1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,520 All right. Good evening. Welcome 2 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:05,279 everyone. Like to call town council to 3 00:00:05,279 --> 00:00:06,799 order. 4 00:00:06,799 --> 00:00:10,000 Can we have roll call? Veronica. 5 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,320 >> Council member Walter 6 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,280 present. Council member Hasco here. 7 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:16,880 Council member Flynn 8 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:17,440 >> here. 9 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:19,039 >> Vice Mayor Hufty 10 00:00:19,039 --> 00:00:19,680 >> here. 11 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:20,800 >> Mayor Taylor 12 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:21,279 >> present. 13 00:00:21,279 --> 00:00:22,400 >> We have a quorum. 14 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,199 >> Thank you. All right. The third item on 15 00:00:25,199 --> 00:00:26,800 the agenda is a report out from close 16 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:27,920 session. Katherine. 17 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,599 >> Uh thank you, Mayor, Council. Uh the 18 00:00:29,599 --> 00:00:31,359 council met in close session prior to 19 00:00:31,359 --> 00:00:34,000 tonight's regular meeting to uh conduct 20 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,840 the annual performance evaluation of the 21 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,200 town manager and provide um direction to 22 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:41,680 uh the town attorney um as his labor 23 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,000 negotiator. Nothing to report out. Thank 24 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:44,559 you. 25 00:00:44,559 --> 00:00:46,320 >> Thank you. 26 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,320 All right, moving on to number four, 27 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,399 presentations and proclamations. So 28 00:00:50,399 --> 00:00:54,320 tonight we have a com com, excuse me, a 29 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:56,000 commemoration honoring the life, 30 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,640 leadership, and enduring leg legacy of 31 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,760 former Portola Valley Mayor Edward C. 32 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,119 Ted as we all knew him, Briscoll. Um, 33 00:01:05,119 --> 00:01:06,960 and I'd just like to give all the 34 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,119 council members just a short moment to say, you know, whatever their 35 00:01:11,119 --> 00:01:12,720 thoughts are on Ted, and then I will 36 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,600 basically hand the um commemoration to 37 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:17,280 the family. Um, and we really appreciate 38 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,400 you coming here tonight. Thank you. So, 39 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,360 should we start Mary? 40 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,119 Well, uh Ted was a a was an 41 00:01:27,119 --> 00:01:33,920 inspirational leader for all of us and uh he uh never failed in his 42 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,400 optimism and he was did a wonderful job 43 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,000 with of course our town center in an 44 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,720 effort that uh those of us who resist 45 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,799 change resisted uh mightily and he made 46 00:01:46,799 --> 00:01:50,479 a beautiful center a culturally alive 47 00:01:50,479 --> 00:01:54,079 uh meaningful place in our town and we 48 00:01:54,079 --> 00:01:56,560 deeply appreciate it. 49 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,719 Also, as the more I've researched him, 50 00:01:58,719 --> 00:02:02,079 the more impressive he gets. So, thank 51 00:02:02,079 --> 00:02:04,560 you for sharing him with us for those 52 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:06,079 many years. 53 00:02:06,079 --> 00:02:07,920 >> Thank you, Barry. Judah. 54 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,800 >> Yeah. Uh the town certainly benefited 55 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,040 from all of his efforts on it on our 56 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,920 behalf. Um uh Ted actually was one 57 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:19,680 interviewed me for the planning 58 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,680 commission with Steve Tobin and um I 59 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,840 just I it made a huge difference um the 60 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,680 way he was interacting, the way he was 61 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,200 describing the opportunities and you 62 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,160 know being frank about the downsides. Um 63 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,959 it was a great conversation and I'm not 64 00:02:40,959 --> 00:02:43,280 sure I would have stepped up at that 65 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,319 point if not for him. So on a personal 66 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:50,400 level he he made a huge difference and 67 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:51,760 you know looking forward I'm sure I'm 68 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,400 not the only one with that tale to tell. 69 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,840 So he really did inspire people to step 70 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:59,920 forward and volunteer in the good portal 71 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:03,280 valley spirit. So, we really appreciate 72 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,640 Ted and you you his family uh sharing 73 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,519 him with us. Thank you, 74 00:03:09,519 --> 00:03:10,640 >> Rebecca. 75 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,800 >> Yeah. Yeah. I first met Ted um through 76 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,560 the town center renewal project and um I 77 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,920 was very impressed with how much he went 78 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:23,440 out to the community and listened to um 79 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,440 so many people's opinions and 80 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,159 perspectives on this. And I was also 81 00:03:28,159 --> 00:03:30,080 really impressed with how informed he 82 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,319 was about the whole the the whole green 83 00:03:32,319 --> 00:03:34,879 building uh features of the comm of the 84 00:03:34,879 --> 00:03:37,840 town center. And he really pushed to put 85 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:39,200 those and to get us our lead 86 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,200 certification so that the town could 87 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,040 actually be the town center could be 88 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,519 sort of a a goal for many other 89 00:03:45,519 --> 00:03:48,159 communities. So um I I was very 90 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:50,159 impressed with how smart he was and how 91 00:03:50,159 --> 00:03:53,440 kind he was. Thanks, 92 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,439 >> Helen. Um, so while I was raised here, I 93 00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:01,680 actually didn't know your dad. Um, but I 94 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,040 had, you know, my parents knew him and I 95 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,840 always heard about your dad. Um, and for 96 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,080 those of us who grew up here, you know, 97 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,319 like I learned to drive over where the 98 00:04:12,319 --> 00:04:14,000 tennis court was in front of the old 99 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,519 building over there, right? Like round 100 00:04:15,519 --> 00:04:17,600 and round in the big parking lot. So 101 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,280 that your dad had the vision to help 102 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:23,440 create what we have today. I really 103 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:25,520 appreciate and [clears throat] um and 104 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,160 I'm sorry for your loss and that please 105 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,160 know that I am um grateful that he would 106 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,280 that he guided our town as like he did. 107 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,639 So thank you. 108 00:04:38,639 --> 00:04:40,880 >> And I would just echo the comments of my 109 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,600 fellow council members. For people who 110 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,840 haven't been here, 111 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:48,720 the town center that we sit in now, 112 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,520 which is the cultural heart of Portola 113 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,880 Valley, was driven by TED. Ted made it 114 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,880 happen. I mean, other people were 115 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,040 certainly involved, but without Ted's 116 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:00,479 leadership, it it would not have 117 00:05:00,479 --> 00:05:02,560 happened. Um, and I was here when there 118 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,479 were people who were against it. I mean, 119 00:05:04,479 --> 00:05:06,320 as hard as it is to believe today, how 120 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,000 beautiful it is that people would have 121 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,600 been against this, but at the time they 122 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,120 were. Um and and Ted drove it forward, 123 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,600 has Cherrettes brought people together 124 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,160 to make it happen. So again, I I think 125 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:19,919 we were so lucky to have him both 126 00:05:19,919 --> 00:05:22,160 serving as a council member and 127 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,560 basically having a vision for what we 128 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,639 could have here at the town center. So 129 00:05:26,639 --> 00:05:28,479 again, thank you so much. Thank you for 130 00:05:28,479 --> 00:05:30,400 the family for sharing him with all of 131 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,639 us in Portola Valley. It's greatly 132 00:05:32,639 --> 00:05:34,880 appreciated. And with that, I would like 133 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,360 to hand you a proclamation. So thank you 134 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,039 for coming tonight. And I'll walk to 135 00:05:39,039 --> 00:05:52,230 you. You don't have to come up to me. 136 00:05:52,240 --> 00:06:04,174 » Exactly. 137 00:06:04,184 --> 00:06:06,950 [laughter] 138 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:14,790 Thank you. 139 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,400 We We're not going to do our moment of 140 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,309 silence. 141 00:06:20,319 --> 00:06:21,600 Do Do you want to do a moment of 142 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:22,560 silence? 143 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:28,560 >> I think they're left. I don't know. We can do a moment of silence. I mean, 144 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,120 we give him the proclamation. 145 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:32,720 I I'm I'm good with that. Why Why don't 146 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,120 we just take a moment um and just 147 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:36,319 remember some of the great things that 148 00:06:36,319 --> 00:07:06,390 Ted did for this town? Thank you. 149 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,280 All right. So, I'm going to move on to 150 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,479 the next one. But, um, again, I think it 151 00:07:12,479 --> 00:07:14,960 Ted was deeply appreciated by this town. 152 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,080 Uh I I wanted to just say that one of 153 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,720 the things that have come out of this is 154 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,400 u that the uh historic resource 155 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,000 committee is working hard on the 156 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,599 archives the historic resource and uh 157 00:07:29,599 --> 00:07:32,800 we're hoping to have sort of a the 158 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,080 personalities of the town and and a 159 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,880 commemorative page at some point come 160 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,039 out of that effort. 161 00:07:41,039 --> 00:07:43,599 >> Great. Well, look forward to it. All 162 00:07:43,599 --> 00:07:44,720 right. All right, with that I'm going to 163 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,039 close number four and move on to number 164 00:07:47,039 --> 00:07:49,039 five, the town manager report. Darcy? 165 00:07:49,039 --> 00:07:51,440 >> Yes. Good evening. Darcy Smith, town 166 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,560 manager. I'll give a brief report. First 167 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,160 of all, thank you for everyone who 168 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,800 attended our last summer concert series. 169 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,360 I think I saw many of you there and it was packed to be honest. I would say 170 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,560 for the next one, which is August 6, get 171 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,440 there early, get your little spot on the 172 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:14,319 lawn with your blanket and enjoy it. 173 00:08:14,319 --> 00:08:16,240 I have a housing element amendment 174 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,879 update which is that we've checked the 175 00:08:18,879 --> 00:08:22,960 box submitted it the state housing and 176 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,199 community development department and 177 00:08:25,199 --> 00:08:27,840 they have 60 days to respond and they 178 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:29,280 will either give us another comment 179 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:32,399 letter or they might might certify it. 180 00:08:32,399 --> 00:08:34,880 Um but that will happen midepptember and 181 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:36,560 then the plan would be to bring it back 182 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:39,680 to the council as soon as possible. 183 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:43,360 So, thank you to all the council and the 184 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:45,920 planning commission and our committees 185 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,000 and the staff who helped this happen. It 186 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,640 is a certainly an important milestone to 187 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:52,959 move forward and as you know remove the 188 00:08:52,959 --> 00:08:54,959 Dorothy Ford Park and open space site 189 00:08:54,959 --> 00:08:56,959 from the housing element and replace it 190 00:08:56,959 --> 00:08:58,320 with three other sites that we're really 191 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,240 excited about. 192 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,240 And then an important note to the 193 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,080 community, our next council meeting on 194 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,519 August 12th will be cancelled and the 195 00:09:07,519 --> 00:09:09,440 next meeting of the town council will be 196 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:11,440 August 26th. 197 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,920 And that said, the town halls town hall 198 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,640 will remain completely open. So we are 199 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,279 there in the mornings and frankly it's 200 00:09:19,279 --> 00:09:21,200 been very busy in the mornings. So we 201 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,080 welcome you in at and we open at 8:30 if 202 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:25,839 you want to come in. And that concludes 203 00:09:25,839 --> 00:09:28,000 my short report. Thank you. 204 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,800 >> Thank you Darcy. Any 205 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,200 questions for the town manager? No. No. 206 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:34,880 Good. All right. So then moving on to 207 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,279 oral communications. So I'll open this 208 00:09:37,279 --> 00:09:40,560 up to the public. These is basically for 209 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:42,399 anything that we've discussed up to this 210 00:09:42,399 --> 00:09:44,560 point and any other things that are not 211 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,920 on tonight's agenda. So I don't see any 212 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,990 hands in the schoolhouse 213 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,710 and I don't see any hands online. 214 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:58,320 Okay. So, with that, I'm going to close 215 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,080 oral communications and move on to the 216 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:08,070 consent agenda. 217 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,360 So, are there any public comments on the 218 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,519 consent agenda? 219 00:10:13,519 --> 00:10:15,040 Again, I don't see any in the 220 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,519 schoolhouse. 221 00:10:17,519 --> 00:10:20,240 I don't see any online. 222 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:21,360 All right. So, I'm going to bring it 223 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:23,279 back to the council. Are there any 224 00:10:23,279 --> 00:10:26,560 consent ag consent agenda items that a 225 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:28,480 council member wants to pull? 226 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,880 >> No. No. No. All right. Then I would 227 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,880 accept a motion to approve the consent 228 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:34,160 agenda. 229 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:37,519 >> I move to approve the consent agenda. 230 00:10:37,519 --> 00:10:38,160 >> Second. 231 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:39,519 >> Thank you. We have a motion and a 232 00:10:39,519 --> 00:10:42,640 second. All in favor say I. 233 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:43,839 >> I. I. 234 00:10:43,839 --> 00:10:45,600 >> Any opposed? 235 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,680 All right. I hear no opposition. All 236 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,000 right. Moving on to number eight. 237 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,920 Regular agenda. First topic is the 238 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,880 considering considering adoption of a 239 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:01,440 resolution authorizing an additional um 240 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,839 sorry 241 00:11:03,839 --> 00:11:06,560 basically this is a um consideration of 242 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:08,000 whether we should spend more money on 243 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,519 the auditing to accelerate the audits. 244 00:11:11,519 --> 00:11:24,870 Tony 245 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,120 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, 246 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,440 members of council. Uh tonight I 247 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,600 tonight's item staff is asking STE uh 248 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:33,360 council to recommend to adopt a 249 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,839 resolution authorizing an additional 250 00:11:35,839 --> 00:11:38,480 45,000 in general fund appropriation in 251 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,720 the current year in order to expedite 252 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:42,240 the completion of the audits for fiscal 253 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:57,829 year um 23 24 and for fiscal year 2425. 254 00:11:57,839 --> 00:12:06,870 origins. 255 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,560 So, um in our meetings with Maize and 256 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:12,079 Associates, 257 00:12:12,079 --> 00:12:15,200 um who is the town auditor, 258 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,600 um they agreed to do fiscal years 23, 259 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:24,720 24, and 245 uh concurrently. Um and 260 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,399 since uh financial 261 00:12:28,399 --> 00:12:30,000 um responsibility and long-term 262 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,079 viability is one of the highest council 263 00:12:32,079 --> 00:12:35,040 priorities, uh one strategy was 264 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,360 completing the backlog of the audits. 265 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,639 And it's uh it's time we uh put these to 266 00:12:40,639 --> 00:12:44,720 bed. And um so in our conversations with 267 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,040 Maize, they did propose a very 268 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,000 aggressive schedule. I'm happy to report 269 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,000 that we have reached the first two 270 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,800 milestones. Uh the first one was on July 271 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,480 20th. We were to have trial balances and 272 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,440 uh prepared by client checklist items 273 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,399 which was schedules. Um it was about 30 274 00:13:04,399 --> 00:13:06,959 for each fiscal year. uh we were able to 275 00:13:06,959 --> 00:13:10,320 produce about 95% of what the auditors 276 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,079 had asked for and um on the 20th uh the 277 00:13:14,079 --> 00:13:16,480 auditors did confirm receipt and that 278 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,040 they were uh have what they need in 279 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,839 order to meet the deadline of uh issuing 280 00:13:21,839 --> 00:13:25,200 both financial statements by October 15, 281 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:26,720 2026. 282 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,839 Um this chart is the schedule as as I 283 00:13:29,839 --> 00:13:31,760 stated the trial balances and the PBC 284 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,440 checklists were due to Mays on the 20th. 285 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,079 we did meet that goal. Um I have already 286 00:13:38,079 --> 00:13:40,240 received the first analytical review 287 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,600 questions for fiscal year 24. Um I am 288 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,519 almost completed with my review of that. 289 00:13:45,519 --> 00:13:47,600 We'll probably have that back to Maze 290 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,639 either tomorrow or Friday. Uh and then 291 00:13:50,639 --> 00:13:53,839 they will send 25 uh when that is done. 292 00:13:53,839 --> 00:13:58,399 And then looking at uh next month um 293 00:13:58,399 --> 00:13:59,920 we'll have the analytical review 294 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,199 questions before August 10th and then 295 00:14:03,199 --> 00:14:05,839 we'll have May's conducting fieldwork 296 00:14:05,839 --> 00:14:08,720 through August 21st and hopefully with 297 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,560 the first draft of financial statements 298 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:13,519 by August 25th and then the next few 299 00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:16,240 weeks will be final review revisions and 300 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,760 approval. Um when the draft financial 301 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:21,199 statements are available we will be 302 00:14:21,199 --> 00:14:23,680 taking them to the finance committee. uh 303 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,839 before coming to council. Uh so plan on 304 00:14:27,839 --> 00:14:31,519 the second meeting in October for the 305 00:14:31,519 --> 00:14:34,800 financial statements for 23 24 and 2425 306 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,399 to be brought to council for acceptance. 307 00:14:38,399 --> 00:14:42,160 So yes uh some considerations for the 308 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:43,360 before adopting the resolution number 309 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:45,199 one. Yes, we are asking for an 310 00:14:45,199 --> 00:14:47,279 additional 45,000 appropriation for the 311 00:14:47,279 --> 00:14:49,440 current year. By doing so, we'll be able 312 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:51,199 to reduce the finance department's 313 00:14:51,199 --> 00:14:54,320 budget by $95,000 in the next fiscal 314 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,800 year. U, but one tradeoff is that um 315 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,279 with this being a priority uh for the 316 00:15:01,279 --> 00:15:04,320 finance staff and myself personally, um 317 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,519 the we will be delaying in hiring the 318 00:15:07,519 --> 00:15:10,320 finance manager until uh probably 319 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,320 October before we can even start the 320 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,160 recruitment. Um and it's not just for 321 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:15,760 the audit. There's also other projects 322 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,160 that are coming online as well. We're 323 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,320 going to be bringing to council uh the 324 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,480 street resurfacing contract probably in 325 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,040 September and then October or in August 326 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,279 we'll also be bringing a contract for an 327 00:15:27,279 --> 00:15:29,600 IT service provider as well. So these 328 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,000 are some items that are on my plate as 329 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,360 well and we'll be getting those off my 330 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,839 plate as well. 331 00:15:35,839 --> 00:15:38,480 And um if you look on the chart on the 332 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,560 right, which is the finance department's 333 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,959 budget, uh the amount adopted was 334 00:15:42,959 --> 00:15:44,639 96,000. 335 00:15:44,639 --> 00:15:47,519 U we're asking for an additional 336 00:15:47,519 --> 00:15:50,880 $45,000. We did have $50,000 budgeted 337 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,120 for miscellaneous consultants. Uh the 338 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,320 plan was to bring in a an additional 339 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,800 person to augment uh staff and just 340 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,000 focus on the 2324 audit. Uh but since 341 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,320 May came back with the the proposal, 342 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,880 we're just going to bite the bullet and 343 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,199 uh just get these audits done. So we'll 344 00:16:09,199 --> 00:16:11,199 be reducing miscellaneous consultants by 345 00:16:11,199 --> 00:16:13,519 50,000, but we will be increasing the 346 00:16:13,519 --> 00:16:15,519 accounting and auditing line by 95, 347 00:16:15,519 --> 00:16:18,959 which is a net 45. Um also, if there's 348 00:16:18,959 --> 00:16:21,519 any other overages since we're delaying 349 00:16:21,519 --> 00:16:23,199 hiring the finance manager, we'll have 350 00:16:23,199 --> 00:16:25,440 some salary savings as well uh to cover 351 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,000 any overages as well. 352 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,759 So that concludes my report. Back to 353 00:16:29,759 --> 00:16:31,279 council for questions. 354 00:16:31,279 --> 00:16:33,920 Thank you, Tony. And I'd just like to 355 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,000 add to this that I think Tony probably 356 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,160 spent 30 hours last weekend working on 357 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:39,279 this. So, 358 00:16:39,279 --> 00:16:41,680 >> as a staff, we spent over 100 hours 359 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:42,720 personally. 360 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,240 >> I mean, I did 30 hours over the weekend, 361 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:44,639 but 362 00:16:44,639 --> 00:16:46,000 >> yeah, in addition in addition to all 363 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:47,759 your staff time. So, I'm I'm just saying 364 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:50,079 finance staff is on this and and it's 365 00:16:50,079 --> 00:16:51,839 greatly appreciated. So, questions for 366 00:16:51,839 --> 00:16:54,720 Tony on this? 367 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,040 >> I I have a couple. Um, these are pretty 368 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,360 straightforward. Um, but Tony, you're saying we're putting off the 369 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,279 hiring of the finance director. Is that 370 00:17:03,279 --> 00:17:06,400 because it would take time, your time? 371 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:07,120 >> Yes. I mean, 372 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:09,280 >> do that and we have to 373 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,240 >> do applications, do interviews. Um, I 374 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:13,679 just do not have that in my 375 00:17:13,679 --> 00:17:15,280 >> Yeah. And I understand. I just wanted to 376 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,679 make sure I was following the rationale. 377 00:17:17,679 --> 00:17:20,799 >> And then in terms of the 378 00:17:20,799 --> 00:17:24,720 next year's savings, just explain that 379 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:25,919 to me one more time. 380 00:17:25,919 --> 00:17:27,439 >> Right. So we we're not going to be 381 00:17:27,439 --> 00:17:29,360 having $50,000 for additional 382 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,200 consultants and we're also not going to 383 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,240 have 384 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:33,919 >> two audits. Will we actually be paying 385 00:17:33,919 --> 00:17:34,400 for one? 386 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,000 >> Oh, we're we're frontloading this year. 387 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:36,320 Yeah. 388 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,360 >> Okay. Thanks. 389 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:40,640 >> Other questions? Helen? 390 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,400 >> Yeah. Go ahead. 391 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,280 >> So um I know that we've had some public 392 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,160 comments about trying to get 393 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,360 these audits done potentially before, 394 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:53,440 you know, if we vote tonight to put this 395 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,600 on the ballot. Um, and I'm so I'm 396 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,520 wondering how much 397 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,000 bec was was this decision like 398 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,720 recommendation based on that idea to 399 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,039 have it done before the potential ballot 400 00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:10,480 measure? 401 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:12,960 >> That was part of it, but the other part 402 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:14,880 of it is we just we just need to get 403 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,120 these done 404 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:21,360 >> because if if we didn't do this when 405 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:23,919 remind me when it would be done. we 406 00:18:23,919 --> 00:18:26,720 would still be one or two years behind 407 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,679 going forward. Um but with bringing in 408 00:18:29,679 --> 00:18:31,200 the finance manager, we could probably 409 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,039 catch up with one more, but then next 410 00:18:33,039 --> 00:18:34,799 year we would still be two years behind. 411 00:18:34,799 --> 00:18:36,240 And so it would we would still be 412 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,480 playing catch-up. Um but it probably 413 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,799 would be until 2728 414 00:18:40,799 --> 00:18:42,559 that we would have had all the audits 415 00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:43,760 caught up. 416 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:48,160 >> Got it. Okay. Um Okay. Thank you. That's 417 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,559 my question. And and one other thing I 418 00:18:50,559 --> 00:18:52,080 can mention just because I was involved 419 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,880 talking to Maze is we now have a partner 420 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,679 doing our audits. So that's the way we 421 00:18:57,679 --> 00:18:59,919 made this work is they didn't have their 422 00:18:59,919 --> 00:19:02,000 normal sort of auditing staff to do this 423 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,039 because they're already they're going to 424 00:19:03,039 --> 00:19:04,960 be booked in August, but we got a 425 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:06,720 partner who said I'm going to cancel my 426 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:08,880 vacation to work on this stuff. So 427 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,679 that's we all along the line here we've 428 00:19:11,679 --> 00:19:13,200 gotten people who we've moved this stuff 429 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,200 around. So, I think we're both The other 430 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:16,640 thing is it's going to cost us a little 431 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:18,320 bit more, but we're getting a higher 432 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,000 quality auditor on our audits for the 433 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:23,360 next two years. So, I think that's 434 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,600 another great plus. Other questions for 435 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:26,480 Tony? 436 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,960 >> Yeah. Um, yeah, I just I really 437 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:30,799 appreciate how much effort you and 438 00:19:30,799 --> 00:19:33,440 others put into actually 439 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,520 finding a solution with Maze to get this 440 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:39,200 work done. Um, I I understand that it 441 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,440 makes sense not to delay hiring the 442 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,679 finance manager because of the bandwidth 443 00:19:43,679 --> 00:19:45,919 to actually find somebody, but I am a 444 00:19:45,919 --> 00:19:48,080 little concerned about um what type of 445 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,000 support you might need for some of the 446 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,840 finance tasks given that I think you're 447 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,799 doing at least three jobs now. I just 448 00:19:54,799 --> 00:19:57,039 kind of want to understand a little bit 449 00:19:57,039 --> 00:20:00,240 um what support you would need just for 450 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,240 some of the to offload a little bit 451 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,080 while you focus on the audits and the 452 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,320 other jobs. Um 453 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:08,880 >> I I'm happy [clears throat] to say that 454 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,120 staff are 455 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,160 happy and willing to if whatever I need. 456 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,679 Um the finance staff um has been my own 457 00:20:17,679 --> 00:20:20,160 personal pet project since I started. Uh 458 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,760 and it's been training and getting their 459 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,840 skills up to date. Uh and they are hund 460 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,880 times better than when I started. Uh so 461 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,840 there's that's lessened the load for me 462 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:33,679 a little bit. Um, but I mean there's 463 00:20:33,679 --> 00:20:36,400 still I still have my day-to-day, you 464 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,039 know, I have to review and post and and 465 00:20:39,039 --> 00:20:41,200 you just because of internal controls. 466 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,000 Um, but the other duties, every other 467 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,640 staff member is stepping up and, you 468 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:48,960 know, you if I don't have the answer 469 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,120 that they they can help me out as well. 470 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:56,880 Uh so it's it's um and um personal note 471 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:02,240 um I I enjoy a challenge and so it's 472 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:07,120 kind of been my career has been every position I've 473 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:09,120 held has been a challenge in some sort 474 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:12,240 of way. Uh so but I'm very happy to say 475 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,640 that staff is stepping up and supporting 476 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,080 me uh in my role. And then my second 477 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:19,440 question was well well I guess I have 478 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,520 three in all. Um you had said something 479 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:23,039 about capital projects that I didn't 480 00:21:23,039 --> 00:21:24,960 quite catch. Um 481 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,320 >> uh we'll be bringing the street 482 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,600 resurfacing uh projects in September 483 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,280 >> and that's with our interim 484 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,200 >> public managers handling that right now. 485 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:34,559 Yeah. Okay. 486 00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:38,159 >> Um and then my last question was um 487 00:21:38,159 --> 00:21:40,480 I know that the there's a certain number 488 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,320 of years you can work with each auditor. 489 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,400 >> Mhm. And um with Maize we we've managed 490 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,320 that by working with a new partner and 491 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,360 then what is the plan for 2520? Do we 492 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:53,600 need will we need to recruit a new 493 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,520 completely new auditor or 494 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,919 >> No, it'll be technically it'll be year 495 00:21:57,919 --> 00:22:00,320 three with this partner. 496 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:00,960 >> Okay. 497 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,840 >> Have three additional years. Um but then 498 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,159 I mean but we can always revisit that. 499 00:22:06,159 --> 00:22:09,600 But yes, every six years we're to rotate 500 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:11,679 auditing firms unless they have multiple 501 00:22:11,679 --> 00:22:14,320 partners. And as long as we can rotate 502 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,720 partners, then we can stay with the same 503 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:17,440 firm. 504 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:22,559 >> But I'm very pleased with May stepping up 505 00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:24,480 and helping us get through this and 506 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,880 being a partner for us. 507 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,200 >> Great. Thank you. 508 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:30,880 >> All right. Any other questions for Tony 509 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,840 before I open up the public? Okay. No. 510 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,159 All right. Are there any questions for 511 00:22:36,159 --> 00:22:38,159 Tony or comments? I guess I should say 512 00:22:38,159 --> 00:22:41,280 for Tony um in the schoolhouse. All 513 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,120 right. So, I don't see anybody's hand 514 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:45,520 raised in the schoolhouse 515 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:50,149 and I don't see any hands online. 516 00:22:50,159 --> 00:22:51,440 All right. So, I'm going to bring it 517 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,240 back to the council for discussion and 518 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,320 potential approval. 519 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,080 So, who would like to start? 520 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,480 >> Um, go ahead. Um, thank you so much. Um, 521 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,919 we it is going to be so great to move 522 00:23:07,919 --> 00:23:11,760 beyond the discussion of why we're late 523 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,240 and revisiting history. And and frankly, 524 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,280 this is an opportunity to turn the page 525 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,559 and get things right. And I think that's 526 00:23:20,559 --> 00:23:24,559 part of our priorities uh was to move us 527 00:23:24,559 --> 00:23:28,320 into position to get it right. Um I do 528 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,679 admire your tenacity and challenge uh 529 00:23:31,679 --> 00:23:34,320 love of a challenge. So uh on a personal 530 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,720 level, thank you so much for applying 531 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,600 that energy here. Um you know, I know we 532 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,240 don't want to pay more than we have to 533 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,000 at this moment in our town's history, 534 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,480 but this opens up so many better 535 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,240 possibilities. 536 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,880 um grants are going to be more easily 537 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,880 available to us. That that to me this is 538 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,760 a pretty straightforward uh analysis and 539 00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,200 I'm very grateful we have the 540 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,440 opportunity. So I I support it 541 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,320 >> and it will also free up my time. 542 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,590 >> Very important. 543 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,960 » Yes, I'm I'm totally in support and uh 544 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,200 this makes a lot of sense. I'm just so 545 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,919 glad we can finally see the finish line 546 00:24:15,919 --> 00:24:21,269 and uh go for it. 547 00:24:21,279 --> 00:24:23,840 » Yeah. Yeah. I want to um echo what my 548 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,240 colleagues have said as well and I think 549 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,480 it's um 550 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,120 the reasons to accelerate these audits 551 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,120 is that it's very important that we 552 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,640 communicate to the residents that that 553 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,080 our uh our financial documents are very 554 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,120 high quality that um particularly since 555 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:45,360 you've come on board and all the 556 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,039 incredible work that you've put in as 557 00:24:47,039 --> 00:24:49,840 well as your team um in fixing all the 558 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,840 problems that were identified us before 559 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,200 you arrived. Um I I think it's really 560 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,120 important that the audit will only just 561 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:00,159 reconfirm what we all know already that 562 00:25:00,159 --> 00:25:03,120 our um our finance team and our 563 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:05,760 financial documents are um perfectly 564 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,039 well-kept and we are following all the 565 00:25:09,039 --> 00:25:12,640 uh rules and the government um auditing 566 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,679 rules and um that everybody can be safe 567 00:25:15,679 --> 00:25:18,159 and feel safe and secure that the 568 00:25:18,159 --> 00:25:19,520 numbers that we're publishing are 569 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,520 accurate. So again, I appreciate I 570 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,120 appreciate you're missing your vacation, 571 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,840 you're not going on your vacation. Um, 572 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,760 and I do appreciate how much effort 573 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,400 you're putting into our town. Thank you. 574 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,880 >> Thank you, Ellen. 575 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,440 >> Um, so I'm sorry to hear you're going to 576 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,679 miss your vacation potentially. Um, 577 00:25:39,679 --> 00:25:41,919 and and I'm somewhat relieved to hear 578 00:25:41,919 --> 00:25:44,080 that it's not just about the election 579 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,960 because I have this in the 2024 580 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,360 election, nearly 60% of voters cast 581 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:51,360 their ballots early and, you know, 582 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:55,279 October 28th is early. So hopefully, you 583 00:25:55,279 --> 00:25:57,760 know, we always want people to vote and 584 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:02,400 vote early. Um, so I I was a little bit 585 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,799 concerned about that. Um, but I would 586 00:26:04,799 --> 00:26:06,960 love to get these audits taken care of 587 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:11,279 and um it would be nice. It would be 588 00:26:11,279 --> 00:26:14,159 it's would be such a relief to have have 589 00:26:14,159 --> 00:26:17,840 it be done and so um so I support that. 590 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,240 So thank you. 591 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:24,000 So I would echo my colleagues 592 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,760 this is money well spent. There's no doubt in my mind this is 593 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,400 closing a very unfortunate chapter in 594 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,360 the town's finances. Um, and Tony and 595 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:34,880 your staff have been instrumental in 596 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:36,720 leading that charge. So, so thank you 597 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,120 for doing that. Um, and we're all glad 598 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:40,640 you enjoy a challenge. Thank goodness 599 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,880 for that. [laughter] 600 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:44,640 So, with that, I would entertain a 601 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,840 motion to authorize additional general 602 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:52,080 fund budget for the maze contract. 603 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,559 >> I move to authorize. Second. 604 00:26:54,559 --> 00:26:56,799 >> Thank you. I have a motion in a second. 605 00:26:56,799 --> 00:26:58,480 All in favor say I. 606 00:26:58,480 --> 00:26:58,960 >> I. 607 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,240 Any opposed? I hear no opposition. 608 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:04,080 Congratulations, Tony. Thank you again 609 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,799 for your hard work. 610 00:27:06,799 --> 00:27:08,320 All right. Now, we're going to move on 611 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:13,360 to agenda item 8B. This is considering a 612 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:15,600 adoption of a resolution submitting to 613 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,640 the voters of Portola Valley a measure 614 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,679 both to adopt the CH town charter and to 615 00:27:21,679 --> 00:27:24,720 authorize a real property transfer tax. 616 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,960 So, with that, who's presenting? 617 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:27,760 >> Yes, 618 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:29,919 >> Darcy. Yes, I have the pleasure of 619 00:27:29,919 --> 00:27:31,760 presenting this item. So, just give me a 620 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:39,269 second to bring up the PowerPoint. 621 00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:42,559 Come on. Sorry. Okay, there we go. Oh. 622 00:27:42,559 --> 00:27:45,520 Um, I'll be presenting, but as I get the 623 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,279 PowerPoint up, I just want to make sure 624 00:27:47,279 --> 00:27:48,960 everyone knows it was a real team 625 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,159 effort. And while I'm making this 626 00:27:52,159 --> 00:27:53,919 presentation, 627 00:27:53,919 --> 00:27:55,679 our esteemed town attorney, Katherine 628 00:27:55,679 --> 00:27:57,600 Angberg's available to answer any 629 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,760 questions after we're done. Tony 630 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,880 McFarland, assistant town manager, 631 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,120 is here as well. And then I want to 632 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:07,279 acknowledge Lauren Tarpe, who's 633 00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:09,120 Katherine's associate, who's been really 634 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:14,480 helpful on this as well. So 635 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,200 hold on. It's not 636 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:22,149 does not like to screen share. 637 00:28:22,159 --> 00:28:24,960 maybe a testament of how 638 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:29,039 important the spell measure is to 639 00:28:29,039 --> 00:28:30,799 improve some of the challenges in our 640 00:28:30,799 --> 00:28:32,960 town like our capital infrastructure 641 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:35,840 here. Okay. So, this is the 642 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,240 consideration of a resolution and I will 643 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,000 acknowledge that we have the town team 644 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,240 has been working on this for over a 645 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,399 year. So, this is a important milestone. 646 00:28:46,399 --> 00:28:48,399 But I want to reflect on where we 647 00:28:48,399 --> 00:28:51,120 started. In 1964, this town was 648 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:52,720 incorporated 649 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,320 primarily, although not only to ensure 650 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,559 local control over development as this 651 00:28:58,559 --> 00:29:01,120 town faced development pressure in the 652 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,120 hills and to preserve the rural beauty. 653 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,039 As you can see in this photo from Dan 654 00:29:05,039 --> 00:29:07,600 Quinn, our local photographer, 655 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:09,520 we have a lot of natural beauty and we 656 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,200 also have a lot of ecologically and 657 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,520 environmental sensitive 658 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,399 um land. This town was founded by 659 00:29:16,399 --> 00:29:19,200 volunteers and in its for many decades 660 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,520 run by volunteers such as Ted Driscoll 661 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:22,880 who you just heard about and that was 662 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,039 really meant to minimize our costs and 663 00:29:25,039 --> 00:29:26,720 minimize and that in turn though 664 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,679 resulted in minimal taxes. The general 665 00:29:29,679 --> 00:29:32,320 plan goals which we're very proud of. Um 666 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:33,919 the general plan is our constitutional 667 00:29:33,919 --> 00:29:36,240 growth um echo these sentiments of 668 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,240 keeping our town rural and tranquil, 669 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:39,760 familyfriendly 670 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:42,960 and um using the land in a manner that's 671 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,960 compatible with the ecological 672 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,760 environmental richness of the community. 673 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,840 Um when we started on this journey to 674 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:51,360 look at this ballot measure back in 675 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,159 September, we found overwhelmingly 676 00:29:54,159 --> 00:29:55,679 positive feedback from the residents 677 00:29:55,679 --> 00:29:58,240 that were surveyed that 91% of them are 678 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,559 satisfied with the quality of life. And 679 00:30:00,559 --> 00:30:02,720 I think it's a credit to this town 680 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,840 council and the councils before you that 681 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,080 local government governance is what 682 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:09,919 keeps our values and our character 683 00:30:09,919 --> 00:30:14,789 intact. 684 00:30:14,799 --> 00:30:18,399 So Tony talked a little bit about one of 685 00:30:18,399 --> 00:30:20,720 the council's top priorities that we've 686 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,120 been working on and he demonstrated the 687 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,520 work that the staff has put into that 688 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:28,559 over a few years. Um he's been working 689 00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:30,159 hard as you've heard on the backlog of 690 00:30:30,159 --> 00:30:32,399 audits and we now have a successful plan 691 00:30:32,399 --> 00:30:35,600 in place. He's been implementing the 692 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,600 financial consultant best practices 693 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,200 recommendations. 694 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:40,880 You 695 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,039 adopted the master fee schedule recently 696 00:30:43,039 --> 00:30:47,120 with um improved fees that reflect the 697 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,039 true cost of providing these services to 698 00:30:49,039 --> 00:30:51,919 our residents. And one of the key items 699 00:30:51,919 --> 00:30:54,480 which we're talking about tonight is 700 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,039 preparation of a town charter and a real 701 00:30:57,039 --> 00:30:59,120 property transfer tax ordinance that 702 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:00,799 placed on the ballot. And the the 703 00:31:00,799 --> 00:31:03,120 guiding mission of that is to provide 704 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,200 locally controlled funding to ensure the 705 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,039 town's fiscal stability and autonomy 706 00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:09,440 which I'll talk more about. 707 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,080 So you've seen this slide before. I want 708 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,520 to just note it has gotten worse in the 709 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,919 last month as we looked at our budget 710 00:31:17,919 --> 00:31:20,000 and we looked at the cost for example of 711 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,600 the sheriff's contract. Um, and I think 712 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,120 some people look at this and they only 713 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,840 see the $700,000 ongoing structural 714 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:29,840 deficit and they think, well, that's all 715 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:31,679 you need to raise. But in fact, we've 716 00:31:31,679 --> 00:31:34,480 deferred a lot of items. Um, this is 717 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,320 what I would call like the life support 718 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,000 plan. you know, we're on life support, 719 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,080 but eventually 720 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:43,279 um we there is an unfortunate outcome 721 00:31:43,279 --> 00:31:44,960 when you're generally on life support. 722 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,760 And what we've seen is not uncommon to 723 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:49,440 cities. It's also not uncommon to 724 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,120 household budgets as they've looked at 725 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:53,360 inflation and growing costs, but our 726 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,159 expenses are increasing faster than our 727 00:31:56,159 --> 00:31:57,600 revenues. And a lot of our revenues, you 728 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:03,200 know, comes from property taxes and it does not grow quickly. Um, I know 729 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:04,640 this community and you have heard a lot 730 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:06,080 about the law enforcement contract 731 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:07,919 class, but Tony and I looked at the 732 00:32:07,919 --> 00:32:10,559 numbers recently and I'll tell you what 733 00:32:10,559 --> 00:32:12,960 I saw when I stared at the numbers was 734 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,840 shocking that over f in five years since 735 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,799 um the contract cars started going up. 736 00:32:18,799 --> 00:32:21,519 They've gone up 85%. 737 00:32:21,519 --> 00:32:26,000 So we were at $1.37 million cost in 2122 738 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,159 and this year it's um 2.54 million. 739 00:32:30,159 --> 00:32:32,960 That's an 85% cost increase. That is the 740 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:34,720 reality and that's not going down. If 741 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,399 anything, their cost will continue to go 742 00:32:36,399 --> 00:32:40,080 up. Um and the general fund burden of 743 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,960 paying that also increased more 94% 744 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,559 because we had uh one time uh COVID 745 00:32:46,559 --> 00:32:48,480 funds called the ARPID funds and we were 746 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,480 getting credits. But this harsh reality 747 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,960 is that this this has caught up with us 748 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,840 and so without new revenue our forecast 749 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,720 is the black line. Um, next fiscal year 750 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,519 the reserves will fall below our lowered 751 00:33:01,519 --> 00:33:04,480 20% minimum that as you know was a new 752 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,919 policy adopted. It was previously 60%. 753 00:33:07,919 --> 00:33:10,640 And our reserves will be depleted. 754 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,679 So to address this issue, we started 755 00:33:13,679 --> 00:33:16,240 having the community engagement portion 756 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,320 which is dubbed the Portella Valley 757 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:20,640 conversation. Um, and we heard from 758 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,559 residents about, you know, what they 759 00:33:22,559 --> 00:33:24,640 value and they told us they do value, of 760 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:26,399 course, public safety, and they value 761 00:33:26,399 --> 00:33:29,519 emergency preparedness. Um, they also 762 00:33:29,519 --> 00:33:32,080 value town autonomy and local control. 763 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,000 And they want our town, as I'm sure we 764 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,720 all do, is to become financially stable 765 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:39,760 and to maintain our autonomy, to have a 766 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:41,440 valid emergency reserve because again, 767 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,600 we are in an area that is ecologically, 768 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,159 geologically sensitive and now we have 769 00:33:46,159 --> 00:33:48,960 the more increasing threat of fire. um 770 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,039 and they want us to be self-reliant or 771 00:33:51,039 --> 00:33:54,080 resilient. Um what local control does is 772 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:55,679 it ensures it can't be taken by the 773 00:33:55,679 --> 00:33:57,120 county, the Sacramento or the federal 774 00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:58,399 government, which has been a track 775 00:33:58,399 --> 00:34:00,159 record, right? We've seen that the 776 00:34:00,159 --> 00:34:02,080 county level with the vehicle license 777 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,880 fees and that was a tough issue and is 778 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,760 still not resolved. Um and this county 779 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:10,159 has been fighting for every dollar and 780 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:12,399 sometimes the state just says we're 781 00:34:12,399 --> 00:34:14,800 going to keep it. Um 782 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,839 so again this conversation with 783 00:34:17,839 --> 00:34:20,560 surveying the residents um led to the 784 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:22,960 residents prioritizing that we should 785 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:24,800 protect our autonomy. We should protect 786 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,320 our ability to make our own local 787 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,119 decisions over zoning and over our 788 00:34:29,119 --> 00:34:31,679 financing. And if we did lose that 789 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:33,679 independent status, our zone and land 790 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:35,359 use decisions would unfortunately be 791 00:34:35,359 --> 00:34:38,000 made by the county. Um so we believe 792 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,839 it's important to keep our autonomy and 793 00:34:39,839 --> 00:34:42,639 our ability to be self-reliant. 794 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:44,720 um it's just very important to us. So 795 00:34:44,720 --> 00:34:47,359 when we surveyed the community 796 00:34:47,359 --> 00:34:49,359 there were four top priorities that were 797 00:34:49,359 --> 00:34:52,720 ranked um and in fact all there were 798 00:34:52,720 --> 00:34:54,240 many and then they sort of got clustered 799 00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:55,599 together but the number one interest of 800 00:34:55,599 --> 00:34:56,960 the community right now is wildfire 801 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,040 prevention that includes the brush 802 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:00,560 management which the town does. We have 803 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,960 the chipper program and we pay um 804 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,000 Woodside Fire money to do this and no 805 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:07,440 they wouldn't do it for free if we 806 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:08,800 weren't paying Woodside Fire. We'd be 807 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,400 paying another vendor. It's expensive 808 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,760 work. Um, emergency response is 809 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,040 important to the community, of course. 810 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,200 Main maintaining the 911 emergency 811 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,359 response time, police patrols, 812 00:35:19,359 --> 00:35:21,040 maintaining our town autonomy is 813 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:22,400 independence, as I talked about 814 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,200 previously, is important. And, um, also 815 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:26,400 important is our storm drain 816 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,400 infrastructure. We've seen heavier 817 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:30,800 flooding and heavier storms. And 818 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,640 repairing this deteriorating storm drain 819 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:35,119 is important to ensure that we don't 820 00:35:35,119 --> 00:35:36,800 have flooding and water pollution and 821 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,200 sink holes. and it it can leads to lead 822 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,520 to roads washing out and that would be a 823 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:42,880 big problem in our community since we 824 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:47,200 basically have two main roads in. So, 825 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,680 this all led to the council being 826 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,599 presented with the option that we're 827 00:35:51,599 --> 00:35:53,839 here to talk about tonight, um, which is 828 00:35:53,839 --> 00:35:55,359 a town charter, which I'll talk a little 829 00:35:55,359 --> 00:35:57,200 bit about what that means, and a 830 00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:58,960 transfer tax. And again, that was the 831 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,520 most viable option supported by the 832 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:03,119 residents. Our finance and audit 833 00:36:03,119 --> 00:36:04,880 committee did a lot of hard work and we 834 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:06,240 really want to thank them for looking at 835 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:07,760 a lot of options, but when you're 836 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:09,200 looking at a ballot measure, you really 837 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,640 have to pick one and only one. Um, you 838 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:17,040 can't have multiple options and this is 839 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:18,880 the one that would be the most 840 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,720 successful outcome for the town. Um, so 841 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:25,760 in April, the council directed us to 842 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,560 start this work um in earnest and 843 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,880 prepare the town charter. So, I'm really 844 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:32,640 proud that we completed both hearings on 845 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:34,480 the town charter already on in May and 846 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,599 June. Um, those are required. And again, 847 00:36:37,599 --> 00:36:39,920 just to briefly up remind the council 848 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:41,760 and any new audience members what the 849 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,000 charter will do. It converts us from 850 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,160 what I'll call the generic or general 851 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:50,160 law to a charter town. Um, the this the 852 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,480 focus of this is on revenue authority. 853 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,079 And I want to emphasize that that's part 854 00:36:54,079 --> 00:36:56,079 of our autonomy is having local control 855 00:36:56,079 --> 00:36:59,680 over our revenue. Um the local revenue 856 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:02,880 goes 100% to the town. Um there would be 857 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,200 no change the town governance. We would 858 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,119 still have the town council and the town 859 00:37:07,119 --> 00:37:10,560 manager form of government. Um and if 860 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:12,800 the charter can only be changed by the 861 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,520 voters. The again there's a lot the 862 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,160 charter doesn't do. And I think you can 863 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:19,839 read online about charters and some 864 00:37:19,839 --> 00:37:21,920 cities are over 100 pages. Ours is 865 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,320 simple. It's two pages. It's meant to 866 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:28,320 enable this taxation. Um, it does not 867 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,560 affect local election procedures. It 868 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:32,480 doesn't change voting options. It 869 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,000 doesn't affect public contracting 870 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:35,920 prevailing wages. Ours is simple and 871 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,680 it's meant to accomplish what is most 872 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,280 important to this town. Um, and again, 873 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:42,880 charter towns are different than general 874 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,200 laws, but important to note, we follow a 875 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,359 lot of the same state laws. Um, and the 876 00:37:47,359 --> 00:37:48,960 main thing again is that we have this 877 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,079 ability to enact this tax. Um, but it 878 00:37:52,079 --> 00:37:54,160 doesn't change, you know, the our 879 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:56,000 adherence to the US and California 880 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,560 constitution. Um, and some people have 881 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,240 asked, is it a lot more expensive? No, 882 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:04,160 it's not that more expensive. Um, the 883 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:06,640 there's really no minimum no cost after 884 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:08,800 we pass the charter. Um, and the 885 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,000 election cost is about $6,000 to add 886 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:13,839 this to the ballot since it's statewide 887 00:38:13,839 --> 00:38:16,480 ballot. Um, 888 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,079 so 889 00:38:18,079 --> 00:38:19,599 now I've talked about the charter. I'll 890 00:38:19,599 --> 00:38:22,240 talk about this the real property trans 891 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:24,320 transfer tax ordinance which the council 892 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,280 reviewed in detail two weeks ago. As I 893 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,200 reviewed at that meeting, this will be 894 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,119 an ordinance that amends our current 895 00:38:31,119 --> 00:38:33,200 municipal code chapter and it will 896 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:37,200 eliminate what is the existing 27.5 897 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,960 cents per $500 or 55 cents per thousand 898 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,200 transfer tax and replace it with this 899 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,599 new real property transfer tax of $10 900 00:38:45,599 --> 00:38:48,000 per 1,000 901 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:49,680 in locally controlled funding. That's 902 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,599 the staff recommendation. We are seeking 903 00:38:51,599 --> 00:38:54,960 feedback tonight from the council, but I 904 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:56,240 want to pause there because there have 905 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:57,599 been a lot of community questions about 906 00:38:57,599 --> 00:38:59,920 the rate and it's just remind the 907 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:01,599 council and the audience that the 908 00:39:01,599 --> 00:39:04,000 council is explicitly authorized to 909 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,320 repeal or reduce that tax without going 910 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,359 to the voters. So, if for example um you 911 00:39:09,359 --> 00:39:12,240 decide in the future that that was 912 00:39:12,240 --> 00:39:14,320 generating enough revenue, you could 913 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:16,960 lower it to $8 or $7 and that could be 914 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,839 done very quickly with an ordinance. Um 915 00:39:19,839 --> 00:39:22,079 and then if the council found themselves 916 00:39:22,079 --> 00:39:24,800 in a financial predicament and then it 917 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,920 could be increased. Um as we talked 918 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,480 about the last meeting, we are not 919 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:32,480 recommending any changes at this time to 920 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:34,079 the current exemptions again in our 921 00:39:34,079 --> 00:39:35,760 current ordinance. Those are largely 922 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,920 consistent with state law and that's the 923 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,920 simplest approach. We have been asked we 924 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:41,599 staff a lot of different exemptions. 925 00:39:41,599 --> 00:39:42,960 There's a lot of well what if this or 926 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:44,720 what if that? What if we had a wildfire? 927 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:47,440 What if this happened? Again, the 928 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,839 council can add future exemptions by an 929 00:39:49,839 --> 00:39:51,760 ordinance, which as you know goes in 930 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:53,520 effect 30 days. And I think if we did 931 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,280 have something as catastrophic like a 932 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:56,480 wildfire that affected a lot of 933 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,040 properties, all of a sudden lots of 934 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,160 properties were looking for sale. Um, we 935 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:03,760 would of course examine this. And it's 936 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,200 important to note that under our GAN 937 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:07,359 limit, which is a state requirement, we 938 00:40:07,359 --> 00:40:09,920 do have a maximum amount that the the 939 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,720 count town council can authorize an 940 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:14,880 expenditure. So there are some checks 941 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,119 and balances. Another thing is 942 00:40:17,119 --> 00:40:19,040 independent oversight and I just want to 943 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:22,800 emphasize that um that is which is in 944 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,320 the ballot measure question which I'll 945 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,960 show you soon. um that has been added to 946 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:28,800 the ordinance in the sense that the 947 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,440 current finance and audit committee um 948 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,359 would provide this independent oversight 949 00:40:33,359 --> 00:40:37,040 that's consistent with their charter um 950 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,680 which allows them to have this oversight 951 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:41,359 of the revenue generated from the 952 00:40:41,359 --> 00:40:43,359 measure as an again an independent 953 00:40:43,359 --> 00:40:45,680 oversight 954 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,000 and we've gotten a lot of questions 955 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:49,839 about how this transfer tax actually 956 00:40:49,839 --> 00:40:52,640 works. Um, again, people pay it now. 957 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:54,320 They may not remember they pay it, but 958 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,839 it's a $110 per thousand and it shows up 959 00:40:57,839 --> 00:41:01,280 when you go to buy a property um on your 960 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:03,920 closure um escrow closing documents. 961 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,720 It's a one-time tax on the transfer. So, 962 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:11,280 if there's, for example, um tr transfers 963 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:12,880 of property from like a parent to a 964 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,599 child, but it's not an actual sale, this 965 00:41:15,599 --> 00:41:17,440 doesn't apply. This is based on again 966 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:19,760 the transfer the sale of the property. 967 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:23,680 It's not an annual property tax and um 968 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,160 usually buyers and sellers negotiate. 969 00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:27,760 Sometimes, you know, it's 50/50, 970 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,800 sometimes it's someone else pays it. But 971 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:32,880 um it's really important to remind 972 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:35,040 people that if you don't own property or 973 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:39,359 if you rent you tax and it is collected 974 00:41:39,359 --> 00:41:41,440 again by the title company when you 975 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:44,000 close escrow and it I've heard it can be 976 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:45,680 rolled into the mortgage for some folks 977 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:47,520 too. But again, important to remember 978 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,720 that 100% of this town's 979 00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:52,800 transfer tax would stay in the town and 980 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:54,880 the county separately retains its 981 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,680 documentary transfer tax. 982 00:41:57,680 --> 00:41:59,200 Um, so again, a little bit more about 983 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,680 charter cities because a lot of people 984 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:02,800 have asked, you know, is that something 985 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,079 special? Are we unique? Um, right now a 986 00:42:06,079 --> 00:42:09,200 little 26% of California cities have 987 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:14,079 charters. And in our area, um, there are 988 00:42:14,079 --> 00:42:16,319 other transfer taxes like Sonteo, but 989 00:42:16,319 --> 00:42:18,240 there's is only a commercial transfer 990 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:21,760 tax, which some cities have that. Um, 991 00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:24,000 what I'm showing you here are other 992 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:26,319 cities that are more residential in 993 00:42:26,319 --> 00:42:28,800 neighbor that n in nature that have 994 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:30,960 transfer taxes that would affect single 995 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:35,760 family properties. Um and our $10 per 996 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:37,760 thousand, which is a recommended rate, 997 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:39,920 is actually when you look at this on the 998 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,200 lower side. Um there are communities 999 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:45,680 around us like Mountain View that have 1000 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:49,680 $15 on more um higher valued property 1001 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:53,520 sales. Um, and there are places like 1002 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:55,920 Piedmont, I just want to point out that 1003 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:58,560 recently decided to have a ballot 1004 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,200 measure in November to increase it up to 1005 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,160 1.75% because they found that their 1006 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:06,160 current rate, which is $13 per thousand 1007 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:09,839 or 1.3% isn't adequate. Um, they're 1008 00:43:09,839 --> 00:43:11,280 similar to us. They're mostly 1009 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:14,560 residential community without a lot of 1010 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:18,079 tax revenue from other sources. 1011 00:43:18,079 --> 00:43:20,560 So, there's been a lot of talk about 1012 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:23,280 what this money could be spent on, and 1013 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,599 I'm not going to show you a slide with 1014 00:43:25,599 --> 00:43:28,640 any dollar amounts. Um, but I just want 1015 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,880 to emphasize it would be a general tax. 1016 00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:32,960 and the council if this should pass 1017 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:34,400 resolution should pass and the ballot 1018 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,119 measure pass um they really need to roll 1019 00:43:37,119 --> 00:43:40,400 up their sleeves and and get get working 1020 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:43,520 on the budgeting and the spending policy 1021 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:44,640 which I'll talk a little bit more in 1022 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:49,359 detail um after this passes and the 1023 00:43:49,359 --> 00:43:51,280 council could consider a spending plan 1024 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,680 and policy because while this is the 1025 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:54,880 list that came out of the community 1026 00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:57,280 surveying there's a lot more work to be 1027 00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:00,079 done in terms of how to spend the money 1028 00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:03,040 Um, generally there's allocations for 1029 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,359 some of the things that again are are 1030 00:44:05,359 --> 00:44:07,119 safety related, but there's a lot of 1031 00:44:07,119 --> 00:44:09,119 other things that this could be spent 1032 00:44:09,119 --> 00:44:11,040 on. And some of this we've been talking 1033 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:12,640 about like storm drains. We talked 1034 00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:14,319 earlier this year about a storm drain 1035 00:44:14,319 --> 00:44:17,520 master plan and the need to do that. Um, 1036 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,839 so here's the ballot question and it was 1037 00:44:19,839 --> 00:44:21,920 in the packet in the resolution, but I 1038 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,400 just want to show you this and then we 1039 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,640 can come back to it later in the night. 1040 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,200 Um this is staff's recommendation and I 1041 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,520 want to emphasize that it has to be an 1042 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:33,040 objective 1043 00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:35,200 um factual 1044 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:38,319 um ballot question and we have been able 1045 00:44:38,319 --> 00:44:42,000 to document through our past um tax 1046 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:44,000 revenues because again we collect this 1047 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:45,599 revenue already. We've been collecting 1048 00:44:45,599 --> 00:44:52,240 it since 1967, the transfer taxes that the state allows us to. Um, and we 1049 00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:54,560 do think approximately $2 million is 1050 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,200 what we would generate um when we look 1051 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:02,160 into average home sales over the past um 1052 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:06,319 15 years, but I can bring this back up 1053 00:45:06,319 --> 00:45:08,720 um for the discussion. But essentially 1054 00:45:08,720 --> 00:45:11,119 what we're asking the voters is do they 1055 00:45:11,119 --> 00:45:13,599 want to adopt a charter for the town of 1056 00:45:13,599 --> 00:45:15,520 Perola Valley solely for an establishing 1057 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:18,880 a real property transfer tax of $10 per 1058 00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:21,280 $1,000. And again, that would be a 1059 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:24,720 general tax, not a special tax. 1060 00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:27,760 So if the council decides to put this on 1061 00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:29,119 the ballot through adopting the 1062 00:45:29,119 --> 00:45:30,640 resolution tonight, then the town 1063 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:32,880 attorney springs into action. She 1064 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:34,880 actually has a lot of work to do because 1065 00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,040 she has the responsibility of writing an 1066 00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:39,520 impartial analysis and that's again an 1067 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:41,359 impartial analysis of the effects of the 1068 00:45:41,359 --> 00:45:44,160 measure on existing law and operation. 1069 00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:46,720 Um so she would work on that and then 1070 00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:48,640 there are other pieces of this puzzle 1071 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:50,400 including the arguments and the 1072 00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,119 rebuttals and those are public documents 1073 00:45:53,119 --> 00:45:55,280 um that are available to be reviewed 1074 00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:57,119 here 1075 00:45:57,119 --> 00:45:59,520 and for future consideration. I don't 1076 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:00,880 want to get ahead of us, but I've just 1077 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:02,319 we've had a lot of questions in the 1078 00:46:02,319 --> 00:46:03,599 community is sort of like, well, you 1079 00:46:03,599 --> 00:46:05,280 know, who decides where the money goes 1080 00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:06,640 and and what's the independent 1081 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:08,319 oversight? What does that mean? As I 1082 00:46:08,319 --> 00:46:10,160 mentioned previously, the current 1083 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:12,240 charter of the town's finance and audit 1084 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:15,119 committee um includes provisions for 1085 00:46:15,119 --> 00:46:18,160 their independent oversight. And at our 1086 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:19,680 meeting with them last Monday, there 1087 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,880 were there were ideas um about a 1088 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:25,440 spending policy and some ideas of the m 1089 00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:28,160 how the money could be allocated. So 1090 00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:30,640 Tony and I have worked on these um tax 1091 00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:32,240 measures in the past and what we've seen 1092 00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:35,520 is often a spending plan um policy 1093 00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:39,200 that's developed if the measure passes 1094 00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:41,680 um and it would be developed with the 1095 00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:44,240 committee and the community and there's 1096 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:45,920 a lot of different elements that that 1097 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:47,599 could be in but I just wanted to give 1098 00:46:47,599 --> 00:46:50,160 you a flavor of what those could be. Um 1099 00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:51,599 some of these things came up with the 1100 00:46:51,599 --> 00:46:53,040 finance committee last week. They are 1101 00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:54,880 keenly interested again in looking at 1102 00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:58,160 our reserve target because they were um 1103 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:00,880 they lowered it recently to 20% with 1104 00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:02,319 then you're they made a recommendation 1105 00:47:02,319 --> 00:47:04,640 and you approved it but um that gives 1106 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:07,760 them a little bit of pause when they 1107 00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:10,400 think about the town security. Um there 1108 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:12,880 was an interest in maybe designating a 1109 00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:14,880 plan annual funding amount for capital 1110 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,920 and safety projects. Um they they want 1111 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:19,760 to look at 1112 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,839 maybe potentially again thresholds for 1113 00:47:21,839 --> 00:47:26,160 when this tax and or the user utility 1114 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:28,079 tax might be lowered upon meeting 1115 00:47:28,079 --> 00:47:31,440 threshold criteria. Um they obviously 1116 00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:33,440 are keenly interested in the audits. So 1117 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:35,680 the this this fund would be audited and 1118 00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:37,760 their interest in transparent reporting 1119 00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:40,160 to the public. So, this is an item to 1120 00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:41,839 work on, but I just want the public to 1121 00:47:41,839 --> 00:47:44,240 know that there's a lot of work still to 1122 00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:46,160 be done and a lot of it comes around how 1123 00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:48,240 the money could be spent and a spending 1124 00:47:48,240 --> 00:47:50,319 policy is often a useful tool to shape 1125 00:47:50,319 --> 00:47:53,359 that. So, again, we've had a lot of 1126 00:47:53,359 --> 00:47:54,720 meetings since we've been talking about 1127 00:47:54,720 --> 00:47:59,200 this um March, April, May, June, July. 1128 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,960 So, a lot. And tonight is your time to 1129 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:05,040 consider placing this on the ballot. Our 1130 00:48:05,040 --> 00:48:07,839 filing deadline is August 7th. And if 1131 00:48:07,839 --> 00:48:09,760 approved by the voters with a simple, 1132 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,160 which is a 50% plus one majority, then 1133 00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:14,160 the charter takes effect when the town 1134 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:16,800 files it with the secretary of state 1135 00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:18,880 after the town certifies the election 1136 00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:21,200 results. And the ordinance which imposes 1137 00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:23,200 the tax is effective 10 days after the 1138 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:26,319 council certifies the election results. 1139 00:48:26,319 --> 00:48:30,000 Um so tonight's meeting um based on the 1140 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:32,000 purview of the mayor could be separated 1141 00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,319 into two different discussion items. The 1142 00:48:34,319 --> 00:48:35,920 first could be a more detailed 1143 00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:38,400 discussion of the transfer tax rate 1144 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,520 because in the past we haven't um had 1145 00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:44,800 the rate as a discussion item and then 1146 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,040 the ballot question text. I will tell 1147 00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:50,720 you that ballot question text writing is 1148 00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:53,280 an art um and a little bit of a science. 1149 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:55,040 It was based on our you know our 1150 00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:57,520 scientific analysis but we are stuck at 1151 00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:00,559 75 words which makes um it very hard to 1152 00:49:00,559 --> 00:49:03,280 write this. And again, as I noticed, it 1153 00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:05,280 must be a true and impartial synopsis of 1154 00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:07,040 the purpose of the measure, and we have 1155 00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:09,760 to include certain requirements. Um, but 1156 00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:12,240 I want to also emphasize that the 1157 00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:14,880 impartial analysis that the attorney 1158 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:16,880 prepares does flesh out some of the 1159 00:49:16,880 --> 00:49:18,559 items that I've talked about tonight in 1160 00:49:18,559 --> 00:49:21,040 more detail, um, such as the independent 1161 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,599 oversight and and more information. So, 1162 00:49:23,599 --> 00:49:25,119 that and that will be prepared again 1163 00:49:25,119 --> 00:49:27,200 very quickly and that's included in the 1164 00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:30,240 voter pamphlet and so on. So that 1165 00:49:30,240 --> 00:49:32,559 concludes my staff report. Again, the 1166 00:49:32,559 --> 00:49:34,480 item before you tonight, which is read 1167 00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:35,760 by the mayor and published on our 1168 00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:37,440 agenda, is the consideration of this 1169 00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:38,960 resolution, 1170 00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:40,720 which would submit the item to the bot 1171 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:43,200 to the ballot for the voters on November 1172 00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:45,119 3rd. So happy to answer any questions 1173 00:49:45,119 --> 00:49:46,480 you have. 1174 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:49,920 >> Thank you, Darcy. Questions for Darcy? 1175 00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:51,359 Ellen, 1176 00:49:51,359 --> 00:49:53,599 >> um, could you guys turn off the fan? 1177 00:49:53,599 --> 00:49:57,680 It's Thank you. Okay. 1178 00:49:57,680 --> 00:49:58,800 Do you have any other questions for 1179 00:49:58,800 --> 00:49:59,359 Darcy? 1180 00:49:59,359 --> 00:50:01,839 >> Thank you. 1181 00:50:01,839 --> 00:50:05,119 It just was hitting me in the face. Um, 1182 00:50:05,119 --> 00:50:08,720 so for the record, um, because we've had 1183 00:50:08,720 --> 00:50:10,960 some questions and I don't mean to throw 1184 00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:15,280 a ringer out, but can you remind us 1185 00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:17,760 I don't uh why we're not doing a parcel 1186 00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:22,230 tax? 1187 00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:25,920 Well, the the simplest answer is that it 1188 00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:29,280 requires a higher majority threshold to 1189 00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:33,200 pass, which is 66.67%. 1190 00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:35,839 And generally, 1191 00:50:35,839 --> 00:50:38,079 it is very challenging for towns and 1192 00:50:38,079 --> 00:50:40,640 cities to meet that threshold. 1193 00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:43,520 >> Okay. Thank you. Um and can you also 1194 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:48,559 remind us um why we came down at the one 1195 00:50:48,559 --> 00:50:49,680 number? 1196 00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:53,440 >> Yes. So the 1% or also referred to as 1197 00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:57,920 $10 per thousand um that was based on 1198 00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:00,880 the town's analysis of our financial 1199 00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:02,640 needs and you heard me say that we've 1200 00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:04,720 estimated the revenue at that level 1201 00:51:04,720 --> 00:51:07,760 would be approximately 2 million. 1202 00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:10,240 That's based on analyzing the current 1203 00:51:10,240 --> 00:51:13,119 property sales which we get from our um 1204 00:51:13,119 --> 00:51:15,440 tax consultant. And again we're 1205 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:17,599 collecting this tax now. So, we have 1206 00:51:17,599 --> 00:51:20,079 real numbers of property sales and the 1207 00:51:20,079 --> 00:51:23,359 taxes that they paid. Um, and again, our 1208 00:51:23,359 --> 00:51:25,520 current exemptions and it would be 1209 00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:27,680 approximately $2 million and we believe 1210 00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:31,520 that's um the approximate number of our 1211 00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:33,440 funding needs based on where we are 1212 00:51:33,440 --> 00:51:35,760 right now. [snorts] 1213 00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:38,800 Thank you. Um, and remind me if this 1214 00:51:38,800 --> 00:51:42,160 were to get passed, would it be clear if 1215 00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:45,359 it's the seller or the buyer who would 1216 00:51:45,359 --> 00:51:48,240 be responsible for it? So, that is 1217 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:49,760 negotiated 1218 00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:52,400 through the private transaction. It is 1219 00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:54,480 not specified by us. It's not specified 1220 00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:56,559 in state law and it's generally 1221 00:51:56,559 --> 00:51:58,559 something that realtors, buyers, and 1222 00:51:58,559 --> 00:52:01,359 sellers are aware of now because then 1223 00:52:01,359 --> 00:52:09,359 they've been paying it and they work out an agreement. 1224 00:52:09,359 --> 00:52:12,240 So, um 1225 00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:16,240 is uh and to add that it could we if we 1226 00:52:16,240 --> 00:52:18,319 wanted to to spell that out that they 1227 00:52:18,319 --> 00:52:19,839 would agree. 1228 00:52:19,839 --> 00:52:21,839 >> No, we cannot spell that out. 1229 00:52:21,839 --> 00:52:23,520 >> Okay. 1230 00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:25,040 >> When I say they've been paying it now, 1231 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:27,520 they've been paying again the current 1232 00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:30,319 authorized rate which is 110 per 1233 00:52:30,319 --> 00:52:31,760 thousand. Right. 1234 00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:33,520 >> Okay. Great. Those are my questions. 1235 00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:34,559 Thank you. 1236 00:52:34,559 --> 00:52:36,319 >> Thank you. 1237 00:52:36,319 --> 00:52:39,680 Questions to my right? Mary? 1238 00:52:39,680 --> 00:52:40,240 >> Any questions? 1239 00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:41,839 >> No questions. Okay, Judah. 1240 00:52:41,839 --> 00:52:45,920 >> Okay. Uh just a couple of uh 1241 00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:48,240 confirmations, clarifications. 1242 00:52:48,240 --> 00:52:50,640 When you talk about a spending plan and 1243 00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:54,720 policy, that just mechanically would be 1244 00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:57,200 something the council 1245 00:52:57,200 --> 00:52:58,960 is before the council. It's a council 1246 00:52:58,960 --> 00:52:59,839 decision. 1247 00:52:59,839 --> 00:53:00,400 >> Correct. 1248 00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:04,319 >> With finance and audit committee 1249 00:53:04,319 --> 00:53:06,160 um consultation, 1250 00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:08,160 >> correct? Input. Yes. And I would also 1251 00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:10,000 advise we have one community meeting 1252 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,079 where it's presented and community input 1253 00:53:12,079 --> 00:53:14,240 is received. 1254 00:53:14,240 --> 00:53:18,000 >> Okay. And when we talk about independent 1255 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:19,599 oversight 1256 00:53:19,599 --> 00:53:21,839 by the finance and audit committee, are 1257 00:53:21,839 --> 00:53:25,040 we changing the role of the you said 1258 00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:28,720 it's in their charter, but what is what 1259 00:53:28,720 --> 00:53:32,400 does that mean? Do they how like is it 1260 00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:34,480 similar to their role on audits at this 1261 00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:36,240 point? They review, they discuss, they 1262 00:53:36,240 --> 00:53:39,040 pressure test. Correct. It's similar to 1263 00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:40,720 that. 1264 00:53:40,720 --> 00:53:43,599 Also, they would have a similar role in 1265 00:53:43,599 --> 00:53:45,760 expenditure. So right now in their 1266 00:53:45,760 --> 00:53:48,800 charter they do review the town's budget 1267 00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:51,040 and the expenditure plan and so they 1268 00:53:51,040 --> 00:53:53,839 would also look at that because 1269 00:53:53,839 --> 00:53:56,079 the source of revenue is folded into our 1270 00:53:56,079 --> 00:53:58,319 annual budget. So it becomes part of 1271 00:53:58,319 --> 00:54:00,160 that budget package in terms of the 1272 00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:01,760 expenditures. 1273 00:54:01,760 --> 00:54:03,920 >> Okay. So there's nothing to do to change 1274 00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:04,800 that charter. 1275 00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:06,319 >> Correct. The charter would not need to 1276 00:54:06,319 --> 00:54:09,839 change it last week and it authorizes 1277 00:54:09,839 --> 00:54:11,359 this. 1278 00:54:11,359 --> 00:54:14,319 >> Okay. Those are my questions. Thank you. 1279 00:54:14,319 --> 00:54:16,800 Rebecca. 1280 00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:18,640 >> Um, I think I had all my questions 1281 00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:21,520 answered in our one-on-one. Thanks. 1282 00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:24,400 >> Okay, great. All right, so with that, 1283 00:54:24,400 --> 00:54:26,319 let me open it up to the public. Um, are 1284 00:54:26,319 --> 00:54:27,920 there any public comments? Are there any 1285 00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:29,119 com I'll mention that on schoolhouse, 1286 00:54:29,119 --> 00:54:34,069 please? Welcome. 1287 00:54:34,079 --> 00:54:35,839 » I need to push a 1288 00:54:35,839 --> 00:54:38,160 >> You do. No, not on that one. That one 1289 00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:38,720 will just 1290 00:54:38,720 --> 00:54:40,319 >> It's going. Yeah, it's going. U My 1291 00:54:40,319 --> 00:54:42,240 name's Richard Murk. I live at 171 1292 00:54:42,240 --> 00:54:45,280 Brookside Drive here in Portolo Valley. 1293 00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:48,000 Um I spent 32 years on the planning 1294 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:49,440 commission and the town council 1295 00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:51,920 combined. My pictures up there on the 1296 00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,960 wall pretty close to Ted Driscolls. Um 1297 00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:59,200 and my concern is about I'm 81 years old 1298 00:54:59,200 --> 00:55:01,040 and I'm concerned about us old folks 1299 00:55:01,040 --> 00:55:02,880 that live in town that might be 1300 00:55:02,880 --> 00:55:04,960 transferring and oh you'll have to 1301 00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:06,880 excuse me. I have not read the details 1302 00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:08,800 of this. I only heard about this meeting 1303 00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:11,119 by seeing an old almanac and realizing 1304 00:55:11,119 --> 00:55:13,359 that there was a meeting tonight. That 1305 00:55:13,359 --> 00:55:15,839 was like an hour and a half ago. So, I'm 1306 00:55:15,839 --> 00:55:19,760 here unprepared. I'm sorry. But 1307 00:55:19,760 --> 00:55:22,880 my concern is that it's not clear to me 1308 00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:24,960 when you say a property transfer tax 1309 00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:28,000 that if I move my property into a family 1310 00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,800 trust whether I have to pay that tax or 1311 00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:34,720 if I leave uh my property to a child and 1312 00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:37,440 they inherit it with without having to 1313 00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:40,800 incur additional taxes under Proposition 1314 00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:44,400 13 and those following uh propositions. 1315 00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:46,640 Are those things exempted? How are they 1316 00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:50,559 handled? Is it clear how those things 1317 00:55:50,559 --> 00:55:54,160 are done? Because if if they're 1318 00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:56,799 exempted, I'm totally in favor of this. 1319 00:55:56,799 --> 00:55:59,599 But if they're not, um you're going to 1320 00:55:59,599 --> 00:56:03,990 have a fight on your hands. 1321 00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:07,280 » Thank you. Great. Thank you. 1322 00:56:07,280 --> 00:56:08,799 >> So, what I'd like to do is I'll take all 1323 00:56:08,799 --> 00:56:10,480 public comments and then we'll, you 1324 00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:12,160 know, answer some of the questions. And 1325 00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:13,520 generally, it's public comment, but we 1326 00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:15,599 try to answer important ones. I think 1327 00:56:15,599 --> 00:56:16,960 that the general public would be 1328 00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:18,880 interested in hearing the answers to the 1329 00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:20,720 questions you're asking as well. So, let 1330 00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:22,319 me go through everybody's public comment 1331 00:56:22,319 --> 00:56:25,520 and then we'll come back. Um, and Dart, 1332 00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:29,920 are you going to be prepared? So, you'll keep track of these. So, all 1333 00:56:29,920 --> 00:56:32,079 right. So, any other hands in the 1334 00:56:32,079 --> 00:56:34,880 schoolhouse? 1335 00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:36,079 All right. So, I don't see any other 1336 00:56:36,079 --> 00:56:37,520 hands in the schoolhouse. So, then let 1337 00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:40,400 me go online. Um, I see Dale's hand up. 1338 00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:41,920 Dale, 1339 00:56:41,920 --> 00:56:46,950 welcome. 1340 00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:49,920 Great. Uh, thank you. Can you hear me? 1341 00:56:49,920 --> 00:56:53,599 >> Uh, we can. You're fairly low, but we 1342 00:56:53,599 --> 00:56:54,720 can hear you. 1343 00:56:54,720 --> 00:56:57,200 >> I will try to speak up. 1344 00:56:57,200 --> 00:56:58,319 >> Thank you. 1345 00:56:58,319 --> 00:57:01,280 >> Okay. I've got uh three points. Uh, 1346 00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:04,640 number one, uh, since it appears that at 1347 00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:07,280 least one prior town manager and at 1348 00:57:07,280 --> 00:57:10,400 least one prior town council ignored 1349 00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:12,960 some fiduciary responsibilities, I would 1350 00:57:12,960 --> 00:57:17,359 like to see this council implement some real teeth so we don't get into 1351 00:57:17,359 --> 00:57:20,000 this mess again that includes teeth 1352 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,400 about ensuring that audits are completed 1353 00:57:22,400 --> 00:57:25,359 on time and perhaps ensuring that there 1354 00:57:25,359 --> 00:57:28,160 is a balanced budget. 1355 00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:30,319 uh that would give me a lot lot more 1356 00:57:30,319 --> 00:57:31,839 confidence that we've resolved this 1357 00:57:31,839 --> 00:57:33,200 issue. We're not going to have it in the 1358 00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:38,400 future. Um number two, the ballot 1359 00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:42,160 language uh as at least I saw in the the 1360 00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:45,119 documents to me appears to be 1361 00:57:45,119 --> 00:57:47,040 disingenuous and maybe a little bit 1362 00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:49,920 misleading because the first item listed 1363 00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:54,079 is wildfire prevention. And you know, in 1364 00:57:54,079 --> 00:57:56,079 at least for the past several years, the 1365 00:57:56,079 --> 00:57:59,280 budget for wildfire mitigation in this 1366 00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:01,119 town has been less than the legal 1367 00:58:01,119 --> 00:58:04,079 budget. And I'm sorry, but but you can't 1368 00:58:04,079 --> 00:58:06,480 put it number one when we all know that 1369 00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:07,920 the real problem here is you're trying 1370 00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:10,720 to fill a hole to solve the problem of 1371 00:58:10,720 --> 00:58:13,920 the uh uh the sheriff's contract and 1372 00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:16,240 maybe a few few other things that have 1373 00:58:16,240 --> 00:58:18,640 been pushed off. So, I have a real 1374 00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:20,960 problem with with the language and I 1375 00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:24,799 think you ought to be honest about that. 1376 00:58:24,799 --> 00:58:30,079 And number three, uh I'm in support of 1377 00:58:30,079 --> 00:58:32,559 Betsy Morganthal's letter that I saw in 1378 00:58:32,559 --> 00:58:36,960 the comments uh about maybe making it $8 1379 00:58:36,960 --> 00:58:39,520 instead of 10 because let's be honest, 1380 00:58:39,520 --> 00:58:42,960 you will never decrease your tax burden. 1381 00:58:42,960 --> 00:58:44,880 And if it's eight, then maybe you have 1382 00:58:44,880 --> 00:58:46,400 to work on a lower budget and if you 1383 00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:48,559 need to, you can raise it, but I I hate 1384 00:58:48,559 --> 00:58:50,799 to see it start at 10 because I know 1385 00:58:50,799 --> 00:58:54,000 you'll never decrease it. Thank you. 1386 00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:55,920 >> Thank you, Dale. 1387 00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:57,839 Is there anybody else online that would 1388 00:58:57,839 --> 00:59:03,510 like to comment? 1389 00:59:03,520 --> 00:59:05,520 » All right, I don't see any hands online. 1390 00:59:05,520 --> 00:59:07,280 Let me bring it back to the council for 1391 00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:11,520 discussion. Um I would like to actually 1392 00:59:11,520 --> 00:59:13,040 discuss both of these at the same time. 1393 00:59:13,040 --> 00:59:14,720 I don't see any reason to bifrocate 1394 00:59:14,720 --> 00:59:18,079 them. So as we go through um I think 1395 00:59:18,079 --> 00:59:20,400 it's basically comments both on the 1396 00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:23,359 amount and then um on the ballot 1397 00:59:23,359 --> 00:59:25,200 wording. 1398 00:59:25,200 --> 00:59:27,760 So anybody like to start? 1399 00:59:27,760 --> 00:59:30,640 >> Just a procedural question. Um, do you 1400 00:59:30,640 --> 00:59:33,920 want us to raise any public comments for 1401 00:59:33,920 --> 00:59:36,240 clarification while we're making our 1402 00:59:36,240 --> 00:59:38,240 >> Actually, why why don't we since that 1403 00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:39,839 was relatively small public comments, 1404 00:59:39,839 --> 00:59:41,520 why don't we do that now? So, thank you. 1405 00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:44,240 I I appreciate. So, Darcy, if we could 1406 00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:46,000 address um a couple of Richard's 1407 00:59:46,000 --> 00:59:48,880 questions in particular and um I think 1408 00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:50,640 we could comment on a few of Dale's as 1409 00:59:50,640 --> 00:59:51,680 well. 1410 00:59:51,680 --> 00:59:53,839 >> Yes. So, 1411 00:59:53,839 --> 00:59:56,319 it's important to note this transfer tax 1412 00:59:56,319 --> 00:59:59,520 is assessed essentially on a sale. And 1413 00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:02,480 so, if a property is transferred into a 1414 01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:06,240 revocable living trust where the current 1415 01:00:06,240 --> 01:00:08,000 owner remains the granter or 1416 01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:10,240 beneficiary, that's just a nominal 1417 01:00:10,240 --> 01:00:12,880 change in title, not a sale. So, there 1418 01:00:12,880 --> 01:00:16,799 would be no tax assessed. Um, a transfer 1419 01:00:16,799 --> 01:00:19,760 to a child is consider if it was a true 1420 01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:22,160 gift or inheritance, not like in your 1421 01:00:22,160 --> 01:00:24,799 will, like I'm going to sell my daughter 1422 01:00:24,799 --> 01:00:27,680 my house for $2 million 1423 01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:30,079 versus the market value of 10 million. 1424 01:00:30,079 --> 01:00:32,640 But if it's a true gift, as you know, 1425 01:00:32,640 --> 01:00:36,480 there are federal and estate taxes that 1426 01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:38,319 could be imposed, but this again is not 1427 01:00:38,319 --> 01:00:42,480 a sale. And so it would be exempt from 1428 01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:44,720 the transfer taxes. But I just want to 1429 01:00:44,720 --> 01:00:47,440 pause there because many times estates 1430 01:00:47,440 --> 01:00:51,920 are more complicated. Um, but this came 1431 01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:53,760 up last time and I want to also say it's 1432 01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:55,839 very different than like your property 1433 01:00:55,839 --> 01:00:59,040 tax assessments. This is a essentially a 1434 01:00:59,040 --> 01:01:04,000 one-time fee on a deed recorded sale. 1435 01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:05,599 >> And and it's worth mentioning that the 1436 01:01:05,599 --> 01:01:08,160 exemptions are the exemptions that exist 1437 01:01:08,160 --> 01:01:10,160 today in state law. We're not adding 1438 01:01:10,160 --> 01:01:11,680 it's exactly the same set. 1439 01:01:11,680 --> 01:01:15,680 >> Correct. Yeah. Um, so then the other 1440 01:01:15,680 --> 01:01:17,520 question was raised by Dale about 1441 01:01:17,520 --> 01:01:20,640 wildfire prevention spending. And I want 1442 01:01:20,640 --> 01:01:22,000 to emphasize, and we've talked about 1443 01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:23,760 this with the budget, that we've trimmed 1444 01:01:23,760 --> 01:01:26,640 our wildfire prevention budget. We 1445 01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:29,920 trimmed our days that we pay Woodside 1446 01:01:29,920 --> 01:01:32,799 Fire to do the work um for clearing. And 1447 01:01:32,799 --> 01:01:37,680 it's I mean I it's significantly less 1448 01:01:37,680 --> 01:01:42,000 than what Tony and I as your budget team 1449 01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:44,160 would recommend to you. Um and it's just 1450 01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:45,520 the reality that we've been living in. 1451 01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:47,040 Again, we're on life support. So when 1452 01:01:47,040 --> 01:01:48,960 you're on life support, you can't really 1453 01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:50,720 fund what you want to fund. So I don't 1454 01:01:50,720 --> 01:01:52,079 think people should look at the current 1455 01:01:52,079 --> 01:01:55,280 budget or again the $700,000 1456 01:01:55,280 --> 01:01:57,760 deficit and say, "Oh, that's how much we 1457 01:01:57,760 --> 01:01:59,280 need." And I've gotten that question a 1458 01:01:59,280 --> 01:02:02,160 lot. And and I might add on the wildfire 1459 01:02:02,160 --> 01:02:04,640 prevention. I mean, Woodside actually 1460 01:02:04,640 --> 01:02:07,760 provides residents a sort of matching 1461 01:02:07,760 --> 01:02:09,599 grant and we've talked about it and and 1462 01:02:09,599 --> 01:02:10,720 the fire department has actually 1463 01:02:10,720 --> 01:02:12,799 recommended that we implement that, but 1464 01:02:12,799 --> 01:02:14,640 given our current um budget situation, 1465 01:02:14,640 --> 01:02:15,839 there's no chance we're going to do 1466 01:02:15,839 --> 01:02:18,640 that, but with this ballot measure, that 1467 01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:19,920 would be something that we could 1468 01:02:19,920 --> 01:02:22,079 consider in our spending plan. We're not 1469 01:02:22,079 --> 01:02:23,359 committing to it, but it's definitely 1470 01:02:23,359 --> 01:02:25,359 something that we could consider um 1471 01:02:25,359 --> 01:02:27,440 after looking at our other needs. 1472 01:02:27,440 --> 01:02:30,720 >> Correct. Correct. and our safety element 1473 01:02:30,720 --> 01:02:32,400 which we're working on and the local 1474 01:02:32,400 --> 01:02:34,799 hazard mitigation plan which was 1475 01:02:34,799 --> 01:02:37,280 prepared by the county has things in it 1476 01:02:37,280 --> 01:02:38,559 like the grant because they're 1477 01:02:38,559 --> 01:02:40,400 interested in how we're reducing the 1478 01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:42,799 wildfire hazard. So yeah, we're not 1479 01:02:42,799 --> 01:02:44,480 keeping up with our neighbors and we're 1480 01:02:44,480 --> 01:02:47,040 not honoring our plans which is 1481 01:02:47,040 --> 01:02:49,680 unfortunate predicament. Um the other 1482 01:02:49,680 --> 01:02:52,240 question about the audits, 1483 01:02:52,240 --> 01:02:55,119 we are required to do audits and we have 1484 01:02:55,119 --> 01:03:00,880 a plan to catch up and I I know that 1485 01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:04,319 Tony and I and the finance staff, the 1486 01:03:04,319 --> 01:03:07,280 team you have now audits are important 1487 01:03:07,280 --> 01:03:08,880 and we will adhere to the state 1488 01:03:08,880 --> 01:03:11,280 requirements of completing them every 1489 01:03:11,280 --> 01:03:14,480 year. Um, there was also a comment about 1490 01:03:14,480 --> 01:03:18,480 a balanced budget. Um, and that would be 1491 01:03:18,480 --> 01:03:20,720 a policy decision with council, but I 1492 01:03:20,720 --> 01:03:23,119 think that could be part of how you look 1493 01:03:23,119 --> 01:03:25,599 at your long-term financial plan and 1494 01:03:25,599 --> 01:03:29,280 again the spending plan for this. 1495 01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:32,799 >> Great. Thank you. Okay. So with that 1496 01:03:32,799 --> 01:03:35,760 council discussion, 1497 01:03:35,760 --> 01:03:37,200 anybody would like to go first or would 1498 01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:37,680 you like 1499 01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:39,920 >> I actually have a follow-up question to 1500 01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:44,319 confirm on those points. So um I'm 1501 01:03:44,319 --> 01:03:47,280 looking at So what you've attached is 1502 01:03:47,280 --> 01:03:50,480 exhibit B. The ordinance shows changes 1503 01:03:50,480 --> 01:03:52,960 from the currently applicable transfer 1504 01:03:52,960 --> 01:03:54,559 tax 1505 01:03:54,559 --> 01:03:58,799 which is being repealed and it shows the 1506 01:03:58,799 --> 01:04:00,640 changes. So essentially it's the same 1507 01:04:00,640 --> 01:04:05,039 ordinance. Um do we can we confirm today 1508 01:04:05,039 --> 01:04:08,079 that if someone's allowing their 1509 01:04:08,079 --> 01:04:11,200 children to inherit a property that the 1510 01:04:11,200 --> 01:04:15,520 current tax does not apply? 1511 01:04:15,520 --> 01:04:18,079 That's my understanding. Yeah. 1512 01:04:18,079 --> 01:04:21,440 >> And Katherine, do you have any I I don't 1513 01:04:21,440 --> 01:04:24,240 have any additional concern with that. I 1514 01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:26,319 mean this is um like you said this has 1515 01:04:26,319 --> 01:04:28,240 been on the books for a long time and 1516 01:04:28,240 --> 01:04:31,280 I'm not aware of any tax for a gift 1517 01:04:31,280 --> 01:04:33,440 >> for a gift. Okay. 1518 01:04:33,440 --> 01:04:36,319 >> And a conveyance would like legally 1519 01:04:36,319 --> 01:04:39,119 speaking a conveyance for an inheritance 1520 01:04:39,119 --> 01:04:43,359 would be a quote gift. 1521 01:04:43,359 --> 01:04:45,359 I just want to make sure that we're 1522 01:04:45,359 --> 01:04:47,039 really tight on this and that we're 1523 01:04:47,039 --> 01:04:49,119 comfortable that it like I don't want to 1524 01:04:49,119 --> 01:04:51,359 do research tonight, but I did want 1525 01:04:51,359 --> 01:04:52,799 confirmation that we haven't been 1526 01:04:52,799 --> 01:04:55,359 charging less on the current one because 1527 01:04:55,359 --> 01:04:57,119 the only thing we're changing are some 1528 01:04:57,119 --> 01:05:01,200 of the very specific rate and um a 1529 01:05:01,200 --> 01:05:04,720 couple of um sentences that are 1530 01:05:04,720 --> 01:05:06,240 underlined. Otherwise, it's the exact 1531 01:05:06,240 --> 01:05:09,039 same thing we're living under. 1532 01:05:09,039 --> 01:05:11,280 And again, the current ordinance um 1533 01:05:11,280 --> 01:05:20,319 refers to the tax rate. Um you know, the 27.5 cents for each $500. And uh 1534 01:05:20,319 --> 01:05:21,680 again, it's our understanding is you 1535 01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:23,839 know, the town is actually zero. 1536 01:05:23,839 --> 01:05:25,680 >> If it's zero, then it's then it's also 1537 01:05:25,680 --> 01:05:26,880 zero. 1538 01:05:26,880 --> 01:05:30,400 >> Okay. Thank you. Um, 1539 01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:33,920 and then to the point of 1540 01:05:33,920 --> 01:05:36,880 a hard commitment on 1541 01:05:36,880 --> 01:05:38,480 always doing audits on time and the 1542 01:05:38,480 --> 01:05:42,400 like, I thought one policy like behind a 1543 01:05:42,400 --> 01:05:44,960 bunch of laws is that this council 1544 01:05:44,960 --> 01:05:48,799 cannot bind future councils. Is that 1545 01:05:48,799 --> 01:05:53,200 also a factor in considering that we can 1546 01:05:53,200 --> 01:05:57,920 decide what's appropriate for us? But I don't see how you could do that 1547 01:05:57,920 --> 01:06:00,640 legally. Yeah, that is generally a legal 1548 01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:02,480 principle that current councils cannot 1549 01:06:02,480 --> 01:06:06,240 bind future councils. Uh I I would note 1550 01:06:06,240 --> 01:06:09,280 that this ordinance does in section two 1551 01:06:09,280 --> 01:06:11,520 contain financial sorry fiscal 1552 01:06:11,520 --> 01:06:14,960 accountability provisions that does uh 1553 01:06:14,960 --> 01:06:18,640 clarify the role of the um the town's 1554 01:06:18,640 --> 01:06:21,760 finance and audit committee uh pursuant 1555 01:06:21,760 --> 01:06:24,079 to its charter authority. uh the the 1556 01:06:24,079 --> 01:06:26,960 idea wasn't to give them you know 1557 01:06:26,960 --> 01:06:29,760 additional responsibilities but really 1558 01:06:29,760 --> 01:06:31,920 to clarify that as part of their 1559 01:06:31,920 --> 01:06:34,079 existing charter authority to provide 1560 01:06:34,079 --> 01:06:36,480 this independent review and oversight uh 1561 01:06:36,480 --> 01:06:39,680 the the funds that are generated by this 1562 01:06:39,680 --> 01:06:42,240 uh tax would be included in the audit 1563 01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:44,319 and would be reviewed uh by the 1564 01:06:44,319 --> 01:06:45,920 committee and they would make 1565 01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:47,599 recommendations to the council as they 1566 01:06:47,599 --> 01:06:49,920 have been doing um in their oversight 1567 01:06:49,920 --> 01:06:51,039 capacity. 1568 01:06:51,039 --> 01:06:53,200 >> Okay. And and then J's one thing I'd say 1569 01:06:53,200 --> 01:06:56,960 this I mean a council can set a policy a 1570 01:06:56,960 --> 01:06:59,039 future council can change that policy 1571 01:06:59,039 --> 01:07:01,039 but in between it sets an expectation 1572 01:07:01,039 --> 01:07:03,440 with the public and so when the new 1573 01:07:03,440 --> 01:07:06,480 council changes that policy if that's 1574 01:07:06,480 --> 01:07:08,240 not meeting the expectations of the 1575 01:07:08,240 --> 01:07:10,000 public then the public can speak out. So 1576 01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:12,480 I mean at least it sets an expectation 1577 01:07:12,480 --> 01:07:14,960 even if it doesn't bind a future 1578 01:07:14,960 --> 01:07:16,000 council. 1579 01:07:16,000 --> 01:07:18,400 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm I I was just 1580 01:07:18,400 --> 01:07:20,079 wanting to put a fine point on that 1581 01:07:20,079 --> 01:07:22,480 because it is something that I think 1582 01:07:22,480 --> 01:07:25,039 we've considered in other contexts and 1583 01:07:25,039 --> 01:07:29,440 that's been a running theme for me. So I did want to bring out that principle. 1584 01:07:29,440 --> 01:07:30,960 Okay, those are the questions that were 1585 01:07:30,960 --> 01:07:34,079 followup. So you can do with it. 1586 01:07:34,079 --> 01:07:35,920 >> Oh, that's great. So do you want to make 1587 01:07:35,920 --> 01:07:37,760 you We're kind of in discussion section. 1588 01:07:37,760 --> 01:07:42,160 >> Sure. [laughter] Okay. Um 1589 01:07:42,160 --> 01:07:43,839 there's been a lot of work, there's been 1590 01:07:43,839 --> 01:07:46,000 a lot of analysis, there's been a lot of 1591 01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:49,440 consultation, input. Um this has been a 1592 01:07:49,440 --> 01:07:53,359 long process over a year and it's very 1593 01:07:53,359 --> 01:07:56,880 clear to me that we need to be um doing 1594 01:07:56,880 --> 01:07:59,839 something for the viability of our town. 1595 01:07:59,839 --> 01:08:03,119 I think we've done a lot of thinking 1596 01:08:03,119 --> 01:08:06,640 through of how this should look. I do 1597 01:08:06,640 --> 01:08:11,760 think that even a 50% plus one success 1598 01:08:11,760 --> 01:08:14,880 uh is going to require simplicity, 1599 01:08:14,880 --> 01:08:16,880 communication, 1600 01:08:16,880 --> 01:08:19,040 um attention 1601 01:08:19,040 --> 01:08:23,199 and I personally think keeping things as 1602 01:08:23,199 --> 01:08:26,799 simple as possible for now is in our 1603 01:08:26,799 --> 01:08:31,040 interest. We have to do something. So is 1604 01:08:31,040 --> 01:08:34,159 this perfect? Um I think it's in the 1605 01:08:34,159 --> 01:08:37,279 range of being very useful and yes I 1606 01:08:37,279 --> 01:08:41,040 support it. Um both as to the rate and 1607 01:08:41,040 --> 01:08:42,799 um 1608 01:08:42,799 --> 01:08:46,880 uh the language um no ballot measure is 1609 01:08:46,880 --> 01:08:51,040 you know Shakespeare and it's uh always 1610 01:08:51,040 --> 01:08:52,640 going to be something that you can 1611 01:08:52,640 --> 01:08:57,440 parse. Um and a ballot measure you know 1612 01:08:57,440 --> 01:08:59,040 there is an art to putting that together 1613 01:08:59,040 --> 01:09:02,080 that I'm not an expert in. So I tend to 1614 01:09:02,080 --> 01:09:04,799 look at that language as something 1615 01:09:04,799 --> 01:09:06,640 that's been pressure tested by the 1616 01:09:06,640 --> 01:09:09,040 people we've engaged who are more 1617 01:09:09,040 --> 01:09:13,279 familiar with that landscape. So I I 1618 01:09:13,279 --> 01:09:15,040 feel pretty strongly that we ought to 1619 01:09:15,040 --> 01:09:17,920 keep it simple. We pulled on the $10 per 1620 01:09:17,920 --> 01:09:20,880 thousand. I respectfully disagree that 1621 01:09:20,880 --> 01:09:23,600 we'll never put it down. I actually do 1622 01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:26,000 suspect though the capital improvement 1623 01:09:26,000 --> 01:09:28,719 projects we have put off for way too 1624 01:09:28,719 --> 01:09:32,319 long are going to be a hurdle to get 1625 01:09:32,319 --> 01:09:34,480 through because we're going to have a 1626 01:09:34,480 --> 01:09:36,880 period of years where we're having to 1627 01:09:36,880 --> 01:09:39,279 prioritize and set with the finance 1628 01:09:39,279 --> 01:09:43,279 committees um consultation and good 1629 01:09:43,279 --> 01:09:46,799 thinking ways of establishing a rolling 1630 01:09:46,799 --> 01:09:51,120 budget or a way to identify key capital 1631 01:09:51,120 --> 01:09:53,040 improvement projects. 1632 01:09:53,040 --> 01:09:55,679 But at some point we will get through 1633 01:09:55,679 --> 01:09:58,880 that and we should never be charging 1634 01:09:58,880 --> 01:10:02,640 more than we we need the variables we 1635 01:10:02,640 --> 01:10:05,040 deal with with the sheriff's contract. 1636 01:10:05,040 --> 01:10:08,480 Um even with the wood chipping and and 1637 01:10:08,480 --> 01:10:10,640 the like. Um I think people in town 1638 01:10:10,640 --> 01:10:13,360 would probably want to spend more on 1639 01:10:13,360 --> 01:10:16,400 wildfire prevention. I I think the harsh 1640 01:10:16,400 --> 01:10:18,880 realities of this year and what we're 1641 01:10:18,880 --> 01:10:22,320 dealing with have influenced um what 1642 01:10:22,320 --> 01:10:24,800 we've been able to do within the budget. 1643 01:10:24,800 --> 01:10:29,600 So um I think I would keep it simple. I 1644 01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:32,960 support it pretty much as it is. I think 1645 01:10:32,960 --> 01:10:35,920 people are asking really great questions 1646 01:10:35,920 --> 01:10:38,880 and that I would encourage people to 1647 01:10:38,880 --> 01:10:41,280 continue to ask questions and pressure 1648 01:10:41,280 --> 01:10:43,840 test and understand because it's in all 1649 01:10:43,840 --> 01:10:45,679 of our interest for the public to 1650 01:10:45,679 --> 01:10:50,960 understand why, what, and how and uh 1651 01:10:50,960 --> 01:10:53,840 move forward. So those are my comments. 1652 01:10:53,840 --> 01:10:55,760 >> Thank you. 1653 01:10:55,760 --> 01:10:59,920 Mary Rebecca might go next. Mary. 1654 01:10:59,920 --> 01:11:02,560 >> Well, uh, I have been a long proponent 1655 01:11:02,560 --> 01:11:05,840 of a charter, uh, town. I think it's 1656 01:11:05,840 --> 01:11:08,400 very much in the character of Porto 1657 01:11:08,400 --> 01:11:12,000 Valley to be a charter town. I u this is 1658 01:11:12,000 --> 01:11:14,880 definitely not my vision of what the 1659 01:11:14,880 --> 01:11:17,199 charter town would have looked like if 1660 01:11:17,199 --> 01:11:20,800 we had done the full um the full charter 1661 01:11:20,800 --> 01:11:24,000 town analysis. I looked pretty carefully 1662 01:11:24,000 --> 01:11:26,480 at the history over the last six years 1663 01:11:26,480 --> 01:11:29,120 at of charter towns and why we weren't a 1664 01:11:29,120 --> 01:11:31,280 charter town. Uh, and I don't think 1665 01:11:31,280 --> 01:11:33,520 there was ever a good reason. I think we 1666 01:11:33,520 --> 01:11:37,280 did it uh really very quickly. Um, and 1667 01:11:37,280 --> 01:11:39,920 sort of in an emergency kind of fashion 1668 01:11:39,920 --> 01:11:43,120 to become a town. Um, I think Charter 1669 01:11:43,120 --> 01:11:46,080 Town was much more suitable for for 1670 01:11:46,080 --> 01:11:49,520 Portolo Valley. uh this this particular 1671 01:11:49,520 --> 01:11:51,280 charter doesn't change anything in the 1672 01:11:51,280 --> 01:11:54,640 governance um and which is a good thing 1673 01:11:54,640 --> 01:11:57,120 because we're not ready for a lot of 1674 01:11:57,120 --> 01:12:00,640 changes there. So uh I'm in complete 1675 01:12:00,640 --> 01:12:02,640 support of getting the charter town at 1676 01:12:02,640 --> 01:12:07,040 least process started. Um this the uh 1677 01:12:07,040 --> 01:12:09,040 transfer tax 1678 01:12:09,040 --> 01:12:12,719 um a characteristic of Porto Valley is 1679 01:12:12,719 --> 01:12:16,560 uh is that we are a resilient 1680 01:12:16,560 --> 01:12:19,679 uh rural community uh dedicated to the 1681 01:12:19,679 --> 01:12:22,800 idea that we can in fact cope with 1682 01:12:22,800 --> 01:12:26,080 emergency situations. You cannot cope 1683 01:12:26,080 --> 01:12:28,320 with emergency situations if you have no 1684 01:12:28,320 --> 01:12:31,360 financial reserves. We are virtually 1685 01:12:31,360 --> 01:12:33,520 we're down from 60% which was our 1686 01:12:33,520 --> 01:12:37,520 historic uh reserve down to 20% under 1687 01:12:37,520 --> 01:12:39,840 our leadership. I'm not comfortable with 1688 01:12:39,840 --> 01:12:42,960 moving forward at a 20% and I'm 1689 01:12:42,960 --> 01:12:44,800 certainly not comfortable moving forward 1690 01:12:44,800 --> 01:12:47,840 at a zero reserve which is what we're 1691 01:12:47,840 --> 01:12:51,679 looking at within our foreseeable very 1692 01:12:51,679 --> 01:12:54,800 closely foreseeable future two years. 1693 01:12:54,800 --> 01:12:59,600 So, uh, I'm 100%, uh, in support of this 1694 01:12:59,600 --> 01:13:02,640 ballot measure, moving it forward and 1695 01:13:02,640 --> 01:13:06,320 moving it forward at the $10 1696 01:13:06,320 --> 01:13:08,560 level. And the reason why I'm in for 1697 01:13:08,560 --> 01:13:11,440 that is that within five years, we can 1698 01:13:11,440 --> 01:13:13,679 be as resilient as we were five years 1699 01:13:13,679 --> 01:13:18,320 ago. Uh and that to me this is this is a 1700 01:13:18,320 --> 01:13:23,040 time when when we need as a town to 1701 01:13:23,040 --> 01:13:25,679 invest in our town. We really can't rely 1702 01:13:25,679 --> 01:13:28,719 on anyone else uh in an emergency 1703 01:13:28,719 --> 01:13:31,679 situation and we need to have these 1704 01:13:31,679 --> 01:13:34,000 resources in order to be able to move 1705 01:13:34,000 --> 01:13:37,840 forward safely. So from a from a public 1706 01:13:37,840 --> 01:13:40,400 health point of view but also from just 1707 01:13:40,400 --> 01:13:43,199 a community resilience point of view, 1708 01:13:43,199 --> 01:13:45,520 this is critical. This is absolutely 1709 01:13:45,520 --> 01:13:48,480 timesensitive and we're doing it fast 1710 01:13:48,480 --> 01:13:51,600 and we need to do it now. 1711 01:13:51,600 --> 01:13:55,600 >> Thank you, Mary. Ellen, Rebecca, 1712 01:13:55,600 --> 01:13:56,480 Ellen, 1713 01:13:56,480 --> 01:14:01,920 >> sure. Um, so, um, you know, uh, I get 1714 01:14:01,920 --> 01:14:03,920 asked often how this town is on the 1715 01:14:03,920 --> 01:14:09,040 fiscal cliff, right? Um, but many nearby 1716 01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:12,480 cities are fiscally constrained right 1717 01:14:12,480 --> 01:14:16,560 now. hugely constrained. Um costs have 1718 01:14:16,560 --> 01:14:20,239 just gone up, public safety, the costs 1719 01:14:20,239 --> 01:14:24,239 of uh you know labor costs. We also have 1720 01:14:24,239 --> 01:14:26,560 a history of volunteers in the city and 1721 01:14:26,560 --> 01:14:29,360 because of that um 1722 01:14:29,360 --> 01:14:32,560 uh the piece of the pie we get from the 1723 01:14:32,560 --> 01:14:34,960 uh county is smaller than what other 1724 01:14:34,960 --> 01:14:38,080 counties get. Um but we also have a 1725 01:14:38,080 --> 01:14:39,679 history of pulling ourselves up by our 1726 01:14:39,679 --> 01:14:43,840 bootstraps. So, um, and I want to 1727 01:14:43,840 --> 01:14:46,159 continue to enjoy Portal Valley's 1728 01:14:46,159 --> 01:14:49,360 autonomy. I, you know, Mike Calig and 1729 01:14:49,360 --> 01:14:51,199 the county, like, God bless you guys and 1730 01:14:51,199 --> 01:14:52,480 my friends in the planning department 1731 01:14:52,480 --> 01:14:56,000 over there. Um, but I, I really want 1732 01:14:56,000 --> 01:14:58,000 Port Oral Valley to have autonomy around 1733 01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:00,320 land use and our safety issues. I want 1734 01:15:00,320 --> 01:15:03,760 to make sure that we um 1735 01:15:03,760 --> 01:15:07,440 uh are able to do our evacuation route. 1736 01:15:07,440 --> 01:15:10,640 Um we have put off a lot of the areas 1737 01:15:10,640 --> 01:15:12,800 fire protection and evacuation shortened 1738 01:15:12,800 --> 01:15:16,080 town hours uh you know to have town hall 1739 01:15:16,080 --> 01:15:19,679 open um a skeleton staff which stresses 1740 01:15:19,679 --> 01:15:22,560 them out and uh doesn't always serve the 1741 01:15:22,560 --> 01:15:25,600 public um capital projects around our 1742 01:15:25,600 --> 01:15:29,199 storm drains like I just you know what 1743 01:15:29,199 --> 01:15:31,120 wakes you up at night um that is one of 1744 01:15:31,120 --> 01:15:32,880 the things that you worry about like you 1745 01:15:32,880 --> 01:15:35,520 know as we face El Nino like is the town 1746 01:15:35,520 --> 01:15:36,880 going to make it through this next year 1747 01:15:36,880 --> 01:15:40,719 without a catastrophic breakdown. Um, 1748 01:15:40,719 --> 01:15:43,120 you know, and too many potholes that we 1749 01:15:43,120 --> 01:15:44,640 didn't used to all have those. And the 1750 01:15:44,640 --> 01:15:47,920 list goes on. The town un, you know, 1751 01:15:47,920 --> 01:15:49,600 this is bitter, but the town needs the 1752 01:15:49,600 --> 01:15:53,120 money to continue enjoy uh enjoying what 1753 01:15:53,120 --> 01:15:56,719 we've got. So, I support it. Um, I 1754 01:15:56,719 --> 01:16:01,360 support the $10 per 10,000. Um, 1755 01:16:01,360 --> 01:16:03,679 uh, because, you know, I do think that 1756 01:16:03,679 --> 01:16:05,760 we have these capital projects in front 1757 01:16:05,760 --> 01:16:10,400 of us. So, um, so I appreciate how staff 1758 01:16:10,400 --> 01:16:12,719 has gotten us to this point and, uh, and 1759 01:16:12,719 --> 01:16:15,440 what you guys have done and, um, the 1760 01:16:15,440 --> 01:16:17,520 legal aspects. You know, I used to say I 1761 01:16:17,520 --> 01:16:19,199 would never vote for, you know, I did 1762 01:16:19,199 --> 01:16:20,800 not support a charter city and here I 1763 01:16:20,800 --> 01:16:22,320 voted for it and I'm voting for this 1764 01:16:22,320 --> 01:16:24,560 tax. So, 1765 01:16:24,560 --> 01:16:27,440 never say never. Thank you. [laughter] 1766 01:16:27,440 --> 01:16:29,120 Here we are. 1767 01:16:29,120 --> 01:16:31,440 >> Thank you, Helen. 1768 01:16:31,440 --> 01:16:33,520 Rebecca. 1769 01:16:33,520 --> 01:16:35,040 >> Um, 1770 01:16:35,040 --> 01:16:36,960 yeah. I mean, that's it's obviously 1771 01:16:36,960 --> 01:16:40,400 always a challenging um decision for a 1772 01:16:40,400 --> 01:16:43,920 council to decide to raise 1773 01:16:43,920 --> 01:16:48,000 um a revenue measure to help uh pay for 1774 01:16:48,000 --> 01:16:50,320 the town services. 1775 01:16:50,320 --> 01:16:51,840 Um, 1776 01:16:51,840 --> 01:16:54,320 Valley has very limited options. I think 1777 01:16:54,320 --> 01:16:57,360 we all recognize that we are essentially 1778 01:16:57,360 --> 01:17:00,159 a residential bedroom community. We 1779 01:17:00,159 --> 01:17:02,560 don't have a lot of uh commercial. We 1780 01:17:02,560 --> 01:17:04,320 have no hotel. We have no boutique 1781 01:17:04,320 --> 01:17:06,880 hotel. We don't have a boutique 1782 01:17:06,880 --> 01:17:09,040 uh convention center or something that 1783 01:17:09,040 --> 01:17:12,159 might bring in extra money. Uh all we 1784 01:17:12,159 --> 01:17:16,480 have is, you know, mainly residential 1785 01:17:16,480 --> 01:17:19,600 mainly homes. And the reality is that 1786 01:17:19,600 --> 01:17:21,760 our homes don't actually turn over very 1787 01:17:21,760 --> 01:17:24,640 often, which means that a significant 1788 01:17:24,640 --> 01:17:26,239 number of our residents have been able 1789 01:17:26,239 --> 01:17:28,960 to enjoy living in Porto Valley for 50 1790 01:17:28,960 --> 01:17:31,840 60 70 80 years 1791 01:17:31,840 --> 01:17:34,080 um because their taxes haven't gone up 1792 01:17:34,080 --> 01:17:36,640 that their taxes don't cover the actual 1793 01:17:36,640 --> 01:17:39,920 cost of the town to operate the town. 1794 01:17:39,920 --> 01:17:42,880 So, um, we are at this point. We've had 1795 01:17:42,880 --> 01:17:44,800 the finance and audit committee explore 1796 01:17:44,800 --> 01:17:47,679 a lot of options. The staff as well. 1797 01:17:47,679 --> 01:17:49,199 We've been looking at this for two 1798 01:17:49,199 --> 01:17:51,600 years. Two years we've been exploring 1799 01:17:51,600 --> 01:17:54,640 all sorts of different options. And 1800 01:17:54,640 --> 01:17:56,880 ultimately, the decision for a charter 1801 01:17:56,880 --> 01:18:02,400 town with um a re uh a property tax, a 1802 01:18:02,400 --> 01:18:05,760 transfer tax is what is made the most 1803 01:18:05,760 --> 01:18:10,880 sense. Um, we hired a very experienced 1804 01:18:10,880 --> 01:18:12,960 uh consultant who has had tremendous 1805 01:18:12,960 --> 01:18:15,040 success with getting their ballot 1806 01:18:15,040 --> 01:18:18,000 measures passed and we took their 1807 01:18:18,000 --> 01:18:20,239 advice. We are taking their advice. Um 1808 01:18:20,239 --> 01:18:22,719 they we they had us do a survey, a 1809 01:18:22,719 --> 01:18:26,239 scientifically um designed survey to to 1810 01:18:26,239 --> 01:18:30,480 understand the appetite of the residents 1811 01:18:30,480 --> 01:18:33,760 to be willing to make a larger community 1812 01:18:33,760 --> 01:18:35,920 contribution to supporting the town and 1813 01:18:35,920 --> 01:18:39,120 to helping the town run and be fiscally 1814 01:18:39,120 --> 01:18:42,480 um responsible. Um I think u many people 1815 01:18:42,480 --> 01:18:45,199 have underestimated how many how much 1816 01:18:45,199 --> 01:18:47,120 the costs have gone up. We already heard 1817 01:18:47,120 --> 01:18:49,440 today and in the packet that in the past 1818 01:18:49,440 --> 01:18:50,960 five years, our public safety, our 1819 01:18:50,960 --> 01:18:55,280 sheriff's contract has gone up 85%. 1820 01:18:55,280 --> 01:18:56,960 Um, 1821 01:18:56,960 --> 01:19:01,120 you know, if you look at housing, our average housing has gone up 1822 01:19:01,120 --> 01:19:02,800 in that same five periods, less than 1823 01:19:02,800 --> 01:19:04,400 25%. 1824 01:19:04,400 --> 01:19:08,080 So, obviously, we can't keep up um with 1825 01:19:08,080 --> 01:19:10,320 sheriff costs if they keep going up like 1826 01:19:10,320 --> 01:19:12,640 that. And it's similar in other areas. 1827 01:19:12,640 --> 01:19:15,120 We all have had increases in insurance 1828 01:19:15,120 --> 01:19:18,480 costs um just like the town has. Um 1829 01:19:18,480 --> 01:19:21,440 staffing has gone up because staff have 1830 01:19:21,440 --> 01:19:24,000 had increases in their costs. So we do 1831 01:19:24,000 --> 01:19:25,679 have to recognize that we have very few 1832 01:19:25,679 --> 01:19:28,800 levers that we can play with in order to 1833 01:19:28,800 --> 01:19:31,679 have a functioning town. So this one 1834 01:19:31,679 --> 01:19:34,080 based on many people studying it for 1835 01:19:34,080 --> 01:19:39,040 many months um makes the most sense. Um 1836 01:19:39,040 --> 01:19:42,239 and I wanted to say that based on the 1837 01:19:42,239 --> 01:19:43,840 polling and based on the advice of our 1838 01:19:43,840 --> 01:19:45,760 consultants, 1839 01:19:45,760 --> 01:19:48,480 uh the 10% was what the community was 1840 01:19:48,480 --> 01:19:50,320 reason what what a majority of the 1841 01:19:50,320 --> 01:19:54,159 community 60% felt was reasonable. And I 1842 01:19:54,159 --> 01:19:56,080 do want to say that we have built into 1843 01:19:56,080 --> 01:19:57,920 the whole 1844 01:19:57,920 --> 01:19:59,679 um ordinance and the whole ballot 1845 01:19:59,679 --> 01:20:02,159 measure the ability to have tremendous 1846 01:20:02,159 --> 01:20:06,080 amount of flexibility so that if we do 1847 01:20:06,080 --> 01:20:08,880 stabilize our reserves and and enable 1848 01:20:08,880 --> 01:20:11,679 them to come back up to 60%. 1849 01:20:11,679 --> 01:20:14,320 If we um set aside a million dollars a 1850 01:20:14,320 --> 01:20:16,719 year for our capital projects and our 1851 01:20:16,719 --> 01:20:19,199 safety projects that have been left 1852 01:20:19,199 --> 01:20:23,040 languishing for five years or more. 1853 01:20:23,040 --> 01:20:26,080 um and we start making a lot of progress 1854 01:20:26,080 --> 01:20:28,560 on that in a few years it's entirely 1855 01:20:28,560 --> 01:20:30,400 possible that we would be able to reduce 1856 01:20:30,400 --> 01:20:33,280 this somewhat um and by leaving it at 1857 01:20:33,280 --> 01:20:35,920 10% in the ballot measure means that we 1858 01:20:35,920 --> 01:20:37,679 have that flexibility 1859 01:20:37,679 --> 01:20:40,800 >> so you keep saying 10% but you need 1% 1860 01:20:40,800 --> 01:20:41,760 $10 per thousand 1861 01:20:41,760 --> 01:20:44,480 >> yes thank you for that $10 per thousand 1862 01:20:44,480 --> 01:20:47,360 thank you for for correcting the 1% 1863 01:20:47,360 --> 01:20:48,880 um 1864 01:20:48,880 --> 01:20:52,080 so I I think that flexibility is really 1865 01:20:52,080 --> 01:20:54,000 helpful And for those who say that that 1866 01:20:54,000 --> 01:20:55,920 councils have never reduced it, that is 1867 01:20:55,920 --> 01:20:58,239 not true. I mean, our UUT was actually 1868 01:20:58,239 --> 01:21:01,440 reduced a few years ago. So, um, and 1869 01:21:01,440 --> 01:21:03,280 perhaps that's led to some of the issues 1870 01:21:03,280 --> 01:21:07,440 that we now have. But um 1871 01:21:07,440 --> 01:21:09,199 I I think having that flexibility, 1872 01:21:09,199 --> 01:21:11,120 having the the fiscal accountability 1873 01:21:11,120 --> 01:21:15,280 procedures in place, um having the 1874 01:21:15,280 --> 01:21:17,120 ability of the town council and future 1875 01:21:17,120 --> 01:21:19,600 town councils to make modifications find 1876 01:21:19,600 --> 01:21:22,159 that it's necessary, um is really 1877 01:21:22,159 --> 01:21:28,080 important. Um and I think, um I I trust 1878 01:21:28,080 --> 01:21:29,679 our finance department to keep us on 1879 01:21:29,679 --> 01:21:31,440 track with the budgets. They've been 1880 01:21:31,440 --> 01:21:34,880 very frugally responsible. they've been 1881 01:21:34,880 --> 01:21:38,960 um very careful to recommend um expenses 1882 01:21:38,960 --> 01:21:43,679 that that um we can bear right now. Um 1883 01:21:43,679 --> 01:21:46,159 but the recognition is that we have have 1884 01:21:46,159 --> 01:21:49,520 had a a not a 100% balanced budget but 1885 01:21:49,520 --> 01:21:51,600 as close as we can make it based on 1886 01:21:51,600 --> 01:21:54,400 things like deferring capital expenses. 1887 01:21:54,400 --> 01:21:56,880 So when you I have seen costs for other 1888 01:21:56,880 --> 01:21:58,880 towns that have done a storm drain 1889 01:21:58,880 --> 01:22:01,120 evaluation report. This is just the 1890 01:22:01,120 --> 01:22:04,000 report, not the repairs. Um, and then 1891 01:22:04,000 --> 01:22:05,920 it's on the order of $300,000 to 1892 01:22:05,920 --> 01:22:07,679 $500,000. 1893 01:22:07,679 --> 01:22:09,920 So, if we're talking about putting aside 1894 01:22:09,920 --> 01:22:12,639 a million dollars for safety and, you 1895 01:22:12,639 --> 01:22:15,040 know, capital projects, the the report 1896 01:22:15,040 --> 01:22:16,960 alone eats up almost, you know, a third 1897 01:22:16,960 --> 01:22:18,560 to a half of that money. And that 1898 01:22:18,560 --> 01:22:21,040 doesn't count for repairing, you know, 1899 01:22:21,040 --> 01:22:24,719 50-year-old um storm drains, you know, 1900 01:22:24,719 --> 01:22:26,800 that have rusted out and that could lead 1901 01:22:26,800 --> 01:22:29,920 to washing out an entire neighborhood if 1902 01:22:29,920 --> 01:22:33,440 they were to fail. So, I think it's um 1903 01:22:33,440 --> 01:22:35,199 really important and also I I've been 1904 01:22:35,199 --> 01:22:37,120 working with Craig about um the safety 1905 01:22:37,120 --> 01:22:39,760 element and we've been putting together 1906 01:22:39,760 --> 01:22:42,400 this repository of all of the recommend 1907 01:22:42,400 --> 01:22:44,159 recommended actions that our safety 1908 01:22:44,159 --> 01:22:47,040 committees have recommended and the list 1909 01:22:47,040 --> 01:22:50,880 has 260 items on it. Um that doesn't say 1910 01:22:50,880 --> 01:22:52,960 all those items need to be done. Many of 1911 01:22:52,960 --> 01:22:54,960 them or not many but quite a few have 1912 01:22:54,960 --> 01:22:57,040 been already done and and they're in 1913 01:22:57,040 --> 01:22:59,520 ordinances. But there's a large number 1914 01:22:59,520 --> 01:23:02,239 of items that our our safety committees 1915 01:23:02,239 --> 01:23:04,480 are recommending that we tackle and we 1916 01:23:04,480 --> 01:23:06,480 have had no money to do those. So I 1917 01:23:06,480 --> 01:23:10,080 think it's important that we um raise 1918 01:23:10,080 --> 01:23:12,400 sufficient money to be able to safeguard 1919 01:23:12,400 --> 01:23:15,280 the town and the polling said very 1920 01:23:15,280 --> 01:23:16,560 clearly that people are very concerned 1921 01:23:16,560 --> 01:23:19,040 about wildfire and that's pro that's why 1922 01:23:19,040 --> 01:23:20,800 it's listed first. Not because we're 1923 01:23:20,800 --> 01:23:21,840 planning to spend the most amount of 1924 01:23:21,840 --> 01:23:24,400 money on the first item, but legally 1925 01:23:24,400 --> 01:23:29,760 this is a um a tax that is for um 1926 01:23:29,760 --> 01:23:33,280 general spending that will include a 1927 01:23:33,280 --> 01:23:35,040 number of items including wildfire 1928 01:23:35,040 --> 01:23:36,639 preparation and the others that are 1929 01:23:36,639 --> 01:23:38,480 listed there that are priorities 1930 01:23:38,480 --> 01:23:41,120 communicated by our town. So, um at this 1931 01:23:41,120 --> 01:23:43,360 point, I recommend that we approve this 1932 01:23:43,360 --> 01:23:46,400 as written uh with the 1% 1933 01:23:46,400 --> 01:23:50,310 um tax rate. 1934 01:23:50,320 --> 01:23:52,960 Thank you. So, I'd like to thank my 1935 01:23:52,960 --> 01:23:54,639 fellow council members for your 1936 01:23:54,639 --> 01:23:57,520 comments. I agree with I think all of 1937 01:23:57,520 --> 01:24:01,040 them. Um, I'd also like to say that, you 1938 01:24:01,040 --> 01:24:03,840 know, I believe in this town. Um, I 1939 01:24:03,840 --> 01:24:07,679 believe in our general plan. We 1940 01:24:07,679 --> 01:24:10,159 have can we have built a town that's 1941 01:24:10,159 --> 01:24:12,639 special and that process has been 1942 01:24:12,639 --> 01:24:14,480 intentional. We haven't gotten here by 1943 01:24:14,480 --> 01:24:17,120 accident. Um, we have buildings that are 1944 01:24:17,120 --> 01:24:19,600 subservient to the land. We have limited 1945 01:24:19,600 --> 01:24:22,159 lighting. We have limited fencing. 1946 01:24:22,159 --> 01:24:25,199 That's because the town exists and we 1947 01:24:25,199 --> 01:24:27,199 control our own destiny. And I think 1948 01:24:27,199 --> 01:24:28,880 that that's critical. And it's critical 1949 01:24:28,880 --> 01:24:31,679 that we do that in the future. For 1950 01:24:31,679 --> 01:24:34,239 people who don't know, because we have 1951 01:24:34,239 --> 01:24:37,600 always been efficient and frugal, we get 1952 01:24:37,600 --> 01:24:40,320 4 cents on every property tax dollar. 1953 01:24:40,320 --> 01:24:42,320 It's so low that they had to pass 1954 01:24:42,320 --> 01:24:45,679 another ordinance to round it up to 7%. 1955 01:24:45,679 --> 01:24:49,040 We get the lowest property tax rate of 1956 01:24:49,040 --> 01:24:52,480 any jurisdiction in the county. So, I 1957 01:24:52,480 --> 01:24:54,000 think it's important to know that this 1958 01:24:54,000 --> 01:24:56,080 is not a town that's spending money hand 1959 01:24:56,080 --> 01:24:59,440 over fist. Um, I believe that the $10 is 1960 01:24:59,440 --> 01:25:00,960 the right one. I believe it sets a 1961 01:25:00,960 --> 01:25:02,880 ceiling. Um, and I think that's 1962 01:25:02,880 --> 01:25:05,679 important. Um, as I think Rebecca 1963 01:25:05,679 --> 01:25:07,840 mentioned, we have lowered the UTS. So 1964 01:25:07,840 --> 01:25:10,080 councils have lowered the taxes. And I 1965 01:25:10,080 --> 01:25:12,719 would also remind the public that if we 1966 01:25:12,719 --> 01:25:15,440 get to the point where we have an 1967 01:25:15,440 --> 01:25:19,360 outofcrol council that is not careful 1968 01:25:19,360 --> 01:25:23,440 with money that this can be withdrawn by 1969 01:25:23,440 --> 01:25:25,920 the voters. This is not permanent. This 1970 01:25:25,920 --> 01:25:27,920 is not forever. This is until the voters 1971 01:25:27,920 --> 01:25:30,639 decide whether they want to continue. So 1972 01:25:30,639 --> 01:25:32,480 I think we have safeguards in terms of 1973 01:25:32,480 --> 01:25:34,400 the voters and I also think we have 1974 01:25:34,400 --> 01:25:35,840 safeguards in terms of the council 1975 01:25:35,840 --> 01:25:37,679 because I have found that our councils 1976 01:25:37,679 --> 01:25:39,840 have been thoughtful and that the 1977 01:25:39,840 --> 01:25:42,239 councils generally do not believe that 1978 01:25:42,239 --> 01:25:43,920 overt taxing the citizens is one of 1979 01:25:43,920 --> 01:25:46,960 their goals. So I'm comfortable and that 1980 01:25:46,960 --> 01:25:48,719 you know the the controls that we have 1981 01:25:48,719 --> 01:25:51,520 is we could lower UT and we can also 1982 01:25:51,520 --> 01:25:54,960 lower the um real property tax the real 1983 01:25:54,960 --> 01:25:57,199 property transfer tax. So, I'm 1984 01:25:57,199 --> 01:25:59,120 comfortable with the controls we have 1985 01:25:59,120 --> 01:26:01,199 for for lowering this. So, I I think 1986 01:26:01,199 --> 01:26:03,520 that that stuff will work well in our 1987 01:26:03,520 --> 01:26:05,199 favor. 1988 01:26:05,199 --> 01:26:07,120 So, I I think in closing, I would just 1989 01:26:07,120 --> 01:26:08,880 say, you know, I love Portola Valley. I 1990 01:26:08,880 --> 01:26:10,719 want to protect our values. So, I'm very 1991 01:26:10,719 --> 01:26:13,280 much in favor of this. Um, as much as I 1992 01:26:13,280 --> 01:26:15,440 dislike taxes, I'm not in favor of tax 1993 01:26:15,440 --> 01:26:17,600 general, but I believe that this is the 1994 01:26:17,600 --> 01:26:20,880 right thing for the town to do now. 1995 01:26:20,880 --> 01:26:23,760 So with that, I would entertain a motion 1996 01:26:23,760 --> 01:26:26,000 to do we need to read the whole thing. 1997 01:26:26,000 --> 01:26:28,000 Can I just sort of point us? I mean, I'm 1998 01:26:28,000 --> 01:26:29,040 happy to read it. 1999 01:26:29,040 --> 01:26:31,360 >> Uh, no, you can refer Well, the the 2000 01:26:31,360 --> 01:26:33,600 resolution. Um, 2001 01:26:33,600 --> 01:26:35,280 >> might be just to be clear, it might be 2002 01:26:35,280 --> 01:26:36,480 good if we could just pull up the 2003 01:26:36,480 --> 01:26:39,360 language. 2004 01:26:39,360 --> 01:26:42,080 >> I mean, it's or adoption of the 2005 01:26:42,080 --> 01:26:43,679 resolution submitted to the voters of 2006 01:26:43,679 --> 01:26:47,440 Porto Valley. um a measure both to adopt 2007 01:26:47,440 --> 01:26:49,440 a town charter and to authorize a real 2008 01:26:49,440 --> 01:26:51,600 property transfer tax at the general 2009 01:26:51,600 --> 01:26:53,760 election to be held on Tuesday, November 2010 01:26:53,760 --> 01:26:57,920 3rd, 2026 um as called by resolution 2011 01:26:57,920 --> 01:27:01,910 3001-2026. 2012 01:27:01,920 --> 01:27:05,440 So I would accept a motion and a second. 2013 01:27:05,440 --> 01:27:06,480 >> Second. 2014 01:27:06,480 --> 01:27:07,840 >> Okay, we have a motion. We have a 2015 01:27:07,840 --> 01:27:10,320 second. All in favor? 2016 01:27:10,320 --> 01:27:14,080 >> I. Any opposed? I hear no opposition. 2017 01:27:14,080 --> 01:27:15,760 Thank you very much everyone. This has 2018 01:27:15,760 --> 01:27:19,920 been a long hard set of deci, you know, 2019 01:27:19,920 --> 01:27:21,840 discussions and decisions and then we'll 2020 01:27:21,840 --> 01:27:23,600 go on. I I think one thing we've heard 2021 01:27:23,600 --> 01:27:24,960 from the other council members, I think 2022 01:27:24,960 --> 01:27:27,840 particularly Judas was right, if members 2023 01:27:27,840 --> 01:27:29,280 of the public have questions, they 2024 01:27:29,280 --> 01:27:31,360 should ask them. We want to make sure 2025 01:27:31,360 --> 01:27:34,000 that we are crystal clear on what the 2026 01:27:34,000 --> 01:27:37,360 consequence of this um ordinance or this 2027 01:27:37,360 --> 01:27:39,840 resolution is. So with that, I'm going 2028 01:27:39,840 --> 01:27:43,600 to close 8B and move on to agenda item 2029 01:27:43,600 --> 01:27:47,840 number nine. So are there any oral um 2030 01:27:47,840 --> 01:27:50,159 subcommittee liaison committee or agency 2031 01:27:50,159 --> 01:27:52,000 reports? 2032 01:27:52,000 --> 01:27:54,719 See none on this side one. Okay, go 2033 01:27:54,719 --> 01:27:56,000 ahead Helen. 2034 01:27:56,000 --> 01:28:00,239 >> Um so the wildfire, 2035 01:28:00,239 --> 01:28:02,719 do you mind if I do this report actually 2036 01:28:02,719 --> 01:28:05,360 the wildfire or are you going to do it? 2037 01:28:05,360 --> 01:28:07,040 >> I submitted something paper for next 2038 01:28:07,040 --> 01:28:08,400 time, but that's welcome. You're welcome 2039 01:28:08,400 --> 01:28:09,440 to go ahead and 2040 01:28:09,440 --> 01:28:14,000 >> um Okay. I just wanted to um let council 2041 01:28:14,000 --> 01:28:17,760 know I am not the leazison. So 2042 01:28:17,760 --> 01:28:20,800 um but uh one shoreline did go to the 2043 01:28:20,800 --> 01:28:23,040 wildfire committee 2044 01:28:23,040 --> 01:28:26,639 um last Wednesday. I think it was last 2045 01:28:26,639 --> 01:28:31,120 Wednesday, Thursday, sorry. and uh and 2046 01:28:31,120 --> 01:28:35,120 they approved being part of a pilot for 2047 01:28:35,120 --> 01:28:37,920 the for the county along with Hillsboro 2048 01:28:37,920 --> 01:28:41,199 and then there'll be a coastal area um 2049 01:28:41,199 --> 01:28:45,840 uh for fire to help a pilot to help with 2050 01:28:45,840 --> 01:28:49,040 wildfire insurance and it's a minimum of 2051 01:28:49,040 --> 01:28:52,560 25 households and it's to be determined 2052 01:28:52,560 --> 01:28:55,520 where in town it would be. Um so the 2053 01:28:55,520 --> 01:28:57,760 wildfire committee is working on that. 2054 01:28:57,760 --> 01:28:59,440 Um, do you want to add anything? 2055 01:28:59,440 --> 01:29:01,120 >> Yeah. Can I add one other thing? 2056 01:29:01,120 --> 01:29:04,320 >> Um, one shoreline was recommending that 2057 01:29:04,320 --> 01:29:06,960 we identify where the greatest 2058 01:29:06,960 --> 01:29:09,120 concentration of homes that have been 2059 01:29:09,120 --> 01:29:12,239 forced to go onto the fair plan. So, I 2060 01:29:12,239 --> 01:29:14,080 would really love it if our residents 2061 01:29:14,080 --> 01:29:15,840 could let us know if they are on the 2062 01:29:15,840 --> 01:29:17,360 fair plan because that would help us 2063 01:29:17,360 --> 01:29:19,440 determine, you know, sort of localize 2064 01:29:19,440 --> 01:29:23,840 what neighborhood made the most sense to um participate in this pilot. And the 2065 01:29:23,840 --> 01:29:26,320 pilot is about home hardening and um 2066 01:29:26,320 --> 01:29:28,800 vegetation clearance, sort of the impact 2067 01:29:28,800 --> 01:29:30,480 of that might have on a larger 2068 01:29:30,480 --> 01:29:32,960 neighborhood scale in terms of helping 2069 01:29:32,960 --> 01:29:36,239 to reduce um insurance rates. So we'd 2070 01:29:36,239 --> 01:29:38,000 like to identify that. So if you're on 2071 01:29:38,000 --> 01:29:41,120 the fair plan, please talk to um MJ Lee 2072 01:29:41,120 --> 01:29:43,199 over at the wildfire preparedness 2073 01:29:43,199 --> 01:29:44,960 committee or probably you can just call 2074 01:29:44,960 --> 01:29:46,800 into the town as well or email into the 2075 01:29:46,800 --> 01:29:48,960 town to let us know that you're on the 2076 01:29:48,960 --> 01:29:51,280 fair plan. 2077 01:29:51,280 --> 01:29:54,080 Um, and also can I'll just add a couple 2078 01:29:54,080 --> 01:29:57,360 other things. So, um, it should not it's 2079 01:29:57,360 --> 01:30:00,639 not expected to cost the town anything. 2080 01:30:00,639 --> 01:30:03,040 So, I wanted to bring that up. Um, and 2081 01:30:03,040 --> 01:30:09,040 then uh the the pilot will bring in um 2082 01:30:09,040 --> 01:30:13,520 uh um like contractors and scale of 2083 01:30:13,520 --> 01:30:15,440 economy. So hopefully there'll be, you 2084 01:30:15,440 --> 01:30:17,920 know, a savings to homeowners, but the 2085 01:30:17,920 --> 01:30:20,960 homeowners would probably need to pay 2086 01:30:20,960 --> 01:30:23,199 for their home hardening themselves to 2087 01:30:23,199 --> 01:30:25,440 explain the economics of the of the 2088 01:30:25,440 --> 01:30:27,600 pilot. And so not everyone will want to 2089 01:30:27,600 --> 01:30:29,520 be part of it, which is understandable, 2090 01:30:29,520 --> 01:30:31,600 but hopefully there's a scale of economy 2091 01:30:31,600 --> 01:30:34,960 because of bringing, you know, uh, doing 2092 01:30:34,960 --> 01:30:37,840 more home hardening all at once. So 2093 01:30:37,840 --> 01:30:40,800 that's the idea, too. 2094 01:30:40,800 --> 01:30:41,520 >> So thank you. 2095 01:30:41,520 --> 01:30:42,719 >> Thank you. 2096 01:30:42,719 --> 01:30:43,920 >> All right. With that, I'm going to open 2097 01:30:43,920 --> 01:30:45,520 it up for public comment. Is there any 2098 01:30:45,520 --> 01:30:47,520 public comment on agenda item number 2099 01:30:47,520 --> 01:30:50,320 nine? I see no one in the room with 2100 01:30:50,320 --> 01:30:52,480 their hands up. 2101 01:30:52,480 --> 01:30:56,560 And I see no hands online. 2102 01:30:56,560 --> 01:30:57,840 All right. So, I'm going to bring it 2103 01:30:57,840 --> 01:31:01,120 back to the council um and look for a 2104 01:31:01,120 --> 01:31:03,520 motion to adjurnn. 2105 01:31:03,520 --> 01:31:05,040 >> Motion to adjurnn. 2106 01:31:05,040 --> 01:31:05,840 >> Second. 2107 01:31:05,840 --> 01:31:08,320 >> Okay. We have motion. Second. All in 2108 01:31:08,320 --> 01:31:08,960 favor? 2109 01:31:08,960 --> 01:31:13,480 >> I Thank you everyone.