West Sacramento city officials approved a resolution toward the issuance of up to $233 million in Bridge District bonds. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds would go toward maintaining and improving infrastructure within the Bridge District. Photo courtesy of City of West Sacramento

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Nestled among many agenda items, city officials approved a resolution for the issuance and sale of Bridge District bonds not to exceed $233 million.

“While tonight's item may seem procedural in nature, it is significant in terms of the city and overall history with keeping infrastructure investment going,” said West Sacramento City Manager Aaron Laurel on Aug. 21.

Finance Director Roberta Raper gave West Sacramento council members a brief history of the Bridge District, beginning with establishing the Infrastructure Financing District (IFD) in 2014, which also entails an Infrastructure Financing Plan (IFP).

Because these Infrastructure Financing District tax increment bonds would be one of the first, Raper said, if not the first to be publicly issued in the state, the finance department staff said it is necessary to pursue a judicial validation action.

Laurel clarified that these funds “can only be used in the Bridge District for the time being and the funds are not new taxes, rather existing taxes used to create new infrastructure.”

To issue debt in the future, Raper said her department must approach the council for approval.

“There are 20 years remaining on the district, which leaves little time to issue debt if we plan to,” Raper said, noting the Infrastructure Financing District remains successful as one of only three in California.

Directly after approving the issuance of bonds, Raper stayed at the podium proposing midterm amendments to the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budgets for Fiscal Year 2024/25.

Raper said it is essential to note, “We are still very much in the accrual period for the last fiscal year and there is a lot of year-end work still to do.”

Thus far, the General Fund Budget has a surplus of more than $7 million, including $1.8 million in sales tax and $1.2 million in property taxes.

“These added revenues are expected to continue into 2024/25 and beyond,” Raper said, noting several changes since the 2023 budget adoption, including mid-year adjustments for 2023/24, ongoing annual impacts, and updated information on major revenue sources. 

Raper added revenue growth has allowed the council to approve salary increases to all labor groups over the past year.

Councilwoman Quirina Orozco wanted to address the over-hiring fund to “reiterate our commitment to the 17% reserve.”

“I appreciate getting that update and being reassured we are still in a healthy position,” Orozco said. “I remain committed to ensuring we do not have to tap into that unless, of course, it became dire straits.”

But if they had to dip into it to hire more police officers, Orozco wanted to know what that would look like. While Raper said she could speak to the reserve, she could not speak to the police department staffing.

When creating the fund, Raper said they wanted to ensure if they had vacancies “or an especially great recruitment that gives us the opportunity to pick up some great people and we only have one or two vacancies.”

Savings within the budget compensate for the need to over-hire, according to Raper, “so if we don't go over the budget, we don't dip into that reserve.”

Police Chief Robert Strange explained the over-hire reserve, noting good news.

“I think we are going to have an opportunity to tap into the over hire by the end of this calendar year if we keep on track,” Chief Strange said, noting the last time he was at the podium to explain staffing funds was in 2020 when he asked to move officer vacancy money to create Community and Outreach Support Division.

Police Chief Robert Strange says he is excited about the new prospects down the pike for recruitment, which has funds set aside in the city’s budget for new law enforcement staff. Photo by Angela Underwood

Orozco wanted to ensure the department was keeping up with the city's growth. 

“We are excited about that and other prospects that can create more revenue for the city to actually have us grow and grow in a way that we think we can help the community,” Chief Strange said.

Raper informed the council a new budget graphic is now available on the website for public review.