City

Demographics & Issues

Populations and demographics (as of 2014): 81,653 people in a 100% urban

environment. The City of Lakewood serves 38,600 male inhabitants and 43,053

female inhabitants with a median age and income of 37 years old with a household

income of $75,171. The population is split between varying ethnicities at: 35.4%

White, 31.3% Hispanic, 16.7% Asian, 6.9% Black, 4.3% two or more races, 3.5%

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 1.1% other race, .7% American Indian.

One of the most severe issues that the city is facing at the moment is the loss

of sales-tax revenue. While people are starting shop online more and more the city

is losing out on the sales tax revenue that they normally would be receiving from

brick and mortar stores. Lakewood still receives a generous amount of sales-tax

revenue from the Lakewood Mall, the citys shopping center, however they fear that

the drop off will continue to stack up and get worse. Another issue the City Manager

foresees is a revenue stream they will need to develop. There is a growing mandate

from state and federal governments to reduce amounts of storm water runoff. This

is seen as an upcoming issue because it currently has no existing revenue stream to

fund it, this will cause a plan for future funds to be allocated to meet the mandates.

Another place that the City of Lakewood is losing revenue is with the drought. While

it is commendable that the people of Lakewood have drastically cut back on their

water usage, this has also caused the city to lose money from metered water

revenues.

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 Recreation and community services goals and objectives

1. To renovate and install new play areas at Bolivar Park with the $300,000

awarded by LA County Supervisor Don Knabe.

2. Update Lakewood Stables Equestrian Center to be more ADA compliant.

3. Update fencing along Carson Street.

Accomplishments:

1. Veterans Memorial Plaza in Del Valle Park was renovated and updated to display

a greater appreciation for local veterans.

2. The West San Gabriel River Parkway Nature Trail was updated and extended to

run from Candlewood Street to Del Amo Boulevard.

3. Homerun Dog Park on the northern end of Rynerson Park opened.

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Budget Process

(as laid out on page IV of the citys Adopted Budget for 16/17 and 17/18)

a. Fiscal year being analyzed: 2016/17

b. Key dates of budget calendar:

i. January- Current year midyear review

ii. February- Expenditure estimates projected

iii. March- Revenue estimates projected

iv. April- Budget revenue and expenditures analysis

v. May- Capital improvement projects budgeted

vi. June- City council study session and adoption

c. Lisa Litzinger, Ben Delarosa, Winnie Hess, and Commissioners Dave Allen,

Kirk Real,and Ted Spaseff are tasked with developing the Lakewood budget.. Lisa

Litzinger is the Director of the Recreation Department and is in charge of running all

recreation, community services, and managing municipal parks. The Chairman for

the city is Ben Delarosa and he is the executive officer of the commission and is

responsible for the administrative part of the department. Winnie Hess is the Vice

Chairperson and is responsible for all the duties the Director may give to the

Chairman. Dave Allen, Kirk Real, and Ted Spaseff are the Commissioners and are

responsible for planning, promoting, and administering the Recreation Department.

They all come together to develop the budget which then is taken to the Council

Chambers.

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General Fund Expenditures

Total general fund expenditures: $51,690,891

Total general fund expenditures for Recreation & Community

Services(Culture and Leisure): $12,061,497

Percentage of citys total: 12,061,497/47,125,981= 25.59%

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General Fund

Total General Fund Revenue: $51,690,891

Property Tax Total: $4,666,545

Sales Tax Total: $14,354,000

Utility Tax (in lieu of transient Occupancy Tax): $3,415,352

Recreation and Community Services Department Program Fees: $978,638

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Fee Rationale

What percentage of Recreation and Community Services Budget do fees offset?
Total= $12,061,497 Fees= $978,638
Percentage= 978,638/12,061,497= 8.11%

In order to determine the fees for a program, the department must compare

how much they are spending to run the program versus the amount of

participants they believe they will have. They also must take into account

whether or not the program will be subsidized. The given total of expenses

must be divided by the amount of projected participants to determine the

amount each participant should pay in order to offset the cost. According to

the Western City Article, fees for programs aimed at adults should be higher

in order to obtain a 60-100% cost recovery. Whereas programs aimed at

children should have lower fees to aim up to 30% recovery.

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Preparation and Format

Many steps go into the process of developing a city budget. In order to

prepare a budget the members must first analyze the budget from the previous year.

This can clue them in to trends and areas that are gaining or losing financing and

give them a slight guide to plan around. They must then attempt to estimate based

off these trends their upcoming expenses and revenue, if the revenue is higher it can

then be appropriated towards other lines in the budget.

With the given information of $44,784,991 revenue and $51,690,891

expenditure, the budget would not be balanced. The appropriation of $51,690,891 is

in excess of the estimated revenue of $44,784,991. However, the balance of the

previous year ($7,843,599) as well as $2,695,820 reserves and transfers in put the

total over the expenditures and leave a balance of $3,633,519.

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Responsibility and Management of Fiscal Resources

There are many ways to increase revenue for the Recreation and Community

Services Department in the city of Lakewood but one that could help the most is by

adding more events throughout the year. This might seem a bit expensive because a

lot goes into having events for the community but in the end it works out well. There

is an old saying that says, You have to spend money to make money. Events are a

huge way to bring the community out and support the Recreation Department. You

have people coming out depending on the event you have and they spend money

and games, prizes, and food. Most of the money the city can make is through food

because people always have to eat. The best way to do this is by bringing food trucks

out to the event. If you want to save more money you can have the community pay

the city so that they can sell their own food at the event.

Another way to increase revenue is through sponsorships. This is the most

common way to make money because sponsorships are just donations to the city.

You can partner up with a company like Adidas and have an event where Adidas can

sell their stuff but the event is also something related to sports. Or you can just have

a sponsorship where a company like Adidas sponsors you and the city has

everything they use with the logo of the company that sponsors them.

The best way to reduce expenditures is by not spending as much on new

equipment and maintenance. This seems bad at first but you will be surprised how

nice the parks and equipment look over time. Let's say that a city cuts the grass

every two weeks which costs money over time. Instead of doing it every two weeks

the city can reduce the cost by cutting the grass every four weeks instead. The grass

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will not look that bad compared but only grow a little bit longer. Another way to

reduce expenditures is obviously by laying off staff. This is a bit harsh but it is

usually the best way because staff salaries usually take up most of the money. If they

have more people than they need it is easier to lay staff members off and just have

the staff they keep do more of the work.

The ramifications for these expenditure reductions are one you have less

staff members on site. This can increase the risk of something happening on site but

if your staff are trained well then they should be able to take care of themselves and

make the city look good. Another ramification is that when you do not spend money

on new equipment or maintenance it can look like you are not taking care of the

citys stuff. The best way to handle this is to use your time wisely on when to spend

money on maintenance or buying new equipment.