TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Linda Robb, Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Additional Information Regarding South Bay Cities Council of Governments Request to Send a Letter Opposing Measure A Steering Committee Recommendations (Parks and Recreation Director Leyman).
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and provide direction on a letter opposing the recommendation of the Measure A Steering Committee to allocate 30% of the competitive grant funds to “high” and “very high” need areas.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no immediate fiscal implications associated with the recommended action. If the County approves the Steering Committee’s recommendation, the amount of Measure A competitive grant funds available to the City of Manhattan Beach will be reduced.
BACKGROUND:
In 2016, the Los Angeles County Safe, Clean Neighborhood Parks and Beaches Measure (Measure A) was passed by the voters receiving 75% approval. Measure A asked voters to continue their support for local parks, beaches, open space, and water resources by approving an annual parcel tax of 1.5 cents per square foot of development. Generating approximately $94 million per year for our local parks, beaches, and open space areas, Measure A replaced expiring dedicated funding from the voter-approved Propositions A of 1992 and 1996.
Measure A was developed with extensive stakeholder input from throughout Los Angeles County and designed to meet the Countywide Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Needs Assessment of 2016. The Needs Assessment was an 18-month process which provided detailed information from all 88 cities and unincorporated areas within Los Angeles County about the quality of their local parks, their current access to parks and recreation facilities and overall park needs, including public meetings and project lists developed and prioritized by members of each community.
On December 12, 2018, the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) alerted its members of concerns regarding the allocation of Measure A funds to municipalities (see attachment).
At the January 2, 2019, meeting, City Council discussed the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) request to send a letter opposing Measure A Steering Committee recommendations. Following discussion, the City Council continued the item and requested additional information regarding: 1) existing criteria used in Measure A for cities to receive the competitive grant funding, 2) the Steering Committee’s recommendations and 3) how the proposed recommendations affect the City of Manhattan Beach.
DISCUSSION:
Measure A funds are implemented by the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District (RPOSD) with approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Measure A funds are recommended by a Measure A Implementation Committee or (Steering Committee) consisting of a large percentage of non-profit organizations and a much smaller representation of municipal agencies.
Below is a breakdown of the Measure A ballot measure presented to the voters in November 2016. The ballot measure priority area and annual allocation (by percentage) of funds are as follows:
Community Based Park Investment Program - 35%
Allocated to all incorporated cities and unincorporated areas of the County located within the district, for eligible projects. The allocation for City of Manhattan Beach is estimated at $133,352 annually.
Safe, Clean Neighborhood Parks, Healthy Communities and Urban Greening Program - 13%
Allocated to high-need and very high-need areas for the purposes of acquisition of real property and the construction and rehabilitation of parks and recreation facilities. The City of Manhattan Beach is not eligible for this allocation.
Natural Lands, Open Spaces and Local Beaches, Water Conservation, and Watershed Protection Program -13%
Competitive grants to promote improve, or protect clean local water supplies, habitat improvements, park space, recreation, public access, watershed health, and open space. Up to 25% of this category are allocated to Department of Beaches and Harbors and up to 15% are allocated to accessibility projects, especially for those in high-need and very-high need areas.
Regional Recreation Facilities, Multi-use Trails and Accessibility Program - 13%
Competitive grants for acquisition, development, improvement, restoration of rehabilitation cultural facilities, sports and recreational facilities, bike paths and trails, and sites of countywide significance (geological, archeological, etc.). Up to 25% of this category is allocated to the Department of Parks and Recreation, up to 15% is allocated to accessibility projects, especially for those in high-need and very-high need areas and up to 10% is allocated to Cultural Arts facilities.
Maintenance and Servicing - 15%
Annual allocation to fund maintenance and servicing of Measure A funded projects. Project funded under the former Proposition A are also eligible to use these funds. The allocation for City of Manhattan Beach is estimated at $32,057 annually.
Youth and Veteran Job Training and Placement Opportunities Program - 4%
Competitive Grants prioritized to organizations that provide services to, or recruit a majority of their participants from the areas of high-need or very high-need.
Program Innovation & Oversight - 7%
Set aside for strategic planning, updates to the needs assessment and the District for operations, management, technical assistance, outreach and oversight of program pursuant to the resolution.
RPOSD estimates that $96,800,000 will be collected annually through the special tax. Competitive grant funding makes up 30% of the total available funding from Measure A. The City of Manhattan Beach has been awarded $4,227,990 in project grant funds from Proposition A since its inception in 1992.
Within the competitive grant funding, there are allocations for the County Department of Beaches and Harbors, County Department of Parks and Recreation, Recreation Access and cultural facilities, leaving approximately $17,200,000 in possible competitive grant funding. Targeting 30% of those funds ($5,160,000) for high-need or very high-need areas, as recommended by the Measure A Steering Committee, would leave $12,040,000 available annually, to award countywide, using the Competitive Grant Scoring Rubric.
This final report on Measure A’s grant administration recommendations to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors can be found on the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Recreational District’s website at this link: <http://rposd.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/DRAFT-Measure-A-Grant-Administration-Manual_2018.10.23.pdf>.
Staff has reached out to the County requesting a draft of the specific criteria and recommendations from the steering committee. Staff believes that if the language is changed to remove the 30% competitive grant, there would be minimal or no impact to the amount of grant funds the City receives.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
Attachments:
1. Letter of Opposition to the LA County Supervisor
2. Email from the SBCCOG