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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-11-1977MINUTES 0F THE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL 0F THE CITY OF SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA June 11, 1977 The meeting was called to order at 8:00 A.M. by Mayor Vernon S. Evans in Room 831, City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza. The follow- ing Council members were present: Gordon Bricken, David F. Ortiz, John Garthe, James E. Ward, David L. Brandt and Mayor Evans. Councilman Harry K. Yamamoto was absent. Also present were the following members of Staff: City Manager Bruce C. Spragg, City Attorney Keith L. Gow, Director of Public Works John E. Stevens, Police Chief Raymond C. Davis, Fire Chief B. J. Thompson and Assistant Clerk of the Council Patricia E. Rice. BUDGET STUDY SESSION Mayor Evans announced that this Budget Study Session had been scheduled to discuss some of the Budget items on which members of the public had shown particular interest. He asked that the City Manager give his comments, followed by those from the audience. City Manager Bruce Spragg stated that the City has a 67 million dollar budget for an overall increase of 9-1/2%; that the big changes in the budget are due to the Federal Aid and grants that are coming in; that the first public hearing on Federal General Revenue Sharing was held; that the next informal public hearing on the City's budget is set for June 20, 1977, and the formal public hearing for adoption of the budget is set for June 28, 1977. He further stated that the tax rate will not be set at that time; that there may be additional revenue as a result of Assessed Valuations which should be available by July 18; that the Council has reviewed the proposed budget and submitted ques- tions to Staff; that two subjects of concern to Councilmen are the reorganization of the Recreation and Parks Department and adjustment of the utility users tax and/or the property tax, and possibly the Contingency if additional revenues are available; that the City has received a request from a neighborhood group for a traffic signal at First and Jackson, which does meet warrants and is the first priority signal in the 1978-79 budget, but that it could be installed for about $25,000 if the Council wishes to include it in the 1977-78 budget; that the request for assistance from the Orange County Fair Housing Council in the amount of approximately $22,000 is being analyzed by Staff for Council consideration in the near future. Mr. Tom McMichael, Legislative Chairman of the East Orange County Board of Realtors, stated that the realty group had several study sessions on the budget; that both the Realtors and the Chamber of Commerce are generally in philosophical harmony regarding the budget; that the budget is a good one, however, there is concern that the income has been underestimated in regard to assessed value, the sales tax, and the unexpended funds from last year. He continued by saying that the Board would make the following proposals: Accept the budget as presented with a gentleman's agreement that if the income has been underestimated that the surplus be placed into Category A and Category B: A. Half to be used for Unfunded Projects listed; CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 199 JUNE 11, 1977 B. The other half to be used as follows: 1. Ceiling on the Utility Tax to be lowered from $3,500 to $3,000; 2. Any remaining funds to be used to reduce the property tax. Mr. Don Gilchrist, representing the Chamber of Commerce, stated that he cannot determine the approximate split for the utility tax income because the utility companies are unable to provide that information. He further stated that the Chamber concurs with Mr. McMichael's comments regarding the City's estimated income; and that the practice of expending surplus funds on a list of Unfunded Projects is questionable. Mr. Rhoads Martin, Chamber of Commerce, suggested that the Unfunded Projects be designated for funding with surplus funds, such as the first seven prior to lowering the tax rate, so that special interest groups would not be allowed to change the priorities specified. City Manager Spragg stated that estimates are that County-wide the assessed valuation increase could go as high as 24%; that Staff is using 10% and last year it came in at 14%, which was the second lowest of any City in Orange County; and that it would be a disservice to overestimate our revenues. He stated that there are probably four areas that would deserve consideration for use of excess funds: 1) Increase in contingency; 2) Decrease in property tax; 3) Decrease in utility tax; and 4) Unfunded capital projects. Mayor Evans stated that the consensus among the Council was that they will cooperate with the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Realtors in an effort to utilize any unanticipated revenues along the lines suggested. Councilman Bricken suggested that the City make an effort to influence other taxing agencies to lower tax rates so that the total tax rate could be reduced by a significant amount. CA 65 B RECESS present. At 9:42 A.M. the meeting was recessed; at 9:55 A.M. the meeting was reconvened with the same Councilmen RECREATION & PARKS DEPARTMENT Executive Director of REORGANIZATION Community Services Manuel Rede briefly reviewed Phase I of the Reorganiza- tion approved by Council; and he stated that Phase II would continue the effort to decentralize the Department and establish reliable indicators of costs for comparisons of City forces service versus contracted work. He then introduced Robert Gresham, Department Director, who presented the proposed plan for tree maintenance and an organization chart showing the relationships of the various Staff members. Mr. Gresham stated that the Department budget would contain a 1S% increase. Councilmen asked several questions concerning responsibility for planning, design and acquisition of parks, and field training of personnel. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 200 JUNE 11, 1977 Mr. Dee Hoppe stated that he attended the meeting to ask for Council cooperation to maintain school property that is used for recreation programs, mainly baseball diamonds. Mayor Evans responded that the Recreation and Parks Department Staff would provide the Council with information concerning the school properties, and how cooperation with the schools could be improved. CA 52 Councilman Ortiz left the meeting at approximately ll:lS A.M. RECESS At 11:15 A.M. the meeting was recessed; Council reconvened at 11:30 A.M. with five members present. POLICE OLYMPICS held in Santa Aha July 27 31, 1977, approximately 5,000 participants. Mayor Evans announced that the Police Olympics, the largest police event in the nation, would be and that there would be CA 47 ADJOURNMENT 12:00 Noon by unanimous S:0 vote. On the motion of Council- man Bricken, seconded by Councilman Brandt, the meeting was adjourned at FLORENCE I. MALONe: ASSISTANT CLERK OF THE COUNCIL CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 201 JUNE 11, 1977