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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCA Measure G Impartial Analysis (Public Safety Facilities Bonds)e/ry O n,� Agenda Item No: 3 Meeting Date: August 17, 2009 SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Department: City Attorney Prepared by: Robert F. Epstein, C}' Attorngy City Manager Approval: and Ken Nordhoff, City Manager �i�}—� nNy"i SUBJECT: City Attorney's Impartial Analysis of San Rafael Public Safety Facilities Bond Measure (Measure G) RECOMMENDATION: Review and accept the City Attorney's Impartial Analysis for Measure G. BACKGROUND: On August 3, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1876 placing the San Rafael Public Safety Facilities Bond Measure on the ballot for the November 3, 2009 general municipal election. The Council also directed the City Attorney to prepare an impartial analysis of the measure to be filed with the City Clerk and printed in the voter information pamphlet. The impartial analysis is not meant to advocate a position on the measure, but rather must show the effect of the measure on the existing law and the operation of the measure. The City Attorney has prepared the impartial analysis and it is attached for the Council's review. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: At the public hearing regarding Ordinance No. 1876, several questions were raised about the specific project details included in this Bond Measure. As you know, the City has spend extensive time, working through two separate volunteer committees, studying, analyzing and codifying extensive data concerning San Rafael's public safety, library and community center facilities. Ir order to inform the community, I offer a listing of many of the key documents and how they can be accessed, to provide important facts and details about the extensive work done to date. This information should be helpful for interested parties in understanding the depths of research and public involvement in critical facility efforts up through 2009. • Two Facilities Studies -, An Essential Facilities Study (Police, Fire, City Hall and Community Centers), along with a separate Library Facility Study, were published in August 2003 by Group 4 Architecture Research and Planning. These projects began with the evaluation and documentation of existing conditions of each facility. Next, a program (space) confirmation phase was completed, which identified current and future functional, life safety and other facility specific needs, based upon use (fire, police, etc.). Lastly, once the needed improvements at each facility had been identified, the project moved into the development strategies phase. Each study developed general strategies for meeting the needs, identified potential sites in San Rafael where new facilities might be developed, established criteria for evaluating strategies and sites, and weighed the advantages and disadvantages of different development options on those sites. Cost information for the preferred FOR CITY CLERK ONLY File No.: Council Meeting: Disposition: SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2 development options was prepared by Davis Langdon Adamson, Group 4's cost estimating consultant. Methods used during the development strategies phases are described in great detail in the two reports. These two reports were accepted by the City Council on April 5, 2004. • Volunteer Committee #1 - A twelve volunteer members Critical Facilities Strategy Committee was appointed by the City Council in 2004 of the City of San Rafael and spent many months studying the City's need for a capital development program to replace or renovate facilities deemed critical to public safety, staff safety and operational effectiveness, and the maintenance of the quality of life in San Rafael. They completed their work in 2005, filed a final report (including recommendations), which was accepted by the City Council at their meeting April 18, 2005. • Volunteer Committee #2 - In November, 2007, the City Council appointed 15 San Rafael citizens to form a new Critical Facilities Committee (CFC) to develop strategies for informing and educating the community about the current state of our buildings as well as (to) develop an implementation plan to advance the priorities set by the former Critical Facilities Strategy Committee (CFSC). This group relied on previous consulting and Committee work, and received 2008 cost updates from the Group 4 firm. Committee accomplishments included setting facility prioritization to address numerous needs and funding recommendations. This Committee issued an interim, progress and final report, the last of which was accepted by the City Council at their August 3, 2009 meeting. The Final Report included a communications plan, and a separate letter recommending the City continue to partner with the County to consider combining our Station No. 7 needs with their plans underway for an Emergency Operations Facility adjacent to the Civic Center. • Education Effort — The City put together a series of facility videos, still photos, and a FAQ sheet to inform and educate residents and others about our building needs. Public opinion polling was completed in both February and June of this year, asking voters about their level of understanding of our facilities conditions, and testing the level of support to take action. All of the reports, studies, poll results and related information is available either on the City's website, or through either the City Clerk or City Manager's office. Should the public have specific questions about any of these reports, or request other data about our buildings, City staff is prepared to present appropriate information. This summary of data should allow member of the public who are interested in specific details to obtain information from a variety of already approved public records. Providing the background in the staff report is complementary to the action under consideration, which is to accept the City Attorney's impartial analysis. ACTION REQUIRED: Accept report. FISCAL IMPACT: None. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Impartial Analysis by the City Attorney - Measure G IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS BY THE CITY ATTORNEY MEASURE G If approved by the voters, this measure would authorize the City of San Rafael to incur bonded indebtedness in the amount of $88 million to finance the costs of acquiring and constructing public safety facilities and related public facilities and grounds to replace, relocate, upgrade, renovate, or expand existing fire and police stations and to construct an earthquake -safe dispatch center. If the bonds are approved, the City expects to sell the bonds in three series (but may issue the bonds in more than or fewer than three series), with a maximum interest rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum. Principal and interest on the bonds would be payable from the proceeds of tax levies made upon the taxable property in the City. The City estimates that the average tax rate that would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue over all of the years the bonds are expected to be outstanding is $41 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. The measure would require that the proceeds from the sales of the bonds be used only for costs incurred in connection with funding of the improvement of public safety facilities and related public facilities and grounds in San Rafael and the cost of the issuance of the bonds, and would prohibit the proceeds from being taken away by the state government, federal government, or other agencies or used for any other purpose, including the payment staff and administrator salaries and other operating expenses. The measure would require the City Council, within 90 days after the election, to establish an independent citizens' oversight committee to ensure that bond proceeds are expended only for the projects authorized by the ballot measure. Bond proceeds would be placed into a separate account subject to annual audit. To become effective, this measure must be approved by two-thirds of the electors voting at the election. A YES vote approves the measure. A NO vote rejects the measure. Z Robert'F. Epstein City Attorney of San Rafael