ABSTRACT: HIGHLIGHTS of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s $14,353,434 Draft 2008/09 Budget, as part of the City's 2008-2011 Triennial Budget, are presented. COMMENTS are made regarding the proposed Draft 2008/09 Budget. NOTES inform of the first Special City Council meeting on the proposed 2008-2011 Triennial Budget on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 @ 4:30 P.M.; members of the public can submit written questions about the Budget to the City until Tuesday, May 27, 2008. Contact information is provided, including emails.
On the Draft 2008/2009 Budget of $ 14,354,434:
• New Positions Result of "Organizational Changes:"
Forest, Beach and Public Services Director position will be created to oversee the Public Works, Forest Parks & Beach, and Building Maintenance divisions.
Administrative Manager/Deputy City Clerk
• Outsourced to Contractors:
Events coordination responsibilities of the former Community Services Director
Human Resources functions outsourced to Moreland and Associates
Computer Network outsourced to Interactive Computer Solutions
• For FY 2008/09, of a total of $515,000 for street projects, Prop 1B funds projects totaling $215,000 and $300,000 from Capital Improvement Reserve Fund, not FY 2008/09 General Fund. As Nichols Consulting Engineers recommended an annual expenditure for road maintenance of $660,000, the actual amount of $515,000 is $145,000 less than the recommended annual amount of $660,000.
Reference:
PUBLIC WORKS DEPT
Scenic Avenue Slurry Seal (PROP 1B $) $77,000
Ocean Avenue N/S Crosswalks (Junipero to M. Verde) (PROP 1B $) $55,000
Parking lot-Sunset Ctr, South Lot (PROP 1B $) $55,000
Carpenter to Junipero Slurry Seal (PROP 1B $) $28,600
Street and Road Projects based on Nichols Engineering Rpt $300,000
• The 2008/09 Budget Summary indicates Total Expenditures of $2,980,425 for Police and $1,741,807 for Fire. Note: The Expenditure for the Fire Department does not include Salary/Benefits for an additional Firefighter, as recommended by the Citygate Associates Fire Department Consolidation Feasibility Analysis for the Cities of Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel.
Reference:
Department/Division Salary/Benefits Materials/Services Total
Fire $1,079,398 $662,409 $1,741,807
Police $2,670,144 $310,281 $2,980,425
• The proposed FY 2008/09 Budget for FOREST, PARKS AND BEACH is $479,778 or $676.00 less than FY 2007/08 Budget.
Reference:
FOREST, PARKS AND BEACH
Revised FY 2007/08: $480,454
Revised FY 2008/09: $ 479,778
• Of the total $909,900 for Capital Improvements in FY 2008/09, $65,000 is allocated for the schematic phrase of the Forest Theater Master Plan-Design Work by theatre architect Richard McCann.
• The City Subsidy for the management of Sunset Center to Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. (SCC) is $713,000 for FY 208/09, $680,000 for FY 2009/10 and FY 2010/11. And Debt Service for the Sunset Theater for FT 2008/09 is $566,715.
• For Marketing & Economic Revitalization, the expenditure for FY 2008/09 is $325,030; never in the history of the City has that much been spent on "marketing and ecomomic revitalization."
• Since Grant Funds are not budgeted until received, only actual past amounts are shown. Actual Grant Funds for FY 2006/07 $110,767 and $0 for FY 2007/08.
Source: CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
CALIFORNIA
DRAFT BUDGET
FISCAL YEARS
2008/09 THROUGH 2010/11
COMMENTS:
• Overall, two themes emerge from a review of the City’s Budget:
1. More Centralized Power with the Mayor
More outsourcing to consultants and contractors means Mayor Sue McCloud, through the City Administrator, delegates less responsibilities to permanent city employees who have more allegiance and loyalty to the City and its residents than temporary, transient consultants and contractors. Unfortunately for residents, in the last eight years, outsourcing has occurred with the City failing to follow proper procedures (i.e. contracting with and issuing checks to consultants prior to contracts being approved at a City Council meeting), under the radar screen (contracts not bid and not placed on City Council agendas for public comments) and on a piecemeal basis (a study done here, another study done there, recommendations rarely implemented).
An important advantage of having permanent city employees vs. outsourced consultants and contractors is that permanent city employees accrue an institutional memory over time which allows then to see the big picture, prioritize and proactively address city issues earlier and more comprehensively.
Lastly, the City has failed to demonstrate and articulate to residents a consistent and comprehensive strategy involving the reasons for outsourcing, documented cost savings and outcomes measured qualitatively and quantitatively. Question: If outsourcing is such a good strategy for the City, then why doesn’t the City outsource the position of City Administrator?
2. Resident-Unfriendly Priorities
As examples, the underfunding of the Carmel Fire Department by an estimated $400,000 and Forest, Parks & Beach Department and overfunding “Marketing & Economic Revitalization,” another function outsourced to consultants.
And while the Capital Improvement Budget for FY 2008/09 represents “the most aggressive capital improvement plan since I arrived,” according to City Administrator Rich Guillen, the Capital Improvement Budget for street projects is $145,000 less than recommended by Nichols Consulting Engineers and highlights the lack of political and administrative leadership and will to budget for necessary street projects during the last eight years when monies where available.
• A Police Department Budget of $2,980,425 (plus Capital Outlays of $154,788) compared to a total Fire Department Budget of $1,741,807 (plus Capital Outlays $62,000), a difference of $1,331,406, at a time when the Fire Department is underfunded by approximately $400,000. Note: The Capital Outlay for a Fire Engine Type 1/3 lease obligation is not until FY 2009/10 at a proposed cost of $78,000.
• Many City projects “carried forward from Fiscal Year 2007/08,” including:
1. Fourth Avenue Riparian Habitat Project, which is anticipated to be completed by fall 2008.
2. General Plan Update, after the community survey has been circulated and evaluated. Projected completion date is December 2009.
3. Rewritten Historic Context Statement, which is expected to be reviewed in June and July 2008 by the appropriate Boards and the City Council.
4. Mission Trails Pedestrian Bridge, to be funded by a park district grant.
5. Forest Study implementation previously approved by the City Council.
NOTES:
• The first Special City Council meeting on the proposed 2008-2011 Triennial Budget is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10, 2008 @ 4:30 P.M. The Budget must be approved by July 1, 2008.
• Members of the public are encouraged to submit written questions about the Budget to the City; written questions will be accepted until Tuesday, May 27, 2008. Responses to questions are to be prepared by Friday, June 6, 2008, according to The Carmel Pine Cone.
• City Contacts:
Joyce Giuffre
Carmel-by-the-Sea Administrative Services Director
P.O.Box CC
Carmel-by-the-Sea,CA 93921
Tel:(831)620-2000
Fax:(831)620-2004
E-Mail: jgiuffre@ci.carmel.ca.us
Rich Guillen
Carmel-by-the-Sea City Administrator
P.O. Box CC
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921
Tel: (831) 620-2000
Fax: (831) 620-2004
E-Mail: rguillen@ci.carmel.ca.us
4 comments:
STOP! No costs for entertainment like the Forest Theater renovation until the Fire Dept. is satisfactorily budgeted for. Enough is enough! The city can budget $65,000 to the Forest Theater design but cannot budget $400,000 for public safety by staffing the Fire Dept. to minimum regulatory standards.
By the way, what is the Public Safety Director doing? He got a hefty raise for the police, but is silent and not able get anything for the firefighters. In terms of public safety, the police dept gets the lions share while the fire dept gets the leftover scraps.
Too many projects carried over, too much taxpayer money to tourist promotion and Sunset Center, too little money on the Carmel firefighters and the Fire Department and street projects. Why can't the city budget $660,000 for streets? Why can't the city budget adequately for the Fire Department? Why doesn't the city have the right priorities? Perhaps we would do better with an outsourced city administrator. Can we outsource the city council too?
It deserves to be mentioned, as a long time Carmelite has consistently said, the McCloud administration has had a policy of eliminating full-time employees in favor of outsourcing everything in the wrong headed assumption that this is saving money, as if saving money was the only consideration. The tragedy is Carmel had previously had a tradition of having long time employees in administration, public works, forestry, community and cultural, library, etc. who benefited the city and residents with their individual and collective institutional memory. No more, and residents can easily see the results in our village.
I am for outsourcing the position of city administrator as a way to get rid of Rich. Mayor Sue will not allow a capable city administrator to run the city, so she hand picked a man with no management skills or leadership ability. Sue is the de facto city administrator, despite all the efforts to conceal this fact. A weak city administrator and an incapable mayor as city administrator, what a combination, what a disaster for the city.
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