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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Santa Rosa City Council Budget Study Session - May 8, 2024

City Council — Wednesday, May 8, 2024

BodySanta Rosa, California

SessionCity Council

DateWednesday, May 8, 2024

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 5:25:32

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

9:19

I'd like to ask the interpreter currently on the Spanish channel to commence translation of the meeting.

9:24

For those just joining the meeting, live translation in Spanish is available, and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the zoom toolbar.

11:06

Good morning, and welcome everyone to our May 8th, 2024 Santa Rosa City Council meeting.

11:12

It is now 906, and we will be starting our meeting.

11:17

Seeing a quorum, Madam City Clerk, can you please call the roll?

11:21

Thank you, Mayor.

11:23

Councilmember Rogers.

11:24

Councilmember O'Krepke.

11:26

Here.

11:26

Councilmember McDonald.

11:28

Here.

11:28

Councilmember Fleming.

11:30

Here.

11:30

Councilmember Alvarez.

11:31

Present.

11:32

Vice Mayor Stapp.

11:33

Here.

11:34

Mayor Rogers.

11:35

Present.

11:36

Let the record reflect all council members are present.

11:40

Thank you.

11:43

We will now proceed with item three, our study session, which we started yesterday, May 7, 2024, with our regular meeting.

11:55

I would like to remind everyone that the public comment from both yesterday and uh what is presented today will be taken today on all items.

12:06

Um I will pass it over to Madam City Manager.

12:11

Yeah, good morning, Mayor, members of council.

12:14

We will begin today's meeting with planning and economic development.

12:37

Uh my name is Gabe Osburn.

12:38

I'm the director of planning and economic development, and joining me today is Serena Lino, our administrative services officer.

12:44

And we will kick kick today's program off with a riveting conversation about the budget for planning and economic development.

12:51

So the format you'll see today in our slides is very similar to the presentations yesterday.

13:01

And then we'll talk about some of our operational highlights and give some specific description as to what happens in the very diverse divisions within PED, and then we'll complete the presentation with a few slides that talk about accomplishments.

13:21

So as you see in front of you, we have uh five key areas for our different funding sources.

13:27

Uh so the first is our general fund, and you'll see about a six point six percent increase year over year.

13:33

This is largely attributed to uh several positions that we have added, which you have seen this fiscal year uh towards our graffiti abatement and our vacant lot programs.

13:44

We also made some structural changes with the removal of an administrative secretary and the addition of an analyst position along with a proposed addition of a administrative analyst for our economic development department or division, excuse me.

13:59

So we'll be discussing some of these changes further in in our slides.

14:06

The art in LU Fund.

14:08

Um this fund is funded by three different um funding sources.

14:12

So one of those is our uh a fee that developers pay uh in lieu of providing an art project for different development projects.

14:21

So this funding source um varies year over year because it is driven by development projects.

14:27

We also receive one percent um from our park acquisition and development fees each year, which is actually reflective of that fifteen hundred dollar increase that you see.

14:36

And then the third funding source uh comes from a transfer in from the general fund um from our capital improvement project uh expenditures.

14:47

And then we have our Santa Rosa Tourism uh BIA fund, otherwise known as SRTBIA.

14:52

So this is driven by our tourism revenue that we receive here for the City of Santa Rosa.

15:00

On average, we see about $500,000 a year in this revenue.

15:02

So you're seeing that as a there's no change to that.

15:05

We're just going to continue to fund that at $500,000.

15:09

Our EPA Brownfields grant.

15:12

This is a local match that we had were required to provide for our brownfields projects.

15:17

And we chose to allocate that in its entirety for fiscal year 23-24.

15:23

So you're seeing that as a negative change because we've already fully appropriated that funding, and it is currently being managed by our real estate services team.

15:32

And then our administrative hearing fund, there's no change here.

15:36

This funding source, it comes from cost recovery that we receive for efforts that we do towards the administrative hearing process for our code enforcement cases, and this goes towards administering those cases as what our cost recovery is from the administration of those cases along with our abatement efforts.

15:56

So we are budgeting 103,000 this year, and that goes towards staff's time spent towards abating and administering those cases throughout the year.

16:10

Thank you, sir.

16:12

Thank you, Serena.

16:13

So if we look at our budget by program, this really aligns with our divisional structure in planning and economic development.

16:19

Our general administration line, you see a change there of 399,000.

16:24

That represents an increase of 7.5%.

16:28

That is actually the result of moving positions from bucket to bucket.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████25%

Economic Development██████████10%

Public Works█████████9%

Capital Improvement Planning███████7%

Planning And Zoning██████6%

Budget Equity Analysis██████6%

Youth Programs█████5%

Fiscal Sustainability████4%

Public Engagement████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Santa Rosa City Council Budget Study Session - May 8, 2024

The Santa Rosa City Council held the second day of a continued budget study session on May 8, 2024, from 9:06 a.m. to 2:52 p.m., to review the proposed Fiscal Year 2024-25 Operations and Maintenance Budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget. Presentations were given by the Planning & Economic Development, Recreation & Parks, Transportation & Public Works, Water departments, and on the overall CIP. Council members provided feedback and direction to staff, with no formal action taken as this was a study session.

Public Comments & Testimony

Thea Hensel spoke in support of the Southeast Greenway project and parks.
Chris Bowen spoke in support of the Southeast Greenway project and parks.
Eric Fraser spoke regarding the budget presentations and the city's financial future, expressing concern about deferred maintenance and reliance on ratepayers.
Abbey Arnold spoke in support of affordable housing, noting Santa Rosa is the eighth most expensive place for Gen Z to live.
Jen Klose (Generation Housing) spoke regarding impact fees as a tool to solve the housing crisis, advocating for a policy that allows micro-adjustments and encourages developers.
Heather Thurber spoke in support of allocations of park staff and funding for the Southeast Greenway project.
Rebecca Sullivan (by speaker card) requested budgeting for school resource officer programs.
Melissa Stewart (by speaker card) requested funding for school resource officer programs.

Discussion Items

Planning & Economic Development (PED): Director Gabe Osburn presented a 6.6% increase in the General Fund largely due to added positions for graffiti abatement and vacant lot programs. Staff proposed adding an administrative analyst for economic development. Permit volumes are showing a downward trend. The department completed 798 housing units in 2023, issued permits for 1,711 units (including 392 affordable), and ranked seventh in the state for pro-housing designation. Discussion included customer service improvements, staffing for boards/commissions, and the impact of state legislation.
Recreation & Parks: Director Donte Watson presented a budget with minor changes, including a reduction in park development impact fees (PDI) and a $500,000 transfer from the General Fund for the Bennett Valley Golf Course. The department reported over 900,000 participants in park events, 60,000 activity registrations, and 100,000 swim center participants. Key accomplishments included the Finley Aquatic Center (large pool expected to open June 2024, splash pad in fall), and progress on the Southeast Greenway acquisition (closing escrow anticipated July 2024). Council discussed expanding camp hours for working families, with Councilmember Fleming urging a model that accommodates modern family needs for full-day child care.
Transportation & Public Works (TPW): Director Dan Hennessey presented a flat budget overall, with a $1 million increase for fleet maintenance. Transit faces a $1.3 million increase in fleet costs and operator shortages (14 of 58 positions vacant). Ridership is recovering slowly; currently routes have one-hour headways, which is considered a bare minimum. TPW filled over 7,500 potholes and removed 1,700 cubic yards of debris from streets. The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) presentation highlighted an overall project list exceeding $1 billion, with only 0.41% funded in the coming year. Hennessey proposed developing a prioritization methodology aligned with council goals and returning with results by November/December.
Santa Rosa Water: Director Jennifer Burke presented a budget that required cutting $5.6 million from water CIP and $10.5 million from sewer CIP to balance. Increases were driven by a 10% wholesale water rate increase ($1.9 million), higher electricity costs, and biosolids disposal costs. The department serves 213,000 customers, delivers 6 billion gallons of water annually, and produced 7.2 billion gallons of recycled water in the past year. A rate study is underway, with a new five-year rate schedule expected by the end of 2024.
Capital Improvement Program (CIP): Director Hennessey reviewed the city's $50 million CIP budget, with over half from water funds. Specific projects discussed: the pedestrian/bicycle overcrossing (estimated $46 million, $41 million available), the Heron Community Hub (estimated $51 million, $41 million available), and various park and street projects. The city has a list of needed projects exceeding $1 billion.

Key Outcomes

Council gave clear direction to prioritize In-Response (homeless response) in the budget, with a placeholder for future funding beyond ARPA. Safe Parking was also discussed as important, but council asked staff to explore other funding sources.
Council expressed support for fully funding economic development and streamlining housing and affordable housing policies, including potential impact fee adjustments.
Council asked staff to review the quadrant system for park funding and propose a more equitable distribution method that accelerates project completion.
Council directed TPW to develop a project prioritization methodology (focused on delivery, equity, and climate goals) and return with a plan by fall 2024.
Council indicated support for continuing the Metro Chamber contract ($100,000) for downtown square programming for FY 2024-25, pending a broader discussion on event strategy.
Council emphasized the need to retain and recruit city employees as the top priority, signaling willingness to address labor costs to avoid service disruptions.
No formal votes were taken; staff will bring a final proposed budget to council for adoption.

Meeting Transcript

I'd like to ask the interpreter currently on the Spanish channel to commence translation of the meeting. For those just joining the meeting, live translation in Spanish is available, and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the zoom toolbar. Good morning, and welcome everyone to our May 8th, 2024 Santa Rosa City Council meeting. It is now 906, and we will be starting our meeting. Seeing a quorum, Madam City Clerk, can you please call the roll? Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Rogers. Councilmember O'Krepke. Here. Councilmember McDonald. Here. Councilmember Fleming. Here. Councilmember Alvarez. Present. Vice Mayor Stapp. Here. Mayor Rogers. Present. Let the record reflect all council members are present. Thank you. We will now proceed with item three, our study session, which we started yesterday, May 7, 2024, with our regular meeting. I would like to remind everyone that the public comment from both yesterday and uh what is presented today will be taken today on all items. Um I will pass it over to Madam City Manager. Yeah, good morning, Mayor, members of council. We will begin today's meeting with planning and economic development. Uh my name is Gabe Osburn. I'm the director of planning and economic development, and joining me today is Serena Lino, our administrative services officer. And we will kick kick today's program off with a riveting conversation about the budget for planning and economic development. So the format you'll see today in our slides is very similar to the presentations yesterday. And then we'll talk about some of our operational highlights and give some specific description as to what happens in the very diverse divisions within PED, and then we'll complete the presentation with a few slides that talk about accomplishments. So as you see in front of you, we have uh five key areas for our different funding sources. Uh so the first is our general fund, and you'll see about a six point six percent increase year over year. This is largely attributed to uh several positions that we have added, which you have seen this fiscal year uh towards our graffiti abatement and our vacant lot programs. We also made some structural changes with the removal of an administrative secretary and the addition of an analyst position along with a proposed addition of a administrative analyst for our economic development department or division, excuse me. So we'll be discussing some of these changes further in in our slides. The art in LU Fund. Um this fund is funded by three different um funding sources. So one of those is our uh a fee that developers pay uh in lieu of providing an art project for different development projects. So this funding source um varies year over year because it is driven by development projects. We also receive one percent um from our park acquisition and development fees each year, which is actually reflective of that fifteen hundred dollar increase that you see. And then the third funding source uh comes from a transfer in from the general fund um from our capital improvement project uh expenditures. And then we have our Santa Rosa Tourism uh BIA fund, otherwise known as SRTBIA. So this is driven by our tourism revenue that we receive here for the City of Santa Rosa. On average, we see about $500,000 a year in this revenue. So you're seeing that as a there's no change to that. We're just going to continue to fund that at $500,000. Our EPA Brownfields grant. This is a local match that we had were required to provide for our brownfields projects. And we chose to allocate that in its entirety for fiscal year 23-24.

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