Ok, one more post after this one, see part 1 and part 2 for more info. I thought I would get this done quicker, but alas . . . . 119 documents is quite a few . . .
MUNICIPAL COURT
No notes.
No additional requests.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION
Absorbed in Department of Civil Rights
PUBLIC HEALTH
No notes.
No additional requests.
1. Target of $1,439,220.
2. Four elections, including a presidential election.
3. A request that the legal notice fees paid by liquor license applicants include the actual cost of the large orange public notice sign and the actual cost of mailing notices to the neighbors. In high density areas, the cost of the neighborhood mailing exceeds the revenue generated by the liquor license fee. This would repay approximately $10,000 to the general fund.
Asking to add back/additional request –
This supplemental budget request covers the additional expenses we will incur because of the new Voter ID law:
2 hourly Election Aides January 30 – April 27
2 hourly Election Aides for the August Primary
Additional Election Officials to check IDs and split the poll books
Printing the new voter registration application form
Printing additional training materials for our Election OfficialsWithout additional Election Officials, the new state voting laws would create voter lines up to three hours long at our polling places.
1. The chief difference in the 2012 budget from 2011 is a reduction in bank charges. In 2011 we incurred increased bank charges related to the large balances we held at the bank. These large balances were justified because of the investment earnings the bank was paying the city. In May of 2011 the bank changed the way it calculated our earnings in a way that no longer justified keeping high balances in the account. With the smaller balances, we are projecting reduced bank charges.
2. The inter-agency billing of the parking utility continues to be in transition as the parking utility moves to multi-space meters. For 2010 and 2011 it has been difficult to project the savings in treasurer’s staff time as the timetable for implementation has changed. The bill projected for 2012 projects continued savings, but actual savings will depend on the actual implementation of new multi-space units.
-The proposed budget includes an additional staff person for housing strategy and policy.
-Development fees from Truax Redevelopment and Burr Oaks Senior Housing in the amount of $483,000 are carried under misc income.
-Approximately $400,000 in development fees from Revival Ridge will be used to repay other obligations and are not included in the attached budget.
-Rental revenues (non dwelling unit rent) and operating expenses (management services) from The Village on Park are carried in the CDA Redevelopment Budget
-The budget assumes that the net revenues from the Village on Park will make payments on $10 Million of borrowing on a 20 year amortization and that the CDA will make payment to the City based $10 Million paid on a 10 year amortization. See interest expense and interest revenue.
To: Mayor Paul Soglin
CC: Deb Simon, Dan Bohrod , Steve Cover
From: Natalie Erdman
Date: 8/23/2011
Re: 2012 CDA Redevelopment Budget
As you can see, CDA Redevelopment has exceeded its goal of a City contribution of $98,531 and is providing a break even budget.
There are two major reasons why a breakeven budget is possible.
• The CDA is scheduled to receive $483,000 in development fees from Truax Park Redevelopment and Burr Oaks Senior Housing. Given the stage and status of construction, I there is a high probability that the fees will received.
• The elimination of approximately $300,000 in Harambee expenses at The Village on Park and the completion of major tenant relocation will result in a reduction in operating expenses at The Village on Park.
These two items have allowed CDA Redevelopment to program an additional employee position. It is anticipated that the position will handle Housing related strategies, policies, and programming. We understand that the request for a new position will give rise to discussion.
I would like to call to your attention number of additional items.
• Debt and Other Financing Uses (Interest Expense) represents amounts due from the CDA to other City of Madison agencies in relation to the Burr Oaks Senior Housing HOME Loan, the Truax Redevelopment Affordable Housing Trust Fund Loan and an anticipated loan from the City of Madison to the CDA in the amount of $10 million, at 3% interest amortized over 10 years for The Village on Park. I can provide more detail on the assumptions for each.
• Interagency Billings includes interest to be paid by Burr Oaks Senior Housing, Truax Redevelopment Phase I, LLC, and The Village on Park to the CDA. I have assumed that The Village on Park will make payments on $10 Million of City borrowing at a rate of 3% amortized over 20 years. I can provide additional detail.
• I have not included interest income or expense for the bond issues for which the CDA is a conduit. I’m hoping that the Comptroller’s office can help me by providing those figures. If I need to do additional due diligence and contact the bond trustees, I am willing to do it. It is my assumption that the income and expense offset each other
1. 1. Position additions (2)
Tenant Services Aide, this position is being added to perform work previously contracted to Dane County Mental Health. It may or may not be the same as the Tenant Services Aide depending on HR classification.Two Administrative Clerk 1, position are being reclassed in 2011 so should be at a higher level for 2012. Currently there are 3 Admin Clerk 1 positions , one of these (Site Clerk) is a vacant position. The other (Site Clerk) is occupied. The 3rd position (Grants Clerical support) is not being reclassed as the work they perform is not the same as the other 2 (Site Clerk) positions. For 2012 an additional (Site Clerk) position is being added at the 2011 reclassed level.
2. Position deletion (1)
A painter position is being eliminated. HUD requires Housing Authorities to examine the cost effectiveness of staff vs contracting and to choose the most cost efficient and cost effective manner. For several years as painters have retired the CDA has then contracted more painting work. The increase in paint contracting expense has been approximately half of the expense of a full time painter. The CDA has been able to contract this work at a lower cost and so will eliminate this position.
1. A fare increase consisting of a reduction in the discounts for multi-day and multi-ride passes but with no change in cash fares. This is projected to increase passenger revenue by $426,300.
2. Elimination of route 10 and all service on six holidays.
3. State transportation funding has been reduced from $18,021,300 in 2011 to $16,600,000 for 2012.
4. An increase in budgeted diesel fuel expense from $3,020,000 in 2011 to $4,262,400 for 2012.
5. An increase in fixed asset purcheses from $244,000 in 2011 to $1,246,000 in 2012 as a result primarily of the need to replace eight para-transit vehicles. 80% of the cost of fixed assets is offset by grant funding from the federal government.
Mayor Soglin,
I’d like to summarize some of the highlights behind the numbers that we are submitting for Metro’s 2012 budget request. I’d like to focus on a) general highlights, b) details on how we’re meeting the 5% target you gave all city departments, and c) a brief description of alternatives that could be considered if necessary.General Overview
First, I’d like to acknowledge that by putting the state transit aid cut ($1.8 million) and fuel price increase ($1.3 million) as part of the overall city budget challenge, we have a more manageable goal to reach than if these impacts were placed entirely on Metro’s levy reduction goal. More specifically, our tax levy goal of $10.5 million compares to our 2011 approved budgeted tax levy of $8.3 million.
Second, to reach the 5% target, we are proposing a mix of service cuts and fare changes. In the coming 6 weeks, we can change that mix to a different one to fit your vision of what will serve the community best in these trying economic times. On the farebox side of the proposal we are submitting to you for 2012, we propose a reduction in the discounts offered to the bus cash fare. Our bus cash fare will remain $2, and there will be no increases to our youth cash and senior cash fares. We project our bus ridership will remain basically flat, whereas in 2011 so far our ridership is up 7.4%.
On the service side we are proposing to cut Route 10 which connects the Isthmus with campus, bypassing the Square, and we are proposing to not operate service on six holidays. Our guideline for service cuts as part of the 5% cut was to look for areas where a) passengers would have an alternative if we cut a specific route, and b) cuts in services where ridership would be minimally impacted.
Details of Meeting the 5%
Attached is a summary of our proposed reductions in fare discounts, which shows no changes to the adult basic cash fare, the youth cash fare, the senior cash fare, or the one-day pass fare. All other discounts would increase between 5 and 30%, with the lowest being the paratransit fare which currently has a $3 off-peak and $4 peak fare. The proposed new fare will be $3.50 for all times vs. the current weighted average of $3.33. Our sense is that paratransit users are more vulnerable to fare changes, so the fact that the overall increase is only 5% and is still $0.50 below the existing peak fare seems appropriate.
The commute card we decided to increase by a higher rate in an attempt to provide equity with unlimited ride pass users. The calculation for the unlimited ride pass includes an assumption about the rate passengers transfer from one bus to another, and swipe their card a second time. In these cases, the unlimited ride card providers are charged twice, not just once, for that trip. The commute card is used by smaller organizations who for the most part also purchase monthly passes for those employees who regularly transfer, thereby keeping their overall costs to a minimum. So the proposed higher rate for the commute card is an effort to provide equity with the larger unlimited ride pass providers like MATC, whose rates will go up, but by a smaller amount
Looking next at the proposed service cuts, Route 10 connects the Isthmus to Campus, bypassing the Square and providing a quick campus trip for East Isthmus neighborhoods. Routes 2, 3, 4, 5,and 6 also cover these areas quite well. The Route 10 was eliminated in 2006, and then re-instituted in August of 2009 based on complaints about the significantly increased travel time from the East Isthmus to the UW campus. During the time route 10 was eliminated, we made a number of changes to other routes to compensate for its loss. Most importantly, the scheduled times at the East Transfer Point were offset by 15 minutes to provide a more even flow of buses through the Jenifer Street and Johnson/Gorham corridors (for instance, route 3 consistently operates about 15 minutes before and after route 4 on Jenifer Street). Also, routes 1 and 19 were changed to operate on Henry, Broom and Bassett Streets, to provide direct service between the neighborhoods along West Washington Ave and the UW Campus. Additionally, route 9 provides “fill in” service between the Johnson/Gorham Street corridor and the campus during the middle of the day. These changes did not appease neighborhood residents, and restored service on Rt 10 three years later. We anticipate this to be an unpopular choice this time around also.
Also, we are proposing to eliminate service on 6 holidays, New Years, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. These holidays average 5,700 rides per day, vs. 10,700 for a typical Sunday and 16,200 for a typical Saturday. So the impact on our ridership will be minimized, which was one of our goals in the 5% cut. Also, there is a higher savings per hour in not running holiday service because our collective bargaining agreement results in double time compensation in addition to holiday pay for those working holidays, so while we will still pay the holiday pay, we will not pay the double time compensation.
In total, the fare discount changes would yield an estimated $425,000, and the service cuts would reduce expenses by $353,000 to help meet our 5% goal.
Alternatives to Consider
We looked at several service cut and fare increase scenarios that we could develop further if necessary. On the fares, we considered an across-the-board fare increase from $2 to $2.25, with proportionate increases in other fare categories. This could bring in an additional $1.1 million in revenue rather than $425,000. We decided not to recommend this because we just went through an across-the-board fare increase in 2009 which was very controversial, and there is a sense that the more vulnerable members of our community may disproportionately use cash to pay their fares.
For services, we considered cutting back Sunday service to end earlier in the evenings as our holiday service does currently, and we considered adjustments to certain routes. For example, the Route 19 from the Square through the near West side and Nakoma to Allied Drive could become a commuter route with peak hour service only, with an added bus from Allied to the West Transfer Point to service those that are more likely to be transit dependent. This could save close to $100,000 annually, and there might be other routes that we could make similar adjustments to. We chose not to recommend this because of the deeper impact projected on ridership, and because some areas would essentially be unserved during portions of the day.
I also considered staffing furloughs or cuts for non-represented staff and chose not to recommend that. A 2009 state performance audit showed that Metro’s general and administrative costs at 25 percent lower than our peers, and the consultant noted that this is not necessarily all good news. The performance audit recommended a staff analysis that was proposed in the 2010 budget, which didn’t get funded. It is my sense that Metro is understaffed in certain supervisory and administrative areas given our desire to be a top-rated transit system using the latest technologies for passenger information and convenience.
I look forward to reviewing our budget with you in more detail.
Chuck Kamp
PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION
No longer exists? Larry Nelson used to get paid more money in this budget item, now Al Schumacher just does more work.
