At the Feb. 16 Pleasanton City Council meeting, councilmembers voted unanimously to approve the audit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011. Wayne Beyer gave an unqualified opinion, the highest that can be given.

The general fund increased last year by $1.5 million dollars and the sales tax basically doubled. Beyer noted that the city budgeted $2.1 million in sales tax, then they amended up to $3.6 million. So they increased the budget by almost $1.5 million for those sales taxes. This, said Beyer, is pretty significant.

Regarding total revenues, the original budget was $5.1 million and the ending amount was $7.1 million. This is not just due to sales tax, but land in the Industrial Park.

In all departments, the city is underbudgeted, said Beyer. Overall, the city underspent the amended budget by $221,576. Beyer was also amazed by the surplus budget of $44,000. The ending fund balance was $3.203 million. If you compare this to the expenditures, it equals about an eight-month reserve. Generally, cities like to keep about three months of reserve.

In the utility fund, the current ratio is 3:1 in current assets. Therefore, the city has an excellent current ratio, said Beyer. In the utility fund, there is an eight-nine month reserve.

Last year, the city also refunded bonds which saved some money, noted Beyer. The city also added debt of $1.2 million last year.

Beyer also made some recommendations. The city does not have a certified investment officer, as of January 2011. He suggested better records of time in and time out. Only the supervisor signs the bi-weekly payroll report. He suggested the employee sign it as well. He also mentioned that time sheets not be confusing or sloppy. Beyer has met with Pearson and said he has the feeling that these issues will be addressed. Also suggested adopting a policy regarding water and sewer adjustments, a computer back-up policy and a purchasing policy.

Abraham Saenz placed an item on the agenda: discussion and action on a tree and monument placed on city property without council approval. Councilman Abraham Saenz said he wanted to postpone the item until March 1, at the advice of the city attorney. This was approved unanimously.

During the monthly staff reports, City Manager Bruce Pearson discussed some Police Department and Animal Control initiatives. He met with Police Chief Gary Soward and they discussed how to broaden the scope of coverage regarding Animal Control. They discussed an adopt-a-pet program, which needs to be organized and publicized. They also talked about a rabies program and a spay and neuter program. Pearson also expressed concern about the amount of time that animal control is out there.

They are out there day and night, said Pearson and they have a very difficult job.

Municipal Court cases have increased, noted Pearson. He met with Municipal Court Judge Elsie Guerra and she recommended that they consider whether or not they want to keep some of the old cases from 2003 and before that. They have asked the city attorney on his opinion regarding this.

Police Chief Soward gave council copies of the January 2012 report. The day before there was a training session at Pleasanton City Hall.

Soward made a comparison of January 2011 and January 2012. There has been an increase in crime, said Soward. In 2011, there were nine burglaries. This January there were 17. This includes buildings and vehicles.

In the theft department, last year there were 22 and in January 2012 there were 32. There have also been more drug cases this year. The city is currently averaging 45-50 accidents per month. The majority of these accidents are due to people simply not paying attention, noted Soward.

Last year there were 116 citations, compared to 275 this year. Soward has implemented a program in which one person does nothing but work traffic. He hits the school zones in the morning and patrols the main roads.

Last year, all of the patrol officers totalled almost 13,000 miles in January. This is compared to this year’s mileage of 14,000. Last year they received 593 calls for service. In January 2012, they received 689.

“Everything is increasing,” said Soward, “and with the influx of people, it is kind of expected.”

Regarding animal control, Soward said he contacted one spay and neuter program and requested holding an event, but they were adamant that they do not take requests. Therefore Soward is looking at other avenues. Both of the animal control officers are certified in euthanasia, however, said Soward they only want to do that when they have to. That is why he would really like an adoption program. SNAP has conducted events in the past and they charge a minimal amount, said Soward.

Gallegos asked how many officers there were. Soward answered there are five dispatchers and 21 certified officers and including the Fire Marshall (who is also certified) that makes 22.

Israel mentioned concentraing on specific areas that have an animal control problem. Soward said they are currently doing this. They also discussed how smart the dogs are and they soon recognize the animal control vehicles. He will soon have them working overlapping shifts as well.

Gallegos said there is a major dog problem and he said animal control probably knows the owners of these dogs who continue to keep having puppies. On Chapman Street, there is one dog already going on her fourth litter. Soward said they do not know the owner. Gallegos said the person that feeds her and the one that it follows is the owner. Pearson said when he visited with animal control, this particular animal did come up in the conversation. The officers believed the dog had litters under three different homes and they had difficulty getting responses about who was the homeowner. Perhaps they could talk to the residents and businesses to see if someone in the area is feeding her, noted Pearson.

Garza said he does think they know who the owner is and that nothing has been done on dogs that have ruined his yard. Pearson answered that it is important and he will follow up on this.