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2023-06-15_Spcl_Newsletter_CouncilActions CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS At the June 12, 2023 Public Meeting The governing board of the City of Rolling Hills, the City Council is MANDATED by the Brown Act to ensure that discussions leading to decisions made on behalf of the citizens of Rolling Hills are open to the public, are noticed in meeting agendas published for public viewing at least 72 hours prior to public meetings, and afford the public opportunities to weigh in on City Council discussions and decisions at these public meetings. On Monday, June 12, 2023, the agenda to the meeting was extensive. Three key decisions were made by the City Council. OUTDOOR SIREN PROJECT The Council Chambers at City Hall was filled with supporters for the city’s outdoor siren project. After more than two years of discussions, the City Council directed staff to engage the company HQE Systems, Inc. to implement an outdoor siren system for approximately $261,200. The project is comprised of installing three fifty feet poles in the community at the Crest Road East closed gate, Fire Station 56, and City Hall. The poles would hold speakers that can operate in the event of complete power failure in the city using energy from solar panels and the grid stored in back-up batteries at each pole location. The City Council has been investigating the system proposed by HQE Systems, since 2021, taking care to identify viable pole locations within the community, and getting feedback from residents on potential pole locations. The speakers, on siren poles, will emit siren sounds in addition to intelligible voice (spoken message). The system is intended to communicate with the residents of Rolling Hills in the event of an emergency when communications with residents via cell phones, landlines, and the internet are not feasible. REFUSE RATE INCREASE Rolling Hills residents are served by Republic Services for solid waste collection via a franchise agreement with the city. In this arrangement, the refuse service provided Republic Services is paid by the city. The city collects the service fee from residents of Rolling Hills via the property tax bill annually. Annual rates speak to the service beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30. For many years, the City Council subsidized the year over year rate increases for residents. The increase from Fiscal Year 2022-2023 to Fiscal year 2023-2024 is approximately $300 per parcel. Anticipating a deficit to the operating budget for next fiscal year, at the June 12, 2023 City Council meeting, the City Council voted to pass on the rate increase to the residents for Fiscal year 2023-2024. One Councilmember expressed that the subsidy has been provided to residents of Rolling Hills for many years and his vote for no subsidy for next year would allow a reset of rates. Another Councilmember expressed that the refuse is a direct service much like other utility services where residents are expected to pay for services. One Councilmember voted to continue the subsidy expressing that subsidy is the only way the city can give back to the community. The vote was 4-1, no subsidy. APPROVAL OF RECOMMENDED FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 BUDGET Annually staff conducts workshops with the City Council to review the current year’s expenditures, the desired goals for next fiscal year, the trend in property tax revenue, and anticipate expenditures for the upcoming year based on affordability, and priorities. This year, the budget process was extended and started in late March 2023, in anticipation of an operating deficit. Key elements of the proposed FY 2023-2024 budget are as follows: • The elimination of fire fuel maintenance in the Nature Preserve in the two areas closest to the Rolling Hills border; • Five percent cut across the board to the City Administration and Planning and Community Services Departments; • Reduction to the Block Captain Program budget, based on expenditures trends for the current fiscal year; • Offset General Fund using Measure W, Clean Water County allocations to meet stormwater mandates; • Offset General Fund using the city’s PARS 115 Trust to remit annual pension payments to CalPERS; • Allocation of $250K to the City Hall back-up power project. • Increase law enforcement budget per the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department rate increase; and • Increase budget by $20K for the Finance Department based on expenditure trend and service level for the current fiscal year. On June 12, 2023, the City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2023-204 budget as proposed with the exception of the $20K budget increase to the Finance Department.