Title
Recommendation to Direct Staff to Prepare a Ballot Measure for the November 2016 Election to Update and Modernize the Existing City of Alameda Utility Users Tax Ordinance and Reaffirm Alameda Municipal Power's General Fund Transfer to Support the Provision of Essential City Services. (City Manager 2110)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Direct Staff to Prepare a Ballot Measure for the November 2016 Election that Updates and Modernizes the Existing City of Alameda Utility Users Tax Ordinance and Reaffirm Alameda Municipal Power's General Fund Transfer to Support the Provision of Essential City Services
BACKGROUND
Over the past several years, staff has analyzed and presented to Council an outlook on the City's long-term fiscal health and suggested ways to ensure the budget is structurally balanced. Although the City's revenues fluctuate with the economy due to a variety of factors, the five year outlook continues to rely on City reserves to balance the budget. Specifically, over the past decade the revenue the City receives from the Utility User Tax has declined or remained flat while the City's expenses continue to increase due to rising costs of healthcare and services. In the short term, because of an improved economy and in particular the sale of homes, the City has seen a budget surplus based on one-time events. However, as previously reported, there are underlying issues related to the increase in the cost of living in the Bay Area, the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) smoothing effect, and the increase in the cost of healthcare that continue to create financial challenges for the City.
In addition to these issues, staff identified in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-2017 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget areas of concern including deferred maintenance of our aging buildings and infrastructure. This includes a backlog of approximately $10....
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