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tax, which was driven by department store, electronics and auto sales,” the report states. “Increased business and real estate activities within the city resulted in higher transient-occupancy tax and documentary-transfer tax revenues.” The trend is expected to continue in fiscal year 2014, which began on July 1. On Wednesday, the city released the financial results from the first quarter of 2014 (the Finance Committee is scheduled to discuss this report on Dec. 3). The numbers
are even more stark. Sales taxes are up by 48 percent when compared with the first quarter of 2013, having risen from $3.7 million to $5.4 million. Hotel taxes, meanwhile, jumped from $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2013 to $2 million in the first quarter of 2014, a 57 percent increase. The surging revenues helped offset a 31 percent dip in service fees, a trend related to the renovation of the city’s golf course (which resulted in a dip in golf fees) and a $1.2 million decrease in plan-check fees, which indicates less building activity. City officials also expect the
PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 ***************************************** THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp
(TENTATIVE) AGENDA – SPECIAL MEETING – COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 - 5:00 PM CLOSED SESSION 1. Potential Litigation 2. Labor STUDY SESSION 3. Joint Meeting with Parks and Recreation Commission SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 4. Selection of Candidates to be Interviewed for the Storm Drain
documentary-transfer revenues to continue their upward climb. Joe Saccio, deputy director of Administrative Services, told the committee on Nov. 19 that the high number of real-estate transactions the city has been seeing in recent months is forcing the city to revise its projections. “We are going to be raising it (projected documentary-tax revenues) in the midyear considerably, and it is going to exceed $6.8 million, we believe, based on what we’re seeing now,” Saccio said. He noted that the number of realestate transactions are up almost 10 percent from the prior year, and that property values involved in the transactions are exceeding the prior year’s. It also doesn’t hurt that the city has several new hotels preparing to open their doors, including at the downtown site of the recently shuttered Casa Olga and on the former Palo Alto Bowl site near the southern edge of the city. The committee welcomed the financial news, with Vice Mayor Nancy Shepherd lauding the fact that revenues are now higher than they were before 2008 and Councilman Greg Schmid congratulating staff on the revenue outlook. “We seem to be in the midst of a very nice period,” Schmid said. The committee’s discussion came at a time when state and county officials are also shaking off the doldrums of the recent economic meltdown. The nonpartisan
Oversight Committee for Three Terms Ending on October 31, 2018 CONSENT CALENDAR 5. Approval of Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. C13148737 with Advanced Design Consultants, Inc. in the Amount of $84,786 for a Total Not-to-Exceed Amount of $319,655 for Design of Fire/Life Safety and Sprinklers for the Lucie Stern Community Theater and Community Center as Part of the Lucie Stern Buildings Mechanical 6.
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/ Electrical Upgrades Project PE-14015 636 Waverley Street [13PLN-00262]: Approval of Continuation of Council Consideration of an Appeal of the Director of Planning and Community Environment’s decision to approve the Architectural Review of a new mixed-use development. The proposed four-story 10,278 sq. ft. building includes 4,800 sq. ft. of commercial uses on the first and second floors and two residential units on the third and fourth floors in the CD-C(P) zoning district; the project provides 20 parking spaces in a below grade garage. Environmental Assessment: Exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per Section 15303 (STAFF REQUEST THIS ITEM BE CONTINUED) Approval of Amendment Number 2 with Waste Management of California, Inc. that will reduce the City’s annual “Put or Pay” tonnage commitments through 2021 and modify other terms and conditions of the 30 year disposal agreement. Second Reading: Adoption of an Ordinance to Add Chapter 16.61 to the Municipal Code to Establish a Public Art Program for Private Developments (First Reading: November 12, 2013 PASSED: 8-0 Burt absent) Notification of Pending Participation in the Georgetown Energy Prize
10. Certification of the Election Results STUDY SESSION 11. Initiating a Community Conversation on the Future of the City, including the Comprehensive Plan, Planned Community Zoning, parking and traffic strategies, and related matters STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 7:00 P.M. to discuss: 1) First Quarter Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Results, 2) Proposed conceptual plan for modifications to Palo Alto’s Street Sweeping and Cleaning Programs, and 3) CalPERS Annual Valuation Reports for the City’s Miscellaneous and Safety Pension Plans as of June 30, 2012 The Rail Committee will meet on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 9:00 A.M.
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City of Palo Alto general fund revenue 1st quarter actuals (000’s) FY 2014
FY 2013
% Change
$43
$24
79%
Charges for services
$3,253
$4,725
-31%
Sales tax
$5,421
$3,652
48%
Utility user tax
$2,614
$2,556
2%
Transient occupancy tax
$1,977
$1,260
57%
Documentary transfer tax
$1,602
$1,261
27%
Permits and licences
$1,323
$1,988
-33%
Property tax
All other revenue sources Total revenue
$7,667
$7,083
8%
$23,900
$22,549
6%
Source: City of Palo Alto
‘We now find that California’s state budget is even more promising than we projected one year ago.’ —Legislative Analyst Office report Legislative Analyst’s Office released a report earlier this month that projects a $5.6 billion surplus in the state’s budget reserve. Much like the city, the state has revised its expectations upwards in recent months. The report cited the “restrained state budget” that Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature agreed on for 2013-14 and notes that the office’s “forecast of state revenue collections has increased
CityView A round-up
of Palo Alto government action this week
City Council The council did not meet this week.
Palo Alto Unified School District Notice to Bidders NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto Unified School District for: Bid # 13-P-12-SN: Vended Lunches for Terman Middle School There will be a Mandatory Walk-Through on December 6, 2013 @10:20 AM sharp. Proposals must be received at the Purchasing Department, 25 Churchill Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306, by 10AM on December 18, 2013. All questions concerning the proposals should be directed to Denise Buschke by mail or emailed to dbuschke@pausd.org. BY ORDER of the Business Department of the Palo Alto Unified School District, Palo Alto, California. Dated: November 15, & November 22, & November 29, 2013
since last year.” “Accordingly, we now find that California’s state budget is even more promising than we projected one year ago,” the LAO report states. In Palo Alto, the brightening outlook is expected to give the city a big boost in addressing its backlog of infrastructure problems, which include more than $200 million in needed new facilities. These include a new police headquarters to replace the small and seismically unfit one at City Hall and the rehabilitation of two obsolete fire stations. A specially appointed Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission also identified about $42 million in needed maintenance, work that the new revenues are expected to help fund. In addition to approving the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the committee agreed to transfer $8.9 million from the city’s General Fund to the Infrastructure Reserve, bringing the total amount of surplus funds transferred between the two to $16.5 million since 2012. Even after the transfer, the city ended fiscal year 2013 with a General Fund reserve of more than $30 million. “Those are healthy contributions to the infrastructure priority as set out by Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission and also the City Council,” Ramberg told the committee. “Clearly, there is still a liability on the infrastructure side that must be addressed, but these are opportunities for us to contribute in the years that we’ve recently had and again this year.” It helped, Ramberg said, that the city had achieved greater savings than expected from City Hall staffing vacancies. Furthermore, recent negotiations with labor groups, which resulted in greater cost-sharing on medical expenses and new contributions for health care by employees, are expected to save the city nearly $9 million annually. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.