San Bernardino Retirees CSBRPEA

Email to the city manager reference budget hearings Subject: CSBRPEA ... Good morning Teri: As we are quickly approaching the new fiscal year we were hoping you would provide the dates, times and locations of the City's upcoming budget hearings. If you could also provide a copy of the proposed budget or the link where we can find the proposed budget it would be appreciated. As you are aware the city retirees have tired to be proactive during the budget process and to keep all the retirees current on the City's current economic state and proposed budgets. We understand this years budget process will be a difficult one. You only need to turn on the morning news or read the morning newspaper to realize that cities across the State have already taken steps to adjust their existing budgets to offset the economic disaster created by the Covid-19 crisis. Many cities across the State and Country have already instituted hiring freezes and proposed dramatic reductions in their upcoming budgets. Our own city's reserve fund has dropped to $24 million from $40 million, since exiting bankruptcy. Also if you could provide an update on Measure Z. We have heard some "rumblings" and opposition starting to form against Measure Z being extended.

IMPORTANT! The San Bernardino City Council has placed a ballot measure on the November General Election ballot to extend and increase Measure Z, the city's sales tax measure approved several years back. CSBRPEA is encouraging all its members to support this ballot measure. Please reach out to all your family and friends who reside in San Bernardino and ask them to vote yes on Measure Z, the City of San Bernardino's sales tax measure. With the passage of Measure Z, San Be...rnardino will be able to continue down the road of financial stability and use the revenues to improve much needed infrastructure, reduce blight and crime and help San Bernardino attract new businesses and retain current businesses adding to the city's financial stability. Without Measure Z the city will find itself in a position of providing only basic services, increased crime rates and increase the chances of returning to insolvency or bankruptcy. See more

Court rules on one of the pension cases. https://calmatters.org//court-spiking-pension-protections/

Potential to apply to current employees..........https://www.sacbee.com//the-state-wo/article242390791.html

Email from the city manager reference budget hearings, not able to post attachments as they are .pdf files. If you want to mark your calendars or follow the meetings online Subject: RE: CSBRPEA ... Good afternoon Jeff (Council Members bcc), Happy to provide the FY 2020/21 budget dates. The first meeting will be on May 21st beginning at 5:00PM (open session 5:30). This will be an high level overview of the anticipated budget deficit as well as recommended budget gap measures. We will start by presenting the history of SB’s fiscal situation over the past 10 + years that will provide the governing body, community, employees, and retirees a better understanding of San Bernardino’s fiscal struggles. We’ve also secured June 2nd (special meeting) June 3rd (regular meeting) June 4th (special meeting) and June 17th (regular meeting for final adoption) for the budget. These dates are fluid so I urge you to view the website. We anticipate posting the May 21st back-up on Tuesday, May 19th. This and all council meeting agendas/back-up can be found at: http://sanbernardinocityca.iqm2.com//1000-Mayor-and-City-C As you mention below, all we have to do is read the paper and hear the news every day to get an understanding of how COVID 19 is impacting the overall economy. This coupled with the looming sunset of Measure Z is extremely concerning. A COVID 19 impact report (attached) was provided to the Mayor and City Council on April 15th which included updated projections due to the COVID 19 shutdown as compared to Mid-Year estimates. In response to your question concerning the potential renewal of Measure Z, the education component of the city’s financial situation has been ongoing despite our challenges with COVID 19. The presentation I mentioned above on the City’s 10 year financial struggles is part of that effort. Surveys are ongoing to gage the public’s priorities and interest on the possible renewal of Measure Z. The City Council will be hearing the results of the surveys in June prior to considering placing a tax measure on the November 2020 ballot. All of this information has been distributed via the city’s website, FaceBook page, and Nextdoor over the past year. The deadline to submit the ballot resolution to the County is early August, so our plan it to bring the resolutions to the City Council for consideration the first meeting in July. Lastly, it might also be of interest to you that the next Measure Z Committee Meeting will tentatively be held on June 1st. It will likely have to be held via web-conference, but the opportunity for advance public comments will be provided. That agenda will also be posted on the City’s website. I hope this helps. I appreciate you reaching out to obtain information.

Email to the city manager reference budget hearings Subject: CSBRPEA ... Good morning Teri: As we are quickly approaching the new fiscal year we were hoping you would provide the dates, times and locations of the City's upcoming budget hearings. If you could also provide a copy of the proposed budget or the link where we can find the proposed budget it would be appreciated. As you are aware the city retirees have tired to be proactive during the budget process and to keep all the retirees current on the City's current economic state and proposed budgets. We understand this years budget process will be a difficult one. You only need to turn on the morning news or read the morning newspaper to realize that cities across the State have already taken steps to adjust their existing budgets to offset the economic disaster created by the Covid-19 crisis. Many cities across the State and Country have already instituted hiring freezes and proposed dramatic reductions in their upcoming budgets. Our own city's reserve fund has dropped to $24 million from $40 million, since exiting bankruptcy. Also if you could provide an update on Measure Z. We have heard some "rumblings" and opposition starting to form against Measure Z being extended.

Better call Saul........ https://www.sbsun.com//3rd-sexual-harassment-claim-filed-/

Not really surprising.... https://www.sbsun.com//san-bernardino-faces-5-million-def/

https://www.sbsun.com//san-bernardino-denies-mayors-reque/

So 700k to the former city manager Miller. Now 50k for this litigation just to handle the initial filings. The reserve in the budget will probably take another hit in either legal fees or settlement. https://www.sbsun.com//san-bernardino-mayor-requests-500/

So back in June 2019 csbrpea posted the plan of adjustment 10 yr projection. This week the city went over the mid year budget review for 2019/2020. The council meeting and agenda with all the info is available on the city' s website. The positive is there was a slight increase in the General Fund reserve from the June '19 projection. The downside is it just does not move the needle much, and more work to be done. The photos are from the agenda, the revised 10 yr projection, and excerpts from the staff report from the finance director. csbrpea will look forward to the city's next moves and will report back during the '20/'21 budget workshops.

Retirees the 2020 COLA info is out......

From PE.com Number of public retirees in $100K Club skyrockets, but they’re just part of the burden on state pension system Taxpayers on the hook for 26,000 government pensions over $100,000, a 13-fold increase from 2005 By Teri Sforza | [email protected] | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: August 5, 2019 at 7:30 am | UPDATED: August 19, 2019 at 3:15 pm...Continue reading

CSBRPEA is seeking nominations for the following board seats. President Vice President Secretary... 2020 will be an important year, consider getting involved and reach out to your fellow SB city retirees.