Committee seeks update, cost-benefit analysis on solar panels

Benicia Finance Committee received a progress outline Friday for the city’s finance computer software change, an ongoing project that began in 2010 but that saw a change in direction in January.

Rather than try to force the ONESolution software onto department computers, city employees instead announced in January that Benicia would seek bids for a more appropriate plan to improve its system.

That decision was announced after the city’s computer vendor, SunGard, said the price tag would rise from the original $66,000 for a simple upgrade, to a projected $300,000 to $500,000.

That increase came after the discovery that the city’s current programming couldn’t accept the software upgrade without significant additional work.

Interim Finance Director Brenda Olwin said the one-page outline of the city’s new approach “is a snapshot of what we plan to do.”

Action on the revised project has been delayed somewhat by the drought, Olwin said, because the Finance Department also is dealing with modifying the city’s billing program in case a drought surcharge is adopted.

Those changes could be ready in three months, particularly if the state moves to enforced water consumption restrictions from voluntary water conservation, she said.

Even without mandated restrictions, the city already plans to spend up to $900,000 for water after the State Water Project announced that no contractor, including Benicia, would be getting any of its contracted water.

In the meantime, SunGard has provided the city with some assistance in making interim changes that make it easier for department heads to obtain previously prepared reports in a more usable format, Olwin said. At one time, those reports would have been produced either on paper or in PDF format, she said.

She said the request for proposals for the new computer program is expected to be assembled by May 15. Olwin has said that the new software program may not be any cheaper than the costs projected by SunGard, but that some systems could be less expensive to operate once they’re installed.

If the Council concurs, the request for proposals could be issued by July 15, Olwin said, and SunGard would be welcome to enter a bid.

However, she said SunGard is focused on ONESolution, which she described as a system that is better suited for cities of 75,000 to 100,000 in population.

The responses would be evaluated in August with contract negotiations starting Sept. 30 and implementation milestones detailed by Oct. 30.

Also Friday, Olwin and Assistant City Manager Anne Cardwell introduced Naveed Ashraf, the city’s new information technology manager, who also will be involved in the new program.

Chairperson Michael Clarke said he would present the Finance Committee’s work plan to the City Council April 15, and the panel concurred with the latest draft of the task list.

Its top priority is a long-range financial forecast, and Olwin assured the panel that work has started on that project.

In fact, she said, she is close to completing a first draft she’ll present to City Manager Brad Kilger.

Vice Mayor Tom Campbell said the Finance Committee should review the document before it’s given to the Council, explaining that advisory panels focus on the issues, “so that when it gets to us, it’s more elegant and refined.”

Clarke agreed, saying, “It’s one of the major purposes of the committee.”

On the committee work plan: getting income statement reports for all budgeted city funds; having the Marina Enterprise Fund analyzed; comparing the actual operating results to the water and wastewater rate studies; discussing a long-term capital improvement plan; looking at a path to sustainability of the California Public Employees Retirement Service (CalPERS); receiving a presentation on the city’s solar operations; and hearing presentations of actuarial and cost allocation studies.

The work plan also lists the panel’s three study sessions in progress, on the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), its reserve policy and its unfunded liabilities.

Clarke said Mayor Elizabeth Patterson also asked for reports on the CAFR and the city’s investment portfolio, so that the public could understand them, something Councilmember Christina Strawbridge said hadn’t been discussed by the Council.

“Her take was the public does not have a clear understanding of the CAFR, the city’s investments or unfunded liabilities,” Clarke said. “There seems to be this notion we’re hiding something. That’s not the case.”

Strawbridge agreed with that observation, saying some look at the city’s investments and ask, “Why are we sitting on this?” without realizing that the money has been earmarked for particular purposes.

The panel also heard an update on the financial analysis of the city’s energy conservation project.

Campbell told the panel the project originally was conceived as a way to reduce the city’s electrical costs, though Olwin pointed out it also helps Benicia get closer to its emissions reduction goals.

The project involved 10 solar panel arrays on city properties, as well as light retrofitting to more energy-efficient types.

The solar panels were placed on canopies at City Hall, the James Lemos Aquatic Center, the Benicia Community Center Community Park and Corporation Yard. They also have been put on the roof of Fire Station 2 and on the ground at the Water Treatment Plant, and the city’s three pump stations.

The light retrofits have taken place at City Hall, Community Park, Corporation Yard, the Water Treatment Plant, the Benicia Historical Museum, the Benicia Public Library, Benicia Police Department and the Water Treatment Plant; 2,000 street lights were replaced as well.

At one time, the projected savings of the project was expected to be $80,000, which would go into a single fund that would be used to underwrite more energy-saving projects. But Olwin said state mandates on financial reporting meant that concept had to be modified.

The solar panel savings, which won’t be as much as expected because panels at two sites had to be reduced in size, eventually will go into that fund, though delays in getting all the panels erected have delayed those savings, she said.

The lighting change savings won’t go there, she said. Instead, to meet state requirements, they’ll be placed in a variety of specific funds, depending on where the lights are situated.

“We’re splitting the two projects apart,” she said.

The city has been changing how it monitors the panels, she said. More can be observed by desktop, she said, such as when someone throws a shoe on top of a panel.

Treasurer H.R. Autz said residents need a report or illustration that shows how much energy the city was using before the panels and lights were installed, compared to how much it uses now, a suggestion the Finance Committee and staff both found appealing.

If the project hasn’t been a big money saver out of the gate, Olwin assured the Finance Committee that the panels will be operating a long time.

“The panels will last more than 25 years,” she said.