Expenditures are covered by salary savings
CITY HALL — The $442.6 million spending plan approved by City Council on Tuesday for the coming fiscal year will include increased funding for core services neglected during five straight years of cutbacks.
The 2006-07 budget — the largest in city history — puts an emphasis on restoring and enhancing the city’s infrastructure through additional funding for street repairs, traffic signal upgrades and synchronization, and renovations to existing city facilities.
Money will also be spent on enhancing residents’ quality of life by more aggressively funding graffiti removal, community programs at local parks and the hiring of 14 new employees to better serve the public’s needs at City Hall.
“I appreciate the confidence expressed by Council that the budget addresses community priorities and gets us back on track with funding core services,”City Manager Lamont Ewell said Wednesday morning. “We hope the public will begin noticing enhanced improvements in street repairs, tree replacements, sidewalk repairs, graffiti removal and a more rigorous effort in addressing our homeless challenges as we begin the next fiscal year.”
The budget was approved without any major changes by the Council, something Ewell said was gratifying. However, the Council did approve a series of additional expenditures, including $5,000 for a flag pole at the Veterans Memorial in Palisades Park.
There were also more expensive items, including an additional $120,000 for the Community Forest Renewal program and $150,000 to help implement the first phase of the Sustainable City Plan, adopted in 1994 to develop environmentally friendly policies that emphasize conservation.
In all, the Council approved $180,000 of continuous funding and $231,000 in one-time funding.
The additions will be easily covered by money saved on salaries for 10 new staff members in City Hall, positions which have been put on hold because of the possible loss of $12 million from the elimination of the User Utility Tax, or UUT, on phone and wireless services. Current legal challenges involving the telecommunications industry and municipalities may reduce the amount the city receives under the UUT — a 10-percent tax on electricity, natural gas, cable and water/wastewater services.
To deal with the possible loss in funding, city staff recommended, and the Council approved, setting aside $8.2 million to fund a reserve. That money is coming from the transferring of excess funds in other accounts.
“I am gratified that Council adopted the budget as presented, with very few additions,” Ewell said. “We still are challenged by not knowing the eventual scope of the UUT loss, if any, but the workshop we’ll hold in late summer or early fall will give Council and staff a good opportunity to grapple with that and other policy issues that affect the bottom line.”
The Council spent more than three hours discussing the budget, during which time several members presented lists with priorities they would like to see funded. Some came from previous discussions with the City Manager and city staff, residents and other community stakeholders, while some requests came as the result of emotional testimony during the budget hearing.
Council members were warned by Ewell not to stray too far from the proposed budget, which could have dismantled the tightly prepared spending plan.
The Council’s requests were approved. However, $350,000 to speed up the traffic signal synchronization project was put on hold for six months while staff looks at alternatives for accelerating the project.
Mayor Bob Holbrook said he was pleased with the way the Council conducted itself.
“I would have liked to see us hold the line and not pass any extra spending outside of what was proposed by staff, but I thought the level at which we did was OK,” said Holbrook, who did not make any requests for additional spending. “I think the budget turned out great and will help Santa Monica recover from five years of ignoring infrastructure. We’re now going to be able to plant some new trees, fix alleys and pave streets.
“The budget hasn’t been focused on these things for quite some time.”
Councilman Ken Genser, who made several requests, including $120,000 for the expansion of the tree replacement program, said many of the additional expenditures are necessary.
For instance, Genser pushed for $50,000 in bridge funding for the Infant Family Support Center, which was funded by St. John’s, but has since fallen on hard times and needs money to remain in operation. The program provides early childhood education and teaches non-violent parenting techniques to help in the development of the city’s youth.
“They need this funding to get them through for a few months so they can decide on what next course of action to take and how they can secure more funding elsewhere,” Genser told the Council.
Councilman Bobby Shriver had to fight for $4,500 to help the Red Cross purchase community disaster supplies, and another $30,000 in grant money to the 18th Street Arts Center.
Kevin McKeown lobbied for $150,000 for the Sustainable City plan, which he said was identified as a top priority by residents, but did not have adequate funding in the budget. During the budget hearing, McKeown asked staff if funding the plan would be possible, and within an hour, staff came back with a funding formula that would satisfy the Council.
“I think the councilmembers’ requests were serious requests and are things they feel are important to this city and that’s what preparing the budget is all about — meeting the needs of the community,” said Steve Stark, City Hall’s director of Finance, whose staff helped prepare the budget. “It was a typical process, a good process and one I think that will put us in a good financial position heading into the next fiscal year.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 22, 2006. Read the original PDF.