LCF council agrees to fund new, continuing projects with modest midyear budget boost
Midway into Fiscal Year 2017-18, La Cañada city officials have discovered an increase in revenue and decrease in expenditures will allow for a modest adjustment upward and the funding of a series of new and ongoing citywide projects.
During a midyear budget review meeting Monday, Director of Finance Rebekka Hosken provided an overview of the city’s fiscal picture from the time the City Council passed the budget in late June through the end of calendar year 2017. She said the city has seen a net increase of $72,925 in incoming revenue and an $11,425 decrease in spending.
“The end result is a net increase of $84,350 available to City Council to be used to fund new requests, returned to general reserves or used in other ways as you so determine,” Hosken said.
City Manager Mark Alexander said while the city has seen a lag in sales tax revenue since the 2016 closure of Sport Chalet left a large vacancy in La Cañada’s Town Center, property tax revenues continue to increase, from $2.06 million in the last midyear report to $2.18 million midway through this fiscal year.
“With Target anticipated to open later this year, we should see a significant increase in the sales tax next fiscal year,” Alexander told the council. “But that seems to be made up for in the property tax, which is ahead of what we anticipated.”
Discussing how best to apply the $84,350 windfall, council members identified new projects, including drain repairs to remove a standing water problem on Stardust Road ($35,000), additional part-time help at City Hall ($18,050 for two positions) and a third round of Ring.com video doorbell rebates for residents ($12,500).
Alexander explained the need for part-time assistance in the city’s reception area to cover employees on maternity leave, as well as the addition of a part-time emergency service coordinator position to provide administrative help to the Public Safety Commission and aid in disaster preparedness planning and other safety-related issues.
A third round of Ring video doorbell rebates, which would allow another 250 homeowners to purchase units, will be made available at the request of the Public Safety Commission, Alexander continued. But unlike previous rebates, the new funds will be made available first to those homeowners who are enrolled in a neighborhood watch program through the sheriff’s department.
“That way there’s an incentive both to join a neighborhood watch and a benefit back to the community — they get the Ring (video doorbell), we get the benefit of their neighborhood watch,” he said.
Council members also earmarked $18,800 in new funds for previously approved items that had not been tied to a particular funding source at the time of approval, including $5,000 for voter notification postcards outlining the recent change of election dates and $5,000 for the completion of an online permitting system.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
