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Higher-than-expected property tax revenue and the effects of whittling down spending over the last few years have led to a “healthy outlook” on Atherton’s finances, according to City Manager George Rodericks’ report to the City Council, which on June 19 unanimously approved a $10.4 million operating budget for the next fiscal year.
The 2013-14 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 also shows revenues totaling $10.8 million — a 5 percent increase over last year’s revenue — and a single-year revenue surplus of nearly $364,000.
The spending figure represents a slight increase over the $10.28 million budget for the current fiscal year.
Well over half of the town’s spending will be for police services, which has been allocated $5.58 million. The town’s parcel tax revenues account for 20 percent of that budget, according to the report.
Because the town has no sales tax revenue, which largely supports services in many other cities, it is dependent on parcel tax and property tax revenues. “Significant negative changes in either of these two revenue sources would have a significant effect on the town’s ability to provide services to the community and would create an ongoing structural deficit,” Mr. Rodericks wrote in the report.
The parcel tax will expire in June 2014, and the town is preparing to ask voters to renew the tax in November. Sixty percent of the tax revenue is designated for police services, and the remainder goes to public works projects.
In the new budget, three reserve funds total $4,069,641, including a $1.6 million contingency to cover emergencies and a $2.1 million “unassigned reserve.”
The council and the town’s Finance Committee have also been reviewing a five-year financial forecast, and have discussed strategies to pay down the town’s long-term liabilities for employee pensions and post-employment health care costs. The five-year forecast suggests that the town, in addition to paying the budgeted amounts for the annual required contributions, also contribute to a side fund to whittle down the long-term debt.
Although the council approved the budget as presented last week, some tweaking is expected in the coming months. In future meetings, the council and staff will discuss options including increasing the town’s code-enforcement budget, adding more funds to emergency-preparedness efforts, and allocating funds for the Town Center master plan.
In the coming months, the council is also expected to look at other revenue sources that would supplement parcel and property tax revenues.
Police services certainly take up a substantial portion of the revenue – $5.58 million of a $10.28 million budget. I hope Atherton is getting its money’s worth in policing.
As Mr. Carpenter has highlighted in the past the town has one of the highest per person costs in the area.
I believe that the numbers are being fudged by Rodericks so the pressure is off to get a sensible contract with the APOA. This is foolish. Even if the numbers are accurate, the parcel tax needs to go away or be severely reduced to benefit taxpayers. Atherton police officers are overpaid for the jobs they do. That is a separate issue from the PD being more expensive than it needs to be via outsourcing. Even if the police were kept internally, the compensation plan is way too rich. Atherton is the only city I know of that pays the cops’ pension costs for them. Ridiculous. But Cary Wiest and Elizabeth Lewis have a boss, and his name is John Mattes.
Maybe someone can help me as i have never understood this. Atherton claims it only source of revenue is ” it is dependent on parcel tax and property tax revenues.” I have also heard this used by many on this board and the Town Council…. So are the private schools and the one college no source of revenue? Also, what about the circus club? It has a complete horse program, a private club and do not forget it has a full bar – and I have never seen a reception of any type where they say the booze and food are tax free… I am sure there are other examples as well –
Robert, great questions. I do know that the Circus Club is tightly tied in with the Atherton police department. Former mayor Didi Fisher is a major factor in the Circus Club, and stalwart police supporter. APOA honcho Sherman Hall is a member of the Circus Club (figure that one out…the Atherton POA says they are underpaid, yet a union member is part of the Atherton country club). My guess is shady back room dealings exempted the Circus Club from taxes long ago.
It is important not to confuse the short term revenue increases from building permits, which cannot continue at the current rate, and from current property tax increases, which jumped dramatically with new construction but then will be constrained by Prop 13 limits, with assured long term revenue increases. The Town would be very wise to allocate as much as possible to paying down CURRENTLY underfunded pension liabilities and to augmenting existing reserves rather than using any of this increased short term revenue to increase the Town’s annual ‘running rate’ via higher salaries, additional staff and increased benefits.
Peter Carpenter and some of the other posters here must have been living in a different town than Atherton during last November’s election and are confusing results from another election with Atherton’s.
Educated consumers often choose to get higher quality for higher prices. That’s why some people shop at Macy’s, and others choose Neiman Marcus.
Last November, Atherton’s voters overwhelmingly decided that safety, response time, personal service, and higher quality officers all outweigh costs in terms of the Atherton police department. Atherton’s voters are willing to pay more to get more.
They decided that shortsightedly looking at costs is inappropriate. They decided that cost is not an issue, and cannot be an issue, in terms of how the Atherton police department is funded.
Peter Carpenter doesn’t get this. I will repeat this post on the other item suggesting he should be an interim council member since this confusion makes him totally unsuitable for that position.
None of the issues claimed by the above anonymous poster ( perhaps an Atherton police officer?) were in last November’s ballot. Those of us with the right to vote voted for individuals to serve as OUR council members.
Facts are important – as are identities.
The Atherton cops have decreed that they are exempt from budget and cost considerations in terms of their compensation negotiations.
Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.
All eyes will be on Elizabeth Lewis and Cary Wiest, who received their money and endorsement in the past election.
We need an interim council member who can represent residents, not cops.
Atherton cops will say anything and do anything to keep their easy jobs protected. Time to contract out. Let them see if they could really be hired by a real police department.
Y’all want a bunch of sheriffs occasionally cruising around like San Carlos???? Crazy. Call them up and ask a sheriff to bring in your mail, or babysit your alarms – can’t wait to hear their response!
Will say though, since the sheriffs took over in SC, with the local PD essentially eviscerated, it’s easier to drive down Laurel after a couple glasses of wine at their reasonable restaurants. Used to be a gauntlet – SCPD was famous for “pulling over” walkers if they thought they were stumbling!
Def a lot easier to get thru and out of there now.