City Council Announcements
October 10, 2006
A. Information Needed by Council Staff
1. Attached is the FY 2006-07 Council Chair budget book message which has been approved by the Council Chair. Do Council Members approve of forwarding this to the Administration for the budget books? Cindy Gust-Jenson asked Council Members to let staff know by the end of the week if they approved the budget book message.
B. For Your Information
1. Attached are several Grant Applications submitted by the City.
Dear Salt Lake City Residents,
The most important and challenging responsibility the City Council has each year is to finalize and adopt an annual budget. As with other years, the budget process for fiscal year 2006-07 has been a challenging one of balancing important City service needs with projected revenues. The process takes a number of months of study, evaluation, planning, and public participation. We believe that the result of this process is a budget which will continue to efficiently provide quality services to Salt Lake City residents without a property tax increase.
The Mayor’s recommended budget included $8,770,000 of growth in general fund revenue and proposed increasing property taxes by $4,550,000 and increasing business license fees by $1,323,000. The City Council adopted a budget that does not include a property tax increase, increased business license fees by $126,000 or only 2.5% compared to the Mayor’s recommendation of a 26% increase.
The Mayor recommended adding 44 new positions to the general fund. The Council’s budget includes the addition of 22 new positions without the property tax increase including 8 new positions in the police department, 4 positions for the City’s new one-stop building permit shop, an additional prosecutor position and a new office technician for the prosecutor’s office, and reclassifies 9 positions in the golf fund from full-time to seasonal rather than the 14 positions recommended by the Mayor.
The Council’s budget included several service level enhancements including funding $200,000 for geographic information system enhancements for inter-departmental coordination, funding equipment replacement in both the fire and police departments, funding some additional support needed for special events, and funding a downtown construction coordination effort with the Salt Lake Chamber. The Council also approved junior and adult golf pass programs and increased funding for the City’s 50/50 concrete replacement program that is available for residents to upgrade their sidewalks, curb and gutters.
The adopted budget funds an additional City planner to assist neighborhoods with issues relating to infill housing, and funds an energy efficiency project coordinator position to identify cost savings ideas and measures for the City to implement. The Council revised the City’s take-home car approach, but with a lower fee schedule than the mayor proposed. The Council reinforced the City’s policy to encourage police officers to live within the City.
In addition to the general fund budget, the Council also scrutinized and adopted budgets for the enterprise funds, capital projects fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, and internal service funds. The budget includes appropriations in the Capital Improvement Fund of $27,859,000 for ongoing capital improvement projects. The Capital Improvement Program provides for major repair or renovation of streets, parks, public buildings and City property. The City uses a 20-year inventory of capital needs, as well as a 5-year plan for future projects. Projects are reviewed and ranked annually by a citizen board. Despite continued funding efforts, the City Council remains concerned about a significant backlog in needed capital improvements.
We express appreciation for the input we received from City residents during this budget process, and we encourage you to remain active in City government. Working together, we can make decisions which will benefit our community for years to come.
For additional information on the City’s budget or any other issue, please call the Council Office at 535-7600, send us an email at council.comments@slcgov.com or visit us on the City’s Website at http://www.slcgov.com.
Sincerely,
David L. Buhler
Council Chair
Grant Submission Notification Memo
TO: Rocky Fluhart, Steve Fawcett, Cindy Gust-Jenson
FROM: Grant Acquisition Team
DATE: 10/4/2006
SUBJECT: Sorenson Computer Center
FUNDING AGENCY: Microsoft Unlimited Potential Grant
REQUESTED AMOUNT: $20,000
DEPARTMENT APPLYING: Salt Lake City Foundation
COLLABORATING AGENCIES: None
DATE SUBMITTED: October 4, 2006
SPECIFICS:
Technical Assistance (Training) Equipment Only
Provides 1 FTE Position(s)
Existing New Overtime Requires Funding After Grant
Explanation: Two .5 FTE computer instructor positions.
Match Required 0% In-Kind Cash
Computer Software Development In House Contract Services
New Program (City not performing function now)
GRANT DETAILS:
Salt Lake City Foundation is requesting $20,000 to fund:
One .5 FTE English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor
One .5 FTE computer skills instructor
Purchase of equipment for the computer construction course
The .5 FTE ESL instructor was paid for by Guadalupe Schools of Salt Lake for the past several years. Budget restrictions led to the Guadalupe School’s decision to cancel its funding of the position and the ESL class was discontinued this fall. The grants funds will allow the Sorenson Computer Center to begin offering the ESL class this winter.
The .5 FTE computer skills instructor is an existing position. The grant funds will expand the hours worked by the hourly employee.
Summary of project budget:
Microsoft Grant
Category Request
Personnel & Fringe
.5 FTE ESL instructor $5,400
.5 FTE computer skills instructor $7,400
Travel (2 staff attend regional computer training conference) $4,000
Supplies (24 refurbished computers and 1 projector) $2,200
Printing $1,000
Total $20,000
Grant Submission Update Memo
TO: Rocky Fluhart, Steve Fawcett, Cindy Gust-Jenson
FROM: Grant Acquisition Team
DATE: 10/4/2006
SUBJECT: Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration at Salt Lake City
FUNDING AGENCY: Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation
REQUESTED AMOUNT: $3,000
DEPARTMENT APPLYING: Salt Lake City Foundation
COLLABORATING AGENCIES: None
DATE SUBMITTED: September 30, 2006
SPECIFICS:
Technical Assistance (Training) Equipment Only
Provides FTE Position(s)
Existing New Overtime Requires Funding After Grant
Explanation:
Match Required 0% In Kind Cash
Computer Software Development In House Contract Services
New Program (City not performing function now)
GRANT DETAILS:
Salt Lake City Foundation submitted a grant application requesting $3,000 to support the 2006/2007 season of the Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration at Salt Lake City.
The Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation supported last year’s season with a grant of $2,500.
No matching funds are required.