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<br />accreditation process in 2004, followed by a similar re-accreditation process earlier in 2008, resulting <br />in accreditation and recognition as one of the few public works agencies in the nation conforming to <br />best management practices of the American Public Works Association. <br />? <br /> <br />In FY04 and FY05, over $1.0 million in ongoing expenditure and service reductions were achieved in <br />the Road Fund, primarily through the elimination of the in-house street overlay program and the <br />organizational restructuring and consolidation of Public Works divisions and work crews, resulting in <br />the elimination of supervisory positions. <br />? <br /> <br />In September 2005, the council reviewed and discussed the financial status of the Road Fund and <br />chose not to direct that Road Fund service reductions be made to stabilize the fund. Instead, in <br />February 2006, the council directed that one-half of the funding for the Street Trees/Median <br />Maintenance Program be shifted from the Road Fund to the Stormwater Fund, resulting in $655,000 <br />of financial relief to the Road Fund beginning FY07. <br /> <br />These cost reductions, efficiencies and funding realignments were implemented as a partial remedy for <br />stabilizing the Road Fund O&M activities, with the hope that additional revenue sources for O&M would <br />eventually be realized as an outcome of the council’s strategic goal around transportation funding. <br />However, insufficient additional resources have been identified to date, while at the same time the cost of <br />road O&M activities continues to grow, resulting in a projected operating loss for the current year of over <br />$2.6 million and reducing the projected year-end fund balance to $210,000—a level far below the policy- <br />recommended target of two month’s working capital. In FY10, the Road Fund is expected to generate a <br />$3.2 million annual operating deficit, with that annual deficit growing to well over $5 million in the out <br />years of the forecast. In the absence of explicit and deliberate actions, the fund will deplete all available <br />fund resources and become insolvent sometime in the fall of 2009. On the other hand, a set of $4 million <br />revenue and/or reduction solutions implemented by the beginning of FY10 would eliminate the projected <br />future annual operating deficits and restore the fund balance to the policy-recommended level. <br /> <br />Illustrative Effects of $4 Million Service Reductions <br />Attachment A illustrates the types and magnitude of street and traffic infrastructure program reductions <br />which would be required if a strategy of service reductions alone were employed to correct the structural <br />deficiency between Road Fund revenues and expenditures and restore the fund balance to the policy- <br />recommended two months’ working capital within the six-year forecast period. The attached summary of <br />illustrative reductions (Attachment A) is intended to represent a list of the specific services which likely <br />would be eliminated in a reduction strategy and provides examples of the types and magnitude of service <br />level changes which would be required in order to achieve expenditure reductions of this scale. <br />Attachment A also contains additional narrative detail about the service implications of these service <br />reductions. If directed to make street service reductions of this magnitude, the City Manager would return <br />within the next couple of months for a more detailed discussion of the precise service reductions and <br />eliminations to be implemented, as well as the legal and practical implications of those actions. <br /> <br />City Manager’s Recommended Interim Funding Strategy <br />As an alternative to implementing the types of service reductions described in Attachment A, which <br />would have a detrimental and long-lasting impact on the City’s transportation service system, the City <br />Manager has directed that staff explore the implementation of one or more new revenue options, focusing <br />in the short-term on the two options described in the following paragraphs. <br /> <br />? <br /> Franchise Fees on City and Other Utilities <br /> – The City has made a significant investment in the road <br />right-of-way over the years and has historically charged a variety of utility providers for the use of <br /> Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc <br /> <br /> <br />