City Council
Housing Authority
Parking Authority
Report
City Council Meeting: June 27, 2023
Agenda Item: 12.A
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To: Housing Authority, Parking Authority, Mayor and City Council From: Gigi Decavalles-Hughes, Director, Finance Department, Budget Subject: Adoption of the First Year and Approval of the Second Year of the FY 2023- 25 Biennial Budget Adoption
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council, Housing Authority and Parking Authority:
1. Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica adopting the first year and approving the second year of the FY 2023-25 Biennial Budget and adopting the second year of the FY 2022-24 Biennial Capital Improvement Program Budget at Attachment A, as amended by Final Changes described in this report;
2. Adopt a Resolution of the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Monica adopting the first year and approving the second year of the FY 2023-25 Biennial Budget and adopting the second year of the FY 2022-24 Biennial Capital Improvement Program Budget at Attachment B, as amended by Final Changes described in this report; and
3. Adopt a Resolution of the Parking Authority of the City of Santa Monica adopting the first year and approving the second year of the FY 2023-25 Biennial Budget and adopting the second year of the FY 2022-24 Biennial Capital Improvement Program Budget at Attachment C, as amended by Final Changes described in this report.
Staff also recommends that the City Council:
4. Adopt a Resolution of the City of Santa Monica establishing new classifications and adopting salary rates for various listed positions (Attachment D) and approve the position and classification changes (Attachment E);
5. Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica revising the City’s master fee schedule to establish and revise certain permit and user fees and charges (Attachment F);
6. Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica revising the City’s master fine schedule to establish and revise the administrative citation schedule of fines for certain violations of the Santa Monica Municipal Code (Attachment G);
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7. Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica establishing parking rates and permit fees for all City parking facilities and resources (Attachment H);
8. Adopt a resolution to establish the Runoff Reduction Fee rate for FY 2023-24 through FY 2027-28 as authorized in SMMC Chapter 7.10, Runoff Conservation and Sustainable Management (Attachment I);
9. Adopt a Resolution of the City of Santa Monica establishing the Gann appropriations limit for FY 2023-24 (Attachment J);
10.Adopt a Resolution incorporating a project funded by SB1: The Road Repair and Accountability Act (Attachment K);
11.Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $1,500,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support the behavioral health needs of vulnerable residents and people experiencing homelessness, and to execute all necessary documents to accept the grant and all grant renewals;
12.Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $1,500,000 from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to support the behavioral health needs of vulnerable residents and people experiencing homelessness, and to execute all necessary documents to accept the grant and all grant renewals;
13.Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $373,125 from the Westside Cities Council of Governments (WSCCOG) to advance Los Angeles County Homeless Initiatives and execute all necessary documents to accept the grant and all grant renewals;
14.Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $4,447,586 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care Grant Program to serve the homeless and disabled populations with housing subsidies and execute all necessary documents to accept the grant and all grant renewals;
15.Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Salvation Army to support the City’s 311 Outreach efforts and provide street team assistance to the Homeless Liaison Program. This award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to SMMC Section
2.24.250 (i) and is for a term of 2 years at a total amount not-to-exceed $446,250, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval;
16.Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a memorandum of understanding with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District for two years with three one-year options to renew that will provide $500,000 annually to the School District, not to exceed $2,500,000 total over a five year period, for the operation of the Playground Club Program;
17.Award RFP# 350 to Berry Dunn McNeil & Parker, LLC (BerryDunn) and authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with BerryDunn for strategic planning services to develop a Homelessness Strategic Plan in an amount not to exceed $200,000, including a 25% contingency, for one year, with one additional one-year renewal option in the amount of $200,000, including a 25% contingency, on the same terms and conditions for a total 3 of 25
amount not to exceed $400,000 over a two-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval;
18.Provide direction to staff on allocation of discretionary funds (Attachment L); and
19.Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Summary
As presented to City Council on May 23, 2023, the FY 2023-25 Proposed Biennial Budget (Attachment M) builds on the work done in recent years to help our community respond to and recover from the COVID-19 emergency as well as make strategic investments to advance priority areas Council identified at its workshop on March 11, 2023. These priorities are:
⎯ Addressing Homelessness
⎯ Clean and Safe Santa Monica
⎯ Cultivate Economic Recovery and Expand Community and Cultural Offerings ⎯ Racial Justice, Equity, and Social Diversity
⎯ Sustainable and Connected Community
This report presents information and requests actions necessary to adopt the first year of the FY 2023-24 Biennial Budget and the second year of the FY 2023-24 Biennial Capital Improvement Program Budget for the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Housing Authority, and the Santa Monica Parking Authority. Staff also requests that Council approve the operating budget plan for the second year of the Biennial Budget (FY 2024-25). Since the City Charter requires Council to adopt a budget annually, staff will submit the FY 2024-25 budget plan to Council for formal adoption, with any necessary revisions, in June 2024.
The Budget provides a plan, built upon community-driven priorities, to continue to rebuild, restore and reenergize our community. In preparing the two-year budget, City staff began with a baseline “maintenance of effort” budget that continues current services addressing Council priorities, basic services, and good governance. To this baseline budget, staff added enhancements discussed at the March 11, 2023, workshop that further address Council priorities and strengthen governance. Enhancements are 4 of 25
funded using new revenue sources coming from voter approved measures, public and private partnerships, rate adjustments, reallocated funding, and successful grant applications. The Budget is balanced in FY 2023-24 and uses working capital reserve funds, already set aside in the General Fund balance, in FY 2024-25 to maintain service levels while General Fund revenues continue to recover in the short term.
The City released its Proposed Budget for FY 2023-25 on May 12, 2023. At Budget Study Sessions on May 23 and May 24, 2023 (Attachment N), Council asked staff detailed questions related to the Proposed Budget and to ongoing operations and heard public testimony. After discussion, members of Council adopted a motion supporting the proposed budget with the following amendments:
• Establish monthly meetings for the Landmarks Commission; waive application fees for non-profits and Landmarks Commissioners for Landmark and Structures of Merit Designation applications; review legal considerations for placing pending Demolition Permit applications on the Landmarks Commission agendas; and explore ways to streamline consultant reports and staff reports for designation and certificate of appropriateness applications;
• Restore the City Traffic Engineer, which will enhance the City’s ability to deliver mobility projects including Safe Routes to School capital improvements, Vision Zero projects to help eliminate fatal and severe injury crashes, and develop a multi-year traffic signal preventative maintenance program. This change is funded by the use of Transportation Impact Fee (TIF) revenues and reallocation of contract funds;
• Provide funds to invest in technology to enhance community safety. This is a net zero change funded by the reallocation of funds previously earmarked for the Community Partnerships program;
• Support funding to enable CREST to fully operate at elementary schools and enroll additional participants in CREST CLUB and Enrichment opportunities. This is a net zero change funded by the reallocation of funds previously earmarked for the Community Partnerships Program; and
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• Changes to the unfunded project list within the FY2023-24 Capital Improvement Adopted Budget book. The changes include removing Bergamot Station Connectivity Phase 2 and adding Reed Park Dog Park and Promenade Kiosk Improvement projects.
Staff has made some adjustments to the FY 2023-25 Proposed Budget to reflect changes based on Council direction as described above, adjustments primarily facilitating receipt of grants and funding for the Human Services Grant Program, and technical adjustments and corrections that had not been included in the initial budget.
The overall FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget as revised is approximately $745.0 million and $750.6 million in FY 2024-25, net of reimbursements and transfers. This is a difference of approximately $4.2 million in FY 2023-24 and $4.1 million in FY 2024-25, over what was presented in the initial proposed budget on May 23, 2023. The adjustments are primarily in the non-General Funds with only $20,191 in the General Fund in FY 2024-25. The adjustments are detailed below in the tables under the Revisions to Proposed Budget section.
This report also includes actions necessary to accomplish the following:
• Revise certain fees and fines;
• Establish parking rates;
• Set the annual Gann appropriations limit;
• Approve the allocation of SB-1 Gas Tax funding to eligible projects; • Accept grants from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) grant to provide support services to vulnerable residents and people experiencing homelessness; • Accept a grant from Westside Cities Council of Governments (WSCCOG) to fund activities, such as eviction prevention, a new 3-1-1 outreach response, and additional case management services to support Emergency Medical Services provided by SMFD;
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• Accept a grant renewal from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Continuum of Care Program, to help individuals move into supportive permanent housing;
• Approve a contract with Salvation Army to support the City’s 311 Outreach efforts and provide street team assistance to the Homeless Liaison Program; • Approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to support the implementation of the Playground Club Program; and
• Approve a contract with BerryDunn to develop a Homelessness Strategic Plan.
Discussion
The Proposed Biennial Budget presented for adoption has been revised from the budget first presented to the public on May 12, 2023 and to Council at the May 23-24, 2023 Budget Study Session, to reflect Final Changes (adjustments) based on Council motions adopted at the Budget Study Session, adjustments primarily facilitating receipt of grants and funding for the Human Services Grant Program, as approved by Council at its May 9, 2023 meeting, and technical adjustments and corrections that had not been included in the initial budget. The overall FY 2023-25 Proposed Biennial Budget as revised is approximately $745.0 million in FY 2023-24 and $750.6 million in FY 2024- 25, net of reimbursements and transfers1, as summarized in the following table.
Original
Proposed FY
2023-24
Budget
Final
Changes
Final
Proposed FY
2023-24
Budget
Original
FY 2024-25
Budget Plan
Final
Changes
Final
FY 2024-25
Budget Plan
General Fund $436,874,538 - $436,874,538 $458,594,965 $20,191 $458,615,156 Other Funds 388,022,217 4,161,474 392,183,691 375,988,039 4,117,698 380,105,737 Reimbursements
& Transfers1 (84,024,054) (84,024,054) (88,139,572) (88,139,572) Total $740,872,701 $4,161,474 $745,034,175 $746,443,432 $4,137,889 $750,581,321 1Reimbursements and transfers are technical adjustments for accounting purposes, which include payment of services between funds that are backed out to avoid double counting. Among the large payments that are backed out, are contributions to Workers’ Compensation and Liability self-insurance funds, and transfers to the Fleet and Computer Equipment Replacement Fund. 7 of 25
Revisions to Proposed Budget
Staff recommends that Council adopt the FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget and approve the FY 2024-25 Proposed Budget Plan, as adjusted by the Final Changes. With these adjustments, the budget remains balanced. The adjustments to the Proposed Budget, known as Final Changes, increase the expenditure budget, primarily in the non-General Funds, by approximately $4.2 million in FY 2023-24 and $4.1 million in FY 2024-25. Of the total, only a $20,191 correction is in the General Fund in FY 2024-25. The adjustments are detailed in the tables below.
Expenditures
Adjustments based on Council direction from Budget Study Session Funding
Source
Department Description Staffing
Changes
FTEs
FY 2023-
24 FY 2024-
25 General
Fund
City Manager Net zero adjustment –
Reduction to the Community
Partnerships Program
allocation, per Council
direction during Budget Study
Session, to fund the CREST
program and Police
Technologies (listed below).
$(262,684) $(262,684)
General
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
Net zero adjustment -
Funding and 1.8 permanent
FTEs to enable CREST to fully
operate at elementary schools
and enroll additional
participants in CREST CLUB
and Enrichment opportunities
(funded by reallocation of
funding from the Community
Partnerships Program).
1.8 Permanent
$177,284 $177,284
General
Fund
Police Dept Net zero Adjustment -
Funding to invest in
technology to enhance
$85,000 $85,000
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community safety (funded by
reallocation of funding from the
Community Partnerships
Program).
Special
Revenue
Source
Fund
and
General
Fund
Transportation Restoration of City Traffic
Engineer position to enhance
the City’s ability to deliver
mobility projects and develop a
multi-year traffic signal
preventative maintenance
program (Amount reflects net
cost, funded with TIF funds.
The remaining amounts are
funded by the reallocation of
contractual services in the
General Fund).
1.0 Permanent
$162,067 $167,411
Total $162,067 $167,411
Adjustments primarily facilitating receipt of grants and funding for the HSGP Funding
Source
Department(s) Description
FY 2023-
24 FY 2024-
25 Special
Revenue
Source
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
To program HSGP funding, as approved
by Council on May 9, 2023, from Early
Childhood developer fees reserve.
$335,250 $335,250
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
To program HSGP funding, as approved
by Council on May 9, 2023, from a federal
grant from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) to support the behavioral
health needs of vulnerable residents and
people experiencing homelessness.
$1,125,000 $375,000
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
To program HSGP funding, as approved
by Council on May 9, 2023, from the
California Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) State grant to support
$- $907,488
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the behavioral health needs of vulnerable
residents and people experiencing
homelessness. This item is further
detailed in the grant section below.
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
To program HSGP funding, as approved
by Council on May 9, 2023, from
estimated revenues that the City expects
to receive related to the national Opioid
Settlement agreement reached with
manufacturers, distributors and
pharmacies.
$150,440 $150,440
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
Grant from the Westside Cities Council of
Governments (WSCCOG) to fund
activities, not funded via the HSGP, such
as eviction prevention, a new 3-1-1
outreach response, and additional case
management services to support
Emergency Medical Services provided by
SMFD. This item is further detailed in the
grant section below.
$373,125 $373,125
Total $1,983,815 $2,141,303
Technical adjustments and corrections
Funding
Source
Department(s) Description
FY 2023-
24 FY 2024-
25 General
Fund
Human
Resources
To correct an item that was inadvertently
entered as a credit.
$ - $20,191
Pier Fund Community
Development
To correct an item that was inadvertently
transposed. This reduces the property
insurance payment to the Self-Insurance
Comprehensive Fund to the correct
amount.
$ - $(300,000)
Pier Fund Public Works To reflect the reclassification of 2.0 FTE Pier Maintenance Workers to Pier
Maintenance Crew Leaders as result of a
reclassification study.
$56,579 $58,269
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RRR
Fund
Public Works To correct an item that was inadvertently
omitted from the budget for operating
expenses associated with enhanced alley
clearing, illegal dumping and bulky item
pickup services, bike lane sweeping,
comply with State mandatory organics
recycling, and work towards Zero Waste
goal, funded by new rate adjustments.
$1,984,661 $2,024,354
General
and All
Enterprise
Funds
Finance Revision of approved position to support
payroll operations, partially funded by
enterprise funds. The department seeks
to add 1.0 FTE Administrative Analyst
instead of 1.0 FTE Payroll Specialist, to
better align the position with
responsibilities. This is net zero change,
as the cost variance will be absorbed by
reallocation of personnel-related funding in
the Finance Department.
$ - $ -
CDBG NonDepartmentalAdjustments to align with the actual grant allocations recently provided by HUD.
Funding will be used in accordance with
the CDBG Action Plan approved by
Council on May 9, 2023.
$(25,648) $26,361
Local
Return
Fund
Transportation Net zero adjustment to transfer funds
from the Local Return Fund restricted for
transit-related services to the Department
of Transportation’s BBB Fund, as
reimbursement for enrolling program
participants in the Santa Monica Mobility
On-Demand Every Day (MODE) program.
$(252,897) $(257,955)
Local
Return
Fund
NonDepartmentalNet zero adjustment to transfer funds
from the Local Return Fund restricted for
transit-related services to the Department
of Transportation’s BBB Fund, as
reimbursement for enrolling program
participants in the Santa Monica Mobility
On-Demand Every Day (MODE) program.
$252,897 $257,955
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Big Blue
Bus
Transportation Net zero adjustment to transfer funds
restricted for transit-related purposes from
the Local Return Fund to the Department
of Transportation’s BBB Fund, as
reimbursement for enrolling program
participants in the Santa Monica Mobility
On-Demand Every Day (MODE) program.
$252,897 $257,955
Big Blue
Bus
NonDepartmentalNet zero adjustment to transfer funds
restricted for transit-related purposes from
the Local Return Fund to the Department
of Transportation’s BBB Fund, as
reimbursement for enrolling program
participants in the Santa Monica Mobility
On-Demand Every Day (MODE) program.
$(252,897) $(257,955)
Total $2,015,592 $1,829,175
Revenues
The Final Changes to the FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 revenues include an increase of approximately $3.8 million and $524,000 in non-General Funds, reflecting the grant awards and corrections detailed below.
Funding
Source
Department Description
FY 2023-
24 FY 2024-
25 Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
Revenues related to SAMHSA grant. $1,500,000 $ -
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
Revenues related to the DHCS grant.
This item is further detailed in the grant
section below.
$1,500,000 $ -
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
Revenues related to the national Opioid
Settlement agreement reached with
manufacturers, distributors, and
pharmacies.
$150,440 $150,440
Misc.
Grants
Fund
Housing and
Human
Services
Revenues related to the WSCCOG grant.
This item is further detailed in the grant
section below.
$373,125 $373,125
Fleet Public Works Correction to reflect one-time revenue to $254,000 $ - 12 of 25
Mgmt.
Fund
the Vehicle Management Fund for the
purchase of a vehicle for the newly
established HoST team, funded with
General Fund Measure CS funding. The
revenue was inadvertently omitted from
the proposed budget.
Total $3,777,565 $523,565
Staff recommends that Council adopt the Final Changes to the FY 2023-25 Proposed Biennial Budget. With these changes, the budget remains balanced.
Personnel Changes
In addition to the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions presented in the initial proposed budget on May 23, 2023, additional changes are being proposed as part of Final Changes, resulting in a net addition of 2.8 permanent FTE positions in the General Fund. The Final Changes include the addition of 1.8 FTE related to the restoration of the CREST program and 1.0 FTE related to the restoration of the City Traffic Engineer position as directed by Council at the May 24, 2023 Budget Study Session and are detailed above and in Attachment E. Additionally, there are net zero staffing changes in Finance, City Manager’s Office and the Department of Transportation to align positions with the demands of the respective positions, as included in Attachment E. Additionally, as a result of a reclassification, 2.0 FTE Pier Maintenance Crew Leader positions are being added and 2.0 FTE Pier Maintenance Worker positions are being deleted, which will result in an impact to the Pier Fund of approximately $57,000 in FY 2023-24, as included with Final Changes. The staffing changes altogether result in a revised citywide FTE count of 2,099.9 for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25.
The changes that include proposed employee classification and compensation adjustments were reviewed by the Human Resources Department. The resulting salary adjustments and position and classification changes are included in Attachments D and E, respectively.
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Budget Resolutions
Adopting the resolutions in Attachments A, B, and C would:
• Adopt the FY 2023-24 and approve the FY 2024-25 budget revenues at the account level, with operating expenditure appropriations for the Salaries and Wages and Supplies and Expenses (including Capital Outlay) major expenditure categories within a fund for each department, and capital improvement program budget within a fund;
• Authorize staff to roll over appropriations for multi-year operating grants not completed at the end of the fiscal year, unspent donations dedicated to programs, and the encumbrances for goods and services contracted for by FY 2022-23 year-end but not delivered or provided until FY 2023-24; • Authorize staff to roll over appropriations for the General Fund and all other NonGeneral Fund unencumbered balances and unexpended encumbrances for the FY 2022-23 capital improvement program budget.
Gann Appropriations Limit
State law places limits on the amount of Santa Monica’s General Fund appropriations that can be made without voter approval based on a growth factor calculated on changes in Los Angeles County’s population and either State per capita personal income growth or the growth in non-residential assessed valuation. This restriction was placed in effect in November 1979 with the approval of Proposition 4, commonly known as the (Paul) Gann Initiative. The City’s Gann Appropriations Limit, based on growth in non-residential assessed valuation multiplied by the annual percentage population change for the City in FY 2023-24 is $2,947,395,776.
A comparison of the City’s FY 2023-24 Gann Appropriations Limit as set forth in the City’s Proposed FY 2023-24 Biennial Budget follows:
Proposed Gann Limit-related Spending for FY 2023-24
Gann Limit $2,947,395,776
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Appropriations Subject to Limitation 319,447,881
Net (Over) Under $2,627,947,895
FY 2023-24 appropriations subject to limitation are $2,627,947,895 less than the City’s Gann Appropriations Limit. A resolution to establish the City’s FY 2023-24 Gann Appropriations Limit is included in Attachment J.
Fees/Fines/Rates
Fees
Attached for Council approval is the annual update to the City’s Master Fee Resolution (Attachment F). Most fees are being increased administratively by the City’s estimated annual increase (4%) in total compensation costs. Additionally, a number of new fees and adjustments to certain other fees are proposed. These changes were presented to Council at the May 23, 2023 study session for the FY 2023-25 Proposed Budget. Staff is now proposing a few changes in addition to the ones presented at the study session.
These are described below.
Cemetery – Staff recommends increasing the following mortuary fees. The proposed fee increases would match the trade increases that the outside vendor charges for services.
• Embalming (from $676.03 to $721.03)
• Pacemaker removal (from $66.66 to $86.66)
• Other Preparation of the Remains (from $324.03 to $384.03) • Dressing and Casketing of Un-embalmed Remains (from $262.90 to $292.90) City Planning - As directed by Council at the May 23, 2023 Budget Study Session, the application processing fees for Landmark Designation and Structure of Merit permits will be waived for Landmarks Commissioners and nonprofit organizations. 15 of 25
Additionally, the description of some fees has been modified to more clearly define the services provided. A complete list of all proposed changes beyond the routine 4.0% increase is detailed in Attachment S, as well as incorporated into the Master User Fee Schedule included in Attachment F.
Fines
Most of the fines included in the Master Fine resolution (Attachment G) have remained unchanged from the previous fiscal year with the following exceptions:
In an effort to deter violations and noncompliance with three specific sections of the Santa Monica Municipal Code, staff is proposing new fines and well as increases to certain existing fines.
Chapter 4.36: Tenant Relocation Assistance
This adjustment is related to temporary relocation of tenants in residential units. The current fines for failure to provide relocation assistance required by the Code are less than the daily relocation benefit required. The current fine amount is also a per day violation, which makes the citation process more difficult as each citation has to have a separate fine for each day. The proposed fine is a flat fee, not a per day violation, which simplifies the citation process while serving as an added deterrence to noncompliance as the fine is greater than the relocation fees. Staff proposes increasing the fine for the first violation from $250 to $2,000. Fines for the second violation are proposed to increase from 125% of the first violation amount ($312.50) to $4,000, and for third and subsequent violations from 150% of the first violation amount ($375) to $6,000. Staff anticipates this will increase compliance and shorten the time for resolution of violations. 16 of 25
Chapter 6.20: Home-Sharing and Vacation Rentals
Staff is proposing the creation of new non-standard fines for violations of the advertising requirements under the City’s Home-Sharing Ordinance. In addition, the fine for repeat violations of the advertising requirements under the Home-Sharing Ordinance are proposed to increase from the City’s standard escalation for repeat violations of the Code. The proposed changes are designed to deter noncompliance and are detailed in Attachment T.
Chapter 6.42: Santa Monica Outdoors Parklet Program
Staff believes that the current standard fines for violation of the Code and Administrative Regulations related to the Outdoor Parklets Program ($75 for first violation) are insufficient to deter violations and are proposing new fines in the amounts of $500 for violation of the Code requirements and $250 for violation of the Administrative Regulations.
A detailed listing of the proposed changes to fines is included in Attachment T, as well as incorporated into the Master Fines Schedule included in Attachment G.
Parking rates
A comprehensive parking rates resolution (Attachment H) states all of the parking fees and rates and provides for Council to affirmatively approve them. All transient and monthly rates for on-street and off-street parking at City owned facilities are unchanged from their current levels. The resolution does provide for preferential parking permits to increase by 4.0%, reflecting the FY 2023-24 increase in total City compensation (which includes salary, healthcare, retirement, and workers’ compensation costs) projected at the time of preparation of the Proposed FY 2023-24 Budget. In addition, the resolution includes a revision to extend the Downtown discount validation program through June 30, 2024, establish a Pilot Beach Electric Vehicle Parking Permit for Beach Lot 5 South, establish a Pilot Electric Vehicle Parking Permit for Lots 7, 8, 9, and 11, and establish a parking rate for City spaces for the 1560 Lincoln Boulevard Structure. 17 of 25
Runoff Pollution Mitigation Fee
SMMC Chapter 7.10 Urban Runoff Pollution Mitigation allows a building permit applicant for a new development or redevelopment project in the City to pay an Urban Runoff Reduction Fee in-lieu of on-site installation of improvements to mitigate runoff from the project site. The fee proceeds are used to construct improvements on City property that would achieve the same level of runoff mitigation. The municipal code allows for yearly increases to the fee based on actual costs of City projects, but the fee has not been updated since 2010. The Runoff Pollution Mitigation resolution (Attachment I) phases in an increase to the Urban Runoff Reduction Fee over the next five years to ultimately reach actual construction costs as follows:
• Year 1 (FY 2023-24), $12.27/gal
• Year 2 (FY 2024-25), $16.93/gal
• Year 3 (FY 2025-26), $21.60/gal
• Year 4 (FY 2026-27), $26.26/gal
• Year 5 (FY 2027-28), $30.92/gal
Adoption of Resolution related to SB1, Road Repair and Accountability Act In April 2017, SB 1, formally known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act (RMRA) of 2017, was signed into law. SB 1 establishes the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program (RMRP) to address deferred maintenance on the State highway and local street and road systems. The City is required to adopt, by resolution, projects proposed to receive fiscal year funding from the RMRA, which must include a description and the location of each proposed project, a proposed schedule for the project’s completion, and the estimated useful life of the improvement. Current fund estimates provided by the League of California Cities indicate that the City of Santa Monica will be eligible to receive approximately $2.3 million in FY 2023-24, in addition to the City’s existing annual gas tax revenues of approximately $2.6 million. Staff recommends using the FY 2023-24 SB 1 estimated allocation of $2.3 million for the Annual Paving and Sidewalk Repair Program capital improvement project, per the attached resolution (Attachment K). No budget adjustment is required for this project, as 18 of 25
the project has already been included in the FY 2023-24 Biennial Capital Improvement Program Budget.
Acceptance of Grant Awards that Require Council Approval Staff is requesting authorization to accept grant awards and award renewals as described below:
• SAMHSA grant award in the amount of $1,500,000. The appropriation of these funds is included with Final Changes for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25; • DHCS grant award in the amount of $1,500,000. Appropriation of $907,488 of the $1,500,000 is included with Final Changes in FY 2024-25. Staff anticipates appropriating the remaining $592,512 in FY 2025-26. Both the DHCS and SAMHSA grants will fund projects and activities supporting the behavioral health needs of vulnerable residents and people experiencing homelessness, including around-the-clock response, access to safe temporary housing, and stabilizing care, as previously approved by Council on May 9, 2023 and detailed in the 2023-27 Human Services Grants Program Funding Recommendations and the Annual Interdepartmental Update on Addressing Homelessness; • WSCCOG grant award in the amount of $373,125 to advance Los Angeles County Homeless Initiatives. The funds will support eviction prevention services, a new 3-1-1 responsive outreach team, and additional case management services to support Emergency Medical Services provided by SMFD, details of which were presented in the Annual Interdepartmental Update on Addressing Homelessness. The appropriation of these funds is included with Final Changes for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25;
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Continuum of Care (CoC) Program grant award in the amount of $4,447,586. The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is a federally-funded competitive grant program that provides a housing subsidy (supportive housing) to homeless, disabled households. The funds will support the City’s CoC Program, which assists 19 of 25
sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness by providing the housing and/or services needed to help individuals move into supportive permanent housing, with the goal of long-term stability. The funding for this grant is in the Housing Authority Fund and was included in the FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget that was presented to Council on May 23, 2023.
Contract Approvals
Salvation Army to Support Outreach to People Experiencing Homelessness Staff seeks approval to execute a two-year agreement with the Salvation Army to support the City’s 311 Outreach efforts and provide street team assistance to the Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) for a term of 2 years at a total amount not-to-exceed $446,250. Salvation Army was selected based on their past working relationship with the Police Department’s HLP team and their ability to respond in real-time, throughout the City, to assist HLP with outreach and direct transport to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. Salvation Army will participate in at least once per month joint enforcement operations with HLP and will be assigned non-criminal 311 complaints upon review and assignment by HLP. Contract billing with Salvation Army will occur on a monthly basis. This award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to SMMC Section 2.24.250 (i), under the Local Emergency Order on Homelessness. The contract is funded from WSCCOG funds, as reflected in Final Changes.
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District for Playground Club Staff also seeks approval to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District for two years with three one-year options to renew to provide $500,000 a year to support the implementation of the Playground Club Program. This program provides supervised afterschool care at the School District’s Santa Monica elementary school playgrounds.
BerryDunn for Homelessness Strategic Plan
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Additionally, staff seeks approval to execute an agreement with BerryDunn in an amount not to exceed $400,000 funded by Measure CS funding for strategic planning services to develop a Homelessness Strategic Plan for the City. This contract is related to the November 2022 comprehensive study of the City’s homelessness response and prevention efforts conducted by Moss Adams. The audit included recommendations to improve the City’s homelessness approach, including that the City develop a comprehensive homelessness strategic plan that builds on the current Four Pillars framework to set clear policy direction, promote alignment across City stakeholders, and support regional efforts. At Council’s March 2023 workshop, staff presented a plan to engage a consultant or consultants to develop the recommended Homelessness Strategic Plan in coordination with city staff (a summary document shared at the workshop is available as Attachment P). Staff’s proposal presented Council with a highlevel project overview and timing. The proposed plan components would be a Background and Context (building on Moss Adams’ work); a Strategic Plan, including objectives, strategies, and measurable indicators; an Implementation Strategy, which would address partnerships, internal alignment and staffing, resource evaluation and strategy, data for decision making, and communication; and a Conclusion presenting tradeoffs and strategic decisions and establishing a timeline for plan review and reporting. Consistent with Moss Adams’ recommendations and taking into consideration the comprehensive analysis and community and partner outreach involved in the Moss Adams study, the proposed Homelessness Strategic Plan would build on and bring together existing work. The proposed Plan completion date would be May 2024, aligned to staff’s presentation of the Annual Report on Homelessness to the Council and community.
On March 21, 2023, the City released an RFP for a consultant to develop a multi-year, comprehensive Homelessness Strategic Plan. While the proposed timeline anticipates a completed plan in May 2024, staff recommends the option of an additional year with associated budget authority to support potential additional implementation work, including metrics development, communication and ongoing stakeholder and internal engagement, to increase the Plan’s effectiveness.
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Vendor Selection Process
Staff posted the RFP on the City’s online bidding website and advertised the opportunity in the Santa Monica Daily Press. Twenty-eight vendors downloaded the RFP, and seven vendors submitted proposals. A review committee composed of representatives from the Community Services Department, Public Works Department, and Police Department reviewed the proposals. Two proposals clearly stood out based on initial review and scoring: BerryDunn (partnered with ECONorthwest) and Homebase; the review committee then interviewed both groups. Following interviews, staff recommends selecting BerryDunn based on its expertise, approach, experience with similar projects, strong references, and close alignment of its approach with the City’s needs for this project.
Justification
Staff interviewed two shortlisted firms. Based on these criteria and the criteria in SMMC
2.24.190, staff recommends BerryDunn as the best qualified person or firm to provide strategic planning services to develop a multi-year Homelessness Strategic Plan. The review panel was guided by the notion that the City is seeking to build from both a sound organizing framework in its Four Pillars approach and recent comprehensive outside analysis from the Moss Adams report to produce a plan focused on alignment around a clear vision, shared understanding of roles and responsibilities, and clear objectives and metrics to elevate the work and enhance its effectiveness and visibility to the community. BerryDunn’s proposal, including its partnership with ECONorthwest (a Pacific Northwest-based consulting firm that specializes in economics, finance, and planning), stood out for its expertise, experience, and close match to the City’s needs for this strategic planning process. BerryDunn brings strong systems-level strategic planning expertise, engagement and facilitation strength, and a clear vision for project management aligned to the City’s goals and timetable, while the ECONorthwest component adds specific homelessness-sector experience and expertise. Reference checks for recent, similar BerryDunn strategic planning projects revealed positive reviews for the firm and specific principals’ effectiveness with Council and community engagement, and producing clear, effective, ready-to-implement strategic plans.
Similarly, the ECONorthwest team received positive endorsement for their 22 of 25
responsiveness, expertise, and final product. Taken together, the team’s proposal, interview, and reference checks demonstrate the breadth of skills and experience to work successfully with the City and stakeholders and deliver a clear, comprehensive, and usable strategic plan.
Council Discretionary Funds
Each year, Council allocates discretionary funds to assist the community in special projects or support important but otherwise unfunded priorities. Traditionally, Council has supported community partners like the Business Improvement Districts, Santa Monica traditions like the Fourth of July Parade, one-time programs, and local students through science or music grants that allow Santa Monica youth to participate in special events. Projects and programs supported by Council discretionary funds for the past three years are detailed in Attachment L.
Allocation of the funds may occur along with Budget Adoption or throughout the year.
Including unprogrammed FY 2022-23 discretionary funds ($14,656) and FY 2023-24 discretionary funds ($125,150), the Council has access to $139,806 in discretionary funds in FY 2023-24.
Cost of Adding Two Additional Security Guards and Four Public Services Officers At its June 13, 2023, meeting, Council directed staff to provide the following costs as detailed in Attachment R:
• Four Public Services Officers, FY 2023-24 – Estimated at $424,724. • Adding 2 additional security guards to agreement #4982 with Good Guard Security, Inc. for Parking Structure Security Services, FY 2023-24 - $161,849.
If Council decides to move forward with any of these items, Council must provide staff with direction on what resources to reallocate from the FY 2023-25 Proposed Biennial Budget to fund the items.
Additionally, approving to move forward with adding the additional security guards to the agreement with Good Guard Security, Inc., requires that Council authorize the City 23 of 25
Manager to execute a modification to agreement (Agenda Item 5-L, approved at the June 13, 2023 Council Meeting) to increase the total not to exceed contract amount by the additional approved amount.
Committees and Commission Communications
Commissions are encouraged to provide written communications to the Council regarding the Proposed Budget. Attachment O includes letters to the Council from the Recreation and Parks Commission, the Planning Commission and the Santa Monica Public Library Board. Any other letters received after submission of this staff report will be added as Written Comments to the Council Meeting Agenda. The Measure CS Advisory Committee, a new committee that will be providing non-binding recommendations to the City Manager on the use of Measure CS funds, was unable to meet this year to provide input during this budget process because the appointments were made in late May.
Environmental Review
The FY 2023-25 Proposed Budget is categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines. The Proposed Budget is covered by the common sense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that actions would not result in adverse physical impacts on the environment, and as such, is categorically exempt from CEQA.
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Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The FY 2023-25 Citywide Budget as revised by Final Changes, including operating and capital budgets, is approximately $745.0 million and $750.6 million, net of reimbursements and transfers, in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25, respectively, as described below:
• Operating Budget: Citywide operating budget is $641.0 million and $664.7 million in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25.
• FTEs: Citywide total 2,006.0 permanent FTEs and 93.9 as-needed FTEs. • Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget: FY 2023-24 Proposed CIP Exception Based Budget is approximately $104.1 million. The FY 2024-25 Proposed Budget Plan is approximately $85.9 million.
• Revenues: Citywide total budget of $750.9 million and $782.5 million in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25, respectively.
Adoption of the Proposed Budget, as amended by Final Changes described in the Revisions to Proposed Budget section of this report, would formally adopt the first year and approve the second year of the City’s FY 2023-25 Biennial Operating Budget, including the second year of the FY 2023-24 Capital Improvement Program Budget.
Prepared By: Oscar Santiago, Budget Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Attachment A - City Council Resolution
B. Attachment B - Housing Authority Resolution
C. Attachment C - Parking Authority Resolution
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D. Attachment D - Salary Resolution
E. Attachment E - Position and Classification Changes
F. Attachment F - Master Fee Resolution
G. Attachment G - Master Fine Resolution
H. Attachment H - Parking Rates Resolution
I. Attachment I - Runoff Reduction Fee Resolution
J. Attachment J - Gann Resolution
K. Attachment K - Road Repair and Accountability Act Resolution L. Attachment L - Council Discretionary Funds
M. Attachment M - FY 2023-25 Proposed Biennial Budget (Web Link) N. Attachment N - May 23, 2023 Staff Report (Financial Status Update, FY 2023-25 Proposed Biennial Budget, and FY 2023-24 Proposed Capital Improvement Program Budget) (Web Link)
O. Attachment O - Committees and Commission Communications P. Attachment P - Homelessness Strategic Plan - RFP
Q. Attachment R - Security guards and Public Services Officers Estimated Costs R. Attachment S - Revisions to Fee Schedules FY 2023-24 S. Attachment T - Revisions to Fine Schedules FY 2023-24 T. Written Comments
U. PowerPoint Presentation