Title
Recommendation to Provide Direction on Potential Revenue Measures to Submit to Voters for the November 8, 2022 Election. (City Manager 10021030) [Continued from May 3, 2022]
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff seeks direction from the City Council on whether to focus on one or more revenue measures to be placed on the November 2022 ballot, or place no measure at all.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (City) has maintained fiscal discipline and is currently able to meet its policy of a 25% reserve. While General Fund revenue for this fiscal year and Fiscal Year 2022-23 is expected to remain healthy, the City faces significant and ongoing challenges. As of 2020, Alameda had over $200 million in deferred maintenance in citywide infrastructure and another $597 million in infrastructure needs at Alameda Point. Like many other Bay Area communities, Alameda must also address sea level rise, climate change, traffic safety, disaster preparedness, and affordable housing.
These financial challenges are not new. The City has been considering them since at least 2009, with the Fiscal Sustainability Committee's Long Range Financial Forecast 2009-2019 and the last three biennial budget processes. The FY 2019-21 capital budget identified nearly $800 million in deferred maintenance in public infrastructure Citywide, including at Alameda Point.
Given the scale of these challenges, a consideration of revenue measures is warranted.
History of Revenue Measures
Since 2000, the City has placed six local revenue measures on the ballot. By way of comparison, over that same time period of more than twenty years, the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro have placed 21, 17, and 7 measures, respectively. The City's revenue measures were:
* In 2000, 78% of voters approved Measure O, an $11 million general obligation bond to fund the new main library and improvements to branch libraries;
* In 2008, 51% of voter...
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