Item #07
Date: January 16, 2024
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jim Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Recommendation to Approve an Agreement with William Berry Campaigns for Consulting Services to Assist Activities Related to Potential Ballot Measure Preparation Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to 1) approve an agreement not to exceed $36,000 with William Berry Campaigns (WBC) for consulting services to assist with community support assessment, public engagement, community outreach and messaging materials for a potential ballot measure preparation, 2) authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City, and 3) authorize the Finance Director make $50,080 in associated supplemental appropriations to the FY2023/24 budget to cover the costs of related activities associated with the effort (See Cost estimate in Attachment 3, Exhibit C) .
Rationale for Recommendation:
Staff has reviewed the marketplace for reliable firms that can assist the City in performing these services and conducted research on each. Staff has determined that the nature of the services offered, the quality of the work provided, and the success records of the service providers vary widely in the available firms.
WBC has a unique set of experiences and capabilities with a 94% track record of successful ballot measures.
The firm has provided consulting services for several successful agencies in Northern California, including measures in Butte, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Yuba and Yolo Counties. Past and current Clients have included Sutter County, Live Oak and Roseville School districts, Cities of Daly City, Suisin City and Cities of Napa, Oakley, Petaluma and Ukiah. Cost of services for WBC is competitive in the market. WBC has specific experience with Marysville in that they provided services related to the passage of the 2016 tax measure.
For these reasons, staff is recommending suspension competition and award of an agreement with WBC.
The award of this contract is per City Municipal Code 2.76.020 in that it is in the best interest of the City to suspend competitive bidding to obtain these specialized services.
Background:
On June 7, 2016 Marysville voters approved Measure C – a one percent general sales tax to preserve and enhance City services. Revenues started flowing into the City’s General Fund on October 1, 2016. The tax measure language stated:
“Shall the City of Marysville enact a 1% sales tax (Transactions and Use Tax) for general municipal purposes, such as fire safety, police protection and emergency response services, traffic safety, streets and sidewalks repair, park improvements and maintenance, reducing debt and rebuilding financial reserves, with the following restrictions? This tax shall expire after ten years, on October 31, 2026. Annually the City shall publish a report of how much tax revenue was received and how that money was used.”
Item #07
The proceeds of this general tax have supplemented the City’s General Fund and have been appropriated annually for various governmental purposes, to meet the priorities delineated in a proposed spending plan presented to the Council and public at the January 19, 2016 and February 2, 2016 Council meetings.
Measure C currently generates approximately $4.05 million dollars (29%) of the City’s general fund revenue.
The revenue has allowed the City to meet major council objectives. Though the service priority uses of the tax proceeds listed in the proposed spending plan were not limiting, funds since the passage of the measure have generally followed the plan and included:
• Hired/retained six additional firefighters
• Hired additional police staff to provide additional services (Police Officers, Code Enforcement, Animal Control Officer and Records Clerk)
• Replaced Police Patrol units
• Purchased new technology, such as radios, radar enforcement equipment, license plate recognition, and body worn cameras.
• Paved over 750,000 square feet of City streets ($3.1 million dollars) • Hired two additional public works maintenance workers • Leveraged funds to secure additional grant funds for streets and parks and facilities improvements. • Built an estimated reserve of $4.85 million dollars for end of FY 23/24 (36%) • Opened City Hall five days per week
Discussion & Analysis:
As stated above, revenues generated by the voter approved 1% sales tax are approximately $4.05 million dollars. Measure C is due to sunset on October 31, 2026. Revenues from the measure have allowed the City to restore and enhance critical services. In absence of revenues from a successor tax measure the services added since the passage of Measure C passage would return to previous levels. Additional street and parks infrastructure projects would be severely limited. A successor measure proposing a 1% sales tax would represent no tax increase to constituents. To provide the City Council with information related to a successor ballot initiative, Staff recommends that a contract be awarded to William Berry Campaigns (WBC) for consulting services to assist with community support assessment, public engagement, community outreach and messaging materials for a potential ballot measure preparation.
Alignment with City Council Goal(s):
Approval of this agreement supports all City Council Goals.
Fiscal Analysis:
The approval of this contract and related expenditures will have an additional impact of $50,080 to the FY2023/24 budget to account 10-110-5165 (Professional & Specialized Services) as $30,000 has already been budgeted. The additional $13,500 funding required to complete activities will be programmed into the FY2024/25 budget.
Attachments:
1) Council Resolution dated 2/16/2016 outlining proposed tax measure service priorities 2) Council Resolution dated 3/1/2016 submitting to the electorate the ballot measure 3) Draft Consulting Agreement -WBC