Scotts Valley City Council Notes

With little fanfare, the Scotts Valley City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2012-13 city budget at its meeting Wednesday, June 20.
The council had been discussing the budget since May that plans for the city’s general fund revenue to total $7,789,650, while expenditures are expected to total $8,669,057, resulting in a deficit of $879,407.
The deficit will again be covered by the city’s reserves, which are composed mostly of money raised by Measure C, a five-year sales tax boost approved by voters in 2005 that expired in March 2011.
The 2012-13 fiscal year begins Sunday, July 1.
Also included in the meeting’s consent agenda was an agreement to contribute $40,000 from the city’s affordable-housing funds to a joint effort with Castle Cos.’ Scotts Valley Land LLC to subsidize seven homes in the Woodside development on Scotts Valley Drive.
The city and the developer are each contributing half of a total of $80,000 to ensure that six houses for moderate-income buyers and one home for a low-income buyer are built as part of the development.
Also as part of the consent agenda, the council allocated $12,538 to hire WRA Environmental Consultants to explore the possibility of constructing a sidewalk and expanding bike lanes on Tabor Drive and Vine Hill School Road.
The project was approved for a $400,000 grant from the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission in December.
Caltrans performed a preliminary environmental study on the area, but because Glenwood Preserve is adjacent to a portion of the construction area, additional studies are required.