Pasadena Chamber of Commerce

At its meeting of January 11th, the Pasadena City Council reviewed the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The CAFR is the city’s annual audit of all its finances and offers a snapshot of City finances as of June 30, 2009. The Council accepted the report from Finance Director Andy Green. At the end of FY 2009 (June 30, 2009) the City of Pasadena held $954,199,439 in assets, $118,261490 of which is unrestricted. The city experienced a $49,166,110 increase in net assets during FY 2009. The City’s total debt had decreased by $17,484,960 during FY 2009. The auditors found no significant problems with the City’s internal control systems, though the auditors made some recommendations that could tighten up material inventory handling and controls.

The Council also received a demonstration of the Housing Resource Center website which is designed to enable those in need of a place to rent in Pasadena to access appropriate housing in the low to moderate price range. For employees and employers, the free site can be very helpful by simplifying the housing search. The information is available at www.pasadenahousingsearch.com.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $275,000 to convert an existing 144 unit Pasadena  residential facility into housing for the homeless.  $294,000 was approved to assist the Sheriff’s Department in dealing with gang-related crimes.

The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) release a study on the econnmic impacts of the Gold Line Foothill Extension Phase 2A (Pasadena to Azusa) project. The study concludes that Phase 2A is estimated to generate nearly 7000 jobs, #1 billion in economic output (aka business revenue) and $40 million in tax revenue (state, county and local). The study finds these benefits will occur during the project’s 30-month construction period; with additional , significant long-term benefits occurring from developments spurred by the project and future phases of construction. Click here to read the results of the full study.

Brookings Institute and National League of Cities event focuses on financial challenges facing cities. The Brookings Institute held a symposium on the fiscal realities facing cities in the current economy. The event report states, “The current economic crisis is not only a national crisis; it is also a metropolitan crisis. And soon the downturn will bring a local government fiscal crisis. Given the normal lag time of 18–24 months between changes in the economic cycle and its impact on city fiscal conditions, local officials anticipate that the next year or two will bring large-scale city government layoffs, deep cuts to local government services, and halted or delayed capital projects. Just as federal stimulus package spending trails off, city fiscal dynamics could well place a serious drag on economic recovery.” You can view the webcast here.

The U.S. Census Bureau will hold an open house at their local office at 299 North Altadena Drive in Pasadena on January 25th at 1:00 p.m. The census office is intended to help ensure a complete and accurate count of local residents.  Funding from the Federal and state government to local municipalities is often tied to population. An accurate count of residents ensures the local area receives its fair share of funding for a wide range of programs.