I think last time we just put a conversation.

Let's see.

Oh, let's see that.

Yeah.

Now we're official.

I'd like to start with our land acknowledgement.

We would like to acknowledge that the land in on which we work, live, work, and learn, commune, the original homelands and indigenous people of West Sacramento, who have stewarded this land throughout the generations.

We acknowledge and we thank the original inhabitants who have occupied, maintained, and secured this place and who still exist on this land.

We respect and celebrate the many diverse indigenous people still connected to the land on which we gather.

Thank you.

So next is our Pledge of Allegiance.

If you could join us when you're ready.

And we did not have closed session this evening.

And let me just for the record let everybody know that the mayor's out.

She will be back in a few minutes.

And so I'll be leading the meeting through the consent agenda.

Let's see.

Let's see.

Let's first item on the agenda, general administration function part one.

Presentations by the public on matters not on the agenda within the jurisdiction of the council.

Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers this evening?

Yes, ma'am.

Guy Stevenson.

Guy.

I want to do a shout out.

Oh, first good evening to you, ladies.

I'll do a shout out to uh the Capitol Project.

I think they're doing a great job of beautifying the West Capitol with flowers and trees and stuff, because I think that's an attractive thing if somebody wants to visit West Sack, not see weeds and stuff.

So they're doing a good job, and so is public works.

And I'm glad in the parks too, they're doing it all.

And I appreciate that.

Because it's very attractive to go into a city and you can see that the shrubbery is not weeds and it's actual plants, and they're blooming, so they look good.

Now I'm gonna flip the conversation.

And I'm probably gonna piss some people off.

But the issue with these massage parlors, believe me.

Uh I would say 80% of the massage parlors in West Sack and also in Sacramento are illegal.

And why do I say that?

Because there's a lot of processes.

So this item is actually on the agenda tonight.

Yes.

Can we hold that comment for when that item comes out?

This is for items that aren't on the agenda.

Okay.

Is that a good one?

Can I speak on that other?

Yeah, you can fill out another comment, Coward.

And uh, let's see.

It is item number.

Can somebody help me out real quick?

14.

14 on the agenda tonight.

Okay.

So yeah, and you can get another two minutes to speak, another three minutes to speak on that.

Thank you, Mr.

Stevenson.

Madam Clerk.

Kathy Bailey.

Miss Bailey.

Thank you for having us or allowing us to speak to you all.

I appreciate that.

And so does our um members.

Um, I'm here tonight to represent Reva on the River, a 252 unit community, condo community in West Sacramento off of Village Parkway.

Um, I am imploring all of you to make more money to uh give to the police so they can actually do their jobs.

I want to refer back to a comment that I made last year about an intentional flooding of five units that the police did not investigate, as I was told.

We do not have the manpower to do property crimes, we can only do people crimes.

There were numerous members of our community that knew what happened and knew um uh pretty much guaranteed or would um uh say that the person that did this crime um was the same person, even though they didn't talk to each other.

Um this cost us over 400,000 dollars worth of damage, and again, I was immediately there.

I was called from my work to go there.

I took pictures, there was no evidence of a burglary anywhere, no marks on the doors or the garage or the balcony, nothing.

So this was an intentional by somebody who was in the home and flooded five units.

To give you an update, um, the one woman had to be out of her home living in a hotel for over 10 months while the insurance companies bickered back and forth because the person who unit who caused this um was um not insured.

Um, and so we had to take the brunt of that as the HOA members.

In addition, our insurance just came back, as that is a humongous claim in this insurance environment.

They did renew us, but they've raised our dues, which are some of our members here today do not know about, but they raised our dues 20 percent.

In addition, I am gonna talk about the little police here and drug unit.

We have a drug unit in our in our community.

There's more than 10 people that have called in the police department for this drug unit.

They don't come out.

I'm having to fight the people that live in the unit.

I have basically told them to leave many, many times.

The people that come up to their garage all the time.

I insist that they leave.

I'm fighting what I should not have to fight.

Um, a everybody in that area knows it's a drug unit, and we're just asking for the police to step up, which means that you have to give the power to the police to actually do some detective work and actually fight crime.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms.

Bailey.

Matt Weaver, good evening, council.

I missed my perfect attendance record.

I missed a meeting a couple of weeks ago.

I did send a letter in.

Um, it was rejected from the city clerk's email office, so I'll have to resubmit it to make sure everybody knows.

Uh first, I want to take a second to uh honor the troops who fight for us to have this freedom and to be here tonight.

We got people fighting for us to do this across the world.

Um, and even if we don't agree with them a lot of times, right, we have to remember that's the only reason we get to stand here and disagree.

Uh with that.

I've been doing my own deeds here trying to save the city catastrophic failure around what was a strategic initiative from the council.

I've observed essentially we have a lame duck council in West Sacramento.

Unless one of these gentlemen to my right nod their head in your direction, you can't do anything.

And unless three of you agree you can't even get an item on an agenda.

So I'm here to speak publicly, not because I believe that you could possibly move the needle, but because I warned you that litigation was imminent around your wheat retail cannabis.

I'm gonna join my own litigation because you won't give me the respect and representation that I've made myself available for.

First of all, inverse condemnation.

It's a part of the California Constitution.

It's happened here in West Sacramento on 15th Street in your district.

Regulatory taking.

It's happened here.

That's under the Fifth Amendment, Penn Central Transportation versus the City of New York.

There's case law here.

Violation of equal protection.

When you create a class of one, you violate my civil rights.

I don't care what blue, what red, what color, what district.

We need to be mad as hell in this trust recession where we shouldn't trust government.

We should not trust government.

The Epstein list is enough proof to know we shouldn't trust government.

I am here not to trust government, but to hold my government accountable for my rights.

The violation of procedural due process, making maps behind closed doors that create this class of one.

I could go on.

You will be responsible for my attorney fees once I turn it over to an attorney.

I've given and pleaded my case to so many of you, there would be no reason for the city to be picking up attorney fees for somebody as involved and is patiently speaking the truth in front of all of you.

And again, I watch a lame duck council and a city that's losing trust.

We gave you your one percent.

Thank goodness.

I've had the fire department out twice in the last couple of weeks.

We give you our trust.

It's showing up in some good places as this gentleman said, showing up in my block with with things that keep people from getting hit by cars.

I'm gonna be so critical that I ignore the good.

But I'm not here to be ignored, and I'm not here to have my civil rights violated by this city management.

Thank you, Mr.

Weaver.

We have no additional request to speak on this item.

Thank you, Madame Clerk.

So moving on to presentations, we have a proclamation recognizing March 2026 as American Red Cross Month.

And I believe we have some members of the American Red Cross here tonight.

Can you please come up to the podium?

Thank you for being here.

Can you all introduce yourselves?

Yeah, I'm Tracy.

I'm a volunteer nurse with the Red Cross.

Hello, my name is Constanza.

I'm also a volunteer of the Red Cross.

Hello, my name is Maryeline.

I am volunteer.

Hi, my name is Debbie.

I'm a volunteer with the Red Cross as well.

Wonderful.

Thank you for being here tonight.

So I have a proclamation that I'll read, and then I will give you the opportunity to speak, and then we'll um allow my colleagues to share comments and then we'll take a picture.

Thank you.

Proclamation of the City Council, City of West Sacramento, designating March 2026 as American Red Cross Month.

Okay, hold on.

This is why I'm having problems tonight.

Glasses.

Here we go.

Whereas in March, we celebrate American Red Cross Month by honoring our neighbors who make its humanitarian mission possible in West Sacramento.

And whereas their acts of kindness changed lives, bringing relief, comfort, and hope when help cannot wait.

And the compassionate spirit runs deep in our community as it has for 145 years.

And whereas those who serve with the California Gold Country Region light the way during emergencies, delivering shelter, food, and comfort after disasters, providing a safe, life-saving blood supply for patients facing conditions like cancer treatments, childbirth complications, and traumatic brain injuries, assist in assisting military members, veterans, and their families with 24-7 global support and empowering individuals with skills like first aid and CPR that saves lives.

And whereas the Red Cross Gold Country Region team responded to 630 home fires, hosted 270 blood drives, provided services to 490 military families, and trained more than 35,780 people in first aid, CPR, and AED, water safety, babysitting, and other life-saving skills in 2025.

And whereas the collective efforts are a powerful reminder that the strength of our community lies in our shared commitment to one another.

And whereas disaster preparedness remains a priority in West Sacramento, and the American Red Cross supplies supports this effort through community education and free smoke alarm installation events that help residents prepare for and prevent emergencies.

And whereas let us celebrate our local heroes and resolve to continue lifting each other up so no one faces an emergency alone as we mark Red Cross Month.

Now, therefore be it proclaimed that the City Council of the City of West Sacramento hereby designates March 2026 as Red Cross Month and encourages all residents of West Sacramento to reach out and support its human human human humanitarian effort.

Excuse me.

Proclaim this 18th day of March 2026.

Thank you.

So thank you for this honor.

Um on behalf of the Red Cross, we're deeply grateful for this proclamation and the recognition recognition of the work we do.

The Red Cross mission is simple and powerful to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

This work is only possible because of the compassion and commitment of all of our community.

We share this recognition with every volunteer, donor, and partner who makes it real.

And thank you for standing with us and helping bring hope to where it's needed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tracy.

And then my colleagues, wouldn't you comment?

Really quick.

Thank you so much to the American Red Cross and especially to the volunteers.

Volunteers are what make organizations.

Thank you.

I echo that.

I really appreciate what you all do for our community and for our region, and we are lucky to have you guys stepping up.

Thank you.

Yeah, um, you know, when fires are in West Sacramento, it's one of the first things we check in on our how we take the victims.

And American Red Cross has always been there in West Sacramento for the folks surviving fire.

And so thank you for your support and just commitment to our community.

Uh I once had the opportunity to do the phone bank during one of the telethons.

And I think I was, I don't know, 5 a.m.

in the morning on phones, and people were calling and making donations, and people really appreciate American Red Cross's work.

So thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's take a picture.

All right.

One, two, three, and one, two, three.

Thank you.

Cool.

So moving on to the consent agenda, we have items three through eleven.

Does anyone would like to pull one of the items for questions?

No.

Nothing.

Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So move.

We need public comment first.

Oh, sorry.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I got you.

Madam Clerk, do we have any public comment?

We have no request to speak on any of the items on the consent agenda.

Wonderful.

Early seconds.

Okay, we have a motion by Councilmember Alcala and a second by Councilmember Dante Early.

What is everybody's name?

Councilmember O'Caller.

The whole government name.

Councilmember Early.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tempsel PZO Hall.

Consent agenda is approved.

And before we move on to, we have no items on our regular agenda, but before we move on to the public hearing, I believe we're going to take a pause.

I think our recommendation would be um before we get to the public hearing items, we we take a recess to allow the full council to reconvene.

Um so that would be our stop recommendation.

So let's do that.

So what are the what are the options?

Uh you can either keep going or you can uh take a recess just to allow uh the mayor to arrive and uh continue with the public hearings.

Are we able to take it in a different order?

You could you could also uh go out of order as well.

So I would could we could we do that?

Yeah I just because you have a to go out of order.

Because the alternative is we wait.

Yeah, so you wouldn't even need to take a motion.

It would be up to the presiding officer to um take that.

I make that motion, sir.

I don't want to be a lame duck, but I think what I think what uh Aaron is saying is we don't really need a motion, but if the presiding officer, the vice chair, um is uh Mayor Pro Tem, sorry, uh wants to change the order, and then she can do that.

Yeah, if my colleagues are comfortable with that, we can move on to item 13.

I would love that.

Yeah, item 13 is a fairly simple one.

We'll present the question.

Yeah, gotcha.

Okay, so let's take item 13 community development public hearing in consideration of the first reading of the ordinance 261, amending title eight, title seventeen, and title eighteen of the municipal code.

And then let me pull up.

We have what we got going on.

Daniel, hello.

Hello.

Are we ready to rock and roll?

I think so, yes.

Okay.

Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem and all the members of the city council.

My name is Daniel Baruman, senior planner for the city.

Tonight's item is a coordinated set of omnibus amendments to titles eight, seventeen, and eighteen of the municipal code.

The Muni Code often requires periodic updates to due to changes in state law evolving best practices and process improvements.

Importantly, these amendments are not site-specific, do not change zoning, and do not modify the general plan.

Rather, they focus on legal compliance, procedural clarity, and administrative efficiency.

There are a total of 14 proposed amendments, one amendment in Title VIII, health and safety, 12 amendments, 12 amendments in Title 17 zoning code, and one amendment in Title 18 flood clean management.

For the California Rider Quality Act, uh the amendments are exempt under CQL guidelines 15305 and 15061B3, as they are administrative and clarifying in nature, and could be determined that these amendments will not have a significant impact on the environment.

In summary, these omnibus code amendments represent routine but essential maintenance to the municipal code.

With that, staff respect respectfully recommends that the city council find that this project is exempt from CEQA and consider adoption ordinance 26-1, amending noted sections in titles eight, title seventeen, and titles eighteen of the municipal code.

This concludes staff's presentation.

I'm available for any questions.

Thank you.

Do we have any questions from my colleagues?

Thank you.

And I don't have the script in front of me for public hearings, but I believe I'm going to open the public hearing, ask for comment, and then we'll close the public hearing.

Okay.

I would like to officially open the public hearing.

We have no request to speak on item 13.

Great.

I'm sorry.

13.

Yeah, item 13.

Great.

And so no I no request to speak, so now I'm closing the public hearing.

Early moves.

And then are we up for motion?

Yes.

I have a motion from Councilmember Early and a second from Councilmember Alcala.

Would you take the roll?

Um let's just take the roll call vote for the three of us.

Councilmember O'Caller.

Aye.

Councilmember Early.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Timcil Psyo Hull.

Aye.

So for that we're on 13.

We just close the public hearing.

Oh, okay.

Do you want to vote on that?

Yes, Madam Clerk.

Madame Clerk.

The mayor gonna is gonna wants to vote on this item.

We'll take a revote on item 13.

I need a motion and a second.

Uh early early moves.

Second.

Okay, so we have a motion from um council member early and a second from council member Alcala.

Councilmember O'Cala.

Aye.

Councilmember Early.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tempsil Psyho Hall.

Aye.

Mayor Guerrero.

Aye.

Great.

And that closes item 13.

Thank you, Daniel.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

So we real quick.

We took out of the order.

So we now on item under 12.

On item 12 under finance, the public hearing and consideration of resolutions 26-23 and 26-24, making certain findings about written objections and implementing water and sewer rates.

For the next five years.

And our finance director, Roberta Raper.

We'll begin.

So first off, we will begin with the presentation, which will include an overview of the proposed rates as well as summary of the written objections that have been received and staff responses.

So we'll begin with the staff presentation.

Thank you.

All right.

And I have to figure this out each time, but hey, I'm getting better.

All right.

So we are here tonight.

Thank you for the introduction to provide an update to council on the proposition 218 process undertaken for the update of water and sewer rates as directed by council at the December 3rd meeting.

So as the mayor mentioned, we'll start with a brief overview of the utilities and the information that was presented at a at the December 3rd workshop as a refresher for council and to provide some context for the members of the public in attendance tonight.

After the presentation, the council may ask questions.

We'll ask the mayor to open the public hearing after public comment on the item has concluded.

Council can then uh discuss the item and consider the first resolution, resolution 26-23, um, making certain findings related to the requirements of AB 2257 about the written objections process.

Um council will then close the public hearing, I hope, and then the mayor will call a recess so that the clerk can tabulate the uh number of protests that we've received, and then we'll come back and um announce the total and then move forward with uh potentially consideration of resolution 26-24 adopting the rates.

Um but first we'll provide a little bit of background.

Um the city owns three utilities, water, sewer, and refuse.

Uh this item is focused on water and sewer only, as the there's a RFP process underway for uh waste hauler services.

The water and service uh water and sewer funds are enterprise funds, which means they operate as business like activities.

Um they must generate sufficient revenues to cover the cost, the expenses of the utility, which includes the operations and maintenance, uh repair and replacement of the utility infrastructure, including any debt payments.

Uh revenues are generated through rates charged to customers who use the service and are calculated through uh a cost of service study, or you sometimes hear it called a rate study.

Umtility revenues may not fund anything other than the utility service for which they are collected.

So water rates fund water service, sewer rates fund sewer service, they are not allowed to fund anything else.

Uh the last rate studies were completed in 2011 and 2017.

So each time included some of the lowest rates in the region, and the focus was on uh cost cutting measures to and keeping rates low for customers during and after the Great Recession.

So the last rate adjustment was implemented in July 1st, 2021.

We typically adopt rates five years at a time.

So rates have not been adjusted in the last five years.

Uh the water and sewer master plans were completed uh in January.

Those identify necessary infrastructure investment into the utilities.

Since then, we've worked with our consultant, HF and H to develop cost of service studies for each utility, which we presented to you uh with several options in December.

Uh at that time, council directed staff to move forward with the proposition 218 process using the scenario number four, which was the scenario recommended by the environment and utilities commission.

Uh since that time, we've mailed prop proposition 218 notices to all property owners and customers of record.

Uh that was done on January 2nd, 2026.

The number is um not here, but some something like 17,980.

Um we held open houses at the boathouse and club west uh on the evening of February 3rd and the morning of February 7th.

That was a Tuesday and a Saturday.

Um then we had deadlines uh for submitting written objections was February 19th at 4 p.m.

Uh written protests may be submitted up to the end of the hearing tonight.

Um and for uh convenience we do have uh written protest forms over there in a little box to put them in.

Um so you're welcome to to help yourselves to that.

Um I think I missed some of that.

There we are.

Reminder, written protests.

So um tonight, let's see.

Now we're getting into the meet.

This chart shows a comparison of our current rates to surrounding agencies.

Um I don't know if I have a red dot that I could put up there, but the the sort of bluish color, the third one in is the city of West Sacramento current rates compared to our uh regional um neighbors.

And as you can see, West Sacramento currently has some of the lowest rates in the region.

Um since we went over this in detail last time, so I don't plan to go into it in great detail, but one of the big drivers, this chart shows um a look at some numbers, increases to costs that we're seeing since 2021.

Um, and one of the big drivers of the rate increase proposed today is the increase in costs to do the same thing today that we were doing, you know, uh five or even 10 years ago.

Um, add to that a shift to a more preventative maintenance and replacement program for the utilities and total cost for implementing required projects has increased significantly since the last update in 2017.

Um as we discussed in in more detail in December, even completely ignoring the infrastructure investment required to maintain reliable utility service to ratepayers using the the economic indicators that you see here just for CPI and and labor increases, um, a 20% increase in rates would be needed immediately to simply keep pace with the rising cost of operating the water and sewer utilities.

So with that, I am going to hand this over to hand this over to our public works director, Rebecca to give us some background.

All right, thank you, Roberta.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council.

So I'm going to do an abbreviated presentation of the one that I gave back in December just for our audience today, and as they may have not heard it before.

But the George Christoff water treatment plant provides all of the drinking water, irrigation, and fire suppression water for the city.

And we produce about 11 million gallons a day of drinking water for the community.

Um the box that you see next to me represents one unit of water, and so about 748 gallons of water, if you filled that cube up all the way to the top, would fit in that box.

And an average single-family home in the city uses around 12 units of water per month.

So 12 of these cubes is about an average family's usage.

And right now we uh charge $2.43 for that cube of water next to me.

We also have eight reservoirs, two clear wells, and one booster station that moves water from the north side of town to the south side.

We have 212 miles of water mains, which is roughly the distance from here to Fresno.

We also have 97 miles of service lines, which are the lines that go from the main to your home or business.

And then you can see there how many meters and hydrants and valves that we have as well.

So most people don't think about the water and sewer lines because they're not seen typically unless you know something breaks and then um you do see them.

But there's a whole network of infrastructure literally under our feet that requires maintenance and replacement.

And a major at any time it can fail, and when it does, it does definitely become visible quickly.

A major sewer break could result in sewage running down a major street.

A large water main break could result in a giant sinkhole that endangers people and property.

Our infrastructure here in the city is aging and it's at or beyond its useful life.

Regulatory requirements are also becoming stricter.

And water meters also require replacement to maintain accurate readings.

And so if uh the council and community didn't know, when water meters start to fail, they actually fail by under-registering, which then uh results in less revenue for the city, and it's in the in the favor of the customer.

When the city incorporated in 1987, about 35% of the infrastructure was inherited from Yolo County, and so that was a lot of older infrastructure.

We have the county records dating back to the 40s, but that means we have water infrastructure that's now 80 plus years old, and the average life of a water main is around 70 years.

We currently have a water supply contract that allows us to divert and purchase water from the Sacramento River, but that can be affected and curtailed in dry years.

So we're also looking at alternative water supplies to improve reliability.

On the sewer side, we have 214 miles of pipelines, nine pump stations, and five lift stations.

Our sewer system relies on gravity, so when it can't go any lower, we have lift stations that pump it up so it can continue to a pump station, which then sends it under pressure to the county's pipe.

Wastewater is treated then by the Sacramento Area Sewer District, and those um sac area sewer rates are separately passed on to our residents.

And so just like our water system, our sewer infrastructure is also aging.

Repair and replacement costs have risen dramatically over the last five to ten years, and we as the city we are responsible for these systems and their associated failures.

Because of aging infrastructure, we're seeing more sewer backups, more pipe failures, and sinkholes, and we're also seeing increased groundwater infiltration, which raises our pumping costs because we're no longer just pumping sewage, but also groundwater with it.

We're also approaching our system capacity, and our pumps are struggling to keep up.

So we do have some shovel ready projects that uh we just really need money to continue moving these projects along.

But the first one is our high service manifold vault and effluent meter, and that is a regulatory requirement for that effluent meter.

And we also need to upgrade the pipes that send the treated water into the system and the city and build a vault so that staff can safely access this critical asset.

And again, the meter is a state requirement.

It measures how much treated water is entering our system, and this project requires $7.2 million.

Another nearly shovel ready project is the South Sewer Lift Station near the State Streets neighborhood on Park and Stone.

The design is nearly complete, but construction funding is not available.

The current station is too small to handle peak flows and has no backup system.

So if a pump fails, it could result in a sewer backup.

The project also includes safety improvements for staff and has a cost of six million dollars.

In the sewer and water master plans, the recommended five-year water CIP is $89.5 million, which is approximately $18 million per year.

The recommended five-year sewer CIP is $54.1 million, which is about $11 million a year.

Water meters have a lifespan of about 20 years, and some of ours are over 25 years old, and so we're looking at replacement of meters as well.

And so you see there a list of some of our upcoming infrastructure projects because again, we are responsible for ensuring safe, reliable water and sewer systems.

So we definitely need a higher investment now, but our goal is to get to a place where we're making that investment, and that way we can get on a good preventative maintenance and replacement schedule to keep our rate increases more stable moving forward.

And so now I will turn it over to Rick Simonson with the city's rate consultant, HFNH.

Good evening, Mayor Guerrero, Council members.

Again, I'm Rick Simonson, Senior Vice President with HFNH Consultants.

We do rate consulting for water, sewer, and solid waste throughout the state of California.

We were selected through a competitive bid to assist the city in the water and sewer utility rate studies that we're here tonight to discuss.

I have a high-level overview of what we have provided in a more detailed report that was attached in the agenda that provides a lot more detail of the methodology that it takes to calculate these rates that are proposed for you tonight.

There we go.

So as mentioned earlier, with your utilities, they are operated as self-supporting enterprise funds.

So as Roberta mentioned, uh we generate revenues from user rates and charges that we're here to establish tonight, and those rates and charges can only be used within the respective utilities and cannot be used elsewhere to fund other city services.

And per proposition 218 that was passed in California to protect rate payers.

Rates must be based on the cost of service to provide that service to each customer class.

And that helps us compute what the necessary rates are specific to each customer class based on the burden in which they place on the systems and their demand patterns.

What are the steps of a cost of service analysis?

First, we do have to identify those costs, both your OM costs as well as those capital projects that must be completed in the next five years.

We do track these costs so we can allocate the specific function based on the function of the costs to each individual customer class.

So we can make sure that each customer class is just paying their fair share, nothing more, nothing less.

And lastly, I'll be providing some customer impact information and how you compare it to other jurisdictions.

I'll start with the sewer, run through the sewer, and then follow up with the water, and we'll open it up for questions.

First, your current city monthly rates are listed here for some context.

Those that may not look intently at their bills.

Currently, single family and multifamily are charged on a per fixed month amount.

And respectively, that's $10.88 per month for single family residences and $8.16 for multifamily dwellings on a per dwelling unit basis.

And the reason for that is we can demonstrate through water analysis that multifamily dwelling units discharge less water into the wastewater system, therefore they charge slightly less.

Commercial, on the other hand, is charged in two components.

They're charged first for a flat $5.40.

And then we look at the water use of that commercial customer, and then they're charge on the use of that water that's being discharged into the sewer.

So just for example, if a commercial customer uses 10 units of water of what you see here, 10 of these 748 gallons, they'll be charged the $5.40 plus $31.60 for that water for a total bill of $37.

So I just want to be clear, those are not fixed both for commercial.

And I also want to be clear, and what we're discussing tonight was put into the Prop 218 notice is just this is just covering the city's costs for the maintaining the collection system, where the treatment again, as mentioned earlier, is covered by Sacramento Area Sewer District, and they set their own rates in their pass through to your customers.

So we're here just looking at the collection related costs.

So as Roberta mentioned, rates have not increased since 2021.

Thus revenues need to increase to cover current costs.

And as you'll see in a few slides, current rates do not cover the current or projected costs over the next five year period, specifically around necessary capital improvement projects that were highlighted in the master plan that was conducted early last year.

So to give you an idea of where the what we call revenue requirement, the expenses that need to be covered and how they compare to your current revenue at current rates, we've provided this stack bar chart.

The stack bars represent in the green, the bottom portion, your operations and maintenance.

This is the day-to-day staffing and maintenance costs, as well as there is a small bond outstanding for sewer, and there's a small amount of debt service that still needs to be paid over the intervening years.

And then lastly, as you see, the largest component of the revenue requirement are these capital projects.

And what we have labeled here is a full ass scenario.

As mentioned earlier, we did have some scenarios presented earlier.

But based on the master plan and the highest priority projects, staff was able to look at those and say, well, what can we get accomplished over the next five years?

So these are those projects that have been identified at the highest level of what should be completed over the next five years.

The yellow line or orange line you see there, that is tracking the current revenues at current rates.

And you'll see there is a bit of an upslope because there is continued growth here in the city.

So even without raising the rates, we do see an incline in that revenue.

But again, looking at the stack bars, the current revenue at current rates is not sufficient over the next any of the next five years to cover projected expenses.

So we know some sort of rate increase is necessary.

But it doesn't all have to be borne by rates.

There's different ways of bridging that shortfall.

First, rate increases.

We are recommending some increase to those rates.

And contemplating debt issuance for larger capital projects that are significant and will benefit long term.

So debt financing those makes sense to spread those costs over time.

So that current rate payers are not the only ones contributing to that infrastructure that will benefit future ratepayers.

So what we're recommending tonight is a combination of all three of these factors.

So what does that mean?

I've touched on we came to the EU in November and the full council in December highlighting some different capital spending scenarios because that is the most uh highest component of your revenue requirement.

Uh so we looked at four different scenarios.

First, I showed with the stack bar chart the full ask of $8.8 million per year of capital funding.

And as a note, the master plan had identified 11.

Uh but staff was able to look at those and see what could be accomplished over the next five years, and that's what we titled the full ask.

But we know that was a significant impact to rates.

Uh so we did look at a number of different scenarios, both what we call a mid-level and a low level.

So the least amount of funding or capital projects that should be uh funded during the next five years at 5.5 million for the low, and then a mid in between that 8.8 million and 5.5.

When we brought this to the EU, uh, they looked at the mid scenario and did like what they saw, but wanted to add a few more projects.

Uh so that was added to 8.4 million, still less than the full ask.

So what we're proposing and what the rates are based on is spending $8.4 million on average per year over the next five years, but some of that being debt funded.

And that's about $26 million of that full $42 million being debt funded, which spreads those costs over a 30-year period.

So what does that mean when we're looking at what type of revenue increases we need?

You'll see that towards the bottom of the slide.

There are significant increases ranging from 35% this coming April up to down to 8% in 2930.

How do we arrive at that?

This chart really helps us identify what those necessary revenue increases should be.

So I'll orient you a little on how to read this slide.

So first we plot what we call a minimum target for your reserve balance and a total target reserve balance.

That's indicated by the red line for the minimum and the blue for the target.

So as we're analyzing the costs and the revenue increases, we'd like to see your fund balance hit that target, but never drop below that minimum.

That minimum is there for your about three months of cash on hand for your day-to-day operations without regard to any capital projects.

We layer on top to get to the blue line, another uh three months of OM expense available for those capital projects as well.

So we're aiming to be at that target over the five-year period.

We do realize there were reserves built up over the past.

Uh so the starting point was about $8 million in reserves.

Instead of just using rates to fund those shortfalls, we are utilizing reserves you see in years 25, 26, 26, 27, and 27.8 and 28.

We're using reserves to help soften some of those increases, which would have been much higher.

So you are utilizing those reserves that the city does currently have.

So what does that all mean?

What would this be a snapshot of the table that was included in the proposition 218 notice, uh table four, which is laying out the current, as I mentioned earlier at $10.88 for single family.

And then the increases over the next five-year period.

And these would be the maximum rates.

If you adopt this schedule, they'd be the maximum rates you could charge over the next five years.

Each year you can revisit these and can do something less, just not something more.

So what does that mean to the average single family water user, the bulk of your customers?

Currently, the sewer bill, which does include a component for the treatment, so we can compare to other jurisdictions that have both collection and treatment in their rates.

$54.88.

Again, currently it's $10.88 from the city.

And that would increase to $63.85 under this proposal come April 1st.

Still in the lower rankings of what you see of your neighboring agencies.

So with that, I'll just pause quickly.

If you'd like me to just keep soldiering on, I'm happy to.

So you'll see similar slides for water.

I'll start with your current rates.

So for water, uh, there is a fixed service charge for all customers based on their meter size, which represents the capacity that each type of customer needs in the system to accommodate their water needs.

And those rates do increase as the meter size increases because they demand more water and there's more capacity that they need to pay for in the system.

69% of your residents are the three quarter and five-eighth inch, so they're charged 2461 per month fixed before turning on the faucet.

And it increases as the size of the meter increases.

There's that second component that Rebecca mentioned for this one unit of water is currently $2.43.

So based on water use.

Similar key issues that are affecting the water rates.

Rates have not increased since 2021.

We're not keeping up with the costs of service being provided, as well as the funding needed for major rehabilitation projects, as well as upgrading those water meters.

Similarly, we have a stack bar chart here showing again the operations and maintenance.

There is some outstanding debt service for the water, so that will continue to be paid.

And again, it's those capital projects that are really driving the need for the increases.

But very little is left over for those capital projects.

And over the next four years, can't even cover the debt service.

So again, we know some sort of revenue increase is necessary.

And we had a similar strategy here, a combination of rates, reserves, and debt issuance.

In a similar fashion, looking at those capital projects, uh, we knew the full CIP from the master plan of 18.6 million would be a bit onerous.

So again, we looked at different scenarios landing on again the EU recommendation to fund 15.3 million per year.

And this scenario again includes debt financing, some of those projects, so those costs are spread over a 30-year period.

And similarly, looking at the fund balance graph, again, there are some reserves available to help mitigate some of these increases.

A 20% increase in revenue or 25.26 down to 5% by the time we get to 2930.

Again, flattening that solid green line there of your projected fund balance with these recommended increases, hitting that target by the fifth year.

And I'll mention, and I did not on the sewer, the dotted green line.

Uh that's there for reference.

If nothing is done over the next five-year period, you will deplete those reserves that you do have before the end of fiscal year 27-28.

So a bit more extensive list, much more projects here for the water.

They range from small $500,000 projects up to more ambitious repair projects overall of about 20 million.5 million dollars is going over the next five years.

Again, pulling from the proposition 218 notice of what we're recommending tonight for maximum rates over the next five-year period are shown in this table.

Just as reference, uh, the current up to a three-quarter inch.

So most of your residents currently have that fixed charge of $24.61, and that'll be increasing to $48.29 by January 2030.

The $2.43 water use charge will increase from $2.43 to $3.31 by January 1, 2030.

And there are some flat rates for commercial for residential one, two, or three dwelling units that do not have a functioning meters at the moment, so it's just a handful.

So there are developed based on average water use because if the meter is not operable, you cannot track the actual.

So there's just a handful of customers that need this from time to time.

So that's why you see them a bit higher because it is the full bill, not a fixed plus actual usage.

The bill comparison uh for single family come this April 1st based on our recommendation.

Based on average water use of about 1100 cubic feet of water with the 58 inch meter, which again is a majority of your residential customers, would increase from $51.34 to $62.99.

And when we combine the two to compare with the previous slide of your current rates of a total of $106.22, which does include the SAC area sewer district charge as well.

$1062 for current as compared to others, that will increase to $126.84 per month.

Again, it will differ from month to month as your water usage is either below average or above average, and it will be different for every customer based on their actual water needs.

So with that, I'll conclude my portion and ask Roberta to cover the low-income rate assistance program.

All right.

So a good time to talk about our low income rate assistance program.

Um as you were seeing average water usage, a total bill increase of approximately about $20 uh per month.

So we do have a program currently that aligns with the PGE care and the SAC sewer lifeline programs.

Um it is funded by a transfer from the Measure K fund.

Uh currently our budget is about $15,000 annually for that.

The credit amount is $5 monthly.

Utilization has been declining over the past few years.

We currently have about $192 customers, residential customers, um, and the total annual cost is just under about $7,000 at our current uh rate.

But we are proposing um not only some focused outreach uh but also um uh change to the credit amount and and the program overall.

So um first the we are we're looking at the low income rate assistance tier, that is our existing program.

We're looking to increase the monthly credit from three dollars a month for water and sewer to eighteen dollars a month for water and sewer.

If you add that to the two dollars for reference refuse, that's a total of twenty dollars a month in credits.

Um we would maintain the existing eligibility requirements.

It aligns, like I said, with the PG ⁇ E care program and the SAC sewer sewer lifeline program, which are set up at about 200% of the federal poverty level for income limits.

Um we will look at either we have an application that that um looks at either the income or if you're enrolled in PGA, PGE care or SAC sewers lifeline program will um and show us proof will automatically put you in our LIRA program.

Um existing participants would not need to reapply to get the higher credit.

We would um if if it's approved by council, we would apply that higher credit automatically.

But we would require recertification of eligibility periodically.

Um I've looked, and it looks like industry standards around two years, but we'd want to align that with how PGE um and SACSUR are doing their program.

Um through our outreach, our open houses, we did have a few folks come and provide some feedback and input.

Um and one piece of input was that there are um seniors at who have fixed income that are above the current low income um limit used for our LIRA program, and so they don't get the benefit of um of that program.

And so we would like to propose adding a second tier for that program, which is um for fixed income seniors.

Uh the it there's an age uh requirement, 62 plus.

Uh, we're looking at a higher fixed income um level at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

Um, and the what monthly water and sewer credit would be $15.

Of course, this is what's proposed.

You're welcome to weigh in and provide other feedback or other ideas.

Um how would that be funded?

So the cost of the program um with the proposed credit increases at current participation levels would be about 42,000 annually.

For the rest of the current year, there is sufficient measure K appropriation to cover that increase.

We're talking about like three months of the year.

So it'll cover that increase plus a little over 40% increased enrollment.

However, if the program participation were to reach the same level as the PGE care program, I think in YOLO County, it's close to about 96%.

I don't know if that was in YOLO County or if that was overall, but they have a very high utilization of that program for eligible ratepayers.

If we were to reach the same level, our program could cost up to about a million dollars annually.

So we would propose revisiting the cost and the funding source annually as part of the budget process.

But in in at no time would the rate assistance program uh it's not funded by rates.

It is compliant with proposition 218, and we would continue ensure we continue that through the budget process annually.

So I believe I move on to something else.

So I did want to just pause in case you have any questions or feedback on there.

Okay.

Um so moving on.

Um I'm gonna go into the proposition 218 process.

This is all the news stuff.

Um, kind of switching gears back to the rate adjustment process that we've been going through.

So as I mentioned, December 3rd, uh, we came brought a workshop to council, and council selected the um rate scenario number four to begin the Prop 218 process.

Um the requirements of the proposition 218.

It requires us to mail a notice to all property owners and customers of record, a minimum of 40 days, 45 days prior to the public hearing to consider adoption of rates.

The notice is required to be detailed, uh, including the proposed rates, the basis for the rates, and uh providing details as to how to protest or object those rates.

The city mailed Prop 218 notices to all property owners and customers of record on January 2nd, 2026.

That was 72 days before the public hearing.

Uh the notice also included the dates and the locations of the two open houses that were held in February, as well as tonight's public hearing date.

Excuse me.

Uh a little bit about the public outreach that we did.

So the mailed notices also included um the dedicated phone number and email address and the website that we created for all of the information related to this process and for dedicated assistance if people had uh questions or feedback on the proposed rates.

Um did not receive any emails or phone calls.

Um we did we held an uh educational webinar about the city's utilities, the infrastructure, and the rate study and update process in October.

That was recorded and was made available on the city's webpage as well.

And as mentioned, we did the Hope at Open Houses.

We did not have a lot of visitors, but we did have a few at each location.

They asked great questions.

They provided really helpful feedback, and the staff really enjoyed an opportunity to meet with the residents and provide information that isn't often easy to disseminate to 50,000 plus people.

Um back to the Prop 218 process.

Um, proposition 218 requires a majority protest process, which means that if a majority of the affected property owner owners or customers of record protest, then the rates may not be adopted by council.

Um for our city, that number is 8,891.

Um proposition 218 also requires that, well, it's not proposition.

Well, yes, Prop 218 requires that protests be written, signed, and include the address or parcel number, and that we verify um verify that we haven't received more, that there's one per parcel, those types of things.

Um, since the number of total protests received has not reached close to the 50% level to be conservative, we've just counted every protest.

We have not done a verification to ensure that we haven't received two for the same parcel or the same same person.

Um the protest tabulation must also be open to the public.

So we will be tabulating protests here in the council chambers at recess.

Um we have both all of the protests received up until the meeting plus the protests that are being received during the meeting.

Um then additionally, AB 2257 was effective in 2025 for cities that adopted a resolution and procedures, which we did back in in November of 2025.

AB 2257 allows property owners and customers of record to submit written objections to the rate process.

Um written responses from the city are required, and we have prepared those.

Uh, but the objection process preserves the right to sue the city over adopted rates.

So only parties who have submitted objections may challenge the rates and only on the basis of the objections that they submitted as part of this process.

The written objections were due to the city at 4 p.m.

on February 19th.

Turn my page and tell you where we went from there.

Uh your um report tonight includes um all of the written objection letters that were received by the city, those are compiled in attachment three.

Those are compiled in attachment three.

Attachment two includes the city's responses to the objections by main category.

I also want to mention that we counted everything that we received as both a protest and an objection, unless it clearly just said I'm protesting rates and had no reasoning, in which case that was counted as a protest.

So everything that we received through February 19th was counted as both.

And then after February 19th, we've been counting everything received as a protest.

All right.

So most letters received were from the same or similar form letter templates.

So many objections had exactly the same or very similar language.

And I mentioned that the detailed responses are in your packet and available for the public to view online.

So I've summarized the main themes on the following slides, and I'll provide a very brief summary of the responses included.

There's obviously a lot more detail in your packet.

As of about 6:30 p.m.

tonight, we had received 185 written protests and 89 written objections as of the February 19th deadline.

As a reminder, written protest may be submitted to the end of the hearing tonight.

So getting into some of the main themes.

Lack of transparency in the rate setting process.

Publishing in the local newspaper and on social media, we have attempted to reach people where they are, including with a colorful mailed notice to every home, every property.

And we've certainly met the minimum transparency requirement under proposition 218, and we believe we've also implemented several additional voluntary steps to ensure transparency throughout the process.

Lack of alternative funding considered, including measure O.

So we mentioned earlier that utilities are business-like funds intended to charge rates to cover the cost of service, providing the service, maintenance, and replacement of the infrastructure.

There are many competing interests for general tax revenue, including public safety, parks and recreation, and other government services for which no alternative funding sources exist.

And the city has a policy and it's industry best practice not to use general tax revenues to support enterprise utilities, except in the case of the annual subsidy, which is provided by Measure K, and that was included as an eligible use of Measure K when the tax measure was adopted in 2002 by voters.

So this causes a financial burden.

While this is a legit legitimate and important concern, proposition 218 requires that rates be based on the cost of providing service and allocated proportionally to each property or to each rate class.

The cost of service study shows this.

And to help with this, the proposed rate assistance program changes the intended changes are intended to alleviate uh nearly all of at least the first year of impact for a customer with average water use.

The rates are based on cost of service study, which is designed to ensure that each customer class pays no more than its proportional share of the cost of providing the service.

So as a result, the updated cost allocation, as a result of the updated cost allocations and usage data, some commercial sewer rates decreased while residential rates increased.

These changes reflect the results of actual usage and ensure compliance with proposition 218 by aligning rates with the actual cost responsibility.

The rates shift financial consequences of past development and capital planning decisions on to current ratepayers.

The cost of service analysis identifies the cost required to operate, maintain, repair, and replace the city's existing water and sewer infrastructure systems.

These are long-lived systems that require ongoing investment to maintain reliable service and meet regulatory requirements.

The rates as proposed do just that.

When we talk about sort of capital planning development, uh development is intended to pay its fair share through connection fees and impact fees, and we're also taking a look at those.

We have a contract to update those based on updated costs and project lists as well.

All right.

No demonstration that increases are unavoidable.

Uh that is not a requirement of proposition 218.

There's also no demonstration that increases are the result of property properly paced infrastructure planning relative to recent growth.

So as I mentioned, the proposed rates are not driven by uh growth.

Rather, they're based on the cost of operating, maintaining, and replacing existing infrastructure to provide reliable service to current customers.

Development pays its fair share to buy into the existing system and to fund the infrastructure required to serve its development through water and serve sewer connection fees.

Projects are required.

Projects required to serve new development are excluded from the CIP list to be funded with rates as they are funded by connection fee revenues.

And as I mentioned, we are uh in contract to update those fees as well.

All right.

Um we received a letter from a laundromat uh that is classified as a commercial uh is commercial customer.

Um but their argument is they operate for residential customers and should be treated as residential.

Sewer services provided to the commercial parcel, the laundromat business, and wastewater discharge to the sewer system results from the aggregated operations of the facility.

Laundromats typically generate concentrated wastewater flows associated with business operations rather than dispersed wastewater generation typical of individual residential households.

It is correctly classified as a commercial parcel.

If this was treated as residential, it would be nearly impossible to calculate the number of uh residences that use it and apply that flat residential fee times those number of residences.

Um it may end up actually higher higher than the bill as it as a commercial customer.

And as a reminder, commercial customers um are charged um uh small fixed fee and then a fee per unit of of water.

Um let's see.

The cost of service analysis relies on customer classes rather than parcel specific causation.

The cost of service studies do not allocate cost to each parcel.

Instead, they allocate system cost to group of groups of customers with similar similar characteristics referred to as customer classes.

This is done because wastewater system costs are driven by the aggregate demand placed on the system by groups of customers with similar usage patterns.

This approach allows the utility to allocate costs proportionally while maintaining a practical and administratively feasible rate structure.

We're on the last one.

Uh last two objections.

The residential sewer customers are charged a flat rate while commercial sewer customers pay both a fixed and volumetric charges, and that is true.

Uh the city does not meter wastewater discharge for residential or commercial properties.

Instead, utilities commonly use metered water consumption as a reasonable proxy for commercial wastewater flow because water that enters a building typically enters through the sewer system or exits through the sewer system.

That is not necessarily true for residential dwellings because water use often includes substantial outdoor irrigation that does not enter the sewer system.

If sewer charges were tied to water use for residential parcels, customers could be charged for sewer fees for water used for landscaping, swimming pools, or other outdoor uses that never reach the sewer system.

Uh the last objection is the laundromat parcel may pay higher sewer charges than residential users who ultimately generate the wastewater discharge from the facility.

We've covered that response in in the other questions.

Um overall, staff, the rate consultant, and our legal council all agree that none of the objections received demonstrate that the proposed rates fail to comply with the requirements of proposition 218.

They do not exceed the cost of providing service, and they allocate costs in a manner consistent with proportionality requirements of proposition 218.

So I I will open it up for council questions, but I also have a slide that just sort of shows the next steps, which is um hopefully questions, feedback, um, and then conduct the protest hearing and and go through the steps to adopt the resolutions and tally the protests.

So I will stop there and open it up for the council.

Thank you, Roberta.

Bring it open it up to council for any questions.

A few questions properly.

Um you mentioned the laundromats, which is one of the questions I also had.

Um and then what about um car washes?

Are those also included in the commercial?

Uh yes, that is a commercial business.

What about schools?

Commercial.

Yes.

Okay, and let's see.

I mean, there if it's not residential, it's gonna be commercial.

So if it's not a single family residence, an apartment, a multifamily residence, it's gonna be commercial.

I had people calls, and that's that's what you're getting from me right now.

Some questions people had.

Um with helping people.

Um told me my rates never been anything lower than 45 dollars.

Um they are, I would say senior fall within those guidelines and stuff.

So um are we using I mean, is that the norm that we're using to calculate?

Is what the norm, I'm sorry.

I think we used what was it, um, 15 or 20.

We're using when we we're average water use is 11 units.

So we use 11 units to calculate the uh an average monthly bill, just because overall that's sort of the average usage.

Okay.

Council Mr.

Alcala, just to clarify your question.

Are are you referring to the uh rate pair assistance program part of it?

That one?

Right.

Yeah.

So Roberta, if you could uh articulate on that, I believe the target dollar figure for how we structure that program was based on what the the initial increase would be for someone who meets the income.

Yes.

So if they meet the income thresholds, we we are proposing to increase that credit by $15.

So I don't know if this person that you're um uh talking about also already uh participates in the Lira program.

If they do, uh uh they would get an additional $15 credit on top of that uh with this program if adopted.

If they do not, um, because they don't meet income requirements, but it is a fixed income senior, then they may qualify for the new tier, which would provide a $15 credit as well.

And one more quick question they asked.

Um you mentioned uh measure measure K.

I know that we use the funding um from ratepayers.

How were we able to use the measure K?

Measure K, when it was uh adopted by voters, it had an advisory measure that went along with that included in that was a handful of uh eligible uses or proposed uses of the funds, and one of those were to provide subsidies for property assessments um and utility rates.

So we've been using Measure K over for several years to provide these subsidies.

Over the years, though, the the participation in the program has gone down.

The Lira program originally was um intended for flat rate customers as we were uh transitioning to metered rates, and so as we implemented meters, the uh the people would drop off of that program, but we've expanded that program so that it's available for all customers.

Um, but I think that it it is not well known, and the credit amount right now is so low that it it doesn't make a lot of sense if people aren't um really struggling.

And so I think by both uh increasing the amount of the credit and by um doing additional outreach to make sure people are aware of it, we would hopefully get the word out and and increase participation in that program.

Okay, one final question on the water meters, how old can a water meter be before you have to replace it?

Um didn't you say 20 20 years or that?

I'm just gonna miss that.

20 years?

Everybody.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, not just that, but the it also sounds like we have things over 20 years.

I think it's more like it's best practice.

I'm answering for you.

Go for it.

That's okay.

You're doing great.

Um the average lifespan of a water meter is about 20 years.

And so again, as it starts failing, it just starts under registering.

So ultimately it'll just get slower and slower and slower and slower, and then eventually it'll be registering like no water.

Um so it there's not a hard date of when you have to replace it, but if you can stay closer to that 20, 25 year mark at the most, um then you're gonna keep it accurately registering water.

All right, yeah.

Thank you.

Um, if I could really quick, I I just want to underscore a point that was made by Roberta that on the question you asked around uh why measure K had eligibility for uh funding the the uh subsidy program versus some of the other tax measures.

So it all has to do with the advisory language that um these measures have.

Measure O, as you know, uh was very specific for core services, public safety, um, parks maintenance, road maintenance.

That's that's where the money has to go.

Uh measure K was was by far the most diverse um advisory language the city had had ever done in its um of of the sales taxes that had had been passed.

And um it was unique in that it had the language that Roberta specifically uh pointed out.

So that's the that's the one that we're pinpointing as the funding source that would offset the the subsidy program.

Uh we can't take just any other tax measure fund and do the same thing with it.

I think that that's just an important point uh that you made there.

Thanks.

Councilmember Early?

Uh so I I have just one follow-up question um for uh that council member Alcala asked, and then I'll probably have more questions after after public comment.

Um how the um subsidy and increase was calculated.

I just wanted to better understand.

Um so we're going from I think is it three dollars or five dollars?

It's five dollars total, but three dollars of that is dedicated to water and sewer.

So the amount that we're talking about today is really the change from that three dollar piece to the proposed eighteen.

The two dollars that is for ref use will remain um and that's going through its own sort of separate process and may come back with something else later, but that's not part of today.

Um how did you calculate that increase from three to eighteen?

Um again, I was just sort of looking at well, one piece was um I initially proposed it at $20.

We were trying to um basically that gap in the first year.

Our first year rate increase is the highest out of the five years.

Um and so I wanted to make that not as much of an issue for people who are having trouble.

So that that's really it was really arbitrary at this point, but I was I was trying to manage both the cost increase, something that I thought would be beneficial for folks.

It is uh regionally um I'd have um I don't have the packet with me, but I can pull it up.

Um there was a schedule of our surrounding agencies and the low-income rate assistance programs that they have, and about $20 was uh towards the highest of those.

And so we were looking at not only creating a program that would be regionally um uh better than you know, good or better than than most of our uh surrounding agencies that it would uh minimize the impact of the rate increase for the first year um and then stay within sort of not get super expensive.

Uh understand.

Um what would you try applying the same proportion of increase to the three dollars?

Yes, yeah.

Um I have all kinds of data.

I'm just I'm curious.

I'm I'm curious if um if you just applied the the same proportion, what that would what would what would that be?

I don't think you would get to that level of participation with a three dollar credit.

But okay, perfect.

And so what I'm hearing, and you can give me the number because it sounds like you already have it, which is awesome, by the way.

Thank you.

Um, is that if we applied the proportion of increase that we're seeing to the three dollars, it would be less than the $15 increase.

Am I getting that right?

Um probably let well the so let me let me pull up the the thing really quick so I can make sure I'm giving you that.

Okay, so at the current um three dollar credit, if we got to the 96% um, it would be about 137,000 a year cost.

Not quite what is I was asking, so okay, just looking at the the individual um subsidy.

So right now it's three dollars.

Um how how much are we planning on, like literally what is the percentage of increase, and then apply that same percentage of increase to the three dollars.

The percentage of increase for so for the it that's hard to calculate because um there are different pieces.

So I could I could use the average water usage and look at that.

Yeah.

So I don't I don't have that, but I could figure that out.

You want me to calculate this right now?

Uh maybe what you could do is unless there's more comments, we could we could do public comment and while we're listening to public comment, you can do the calculation.

So I bet it's I'm gonna think if we're if we're going from 106 to 126, right?

Well, I mean, and you you'll have some time because I know we'll we'll have some public comment.

That way you don't have to do it completely on the fly.

Yeah.

But I was thinking there's an clearly, right?

We actually talked about what the average rate increase is going to be.

Um apply that average increase, right?

That rate, that same per that same percentage to the three dollars.

And I'm just curious which will be more.

$3.56.

Okay.

That's not much.

No.

Okay.

That's helpful.

So we are being even more generous with our 15 increasing it by $15.

I think just to try to keep it in simple terms, and like Roberta said, I think she I don't think she'd be fair when she said it was arbitrary because it was well thought out in terms of uh what is the first year increase uh for the effective people gonna be, and and that was the kind of the target that was used.

That and it was it was when we looked at the surrounding agencies that got us to track with it.

Yeah.

So yeah, so I think it would it was it was thoughtful in terms of what is that first year impact gonna be for the people that are gonna have the highest impact on their on their bottom line, and and that was how it was structured.

So I see where you're going to be.

I appreciate that.

And so let me just um I what I would like to highlight and which I appreciate in this is two things.

One that um not only was it intentional, but even potentially we through this increase not only gonna offset the rate increase, but also hopefully support even more than we were before.

And I think that's really the point is what is what I would I would share.

Because if we were to just increase the subsidy by the same amount or the same percentage that we were increasing the rates, it sounds like it would only go up to three dollars and fifty-six cents.

Um instead, we're proposing to increase this to eighteen dollars, um, which is significant.

And so I I think that's more of how I would spin it.

Right.

And I believe we expect a higher subscription rate because of that as well.

So that is a 600% increase in the credit.

There you go.

Thank you for that percentage.

You're welcome.

Yeah, quick question.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um on the assistance program, you mentioned recertification every two years.

How simple or complicated is that process?

So the pro we we don't like to complicate the process because that is a lot on our staff.

And so we have not done recertifications in the past, um, and the credit amount is relatively low, so there's not a lot of risk there with increasing the credit amount.

Um right now with 192 people, I mean they'd have to come in and say, Hey, here's my new thing that I'm still on the PGE program or whatever, and we'd say, okay, you get to stay on on this.

If not, if they don't have that, then they would um fill out uh and then we've got Adriana who can probably give me more information on how that process works, but there's an application process.

So um if uh having to resortif or certify 200 people uh every couple of years is one impact, but if that number increased significantly, it might be a lot more.

So we would uh I think we want to revisit that and kind of look at is two years or three years, what's the right sort of uh time frame for that, make sure that we're aligning with PGE and SMED and then probably do it or and SACS sewer, but do it in a way where we're um trying to do it at the same time each year, right?

So that everybody kind of does it at once.

We we recertify and move on.

Um but that piece we'd have to figure out how we're okay.

I'm sorry, I may maybe I wasn't clear.

I'm thinking of the person who has to recertify.

It they only have to come in and say, hey, I'm still on the PC.

And then we say, okay, you're still on our program too.

Okay.

Like it's as easy as that.

If they're not on one of those programs, then it's a one page application where they provide their income, we certify that and and they're done.

So as long as if they're on one of the other programs, it's straightforward and very, very simple.

If not, it's a a simple application.

Okay.

Is there a world where it could be instead of coming in done via email or online?

Oh, I'm sure it's done in a multitude of ways.

Do they I'm seeing some heads nodding?

Oh, phone calls?

Oh, that's great to know.

No more questions.

Then um, Madame Clerk, you can open it up for public comment.

So we're opening the public hearing with Kathy Bailey.

My name is Kathy Bailey again.

I am Revan the Rivers board president, and I'd like to speak to you a little bit about uh reserve studies, um, state of California requires reserve studies by HOAs, and we have to follow them.

It's a maintenance guide for the next 10, 20, 30 years.

So I have to ask, why does this keep happening every five years where we are going to be you know looked at for this kind of study and where we're getting our rates um going to be increased?

We are not only gonna be in fact affected by this personally, but by as an HOA as well.

Our members are already on my case about us raising our our uh dues every year.

We have to raise them because PG and eight keeps raising their rates, we have to raise them because the insurance companies are raising our rates.

We have to look at those things.

And I think that as a city that has to bide by a budget that we need to be looking at all areas of the budget, and how are these maintenance things all of a sudden coming five years later with 79 million, 54 million, 33 million when it should have been thought about all along?

Maintenance, proper maintenance for any community for any home for any condo should be thought of all the time.

Every homeowner has to plan for roofs.

They have to think about how much am I going to put away so that by when my roof becomes uh needs to have repaired or replaced, how much do I have to have in savings to do this?

So I have to ask if this was just done five years ago or whatever, why why are we now coming to the point where we have to raise it so high?

And it might not be three dollars or eighteen dollars or whatever it is.

Our members are a lot of our members are on fixed incomes, and a lot of our members like myself, who I work at 80 hour week job.

I'm living paycheck to paycheck based on all these things that we have to pay nowadays.

So I'm just asking you, maybe you look at the budget that we work with all the time and figure out why didn't we not have maintenance on our sewer and water this entire time um that you guys keep raising um every thing that we have.

So thank you very much.

Excuse me, no clapping.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Alicia Guterres.

Alicia Guterres.

Buenas tardes.

It's impossible start pagando mass for electricidad, agua, drenaje.

Is the it's muy difficile vivir in una situation donde la ciudad de West Sacramento está aumentando cada vez más y más.

Y está siendo imposible para nuestra comunidad seguir pagar todo los biles que están passando dentro de la ciudad.

Por favor, piensenlo mucho.

Especialmente nuestra gente de Bajos Ingressos.

Soy aquí para pedirles por favor.

Esto no es justo para las familias.

Gracias.

Jack Chandler.

Good evening, Mr.

Chandler.

I'm a homeowner here in West Sack.

Just have a two-part question regarding the tax revenues.

That looks like fairly recently.

And uh I'm assuming there's a wealth of tax revenue these days.

A healthy influx of population from the Bay Area and whatnot.

All these people are paying into the tax revenue.

So part question.

I just would like more of an explanation.

We um we don't answer questions.

We listen to your public comment.

Um, but we could, as council members, take up the question to staff, and I'll I will ask for the staff to provide some clarification.

There was some reference to it, but I'll ask for staff on your behalf.

But you do have a minute and 28 seconds if you have additional comments.

Okay, the uh second part.

Um the last hearing, I addressed the condition of the roads and was told that there was gonna be something done about it with uh tax revenue.

I don't see anything happening.

I've lived here almost 20 years.

The conditions of the roads are is ludicrous.

Southport parkway is a m mosaic of crevices and potholes.

So I would just like to see something done about it with my money.

Oh I got thank you.

Excuse me, no clapping.

There's no clapping, please.

Matt Weaver.

1987 was the year West Sacramento was founded.

It sounded like this water issue was an issue back then.

This infrastructure issue was an issue back then.

We inherited this infrastructure by design.

We asked for it.

We said we want to be a city, we want to take this responsibility on.

We know it's under the earth.

We take it with open arms.

So none of this delayed maintenance makes any sense to me.

Now I know I'm just a lame duck commentator, because what's gonna happen here is we don't have slides to torture with or compel you with.

And even if there was a placebo, hey, we're gonna do this offset, but we're gonna revisit it every few years.

There's no guarantee that a grandmother who's living in her mobile home until she's 80 isn't paid for this infrastructure many, many times over.

And this is the issue with property tax.

This is the incremental burden.

This is not about just the utility.

So what's the incremental burden of living where you live?

California, Sacramento, West Sacramento.

I went and got my bought a car in December on the other, a whole different county.

And I'll know you live there in West Sacramento.

We're getting that extra one percent.

Great.

We said yes as voters, right?

With some assumptions when we said yes to be a city that you take care of this infrastructure, and you went and say, Well, we haven't raised rates for five years.

Well, that you mean you haven't budgeted, you didn't plan, you kicked a can down the road, you find the right political time to say, hey, right now it's a good time to ask for one more thing.

Let's add PGE, gas tax, property tax, and again, not to me.

Listen, I'm I'm young enough to keep swimming and keep up with whatever the the government wants to spend of our hard-earned money, whatever we get to keep from the federal and state.

But that's not true when you're 75.

That's not true when you're 85.

That's not true when you're clinging not to live in your car.

And honestly, let's be real.

This outreach and everybody getting things that the participation shows we don't do a good job with the outreach.

People don't participate.

That's what we say up here to get what we want from you and your blessing and your approval.

And later, if you want to take back the supplemental, there's no more measure K, there's no more money for this.

Let's let your great grandmother keep paying property taxes after she's paid them for 70 years.

Let's let her pay for the future infrastructure she won't be here to benefit from.

And let's just torture them with slides and numbers.

We need more transparency and accountability in to end.

What's the burden of living in West Sacramento?

Thank you, Matthew.

Dennis Price.

Council members.

Um I'm new to Sacramento.

I'm actually your neighbor.

So um, yeah, I I heard a lot of stuff here in my head swimming.

Um I'll try to go over the bigger points.

Someone dropped the ball.

So 10 years of water treatment, sewer treatment worked with Cal EPA, worked with Fed APA.

Can you speak a little more into the mic?

It's not there.

We go.

Usually I have a bigger mouth.

I thought you want to make sure we hear everything you say.

So I have a lot of research in larger administrators.

Um got one hell of one.

So after this, I'm gonna file a uh California public records request to find out where this ball got dropped, because this never should have happened.

So your water treatment people should have been told, should have told you this, your sewer treatment should have told you this.

Also, one other quick question, you guys mailed everything out.

What dinosaur decided to do that?

Was that part of the statute on 218 that you have to mail it?

Okay, well, that needs to be amended because we all use our phones.

Who used a snail mail?

Go ahead, bring your hand.

You guys are awesome, keep it alive.

But guess what?

The population's moved on.

The population has moved on, so maybe we need to reconsider that in the future.

Um, I don't know.

Um in your study, I mean, I want to copy that because there's a lot of things I like, and there's a lot of things I don't like.

I don't like the fact that only cities local here were used.

I think that's a misrepresentation.

We need to look at water source, right?

We need to know what kind what kind of plant they have, right?

All these things have to be factored in.

And and comparing us to someone else and say, well, we're lower, okay.

Well, then just rate me then, right?

We'll just spend over and take it because everyone else is paying more.

That's not that's not the right way to do this.

So the ball was dropped.

You guys shouldn't do this.

Um, the gentleman over there was talking about PG and E.

Oh my god, I mean, that's gonna affect the next election, what PGE is doing to us.

The property taxes that have been paid in this city, and my understanding is West gets the lion's share of the of the property taxes, which is great.

That's I think it should go to the city.

But now we're we're gonna raise rates now.

I mean, this is the worst possible customer service that you could possibly do to your customers.

You don't do it now.

You wait till things kind of mellow out, people start getting back to work, the economy looks better, and then you do it incrementally.

The other thing is um, I really want a detailed accounting on what's wrong with these systems because someone said, well, the pumps weren't working.

Really?

They're at their point.

That should have been figured out when you bought the pump.

In other words, um, your time is up.

Yeah.

We got problems.

And I think raising the rates is the worst thing you could possibly do.

Everyone, everyone here is gonna look bad.

And I don't want that.

Chris Kim.

Okay.

So uh I want to bring to everybody's attention and uh, you know, if if you haven't heard this so far, uh we are smaller than Davis and Woodland in terms of people, but we have almost twice as many employees.

Why do we have twice as many employees as Davis and and and Woodland and and what do they do?

So my neighbor was having a garage sale the other day.

So he's his houses here, and there's a uh City of West Sacramento truck parked like this in front of it.

His engine is running.

Oh, uh, there's a disaster, right?

And I I go in there, there's no disaster, right?

And I I'm looking at the guy's garage sale, and and the guy is in there looking at stuff in the garage sale.

He's in there longer than I am, right?

And he leaves the engine running.

The engine is just running the whole time.

Okay, we've got twice as many employees as the other other towns, and this is what people are doing.

You can go down to the park and you can see these guys, and they're parked with the engine running.

And it's not the parks guy.

So those guys are hustling their butts off.

They're they're mowing lawns doing whatever.

The these are other city employees.

Okay, so the the point I'm making with this is that these costs are being amortized into our our sewer and water costs.

So these are the costs for everybody, and their proportion is being pushed down into our sewer and water costs.

And and so our sewer and water costs are higher than they need to be because of all these excess employees that I don't know what they're doing.

Okay, so that gets back to the what the other guy said the other day about or the other um speaker who said that we have lots of potholes in the road.

We've got lots of damaged roads.

Um, why aren't they being fixed?

You know, they're they're not being fixed.

And then lastly, in my last minute, I'd like to point out that I worked on um low-income housing tax credits, right?

And and on the low-income housing tax bonds, the bond makers make about 10% of every deal.

So you're gonna have always have pressure on you with people pushing you to do debt debt-driven financing.

And you just look at the numbers that we saw on that in that flyer, and you can see that half of our income is going to debt financing.

Well, that's sort of high, in my opinion.

And I kept it under three minutes.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

All right.

We have no additional request to speak on this item.

Thank you, Madame Clerk.

At this time, I will give one more minute for any additional written protests.

Um I'm gonna put the clock on.

If um, Madame Clerk, can you explain for that process how that if you haven't done so already and you'd like to submit a written protest, the forms are over here against the counter, and you just fill one out and put it in the box.

And I'm gonna give one more minute for that.

We can start the clock.

That would be great.

Thank you.

Could we ask an additional question?

Oh, yeah, we're doing that after.

Okay.

I just it's done after the public comment is done.

That's why I wanted to leave the public comment open.

There's more we can do before the public hearing is closed if you'd like to.

I would just one more time.

Yeah, well, up here we've got so there is um resolution 26-23 regarding the uh written objections that needs to be considered first before we will recess or close the public hearing recess and tabulate protests.

So we can have that conversation and consider that resolution while um the public hearing is still open and protests are being maintained if you'd like.

That's okay.

So I just want to say thank you to everyone who came forward to speak this evening.

At this time, I will bring this item back to council for discussion regarding the objections and um staff responses.

Um there any questions?

Is that the just and um Mr.

City Attorney, just making sure I continue to follow this process.

Yes.

So the process that we recommended to you is at this point the council should consider a resolution that Roberta just referenced, which is the resolution related to objections.

And if you are comfortable doing so, adopt that resolution which says that the council has considered the objections that were made and the responses from staff and does not feel that they warrant either a continuation or a change in the rate.

If you're comfortable with that, that would be the next step.

Thank you.

Councilmember Ocala, did you have a question?

Like yes, I related to that.

Related to this.

Um Maria Garcia making the public comments in Spanish.

She was talking about the hard economic times that people are going through.

And I think she was the one, perhaps someone else who just mentioned what would be the recussions of putting something like this off.

I know we have a failing infrastructure, there are all kinds of problems.

Um and in terms of running into deficits, you know, to have our our utilities, the um the water of the sewer systems.

What would happen if we were to put it off a year?

Because I think it's something that she was asking.

If you put it off a year, you'll you'd likely be in this same position next year with uh higher rates that you'd be looking at and and people still with the same considerations.

Because at the end of the day, um uh PG ⁇ E rates impact the the water service as well.

So when we look at these, and I do want to respond to why we do this every five years, we are uh proposition two eighteen, that we are not we cannot adopt rates for more than five years.

So we have to do them up to five years at a time, but we have to come back and redo a study every five years.

Um so at the moment, if we were to put those off, what we saw uh in a couple of slides that um that Rick showed, uh, if we did not uh do rate increases, each utility would run out of money um at a certain time.

And so that green dotted line shows you when the utility would be in the next year.

So 2627.

Shortly after, yeah, the 2627 for the uh water fund.

And that's use that's with this scenario of capital planning too.

So obviously we need to make um decisions uh infrastructure would not be implemented, but in both cases it's 2627.

Uh we are also um we have existing debt uh obligations, and with that we have to maintain um a certain level of coverage revenues over expenses.

Um we are at risk of of not meeting that um in in the near future if we do not adopt rates at least sufficient to uh to cover to cover those costs.

So we would it would be business as usual and and many of the um uh projects that we haven't been able to do, like the high service vault manifold would not be able to be done and which would potentially uh if there were um emergencies that happened, we would have we would end up having to um come up with funds to do emergency repairs and those types of things.

So it's risk related to that.

Um but and Roberta, uh just to add on to that to and correct me if I'm wrong here, because I I think this is an important uh clarification.

While the you you you can do the rate uh analysis and adjustments every five years, we actually have not done it since 2017 for uh for water at least.

And I think for water and sewer, yeah.

The last time we did these studies was 27.

Yeah, and so I just I make that point mainly to emphasize kind of the the culture the city had for many years post-recession was to tread very lightly on this and and not be impactful to to residence rates.

Um and that's that's why you see for many years we were among the lowest in the region.

So while we have the ability to do it every five years, we have we have not for almost we're getting on 10 years here.

And so all the problems that Roberta just uh mentioned that would just be exacerbated by waiting um would only get worse.

And I think you know, in reality, we we understand that probably the hardest thing city councils anywhere are asked to do are things like this, raising people's rates, impacting people's uh personal budgets.

We we get that it's a very difficult thing.

Uh probably an even harder thing to do is when you when you continue to let problems like this linger, it's cutting services, it's making tough decisions around what what choices you can have to make as a council to uh mitigate some of the problems that are uh that are caused by uh continuing to um operate the way we have on this.

So we get that it's very difficult uh for everyone uh that's it's affected, both for the council and for ratepayers, especially.

Um and yes, you know, there's always that option, hey, let's just kick this another year and another year.

But but as Roberta uh did a great job of explaining the repercussions of that are severe.

Uh it it it has to happen at some point.

There's never a good time, but um and and you know, we we think we've done a good job here of of striking a balance between what needs to happen to maintain the infrastructure and keep up with uh the pace of things, uh, but also being mindful of the impact and trying to come up with some solutions for especially people that are um on fixed incomes, low income uh to help mitigate that.

So hopefully that helps.

Sorry.

Um I was just gonna ask the infrastructure when we talk about putting in these these um very expensive million dollar what we should call them um valves and all.

Does our city do that or do we form that out?

Someone did ask me that and I said I would find out.

Um our capital project staff manages the projects, but um a lot of those are typically we do uh solicitation and hire contractor for.

Okay, real quick.

And I just wanted to address something real quickly.

Someone said, you know, our seniors sometimes can't pay these bills.

We do not cut utilities off.

We do not shut off utilities for non-payment, correct?

Just wanted to make certain that that was clear.

Um and then just real quick hypothetical.

My bill runs about 150 a month.

How much is my regular?

I can't tell you that without having we do have a bill calculator online, so you can go online and take your last bill, put in a couple of pieces of information, and it'll tell you what your bill will be for the next five years.

So that is available on the utility rates website.

Okay.

Thank you.

That's all.

Yes, go ahead, council member.

Um so just some clarifying questions, and and thank you, Councilmember Aqua, for for always representing uh what you're hearing from the community, seriously.

Um what came up for me just Aaron, when when you touched on it, I just want to make sure I reflect back because I think it it um also um harkens back to what we heard from public comment in regards to so we have not increased our rate since 2017.

The last study was 2017 for five years, so the last rate increase was July 1st, 2021.

2021, okay.

And so again, I just want to make sure I'm um I'm keeping up.

So our last rate increase was 2021.

We have not increased our rates since then.

Um, and I'm looking at you, but also Aaron looking at you, just because we wanted to make sure that we were being sensitive to the economy, or I I just want to make sure I'm keeping up.

There are multiple factors and Roberta can help me out here, but I think you know, you have to go back in context of that time.

Um, you know, I think even even the 2017 rates that were done.

Um I I wasn't city manager then, I don't remember the the whole context, but uh we we've been behind even with those rates.

I think when you fast forward now to the environment where we were in when we could have done another rate study, uh it was during COVID.

You know, it was it was when people were at their absolute um you know scariest moments and in uh uncertainty and in uh budgets and and all of that.

So I think that explains a lot of why um we took a softer approach at that time.

Um but the problems only compounded uh during those years.

And so I think uh that's that's partially why you see a more significant increase being proposed this time around than perhaps was done back in 2017, and and certainly what would have been if we had done it in 2021.

Uh but the timing then was far worse, arguably than than what you're facing today.

Yeah, and so I I think that's the challenge um that we find ourselves in, right?

Which is that there is no good time once you increase rates.

Um there is always something happening, whether it be in um in America regarding our global economy, um COVID, which I don't think any of us could have expected.

And so I think what our staff tried to do, and I uh and city council at that time, I imagine, was try to to your point strike the balance and be sensitive to that.

But what we also heard during our public comment is what why did we get here?

Why did we wait so long?

Why did we kick the can down the road?

Because we were trying to be sensitive and understand that the economy was burdening everyone.

Um the economy is burdening everyone right now.

Um we can't control PGing rates.

I I honestly, I'm right there with you.

I wish we could.

And there's a lot of things that we we can't control, but we also have to make sure that we have a proper imper infrastructure, because the alternative is that it breaks down even more.

And so it it is not an ideal situation to be in.

And I do want to make sure that not only folks who have submitted public comment um via email and submitted protests, understand that we are absolutely listening to you.

This is not a situation that any of us want to be in, but it does something has to be done because quite frankly, we heard during public comment, why did you wait so long?

And so if we wait longer, it's going to just continue to compound.

And so it is something that we are going to have to address one way or another.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

And for the for a couple of protests, one was using our sales tax that we just increased.

And the answer is that there was maybe somewhat of an advisory guidance on how it could be spent.

And I also heard that we don't use general fund money to spend on and does anybody else use general fund money to spend on these projects.

Typically, no.

I will tell you every city I've worked in, and any that it is not a good idea to use your general tax revenues that you could spend on public safety and other general government services that don't have another funding source to use.

So you'd you'd certainly be making decisions about priorities for for the city.

Because yes, it it can technically general fund revenue can be used uh for any governmental service.

It's just it's not it's not a good financial decision.

And so most cities do not do that.

Um I just wanted you to reiterate that because I heard that somebody asked that question.

Also for the sales tax um revenue that is encumbered already and correct.

So the yeah, the the tax revenues, measure K was the only tax measure that included language in the advisory measure for this type of of use to be eligible.

Um and so those are committed, the councils made decisions, voters made decisions about about those, and we use those tax measures in the way that they were approved for use.

Um measure OM did not have an advisory measure.

However, it was very clear in the ballot language how it was intended to be used.

And I and this was not one of those eligible uses, those funds have been committed.

Uh we added over 50 staff, uh, a lot of those in public safety and parks, um, and we've been uh carrying out the projects.

We I think put like 20 million in one-time uh projects for road projects and part projects and other things out of measure O.

And so those funds are are fully spent at the moment until additional uh future revenues come in.

But overall, uh even on an ongoing basis through the additional staff and the additional operating costs and other things that we've added for parks and fire and public safety, uh measure O is almost fully committed.

And when we get compared to other cities about our staffing composition compared to the population.

When you when you uh you know, um looking at um, you know, what we have as a you know, and the city manager too.

If you can help us to understand, first of all, we have higher rise buildings like Kelsters, we have a lot of people.

Well, there's a lot of things that go into the number of employees.

We also have we are a full service city.

We have police and fire and parks included, we don't contract those out.

Um there are a lot of things that go we also uh have a big every city is sort of made up a little bit differently, and every city has has uh different things that they they may spend their money on.

But um, but yeah, we are a full service city, we have fire police and parks and all of those things.

And so you'd have to look at um each city and how they're made up to do those types of comparisons.

And for example, the the cities that were mentioned in Yolo County uh were the only one that has a water utility.

So um Davis and Woodland have a have a shared utility, but they're not, as far as I know, they're not city employees.

So our RFTs are gonna be higher just by nature of everything Roberta said, and that's an important distinction.

We we are the water company.

So um many cities contract offer a water district or or whatever it is.

So it's not an apple staples comparison, in other words, when um even full service can mean you know, there we we're more full service than some of those other cities are, so we're gonna have more employees by nature of that.

Thank you.

I just wanted to provide some clarification for that um question.

I know I can't recall any other oh, yes.

The other question is um for those that I heard the Bajo Ingresso um lower the lower income populations it considering that factor that there will be some people in lower income, um including um older adults, the getting the word out for the subsidy, um just making sure that we uh provide that explanation.

I don't know here it is all only in English as a description, um, but making sure that there is um uh a well-rounded outreach program so that people with different in different languages can understand the benefit because our we are taking that into consideration as council member early recognized um the distinction on the benefit of that um subsidy.

It is going to be pretty generous and helpful for those who are in lower income brackets that would qualify and up to 250% federal poverty means nothing to anybody else out there but there but that is a pretty significant factor.

It's it's a very generous I mean if anybody wants to understand I I don't if you were participated in the healthy families program for example in the past you would qualify that's my comparison.

It's better than those in the Medi Cal program and or even in the CalWorks program it's like the healthy families so these are people that are working part time and needed that type of support.

Okay.

All right.

Go ahead Council Roberta talking about that outreach is that going to be put like in um when the bills go out yeah so we have the ability to um a lot of people don't pay attention to things that come in with their bill um but we we do have the ability to do uh bill inserts um we also have a large population of our utility customers now um uh paper list or have provided their email because they've signed up for our online bill pay um and account option and so we're able to send email blasts um to folks we work with uh Linnae our PIO and do social media blasts and other things and in fact um I believe we've got a a press release ready for once council does um adopt rates and this program um that we would uh send that out as well so we've got a a plan for getting that out we didn't want to get ahead of that with our existing program until uh council made a decision to expand it um but we are ready to go uh to get the word out thank you and and just to add on the other question about delaying I I find this for example the I Street Bridge or the the light any any of our projects any construction projects the material cost is going up significantly and you know just being able to pay for those doing the work um is going is is going up as well so the quicker we can get some of these projects done the better it is for the cost in the you know to to avoid the higher cost in the future okay yes thank you um so raising utility rates it's I mean it's not a decision I take lightly it's difficult to be in this position um but maintaining safe reliable infrastructure isn't just an option it's our responsibility and we're not just talking about clean water earlier in the presentation you talked about actual physical damage to our community and sinkholes and um things that could take lives if this isn't taken care of um while I appreciate you know the COVID times and us being really cautious of funding during then um you know the staff report speaks specifically to us you know wanting to maintain low rates but not being able to keep up with fanative maintenance and then things cost twice as much and if we kick this can any further down the road it's just going to continue to get worse.

And so you know very aware how this is going to impact our community I think um the work that has been done on the uh rate assistance programs um are great and the additional outreach for that I think is going to be really important and I look forward to coming back and revisiting that and seeing how how it's working and if we're if we're if we're doing it correctly and we're meeting our residents where they're at okay well I I do want to say I appreciate the residents taking the time to come and present their concerns and if we didn't address your your any concerns we'd be happy to follow up with you as we take even what's happening in action tonight we are still interested in hearing from you and you know provide any clarification on the justification.

We we get a chance to spend time listening to everything and you know meeting with staff and and digging in a little deep a little deeper um we don't arrive at this decision as Merrill Protem Sopezio Hall explained I think we took a lot of time during various points in time we we do tours of what's happening at the water treatment plant and um you know various projects so that we can totally understand some of the costs and the and um and also listen to staff as they explain um sometimes things are overdue and um these type of um investments are I think overdue and much needed um so with that we we'd like for you to be familiar with that and we are available to have those discussions with you because um I know it's gonna be a hardship and it's gonna be challenging as we as we implement this and so with that we have a resolution 26-23 regarding written objections I'll accept a motion to approve that early moves second all right madam clerk um council member early moved and council member I'll call a second please call the role council member council member early aye mayor pro temps will peace your hall aye mayor grero aye all right we're gonna close the public hearing and recess for how long do we need to recess?

Councilmember O'Coller.

Council Member Early.

Five, ten minutes.

And why should I start like luckily?

But it was like a visual actually.

That's a great important idea.

Give them a free uh play the Westway one if you park in the parking garage, buy your ticket.

So great ideas.

I want a piece of chocolate.

Oh and I'm on the mic.

So one of the things in our um for Gemma.

Very low interference.

All right.

All right.

We got two more steps left to go.

I'll bring in bringing it back.

All right.

Council is back.

And the meeting will reconvene.

I will now ask the city everybody if you can please take your seats and lower your voice so we can hear the outcome.

That the city clerk will announce the final protest count.

The final protest count was 195.

Thank you.

If the number of valid protests received is fewer than 8, 89 protests, which represents a majority of the affected parcels, the s the council may proceed with consideration of the proposed water and sewer rate adjustments.

So at this time I will bring the matter back to the council for discussion regarding the protest results and the proposed rates.

Bringing it back for discussion.

Any comments.

And Councilmember Early seconded.

Early seconds.

Sorry.

Councilmember O'Cala.

Aye.

Councilmember Early.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Silpizio Hall.

Aye.

Mayor Guerrero.

Aye.

Thank you.

That this is now approved.

And now we will consider the proposed revisions to the rate assistance program.

Thank you.

I don't have a resolution for it, but um I would love if you would uh take a vote.

Um I thank you.

Okay, move the recommended action.

Oh council member o'cala moved.

I'll second.

And mayor for Temple Pizza Hold second, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember O'Callala.

Aye.

Councilmember Early.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tim Sulpicio Hall.

Aye.

Mayor Guerrero.

Aye.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Mayor.

Oh yes.

Um council member, do you have a request?

Yes, I do.

I'd like um the reconsideration of our consent agenda vote.

So that uh the mayor may add her vote to this agenda.

All right, we have one council member who just walked off and I would like for her to return before we all right.

We'll take a minute.

Uh oh, there you are.

Oh, that's fine.

Don't judge me.

I'm sorry.

Did you hear that uh request?

Okay, well.

Council member?

Okay.

Um so my mail screen for reconsideration of the consent agenda vote.

So that the mayor has an opportunity to vote on that as well.

Oh did you want to pull something?

I just it reconsideration of the consent agenda so that I can so that I can vote.

And we just need a vote um just so that I can add my vote into the consultant agent.

So if you'd like us to clarify the process for that.

Yes, please.

Yeah, so I we researched it in the council procedure, so for reconsideration, it it uh well read it literally.

Reconsideration of an item shall be allowed in accordance with the following council guidelines.

Upon is discouraged.

However, request will be considered by a majority vote of the council.

A motion for reconsideration must be made by a member of the prevailing majority when the previous vote was taken.

So it would be a motion made by one of the three of you that voted on it previously.

That's all.

I would just like to vote in and be add my vote for the consent agenda.

Okay.

I second.

Second.

Go ahead.

Councilman.

I don't support that motion.

Well, I will second it and then we will.

It's just to add my name for the consent agenda, just to say I voted aye for it.

I mean you didn't vote no.

No, I'm not voting no.

I mean it's just right.

Okay.

So Madame Clerk, I second it, please call the roll.

Councilmember O'Caller.

Aye.

Councilmember Early.

No.

Council.

Mayor Pro Tim Sil PZO Hall.

No.

Mayor Guerrero.

Aye.

All right.

The motion fails.

The motion fails.

I just want to add that I just wanted to vote aye for the consent agenda.

And it wasn't anything objectionable that I wanted to raise.

All right.

And just for the record, I did want to vote aye for that.

If we can add that as part of the minutes, Madame Clerk, to include that it's part of the minutes that I wanted to vote aye for the consent agenda.

But the motion that was recommended by Councilmember Alcala and seconded by me was rejected.

I'll record all of that in the minutes, Madam Mayor.

Thank you so much.

Next is agenda item 13, public hearing and consideration of first reading of ordinance 26-1.

Amending Title 8, Health and Safety.

We did that and you were out.

We actually did that.

So yes, so we're moving.

We can vote to 14.

Next item is agenda item 14 under community development is a public hearing in consideration of first reading of ordinance 26-3, repealing and reenacting chapter 5.12 of the City of West Sacramento Municipal Code related to massage businesses.

And Ms.

Katie Rogers, I do want to add um one comment here that for item 14, we have a mandarin translator, and people can get a remote receiver.

Madame Clerk, where's the remote receiver from the box on the side of the room?

For anybody who's speaking mandarin, I don't know if I can achieve that.

Anyone who needs the translation, we have a remote receiver.

Um is there a mandarin translator here?

Can you come up and to to explain that to anybody so I can make sure everybody understands that that opportunity?

They do they all have the remote receiver.

Oh, great.

Okay, thank you.

Just want to make sure they do.

All right.

Thank you so much for mentioning that.

Okay.

Good evening, Mayor.

Mayor Pro Ten, members of the city council.

My name is Katie Rogers.

I'm a senior analyst with the community development department.

And joining me tonight is Daniel Baruman, also with community development, uh senior planner.

So tonight we're presenting a proposed update to a portion of chapter 5.12 of the municipal code, which regulates massage businesses within the city.

The ordinance before you would repeal the current chapter and replace it with an updated set of regulations intended to better reflect current state law and modern business practices.

As you mentioned, I did also want to mention, you know, we do have mandarin translation that we arranged tonight for anyone that wishes to speak at the podium or uh make public comment.

There we go.

The purpose of tonight's item is to request City Council consideration of ordinance 26-3, which would adopt a revised regulatory framework for massage businesses operating in the city, of which there are currently 12.

The proposed update focuses on a few primary objectives.

First, it modernizes a section of the municipal code that has not been significantly updated in many years.

Second, it aligns the city's regulations with the current statewide certification system for massage practitioners.

And third, it provides clear standards and oversight tools for massage establishments operating locally.

The city's current massage ordinance dates back several decades and reflects a regulatory structure that is no longer consistent with how the profession is regulated today.

For example, the code uses terminology such as massage parlors, which is no longer commonly used and does not reflect modern industry standards.

The existing ordinance also includes an internal business permitting and application review structure that is outdated and does not reflect standard practices by other local government agencies.

Additionally, the existing ordinance predates the creation of the California Massage Therapy Council, which now plays a central role in certifying massage practitioners statewide.

Because of these changes, portions of the current code are outdated, and some provisions are difficult to apply or force enforce effectively.

Updating the ordinance allows the city to modernize the chapter and align it with the current regulatory environment.

The proposed ordinance introduces several key policy updates, which we'll dig into over the next few slides.

One of the most important changes is the requirement that all massage practitioners operating within the city hold certification from the California Massage Therapy Council.

In addition, massage establishments would be required to abstain obtain a city issued massage business permit, in addition to maintaining the standard business license.

The ordinance also establishes clear operational standards for businesses and introduces a formal inspection program that allows the city to verify compliance with those requirements over time.

These updates will help create clear expectations for business operators and provide the city with a more structured system for oversight.

At the state level, massage therapists are regulated through the California Massage Therapy Council, also commonly referred to as the CAMTC.

The CAMTC is responsible for certifying practitioners and ensuring that individuals meet minimum training and educational standards.

The organization also conducts background checks and maintains certification records for practitioners throughout the state.

By requiring CAMTC certification, the city can rely on this established statewide system to confirm practitioner qualifications, such as background checks, legitimacy of schooling establishments, and verification of training hours received, rather than attempting to regulate individual licensing locally.

This allows the city to focus primarily on regulating the business operations of massage establishments, while practitioner certification will be handled at the state level.

Another key component of the ordinance is the creation of a massage business permit issued by the city.

This permit would be required for any business operating as a massage establishment within the city limits.

This permit process allows the city to confirm that businesses are meeting all applicable requirements, including proper certification of practitioners, valid business licensing, and compliance with local operational standards.

The permit application and renewal process would also provide a clear mechanism for addressing violations if they occur, including the ability to suspend or revoke permits if a business repeatedly fails to comply with city regulations.

The ordinance also establishes a number of operational standards intended to promote consistent business practices and protect public health and safety.

These standards include defined hours of operation, requirements related to sanitation and hygiene, and procedures for maintaining clean facilities and properly sterilized equipment.

The ordinance also requires transparency for customers by ensuring that services and pricing are clearly posted, and it establishes record keeping requirements so that businesses maintain service records for a specified period of approximately two years.

Additionally, the ordinance clarifies that massage establishments must operate strictly as commercial businesses and may not be used for any residential or sleeping purposes.

To support the operational standards, the ordinance establishes a structured inspection program for massage establishments, which will be overseen by the city's code enforcement division.

And actually, it will be modeled similar to the existing Moto Hilltill inspection program.

Through this program, the city would conduct periodic inspections to verify that businesses are operating in compliance with certification requirements, sanitation standards, and other operational provisions contained in the ordinance.

This inspection program helps create a consistent oversight process and provides the city with an opportunity to identify potential issues and work with businesses to address them before they become larger problems.

Thank you so much, Katie.

As part of the ordinance update, we really emphasized involving the community, the massage business community.

We held on-site visits with all the 11 existing massage businesses at that time.

We contacted neighboring businesses to ensure that we addressed any issues or potential problems where massages live were and are located.

And we held a community meeting on May 22nd, 2025 with translation services in Mandarin and Spanish also was also available.

And we had really good representation from the massage business community.

We had attendees from every massage business at that time, which were 11.

And it was a productive meeting for the massage business to really understand what this ordinance was all about.

For full transparency, we did make changes to the ordinance because it was a draft at that time.

So the ordinance that you see today is a little bit different from what was presented back in May of 2025.

We've had ongoing communication with the CEMTC.

And we've had Beverly May, who of the C M T C actually review the ordinance.

And based on her review, she actually mentioned that this could be a model for other ordinance or jurisdictions in the future.

Um to provide a letter of support, uh, which is an attach uh is is noted as attachment three in your packet.

Now we understand that not all businesses will be able to on day one meet uh certain CMTC certification requirements.

So we established uh an amortization or compliance transition period for existing massage businesses.

And this is illustrated in the um in the slide above, where you can see um the a three-step process.

I'll go through that.

Um first, they have to have had a valid business license at the time of the effective ordinance.

They must be providing massage services at the time of the effective ordinance, and they must apply within 60 days of the effective date of the ordinance.

Number two, that eight-month transition period.

Practitioners must be able to take the courses and classes needed to get CEMP certified.

However, businesses must still comply with the other operational requirements of the effective ordinance.

And at the end of the eighth month, all massage practitioners must be CEMP certified.

There are no exceptions.

So in the future, after the effective eight, all massage businesses must be C EMT certified.

Practitioners say.

Now there are a few exemptions to this ordinance.

Um there are some licensed professionals that would not have to abide by this, just doesn't apply.

And these can be seen here.

I'll go through that.

Licensed medical and therapy professionals, for example, chiropractors, licensed barbers of beauticians, hospitals and health care facilities, and athletic trainers and educational institutions.

Uh so with that, staff is respectfully requesting city council to find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, uh section 15061B3, the common sense exemption, and conduct the first reading of ordinance 46-3.

I title a number only, repealing and reenacting chapter 5.12 of the West Sacramento Municipal Code related to massage businesses.

With that, um, we are happy to take any questions.

Thank you so much, Daniel Katie.

Bringing it back to council for questions.

Any questions?

Nope, open it up for public comment, Madame Clerk.

Are there any requests to speak?

And I would like to um see, we have uh two, so we can give you um six minutes, which three minutes will be allocated for the initial um if it's in Mandarin, three minutes for the original language, and then three minutes for the translation to English, so that we may understand if that is necessary for the speaker.

And even go ahead, Madame Clerk.

Sorry.

If it's just English, then we just need three minutes for that English um speaking person.

Nita Minis.

Minius, even good evening.

Um Madam Mayor, Council members, appreciate this opportunity to address you with a few comments that I have.

And I this evening I found staff to be very helpful.

Um I think most of them are kind of aware of what my uh issues are.

Um you may have received from me.

Uh I sent out on March 10th uh my initial reply to to the um my response to the ordinance uh 25-8.

When I arrived here this evening, I found that um a number of my questions were answered.

And so um uh the good thing about that is I just have three main three remaining issues that I wanted to bring to your attention.

Um initially, uh it appears as though when 5 uh.12 was established.

Um it the title of it was uh massage parlors.

Um I have a major problem with the word um uh parlors.

Um mainly first of all because uh in my adult life I've had very positive experiences receiving massage therapy.

Um indeed the uh massage therapy act, which was effective one of this year.

I hope you've had the opportunity to look at it, and if not, that you will.

Um uh the act affirms that massage therapy when provided by a CAMTC certified professional, is considered health care in California rather than adult entertainment or a personal service.

It reinforces massage therapies, therapeutic role, strengthens medical legitimacy, reduces stigma and harmful regulation, supports professional respect.

And in that light, I do not regard the word parlor as being respectful to people who provide massage therapy in the way that it's it's meant to do.

So I respectfully request that you have staff amend that to massage therapy businesses.

Or certainly something that's um doesn't hearken back to a time when parlors meant something else.

And I think we all understand what that is.

Um initially um the um oh gosh.

I hope you you um change the aspect of the three thousand dollars per employee.

No employee has to pay three thousand dollars to work.

That's part of the permitting process, and also that you have future items published in Mandarin.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Guy Stevenson First, I'd like to say that uh I'm not saying all massage parlors are bad, but come on.

It don't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they do in those businesses.

It's human trafficking.

And I would say that part, you know, because a lot of them are Chinese, they get a work visa from China sponsored by the owners of these massage parlors, bring them here, and they have to commit for two years, saying, okay, well, and then they take their ID, they take their passport.

So they're locked in.

A lot of people stay in these massage parlors at work there, they sleep there.

I am totally, totally against human trafficking.

And I don't like the way the women are treated, but that's how they get them here.

They get them here, they sponsor them, they get a special work visa, they come here and they're locked in.

How do I know this?

Because I've talked to a couple of the Chinese girls at work in these places.

I'm not saying all of them are bad at all.

You know, maybe 15% of the massage parties are legit.

The rest of them is just uh it's a front for prostitution.

You go in there, pay this, and you're gonna give them extra money.

What do you think's gonna happen?

They're not playing checkers, you know what I mean?

There's there's criminal activity.

Then you get them in these little strip malls, and it affects their business because you have cars going in and are all hours and they stay open late.

Do I like these massage parlors here in West Sack?

Absolutely not, because it's 647B.

I don't care how you look at it, that's prostitution.

And that's what it is.

You'll go in there and they'll say this, then they'll want this and you pay for it.

It's it's it everybody knows that.

The the police should know that.

The people that are around these businesses, they draw a lot of negative attention.

And they don't regulate them, they don't regulate them like they should.

Because what'll happen is they'll close down, you bust them, they close down, they open up another one, they change the business name.

So they bounce around, they just pop up everywhere.

And if you continue to let them work over here, you're gonna go from 15 to 30.

As soon as they find a vacant building near a business, they're gonna propose to get a license from the city and open up.

And they may have been closed up across in Sacramento, they may have gotten in trouble over there and closed them up.

Well, hell, we'll just go to West Sacramento, open one up there.

Yeah, I'm totally against it.

And I've I know that they have a human trafficking team in Sacramento.

There's two detectives and one to sergeant that has to look over these businesses.

That's what they need to do over here.

And one last thing, they don't have enough code enforcement people to regulate these businesses.

They're out of control, and they shouldn't be near churches at all or schools.

So have a good night, Lee.

Take care.

Thank you.

We have no additional requests to speak on this item.

All right, bringing it um closing the public hearing, bringing it back to our council.

Are there any questions?

Among the council members.

Can I just quick clarifying question?

Sure, Mayor Produce PZ.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

It's $3,000 for the business, and that is set in our book of fees.

That is correct.

Okay.

Thank you.

If I may, I should clarify that that is a $3,000 deposit.

So should the staff time be less than $3,000?

Um, the business is entitled to a refund of that money.

Oh, okay.

That's great.

Thank you.

That's helpful.

Yeah, deposit.

Okay, great.

Council member.

Uh so then two two questions.

One follow-up to that.

Um, what would what would the average cost in in your guys' um I think estimation be, right?

So yes, it could be up to 3,000.

I'm assuming 3,000 would be the max.

What do you imagine being either the average or like on a low?

And that's a great question.

I mean, certainly we have not finished processing any of these yet.

Um, but when the city did, or our department, I should say, we did a comprehensive book of fee update the end of last year, which was um enacted for November 1st of last year.

Um, we worked alongside with a consultant that looked at the staff time, who would be processing it, how long it would take, and came up with that figure as what the expected cost would be for staff time.

Okay, so it could be up to 3,000, but 3,000, it'll likely be in the ballpark, actually, is what we're hearing.

That is the expectation, correct.

Okay, all right.

That's that um is helpful.

Um one of the things we heard from public comment is code enforcement.

So let's say that we have a business open up that doesn't have a certification.

Um I know that we've gotten to experience our code enforcement and learning about code enforcement quite a bit this past year, um, and that they operate mostly on um if someone calls, then they respond.

Is that gonna be the same case here?

Certainly, if there are complaints made through the typical process, code enforcement would go out at any time to address those concerns.

But by passing this ordinance, we are implementing an actual inspection program that will be conducted approximately yearly, unless there's violations that need to be re-inspected or readdressed.

So if you're familiar with the existing motel hotel inspection program, they do go out on a regular basis and they have essentially a checklist of things associated with the existing municipal code that they're looking for.

And it would be just the same way with massage inspections.

So just to make sure that I'm I'm keeping up with this.

Um so let's say, as like I said, we heard in public comment, a business opens up and they don't get the proper certifications.

Um would it then be that we randomly throughout the year would then go and if we see a business open up that gives any indication that they are a massage therapy service, um, then we would do a spot check or would we check and our records?

Is this place licensed, or how would that work?

Yeah, I mean, by filing the massage business permit applications, we're going to know which businesses are operating in this city.

And they're essentially if they don't.

If they don't, well, then that would be an administrative process where they would go through a typical code enforcement process.

Um there would be violations against the municipal code.

So what you're hearing from me is um the way that our code enforcement currently works is there's only a violation if someone calls on them.

And so what you're also hearing me ask is if no one calls, how are we maintaining um this particular oversight?

Hi, I'm Andrea Ouse and the director of community development.

Um what they would do is through the annual inspection program, they would assert, okay, um, if there are violations, then those violations would need to be abated and would require reinspections.

Now, if uh as you're suggesting there's a new business that just comes in and sets up shop.

Yes.

Then which could be a thing.

It could be a thing.

Yeah.

And we would get on it immediately as soon as we recognize that it's a completely illegal, unpermitted business.

And it's a rare occasion when that happens, but it it occasionally happens.

And so we go out and we stop work if there's any construction work being done without permits.

Um if there's any operational aspects, if they hang an open sign and they're open for business, we would stop them.

Um so in fact, we have businesses currently that we are enforcing right now and stopping work on uh because they don't have a business license, they don't have proper permitting, etc.

Could you, Andrea, could you explain to me how that works?

And so meaning they don't have a proper business license or something along those lines.

Did someone report them to you?

Or I I'm just trying to better understand the process.

Usually it's somebody with eyes on the street and saying, Oh, I didn't know there was a an ex-business there.

Um, and they'll call us and then we we go out and act.

And I think it there is an important distinction to make too, and Andrew, you can help me with this.

Uh when we talk about code enforcement being complaint driven, you know, we're talking about in the classic sense of um someone has a fence that's too high and a neighbor reports it to the city, and we we have an obligation then to go investigate and respond.

There are other times and other important functions of a code enforcement division where they're supporting the business license division and the building department, uh, where you know um we we become aware through one channel or another that there's work happening, whether it's construction or business activity that is that is not permitted, and it does fall on code enforcement at that point to get the report, whether it's from uh someone in the public or one of our own staff that becomes aware of it.

Um so when we talk about complaint-driven code enforcement, it's it's typically the stuff in the field that is kind of an a neighbor or a passerby reporting something to us.

But there are other forms of it where it's it's generally brought to our awareness because of a building issue or a unlicensed business.

Thank you very much, um, Aaron.

I I think that was at least for me my main concern is that part of what we are doing here is trying to update the ordinance, but also trying to make sure that every that these businesses are operating in a way that are safe, up to code.

Um I do agree this is a um a health function that is being performed, and we want to make sure that the proper oversight is being maintained.

And and with that in mind, I want to make sure that we have the capacity to actually enforce that because I do think this is important.

And so that's why I was trying to better understand this process.

Thank you.

Council member I'll call it.

Right.

I I do have two questions.

Um is how many of these businesses are there in West Sacramento?

Maybe I missed it.

There's currently 12.

12, okay.

And if we had code enforcement come in, what kind of responsibilities do they have?

Someone mentioned something about a human trafficking.

I mean, would they be required to report that type of activity?

I mean, how can you really make the distinction?

What are we putting on our code enforcement people?

So they're going to be looking for things that are listed in the municipal code, and it does outline all the operational standards that we're looking for.

Should they see any evidence of crime?

Certainly we'd be working with our partners, partners with the police department to address those potential concerns.

Okay.

Thank you.

Oh, council member, you have a watchful eye.

I think your legal background contributed to that.

Um I do want to add a little more in addition to that to human trafficking prevention.

What type of activities do we have in in our city to um provide intervention, outreach?

Umong vulnerable areas here in West Sacramento, where I think giving that opportunity to somebody who is being, you know, undergoing human trafficking to be able to access support.

Chief.

Given we're we're a major league baseball town now, that happens to be the case.

It'll increase the potential for that to happen.

Yeah, I can speak to things that are in place currently.

So we have uh several of our staff, really most of our staff that are uh trained in identifying characteristics associated with behaviors associated with uh likely human trafficking, and we definitely have discovered cases of it uh in our work in the city.

Um additionally, I think what uh well additionally we have we're supporters in a grant through the DA's office that they have um specially trained victim advocates in human trafficking.

It's a different, a different sort of um beast, if you will.

Um and so it takes specialized care to really help carry victims through processes and try to get them out of that life.

And um, so it's complex and it takes people that have that that skill set, so we partner with them on that as well.

So those things are already in place, but I think it's important to know that all of our staff are also um really attuned to this.

We recognize that we're in a corridor with I-80 and I-5 for all kinds of trafficking, uh, and that's just part of the reality uh of where we are situated.

We also have this relationship with code enforcement, so we will get calls from them, not necessarily just when they're arriving, but sometimes when there's enough information being provided to them that that arouses suspicion of those types of activities where we'll partner to make some of these visits, um both for staff safety, but also so we can put our our more trained eye on these these matters.

And I will say the other part of this, as far as even reporting on licensed businesses, um, I think a lot of times the source of that information is going to be from legitimate licensed businesses.

They recognize that they want a level playing field.

And so they often have an interest in making sure we know when things pop up.

Good.

Do do um do we have resources for providing shelter and um so confidential?

You're saying we do.

I just want to hear a little more specifics.

Yeah, we do um through some of our partners when we look at it through the lens of sex assault, domestic violence, shelters, a lot of those um general categories apply to human trafficking as well.

So there's opportunities for sheltering and emergency sheltering.

Okay, great, thank you.

Yes.

Appreciate that.

All right.

Um if there are no questions, I'll accept a motion for this item.

So moved.

Early second.

Okay.

Council member will call a move.

Council member early second and Madame Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Councilmember O'Callet.

I council member Early.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tim Silpisi Oh.

Aye.

Mayor Guerrero.

I next under general administration function part two.

Do we have any reports from the council assignments?

I have yes, council member early.

Okay, great.

Um, I've had uh I said to I actually have three um meetings to report out on our I said on the housing authority, um, and we adopted our uh mid-annual budget, just an update, and then also heard um about uh just what is happening at the federal level uh with funding for our public housing and more um just an update uh to continue to be mindful and watchful um of the impact of of what's happening there and more to come really was uh what we heard on that front.

Um I also sit on the YOLO Transportation uh district, and we received a uh workshop actually on our budget.

Um this was uh something that we asked for uh last year, um uh a series of workshops, and this was the last of that series regarding um how our budget is made, uh, where the dollars come from, decisions made on that.

Um and uh it was really really really helpful to actually see where the dollars come from and how they how they are allocated to West Sacramento specifically.

And so that meeting was actually recorded.

I would highly recommend if you are into budgeting and fascinated about transportation and our public transportation here in West Sacramento to go take a look um at it.

Uh that doesn't happen often that a transportation district actually goes into that level of detail of how their budget is created.

Um, and then I also sit on the Capital Area Region Regional Tolling Authority, and so I had that meeting um I think earlier today, actually, um, in which we are um going through hiring our executive director.

Um, and so uh what we what I can report out on that is that we hope um that our uh first um executive director ever for the Capital Area Regional Tolling Authority uh will start on July 1st.

And so more to come there too.

Just to clarify, so the search happened, so you have somebody that the search is happening right now.

Yes, which is why I can't give more details.

Okay.

Thank you for that update.

I have an update.

Mayor for Tem.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

On March 5th, the Yellow County Executive Commission to address homelessness meant uh update uh in January.

We had our point in time count.

And as at our March 5th meeting, uh the county was still calculating all the numbers and did not want to release any preliminary information until everybody was on the same page of what the numbers were.

And so we're expecting to have the numbers at our next executive commission meeting, which will be in two months.

Uh, but those will be released.

Um, the county's plan to end homelessness is in update, and I want to thank multiple members of the West Sacramento City staff for attending that meeting.

It was held here in West Sacramento.

There was, I think, a two-hour SWOT analysis, and so um made sure to have our experts that are on the ground in the room um adding uh their thoughts to that process.

Um and then something else that I brought it up a couple probably a year or so ago, but um the commission to address homelessness had given BACs Bay Area Community Services about three million dollars to purchase properties to repurpose for housing.

And the West Sacramento property, uh, they're expecting it to be complete in late May or June.

Um there was some feedback from my um colleagues on that commission of the timeline about how long it has taken for that to happen.

And so that feedback was shared with everyone.

What was really interesting about um how they repurpose homes uh is that the cost per unit comes out to be about 121,000 per unit compared to 500,000 a unit in new construction.

So the numbers are convincing there, but the timeline's not been great.

But 23 um uh uh units will be cre will be created.

They're not room and board, you live with roommates, you have a shared bathroom.

It's uh more of considered like a social co-op living.

And so um we've asked to stay up to date on that.

Um but the property in West Sacramento is let's see, full construction, fill bug on our construction uh begins March 30th.

And so our staff is um aware of the property and about how the um placement in the housing will be, and so um our staff on the ground is um watching that very closely.

So that's my update.

I have done this time, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Calla.

Uh Council Callender.

No report tonight.

All right.

City manager report.

Uh yeah, it's just a couple of quick notes on uh follow-up on items tonight.

Uh first, uh, she didn't mention that was uh Katie Rogers long-time employee first time presentation at council.

So nice job there.

Okay, the thank you.

Um I wanted to follow up on the Bright Park item.

There it's uh as you know, the school district is our partner on that.

Um we are waiting on the final action from their board to approve the purchase agreement that uh you have previously approved.

Um I can confirm as of this afternoon that they are having a special meeting tomorrow uh with other topics as well.

Um our item, the part the purchase sale agreement and the priority use agreement are both on their recommended for approval.

Uh so that's tomorrow night at 5 30, I think over the district office.

So just wanted to make you aware of that.

So I know you've you've been tracking it.

Um and and I think it goes without saying that you know that project, um, given uh the legacy of work that's gone into that, it was a monumental thing to get it approved.

And I just want to both uh thank the council and acknowledge you, but also the people that are here, um, starting with uh Kate and Tracy who have been on this as parks directors in their time, uh very focused on it in Jay Chahal, uh who's pro whose department's gonna be carrying it out.

So lots of other staff involved, but uh didn't want I'd be remiss if I didn't at least acknowledge uh them in the context of that item tonight.

So thank you.

And I just want to acknowledge Councilmember Alcala, who's been a champion for this from you know, the beginning of time, you know.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I I want to actually acknowledge all the help we've gotten from you.

And actually the person and the organization who brought you know the necessity of upgrading um the park for us.

She passed away, her name is Sheryl Castorina.

Fabulous activist here in uh West Sacramento.

And um, and our Lulike organization that we had in West Sacramento.

That's where everything started and got the ball rolling.

So a lot of people involved.

Thank you.

Yeah, I think it was 10 years ago in the master plan effort.

Right.

Plus 10 plus years ago.

We we actually looked at the master plan uh 2011 was when um the Bright Park Master Plan was on our strategic agenda.

And and what I want to what I want to also say appreciate the advocacy, not only from Councilmember Aquila, um, but also really the whole council, right?

Because this would not be possible without all of us voting, advocating and pushing it forward to make sure that it wasn't just a partial design, but we all said no, this is something that we want to see move forward, and I think it's something we all agreed on and said this is important to us.

Um so I I just kudos to all of us because we are so proud to be able to give this to our entire community.

This is a park that every single member with children or families, whether they're in Broadwick or Bright or Southport, are going to be able to utilize.

And I, for one, am so excited to see it move forward.

Absolutely.

And I want to mention one more group, the Broad Bright Neighborhood Association with Rhonda Morning Star.

I mean, they were out there, you know, having petitions signed and all.

So it was really an effort by all of West Sacramento.

Yep.

There was yeah, I'm sorry, that that that's my report.

I just wanted to uh highlight that item and and mainly the district will really take the the clincher step tomorrow, we hope.

So uh we'll make sure you get that confirmation once it happens.

Thank you.

Thank you.

City attorney report.

Nothing to report.

Um I I do have a request for staff.

Um we have a holiday named after someone that I'd like it changed.

And um please provide some direction on changing Caesar Chavez holiday to anything else.

Right.

So we're we're definitely um have been aware of um the need to address that situation.

I think when we look at the city's um you know role in that, uh we we have in our probably our personnel roles and our holiday schedule, those are probably the only references that that we have locally, and we will generalize those terms um as soon as possible.

I think we could do all that at the staff level.

So that will be happening.

Thank you.

Any future agenda item requests?

I don't think I saw them in the binder, but none.

Okay.

All right, we are now adjourned.