This report was posted on LAFCO's Website in on nearly unusable PDF files see
http://lalafco.co.la.ca.us/Draft%20CFA%20SFV.pdf
We have started to convert them to usable internet files (HTML) So the public
can read the files in preparation to the public hearings
Prepared by Public Financial Management, Inc.
4. Service Alternatives for the Valley
City Provides All Services on Purchase of Service Basis
Conclusions and Recommendations
4. Service Alternatives for the Valley
As discussed in section
"Purpose and Findings of the Study," the draft CFA of
the San Fernando Valley special reorganization is intended to make findings
regarding the ability of the new city to achieve positive fund balances during
its
first three years of incorporation, the impact on the current revenues and
expenditures of the City of Los Angeles, and the impact on services levels and
costs in both territories.
In order to make these findings, various assumptions must be made regarding services the new city intends to provide, and how those services are to be provided. The City of Los Angeles currently provides most of the municipal services for the Valley, yet the new city has the option of contracting with the City (or other entity), requesting a transfer of assets and personnel from the City, or providing the services independently without City assets and personnel. The findings of the draft CFA will depend on the service option assumed to be taken by the new city.
The Final Proposal submitted by the San Fernando Valley applicant does not contain a detailed plan that identifies what servi ces would be provided or how those services would be provided. The Final Proposal only provides broad concepts and principals for the provision of service by the new city. In the absence of a plan from the applicant, LAFCO will need to develop a set of terms and conditions that address how services are to be provided by the new city during the planning period of the CFA. In order to proceed with the draft CFA, one of the following assumptions regarding the provision of service in the Valley could be used:
§ The new city would continue to receive services from the City of Los Angeles during the transition year, and contract with the City for the following two years for all services currently provided.
§ LAFCO develops a transition plan that identifies how service would be
provided in the new city as well as the process and timetable for transferring
City employees and assets. to index
City Provides All Services on Purchase of Service Basis
Because the City currently provides virtually all municipal services to the Valley, the Valley could continue to receive these services on a contractual basis in the event it is incorporated. The new city could receive these services for an indefinite term, while retaining the ability to negotiate a transfer of employees from the City, or find an alternative provider of the service.
The primary benefits that would result if the City were to continue to provide municipal services on behalf of the new city are:
§ It would allow the cities to negotiate a mutually agreeable transition of service.
§ It is the most cost effective plan, in that the cities can work together
to
identify ways to minimize additive "transition" costs.
§ It is the least disruptive to both cities and their citizenry, as
municipal
services can be transferred or replaced upon careful consideration by both
parties, and within a reasonable time frame.
Under a purchase of service agreement, the City would likely provide services to the Valley subject to the terms of comprehensive municipal services contract. A contractual services arrangement would allow both cities to identify a viable plan for the transfer of service, and attempt to reach agreement on matters such as service responsibilities, employee selection, and the transfer or sale of assets.
The terms of the contract could be negotiated prior to the election on the
matter of special reorganization in conjunction with the negotiation of a
mitigation payment, or during the first year the new city is incorporated (the
transition year). Such a contract would not be entered into, however, until
after
incorporation and election of a city council for the new city. Some of the terms
that would likely need to be addressed as part of the negotiations are the
required service levels, service priorities, the process for payment of
services, and the notification requirements for terminating or renewing the
service
contract.
Similarity to County Incorporations
The assumption that the current service provider would continue the service after incorporation is typically used in the analysis of county incorporations. For all recent county incorporations within the state, it was assumed as part of the CFA that the respective county would continue to provide existing services to the new city, either on a contractual basis or continued through payment from the property tax of the new city.
In practice, it is almost always the case that the existing provider, such as a county or special district, continues to provide services for the newly incorporated city, and the existing infrastructure and personnel do not become assets or employees of the new city. The most recent incorporations in the County of Los Angeles fit this fact pattern. The cities of Calabasas (1991), Malibu (1991), Diamond Bar (1989), and Santa Clarita (1987) all continue to rely on County services that were in existence prior to the respective city's incorporation.
Cost of Purchased Service
A preliminary estimate of the cost of service under
a contractual service model
was developed as part of the San Fernando Valley IFA. In the IFA, the estimated
cost of providing service to the Valley was based on the number of
personnel serving the Valley, and an allocation of City indirect costs.
The estimated cost of purchased service using the City's fiscal year 2000-01 budget is provided in "Appendix I: Cost of Purchased Services" of this report. to index
LAFCO Develops Transition Plan
An alternative to the assumption that all services would be provided by the City during the first three years of incorporation would be to assume that certain City employees, equipment, and facilities would transfer to the new city, or that another entity, such as the County, would provide certain services. Although it could be assumed that the City would continue to provide services during a transition period, the CFA would evaluate the feasibility and fiscal impact of a transfer of employees, equipment, and facilities over a definitive time frame.
LAFCO may wish to develop a transition plan for the following reasons:
§ The City of Los Angeles may not be obligated to provide services beyond the first fiscal year of the new city, and it may not be reasonable to assume the City would otherwise provide contractual services.
§ LAFCO may wish to evaluate the feasibility of transferring City employees, equipment, and facilities to the new city.
Under this alternative, in order to evaluate the feasibility and fiscal impact of a transfer of City employees, equipment, and facilities, it is necessary that the following tasks be completed as part of the development of the draft CFA
§ A timetable must be prepared for the transfer of City employees, equipment, and facilities to the new city.
§ A viable process must be identified for the transfer of City employees to the new city.
§ Additional research must be performed to identify the feasibility and
potential additive costs of creating independent or shared systems for the two
cities, in areas such as accounting, payroll, information technology, and pensions.
These issues must be addressed in order that LAFCO and the City can evaluate a
definitive plan for the transfer.
City Employee Issues
In order to develop a plan for the transfer of City
employees to the new city, the
legal parameters that impact such a transfer must be identified. Because the
Government Code requires that existing collective bargaining agreements with
City employees are not negatively impacted as a result of the incorporation, the
specific provisions of the bargaining agreements must be identified and
evaluated. In addition, legal provisions in the City Charter, administrative
code, municipal code, and Civil Service Rules also restrict the treatment of
City
employees, and must be identified and evaluated.
In addition to the research needed to identify the legal parameters of the
proposed transfer, a definitive plan must be developed that describes how City
employees would be selected for transfer, and identifies the timetable for the
transfer. This level of detail would allow for an evaluation of the legal
compliance of the plan, and an assessment of the cash flow impact of an addition
or reduction in employees and their related costs. The development of
a transition plan, however, would put the burden on LAFCO to develop a feasible
plan for the new city, which may or may not be consistent with the
goals of the applicant. Other feasible transition plans may exist which may
better suit the needs of the two cities.
Technology Issues
It was concluded in the IFA that it was not possible to assess the fiscal impact of dividing existing City systems, as the IFA could not develop an implementation plan for the various City systems on behalf of the applicant without a detailed description of the business environment of the new city, and without a comprehensive review of the City's various information technology and financial systems. It was assumed that, for information technology systems that could not be shared, the City would incur costs of $3.6 million annually.
The City has disputed the methodology used to estimate this cost, and has
requested that a detailed plan and cost estimate be developed for those
information technology and financial systems that cannot be shared. As was stated in the IFA, it is not viable (or useful) to develop an IT
implementation plan on behalf of the applicant. The accuracy of any cost
estimates resulting from a detailed study would be highly uncertain. If LAFCO
were to proceed with the review of the application under the assumption that
the City would modify its existing systems, it may need to rely on the IT
transition costs developed in the IFA, with the understanding that actual costs
could be much different. to index
Conclusions and Recommendations
The IFA was a first step in
identifying the financial impact of a San Fernando
Valley special reorganization, which identified the municipal services currently
provided to the Valley and estimated the cost of that service. The IFA found
that the San Fernando Valley contributes more in revenue than the value of
service it receives, and could be financially viable, while keeping the City
revenue neutral. The IFA did not develop a detailed plan for the provision of
services to the Valley on behalf of the applicant. The new city has several
options for providing its own services, and could create its own city forces,
contract for service from the City of Los Angeles, or contract for service from
another public agency such as the County of Los Angeles.
Because the applicant has not provided any information that identifies how particular services would be provided, or indicates a timetable for providing those services, LAFCO must make certain assumptions on behalf of the applicant. The next step in the CFA development process now requires that LAFCO review the alternative assumptions that can be made regarding the provision of service to the new city, and make a determination as to those that are most reasonable.
Among the alternatives that are available, LAFCO could assume that City employees, equipment, and facilities would transfer to the new city; it could assume the City of Los Angeles or some other service provider would provide service to the Valley on a purchase of service basis; or it could assume some combination thereof.
Given it is not the responsibility of LAFCO under the Government Code or
approved Seven-Step Process to develop a transition and operating plan on
behalf of the applicant, it is recommended that LAFCO assume that all services
are provided by the City, for at least a three-year period. This
assumption would not preclude the new city from negotiating a faster
transition of service from the City, which it may be able to accomplish with the mutual
consent of the City.
To index
To LAFCO CFA main index
ValleyVote LAFCO Documents page