The reductions have been placed in five groups to aid the Board members in recommending implementation and reinstatement. The State cash flow problems are going to impact the DUSD budget for next year, the question is how much. $2.1 million is a number (after credits for additional revenue and expected staff attrition) that has frequently appeared in the last few weeks. Therefore, the Board will probably be forced to choose at least four of the five groups presented below and may want to adopt all five to allow for uncertainty in the State budget process. It does appear that for the most part the District listened to parents and did not recommend huge cuts to sports, music (with the exception of band), or art.

However K-3 and 9th grade class size reduction was not as fortunate. Group 2 will increase class sizes for Kindergarten to 21 and Grades 1-3 and 9 to almost 25. Group 5 reductions will increase all these class sizes to 28 (except Grades 1&9).

Negotiations with the represented staff will need to take place before all of the reductions can be implemented. The reduction of days for leadership, classified, and certificated staff will probably be slightly less than normal step and column increases per the certificated contract. For example a teacher with 5 years of experience without a master’s degree is scheduled to get a 3.2% raise next year. The reduction of three staff development days will reduce their total pay by 1.6%. Even with reductions, staff will get a modest increase.

Draft Budget Reductions for 2009/2010 School Year

Group 1
Leadership Position $137,020
Teachers on Special Assignment for Schools under 600 $38,800
AP at High School – Temporary Transfer to Facilities $130,575
Expand Team Cleaning $56,329
Economic Impact Aide Teacher (ELD) $75,000
TV TIP Reduction $40,567
Reduction in Certificated Substitute Rates $30,000
Reduction in Classified Substitute Rates $10,000
Athletic Program Reduction $30,000
4th Grade Band $80,662
Group 1 Total $628,953

Group 2
One Staff Development Day $148,000
Reduction of One Day (Leadership) $17,000
Reduction of One Day (Classified) $25,000
Library Media Aides at all schools – 4 hours $171,838
Class Size Modification (K<21, 1-3<25) $300,000
Class Size Modification – (9th grade <25) $90,000
Group 2 Total $751,838

Group 3
One Staff Development Day $148,000
Reduction of One Day (Leadership) $17,000
Reduction of One Day (Classified) $25,000
Counselors Grades 6-8 (At Risk) $62,457
Group 3 Total $252,457

Group 4
Staff Development Day $148,000
One Reduction of One Day (Leadership) $17,000
Reduction of One Day (Classified) $25,000
Group 4 Total $190,000

Group 5
Elimination of Kindergarten CSR- 537 students Class to 28 $287,63
Elimination of Third Grade CSR- 497 students Class to 28 $266,143
Elimination of Second Grade CSR- 501 students Class to 28 $266,143
Group 5 Total $819,921

Grand Total $2,643,169

The draft proposal may use $870,000 of the recently approved Parcel Tax to fund the annual shortfall in funding for class size reduction and $200,000 for other programs.

The primary issue is the District’s lack of gaining knowledge from the budget reduction process last year. Many parents were bothered by the lack of transparency in the process. The closure of Nielsen led to several complaints about DUSDs handling of the issue; concerns were raised about the rollout of a plan without much opportunity to consider any other options.

A similar process is being used this year. The District provided the five Board members with the above recommendations last Friday. They did not post the recommendations for public viewing until late Monday afternoon (for a meeting the next evening). Several Board members had expressed concern regarding not having enough time to consider the budget cuts if they did not receive the recommendations until the day before the meeting. Apparently, the parents and many other members of our community do not require this extra time.

Most of the Board members have expressed issues with communication with the community and many of the newly elected members made campaign promises to not repeat the issues with the Nielsen closure last year.

DUSD will point out that they met the letter of the law for noticing of a “special meeting” (only 24 hour posting is required). The reduction in normal meeting posting is for information that is quickly changing and where it would be difficult to make the 72-hour requirements. In this case the District was able to provide the information on Friday, except to the public. I was led to believe that the District was planning to improve communications.

Related posts:

1. Balancing the Budget
2. Budget Challenges

• Saved Dublin’s taxpayers $110K for the 2008-2009 fiscal year by eliminating the vacant Community Development Administrative Aide position;
• Considering the possibility of raising developer and business “fees for service” to reflect inflation over the past few years;
• Evaluating the option to repurpose special funds for projects and purchases that cannot be deferred;and
• Created a sales tax reimbursement program to encourage businesses generating at least $100K of new net sales tax revenue to move to Dublin (or expand within Dublin).

Given the forecasted general budget shortfall, Dublin must take even more drastic action than the steps noted above by first and foremost focusing on its own responsibilities and objectives. In addition to eliminating the subsidies it provides to outside agencies like local non-profit organizations and the School District, the City must consider cutbacks in all areas. Select deferment of capital improvement projects and a reduction in the level of nonessential services must be considered. Furthermore, as is the case in the private sector, City Hall must look at strategic staff redeployment and payroll reduction opportunities as Dublin contends with this unprecedented financial challenge.

While these are difficult economic times for the City of Dublin, we can balance the budget and still maintain a high quality of life for residents by remaining fiscally disciplined and focusing on broadening our tax base.

Related posts:

1. Budget Challenges
2. DUSD Publishes Draft Budget Reductions

Following that example, the City should use the Wallis Ranch community benefit payment to fund the completion of Emerald Glen Park and the astro turfs at Fallon Sports Park. The previous City Council had voted to fund the astro turfs at Fallon Sports Park through a surplus in the general fund. Instead of pulling money directly from the general fund, that popular optional upgrade can be more appropriately subsidized through a community benefit payment generated by a project in the vicinity like Wallis Ranch.

Related posts:

1. Wallis Ranch Project is Approved
2. Golden Opportunity Missed With Wallis Ranch

This program should help to kick-start the re-development of the Downtown Dublin district (e.g., the Mervyn’s and Circuit City buildings) and the Promenade (tenant improvements within the existing structures built by the developer). Councilmember Don Biddle complimented Dublin’s Assistant City Manager Chris Foss for moving so quickly to bring back a fully designed sales tax incentive program within less than a month after Mayor Sbranti and other members of the City Council directed City Staff to evaluate various economic incentive programs.

It is important to note that the City Council will need to approve the individual sales tax reimbursement programs for each business that moves to (or expands within) Dublin and there is a 2-year “sunset” provision for the overall program. This will allow the City Council to evaluate the success of the program and decide if it should be extended. City Manager Joni Pattillo noted that this program not only will help to attract businesses to Dublin, but it will also help to fortify Dublin’s image as a business-friendly city. We are a City committed to bolstering our local economy despite the dire predictions of the media.

No related posts.

• $(115K) due to reduced state funding
• $(500K) in sales tax. The lion’s share of Dublin’s sales tax is derived from automobile and general consumer retail sales. Both sources were 35% and 30% of total sales tax receipts for the 2007–2008 fiscal year, respectively. While sales at discount retail stores like Target and Dollar Tree have held up fairly well, auto sales have dropped precipitously and have not been offset in other areas. This shortfall is the risk of relying on tax revenue from cyclical items such as automobile sales.
• $(300K) in property tax. This projected loss is due primarily to a reduction in the assessed values of recently purchased homes (Alameda County automatically reduced the values for homes purchased between 7/1/04 and 12/31/07) and late payments by homeowners that will be received in future periods.
• $(170K) in hotel tax
• $(415K) in building permit revenue. This number may go up if developers have trouble securing project financing. As with auto sales, Dublin is highly reliant on building permit and impact fees. This “big ticket” reliance makes our city highly-levered to the swings in the state and national economy. In sports terms, this economic development strategy is like having a baseball team that can only score runs by hitting doubles and home runs.

The projections for fiscal year 2009–2010 are even more dire given the State of California is battling a deficit of $15B for the current year and over $25B for the next fiscal year. While the City of Dublin does not rely as heavily on the state for funding as does our school district, some of the “solutions” proposed by the California legislature include borrowing up to 8% of property tax revenues that would normally flow to cities like Dublin. This borrowing would create a $2M deficit in Dublin’s 2009–2010 budget.

Related posts:

1. Balancing the Budget