Benicia Finance Committee will receive quarterly reports on the city’s income from the 1-cent local sales tax hike approved by voters last year as Measure C.

The panel also will receive reports on how the money is being spent on projects approved by the City Council, Finance Director Karin Schnaider said Thursday morning.

But the committee won’t be “auditing” the funds, she said, because the word “audit” implies “a certain level of professional standards.” City management’s job is to provide accurate information, and the city’s consulting auditors, Maze and Associates, perform the city’s audit.

However, the Finance Committee will receive ongoing interim reports so that when the annual audit is complete, the panel won’t find any surprises, Schnaider said.

Once the audit is finished it will use that information to develop its own report on Measure C projects and give that report to the Council. “If you would like to look at every line, we can bring out every letter and every invoice,” she told Committee members, adding that such a request is within the panel’s authority.

“My office will be tracking project by project,” Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani added. The information will be posted on a city webpage that should become active in July, he said, and “you can go on the Web page and see where we’re at.”

The information will be updated daily, he said.

The Finance Committee will review projects, their estimated costs and time frame for completion and how those estimates differ from actual costs and completion dates. Chairperson Michael Clarke said the panel should watch for times when a project costs more than projected or isn’t completed by deadline.

Giuliani said the alternative scenario is just as important. If a project comes in under budget, the committee is expected to be told what was done with the savings — “accountability,” he said, explaining the committee should determine who authorized spending any saved money.

Committee member John Potter worried that the panel was dependent on city staff for its information. “How do we fulfill our mandate?” he asked. “The Council gets the information first, and we’re sort of an afterthought.”

The committee needs to make sure the city honors its promises to residents and voters, Giuliani answered. That will start with the upcoming two-year budget cycle.

“Did they do the project?” he said, indicating a question the panel should ask. The committee also should determine how the work was performed and whether members are confident in how the project and the funds were handled.

The Council has approved 13 initial Measure C projects, starting with replacing the First Street Promenade’s deteriorating metal railing, expected to be finished this summer at an estimated cost of $150,000.

By fall the city expects to replace outdated police radios, an $80,000 project; repair sidewalks in the downtown business district at $100,000; and spend $200,000 to replace playground equipment.

In 2016, the city expects to replace its outdated police and fire dispatch and recording system, at $400,000; have engineering plans and specifications for a $50,000 Industrial Park road project; spend $292,000 on a wildland fire engine to combat grass fires; develop a storm water management and flood mitigation plan for $100,000; repair 250 damaged sections of road for $200,000; and repair or pave Southampton Road, Panorama Drive and Hastings Drive and safety crossings at Benicia Middle School, a $500,000 project.

In 2017, the city expects to replace a fire engine, at a cost of $448,491; patch and pave Industrial Way from Teal Drive to Lake Herman Road, for $1 million; and repair the pool deck and restrooms at the James Lemos Aquatic Center, a $400,000 project.

In other matters Thursday, the panel looked at portions of the 2015-17 “status quo” city budget the Council is expected to approve at its meeting next week. Schnaider told the committee that the new budget is essentially the same as the one under which the city has been operating for the past two years.

One exception is $1.2 million in one-time revenues from sales tax not related to Measure C and from the conclusion of the state’s complicated shifting of taxes among sales, vehicle license fees and schools’ income that was dubbed “the triple flip,” and used to pay off a bond measure, Schnaider said.

The budget proposed setting aside $800,000 for a badly needed computer programming system that would streamline financial recordings and reports throughout all municipal operations. The balance would be spent on investigation and cleanup of the Benicia Arsenal, to address concerns of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, and to tackle flooding problems in the Saint Augustine Drive neighborhood.

The Council will see a report Tuesday on individual departments’ budgets, which amount to a quarter of the overall budget, Schnaider said.

She said future meetings will be needed to look at the city’s water and wastewater funds, which don’t have enough money to undertake capital improvements or make delayed repairs. Even paying for day-to-day operations is a challenge, forcing the funds to use up their reserves, she said.

Part of the cause is that consumption of water is down, she said. Residents have been conserving since Gov. Jerry Brown announced the state was in the midst of a severe multi-year drought.

Originally the cutback was to be a voluntary 20 percent; the state now has said Benicia must reduce its drinking water consumption by 28 percent.

However, the city based its drought surcharge on estimates that the community would reduce its water use by just 15 percent, she said. Even the surcharge hasn’t covered fixed day-by-day costs, she said, which could impact future water purchases.

But if the drought ends this winter, Benicians may not change their habits and return to pre-drought consumption levels, she said.

At some point, the surcharge will go away, Schnaider said. If Brown declared an end to the drought, the Council would vote to decide whether Benicia itself also is in the clear. Meanwhile, the extra charge is supposed to cover the additional expenses incurred because of the drought, she said.

City Treasurer Kenneth Paulk asked if the city had looked into drilling wells, but that could cost $16 million just for a well and another $2 million to $4 million for equipment to deliver the water, Schnaider said.

Vice Mayor Mark Hughes said studies show that Benicia’s geology doesn’t make it a good candidate for wells. “Conservation is the answer,” he said, advocating “a full-court press” to reuse the city’s treated wastewater, possibly as a resource Valero Benicia Refinery could use in its processes.

Clarke also suggested the city keep up its support of economic development. “Make our Industrial Park a showcase,” he urged. “Focus on economic development and give it the resources it needs.”