The public portion of the council meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive. A closed session to discuss labor negotiations and a potential case of litigation will begin at 5:15 p.m.
City Administrator Dale Neiman's mid-year budget review report to the council says that no adjustments are necessary to the budget at this time, thanks to savings that have balanced out some revenue shortfalls.
Neiman's report states that receipt of city revenues is not consistent on a month-by-month basis. “As a result, it is difficult to get a true picture of where we are with the revenues.”
However, what is clear is that the city's most important revenue source – sales tax – is running 0.5 percent less than the city budgeted, said Neiman. Because of problems with the economy, Neiman anticipates that sales tax revenues will continue to be less than anticipated through the rest of the fiscal year.
Secured property tax, he said, is 1.1 percent higher than the city's budget estimated, with other revenues close to what was anticipated.
In addition, staff vacancies have helped the city realize savings in general fund expenditures, with expenses now running approximately 5.3 percent under budget, Neiman reported.
The city had general fund expense increases of $82,020, including a $47,020 rise in animal control costs charged by the county for services provided to Clearlake.
Neiman said the city's development review fund expenditures also are less than $13,527.
He said those expenditures are down significantly because of eliminating an engineering tech position and training city building inspectors to provide housing rehabilitation services and encroachment permit inspections. Additional training is planned for the inspectors, said Neiman, with many of their tasks being supported by grant money.
Garbage rate increase considered
The council also will consider a rate increase request from Clearlake Waste Solutions (formerly Timberline Disposal).
The increase is necessary, according to a report from Neiman, to help the company retrofit some of its diesel trucks with air pollution equipment, which is required by new rules adopted by the California Air Resources Board.
The cost to meet the requirements, said Neiman, is substantial. In some cases, trucks must be replaced.
The city's garbage subcommittee met to consider the situation and reached an agreement that would allow the increase to be no more than 12.26 percent, and would limit the cost of equipment to $560,000. Receipts for equipment and financial information also would need to be submitted to the city for review and approval.
Letters from Bruce McCracken of Clearlake Waste Solutions to Neiman explained that the company has been working with the city for two years to meet the air board's rules. He said it's imperative that they come into compliance by the end of the first quarter of this year.
McCracken reported that the company has 3,623 residential customers and 242 commercial customers.
Other discussion topics on Thursday's agenda include four abatement cases; an assessment for administrative penalties on an abatement; the status of the city's Web site; consideration of adopting an ordinance to extend time limits for receiving property taxes for the redevelopment plan; and consideration of a contract with Melissa Floyd for planning services.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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