Earlier sheriff start could save budget cash

Determining when the Sheriff’s Department will take over Yorba Linda’s police services from Brea is the next step in what should involve sensible negotiations among the parties in order to realize savings from expenses listed in this city’s 2012-13 fiscal year budget.

If officials from the three public entities can put aside differences and agree to the sheriff assuming responsibilities before an official start date of May 3, 2013, Yorba Linda might not need to dip too deeply into reserve funds to balance the budget approved June 19.

The county contract adopted on a 3-2 City Council vote last week makes provision for an amendment that would allow earlier implementation, which Yorba Linda’s leaders would be wise to pursue, if Brea officials would agree to advance their termination date.

Yorba Linda’s budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 lists proposed expenditures for police services as $11,455,493, and, according to City Manager Steve Rudometkin’s July 17 report, the Sheriff will cost $9,329,263 for the first year of a five-year contract.

Some of these savings might be realized this fiscal year if the sheriff contract had an earlier start date. (Savings also might have accrued if council members had explored a less costly Brea tender, but they voted to “receive and file” the late-appearing appeal.)

There’s only one caveat to an earlier start date for the sheriff: the newly adopted contract doesn’t guarantee the same savings for a period that might begin before May 3 as is to be realized after May 3, since the “full costs may be greater” for any earlier time periods.

Why might Brea agree to an earlier termination? If the Brea force is depleted by officers transferring to other agencies, including the Sheriff’s Department, Brea might not have a roster large enough to handle calls in both cities as the official cut-off date draws closer.

At any rate, the issue is sure to roil this year’s campaign for three council seats, including the position to be vacated by 12-year incumbent Jim Winder, a retired Brea police captain who can’t run again, and those now held by Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing.

Rikel, a strong supporter of Councilman John Anderson and Anderson’s support for the switch to the sheriff, is seeking a second term, and Schwing, another Anderson ally and sheriff enthusiast, is running for a fifth term.

Schwing was elected to three terms before the 1996 three-term limit law took effect, and because he took office for his third term a few days before the law’s operational date, he is eligible to serve two more four-year terms.

But whoever is elected from the Nov. 6 ballot--filing for the three positions runs through Aug. 10 at City Hall--won’t be able to overturn council’s signed contract with the county, even if the current Anderson recall effort qualifies and carries on that or a later ballot.

Future councils are bound by prior councils’ legal contracts, and contracts are not subject to referendum elections. Since the county contract has been signed, the focus should shift to obtaining police cost reductions at the earliest possible date.

Controversy often results in change

Yorba Linda’s municipal controversies invariably herald two future events--an expensive, hard-fought election for City Council seats and a re-examination of practices dealing with transparency and open government.

The current debate regarding the council’s 3-2 decision to replace 42 years of agreements with Brea and contract with the county Sheriff’s Department for police services will lead to a lively, and likely negative, campaign for three council positions on the Nov. 6 ballot.

And the surrounding storm should lead to changes in practices regarding the wording of items on council agendas and choosing times for public input and council votes on key community issues.

This city’s first major controversy dealt with development and housing density issues that arose soon after the first council was seated in 1967. Lower-density advocates defeated three incumbents in a 1970 election and added two more like-minded members in 1972.

Then, a unanimous council adopted a four-page code of ethics for city officers and employees in late 1972, which, sadly, laid largely unnoticed in City Hall files until discovered during research for a new law eventually approved by voters in 2010.

More recently, a 2005 Town Center redevelopment plan drew widespread opposition that led to two new council members elected in 2006 and two more plan opponents in 2008 in a series of events that included successful initiative and referendum petition drives.

The Town Center controversy also led to some council policy changes allowing for a more transparent and open governing style, including the elimination of unpublicized ad hoc council committee meetings with no agendas and no official minutes.

(Despite the existence of a Town Center Standing Committee, the 2005 council created a Town Center Ad Hoc Committee. A distinction: standing committees require advertised meetings, agendas and minutes, while ad hoc committees then could meet in secret.)

This time around, the November ballot could be moot as far as the police service contract is concerned, since council members approved a negotiated document this week, and a July 9 deadline was set for the most favorable terms for officer transfers.

But current council members or those at the dais after the November ballot should make changes to allow greater public knowledge and participation in council decision-making.

The posted agenda for the 2011 meeting featuring a 3-2 vote to trigger termination of the Brea contract should have been more precisely worded to indicate such a vote could take place, rather than merely listing a vote as one “option” in a five-page back-up staff report.

And the April 25 vote to shift to the sheriff shouldn’t have taken place after 3 a.m. with public input starting at midnight. No rush was needed for a contract expiring May 2013.

A wise and open process was used by the 1986 council on the then-controversial issue involving the use of "safe and sane" fireworks, when they placed an advisory measure on the ballot and quickly abided by voter wishes and instituted a ban.

Updates: high school, Black Gold, recall

This week I’ll update topics from past columns:

--The second of four progress reports on Friends Christian High School financing was delivered to the City Council, with the city still hopeful that school officials will come up with past-due lease payments for the 32 acres planned for the 1,200-student campus.

A $210,000 payment was due July 1, and when added to cash due Jan. 1 and April 1, brings the past-due amounts to more than $630,000, not including the $50,000 “good faith” payment made in April and $50,000 previously deposited with the city.

“We have entered into negotiations with two lenders for our construction and long-term...financing and are also reviewing input from a number of other banks,” noted school officials in a one-page report. More reports are due July 17 and Aug. 21.

The officials expect to have “terms, conditions and requirements for our project financing within the next 45 to 60 days,” from two lenders, a traditional bank and bond underwriter.

Notably, officials “will explore opportunities to accelerate those parts of the…project that will provide the public, recreational amenities that have been long-promised ….”

--Revenue at the city’s Black Gold Golf Club is expected to increase $176,395 to $5,817,527 for the 2012-13 fiscal year that began July 1, but the hike still won’t meet projected expenditures of $7,035,682 (which include an $850,000 depreciation entry).

As Finance Director Dave Christian noted in a budget report: the city subsidizes the overall cost of owning and maintaining Black Gold due to long-term bond financing and depreciation of facility assets. Bond debt is $16.1 million to be paid off by 2033.

--So far, a move to recall second-term Councilman John Anderson has outdistanced the city’s three most recent recall attempts, delineated in my May 24 column, in that actual people are signing real petitions, a feat not accomplished in past efforts.

I’ve asked but haven’t been told how many residents have signed to date, but one organizer, Pat Nelson, told me the recall group is “on track.” The recallers need 8,700 signatures by mid-September, and they’re verifying registrations as they collect names.

Filing for three council seats now held by Nancy Rikel, Mark Schwing and termed-out Jim Winder begins July 16 and ends Aug. 10--Aug. 15 if Rikel or Schwing don’t run--at City Hall.

If sufficient signatures are verified and the city files a consolidation resolution by Aug. 10, an Anderson recall vote, with possible replacement candidates, could appear on the Nov. 6 ballot, according to a Registrar of Voters timeline.

Watch for record spending to win or retain council seats, and expenditures from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, the union representing 2,200 sworn personnel, and maybe the Brea Police Association, with 100 sworn members.

The deputy union has backed the police bid process, opposed the recall and helped defeat the 2004 County Club and Fairlynn annexation attempt with financial aid. The Brea union endorsed past council candidates, but the candidates paid costs to advertise the support.

Tax receipts show city's economic health

Two reliable measures of Yorba Linda’s economic health are the annual property and sales tax collection numbers, which together make up 67 percent of city revenues that are expected to total $27.5 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year that began July 1.

Property taxes--this city’s largest source of income at 47 percent of total revenues--will bring in $13.1 million, and sales taxes--next largest at 20 percent--will add $5.6 million more, according to estimates by City Treasurer and Finance Director Dave Christian.

Christian’s 100-plus pages of documents prepared for City Council budget deliberations shed considerable light on the state of this city’s excruciatingly slow economic recovery.

Property tax income reflects growth in new residential housing offset by declining values and fewer reassessments, Christian reported last year. Now, “current receipts have exceeded budget and forecasts for next year have come in higher than anticipated.”

Last year’s budget listed $12,825,000 in expected property tax income, while this year’s document estimates 2011-12 income as $31,000 higher, and Christian forecasts a further increase of $194,000 by June 30, 2013.

Sales tax revenue shows a similarly modest increase. At the beginning of 2011-12, sales taxes were estimated to total $5.4 million for the year, but the actual figure is expected to be $46,000 higher, with $5.6 million projected for 2012-13.

Other measures of economic vitality include cash collected from transient occupancy taxes, property transfer taxes, business license fees and disposal, cable television and utility franchise fees, all “fairly stable over the last few years,” Christian stated.

These revenues--the city’s third largest income sources at 11 percent--are estimated to bring in $3 million this fiscal year, down about $82,000 from projections for 2011-12.

Slight declines are anticipated in engineering income (down $122,000), administrative charges ($560,000), interest income ($60,000) and other special categories ($133,000).  But building permit and plan check fees, two key indicators, will be $85,000 higher.

Interestingly, income from the Friends Christian High School lease for a 32-acre city property is included as “recreation revenue…because of the need to eventually cover the cost of the joint-use field maintenance,” noted Christian.

Lease payments haven’t been made in 2012, so the city sees a drop in recreation income of about $376,000, which represents a half-year of lost payments partially offset by park and recreation use fees, which total six percent of city income.

The budget will be balanced by taking $1.5 million from the reserve fund, which contains dollars saved from better economic times, with part of the cash used to end furlough days for about 100 city employees as of Oct. 1 and allow hiring for six vacant positions.

The city’s “available for use” reserve fund should top $30 million by June 30, 2013, plus more than $10 million in “available” special funds designated for specific purposes, such as equipment replacement, building and infrastructure repairs and general liability.