I fell a bit behind in updating due to other priorities so this summary is a bit late. At our last Council meeting we discussed several signficant items:
- We received the annual report of the Police Department's inventory and use of militarry equipment. Our Police Chief also described a grant application for the acquistiion of drones. Shoudl the application be approved, it would fully fund the purchase and training for the use of drones to assist police activity. It will take several months or more to receive approval, however the Police Department is ready should the grant come through.
- We discussed an area in the Peacock Creek neighborhood that has been the subject of numerous police complaints. While the viewpoint is a general benefit to the neighborhood, it has alaso attracted nuisance behavior including litter, illegal trash dumping, and noise violations. Our Police Chief requested that we prohibt parking in the area immediately near the problem area from dusk to dawn in hopes that it would reduce problematic behavior and provide a tool that police could use should issues arise. The Council approved of the parking restriction 5-0.
- We received an update to the FY26 budget forecast and requeseted revisions to the FY27 budget. After making the changes related to overall presentation that were requested at our last meeting, the overall projection for end of year FY26 is a general fund deficit of approximately $775K. This figure has fluctuated over time, however this is the nature of future looking projections. Projections are based on various assumptions and if circumstances change the forward looking impacts are rolled into future projections.
The source of the largest two items driving changes in the projection were an underestimate of the impact of the reduction in administration revenue related to the Redevelopment Successor Agency, and unplanned police overtime.
For the administration revenue - when the Redevelopment Agency shuttered and the Successor Agency was created to wind down operations, the City received funding from the State related to the administrative requirements of that wind down. The wind down comopleted in early FY26, and as a result the revenue designated to reimburse the City for the cost of that administration ceased. At the time of the budget adoption, it was unknown how much revenue the City would receive prior to the wind down completing and the revenue source ending. It turned out that the amount of the City received was significantly less than was originally anticipated - nearly $200K less.
For police overtime - Police overtime is one of the larger budget variances this year, and I want to explain what is driving it. Our budget funds 10 police officers to provide coverage across the entire City, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For safety reasons, we do not want any officer working alone, so we need at least two officers on duty at all times.
That means the City must cover a minimum of 336 police staffing hours each week. With 10 officers working 40 hours each, we have 400 available hours in a normal week. On paper, that gives us a modest cushion. In practice, that cushion can disappear quickly.
Routine and expected events such as vacation, sick leave, injuries, training, and time spent in court can reduce the number of officers available for regular shifts. When that happens, we still need to maintain safe coverage, so other officers are called in to work overtime.
This year, those pressures were greater than usual. The Department had officer injuries, and two officers left for other opportunities. Those vacancies created a significant coverage gap. While we have since hired new officers, they must complete training before they can work independently. During that training period, they are paired with fully trained officers, which can also increase overtime needs.
As a result, projected police overtime is expected to exceed the budget by more than $200,000, in addition to the regular level of overtime that occurs each year. This variance is not the result of expanded service levels. It is primarily the cost of maintaining safe, around-the-clock police coverage during a period of staffing disruption and required training.
For the FY27 budget udpates, based on various savings efforts, we reduced the budgeted expenses in FY27 by $340K, reducing the projected defict to $320K. This will likely change over time depending on new information, but this is based on the best information we have today. The favorable changes in FY27 are a result of the hard work of staff, including org changes for more efficiency and technology enhancements.
- We then had an open discussion regarding a sales tax measure, and the Landscape Maintenance District assessment renewal. We gave staff signficant feedback on how the information can be presented, and what was important to residents. Things like showing the portion of property tax that comes back to the City (it's approxiamtely 6.63% of the 1% that residents pay, or $630 on a $10,000 property tax bill) and showing how Clayton compares to median income of staff. The City Manager took the feedback and is preparing a periodic newsletter expanding on the details and informing residents of the current circumstances.
