For fiscal year 2024-25, the City Council approved a citywide budget of $1.2 billion, a 2.7% increase from last year, with a balanced general fund of $325.7 million and a reserve of 38% — 10 percentage points higher than the city policy minimum and 3 percentage points higher than its target.
At its Tuesday meeting, the council adopted the budget presented by city staff with one caveat related to citywide fees. As a part of this budget, the city reviewed its current fee system, increasing 705 fees and decreasing 142 fees, as well as making a number of other fee modifications.
With concerns over costs for residents, the council requested that this proposed fee schedule be studied more in depth and potentially altered in the months to come. City Manager Roubik Golanian agreed to this plan but asked council to approve the fee schedule as presented for the time being so the city can meet its budget requirements.
“We plan on bringing a report to council to establish a cost recovery policy … and establish a policy driven by council based on your priorities and what areas you’d like to see subsidies in,” Golanian said.
Councilman Ardy Kassakhian proposed that the council agree to the current fee schedule with the exception of the fines associated with filing appeals, which was a concern from public commenters and councilmembers alike. Staff had proposed increasing the fee for filing an appeal to the Planning Commission or City Council from $2,000 to $4,562 and increasing the fee for filing an administrative use permit or design review from $520 to $4,562.
Public commenter Allan Durham urged the council to not increase the fees as presented.
“Full cost is not in the public interest of the residents in Glendale,” Durham said. “I think it will also have the effect of limiting the appeals to the more affluent residents and disenfranchising lower-income residents.”
Another commenter, Rondi Werner, called the increases “a tax on citizens who want to voice their concerns” as well as an “undemocratic and underhanded attempt to silence the public.”
The rest of the council agreed with Kassakhian’s request to keep the appeal fees at their current rates, except for Mayor Elen Asatryan, who voted to not approve the fee schedule in its entirety. Asatryan too noted her concerns with the increased appeal fees as well as other fees and was not comfortable signing off on any of it without adjustments.
Based on the revenues and appropriations for FY 2024-25 — $326.3 million and $325.7 million, respectively — the general fund will be balanced and is forecast to increase by $11.2 million from FY 2023-24. Additionally, it is estimated that at the end of FY 2024-25, the general fund will have a surplus of $591,000 and a projected reserve of 38%, or $123.9 million.
The general fund provides most ongoing governmental services, including the fire and police departments; Library, Arts & Culture; Community Services and Parks; Public Works; and Community Development, as well as the finance, city clerk, city treasurer, city attorney, management services and human resources departments.
The increased general fund budget is mainly due to salaries and benefits, which are increasing by $7.7 million as “a result of various approved memorandum of understanding (MOU) cost of living adjustments (COLA), normal step progression and reallocation of employees,” according to a staff report. Another significant appropriation increase has to do with higher costs for utilities, technology and liability insurance, totaling $4.9 million.
In terms of general fund revenue, the city’s largest contributors are property and sales taxes, which are both seeing “modest” increases of 3.2% and 2.1%, according to a staff report, for totals of $84 million and $91.1 million.
“The city continues to experience modest growth in its property tax revenues, however, has seen an overall flattening of home sale prices and a decrease in the number of home sales in calendar year 2023 compared to 2022, mainly due to high interest rates, impacting supply,” the report stated.
As for the change in sales tax, city staff notes an overall shift in consumer behavior moving away from luxury purchases and toward discount retail.
One significant revenue increase is from city licenses and permits, which will be approximately $11.3 million, a 12.4% increase from FY 2023-24. This stems from the adjusted citywide fee schedule, which will result in increased revenue in building and planning permits.
Aside from the general fund, the city is seeing increases in special revenue funds and capital improvement funds as well, largely related to a new project appropriation for parking deck/electrification infrastructure for the Beeline facility.
With staff anticipating a $10 million surplus at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year, the council voted to transfer that surplus from the general fund into capital improvements to fund the Central Park Renovation project.
PRIDE MONTH PROCLAMATION
At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council also passed a proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, with dozens of community members supporting the motion at City Hall.
Asatryan and Councilmembers Dan Brotman, Vartan Gharpetian and Kassakhian all spoke in favor of the proclamation, which was signed by the entire council.
Brotman addressed the power of honoring Pride Month, especially given the negativity that has been shown to the LGBTQ+ community in Glendale over the past year through protests and social media harassment.
“The more hatred that gets thrown at this community, the higher we have to fly that Pride flag,” Brotman said. “The reason Pride is so important is to celebrate a community that had to hide, that had fear of losing their job or home, of being imprisoned, being beaten, being killed for many, many, many years.”
Gharpetian agreed, adding that “hate has no place in Glendale … and there is no room for discrimination.”
Shant Jaltorossian, who is on the board of directors for GALAS, an LGBTQ+ Armenian society, spoke on behalf of his organization.
“We call on our community leaders to foster a welcoming atmosphere for everyone who calls Glendale home,” Jaltorossian said. “Our work as a cultural hub and resource group emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in our fight for justice. GALAS will continue to build a loving community which celebrates our roots, both Armenian and LGBTQ+, as we advocate for a better, more inclusive future.
“Thank you to the city of Glendale and happy Pride Month,” he added.
