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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 02 Police Special Option Levy Renewal AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 6/5/2017 Meeting Type: Work Session Staff Contact/Dept.: Rick Lewis Bob Duey Staff Phone No: 541/726/3740 Estimated Time: 30 Minutes S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Provide Financially Responsible and Innovative Government Services ITEM TITLE: POLICE SPECIAL OPTION LEVY RENEWAL ACTION REQUESTED: Hold a work session to discuss the options for placing a measure on the November 2017 ballot for the renewal of the current Police Services Special Operating Levy. Provide staff with direction for the preparation of a resolution with ballot title for a public hearing and adoption of June 19th. ISSUE STATEMENT: The current special operating levy for police services expires as of June 30, 2018. Council is being asked to authorize by resolution the placement of a ballot measure on the November 2017 election for either 1) a 5-Year Local Option Levy at $1.28 for the renewal of the current levy that expires on June 30, 2018; or 2) a 5-Year Local Option Levy at a rate no higher than $1.44 for the replacement of the current levy that expires on June 30, 2018. To allow an adequate amount of time for the filing of the election and to conduct an information campaign by the City, staff is asking that Council approve the authorizing resolution for the election prior to Council going on summer recess. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment 1: Council Briefing Memorandum Attachment 2: Survey of Registered Voters Attachment 3: Draft Resolution Authorizing Special Operating Levy Election Attachment 4: Draft Ballot Title Attachment for a Renewal Levy for the Current Special Operating Levy Attachment 5: Draft Ballot Title Attachment for a Replacement Levy for the Current Special Operating Levy FINANCIAL/DISCUSSIONS: See Council Briefing Memorandum MEMORANDUM MAY 26, 2017 M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield 5/30/2017 To: Gino Grimaldi COUNCIL From: Richard Lewis, Police Chief Bob Duey, Finance Director BRIEFING MEMORANDUM RE: Police Special Option Levy Renewal ISSUE: The current special operating levy for police services expires as of June 30, 2018. Council is being asked to authorize by resolution the placement of a ballot measure on the November 2017 election for either 1) a 5-Year Local Option Levy at $1.28 for the renewal of the current levy that expires on June 30, 2018; or 2) a 5-Year Local Option Levy at a rate no higher than $1.44 for the replacement of the current levy that expires on June 30, 2018. To allow an adequate amount of time for the filing of the election and to conduct an information campaign by the City, staff is asking that Council approve the authorizing resolution for the election prior to Council going on summer recess. COUNCIL GOALS/ MANDATE: Strengthen Public Safety by Leveraging Partnerships and Resources BACKGROUND: At the May 22nd work session, Council and staff discussed the renewal options for the Police Services Special Operating Levy that will be expiring on June 30, 2018. Police Chief Richard Lewis described the range of services that are currently provided by the 5-year $1.28 per thousand levy and identified key performance measurements that indicate the success Springfield has experienced in lowering property crimes since the opening of the Municipal Jail in 2010. Finance Director Bob Duey described the process and timing for being able to place a measure on the November 2017 ballot and program expenses that could be expected to occur during the 5-year period of a renewed levy. A change has been made in the schedule to allow Council more time for discussion on this critical topic. The public hearing and adoption of the levy resolution has been moved from June 5th to June 19th. It is still planned that this work session on June 5th will provide staff with a single direction for the preparation of the resolution and ballot title, but by delaying a public hearing and final adoption for 2 weeks it will provide more opportunity for both Council members and the community to review the information prior any hearing and adoption. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUESTED On May 22nd, Council members asked for additional information is several areas Community Survey The City has contracted out the completion of a survey of registered voters asking about community support for the renewal of the levy at both the current rate of $1.28 and at the maximum rate of $1.44. Attachment 1 - Page 1 of 6 MEMORANDUM MAY 26, 2017 The completed report was delivered to the City of May 30th. The survey results are included in this packet as Attachment 2 and will be presented and discussed at the work session. Prior Election Results The police levy has been voted on 3 previous times with the following being the official voting results from the County: 2002 2006 2012 Vote # Vote % Vote # Vote % Vote # Vote % Yes 8057 56.17% 8542 50.49% 11771 54.77% No 6288 43.83% 8377 49.51% 9719 45.23% Staffing Schedule Options for Detention Officers Police management established policy and business process to enable the Springfield Municipal Jail to house female inmates with existing jail staff. To implement a staffing schedule with a female detention officer on duty at all times, at least two additional female detention officers would need to be added to existing staff. A single detention officer position costs approximately $101,000 per year. Property Crime Statistics Involving Misdemeanors and Felonies The following outlines available Springfield Police Department property crime data from 2005, 2009, and 2016. Property Crime Total Fel Misd Vio Fel Misd Vio Fel Misd Vio Burglary (05)1280 0 774 0 315 0 Theft (06)892 2499 452 2616 264 2253 Vehicle Theft/Entry (07)995 54 350 315 71 75 Arson (09)28 10 30 23 90 9 Forgery (10)424 138 134 112 108 32 Fraud (11)447 49 35 278 157 202 Embezzlement (12)0 0 0 0 5 2 Stolen Property Offense (13)5 5 0 3 20 1 Vandalism (14)190 633 176 841 1 46 593 7 Extortion (23)1 0 1 0 2 0 Totals by Crime Level 4262 3388 0 1952 4188 1 1078 3167 7 2005*2009 2016 7650 6141 4252 *Some 2005 records have been purged from the SPD Records Management System, per statute, to include misdemeanor crimes. Purged records are not included in the data listed above. Attachment 1 - Page 2 of 6 MEMORANDUM MAY 26, 2017 SPD changed statistical data reporting methodology in November 2013, from the Uniform Crime Reporting model to the Oregon – National Incident Based Reporting System model. Therefore, 2005 and 2009 data comparisons may be impacted due to data conversion. Increases in Operating Budgets Projected in the next 5 year period, 75% of the costs associated with the levy will be in personal services. To look at the last 5 year period where budgeted numbers are available, from FY14 thru FY18 the increase in personal services budgeted costs has been 12.5%. Jail operations has by far seen the largest increases at 23% which included adding 1 additional detention officer and an organizational restructuring that created a new Lieutenant position that took the place of a jail operations supervisor. Police services has only increased the personal services budget by 2% during this same period with no change in FTE. With also no change in FTE municipal court has increased personal services by 2.6% over this same 5-year period. Material & Services (M&S) has seen its biggest increases in the past couple of years that are now carrying over as higher costs for the next 5-year period. For jail operations, recent increases in the care of prisoners for both mental health services and medical services are significant cost drivers. For the Court, again recent increases in mental health services and indigent representation are driving the M&S budget going into the next 5-year period. A reduction in the police services M&S is helping to offset some of the other increases. Homeowner Property Tax Impacts The vast majority of Springfield citizens reside in Tax Code Area 1900 and all are charged the same rates per thousand toward their receiving City services. The only exception would be for those properties that might find themselves in compression. In response to the question about any reduction in taxes due to the retirement of bonds, the table below recognizes an expected drop in the overall rate for the City next fiscal year due to a combination of debt being paid off and completing a refunding sale of the City’s general obligation debt last year to achieve a more favorable interest rate. Using the past two years and next year, the table below shows the 9 cent thousand reduction in FY18: Actual Actual Est. FY16 FY17 FY18 Permanent Rate $4.7403 $4.7403 $4.7403 Fire Levy .3600 .3600 .3600 Police Levy 1.2800 1.2800 1.2800 Bonded Debt .4925 .5025 .4042 TOTAL $6.8728 $6.8828 $6.7845 Staff has asked and received information from the County Assessor’s Office concerning home prices in Springfield. For the last time period that numbers are available (January 2016), the average real market value (RMV) is $184,025. The average Assessed Value (AV) for which that average house is assessed taxes on is $143,809. To support City services in FY17 the calculation would be ($143,809/1,000) X $6.8828 = $989.80 annually. For the average house in Springfield the current police levy portion of that amount would be $184.07. For every 2 cents the levy may be increased the increase in property taxes is $2.88 per year. Impacts of Compression on Taxes Collected Attachment 1 - Page 3 of 6 MEMORANDUM MAY 26, 2017 The concept of compression started with the passage of Measure 5 and was modified with the passage of Measures 47 and 50. A $10 cap of total rate per thousand per RMV was established that included all general government (excluded education) to provide a way of controlling the overall rate a taxpayer may owe. Once the rate of taxes per thousand to be paid is converted using RMV in lieu of AV, if that rate per thousand is over $10, property taxes are reduced until the rate is reduced to $10 or below. To accomplish this, the assessor first lowers the taxes to be collected from all special levies which historically have been sufficient. Until FY14, the loss of revenue from the compression calculation was very minor and was not taken into consideration when budgeting. Beginning in that year, the police levy’s compression loss was $285K or 4.7% of the total levy. The next two years remained at over $200K while in FY17 the amount dropped to $157K. In the past 4 years the police levy has lost a total of $913K in taxes levied due to compression. Looking at future years, compression will continue to be a factor for several years and is influenced by 1) changes to the area’s real market value and 2) any new or changes to special operating levies by any of the taxing districts. With assistance from the County Assessor’s Office, it appears that if the City was to increase its levy from $1.28 to $1.44 the amount of taxes lost to compression would increase from $157,000 to $235,000. Also impacted by this change by the City would be the Goshen Rural Fire Protection District, Lane County 4-H Extension, the Lane County Public Safety Levy and our own Fire Levy. SPECIAL LEVY RATE OPTIONS OPTION 1 – RENEW LEVY AT THE CURRENT RATE OF $1.28 PER THOUSAND 1A - $1.28 Attachment 3 is a draft of the resolution and accompanying ballot title that would be taken to public hearing if the decision would be to have the levy remain at $1.28. Some of the advantages would be: The ballot measure is classified as a renewal of the current levy by Oregon election laws. The 10 word caption can contain the word renewal which informs the voters that this is an existing tax levy and not a new tax. With a healthy economy and no new or increased levies, the issue of compression will slowly become less of an issue. For the last several years the City has been losing 4 cents to 6 cents of its levy to compression and only receiving the equivalent of a $1.22 to $1.24 levy. As the City is working to find a way to reduce its dependence of funding fire services with a temporary special levy it also is working to not increase its dependence on a temporary levy for police services Disadvantages would be: Personal service costs make up over 76% of the total levy requirements and in both the area of police services and jail operations minimum shift staffing is often an issue. To be able to maintain a consistent level of service over all 5 years of the levy, labor costs associated with wages, health insurance and retirement are going to increase and need to be built into the model. Lowering the levy rate without lowering the service expectations for jail, police or court operations transfers the service burden expectations most likely to the General Fund. The General Fund is already projecting a sizable deficit for FY19 and this shifting of funding expectations increases the challenge of being able to meet current service expectations. Attachment 1 - Page 4 of 6 MEMORANDUM MAY 26, 2017 As was discussed at the May 22nd work session, the passage of the levy is probably one of the most critical budget issues the City is facing with a significant share of our public safety services dependent upon its resources. Once completed the results of the community survey will be beneficial in determining the support for either renewal or replacement. The reduction of the levy from a high of $1.44 to the current rate of $1.28 would be about an 11% reduction and is about $750,000 annually. The range of options that have been discussed for addressing this size of reduction has included only considering levy service reductions (7 to 9 positions), keeping levy services whole and only looking at other General Fund reductions (again likely 7 to 9 positions) or a combination of these two. Preliminary conversations indicate that a likely scenario would be along the lines of a 70%/30% split between the General Fund and the Levy Fund and the use of personal service, material & services and revenue changes to balance the budget. OPTION(s) 2 – REPLACE CURRENT LEVY WITH A LEVY RATE NO GREATER THAN $1.44 PER THOUSAND Attachment 4 is a draft of the resolution and accompanying ballot title that would be taken to public hearing if the decision would be to have the levy remain be at rate that is higher than the current levy. For any of the options in this category, staff has one correction. The highest levy was stated at a $1.44 but the error was detected of not including Delinquent Taxes as an annual revenue source. This additional $100k per year allows the rate to be reduced by 2 cents. The previous highest rate for full replacement at $1.44 can be replaced with a rate of $1.42 Disadvantages would be; There would be some common disadvantages to increasing the rate to something greater than $1.28 for all rates in the scale between $1.29 and $1.42. The wording for the ballot title would change and the word “renewal” would not be included in the ballot caption. Also in the ballot question the sentence “This measure renews current local option taxes” is replaced with “This measure may cause property taxes to increase more than three percent”. As compression is already an issue for our taxing code because of the $10 cap, any increase would exacerbate the issue of taxes levied but not collected. This would be not only for the City of Springfield but any taxing jurisdiction that shares a tax code area with the City and has a special operating levy. As the composite rate goes higher over $10 per thousand the proportional share of individual properties that are identified as being in compression increases. Staff had included several options within this range for example purposes Advantages of seeking rate that is greater than $1.28: 2A @ $1.42 Advantages: This ballot rate allows the current services to continue as utilized. Staffing costs between now and June 30, 2023 have been estimated in reasonable manner but will be subjected contract talks and economic conditions. The size of jail operations has grown so it is now a larger share of the levy than other police services and has a stringent minimum staffing requirement for safety reasons. The original 2002 levy was initiated due to the understaffing in the police department and the effort to pursue the Council goal of having a safe and secure community. The $1.42 rate keeps in place the full funding for the current services through the levy without the need to impact current service in other departments. Attachment 1 - Page 5 of 6 MEMORANDUM MAY 26, 2017 2B @ $1.36 Advantages: Most if not all of the advantages of the $1.42 rate for services received or seen by the community could still be achieved at this rate. It can be attempted to reduce the overall cost of these service by reducing administration overhead or by looking at efficiencies brought on by technology. It’s likely that reduction in FTE would need to occur. An effort would be made to have none of these changes come from levy services received by citizens but it’s also likely that at this rate there would be some impact to services in the City’s General Fund. The main effort here would be that the public would not experience a lower level of jail or police service. Strategy: 2C @ $1.32 This rate has lost most of the advantages of the $1.42 or $1.36 rates and a service level response by the City would be more similar to a response at $1.28. This rate would require an annual reduction in the current cost estimates of about $475K which while taking advantage of the administrative and efficiencies that could be found would still require a review of city services to establish new priorities. The possible 1 to 3 FTE reductions at $1.36 would probably be closer to 4 to 6 FTE at $1.32. CONCLUSION The public hearing and passage of a resolution to place the ballot on the November 2017 election has been moved to June 19th. The request by staff at this June 5 work session is for Council to provide staff with direction for preparation of the resolution and ballot title for the public hearing that evening. The options Council is being asked to consider for placement of a ballot measure on the November 2017 election are either: 1) a 5-Year Local Option Levy at $1.28 for the renewal of the current levy that expires on June 30, 2018; or 2) a 5-Year Local Option Levy at a rate no higher than $1.44 for the replacement of the current levy that expires on June 30, 2018. Attachment 1 - Page 6 of 6 Attachment 2, Page 1 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 2 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 3 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 4 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 5 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 6 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 7 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 8 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 9 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 10 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 11 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 12 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 13 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 14 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 15 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 16 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 17 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 18 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 19 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 20 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 21 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 22 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 23 of 24 Attachment 2, Page 24 of 24 CITY OF SPRINGFIELD OREGON RESOLUTION No. ______ A RESOLUTION REFERRING TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY A BALLOT MEASURE AUTHORIZING THE LEVY OF A FIVE YEAR LOCAL OPTION TAX LEVYTO OPERATE THE SPRINGFIELD MUNICIPAL JAIL AND PROVIDE FOR ADDITIONAL STAFFING AND MATERIALS FOR POLICE SERVIVCES IN THE AMOUNT OF $1.28 OF ASSESSED VALUE BEGINNING IN 2018/2019. As the preamble to the Resolution the Common Council of the City of Springfield, Oregon (the “City”) hereby recites the matters set forth below. To the extent any of the following recitals relates to a finding or a determination which must be made by the Common Council in connection with the subject matter of this Resolution or any aspect thereof, the Common Council declares that by setting forth such recital such finding or determination is thereby made by the Common Council. The recitals, findings and determination set forth herein constitute a part of the Resolution. WHEREAS, the City is a municipality organized and existing and pursuant to the laws of the State of Oregon and the 2001 Springfield Charter of the City (the “Charter”). WHEREAS, the City currently has the authorization from the citizens of Springfield to levy a special options tax at the rate of $1.28 per thousand for jail operations and police services beginning July 1, 2018. This current authorization is for five years and expires with the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2017. WHEREAS, the City has received information from a 2017 community survey and from planning sessions held by the Police Planning Task Force by and on behalf of City, intended to determine the current needs and desires for the residents as they pertain to issues of police services. This information indicates a continued need to enhance jail operations and police services to the Community. The Common Council of the City determined to proceed with identified services for the renewal of the current authorized special option tax and for police services at a cost of $8,389,329. The estimated tax rate needed to generate the resources required is $1.28 per thousand of assessed valuation. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD: SECTION 1. APPROVAL OF BALLOT MEASUIRE FOR GENERAL PURPOSE LOCAL OPTION TAX LEVY. The Common Council of the City hereby directs that at the general election to be held on November 07, 2017, there shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the City a measure authorizing the City to levy a five year local option tax for jail operations and police services in the amount of $1.28 per $1,000 of assessed value beginning in 2018/19 fiscal year and ending in 2022/23 fiscal year. The ballot title for the local option levy is attached as Exhibit A (the “Ballot Title”). SECTION 2. SUBMISSION TO THE ELECTIONS OFFICER. Not later than the 61st day before November 07, 2017 the City Recorder, as the Chief Elections Officer of the City, shall submit to the County Clerk for Lane County, Oregon a statement of the local option tax measure together with a certified copy of this Resolution and the Ballot Title, all in order that the local option tax measure may appear on the ballot for the general election to be held on November 07, 2017. The City Recorder shall submit to the County Clerk all necessary information, and shall do and perform all other acts and things necessary or appropriate, so that the measure shall appear on the ballot for such primary election. SECTION 3. ADDITIONALAUTHORIZATION. The City Manager, the City Recorder and the City Finance Director and each of them acting individually, are hereby authorized, empowered and directed, for and on behalf of the City, to do and perform all acts and things necessary or appropriate to cause the jail operations and police services local option tax levy to appear on the ballot for November 07, 2017 general election and to otherwise carry out the purposes and intent of this Resolution. Attachment 3 Page 1 of 2 SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE OF RESOLUTION. This Resolution shall take effect upon its adoption by the Council and approval by the Mayor. ADOPTED by the Common Council of the City of Springfield this 19th day of June, 2017, by a vote of ______ for and ______ against. ___________________________________ Christine Lundberg, Mayor ATTEST: __________________________________________ Amy Sowa, City Recorder Attachment 3 Page 2 of 2 Ballot Title CITY OF SPRINGFIELD BALLOT MEASURE XX-XX Caption: RENEWAL OF CURRENT 5-YEAR LOCAL OPTION TAX FOR POLICE SERVICES Question: Shall Springfield levy $1.28 per $1,000 assessed valuation for five years beginning 2018/19 for Springfield jail operations and police services. This measure renews current local option taxes. Summary: The current levy for public safety services, which expires June 30, 2018, provides funding for Springfield’s municipal jail, uniformed police, support personnel and municipal court operations. Passage of this $1.28 five year levy would renew funding for the municipal jail and provide additional funding for police and community services. Springfield’s jail opened in 2010. The jail provides space for sentenced defendants. Since 2009 the number of property crimes has been reduced by 30%. This levy would continue to provide all required funding for jail operations. Court fines, prisoner fees and leasing jail beds to other agencies would provide other funding. During the last 2 years of operations 4,503 were booked into jail with an average jail population in excess of 60 inmates per day. Police services provided by the current levy include additional uniformed officers, community service officers, dispatchers and record clerks. The current levy has resulted in improved response times for both emergency and non emergency police calls. Passage of the proposed levy may result in a decline in overall services from the previous levy. The proposed rate will raise approximately $6,072,659 in 20018/19, $6,254,838 in 2019/20, $6,442,484 in 2020/21, $6,635,758 in 2021/22, and $6,834,831 in 2022/23, for a total of $32,240,569. Attachment 4 Page 1 of 1 Ballot Title CITY OF SPRINGFIELD BALLOT MEASURE XX-XX Caption: FIVE-YEAR LEVY FOR SPRINGFIELD JAIL OPERATIONS AND POLICE SERVICES Question: Shall Springfield levy $1.42 per $1,000 assessed valuation for five years beginning 2018/19 for Springfield jail operations and police services. This measure may cause property taxes to increase more than three percent. Summary: The current levy for public safety services, which expires June 30, 2018, provides funding for Springfield’s municipal jail, uniformed police, support personnel and municipal court operations. Passage of this five year levy would continue the funding for the municipal jail and maintain the existing level of police and community services. Springfield’s jail opened in 2010. The jail provides space for sentenced defendants. Since 2009 the number of property crimes has been reduced by 30%. This levy would continue to provide all required funding for jail operations. Court fines, prisoner fees and leasing jail beds to other agencies would provide other funding. During the last 2 years of operations 4,503 were booked into jail with an average jail population in excess of 60 inmates per day. Police services provided by the current levy include additional uniformed officers, community service officers, dispatchers and record clerks. The current levy has resulted in improved response times for both emergency and non emergency police calls. Passage of the proposed levy would allow this level of service to continue. The proposed rate will raise approximately $6,736,856 20018/19, $6,938,961 in 2019/20, $7,147,130 in 2020/21, $7,361,544 in 2021/22, and $7,582,390 2022/23, for a total of $35,766,882. Attachment 5 Page 1 of 1