Measure P Committee Meeting

Measure P Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes May 17, 2012 The Measure P Oversight Committee Meeting was called to order by Fire Chief Guintini at the hour of 5:30 p.m. at Los Banos Fire Station No. 1, 333 7th Street, Los Banos, CA. Committee Members and staff present: Hoang (Ichabod) Nguyen; Tom Neeb; Arlene Cardoza; Diana Ingram; Rhonda Rusk; Chet Guintini, Fire Chief; Gary Brizzee, Police Chief; Tim Marrison, Asst. Fire Chief; Sonya Williams, Accounting & Budget Supervisor; Kim Tomas, Staff Accountant; Martha Brazil, Staff Accountant; Rosemarie Souto, Staff Accountant; and Mary Lou Gilardi, Administrative Assistant. Committee Members Absent: Gerry Giesel and Mark Bodley Agenda Item I Chief Guintini asked committee members if there were any questions regarding the Quarterly Reports that were sent out for review. Committee Member Cardoza inquired about the 3rd Quarter 2010/11 report regarding professional services and special services. Chief Guintini explained that attorney’s fees come out of professional services and the maintenance of the laptops and MDTs in the vehicles comes out of special services. Committee Member Nguyen inquired about Prop 172 for Police used to show up in these reports, and after 10/11 they no longer show up. Kim Tomas, Staff Accountant, explained that it was at Measure P’s request not to show this transaction because it was coming in and going right back out. Committee Member Ingram commended staff on the conservative spending that has been taking place within the Measure P funding. It was moved by Diana Ingram, seconded by Arlene Cardoza to approve the 10/11 Third and Fourth Quarter Measure P Reports; 11/12 First and Second Quarter Measure P Reports along with the Third Quarter Preliminary Measure P Report as submitted by staff. Motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item II Kim Tomas gave an update on the City Funding and Sales Tax related to Measure P. The City is projecting a slight (1%) increase this year in sales tax. The loss of Lowe’s hasn’t really been seen yet. That will probably be seen in the next year or two. However, new businesses will be opening in town: Les Schwab Tires next to Espanas; AM/PM – McDonald’s @ Badger Flat & 152; and Dollar General looking to go at Mercey Springs and Overland. Agenda Item III Chief Guintini explained that the economy still hasn’t turned around. Property taxes are still dropping. Revenue streams are flat….at best, with sales tax slightly projected to increase by 1%. With the present state of the economy, etc., we are looking at moving 2 Fire Captains in the Measure A Funding to help get us through this economic downfall. In 2014, Measure A goes away. Chief Guintini showed a power point presentation to the Committee. Guintini stated that the City has budgeted $100,000 between the Fire Dept. and Police Dept. to cover the cost of going back to the voters to extend Measure A. Chief Guintini inquired as to the committee’s feeling for extending it. The consensus of the committee was to go back to the voters to extend Measure A for a period of 7 years. Both Chiefs indicated as far as facilities, they are doing okay. Chief Guintini indicated that the Fire Dept would like to hire 1 more personnel to maintain 5-0 staffing to help out with OT expenses. Chief Brizzee doesn’t see any increase in personnel….he would like to be able to maintain staffing. Chief Brizzee discussed the current jail issues and how the new courthouse project may affect current operations. Calls for Service continue to go up for both Police and Fire Departments. Committee Member Ingram asked about the false alarm fines. Chief Brizzee is hoping by July 2012, things might be changing. Chief Marrison spoke briefly about the Building Facilities, and stated that we’re always looking for opportunities to build the needed facilities. Both Chief Guintini and Sonya Williams, Accounting & Budget Supervisor, explained in detail about the General Fund balances, the unfilled positions, and the deficits. Sonya explained how benefits have increased in cost, and with the elimination of the RDA, those positions had to be moved back into the General Fund. Budget workshops are being held in May, and the Measure P Committee Members are encouraged to attend. Committee Member Neeb inquired about the $4.6 million ending balance. Chief Guintini explained that the City keeps 30% of our budget on reserve. Neeb did state that the slide should have indicated that those funds are Reserves. While reviewing the impacts to the City, Chief Marrison did explain that the City employees have given a large percentage of contributions back to the City to cover some of their own expenses such as PERS and medical benefits. Chief Guintini advised that we are losing one employee to retirement. We would like to move the remaining two captains in to Measure A, and we will be hiring a firefighter to backfill the personnel. 2 Ich stated that Measure A has already absorbed 6 police officers. If we pick up 2 firefighters, we will run out of money in 2014. At that point, we will have to move people back to the general fund. Sonya explained that we are buying time in order to fix the general fund. It was moved by Diana Ingram, and seconded by Tom Neeb to move two Captains in to Measure A and extend the existing 6 police officers in Measure A. Motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item IV Chief Guintini advised that there are two City Council Budget Workshops set in May: May 22 and 29th both at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Sonya Williams also advised that the proposed budget for the upcoming year is on-line for review. Chief Marrison advised that the sunset for Measure A is November 2014. We’re going to start the campaign in 2013 just in case it fails, we will have time to try again. Chief Guintini explained that the public will understand that we’ve done our due diligence in keeping operations running. Agenda Item V Committee Member Reports: Diana Ingram said that she is happy to be back on the Measure P Committee. No other committee members had reports. Agenda Item VI Chief Guintini reported that the Fire Department is moving along. We are still able to provide services that we provided in 2004. Fire Department has been fortunate. With the help of businesses such as Wal-Mart, we have continued to receive Fire Safety Grants which have helped us to keep moving forward. Tom Neeb inquired as to our call times. Chief Guintini indicated that we are still doing pretty well. Chet also advised that in regard to mutual aid, we have a mutual aid agreement with Merced County, so we do respond to calls in their area when needed. Police Department also responds to calls in the County as well when requested. Updates to our radio system have allowed officers to communicate outside of the City Limits. Chief Marrison gave an update on the radio upgrades and how much better communications are even outside of the City Limits. We now have 3 incident tactical channels and command channels. 3 Chief Brizzee indicated that on the Police Department’s side of things, it has been a little tougher. Staffing levels are down, and it is a very difficult economy for cops. We have to compete with Santa Clara which is very attractive in salaries. Chief Brizzee doesn’t want to trade quantity for quality when hiring police officers. He did indicate that we are dealing with a different kind of client in the City. Organized crime is very big in our little town. Brizzee spoke briefly about AB109 Funding. He also stated that our call volume hasn’t increased terribly, but core services are how we prioritize our calls. Diana Ingram asked if we were encouraging Neighborhood Watch. Brizzee stated that it is hard to facilitate if you can’t get the individual neighborhoods together. Finance had nothing to report. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Chet Guintini Fire Chief Measure P Min120517.doc 4