Agenda Date: 9/25/2018
Subject:
Title
2019 Proposed Budget: Follow Up
Body
|
Presented By: |
Tiffany Hooten, Finance Director |
Council met September 11th and 12th to review the proposed budget. This is the follow up to those meetings and includes the items originally scheduled for the 25th and items added to the “parking lot”. The agenda for this meeting includes several topics that will each be addressed separately for the remainder of this staff communication.
Local Partnership Funding
Each year the Littleton City Council considers requests for discretionary grants, historically from nonprofit organizations that serve Littleton residents, and awards the grants to the organizations during the budget process; for additional information, visit https://www.littletongov.org/connect-with-us/city-leadership/nonprofit-discretionary-grants. In the past, there have been limited parameters set around these grants and the process has been nebulous. This year we have reviewed the policies and processes of other municipalities, and are recommending council consider the attached policy recommendations, which are aligned closely with past practice.
Attachments:
- 2019 Local Partnership Funding Applications
- Local Partnership Funding Policy Recommendations
- 2019 Local Partnership Funding Requests
Fire Administrative Support Update
The city administratively supports the fire services partnership, which is ending in 2019. Departments currently providing support include City Manager, City Attorney, Human Resources, Finance, Building Maintenance, Information Technology, and Communications. This totaled approximately $900,000 in 2017. The 2019 budget has reduced this amount by half. This reduction includes two full time employees (FTEs) rentals, postage, software, and insurance costs. Next steps include evaluation of impacts throughout 2019 and 2020 as well as the application of priority based budgeting, which may lead to reallocation of resources.
Attachments: None.
Special Events and In-Kind Services Discussion
Supporting events with in-kind services takes resources. It can remove staff members from normal duties, require staff to work overtime after hours or during weekends, and can require special equipment. Staff is making an effort to track those costs and bring that information to council for use in decision making and have included information on the three outside events that request support through our Local Partnership Funding. For these events alone, fire, police, and public works provide in-kind services amounting to $48,400.
|
Event |
Cost Estimate |
Departments Supporting |
|
Main Street Block Party |
$16,000 |
Fire, Police, Public Works |
|
Littleton Public Schools - Stride |
$3,400 |
Fire, Police, Public Works |
|
Western Welcome Week - Parade Day |
$29,000 |
Fire, Police, Public Works |
Staff is still assembling another list of events and related costs for events the city sponsors (e.g. Candle light walk, Little Jams, Twilight Criterium, etc.) or supports at some other level (e.g. Affordable Arts Festival, Aspen Gove summer events, Breckenridge Brewery On Tap KBCO, Main Street block parties, etc.). Staff will provide a handout at the meeting. It is staff’s intent to annually review the total level of support for city events and to confirm the organization’s ability to meet those expectations.
Attachments: None.
Cost of Service Study
During the 2018 budget discussions, planning fees were increased and engineering fees were established to help offset costs related to development review services. This current fee schedule has been in place for nine months. The city has been working on a cost of services study and based on information from the study, staff has prepared recommended development review fees for 2019. The cost model utilized in this study will be passed to the city upon completion, which will provide the opportunity for staff to review costs and fees periodically.
It is recommended that the city continue to review and evaluate costs related to development review fees as both the community development and public works departments continue transitioning from consultants to full time staff. In addition, the vision to comprehensive plan and related elements will influence the fee structure over time. While we do expect updated comparative information in the coming months, staff has attached comparative fee information from the 2017 report as previously discussed with council.
Attachments:
- Recommended fee schedule, September 2018
- Community Development Fee Comparative Spreadsheet, August 2017
Parking Lot Item: Open Space
Police Question 22 (page 33) - Does Council wish to address several projects to improve the parks and recreation facilities in cooperation with South Suburban Parks and Recreation District?
Council asked for information on the background for this prioritization, included in the Five-Year Shared Capital Improvement Plan from South Suburban Parks and Recreation. In addition, council indicated interest in a potential task force for prioritization, which aligns with the attached Singleton Strategies Proposal. Both items will be discussed in the presentation during the meeting.
Attachments:
- Five-Year Shared Capital Improvement Plan
- Singleton Strategies Proposal
Parking Lot Item: Neighborhood Traffic Calming
Council requested further discussion related to the unfunded priority of traffic calming for 2019 and beyond. Staff requested $100,000 in the 2019 budget and each year thereafter for traffic calming. Due to limited resources, only $25,000 was funded in years 2019-2022 with no funding in 2023.
Staff has prepared a funding option for the addition of a traffic calming program to include a full time FTE funded from the general fund to manage the program and funding of $100,000 annually for traffic calming measures. Staff will discuss the details in the presentation.
Attachments: None.
Parking Lot Item: Public Works Document Conversion
Council requested further discussion for the addition of one-time expenditures of $75,000 for digitization of public works documents. It is recommended to be funded from the General Fund.
Attachments: None.
Principles of Sound Financial Management
The city has a responsibility to its citizens to account for public funds, to manage its finances wisely, and to plan for the adequate funding of services desired by the public. The attached principles established guidelines for the city's overall fiscal planning and management that were used in development of the proposed budget. These guidelines are intended to foster and support the continued financial strength and stability of the City of Littleton as reflected in its financial goals.
Attachments:
- Principles of Sound Financial Management