Resolution Number: 6554-2023
A Resolution of the City Councilof the City of Sebastopol Declaring a Fiscal Emergency Declaring a Lack of Funds for Key Essential Services Provided for the Benefit of our Citizens and Community at Large WHEREAS, like many other cities, the City has undergone a financial crisis due to the economic downturn, takeaways by the state and inability of revenues to keep pace with expenditures; and WHEREAS, in the Fiscal Year 2024-24 Budget review, staff identified a nearly Sf.6Z mlllion structural deficit; and
WHEREAS, the City has historicallyworked diligentlyto make all possible cuts to its budget; and WHEREAS, the City has evaluated the impacts of financial constraints on the City's ability to provide vital services to the public, including evaluation and implementation of measures to reduce costs, as well as measures to increase revenue; and
WHEREAS, the pavement of a majority of the City's streets is in fair to very poor condition according to the City's 2023 Pavement Management Report, and itwillcostthe City approximatelyST.13 million to improve the pavement condition to meet minimum standards in the next 5 years as well as the city does not have the funding to undertake such work for Capital lmprovement Projects that in the current FY budget was estimated at a total of S30.3 million dollars over the next 5 years; and WHEREAS, because operating costs continue to outpace City revenues and as shown in the table below which is a condensed financialforecastthrough fiscalyear 29-30 and is a dire picture of the City's finances if no new revenue streams are in place. The City's current FY23-24 budget has a deficit of S1.68M in a total budget of S12.5M.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEABSTOPOL AS FOLLOWS FISCAL EMERGENCY. the City Council,, hereby declares the existence of an emergency in that there are imminentfinancial risks and dangers, as described above, tothe publicwelfare and the Citysfinancial ability to provide municipalservices at current levels and without disruption. The Councilfinds that unless it takes urgent action, the City will lack the necessary funding for key essential services provide for the benefit of our citizens such as: CaIPERS liabilities; Capital lmprovement Projects; lnfrastructure Needs; emergency services and other necessary expenditures overthe next severalyears, including but to limited to: replacements to the City's vehicle fleet and building upgrades; technology replacements and upgrades; and personnel; and accordingly, the City Council hereby declares an emergency. The adoption of this Resolution is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code 55 21000 et seq. ("CEQA") and L4 Cal. Code Reg. 55 15000 et seq. ("CEQA Guidelines").
Adopted
FY23-24 FY2+25 FY25-26 FY2G27 FY27-28 FY28-29 FY29-30
Est End ofYear Reserve $ 3,441,264 $ 1,973,608 $ 406,221 $ (1,335,766) $ (3,259,515) $ (5,603,554) $ (8,182,857) Resene Lelel 27.4% 15.80/o 3.20 -10.10 -23.90/o -39.2Yo -55.4o/o CERT;FtCATION. The City Clerk of the City of Sebastopol shall certify to the passage and adoption of this resolution and its approval by the City Council and shall cause the same to be listed in the records of the City.
SEVERABILITY. lf any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Resolution or its application to any person or circumstance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Resolution or its application to other persons and circumstances. The City Councilof the City of Sebastopol hereby declares that it would have adopted this Resolution and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional and, to that end, the provisions hereof are hereby declared to be severable.
EFFECTTVE DATE. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by a majority vote.
PASSED AND ADOPTED, by the CITY COUNCIL of THE CITY OF SEBASTOPOL, COUNTY OF SONOMA, of STATE OF CALIFORNIA on this 21st day of November, 2023. l, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by City of Sebastopol City Councilfollowing a roll call vote:
VOTE:
Ayes: Councilmember Zollman, Vice Mayor Rich and Mayor Hinton Noes: Councilmember Maurer
Absent: Councilmember Mclewis
Absta in: N one
APPROVED
u"
Neysa , Mayor
L
Mary Gourley, Assistant City Manager /City Clerk, MMC
APPROVED AS TO FORM
Larry Mclaughlin, City AttorneY