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Agenda Item No. 7(A)(1) June 11, 2014 To THE EL CERRITO CITY COUNCIL c/o City Offices, 10890 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA. 94530 Re: Proposed Budget for 2014-15 & FY 2015-16 Honorable Members of the City Council – The Financial Advisory Board is established by El Cerrito Municipal Code # 2.04.300 A. Its duties include: To conduct a review and make recommendations on the proposed annual budget . . . to include a review of city council compensation consistent with county-wide recommendations included in Contra Costa Grand Jury Report No. 1104.” To review the form and format of budget documents . . The Board completed the duties prescribed above at its regular meeting on June 11, 2014 attended by all five of the Board’s members and by the City Finance Director, the Mayor, and a member of the public. By motion made, seconded and adopted unanimously, the Board approves the Proposed Biennial Budget for fiscal years 2014-15 & 2015-16 with comments and recommendations as follows: FAB recommends this budget be adopted by City Council with the following comments: • Commend staff for presentation and that FAB found the budget to be quite readable helpful • Items listed at Key Objectives on page 11 should not be planned, but listed as staff would like to do • The statement on page 26, “FAB’s recommendations and revisions are incorporated during the process as appropriate”, should be changed to read “FAB’s recommendations and revisions should be considered during the budget process.” • There should be a statement, on page 35, that PERS and health insurance will be going up over $1M • Recommend the City Council have separate discussion, motion, and vote on their compensation as done in last few years per the grand jury recommendation • There should be a statement (included in the Transmittal Letter) that the budget does not contain sufficient reserves to meet the City’s policy and finds that to be unfortunate, but perhaps unavoidable • There should be a statement about future challenges in the Transmittal Letter Please contact the undersigned if you have any questions regarding this matter. On behalf of the members of FAB; Peter Vranich, Chairman