Memorandum 15-107 Budget Matters

Memorandum 15-107

TO:                       Mayor Wythe and Homer City Council

FROM:                 Katie Koester, City Manager

DATE:                  June 24, 2015

SUBJECT:         Budget Follow-up from June 15 Council Meeting   

At the June 15 work session on budget shortfalls, Council had a number of follow up questions. I have addressed some of them in this memo, however the bulk are addressed in the two attached spreadsheets, expenditures and revenue.

The revenue spreadsheet has attachments that provide additional information. I have also included the sales tax and mill rate tables from Alaska Taxable 2014, a report produced by the State on municipal taxation rates and policies. A full copy of the report can be found at http://commerce.state.ak.us/dnn/Portals/4/pub/OSA/14Taxable.pdf. The report  inaccurately lists Homer sales tax as year round, which I will bring to the attention of the State Assessor.

List of Staffed Meeting:

Boards and Commissions:

Advisory Planning Commission

Economic Development Advisory Commission

Port and Harbor Advisory Commission

Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission

Cannabis Advisory Commission

Library Advisory Board

Standing Committees:

Public Arts Committee

Permanent Fund Committee

Temporary Committees:

Public Safety Building Review Committee

 Vessel Haul-Out Task Force

Information from Homer Foundation

In 2014 the City of Homer Grant Program through the Homer Foundation gave $31,180 in mini grants ranging from $3,000-$3,780 to the following organizations: Bunnell Street Arts Center, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Cook Inlet Keeper, Homer Hockey Association, Homer Community Food Pantry, Homer Council on the Arts, Hospice of Homer, Kachemak Heritage Land Trust, and Kachemak Ski Club. End of year 2014 the fund had a balance of $261,720. The City gives $19,000 a year to the fund. I have asked the Homer Foundation to provide a more detailed analysis of the fund performance, distributions, and suggestions on how to maximize the utility of the fund. I hope to provide a complete report to you by the July meeting, possibly with a presentation from the Foundation.

Make City Code More User Friendly

Councilmember Burgess pointed out that if Council is reducing staff capacity, there is an obligation to make certain changes in code that reflect the City of Homer’s capacity to do less. City Planner Abboud is looking into ways to simplify and streamline City land use and planning code.  This will be an ongoing exercise by departments and I appreciate the acknowledgment of Council that if we are being asked to do less there may be places where code needs to change to reflect our capacity.

Tax Cap

Homer City Code 9.16.020 has a mill levy cap of 6 mills after which the sales tax goes away.

Enc:

Expenditures and Revenue Spreadsheets

Municipalities Tax Charts

Memorandum 15-108 from Homer Public Library

Overtime Chart

Part-time and Temporary Employee Chart

KPB Mill Rate Chart

Cost of Real Property from KPB

HPD Fees for Code Violations

Fees and Fines – 5 Year History

Tourism, It’s Everyone’s Business Flyer