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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - #1 Orozco, Norma From: Edgar Velasco <edgarvelasco8@yahoo.com> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2022 5:41 AM To: eComment Subject: Budget Workshop - Agenda Item #1 Greetings Mayor Sarmiento and other members of the Council, My name is Edgar Velasco and I live in Ward 5. 1 am writing today to express my opinions on our city budget for this year. The budget for fiscal year 2022-23 looks overwhelmingly in favor for SAPID and needs to prioritize community organizations and services that help our most vulnerable residents, including the youth, immigrant individuals, houseless community members, low-income neighborhoods, and more. Last year,40%of our general funds went to SAPID.Their constant over abundance in funding has granted them too much power and authority.Their vehicles are looking more and more militarized,while empty lots are being sold for profit. Being that SAPID is the 10th deadliest police force in California,we need to focus our monetary needs elsewhere. In the past, SAPID has punished and criminalized our community by ignorant behavior, such as the Disney song incident. Clearly, a lot of the officers do not have respect for our community and simply seek a check.Their budget is far overreaching that eliminates the checks and balances we have in place. This year,we need our Council to put this community first. Funds from SAPID should be re-allocated to fund the following programs: Community development, Bower's museum, our library, Public works and other services that'll positively impact the community. It's important our children, students and parents feel safe and inspired to see our city proudly represented.The over- militierization of our police simply brings fear and concern in our community. Please let's have our police budget greatly reduced to about 20%.Their budget hasn't budged for years now,they're already funded and equipped. We need to make sure they don't excessively spend their budget simply for having such a large contribution. Sincerely, a concerned Santa Ana citizen Edgar Velasco Sent from my iPhone i Orozco, Norma From: Chelsea Castaneda <chelsea_castaneda@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2022 2:03 PM To: eComment Subject: Budget Workshop - Agenda Item #1 Greetings Mayor Sarmiento and other members of the Council, My name is Chelsea Castaneda and I live in Ward 5. 1 am writing today to express my opinions on our city budget. The budget for fiscal year 2022-23 needs to prioritize community organizations and services that help our most vulnerable residents, including the youth, immigrant individuals, houseless community members, low-income neighborhoods, and more. Last year, 40% of our general funds went to SAPID. I believe this is a gross misallocation of our city's funding due in part to the frightening statistics listed below, but also due to the fact that our community stands to progress through services and programs that help nurture and prevent our youth and community from resorting to criminal activity. The statistics that make the militarization of our police force a further cause for concern include the fact that: SAPID is the 10th deadliest police force in California SAPID has the 6th highest rates of police shooting in California There have been reports of gang-like activity within SAPID SAPID played copyrighted music to avoid a resident posting footage of their actions on social media Hardly any community complaints rule against SAPID SAPID punishes and criminalizes our community SAPID often escalates situations, rather than de-escalate A lot of the officers do not have respect for our community This year, we need our Council to put this community first. Funds from SAPID should be re-allocated to fund the following programs: Youth services Services for systems-impacted youth Services for houseless community members Services for DACA/undocumented community Youth internships and job opportunities City-sponsored youth center The houseless community is a grave cause for concern and if we take preventative measures that assist and support this community instead of using our funding to punish and criminalize, then we might see some positive outcomes. Not to mention the fact that most of these police officers are not native and are therefore insensitive to the issues our community has faced for years. Respectfully, Chelsea Castaneda 1 Orozco, Norma From: Tim Johnson <tjohnson@jlkrllp.com> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2022 11:10 AM To: Bacerra, Phil; Sarmiento, Vicente; Hernandez, Johnathan; Lopez, Jessie; Penaloza, David; Mendoza, Nelida Cc: eComment; Downs, Kathryn; Mendoza, Steven; Ridge, Kristine; Flores, Rosa; Carvalho, Sonia R. Subject: Budget Workshop (5.12.22) Mayor and Council (cc other important folks)...today you will be having a budget workshop for the upcoming 22/23 fiscal year. Obviously,there is a lot to consider and we are fortunate that the City's finance team is able to provide you some really valuable information and you have sought some information from the public also. You will also be receiving the Measure X Annual Report(MXAR)today. I am on that committee although these comments are my personal comments since the annual report stands on its own and you should not take my thoughts below to be those of the committee, although it is very possible,that others or perhaps even all may have similar thoughts. One of the new recommendations in the MXAR is to consider establishing a Measure X Sunset Stabilization Fund. If you recall,the council discussed and I believe voted to establish a Pension Stabilization Fund whereby the city would utilize savings derived from utilizing pension obligation bonds to save for future pension increases so as to be better prepared in the future to handle increasing costs. I hope that this council can see the need to plan for the future sunset of Measure X and as such will strongly discuss and hopefully approve the utilization of such a stabilization fund to plan pro- actively for the sunset of Measure X. As a reminder a few logistical details about Measure X (MX): • MX sales tax rate is 1.5% presently through 3/31/29 • MX tax rate will drop from 1.5%down to 1.0%from 4/1/29 to 3/31/39 • When approved by the voters MX was expected to generate approx$60M per year • The most recent budget update as provided at the 5/3/22 council meeting anticipates that MX will generate approx. $84.2M for FY21-22 • In just 3 years MX revenue has increased by approximately 40% ($84.2M anticipated MX less$60M baseline MX /$60M baseline MX) • The FY22/23 draft projected MX revenue appears to be approx. $92M (see Director Down's current presentation)which is approx. a 6.8% increase. This is likely not only spurred on by additional spending but also due to the inflation we are experiencing on taxable goods. I believe that the council is hearing staff and MX Committee recommendations to focus additional MX spending on one- time expenditures. However, a very good share of MX revenue is spent on recurring expenditures. As staff indicates on page 18 of the Staff Presentation you are receiving tonight,you will see that approximately$22M (or 24% of MX spending) is devoted to one-time spending while 76% is spent on recurring expenditures. Recurring expenditures generally increase each year. Mathematically,this means that when the first MX sunset occurs, if we continue to increase recurring expenditures at the same rate as MX revenue increases,that there will be a fiscal issue to contend with due to the drop in revenue by one-third ((1.5%existing rate—1.0%4/1/29 rate= 0.5% rate drop/ 1.5% existing rate= 1/3 drop). When we are spending 76%on one-time spending and the future MX revenue may be 66% of revenue, there is mathematically a 10%shortfall. We need to plan for that shortfall. There are multiple ways to plan for this...I am suggesting that we need to save today at a MINIMUM the increase to MX revenue received in a year over year basis in order to smooth out that decrease in future revenue. For the future FY22/23 budget being discussed this would be to save (or appropriate to a MX Sunset Stabilization Fund) approx. $7.81VI out of the projected $92M revenue generated by MX. This$7.8M is the difference between the$92M 1 FY22/23 projected MX Revenue figure and the most recent FY21/22 MX revenue projection. Another way to look at this is that we essentially"freeze" our utilization of the MX for annual expenditures at the FY21/22 level and "save" annual increases in order to prepare for the sunset period. This will allow for recurring expenditures to still be funded at present levels AND also continued use of funds for continued one-time projects also. Since our use of MX revenue for recurring expenses is approx. 76%whereas we will only have 66%of MX revenue available during the first sunset period, we will need these funds to keep recurring levels of services the same. Even this reserve method may not be enough, but it will be better than the alternative. Additionally, each year we wait to address this will only compound the issue. It is important to act now to avoid additional strain in the future. I know that this is a lot to take in but if you think about 76%of current MX funds being spent on recurring items whereas in the first sunset period our revenue will only be 66% of what we have now due to the MX rate drop from 1.5%to 1.0% you can see the problem-there is a 10%gap on what we spend (approx. $8M to$9M in dollars). Just to MAINTAIN services residents expect,we will either have to have other sources of revenue increase, cut expenditures, utilize other reserves, or have a vote to increase the tax rate again. In reality, it will likely be a combination of all budget items with a last resort of a voted increase. Further, during the first sunset period not only will those expected recurring services be impacted but one-time spending will have to go to zero without other corrective actions. When one-time spending is done annually, it certainly starts to feel like recurring items even when they are separate projects. Equally important as actually saving some of the MX revenue to stabilize the services that residents expect during the sunset period is the use of such funds. Now legally MX is general fund revenue BUT realize that the voters approved MX for reasons as outlined in the ballot language with an emphasis on maintaining effective 911 response, retaining firefighters/police offices, addressing homelessness,fixing streets, and maintaining parks and youth/senior services. If established,this fund should continue to follow that emphasis when it comes time utilize the Stabilization Fund. One only needs to look to our neighbors in Westminster to see what happens when sales tax sunsets are ignored. I am not intimately familiar with their situation but I hear it is not good and may get substantially worse. We should not be budgeting by emergency which is what may happen if we do not plan for the sunset now. There are some (many?all?) who may not be an elected leader when the sunset happens, however many of us residents will still be here. We need you to be good stewards of public funds by planning today for the sunset. We also must remember that this sales tax is paid mostly by our residents and businesses. This is a tax that hits us all daily. Taking a vote today to save money for the future instead of spending it on an otherwise worthy project today, may not feel the best today but I believe our"future selves"will thank us if we embark on this now. I would urge you to provide guidance to Director Down to provide a budget that establishes a Measure X Sunset Stabilization Fund for the FY22/23 year in the approx amount of$7.8M which is the presently budgeted difference between the$92M projected FY22/23 MX revenue compared to the latest 3Q budget update of anticipated MX revenue for FY21/22 ($84.2M). Many may say that we should really utilize the difference between the mid-year budget update which would provide for a Stabilization Fund of$13M which if I was in a "negotiating position" may be a better starting point in hopes actually arriving at$7.8M but I will leave that to your group how best to decide the exact amount. Thank you for your time and commitment to our city. I am, as always, available to expand further at anytime you want. My contact information is below...feel free to reach out. Tim Johnson, CPA ROW iiberucr Partner QD{frl..f.ewl"�uG' Ae[w9la stls (949) 860-9892 Proudly part of the P Fglobal family (714) 743-1065 91130 tjohnson@jlkrllp.com 2601 Main Street,Suite 580, Irvine,CA 92614 2 See our latest business news and insights by clicking here This message(including any attachments)contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose,and is protected by law.If you are not the intended recipient,you should delete this message.Any disclosure,copying,or distribution of this message,or the taking of any action based on it,is strictly prohibited.JLK Rosenberger is a California Limited Liability Partnership and a member firm of PKF International Limited,a family of legally independent member firms and does not accept any responsibility or liability for the actions or inactions on the part of any other individual member or correspondent firm or firms. 3 Orozco, Norma From: Greg Camphire <gcamphire@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 5:16 PM To: eComment Subject: Budget Workshop - Agenda Item #1 Greetings Mayor Sarmiento and other members of the Council, My name is Greg Camphire and I live in Ward 2. 1 am writing today to express my opinions on our city budget. The budget for fiscal year 2022-23 needs to prioritize community organizations and services that help our most vulnerable residents, including the youth, immigrant individuals, houseless community members, low-income neighborhoods, and more. Last year,40%of our general funds went to SAPID. I can't understand the justification for this disproportionately gigantic use of funds, especially considering recent reports of gang activity within SAPID,which is already a severely undertrained and over-militarized force of terror in our communities. This year,we need our Council to put this community first. Funds from SAPID should be re-allocated to fund youth job and education opportunities, homelessness services, parks and recreation, libraries,water conservation, and rapid adaptation to renewable energy in the fight against climate change. It's time to rebalance the ineffective and unfair concentration of police funds in our city's budget. Please do the right thing for the future of our communities. Sincerely, G reg 1 Orozco, Norma From: Stephen Mayfield <stephenmayfield87@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 5:09 PM To: eComment Subject: Budget Workshop - Agenda Item #1 Greetings Mayor Sarmiento and other members of the Council, My name is Stephen Mayfield and I live in Ward 3. I am writing today to express my opinions on our city budget. The budget for fiscal year 2022-23 needs to prioritize community organizations and services that help our most vulnerable residents, including the youth, immigrant individuals, houseless community members, low- income neighborhoods, and more. Last year, 40% of our general funds went to SAPD. While I support the police and the safety of our community it might help to spend portions of those funds on better community policing programs, homelessness support, drug rehabilitation, low and middle income jobs to get folks working, off the streets and safe. It is also disturbing to see some of the behavior of the SAPD recently in the news (the playing of copyright music to avoid being posted on the internet, the accusations of gang like activity in the force. There is likely opportunity for retraining and hiring as well. What about community based certifications or up-skilling of officers? This year, we need our Council to put this community first. Some funds from SAPD should be re-allocated to fund the following programs: Youth after school programs like sports and other activities, Services for systems-impacted youth Services for houseless community members Services for DACA/undocumented community Youth internships and job opportunities City-sponsored youth center] Parks And community arts projects. These funds could also be set forth into new small business reinvestments as this city continues to revitalize and thrive. I love Santa Ana, and this is important because I want to continue to live in a community where government works and people help each other. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, -Stephen Thanks Stephen Mayfield i