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<br />Director Ponty showed more overheads and said the four main expenditure categories <br />were employee cost at 69%, supplies and services at 17%, Internal Services at 13%, and <br />Fixed Assets at 1%. He said that the Gann Appropriations Limit formula (amount of the <br />tax revenues a City receives that can be appropriated) established a limit of $61,736,000 <br />for Redwood City. Director Ponty advised that staff is requesting the Council to approve <br />appropriations of $37,939,943, an amount considerably less than the top limit. <br />Director Ponty used an overhead to show a Five Year General Fund Projection summary <br />(Report, Roman Numerals 14 and 15) through 2002/03. He said that these figures <br />reflected a projected 4% increase in salaries and benefits, and all other city expenditures to <br />increase at 3% per year; property taxes and sales tax to increase at 4.5%, with other <br />revenues increasing at 3.5%. Director Ponty said these projections included the <br />commitment to CIP with $700,000 transferred from the General Fund each year. He said <br />the revenues were beginning to "reflect the decline in development revenues... as we reach <br />build out in the Redwood Shores area." He said these figures do not include the proposed <br />Pacific Shores Development. <br />Director Ponty said the Budgets were balanced in each of the next two Fiscal Years, and <br />beginning in the third year the projection was for a deficit of .96% in 2000/01, .85% in <br />2001102, and .72% in 2002/03. He said each of those figures represented less than one <br />percent of the General Fund, which is "very manageable." <br />City Manager Everett said that Director Ponty had done a great job in using strict <br />criteria to estimate projected revenues within 2%, the standard used to measure projected <br />budgets. He said, "If you use that 2% category, you basically are looking at somewhat of a <br />balanced Budget." City Manager Everett said that as 2000/01 approaches they would be <br />able to factor in the current economic indicators and make better and more accurate <br />estimates of revenues and expenditures. <br />In response to Council Member Leipzig's comments, City Manager Everett concurred <br />that if the future numbers were "2% off in a good direction" the projected deficits would <br />disappear, and if the opposite occurred, the projected deficits might double. <br />Director Ponty showed a graph of the sales tax received since 1994 through 1997 with <br />construction, food products, and miscellaneous holding firm, general retail rising slightly <br />by 1997, and transportation peaking in 1997 and then slightly declining due to the loss of <br />an automobile dealership. He said the sixth category, business to business services, now <br />the leading sales tax revenue producer, showed the most dramatic growth but, as evidenced <br />on the graph, was quite volatile. He said there were no economic models to explain or <br />predict business to business revenues. Director Ponty said that category was dominated by <br />a handful of businesses and the City was becoming quite dependent on that revenue. He <br />BUDGET STUDY SESSION MINUTE BOOK NO. 57 JUNE 29,1998 <br />MINUTES Page No. 008 PAGE 4 <br />