If approved, budget cuts could affect rec programs, park maintenance, arts and culture events
The Healdsburg community services department is proposing a whopping $977,700 cut in expenses for the 2020-21 fiscal year that will include several reductions in part-time staffing and in services such as recreation programs, park maintenance and senior center operations.
The community services budget is suffering a big blow due to a projected $1 million decrease in Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue, which is the main funding mechanism for the department.
According to the city’s finance and administrative services director, Heather Ippoliti, budget actions taken so far in response to the projected $1,382,230 Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue shortfall include:
- Eliminating one vacant full-time parks maintenance position.
- Suspending contracted services for things like downtown landscape maintenance, tree care and open space management.
- Halting vehicle and equipment purchases and cutting programmatic and discretionary spending for fiscal year 2020-21.
Even with these adjustments, there will still be impacts to popular community offerings such as the pool and its related after school activities and events like Día de Los Muertos.
The pool will be shuttered through 2020 with the hope of reopening in 2021. Large events like “Art After Dark” and “Día de Los Muertos,” which are sponsored or co-sponsored by the city, also won’t happen unless event organizers can identify ways to cover all costs.
Community services director, Mark Themig said these arts and culture activities will be suspended for now. He emphasized that they’re not being eliminated forever, just temporarily put on hold.
The popular Tuesday’s in the Plaza concert series will also be slashed from the department’s activities. The event could resume in 2021 if health orders allow and if there are funds to support it.
A reduction in part-time staff at the senior center will also have an effect on the number of offerings at the center, however Themig said the most essential services like food delivery and the Drivers Assisting Seniors in Healdsburg (DASH) program will remain.
Park maintenance, open space management and downtown holiday decor will also be stripped down to the bare minimum.
For childcare, instead of the city stepping up and contributing extra resources, the community services department worked with Corazon Healdsburg to raise much needed funds for summer childcare.
Themig said $200,000 was contributed directly towards the summer childcare program. $5,000 came from the Healdsburg Kiwanis Club and $195,000 was donated from two community members. In addition to those funds, the Foley Family Foundation provided $300,000 to Corazon to help support their work, a portion of which could potentially support childcare.
“We’ve been meeting with the school district and it’s quite likely that need will continue into the school year,” Themig said of childcare services. “It will be significantly more expensive than what the summer was because the number of kids who will likely need that service.”
Themig estimates that around 140 students will need childcare come fall.
Monday evening’s presentation included an invitation for feedback from the city parks and recreation commission and the senior citizen advisory commission. Both commissioners and residents expressed concern about the impact the reduction of services will have on seniors and marginalized communities.
“Knowing that the community services department is used for a lot of our disadvantaged community here in Healdsburg and that it plays a huge role in supporting our families in entire generations from parents to children and seniors… I’m hoping that we are looking at the effect that this is going to have on the community and going forward, making sure that we have the best interest at heart for our disadvantaged population and seniors who need our support,” Healdsburg resident, Marce Flores, said during public comment.
“As far as other marginalized groups, I think there will be some impacts,” Themig said. “The closure of the swimming pool and not being able to do swimming lessons has a significant impact.” He said the pool closure is not just financial related and that it’s partially because of COVID-19 related restrictions.
Themig noted while some cities have been able to reopen their pool, they haven’t been able to restart programming again, like swimming lessons, due to the coronavirus and health regulations.
In regard to the suspension of art and cultural events, Themig said, “I think the elimination and reduction of special events has an impact throughout the community.”
Parks and recreation commissioner John Lambert expressed concern on the impact reduction in services will have on Healdsburg’s senior community.
“In keeping our full-time staff essentially whole, we are able to pivot to meet the needs that are most prevalent in the community,” Themig said. “I think you saw that right at the beginning of COVID when we had to cease our traditional operations and moved right into connectivity, nutrition and continuing the DASH rides… We’ll continue to be able to do that in the future I think, but what we won’t be able to necessarily operate as we have in the past, is when those seniors can come back and be together in person in the traditional sense, we won’t have the part-time staff to support that.”
Ippoliti noted that with these cuts in mind, “Reserves at year end are 1.8% of annual expenditure policy.” The council’s reserve policy and the community services reserve policy is set at 30%. According to the agenda item report, the ending fund balance for 2019-20 will be just at $482,609.
Yet the biggest hit to the fund will come in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
“The assumptions that Director Themig made when he created this budget is that TOT and program fees will be significantly reduced,” Ippoliti said. “We’ve assumed that Montage Resort is expected to open in February of 2021,” which could provide a much-needed boost in TOT revenue.
As proposed, reserves at the end of that year for the community services fund would be -3.2% of the annual expenditures. The ending fund balance for 2020-21 is estimated at $269,193.
The assumptions for 2021-22 is that revenue from TOT and community service programs will slowly start to return.
Themig and Ippoliti noted that some services that were reduced could be added if revenue at the time can support additional programs. Reserves at the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year would be 6.3% of annual expenditures and there would be an ending fund balance of $663,179.
Lambert was also looking towards the future and asked from a budget perspective, what happens if the economy does not improve?
“Rather than making those difficult decisions now based on partial information, if we see a re-emergence of COVID, if we see additional shutdowns, we’ll have to come back and make additional cuts,” said outgoing city manager, David Mickaelian. He said they didn’t make those additional cuts now because they’re hoping revenue numbers will be more positive in October, however, the city is prepared to have those discussions with Themig and council.
The city’s general fund budget and the related proposed cuts will return to council on June 29 for adoption.
Mickaelian, suggested that the council come back in October to discuss the community services budget and the overall general fund budget, since by then, the city will have a better idea on what the incoming TOT revenue from the summer months may look like.
“Because things are so fluid with regards to COVID and revenues and expenses, what we’re proposing is to basically adopt the budget with a negative going into the first of the two-year budget cycle and positive the second year that two-year budget cycle. We’re proposing to come back to council for the second meeting of October. At that point we think we’ll have a much better sense of our Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) tax projections,” Mickaelian said.
