Sales Tax Citizens' Oversight Committee

MINUTES OF DECEMBER 1, 2016 MEETING OF THE SALES TAX CITIZENS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE 1A. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Flahive called the Regular Meeting to order at Town Hall Council Chambers, 300 Tamalpais Drive, Corte Madera, CA on December 1, 2016 at 4:02 p.m. 1B. ROLL CALL/ SALUTE TO THE FLAG Committee members Present: Vice Chair Flahive and Committee members Gerbosi, Greenbaum, Howard and Morton Committee members Absent: None Staff Present: Director of Public Works/Town Engineer/Assistant Town Manager David Bracken Director of Administrative Services/Town Treasurer George T. Warman, Jr. Town Clerk/Assistant to the Town Manager Rebecca Vaughn SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Vice Chair Flahive led in the Pledge of Allegiance. 1C. SWEARING IN OF NEW COMMITTEE MEMBER, DEANNE MORTON Town Clerk Vaughn asked Ms. Morton to recite the Oath of Office and was formally sworn in to the Sales Tax Citizens’ Oversight Committee. Committee member Morton introduced herself to the group, stating that her official title is for Attorney Staff Writer for Lexis Nexis and works in the area of tax and accounting. She has a law degree and a Masters of Law in Taxation, and is looking forward to participating in this committee. 1.D. RE-ORGANIZATION OF THE SALES TAX CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE The Committee elected to re-organize as follows: MOTION: Moved by Flahive, seconded by Howard, and approved unanimously by the following vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Flahive, Gerbosi, Greenbaum, Howard, Morton; Noes: None) Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee Minutes 2 July 19, 2016 To approve the nomination of Karen Gerbosi to serve as Chair of the Committee for 2017. MOTION: Moved by Gerbosi, seconded by Howard, and approved unanimously by the following vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Flahive, Gerbosi, Greenbaum, Howard, Morton; Noes: None) To approve the nomination of Steven Flahive to serve as Vice Chair of the Committee for 2017. 2. OPEN TIME FOR PUBLIC REGARDING NON-AGENDA ITEMS - None 3. GENERAL BUSINESS A. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE OCTOBER 28, 2016 REPORT TITLED, “FY 2015-2016 SALES TAX OVERRIDE TRANSACTIONS AND ENDING BALANCE ON ACCRUAL BASIS” The Committee members reviewed the document provided, “FY 2015-2016 Sales Tax Override Transactions and Ending Balance on Accrual Basis” and asked questions of staff. Administrative Services Director Warman explained that the document is separated into three parts. The opening balance was $3,065, 871.77. During the year, we received $2,578,646.58 in revenue and spent $1,029,620.89 which resulted in an ending balance of $4,614,897.46. Of that amount, by the Council’s adoption of the budget, $2,500,00.00 of that is held in reserves, which avoids the necessity of having a Tax Revenue Anticipation Note issued each year. At the beginning of the document is a summary, followed by a detailed expenditure report. In terms of projects, most of the funds were spent on public safety improvements. The pumper has not yet been delivered. A lot of the money budgeted has been carried over to the current fiscal year since many projects span fiscal years. This coming year, a lot more should be accomplished since staffing has been increased in the Engineering office. Chair Gerbosi asked for clarification regarding the Committee’s mandate to determine if funds were used according to the proposal laid out in Measure B. She read the list of categories stated in the Measure B materials. Administrative Services Director Warman replied that the expenditures meet the requirements established in Measure B, and acknowledged that not all of the categories have expenditures as of yet. Chair Gerbosi called for clarifying questions from the Committee members. Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee Minutes 3 July 19, 2016 Committee member Greenbaum had a question regarding the tables on page 6, regarding Sales Tax Override Fund. Mr. Warman explained that the purpose of that page is to show that this closes out to the General Fund itself, it’s a total of debits and credits. Ms. Greenbaum then asked about the cost of administration that we are charged every quarter and whether or not it is a flat fee. Mr. Warman explained that the charges are based on a pro rata allocation of their administrative costs among all taxing entities in the State of California. Ms. Greenbaum, referring to attachment 3, asked about projects that are at, or close to zero, and whether that means they are completed. For example, the Pedestrian Crossing project, is that completed? Mr. Bracken explained that the project was to re-time the signals, replace signals with push-button LED’s, etc. Yes it has been completed, but next year, more will be replaced so there will be new funding appropriated. Town Clerk Vaughn was asked to re-distribute the Measure B election materials, Ordinance and Resolution. Ms. Greenbaum stated that we are half way through the 6 year process, and have only spent around $1,000,000.00. She asked if the remaining funds would be lost if not spent. Mr. Warman confirmed that money would be left over at the end of year 6, so the Oversight Committee would be in existence until the last of the money is spent. A question was asked about whether the measure would be renewed. Mr. Warman stated that would be a decision for the Council to make at the time that Measure B is expiring. Vice Chair Flahive stated that it is important that the Committee’s next annual report clearly document where the money was spent, and what categories, if any, have not been represented. That way, if there is interest in a new tax measure down the road, there is a clear record of how the previous funds were spent. Committee member Howard inquired about any expenditures planned for the Disaster Preparedness category. Specifically, he asked about the item meant to fund a contract employee to be shared with the City of Larkspur. That employee has been working for the past six months, so there should be an associated expenditure. Mr. Warman explained that the Central Marin Police Authority has not sent a bill and was told that Larkspur had not budgeted for this expense, so they have not issued a bill yet. We have budgeted $20,000 accordingly and have carried over the allocated funds in anticipation of receiving a bill at some point, so now the budget is at $40,000. Mr. Howard stated that two categories still have not been addressed in a major way: Disaster Preparedness and Senior Programs and asked if there are there plans to budget for programs under either of these categories. Mr. Warman explained that Mario Fiorentini, Director of Recreation and Leisure Services, was asked to develop some Senior programming for the next two year budget cycle. He has not presented anything yet, but it is being worked on. Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee Minutes 4 July 19, 2016 Chair Gerbosi commented that it was in the previous meeting’s minutes that any programs would need to be new to Recreation or an expansion of existing programs in order to qualify for funds under Measure B. Committee member Flahive stated that they, as residents, should consider going to Council Meetings and speaking during Open Time to ask the Council to allocate more funds, or encourage staff to submit projects for consideration. Chair Gerbosi stated that the Committee will present its report to Council early next year and can address those funding recommendations at that time. Committee member Greenbaum asked if the Age Friendly group should be petitioning Mario Fiorentini to get new programs. Mr. Bracken replied that Mr. Fiorentini would be their initial interface. Committee member Howard asked who would carry forward a request for funding for Disaster Preparedness programs. Chair Gerbosi stated that Council member Lappert, as a member of the Disaster Preparedness committee could make that recommendation. Discussion was closed and Chair Gerbosi moved to Item 3.B. B. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO PREPARE THE FISCAL YEAR 2015-2016 REPORT ON THE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES OF THE TRANSACTIONS AND USE TAX Chair Gerbosi asked the committee members if they wished to begin preparation of the annual report. Vice Chair Flahive asked if a template is available for the report and Mr. Warman responded that the two previous reports only stated the beginning and ending balances since there were no expenditures other than the Board of Equalization’s Administrative Fees. Mr. Warman stated that the group has raised some issues that may be good to include in the report, particularly with Disaster Preparedness and Recreation/Senior programs. Chair Gerbosi quoted from the previous meeting’s minutes that Committee member Greenbaum stated that she felt the committee had a duty to report on areas where money is not being spent because they (the citizens) voted for the measure thinking that money was going to be spent in a certain way, and so far that has not been the case. Vice Chair Flahive stated that he envisions a pie chart, with sections for each Measure B category and the percentage of total expenditures dedicated to each category. Committee member Greenbaum asked if there was a report that could be shared with the community describing how far the down has come since the recession, and what has been done in the three years since this measure was passed? Mr. Bracken stated that this is difficult to quantify, because projects cost much more to plan and complete than they used to, Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee Minutes 5 July 19, 2016 due to administrative (consultant) costs and regulatory fees. Vice Chair Flahive stated that this could be accomplished with a couple paragraphs outlining projects that have been completed. Mr. Warman explained that you are never done with upgrades to the infrastructure, there will always be maintenance and repairs, but during the downturn, that stopped completely. So the Town is still playing catch-up with needed repairs and upgrades. Committee member Howard mentioned that he also felt it was an underlying assumption of this tax measure that funds were to be spent on capital projects, not people. So he felt that it was misplaced to have the Disaster Preparedness Coordinator included and that there shouldn’t be on-going personnel expenses covered under Sales Tax Override funds going forward. Mr. Warman stated that there aren’t any staff member employees being paid out of this fund. Chair Gerbosi clarified that it was mentioned in the previous meeting’s minutes by Mr. Bracken, that consultants are part of a project, so if a project is being paid for out of the override, then the cost of a consultant would be included in that project. Further, he clarified that staff time spent on a particular project is not paid for out of sales tax override funds, although he could make a point that potentially a portion of staff time could be paid from those funds. Mr. Warman stated that the Town will soon implement a new project management module in the accounting software that would be able to accurately account for staff time spent on each individual project, and could then be charged to the specific projects”. Mr. Warman responded that there was no imminent implementation date for that project management accounting module. It was determined that the Chair and Vice Chair would collaborate to draft an outline of the report that would be sent to Mr. Warman for review and clarification before submitting it to the committee for approval. Discussion was closed and Chair Gerbosi moved to Item 3.C. C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 19, 2016 MEETING Committee member Gerbosi requested to have the word “asked” added to page 3, line 21 of the draft minutes, so that the sentence reads, “Vice Chair Flahive asked about the Central Marin Bikeway”. MOTION: Moved by Greenbaum, seconded by Flahive, and approved by the following vote: 3-0-2 (Ayes: Flahive, Gerbosi, Greenbaum; Noes: None; Abstain: Howard, Morton Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee Minutes 6 July 19, 2016 (neither were present for 7/19/16 meeting)) To Approve the Minutes of the July 19, 2016 meeting as amended. 4. DISCUSSION OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT The next meeting will be scheduled for early January in order for the Committee to consider approval of an annual report to be forward to the Town Council. The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. to the next Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee meeting projected to be scheduled in early January, 2017, date to be determined.