Fi
nance & Management Committee
March 12, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Jestin D. Johnson
City Administrator City Administrator
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL – City Auditor’s
Report Of Measure Q Performance
Audit
DATE: February 29, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RE
COMMENDATION
S
taff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report Of Measure Q Performance Audit: Budget Transparency, Performance Management, And Stronger Oversight Needed To Ensure Oaklanders Benefit From The 2020 Parks And Recreation Preservation, Litter Reduction, And Homelessness Support Act.
R
EASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL
O
n December 21, 2023, the Office of the City Auditor issued a performance audit of the 2020 Oakland Parks and Recreation Preservation, Litter Reduction, & Homelessness Support Act (the Act), which was approved by Oakland voters as Measure Q in March 2020 (Resolution No. 87919 CMS) and requires an audit be performed by the City Auditor every two years. The goals of the performance audit were to assess the oversight of Measure Q funds, affirm whether the City has appropriated and spent Measure Q funds in accordance with the requirements of the Act, and if this has positively improved the condition of City parks. The audit report provides 16 recommendations to improve budgeting for Measure Q funds, create outcomes-based performance measures for park conditions and homelessness services around parks, and strengthen oversight of Measure Q-funded programs.
I
n response to the audit report, the City Administrator’s Office prepared a Recommendation Implementation Plan (Attachment A) in coordination with Oakland Public Works (OPW), the Human Services Department (HSD) and Finance Department. The Implementation Plan includes management’s response and the actions that will be taken to address each recommendation, as well as the responsible department and target completion date. The City Administrator’s Office looks forward to working closely with the departments to execute the Implementation Plan and continue to improve the performance, budgeting and oversight of Measure Q funds.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – City Auditor’s Report Of Measure Q Performance Audit Date: February 29, 2024 Page 2
Finance & Management Committee
March 12, 2024
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report Of Measure Q Performance Audit: Budget Transparency, Performance Management, And Stronger Oversight Needed To Ensure Oaklanders Benefit From The 2020 Parks And Recreation Preservation, Litter Reduction, And Homelessness Support Act.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Betsy Lake, Assistant City Administrator or LaTonda Simmons, Assistant City Administrator at (510) 238-3302.
Respectfully submitted,
JESTIN D. JOHNSON
City Administrator
Office of the City Auditor
B udget Transparency, Perform ance Management, and
Stronger Oversight Needed to Ensure Oaklanders Receive
Full B enefits from the 2020 Parks and Recreation
Preservation, Litter Reduction, and Hom elessness Support Act | City Adm inistration’ s Recom m endation Im plem entation Plan 1 R ecom m endation City Auditor’s R ecom m endations Managem ent Action Plan Responsible P arty
Target D ate for
C om pletion
1 To prevent misallocated carryforwards, we
recommend the Budget Bureau create a
procedure to reconcile the appropriations with
encumbrances and actuals once the fiscal year is
closed. The procedure should check that the
carryforwards are not greater than the balance of
appropriations and encumbrances plus actuals,
so that the carryforwards do not skew categorical
spending allocations. The Budget Bureau should
cross reference this procedure with the
appropriate budget policies.
Management agrees with
recommendation and has modified its
procedures to ensure accuracy in the
carryforward appropriations.
Finance
Department
Completed
2 We recommend the City Administrator develop
and propose to the City Council for its
consideration, a policy for establishing future
maintenance of effort thresholds that are simple,
easy to interpret, and represent minimum service
levels from base levels.
Management partially agrees. The Finance
Department will develop a policy for City
Administrator signature that provides
guidance to Council on maintenance of
effort (MOE) thresholds, guidelines on the
calculation of MOE, outlines requirements
for City special tax programs, including
baseline, measurement assessment and
annual reporting to Council.
City
Administrator’s
Office /Finance
Department
By March 2025,
prior to next
election cycle 3
To ensure consistency in interpretation and
application, we recommend the Budget Bureau
document its methodology for calculating the
maintenance of efforts for Measure Q.
Management partially agrees; the
maintenance of effort (MOE) language is
codified in the Measure. Legal
interpretation is exercised by the Office of
City Attorney, and the Finance
Department, Budget Bureau publishes the
Finance
Department
Completed
ATTACHMENT A
Office of the City Auditor
B udget Transparency, Perform ance Management, and
Stronger Oversight Needed to Ensure Oaklanders Receive
Full B enefits from the 2020 Parks and Recreation
Preservation, Litter Reduction, and Hom elessness Support Act | City Adm inistration’ s Recom m endation Im plem entation Plan
2 R ecom m endation City Auditor’s R ecom m endations Managem ent Action Plan Responsible P arty
Target D ate for
C om pletion
methodology used to calculate the MOE in
the Adopted Budget Book.
4 For future special tax programs, we recommend
the Budget Bureau create a maintenance of effort
methodology and guidelines prior to developing
the measures’ first budgets.
See response to Item 2 above. Finance
Department
See response to
Item 2 above.
5 We recommend the Budget Bureau adjust its
budgeting for costs associated with administering
the Measure Q ballot measure to reflect the
County’s collection fee amount of 1.7 percent of
revenue.
Management agrees; the Finance
Department, Budget Bureau will update
the County collection fee to reflect its
accurate cost in the budget exercise.
Finance
Department
Completed,
Budget
adjustment/
transfer added to
administrative
project.
6 To track the effectiveness of Measure Q funds in
reaching voter-approved objectives, we
recommend the City Administrator’s Office, in
conjunction with the Public Works and Human
Services departments, at a minimum, set a
baseline for parks maintenance conditions and
the number of people experiencing homelessness
in or adjacent to City parks for measurement
going forward.
Management agrees. To support tracking
effectiveness of Measure Q funds in
meeting voter-approved objectives,
subject to budget availability, Oakland
Public Works will issue a Request for
Proposals (RFP) for a consultant to
complete a comprehensive assessment of
City parks and parks maintenance. As part
of this assessment, the consultant will be
tasked with recommending an established
baseline for parks maintenance
conditions, including the number of
people experiencing homelessness in or
adjacent to City parks.
Oakland Public
Works and
Human Services
Department
Staff anticipate
the selected
consultant’s
work will
commence by
Summer of 2024
Office of the City Auditor
B udget Transparency, Perform ance Management, and
Stronger Oversight Needed to Ensure Oaklanders Receive
Full B enefits from the 2020 Parks and Recreation
Preservation, Litter Reduction, and Hom elessness Support Act | City Adm inistration’ s Recom m endation Im plem entation Plan
3 R ecom m endation City Auditor’s R ecom m endations Managem ent Action Plan Responsible P arty
Target D ate for
C om pletion
7 We recommend the City Administrator’s Office
identify baseline performance related to
objectives of City special tax programs and
establish outcome measures to periodically
report to the City Council.
See response to Item 2 above. Finance
Department
See response to
Item 2 above.
8 We recommend the Public Works Department
develop outcomes-based park condition
standards for all City parks and use those
standards to inform its routine maintenance
schedule based on the condition standards and
what condition levels it can achieve.
Management agrees. As part of the
assessment described in item 5, The
assessment will also include an analysis of
the current achievability of baseline
standard conditions, (i.e., can those
conditions be met, not met, or improved
upon with existing resources), and identify
additional needs, as applicable.
Oakland Public
Works
This effort is a
key component
of the Park
Assessment
commencing
Summer of 2024.
9 We recommend the Public Works Department
implement an annual parks condition assessment
informed by park condition standards, and report
on that annually to the Parks and Recreation
Advisory Commission.
Management agrees. As part of the
assessment described in item 5, OPW will
also develop an implementation and
monitoring program with achievable
milestones. This will include an annual
assessment that will be reported to the
Parks and Recreation Advisory
Commission (PRAC).
Oakland Public
Works
This effort is a
key component
of the Park
Assessment
commencing
Summer of 2024.
10 We recommend the Human Services Department,
in conjunction with the City Administrator’s
Homelessness Division, develop performance
measures, with an emphasis on reducing the
number of people experiencing homelessness in
Management partially agrees. The City
Administrator’s Office will work with
Oakland Public Works, Human Services
Department and Oakland Police
Department to implement and enforce a
City
Administrator’s
Office, Human
Services
Department with
June 2024. The
CAO in
collaboration
with OPW, will
include a budget
Office of the City Auditor
B udget Transparency, Perform ance Management, and
Stronger Oversight Needed to Ensure Oaklanders Receive
Full B enefits from the 2020 Parks and Recreation
Preservation, Litter Reduction, and Hom elessness Support Act | City Adm inistration’ s Recom m endation Im plem entation Plan
4 R ecom m endation City Auditor’s R ecom m endations Managem ent Action Plan Responsible P arty
Target D ate for
C om pletion
or adjacent to City parks, and report on those
measures to the Commission on Homelessness.
“no re-encampment policy” in City parks.
To support this policy, the City
Administrator and the other Departments
will expand the Encampment
Management Team to create another
team that includes public outreach staff, a
small illegal dumping removal team, and
Police resources, to ensure compliance
with the Encampment Management Policy
if a park closed within the last 6 months is
re-encamped so that people are removed
within 72 hours, subject to availability of
funding, shelter beds and in compliance
with the law.
Oakland Public
Works support.
request in the
proposed fiscal
year 2024-25
Midcycle budget.
11 We recommend the Public Works Department
assign staff to report on the progress of
stormwater quality projects funded by Measure
Q to the Parks and Recreation Advisory
Commission.
Management agrees. The Assistant
Director of OPW’s Bureau of Design and
Construction, or their designee, will
provide regular progress reports on
stormwater quality projects funded by
Measure Q to the Parks and Recreation
Advisory Commission (PRAC).
Oakland Public
Works
Progress reports
on the
stormwater
quality projects
to PRAC will
commence
March 2024.
12 We recommend the City Administrator’s Office
periodically evaluate and report on special tax
programs’ ongoing performance and outcome
measures against baseline performance.
See response to Item 2 above. City
Administrator’s
Office
See response to
Item 2 above.
Office of the City Auditor
B udget Transparency, Perform ance Management, and
Stronger Oversight Needed to Ensure Oaklanders Receive
Full B enefits from the 2020 Parks and Recreation
Preservation, Litter Reduction, and Hom elessness Support Act | City Adm inistration’ s Recom m endation Im plem entation Plan
5 R ecom m endation City Auditor’s R ecom m endations Managem ent Action Plan Responsible P arty
Target D ate for
C om pletion
13 To facilitate citizen oversight of homelessness
efforts, we recommend the City Administrator’s
Office bring regular operational and expenditure
reports to the Commission on Homelessness, and
that the Commission establish a regular agenda
item for this purpose.
Management agrees. CAO staff will work
with the Commission on Homelessness to
agendize these reports as a recurring item,
and to affirm the specific data sets and
information to be included in each report.
City
Administrator’s
Office
Summer 2024.
14 We recommend the Commission on
Homelessness fulfill its statutory obligation by
publishing an annual report, pursuant to Oakland
Municipal Code Section 4.56.060, including a
section on Measure Q.
This recommendation is directed to a
commission rather than an Administrative
body, the City Administrator will
coordinate with the Chair and recommend
agendizing at a future Commission
meeting.
City
Administrator’s
Office
December 2024
15 We recommend the City spend its budget
allocation for an annual audit of Measure Q funds
collected and expended, as required by California
Government Code sections 50071.1 and 50075.3.
Management agrees. The Finance
Department, Controllers Bureau will add
Measure Q to the scope of the
independent auditor‘s contract to include
Measure Q in the annual audit, beginning
in 2025.
Finance
Department
January 2025
16 We recommend that for future special tax
programs, the City Administrator’s Office initiate
a best practice policy requiring an annual report
on revenues, expenditures, and the status of
open projects, to make sure that the City satisfies
California Government Code sections 50075.1
and 50075.3.
See response to Item 2 above. Finance
Department
See response to
Item 2 above.