ON THE AGENDA: City Council, February 27, 2024
A deep dive into the City's finances, community grants continue to trickle out
If your heart thrills to discussions of the City’s finances, this City Council meeting is for you. If financial discussions are a cure for your insomnia, the meeting is still an opportunity for you to express your thoughts on issues that are important to you during public comment.
PUBLIC COMMENT
The agenda header says this is a regular City Council meeting with a closed session. The session takes place after the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. as usual.
Comments on agenda items take place during the discussion of that item. Comments on non-agenda items take place near the end of the meeting. The Brown Act prevents Council from commenting on non-agenda items.
To comment, pick up a green (or occasionally gold) form at the entry desk, fill it out, and hand it to the Clerk, who is usually sitting in front of the Council bench on the right side. You can also send comments by email to City Council members to be read at the meeting—be sure to request that your comments be read aloud at the meeting. Send a cc to Cindy Villescas, the Council secretary. Request that your comments be read aloud at the meeting. You can find the email addresses here.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar usually consists of routine items approved with a single vote. The public is given a chance to make public comment on these items prior to the Council motion. Again, fill out a comment form if you wish to address any of the items on this meeting’s Consent Calendar.
One of the agenda items is to approve minutes for closed sessions held on February 7 and February 9 and minutes for the February 13 City Council meeting. There have been a rash of closed City Council sessions—we have counted six since the beginning of the year. (See the City’s list of meetings.)
Let’s take a quick poll:
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
5. DCA -Article 3, Administration, Permits, and Procedures- Second Reading. This is the second reading of a development code amendment that cleans up language and brings City codes into compliance with State codes.
6. Single Audit Report on Federal Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24. In fiscal year 2022-23, the City received $4,811,828 in federal funds. Anything over $750,000 triggers an audit. This audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, has been filed, and City staff recommends that the City Council receive and file the audit.
7, 8, & 9. Financial Reports, Mid-year Updates, FY 2023-24
General Fund
Capital Projects Funds & Special Funds
Project Phoenix Funds & Enterprise Fund
These mid-year financial reports give a comprehensive look at the city’s financial status. A few highlights:
Staff anticipates a modest surplus of $5,000 for FY 2024-25, driven by conservative revenue estimates and moderate increases in expenditures, including a 2.5% rise in salaries and a 4% increase in law enforcement contract services.
As of December 2023, the City maintains a total of $16.4 million in cash and investments balances. This is about the same as the previous fiscal year. In the second half of 2023, the City collected $7.3 million or 55% of its total estimated operating revenue. These taxes include property tax, vehicle license fee (VLF), sales tax, and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). Property tax and VLF revenues have increased, the TOT remains stagnant, and sales tax is projected to decline.
During the same period, $8.3 million has been spent or encumbered on salaries and benefits. CalPERS pension employer contributions haven’t been required because of favorable investment returns.
A remaining balance of $354,561 from Project Phoenix has yet to be allocated. Staff seeks policy direction from the City Council about how it should be used. The Project Phoenix housing fund holds a balance of $1.1 million earmarked for affordable housing that lacks a specific project commitment.
Consult the agenda packet for much more detail.
10. Community Events Grants. The City’s budget has $50,000 available for Community Events grants; $12,000 was awarded last summer.
The ad hoc grant committee composed of Council members Mintz and Scott reviewed applications and recommends that the 29 Palms Art Gallery be awarded $10,000. They also recommend that the Sky’s the Limit Observatory receive $5,000 for its ongoing programs. The committee is still reviewing other grant submissions.
The Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) events grants are a separate initiative. Grants will be discussed and awarded at the Thursday, February 29 TBID meeting, taking place at 3:30 pm in Council chambers. Applications for the next round are due April 1. Guidelines are on the Visit29.org website.
FUTURE COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
Seasonal/military banners throughout the City
Discussion with the Homeless Committee on the possibility of hotels housing the homeless for short periods of time
General Plan review
Discussion of the possibility of moving the 29! sign from Donnell Hill to Freedom Plaza
Share your thoughts in the comments below. Please note that we do not allow anonymous comments. Please be sure your first and last name is on your profile prior to commenting. Anonymous comments will be deleted.
Share this post — it’s free!
Subscribing is always free. We are grateful to our paid subscribers; thanks to them, we have met $1,290 of our $10,000 goal. Won’t you consider upgrading to a paid subscription or donating?
Outstanding overview of city council matters. Thank you very much for your services for getting information out to the general Public in terms of City Council meetings. But thank you thank you.