$60.9 million budget proposed for City of Menifee

Land acquisition of this area on the west side of the 215 Freeway is a key to planning for the Holland Road overpass -- along with the millions of dollars in funding still needed. Menifee 24/7 photo by Doug Spoon

By Doug Spoon, Editor

City of Menifee staff on Wednesday presented to the City Council a proposed $60.9 million budget for 2019/20 – the largest budget in the city’s 11-year history. It is both a reflection of the city’s growing revenue streams and its need for expanded resources.

That amount includes projected general fund revenue of $50.3 million and Measure DD sales tax revenue of $10.6 million.

The proposal was made by Rochelle Clayton, hired last month as deputy city manager. She also serves as the city’s new finance director, filling a position that had been vacant since the departure of Bruce Foltz more than a year and a half ago. Council members had general questions about the proposal but suggested no major changes to the budget, which will be submitted for approval at the June 5 council meeting.

Five years ago, the city general fund budget totaled $27.6 million – less than half of the current proposed budget. But that was long before the decision to create a municipal police department, a marked increase in infrastructure expense and the hiring of extra staff to handle the needs of a city topping 91,000 in population.

Helping to handle the increase in expenditures in recent years has been a housing boom that is expected to produce $15.2 million in property tax revenue in 2019/20 – a 12.8 percent increase over the current year, primarily because of the many new homes being built and sold. Another noteworthy revenue increase is Measure DD – which, in its second full year of implementation, is seen by city officials as a crucial element in funding road projects and the new police department.

In the next fiscal year, it is projected that paramedic and fire services will make up 22.92 percent of the general fund expenditures, with the final year of the city’s contract with the Sheriff’s Department making up another 22.61 percent. An additional 5.74 percent will go toward the creation of the municipal police department, which is scheduled to begin service in July 2020. Also, 32 percent of the $10 million Measure DD revenues will boost funding of the Menifee PD.

In addition to the general budget presentation by staff to the City Council, a separate proposal was made outlining the priority of projects in the city’s Capital Improvement Projects program. No. 1 in priority is the Holland Road freeway overpass, even though it is not expected to be fully funded until 2021 and not completed until 2023.

The new Scott Road interchange currently under construction was funded with help from county, other regional and developer sources, resulting in its construction before an additional freeway bridge at Holland Road. The City of Menifee carries the bulk of the burden in funding the Holland Road overpass, which is not a regional corridor of the magnitude of Scott Road.

So far, funding of the $28 million project totals only $5.2 million, reported Jonathan Smith, city engineer. But citing projected revenue from Measure DD, developer impact fees and other sources, it is expected that another $10.7 million of revenue will be generated for the project in 2019/20, $6.8 million more in 2020/21 and $5.4 million more in 2021/22.

Another factor in the timeline for the Holland Road overpass project is the acquisition of land on the west side of the freeway. Smith said the city must still deal with three land owners in the area where the bridge will descend and connect with Haun Road. Some of that property is vacant land; some is occupied by a storage unit facility that will have to be relocated, Smith said.

Next in priority in road improvements are the city’s ongoing pavement management program ($3.3 million), widening of Scott Road/Bundy Canyon Road ($2.9 million in a shared project with Wildomar) and renovation of the former City Hall into the new police department headquarters ($1.5 million).

Smith also reported that intersections identified as needing traffic signals in the near future total $19.5 million. Only a portion of those signals will be affordable in the coming year, with the two top priorities identified as the intersection of Menifee Road and Holland Road and the intersection of Menifee Road and Camino Cristal.

According to Smith, costs of traffic signals is about $400,000 per intersection.