MANAGEMENT PARTNERS, INC. (2011 Budget Analysis)

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Mr. David Ream Page 5 • To maximize our efficiency in this area we will utilize previous work products developed by the City as part of the budget process, which may well include suggestions and ideas from staff. • All of the department directors will be interviewed to hear their experiences over the last few years with budget balancing and suggestions for budget stabilization, both on the revenue and expenditure side. • We will interview the leaders of the City's labor associations to hear their perspectives and suggestions about the budget. • We will set up a web-based opportunity for any employee to provide his/her input. Activity 3 - Analyze Data During this activity we will analyze the data we have gathered through documents and interviews. Our analysis will show historical trends and create a forecast giving a comprehensive perspective of the factors affecting the financial capacity of the City and creating a budget gap. This analysis will provide a sound basis for understanding the City's financial ability to fund services during the next five years. It will serve as a starting point for understanding the revenue/expenditure gap that will need to be solved in the budget stabilization plan. Our analysis will include a review of the City's MOUs as well to identify areas for potential discussion with the labor associations. As we analyze all of the data and input gathered, we will look for optimization opportunities that may exist, alternative service delivery approaches that might be possible, revenue enhancement options, the potential for cost shifts, potential redundancies in program operations and the potential for organizational consolidation to save resources. We will also assess the strategies employed to date by the City to ascertain which have been most effective in reducing costs and increasing revenues. Additionally, we will identify other budget balancing approaches that are being employed by other municipalities that may be appropriate for Santa Ana. Since we work with many cities, we have a full knowledge base of alternative approaches that are being applied in this current recession. Activity 4 - Develop Initial Matrix of Strategies Following our analysis of the data, we will develop a preliminary matrix of short- and long-term strategies to eliminate the City's structural deficit. The initial matrix will be organized into the categories established in Activity 2. It will include estimated timeframes (short- vs. long-term) and expected order of magnitude financial results for the City. We will meet with the City Manager and management steering committee to present our preliminary matrix of strategies to obtain feedback. At this meeting, we will receive feedback and questions which will assist in identifying strategies which will be analyzed in detail. Activity 5 -Prepare Draft Budget Stabilization Plan Incorporating the feedback received at this point in t. analysis of strategies offering the greatest potential for identify the following information for each strategy: • Priority rank • Description and rationale e project, we will perform a detailed reducing the structural deficit. We will :>D