A PCA Editorial: The City has taken over operation of the Piedmont Pool at taxpayer expense.

A Piedmont asset that was built and operated for half a century at no cost to taxpayers has begun to drain funds from the City budget at a rapid rate. City operation of  the pool will exceed the costs borne historically  by a group of volunteers. Numerous assumptions have been made regarding pool usage without adequate operating data.  The only certainty is that swimmers will now be subsidized by Piedmont taxpayers, rather than swim club members. > Click to read more…

Recently released pool use proposals and budget numbers hold a number of surprises for Piedmont taxpayers and swimmers:  Piedmont taxpayers will begin providing a 50% subsidy of pool operating costs starting July 1st.

• Piedmont taxpayers will pay pool costs of $380,000 while the City hopes swimmers will generate $377,000 in fees, to cover a total estimated pool budget of $757,000.
  
• An additional $108,000 in transition costs will be paid in FY 2010-11
• An additional $600,000 in proposed capital improvement funds  (CIP staff report)
• The currently proposed fee structure offers daily swimming privileges to residents and non-residents at the same low rate.
  

The annual estimated $380,000 taxpayer subsidy exceeds the City’s prior estimate of this amount:  $127,000 to $327,000 per its Aquatic Study in 2006. The City’s operating costs of $757,000 are higher than the most recent financial information from the Piedmont Swim Club:  $650,000 per year.  The CIP staff report includes an additional $600,000 in capital improvements for the pool. > Click to read more…

A Report Submitted by Michael Rancer, Chair of the 2011 Municipal Tax Review Committee

On Wednesday, May  4, the Municipal Tax Review Committee held a study session with city staff to review the City Administrator’s FY 2011-12 budget proposal to the Council.  The meeting was devoted primarily to a presentation by City Administrator Grote and Finance Director Bichsel, commingled with questions by members of the Tax Review Committee.

The presentation and discussion identified several critical budget issues that face the city in the coming year.  Although the proposed budget covers the fiscal year beginning this July 1, decisions made now will have a significant impact on city finances during the life of the next parcel tax, which will last at least four years beginning July 1, 2013.

The major issues discussed include the following: > Click to read more…

An Opinion on PUSD Administrators’ Salaries and Benefits from Martha Jones, Board of Education Trustee

I would like to offer a few comments on the topic of public employee compensation.

1.     Transparency concerning public employee salaries and benefits is very important.  Taxpayers need to know which services they are paying for and how much these services cost.  Efforts to make some of these figures more easily available to the public have taken various formats, including searchable databases for the salaries of state employees (http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/), local city, county and special district employees (http://www.sco.ca.gov/compensation_search.html) and public employees in the bay area (http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/bay-area), > Click to read more…

The Public Safety Committee will meet on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 5:30 p.m in the City Hall Council Chambers.   The recently extended term of the Committee authorizes their activities for another year.   The Committee has been active in promoting neighborhood organizing and City email notification to citizens desiring information on hazardous or emergency situations.  The Committee proposed by Council Member Margaret Fujioka continues to have a number of items to pursue in regard to public safety and emergency preparedness.   The May 19 meeting agenda will be posted on the City website closer to the date of the meeting.  Read Committee’s Charge.

“Rethinking Plastics,” an informative program sponsored by Piedmont CONNECT on Sunday, May 1, 2011, while acknowledging that plastic is ubiquitous (found in everything from clothing to car parts), also illustrated numerous ways we can reduce the wasteful and dangerous use of plastic in our daily lives. > Click to read more…

A PCA Editorial urging increased online access  and broadcast of important civic meetings

Piedmont is in the midst of making critical decisions on expenditures.  Meetings are being held, yet not televised on KCOM, nor videotaped, and in some cases no minutes will be available.   Meetings take place in venues other than the City Hall Council Chambers, while the Chambers are available.  Due to the cost of videoing from other locations, only meetings held in the City Hall Council Chambers can be readily videotaped and broadcast. > Click to read more…

Discussions of Piedmont’s 2011-2012 Proposed Budget are beginning.  The best time to ask questions and provide input will be at the Budget Workshop on Saturday, May 21st at 9 a.m. At the Workshop the proposed budget will be presented in detail by the City Administrator and department heads.  The public is welcome to attend and ask questions at the workshop.  City Council Members use the opportunity to make inquiries and request additional information of staff in an informal setting. The workshop will take place in the Police Department Emergency Operations Center and will not be videotaped nor on KCOM; attendance is necessary in order to participate in this important process in the development of the budget.

Two additional City Council hearings on the budget will follow the Workshop on June 6 and June 20.

The City Administrator noted that significant pressure on the City’s finances will come from inadequately funded reserves, together with significant new costs, including:

• demand by Oakland for $665,000 – almost double prior voluntary contributions for library services of $350,471 – despite its threatened closure of 15 of 19 libraries.

• pool costs of $380,000 due to the City takeover from a former private volunteer-run organization – despite prior estimates of $127,000 to $327,000.

• sewer replacement fund deficit of $2.8 million ($300,000 from the Crest Road collapse and $2.3 million from new EPA demands) to pay for phases IV, V and VI over the next 3 years.  (Phase I, II & III of the 7 phase project have been completed; final phase VII costs have not been shown in the budget.)

• artificial turf installation/replacement for existing and new City sports fields

For questions regarding the budget contact Mark Bichsel, Finance/HR Director, via email at mbichsel@ci.piedmont.ca.us or by phone at 420-3045.  See the 2011-2012 Proposed Budget

The Capital Improvement Projects Committee will be discussing staff proposals for 2011-12 capital improvement projects, the status of projects and a proposed work schedule on May 10. The meeting will be held in the City Conference Room at 120 Vista Avenue.  This meeting will not be video recorded nor televised. A staff report is now available at CIP-Agenda & Staff Report May 10, 2011.  > Click to read more…

A letter addressing whether rent and other provisions are similar in the two leases

Editors,

At the May 2 City Council meeting, the City Administrator said at least twice that the handling of the 801 Magnolia property was consistent with the handling of the pool decades ago.  As I understand it, his point is that, like the Magnolia lease, the original 1964 pool lease did not involve cash rent, because at the conclusion of the original lease the improvements (the pools and changing rooms) became the city’s property and thus served as “in-kind” rent.

However – the lessees of the 801 Magnolia property are not building an expensive new facility on vacant City-owned land at their own expense, as the Swim Club did – > Click to read more…