HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Department First Quarter Fiscal Year 2012 ReportPlanning Department Fiscal Year 2012 First Quarter
Update.
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Tim McHarg, Director of Planning and Community Development
SUBJECT: Planning Department First Quarter FY12 (July 1, 2011 – September 31,
2011) Budget Update
MEETING DATE: November 7, 2011
AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Consent
RECOMMENDATION: Maintain Planning Department staff levels per recommended FY12
Budget; continue to monitor revenue situation closely.
BACKGROUND: Because of the anticipated difficulty estimating current planning
workloads (land use and subdivision applications) and resulting fee revenues in FY12, Planning
Staff provides quarterly reports to the City Commission. The quarterly reports are intended to
assist in making decisions regarding staffing levels and operating costs in the department.
Planning Department highlights for the First Quarter of FY12 are summarized below:
1. Monthly Planning Fee Revenues. The Department budget for FY12 projected
planning fee revenues of $10,500 per month. The FY12 projected revenue figure is
consistent with the monthly revenue target from FY11.
First Quarter FY12 Planning Fee Revenues were as follows:
Month Application Fee Revenue
(Rounded)
July 2011 $9,471
August 2011 $7,782
September 2011 $6,174
Q1 FY12 Total Fee Revenues $23,427
Average Per Month $7,809
Application revenues for fell short of the $10,500 monthly target in each month of the
quarter. As a result, the 1st Quarter FY12 monthly average of $7,809 did not meet the
target for monthly revenues. For the quarter as a whole, revenues were 25.6% below
the projected level. The following chart compares actual revenues to projected
revenues:
56
2. Revenue Comparisons: Because of the low application revenues throughout the
quarter, the 1st Quarter FY12 actual revenues did not compare favorably to the
revenues generated during Q1FY11. For the 1st Quarter as a whole, FY12 revenues
were below those of FY11 by approximately 59.5%. The comparison is illustrated in
the following chart:
3. FY11 Revenues To Date: On a more positive note, the application revenues for
FY11 were 30% ahead of projections, as shown below:
Quarter Projected Fee
Revenue
Actual Fee
Revenue Surplus/(Deficit)
Q1 FY11 $31,500 $57,900 $26,400
Q2 FY11 $31,500 $50,225 $18,725
Q3 FY11 $31,500 $25,118 ($6,382)
Q4 FY11 $31,500 $30,892 ($608)
57
Total $94,500 $126,000 $38,135
4. Budget Expenditures: The Department’s FY12 budget is approved for an average
of $54,792 in monthly expenditures, or $657,504 annually. This represents a
reduction of 15.5% from the FY11 budget level. Actual spending for in the 1st
Quarter of FY12 was within the budgeted amounts in all categories. We remain
committed to continuing to contain costs effectively in FY12.
5. Applications Received: The following table lists the planning applications that were
received each month of this quarter. In the 1st Quarter of FY12, the Department
averaged 47 project applications and 24 sign permit applications per month.
Application Type July August September
Q1 FY12
Total
Percent of
Total
Pre-Application 1 1 1%
Prelim. Plat 0 0%
Final Plat 0 0%
Sub. Exempt. 12 3 2%
Flood Plain 0 0%
BOA 0 0%
Admin. Appeals 0 0%
Master Plan Amend 1 1 1%
UDO Amend 0 0%
CUP 1214 3%
ZMA 0 0%
Conservation Update 0 0%
Entryway Update 0 0%
PUD 0 0%
PUD Final 0 0%
Re-use 2316 4%
Annexation 0 0%
Prel. Site Plan 1 1 1%
Master Site Plan 0 0%
Final Site Plan 13 4 3%
Mods to FSP 84618 13%
Informal 15410 7%
STUP 0 0%
COA 28 28 20 76 54%
Imprvmnts Agrmnt 729 6%
Variance 112 1%
Comp. Sign Plan 1 1 1%
Condo Conversion 1 3 4 3%
Monthly Totals 45 55 40 140 100%
Signs 29 21 21 71
58
6. Application Trends and Comparisons: As illustrated in the chart below, the
volume of project applications in the 4th Quarter of FY11 compares favorably to the
4th Quarters of FY10, FY09, and FY08.
(Please note: Application volumes aggregated by quarter are not available prior to
Q1 of FY08, which would allow comparisons to pre-recession levels.)
The 1st Quarter of FY12 represents a slight decrease increase in application volumes
from the 1st Quarter of FY11. However, the application volumes compared
favorably to the 1st Quarters of FY10 and FY09.
Recent amendments to the Unified Development Code (UDC) exempted many small
projects from the requirement to obtain a COA. Other amendments to the UDC
expanded administrative approval authority for subdivision exemptions and
modifications to Final Site Plans and Conditional Use Permits. The application
volumes and the application fees collected for the 1st Quarter of FY12 were reduced
accordingly.
In discussing potential development projects with the local real estate community, it
appears that it is likely that applications will be submitted in the next several months
for smaller commercial infill projects and re-entitlements of smaller phases of
expired subdivisions. In combination with the positive trends that the City has seen
in single family residential building permits in the 4th Quarter of FY11 and the 1st
Quarter of FY12, the local economic recovery appears to be stable, albeit moderate
in scale.
7. Code Enforcement: Because of reduced departmental revenues in FY11 and
competing budget priorities, the Code Enforcement Officer position within the
Planning Department was eliminated in the FY12 budget. This is a critical function
of the department, and this decision was made only after considering every other
alternative.
The code compliance functions have been reallocated to remaining staff in the
department. The department is only performing code compliance activities when a
complaint is received from the public. When a code compliance complaint is
received, Staff is attempting to work more directly with the property or business
59
owner to reduce paperwork and to achieve compliance more efficiently. In general,
this approach has been successful.
The majority of the code compliance and sign permitting activities are being
performed by the department’s Administrative Assistant II. She is averaging
approximately 8 hours of code compliance and sign permitting per week, in addition
to her other duties. The planners are averaging approximately one hour per week of
code compliance work.
Because of this significant additional workload for the department’s Administrative
Assistant II, the Planning Director, the Public Services Director and the City
Engineer have begun an evaluation of how to combine administrative resources at
our respective service counters. We believe that this will improve the overall
customer service of both departments while reducing administrative overlap and
expanding the cross-training of employees.
8. Accomplishments and Milestones: Staff continues to devote resources to
implementing the Commission’s Work Plan. The highlights from the 1st Quarter are
summarized as follows:
• Received Commission support for an overall strategy for amending the UDC for
the following purposes:
Delegating broader administrative decision making authority to Staff;
Expand Planning Director administrative approvals;
Reduce Conditional Uses; and,
Implement administrative deviation and alternative compliance processes.
• Supported TIF Boards to implement district plans, including construction of a
sidewalk in front of the UHaul property and design of a modified street section for
East Peach Street.
• Met with TIF Boards and Planning Board to discuss potential UDC amendments
to implement and support district plans.
• In partnership with the Economic Development Director, developed a stakeholder
based process for evaluation and modification to the existing reuse process.
• Completed the RFP process for an update to the Affordable Housing Needs
Assessment.
• Initiated Impact Fee update process with the Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
• Supported the ongoing work of the Economic Development Team.
• Worked with the Historic Preservation Advisory Board to develop a strategic plan
process for evaluating the Historic Preservation functions of the City.
9. Workload for Next Quarter: The Department will continue to allocate a significant
additional amount of staff resources to long range planning efforts and, specifically,
the Commission’s Work Plan.
Highlights of anticipated work items in the upcoming quarter include the following:
• Implement Commission Work Plan items
• Continue support of TIF Boards to implement district plans
• Continue the update process for the Impact Fee Studies
• Initiate the Affordable Housing Needs Assessment process
• Initiate the stakeholder evaluation of the existing reuse process
60
• Initiate the strategic plan process to evaluate the historic preservation function of
the City
FISCAL EFFECTS: In the 1st Quarter, application fee revenues were below of projected
levels in the budget. Total expenditures were within the approved budget levels. We will
continue to monitor and control expenditures at or below levels projected in the budget. We are
hopeful that the trends in revenues will rebound moving forward in the 2nd Quarter.
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission.
Report Compiled: October 28, 2011
61