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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMAY 31,1994 I I 36:0171 ()IIO_ s6 05-210/<( Cc. CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS ARE TAPE RECORDED AND ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK 1. O:uO-3U N5(> MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING (STUDY SESSION) BUDGET REVIEW MAY 31, 1994 The Arcadia City Council met in an Adjourned Regular Meeting (Study Session) on Tuesday, May 31, 1994 at 5:35 p. m. in the City Council Chamber. PRESENT: Councilmembers Kuhn, Lojeski and Young ABSENT: Councilmember Chang and Margett On MOTION by Councilmember Lojeski, seconded by Councilmember Kuhn and CARRIED, Councilmember Margett was EXCUSED. It was MOVED by Mayor Young, seconded by Councilmember Kuhn and CARRIED on roll call vote as follows to EXCUSE Councilmember Chang. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Councilmembers Kuhn and Young Councilmember Lojeski Councilmembers Chang and Margett Mayor Pro tem Chang arrived at 5:37 p. m. and Councilmember Lojeski reversed his NO vote. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Ser2eant Harrv Verhilev, Arcadia Police Department, President, Arcadia Police Relief Association, stated that, "the Association represents all officers, agents and sergeants of the Arcadia Police Department. "The City of Arcadia is a respected community; the strength and health of our community comes not from its material prosperity, big new buildings and many citizens, but by its internal unity and safe environment. The Arcadia Police Department directly affects and, to some extent, controls the internal unity of our safe environment of our community, The residents of Arcadia desire, deserve and receive superior levels of service from the members of the Arcadia Police Department, The Arcadia Police Relief Association would like to express its support to Chief Neal Johnson in his efforts to meet the current budget restraints, We join the Chief and all the City employees in this endeavor. In the interest of our members, a concern for the safety of the citizens of the community, we cannot endorse the concept of pay reductions, position layoffs, or hiring freezes, Position layoffs and hiring freezes adversely affect our ability to provide services to the citizens of this community. The freezing of only four positions would eliminate one-half of the evening watch patrol field strength. Position layoffs and hiring freezes would lead to an increase in patrol response time, and would be detrimental to the safety of our men and women patrolling our streets. Please keep in mind that once hiring freezes are lifted, lost positions reinstated, the positions cannot be filled immediately. It takes approximately one year to recruit, train and field an effective patrol officer. During this period the response time, level of service and safety of our officers will still be negatively impacted. The Arcadia Police Relief Association is also concerned about the current negotiation process. In an effort to assist the City in the 1 5/31/94 O::J..ICJ-~O ()IIO. "'0 36:0172 current fiscal situation, we have proposed an alternative work schedule. This work schedule, a 3/12 plan, would maintain, and in some instances increase the level of service to the public while saving the City a substantial amount of money. However, we are currently in negotiations with the City and cannot proceed until the ratification of the budget by the City Council, The current Memorandum of Understanding expires June 30, 1994, and we are anxious to proceed with this process in order to have a new contract in place prior to the expiration of the current contract. We ask the City Council to seriously consider alternatives to any wage reduction, position layoffs or hiring freezes, since they would adversely affect the level of service provided to the City of Arcadia by our Police Department." Ken Marston, Arcadia Fire Department, President, Arcadia Fire Fighters' Association stated that he is present, "to speak about the current problem that the City is facing and that is a $2.4 million shortfall that you have in the budget this year. Currently the City of Arcadia is in contract negotiations with the Firefighters' Association. We seem to have a problem here because on one hand you're asking us to meet with you and give you our idea of what we want in further negotiations and contract settlements, On the other hand, you're sitting here discussing what you are going to take away from past contracts. Somehow, those two don't balance. The City must determine what it is going to do with its current fiscal budget before it is able to proceed in contract negotiations with labor groups for future contracts. The.ongoing deficit that you face, while it may not be your own, is one that you must deal with, and deal with effectively and swiftly, If the City refuses to deal with those, it is impossible for the City to then enter into negotiations with the Arcadia Fire Fighters' Association. We support the Police Department, that you just heard, in the fact that if you are determined to cut positions, you're going to cut safety in the City. The City currently has a Class I Fire Department, rated with the highest in the United States. You cannot have both; you cannot have cuts; you cannot have layoffs; you cannot have cutbacks and maintain that status which you so greatly desire. If you cut just one man from an engine -- just one fire fighter -- you've cut 25' of the crew; 50' of it's total effective fire fighting forces. On a paramedic call, you cut 25' of the life saving ability of that engine company, We are not here to tell you how to balance the budget. What we are asking for is that at this time it seems inappropriate to enter into contract negotiations when we still cannot balance our budget. Therefore, what we are requesting is that the Council extend the current contract until which time that you can balance your budget and enter into negotiations." The City Attorney announced that, "the City Manager has requested that we move the closed session up to the next agenda item, It will be a brief closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 for a conference with the City's labor negotiators and Dan Cassidy and Gary Rogers are both here this evening, and that will be regarding unrepresented employees, AFSCME Local 2264, the Arcadia Firefighters' Association, and Arcadia Police Relief Association, I recommend that we adjourn to a brief closed session to meet with Mr. Cassidy." The City Council ADJOURNED to a CLOSED SESSION at 5:40 p. m., and RECONVENED at 6:30 p. m. 2. PRESENTATION BUDGET DEFICIT & RESERVE FUNDS 0-".::: 0 - ..., () The City Manager stated that after the budget meeting last week, staff took Council's directions and suggestions and regrouped some numbers, and have a different set of proposals for Council to consider. 2 5/31/94 I I I I 36:0173 The Finance Director presented a chart showing the revenue and expenditures since 1990/91 and stated in part, "when the City started feeling the effects of the recession in 1991-92, revenues continued to grow slowly. Expenditures continued to grow at a faster rate because sizeable salary increases were given that were tied to long term contractual Memorandums of Understanding that represented some 21% for some of the groups, and AFSCME still has a year to go on their contract. These were periods of time when the economy was better. Excess funds during that period of time went to the Capital Outlay Fund, the Facilities Construction Fund -- money set aside for construction of the new Fire Station, for the Library, Community Center, etc. Also some of the money was put aside in the Equipment Replacement Fund to build a large fund balance that has been maintained, We have tried to bring that fund up to a point where it would fund equipment purchases with the interest earned. It is important to note that over this period of time we generated some $78 million dollars. We have also spent some of our reserves, Also some funds are restricted funds, and cannot be used for any other purpose than the one designated, either by contract or legal requirement. However, there are other designated funds that could be used which are designated for emergency reserve or designated for the replacement fund. These funds could be used to balance the budget. "The only reason we p.robab1y have an emergency reserve or equipment reserve fund is because we had excess monies in the past and were able to move funds to those ,categories, If the monies in those two funds were added together, it would total approximately $17 or $18 million dollars. If we said this is how much fund balance we have, and called it a reserve, we estimated this to be about 71% of operating expenditures this year, which are in the neighborhood of $25,600,000. These are somewhat arbitrary figures, but we feel that most people would think that 15% reserve in the general fund is probably okay. Obviously, we would like to have more than 15%, but looking at most cities, we do not think many cities have that much reserve; in some cases, there may be no reserves at all. This year when we did the budget, we took a look at the equipment purchases for this year; we could delay the purchase of approximately $230,000 worth of vehicles for the Police Department, We could also delay equipment purchases for Public Works, Therefore we could have savings because of these actions." The Finance Director presented a chart showing a General Fund balance of $4,600,000, estimated revenues and transfers for FY 1994-95 to be $23,433,527; and expenditures $25,689,591; indicating a difference between revenues and expenditures, which is a deficit or shortfall for FY 1994-95 operations of $2,256,084. After last week's meeting, staff revised the budget putting in some of the suggested revenue enhancements and cost reductions suggested previously, 3. PRESENTATION OF ENDORSED REVENUE ENHANCEMENTS & COST REDUCTIONS Estimated Current Year Resources: Revenues Trans, from Other Funds Subtotal 22,752,527 681. 000 23,433,527 Revenue Enhancements Fee Study Increases Penalty Assessments/Code Park Maintenance Program Emergency Medical Program Subtotal 100,000 Enforcement 10,000 200,000 200.000 510,000 3 5/31/94 36:0174 Total Estimated Current Year Resources 23,943,527 Expenditures (25,689,591) Cost Reductions Eliminate Donation - T, of R. Assoc. Implement 9/80 Work Schedule at City Hall Implement 2% at 55 for Non-safety employees Subtotal 13 , 500 15,000 150 000 178,500 Total Estimated Year Expenses (25.511.091) FY 1994-95 Preliminary Shortfall <1.567 564) I 4. PRESENTATION AND DIRECTIpN OF ADDITIONAL .REVENUE ENHANCEMENTS & COST REDUCTIONS In addition to the revenue enhancements noted above there were suggestions for licensing horses and the ~ale of City fire wood, More time is required to study these two items due to the fact that there may be some problem with the horse licensing because of possible conflicts with the Tucker Bill, Sale of fire wood by the Public Works Department would require purchase of some additional equipment. Additional cost reduction measures include elimination of funding for the following positions (includes benefits): Community Development Director Assistant to the City Manager 161,000 Non-sworn Assignments for Police & Fire Personnel Across the board cut in services and supplies (5%) 100,000 FY 1994-95 Adjusted Preliminary Shortfall 250.000 511,000 (1,048,564) Funding for the following positions has been eliminated in the proposed FY 1994-95 Budget. CITY MANAGER' S OFFICE One Assistant to the City Manager COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT One Community Development Director PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT I One Public Works Foreman One Parks Lead Worker Two Equipment Operators Three Maintenance Workers The Finance Director noted that the City is not really laying off people. For example, the positions of Assistant to the City Manager and Community Development Director are vacant, and other positions would be absorbed in the operation of that particular department. 4 5/31/94 I I 36:0175 In response to questions, the Finance Director stated that staff has been in contact with PERS and are hoping to obtain information about the option of 2% at 55 for non-safety employees, Some discussion ensued about options of possibly increasing the Workers' Compensation and General Liability deductib1es; the possibility of increasing earthquake insurance; adjustments to the self-insured fund; and other options to close the budget gap, Mayor Pro tem Chang questioned staff regarding the number of cars assigned to City management staff and others, and the possibility of some savings related to this policy. The Acting City Manager said he will soon provide a report on this matter to Council. Counci1member Lojeski inquired if the employee suggestion plan initiated last year has proven to be effective in producing some cost saving ideas, The Acting City Manager responded that all suggestions received are being processed, that some excellent suggestions have been received, and the second or third award is to be presented at an upcoming Council meeting, At the suggestion of Counci1member Lojeski, staff will study the possibility of having Arcadia High School Band members and/or Boy Scouts paint curbside house numbers rather than City staff. Counci1member Lojeski noted that, since considerable construction is under way at the schools, the Recreation Department should be . able to function with smaller crews this summer. He would also like to look into the possibility of savings by consolidation of City departments. Staff will bring a report. on this possibility back to Council. .' RECESS AT 7:20 p.m. CITY COUNCIL RECONVENED AT 7:25 p,m. 5. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION ABOUT DEPARTMENT BUDGETS The Acting City Manager noted that if Council were to consider an additional 5% cut in the General Fund budget, he had requested that each department head report to Council what a 5% cut of their department budget might mean in personnel services and/or supplies and services operations. The City Council then proceeded to review the preliminary operating budget of each department and directed comments and questions to staff. The proposed department budgets were discussed, inclusive of suggested changes and/or increases/decreases as noted. CITY COUNCIL The total appropriation is just under $70,000; last year's appropriation was $78,000, The main savings are for national league memberships and meetings. CITY MANAGER The preliminary budget for FY 1994-95 is almost $500,000. There have been changes in a number of positions and, for cost accounting purposes, a change into two Divisions Administration and Community Relations. Although an increase in terms of people and dollars, this is simply a reallocation of the same people, The budget will now show a significant decrease because the position of Assistant to the City Manager is vacant. There is also some reduction in travel and items of that nature. CITY CLERK This budget shows a 2.2% increase over the FY 1993 - 94 budget. In response to Council's questions, the City Clark explained the budgeted figure for legal advertising. The legal notices originate mostly from various City departments. Also, there was a 3% across-the-board City salary increase. FY 1994-95 budget 5 5/31/94 36:0176 has been cut in the travel category and office equipment maintenance. CITY ATTORNEY This overall budget shows a 3% increase basically due to inflationary costs. Funds in the amount of $10,000 have been subtracted from the Book Account and added to the Legal Support Services Account because the City Attorney has found it to be much more important to have readily accessible legal support services because of the needs of the City and the diversity of those needs. HUMAN RESOURCES This budget shows a 21% increase over FY 1993-94. Much of that is attributed to: 1) transfer of the Labor Relations and I Supervisory Training in the amount of $42,500 from the General City Account; and 2) $19,400 for a half-time Risk Manager for half of the year, If these amounts were subtracted from the projected budget, the budget would actually be 8,2% less than last year' s budget. This was due in part to cutting the Administrative Intern position, If a 5% cut is required staff recommends cuts in Office Supplies and Print Shop, Recruitments (the most expensive recruitments are for Fire and Police) I '. Memberships, Official Meetings and Training, and possibly a delay in hiring a Risk Manager. The intent of bringing a half-time Risk Manager on board is because Workers' Compensation is one of the City's largest growing expenses, and this is an effort to decrease those costs. Other than these items, there is substantially no change in the Human Resources Department budget, according to staff. FINANCE This budget shows a 4.3% increase over FY 1993-94.. .3,4% of which is for wages, salaries and benefits; less than 1% for service and supplies, Since each section of the department delivers a different service, there are employees with different qualifications in these sections, so personnel cuts would be difficult. In consideration of a 5% cut, there is the possibility of eliminating a part-time typist-clerk position that currently exists in Business License. This would result in less field work and fewer special studies which are requested by Council from time to time, I t could also result in some reduction of revenue. Considerable reductions have already occurred in many accounts. POLICE The Police Department budget shows an increase of 2.6% over FY 1993-94. This due to an increase in salaries of 3.8%, and increase of total benefits, totaling 4,71%, This Department has a strength of 76 sworn positions, 21 miscellaneous employees, 23 part-time employees. In the ten divisions in the Police Department, Administration showed an increase of 8% in general liability insurance; 2% in property liability insurance, which I accounts for the increase in this Section, although there was a decrease of $1,000 in vehicle maintenance. In the Building Division, there was a slight increase in building expenses as a result of expanding into the old Armory property, and minor increases in utility expenses for a total of 2%. In Communications a decrease in contract services was realized, but was offset by an increase in telephone expenses, resulting in a net savings of $300. In Traffic, a reduction of $1,000 was made in vehicle maintenance expenses. Investigation Division - no change. Laboratory - with replacement of a sworn police officer with a non-sworn person, the savings in salary to this section is $21,507. Additional savings were realized with a decrease in operational expenses from $12,000 to $11,500, Patrol - this section will increase revenue by an estimated $28,000 as a result of expanding the inmate worker program to weekends, a total revenue increase of 55%. Operational expenses were reduced by $22,047; the departmental physical examination expenses were 6 5/31/94 ': or' 36:0177 reduced to zero due to the new contract with the hospital which is a savings of $17,000. This reduction occurred even with the increase of 2,5% in workers' compensation insurance expenses. In Records Division, a $10,490 savings was realized even with an increase in maintenance contracts, Overall, operational costs for this section were reduced from $130,915 to $120,425, In Special Operations, a reduction of 9% in operating expenses was made. In Training, a reduction of $1,000 was made in jail training reimbursement as a result of the budget cut, I The impact of a 5% reduction in police staff would mean the loss of five police officers. This represents 10% of the total officers assigned in the uniform division, which currently handles over 36,000 calls for services annually. A reduction in work capability would be expected. This would reduce the department's ability to handle the work load by approximately 3,600 calls per year. The reduction in ability to handle calls would require an adjustment in priority of calls to which the officers would respond. Also, we would expect to see an increase in response time to both emergency and general calls for service. The change in response service would require that we no longer take reports on property damage accidents, and we only would handle the injury accident reports. We possibly would no longer respond to low level misdemeanor reports, Persons wishing to file reports about petty thefts, lost or stolen property, assaults, violations of'domestic court orders, etc., would have to come to the Police Station to report the events, Such reports would only be taken in those time periods when staff would be available. Suppressing patrol time -- the time spent for high visibility in areas Where we have higher crime rates -- would be reduced in an attempt to maintain reasonable response times to calls. Currently the Division issues approximately 25,000 citations per year. We would also expect a 10% or more reduction in that figure due to the re-direction of priorities. This would have a two-fold effect. First, a reduction in traffic fines returned to the City, Second, an increase in the accident rate as driver misconduct rises due to reduced enforcement standards. Elimination, possibly, of the Traffic Enforcement Bureau which includes four officers who might have to be reassigned to the Patrol Division to replace the lost staff. This could result in reduction in traffic citations; possible increase of injury accidents; and loss of revenue to the City. A 5% reduction in the operating budget could also create a need to redirect staff in order to implement options we would consider, such as reduction or elimination of school crossing guards in an effort to redirect funds to our Patrol staff, A reduction of positions in the Investigation Section, thereby reducing our ability to investigate the some 9,000 criminal cases. This would eliminate the investigation of misdemeanor cases and/or traffic accident cases Which involve minor infractions. A reduction of crime prevention programs as these funds are re-directed to Patrol. This would possibly cause the Police Science Class to be discontinued at the high school, Public events such as open house, bike registration and Explorer programs, etc, could be discontinued. Reduction of services available over the counter at the Police Department could occur as a result of budget and staffing reductions. I In response to questions from Hayor Pro tem Chang, Chief Johnson said that cutting salaries would involve cutting officers because the contracts between the City and Police Relief Association would not permit overall salary reductions. Chief Johnson said that the operating budget is at bare bones at the present time... with an additional 5% cut it would mean cutting personnel. A total of $410,000 would have to be cut from the Police Department budget. 7 5/31/94 36:0178 FIRE DEPARTMENT The Fire Department budget for IT 1994-95 shows proposals to continue the existing programs in order to maintain the current level of service, with the exception of the Emergency Services Program. When the individual in that position retires at the end of this year, that person will not be replaced, Those duties will be consolidated into another position that will become part of a reorganization that the Fire Department is proposing this year in order to reduce expenditures. The Fire Department's budget is 90\ salaries; it is very labor intensive; 10\ of the budget is for supplies and services. The overall increase next year is projected at 5\, In addition to that, the Department has some new revenues that will come from the Paramedic Subscription Program. As a result of implementation of this new program, we are anticipating approximately $325,000 in new revenue. There will be some operating costs, some salaries and benefits that will be required to operate this program, which will bring the net revenue down to somewhere over $200,000, and that has been included in the proposed budget, The Department budget from what we proposed was originally cut $52,000, This evening additional information was given about an additional 5\ cut in supplies and services an additional $33,000 out of what the Fire Department has proposed for total budget cuts of $85,000. With the internal reorganization of the Fire Prevention Bureau and the Emergency Service Division, a savings of $29,000 - $30,000 is anticipated. To-date, we are looking at budget cuts of $114,OOd - $115,000, In response to a question from Mayor Young, Fire Chief Gardner explained that the Paramedic Subscription Program will be offered to all citizens of Arcadia. This will undoubtedly be a very successful program because it is so beneficial. Presently a typical ambulance call could easily cost $400. For the subscription program, they are projecting an annual cost of $42 per household, which would include every member of the family in that home. It would include all costs -- paramedic response, paramedic treatment and ambulance transport to the hospital, If Council approves, it is proposed' that we go into the program on July 1. It will take about two - three months to do all the advance notification; change some computer programming, etc, The City Attorney is preparing some draft enabling legislation, plus a resolution establishing the $42. fee. The program will be prepared in its entirety as soon as the budget is approved, Research and preparation have already been done to this point, but everything is in a draft stage, awaiting Council approval. A certain amount of lead time is necessary so that residents can be notified that this charge will appear on their water bill. It will take two months to contact every resident; and they would like to make two contacts -- one mass mailing with a brochure and an application, plus they want to add an insert to every water bill. There will be provision for reduced cost for low income households, There are a number of details that need to be presented to Council in the final report. In response to questions from Councilmember Lojeski, Fire Chief Gardner said that revenue received from the City of Honrovia for dispatch service amounted to $60,000 last year; this year Arcadia will receive $75,000. This is a three year renewable contract, It has been necessary to increase the dispatching staff by one person, so the cost of salary and benefits has to be subtracted from the gross revenue. To the best of Chief Gardner's knowledge, the Honrovia City Manager and Fire Department Command Staff are very satisfied with this program, Last year the Council gave the go-ahead to contact the City of Sierra Hadre about dispatching for their Fire Department. A proposal was presented to Sierra Hadre, but just before they were to act on it, their City Hanager left, and the Council wanted to wait until there was a new City Hanager on board, There is a new City Hanager now and he is aware that Arcadia is ready to proceed with 8 5/31/94 I I ., 36:0179 discussions regarding dispatching, The City of Sierra Madre has a volunteer Fire Department. In response to questions from Councilmember Lojeski, Police Chief Johnson replied that Sierra Madre also has a new Police Chief, that the citizens want their own Police Department, and they are not ready to contract out. Councilmember Lojeski wondered if it might be possible to raise revenue by contracting for street sweeping or something in that"line. I If the Council is also going to look at an additional 5% budget reduction, in the Fire Department that equals $344,000, Basically, the Department's budget, other than salaries and benefits which were increased due to a contract with the Firefighters' Association, has actually been reduced. The 5% reduction would have a severe impact. The Department would have to lose eight positions. This would remove six people from Fire Suppression; one person from Communications and one from Fire Prevention, This would have a major impact on service levels; on the department's ability to handle emergency calls; and being able to dispatch those calls. In some instances there may be issues of firefighter safety to deal with because crew sizes would be inadequate. Occasionally, a piece of equipment may have to come out of service, which would, in turn, reduce response time, The overall service level would be significantly reduced in the Fire Department,. .' .' PUBLIC WORKS Public Works Director Lopez stated there are three divisions in this Department affected by the General Fund: General Services, Engineering and Equipment Services. In these three divisions there are 44 personnel. The increase over FY 1993-94 is 2,8%, and that is mainly in salaries. To look at an additional 5% cut, which would amount to $220,000, items that Council might consider - - in General Services, trees and parks under contract. If Council should approve, all tree trimming could be done by contract. The tree trimming itself could be reduced by perhaps $65,000. Also, if Eisenhower and Wilderness Parks are to be contracted out, that budget could be reduced by $30,000. The budget for that by contract would be about $110,000. This would be a 27% cut. Looking at grounds maintenance, which is done by contract for a total of $249,000, we could look at a $50,000 reduction in that service, which would be approximately 20% in grounds maintenance itself, We could eliminate new tree planting which would be equivalent to about $5,000. We could also eliminate TV mainline of the sewers which would amount to $6,300. For General Services that amounts to a total of $156,300. I In Engineering, we could eliminate contract services and eliminate official meetings, training and tuition reimbursement, totalling $45,120. In Equipment Services, Council could consider not filling a position of part-time mechanic's helper at $6,500; not hiring temporary summer help at $3,000, Eliminate official meetings and training at $1,400, Eliminate all capital outlay at $7,200. The total amount of all reductions would almost equal $220,000, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Assistant Community Development Director/Planning, Donna Butler, stated that this is a relatively newly organized Department and the Divisions are still going through some changes. The budget for 1994.95 amounts to $952,473 and does not include Economic Development and Transportation which are not part of the General Fund. This is a 5.2% reduction from last year's budget. Administration is currently vacant, and the cut is not reflected in the $952,473; however it has been included in the overall budget reductions before Council. The Planning Division currently oversees Planning, Building, Code Enforcement and Transportation with 14 employees. The proposed budget of $952,473 includes Planning, Building and Code Enforcement. The 9 5/31/94 36:0180 Planning Division has 6 employees including 4 Planners, 1 Secretary and 1 Intern. The FY 1994-95 budget is proposing 6 employees -- 5 Planners and 1 Secretary, eliminating the Intern position. The Building Division currently has 6 employees, including 3 Building Inspectors (one of which is a contract inspector), the Acting Community Development Director, a Building Technician, and a Typist-Clerk II. Next year's budget includes 5 employees, plus a contract Building Inspector. There are no changes proposed to Code Enforcement with two Code Enforcement Officers currently on staff. A 5% reduction would result in approximately $48,400. The only way this can be accomplished is by eliminating a position. The position would either be a Code Enforcement Officer or a Planning position, The impact to the Department, if it was a Code I Enforcement Officer, would be that staff would have to take a reactive, rather than a proactive approach to code enforcement and property maintenance. Also, this could affect the graffiti removal program as far as having staff people in the field noticing what is happening and doing inspections. A Planning position would have a major impact, This position currently can be funded through Community Development Block Grant Funds, Transportation, and with the elimination of the Intern position, it makes up for that. This will impact the services of the Department. There are. currently four Planners including Ms.: Butler and the reduction 'of a Planner position would leave the Department with four Planners not up to the original level of five Planners. RECREATION Recreation Director Collins stated that the proposed Recreation Department budget for FY 1994-95 is $1,108,391 which shows an increase of 2.1% or approximately $23,000. Revenue in the Department amounts to $342,800 which represents approximately 35% of the entire operation. The fee and charge activities, camping and aquatics programs basically pay for themselves, The $23,000 increase includes salaries, benefits, pool maintenance and $6,000 set aside. for Senior Citizen congregate meals program. Subtracting the revenue from the Recreation budget leaves a balance of $765,000; a 5% reduction adjustment results in a savings of $38,000,.,$4,500 can be saved by reducing the summer playgrounds from 4 to 3 for this summer. Another $4,500 can be saved by replacing the after school playground program with a fee and charge sports program. Revenue increases can be gained by charging fees for senior citizen activities which currently are not being charged. A surcharge for classes can be established, Fees for paper, xerox, monthly bulletins, now provided free to clubs. A membership fee for Center use by seniors could be established. If Council does not choose to do this, there could be possible reductions of some senior citizen services due to personnel realignment of responsibilities in the service portion of the Senior Citizen program. The $9,000 saved by one less playground; $20,000 revenue increases; and $9,000 revenue I playground charge sports program totals $38,000 for all, In response to questions from Kayor Young, Kr, Collins stated that about 40% of the seniors using the center are not Arcadia residents. Some discussion ensued regarding the possibility of charging non-residents a membership fee, or charging a fee for all participants, Councilmember Lojeski suggested a study session at a later date with the Recreation Director so these questions could be addressed and discussed at length. Kayor Young requested that Kr, Collins survey other cities regarding their charges for senior activities and/or membership. LIBRARY City Librarian Kent Ross stated that there are currently five Library divisions, rather than six, since Kaintenance has been combined with Administration. The Library budget has been relatively flat over the past four years. The slight decrease is 10 5/31/94 I I 6. CLOSED SESSION ADJOURNMENT ATTEST: J Alford, ., 36:0181 due to the layoff of one full-time building maintenance person during this current fiscal year. The Library budget is approximately two-thirds salary, and one-third maintenance and services. If the Library has to reduce the budget by 5\, that would amount to approximately $73,000. The results of such a reduction would be loss of personnel which would probably be two part-time Library Aides, one half-time Library Technician, and one half-time Typist-Clerk. There would also have to be reductions in the Library Materials budget in the amount of $27,000, and Supplies in the amount of $5,000. All of these reductions total $73,000. This would cause reduction in service in areas such as the Children's Division Programs and Activities. The Summer Reading Program starts in June and lasts through August and would be affected. Also there could be a reduction of six hours that the Library would be open to the public. This could probably occur for three hours on Mondays and three hours on Thursdays. There could also be a further reduction in the library materials available to the public which would include books, cassettes, etc. There could be a reduction in office supplies. There would be an impact on the volunteer program which the Library had hoped to expand. Considerable discussion ensued regarding the possibility of charging for library cards, There are certain legal problems associated with this, The City Attorney will provide a legal opinion. Also considerable discussion ensued regarding the possibility of closing the. Library additional hours. Discussion also ensued about the" Library construction. Information will be available in the early summer as to the costs involved, GENERAL CITY The City Manager explained that the General City Department has three areas of responsibility: 1) Administration; 2) Building Maintenance; and 3) Special Programs. The Administration division provides funds for activities beneficial on a City-wide basis, which are not directly assignable to anyone department. The Building Maintenance division provides maintenance and repair of the City Hall complex to obtain the maximum service life of the facility. The Special Programs division provides funds for those programs beneficial on a City-wide basis not directly assignable to anyone department, Limited discussion and some questions and explanations ensued regarding the Senior Citizen Commission, City Beautiful and Juvenile Diversion The City Manager stated that the remaining Special Funds budgets and Water will require a separate session for discussion. At such time the Capital Improvement Plan and Capital Outlay budget will also be considered. This session will be held at 5:30 p. m., June 8, 1994, The Redevelopment budget will be considered at another special session. The City Attorney announced that Council will ADJOURN to a continuation of the Closed Session listed on the agenda pursuant to Government Code Section 54957,6, in order to meet with Gary Rogers concerning instructions and negotiations. At 8: 58 p, m. the Council ADJOURNED to the CLOSED SESSION, RECONVENED and ADJOURNED at 9:08 p, m., to Tuesday, June 7, 1994 at 7:00 p. m., in the City Hall Council Chamber for a Regular Meeting to conduct the business of the Council and the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency and any Closed Session necessary to discuss personnel, litigation matters and evaluation of properties. 7J?udri1::fu7 Mary B. ng, May ~ 11 </31/94