City Council approves $47 million general fund budget

Interim city manager Ron Bradley presents the 2017-18 general fund budget to the Menifee City Council Wednesday night. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

The Menifee City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a preliminary budget of $47 million for the upcoming fiscal year, to be officially adopted during the June 21 council meeting.

As reported here previously, the budget includes an increase of $3.5 million to the public safety budget to contract for additional services with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Along with an increase of $1.9 million for additional Fire Department support, the public safety budget will make up 62 percent of next year's general fund budget.

The budget was boosted by an additional $14 million available to the city through a 1 percent sales tax increase (Measure DD), the restoration of vehicle license fees from the state, and the recently passed state gas tax increase. Along with the increases in public safety, interim city manager Ron Bradley proposed the addition of 12 positions to the city staff. These include:

-- Assistant city manager
-- Executive assistant to the city manager
-- Management analyst
-- Purchasing/contract director
-- Accounts receivable clerk
-- Senior planner
-- Planning tech
-- 2 Building and Safety employees
-- Civil engineer
-- 2 park rangers

City finance director Bruce Foltz assured council members that no Measure DD funds were being used to fund the 12 additional staff positions. Those funds, as approved by voters last November, must be used only for public safety issues. The original estimate of funds that will be generated through the sales tax increase was $8.4 million for the next year; Foltz said Wednesday that the estimate has been adjusted to $8.7 million, adding $300,000 to the projected revenue.

In making the budget presentation, Bradley said $2 million of the Measure DD funds would go toward the remaining $8 million needed to begin the Scott Road freeway interchange project. Bradley told Menifee 24/7 the City is close to an agreement with Riverside County to borrow the remaining $6 million, which the City would pay back over the next three years.

The addition of personnel to the Fire Department represents the first increase since the City incorporated in 2008.

Under questioning from council member John Denver about the amount budgeted to maintain roads throughout the City, Foltz said roughly $2.5 million has been earmarked for that in various line items.

"I have the distinct honor to bring to you tonight probably the biggest budget you've seen since incorporation," Bradley said in making the presentation. "We've talked before about the overwhelming passage of Measure DD, to provide increased law enforcement, fire department service and increased street services. I'm also going to talk about some organizational changes and staff title changes that we feel will better serve the citizens of Menifee and allow us to open up our development counters eight a day rather than four hours a day, providing a much higher level of service all around."

Bradley has indicated in the past that the ever-increasing number of applications for new projects in the City has been almost overwhelming to city staff. In addition to the staff increases, the City Council on Wednesday approved an expenditure of $300,000 to purchase an additional modular unit to increase space in City Hall.