RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 5/23/2024 BUDGET WORKSHOP Council QuesƟon/Request: On Sales Tax (slide 44) – All Agency Comparisons per Capita slide, what is the $4,000?
Staff Response: The scale on the right‐hand verƟcal axis represents the dollar amount per capita. As shown on the chart, Sunnyvale is at the lowest for sales per capita in this comparison against other local agencies.
This underscores the importance of effecƟve land use planning and economic de velopment to ensure the preservaƟon and expansion of retail within Sunnyvale’s borders, contribuƟng to sales tax revenue stability and growth.
Council QuesƟon/Request: UUT projecƟon – How much of the loss in revenue for the Gas Tax is offset by the increase of usage of EV chargers (electric)?
Staff Response: Revenue from the sales of gasoline and diesel don’t only generate gas tax but also sales tax revenue. The City receives approximately $9.4M total from Gas Tax, Road Maintenance and RehabilitaƟon funds, and sales tax from fuel and service staƟons per year. UUT revenue from electricity totals approximately $8.3M per year. A blog post on Consumer Reports esƟmates that if every car and light truck in the US were swit
ched to electric today the increase demand on the electric grid would be 22%. It is very unlikely that the UUT gained from charging EVs will totally offset the revenues received related to gasoline consumpƟon.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Golf – Provide where we are with the mast er plan and what the pieces are recommended and the esƟmated costs?
Staff Response: Project 836150 – Golf Course Assessment is planned to begin in FY 2024/25. Some of the needs idenƟfied in the recently completed Golf Study include:
Features rebuilding (greens, tees, and bunkers).
Re‐grassing both courses.
Arbor management.
Clubhouse replacement/refurbishment.
Maintenance facility repairs/upgrades.
A copy of the Sunnyvale Golf Courses Study report has been aƩached to this response as Exhibit A.
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RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 5/23/2024 BUDGET WORKSHOP
Council QuesƟon/Request: Did not see any concessions for Sunnyvale Muni Golf Course? Staff Response: When the new Oracle system was put into place the chart of accounts was consolidated to simplify where charges should go. Staff can break out the concessions for Sunnyvale Municipal Golf Course into a separate account to provide more visibility.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Suggest spliƫng golf and tennis pieces going forward into separate funds.
Staff Response: Tennis operaƟons is in its own program for tracking operaƟng costs, however it is rolled up in the Golf and Tennis OperaƟons Fund. Going forward staff can separate golf and tennis into two operaƟons lines for transparency purposes. Due to its small size, staff does not recommend breaking it into two separate funds.
Council QuesƟon/Request: How is the trust fund investment going? Staff Response: The current balance in the Pension Trust is $20,971,637 with a return since incepƟon of
5.82%. The current balance in the OPEB Trust is $168,894,413 with a return since incepƟon of 7.28%.
Council QuesƟon/Request: NOVAworks – Would like to get an update on what are the populaƟons that are served especially those that have been laid‐off?
Staff Response: NOVAworks' unique model registers and serves every customer who seeks our services including the unhoused, students and recent graduates, and people re‐entering the workforce. Regarding those that have been laid‐off, see aƩached Exhibit B for an infographic that presents a monthly snapshot of the Adult and Dislocated Workers customers that we served in April.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Provide an upda te on the Clean Water Master Plan and Recycled Water Master Plan.
Staff Response: In April 2023, HydroScience Engineers (HSe) was hired to develop the Recycled Water Master Plan. The project is currently in progress and expected to be finished by summer 2024.
The Sunnyvale Clean Water Program Master Plan update is currently in progress and about 75% complete.
The draŌ is expected to be completed by November 2025 with Council adopƟon scheduled for December 2026 aŌer the compleƟon of the CEQA review. The project scope includes updaƟng all elements of the current Master Plan to account for regulatory and land use changes. It also includes the design of the cogeneraƟon engines.
A copy of the Sunnyvale Cleanwater Program Bimonthly Report – Final (Jan‐Feb 2024) has been aƩached to this response as Exhibit C.
Council QuesƟon/Request: What are the plans to replace other sewer lines in the city? Staff Response: The City conducts CCTV inspecƟons of the sewer system on an ongoing basis to assess the condiƟons of the sewer lines. CerƟfied crew staff reviews the videos and reports, prioriƟzes pipes according to the severity of their defects, and add them to one of two CIP projects: 805253 – Sewer Emergency Repair and Replacement, is for pipes that require spot repairs; and 825331 – R eplacement/Repair/Rehabilita Ɵon of Sanitary Sewer System, is for pipes that need to be replaced or rehabbed in its enƟrety. Project 805253 current contains over 150 pipes with defects that require replacement or spot repairs. These repairs are addressed by either in‐house crew or a qualified contractor on an ong oing basis depending on staff and equipment availability. The list for project 825331 currently has a total of 10,500 LF of pipes ranging from 6” to 12” and is currently under design and will be adverƟsed for construcƟon by July 2024. The budget for pipe Attachment 7
RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 5/23/2024 BUDGET WORKSHOP
replacements over the next 20 years is $49,000,000, while the budget for spot repairs is $8,100,000 for the same period.
Copies of the project informaƟon sheets from Volume II of the FY 2024/25 Recommended Budget for projects 805253 and 825331 are aƩached to this response as Exhibit D.
Council QuesƟon/ Request: Trash capture ‐ How is this communicated to staff for sites that are blocked? Update Council with the process of how the department is detecƟng, managing and staffing for this process.
Staff Response: The City has a program in place to clean all capture devices twice a year. In a ddi Ɵon to the twice a year cleaning, during storm events staff will conduct patrols to clean any trash capture devices that are blocked and causing localized flooding. Staff also responds to service requests from Sunnyvale residents to clean any blocked trash capture devices.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Tree maintenance – Can yo u provide a report to council on where we stand on trees and how we are tracking that?
Staff Response: Fiscal YTD, the Tree Program has pruned approximately 3,900 Right of Way trees (3,000 by contractor, 900 by City Staff). The current block pruning contract of 3,000 street trees just ended and the City is negoƟaƟng an addiƟonal 3,000‐5,000 trees pruned over the next fiscal year, per agreement, with the current vendor . Regarding the “back log” pruning contract, a vendor has bee n selected and is in process for a contract award with Council this summer .
In general, most of the work occurred west of Sunnyvale/Saratoga Road., south of Central Expressway and north of Remington Drive. The work was directed focused there as that area has the most emergency call outs due to li mb or tree failure, which is directly related to tree species (i.e., Chinese Pistache, Liquidambar).
Once the block pruning contract is renewed and the backlog pruning contract is in place, we will be able to address other areas throughout the City.
Council QuesƟon/Request: How many buffered bike lanes and tr ails do we have? What is being planned in the next year or two? Where?
Staff Response: We currently have 19.3 miles of Class I (shared‐use path faciliƟes) and 12.8 miles of Class IIB (buffered bicycle lanes). We are currently working on the design of Class I facility on Evelyn Avenue between Mathilda Place and Bernardo Avenue (1.13 miles). We are also studying Mathilda Avenue between Almanor Avenue and Del Rey Avenue in the southbound direcƟon for 0.26 miles of Class IIB facility an d designing Maude Avenue between Bayview Avenue and Fair Oaks Avenue for 0.6 miles of Class IIB facility.
Council QuesƟon/Request: How many crosswalks are being evaluated and what is the backlog? Staff Response: We are currently working on 14 locaƟons for crosswalks/crosswalk improvements and have 38 other requested locaƟons in the queue waiƟng.
It is anƟcipated that the crosswalk backlog can be addressed in approximately 12‐18 months once the team is fully staffed. Please note that this same team also performs work related to Development Review, so if there is a spik e in development acƟvity, crosswalk/transportaƟon studies may be delayed.
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RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 5/23/2024 BUDGET WORKSHOP
Council QuesƟon/Request: Regarding the Housing Element, can staff provide an update on the different programs in the Housing Element and when they are moving forward? Staff Response: Community Development staff is working out the details of implemenƟng the Housing Element programs along with other study items. We are currently filling vacancies in Planning and Housing and will have more detailed schedules in a month or two.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Please provide a schedule for compleƟon of the Arques Specific Plan.
Staff Response: Community Development staff met with their consultant on May 30 for a check‐in, and the latest update is that we are on track for a summer 2025 compleƟon date.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Please provide an update on the negoƟaƟons for the Tier 2 water allocaƟon negoƟaƟons.
Staff Response: The Tier 2 water allocaƟon negoƟaƟon started in early 2022 and is due to finish by the end of 2024. The negoƟaƟon focuses on building a model to allocate water usage cutbacks among the 26 SFPUC wholesale water customers during a regional drought. If agencies fail to achieve the allocated cutback, SFPUC will conƟnue to deliver water but will impose an excess water charge. The latest ver sion of the model shows that if SFPUC were to call for a regional cutback of 20%, the 26 wholesale agencies would be allocated a cutback target ranging from 6% to 30%, with Sunnyvale’s target being around 24%. For Sunnyvale to agree to such a reducƟon target, staff will recommend to the City Council to co nsider approving the new Tier 2 model if and only if the two elements described below are agreed upon. Otherwise, Sunnyvale could be exposed to significant surcharge fees during a drought when Tier 2 is acƟvated. In the event that the 26 agencies cannot come to an agreement on this Tier 2 negoƟaƟon, the SFPUC will then set the target for each agency.
A few elements are sƟll under neg o ƟaƟon, including the establishment of a “Family Plan,” in which SFPUC would not impose an excess water charge as long as the 26 agencies collecƟvely achieve the regional target.
Another element is a “Rebound Period” aŌer a drought during which SFPUC would waive the take‐or‐pa y penalƟes for the four agencies—with Sunnyvale being one of them—that have minimum purchase requirements (MPR). In parallel to this Tier 2 negoƟaƟon, the four MPR agencies are also negoƟaƟng with SFPUC to reduce the MPR permanently. SFPUC has tentaƟvely agreed to these elements, and mos t agencies are supporƟve of them. The next negoƟaƟon meeƟng is scheduled for June 10.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Please provide background on how the locaƟons for Automated License Plate Readers will be determined.
Staff Response: The process for determining placement of ALPRs will involve staff members from Police Services, Special OperaƟons and the vendor, a subject maƩer expert on strategic placement of ALPRs. Several consideraƟons will guide this process. Analysis of major thoroughfares, consideraƟon of ALPRs in neighboring jurisdicƟons and evaluaƟon of strategic placement. By considering these factors and leveraging the experƟse of staff in Po lice Services, Special OperaƟons, and the vendor organizaƟon, DPS can strategically and effecƟvely deploy ALPRs to enhance public safety.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Please update what the “New organics processing at the plant” will accomplish.
Staff Response: SMaRT staƟon has installed new food scraps pre‐processing equipment which is expected to increase diversion. The old equipment had reached its end of life. This new machine will increase material Attachment 7
RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 5/23/2024 BUDGET WORKSHOP
processing capacity and is expected to increase recovery rate by 30‐35%. This project is grant funded by CalRecycle.
Council QuesƟon/Request: Please provide schedule and Outreach plan for future Split Bin replacement.
Staff Response: In response to community feedback, staff is conƟnuing to explore alternate designs for the garbage / food cycle split carts. Currently, replacement of the exisƟng split garbage / food cycle carts with new‐design carts is planned for 2027. This Ɵming is cost‐effecƟve as the current carts have a warranty life of ten years and are due for replacement in 2027. Chan ging the design will have a cost impact. The cost to replace all 31,000 carts like for like is about $4.6 million while replacing the carts with a new design will likely be around $5.6 Million. Costs are typically spread over the 10‐year period so the rate impact will be spread over that period. There may also be a subsequent increase in cost if the garbage disposal volume increases as a result of the new cart design.
This project is sƟll in early phases. Spe cialty has idenƟfied a manufacturer who can produce the needed volume of 31,000 carts. However, Specialty must first test them in the field to determine if they are funcƟonal, durable and meet the needs of the program. Staff will develop an outreach plan as we wo rk with the manufacturer and get more informaƟon. Outreach will be conducted with residents during the tesƟng period. Staff will present the proposed cart to Council at the appropriate Ɵme for discussion and approval.
Attachment 7