I'm apologize for being a few minutes late. I was at La Jolla Cove this morning where the street has been reopened. The caves are safe, and I would like to give a big thanks to uh Johnny Perkins, uh Chris Michelle, and their teams uh for overseeing this work in a very timely way. And uh the merchants, the residents, and the tourists are all very happy this morning. So thank you all very much. Uh a quorum is now present, consisting of myself, uh Vice Chair Kate and Councilmember Montgomery, and Councilmember Moreno is absent. Uh we also have um Angela Colton from the IBA, Rolanda Charval for R CFO, and Brett Bardalotta, our Deputy City Attorney. Is there a motion to approve or amend uh the committee record of actions from the September 11th, 2019 hearing? Great. Motion by Vice Chair Kate, second by council member Montgomery. Uh all in favor? Aye. Great. That passes unanimously. Uh we will now proceed with non-agenda public comment. Uh this portion of the agenda provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the committee on items of interest not on the agenda. Uh we have one member of the public who wishes to speak. Um, Ms. Welch, uh, you will be given two minutes. Well, and you didn't vote for many for two minutes. I'm talking about attention. I right now I I mean because right now the police and the fire man on over time. That's just shows that's mean to me. I think that's mean. Also, the water estimates, that's mean also. You don't know how much money uh more people or not, you know, you can't how you get that, I don't know. Also, you hide everything. All you do is performance. That's not right. We people want to know how you spend the money. Look, you voted for um two, and when you on the new council above that's the that's um you voted that and it's on a list everywhere, nowhere, nowhere. That's millions. Now, where did the money go? You're not building that. This is happens all the time in the council. You vote for stuff and it doesn't happen. That happens all the time. I've been doing this with uh doing the um January 15th. I started this this because I was mad at something else. And I um so I went to the city and the county and the county also about this problem we have in the city and the and there. You don't do the right thing. You like to look good. That's all you like to do. And you don't look at anything because you don't want to see what goes on in reality. But this is the problem with here in the city. You lie to us, I think, because you don't tell how financial um um audits at all.
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