Westminster City Council/Successor Agency to the Westminster Redevelopment Agency
SUBJECT
Title
Fiscal Year 2025-26 Proposed Budget.
End
From: Christine Cordon, City Manager
Requested by: Administration
Prepared by: Erin Backs, Finance Director
____________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendation
Provide direction only. No action.
end
BACKGROUND
The Fiscal Year 2025-2026 proposed budget was reviewed by the City Council at a previous Study Session held on May 14, 2025. During the Study Session, additional information was requested by members of the City Council regarding the following:
1. Code Enforcement - Supplemental Requests
At the study session, there was discussion regarding the effectiveness of code enforcement and caseload management. An inquiry was made regarding the cost to add additional code enforcement personnel.
The proposed budget includes existing allocations for five Code Enforcement Officers; and one Code Enforcement Manager position, currently filled by a contract employee. The Code Enforcement Program is funded by the General Fund.
The fully burdened cost to add an additional Code Enforcement Officer is $97,400. Alternatively, there is a need identified for administrative support in the division to answer and respond to calls, provide consistent in-office customer service, and other administrative support to the code enforcement officers; an Administrative Assistant position would cost $94,295 fully burdened.
2. Water Fund - Accessory Dwelling Unit Meter Installation
Concerns were expressed at the study session regarding the time it takes to install new water meters related to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU).
ADU property owners wishing to have new water meters installed may request installation by the city’s Public Works staff, or they may hire their own licensed contractor to perform the installation per City Standards. There is a significant savings to the property owner when using city staff. However, the meter installation fulfillment time is significantly longer.
The Public Works Department’s Water Division currently installs one to two new water services for ADUs per week. With a current waiting list of 45 requests, a new service request could take up to nine months.
To expedite the installation schedule, an additional crew of four staff members -- one Foreman, one Equipment Operator, and two Water Technician I positions -- is needed. This crew will be able to install three to four new services per week, and the waiting time for a new service request will be reduced from nine months to three to four months. The costs for the additional employees and equipment are as follows:
|
Position |
Fully Burdened Salary |
Number of Positions |
Total Salary |
|
Water Foreman |
$103,307 |
1 |
$103,307 |
|
Water Equipment Operator |
$96,329 |
1 |
$96,329 |
|
Water Tech I |
$85,360 |
2 |
$170,720 |
|
|
Total Staff Cost |
$370,356 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equipment |
Cost |
Number of Equipment |
Total Cost |
|
Backhoe/Loader |
$165,000 |
1 |
$165,000 |
|
Foreman Truck with Service Body |
$132,000 |
1 |
$132,000 |
|
Work Truck F-150 |
$45,000 |
1 |
$45,000 |
|
Dump Truck |
$160,000 |
1 |
$160,000 |
|
Total Equipment Cost |
$502,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL STAFF AND EQUIPMENT COSTS |
$872,356 |
For the last three years, the city has received new service meter requests for ADUs on an average of four to six meters per month.
The additional installation of water service meters per week will potentially add significant burden to the current Public Works Department - Streets Division staff to perform final asphalt paving for the service line trenches.
None of the adjacent agencies, except for the City of Garden Grove, offer this type of service. The property owners of the ADUs in the other cities must hire a licensed contractor for installation.
3. Potential Future Revenue
New revenue sources can take years to implement and are not included in future budget projections until final implementation. Potential future revenue sources include:
• Changes to mixed-use areas, currently in progress
• Westminster Mall redevelopment
• Billboards
• Changes to zoning standards to attract developers
• Bolsa Row development and high-density apartments
• Annexed areas
• Revenues from other sources, for example, increased Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT), Business Improvement Area (BIA) assessments, or cannabis
FISCAL IMPACT
The total proposed budget for all funds for FY 2025-26 is $148.9 million in revenue and $154.3 million in expenditures. Transfers between funds total $13.5 million. The general fund budget shows a contribution to reserve funds of $624 thousand without supplementals and $244.3 thousand with supplementals. Any changes to the staffing levels will change these projections.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed as to form.
CONCLUSION
The final budget document will be presented to the City Council for adoption at the June 25, 2025 meeting.
ATTACHMENTS
1. FY 2025-26 Proposed Budget
2. Supplemental Requests
REVIEWED BY
Erin Backs, Finance Director
City Attorney’s Office
Christine Cordon, City Manager