Proposed Two-Year City Budget Features Restorations, Not Cuts

After two years of reductions in city services, the City of Union City has proposed a budget that includes restorations to some, but not all, of the cuts made in the last few years.

An updated budget proposal for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years was presented to City Council at its special budget meeting held Tuesday. Council members will vote on the budget later this month, before the new fiscal year takes affect on July 1.

"We have had some painful years of reductions," City Manager Larry Cheeves said during the budget presentation. "Now we are able to do some restorations."

One reason for that is , the half-cent sales tax passed by Union City voters last November, which is expected to bring between $3.5 million to $4.5 million in additional revenue to city coffers each year.

Among the changes are several additional positions.

The City Manager's Office will make room for a new communications coordinator, someone who will assume the traditional duties of a public information officer while also working to market the city.

Administrative Services will add a revenue collections specialist to identify local companies that aren't paying their business license taxes and collect those taxes. City staff estimate the position will bring in $250,000 in additional revenues in fiscal year 2012 and $500,000 in fiscal year 2013.

In addition, Public Works will restore a parks and grounds maintenance position, while the Economic Development Department will replace contract services with a full-time environmental programs manager and an environmental inspector.

The Police Department, which accounts for about 40 percent of the city's budget each year, will get a new officer, an assistant to help with clerical duties in Investigations and a second property clerk. The positions of animal control cadet, prisoner transportation officer, community service aide and public service officer will be merged into six enhanced positions that cover all of those areas.

The department will also receive funding for 40 new patrol car radios, at a cost of $1,000 each.

The city will also expand its waste diversion and recycling program by $152,000 each year, using funds from Measure D, an Alameda County landfill surcharge that distributes revenues back to participating municipalities.

The money will pay costs of developing mandatory commercial recycling, multi-family recycling for those living in apartment complexes and composting outreach for businesses and residents.

Several departments will see increases in their operating budgets:

• City Council members will have $14,200 added back each year to use for training and travel if they so choose, and the Human Relations Commission will have an extra $4,000 added back for conferences and community events.
• The City Manager's Office will add back $35,700 each year for contract services.
• $50,000 will be restored each year to the budget for attorney fees, for a total of $450,000.
• The City Clerk's Office will receive an added $15,800 each year, part of which will enable the acting deputy city clerk to achieve additional certification. An additional $20,000 will also go toward records management consulting—helping the city decide which records to get rid of and how to store those that are kept.
• The Economic and Community Development Office will get $30,000 on top of regular operating expenses (in the 2012 fiscal year only) for consulting fees related to environmental reviews of the city's Housing Element.
• The commissions contained in Leisure Services will get an additional  $26,000 combined each year. In addition, several programs—mostly sports and fitness camps and facilities—will have staffing reinstated (pending public interest, since many of the programs are fee-based).

In addition the city will fully fund its general liability and worker's compensation funds, restoring one-time cuts made for the 2011 fiscal year. That will cost $17,900 in the 2012 fiscal year and $102,700 in 2013.

The net cost  of all restorations is $1.7 million in fiscal year 2012 and $1.5 million in fiscal year 2013. Overall, city expenses in fiscal year 2012 total about $112.9 million and in fiscal year 2013, $118 million.

The budget is balanced, with expected revenues slightly exceeding appropriations.

The budget assumes the city's redevelopment agency will remain intact, according to Cheeves. Governor Jerry Brown has proposed closing local redevelopment agencies, but California legislators have not finalized the state budget yet.

"We really don't know enough to assume otherwise," Cheeves said, though he added that contingency plans are being developed in case Brown's proposal is passed.

If it is, the amount of money the city will lose is comparable to the amount of money it is reinstating to the upcoming two-year budget, and some of those restorations may need to be delayed, Cheeves said.

For the fifth consecutive year. the city's labor agreement for the upcoming fiscal year does not include any cost of living adjustments for public employees. Performance-based salary increases, or step increases, will take effect, however.

The city's budget proposal also accounts for previous sources of revenue that will be discontinued. This includes:

• , which generated $800,000 in sales tax each year.
• Contract with Union Sanitary District, which paid $500,000 to the city each year, will end in fiscal year 2012.
• Federal grant to fund four police officers which will end after fiscal year 2012, resulting in an additional city cost of $300,000 in fiscal year 2013 and $600,000 each year thereafter.

Plus, healthcare costs continue to increase for the city despite a cap on benefits. The city will experience added health care premium costs of $100,000 in fiscal year 2012 and $50,000 in fiscal year 2013.

And while employees are contributing more toward their pensions, retirement costs are expected to rise as well, costing an additional $300,000 in fiscal year 2012 and $250,000 in fiscal year 2013.