CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
Brian Dossey, City Manager
In January, the Town hosted a community meeting on the Mission Road, Roadway Improvement project at Molloy’s Tavern. Over 20 residents and business owners attended the event. After the presentation, the discussion surrounded stormwater runoff, roadway width and traffic, sidewalk width and location, and parking. The presentation was well received, however, there were concerns over how the project would affect parking, potential impacts to cemetery traffic and impacts to large delivery/construction vehicles, and business disruption during construction. Staff and the design team are currently reviewing the comments and feedback and seeing how they can be incorporated into the project. For more information on the Mission Road project please contact us at Town Hall, or watch for future City Council and Community meetings regarding the project.
On February 6, at 6:00 pm, the Council will host a special meeting to review progress on the Town’s 2017 -2019 Strategic Plan. City Council reviews the Strategic Plan every year with staff ensuring goals and priority programs are met. Areas of study and review include; Significant Mandates (Ensure Compliance with the Law) , Town Operations, Economic Development, Financial Planning and Quality of Life. Staff will be happy to report that a majority of the Goals and Priority Programs have been met or are in progress. In late 2019 or early 2020 the City Council will host another Strategic Plan workshop that will set Goals and Priority Programs for 2020 – 2022.
On February 11, at 6:00 pm, the Council will be conducting a study session on the newly proposed Five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The Five Year CIP is a planning document that covers the construction and maintenance of major projects and facilities, as well as major studies. It combines capital projects in progress in 2018-19 and new projects planned for the next five years. The Plan takes into consideration the Town’s five year goals, current economic conditions, available financial resources, and the City Council’s priorities. It comprehensively assesses the needs of the Town’s public infrastructure and sets forth a financial strategy for the Town to construct new facilities, improve existing facilities and prepare designs for future projects. We hope to see you at the February 11 Council meeting on the Five-year Capital Improvement Plan.
Lastly, please join us at 6:00pm on February 27th for the Mayor’s “State of our City” address at Town Hall. This event will include a presentation from the Mayor on Town projects, programs, finances and economic development. The presentation will be followed by cake and coffee prior to the start of our regularly scheduled meeting at 7:00 pm. Once again, we hope to see you there.
BUDGET TIME
Pak Lin, Administrative Services Director
February marks the start of the annual budgeting process. It is a laborious process and it is a product of effective departmental collaboration. The budget translates the Town’s operational and capital plans and priorities for the year in financial terms.
The process begins with reviewing the revenue and expenditure trends for the first half of the year. The questions asked in this analysis include: (1) are revenues on track to meet budget by June 30, (2) are there any known and predictable economic concerns for the second half of the year that will impact the revenue numbers, (3) will expenditures come in at or below the budget, (4) where spending through December is significantly more or less than 50 percent, is this a typical spending trend from year to year or did something unusual happen this year, and lastly (5) are budget amendments needed. These questions provide the information needed to project how the year will end.
Once the mid-year financial analysis is complete, the development of year-end estimate and base budget begins. Finance Department estimates the personnel cost, as it represents 60 percent of the operating budget. Finance also projects the Town’s tax revenues and other non-departmental revenues. The departmental revenues and expenditures for the current year and the budget year are completed by the respective departments. Finance consolidates the pieces and conducts a full analysis to assess whether recurring revenue streams are sufficient to pay for ongoing expenditures and funding strategies to balance the budget. While this analysis is being done, the departments discuss with the City Manager on potential service enhancement and additional programs which will require additional resources – meaning more money.
To ensure, the budget is in alignment with City Council’s priorities, the City Manager’s Office presents the preliminary financial projection and potential additional budgetary resources in April to get initial feedback from City Council. Staff adjusts the budget based on Council feedback and brings a working draft budget to the City Council in May for further direction and feedback. Finally, in June, Staff brings the final proposed budget for the City Council to consider, modify, and adopt.
Once adopted, Staff monitors the budget and spending patterns throughout the year and the budget process again in February for the new year. For a copy of the FY 2018-19 Budget and budget amendments thus far, please visit www.colma.ca.gov/budget