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6.C. - Page 51 of 196 <br />City of Redwood City <br />Management's Discussion and Analysis <br />For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 <br />PRIVATE PURPOSE TRUST FUND DEBT <br />On February 1, 2012, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Redwood City was dissolved pursuant to <br />California State law, and as of that date, the long-term debt associated with the former Redevelopment <br />Agency was transferred to a private purpose trust fund for the Successor Agency. At June 30, 2020, the <br />Successor Agency had tax allocation bonds outstanding in the amount of $4S.6 million, including principal <br />and interest. <br />ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND NEXT FISCAL YEARS BUDGET <br />During FY 2019-20, the local economy was confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to business <br />closures and job losses. As a result of numerous stay-at-home orders, the City is experiencing losses in <br />most revenue sources, as well as increased expenditures in order to protect residents and staff from <br />COVID-19. Although the City continues to be impacted by the reduction of sales tax and other related <br />revenues associated with the numerous stay-at-home orders due to the worldwide pandemic, the City is <br />committed to the "Three R's": Respond, Restore, and Reimagine. The City is well positioned to continue <br />to proactively manage the financial challenges that lie ahead. By constantly monitoring financial operating <br />results of the City, staff can provide relevant information to management and the City Council to ensure <br />that all financial decisions are made with key financial data that includes actual amounts and financial <br />projections. <br />Redwood City, like many cities, relies heavily upon property taxes and sales taxes to finance general <br />governmental activities. In FY 2019-20 these two revenue streams accounted for approximately 41% and <br />20% of general fund revenues, respectively. In FY 2019-20, the City continued to experience steady growth <br />in secured property tax revenue, with an increase of 7.0% in the general fund. The increase in property <br />tax revenue is attributed to the turnover of real estate properties and steady housing market. General <br />fund sales tax revenue increased by 25.8%, which is primarily due to the passage of Measure RR, a half - <br />cent sales tax increase that was passed by the voters in November 2018 and became effective on April 1, <br />2019. In FY 2019-20, the City collected $10.3 million of this new revenue source. The City has budgeted <br />$9.6 million of this new revenue source to be collected in FY 2020-21. This additional annual sales tax <br />revenue will contribute towards the long-term fiscal sustainability of the City, along with other measured <br />steps the City has implemented in the past to address escalating pension costs and other funding <br />commitments. <br />The original recommended FY 2020-21 budget, developed during the early stages of the pandemic, was <br />considered a status -quo budget, with FY 2019-20 budget amounts rolled forward to FY 2020-21, with only <br />minor required changes. A revised budget was proposed in October 2020, and adopted on October 26, <br />2020. This revised budget included updated assumptions, as more reliable financial information was able <br />to be used to forecast future revenues. <br />Without significant reductions in FY 2020-21, the forecast for the City of Redwood City operating budget, <br />recommended in June, was projected to run a deficit of $10.6 million, with future deficits ranging from <br />$7.0 million to $13.5 million for the coming decade. However, reductions in total expenditures were <br />implemented for the FY 2020-21 revised budget, adopted in October 2020, which now projects a general <br />fund budget deficit of $3.5 million, after the required reserve contribution of $546 thousand. It is <br />anticipated that the deficit will be balanced by a combination of increases to revenues, additional <br />reductions in expenditures, and utilizing a portion of the FY 2019-20 operating surplus. <br />19 138 <br />