From: Board Secretary Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 4:39 PM To: VTA Board of Directors Subject: LAFCO's Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 VTA Board of Directors: Per LAFCO’s request, we are forwarding you their proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-18 (attached). Thank you. VTA Office of the Board Secretary Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority 3331 North First Street, Building B-1 San Jose, CA 95134-1927 Phone: 408-321-5680 E-mail: [email protected] From: Abello, Emmanuel [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 2:23 PM Cc: Palacherla, Neelima Subject: Proposed LAFCO Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-18 The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, City Clerks and Special District Clerks: Please distribute the proposed LAFCO Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-18 (attachment) to the members of your legislative bodies. Thank you. Emmanuel Abello, LAFCO Clerk LAFCO of Santa Clara County The LAFCO Office has moved! Please note the new address. 777 North First Street, Suite 410 San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 993-4705 www.santaclaralafco.org NOTICE: This email message and/or its attachments may contain information that is confidential or restricted. It is intended only for the individuals named as recipients in the message. If you are NOT an authorized recipient, you are prohibited from using, delivering, distributing, printing, copying, or disclosing the message or its content to others and must delete the message from your computer. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender by return email. April 17, 2017 TO : County Executive, Santa Clara County City Managers, Cities in Santa Clara County District Managers, Special Districts in Santa Clara County FROM: Neelima Palacherla, LAFCO Executive Officer SUBJECT: PROPOSED LAFCO BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018 Please find attached the Proposed LAFCO Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018, as approved by LAFCO at a public hearing on April 12, 2017. LAFCO is scheduled to consider adoption of its Final Budget at a public hearing on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, at 1:15 PM. The LAFCO meeting will be held in the Board Chambers, 70 West Hedding Street, San Jose. The County Auditor will invoice the cities, independent special districts and the County for LAFCO costs based on the Final Budget adopted by LAFCO. The attached Budget Report reviews the status of LAFCO’s current work plan and budget, sets forth a work plan for the upcoming fiscal year, and includes a proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 along with background information about the projected expenditures and revenues. Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. Attachment: Staff Report and Proposed LAFCO Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 cc: Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara County City Council Members, Cities in Santa Clara County Board of Directors, Special Districts in Santa Clara County Santa Clara County Cities Association Santa Clara County Special Districts Association LAFCO MEETING: April 12, 2017 TO: LAFCO FROM: Neelima Palacherla, Executive Officer SUBJECT: PROPOSED LAFCO BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 FINANCE COMMITTEE / STAFF RECOMMENDATION 1. Adopt the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018. 2. Find that the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 is expected to be adequate to allow the Commission to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. 3. Authorize staff to transmit the Proposed Budget adopted by the Commission including the estimated agency costs as well as the LAFCO public hearing notice on the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2018 Final Budget to the cities, the special districts, the County, the Cities Association and the Special Districts Association. BACKGROUND LAFCO Budget Process Requirements The Cortese Knox Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (CKH Act) which became effective on January 1, 2001, requires LAFCO, as an independent agency, to annually adopt a draft budget by May 1 and a final budget by June 15 at noticed public hearings. Both the draft and the final budgets are required to be transmitted to the cities, the special districts and the County. Government Code §56381(a) establishes that at a minimum, the budget must be equal to that of the previous year unless the Commission finds that reduced staffing or program costs will nevertheless allow it to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. Any unspent funds at the end of the year may be rolled over into the next fiscal year budget. After adoption of the final budget by LAFCO, the County Auditor is required to apportion the net operating expenses of the Commission to the agencies represented on LAFCO. LAFCO and the County of Santa Clara entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)(effective since July 2001), under the terms of which, the County provides staffing, facilities, and services to LAFCO. The associated costs are reflected in the proposed LAFCO budget. LAFCO is a stand-alone, separate fund within the County’s accounting/budget system and the LAFCO budget information is formatted using the County’s account descriptions/codes. Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Budget Timeline Dates Staff Tasks / LAFCO Action March 20 - Notice period, Draft Budget posted on LAFCO website and available for April 12 review and comment April 12 LAFCO public hearing on adoption of Draft Budget April 13 Draft Budget, draft apportionments and LAFCO public hearing notice on Final Budget transmitted to agencies June 7 Public hearing and adoption of Final Budget June 7 - Final Budget transmitted to agencies; Auditor requests payment from July 1 agencies LAFCO FINANCE COMMITTEE At its February 1, 2017 LAFCO meeting, the Commission appointed Commissioners Hall, Jimenez, and Wilson to the LAFCO Finance Committee, and directed the Committee to develop a draft budget for Commission consideration. The Finance Committee held a meeting on March 9, 2017. The Committee discussed issues related to the budget including the highlights and progress on the current year work plan, and the status of the current year budget. The Committee discussed the proposed work plan for Fiscal year 2018 and directed that staff (1.) prioritize the revision of the LAFCO fee schedule to reflect current staff rates; and the preparation of a policy on granting LAFCO fee waivers, in order to achieve full cost recovery and offset costs to funding agencies; (2.) include a work item to schedule and conduct a strategic planning workshop for the Commission; and (3.) prioritize the comprehensive review and update of LAFCO policies and procedures. The Committee considered Best Best & Krieger’s proposal for amending its existing legal counsel services agreement with LAFCO and incorporated the additional costs into the proposed budget (see discussion on page 5 of this report). STATUS OF CURRENT YEAR (FISCAL YEAR 2017) WORK PLAN AND BUDGET Attachment A depicts the current status of the work items/projects in the Fiscal Year 2017 Work Program. In addition to reviewing and processing LAFCO applications and engaging in various local / regional projects, a major focus of LAFCO’s work during this fiscal year centered on the LAFCO office space issue which included tasks such as assessing space needs for the LAFCO office, identifying/touring appropriate private Page 2 of 10 commercial space, negotiating a lease, preparing furniture layouts, acquiring furniture, coordinating IT/ phone connections, organizing the move from the county facility, packing/ unpacking LAFCO records, and settling in at the new quarters. This major effort required that other planning projects such as the development of a communications strategy be placed on hold. The LAFCO Annual Report which will be published at the end of the current fiscal year will document the applications processed by LAFCO and the various activities/projects that LAFCO has engaged in or completed in Fiscal Year 2017. Attachment B depicts the current Fiscal Year budget status. The adopted LAFCO budget for FY 2017 is $985,227. Based on information through the end of February 2017, total year-end projected expenditures for FY 2017 would be approximately $231,244 (23%) less than the adopted budget for FY 2017. Revenue for FY 2017 is projected to be approximately the same as that in the adopted budget for FY 2017. The County, the cities and the independent special districts paid their respective shares of LAFCO’s FY 2017 costs as apportioned by the County Controller. The actual fund balance rolled over at the end of FY 2016 was $293,489, which is approximately $18,595 ($293,489- $274,894) more than projected in the adopted FY 2017 budget. It is projected that there will be a savings or fund balance of approximately $246,839 at the end of Fiscal Year 2017, which will be carried over to reduce the proposed Fiscal Year 2018 costs for the funding agencies (cities, independent special districts and the County). Projected Year-End [FY 17] Fund Balance = (Projected Year-End [FY 17] Revenue + Actual Fund Balance from Previous Fiscal Year [FY 16] + Funds Received from Local Agencies in FY 17) – (Projected Year-End [FY 17] Expenses) = ($30,000+ 293,489 + $677,334) - $753,983 = $246,840 Please note that the fund balance excludes the set aside reserve totaling $174,000, a portion of which (approximately $66,000) is expected to be used by the end of FY 2017 to fund the LAFCO office move expenses, including furniture / IT purchases and office space rent for the current fiscal year. The remaining amount (approximately $108,000) will be rolled over to the next year as the reserve. PROPOSED WORK PROGRAM FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018 LAFCO is mandated by the state to process jurisdictional boundary change applications in accordance with provisions of the Cortese Knox Hertzberg Act. Associated with this mandate, LAFCO has several responsibilities/requirements including but not limited to adopting written policies and procedures, maintaining a website, serving as a conducting authority for protest proceedings and conducting public hearings and providing adequate public notice.