TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Steve S. Charelian, Finance Director
Julie Bondarchuk, Financial Controller
Amira Khodari, Accounting and Payroll Supervisor
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of an Increase to Stormwater Assessments (Finance Director Charelian).
(Estimated Time: 30 Mins.)
APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends City Council authorize staff to proceed with obtaining an updated Engineer's report and conducting a survey related to a potential increase in Stormwater assessments.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are sufficient funds of $46,000 in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 General Fund budget to accommodate obtaining the Engineer's report and survey, estimated to cost $19,000 and $27,000 respectively.
The City adopts a structurally balanced budget annually, with operating revenues exceeding operating expenditures. However, increased costs for operations, ongoing transfers to the Stormwater Fund, and support for infrastructure projects have put a strain on the General Fund budget. The most recent General Fund financial forecast, presented to City Council with the Proposed Operating Budget on May 2, 2023, projects a declining unreserved fund balance and dipping into the Economic Uncertainly Reserve by FY 2025-2026. This is primarily driven by outgoing transfers of approximately $35 million over a six-year period (FY 2022-2023 to FY 2027-2028).
To maintain the City's goal of fiscal sustainability and financial stewardship, staff has researched revenue enhancement measures in order to continue to align service levels with community expectations. One of these measures includes an increase in Stormwater fees.
Ongoing transfers to subsidize the Stormwater Fund have significantly impacted the General Fund unreserved fund balance. In FY 2021-2022, the General Fund transferred nearly $2.2 million to support ...
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