Editorial: Monitoring of city finances even more vital now

Residents taking a greater interest in City of Menifee finances will find several significant items on the agenda for Wednesday night's City Council meeting.

Ever since a mayoral election loss by incumbent Scott Mann and the departure of city manager Rob Johnson, both following controversies concerning finances, an increasing number of residents have begun to express concern over the management of funds at City Hall and by local politicians. A City Council now including new mayor Neil Winter and pledging to move forward with greater transparency has an opportunity to take an important first step by allowing public oversight of Measure DD, a tax increase expected to bring in more than $6 million over the next year.

In fact, a resolution detailing the proposed makeup of a Measure DD oversight committee, to include five residents, is on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting (7 p.m. at City Hall). Details about how much input those residents will really have in city finances is unknown, however. And according to the agenda item, appointments to the committee wouldn't be made until March 1.

This is a crucial time for city officials because concerned citizens are waiting to see how responsive they will be to public demand. The appropriation of Measure DD funds is a focal point at the moment, but it could also be seen as an indication of the city's overall fiscal responsibility and transparency moving forward.

Here's the question many are asking: How much of the revenue from Measure DD -- a 1 percent sales tax increase expected to bring in more than $6 million -- will actually go to hire additional officers for Menifee's police force, which is only about half of what the County recommends for a city this size?

On Aug. 17, 2016, a City Council that still included Mann approved language for the Voter Information Guide explaining the purpose of Measure DD on the November 2016 ballot. That read, in part:

Yes on DD keeps funds local. Yes on DD maintains 911 emergency response. Yes on DD maintains local streets and roads and repairs local interchanges and overpasses. Yes on DD improves traffic flow. Yes on DD maintains local police, fire and emergency services.

With crime from surrounding communities increasing, we must maintain police protection and the number of officers on our streets. Yes on DD will keep Menifee safe by restoring the number of police officers we need to be full force. Yes on DD also addresses our street infrastructure and traffic flow.

Officially, the language on the ballot stated that Measure DD was intended to fund "public safety and vital services", described as police and fire protection and road improvements. Because Measure DD was not classified as a "special tax", it did not need a two-thirds majority to pass, which Prop. 13 requires of special taxes for a "designated or special purpose". Only a simple majority was needed.

As it turned out, Measure DD received more than two-thirds "yes" votes among the 33,383 votes cast anyway -- 68.26 percent of the votes, to be exact. So now, whether through input from the proposed oversight committee or diligence of City Council members and staff, decisions must be made on the percentage of those funds that will go toward the police force -- one of the biggest issues facing the community.

The City's contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department provides only about 10-15 officers a day assigned to Menifee (in three shifts). Funds from Measure DD could help increase that number. But because Measure DD revenue will go into the city's general fund, close monitoring will be required to ensure it is not spent on items other than "vital services."

A red flag of sorts was raised during the Jan. 26 meeting of the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission, when Menifee city officials presented their proposal to detach from Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District.

City officials said they are budgeting $3.7 million in annual tax assessments to go toward the cost of assuming control of parks on the east side of the city currently run by Valley-Wide. Depending on whether you believe the City's numbers or Valley-Wide's regarding the total cost to be taken on, the City would have to come up with somewhere between $600,000 and $1.3 million in additional funds to take over from Valley-Wide.

The report from an independent legal firm conducting a feasibility study of the detachment expressed concern that city officials hadn't specified where the additional money would come from. LAFCO commissioners then asked whether the City was considering taking funds from the Measure DD revenue.

Robert Lennox, director of the City's Community Services Department, initially said "there will be no dollars taken from that." Yet when pressed by Commissioner Randon Lane, Lennox admitted that "when any sales tax revenue comes in, it goes into the general fund. How that money is spent will be something for the oversight committee to determine."

How can the City address that skepticism, not only from LAFCO, but from the residents themselves? By quickly designating a Council-approved amount to pay for extra officers, and announcing exactly how many officers that will be.

Voters in the City of Temecula approved Measure S, a similar tax increase to fund "vital services", last November. Its City Council has already approved the addition of 10 officers to its police force, using Measure S funds. Of course, with a larger tax base, Temecula stands to receive $23 million from Measure S -- much more than Menifee. But the swiftness and urgency with which that council acted is something we haven't seen here.

Voters in the City of Hemet passed Measure U, also a tax increase to fund public safety. Six months earlier, a ballot measure that would have funded police hiring exclusively failed to get the two-thirds majority required of a special tax. This time, needing only a simple majority, Measure U passed. Soon after the election, Hemet Police Chief David Brown announced plans to hire 16 additional officers, using part of the expected $10 million tax revenue. Recruiting efforts are underway.

Whether because of the turmoil during the departure of Mann and Johnson or reasons unknown, Menifee is behind the neighboring cities in making a commitment to public safety backed up by specific numbers. Budgeting for a specific number of additional police officers quickly and efficiently could ease the concerns of those who fear that a high percentage of Measure DD funds will go elsewhere.

In addition, at least two other items on Wednesday's City Council agenda propose large expenditures that seemingly would not come from Measure DD revenue, but either would come from the city's reserve fund or through "re-programming" of current funds:

-- On behalf of the Community Services Department, Lennox is requesting $92,750 for the remaining five months of the fiscal year for a contract with Action Park Alliance, Inc., to supervise the now-closed Audie Murphy Ranch Skate Park. The requested amount for the full fiscal year of 2017-18 is $221,450.

Lennox presented a staff report to the City Council last November, when council members voted to temporarily close the skate park while evaluating options for increased security. At that time, the contract expense for such supervision was estimated at $195,000. Not only has the cost gone up, Lennox's proposal now includes an "and/or" second request for $58,985 for five months to create and fund a Park Ranger program, in which two park rangers would be hired to patrol not only Audie Murphy Ranch Sports Park, but "all city parks and facilities."

If the City Council votes to approve both requests -- essentially giving the Community Services Department skate park supervision and two park rangers for all other parks -- the pro-rated cost for the next five months would be $151,735. If an additional one-time request to build and install a "skate park attendant building" is approved, that would tack on another $100,000.

The entire general fund budget for the Community Services Department for this fiscal year is $790,270. Does that mean approval of this entire request would take roughly 32 percent of the department's annual budget?

No, because the wording of the proposal states that all those funds would be taken from general fund reserves. That presumably would leave Measure DD funds untouched for that project, but the reserve fund of a general fund already in deficit would take a hit.

-- Another item on Wednesday's agenda was placed on the consent calendar, which often includes items city staff suggests should be "rubber stamped" -- approved as a group without individual discussion. It is a proposal on how the Community Services Department would fund a project to convert some of the turf in Menifee parks to drought-tolerant landscape.

According to the proposal, the project would cost an estimated $1.16 million. To cover part of that amount, the City would use a $476,862 rebate award from the Eastern Municipal Water District. That leaves about $683,000 to come up with.

To accomplish this, the request asks for more than $213,000 to be reprogrammed from a park development reserve balance, plus approval to amend the City's Capital Improvement Project budget to make $470,000 in cuts, including:

$150,000 originally budgeted for parking lot resurfacing and trash enclosures;
$80,000 budgeted for trails connectivity and enhancement;
$55,000 for trails inventory and mapping;
$50,000 for La Ladera Park playground resurfacing;
$40,000 for design of Evans Park.

Some residents may agree all these requests for expenditures are warranted; others will not. The question, not only with Measure DD revenue but also with situations such as these, is this: Will the input of residents on any oversight committee really matter?

If residents duly appointed to such a committee raise serious concerns, will they be given serious consideration by City Council members and city staff?

We should find out in the months to come.