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The Tri County’s Only Multicultural Newspaper
The Tri County’s Only Multicultural Newspaper
TRI TRICOUNTY COUNTY
ENTRY ENTRY VOL. XXVII NO. 15
APRIL 12, 2019
Community comments propel short term rental issue forward n See page 3
Photo by Chris Frost
City Manager Alex Nguyen discloses a problem about mismanaged City Corps employees.
Photo by Chris Frost
ARuben spectator looks over athe 1929 Ford, by Mike Roberts. Tellez enjoyed show andowned his lightsaber.
Photo by Chris Frost
Oxnard Police Community Affairs Director Melissa Valdez shows off her skills with the trick balloons.
Photo by Chris Frost
National Library Week
brings
police
By Chris Frost chris@tricountysentry.com
Oxnard— National Library Week was off and running at the Oxnard Public Library, April 8, as members of the Oxnard Police Department stopped by to read stories to the children and share in the fun that reading offers to everyone.
N
ATIONAL Library Week got started in 1958 and is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the United States. Children’s Librarian Vanessa Chua led the fun and offered them prog kids like, balloon art by Gloria, and she had parents
fill out surveys before they left, so the staff knows what to offer in the future. Detective Jacob Jundef read to the children first and said he’s been a police officer for almost 13 years and read a book called “Do Something in your Community.” “You can make a difference in your community by doing something to make it a better place to live,” he read. “When you do something to help others, you are making a difference.” He said doctors Thomas and Ortega want to help sick people, and that is why they became doctors. “Mr. Peters wants to help kids get better grades, so he tutors kids after school is over in the afternoon,” Jundef said. “There are many ways you can make a difference in your community. What would you like to do?” Homicide Detective Miguel Serrato brought a bunch of
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City Corp Retirement Plan mistakes will hurt upcoming budget Oxnard to reimburse CalPERS $1.9 million By Chris Frost chris@tricountysentry.com
stickers to the party and gave any child who told him their name a sticker. “If you guys take anything from today, it’s reading,” he
You can make a difference in your community by doing something to make it a better place to live said. “Reading is important. I remember when I went to school, I didn’t like to read and guess what I did when they asked me to read a book? I used to pick books that they already made movies out of, but I cheated myself doing that.” He told the kids that reading is
the most important thing they’ll do as children. “It will make you guys that much smarter,” he said. His selection was entitled “It’s a Book.” “What do you have there; it’s a book,” he read. “How do you scroll down? I don’t. I turn the page.” They asked if they blog it, but they don’t because it’s a book. “Where is your mouse,” he asked. Can you make the characters fight? No; it’s a book.” Detective Robert Valenzuela told the kids that he is a policeman, but when he works upstairs, he has a different uniform. “We don’t have our police patches on our shirts, but we have our badges and handcuffs and a gun if we ever have to use it to help; somebody,” he said. Valenzuela read a book called “All are Welcome,” and he asked n National Library, see page 6
Oxnard— The Finance and Governance Committee for the City of Oxnard received an update on the City Corp retirement plan liability for budgetary purposes April 9 and endorsed bringing the update to the full city council. City Manager Alex Nguyen made the report to the committee and told the group he first mentioned the problem last fall. When he arrived last year he fully expected, “even with all the information available” about the city’s challenges, there would be landmines to deal with quickly. “Not to mention a few banana-peels that people would throw along the way,” he said. “This is one of those landmines we are now stepping on.” In Jan. 1992, the city, which needed to handle the temporary employee retirement plan, established a 457B fund that served as a substitute for social security for employees not expected to be covered by CalPERS, the state’s public employee retirement system. In 2015, he said his predecessor utilized Management Partners to have assessments done for the organization and they determined the 457B fund did not meet the minimum requirement for benefits to those employees in lieu of mandatory social security coverage. “Last summer, the city engaged an expert law firm; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw and Pittman to review these cases and in the early fall, they also brought on Altman n City Corp, see page 3
City of Oxnard faces large general fund budget shortfall By Chris Frost chris@tricountysentry.com Oxnard—The Oxnard Finance and Governance Committee received an update on the general fund budget projections for the fiscal year 2019-20 and authorized sending the document to the full city council. Mayor Tim Flynn told the committee that he hopes the city council makes recommendations. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Riper made the presentation and said he wants to emphasize the word base in 2019-20. He said the revenue and expense projections are based on the current service level from the finance and operating departments and what spending and revenue would be if the city is on “automatic pilot” next year and the city didn’t make any policy changes.
“It’s to set the scale of the problem, and these are not where we plan to end up,” he said. REVENUE Riper said about 80 percent of the general fund’s revenue comes from taxes, with property tax being twofifths of the general fund revenue and sales tax being another quarter. “All other fees, franchise fees, business license tax, and transient occupancy tax, is about another eighth,” he said. “The other three are smaller general fund revenues. Service fees and charges, the cost allocation plan, where other funds pay the general fund for services provided by city staff paid the general fund, and all other revenues.” The total revenue projected for the current year, he said, is $134 million. “There is about a $2 million increase in property tax, $59 million
Photo by Chris Frost
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Riper.
in 2019-20, from this fiscal year to next fiscal year,” he said. Sales tax shows a decline in revenue, $31.7 million, down from
$32.4 million, he said, even though the state is “trundling” along. “It’s completely due to a timing quirk,” he said. “The State of California got behind in sales tax remittances to all cities, not just to us in the fiscal year 2017-18 and they missed a payment. This fiscal year, the $32.4 million contains an extra payment from the state.” Riper said property tax over time is doing well since the recession. “It’s about a 4.5 percent increase over the last nine years in general fund property tax,” he said. “That’s attributable to 2 percent, which is the maximum allowable inflation adjustment, and then there are Proposition 8 re-evaluations from the property assessor having reduced property values during the recession. Proposition 8 re-evaluations caused an increase in those properties
affected and those are still coming.” Property transfers and reevaluations from property sales and new construction, he said, add up to a 4.5 percent annual growth rate. “That’s how we get to our $57 million projection for this year and $59 million for next year,” Riper said. EXPENDITURES Salaries and benefits make up the majority of general fund expenditures, he said, and another 20 percent comes from materials, supplies, goods and services and smaller amounts for debt services and transfers out. “Most of that is for public safety (projected at about 55 percent), or about $80.1 million,” he said. “There is about $33 million for cultural and community services, development services and public works. n Budget, see page 2