Benicia Finance Committee is going to be busy during the next six months, taking on an active role in observing how Measure C tax money is earmarked and spent so it can make a report to the City Council, in addition to tackling a hefty work plan.

At its Thursday morning meeting, the committee examined a grid design proposed by Finance Director Karin Schnaider that the panel may use to track the progress and expenditures of Measure C money.

The Council has specified what projects should be undertaken and how much each project should cost, though the numbers remain tentative until contractors are hired. Even then, expenditures may rise above or fall, should unanticipated situations arise.

Voters authorized the 1-penny sales tax increase for local projects as well as to have more funds for the services a full-service municipality like Benicia provides residents.

City staff will update the Finance Committee quarterly, and the panel is required in turn to give a presentation to the Council.

One committee member, John Potter, asked for assurances that Schnaider’s grid would supply the Council with information it expects from the committee, and whether the panel should apprise the Council of times when projects are on course or be able to provide information if expenditures have ballooned.

That would be handled at a Council meeting, Vice Mayor Mark Hughes explained. In addition, at Council meetings most department heads are in attendance and would be able to elaborate on areas of concern.

“They have the executive authority,” Chairperson Michael Clarke said of the Council. By comparison, the Finance Committee is an advisory body.

Hughes said he liked the format, though like Potter he would like to see an “expected to spend” column of information incorporated into the grid.

“It’s simple and straightforward,” he said about the form.

In addition, it’s not set in stone, he reminded the committee. “If we get into this for a couple of quarters and it’s not working, we can change it.”

Measure C monitoring isn’t the only thing on the committee’s plate.

Schnaider presented the panel with a list of 21 topics members said they wanted included on the committee’s work plan.

Topping the list is an analysis of the Marina Fund, an enterprise fund that is supposed to operate like a business. Schnaider said city employees are preparing a comprehensive analysis of the fund.

“It’s a work in progress” and needs concurrence of the Council, she said.

Another top issue is 10-year forecasts for the city, adding the water and wastewater funds into the forecast model. The committee and the Council may have a joint special budget meeting July 21 on the topic, Schnaider said.

That same night the two panels are expected to discuss the city’s drought surcharge, a topic that will be re-examined in July and again in mid-autumn.

A review of the city’s entire fee schedule “has a lot of moving parts,” Schnaider said, and the committee won’t get an update before July.

Some of the work plan tasks are routine, such as hearing the quarterly investments earning report and recommending to the Council whether the information should be accepted.

The panel also will compare budgeted revenues and expenses with what the city actually received and spent.

At its July 23 meeting, the committee may hear a staff report about the status of a finance software program overhaul that is expected to affect each of the city’s municipal departments.

The panel also will take its annual look at the city’s solar energy project, in which 10 arrays have been installed on city property.

In September the panel may hear a report on the city’s water and wastewater rates and create a timeline for the citywide financial software installation, with some modules expected to be operating on city computers before the end of the year.

The panel will look at investments again and reconcile the budget to actual spending and receipts in October, and will spend November developing fiscal policies for the city’s capital improvement plan and reports on unfunded liabilities.

By spring 2016, the panel will be discussing the preparation of a long-term capital improvement plan. It should be ready for biennial actuarial reviews on unfunded liabilities.

The committee may also examine the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) “Path to Sustainability” program, but when that will start hasn’t been determined.

“CalPERS is still voting on rates of return,” Schnaider said. “There are still too many moving parts.”