FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed action will not have an impact on the County’s General Fund. Mitigation Fee revenue is used to cover the costs incurred by the County and City for any activities (Strategies) authorized to be funded under the applicable North Richmond Waste and Recovery Mitigation Fee Expenditure Plan approved by the County and City of Richmond. 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 fund for this purpose.
BACKGROUND:
New Expenditure Plans and/or modifications to existing Expenditure Plans (Amended Expenditure Plan) must be approved by both the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council in order to officially authorize use of North Richmond Waste and Recovery Mitigation Fee funding. The purpose of this North Richmond Mitigation Fee (NRMF) is to mitigate designated impacts resulting from the County and City approved land use permits for the expanded Bulk Material Processing Center (BMPC) located in North Richmond.
Summary of Changes to the 2014/2015 NRMF Expenditure Plan
The 2014/2015 North Richmond Mitigation Fee Expenditure Plan was approved by the County Board of Supervisors in June 2014 and Richmond City Council in July 2014.
After the close of the 2014/2015 Expenditure Plan (EP) cycle, City staff identified unanticipated FY 2014/2015 costs that were incurred for one Strategy that were in excess of the amount available in the 2014/2015 EP Budget. At the North Richmond Mitigation Fee Committee (NRMFC) meeting on February 19, 2016, the Committee voted to recommend that the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council approve an Amended 2014/2015 NRMF Expenditure Plan to increase the funding for the “Community Services Coordinator (Strategy 8)” by $12,451.67 and reducing the “Contingency” line item accordingly.
The Amended 2014/2015 Expenditure Plan also reflects a reconciliation of actual revenue and expenses through Fiscal Year 2013/14. This expense and revenue reconciliation resulted in a net increase in funding available for future allocation in a new or amended Expenditure Plan. The net increase is primarily due to some activity (Strategy) costs being less than previously identified and actual revenue exceeding what was projected. The proposed changes are shown in the Expenditure Plan Budget Table (page 3) and Attachment 3 of the Amended 2014/2015 Expenditure Plan attached (Exhibit A).
Summary of Recommended 2016/2017 Expenditure Plan
At the NRMFC meeting on June 3, 2016, the Committee voted to recommend that the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council approve a 2016/2017 Expenditure Plan that allocates funding from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017.
The recommended 2016/2017 Expenditure Plan attached (Exhibit B) allocates funding that is substantially similar to the amount allocated in the prior 2015/2016 EP cycle with some minor increases in funding to some strategies. The small increase in funding is generally attributed to having additional unspent, unobligated funding determined to be available from the 2014/2015 Expenditure Plan cycle.
Funding Allocation Changes Recommended by NRMF Committee
The funding changes recommended by the NRMFC for the 2014/2015 Expenditure Plan include the following:
- 33% increase (from $1,500 to $2,000) to the Bulky Item Pick-ups & Disposal Vouchers Strategy (Strategy 1);
- 20% increase (from $100,000 to $120,000) to the Community-Based Projects (Strategy 9);
- 16% increase (from $50,000 to $58,006.26) to the Neighborhood Community Garden Projects (Strategy 12); and
- A small increase (about 1%) to the Contingency line item.
Consistent with the direction of the NRMFC, Committee staff prepared and released a Request for Funding Proposals (RFP) in January 2016 to identify eligible community based projects and gardening projects that could be considered for funding allocated to two EP Strategies. Funding for projects implemented by non-profit organizations is allocated under both the Community-Based Projects (Strategy 9) and Neighborhood Community Garden Projects (Strategy 12) activities. Seven proposals were submitted for Strategy 9 and seven proposals for Strategy 12. Committee staff evaluated and scored the submitted proposals which were presented to the Committee for consideration and potential selection, including recommended project-specific funding allocations. The NRMFC recommended that five (5) proposals submitted for each Strategy be funded.
The next NRMFC meeting is scheduled for February 17, 2017, where discussions regarding the projected revenue and planned use of funds for 2017/2018 fiscal year are expected to occur.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Each new Expenditure Plan must receive final approval from the County Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council. Expenditure Plans and any associated amendments recommended or approved by the NRMFC only take effect if/when approved by the Board of Supervisors and the Richmond City Council. Therefore, if the 2016/2017 Expenditure Plan is not approved by the Board prior to July 1, 2016 the previously approved strategies (activities) could not be funded by NRMF in which case, most if not all, would not continue being implemented without interruption. Furthermore, if the Amended 2014/2015 Expenditure Plan is not approved by the Board, the City could not receive reimbursement for additional payments totaling $12,451.67 issued to a local non-profit organization for implementing the Community Services Coordinator (Strategy 8) activity for the annual period that ended on June 30, 2015.