Measure E advisory committee recommends preliminary budget covering police, fire, parks and streets

The Measure E advisory committee on May 19 reviewed the city’s preliminary Measure E budget and voted to recommend the proposal to the Grass Valley City Council.

Interim City Manager and Police Chief Alex Gamelgard told the committee Measure E — a voter-approved local sales tax first enacted as Measure N in 2012 and converted to a permanent Measure E in 2018 — is expected to generate about $7.15 million in sales-tax revenue next year and just over $8 million in total Measure E fund receipts after other items are included. Those other items mentioned by staff included a $200,000 strike-team reimbursement that nets to zero, an anticipated $450,000 in proceeds from surplusing an older fire truck, and smaller items such as interest earnings and an insurance recovery.

“Overall we anticipate just over $8 million in total revenues coming into Measure E, majority of which are sales taxes,” Gamelgard said.

The committee’s review focused on the four disciplines Measure E has long supported: police, fire, roads and parks and recreation. Gamelgard said Measure E funds currently support nine sworn police officers and one community service officer — about one-third of the department’s sworn staffing — and sustain recurring costs such as vehicle replacement, in-car laptops and contracted services tied to body-worn camera storage.

Staff told the committee the department is reducing a current-year drone appropriation because the ordered unit is back-ordered and is carrying forward equipment purchases into the next fiscal year. On data storage and body-worn camera services, staff said the city uses evidence.com, a platform provided by Axon, on an annual subscription basis.

On public safety capital, Fire Chief Mark Butcher said the department has a $700,000 engine on order that staff expect to receive before June 30. He also said the city ordered a new aerial truck company about three years ago with an expected cost of roughly $2.1 million and an estimated arrival in November. Staff anticipate generating about $450,000 from selling an older truck as part of that transaction.

“The fire engine is $700,000,” Butcher said. “We hope to see it by June 30th of this year.”

Gamelgard also asked the committee to consider a one-time Measure E contribution of roughly $350,000 to help the region transition to a new records-management system used by the joint dispatch partners (Grass Valley, Nevada City, Town of Truckee and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office). Staff said ongoing subscription costs for the new system would be borne by the general fund.

Bjorn Jones, the city engineer, reviewed parks and street projects proposed to use Measure E money next year. He said many line-items are rollovers of already-approved projects, including the Centerville Bike Park (expected to spend down next year), Loma Rica trail design and construction funding, and lighting and finishing work at Lyman Gilmore field. Jones noted the city previously entered a $6 million refunding/loan that provided up-front capital and results in about $600,000 in annual debt service paid from Measure E.

On streets, Jones said the city aims to invest roughly $1 million a year from Measure E in an annual street-rehab program, with additional funding allocated as matching dollars for grant-driven projects such as a roundabout and environmental/design work for the Bank Street bridge. He described a planned 10-foot shared path along McCourtney Road to improve connectivity to the fairgrounds and Brighton Street.

Committee members asked for clearer public reporting and mapping of Measure E projects and for staff to return with a digestible account of what the city has spent in prior years. Gamelgard said staff will develop better public-facing reporting and can meet individually with committee members to review detailed fund accounting.

After discussion, a committee member moved to recommend the proposed Measure E preliminary budget to the City Council; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. The committee did not record individual roll-call votes in the transcript; staff will forward the recommendation and materials to the council for final action.

The committee adjourned and the advisory recommendation will be considered by the City Council at its next meeting.