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San Ramon’s financial state is expected to remain healthy and stable through the near future according to the city’s five-year financial forecast presented to the City Council on Tuesday.
The main highlights of the forecast were developed to generate policy discussion and direction from the council to help plan the city’s fiscal position in future years, according to administrative services director Eva Phelps, who delivered the presentation during the evening meeting in the council chambers.
Currently, the amount of revenue coming to the city government exceeds the amount going out, and the local economy is also showing a “strong” growth of 8.8%, Phelps said.
Some of the other information included in the forecast was a projected population increase from about 77,000 to more than 80,000 by fiscal year 2020. It is also anticipated that the build out of Dougherty Valley will be completed by fiscal year 2019.
City officials project needing to increase staffing levels to coincide with the city’s expected growth and new facilities set to open within the next five years.
According to Phelps, 24 new employees, five vacancies to be filled and three additional temporary staff members would be dispersed among the engineering, public services, parks and community services and police departments. The cost of filling these positions is about $13.2 million over five years.
The councilmen also talked about the current funding mechanism for decreasing some of the city’s $47.4 million debt and reviewed a list of the unfunded capital improvement projects for various services, facilities and deferred maintenance.
The total cost for the unfunded capital projects is $51.4 million. The council said it plans to discuss at a later time how the projects will be funded and prioritize the list based on needs.
In other business during Tuesday night’s meeting, the council held its second public hearing on the Housing Element update and General Plan amendment.
There were five follow-up items addressed by the council during the first hearing on Jan. 27 related to referencing the Eastside Specific Plan — which has been removed — and an explanation and follow-up language regarding the Camino Tassajara roadway expansion as it relates to the Dougherty Valley settlement agreement.
Also part of the document revisions was clarifying the typical land-uses found in open space and aligning the text with the state law definition of the term. Changes were also made to park maps and graphics within the document per the council’s recommendation.
Sierra Club representative Jim Gibbon was the only citizen speaker on the topic. He suggested developing a policy that says the Tassajara Valley should be left rural and supporting improvements to the Camino Tassajara roadway but not the widening of it. He contended there is no use for the Camino Tassajara expansion, and it would ultimately only benefit Danville.
Gibbon also said he opposes the Iron Horse Regional Trail being identified as a route of regional significance by the Tri-Valley Transportation Council. “Danville opposes it, Alamo opposes it, everybody opposes it, but they went ahead and want to make it a transportation Mecca,” Gibbon said.
To address some of Gibbon’s comments Councilman Scott Perkins said, “Just to clarify, this particular route of regional significance that is the Iron Horse trail is specifically designated as a pedestrian, bicycle route of regional significance.”
The council’s third public hearing will be held at a future date yet to be determined. According to associate planner Cindy Yee, staff plans to begin working on submitting the document draft to the state housing and community development department for review.
Toward the end of the approximately two-hour meeting, the council informally appointed Perkins to serve along with Mayor Bill Clarkson as liaisons to the town of Danville.
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