At the Davis City Council meeting on April 30, the council presented the city budget for 2013-14, which begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 2014.

The city is met with many challenges, the most critical being the $2 million structural imbalance in the General Fund (GF). However, they foresee much improvement in the next few years with their proposed plan.

After lengthy consideration, the council has proposed that the GF — encompassed by property taxes, sales taxes, fines and interest — is the most viable source of revenue.

The GF expenditures are projected to increase by around $1,265,143 due to employee benefit costs and compensation, street maintenance needs, water cost increase and water conservation efforts.

In the budget, the city believes that the GF will decrease by $949,000 from sales tax, municipal services tax, property tax, state pass-thru revenue/subventions, developer project revenue and developer reimbursements.

“We have a council that is willing to take on these hard issues. I know we can get our arms against these things. In the long run, with these revenues versus expenditures, we’ll have to get more creative every year,” said City Manager Steve Pinkerton, at a community budget meeting at The Avid Reader on May 6.

Currently, the greatest expenditure challenges in the current and long-term are the CalPERS projects — a 50 percent increase over the next five years, the Pavement Condition Index being at danger level for city streets — the city plans to slowly fund the repairing of roads — and city water costs that are projected to increase by $2.1 million in the next five years.

Potential solutions are being implemented and continue to be brainstormed. For 2013-14, the GF will be providing funding for water and sewage, which will result in a net increase in utility costs of $700,000 and $2.3 million that will go toward street maintenance.

The Davis Fire Department will have a staffing level of 11 instead of 12 firefighters per shift — a change that would result in an additional $443,663 and $500,000 to be budgeted for water conservation measures and updating infrastructure.

The proposed budget was met with support and some speculation by the Davis community.

“The budget they proposed is pretty fairly balanced, and I think we’ll see savings down the line,” said Davis Progressive Business Exchange President Bob Bockwinkel.

Other ideas are being considered for the future.

“Let’s consider getting donor-directed funds set up here. I want to stress how profoundly interested the council is in long-term revenue work,” said Mayor Joe Krovoza at the community budget meeting.

Additionally, the city established a public-private partnership in March with techDAVIS, a nonprofit business association meant to further the connections between the city and the technology industry. The city and techDAVIS have equally shared funding a new municipal Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) in the hopes of improving the current budget, fostering technology-based economic development and, ultimately, generating more revenue for the city.

“As Davis strives to expand its technology sector, the newly created CIO position will significantly enhance the city’s economic development capabilities. Utilizing my strong ties to the San Francisco East Bay and the federal research labs, I am hopeful that the partnership between the city and techDAVIS will result in an opportunity to accelerate research, entrepreneurial activity and growth in technology businesses across Davis,” said Interim Managing Director of techDAVIS David Morris in a March 6 press release.

With the new proposals, along with speculation for new creative approaches to revenue accumulation, the City of Davis has yet to determine what budget path to take.

“With the latest changes we have had to function in, I feel confident that this community will survive and thrive,” Pinkerton said. “Change is always painful, but this budget in particular signals that we can manage and overcome.”

GABRIELLA HAMLETT can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

The City of Davis is known for its sustainability and commitment to energy efficiency, as Davis was the first city to adopt the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. A Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, also referred to as the Climate Action Plan, was created in 2010 to achieve this goal.

As a result, a group of citizens came together and started the Cool Davis Initiative, a grassroots organization intended to help the city achieve the goals from its Climate Action Plan.

“We started with a small group of people to implement the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan,” said Lynne Nittler, one of the founding members of Cool Davis. “Now after three years, we have a lot more people involved and name recognition in the community. We are ready to seek out grants for new projects.”

Since 2010, Cool Davis has held a festival each fall to help promote their cause and inform the community of new efforts they are undertaking.

Over the last year, under the leadership of Cool Davis, the City of Davis has been participating in the Cool California Challenge. The campaign encourages cities to lower their greenhouse gas emissions one household at a time. Residents are encouraged to visit the Cool California Challenge website and log their utilities and transportation usage.

According to Cool Davis volunteer Christine Backman, Davis is currently in first place and they are hoping to win the challenge, which ends on May 31.

Previous workshops
Backman described the many workshops Cool Davis has hosted to help encourage and inform residents of ways to reduce their energy usage.

One of the their most recent workshops in February was a Cool Home workshop held at the Mary L. Stephen’s Davis Branch Library. It was open to community members who wanted to learn how to measure their energy usage and improve home energy use.

“We showed people how to log on to the Cool California Challenge website and how to use the PG&E [Pacific Gas and Electric] website to do a self-audit of their energy use,” Backman said. “We also informed people that the library rents out wattmeters for free.”

A wattmeter measures how much energy a particular appliance consumes.

Nittler said that getting 75 percent of households involved and lowering their carbon footprint by 2015 is one of their short-term goals.

After the Cool California Challenge ends, Cool Davis will launch a new campaign in 2014 called the One Cool City Campaign, which has the same goals: reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transportation, energy usage and consumption.

City efforts
Cool Davis works toward the Climate Action Plan’s goals by focusing on getting the community involved with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to supporting the efforts of Cool Davis, the city hosts various forums on issues such as transportation, energy conservation, household carbon reduction programs, walkable neighborhoods and local food sources.

Nittler said the city and Cool Davis are currently mapping out the city in order to plan out alternative transportation methods for different neighborhoods. Based on the commuter patterns of the majority of residents in a particular neighborhood, the city will suggest different modes of transport, including biking, busing or carpooling.

Chris Granger, a member of Cool Davis, said that the city is in the middle of a new energy plan to help them achieve their goals by 2050.

“The city is working on looking at ways we can develop our own municipal utility services with Community Choice Aggregation (CCA),” Granger said. “CCA would allow the city to purchase power for the whole city and therefore be able to provide alternative energy sources.”

Granger said Marin County and Richmond have already adopted this model.

Community involvement
Cool Davis has a number of community partners that help them work toward the goal of carbon neutrality. A few include B&L Bike Shop, Davis Chamber of Commerce, the Davis Farmers Market, Davis Pedicab, Unitrans and the Valley Climate Action Center.

The newest partner of Cool Davis is the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation.

“Being part of a larger ‘green’ community such as Cool Davis will help us to focus our efforts. Just bringing us into the community with other organizations with sustainability as part of their mission will help to strengthen our resolve,” said pastor Dan Smith.

A variety of local organizations have teamed up with Cool Davis because they share the same goals of carbon neutrality and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to live more sustainably.

Jeff Falyn and Lyndsay Dawkins of Nature’s Theater, a group that produces environmentally-themed books and plays for children, said their mission is to get young people to engage in environmentally-themed plays and activities in order to show them the joys of being outside. Falyn and Dawkins said they are grateful for the opportunity to present their plays at the Cool Davis Festival in the past.

Village Homes, a passive solar community built in the 1970s, joined Cool Davis as a partner in order to spur individual homeowners into action. They want to further efforts to conserve water, produce zero waste and provide alternative transportation methods.

Additionally, in order to encourage individual residents to live more sustainably, Cool Davis awards Eco Hero awards each year. The awards are intended to highlight actions of ordinary citizens who model incorporating sustainable practices into their civic and everyday lives.

Mayor Pro Tempore Dan Wolk also presented businesses and organizations that model ways to reduce their environmental impact, and lead others toward climate stabilization with Climate Solutions awards. Davis Bike Collective, Local Government Commission and the Davis Flea received this award.

Student opportunities
The UC Davis student branch of Cool Davis is called Make Davis Cool. They reach out to students and organizations on campus that help people live more sustainably.

“Students are a wonderful force for good,” Granger said. “They have an opportunity to recognize values of sustainability in all aspects of the community, including the dorms and alternative transportation with bikes and buses.”

Cool Davis produced a pamphlet entitled “Cool Solutions: A Renter’s Guide to Sustainable Living,” which students living off campus could find useful, Nittler said.

In Fall Quarter 2010 and Winter Quarter 2011, Make Davis Cool organized a class called “The Field Guide to Sustainable Living in Davis” and taught close to 50 students about living sustainably in Davis.

Backman said that people can start with simple steps to living sustainably, such as drying clothes on a clothesline.

“Every person we contact helps to improve our project,” Backman said. “It helps us work towards our ultimate goal: engagement with 75 percent of the community in working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and be carbon neutral by 2050.”

PAAYAL ZAVERI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

On May 16, from 4:30 to 9 p.m., citizens of the City of Davis can head to Community Park at F Street for an afternoon of family friendly fun and to support local businesses at Celebrate Davis.

The 10th annual Celebrate Davis event is put on by the Davis Chamber of Commerce to highlight local businesses. The event attracts 10,000 to 12,000 attendees annually and has over a hundred booths that feature local businesses, nonprofit or service organizations and clubs.

Celebrate Davis originated as the Davis Business Expo in 2003, a similar but more formal event. The event became so popular that it expanded into the popular social gathering that it is today, combining business and fun.

“[It’s] a way for the chamber to facilitate a night where people are encouraged to bike and walk to the park, come together and celebrate all of the best parts about Davis,” said Bob Bowen, the City of Davis public relations manager.

According to Margaret Wong, an event planner for Celebrate Davis, the event is all about promoting what Davis has to offer.

“We advertise for the event locally — it gives our businesses the opportunity to market themselves to a family-oriented audience,” Wong said.

The event is nonprofit and the money earned from the fees charged for booth space goes back to improving the event.

Jennifer Anderson, the owner of the downtown Davis Ace Hardware, considers having a booth at the event beneficial for all businesses.

“[For us] it’s a long term investment in the popularity of the store. It allows us to have a chance to connect with the customers and the community,” Anderson said.

Kid-friendly events include bounce houses, a petting zoo, pony rides, a climbing wall, dunk tank, interactive video games and a skateboard/BMX exhibition.

The music played at the event is young adult-oriented and will feature a Battle of the Youth Bands. Beer and wine booths are also on-site and there are various places to purchase a picnic dinner from a variety of different vendors.

There will also be a fireworks show at 9 p.m. to end the night. The event is held near the soccer field so that there is enough fallout space available.

Heather Mariano, a Davis mother of three, has attended Celebrate Davis for the past five years and said that she loves how everyone can find something to do. Her kids span in age from kindergarten to junior high, and Celebrate Davis has activities for all of them. Mariano said she enjoys herself as well.

“[Some of the kids’] favorite activities include the bouncy house and a game at the Ink Monkey [a graphics screen printing shop] booth, where they throw a monkey through a hoop to get a prize,” Mariano said.

Mariano said that her family stays as long as it takes to get through all of the booths and have a picnic dinner.

“[The] best part is that everyone gets to pick what they want to eat. There’s no deciding who picks what we’re having for dinner,” Mariano said. “Because Davis has such a small-town feel, we often know the people that are working at the booths. I also find businesses that I didn’t know about.”

TAYLOR CUNNINGHAM can be reached at city@theaggie.org.