[0:00] All right. Good evening. Welcome
[0:01] everyone. Like to call town council to
[0:05] order.
[0:06] Can we have roll call? Veronica.
[0:10] >> Council member Walter
[0:12] present. Council member Hasco here.
[0:15] Council member Flynn
[0:16] >> here.
[0:17] >> Vice Mayor Hufty
[0:19] >> here.
[0:19] >> Mayor Taylor
[0:20] >> present.
[0:21] >> We have a quorum.
[0:22] >> Thank you. All right. The third item on
[0:25] the agenda is a report out from close
[0:26] session. Katherine.
[0:27] >> Uh thank you, Mayor, Council. Uh the
[0:29] council met in close session prior to
[0:31] tonight's regular meeting to uh conduct
[0:34] the annual performance evaluation of the
[0:35] town manager and provide um direction to
[0:39] uh the town attorney um as his labor
[0:41] negotiator. Nothing to report out. Thank
[0:44] you.
[0:44] >> Thank you.
[0:46] All right, moving on to number four,
[0:48] presentations and proclamations. So
[0:50] tonight we have a com com, excuse me, a
[0:54] commemoration honoring the life,
[0:56] leadership, and enduring leg legacy of
[0:58] former Portola Valley Mayor Edward C.
[1:01] Ted as we all knew him, Briscoll. Um,
[1:05] and I'd just like to give all the
[1:06] council members just a short moment to say, you know, whatever their
[1:11] thoughts are on Ted, and then I will
[1:12] basically hand the um commemoration to
[1:15] the family. Um, and we really appreciate
[1:17] you coming here tonight. Thank you. So,
[1:20] should we start Mary?
[1:23] Well, uh Ted was a a was an
[1:27] inspirational leader for all of us and uh he uh never failed in his
[1:33] optimism and he was did a wonderful job
[1:36] with of course our town center in an
[1:40] effort that uh those of us who resist
[1:42] change resisted uh mightily and he made
[1:46] a beautiful center a culturally alive
[1:50] uh meaningful place in our town and we
[1:54] deeply appreciate it.
[1:56] Also, as the more I've researched him,
[1:58] the more impressive he gets. So, thank
[2:02] you for sharing him with us for those
[2:04] many years.
[2:06] >> Thank you, Barry. Judah.
[2:07] >> Yeah. Uh the town certainly benefited
[2:10] from all of his efforts on it on our
[2:13] behalf. Um uh Ted actually was one
[2:17] interviewed me for the planning
[2:19] commission with Steve Tobin and um I
[2:23] just I it made a huge difference um the
[2:27] way he was interacting, the way he was
[2:31] describing the opportunities and you
[2:35] know being frank about the downsides. Um
[2:38] it was a great conversation and I'm not
[2:40] sure I would have stepped up at that
[2:43] point if not for him. So on a personal
[2:46] level he he made a huge difference and
[2:50] you know looking forward I'm sure I'm
[2:51] not the only one with that tale to tell.
[2:54] So he really did inspire people to step
[2:57] forward and volunteer in the good portal
[2:59] valley spirit. So, we really appreciate
[3:03] Ted and you you his family uh sharing
[3:06] him with us. Thank you,
[3:09] >> Rebecca.
[3:10] >> Yeah. Yeah. I first met Ted um through
[3:12] the town center renewal project and um I
[3:16] was very impressed with how much he went
[3:19] out to the community and listened to um
[3:23] so many people's opinions and
[3:25] perspectives on this. And I was also
[3:28] really impressed with how informed he
[3:30] was about the whole the the whole green
[3:32] building uh features of the comm of the
[3:34] town center. And he really pushed to put
[3:37] those and to get us our lead
[3:39] certification so that the town could
[3:41] actually be the town center could be
[3:43] sort of a a goal for many other
[3:45] communities. So um I I was very
[3:48] impressed with how smart he was and how
[3:50] kind he was. Thanks,
[3:53] >> Helen. Um, so while I was raised here, I
[3:57] actually didn't know your dad. Um, but I
[4:01] had, you know, my parents knew him and I
[4:05] always heard about your dad. Um, and for
[4:07] those of us who grew up here, you know,
[4:10] like I learned to drive over where the
[4:12] tennis court was in front of the old
[4:14] building over there, right? Like round
[4:15] and round in the big parking lot. So
[4:17] that your dad had the vision to help
[4:21] create what we have today. I really
[4:23] appreciate and [clears throat] um and
[4:25] I'm sorry for your loss and that please
[4:28] know that I am um grateful that he would
[4:32] that he guided our town as like he did.
[4:35] So thank you.
[4:38] >> And I would just echo the comments of my
[4:40] fellow council members. For people who
[4:43] haven't been here,
[4:45] the town center that we sit in now,
[4:48] which is the cultural heart of Portola
[4:51] Valley, was driven by TED. Ted made it
[4:54] happen. I mean, other people were
[4:56] certainly involved, but without Ted's
[4:59] leadership, it it would not have
[5:00] happened. Um, and I was here when there
[5:02] were people who were against it. I mean,
[5:04] as hard as it is to believe today, how
[5:06] beautiful it is that people would have
[5:08] been against this, but at the time they
[5:09] were. Um and and Ted drove it forward,
[5:13] has Cherrettes brought people together
[5:15] to make it happen. So again, I I think
[5:18] we were so lucky to have him both
[5:19] serving as a council member and
[5:22] basically having a vision for what we
[5:24] could have here at the town center. So
[5:26] again, thank you so much. Thank you for
[5:28] the family for sharing him with all of
[5:30] us in Portola Valley. It's greatly
[5:32] appreciated. And with that, I would like
[5:34] to hand you a proclamation. So thank you
[5:37] for coming tonight. And I'll walk to
[5:39] you. You don't have to come up to me.
[5:52] » Exactly.
[6:04] [laughter]
[6:06] Thank you.
[6:14] We We're not going to do our moment of
[6:16] silence.
[6:20] Do Do you want to do a moment of
[6:21] silence?
[6:22] >> I think they're left. I don't know. We can do a moment of silence. I mean,
[6:28] we give him the proclamation.
[6:31] I I'm I'm good with that. Why Why don't
[6:32] we just take a moment um and just
[6:35] remember some of the great things that
[6:36] Ted did for this town? Thank you.
[7:06] All right. So, I'm going to move on to
[7:09] the next one. But, um, again, I think it
[7:12] Ted was deeply appreciated by this town.
[7:14] Uh I I wanted to just say that one of
[7:18] the things that have come out of this is
[7:20] u that the uh historic resource
[7:24] committee is working hard on the
[7:26] archives the historic resource and uh
[7:29] we're hoping to have sort of a the
[7:32] personalities of the town and and a
[7:36] commemorative page at some point come
[7:38] out of that effort.
[7:41] >> Great. Well, look forward to it. All
[7:43] right. All right, with that I'm going to
[7:44] close number four and move on to number
[7:47] five, the town manager report. Darcy?
[7:49] >> Yes. Good evening. Darcy Smith, town
[7:51] manager. I'll give a brief report. First
[7:54] of all, thank you for everyone who
[7:56] attended our last summer concert series.
[7:58] I think I saw many of you there and it was packed to be honest. I would say
[8:03] for the next one, which is August 6, get
[8:06] there early, get your little spot on the
[8:09] lawn with your blanket and enjoy it.
[8:14] I have a housing element amendment
[8:16] update which is that we've checked the
[8:18] box submitted it the state housing and
[8:22] community development department and
[8:25] they have 60 days to respond and they
[8:27] will either give us another comment
[8:29] letter or they might might certify it.
[8:32] Um but that will happen midepptember and
[8:34] then the plan would be to bring it back
[8:36] to the council as soon as possible.
[8:39] So, thank you to all the council and the
[8:43] planning commission and our committees
[8:45] and the staff who helped this happen. It
[8:48] is a certainly an important milestone to
[8:50] move forward and as you know remove the
[8:52] Dorothy Ford Park and open space site
[8:54] from the housing element and replace it
[8:56] with three other sites that we're really
[8:58] excited about.
[9:00] And then an important note to the
[9:02] community, our next council meeting on
[9:04] August 12th will be cancelled and the
[9:07] next meeting of the town council will be
[9:09] August 26th.
[9:11] And that said, the town halls town hall
[9:13] will remain completely open. So we are
[9:16] there in the mornings and frankly it's
[9:19] been very busy in the mornings. So we
[9:21] welcome you in at and we open at 8:30 if
[9:24] you want to come in. And that concludes
[9:25] my short report. Thank you.
[9:28] >> Thank you Darcy. Any
[9:30] questions for the town manager? No. No.
[9:33] Good. All right. So then moving on to
[9:34] oral communications. So I'll open this
[9:37] up to the public. These is basically for
[9:40] anything that we've discussed up to this
[9:42] point and any other things that are not
[9:44] on tonight's agenda. So I don't see any
[9:47] hands in the schoolhouse
[9:52] and I don't see any hands online.
[9:56] Okay. So, with that, I'm going to close
[9:58] oral communications and move on to the
[10:00] consent agenda.
[10:08] So, are there any public comments on the
[10:11] consent agenda?
[10:13] Again, I don't see any in the
[10:15] schoolhouse.
[10:17] I don't see any online.
[10:20] All right. So, I'm going to bring it
[10:21] back to the council. Are there any
[10:23] consent ag consent agenda items that a
[10:26] council member wants to pull?
[10:28] >> No. No. No. All right. Then I would
[10:30] accept a motion to approve the consent
[10:32] agenda.
[10:34] >> I move to approve the consent agenda.
[10:37] >> Second.
[10:38] >> Thank you. We have a motion and a
[10:39] second. All in favor say I.
[10:42] >> I. I.
[10:43] >> Any opposed?
[10:45] All right. I hear no opposition. All
[10:47] right. Moving on to number eight.
[10:50] Regular agenda. First topic is the
[10:53] considering considering adoption of a
[10:56] resolution authorizing an additional um
[11:01] sorry
[11:03] basically this is a um consideration of
[11:06] whether we should spend more money on
[11:08] the auditing to accelerate the audits.
[11:11] Tony
[11:24] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening,
[11:27] members of council. Uh tonight I
[11:29] tonight's item staff is asking STE uh
[11:31] council to recommend to adopt a
[11:33] resolution authorizing an additional
[11:35] 45,000 in general fund appropriation in
[11:38] the current year in order to expedite
[11:40] the completion of the audits for fiscal
[11:42] year um 23 24 and for fiscal year 2425.
[11:57] origins.
[12:06] So, um in our meetings with Maize and
[12:10] Associates,
[12:12] um who is the town auditor,
[12:15] um they agreed to do fiscal years 23,
[12:19] 24, and 245 uh concurrently. Um and
[12:24] since uh financial
[12:28] um responsibility and long-term
[12:30] viability is one of the highest council
[12:32] priorities, uh one strategy was
[12:35] completing the backlog of the audits.
[12:37] And it's uh it's time we uh put these to
[12:40] bed. And um so in our conversations with
[12:44] Maize, they did propose a very
[12:47] aggressive schedule. I'm happy to report
[12:50] that we have reached the first two
[12:52] milestones. Uh the first one was on July
[12:54] 20th. We were to have trial balances and
[12:58] uh prepared by client checklist items
[13:01] which was schedules. Um it was about 30
[13:04] for each fiscal year. uh we were able to
[13:06] produce about 95% of what the auditors
[13:10] had asked for and um on the 20th uh the
[13:14] auditors did confirm receipt and that
[13:16] they were uh have what they need in
[13:19] order to meet the deadline of uh issuing
[13:21] both financial statements by October 15,
[13:25] 2026.
[13:26] Um this chart is the schedule as as I
[13:29] stated the trial balances and the PBC
[13:31] checklists were due to Mays on the 20th.
[13:35] we did meet that goal. Um I have already
[13:38] received the first analytical review
[13:40] questions for fiscal year 24. Um I am
[13:43] almost completed with my review of that.
[13:45] We'll probably have that back to Maze
[13:47] either tomorrow or Friday. Uh and then
[13:50] they will send 25 uh when that is done.
[13:53] And then looking at uh next month um
[13:58] we'll have the analytical review
[13:59] questions before August 10th and then
[14:03] we'll have May's conducting fieldwork
[14:05] through August 21st and hopefully with
[14:08] the first draft of financial statements
[14:10] by August 25th and then the next few
[14:13] weeks will be final review revisions and
[14:16] approval. Um when the draft financial
[14:19] statements are available we will be
[14:21] taking them to the finance committee. uh
[14:23] before coming to council. Uh so plan on
[14:27] the second meeting in October for the
[14:31] financial statements for 23 24 and 2425
[14:34] to be brought to council for acceptance.
[14:38] So yes uh some considerations for the
[14:42] before adopting the resolution number
[14:43] one. Yes, we are asking for an
[14:45] additional 45,000 appropriation for the
[14:47] current year. By doing so, we'll be able
[14:49] to reduce the finance department's
[14:51] budget by $95,000 in the next fiscal
[14:54] year. U, but one tradeoff is that um
[14:58] with this being a priority uh for the
[15:01] finance staff and myself personally, um
[15:04] the we will be delaying in hiring the
[15:07] finance manager until uh probably
[15:10] October before we can even start the
[15:12] recruitment. Um and it's not just for
[15:14] the audit. There's also other projects
[15:15] that are coming online as well. We're
[15:18] going to be bringing to council uh the
[15:20] street resurfacing contract probably in
[15:22] September and then October or in August
[15:25] we'll also be bringing a contract for an
[15:27] IT service provider as well. So these
[15:29] are some items that are on my plate as
[15:32] well and we'll be getting those off my
[15:33] plate as well.
[15:35] And um if you look on the chart on the
[15:38] right, which is the finance department's
[15:40] budget, uh the amount adopted was
[15:42] 96,000.
[15:44] U we're asking for an additional
[15:47] $45,000. We did have $50,000 budgeted
[15:50] for miscellaneous consultants. Uh the
[15:53] plan was to bring in a an additional
[15:56] person to augment uh staff and just
[15:58] focus on the 2324 audit. Uh but since
[16:02] May came back with the the proposal,
[16:04] we're just going to bite the bullet and
[16:06] uh just get these audits done. So we'll
[16:09] be reducing miscellaneous consultants by
[16:11] 50,000, but we will be increasing the
[16:13] accounting and auditing line by 95,
[16:15] which is a net 45. Um also, if there's
[16:18] any other overages since we're delaying
[16:21] hiring the finance manager, we'll have
[16:23] some salary savings as well uh to cover
[16:25] any overages as well.
[16:28] So that concludes my report. Back to
[16:29] council for questions.
[16:31] Thank you, Tony. And I'd just like to
[16:33] add to this that I think Tony probably
[16:36] spent 30 hours last weekend working on
[16:38] this. So,
[16:39] >> as a staff, we spent over 100 hours
[16:41] personally.
[16:42] >> I mean, I did 30 hours over the weekend,
[16:44] but
[16:44] >> yeah, in addition in addition to all
[16:46] your staff time. So, I'm I'm just saying
[16:47] finance staff is on this and and it's
[16:50] greatly appreciated. So, questions for
[16:51] Tony on this?
[16:54] >> I I have a couple. Um, these are pretty
[16:57] straightforward. Um, but Tony, you're saying we're putting off the
[17:01] hiring of the finance director. Is that
[17:03] because it would take time, your time?
[17:06] >> Yes. I mean,
[17:07] >> do that and we have to
[17:09] >> do applications, do interviews. Um, I
[17:12] just do not have that in my
[17:13] >> Yeah. And I understand. I just wanted to
[17:15] make sure I was following the rationale.
[17:17] >> And then in terms of the
[17:20] next year's savings, just explain that
[17:24] to me one more time.
[17:25] >> Right. So we we're not going to be
[17:27] having $50,000 for additional
[17:29] consultants and we're also not going to
[17:31] have
[17:32] >> two audits. Will we actually be paying
[17:33] for one?
[17:34] >> Oh, we're we're frontloading this year.
[17:36] Yeah.
[17:36] >> Okay. Thanks.
[17:39] >> Other questions? Helen?
[17:40] >> Yeah. Go ahead.
[17:42] >> So um I know that we've had some public
[17:45] comments about trying to get
[17:48] these audits done potentially before,
[17:51] you know, if we vote tonight to put this
[17:53] on the ballot. Um, and I'm so I'm
[17:57] wondering how much
[18:01] bec was was this decision like
[18:04] recommendation based on that idea to
[18:06] have it done before the potential ballot
[18:09] measure?
[18:10] >> That was part of it, but the other part
[18:12] of it is we just we just need to get
[18:14] these done
[18:17] >> because if if we didn't do this when
[18:21] remind me when it would be done. we
[18:23] would still be one or two years behind
[18:26] going forward. Um but with bringing in
[18:29] the finance manager, we could probably
[18:31] catch up with one more, but then next
[18:33] year we would still be two years behind.
[18:34] And so it would we would still be
[18:36] playing catch-up. Um but it probably
[18:38] would be until 2728
[18:40] that we would have had all the audits
[18:42] caught up.
[18:43] >> Got it. Okay. Um Okay. Thank you. That's
[18:48] my question. And and one other thing I
[18:50] can mention just because I was involved
[18:52] talking to Maze is we now have a partner
[18:54] doing our audits. So that's the way we
[18:57] made this work is they didn't have their
[18:59] normal sort of auditing staff to do this
[19:02] because they're already they're going to
[19:03] be booked in August, but we got a
[19:04] partner who said I'm going to cancel my
[19:06] vacation to work on this stuff. So
[19:08] that's we all along the line here we've
[19:11] gotten people who we've moved this stuff
[19:13] around. So, I think we're both The other
[19:15] thing is it's going to cost us a little
[19:16] bit more, but we're getting a higher
[19:18] quality auditor on our audits for the
[19:22] next two years. So, I think that's
[19:23] another great plus. Other questions for
[19:25] Tony?
[19:26] >> Yeah. Um, yeah, I just I really
[19:28] appreciate how much effort you and
[19:30] others put into actually
[19:33] finding a solution with Maze to get this
[19:35] work done. Um, I I understand that it
[19:39] makes sense not to delay hiring the
[19:41] finance manager because of the bandwidth
[19:43] to actually find somebody, but I am a
[19:45] little concerned about um what type of
[19:48] support you might need for some of the
[19:50] finance tasks given that I think you're
[19:51] doing at least three jobs now. I just
[19:54] kind of want to understand a little bit
[19:57] um what support you would need just for
[20:00] some of the to offload a little bit
[20:02] while you focus on the audits and the
[20:04] other jobs. Um
[20:06] >> I I'm happy [clears throat] to say that
[20:08] staff are
[20:11] happy and willing to if whatever I need.
[20:14] Um the finance staff um has been my own
[20:17] personal pet project since I started. Uh
[20:20] and it's been training and getting their
[20:21] skills up to date. Uh and they are hund
[20:25] times better than when I started. Uh so
[20:28] there's that's lessened the load for me
[20:31] a little bit. Um, but I mean there's
[20:33] still I still have my day-to-day, you
[20:36] know, I have to review and post and and
[20:39] you just because of internal controls.
[20:41] Um, but the other duties, every other
[20:44] staff member is stepping up and, you
[20:46] know, you if I don't have the answer
[20:48] that they they can help me out as well.
[20:51] Uh so it's it's um and um personal note
[20:56] um I I enjoy a challenge and so it's
[21:02] kind of been my career has been every position I've
[21:07] held has been a challenge in some sort
[21:09] of way. Uh so but I'm very happy to say
[21:12] that staff is stepping up and supporting
[21:14] me uh in my role. And then my second
[21:18] question was well well I guess I have
[21:19] three in all. Um you had said something
[21:21] about capital projects that I didn't
[21:23] quite catch. Um
[21:24] >> uh we'll be bringing the street
[21:26] resurfacing uh projects in September
[21:29] >> and that's with our interim
[21:31] >> public managers handling that right now.
[21:33] Yeah. Okay.
[21:34] >> Um and then my last question was um
[21:38] I know that the there's a certain number
[21:40] of years you can work with each auditor.
[21:42] >> Mhm. And um with Maize we we've managed
[21:46] that by working with a new partner and
[21:48] then what is the plan for 2520? Do we
[21:51] need will we need to recruit a new
[21:53] completely new auditor or
[21:55] >> No, it'll be technically it'll be year
[21:57] three with this partner.
[22:00] >> Okay.
[22:00] >> Have three additional years. Um but then
[22:03] I mean but we can always revisit that.
[22:06] But yes, every six years we're to rotate
[22:09] auditing firms unless they have multiple
[22:11] partners. And as long as we can rotate
[22:14] partners, then we can stay with the same
[22:16] firm.
[22:17] >> But I'm very pleased with May stepping up
[22:22] and helping us get through this and
[22:24] being a partner for us.
[22:26] >> Great. Thank you.
[22:29] >> All right. Any other questions for Tony
[22:30] before I open up the public? Okay. No.
[22:33] All right. Are there any questions for
[22:36] Tony or comments? I guess I should say
[22:38] for Tony um in the schoolhouse. All
[22:41] right. So, I don't see anybody's hand
[22:43] raised in the schoolhouse
[22:45] and I don't see any hands online.
[22:50] All right. So, I'm going to bring it
[22:51] back to the council for discussion and
[22:54] potential approval.
[22:56] So, who would like to start?
[23:00] >> Um, go ahead. Um, thank you so much. Um,
[23:04] we it is going to be so great to move
[23:07] beyond the discussion of why we're late
[23:11] and revisiting history. And and frankly,
[23:14] this is an opportunity to turn the page
[23:17] and get things right. And I think that's
[23:20] part of our priorities uh was to move us
[23:24] into position to get it right. Um I do
[23:28] admire your tenacity and challenge uh
[23:31] love of a challenge. So uh on a personal
[23:34] level, thank you so much for applying
[23:36] that energy here. Um you know, I know we
[23:39] don't want to pay more than we have to
[23:42] at this moment in our town's history,
[23:44] but this opens up so many better
[23:46] possibilities.
[23:48] um grants are going to be more easily
[23:50] available to us. That that to me this is
[23:54] a pretty straightforward uh analysis and
[23:57] I'm very grateful we have the
[23:59] opportunity. So I I support it
[24:01] >> and it will also free up my time.
[24:04] >> Very important.
[24:07] » Yes, I'm I'm totally in support and uh
[24:10] this makes a lot of sense. I'm just so
[24:13] glad we can finally see the finish line
[24:15] and uh go for it.
[24:21] » Yeah. Yeah. I want to um echo what my
[24:23] colleagues have said as well and I think
[24:26] it's um
[24:28] the reasons to accelerate these audits
[24:31] is that it's very important that we
[24:33] communicate to the residents that that
[24:36] our uh our financial documents are very
[24:40] high quality that um particularly since
[24:43] you've come on board and all the
[24:45] incredible work that you've put in as
[24:47] well as your team um in fixing all the
[24:49] problems that were identified us before
[24:51] you arrived. Um I I think it's really
[24:55] important that the audit will only just
[24:57] reconfirm what we all know already that
[25:00] our um our finance team and our
[25:03] financial documents are um perfectly
[25:05] well-kept and we are following all the
[25:09] uh rules and the government um auditing
[25:12] rules and um that everybody can be safe
[25:15] and feel safe and secure that the
[25:18] numbers that we're publishing are
[25:19] accurate. So again, I appreciate I
[25:21] appreciate you're missing your vacation,
[25:23] you're not going on your vacation. Um,
[25:25] and I do appreciate how much effort
[25:27] you're putting into our town. Thank you.
[25:30] >> Thank you, Ellen.
[25:32] >> Um, so I'm sorry to hear you're going to
[25:35] miss your vacation potentially. Um,
[25:39] and and I'm somewhat relieved to hear
[25:41] that it's not just about the election
[25:44] because I have this in the 2024
[25:46] election, nearly 60% of voters cast
[25:49] their ballots early and, you know,
[25:51] October 28th is early. So hopefully, you
[25:55] know, we always want people to vote and
[25:57] vote early. Um, so I I was a little bit
[26:02] concerned about that. Um, but I would
[26:04] love to get these audits taken care of
[26:06] and um it would be nice. It would be
[26:11] it's would be such a relief to have have
[26:14] it be done and so um so I support that.
[26:17] So thank you.
[26:20] So I would echo my colleagues
[26:24] this is money well spent. There's no doubt in my mind this is
[26:27] closing a very unfortunate chapter in
[26:30] the town's finances. Um, and Tony and
[26:33] your staff have been instrumental in
[26:34] leading that charge. So, so thank you
[26:36] for doing that. Um, and we're all glad
[26:39] you enjoy a challenge. Thank goodness
[26:40] for that. [laughter]
[26:42] So, with that, I would entertain a
[26:44] motion to authorize additional general
[26:47] fund budget for the maze contract.
[26:52] >> I move to authorize. Second.
[26:54] >> Thank you. I have a motion in a second.
[26:56] All in favor say I.
[26:58] >> I.
[26:58] Any opposed? I hear no opposition.
[27:02] Congratulations, Tony. Thank you again
[27:04] for your hard work.
[27:06] All right. Now, we're going to move on
[27:08] to agenda item 8B. This is considering a
[27:13] adoption of a resolution submitting to
[27:15] the voters of Portola Valley a measure
[27:18] both to adopt the CH town charter and to
[27:21] authorize a real property transfer tax.
[27:24] So, with that, who's presenting?
[27:26] >> Yes,
[27:27] >> Darcy. Yes, I have the pleasure of
[27:29] presenting this item. So, just give me a
[27:31] second to bring up the PowerPoint.
[27:39] Come on. Sorry. Okay, there we go. Oh.
[27:42] Um, I'll be presenting, but as I get the
[27:45] PowerPoint up, I just want to make sure
[27:47] everyone knows it was a real team
[27:48] effort. And while I'm making this
[27:52] presentation,
[27:53] our esteemed town attorney, Katherine
[27:55] Angberg's available to answer any
[27:57] questions after we're done. Tony
[27:59] McFarland, assistant town manager,
[28:02] is here as well. And then I want to
[28:05] acknowledge Lauren Tarpe, who's
[28:07] Katherine's associate, who's been really
[28:09] helpful on this as well. So
[28:14] hold on. It's not
[28:17] does not like to screen share.
[28:22] maybe a testament of how
[28:24] important the spell measure is to
[28:29] improve some of the challenges in our
[28:30] town like our capital infrastructure
[28:32] here. Okay. So, this is the
[28:35] consideration of a resolution and I will
[28:38] acknowledge that we have the town team
[28:40] has been working on this for over a
[28:42] year. So, this is a important milestone.
[28:46] But I want to reflect on where we
[28:48] started. In 1964, this town was
[28:51] incorporated
[28:52] primarily, although not only to ensure
[28:56] local control over development as this
[28:58] town faced development pressure in the
[29:01] hills and to preserve the rural beauty.
[29:03] As you can see in this photo from Dan
[29:05] Quinn, our local photographer,
[29:07] we have a lot of natural beauty and we
[29:09] also have a lot of ecologically and
[29:11] environmental sensitive
[29:13] um land. This town was founded by
[29:16] volunteers and in its for many decades
[29:19] run by volunteers such as Ted Driscoll
[29:21] who you just heard about and that was
[29:22] really meant to minimize our costs and
[29:25] minimize and that in turn though
[29:26] resulted in minimal taxes. The general
[29:29] plan goals which we're very proud of. Um
[29:32] the general plan is our constitutional
[29:33] growth um echo these sentiments of
[29:36] keeping our town rural and tranquil,
[29:38] familyfriendly
[29:39] and um using the land in a manner that's
[29:42] compatible with the ecological
[29:44] environmental richness of the community.
[29:47] Um when we started on this journey to
[29:49] look at this ballot measure back in
[29:51] September, we found overwhelmingly
[29:54] positive feedback from the residents
[29:55] that were surveyed that 91% of them are
[29:58] satisfied with the quality of life. And
[30:00] I think it's a credit to this town
[30:02] council and the councils before you that
[30:05] local government governance is what
[30:08] keeps our values and our character
[30:09] intact.
[30:14] So Tony talked a little bit about one of
[30:18] the council's top priorities that we've
[30:20] been working on and he demonstrated the
[30:23] work that the staff has put into that
[30:25] over a few years. Um he's been working
[30:28] hard as you've heard on the backlog of
[30:30] audits and we now have a successful plan
[30:32] in place. He's been implementing the
[30:35] financial consultant best practices
[30:37] recommendations.
[30:39] You
[30:40] adopted the master fee schedule recently
[30:43] with um improved fees that reflect the
[30:47] true cost of providing these services to
[30:49] our residents. And one of the key items
[30:51] which we're talking about tonight is
[30:54] preparation of a town charter and a real
[30:57] property transfer tax ordinance that
[30:59] placed on the ballot. And the the
[31:00] guiding mission of that is to provide
[31:03] locally controlled funding to ensure the
[31:05] town's fiscal stability and autonomy
[31:07] which I'll talk more about.
[31:09] So you've seen this slide before. I want
[31:12] to just note it has gotten worse in the
[31:15] last month as we looked at our budget
[31:17] and we looked at the cost for example of
[31:20] the sheriff's contract. Um, and I think
[31:23] some people look at this and they only
[31:25] see the $700,000 ongoing structural
[31:27] deficit and they think, well, that's all
[31:29] you need to raise. But in fact, we've
[31:31] deferred a lot of items. Um, this is
[31:34] what I would call like the life support
[31:36] plan. you know, we're on life support,
[31:38] but eventually
[31:40] um we there is an unfortunate outcome
[31:43] when you're generally on life support.
[31:44] And what we've seen is not uncommon to
[31:47] cities. It's also not uncommon to
[31:49] household budgets as they've looked at
[31:51] inflation and growing costs, but our
[31:53] expenses are increasing faster than our
[31:56] revenues. And a lot of our revenues, you
[31:57] know, comes from property taxes and it does not grow quickly. Um, I know
[32:03] this community and you have heard a lot
[32:04] about the law enforcement contract
[32:06] class, but Tony and I looked at the
[32:07] numbers recently and I'll tell you what
[32:10] I saw when I stared at the numbers was
[32:12] shocking that over f in five years since
[32:15] um the contract cars started going up.
[32:18] They've gone up 85%.
[32:21] So we were at $1.37 million cost in 2122
[32:26] and this year it's um 2.54 million.
[32:30] That's an 85% cost increase. That is the
[32:32] reality and that's not going down. If
[32:34] anything, their cost will continue to go
[32:36] up. Um and the general fund burden of
[32:40] paying that also increased more 94%
[32:42] because we had uh one time uh COVID
[32:46] funds called the ARPID funds and we were
[32:48] getting credits. But this harsh reality
[32:50] is that this this has caught up with us
[32:52] and so without new revenue our forecast
[32:55] is the black line. Um, next fiscal year
[32:58] the reserves will fall below our lowered
[33:01] 20% minimum that as you know was a new
[33:04] policy adopted. It was previously 60%.
[33:07] And our reserves will be depleted.
[33:10] So to address this issue, we started
[33:13] having the community engagement portion
[33:16] which is dubbed the Portella Valley
[33:18] conversation. Um, and we heard from
[33:20] residents about, you know, what they
[33:22] value and they told us they do value, of
[33:24] course, public safety, and they value
[33:26] emergency preparedness. Um, they also
[33:29] value town autonomy and local control.
[33:32] And they want our town, as I'm sure we
[33:34] all do, is to become financially stable
[33:36] and to maintain our autonomy, to have a
[33:39] valid emergency reserve because again,
[33:41] we are in an area that is ecologically,
[33:43] geologically sensitive and now we have
[33:46] the more increasing threat of fire. um
[33:48] and they want us to be self-reliant or
[33:51] resilient. Um what local control does is
[33:54] it ensures it can't be taken by the
[33:55] county, the Sacramento or the federal
[33:57] government, which has been a track
[33:58] record, right? We've seen that the
[34:00] county level with the vehicle license
[34:02] fees and that was a tough issue and is
[34:04] still not resolved. Um and this county
[34:07] has been fighting for every dollar and
[34:10] sometimes the state just says we're
[34:12] going to keep it. Um
[34:14] so again this conversation with
[34:17] surveying the residents um led to the
[34:20] residents prioritizing that we should
[34:22] protect our autonomy. We should protect
[34:24] our ability to make our own local
[34:26] decisions over zoning and over our
[34:29] financing. And if we did lose that
[34:31] independent status, our zone and land
[34:33] use decisions would unfortunately be
[34:35] made by the county. Um so we believe
[34:38] it's important to keep our autonomy and
[34:39] our ability to be self-reliant.
[34:42] um it's just very important to us. So
[34:44] when we surveyed the community
[34:47] there were four top priorities that were
[34:49] ranked um and in fact all there were
[34:52] many and then they sort of got clustered
[34:54] together but the number one interest of
[34:55] the community right now is wildfire
[34:56] prevention that includes the brush
[34:59] management which the town does. We have
[35:00] the chipper program and we pay um
[35:02] Woodside Fire money to do this and no
[35:06] they wouldn't do it for free if we
[35:07] weren't paying Woodside Fire. We'd be
[35:08] paying another vendor. It's expensive
[35:10] work. Um, emergency response is
[35:13] important to the community, of course.
[35:15] Main maintaining the 911 emergency
[35:17] response time, police patrols,
[35:19] maintaining our town autonomy is
[35:21] independence, as I talked about
[35:22] previously, is important. And, um, also
[35:25] important is our storm drain
[35:26] infrastructure. We've seen heavier
[35:28] flooding and heavier storms. And
[35:30] repairing this deteriorating storm drain
[35:32] is important to ensure that we don't
[35:35] have flooding and water pollution and
[35:36] sink holes. and it it can leads to lead
[35:39] to roads washing out and that would be a
[35:41] big problem in our community since we
[35:42] basically have two main roads in. So,
[35:47] this all led to the council being
[35:49] presented with the option that we're
[35:51] here to talk about tonight, um, which is
[35:53] a town charter, which I'll talk a little
[35:55] bit about what that means, and a
[35:57] transfer tax. And again, that was the
[35:58] most viable option supported by the
[36:01] residents. Our finance and audit
[36:03] committee did a lot of hard work and we
[36:04] really want to thank them for looking at
[36:06] a lot of options, but when you're
[36:07] looking at a ballot measure, you really
[36:09] have to pick one and only one. Um, you
[36:12] can't have multiple options and this is
[36:17] the one that would be the most
[36:18] successful outcome for the town. Um, so
[36:22] in April, the council directed us to
[36:25] start this work um in earnest and
[36:28] prepare the town charter. So, I'm really
[36:30] proud that we completed both hearings on
[36:32] the town charter already on in May and
[36:34] June. Um, those are required. And again,
[36:37] just to briefly up remind the council
[36:39] and any new audience members what the
[36:41] charter will do. It converts us from
[36:44] what I'll call the generic or general
[36:46] law to a charter town. Um, the this the
[36:50] focus of this is on revenue authority.
[36:52] And I want to emphasize that that's part
[36:54] of our autonomy is having local control
[36:56] over our revenue. Um the local revenue
[36:59] goes 100% to the town. Um there would be
[37:02] no change the town governance. We would
[37:05] still have the town council and the town
[37:07] manager form of government. Um and if
[37:10] the charter can only be changed by the
[37:12] voters. The again there's a lot the
[37:15] charter doesn't do. And I think you can
[37:18] read online about charters and some
[37:19] cities are over 100 pages. Ours is
[37:21] simple. It's two pages. It's meant to
[37:24] enable this taxation. Um, it does not
[37:28] affect local election procedures. It
[37:30] doesn't change voting options. It
[37:32] doesn't affect public contracting
[37:34] prevailing wages. Ours is simple and
[37:35] it's meant to accomplish what is most
[37:37] important to this town. Um, and again,
[37:41] charter towns are different than general
[37:42] laws, but important to note, we follow a
[37:45] lot of the same state laws. Um, and the
[37:47] main thing again is that we have this
[37:48] ability to enact this tax. Um, but it
[37:52] doesn't change, you know, the our
[37:54] adherence to the US and California
[37:56] constitution. Um, and some people have
[37:58] asked, is it a lot more expensive? No,
[38:00] it's not that more expensive. Um, the
[38:04] there's really no minimum no cost after
[38:06] we pass the charter. Um, and the
[38:08] election cost is about $6,000 to add
[38:12] this to the ballot since it's statewide
[38:13] ballot. Um,
[38:16] so
[38:18] now I've talked about the charter. I'll
[38:19] talk about this the real property trans
[38:22] transfer tax ordinance which the council
[38:24] reviewed in detail two weeks ago. As I
[38:27] reviewed at that meeting, this will be
[38:29] an ordinance that amends our current
[38:31] municipal code chapter and it will
[38:33] eliminate what is the existing 27.5
[38:37] cents per $500 or 55 cents per thousand
[38:40] transfer tax and replace it with this
[38:43] new real property transfer tax of $10
[38:45] per 1,000
[38:48] in locally controlled funding. That's
[38:49] the staff recommendation. We are seeking
[38:51] feedback tonight from the council, but I
[38:54] want to pause there because there have
[38:56] been a lot of community questions about
[38:57] the rate and it's just remind the
[38:59] council and the audience that the
[39:01] council is explicitly authorized to
[39:04] repeal or reduce that tax without going
[39:06] to the voters. So, if for example um you
[39:09] decide in the future that that was
[39:12] generating enough revenue, you could
[39:14] lower it to $8 or $7 and that could be
[39:16] done very quickly with an ordinance. Um
[39:19] and then if the council found themselves
[39:22] in a financial predicament and then it
[39:24] could be increased. Um as we talked
[39:27] about the last meeting, we are not
[39:30] recommending any changes at this time to
[39:32] the current exemptions again in our
[39:34] current ordinance. Those are largely
[39:35] consistent with state law and that's the
[39:37] simplest approach. We have been asked we
[39:39] staff a lot of different exemptions.
[39:41] There's a lot of well what if this or
[39:42] what if that? What if we had a wildfire?
[39:44] What if this happened? Again, the
[39:47] council can add future exemptions by an
[39:49] ordinance, which as you know goes in
[39:51] effect 30 days. And I think if we did
[39:53] have something as catastrophic like a
[39:55] wildfire that affected a lot of
[39:56] properties, all of a sudden lots of
[39:59] properties were looking for sale. Um, we
[40:02] would of course examine this. And it's
[40:03] important to note that under our GAN
[40:05] limit, which is a state requirement, we
[40:07] do have a maximum amount that the the
[40:09] count town council can authorize an
[40:12] expenditure. So there are some checks
[40:14] and balances. Another thing is
[40:17] independent oversight and I just want to
[40:19] emphasize that um that is which is in
[40:22] the ballot measure question which I'll
[40:24] show you soon. um that has been added to
[40:26] the ordinance in the sense that the
[40:28] current finance and audit committee um
[40:31] would provide this independent oversight
[40:33] that's consistent with their charter um
[40:37] which allows them to have this oversight
[40:39] of the revenue generated from the
[40:41] measure as an again an independent
[40:43] oversight
[40:45] and we've gotten a lot of questions
[40:48] about how this transfer tax actually
[40:49] works. Um, again, people pay it now.
[40:52] They may not remember they pay it, but
[40:54] it's a $110 per thousand and it shows up
[40:57] when you go to buy a property um on your
[41:01] closure um escrow closing documents.
[41:03] It's a one-time tax on the transfer. So,
[41:06] if there's, for example, um tr transfers
[41:11] of property from like a parent to a
[41:12] child, but it's not an actual sale, this
[41:15] doesn't apply. This is based on again
[41:17] the transfer the sale of the property.
[41:19] It's not an annual property tax and um
[41:23] usually buyers and sellers negotiate.
[41:26] Sometimes, you know, it's 50/50,
[41:27] sometimes it's someone else pays it. But
[41:30] um it's really important to remind
[41:32] people that if you don't own property or
[41:35] if you rent you tax and it is collected
[41:39] again by the title company when you
[41:41] close escrow and it I've heard it can be
[41:44] rolled into the mortgage for some folks
[41:45] too. But again, important to remember
[41:47] that 100% of this town's
[41:50] transfer tax would stay in the town and
[41:52] the county separately retains its
[41:54] documentary transfer tax.
[41:57] Um, so again, a little bit more about
[41:59] charter cities because a lot of people
[42:01] have asked, you know, is that something
[42:02] special? Are we unique? Um, right now a
[42:06] little 26% of California cities have
[42:09] charters. And in our area, um, there are
[42:14] other transfer taxes like Sonteo, but
[42:16] there's is only a commercial transfer
[42:18] tax, which some cities have that. Um,
[42:21] what I'm showing you here are other
[42:24] cities that are more residential in
[42:26] neighbor that n in nature that have
[42:28] transfer taxes that would affect single
[42:30] family properties. Um and our $10 per
[42:35] thousand, which is a recommended rate,
[42:37] is actually when you look at this on the
[42:39] lower side. Um there are communities
[42:43] around us like Mountain View that have
[42:45] $15 on more um higher valued property
[42:49] sales. Um, and there are places like
[42:53] Piedmont, I just want to point out that
[42:55] recently decided to have a ballot
[42:58] measure in November to increase it up to
[43:01] 1.75% because they found that their
[43:04] current rate, which is $13 per thousand
[43:06] or 1.3% isn't adequate. Um, they're
[43:09] similar to us. They're mostly
[43:11] residential community without a lot of
[43:14] tax revenue from other sources.
[43:18] So, there's been a lot of talk about
[43:20] what this money could be spent on, and
[43:23] I'm not going to show you a slide with
[43:25] any dollar amounts. Um, but I just want
[43:28] to emphasize it would be a general tax.
[43:30] and the council if this should pass
[43:32] resolution should pass and the ballot
[43:34] measure pass um they really need to roll
[43:37] up their sleeves and and get get working
[43:40] on the budgeting and the spending policy
[43:43] which I'll talk a little bit more in
[43:44] detail um after this passes and the
[43:49] council could consider a spending plan
[43:51] and policy because while this is the
[43:53] list that came out of the community
[43:54] surveying there's a lot more work to be
[43:57] done in terms of how to spend the money
[44:00] Um, generally there's allocations for
[44:03] some of the things that again are are
[44:05] safety related, but there's a lot of
[44:07] other things that this could be spent
[44:09] on. And some of this we've been talking
[44:11] about like storm drains. We talked
[44:12] earlier this year about a storm drain
[44:14] master plan and the need to do that. Um,
[44:17] so here's the ballot question and it was
[44:19] in the packet in the resolution, but I
[44:21] just want to show you this and then we
[44:24] can come back to it later in the night.
[44:26] Um this is staff's recommendation and I
[44:29] want to emphasize that it has to be an
[44:31] objective
[44:33] um factual
[44:35] um ballot question and we have been able
[44:38] to document through our past um tax
[44:42] revenues because again we collect this
[44:44] revenue already. We've been collecting
[44:45] it since 1967, the transfer taxes that the state allows us to. Um, and we
[44:52] do think approximately $2 million is
[44:54] what we would generate um when we look
[44:57] into average home sales over the past um
[45:02] 15 years, but I can bring this back up
[45:06] um for the discussion. But essentially
[45:08] what we're asking the voters is do they
[45:11] want to adopt a charter for the town of
[45:13] Perola Valley solely for an establishing
[45:15] a real property transfer tax of $10 per
[45:18] $1,000. And again, that would be a
[45:21] general tax, not a special tax.
[45:24] So if the council decides to put this on
[45:27] the ballot through adopting the
[45:29] resolution tonight, then the town
[45:30] attorney springs into action. She
[45:32] actually has a lot of work to do because
[45:34] she has the responsibility of writing an
[45:37] impartial analysis and that's again an
[45:39] impartial analysis of the effects of the
[45:41] measure on existing law and operation.
[45:44] Um so she would work on that and then
[45:46] there are other pieces of this puzzle
[45:48] including the arguments and the
[45:50] rebuttals and those are public documents
[45:53] um that are available to be reviewed
[45:55] here
[45:57] and for future consideration. I don't
[45:59] want to get ahead of us, but I've just
[46:00] we've had a lot of questions in the
[46:02] community is sort of like, well, you
[46:03] know, who decides where the money goes
[46:05] and and what's the independent
[46:06] oversight? What does that mean? As I
[46:08] mentioned previously, the current
[46:10] charter of the town's finance and audit
[46:12] committee um includes provisions for
[46:15] their independent oversight. And at our
[46:18] meeting with them last Monday, there
[46:19] were there were ideas um about a
[46:22] spending policy and some ideas of the m
[46:25] how the money could be allocated. So
[46:28] Tony and I have worked on these um tax
[46:30] measures in the past and what we've seen
[46:32] is often a spending plan um policy
[46:35] that's developed if the measure passes
[46:39] um and it would be developed with the
[46:41] committee and the community and there's
[46:44] a lot of different elements that that
[46:45] could be in but I just wanted to give
[46:47] you a flavor of what those could be. Um
[46:50] some of these things came up with the
[46:51] finance committee last week. They are
[46:53] keenly interested again in looking at
[46:54] our reserve target because they were um
[46:58] they lowered it recently to 20% with
[47:00] then you're they made a recommendation
[47:02] and you approved it but um that gives
[47:04] them a little bit of pause when they
[47:07] think about the town security. Um there
[47:10] was an interest in maybe designating a
[47:12] plan annual funding amount for capital
[47:14] and safety projects. Um they they want
[47:17] to look at
[47:19] maybe potentially again thresholds for
[47:21] when this tax and or the user utility
[47:26] tax might be lowered upon meeting
[47:28] threshold criteria. Um they obviously
[47:31] are keenly interested in the audits. So
[47:33] the this this fund would be audited and
[47:35] their interest in transparent reporting
[47:37] to the public. So, this is an item to
[47:40] work on, but I just want the public to
[47:41] know that there's a lot of work still to
[47:44] be done and a lot of it comes around how
[47:46] the money could be spent and a spending
[47:48] policy is often a useful tool to shape
[47:50] that. So, again, we've had a lot of
[47:53] meetings since we've been talking about
[47:54] this um March, April, May, June, July.
[47:59] So, a lot. And tonight is your time to
[48:02] consider placing this on the ballot. Our
[48:05] filing deadline is August 7th. And if
[48:07] approved by the voters with a simple,
[48:09] which is a 50% plus one majority, then
[48:12] the charter takes effect when the town
[48:14] files it with the secretary of state
[48:16] after the town certifies the election
[48:18] results. And the ordinance which imposes
[48:21] the tax is effective 10 days after the
[48:23] council certifies the election results.
[48:26] Um so tonight's meeting um based on the
[48:30] purview of the mayor could be separated
[48:32] into two different discussion items. The
[48:34] first could be a more detailed
[48:35] discussion of the transfer tax rate
[48:38] because in the past we haven't um had
[48:41] the rate as a discussion item and then
[48:44] the ballot question text. I will tell
[48:47] you that ballot question text writing is
[48:50] an art um and a little bit of a science.
[48:53] It was based on our you know our
[48:55] scientific analysis but we are stuck at
[48:57] 75 words which makes um it very hard to
[49:00] write this. And again, as I noticed, it
[49:03] must be a true and impartial synopsis of
[49:05] the purpose of the measure, and we have
[49:07] to include certain requirements. Um, but
[49:09] I want to also emphasize that the
[49:12] impartial analysis that the attorney
[49:14] prepares does flesh out some of the
[49:16] items that I've talked about tonight in
[49:18] more detail, um, such as the independent
[49:21] oversight and and more information. So,
[49:23] that and that will be prepared again
[49:25] very quickly and that's included in the
[49:27] voter pamphlet and so on. So that
[49:30] concludes my staff report. Again, the
[49:32] item before you tonight, which is read
[49:34] by the mayor and published on our
[49:35] agenda, is the consideration of this
[49:37] resolution,
[49:38] which would submit the item to the bot
[49:40] to the ballot for the voters on November
[49:43] 3rd. So happy to answer any questions
[49:45] you have.
[49:46] >> Thank you, Darcy. Questions for Darcy?
[49:49] Ellen,
[49:51] >> um, could you guys turn off the fan?
[49:53] It's Thank you. Okay.
[49:57] Do you have any other questions for
[49:58] Darcy?
[49:59] >> Thank you.
[50:01] It just was hitting me in the face. Um,
[50:05] so for the record, um, because we've had
[50:08] some questions and I don't mean to throw
[50:10] a ringer out, but can you remind us
[50:15] I don't uh why we're not doing a parcel
[50:17] tax?
[50:22] Well, the the simplest answer is that it
[50:25] requires a higher majority threshold to
[50:29] pass, which is 66.67%.
[50:33] And generally,
[50:35] it is very challenging for towns and
[50:38] cities to meet that threshold.
[50:40] >> Okay. Thank you. Um and can you also
[50:43] remind us um why we came down at the one
[50:48] number?
[50:49] >> Yes. So the 1% or also referred to as
[50:53] $10 per thousand um that was based on
[50:57] the town's analysis of our financial
[51:00] needs and you heard me say that we've
[51:02] estimated the revenue at that level
[51:04] would be approximately 2 million.
[51:07] That's based on analyzing the current
[51:10] property sales which we get from our um
[51:13] tax consultant. And again we're
[51:15] collecting this tax now. So, we have
[51:17] real numbers of property sales and the
[51:20] taxes that they paid. Um, and again, our
[51:23] current exemptions and it would be
[51:25] approximately $2 million and we believe
[51:27] that's um the approximate number of our
[51:31] funding needs based on where we are
[51:33] right now. [snorts]
[51:35] Thank you. Um, and remind me if this
[51:38] were to get passed, would it be clear if
[51:42] it's the seller or the buyer who would
[51:45] be responsible for it? So, that is
[51:48] negotiated
[51:49] through the private transaction. It is
[51:52] not specified by us. It's not specified
[51:54] in state law and it's generally
[51:56] something that realtors, buyers, and
[51:58] sellers are aware of now because then
[52:01] they've been paying it and they work out an agreement.
[52:09] So, um
[52:12] is uh and to add that it could we if we
[52:16] wanted to to spell that out that they
[52:18] would agree.
[52:19] >> No, we cannot spell that out.
[52:21] >> Okay.
[52:23] >> When I say they've been paying it now,
[52:25] they've been paying again the current
[52:27] authorized rate which is 110 per
[52:30] thousand. Right.
[52:31] >> Okay. Great. Those are my questions.
[52:33] Thank you.
[52:34] >> Thank you.
[52:36] Questions to my right? Mary?
[52:39] >> Any questions?
[52:40] >> No questions. Okay, Judah.
[52:41] >> Okay. Uh just a couple of uh
[52:45] confirmations, clarifications.
[52:48] When you talk about a spending plan and
[52:50] policy, that just mechanically would be
[52:54] something the council
[52:57] is before the council. It's a council
[52:58] decision.
[52:59] >> Correct.
[53:00] >> With finance and audit committee
[53:04] um consultation,
[53:06] >> correct? Input. Yes. And I would also
[53:08] advise we have one community meeting
[53:10] where it's presented and community input
[53:12] is received.
[53:14] >> Okay. And when we talk about independent
[53:18] oversight
[53:19] by the finance and audit committee, are
[53:21] we changing the role of the you said
[53:25] it's in their charter, but what is what
[53:28] does that mean? Do they how like is it
[53:32] similar to their role on audits at this
[53:34] point? They review, they discuss, they
[53:36] pressure test. Correct. It's similar to
[53:39] that.
[53:40] Also, they would have a similar role in
[53:43] expenditure. So right now in their
[53:45] charter they do review the town's budget
[53:48] and the expenditure plan and so they
[53:51] would also look at that because
[53:53] the source of revenue is folded into our
[53:56] annual budget. So it becomes part of
[53:58] that budget package in terms of the
[54:00] expenditures.
[54:01] >> Okay. So there's nothing to do to change
[54:03] that charter.
[54:04] >> Correct. The charter would not need to
[54:06] change it last week and it authorizes
[54:09] this.
[54:11] >> Okay. Those are my questions. Thank you.
[54:14] Rebecca.
[54:16] >> Um, I think I had all my questions
[54:18] answered in our one-on-one. Thanks.
[54:21] >> Okay, great. All right, so with that,
[54:24] let me open it up to the public. Um, are
[54:26] there any public comments? Are there any
[54:27] com I'll mention that on schoolhouse,
[54:29] please? Welcome.
[54:34] » I need to push a
[54:35] >> You do. No, not on that one. That one
[54:38] will just
[54:38] >> It's going. Yeah, it's going. U My
[54:40] name's Richard Murk. I live at 171
[54:42] Brookside Drive here in Portolo Valley.
[54:45] Um I spent 32 years on the planning
[54:48] commission and the town council
[54:49] combined. My pictures up there on the
[54:51] wall pretty close to Ted Driscolls. Um
[54:54] and my concern is about I'm 81 years old
[54:59] and I'm concerned about us old folks
[55:01] that live in town that might be
[55:02] transferring and oh you'll have to
[55:04] excuse me. I have not read the details
[55:06] of this. I only heard about this meeting
[55:08] by seeing an old almanac and realizing
[55:11] that there was a meeting tonight. That
[55:13] was like an hour and a half ago. So, I'm
[55:15] here unprepared. I'm sorry. But
[55:19] my concern is that it's not clear to me
[55:22] when you say a property transfer tax
[55:24] that if I move my property into a family
[55:28] trust whether I have to pay that tax or
[55:30] if I leave uh my property to a child and
[55:34] they inherit it with without having to
[55:37] incur additional taxes under Proposition
[55:40] 13 and those following uh propositions.
[55:44] Are those things exempted? How are they
[55:46] handled? Is it clear how those things
[55:50] are done? Because if if they're
[55:54] exempted, I'm totally in favor of this.
[55:56] But if they're not, um you're going to
[55:59] have a fight on your hands.
[56:04] » Thank you. Great. Thank you.
[56:07] >> So, what I'd like to do is I'll take all
[56:08] public comments and then we'll, you
[56:10] know, answer some of the questions. And
[56:12] generally, it's public comment, but we
[56:13] try to answer important ones. I think
[56:15] that the general public would be
[56:16] interested in hearing the answers to the
[56:18] questions you're asking as well. So, let
[56:20] me go through everybody's public comment
[56:22] and then we'll come back. Um, and Dart,
[56:25] are you going to be prepared? So, you'll keep track of these. So, all
[56:29] right. So, any other hands in the
[56:32] schoolhouse?
[56:34] All right. So, I don't see any other
[56:36] hands in the schoolhouse. So, then let
[56:37] me go online. Um, I see Dale's hand up.
[56:40] Dale,
[56:41] welcome.
[56:46] Great. Uh, thank you. Can you hear me?
[56:49] >> Uh, we can. You're fairly low, but we
[56:53] can hear you.
[56:54] >> I will try to speak up.
[56:57] >> Thank you.
[56:58] >> Okay. I've got uh three points. Uh,
[57:01] number one, uh, since it appears that at
[57:04] least one prior town manager and at
[57:07] least one prior town council ignored
[57:10] some fiduciary responsibilities, I would
[57:12] like to see this council implement some real teeth so we don't get into
[57:17] this mess again that includes teeth
[57:20] about ensuring that audits are completed
[57:22] on time and perhaps ensuring that there
[57:25] is a balanced budget.
[57:28] uh that would give me a lot lot more
[57:30] confidence that we've resolved this
[57:31] issue. We're not going to have it in the
[57:33] future. Um number two, the ballot
[57:38] language uh as at least I saw in the the
[57:42] documents to me appears to be
[57:45] disingenuous and maybe a little bit
[57:47] misleading because the first item listed
[57:49] is wildfire prevention. And you know, in
[57:54] at least for the past several years, the
[57:56] budget for wildfire mitigation in this
[57:59] town has been less than the legal
[58:01] budget. And I'm sorry, but but you can't
[58:04] put it number one when we all know that
[58:06] the real problem here is you're trying
[58:07] to fill a hole to solve the problem of
[58:10] the uh uh the sheriff's contract and
[58:13] maybe a few few other things that have
[58:16] been pushed off. So, I have a real
[58:18] problem with with the language and I
[58:20] think you ought to be honest about that.
[58:24] And number three, uh I'm in support of
[58:30] Betsy Morganthal's letter that I saw in
[58:32] the comments uh about maybe making it $8
[58:36] instead of 10 because let's be honest,
[58:39] you will never decrease your tax burden.
[58:42] And if it's eight, then maybe you have
[58:44] to work on a lower budget and if you
[58:46] need to, you can raise it, but I I hate
[58:48] to see it start at 10 because I know
[58:50] you'll never decrease it. Thank you.
[58:54] >> Thank you, Dale.
[58:55] Is there anybody else online that would
[58:57] like to comment?
[59:03] » All right, I don't see any hands online.
[59:05] Let me bring it back to the council for
[59:07] discussion. Um I would like to actually
[59:11] discuss both of these at the same time.
[59:13] I don't see any reason to bifrocate
[59:14] them. So as we go through um I think
[59:18] it's basically comments both on the
[59:20] amount and then um on the ballot
[59:23] wording.
[59:25] So anybody like to start?
[59:27] >> Just a procedural question. Um, do you
[59:30] want us to raise any public comments for
[59:33] clarification while we're making our
[59:36] >> Actually, why why don't we since that
[59:38] was relatively small public comments,
[59:39] why don't we do that now? So, thank you.
[59:41] I I appreciate. So, Darcy, if we could
[59:44] address um a couple of Richard's
[59:46] questions in particular and um I think
[59:48] we could comment on a few of Dale's as
[59:50] well.
[59:51] >> Yes. So,
[59:53] it's important to note this transfer tax
[59:56] is assessed essentially on a sale. And
[59:59] so, if a property is transferred into a
[1:00:02] revocable living trust where the current
[1:00:06] owner remains the granter or
[1:00:08] beneficiary, that's just a nominal
[1:00:10] change in title, not a sale. So, there
[1:00:12] would be no tax assessed. Um, a transfer
[1:00:16] to a child is consider if it was a true
[1:00:19] gift or inheritance, not like in your
[1:00:22] will, like I'm going to sell my daughter
[1:00:24] my house for $2 million
[1:00:27] versus the market value of 10 million.
[1:00:30] But if it's a true gift, as you know,
[1:00:32] there are federal and estate taxes that
[1:00:36] could be imposed, but this again is not
[1:00:38] a sale. And so it would be exempt from
[1:00:42] the transfer taxes. But I just want to
[1:00:44] pause there because many times estates
[1:00:47] are more complicated. Um, but this came
[1:00:51] up last time and I want to also say it's
[1:00:53] very different than like your property
[1:00:55] tax assessments. This is a essentially a
[1:00:59] one-time fee on a deed recorded sale.
[1:01:04] >> And and it's worth mentioning that the
[1:01:05] exemptions are the exemptions that exist
[1:01:08] today in state law. We're not adding
[1:01:10] it's exactly the same set.
[1:01:11] >> Correct. Yeah. Um, so then the other
[1:01:15] question was raised by Dale about
[1:01:17] wildfire prevention spending. And I want
[1:01:20] to emphasize, and we've talked about
[1:01:22] this with the budget, that we've trimmed
[1:01:23] our wildfire prevention budget. We
[1:01:26] trimmed our days that we pay Woodside
[1:01:29] Fire to do the work um for clearing. And
[1:01:32] it's I mean I it's significantly less
[1:01:37] than what Tony and I as your budget team
[1:01:42] would recommend to you. Um and it's just
[1:01:44] the reality that we've been living in.
[1:01:45] Again, we're on life support. So when
[1:01:47] you're on life support, you can't really
[1:01:48] fund what you want to fund. So I don't
[1:01:50] think people should look at the current
[1:01:52] budget or again the $700,000
[1:01:55] deficit and say, "Oh, that's how much we
[1:01:57] need." And I've gotten that question a
[1:01:59] lot. And and I might add on the wildfire
[1:02:02] prevention. I mean, Woodside actually
[1:02:04] provides residents a sort of matching
[1:02:07] grant and we've talked about it and and
[1:02:09] the fire department has actually
[1:02:10] recommended that we implement that, but
[1:02:12] given our current um budget situation,
[1:02:14] there's no chance we're going to do
[1:02:15] that, but with this ballot measure, that
[1:02:18] would be something that we could
[1:02:19] consider in our spending plan. We're not
[1:02:22] committing to it, but it's definitely
[1:02:23] something that we could consider um
[1:02:25] after looking at our other needs.
[1:02:27] >> Correct. Correct. and our safety element
[1:02:30] which we're working on and the local
[1:02:32] hazard mitigation plan which was
[1:02:34] prepared by the county has things in it
[1:02:37] like the grant because they're
[1:02:38] interested in how we're reducing the
[1:02:40] wildfire hazard. So yeah, we're not
[1:02:42] keeping up with our neighbors and we're
[1:02:44] not honoring our plans which is
[1:02:47] unfortunate predicament. Um the other
[1:02:49] question about the audits,
[1:02:52] we are required to do audits and we have
[1:02:55] a plan to catch up and I I know that
[1:03:00] Tony and I and the finance staff, the
[1:03:04] team you have now audits are important
[1:03:07] and we will adhere to the state
[1:03:08] requirements of completing them every
[1:03:11] year. Um, there was also a comment about
[1:03:14] a balanced budget. Um, and that would be
[1:03:18] a policy decision with council, but I
[1:03:20] think that could be part of how you look
[1:03:23] at your long-term financial plan and
[1:03:25] again the spending plan for this.
[1:03:29] >> Great. Thank you. Okay. So with that
[1:03:32] council discussion,
[1:03:35] anybody would like to go first or would
[1:03:37] you like
[1:03:37] >> I actually have a follow-up question to
[1:03:39] confirm on those points. So um I'm
[1:03:44] looking at So what you've attached is
[1:03:47] exhibit B. The ordinance shows changes
[1:03:50] from the currently applicable transfer
[1:03:52] tax
[1:03:54] which is being repealed and it shows the
[1:03:58] changes. So essentially it's the same
[1:04:00] ordinance. Um do we can we confirm today
[1:04:05] that if someone's allowing their
[1:04:08] children to inherit a property that the
[1:04:11] current tax does not apply?
[1:04:15] That's my understanding. Yeah.
[1:04:18] >> And Katherine, do you have any I I don't
[1:04:21] have any additional concern with that. I
[1:04:24] mean this is um like you said this has
[1:04:26] been on the books for a long time and
[1:04:28] I'm not aware of any tax for a gift
[1:04:31] >> for a gift. Okay.
[1:04:33] >> And a conveyance would like legally
[1:04:36] speaking a conveyance for an inheritance
[1:04:39] would be a quote gift.
[1:04:43] I just want to make sure that we're
[1:04:45] really tight on this and that we're
[1:04:47] comfortable that it like I don't want to
[1:04:49] do research tonight, but I did want
[1:04:51] confirmation that we haven't been
[1:04:52] charging less on the current one because
[1:04:55] the only thing we're changing are some
[1:04:57] of the very specific rate and um a
[1:05:01] couple of um sentences that are
[1:05:04] underlined. Otherwise, it's the exact
[1:05:06] same thing we're living under.
[1:05:09] And again, the current ordinance um
[1:05:11] refers to the tax rate. Um you know, the 27.5 cents for each $500. And uh
[1:05:20] again, it's our understanding is you
[1:05:21] know, the town is actually zero.
[1:05:23] >> If it's zero, then it's then it's also
[1:05:25] zero.
[1:05:26] >> Okay. Thank you. Um,
[1:05:30] and then to the point of
[1:05:33] a hard commitment on
[1:05:36] always doing audits on time and the
[1:05:38] like, I thought one policy like behind a
[1:05:42] bunch of laws is that this council
[1:05:44] cannot bind future councils. Is that
[1:05:48] also a factor in considering that we can
[1:05:53] decide what's appropriate for us? But I don't see how you could do that
[1:05:57] legally. Yeah, that is generally a legal
[1:06:00] principle that current councils cannot
[1:06:02] bind future councils. Uh I I would note
[1:06:06] that this ordinance does in section two
[1:06:09] contain financial sorry fiscal
[1:06:11] accountability provisions that does uh
[1:06:14] clarify the role of the um the town's
[1:06:18] finance and audit committee uh pursuant
[1:06:21] to its charter authority. uh the the
[1:06:24] idea wasn't to give them you know
[1:06:26] additional responsibilities but really
[1:06:29] to clarify that as part of their
[1:06:31] existing charter authority to provide
[1:06:34] this independent review and oversight uh
[1:06:36] the the funds that are generated by this
[1:06:39] uh tax would be included in the audit
[1:06:42] and would be reviewed uh by the
[1:06:44] committee and they would make
[1:06:45] recommendations to the council as they
[1:06:47] have been doing um in their oversight
[1:06:49] capacity.
[1:06:51] >> Okay. And and then J's one thing I'd say
[1:06:53] this I mean a council can set a policy a
[1:06:56] future council can change that policy
[1:06:59] but in between it sets an expectation
[1:07:01] with the public and so when the new
[1:07:03] council changes that policy if that's
[1:07:06] not meeting the expectations of the
[1:07:08] public then the public can speak out. So
[1:07:10] I mean at least it sets an expectation
[1:07:12] even if it doesn't bind a future
[1:07:14] council.
[1:07:16] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm I I was just
[1:07:18] wanting to put a fine point on that
[1:07:20] because it is something that I think
[1:07:22] we've considered in other contexts and
[1:07:25] that's been a running theme for me. So I did want to bring out that principle.
[1:07:29] Okay, those are the questions that were
[1:07:30] followup. So you can do with it.
[1:07:34] >> Oh, that's great. So do you want to make
[1:07:35] you We're kind of in discussion section.
[1:07:37] >> Sure. [laughter] Okay. Um
[1:07:42] there's been a lot of work, there's been
[1:07:43] a lot of analysis, there's been a lot of
[1:07:46] consultation, input. Um this has been a
[1:07:49] long process over a year and it's very
[1:07:53] clear to me that we need to be um doing
[1:07:56] something for the viability of our town.
[1:07:59] I think we've done a lot of thinking
[1:08:03] through of how this should look. I do
[1:08:06] think that even a 50% plus one success
[1:08:11] uh is going to require simplicity,
[1:08:14] communication,
[1:08:16] um attention
[1:08:19] and I personally think keeping things as
[1:08:23] simple as possible for now is in our
[1:08:26] interest. We have to do something. So is
[1:08:31] this perfect? Um I think it's in the
[1:08:34] range of being very useful and yes I
[1:08:37] support it. Um both as to the rate and
[1:08:41] um
[1:08:42] uh the language um no ballot measure is
[1:08:46] you know Shakespeare and it's uh always
[1:08:51] going to be something that you can
[1:08:52] parse. Um and a ballot measure you know
[1:08:57] there is an art to putting that together
[1:08:59] that I'm not an expert in. So I tend to
[1:09:02] look at that language as something
[1:09:04] that's been pressure tested by the
[1:09:06] people we've engaged who are more
[1:09:09] familiar with that landscape. So I I
[1:09:13] feel pretty strongly that we ought to
[1:09:15] keep it simple. We pulled on the $10 per
[1:09:17] thousand. I respectfully disagree that
[1:09:20] we'll never put it down. I actually do
[1:09:23] suspect though the capital improvement
[1:09:26] projects we have put off for way too
[1:09:28] long are going to be a hurdle to get
[1:09:32] through because we're going to have a
[1:09:34] period of years where we're having to
[1:09:36] prioritize and set with the finance
[1:09:39] committees um consultation and good
[1:09:43] thinking ways of establishing a rolling
[1:09:46] budget or a way to identify key capital
[1:09:51] improvement projects.
[1:09:53] But at some point we will get through
[1:09:55] that and we should never be charging
[1:09:58] more than we we need the variables we
[1:10:02] deal with with the sheriff's contract.
[1:10:05] Um even with the wood chipping and and
[1:10:08] the like. Um I think people in town
[1:10:10] would probably want to spend more on
[1:10:13] wildfire prevention. I I think the harsh
[1:10:16] realities of this year and what we're
[1:10:18] dealing with have influenced um what
[1:10:22] we've been able to do within the budget.
[1:10:24] So um I think I would keep it simple. I
[1:10:29] support it pretty much as it is. I think
[1:10:32] people are asking really great questions
[1:10:35] and that I would encourage people to
[1:10:38] continue to ask questions and pressure
[1:10:41] test and understand because it's in all
[1:10:43] of our interest for the public to
[1:10:45] understand why, what, and how and uh
[1:10:50] move forward. So those are my comments.
[1:10:53] >> Thank you.
[1:10:55] Mary Rebecca might go next. Mary.
[1:10:59] >> Well, uh, I have been a long proponent
[1:11:02] of a charter, uh, town. I think it's
[1:11:05] very much in the character of Porto
[1:11:08] Valley to be a charter town. I u this is
[1:11:12] definitely not my vision of what the
[1:11:14] charter town would have looked like if
[1:11:17] we had done the full um the full charter
[1:11:20] town analysis. I looked pretty carefully
[1:11:24] at the history over the last six years
[1:11:26] at of charter towns and why we weren't a
[1:11:29] charter town. Uh, and I don't think
[1:11:31] there was ever a good reason. I think we
[1:11:33] did it uh really very quickly. Um, and
[1:11:37] sort of in an emergency kind of fashion
[1:11:39] to become a town. Um, I think Charter
[1:11:43] Town was much more suitable for for
[1:11:46] Portolo Valley. uh this this particular
[1:11:49] charter doesn't change anything in the
[1:11:51] governance um and which is a good thing
[1:11:54] because we're not ready for a lot of
[1:11:57] changes there. So uh I'm in complete
[1:12:00] support of getting the charter town at
[1:12:02] least process started. Um this the uh
[1:12:07] transfer tax
[1:12:09] um a characteristic of Porto Valley is
[1:12:12] uh is that we are a resilient
[1:12:16] uh rural community uh dedicated to the
[1:12:19] idea that we can in fact cope with
[1:12:22] emergency situations. You cannot cope
[1:12:26] with emergency situations if you have no
[1:12:28] financial reserves. We are virtually
[1:12:31] we're down from 60% which was our
[1:12:33] historic uh reserve down to 20% under
[1:12:37] our leadership. I'm not comfortable with
[1:12:39] moving forward at a 20% and I'm
[1:12:42] certainly not comfortable moving forward
[1:12:44] at a zero reserve which is what we're
[1:12:47] looking at within our foreseeable very
[1:12:51] closely foreseeable future two years.
[1:12:54] So, uh, I'm 100%, uh, in support of this
[1:12:59] ballot measure, moving it forward and
[1:13:02] moving it forward at the $10
[1:13:06] level. And the reason why I'm in for
[1:13:08] that is that within five years, we can
[1:13:11] be as resilient as we were five years
[1:13:13] ago. Uh and that to me this is this is a
[1:13:18] time when when we need as a town to
[1:13:23] invest in our town. We really can't rely
[1:13:25] on anyone else uh in an emergency
[1:13:28] situation and we need to have these
[1:13:31] resources in order to be able to move
[1:13:34] forward safely. So from a from a public
[1:13:37] health point of view but also from just
[1:13:40] a community resilience point of view,
[1:13:43] this is critical. This is absolutely
[1:13:45] timesensitive and we're doing it fast
[1:13:48] and we need to do it now.
[1:13:51] >> Thank you, Mary. Ellen, Rebecca,
[1:13:55] Ellen,
[1:13:56] >> sure. Um, so, um, you know, uh, I get
[1:14:01] asked often how this town is on the
[1:14:03] fiscal cliff, right? Um, but many nearby
[1:14:09] cities are fiscally constrained right
[1:14:12] now. hugely constrained. Um costs have
[1:14:16] just gone up, public safety, the costs
[1:14:20] of uh you know labor costs. We also have
[1:14:24] a history of volunteers in the city and
[1:14:26] because of that um
[1:14:29] uh the piece of the pie we get from the
[1:14:32] uh county is smaller than what other
[1:14:34] counties get. Um but we also have a
[1:14:38] history of pulling ourselves up by our
[1:14:39] bootstraps. So, um, and I want to
[1:14:43] continue to enjoy Portal Valley's
[1:14:46] autonomy. I, you know, Mike Calig and
[1:14:49] the county, like, God bless you guys and
[1:14:51] my friends in the planning department
[1:14:52] over there. Um, but I, I really want
[1:14:56] Port Oral Valley to have autonomy around
[1:14:58] land use and our safety issues. I want
[1:15:00] to make sure that we um
[1:15:03] uh are able to do our evacuation route.
[1:15:07] Um we have put off a lot of the areas
[1:15:10] fire protection and evacuation shortened
[1:15:12] town hours uh you know to have town hall
[1:15:16] open um a skeleton staff which stresses
[1:15:19] them out and uh doesn't always serve the
[1:15:22] public um capital projects around our
[1:15:25] storm drains like I just you know what
[1:15:29] wakes you up at night um that is one of
[1:15:31] the things that you worry about like you
[1:15:32] know as we face El Nino like is the town
[1:15:35] going to make it through this next year
[1:15:36] without a catastrophic breakdown. Um,
[1:15:40] you know, and too many potholes that we
[1:15:43] didn't used to all have those. And the
[1:15:44] list goes on. The town un, you know,
[1:15:47] this is bitter, but the town needs the
[1:15:49] money to continue enjoy uh enjoying what
[1:15:53] we've got. So, I support it. Um, I
[1:15:56] support the $10 per 10,000. Um,
[1:16:01] uh, because, you know, I do think that
[1:16:03] we have these capital projects in front
[1:16:05] of us. So, um, so I appreciate how staff
[1:16:10] has gotten us to this point and, uh, and
[1:16:12] what you guys have done and, um, the
[1:16:15] legal aspects. You know, I used to say I
[1:16:17] would never vote for, you know, I did
[1:16:19] not support a charter city and here I
[1:16:20] voted for it and I'm voting for this
[1:16:22] tax. So,
[1:16:24] never say never. Thank you. [laughter]
[1:16:27] Here we are.
[1:16:29] >> Thank you, Helen.
[1:16:31] Rebecca.
[1:16:33] >> Um,
[1:16:35] yeah. I mean, that's it's obviously
[1:16:36] always a challenging um decision for a
[1:16:40] council to decide to raise
[1:16:43] um a revenue measure to help uh pay for
[1:16:48] the town services.
[1:16:50] Um,
[1:16:51] Valley has very limited options. I think
[1:16:54] we all recognize that we are essentially
[1:16:57] a residential bedroom community. We
[1:17:00] don't have a lot of uh commercial. We
[1:17:02] have no hotel. We have no boutique
[1:17:04] hotel. We don't have a boutique
[1:17:06] uh convention center or something that
[1:17:09] might bring in extra money. Uh all we
[1:17:12] have is, you know, mainly residential
[1:17:16] mainly homes. And the reality is that
[1:17:19] our homes don't actually turn over very
[1:17:21] often, which means that a significant
[1:17:24] number of our residents have been able
[1:17:26] to enjoy living in Porto Valley for 50
[1:17:28] 60 70 80 years
[1:17:31] um because their taxes haven't gone up
[1:17:34] that their taxes don't cover the actual
[1:17:36] cost of the town to operate the town.
[1:17:39] So, um, we are at this point. We've had
[1:17:42] the finance and audit committee explore
[1:17:44] a lot of options. The staff as well.
[1:17:47] We've been looking at this for two
[1:17:49] years. Two years we've been exploring
[1:17:51] all sorts of different options. And
[1:17:54] ultimately, the decision for a charter
[1:17:56] town with um a re uh a property tax, a
[1:18:02] transfer tax is what is made the most
[1:18:05] sense. Um, we hired a very experienced
[1:18:10] uh consultant who has had tremendous
[1:18:12] success with getting their ballot
[1:18:15] measures passed and we took their
[1:18:18] advice. We are taking their advice. Um
[1:18:20] they we they had us do a survey, a
[1:18:22] scientifically um designed survey to to
[1:18:26] understand the appetite of the residents
[1:18:30] to be willing to make a larger community
[1:18:33] contribution to supporting the town and
[1:18:35] to helping the town run and be fiscally
[1:18:39] um responsible. Um I think u many people
[1:18:42] have underestimated how many how much
[1:18:45] the costs have gone up. We already heard
[1:18:47] today and in the packet that in the past
[1:18:49] five years, our public safety, our
[1:18:50] sheriff's contract has gone up 85%.
[1:18:55] Um,
[1:18:56] you know, if you look at housing, our average housing has gone up
[1:19:01] in that same five periods, less than
[1:19:02] 25%.
[1:19:04] So, obviously, we can't keep up um with
[1:19:08] sheriff costs if they keep going up like
[1:19:10] that. And it's similar in other areas.
[1:19:12] We all have had increases in insurance
[1:19:15] costs um just like the town has. Um
[1:19:18] staffing has gone up because staff have
[1:19:21] had increases in their costs. So we do
[1:19:24] have to recognize that we have very few
[1:19:25] levers that we can play with in order to
[1:19:28] have a functioning town. So this one
[1:19:31] based on many people studying it for
[1:19:34] many months um makes the most sense. Um
[1:19:39] and I wanted to say that based on the
[1:19:42] polling and based on the advice of our
[1:19:43] consultants,
[1:19:45] uh the 10% was what the community was
[1:19:48] reason what what a majority of the
[1:19:50] community 60% felt was reasonable. And I
[1:19:54] do want to say that we have built into
[1:19:56] the whole
[1:19:57] um ordinance and the whole ballot
[1:19:59] measure the ability to have tremendous
[1:20:02] amount of flexibility so that if we do
[1:20:06] stabilize our reserves and and enable
[1:20:08] them to come back up to 60%.
[1:20:11] If we um set aside a million dollars a
[1:20:14] year for our capital projects and our
[1:20:16] safety projects that have been left
[1:20:19] languishing for five years or more.
[1:20:23] um and we start making a lot of progress
[1:20:26] on that in a few years it's entirely
[1:20:28] possible that we would be able to reduce
[1:20:30] this somewhat um and by leaving it at
[1:20:33] 10% in the ballot measure means that we
[1:20:35] have that flexibility
[1:20:37] >> so you keep saying 10% but you need 1%
[1:20:40] $10 per thousand
[1:20:41] >> yes thank you for that $10 per thousand
[1:20:44] thank you for for correcting the 1%
[1:20:47] um
[1:20:48] so I I think that flexibility is really
[1:20:52] helpful And for those who say that that
[1:20:54] councils have never reduced it, that is
[1:20:55] not true. I mean, our UUT was actually
[1:20:58] reduced a few years ago. So, um, and
[1:21:01] perhaps that's led to some of the issues
[1:21:03] that we now have. But um
[1:21:07] I I think having that flexibility,
[1:21:09] having the the fiscal accountability
[1:21:11] procedures in place, um having the
[1:21:15] ability of the town council and future
[1:21:17] town councils to make modifications find
[1:21:19] that it's necessary, um is really
[1:21:22] important. Um and I think, um I I trust
[1:21:28] our finance department to keep us on
[1:21:29] track with the budgets. They've been
[1:21:31] very frugally responsible. they've been
[1:21:34] um very careful to recommend um expenses
[1:21:38] that that um we can bear right now. Um
[1:21:43] but the recognition is that we have have
[1:21:46] had a a not a 100% balanced budget but
[1:21:49] as close as we can make it based on
[1:21:51] things like deferring capital expenses.
[1:21:54] So when you I have seen costs for other
[1:21:56] towns that have done a storm drain
[1:21:58] evaluation report. This is just the
[1:22:01] report, not the repairs. Um, and then
[1:22:04] it's on the order of $300,000 to
[1:22:05] $500,000.
[1:22:07] So, if we're talking about putting aside
[1:22:09] a million dollars for safety and, you
[1:22:12] know, capital projects, the the report
[1:22:15] alone eats up almost, you know, a third
[1:22:16] to a half of that money. And that
[1:22:18] doesn't count for repairing, you know,
[1:22:21] 50-year-old um storm drains, you know,
[1:22:24] that have rusted out and that could lead
[1:22:26] to washing out an entire neighborhood if
[1:22:29] they were to fail. So, I think it's um
[1:22:33] really important and also I I've been
[1:22:35] working with Craig about um the safety
[1:22:37] element and we've been putting together
[1:22:39] this repository of all of the recommend
[1:22:42] recommended actions that our safety
[1:22:44] committees have recommended and the list
[1:22:47] has 260 items on it. Um that doesn't say
[1:22:50] all those items need to be done. Many of
[1:22:52] them or not many but quite a few have
[1:22:54] been already done and and they're in
[1:22:57] ordinances. But there's a large number
[1:22:59] of items that our our safety committees
[1:23:02] are recommending that we tackle and we
[1:23:04] have had no money to do those. So I
[1:23:06] think it's important that we um raise
[1:23:10] sufficient money to be able to safeguard
[1:23:12] the town and the polling said very
[1:23:15] clearly that people are very concerned
[1:23:16] about wildfire and that's pro that's why
[1:23:19] it's listed first. Not because we're
[1:23:20] planning to spend the most amount of
[1:23:21] money on the first item, but legally
[1:23:24] this is a um a tax that is for um
[1:23:29] general spending that will include a
[1:23:33] number of items including wildfire
[1:23:35] preparation and the others that are
[1:23:36] listed there that are priorities
[1:23:38] communicated by our town. So, um at this
[1:23:41] point, I recommend that we approve this
[1:23:43] as written uh with the 1%
[1:23:46] um tax rate.
[1:23:50] Thank you. So, I'd like to thank my
[1:23:52] fellow council members for your
[1:23:54] comments. I agree with I think all of
[1:23:57] them. Um, I'd also like to say that, you
[1:24:01] know, I believe in this town. Um, I
[1:24:03] believe in our general plan. We
[1:24:07] have can we have built a town that's
[1:24:10] special and that process has been
[1:24:12] intentional. We haven't gotten here by
[1:24:14] accident. Um, we have buildings that are
[1:24:17] subservient to the land. We have limited
[1:24:19] lighting. We have limited fencing.
[1:24:22] That's because the town exists and we
[1:24:25] control our own destiny. And I think
[1:24:27] that that's critical. And it's critical
[1:24:28] that we do that in the future. For
[1:24:31] people who don't know, because we have
[1:24:34] always been efficient and frugal, we get
[1:24:37] 4 cents on every property tax dollar.
[1:24:40] It's so low that they had to pass
[1:24:42] another ordinance to round it up to 7%.
[1:24:45] We get the lowest property tax rate of
[1:24:49] any jurisdiction in the county. So, I
[1:24:52] think it's important to know that this
[1:24:54] is not a town that's spending money hand
[1:24:56] over fist. Um, I believe that the $10 is
[1:24:59] the right one. I believe it sets a
[1:25:00] ceiling. Um, and I think that's
[1:25:02] important. Um, as I think Rebecca
[1:25:05] mentioned, we have lowered the UTS. So
[1:25:07] councils have lowered the taxes. And I
[1:25:10] would also remind the public that if we
[1:25:12] get to the point where we have an
[1:25:15] outofcrol council that is not careful
[1:25:19] with money that this can be withdrawn by
[1:25:23] the voters. This is not permanent. This
[1:25:25] is not forever. This is until the voters
[1:25:27] decide whether they want to continue. So
[1:25:30] I think we have safeguards in terms of
[1:25:32] the voters and I also think we have
[1:25:34] safeguards in terms of the council
[1:25:35] because I have found that our councils
[1:25:37] have been thoughtful and that the
[1:25:39] councils generally do not believe that
[1:25:42] overt taxing the citizens is one of
[1:25:43] their goals. So I'm comfortable and that
[1:25:46] you know the the controls that we have
[1:25:48] is we could lower UT and we can also
[1:25:51] lower the um real property tax the real
[1:25:54] property transfer tax. So, I'm
[1:25:57] comfortable with the controls we have
[1:25:59] for for lowering this. So, I I think
[1:26:01] that that stuff will work well in our
[1:26:03] favor.
[1:26:05] So, I I think in closing, I would just
[1:26:07] say, you know, I love Portola Valley. I
[1:26:08] want to protect our values. So, I'm very
[1:26:10] much in favor of this. Um, as much as I
[1:26:13] dislike taxes, I'm not in favor of tax
[1:26:15] general, but I believe that this is the
[1:26:17] right thing for the town to do now.
[1:26:20] So with that, I would entertain a motion
[1:26:23] to do we need to read the whole thing.
[1:26:26] Can I just sort of point us? I mean, I'm
[1:26:28] happy to read it.
[1:26:29] >> Uh, no, you can refer Well, the the
[1:26:31] resolution. Um,
[1:26:33] >> might be just to be clear, it might be
[1:26:35] good if we could just pull up the
[1:26:36] language.
[1:26:39] >> I mean, it's or adoption of the
[1:26:42] resolution submitted to the voters of
[1:26:43] Porto Valley. um a measure both to adopt
[1:26:47] a town charter and to authorize a real
[1:26:49] property transfer tax at the general
[1:26:51] election to be held on Tuesday, November
[1:26:53] 3rd, 2026 um as called by resolution
[1:26:57] 3001-2026.
[1:27:01] So I would accept a motion and a second.
[1:27:05] >> Second.
[1:27:06] >> Okay, we have a motion. We have a
[1:27:07] second. All in favor?
[1:27:10] >> I. Any opposed? I hear no opposition.
[1:27:14] Thank you very much everyone. This has
[1:27:15] been a long hard set of deci, you know,
[1:27:19] discussions and decisions and then we'll
[1:27:21] go on. I I think one thing we've heard
[1:27:23] from the other council members, I think
[1:27:24] particularly Judas was right, if members
[1:27:27] of the public have questions, they
[1:27:29] should ask them. We want to make sure
[1:27:31] that we are crystal clear on what the
[1:27:34] consequence of this um ordinance or this
[1:27:37] resolution is. So with that, I'm going
[1:27:39] to close 8B and move on to agenda item
[1:27:43] number nine. So are there any oral um
[1:27:47] subcommittee liaison committee or agency
[1:27:50] reports?
[1:27:52] See none on this side one. Okay, go
[1:27:54] ahead Helen.
[1:27:56] >> Um so the wildfire,
[1:28:00] do you mind if I do this report actually
[1:28:02] the wildfire or are you going to do it?
[1:28:05] >> I submitted something paper for next
[1:28:07] time, but that's welcome. You're welcome
[1:28:08] to go ahead and
[1:28:09] >> um Okay. I just wanted to um let council
[1:28:14] know I am not the leazison. So
[1:28:17] um but uh one shoreline did go to the
[1:28:20] wildfire committee
[1:28:23] um last Wednesday. I think it was last
[1:28:26] Wednesday, Thursday, sorry. and uh and
[1:28:31] they approved being part of a pilot for
[1:28:35] the for the county along with Hillsboro
[1:28:37] and then there'll be a coastal area um
[1:28:41] uh for fire to help a pilot to help with
[1:28:45] wildfire insurance and it's a minimum of
[1:28:49] 25 households and it's to be determined
[1:28:52] where in town it would be. Um so the
[1:28:55] wildfire committee is working on that.
[1:28:57] Um, do you want to add anything?
[1:28:59] >> Yeah. Can I add one other thing?
[1:29:01] >> Um, one shoreline was recommending that
[1:29:04] we identify where the greatest
[1:29:06] concentration of homes that have been
[1:29:09] forced to go onto the fair plan. So, I
[1:29:12] would really love it if our residents
[1:29:14] could let us know if they are on the
[1:29:15] fair plan because that would help us
[1:29:17] determine, you know, sort of localize
[1:29:19] what neighborhood made the most sense to um participate in this pilot. And the
[1:29:23] pilot is about home hardening and um
[1:29:26] vegetation clearance, sort of the impact
[1:29:28] of that might have on a larger
[1:29:30] neighborhood scale in terms of helping
[1:29:32] to reduce um insurance rates. So we'd
[1:29:36] like to identify that. So if you're on
[1:29:38] the fair plan, please talk to um MJ Lee
[1:29:41] over at the wildfire preparedness
[1:29:43] committee or probably you can just call
[1:29:44] into the town as well or email into the
[1:29:46] town to let us know that you're on the
[1:29:48] fair plan.
[1:29:51] Um, and also can I'll just add a couple
[1:29:54] other things. So, um, it should not it's
[1:29:57] not expected to cost the town anything.
[1:30:00] So, I wanted to bring that up. Um, and
[1:30:03] then uh the the pilot will bring in um
[1:30:09] uh um like contractors and scale of
[1:30:13] economy. So hopefully there'll be, you
[1:30:15] know, a savings to homeowners, but the
[1:30:17] homeowners would probably need to pay
[1:30:20] for their home hardening themselves to
[1:30:23] explain the economics of the of the
[1:30:25] pilot. And so not everyone will want to
[1:30:27] be part of it, which is understandable,
[1:30:29] but hopefully there's a scale of economy
[1:30:31] because of bringing, you know, uh, doing
[1:30:34] more home hardening all at once. So
[1:30:37] that's the idea, too.
[1:30:40] >> So thank you.
[1:30:41] >> Thank you.
[1:30:42] >> All right. With that, I'm going to open
[1:30:43] it up for public comment. Is there any
[1:30:45] public comment on agenda item number
[1:30:47] nine? I see no one in the room with
[1:30:50] their hands up.
[1:30:52] And I see no hands online.
[1:30:56] All right. So, I'm going to bring it
[1:30:57] back to the council um and look for a
[1:31:01] motion to adjurnn.
[1:31:03] >> Motion to adjurnn.
[1:31:05] >> Second.
[1:31:05] >> Okay. We have motion. Second. All in
[1:31:08] favor?
[1:31:08] >> I Thank you everyone.