An Open Letter from City Manager Steve Potter to Our Employees and Community Regarding City Finances

The sun is rising on a new season in the City of Napa as we begin to work toward recovery from the pandemic and start a new Fiscal Year on July 1. It goes without saying that Fiscal Year 20-21 was hard on everyone -- mentally, physically and financially -- and the entire nation is still trying to get our bearings and start to heal. 

Throughout the pandemic, the City has been transparent about our financial situation and the solutions we were implementing to help us through the crisis. The City developed a budget webpage to answer any questions you may have had last spring when we realized the full financial impact the pandemic would have on our revenue. We continued to communicate through open letters, press releases, council updates and social media posts. In that spirit, Napa remains committed to being open and honest about the next fiscal year’s budget and how we are looking toward recovery. 

After holding a Council Priority Workshop in February and a CIP & Operating Budget Workshop in April, the City Council adopted the FY 21/22 budget of $99.5 million on June 15. The adopted budget does not include potential increases from current labor negotiations. These costs will be added to the budget, once discussions are complete, and will be brought back to City Council for approval to add additional expense authority to the FY 21/22 budget. It is anticipated that the current revenue levels would be able to support the increased costs. Without the potential labor cost increase, the FY 21/22 budget is 8% higher than last fiscal year’s budget due to regularly-increasing costs for CalPERS, City utilities, contracts and internal services. However, this Fiscal Year’s budget also allows us to restore normal transfers to our Reserves, which we stopped at the onset of the pandemic.

Although still well short of our Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue prior to the pandemic, we are projecting a 58% recovery from last fiscal year’s actual TOT revenue, due mainly to the relaxation of COVID restrictions and the ability of individuals to travel to Napa for leisure. The City is also expecting our sales tax to grow by 4%. While these increases will greatly improve Napa’s revenue in the next year, the increase will still leave our TOT revenue down $6.5 million and our sales tax revenue down $900,000 compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

Fortunately, the City is receiving $7.4 million in FY 2021-22 from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) granted by the federal government, which is acting as one-time aid to help bridge the gap between the City’s revenues and our rising expenses. We have also been able to supplement our General Fund with an additional $2.3 million from State funding called excess Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) revenue. Typically that funding would be budgeted in the Non-Recurring General Fund for one-time projects, but will be used for operations in FY 2021-22 to assist with still reduced revenue. With these one-time aids (ARP and Excess ERAF) and rebounding revenue levels, the City is creating a foundation for recovery as we move into FY 21/22 and into future fiscal years. 
As always, Napa’s first priority is to ensure we deliver high-quality and essential services to our residents and community. Because we made the decision to keep over 80 staff positions vacant during the pandemic to offset our significant revenue loss and spare necessary funds, our staff has been stretched thin as they continue to do more work with fewer resources. We are using some of the American Rescue Plan funds to restore over 60 previously-vacant positions, which were strategically chosen to revitalize our service levels and provide relief to our hardworking staff. 

I want to stress that, while we will not fully recover from the pandemic for several years, we are on the right track and will continue to strategically analyze our situation and adjust our plans accordingly. We believe our adopted budget will be a significant first step to Napa’s inevitable recovery. 

Lastly, I want our residents to know that this recovery period will not be an idle one. The City Council and City staff have identified 90 projects we are focusing our efforts on in the coming year that will position Napa as a healthy, efficient and inclusive City for years to come. We are excited to keep moving forward and investing in opportunities for our residents to thrive in Napa. I will close by saying that I am always extremely grateful to the entire City of Napa staff and our wonderful community who continue to prove over and over how resilient this community is. Keep pressing forward.

• Steve

Steve Potter
City Manager, City of Napa

P.S. As we enter the next Fiscal Year, Napa will stay open and honest about our financial situation. You can subscribe to our emails or follow the @CityofNapa on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to stay updated on our progress.

City Clerk announces new Board openings - applications due today!

Want to make a difference in your community? Do you have expertise you could share? The City Clerk is accepting applications from Napa Residents for a total of THREE (3) openings: two on the Public Financing Authority (“PFA”) for the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District of the City of Napa (“EIFD”) and one to serve on the Napa County Mosquito Abatement District Board.

The Public Financing Authority (PFA) is the governing board for the EIFD. The EIFD provides financing of public capital facilities and other specified projects of community wide significance that provide significant benefits to properties within the EIFD and the surrounding community. The board consists of five members, including three members of the City Council, and two members of the public. Members will serve two-year terms.  Applicants must be City of Napa residents and registered voters. The board will meet annually, and as necessary to perform the responsibilities under the EIFD Law, including the review and approval of an Infrastructure Finance Plan, and the consideration of bonds to finance the projects defined by the Infrastructure Financing Plan.
This open recruitment for the PFA is based on Resolution R2021-025 which established a roadmap for the formation of the EIFD and PFA. City staff plans to present a resolution to City Council to form the PFA in July of 2021 at which point interviews and appointments to the board will occur.

The Napa County Mosquito Abatement District Board is the Governing Body of the Mosquito Abatement District which provides mosquito/vector control services for the County of Napa. The Board consists of six members: one of whom represents the City of Napa. The City Council of the City of Napa appoints one member to the Board of Trustees to serve as the City’s representative.   All other members represent the other governmental jurisdictions in the County of Napa in addition to one member representing the County at-large. The City of Napa representative to the Napa County Mosquito Abatement District Board must be a resident of the City of Napa. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.

Applications are available online for submission at www.cityofnapa.org by choosing Boards Commissions & Committees form the City Clerk’s Page. Please submit application by 5:00 p.m. Friday, June 25, 2021.

For more information contact Tiffany Carranza, City Clerk, at (707) 257-9503 or via email at [email protected]

Annual Drinking Water Quality
Report Now Online - In English and Spanish

Once again, City of Napa tap water met all stringent U.S. EPA and State health standards in 2020. English and Spanish versions of the annual Drinking Water Quality
Report are posted online in the Water Quality section at www.cityofnapa.org/water. A message on recent water bills alerted customers of the report’s direct web address. Along with summarizing regulated substances and water treatment tasks, the report describes our source waters, the importance of protecting our watersheds, and water conservation tips relevant to the current drought. For ongoing monthly test results and more details about the regulatory standards that ensure public health, visit our Sampling & Testing page at www.cityofnapa.org/water.

Printed copies of this Drinking Water Quality Report will be mailed upon request by calling 
707-257-9521. Beginning July 6, printed copies may be picked up at the Utilities Department, 1700 Second Street, Suite 100, or at the Finance-Collection windows in City Hall, 955 School Street.

The City continues to primarily use the electronic distribution method for this report, saving resources and ratepayer funds while still communicating to customers about the health and safety of their tap water.

2021 Napa County Water Conservation Video Contest Winners Announced!

Congratulations go out to winners of the 2021 Napa County Water Conservation Video Contest! A 4-person team primarily made up of Napa High students took the top prize of $250. Giulia Guerrera, Ava Dominguez, Keira Prouty, and Sophie Gonsier captured this year’s theme, Imagine Our Water-Wise Future, as their musical alter egos, “the Backyard Bots”. Their 30-second video “No Water, No Future” will be shown as a public service announcement as part of the pre-show program for all films at Century Napa Valley Theatre Friday, July 9 through Thursday, July 15.

Denied its big screen showing due to the pandemic, the 2020 winning video “We All Live Down River” will also be presented that week. That was also created by Giulia Guerrera, now a two-time winner of the video contest!

Congratulations also go out to this year’s 2nd place winner from Napa Valley College, Kaeleigh Rogerson, who will receive a $150 prize. Her playful and informative video “Ryleigh’s Water-Wise Future” presents helpful conservation tips.

The 3rd place prize of $100 goes to Abygail Sims of River Middle School for “Conserve Our Water For a Brighter Future”.

Traditionally limited to high school students, this sixth annual video contest was opened up to all age groups. Contest sponsors include the Cities of Napa, American Canyon, St. Helena, and Calistoga, the Town of Yountville, NapaSan, Napa County, and the Napa County Resource Conservation District. Final judging was conducted by conservation staff from the agencies. Full contest details and the top videos from all six years can be viewed online at www.napawatersheds.org/videocontest.

Vaccination Clinics in Napa County