Measure 2A Service Investments

$500,000 will be distributed through a grant process to help support and restore the investment in Out-of-School Time (OST) programs. OST programs take place before school, after school, and during the summer when children and youth are not in school.

These programs are important because they:

• Keep kids safe
• Improve student attendance, engagement and achievement
• Provide support for working families

How this grant money will be distributed:

• Money will fund summer programming – increasing the number of students served and/or extending the length of program day and program duration (from 4 hours to 6 or from 4 weeks to 6 weeks)
• Money will also fund before and after school programs during the school year
• The strategy for distribution of these funds will be aligned with the Mile High United Way, the DPS Foundation, etc.
• An additional 3,000 kids are served through Parks and Recreation sites for at least 8,000 kids being served currently. Currently 5,000 kids are served by city investments through the Lights on After School funding collaborative (LOAS is not an actual program, but a funding mechanism).
• Over time we should be able to serve an additional 2,500 – 5,000 students.

Business Incentive Fund & the Business Personal Property Incentive
Established in 2005, the Business Incentive Fund (BIF) provides incentives for companies relocating or expanding with new jobs and tax revenues. 2A funding will allow for a $500,000 increase to the fund, enabling the Office of Economic Development (OED) to attract and retain quality jobs in targeted industry sectors. Approximately 650 additional jobs were brought to Denver, with an estimated 250 more jobs in 2013, due to the Business Incentive Fund.

The Business Personal Property (BPP) tax credit was also included in the 2A initiative. It provides an incentive to business to expand their operations within Denver. For more information on the Business Investment Program, visit www.denvergov.org/InvestInDenver.

$2.5 million in 2A funding will allow Denver Human Services to restore prior program cuts made in the child care program. The program will be funded by a 0.235 mills addition to the 2012 social services mills.

Benefits of the increase in funding include:

• An increase in eligibility limits that will restore income eligibility from 165% FPL(federal poverty level) to 225% FPL. This will increase the number of families qualifying for child care, resulting in an additional 225 available services slots to be filled.
• Restoring previously decreased provider reimbursements rate reduction

An increase in the fund balance by $3 million in order to achieve a 12% year end fund balance; a 0.3% increase. This is up from 11.7% in the original 2013 budget.

CSA employees have taken furlough days since 2009. All five furlough days will be removed from the 2013 calendar and this removal represents a 2% increase in service levels.

• 2009 – 4 days
• 2010 – 5 days
• 2011 – 5 days
• 2012 – 5 days

2A funding allows libraries to increase their service by 43% and at an average of over 48 hours per week; up from 35.5 hours per week. The increased hours will be phased in from January to April.

The impact of this increase includes:

• A 15% increase in children's program attendance.
• An 11% increase in summer reading participants
• An 18% increase in community learning plaza and English language attendance.
• A 33% increase in community technology center technology class attendance.
• A 13% increase in circulation
• A 13% increase in the number of library visits.

Overview of Library Hours Increase

My Denver Program Expansion

Additional facts regarding the program and its expansion:

• Population – 92,000 Denver Public Schools Grades K-12; 13,000 non-Denver Public Schools grades K-12 Denver residents; it is unknown as to what percentage of this population will sign-up for the program.
• Programs offered includes swimming, gaming (ex. Wii), gym games (ex. dodge ball, kickball), youth fitness classes, dancing, and art.
• The programs will be available during designated times (3:00 – 5:30 pm), still leaving open time for adult usage. Also, general recreation center rules and regulations will still apply at each center.
• Pool access is year round, including outdoor pools in the summer.
• Children can register by having their parent or guardian complete a registration form through school or at the recreation center.

Park Maintenance

2A hopes to add improvements in litter removal, graffiti removal, turf management, irrigation systems, string trimming and other turf detailing. Without 2A, Parks & Recreation only has the budget capacity to meet 70% of its maintenance standards for current acreage. After the passage of the 2A initiative, standards will improve to 100% over a six year period in increments of 5% per year.

Additional facts regarding the increase in park maintenance:

• 2A addresses staffing needs for general park maintenance in the four urban park districts. Staffing will be for for current acreage only, not new acreage added beyond 2013
• 2A only includes funding for regular routine maintenance, and those non-emergency items
  which have been neglected, but not capital maintenance funding for buildings, structures, amenities, trails and ball fields
• In 2013, well developed park areas with high visitation and use, primarily regional parks with 80+ acres, will receive priority attention in 2013

Recruit Classes

Police
The Denver Police Department has not held an academy since 2008. As a result, the department is currently operating with 40 officers below authorized strength. The original 2013 budget included only one class of 40 recruits, starting in July 2013. These additional funds will now allow for approximately 105-110 recruits in 2013 and should result in getting the actual strength of the Denver Police Department back up above authorized strength by
the end of 2013.

Fire
The Denver Fire Department held only one recruit class in 2012 and was only budgeted for one recruit class in 2013. The additional funds from 2A will allow the Denver Fire Department to hold a second recruit class in the fourth quarter of 2013 and will allow the Denver Fire Department to operate at authorized strength.

Safety Fleet

Police
Currently, 30% of the Police fleet is past its useful life. The funding dedicated to the police fleet will allow the department to purchase approximately 46 new patrol cars. This will result in an operational cost savings, due to the decrease in high maintenance costs of the current fleet. It will also result in reducing the percent of the current police fleet that is currently maintained at 25% of its usefulness.

Fire
Currently, 25% of the Fire fleet is past its useful life. The funding dedicated to the fire fleet will allow the department to purchase 1 new fire apparatus. This will result in an operational cost savings, due to the decrease in high maintenance costs of the current fleet.

2A funding supports doubling the base payment of $186 to $372 for 4,000 qualified low-income seniors and people with disabilities.

Per the Denver Revised Municipal Code (DRMC), qualifying criteria includes:

• Individuals who are 65 years or older and/or are able to prove a total disability
• Reside in the County of Denver for 12 months
• Pass the income level test of less than $15,101 for single applicants or less than $21,900 for married applicants

Current State
Of the 5,828 total lane miles in Denver, 1,300 (22%) of them are more than 20 years old and are rated in poor condition. Of those 1,300 lane miles that are rated in poor condition, 884 (68%) are residential or local lanes. Only 3% of Denver's roadways in poor condition are paved each year, based on current resources.

With 2A Funding
With $18 million in funding over 4 years, an additional 300 residential lane miles in poor condition will be paved; 75 lane miles per year. The annual paving program will be accelerated, which will significantly reduce the current backlog of neighborhood streets that are in poor condition. Annual arterial/collector paving will shift over to contracted crews, freeing the existing city crews to complete residential paving.

The 2012 Technology Strategic Resource Alignment (SRA) identified $40 million in technology operating and capital needs in order to bring the city's technology infrastructure up to standard. A one time 2A funding of $3.45 million will be used to fund the update to the city's technology infrastructure including:

• Enterprise System Upgrades
• Telephony Infrastructure Replacement
• Internet Capacity and Security Upgrades