HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-07-1977 City Council Minutes MINUTES
SARATOGA CIT~ COUNCIL
TIME: Tuesday, June 7~-~1977 - 7:30 P.M.
PLACE: Saratoga City CouncilChambers, .13777 Fruitvale~, Saratoga, Calif.
TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting ·
I. ROLL CALL
Present: Councilmen Brigham, Corr,'Kraus, Matteoni, Bridges
Absent: None
II. PUBLIC HEARING
A. CONSIDERATION OF STAFF RECOMMENDATION TO DECLARE PROPERTY
AT 14631 BIG BASIN WAY A PUBLIC NUISANCE.(Cont'd. 5/18, 6/1)
The City Manager explained; that thiS pUbliC hearing has been
continued for,final reviewi of the subject property. He
~eported that the propert~ has been cleaned up,. and it is
the staff's recommendation this public hearing be closed and
no further action be taken! on the matter ~'It -is-further
recommended the lien place'd'6~ this ~ro~erty,7!fr0m a previous
Council action be removed'.~as well.
The Mayor then opened the public hearing at 8:00 P.M.
There being no'further discussion on this m~tter atthis time,
the public hearing was closed at 8:01 P.M
It was then moved by Councilman Matte0ni and seconded by
Councilman Brigham the City drop the nuisan~&'proceedings,
and instruct the staff to release that may have. been recorded
against the property. The~! motion was carried unanimously.
III. PRESENTATION OF PROPOSED 1~77-7.8 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET
The City Manager announced the schedule of dates for the
budget review:
Presentation = .,. This evening
Study Session . June 21
Public Hearings July 6 and July 20
He then proceeded to summarize the budget message, referencing
charts which had been prepared to'help give an overview of the
current.budget picture..
He indicated that included inI the budgetthis'yearare the
accomDlishments for 1976-77 ahd program objectives for next fiscal'
year.' H~u'~er~~'2o~t~a~*~-~{'~h'~T~t~ie"~'~
~m~ning~ul. ~a~.~menT~ ~u~'~ in which p~8~rams an~
Sales Tax Revenues: The Cityi Manager reported't~at at the present
time, it does not look promising'for new
revenues available tO meet'the City's fLscal needs during the next
year. It is possible, how&ver, that we might,be able to get a new
tax, such as Utility User's Tax, for General Law cities to
provide for the loss of some of the revenue anticipated by
property tax limits. He advised that as a result of the State
and Local Fiscal Assistance~ct of 1976, the City received
approximately $65,000 in revenue sharing funds this past fiscal
year, and it,is anticipated to receive approximately$140,000.
this next fiscsl'year.
The total city revenue, $2,449,610, from all sources, excluding
Housing and Community Development Act funds, is estimated to
increase 2.5 percent, or approximately $59,000 over 1976-77.
It is estimated, however, that revenue for the General Fund will
increase approximately 6.57 percent. In comparing revenues from
the=~previous fiscal,year to this fiscal year, it is anticipated
approximately~l percent increase in property ta~7'a~'~W~'~
~d~use tax~ with a 4 percent decrease in local rfc~n~' ~rts~
a~ fees.
In estima.ting the property taX, the City is using preliminary
estimates from the ~ounty Asses~or's Office, which reflect an
increase of 12.7 percent, amounting to an additional $5~3_),000 over
last year~ If the property ~ax goes higher than this, the Council
would have the. Option.to lower the property tax commensurate with
the other increase~
With .re~d to the property tax revenue limit Rroblem ~h~ ~t~d.
out t~at the property'ta~'~makes up I8 percent of't~h~C'i~ ~tal
revenue source. Furthermore, it is anticipated that as construction
slows down in future years, revenues from these sources will also
decrease, thus shifting a portion of the burden for financing city
services to other sources of revenue.
The City Manager pointed out that one reason cities like Cupertino,
Campbell, Santa Clara,and Sunnyvale have been so proud in reducing
!~h'~ir property tax each year as it relates to assessed'~lue, is
because of their sales tax base. He indicated that Saratoga is at
$59 to $60 per capita, based on A.V. (which is third out of the
cities mentioned), whereby, when compared with sales tax revenue,
Campbell is on top with $72 per capita, and Saratoga is at $~Der
capita. The other cities have the shifting balance on the revenue
payment. He advised that this is stated within the context,
recognizing that the General Plan has traditionally centered on
Saratoga as a residential community, and also, it speaks to the need
to protect the existing comme_rj~cal_z~ning. Thele~or~j~t was
feeling that when plans come in during the next year on, for example,
the Garcia .pro~rJy~_the City_must b~cautious~bout--the-imDac.t
this might have, in terms of ~otential_~e~enu~sl
Distribution of PrOperty Tax: In 1976-77,.this took up only 23
cents,-~rT~Only 2 percent of the
total tax dollar. Further, in 1976-77, a ~100,000 home only paid
$53 to the City out of a tot'al tax bitl~Saratoga Vfllage of
$2,617, in Prides CroSsing of. $2,523, and in Quito of' $2,624.
Expenditure Program: There i.s a proposed expenditure program of
$2,210,385. This is.reflective of the
existing tax rate, assuming a 12 percent increase in A.V. and.
revenue. It reflects an expenditure of $74.42.per capita. This
is an increase over the existing budget of $206,375. Of this
amount the increases take place.in approximately six areas. He
pointed out that by "fixed costS", the costs are fixed based o~
current or existing city policy -- for example, if the City
wanted to change the level of service in=the Sheriff's COntract,
this could be changed.
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4.6 percent of this $206,375 is made up of salaries and benefits
of full-time personnel, and this is based on the current Memorandum
of Understanding, with the elimination of one full-time employee.
With regard to insurance costs, this makes up 1.5 percent of the
total 10.3 percent. ~
The~Sheriff's Contract~ i'~f'~ ~e~cent. H~ ac~i~d~_that_the~ty_~'~
has ~ot budgeted this year th~'~T' a~ ~hi~ ~ight be oBfi7'''
gated under the contract, due to the fact the previous,year was a
very low activity year. The~cost is $30,000 to $40,000 under what
was budgeted last year, and rather than carrying'it over, it has
only been increased the minim~ount n~essary.
.5 of a percent of the total,10..3 has been allocated to Other
General Government Costs (Elections~ Legal Advertising, Annual
Audit). ~
Replacement of vehicles~CS ~o 2~ rcent. i
Miscellaneous Fixed Costs includes an increase for the City
Attorney, Recreation District, &rossingguards and traffic
signal maintenance, and these items make up 9.9 percent of the
10.3 percent.
For 1977-78, discretionary. costs onlX amount 'to 18~9 percentCof
~h~-l~~hTl~h~d'~~k~p2 the 81.1 percent.
Operating Expendltures.: PerCentages of the total for 1977-78
do not change much from last year . . .
Cede Enforcement, Police still takes up 21 percent; Public W~rks
· 27 percent; Co~unity' Services 19 percent; Public Works, in te~s
of the size of the budget (comRared to last Xear) is still 27
He pointed out that Salaries and Fringes have increased, even
though there has been a.decrease of 3 full-time people in the
last 3 years: Acquisition. and improvements have remained level
during this period of time. 'T~e CETA Program is also reflected
here. :
The City Council Budget has increased for two reasons: The
annual audit i~'.~nticipated to.cost approximately $1,100, and
all Comunity Promotion items have been shifted to the City
Council account.
The City Manager/Cit~ Clerk Budget also reflects an increase,
primarily due to the councilmanic election in March. Also,
the management team training has been shifted from Administrative
Services to City Manager this year. Legal advertising has been
shifted from General Government and split between'City Clerk and
Planning Department.
$15,000 has been included for study of the City's future publid:
safety needs, and compared to 1976~1 +'?
it is estimated this will go 'to as'H~F-a~$)'5700~'8~by
1980.
The Building Department is basically the same,,except for re-
placement of the Building Inspection vehicle. General Government
reflects a shifting of those items. Overall insurance costs ar~
up $2,500. In Co~unity Services, the YOuth Services Bureau is
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funded, but only to $10,000. Parks and ~andscape Maintenance
reflects an increase of approximately $2,900 inl'supp!ie~.~7~
main addition in the Community Center is fbr i0 hours pe~'wee~
for Recreation Leader II, and in.-Government B~ildings, the utility
costs are up $1~800. Public WorkS' Maintenance supplies have in-
creased $2,500, and the repairs account has been reduced to re-
flect the anticipated purchase of the 4 to 6-ton roller and 1-ton
dump truck ($32,000).
Reflected is the lowering of ilevel of service in~the area of the
A.C. Walkway Sweeping Program, for a savings of $5,300, a~d the
shifting of the maintenance sch~dhl~ for street striping, whereby
two-thirds of the system would be re-marked annually rather than
100 percent.
The~ Manager~-then~:sked if there were any comments regarding
this
Councilman Brigham inquired if all of the CETA p0s!itions were
f
absolutely mandatory,~!_i~"~h'~iTi-~b~'d~d
~ ~ger repl~d th~h~~l*~'~C~0~i~io~{ch ~oufd
be funded through other funds -- one is the Personnel Clerk and
Administrative Assistant (possibly could be funded through H.C.D.A.).
The Draftsman in Building and Planning would be eliminated; there i-
a borderline area with the Engineering Technician in Public Works;
and the Parks Maintenance person in the Parks Department woufd~
reco~en~ed fo on inue f ndin . ~owe er, at this time, the
......... program_rs-~un~e~t~o~g~t~e-ne~rsc~year~_
Council~Kraus indicat~a ~oncern he has is in the area of
Parks.~articularl~T~i~ rega~~muC~~~C~M iht~nds
The City Manager indicated he would pull'data'together concerning
this problem. Als0, he indicated it is time to begin looking at
trade-offs concerning maintenance of park lands and median areas.
In closing, the City Manager pointed out that the estimated__~
General Fund net balance will be $381,000~
IV. ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Councilmap Kraus and seconded by Councilman
Brigham the meeting be adjourned. The motion was'carEied';
the meeting was adjourned at'9:05 P.M.
spectf mitted'
City ile ey
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