| | Published July 4th, 2012
| City Council Wades through Weighty Matters En Route to Budget Adoption
| | Laurie Snyder | | |
By the time it adjourned another lengthy meeting June 19, the Orinda City Council finally had a balanced budget in place for Fiscal Year 2012-2013 (FY13). The newly revised bottom line for Orinda's FY13 General Operating Budget is $9,804,804, down from the $10,089,245 projected by the Council June 7, 2011 when it initially adopted the current City budget.
This is the second time Orinda has employed a two-year budget, said City Manager Janet Keeter. "Year 1 and 2 expenditure and revenue plans are presented to the Council in a single document. At the conclusion of the biennial budget review and deliberation process, Year 1 is approved and appropriated by the Council, which sets the level of authorized funding for the fiscal year." The second year "is also approved but is subject to mid-cycle review and appropriation action in the following year." Funds from the first year of the budget cycle, she said, "do not automatically roll into Year 2."
Council members reached the balanced budget milestone only after they had given the go ahead to Public Works staff to solicit bids for the Moraga Way Pedestrian Pathway Project, authorized "organizational modifications" for several City departments, and held public hearings to keep residential street lighting on, streets clean, and mini-parks and median islands maintained for the Crossroads and Village commercial areas.
In addition, the Council listened to over 60 minutes' worth of public comment from pro-gaters and no-gaters hoping for a decision on whether a structure dividing the Stein Way and Knickerbocker neighborhoods would be removed or not. In considering the matter, the Council heard further testimony from local public safety experts but, once again, did not issue a ruling, disappointing many of those in attendance.
The Council did approve resolutions confirming the diagrams and assessments for the Orinda Street Lighting and Landscape Assessment District zones. The assessments are expected to bring in nearly $50,000 to offset service delivery costs to those zones.
Discussions related to planned staffing reorganizations caused the most stressful moments of the evening as employees and their union representatives availed themselves of opportunities to speak during the initial Public Forum session and later during the budget public comment period.
Mayor Steve Glazer said that City leaders have looked for efficiencies in order to avoid layoffs and furloughs, but simply could not see enough revenue on the horizon to justify not making structural changes at this juncture. The Council voted unanimously to adopt the amended budget.
Keeter later commented, "We have great employees working for the City of Orinda, and understandably many are upset that we are laying off an Assistant Planner. However, in order to minimize the impacts to the public, to keep service levels steady, and to begin to address a longer term structural issue, the budget does reflect the layoff."
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Key Points of Orinda's Revised FY2013 Budget
- Provides for on-going services to the public
- Keeps City offices open except on designated holidays (Planning Department counter hours still to be evaluated)
- Acknowledges that there are salary increases for eligible employees based on performance
- Maintains negotiated benefits for employees
- Keeps Police staffing levels at 14 sworn officers and 2 civilian employees
- Reflects restructuring of 3 departments (Administration, Parks and Recreation, Planning)
- Does not include mandatory furlough days for employees
- Does not include any additional allocation for roads and infrastructure from the General Fund
Source: Office of the City Manager, City of Orinda
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA