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Early Direction for the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget <br />April 7, 2026 <br />Page 13 <br />5 <br />6 <br />9 <br />0 <br />organizations for certain services, adjusting cost-sharing methodologies to better reflect <br />service demand, and enhancing licensing compliance to help offset shelter-related costs. <br />Staff will review these practices and assess whether adjustments to the City’s current <br />service delivery or cost structure may improve long-term fiscal sustainability while <br />maintaining appropriate service levels. <br />Internal Service Funds / Enterprise Funds <br />Building Maintenance Operations <br />The City currently accounts for Building Maintenance activities within an Internal Service <br />Fund. Building Maintenance, a division of the Public Works Agency, provides routine <br />maintenance, repairs, and facility support services to City facilities. Costs are allocated to <br />user departments primarily based on square footage and specific service requests. While <br />this structure allows costs to be charged directly to departments, it requires ongoing <br />internal billings between funds, including the General Fund and enterprise funds. <br />To simplify the administrative process and improve internal efficiencies, staff proposes to <br />transition Building Maintenance operations to the General Fund beginning in FY 2026- <br />27. It is common practice among cities to account for building maintenance within the <br />General Fund, with costs attributable to enterprise and other non-General Fund <br />operations recovered through an established cost allocation methodology. The City’s <br />Indirect Cost Allocation Plan, already in place and applied Citywide, would continue to be <br />used to recover costs from non-General Fund operations using established <br />methodologies, including square footage where appropriate. <br />This change is administrative in nature and is not expected to result in an ongoing net <br />fiscal impact on the General Fund, as costs will continue to be allocated to the appropriate <br />funds. As part of this transition, the remaining spendable fund balance of the Building <br />Maintenance Internal Service Fund, estimated at approximately $930,000, will be <br />transferred to the General Fund. This transfer represents a one-time adjustment <br />associated with the fund closure and is intended to support high-priority repairs to City- <br />owned facilities. <br />Developer Impact Fee Study Update <br />The Public Works Agency is working with a consultant to prepare an updated Developer <br />Impact Fee Study. The study will evaluate existing development impact fees and ensure <br />they appropriately reflect the cost of infrastructure and facility improvements needed to <br />support new development. <br />Developer impact fees are one-time charges on new development that help fund capital <br />improvements required to accommodate growth. In Santa Ana, these fees support <br />infrastructure such as transportation improvements, traffic signal upgrades, street and <br />intersection capacity enhancements, storm drainage facilities, and other public <br />infrastructure necessary to maintain service levels as development occurs.