HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 172-07City of Palo Alto
Memorandum
Date:
To:
From:
Subject:
March 14, 2007
City Council
Frank Benest, City Manager
Service Reductions to Address $3 Million Challenge
On February 26, 2007, the City Manager presented a series of recommended service
reductions and revenue increases for 07-09 that would provide an additional $3 million
in annual funding for the Infrastructure Program.
As a follow-up to the presentation, the Council requested some additional information
including customer satisfaction ratings for different City services (from the Auditor’s SEA
Report) and information related to HSRAP grant funding for non-profit agencies. These
two informational items are included as Attachments A and B.
In response to the City Manager’s recommendations (Attachment C), the Council
requested information so it could consider a few large program cuts instead of
numerous smaller service reductions. Consequently, the Executive Staff (ES) Team
developed the attached matrix of Discretionary and Essential Programs (Attachment D).
(The larger listing of all general fund programs is included as Attachment E).
In reviewing Attachment D, the matrix of discretionary and essential programs from all
departments, I DO NOT RECOMMEND CUTS IN THE MAJOR DISCRETIONARY
PI:tOGRAMS. However, I am supportive of several proposals. I would suggest that the
Council consider:
1)Extending the Comp Plan Review from two to four years, saving approximately
$300~000 (mostly in consultant services) in 07-08 and another $300,000 in 08-
09.
2)Reinstating the tree trimming cycle from seven to ten years (previously the cycle
was every 10 years), saving $100,000 in contract costs.
3) Eliminating level "A" (high-level incidents) and level "B" (minor incidents) hazmat
responses and allowing response from the County Fire Department, saving
$85,000 in incentive pay, training, and equipment costs. The City responds to
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approximately one level "A" (high-level incident) per year and three to four level
"B" (minor low-level incidents) per year.
By supporting some or all of the three service reductions above, coupled with my
previously recommended general package of cuts and revenue increases, the Council
can achieve the $3 million additional contribution to "CityWorks" or City infrastructure
upgrades. ]~t would also allow the Council to indicate its support for maintaining the
current level of funding for HSRAP (reinstating $150,000/year) and public art
(reinstating $50,O00/year).
Let me reiterate my strong recommendation that we do need to replenish the
Infrastructure Reserve now (as opposed to later). If we do not now make the tough
budget choices, we cannot maintain over time our CityWorks funding for infrastructure
rehabilitation. The Council is absolutely correct in making infrastructure funding a Top
Priority.
Frank l..~enest
City Manager
Attachments
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