City Hires Outside Consultant as Part of Cost-Cutting Measures

As part of a reorganization of department heads, the City of Murrieta will pay up to $134,000 a year for an outside agency to provide building and safety services.

The contract with Interwest Consulting Group, which has six offices throughout California, was approved 3-1 by Murrieta City Council at its June 18 meeting.

The agreement fills a gap left when former Director of Building and Safety Allen Brock left for a similar position for the City of San Marcos in July 2012.

“There is no staff on board that is qualified for this position at this time,” said Assistant City Manager Jim Holston.

It also coincides with the city’s move from 11 department heads to seven, which was also approved by Council June 18 as part of the Fiscal Year 2013-2014 operating budget.

Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Bennett was absent from the meeting, when Councilman Harry Ramos cast the lone dissenting vote on the contract.

Ramos disagreed with the terms of the contract, which is for one year and allows automatic renewals for the two following years if services meet expectations. Ramos is of the opinion more oversight is needed.

Mayor Rick Gibbs was in support of staff’s recommendation to hire the outside consultant.

“The times dictate the way we staff...This is very cognizant of what the people think of the use of their money,” Gibbs said. “What we are attempting to do here is hire the best person.”

City Manager Rick Dudley said the contract gives flexibility in that the city can use the consultant services on an as-needed basis, up to $134,000 a year.

“One of the things we have noticed over the last year is that we have had quite a bit of fluctuation in our building department,” Dudley said.

The city currently employs two building inspectors, and various department heads have been stepping in as needed. 

“This contract actually gives us an official who can sign off on plans...It is good to have a backup source so that you can turn around plans quickly,” Dudley said. “It gives us additional services as we need them. It helps us manage the needs we have right now without costing us more than we have already got budgeted.”

Other department head positions that have not been filled include a director of community services and director of community development.

The Budget Situation

According to a budget report by City Finance Director Joy Canfield, the city has made more than $9 million in cuts over the last five years just to the general fund. Additional cuts have been made to fire, library and community services funds.

Seventy-seven percent of the budget goes to labor, Canfield said, adding that the cuts have involved eliminating 61 positions, 41 of which were paid from the general fund. Other savings have been achieved through labor negotiations.

Council approved a $35.3 million general fund operating budget for fiscal year 2013-2014, and $36.3 million budget for 2014-2015. 

While increases of 5 percent sales tax revenue and 3 percent in property tax revenue are forecast during both fiscal years due to the recovering economy, the city will need to use economic contingency funds to make up the gaps, Canfield said.

“We are proposing to use $1.2 million each year,” Canfield said, noting the current available balance of contingency funds is about $4 million.

Also approved June 18 in time for the fiscal year that begins July 1 was a fire department budget of $12 million, using $1.1 million in contingency funds.

A community services budget of $2.8 million was approved, along with a nearly $2 million library budget.

Future budget impacts, according to Canfield, may include debt service costs for bonds issued for the construction of City Hall; the reinstatement of general fund dollars for community services; and a potential 50 percent increase in retirement rates over the next six years.

“So even though we were cutting back, you couldn’t cut back fast enough,” Canfield said.