EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: June 12, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Melvin E. Gaines, City Manager
BY: Tomohito Oku, Finance Director
SUBJECT: FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget Session Hearing No. 2 (Continued) Recommendation
Receive budget overview information, staff presentations, community input, and provide staff direction regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
· Promote Housing, Economic and Workforce Development
· Implement the Comprehensive Transportation and Mobility Plan · Promote Health & Public Safety
· Ensure Our Financial and Organizational Health
· Improve the City's Water Infrastructure
· Develop and Implement a Comprehensive Facilities Master Plan · Enhance Community Services and Parks for Residents
Background
City Ordinance Title 3, Chapter 3.08 “Budget Planning and Fiscal Procedures” provides rules and procedures for preparing and administering annual City budgets.
Under Ordinance
3.08.080 “Public Hearing on Budget”, the Council “shall hold public hearings on the annual budget, as submitted, at which all interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard, for or against, the revenues estimated or any proposed appropriation therein.” Council approved the 2023-24 Budget Calendar with the following budget hearing dates:
· April 18, 2023 - Preliminary Budget and Budget Message · May 25, 2023 - Budget Study Session No. 1: Introduction & Overview of Proposed Budget;
· June 1, 2023 - Budget Study Session No. 2: Continuation of Proposed Budget Discussions
· June 20, 2023 - Budget Hearing & Adoption of FY2023-24 Budget and GANN Limit
In accordance with the City Budget Planning and Fiscal Procedures Ordinance, on April 18, 2023 staff presented a Preliminary Budget Message, including a summary of the Preliminary FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget.
On May 25, 2023, the City Council hosted the first of two scheduled Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-
2024 Budget Study Sessions. Staff provided the FY2023-24 Proposed Budget and presented an overview of the Proposed Budget and each of the following specific City areas:
· City Manger’s Office (Incl. HR and Council)
· Public Works (Incl. Capital project budget update)
In this second budget hearing session, staff will continue to provide departmental budget presentations in the following order:
1. Community and Economic Development
2. City Attorney Office
3. City Clerk
4. Police
5. Finance and Non-departmental
6. Administrative Services (Incl. Community Services)
At the conclusion of these presentations, the City Council will deliberate and provide staff
with direction to guide the development of the FY 2023-2024 Budget.
The Budget Hearing Sessions are intended to provide the information requested by Council from the previous budget meeting and additional context and understanding of the FY 2023-24 Budget, as well as give Council and the community an opportunity to comment, ask questions, or request funding changes.
Analysis
Proposed Budget Document Section Highlights
The attached FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget (“Proposed Budget”) includes the primary financial and organizational information needed to understand the financial budget proposal.
The Proposed Budget contains the following sections that are particularly useful in assessing the City’s current financial condition:
The City Manager’s Message - the City Manager’s budget transmittal message includes targeted highlights of opportunities and challenges in the year ahead.
Organizational Summary - this section contains important information about the City, including nine-year history of full-time employee counts by division.
Financial Summary - this section provides fund descriptions and budget information for each active fund maintained by the City.
Departmental Budgets - each department budget presents historical operating and employee position data, as well as the Baseline and Proposed Budget data for the new annual period. This presentation format is designed to increase the ability to assess the current organizational structure in context of recent historical activity.
Fiscal Impact
There are no fiscal impacts anticipated by this Budget Hearing, which is purely informational in nature.
Public Notice
Notice of this agenda item by publishing a notice of the hearing dates in “San Mateo County Times” and, also, posting the City Council agenda on the City’s official bulletin board outside City Hall and making the agenda and report available at the City’s.
Environmental
The proposed action does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(4) and (5) in that it is a governmental fiscal, organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
Attachments
1. Supplemental Memorandum for Continued budget hearing session
2. Attachment 2 - Division budget in detail - v2