Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Ms. Ott said that is being done on an informal basis. Staff wanted to have a <br />more formal structure with a name and regular meeting dates to discuss issues. Staff <br />would be taken from Planning, Building, Economic Development, and possibly Parks <br />and Community Services, depending on the extent of a project. <br /> <br />Mr. Thorne referred to item 4.3, monitoring state legislation, and indicated he just <br />volunteered to do that through the League of California Cities. <br /> <br />Mayor Hosterman indicated she was also doing that. <br /> <br />Mr. Thorne referred to Policy 6, user fees, and asked what uses were being <br />discussed? <br /> <br />Ms. Stern said that was for all city services, including Planning, Building, Public <br />Works, and Parks and Community Services. <br /> <br />Mr. Thorne referred to item 9.4 and said he thought the city was already doing <br />that with PERS. <br /> <br />Sue Rossi responded that this was a new policy being recommended. PERS <br />has implemented this procedure of trying to smooth rates to ensure the cities pay <br />normal costs. Staff felt it was important to have this in the General Plan because PERS <br />policies could change. In years where their investment portfolios are very high, they will <br />reduce rates to below the normal cost and for years the city paid below normal costs. <br />The rates then spiked because of the investment portfolio falling in the last few years. <br />The city is now paying double-digit rates. Staff is suggesting that the city always fund <br />the normal costs, even if the rates are set at lower than that. The money would be put <br />into a reserve and held there for times when the rates exceed the normal costs. <br /> <br />Mr. Thorne asked for clarification on item 12.3, the 5% upper limit. If the voters <br />decided to bond something, could they do that without being limited by this 5% upper <br />limit? <br /> <br />Ms. Rossi said this debt ratio applied to the general plan. The 5% pertains to <br />revenue and means there should not be annual debt service that would exceed more <br />than 5% of the annual general fund revenues. It has no relation to annual debt the <br />voters would approve. <br /> <br />Matt Sullivan felt the phrase "except otherwise determined by the City Council" <br />provided some flexibility. <br /> <br />Ms. Rossi indicated that was included to make certain that if other decisions were <br />made that they would be made in a public environment. An example of a time that <br />might be done is the recent refinancing of debt at the same time as the issuance of debt <br />for the golf course. Staff was trying to take advantage of low interest rates. <br /> <br />Joint Workshop <br />City CounciVEconomic Vitality <br />Committee <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />02/28/06 <br />