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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/13/2009 B A K E R S F I E L D CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM February 13, 2009 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council- FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager SUBJECT: General Information 1. It appears that the economic stimulus bill is through Congress and will be signed into law very soon. It has two major elements that may help the City of Bakersfield as follows: • Portions of the Westside Parkway and the Hosking Interchange may be eligible for the portion of funds that flow through the CTC and Caltrans. It is our understanding that the State has ten days after the legislation is approved to provide the project list. The CTC has a meeting on the February 19th, which could be when the projects are identified. • Arterial street resurfacing for projects that are on the FTIP, which is a project list that comes from the KernCOG and is approved by the state. The amount is not known yet, but it and the timeframe of this will be revealed, hopefully soon. A preliminary report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is enclosed which summarizes the legislation. 2. It appears that a vote on a state budget will be scheduled for Saturday. Members of the leadership groups have agreed on a package that increases several taxes and cuts some expenses. There appears to be very few direct negative financial impacts for us in the proposal. Now the question becomes will it be adopted and to what degree will it address the state financial crisis. It still contains some "smoke and mirrors" elements. 3. The enclosed article from the Sacramento Bee highlights the Sacramento Fire Department's action to take fire engines out of service on a rotating basis. Sacramento is now considering adding a second engine to the brownout each day beginning March 1St 4. Another article from the Sacramento Bee highlights the concessions that were approved by employee groups in the City of Ventura. Police officers, firefighters and other city workers are taking pay cuts or deferring compensation in an effort to prevent layoffs and reduce the City's budget deficit The SEIU is still considering a 5% across-the-board pay reduction. 5. We have been advised that the County's consideration of the new traffic impact fees has now been delayed until March. We adopted the new fees in November 2008. Our fee does not go into effect until theirs does. Honorable Mayor and City Council February 13, 2009 Page 2 6. Parsons has recently completed the annual update of the TRIP financial plan. It changes each year as costs are refined, and as project descriptions become more precise. We will summarize the revised plan in connection with a TRIP update on your next agenda. 7. Enclosed is a response from the Bakersfield Police Department regarding a recent news article about the collection of parking ticket fines. There are collection mechanisms in place. 8. The Streets Division work schedule for the week of February 16th is enclosed. 9. Responses to Council requests are enclosed, as follows: Vice-Mayor Scrivner • Response to the HBA regarding consideration of an economic stimulus plan. AT:rs:rk cc: Department Heads Pamela McCarthy, City Clerk Roberta Gafford, Assistant City Clerk Plan to furlough city fire engines is drawing heat - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento ... Page 1 of 3 This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Top Stories Plan to furlough city fire engines is drawing heat rlillis @sacbee.com Published Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 The controversy over taking city fire engines off the streets is about to get much more heated. The Sacramento Fire Department is scheduled to increase the number of fire engines it takes out of service on a rotating basis from one to two every day beginning March 1, according to a city staff report. Fire Department officials say that the cost-cutting strategy would lead to increased response times to emergencies in many neighborhoods - and that could contribute to greater property loss. Yet, with the city's budget crunch growing more dire, such a move might be just the beginning. City officials are discussing taking three engines out of service beginning in July, Assistant City Manager Gus Vina said Monday. The dramatic moves are being considered as the city faces a $50 million budget deficit for the next fiscal yea r. Mayor Kevin Johnson said Monday night that he opposes taking a second engine out of service and said it was "a wake-up call for anyone who still doesn't think we're in a budget crisis." "I'm not willing to support a proposal that puts the lives and property of Sacramento families at risk." As things stand now, rotating 48-hour brownouts are shelving the fire engines at the nine city firehouses with an engine and a ladder truck. The brownouts began in July and will save the city an estimated $1.6 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year. Beginning March 1, a second fire engine is scheduled to be added to the list to help cut more costs. The city has 23 firehouses, and all have at least one fire engine. In the plan set to unfold in March, 21 engines would be available daily to respond to emergencies in the city. It's possible the rigs at any of the city's firehouses could be shut down, said Capt. Jim Doucette, department spokesman. Doucette said the department will likely "keep the (two) affected companies at separate ends of the city and as far away as possible from one another." A schedule of which companies would be shuttered is not http://www.sacbee.con/topstories/v-print/story/1612448.html ?,i1?i?nnn Plan to furlough city fire engines is drawing heat - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento ... Page 2 of 3 complete, he said. The proposal to shelve a third engine is being considered for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins July 1, Vina said. In early drafts, a third engine would be taken off the streets 165 days a year. "(The third brownouts) are very possible with the cuts we have coming unless there are some labor concessions," the assistant city manager said. Budget officials have said the city could save $18 million if labor unions agree to freeze salaries. The second brownout is mentioned in a city staff report detailing midyear budget cuts - a topic that will be discussed at tonight's City Council meeting. The City Council could vote against expanding the brownout program. Community activists and the fire union are questioning the move. Chris Harvey, a union spokesman, said the shift is "just gambling, plain and simple." "The City Council is willing to roll the dice," he said. "They're hoping that something bad isn't going to happen." The news was also troubling to Angelique Ashby, a community activist in North Natomas, where Station 30's engine is in the brownout rotation. "Anything that diminishes our ability to get fire protection and public safety is a bad thing because we're inadequately covered by the Fire Department as it is," said Ashby, co-founder of a local public safety committee. Response times in city neighborhoods where engines are already on the rotation have increased by 1 minute, 34 seconds on days when their engine is off-line, according to the city staff report. Rotating closures of a second fire company would lead to even longer response times and "an increase in property lost," according to the staff report. Fire officials noted that the rolling brownouts have not led to a significant increase in injuries to firefighters or residents. However, the report does highlight a handful of emergencies in which the brownouts played a role in fires growing. According to the report, two fires on Labor Day weekend last year spread into neighboring homes, and crews "felt that the delay in the 'first in' engine company contributed to this situation." On Aug. 29, a fire on Redondo Avenue in the North Sacramento area gutted two homes. Doucette said the nearest engine was off-line and it took 6 minutes, 47 seconds for the first engine to arrive on the scene - more than 2 minutes longer than department standards. While it was "hard to say how much it mattered" that the closest engine was off-line, he said, it "hampered our ability to do a good job." "Any time we have a delayed response, it's going to make our job that much more difficult," he said. http://www.sacbee.conVtopstories/v-print/story/1612448.html 2i1?i?nn4 Ventura workers taking pay cuts to save jobs - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento Ne... Page 1 of 1 Tl 11,S.WILVNI E E 111"E, This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / AP State News Ventura workers taking pay cuts to save jobs The Associated Press Published Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 VENTURA, Calif. -- Dozens of Ventura police officers, firefighters and other city workers are taking pay cuts or deferring compensation in an effort to prevent layoffs and reduce the city's budget deficit. The concessions were approved this week by employee groups. Members of Service Employees International Union Local 721, the largest employee group with roughly 385 members, are still considering a 5 percent across-the-board pay reduction. The city has about 630 employees. The city's deficit is expected to grow to $12 million in the next two years and officials say the employee concessions won't prevent steep service cuts and layoffs. City Manager Rick Cole will discuss the voluntary concessions and job cuts during a Tuesday special session of the City Council. ShareThis http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/v-print/story/1620114.html s OFFICE OF SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI FACT SHEET February 11, 2009 Conference Report on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Preliminary Overview Just over three weeks since the Inauguration of President Obama, Congress will consider the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to save and create jobs, get our economy moving again, and transform it for long-term growth and stability. The landmark legislation is the first dramatic new investment in the future since the creation of the interstate highway system a half century ago. A staggering 3.6 million American jobs have been lost since this recession began in December 2007 –the culmination of the failed economic approach of the Bush Administration–one that also doubled our national debt in eight short years. We need a New Direction. The conference report on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently being drafted will: • Create and save 3.5 million jobs, rebuilding America, making us more globally competitive and energy independent, and transforming our economy. • Give 95 percent of American workers an immediate tax cut. • Invest in roads, bridges,mass transit, energy efficient buildings, flood control, clean water projects, and other infrastructure projects. • Restore science and innovation as the keys to new American-made technology, preventing and treating disease, and tackling urgent national challenges like climate change and dependence on foreign oil. • Invest quickly into the economy. Unprecedented accountability and transparency measures are built in to help ensure tax dollars are spent wisely and help restore confidence— another critical component of this recovery. The legislation being drafted contains targeted efforts in: • Clean,Efficient, American Energy • Transforming our Economy with Science and Technology • Lowering Health Care Costs and Ensuring Broader Coverage • Investing in Education for the 21" Century • Modernizing Roads,Bridges, Transit and Waterways • Tax Cuts for Middle-Class Families and American Businesses • Helping Workers Hurt by the Recession • Providing Strong Accountability Measures. Following are highlights, based on preliminary information, of some key provisions in each of these areas. Clean,Efficient, American Energy: To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will increase renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient. • Smart Grid/Advanced Battery Technology/Energy Efficiency o Provides a total of$30 billion for such initiatives as a new, smart power grid, advanced battery technology, and energy efficiency measures, which will create nearly 500,000 jobs. o Provides $1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities and help them compete for biomedical research grants. • Extending Broadband Services • Provides $7 billion for extending broadband services to underserved communities across the country, so that rural and inner-city businesses can compete with any company in the world. • For every dollar invested in broadband, the economy sees a ten-fold return on that investment. Lower Health Care Costs and Ensure Broader Coverage: Affordable and quality health care is key to strong economic growth. We are bringing our health care system into the 21"century with information technology, which will save billions of dollars, and are taking key steps to ensure broader coverage in this recession. • Modernizing Health Care System to Lower Costs and Save Lives • Provides $19 billion to accelerate adoption of Health Information Technology(HIT) systems by doctors and hospitals, in order to modernize the health care system save billions of dollars reduce medical errors and improve quality. • Strengthens Federal privacy and security law to protect personally identifiable health information from misuse and abuse. • Creates hundreds of thousands of jobs—many in high-tech sectors—by promoting the adoption of HIT. • CBO estimates that this proposal will generate billions of dollars in"system-wide" savings. • Protecting Health Care Coverage for Millions through Medicaid • Protects health care coverage for millions of Americans during this recession, by providing an estimated $87 billion over the next two years in additional federal matching funds to help states maintain their Medicaid programs in the face of massive state budget shortfalls. • Helps states avoid cutting eligibility for Medicaid and scaling back the health care services covered. • Providing Health Insurance for Unemployed Workers o Currently, laid-off workers, under the COBRA program, can buy into their former employer's health insurance. But the premiums are often prohibitively expensive. In order to help people maintain their health coverage, the bill provides a 60% subsidy for COBRA premiums for up to 9 months. • Investing in Prevention& Comparative Effectiveness Research • Provides $1 billion for a new Prevention and Wellness Fund. Studies have shown that investing in prevention can lower overall health care costs by billions of dollars. • Provides $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research, to help patients and doctors determine the effectiveness of different treatments. This research will improve the quality of care. Education for the 21St Century: Economists tell us that strategic investments in education are one of the best ways to help America become more productive and competitive. This bill will make key investments to help states avoid teacher layoffs and other damaging education cuts in this recession, help make college more affordable, and make other key education investments. • Preventing Teacher Layoffs and Education Cuts by the States o Prevents teacher layoffs and other cutbacks in education and other key services,by establishing a$53.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, including$40.6 billion to local school districts using existing funding formulas, which can be used for preventing cutbacks, preventing layoffs, school modernization, or other purposes; $5 billion to states as bonus grants for meeting key performance measures in education; and$8 billion to states for other high priority needs such as public safety and other critical services, which may include education. • Making College More Affordable o Increases the higher education tax credit to a maximum of$2,500. Also makes it available to nearly 4 million low-income students who had not had any access to the higher education tax credit in the past— by making it partially refundable. o Increases the maximum Pell Grant by$500, for a maximum of$5,350 in 2009 and$5,550 1112010. o Adds $200 million to the vital College Work-Study program. • Transforms the nation's electricity systems through the Smart Grid Investment Program to moderniz, the electricity grid to make it more efficient and reliable. • Supports U.S. development of advanced vehicle batteries and battery systems through loans and grants so that America can lead the world in transforming the way automobiles are powered. • Helps state and local governments make investments in innovative best practices to achieve greater energy efficiency and reduce energy usage. • Spurs energy efficiency and renewable energy R&D. • Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs • Provides $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over the next 10 years. • Includes a three-year extension of the production tax credit(PTC) for electricity derived from wind (through 2012) and for electricity derived from biomass, geothermal,hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to- energy, and marine facilities (through 2013). • Provides grants of up to 30 percent of the cost of building a new renewable energy facility to address current renewable energy credit market concerns. • Promotes energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation. • Provides a tax credit for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles of up to $7,500 to spur the next generation of American cars. • Includes clean renewable energy bonds for State and local governments. • Establishes a new manufacturing investment tax credit for investment in advanced energy facilities, such as facilities that manufacture components for the production of renewable energy, advanced battery technology, and other innovative next-generation green technologies. • Landmark Energy Savings at Home • Provides $5 billion for landmark provisions to improve the energy efficiency of more than 1 million modest-income homes through weatherization. • This will save modest-income families on average$350 per year on their heating and air conditioning bills. • Repairing Public Housing and Making Key Energy Efficiency Retrofits to HUD Assisted Housing • Provides a total of$6.3 billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally-supported housing programs. • Specifically, establishes a new program to upgrade HUD-sponsored low-income housing (elderly, disabled, and Section 8)to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and frames. • Also invests in energy efficiency upgrades in public housing, including new windows, furnaces, and insulation to improve living conditions for residents and lower the cost of operating these facilities. Transform our Economy with Science and Technology: To secure America's role as a world leader in a competitive global economy, we are renewing America's investments in basic research and development, in training students for an innovation economy, and in deploying new technologies into the marketplace. This will help businesses in every community succeed in a global economy. • Investing in Scientific Research (More than $15 Billion) • Provides $3 billion for the National Science Foundation, for basic research in fundamental science and engineering—which spurs discovery and innovation. • Provides $1.6 billion for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, which funds research in such areas as climate science, biofuels,high-energy physics, nuclear physics and fusion energy sciences — areas crucial to our energy future. • Provides $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy(ARPA-E) to support high- risk,high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency in collaboration with industry. • Provides $580 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including the Technology Innovation Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. • Provides $8.5 billion for NIH, including expanding good jobs in biomedical research to study diseases such as Alzheimer's,Parkinson's, cancer, and heart disease. • Provides $1 billion for NASA, including$400 million to put more scientists to work doing climate change research. • Investing in Early Childhood Development • Provides $1.1 billion for Early Head Start and $1 billion for Head Start, which provide comprehensive development services to low-income infants and preschool children—thereby providing services for 110,000 additional infants and children. • Provides $2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant to provide child care services to an additional 300,000 children in low-income families while their parents go to work. • Providing Other Key Education Investments • Provides $13 billion for Title I grants to help disadvantaged kids reach high academic standards— ensuring that in this period of tight state and local budgets these vital services are maintained. • Provides $12.2 billion for grants for IDEA (Special Education) to increase the federal share of these costs, and prevent these mandatory costs from forcing states to cut other areas of education. Modernize Roads,Bridges,Transit and Waterways: To build a 21"century economy, we must create jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing public buildings, and putting people to work cleaning up our air, water and land. • Modernizing Roads and Bridges • Provides $29 billion for modernizing roads and bridges, which will create 835,000 jobs. This investment creates jobs in the short term while saving commuters time and money in the long term. • Requires states to obligate at least half of the highway/bridge funding within 120 days. • States have over 6,100 projects totaling over$64 billion that could be under contract within 180 days. • Improving Public Transit and Rail • Provides $8.4 billion for investments in transit and$8 billion for investment in high-speed rail. These investments will reduce traffic congestion and our dependence on foreign oil. • Includes funds for new construction of commuter and light rail, modernizing existing transit systems, and purchasing buses and equipment to needed to increase public transportation and improve intermodal and transit facilities. • States have 787 ready-to-go transit projects totaling about$16 billion. • Prioritizing Clean Water/Flood Control/Environmental Restoration • Provides $18 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration investments, which will create more than 375,000 jobs. • Experts note that$16 billion in water projects could be quickly obligated. • Modernizing Public Infrastructure Including To Achieve Major Energy Cost Saving o Provides billions to modernize federal and other public infrastructure with investments that lead to long- term energy cost savings, including about$5 billion to make improvements in DOD facilities, including housing for our troops and about$4.5 billion to make federal office buildings more energy-efficient in order to achieve long-term savings for taxpayers. Tax Cuts to Make Work Pay and Create Jobs: More than 35 percent of the package will provide direct tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, as President-elect Obama pledged, and spur investment and job growth for American businesses. To gain the support of the needed Senate Republicans, the amount of Make Work Pay Tax credit has been scaled back, the AMT has been added, and several business tax incentives have been added(cancellation of debt income). • Tax Relief for American Families o Provides immediate and sustained tax relief to 95 percent of American workers through the Making Work Pay Tax Cut, a refundable tax credit of up to $400 per worker($800 per couple filing jointly), phasing out completely at $200,000 for couples filing jointly and$100,000 for single filers. o Cuts taxes for the families of millions of children through an expansion of the child tax credit (allowing families to begin qualifying for the child tax credit with every dollar earned over$3,000). o Expands the Earned Income Tax Credit by providing tax relief to families with three or more children and increasing marriage penalty relief. o Helps more than 4 million additional students attend college with a new,partially refundable $2,500 tax credit for families. • Protects 26 million middle-class families from being hit by the AMT. • Helps first-time homebuyers and strengthens the housing market by enhancing the current credit for first-time home purchases with the removal of the repayment requirement. • Provides incentives to buy new cars, including light trucks and SUVs, with a tax deduction for State and local sales taxes paid on the purchase. • Temporarily suspends the taxation of some unemployment benefits. • Business Tax Incentives to Create Jobs and Spur Investment • Helps businesses quickly recover costs of new capital investments by extending the bonus depreciation and increased small business expensing for businesses making investments in plants and equipment in 2009. • Includes a variety of provisions to help small business, including small business expensing for investment in new plants and equipment, loss carry back for small businesses, a delay of the 3% withholding tax on payments to businesses that sell goods or services to governments, and a cut in the capital gains tax cut for investors in small businesses who hold stock for more than five years. • Provides assistance to companies looking to reduce their debt burdens by delaying the tax on businesses that have discharged indebtedness, which will help these companies strengthen their balance sheets and obtain resources to invest in job creation. • Provides incentives to create new jobs with tax credits for hiring recently discharged unemployed veterans and youth that have been out of work and out of school for the 6 months prior to hire. • Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs • Provides $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over the next 10 years. • Includes a three-year extension of the production tax credit(PTC) for electricity derived from wind (through 2012) and for electricity derived from biomass, geothermal,hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to- energy, and marine facilities (through 2013). • Provides grants of up to 30 percent of the cost of building a new renewable energy facility to address current renewable energy credit market concerns. • Promotes energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation. • Provides a tax credit for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles of up to $7,500 to spur the next generation of American cars. • Includes clean renewable energy bonds for State and local governments. • Establishes a new manufacturing investment tax credit for investment in advanced energy facilities, such as facilities that manufacture components for the production of renewable energy, advanced battery technology, and other innovative next-generation green technologies. • Tax Incentives for State and Local Economic Develo ment • Includes provisions to enhance the marketability for state and local government bonds, which will reduce the costs they incur in financing state and local infrastructure projects. • Includes a new bond-financing program for school construction, rehabilitation, and repair. Help Workers Hurt by the Recession: High unemployment and rising costs have outpaced Americans' paychecks. We will help workers train and find jobs, and help struggling families make ends meet. Every dollar in unemployment or food stamp creates at least$1.63 in economic activity, as these funds are spent quickly. • Extending and Improving Unemployment Benefits • Continues through December 2009 the extended unemployment benefits program(which provides up to 33 weeks of extended benefits)that is otherwise scheduled to begin to phase out at the end of March 2009—thereby helping an additional 3.5 million jobless workers. • Increases unemployment benefits for 20 million jobless workers by$25 per week, and encourages states to modernize their UI systems to keep up with the changing workforce with expanded coverage. • Temporarily suspends the taxation of some unemployment benefits. • Every dollar in unemployment benefits creates at least$1.63 in economic activity, according to chief economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com. • Increasing Food Stamp Benefits • Increases food stamp benefits by over 13% to help offset rising food costs for more than 31 million Americans, half of whom are children. • Every dollar of food stamps creates at least$1.73 in economic activity, according to chief economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com. • Increasing Other Food Assistance o Provides other food assistance, including$100 million for Emergency Food and Shelter to help local community organizations provide food and shelter; $100 million for formula grants to states for elderly nutrition services including Meals on Wheels; and $150 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program to purchase commodities for food banks to refill emptying shelves. • Helping Workers Find Jobs o Provides funding to help workers find jobs, including $4 billion for job training including formula grants for adult job training, dislocated worker job training, and youth services (including funding for summer jobs for young people); $500 million for Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants to help persons with disabilities prepare for gainful employment; $500 million to match unemployed individuals to job openings through state employment agencies; and $120 million to provide community service jobs to an additional 24,000 low-income older Americans. • Expanding Housing Assistance o Increases support for several critical housing programs, including providing $2 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties and$1.5 billion for the Emergency Shelter Grant program to provide short-term rental assistance and other aid for families during the economic crisis. • Providing Aid to Seniors Disabled Veterans and SSI Recipients o Provides a payment of$250 to Social Security beneficiaries, SSI recipients, and veterans receiving disability compensation and pension benefits from the VA. • Extending o Extends Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits for at least 160,000 new workers over the next two years who lose their jobs because of increased imports or factory shifts to certain foreign countries. Unprecedented Accountability: An historic level of transparency, oversight and accountability will help guarantee taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and ensure that Americans can see the results of their investment. • There are no earmarks or pet projects. • In many cases, funds are distributed to existing initiatives with proven track records and with tough accountability measures already in place. • How funds are spent, all announcements of contract and grant competitions and awards, and formula grant allocations must be posted on a special website created by the President. It must also include the names of agency personnel to contact with concerns about infrastructure projects. • Public notice of funding must include a description of the investment funded, the purpose, the total cost, and why recovery dollars should be used. Governors, mayors, or others making funding decisions must personally certify that the investment has been fully vetted and is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. This information will also be placed on the internet. • The Council of Economic Advisors must report quarterly on the results for the American economy. • A Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board will be created to review management of recovery dollars and provide early warning of problems. The board is made up largely of Inspectors General. • The Government Accountability Office and the Inspectors General are provided additional funding and access for special review of recovery funding. • State whistleblowers who report fraud and abuse are protected. t. ,. BAKERSF EL.D POLICE ' r MEMORANDUM W o January 30, 2001 To: Alan Tandy, city Manager From: W. R. Rector, Chief of Police Ut, Subject: Parking Ticket Pee Recovery The Bakersfield Police Department has a contract with Judicial Data Syste ms (JDS), for the collection of parking ticket fines. Payments from violators are made directly to JDS. if JDS does not receive the parking fine on a specific ticket, JDS notifies the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The notification enables DMV to attach the parking violation cost to the violating party's registration fee. For example; if a person gets a parking ticket but did not pay the fine to JDS, they would be charged the violation fee when they register their vehicle in addition to the registration fee. The DMV collects the outstanding parking violation fine. The DMV sends a monthly check to The City of Bakersfield, Department of Finance, for parking fines they have collected. If you wish further information please advise. Respectfully submitted, W. R. Rector, Chief of Police WRRlrcrn Page 1 of 2 STREETS DIVISION — WORK SCHEDULE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 16, 2009 — FEBRUARY 20, 2009 Resurfacing/Reconstructing streets in the following areas: Continue working on reconstructing streets in the area between Club View Drive and Sanders Lane, east of Ashe Road (as weather permits). Miscellaneous Streets Division projects: Working on the Mill Creek project. Working on the Aera Park project. THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Week of February 16-2009—Work Schedule Page 2 of 2 STREET SWEEPING SCHEDULE Monday, February 16, 2009 HOLIDAY. NO SWEEPING SCHEDULED Tuesday, February 17, 2009 Between Panama Lane & Woodmere Dr. — Ashe Rd. & Stine Rd. Between District Blvd. & Panama Ln. -- Gosford Rd. & Ashe Rd. Between Akers Rd. & Phyllis St. — Harris Rd. & Panama Ln. City areas between Akers Rd. & Stine Rd. — Harris Rd. & Panama Ln. Cul-De-Sacs on the north side of Angela Way, between Manley Ct. & Cris Ct. Between Oswell Park Dr. & Brundage Ln. — Oswell St. & Leeta St. Wednesday, February 18, 2009 City areas between Workman St. & Sterling Rd. — 58 Hwy. & Baja Dr. Between Morning Dr. & Park Dr. — College Ave. & Willis Ave. Between Buena Vista Rd. & Old River Rd. — White Ln. & Panama Ln. Between Old River Rd. & Gosford Rd. — White Ln. & Pacheco Rd. Thursdav, February 19, 2009 City areas between Stockdale Hwy. & Ming Ave. — Ashe Rd. & Gosford Rd. Between El Portal/Laurelglen Blvd. & Ashe Rd. — Ming Ave. & So. Halfmoon/Olympia Dr. Between Ashe Rd. & Stine Rd. — Ming Ave. & So. Halfmoon/Edgemount Dr. Between Coffee Rd. & Wilson Rd. (ext.) — White Ln. & So. Halfmoon/Olympia Dr. Friday, February 20, 2009 Between Stockdale Hwy. & Ming Ave. — Allen Rd. & Old River Rd. Between Old River Rd. & Coffee Rd. — Ming Ave. & Ridge Oak/Westwold Dr. Between Ridge Oak/Westwold Dr. & White Ln. — Old River Rd., east to the PG&E easement. Between White Ln. & Asperata Dr. — Gosford Rd., west to the PG&E easement. Between White Ln. & Cederwood Dr. — Stine Rd. & Wilson Rd. (ext.) Week of February 16_2009_Work Schedule • / L B A K E R S F I E L D CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM February 12, 2009 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Steven Teglia, Administrative Analysts SUBJECT: HBA Request for Suspension / Deferral of Development Impact Fees Council Referral No. 62. Vice Mayor Scrivner referred to staff correspondence from the Home Builders Association of Kern County regarding the suspension and or deferral of all Development Impact Fees. A response letter to this request is attached. B A K E R S F�I E-- Alan Tandy City Manager February 9, 2009 Ms. Tonya Short HBA of Kern County PO Box 1848 Bakersfield, CA 93303 Dear Ms. Short: I would like to provide the following response to your letter dated January 12, 2009. The City of Bakersfield along with the County of Kern, the State of California and the nation as a whole, is in the midst of an economic downturn that is unrivaled in recent history. The City is aware that the building industry has been significantly impacted, as credit markets have evaporated and demand has fallen sharply. City sales and property tax revenues have also been in consistent decline and current projections warn of additional revenue reductions. In an effort to spur local economic activity, the City was in a position to begin the construction of the first two phases of the Westside Parkway, injecting $133 million worth of construction contracts into our local economy. Unfortunately, due to state actions, these revenues were frozen and construction has been delayed. The City is currently preparing to take advantage of prospective funding stemming from the ultimate passage of a federal economic stimulus bill. Again, this has the potential to infuse millions of dollars locally, providing demand for work that will lead to jobs and the circulation of these revenues in our local economy. The City has also recently been awarded just under $9 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to help deal with the impacts of the high number of foreclosed properties within specific areas of the City. All of these are efforts to help deal with the current economic hardships we face. The topic of deferring development impact fees has come up numerous times over the past year, while the idea of suspending all development impact fees for a specific period of time is a relatively new proposal. It is important to point out that these fees, including sewer connection fees, transportation impact fees and others, are required to provide for facilities that are necessitated as a result of the growth of our community. Suspending or deferring the collection of these fees has major policy ramifications and would subject the City to significant exposure to environmental litigation, which could also negatively impact the development industry further. City of Bakersfield ® City Manager's Office ® 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield . California • 93301 From a practical standpoint, Sewer Connection Fees have been pledged as one of the revenue sources to repay debt recently incurred to finance a major expansion of Wastewater Treatment Plant # 3. Any suspension of sewer connection fees would impact existing homeowners because user rates would have to be inflated to compensate for the loss of connection fee revenues. Similarly, Traffic Impact Fees are anticipated to be pledged as a revenue stream for future debt to be incurred to provide local matching funds for several major freeway construction projects. If this revenue stream were either suspended or deferred, it would likely impact both the amount of revenue the City could borrow and the predictability of when the fees are collected, thus potentially creating an inability to make future debt service payments. Park Development Fees are often associated with reimbursement agreements, which are contractual obligations, for parkland acquisition and/or park construction. If those payments are suspended or deferred, that action would undoubtedly negatively impact the parties involved in such agreements. Permitting new development to proceed without providing the necessary funding for improvements required by this new development is not a responsible way to help our local economy. It is for these reasons that the City is not in favor of suspending or deferring all development impact fees. Sin rel y fi Tandy City Manager cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council