HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1995-06-26Mayor Robert Yee
Council:
Jack Drago
Joseph A. Fernekes
'lohn R. Penna
Roberta Cerri Teglia
MINUTES
City Council .. ~
Municipal Services Building
Community Room
June 26, 1995
SPECIAL MEETING
CITY COUNCIL
OF THE
CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
JUNE 26, 1995
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California, that
the City Council of the City of South San Francisco will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, the 26th day of June, 1995,
at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Conference Room, City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue, South San Francisco, California.
Purpose of the meeting:
1. Study session on the Budget.
2. Adjournment.
Dated: June 21, 1995
City Clerk
City of South San Francisco
CALL TO ORDER:
ROLL CALL:
AGENDA
(Cassette No. 1)
1. Study session on the Budget.
5/2,0
A_CIIQN TAKEN
6:05 p.m. Mayor Yee presiding.
Council Present: Drago, Penna, Teglia and Yee.
Council Absent: Fernekes.
City Clerk Battaya stated Councilman Fernekes had
an emergency at work and was unable to come to
the meeting.
City Manager Wilson gave an overview of the Bud-
get: it is a maintenance budget; the budget was for
three years; what he sees is a flat economy, so a lot
of the costs are focused on the expenditure side
rather than the revenue side; staff has not been
apprised by the League that the State is looking at
6/26/95
Page 1
AGENDA ACTION TAKEN
,._!.1. Study session on the Budget - Continued.
6/26/95
Page 2
any great additional tax this year; he has tried to
maintain service levels; some dollars were built in
for labor relations; he has looked at consultant fees,
position adjustments and the components of the
organization; the Fire Marshall will oversee the
Building Division and the WQCP will be retained in
Public Works; there will not be a Permit Coordi-
nator which will allow funds for a full time Eco-
nomic Development Manager; recommendations to
raise the Librarian II to a III, Engineering Drafts-
man to Engineering Technician, Building Technician
to Senior Building Inspector, Senior Typist Clerk to
a Secretary I, a salary adjustment for the Recreation
Superintendent that is built into the budget; Finance
Director Brooks will go through the revenues and
expenditure tables; etc.
Director of Finance Brooks went through and de-
scribed: each of the revenue tables; the anticipated
deficits in coming years through additional cuts in
revenues; a decrease in sales tax from the Price
Club because of the opening of the new store in
Foster City; records are available to research sales
tax history of individual companies in his Office and
he would make them available to Mayor Yee for
data on the Price Club and Costco; he will find out
for the Mayor if the Price Club and Costco plan to
open more outlets, such as in Pacifica; FY 1995-96
sales tax estimate shows a 3% to 4% increase in
sales tax recovery; rumor has it that the Price Club
will recover lost revenue because they feel the redis-
tribution will come back to us because they are one
company with Costco; rumor also has it that
Costco is going to close; etc.
Discussion followed: City Manager Wilson stated
the City's major sales tax player hit a bump and
now the City goes back to the slow growth and no
change in the allocation of the jet fuel at the Airport;
the State took away 10% of our property tax; there
have devaluations of properties with reassessments;
the County also takes away increments which are
different calculations; talking to our legislators; look
for other sources of income; there are no assump-
tions for any revenue from the Shearwater Project;
Genentech applied for a reassessment; S.S.F.'s
assessed valuation will go up 2.5%; T.O.T.; there is
an increase in the paramedic fees; major restorations
should be done in-house rather than contract out;
where is the Callan money for street improvements;
Westborough's old section needs attention; can this
~ENDA
1. Study session on the Budget - Continued.
Councilman Penna Left the Meeting.
6/26/95
Page 3
ACTION TAKEN
City sponsor bingo during the day or evenings and
can the money be used to totally subsidize child care
programs; City Attorney will check definitions for
the use of the money; if Council continues the va-
cancy factor in parks, then it must make it less labor
intensive; Councilman Drago wants a parks and
landscaping tax put on the November ballot;
$50,000 was not used in the stormwater program,
however, it stays in the account; a rash of people
are tripping over broken sidewalks and Councilwom-
an Teglia suggested using youth employment to map
out the broken sidewalks; there was talk of putting
that on the property owners to share the repair cost
or pay it all; City pays a greater portion on lawsuits
when it is an adjoining property owner; library is
using more pages and cutting back on books; librar-
ies have a 300% increase in book borrowing; library
received money from Lithotype for a CD ROM
Station; the children's section of the library should
be expanded; Councilman Drago wants to put mon-
ey in the Cultural Arts Commission, say $25,000,
for the train station mural; there should be additional
clean-ups in alleys and neighborhoods; should have
one Code Enforcement Officer to do nothing but
check alleys; tomorrow is a meeting for BART and
Councilwoman Teglia wants a clear understanding
from BART, also look at whether we need a S.S.F.
station; she wants staff to check out Section 8 hous-
ing; City Manager wants direction as to when the
Council wants the $25,000 agendized for the mural;
etc.
Mr. Frank Veirera, Historic Preservation Commis-
sion, asked the Council to continue putting money in
the money matching grants program, otherwise it is
pointless for the Commission to continue without
money for grants.
City Manager Wilson stated he will check out the
Mills Act.
Discussion followed: whether cities can tax Cable
and Telephone Companies; City Treasurer has
modest investment policies; $450,000 deficit; 9 or
10 vacancies in current budget; etc.
Councilman Penna left the meeting at 7:03 p.m. and
did not return.
Discussion followed: vacancy factor of 4; garage
will remain consistent; this is a windy city and
AGENDA ACTION TAKEN
203
._3.1. Study session on the Budget - Continued.
6/26/95
Page 4
Council cannot cut back residential medians; Phase I
examines the personnel side; $412,000 is budgeted
this coming year for stormwater management; how
much money has been spent on stormwater; should
get Patrick Sweetan from Daly City to respond; he
will be at the public hearing; Park & Recreation has
a vacancy of 2 1/2 park maintenance people; there
are two vacant custodian positions and no one is
there for after school programs and the City saves
$25,000 for the programs; Councilwoman Teglia is
concerned with the at-risk kids and maybe the City
can run a bingo game on Friday nights; can park in-
lieu fees be used for one time work, because some
parks are beaten up; cutting back trends of
Council in the last four years; the Assistant City
Manager is involved in the Arroyo studies; City
Manager had three issues to be explored - develop-
ment fees as they pertain to the planning and engi-
neering costs associated with new development; the
City was recapturing 10% of the planning costs and
the question is whether or not we want to absorb
that on the planning side or look at a more cost
covering structure; Recreation has a 50% cost re-
covery; in planning you cannot have a 100% cost
recovery; on a project you could; Councilwoman
Teglia stated this has been done at least three times
and found the other cities charge more, and the
City gets down to the base - that it is part of the
taxes they pay; the City could base business license
fees on gross receipts; that was also done at least
three times; Councilman Drago will not support any
more taxes and feels the paramedic program was not
meant to be a money maker and was to provide
emergency care; he is not sure that the seniors are
not being penalized because Medicare pays a per-
centage of the bills; there was substantial revenue in
1988 because of the sale of the Chestnut lots; in
1991-1994 the City was running on the General
Fund and using it to balance the budget; a bright
spot of revenue is gas tax and Measure A; last year
and this year the City has had a balanced budget; the
City has eliminated positions and not given increases
for three years; a second election was not antici-
pated when the City Clerk's budget was prepared;
an increase in hours in the City Attorney's Office
due to quite a demand on his Office; Councilwoman
Teglia is pretty pleased with the City Attorney's
Office; the Permit Coordinator had been pulled out
of the budget; there is funding in the Parking Place
Commission to pay for a parking enforcement offi-
cer; the Non-Departmental Budget is $362,000;
AGENDA
^CROON r^KEN
,_J.. Study session on the Budget - Continued.
ADJOURNMENT:
eliminating the part-time typist clerk in the interim
and bringing in a full-time secretary to round out
the Department and move the personnel assistant to
the analyst slot; Councilwoman Teglia did not re-
member reading anything about the personnel assis-
tant being elevated; Vice Mayor Drago wants to s~
the new titles, positions and reorganization of the
building division into fire inspections; City is re-
cruiting for an Economic & Community Develop-
ment Director which should be finished in August;
CDBG, Fire and Police budgets; etc.
Discussion followed: how long the City can go
without filling vacant positions; staff was maintain-
ing vacancies; on an explanation of one-time reve-
nues; etc.
M/S Teglia/Drago - To adjourn the meeting.
Carried by unanimous voice vote.
Time of adjournment was 8:30 p.m.
ESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
Barbara A. Battaya, City Clerk ~//
City of South San Francisco
APPROVED.
City of Soutl'_ San Francisco
The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica-
tions, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the
Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying.
6/26/95
Page 5