Discussion followed regarding issues raised at the April 20th, April 27th and April 27th budget study sessions -
April 20th
1) The contingency line item in the Planning & Zoning department’s budget under the Office of Conservation and Sustainability program has been revised to $164,200 to account for the grant. Concurrently, $164,200 has been added as a revenue source under Federal Grants for receipt of this grant.
2) A comprehensive proposed organizational chart for the Development Services Department was reviewed.
3) The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Town Engineer and Development Services Director will be completed by Friday, May 8th and distributed to Council via email.
4) $50,000 from each Indian nation ($100,000 in total) has been included in the fiscal year (FY) 2009/10 budget to fund the initiation of the interpretive elements for Honey Bee Village.
April 27th
1) Starting with the upcoming summer program, user fees will be increased to $160 per child per week for residents and $270 per child per week for non-residents, versus a current fee of $105 per child per week for residents, resulting in an increase to revenue of $29,288.
Council Member Abbott referred to the projected increase in revenue from the increased fees for the Summer Camp program revenue and expressed the importance of retaining the position slated for elimination.
2) The Parks & Recreation staff will perform a cost analysis during the next fiscal year to see if full cost recovery for the Summer Camp program was achieved.
3) A future study session will be scheduled to address the Police Take Home Vehicle Policy.
4) The $6,000 will remain in the Human Resources budget pending the outcome of staffing decisions.
Mayor Loomis referred to saving the position in HR and asked that one element to be shown is its monetary impact.
5) In FY 2009/10, the Oro Valley Vista will be distributed via on-line resulting in cost savings of $65,240.
Discussion followed regarding options and cost savings for the Vista Newsletter, maintaining a monthly production of the newsletter, producing color copies in-house to be used for welcome packets as a cost savings measure, importance of maintaining timely communications with the public and with the cost savings by only publishing the newsletter on-line, the Constituent Services position may be retained.
6) The $10,000 will be earmarked in the General Administrato budget for an Animal Licensing Feasibility Study.
Discussion followed regarding the $10,000 coming out of contingency fund since this is a one time expenditure, a study session was held, needing further study .
7) The $20,000 originally budgeted for the Naranja Townsite survey has been reduced to $1,000.
8) As directed by Council, staff will reduce the Police Departments budget totaling $479,000, as outlined during the April 13th study session and an additional reduction of $1.2 million as presented by Council Member Garner at the April 20th Special Session.
Discussion followed regarding the proposed reductions, consolidation of some services and organizational structure of the police department, economies of scale by consolidating IT, public information, fleet management, risk management, roles and responsibilities will not change, changes will be evaluated.
10) Capital Improvement Program (CIP) expenditures are requested each year and is an on-going process. Staff recommends looking at other potential recurring revenue sources to fulfill future CIP needs. Staff was asked to identify recurring revenues dedicated to pay for CIP expenditures.
April 29th
1) A table showing the five year history on the amount of funds the Legal Department has spent on outside legal counsel was reviewed.
2) A table showing the five year history of expenses spent on Council retreats were reviewed.
Discussion followed on reducing costs by holding the Retreat either at Town Hall or at facilities that do not charge. The cost of a facilitator averages $6,000.
3) A table showing the 5 year history of the costs for the Volunteer Recognition event was reviewed.
It was suggested that the cost for this event be reduced to $13,000.
4) A table providing a history of costs associated with Council Travel and Training was reviewed, excluding the cost of Council Retreats to provide a more accurate representation of Travel and Training.
Discussion followed regarding receiving a breakdown of costs, freezing out of state travel, $5,000 is budgeted for each council member to spend on travel and training, each individual council member should be able to determine what events they want to attend, intergovernmental and travel reimbursement expenditures.
Further discussion ensued regarding the proposed reorganization of Community Development Services and the consolidation into Development Services Department, reduction of force and reclassifications, reduced workload due to the down turn in economy, delay of Arroyo Grande development.
Management Assistant Tory Schlievert reviewed the Community Funding Subcommittee’s recommendations of the agencies to be funded in FY 2009/10. She explained that 18 agencies were invited to present their application and organizational needs. Each agency was rated by the subcommittee members based on criteria adopted as part of the Community Funding Process. The table indicating the amount each agency requested totaling $487,154, the amount of funding that was included in the Town Manager’s Recommended Budget totaling $403,504, and the subcommittee’s recommended funding of $237,716 was reviewed.
Council Member Latas reviewed the results of her community funding survey she prepared and distributed electronically to Oro Valley registered voters.
Discussion followed regarding the subcommittee’s recommendations and the organizational needs of the agencies. It was noted that funding for agencies like the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB) and Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) will continue to be funded using economic development dollars out of the Bed Tax Fund. All of the financial participation agreements for the funded agencies will be placed on a future Council agenda for formal approval after the adoption of the final budget.
Finance Director Stacey Lemos reviewed a proposed listing of additional revenue sources that outlines a variety of other possible revenue sources that the Town may consider implementing to further diversity its revenue base, provide future financial stability, and strengthen our ability to weather future economic downturns.
Discussion followed regarding the pros and cons of the proposed revenue categories including increasing the utility tax, commercial and residential rental tax, increasing the local sales tax rate (excluding lodging and construction), tax on food, gas/electric franchise fee, primary property tax, transferring library operations to Pima County, sales tax rebate relief and bed tax revenue. The possibility of future annexations, the condition of the economy and concern with increasing taxes during this time was also discussed.