STRSA AGREEMENT
Fillmore was the big winner this week and that could not be stated more accurately. Many have waited years for this decision. The findings by the Court of Appeal of California states Fillmore will receive the 15% tax share that was originally agreed upon in the 2003 Sales Tax Revenue Sharing Agreement (STRSA) with MTS and Inspired Development and will continue to receive it until 2023 when the agreement expires, if the businesses are still located in Fillmore. This is expected to earn the town an additional $1 million per year or more in tax rebates.
Fillmore entered into the STRSA to encourage retailers to establish sales offices in town and agreed to share with them the sales tax rebate received from the State. It was unanimously voted in at that time by the City Council which included Mayor Evaristo Barajas, Mayor Pro-tem Ernie Villegas, Cecilia Cuevas, Ken Smedley and Patti Walker.

California applies sales tax where the sale occurs, rather than where a product is delivered or stored. The State then rebates 1% of all sales taxes collected within municipalities and gives those cities a free hand in how those revenues are used. That allows cities to rebate a portion to retailers and other companies as a way to lure them to open facilities in their towns.

The City of Industry, the City of Livermore, the City of Lathrop and the County of San Joaquin sued the City of Fillmore, Inspired Development, MTS Consulting and Owens & Minor alleging the establishment of sham sales / purchasing offices in Fillmore with the intention of diverting sales tax revenues from their cities and county where the products were warehoused.

While the courts heard the cases the Board of Equalization froze all tax funds related to the sales and the STRSA until the courts and parties involved had come to a settlement. There is still a case pending with San Diego.

There were past concerns over the cost of litigation and if the City could be made whole again once the court had made its decision. This final court decision will definitely put city finances back on track.

Mayor Rick Neal responded to the news saying, "This is a great day for Fillmore and a big step forward." Council Member Steve Conaway, who was Mayor when litigation began and was confident the City would prevail believing the STRSA was a substantial benefit to the community. After hearing the good news, Conaway said he wanted to thank those who helped get this big win for the town and specifically wanted to thank the previous City Attorney Ted Schneider who was always confident these agreements were absolutely valid. Mayor Pro Tem Manuel Minjares added, "We do everything that we possibly can to get our budget in order....this is great news."

BUDGET APPROVAL
Some other items on the Council's agenda were approving the 2013-2014 Budget, a grant for the Senior Center, the contract between Fillmore and the YMCA regarding the pool and the public hearing on placing past due water and sewer charges on the Tax Rolls.

The Budget was approved but it is not written in stone and may be adjusted as needed. Conaway asked that the needed $7,000 to fund the Library the extra eight hours of operation be found somewhere and that $5,000 be place in the Budget to fund sound and video equipment for the Council Chambers. Council Member Douglas Tucker asked that the anticipated 3% increase in sewer and water rates be looked into and if it could be lowered to 2%. Council Member Diane McCall asked when the 3% increase would take affect and was told that it would be whenever the Council wanted it to start, meaning that it was not immediate. There were discussions of hiring new employees, two fulltime and two part-time. One full time Senior Maintenance; the person who filled the position is on permanent disability and will not be returning work. A fulltime Civil Engineer position is also in discussion. The two part-time jobs to be filled are a maintenance worker for graffiti abatement, and someone to work the counter at City Hall. There are discussions of hiring a Traffic Officer and Fire Engineer, but more details of cost and service have to be worked out. The Council approved the Budget but added that they are not implementing everything for three months to review some items and research what funds are available.

SENIOR CENTER GRANT
The Senior Center, also known as the Multi-Purpose Center, will be receiving new kitchen equipment (hood and exhaust, convection oven, refrigerator and freezer) through a $22,855 grant taken out of the Recreation and Senior Nutrition Fund, but will be reimbursed back to those fund accounts within 30 days.

AQUATIC CENTER/YMCA
The contract with the YMCA to take over partial running of the Aquatic Center will not take place until next year. Ninety percent of the contract has been agreed upon but there are two big issues that still need addressing and time has run out to complete the contract for this summer’s session. An issue that would require added time once the contract was agreed upon was lifeguard certification. Fillmore's lifeguards are certified through the Red Cross but the YMCA certifies their own. For the YMCA to take on the management of the pool they would have to recertify those lifeguards to their own certification.

DELINQUENT WATER/SEWER
There was a hearing on whether to add the delinquent Water & Sewer Bills to the Tax Roll. The Council agreed that at this time they do not feel there has been sufficient public outreach and that improvements need to be made in the billing process so that those who are not delinquent are not billed by mistake. Tucker responded to the proposal stating, "I think it is very important we have a collection process because everyone else pays for those that don't, but I would hold off on this until 2014-2015; and later added that waiving the penalties for those late payers is rewarding bad behavior.

Minjares added, "I agree with Tucker, there are some improvements we could make on our collection process.....I don't want the public to think the time and effort to look into this has been wasted, we have gotten this far due to that effort." Conaway responded that he would like to see more accuracy in the billing system and more public notice. Mayor Neal said the City needs more due diligence to make sure the billings are correct and the proper persons are charged.

CASA PRESENTATION
A presentation was given by Miriam Mack, Executive Director of CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children. Mack explained what services CASA provides for children in Foster Care and how valuable the Advocates are for those children. There are 265 children in Foster Care in Ventura County, four in Fillmore. During any 12-24 month period 58% are moved from home to home at least two times and 42% are moved at least three times. The Advocates are a constant presence for the child and provide information to the court regarding the child's case. There is a need for more Advocates and those interested in helping can attend the next orientation on August 20, 2013. For more information call 805 389-3120 or email miriam@casaofventuracounty.org.

PUBLIC COMMENT
During Public Comments Susan Hopkians began with stating she wrote the Council a letter with her concerns of a fire hazard on Foothill Drive. Hopkians said the water tank on Foothill that was landscaped by the City 20 years ago is now overgrown and when the utility companies come and trim the branches of the surrounding trees they just leave the branches laying where they cut. She said there is a great deal of underbrush near the trees that are a fire hazard. Hopkians said she would like to see the City prune, trim and haul away the excess growth. As she spoke Fire Chief Rigo Landeros listened intently and just before the meeting ended he told the Council they would address the problem the next day.