HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2019 0529 CC SPC ITEM 06ACITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA
City Council Meeting
of May 29, 2019
ACTION It was the unanimous consensus
of the Council to accept the City
Manager’s Budget adoption
recommendation, and as revised at the
May 29, 2019 Special meeting, and to
schedule the Fiscal Year 2019/2020
Budget for adoption at the June 19, 2019,
Regular meeting. BY B.Garza.
A. Consider City Manager’s Proposed Operating and Capital Improvements Budget
for Fiscal Year 2019/2020. (Staff: Troy Brown)
Item: 6.A.
MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Troy Brown, City Manager
DATE: 05/29/2019 Special Meeting
SUBJECT: Consider City Manager’s Proposed Operating and Capital
Improvements Budget for Fiscal Year 2019/2020
It is my pleasure to present the City of Moorpark’s Fiscal Year 2019/2020 Operating
Budget and Capital Improvement Program. The annual budget is the spending plan
that provides the necessary funds to keep our city safe, clean and maintained, as well
as sustains exceptional municipal services to residents and businesses, while keeping
our local quality of life and property values high. Through the diligent work of staff in all
departments, the City will have a balanced budget for the new Fiscal Year, despite
being on the verge of a future outlook that projects a structural deficit in the General
Fund.
According to the March 2019 UCLA Anderson Forecast, a renowned source of
economic forecasting, the outlook for the national economy contemplates continued
growth with anticipated slowing in 2020. The Anderson report indicates the US
economy is “growing at a 3.1 percent clip on a fourth-quarter-to-fourth-quarter basis in
2018.” The report goes on to state that “growth will slow to 1.7 percent in 2019 to a
near-recession pace of 1.1 percent in 2020. However, by mid-2021, growth is forecast
to be around 2 percent.”
Economic growth in California continues to outpace the U.S. economy. The Governor’s
“May Revise” projects $3.2 billion in additional revenues above what was anticipated
when the state budget was adopted. However, many of these funds are already
earmarked for debt service, education and rainy day funds for the state. The Governor
notes, however, that the growth the state is seeing in the current fiscal year “is taking
place against a backdrop of increasing risks: the International Monetary Fund recently
projected that 70 percent of the world’s economy would see a slowing of growth in 2019
and the Federal Reserve also projects slower U.S. growth.”
Item: 6.A.
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In March of 2019, the California Economic Forecast released its 2019 Los Angeles
County Ventura County Economic Outlook report. This report noted that moderate
growth was occurring in Los Angeles, yet Ventura County is not realizing growth in the
same manner as neighboring regions. This is due in part to a decline in the labor
market as the nation (and region) reaches near full employment. This shrinking pool of
potential workers has a negative impact on local companies’ growth and profitability.
The Economic Outlook notes that not much growth acceleration is expected to occur
across the region and the “status quo” should be expected compared to the past 5
years in Ventura County.
With the current national, state and regional economic backdrop in mind, the FY
2019/20 budget reflects a cautious budget with minimal staffing changes due to several
key retirements which have occurred during the fiscal year. The total appropriation for
FY 2019/20 is $58,196,346 which includes all funds to support general government,
special revenues and capital improvement projects.
Overall the City’s budget is a “hold the line” budget when compared to the prior budget
cycle. The total budget amount includes continued appropriations for the Capital
Improvement program with only $149,276 coming in as new money from the City’s
General Fund to support capital projects. When compared to last year’s adopted
budget, this represents an overall decrease of $1,020,144 or 1.72%. This decrease is
due largely in part to the completion of the Tierra Rejada Landscaping Improvement
project. However, continuing to “hold the line” is not a feasible strategy in the long term.
To save costs we are deferring needed expenditures on basic repairs and maintenance
to public facilities, parks, streets, and sidewalks, and postponing additional investments
in needed critical areas such as public safety, emergency response and traffic calming.
If we do not identify the local funding sources needed to address these items soon, they
will be more expensive to address in the future. Major sources of revenues for the City
are comprised of the following:
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TAXES
$16,061,336 (38%)
INTERGOVT
$8,512,245 (20%)
TRANSFERS IN
$5,221,388 (12%)
FEES
$2,928,000 (7%)
SPEC BENEFIT
ASSESSMENT
$2,678,150 (6%)
USE OF MONEY &
PROPERTY
$2,636,500 (6%)
FRANCHISE FEES
$1,555,000 (4%) CHARGES FOR SVC
$826,600 (2%)
LICENSES & PERMITS
$714,000 (2%)
MISC REVENUES
$885,500 (2%)
Total Revenues -All Funds
$48,018,719
Total Revenues
Total Revenues for the City come from many resources. In additional to receiving funds
from other governmental agencies to support maintenance activities for streets and
roads (as an example), the City also receives grants and special revenues which are
restricted for a variety of purposes. The above chart illustrates the estimated sources of
revenues for the City in FY 2019/20.
The City’s total budget represents a 1% increase from the total adopted budget for FY
2018/19. We are not anticipating any increases from other governmental agencies and
other revenues are projected to be flat. To maintain a balanced budget, expenses were
held in line where possible to absorb uncontrollable expenses that are anticipated to
increase the budget. These are related to employee costs, 59% of which are allocated
to the City’s General Fund budget. Uncontrollable expenses are related to health care
and retirement which are administered by 3rd party providers such as CalPERS and
other health care providers.
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SALARIES & BENEFITS
$8,346,756 (14%)
SERVICE & SUPPLIES
$19,252,357 (33%)
UTILITIES
$2,013,879 (3%)
DEBT SERVICE
$1,374,636 (2%)
CAPITAL
$21,987,330 (38%)
TRANSFERS OUT
$5,221,388 (9%)
Total Expenditures -All Funds
$58,196,346
Total Expenditures
The City uses a contract model to provide a variety of municipal services with City staff
overseeing the management and day-to-day operations of the City. This contract model
provides for flexibility in meeting workload demands as well as helping to control costs,
and the City has been diligent in maintaining our service levels on contracted public
services, inclusive of public safety. This is particularly prevalent in development
services related activities (plan check, building inspection, etc.), where contract services
are expanded when demands increase, and reduced when workloads decrease. The
total proposed expenditures in the annual budget and operating plan reflects the City’s
commitment to constructing a number of capital improvement projects and providing
services through the contract model. The next major expense for the City is allocated to
salaries and benefits of employees.
General Fund
$4,961,304 (59%)
Special Revenue
Funds
$3,385,452 (41%)
Salaries & Benefits
$8,346,756
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The Capital Improvement Program provides the necessary funding to continue to
improve traffic circulation with a number of significant projects that are currently
underway as well as providing funding for new capital projects. Additional traffic
mitigation measures, specifically designed to calm and reduce traffic congestion, can be
added should additional funding become available. On the development side, the City
Council can anticipate a number of residential development projects to come before you
during FY 2019/20 that will add new residents, new infrastructure to support residents,
as well as increased sales and property tax revenue. These projects include a
proposed 69-unit townhome project on Los Angeles Avenue (Green Island Villa/Grand
Moorpark) and another 60-unit townhome project on Everett Street (Chiu). Due to the
relatively low number of residential units these new projects may bring, the proposed
budget does not propose the addition of new service levels, conversely no services are
proposed to be reduced.
General Fund Revenues
Revenue growth is relatively flat in the General Fund with $19,664,901 in revenues to
support $19,509,818 in expenses. The future financial outlook for the City is tenuous,
as transfers out of the General Fund continue to increase and total $3,322,482 for the
FY 2019/20. Of this amount, $89,962 is needed to cover actual costs for lighting and
landscaping, and $1,883,752 is needed to cover the funding deficit for parks
maintenance. At present, these costs represent a significant threat to the City’s long
term financial sustainability as they have been increasing at a steady rate over the past
years and reliance on the General Fund for these services show no signs of decreasing.
TAXES
$13,357,000 (68%)
INTERGOVT
$2,142,901 (11%)
CHARGES FOR SVC
$1,357,000 (7%)
FRANCHISE
$1,110,000 (6%)
USE OF MONEY &
PROPERTY
$827,000 (4%)
MISC REV
$598,000 (3%)
FINES &
FORFEITURES
$273,000 (1%)
GENERAL FUND -REVENUES
$19,664,901
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As mentioned, General Fund revenues are projected at $19.7 million; property and
sales taxes continue to be the major source of revenue for the City’s General Fund
which supports most of the City’s services. Secured Property taxes are estimated to be
$4 million which represents a 3.2% increase over current year estimates. The City has
regained all of the assessed values of real property which declined during the years of
the Great Recession (2009-2013). The below chart depicts the City’s actual property
tax receipts since FY 1999/2000 and projects anticipated property tax revenues through
FY 2023/24.
$0
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
$2,000,000
$2,500,000
$3,000,000
$3,500,000
$4,000,000
$4,500,000
$5,000,000
Property Taxes
Property tax growth has been strong over the past three fiscal years and revenues are
now consistently above pre-recession levels. On average, the City can expect to
receive only $0.091 from every property tax dollar collected for real property in the City.
Property tax revenues are distributed to a number of other governmental agencies for a
variety of services to support residents’ needs such as: schools, county services and
fire protection to name a few.
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Sales Taxes
Sales taxes are the other major contributor to the City’s General Fund to support
services. Sales taxes are derived from local companies and businesses who sell their
goods in Moorpark to residents, visitors and other businesses. This is one of the more
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volatile sources of revenue for the City and sales taxes can vary year-over-year
dependent upon a number of economic conditions.
On the consumer side, sales taxes are dependent on disposable income from
individuals; higher consumer confidence generally leads to greater spending. As
previously mentioned, current economic growth in the country is continuing and is
projected to soften, although in Ventura County growth is being tempered by relatively
modest job growth and being stymied by the lack of housing to accommodate all
economic levels of the region.
Sales taxes waned significantly during the Great Recession but have surpassed pre-
recession levels. Due to its volatility this trend should not viewed as a reliable source of
continued growth. However, the City is continuously seeking out opportunities to attract
new point of sale businesses to the community in hopes of improving dining and
shopping opportunities, as well as bringing in much needed sales tax revenue to
continue to meet the high service demands that staff and residents have come to expect
from the City.
$2,382,010 $2,577,105 $2,622,418 $2,730,871 $2,695,884 $2,749,320
$3,316,402
$3,854,408
$4,291,309
$4,100,000 $4,200,000
$-
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
$2,000,000
$2,500,000
$3,000,000
$3,500,000
$4,000,000
$4,500,000
$5,000,000
2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-192019-20Sales Tax Trend
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Sales tax is an important source of revenue for the City and together with property tax
(including the Vehicle License Fee backfill) these two revenue sources make up 61.5%
of General Fund revenues.
General Fund Expenses
Salaries & Benefits
$4,961,304 (25%)
Services & Supplies
$10,595,312 (54%)
Utilities
$363,627 (2%)
Capital
$267,093 (1%)
Transfers Out
$3,322,482 (17%)
General Fund -Expenditures
$19,509,818
On the expenditure side, the budget includes Salaries & Employee Benefits of $8.4M
with $5.0M supported by the General Fund. This funding covers 68.43 full time
equivalents (FTE), an increase by 2.89 FTE from 65.53 to 68.43 FTE. The additional
FTEs include: 1.89 FTEs for Pre-school part-time staff and split of Landscape/Parks
Superintendent to a Landscape/Facilities Supervisor and Landscape Maintenance
Specialist. The salary and benefits also factor in a 1% Cost of Living Adjustment and
allow 20 hours of leave cash out for employees per the pre-negotiated Memorandum of
Understanding with the SEIU. The City’s pension costs will continue to rise as
CalPERS transitions into a lower discount rate assumption from 7.5% to 7%. City
pension contributions will increase by 0.79% for Classic members from 8.892% to
9.680%, and 0.14% for new members as defined by the Public Employee Pension
Reform Act whose rate will change from 6.842% to 6.985%. While notable, this
increase is not as significant as projected increases in other CalPERS member
agencies due to the City’s diligence in pre-funding the Unfunded Liability. Currently, the
City’s retirement costs are 88.3% funded for Classic members and 94.9% for PEPRA.
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Effective 1/1/2020, health care premiums could increase by as much as 10%. CalPERS
health care regions will reduce from 5 to 3 to better align premiums to the cost of health
care in the area. Ventura County, which currently belongs to Region 3 (LA Area), will
now be grouped with Region 2 together with Madera, King, Santa Barbara, Orange &
San Diego counties. Comparing 2019 rates for Region 2 and Region 3, the Region’s
rate is more expensive by $173.29 or 10%.
There is one funding area that warrants particular attention. Moorpark residents, along
with the City, pride themselves on the beauty of our landscaped environment. In a
recent community satisfaction survey, keeping our parks, public areas and landscapes
clean and well maintained was a priority of 90% of residents, while nearly 82%
responded that they wished to keep all local parks open. Trees, native plants, and
decorative landscaping are abundant in City parkways, medians, and neighborhoods.
Residents take pride of ownership in maintaining landscaping on private property but
there is an abundance of landscaping in public areas as well. Some of these
landscaped areas are funded and maintained by Homeowners Associations within the
various communities in which residents live. Other areas are within Landscape
Maintenance Districts (LMD) where funding for maintenance is insufficient to provide
acceptable levels of maintenance and subsidies are required of the General Fund and
gas taxes.
In July 1999, the City successfully established the Parks and Recreation Maintenance
and Improvement District (Improvement District) for the maintenance and improvement
of City parks. It was initiated by the Council to provide funding in place of Parks
Maintenance Assessment District No. AD 85-1 (AD 85-1), which was disbanded in July
1998 as a result of Proposition 218. The Improvement District is based on a "special"
assessment. This means that the City assesses property owners for that portion of park
maintenance and improvement activities that generate a "special" benefit to residents in
proximity of certain improvements.
There is also a “general” benefit portion of landscaping that is not covered by
assessments. All activities that generate a "general" benefit must be funded from non-
assessment revenue; typically this revenue comes from the General Fund and park
improvement money which is generated from one-time developer fees. The
Improvement District includes twenty (20) improved parks, as well as the Serenata Trail.
The amount of the assessment levied to property owners may only increase by the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, and not more than
3.00% in any year. In situations when the CPI exceeds 3.00%, the remaining difference
can be carried over to a subsequent year.
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When the initial assessment was set at $39 for a single family unit, the total assessment
generated approximately 52% of the revenue required to support the Improvement
District operations at that time. This percentage was well below the "special"
assessment cap of 75%. The City contributed funds to cover the remaining 48%, mostly
from the General Fund. Over the years as park acreage and amenities expanded,
maintenance and utility costs rose, as did the percentage of the total maintenance
activities funded by non-assessment revenues (primarily General Fund and Park
Improvement funds). The Improvement District assessment revenue for FY 2019/2020
is projected to now cover only 26% of the overall cost to operate and improve the City
parks, which is still well below the 75% cap; however, 74% of the costs to maintain
parks at their current level must now come from the General Fund. The assessment for
a single family unit is proposed to increase by 3% to $63.33 per unit.
The proposed budget for parks maintenance for FY 2019/2020 is $3,065,480. This
amount includes landscape and tree trimming services ($530,139); utilities ($398,425);
fence, parking lot lighting and restroom repairs ($233,500); park pavement rehabilitation
($124,276); and central irrigation system ($85,000).
The amount to be paid by the General Fund for the general benefit is projected to be
$766,370. This amount has been increasing each year as maintenance and
replacement costs have increased, which has outpaced the maximum 3% CPI
adjustment to the assessment consistent with Proposition 218. Increases in this area
will continue as the costs to maintain parks rise and General Fund support will continue
to increase at a rate that challenges our long term fiscal sustainability.
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$-
$200,000
$400,000
$600,000
$800,000
$1,000,000
$1,200,000
$1,400,000
$1,600,000
$1,800,000
$2,000,000
2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
General Fund Transfers to
Park Maintenance District
Proposed Fiscal Year 2019/2020 Budget Augmentations
The FY 2019/2020 budget does provide some staffing augmentations due to a
retirement in the organization as well as our evolving business model.
Landscape/Parks Superintendent
Upon the retirement of the City’s prior Landscape/Parks Maintenance Superintendent,
and as occurs whenever a vacancy is created within the organization, an evaluation
followed to analyze work flow, duties, responsibilities and activities of the position to
determine if the position should be downgraded, upgraded, or recruited for at the same
level of the incumbent. After evaluating the position, staff is recommending a split of the
Landscape/Parks Maintenance Superintendent to a Landscape/Facilities Supervisor (a
Non-Competitive Service position) and a Landscape Maintenance Inspector (a new
Competitive Service position). The net impact of this will be $40,000, to the City’s
General Fund and will allow the City to put a greater focus on both city facilities and
landscape maintenance needs.
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Pre-school part-time staff
In February 2019, the City was authorized to begin providing preschool services to
children between the ages of 18 months to 4 years old. This decision came on the
heels of the planned retirement of Ms. Alice Cantwell who has directed the Away We
Grow program for several decades using Arroyo Vista Park. Since making the decision
to enter into the preschool space, supplies have been purchased, Preschool Teachers
have been hired, and a Preschool Director has been recruited. The proposed FY
2019/2020 budget includes an additional 1.89 FTEs for part-time support of the
preschool program. These positions will be funded through user fees generated from
the cost of the program.
Capital Improvements
The proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP) contains appropriations to continue
with a number of significant projects occurring in the City. The Princeton Avenue
Improvement project is anticipated to begin construction during the fiscal year and $6.9
million is being appropriated from the Los Angeles Area of Contribution Fund,
$3,723,828 from Federal & State grants and $1 million from the gas tax to fund this
project.
Gas Taxes received from Senate Bill 1 (2017) are projected to total $1 million. These
funds will be committed to the annual slurry seal/pavement rehabilitation program and
used to slurry and seal residential streets in the Shasta Avenue/Maureen Lane areas to
the north of Los Angeles Avenue as well as residential neighborhoods between High
Street and Los Angeles Avenue.
For City facilities, $1.6 million is being continued from prior fiscal years to complete the
design of the Civic Center Complex plus $136,000 for pedestrian access, and $300,000
from the City’s Endowment is proposed to complete the kitchen remodel at the Arroyo
Vista Recreation Center. An aggregate of $2.2 million from Prop 1B - Local Streets and
Roads, TEA 21 Federal Grants, Local TDA 8C, State Transit Assistant and Traffic
System Management funds are being proposed to complete the parking lot
improvements for the South Metrolink station ($1 million) and North Metrolink parking
lots ($1.2 million). $200,000 from the Art in Public Places fund has been included to
fund the installation of a public art piece at the North Parking lot.
Fiber Optic upgrades are proposed for the upgrade of traffic signal connectivity on Los
Angeles Avenue between State Route 23 and Tierra Rejada/Gabbert Road. This
project is proposed to cost $936,000 and will be funded through Los Angeles Area of
Contribution Fund (2014). $115,000 is proposed for adding fiber connectivity between
the Moorpark Police station and the Civic Center to improve the City’s technology
backbone. Currently, the City is using the Fiber Optic backbone of Spectrum at no cost;
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however, under the new Franchise Agreement filed with the Public Utilities Commission,
this service will now come at a cost.
$1.7 million is being continued in appropriations to add medians on Los Angeles
Avenue from State Route 23 to the arroyo, a project that has been through numerous
plan checks with Caltrans. Finally, $120,000 is being proposed to make improvements
to Arroyo Drive which will add a bike lane and sidewalk from Arroyo Vista Mobile Home
Park easterly to the city limits.
The FY 2019/2020 budget positions the City for the short-term, and keeps a watchful
eye on the future. A long-range financial outlook projects modest growth with
anticipated expenditures outpacing available revenues in 2020. This is due largely in
part to transfers out of the General Fund to cover landscaping and parks maintenance,
services our residents have told us they would like to see maintained. Continued
increases through the “transfer out” for maintenance will cause a structural deficit in
future years or require a reduction in services from other General Fund program areas
such as: finance, parks and recreation, or police. It is likely that an economic downturn
will occur, with most renowned economists predicting a slow down within the next 12-18
months. General Fund resources, particularly sales taxes, may not keep pace with
expenditures, and therefore be insufficient to meet expenditure levels; however, for FY
2019/20 the proposed budget maintains existing service levels. Identifying locally-
controlled funds will be an important part of maintaining the levels of service our
residents expect and deserve.
Conclusion
The presentation of the annual budget and Capital Improvement Program is the
compilation of many hours of work throughout every department of the organization.
The proposed budget continues progress on a number of important initiatives, maintains
existing public safety levels, and allocates sufficient funding to maintain landscaped
areas to the level Moorpark residents have become accustomed to.
I would like to thank the City Council for your continued efforts in fiscal stewardship and
for maintaining your commitment to fiscal sustainability while meeting the high service
demand expectations of residents. Each of you are passionate about the community
and committed to the City in ways far beyond what is expressed in the budget.
I would like to thank and recognize each member of the City’s budget team including
Irmina Lumbad, Hiromi Dever, and Daisy Amezcua for the long hours and hard work
they have done in coordinating the budget process and developing the budget. In
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addition, I would like to thank the Leadership Team, Daniel Kim, and Shaun Kroes for
their work in preparation of the Capital Improvement Program.
Finally, I would like to thank each of you for allowing me to take a part in realizing the
goals of the City Council and the community. Because of your leadership, I am
confident that our organization will continue to be well equipped, with renewed
commitment to continue progress on the ambitious goals you have set forth for
Moorpark.
Refer to City Manager’s Draft Recommended Budget binder previously distributed to the
City Council on May 15, 2019.
The budget is posted to the city’s website at:
http://moorparkca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9141/Proposed-Budget-May-15-
2019?bidId=
Staff Recommendation
Discuss proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2019/2020.
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