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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2025 0115 CC REG ITEM 10CCITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA City Council Meeting of January 15, 2025 ACTION APPROVED STAFF RECOMMENDATION, INCLUDING ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 2025- 4290. (ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS) BY A. Hurtado. C. Consider Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023/24 and 2024/25 Budgets to Reallocate the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Funds from Non- Stormwater Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Major Outfall Screening and Source Investigation Services to Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services. Staff Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2025-4290, to amend the Fiscal Year 2023/24 and 2024/25 Budgets to Reallocate the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Funds from Non-Stormwater Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Major Outfall Screening and Source Investigation Services to Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services. (Staff: PJ Gagajena, Assistant City Manager) (ROLL CALL VOTE REQUIRED) Item: 10.C. MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT TO: Honorable City Council FROM: PJ Gagajena, Assistant City Manager DATE: 01/15/2025 Regular Meeting SUBJECT: Consider Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023/24 and 2024/25 Budgets to Reallocate the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Funds from Non-Stormwater Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Major Outfall Screening and Source Investigation Services to Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services BACKGROUND In March 2021, the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), a $1.9 trillion federal aid package designed to help the American people and American economy recover from the prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding package included $350 billion in direct financial relief for all state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, of which $8,701,674 was allocated to the City of Moorpark. In May 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department”) published an “Interim Final Rule” that provided draft guidance on the spending of ARPA funds by local governments. The Treasury Department then took public comment on the Interim Final Rule and received over 1,500 public comments. On July 28, 2021, the City Council held a special meeting to provide early direction to staff regarding the use of ARPA funds, to ensure that staff only vetted projects that the City Council indicated it had interest in funding. To help inform the City Council’s discussion, the City also conducted an online survey to gauge public opinion on how ARPA funds should be spent. While not a scientifically or statistically valid survey, the 165 responses received were likely a reasonable approximation of public opinion at the time. Additionally, staff created a list of dozens of potential projects for the use of ARPA funds based on the City’s Budget and Capital Improvement Program, the City Council’s Goals and Objectives, and brainstorming for types of projects that would enhance municipal Item: 10.C. 310 Honorable City Council 01/15/2025 Regular Meeting Page 2 services and improve the quality of life for Moorpark residents and businesses. The City Council also identified potential projects during its discussion, and the City Council ultimately provided direction on 86 potential projects. Of them, 40 projects were identified to proceed through further vetting, and 46 projects were removed from consideration. On January 6, 2022, the Treasury Department issued its Final Rule and accompanying Overview of the “Final Rule” governing the use of ARPA funds, with an effective date of April 1, 2022. The Final Rule included numerous clarifications and calculations of revenue and revenue loss for the “Revenue Replacement” spending category. Among the changes was the addition of a “Standard Allowance” of up to $10,000,000 whereby ARPA fund recipients can assume a revenue loss of up to $10,000,000 without having to calculate revenue loss and without having to meet various reporting requirements to determine actual revenue loss in subsequent fiscal years. Because the City was receiving less than the $10,000,000 Standard Allowance Limit, the Final Rule enabled the City to receive all of its $8,701,674 in ARPA funds in the most-flexible Revenue Replacement category. The funds could then be used for any “governmental purpose.” On February 16, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-4074, by which the City elected to receive its entire ARPA allocation as Revenue Replacement, utilizing the Standard Allowance procedures in the Final Rule. This resulted in the placement of $8,701,674 into City Fund 2800. At the same meeting, the City Council appropriated $5,688,798 of the City’s ARPA funds to the Princeton Avenue Improvement Project, as part of the award of the construction contract for the project. Additionally, the City Council directed staff to proceed with the allocation of $2,012,876 in ARPA funds toward the acquisition of the new City Hall at 323 Science Drive. On September 21, 2022, the City Council formally approved the allocation of $2,012,876 in ARPA funds toward the new City Hall project. Additionally, the City Council reallocated the previously approved ARPA expenditure of $5,688,798 from the Princeton Avenue Improvement Project to the new Moorpark City Library since the library project had fewer funding options available. To backfill the Princeton Avenue project, the City Council appropriated $5,688,798 from the City-Wide Traffic Mitigation Fund instead. On March 1, 2023, the City Council allocated a portion of the remaining $1,000,000 in ARPA funds towards Scholarships for City Programs in the amount of $70,000 and Storm Drain Catch Basins in the amount of $80,000. The Scholarships for City Programs would be offered to low-income residents to offset registration costs and fees for various events and programs at the City’s Little Learners Academy preschool, Camp Moorpark, Arroyo Vista Recreation Center classes and youth leagues, Active Adult Center, and Moorpark City Library. The Storm Drain Catch Basins project would install approximately 110 trash control devices on storm drain catch basins, as required by the California State Water Resources Control Board. 311 Honorable City Council 01/15/2025 Regular Meeting Page 3 On July 5, 2023, the City Council provided direction to staff on implementing various mental health initiatives and considered the use of ARPA funds for some of these projects. On September 6, 2023, the City Council allocated a portion of the remaining $850,000 in ARPA funds towards Cope Notes Mental Health Text Messaging Services in the amount of $10,500. Cope Notes sends daily text messages to subscribers to improve mental and emotional health. The City purchased 100 free annual subscriptions from Cope Notes and offered them to residents. All 100 subscriptions were used between the free annual period of October 2023 through October 2024. After these allocations, there remained $839,500 of unappropriated ARPA funds, which could be used for “governmental purposes.” Although the Treasury Department considered the City’s entire ARPA fund allocation as revenue replacement, the City still needed to obligate these funds towards specific projects or programs. The Treasury Department’s Final Rule governing the use of ARPA funds states that all funds need to be obligated by December 31, 2024, and all funds be spent by December 31, 2026. The term “obligated” means that funds must be committed through a contract agreement by December 31, 2024. The City must return to the Treasury Department any funds not obligated by December 31, 2024; or any funds that are obligated by December 31, 2024, but not spent by December 31, 2026. In August 2024, City staff analyzed what ARPA funds have been obligated and expended, obligated and not expended, and what other projects could be identified for the remaining unobligated funds. Staff determined that only the New City Hall project ($2,012,876) and Cope Notes Mental Health Text Messaging Services ($10,500) have been obligated and fully expended as of June 30, 2024. The Scholarships for City Programs has been obligated and partially expended with $35,000 remaining for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2024/25 and 2025/26. Based on recently updated bid and contract schedules, it was determined that agreements were not guaranteed to be in place by December 31, 2024, for the new Moorpark City Library ($5,688,798) and Storm Drain Catch Basins ($80,000). Therefore, rather than risk losing those ARPA funds, staff recommended reallocating those funds to other projects that are certain to meet the obligation and expenditure deadlines. Since costs for the new City Hall project were nearly fully expended, on September 4, 2024, the City Council approved reallocating the ARPA funds for the new Moorpark City Library in the amount of $5,688,798 and a portion of the unappropriated ARPA funds in the amount of $799,500 to the new City Hall to meet both obligation and expenditure deadlines. Any funds from the General Fund and Special Projects Fund originally allocated to the new City Hall would then be reallocated to fund the new Moorpark City Library. This would be retroactively reflected in the FY 2023/24 Capital Improvement Program budget for accounting purposes. The subtotal for this reallocation was $6,488,298 and including the $2,012,876 that was previously allocated, the new total for the New City Hall project using ARPA funds was $8,501,174. 312 Honorable City Council 01/15/2025 Regular Meeting Page 4 At the same meeting, the City Council also reallocated the ARPA funds for Storm Drain Catch Basins in the amount of $80,000 and a portion of the unappropriated ARPA funds in the amount of $40,000 to Non-Stormwater Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Major Outfall Screening and Source Investigation Services (MS4 Outfall Screening) since the Professional Services Agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc. in an amount not-to-exceed $192,395 was already in place for this project and approved by the City Council on July 17, 2024. Any funds from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Fund originally allocated to the MS4 Outfall Screening would be reallocated to fund the Storm Drain Catch Basins project. This was reflected in the FY 2024/25 Operating budget for accounting purposes. The total for the MS4 Outfall Screening project using ARPA funds was $120,000. As a result of the reallocations on September 4, 2024, the City’s ARPA fund allocations were assigned as follows: New City Hall ................................................................... $8,501,174 MS4 Outfall Screening ........................................................ $120,000 Scholarships for City Programs ............................................ $70,000 Cope Notes Mental Health Text Messaging Services ........... $10,500 Total ................................................................................ $8,701,674 DISCUSSION During an audit by staff in December 2024 to verify if all the ARPA funds for the New City Hall and MS4 Outfall Screening were on track for expenditure, it was discovered that the MS4 Outfall Screening project was completed and only used $69,007 of ARPA funds. The project was originally estimated to cost $192,395 of which $120,000 of ARPA funds would be used to monitor 51 major outfalls for long-term monitoring. However, during the outfall screening and source identification process, the number of outfalls requiring monitoring was reduced to 18. This resulted in the project coming under budget, which is typically good news for the City, but this meant the City would be poised to lose the remaining $50,993 of ARPA funds allocated to this project. In order to keep the remaining $50,993 of ARPA funds, staff recommends reallocating this amount from the MS4 Outfall Screening project to an already obligated project, which is Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services. Phase 1 City Hall Moving Services involved moving staff, documents, and office content to the new City Hall. On December 18, 2024, the City Council approved an agreement with BKM Office Environments, Inc. to carry out Phase 2, which is to relocate the City’s development and program file storage area from the Annex 1, Annex 2, and Development Services Buildings (Modular Office Buildings) into the Administration Building where City staff would continue their efforts of cataloging, digitizing, and destroying files in accordance with the approved Record Retention Schedule. The cost of this project with contingencies is $57,628, which would use up the remaining $50,993 of ARPA funds and will replenish back funds in the General Fund. Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services 313 Honorable City Council 01/15/2025 Regular Meeting Page 5 is budgeted in the Old City Hall Move and Demolition Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget CIP C0079. As a result of these reallocations, the City’s new ARPA fund allocations are shown below: New City Hall. ......................................................................... $8,501,174 Scholarships for City Programs ................................................... $70,000 MS4 Outfall Screening ................................................................. $69,007 Old City Hall Move and Demolition .............................................. $50,993 Cope Notes Mental Health Text Messaging Services .................. $10,500 Total ....................................................................................... $8,701,674 ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to activities that will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment or is otherwise not considered a project as defined by CEQA Statute §21065 and CEQA State Guidelines § 15060(c)(3) and § 15378. The appropriation of ARPA funds will not result in a change to the physical environment and therefore is not subject to CEQA. No additional environmental review is required. FISCAL IMPACT Although the City has already received $8,701,674 in ARPA funds from the federal government and the City Council’s appropriation and reallocation of these funds will have no net fiscal impact on the City, there is a fiscal impact to the associated CIPs in the transfer of funding sources. With these ARPA funds guaranteed to be obligated by the deadline of December 31, 2024, and expended by the deadline of December 31, 2026, the City will be in compliance with the Treasury Department’s Final Rule requirements and avoid having to return these funds to the federal government. For the FY 2023/24 CIP Budget and FY 2024/25 Operating Budget, the $50,993 of ARPA funds for MS4 Outfall Screening will be reallocated to the Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services. This will replace the unallocated fund balance in the General Fund (1000) that was originally to be used for the Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services project. The Budget Amendment below shows the fund transfer allocation and expenditure appropriation. 314 Honorable City Council 01/15/2025 Regular Meeting Page 6 Below is final ARPA fund allocation for the City of Moorpark. New City Hall. ......................................................................... $8,501,174 Scholarships for City Programs ................................................... $70,000 MS4 Outfall Screening ................................................................. $69,007 Old City Hall Move and Demolition .............................................. $50,993 Cope Notes Mental Health Text Messaging Services .................. $10,500 Total ....................................................................................... $8,701,674 COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE This action does not support a current strategic directive. STAFF RECOMMENDATION (ROLL CALL VOTE REQUIRED) Adopt Resolution No. 2025-____, to amend the Fiscal Year 2023/24 and 2024/25 Budgets to Reallocate the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Funds from Non- Stormwater Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Major Outfall Screening and Source Investigation Services to Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services. Attachment: Draft Resolution No. 2025-____ FUND BALANCE ALLOCATION: Fund Title Unassigned Fund Bal Revision Amount ARPA - American Rescue Plan (2800)-$ -$ -$ General Fund (1000)1,481,423.14$ 50,993.04$ 1,532,416.18$ Total 1,532,416.18$ EXPENDITURE APPROPRIATION: Account Number Current Budget Revision Amended Budget 2800-231-00000-51000 120,000.00$ (50,993.04)$ 69,006.96$ 2800-120-C0079-55300 -$ 50,993.04$ 50,993.04$ 1000-120-C0079-55300 118,000.00$ (50,993.04)$ 67,006.96$ -$ -$ Total 238,000.00$ (50,993.04)$ 187,006.96$ 315 RESOLUTION NO. 2025-____ A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, TO AMEND THE FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2023/24 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM BUDGET AND FY 2024/25 OPERATING BUDGET TO TRANSFER $50,993 OF PREVIOUSLY APPROPRIATED ARPA FUND MONIES FROM THE MS4 OUTFALL SCREENING PROJECT TO PHASE 2 CITY HALL MOVING SERVICES WHEREAS, on February 16, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-4074 to receive $8,701,674 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds as Revenue Replacement; and WHEREAS, on February 16, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-4075 to appropriate $5,688,798 from the ARPA Fund (2800) to the Princeton Avenue Improvement Project; and WHEREAS, on September 21, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-4133 to reallocate the previously appropriated $5,688,798 from the Princeton Avenue Improvement Project to the new Moorpark City Library, and to appropriate $2,012,876 toward the new City Hall acquisition; and WHEREAS, on March 1, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2023- 4163 to appropriate $70,000 toward Scholarships for City Programs and $80,000 toward Storm Drain Catch Basins; and WHEREAS, on September 6, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2023-4201 to appropriate $10,500 toward Cope Notes Mental Health Text Messaging Services; and WHEREAS, on June 19, 2024, the City Council adopted the Operating and Capital Improvement Budget for FY 2024/25; and WHEREAS, on September 4, 2024, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2024-4269 to reallocate funds from the New Library and a portion of Unappropriated ARPA Funds to the New City Hall, and from Storm Drain Catch Basins and a portion of Unappropriated ARPA Funds to Non-Stormwater Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Major Outfall Screening and Source Investigation Services; and WHEREAS, the City Council now desires to amend Resolution No. 2024-4269 to reallocate $50,993 of ARPA monies from the MS4 Outfall Screening Project to the Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services, which is included in the Old City Hall Move and Demolition Project (C0079); and WHEREAS, Exhibit A hereof describes the above budget amendment. ATTACHMENT 316 Resolution No. 2025-___ Page 2 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. A Budget Amendment to appropriate $50,993 of ARPA monies from the MS4 Outfall Screening Project to the Phase 2 City Hall Moving Services, as more particularly described in Exhibit A, attached hereto, is hereby approved. SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause a certified resolution to be filed in the book of original resolutions. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of January, 2025. ________________________________ Chris R. Enegren, Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Ky Spangler, City Clerk Exhibit A – Budget Amendment 317 FUND BALANCE ALLOCATION: Fund Title Unassigned Fund Bal Revision Amount ARPA - American Rescue Plan (2800)-$ -$ -$ General Fund (1000)1,481,423.14$ 50,993.04$ 1,532,416.18$ Total 1,532,416.18$ EXPENDITURE APPROPRIATION: Account Number Current Budget Revision Amended Budget 2800-231-00000-51000 120,000.00$ (50,993.04)$ 69,006.96$ 2800-120-C0079-55300 -$ 50,993.04$ 50,993.04$ 1000-120-C0079-55300 118,000.00$ (50,993.04)$ 67,006.96$ -$ -$ Total 238,000.00$ (50,993.04)$ 187,006.96$ EXHIBIT A BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR ARPA FUNDS ALLOCATION (FUND 2800) FY 2024/2025 318