Finance Highlights 2007 0925 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Member Starosciak commented on the positive report and clarified that the City will begin makirig Alameda County Fire contract payments quarterly and in arrears starting October 2007, as opposed to advance monthly payments. Baloca also highlighted an additional cash flow benefit to the City by mentioning that Alameda County Fire's monthly prepaid rent for City Hall office space will also be prepaid quarterly beginning October 2007. 4. Report on 2007 Cherry Festival Event and Related Expenditures Recreation and Human Services Director Knudtson reported that the Cherry Festival was a success and under budget. Knudtson further commented that the downtown location appeared to enable better access to the public with strollers and wheelchairs, as compared to the Marina location. Knudtson recommended that next year's event again take place in the downtown area and remain a single day event. Knudtson speculated that an estimated 8,500 to 10,000 people attended the event but could not confirm since there was no official count. Vice Mayor Grant suggested that next year's event includes conducting a head count along with surveys to determine where people were coming from. Knudtson named various places where attendee's traveled from to attend the festival and clarified that next year's Cherry Festival event is scheduled for May 31, 2008. Finance Committee recommended forwarding the report to City Council. 5. Discussion Regarding Proposed City Council Community Empowerment Fund City Manager Jermanis gave a history overview of the City Council Community Empowerment Fund also known as the City Council Community Fund. Jermanis explained that the former Mayor generated approximately $14,000/year through fund raising during her annual golf tournament. Going forward, Jermanis clarified that the word "Empowerment" should be removed from the title description of the fund. Community Relations Representative Ornelas explained how the fund started in year 2000 and that each Council Member was given $5,000 per year to be used towards individual choices. As budgets got tighter, new funding was no longer added to the annual budget planning process but unspent funds were carried over from previous years. Ornelas clarified that Districts 1, 4, 5 and 6 still had carryover funds remaining. City Manager Jermanis wants the Finance Committee to know who should be receiving these funds and how they are to be dispersed. In response to Vice Mayor Grants question on how new organizations can get on the approved list, Jermanis explained that the list can be expanded to include new organizations based on his review, which would later be brought to the City Council for approval. Jermanis also explained that after receiving a request he could also bring it to the Finance Committee for review and determination of whether the organization is qualified to be on the list. Councilmember Starosciak relayed a concern regarding private use of public funds and her question on how an organization becomes classified as being qualified for these funds. In response, Assistant Attorney Stuart explained that the State is fairly lenient as longs as it can be articulated how the funds contribute to the public good. Jermanis stated that unspent funds will no longer be carried over since new amounts will be added to the budget every year. The annual proposed funding amounts are $2,500 for Council Members and $5,000 for Mayor. The new City Council Community Fund will go into effect January 1, 2008 and be funded for half the annual amount since the 2007-08 Budget would be half over. Assistant City Manager Hollister and Community Relations Representative Ornelas will develop administrative guidelines for Finance Committee review and City Council approval. 3