FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed action will not have an impact on the County’s General Fund. This Mitigation Fee revenue is intended to be used to fund costs incurred by the County and City to implement and oversee the activities (Strategies) authorized to be funded under the approved North Richmond Waste and Recovery Mitigation Fee (NRMF) Expenditure Plans. Each annual Expenditure Plan includes a Contingency line item in the budget to serve as a cushion for potential revenue shortfalls, and staff anticipates that there will be sufficient funding in the Contingency line item of the 2019/2020 budget for this purpose.
BACKGROUND:
New Expenditure Plans and/or modifications to existing Expenditure Plans (Amended Expenditure Plans) must be approved by both the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council to officially authorize use of NRMF funding. The NRMF was established for the purpose of mitigating designated impacts resulting from the County and City approved land use permits for the expanded Bulk Material Processing Center located in North Richmond.
Summary of Changes to the 2018/2019 NRMF Expenditure Plan
The North Richmond Waste and Recovery Mitigation Fee Joint Expenditure Planning Committee (NRMFC) recommended 2018/2019 NRMF Expenditure Plan was approved by the County Board of Supervisors in June 2018 and Richmond City Council in July 2018. After the approval of the 2018/2019 Expenditure Plan, County and City staff identified costs incurred in fiscal year 2018/2019 in excess of the amount anticipated for Strategies 2, 4, 9, and Committee Administration/Staffing. On October 30, 2019, the NRMFC voted to recommend that the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council approve an Amended 2018/2019 NRMF Expenditure Plan to move $67,891.36 from the Contingency line item to increase the funding for Strategies 2, 4, 9, and Committee Administration/Staffing. The revised funding allocations being recommended are shown in the Amended Expenditure Plan Budget Table (page 3 of Exhibit A) .
Summary of Changes to the 2019/2020 NRMF Expenditure Plan
The NRMFC recommended 2019/2020 NRMF Expenditure Plan was approved by the County Board of Supervisors in June 2019 and Richmond City Council in July 2019. On October 30, 2019, the NRMFC voted to recommend that the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council approve an Amended 2019/2020 NRMF Expenditure Plan (Exhibit B) that incorporates the following changes:
- increased funding to strategy 9 to address rounding error,
- wording added to the descriptions for Strategies 4, 5, & 6 regarding assisting with Strategy 9 site identification,
- modified description of Strategy 10 to remove the Adult Softball program and expand the Eco-Workshops to serve all ages, and
- modified wording in Attachment 1 to clarify how advance payments shall be used for projects that do not include supplies/materials.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Amended 2018/2019 Expenditure Plan is not approved by the County Board of Supervisors and the Richmond City Council, the County and City would not be eligible to receive reimbursement for the excess costs incurred for the annual period that ended on June 30, 2019. Furthermore, if the Amended 2019/2020 Expenditure Plan is not approved by the Board, activities provided for by the modified Strategy descriptions would not be eligible for reimbursement.