TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOR CITY COUNCIL PACKET

OCTOBER 13, 2009

 

E-Session on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. in 12 East

 

*** SPECIAL E-SESSION *** Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. in 12 East

 

The October 14, 2009 Formal Meeting has been Cancelled.

 

 

 

POLICY SESSION AGENDA

 

1.

 

Council Information and Follow-up Requests/Consent Agenda/Call for an Executive Session/Reports and Budget Updates by the City Manager 

 

2.

 

Federal/Phoenix Joint Task Forces

3.

 

Valley Forward Awards

4.

 

Employee Service Recognition Announcements (NO REPORT)

 

5.

 

Budget Status Update and Calendar Recommendation

 

Packet Date:  October 9, 2009

 

 

CITY OF PHOENIX

CITY COUNCIL POLICY SESSION

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2009 - 2:00 P.M.

PHOENIX CITY HALL LOBBY,

ASSEMBLY ROOMS A, B, AND C

200 WEST WASHINGTON

 

 

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 38.431.02, notice is hereby given to the members of the City Council and to the general public that the City Council will hold a meeting open to the public on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 2:00 P.M. located in Phoenix City Hall Lobby, Assembly Rooms A, B, and C, 200 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona.  Council members may participate by telephone.  As indicated in the Agenda, the City Council may vote to go into Executive Session, which will not be open to the public, for the purpose of discussing those matters listed on the Agenda.

 

 

 

1:00 P.M. -

AN EXECUTIVE SESSION WAS CALLED FOR THIS TIME AT THE POLICY MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 29, 2009. 

 

THE TIMES LISTED FOR AGENDA ITEMS ARE ESTIMATED.  ITEMS MAY BE DISCUSSED EARLIER OR IN A DIFFERENT SEQUENCE.

 

ESTIMATED

1.    2:00 P.M.-

COUNCIL INFORMATION AND FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS.

 

This item is scheduled to give City Council members an opportunity to publicly request information or follow-up on issues of interest to the community.  If the information is available, staff will immediately provide it to the City Council member.  No decisions will be made or action taken.

 

CONSENT AGENDA.

 

There is no Consent Agenda for consideration this week.

 

CALL FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.

 

A vote to call an Executive Session may be held.

 

 

 

 

REPORTS AND BUDGET UPDATES BY THE CITY MANAGER.

 

This item is scheduled to allow the City Manager to report on changes in the City Council Agenda and provide brief informational reports on urgent issues.  The City Council may discuss these reports but no action will be taken.

 

ESTIMATED

2.      2:30  P.M.-

FEDERAL/PHOENIX JOINT TASK FORCES

Staff:  Washington, Harris
(Presentation 10 min.)

 

The purpose of this report is to provide information to the Mayor and City Council on the types of interagency cooperative agreements the Phoenix Police Department maintains with our federal law enforcement partners.

 

This item is for information only.  No City Council action is required.

 

Backup included in Council Packet/City Clerk's Office.

 

ESTIMATED

3.      2:40  P.M.-

VALLEY FORWARD AWARDS

Staff:  Seelhammer, Diane Brossart (Valley Forward Association) 
(Presentation 10 min.)

 

Valley Forward and SRP presented 18 first place Crescordia winners and 31 Awards of Merit through this year’s Environmental Excellence Awards program.  The awards set standards for achieving a balance between the built and natural environment in the region’s physical, technical, social, and aesthetic development.

 

This item is for information only.  No City Council action is required.

 

Backup included in Council Packet/City Clerk’s Office.

 

ESTIMATED

4.      2:50  P.M.-

EMPLOYEE SERVICE RECOGNITION ANNOUNCEMENTS (NO REPORT)

Staff:  Washington, Smith
(Presentation 10 min.)

 

This item is for information only.  No City Council action is required.

 

 

 

ESTIMATED

5.      3:00  P.M.-

BUDGET STATUS UPDATE AND CALENDAR RECOMMENDATION

Staff:  Zuercher, Gleason
(Presentation 10 min.)

 

This report provides our first discussion about the upcoming budget.  It is being presented about three months earlier than it would be in a year without a severe revenue shortfall.  In this early report, we provide results from the recently completed 2008-09 fiscal year, our initial estimates for the 2009-10 fiscal year, the limited information available for the 2010-11 fiscal year, and a recommended calendar for the 2010-11 budget process.   Staff recommends adopting the April calendar that requires final Council decisions in March with reductions to programs and services implemented in April.  This allows us to take advantage of 15 months of savings, while giving us time to understand the implications of labor negotiations on the 2010-11 budget.

 

This item is for information, discussion, and possible action.

 

Backup included in Council Packet/City Clerk's Office.

 

ESTIMATED

3:40  P.M.- ADJOURNMENT

 

For further information, please call the Management Intern, City Manager's Office, at 602-262-4449.

 

For reasonable accommodations, call the Management Intern at Voice/602-262-4449 or TTY/602-534-5500 as early as possible to coordinate needed arrangements.

 

Si necesita traducción en español, por favor llame a la oficina del gerente de la Ciudad de Phoenix, 602-262-4449 tres días antes de la fecha de la junta.

 

PHOENIX CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

 

Councilman DiCiccio

Councilman Gates

Councilman Johnson

Councilman Mattox

Councilwoman Neely

Councilman Nowakowski

Councilwoman Williams

Vice Mayor Simplot

Mayor Gordon

 

 

 

CITY COUNCIL REPORT

POLICY AGENDA

TO:

Alton J. Washington

Assistant City Manager

AGENDA DATE:

October 13, 2009

FROM:

Jack F. Harris

Public Safety Manager

ITEM:

 2

 

 

SUBJECT:

FEDERAL/PHOENIX POLICE JOINT TASK FORCES

 

 

The purpose of this report is to provide information to the Mayor and City Council on the types of interagency cooperative agreements the Phoenix Police Department maintains with our federal law enforcement partners.

 

THE ISSUE

 

For decades, the Phoenix Police Department has engaged in numerous successful interagency cooperative agreements in an effort to combat crime in the metropolitan Phoenix area.  Collectively through these efforts, thousands of criminals responsible for the commission of serious crimes such as homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, extortion, and narcotics trafficking have been arrested and brought to justice.  These collaborative efforts are an integral part of the Police Department’s crime suppression strategies.  They have proven to be an effective means in safeguarding our communities because they bring a variety of expertise and resources together that strengthen law enforcement operations and make overall crime fighting efforts more productive.

 

OTHER INFORMATION

 

With participation in more than a dozen task force operations with our federal partners, the following information serves to highlight just a few examples of current interagency cooperative agreements.

 

Home Invasion Kidnapping Enforcement (HIKE) Task Force

In late 2008, the Police Department established the HIKE Unit to address the sharp increases in the number of home invasion and kidnapping offenses attributed to drug trafficking and human smuggling groups operating in the Phoenix area.  The HIKE Task Force works in close partnership with a number of federal agencies as well as other valley law enforcement.  In the past year, efforts by the HIKE task force have resulted in several hundred adult arrests with charges consisting of kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault, extortion, smuggling, and weapons violations.

 

FBI Violent Street Gang Task Force (VSGTF)

The FBI Violent Street Gang Task Force (VSGTF) was formed in the early 1990s to investigate and combat violence and drug-related offenses attributed to gangs operating in the Phoenix metropolitan area.  Task force participants represent federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  Since 1994, the VSGTF has recorded involvement in more than 50 major gang investigations resulting in the arrest and incarceration of more than 1,000 violent felons and the seizure of cash and tangible assets totaling in excess of $4.5 million dollars.

 

FBI Bank Robbery Task Force

The FBI Bank Robbery Task Force was established in January 2009, to address the increased volume of bank robberies occurring in and around the Phoenix area.  This partnership was developed to team experienced investigators from local agencies with FBI agents who respond to and investigate all bank robberies in the greater Maricopa County area.  Task force participants represent federal, county, and local law enforcement agencies.  So far this year, the Task Force has responded to more than 170 bank robberies and 7 armored car robberies.  Of these incidents, they have solved 67% of the bank robberies and have captured 15 of 20 identified serial bank robbery suspects.

 

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA)

The Phoenix HIDTA initiative or Metro Intelligence Support and Technical Investigation Center (MISTIC) was established in 1999 to combat drug trafficking crimes in the Phoenix metropolitan area.  Phoenix participates in a number of multi-jurisdictional task force operations housed at MISTIC which include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force, the Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Team, and the Commercial Narcotic Interdiction Unit.  Since inception, collective efforts operating from MISTIC have resulted in the seizure of illegal drugs having a street value of nearly $200 million, the seizure of approximately $86 million in cash, and an estimated $72 million in other tangible assets, the identification of more than 500 clandestine drug labs, and the arrest of approximately 14,000 suspects.

 

Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force

The ICAC Task Force was established in 2000, to identify, arrest, and prosecute sexual predators who use the Internet to sexually exploit children.  The primary task force participants represent the FBI and the Phoenix Police Department; however, the team works frequently with agents from a number of other federal agencies.  Within Arizona, the ICAC Task Force is partnered with 54 agencies statewide.  Through this effort, Arizona detectives and special agents have conducted over 6,000 investigations resulting in the incarceration of hundreds of offenders.  Awareness and prevention training efforts have reached more than 36,000 thousand citizens and 3,200 law enforcement officers. 

 

Gun Enforcement Squad

In 2004, the Police Department formed a Gun Enforcement Squad to work in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to target violators of existing state and federal gun laws in an effort to prosecute those criminals contributing to the City’s violent crime rate.  The squad investigates all Phoenix weapons violation cases (carrying a concealed weapon, prohibited possessor, prohibited weapon), they work with ATF on federal weapons investigations, and they work with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on weapons cases involving illegal immigrants.  The squad averages more than 100 city-related weapons cases per month. 

 

Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC)

The ACTIC fusion center was established in 2004, and consolidates the resources of multiple federal, state and local agencies in one location.  The state-managed center is an all-crimes facility that emphasizes terrorist-related investigations.  ACTIC has been identified as a role model/best practice for fusion centers nationwide.  The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which the Phoenix Police Department partnered with in the mid-1990s, is housed at ACTIC. 

 

CONCLUSION

 

The interagency cooperative agreements described in this report represent a sample of the Police Department’s partnerships focused on identifying, apprehending and effectively prosecuting hard-core career criminals.  As a result of these and other efforts across the organization, hundreds of felony arrests have been made this past year in an effort to impact both the crime trends and the perception of safety in the community, as part of the larger focus of making Phoenix the “Safest Major City” in the nation.

 

This report is for information only.  No Council action is requested.

 

 

 

 

CITY COUNCIL REPORT

POLICY AGENDA

TO:

David Cavazos
Deputy City Manager

AGENDA DATE:

October 13, 2009

FROM:

Cynthia Seelhammer
Interim Water Services Director

ITEM:

 3

 

 

SUBJECT:

VALLEY FORWARD AWARDS

 

 

THE ISSUE

 

Valley Forward and SRP presented 18 first place Crescordia winners and 31 Awards of Merit through this year’s Environmental Excellence Awards program.  The awards set standards for achieving a balance between the built and natural environment in the region’s physical, technical, social and aesthetic development.

 

OTHER INFORMATION

 

This is a complete list of Environmental Excellence Awards Winners for 2009.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

This report is for information only.  No Council action is required.

 

 

 

CITY COUNCIL REPORT

POLICY AGENDA

TO:

Ed Zuercher

Deputy City Manager

AGENDA DATE:

October 13, 2009

FROM:

Cathleen Gleason

Budget and Research Director

ITEM:

 5

 

 

SUBJECT:

BUDGET STATUS UPDATE AND CALENDAR RECOMMENDATION

 

 

This report provides our first discussion about the upcoming budget.  It is being presented about three months earlier than it would be in a year without a severe revenue shortfall.  In this early report, we provide results from the recently completed 2008-09 fiscal year, our initial estimates for the 2009-10 fiscal year, the limited information available for the 2010-11 fiscal year, and a recommended calendar for the 2010-11 budget process.

 

GENERAL FUND RESULTS FOR THE LAST FISCAL YEAR

Pre-audit results for the 2008-09 fiscal year show that the General Fund ended the fiscal year with a carryover balance of $45.6 million.  Our estimated carryover was $35.8 million, providing an increase in General Fund resources of $9.8 million.  The increased carryover balance was solely due to departments spending less than their already reduced budgets over the last four months of the year.  Revenues were down $25.3 million from the reduced forecast while expenditures, transfers, and recoveries were down $35.1 million beyond departments’ reduced expenditure estimates.

 

The revenue variance is due to reduced collections in city and state-shared sales taxes.  After Council adopted the budget-balancing proposal in February, we continued to see double-digit declines in sales taxes throughout the remainder of 2008-09.  Reduced expenditures were achieved across almost all General Fund departments and in many line items.  Continuing the hiring freeze that has been in place since January 2008 also made a significant contribution to budget savings.  In addition, $20 million of the reduced expenditures can be attributed to the Police and Fire Departments in a wide variety of areas, including overtime and equipment.

 

Increased carryover balances provide an important resource for the following year’s budget.  They are important in responding to unexpected cost increases or revenue declines without utilizing the Contingency Fund.  The General Fund carryover balance is also important to maintaining our ratings for General Obligation Bonds.  Managing these balances during both good and bad economic times is an area where Phoenix excels.  This was demonstrated last week when Standard & Poor’s (AAA) and Moody’s (AA1) reaffirmed our bond ratings at the highest levels for municipalities.

 

YEAR-TO-DATE GENERAL FUND REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES

Revenues through the first part of last fiscal year were still relatively good, but dropped precipitously in the October period when we saw the national financial markets collapse.  At this time, we only have revenue data through two months and results continue to be well below last year’s actual revenue, running at a negative 12.6%.  Our forecasts predict that these negative growth percentages will subside as we get past the October drop from last year.

 

On the expenditure side, we have seen some costs go down compared to the budget.  For example, fuel costs are lower than projected and the hiring freeze continues to help keep personnel costs down.  Through three months, total GF expenditures are 10% below where they were last year at this time and about where we would expect them to be based on the 2009-10 budget.

 

OUTLOOK FOR THE 2009-10 AND 2010-11 FISCAL YEARS

We are just beginning our detailed expenditure reviews with departments for both this year (2009-10) and next (2010-11).  There have been many changes to programs and services due to last year’s cuts and the movement of hundreds of employees to different departments, often into lower-paying jobs.  With the dust settled, we are now in a better position to know the actual impact to expenditures of all these changes.  We are hopeful that the savings departments generated in the last four months of 2008-09 can be repeated in 2009-10.  For 2010-11, we expect to have increased employee costs for pension and health insurance.  With inflation low, other costs for 2010-11 should hold relatively constant.

 

On the revenue side, our early estimates are for a $65 to $95 million shortfall in sales tax for 2009-10.  This forecast assumes that city sales tax collections remain in the current $28 – $29 million per month range, and state-shared sales taxes remain in the current $8.5 – $9.5 million per month range throughout the rest of the fiscal year.  Any economic improvement that boosts sales tax will reduce the current estimated revenue shortfall.

 

The limited revenue information available for 2010-11 calls for General Fund revenue to be flat.  Local economists are predicting improvement in sales tax collections, but this will be offset by known reductions in state-shared income tax of about $47 million.  If sales tax collections do not improve as currently predicted, then revenues in 2010-11 would be down even further from our current dismal levels.  With no improvements expected in overall General Fund revenues, it will be essential to hold expenditures down.

 

CITY COUNCIL BUDGET SAVINGS AND REVENUE IDEAS

At the April 14, 2009 Policy meeting, the City Council discussed a number of ideas to create budget savings and revenue.  On May 12, 2009, Council approved staff’s recommendation to divide these ideas into short-term (summer 2009), medium-term (fall 2009) and long-term (winter 2009-10) implementation.  Included among those suggestions implemented so far are:  issuing an RFP for an outside consultant to review specific department operations for potential efficiency savings; reviewing revenue potential for naming and other rights arrangements for city assets; developing City property for solar power generation; reducing duplication of mailings and photocopying; and finding ways to reduce costs in ways that minimally impact services.  Staff will continue to report on the budget savings ideas suggested by Council.

 

One item raised by the Council was for staff to find ways to provide incentives for departments to produce expenditure savings, by allowing departments to keep more of the money they are able to save as an incentive to save more.  In response to this idea, the 3+9 technical review budget process this year will include an innovation that provides an incentive for departments to save by giving them credit toward their future budget cuts.  For example, if a department can reduce their estimated costs by 3% this year through efficiency measures, and ultimately budget cuts of x% are required, that department will only have to cut another x-3%.  This idea was recently presented to management and budget liaisons citywide and was well received.

 

SPECIAL REVENUE TASK FORCE

The Special Revenue Task Force was comprised of about 30 employees from a variety of departments who reviewed more than 300 ideas to raise revenue without raising taxes.  The goal of this task force was to raise $7.5 million over 2008-09 and 2009-10.  The Council approved a final list of 10 ideas in fall 2008.  After full analysis, it was expected that these 10 ideas would generate about $7.2 million in new or increased revenues.  More than $1.3 million was expected in 2008-09 and $5.8 million is expected in 2009-10.

 

The $5.8 million in new or increased revenue expected in 2009-10 was used to help balance the budget.  However, some ideas were not ultimately approved by the City Council, such as new right-of-way fees, while others took more time to implement than expected, such as the new false fire alarm fee.  It is too early to know the impact of other ideas such as marketing agreements and cell tower rental fees.  The increase to parking meter fees did produce the expected revenue for 2008-09 and is expected to do so for 2009-10.  In summary, the City will be short of the expected revenue for 2009-10 by more than $1 million.  This will be factored into our final budget estimates.

 

LABOR NEGOTIATIONS

Unlike many Arizona cities, the city of Phoenix operates under collective bargaining agreements.  These agreements are typically two-year contracts with each of our labor unions.  Current agreements are good through June 2010.  We will begin our negotiations process in December, with agreements usually reached by mid-April.  The impact of these new contracts to the 2010-11 budget will be unknown until final agreements are reached. 

 

BOND RATINGS AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Last week, the city of Phoenix sold $350 million in General Obligation bonds.  As a precursor to the sale, we asked both Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s to update our credit ratings.  Due to the very difficult local economy, it was possible that our credit might have been downgraded.  However, due to conservative financial leadership by the City Council and management staff, we were able to sustain our credit ratings at the highest levels given to municipalities – AAA with S&P and AA1 with Moody’s.  Our outlook remained “stable” with S&P, but went from “stable” to “negative” with Moody’s purely based on local economic conditions. 

 

Both rating agencies noted our strong financial management as a reason for maintaining our high ratings.  High ratings are important, not just for reducing the interest rate we pay, but also to ensure our ability to access the credit markets during times of turmoil.  During last year’s financial crisis, many cities were unable to sell debt at any interest rate.  Phoenix has continued to be able to sell bonds.  For these reasons, it is vitally important that we continue our long practice of acting early to deal with revenue shortfalls.  The City Council’s quick action last year was noted by the ratings agencies.

 

BUDGET CALENDAR

Since we expect to have a deficit this year, following the normal budget calendar is an undesirable option.  There are two proposals for early action, one that implements cuts in April, and one that implements cuts in May.  The table below compares some of the important budget calendar dates under these two options with a normal July calendar.

 

Item

July Calendar

April Calendar

May Calendar

Departments submit list of potential cuts

January 8

November 30

December 21

B&R finalizes budget-balancing proposal (with CMO & Depts.)

Not Applicable

By January 15

By February 5

Budget balancing proposal (Trial Budget) to Council

April 6

February 2

March 2

Community Budget Hearings

 

April 14 – 28

February 10 – 24

March 10 – 24

Final budget recommendations presented to Council

Not Applicable

March 2

April 6

Average date of first labor agreement

March 21

March 21

March 21

Cuts Implemented

 

Not Applicable

1st Week in April

1st Week in May

Average date of last labor agreement

April 21

April 21

April 21

 

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends adopting the April calendar that requires final Council decisions in March with reductions to programs and services implemented in April.  This allows us to take advantage of 15 months of savings, while giving us time to understand the implications of labor negotiations on the 2010-11 budget.

 

 

Last Modified on 10/09/2009 09:46:40