7:30 pm:
Call to order of the Committee-of-the-Whole (CotW) by Co-Chair Anne Delehunt.
All present introduced themselves and told their favorite hobby.
Rich Bartke, again, responded positively to request for a meeting scribe. (Thank you again, Rich!)
Agenda for the meeting was approved.
31 people in attendance (23 community members including Manager of Chamber of Commerce; 6 city staff persons; the Mayor, and J. R. Deaton, a reporter from The Journal)
(Again, not everyone signed in).
7:45 pm (about):
City Attorney, Howard Stern, reported on his finding that the Brown Act applies to the CotW and its sub-committees. (Attach copy of H.S.'s 4/29 letter) This means that:
Don West moved, and Linda Blum seconded, that the CotW set a quorum of 15. Motion passed 17 to 0.
8:10 pm (about):
Financial Review Team status report was given by Steve Magyary, who was elected Team Chair. The Team will meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the El Cerrito Open House Senior Center at 7:30 pm (Exception; the 5/5 meeting will be at 7:30 pm in the Garden Room of the Community Center).
Two subgroups have been formed to facilitate the Team's work. One, the Audit Group, is made up of retired accountants and auditors and consists of Sam Uchihara, Ernie Sherne, Marrianne Selph, and George Amberg. This group will initially look into all financial dealings between the City and the Agency to identify current policies and procedures and verify the exact amount of money currently owed to the City by the Agency. The other is the Trend Analysis Group which consists of six members; Steve Magyary, Linda Blum, Janet Abelson, Evelyn Kiresen, Don West, and George Amberg. This group will try to identify and analyse trends in the City budgets of the last 10 years to try to identify Department level revenues and expenditures. Any questions regarding the City's or the Agency's finances should be submitted to Steve, preferably in writing.
8:25 pm (about):
Jay Corey made a presentation on the City's revenues and expenditures of restricted funds to "Take the Mystery out of Municipal Finance." You don't have to be an accountant to understand how city finances work; you only need to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. A little knowledge of amortization tables helps, but is not necessary. There is nothing hidden. You must also "Keep Track of the Strings" put on various funds by law, and you must use "Fund Accounting" to be sure you do not spend these funds more than once. This requirement is what generates all the "Transfers In" and "Transfers Out" that make the budget document so confusing. Jay Passed out City of El Cerrito 1997-98 Budget pages (5) covering the Summary of Expenditures-Combined Funds, Expenditure Summary, Summary of General Fund Revenues and Transfers Overviews.
Ernie Sherne commented that net figures would be easier to work with, citing the Kensington Fire Funds as an example of how distortions get introduced.
John Ward asked if the Senior Center and our five Child Care facilities were paid off. City Manager explained that they had been paid for by child care surcharge, Certificates of Participation ( which have all been retired) and various County grants. Since John still had doubts, an action item was given to the Financial review team.
ACTION ITEM: Financial Review Team document how the Senior Center and the five Child Care Centers were funded and when they were paid off.
Jay made the following comments about the identified General
Fund revenues:
| Property Tax | City gets 20% of the revenues generated from the 1% property tax base. Real Prop. Transfer Tax The City receives $7 per $1,000 of sales price on residential and commercial properties(about $450,000 per year). |
| Sales Tax | City gets 1 cent of each dollar of sales taxable retail sales within city. |
| Sales Tax (Measure C) | City gets a portion (return to source) of the 1/2 cent county sales tax override. (18% of the revenues collected Countywide are allocated back to the Cities for local projects. Each city gets $50,000 for para-transit. The remaining revenues are split between the cities based on relative population and relative total roads (EC gets about $140,000 per year). |
| Sales Tax (Prop 172) | For Public Safety; Goes to pay for new Fire Station 72. Variable method of distribution. |
| Franchise Taxes | These are charges levied by City on private businesses using our public right of way. Various rates on gas and electric, catv, and trash. |
| Transient Lodging | 10% on hotel/motel bills. |
| Business License | Variable by business category; used instead of a gross receipts tax. |
| Utility User Tax | 8% on residents' gas, electric, and telephone bills. |
| Licenses and permits | Charges set by City to ensure cost recovery of services provided. |
| Fines and forfeiture | Variable, but about 80% of traffic tickets. |
| Use of money | Available cash times yield, rents. |
| Other Agency Reimb. | Motor vehicle in lieu (2% of vehicle value/year). Also, Kensington Fire Services contract. |
| Current services | Charges set by City to ensure cost recovery of services provided. |
| Community Serv. Rev. | Variable, depends on market. Mostly Recreation and Child Care fees. |
ACTION ITEM: FRT to review City Budget presentation and make recommendations to the CotW that would make it easier to read and understand. This is to include way to list all revenue sources on revenue page and make "Transfers" easily traceable.
Jay reminded us that the City Budget is a "Program" budget by Department, rather that a "Line item" budget.
ACTION ITEM: Chamber Manager was again asked to be sure to get questions from Chamber members, especially those most critical of current budget practices.
9:50 pm (about):
Discussed future agenda items and identified the following:
All agreed to add 5 minutes to meeting.
All agreed to leave Agency review schedule to our 4 Co-Chairs to schedule.
10:10 Adjourn.
Co-Chairs Thom S., Anne D., and Al M. met and set the Agenda for the 5/19 meeting to be held at the Open House Senior Center at 7:30 pm.
(This record was prepared by Al Miller.)
List of Attendees who signed in: