Police Chief Monica McGrath

Last Tuesday, June 18, 2013 the Fillmore City Council held a Special Meeting Budget Workshop where the ups and downs of our City's finances were discussed in detail. Much of the news was positive. Austerity measures the City has taken over the past years has helped to put the City's finances back on track and going in the right direction.

There was a question of having enough in reserve to replace some capital improvements. Financial Advisor Frank Catania warned the Council that there are limited reserves and things that need replacing. While factoring in inflation and capital improvements, the amount in reserve is low. He informed the Council that a City should have at least 120 days in reserve. This amount is to cover the cost of a disaster which Fillmore has experienced more than once. The 120 day requirement is because it usually takes Federal Emergency Management Agency that amount of time to start funding. Another item that will need to be addressed may be to Risk Management/Insurance. Rates may be increasing and the City should be looking for a new insurance pool. There are three major Government/City insurance pools in California, but each requires one year advanced notice to change providers.

There is still the sales tax agreement funds that the Board of Equalization (BOE) is holding. This has to do with an agreement years back between the City of Fillmore and various businesses on where their point of sale was made with Fillmore receiving the tax credit. The towns where the products were warehoused sued for the tax credit and the funds have been held in limbo by the BOE for the past four years, until the matter is settled in court. The expectation is that it will be settled soon. It is expected the BOE will return about $2.5 million to Fillmore. But even without the sales tax money, the City will have about $1 million remaining in the General Fund. Catania stated, "The City has done everything it can to provide services and economic improvements. We are conservatively optimistic."

More good news is home sales are expected to increase in the coming year which will increase the City's property tax base along with an expectation of new home construction. For each new home built the City receives Development Impact Fees of $30,239. The fees provide public buildings, infrastructure, parks and repairing ageing utilities among other things. The City still receives $40,000 each year for upkeep of Two Rivers Park from an agreement with Griffin Homes, and later Hearthstone, when housing development fees for The Bridges were negotiated.

The City has had to tighten its belt and make some hard decisions. One of the past budget cuts made was to Code Enforcement which was practically put at a standstill. This year Stephen R. Stuart, Fillmore Building Official, expects Ventura County to award Fillmore a Community Development Block Grant of $85,000. $41,000 will go to Code Enforcement and $50,000 to lease a new fire engine. One of Fillmore Fire Department's engines is 25 years old and needs to be retired. Another engine is eight years old and its lease ends in 2016. Unlike most City vehicles, if a fire engine breaks down it puts life and property in danger. Fillmore Fire Department responds to over 13,000 calls a year on a budget of $879,000. When asked what his wish list would be Fire Chief Rigo Landeros responded that he would like three full time Engineers and a full time Captain and added, "It’s the men and women that volunteer their time that make our department great."

Another expected grant is a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant of $100,000. Of which $75,000 will be matched by Fillmore Unified School District (a total of $150,000) to pay for the School Resource Officer. When discussing the Sheriff/Police budget Police Chief Monica McGrath responded, "This includes quite an umbrella of costs. We lost two gang officers...even though we lost them, there hasn't been an increase in crime." In 2012, the Sheriff's Office, on behalf of the City applied for and was given approval of state grant funds to support a part-time Gang Intervention/Suppression Unit, but current funding wasn't enough. The current grant expires this December.

When asked by the Council what "three wishes" she would have in regards to the budget, McGrath responded, "What is not down is traffic accidents. We don't have a traffic division. I would like a traffic investigator and a gang enforcement officer." When asked about the building and its improvements which the City supplies and maintains, McGrath explained that all of the office equipment is supplied by the County of Ventura.

Council Member Steve Conaway asked about funding for the audio and video of the Council Meetings and if there were funds to improve the quality. Conaway said people call him and complain they can't hear the meetings. Catania informed the Board that cable companies charge franchise fees to their customers that is to go to Public Education in Government which is to cover the cost of such improvements. Someone just needs to ask the cable company for such funding.

There were what could only be called "holes" in the budget. This was due to a lack of continuity where the name of an item was changed with no supporting documents and other accounting/documenting inconsistencies. Council Member Conaway, who has an historical knowledge of the City's finance, was helpful in filling in some of the details where questions of where past monies came from or where they were spent. Another accounting difficulty had to do with the elimination of the Redevelopment Agency (RDA), where in the past specific portions of staff labor was allocated to the RDA, but today it must be charged directly to the staff performing the service.

When asked whether the number of low income housing required by the State of California will change due to the elimination of the Redevelopment Association City, Attorney Tiffany Israel stated that it is expected the State will do a different funding to offset the loss to the cities.

The Budget Workshop will continue on June 25, 2013 and discussion of the pool, new staff hires and other items not covered at this meeting will be covered.

During Public Comments former Council Member Patti Walker addressed the Council as President of Friends of the Fillmore Library (FOFL) and explained that they could no longer contribute the matching funds of $3,500 that they had donated last year.

This started a few years back when the Fillmore Library needed $14,000 to keep it open on Friday. The City of Fillmore asked the County of Ventura for matching funds of $7,000 but due to the City's financial problems, the City asked FOFL for $3,500, half of the $7,000. The FOFL has a total budget of $33,500 which the contribution would take 10% of their total.

Jackie Griffin with Ventura County Library System informed the Council that they will be contributing $8,000 this year to the Fillmore Library which Griffin said will be in addition to what is received in tax contributions.