AgdaPkt 2009-09-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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8A low turnover of properties and soft prices staff is not optimistic of a dramatirage 3 improvement for FY 2010/11. Being prepared for a potential further decrease in property taxes is deemed prudent at this time. Additionally, with the increases in commercial office vacancies, staff is concerned that the City may experience reductions in assessed valuations for some of the properties in this category, which will further impact FY 2010/11 property taxes. Parkina Fund For FY 2008/09, parking fund revenues (excluding the transfer from the general fund) totaled $855,000 which is 8.50/0 or $80,000 less than the $935,000 that was budgeted. Expenditures totaled $1,970,000 which is $89,000 or 4.7% greater than budgeted. The net effect of the foregoing on the general fund will be a $1.1 million transfer from the general fund to the parking fund for FY 2008/09. This is about $200,000 higher than the amount budgeted. Parkina Citations I ncluded in the FY 2009/10 proposed budget was a recommendation to increase parking fines by $5.00 to offset the cost of the increased surcharges on parking violations applied by the State as of January 1, 2009. Without this increase in the fine amount, the general fund will lose about $75,000 annually in parking fine revenues. The Council accepted this recommendation and directed staff to bring this matter to the Council for consideration after the budget was adopted. Staff has not yet returned for final Council action on this cost recovery adjustment. (See related option below) FIVE-YEAR PROJECTIONS In light of the state's actions, the continued uncertainty about the economy, inflationary trends, and the probability of additional takeaways by the State, staff recommends that the Council accept staff's modifications to five-year revenue and expenditure projections. Note that staff is regarding the Proposition 1-A "borrowing" as a take, and any repayment of part or all of the $2.9 million is not shown as future one-time revenue. (See Attachment 1 - Five- Year Projections, Sept. 2009 Revision - Sheet 2, "Post State take-a ways" OPTIONS FOR CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION 1. Take action in October for a timely response to the State's actions in order to mitigate increased use of reserves in the short-term, while the organization continues to explore long-term opportunities to balance revenues and expenditures. To that end, the Executive Team has compiled a list of additional expenditure reductions that total $2.8 million across all departments. (See Attachment 2 - Detail of Recommended Programmatic Changes) Should the Council direct staff to implement the full list of reductions in October, the net effect on the general fund would be an estimated savings of $1.45 million in the second half of the fiscal year. Therefore, an additional $1.45 million of reserves will be required to balance the budget before June 30,2010. As part of this option - and to close the estimated gap between expenditure reductions and the State take-away - Council would need to direct staff to raise parking citation rates by a total of $10.00, including an additional $5.00 (on top of