City finance and Business Promotion
Burlingame today is facing an economic crisis, as is the rest of the nation. Our revenues have decreased approximately seven percent this past fiscal year. Currently, our highest revenue sources for our city are property tax, hotel TOT, and our auto industry. As many of you know, the hotel and auto industry have suffered during this recent economic downturn. No one is immune to this. The City received a water and sewer bond rating upgrade from AA to AA+, it also received the Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers of America and Canada, we completed a 33 million Pension Obligation bond and prepaid the CalPERS debt for our unfunded liability, resulting in an overall savings of 4 million, and we came to an agreement with all but one of our collective bargaining units to accept salary freezes. The City of Burlingame has weathered fairly through this current economic downturn due to the foresight and careful planning by our Council and City Staff.
When I first was elected in 2005, I wanted the city to adopt a more friendly and helpful approach when businesses came to our city. In conjunction with the building department, community meetings were held to obtain feedback on Building Division customer service improvements and recommendations were implemented. I strongly encouraged the Council to consider hiring a part-time economic development specialist/business ambassador in order to improve our business climate and foster a more positive business attitude. This goal was accomplished in 2008 when we hired Patricia Love who is our current Economic Development Specialist. The City of Burlingame now has an active Economic Subcommittee comprised of myself and Councilmember Jerry Deal, Patricia Love, and Bill Meeker who is our Community Director. We have met with the car dealerships, hotel managers, realtors, owners and managers of retail and restaurant businesses around the city, in addition to developers of the Bayfront area. This subcommittee has worked collaboratively with business organizations to hear their ideas, concerns and plans for Burlingame’s future. Prospective clients have been provided information regarding development sites that are available. We have also investigated potential uses of the state owned land out in the Bayfront to see if we can entice a developer to propose a project that would be beneficial for our community.
There have been some exciting developments that have come to the City of Burlingame in addition to prospective developments. They include Virgin America airlines offices, Green Citizen, Inc., the new Walgreens being built on the corner of Burlingame Ave and El Camino, American Apparel, Trina Turk, Peninsula Humane Society, new plans submitted by Safeway, and renovations of the Burlingame Plaza to be submitted in the near future. Millennium Partners is proposing approximately 1.5 million square feet of office campus space and there is a developer that is talking about the possibility of bringing in a new hotel to Burlingame. There is progress being made in Burlingame.
I have worked with the Chamber of Commerce in conducting concierge tours each year to increase the visibility of our businesses in our downtown areas. It is important to promote our hotels and solicit new shops and restaurants in order to increase and diversify the city’s sources of tax revenue.
This is also a time to integrate productive planning. Working on the Downtown Specific Area Plan will define a vision for the downtown. Adding shops and housing in the Downtown Area close to public transit will welcome new residents and shoppers. Over time, this will generate new sales tax revenue for the city and diversify business revenues sources. This careful planning will also allow the city to solicit and approve projects offering multiple housing types within walking distance of shops, transportation and community gathering spaces.
Even though the City of Burlingame is experiencing difficult economic times, we continue to be pro-active in planning for our future.
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
