Newport OKs standalone Harbor Department

The Newport Beach Harbor Department will become a standalone unit in City Hall.

The City Council voted Tuesday to put the new department under supervision of the city manager as part of the city’s overall budget for the upcoming 2018-19 fiscal year. The department has been assigned a $1.1-million budget for the year, up from about $936,000 for harbor operations functions this fiscal year, as the city gives the unit more staff time.

The harbor operations division, which previously was under the assistant city manager, covers day-to-day, on-the-water needs, including code enforcement, mooring management and general customer service. It now essentially rebrands as the Harbor Department.

Another harbor-related arm, harbor resources, handles permitting and other land-use matters. Most of its functions will remain part of the Public Works Department, City Manager Dave Kiff said.

The Harbor Department’s agenda for the coming year includes a stronger focus on code enforcement, updating fee schedules, beginning revisions to the harbor code and getting lifeguards in place to handle after-hours needs.

In a related item, the council gave final approval to restructuring the Municipal Operations Department by moving its general services portion to the Public Works Department and allowing its utilities arm to stand on its own.

Budget approved

Also on Tuesday, the council approved next fiscal year’s $336.8-million budget.

Budget documents show $215.6 million in revenue for the general fund, the city’s main operating fund, and $208.4 million in operating expenditures. The new fiscal year starts July 1.

Highlights in addition to the new Harbor Department include another police officer assigned to schools, jail “matrons” to help with women in custody, a full-time civilian fire marshal, preliminary plans for a new Junior Lifeguard headquarters and a lecture hall at the Central Library, and another voluntary pension debt payment of close to $9 million beyond the minimum.

Mayor Pro Tem Will O’Neill underscored the city’s pension strategy of paying more without raising local taxes.

“Newport Beach is one of the only cities that I know of that is projecting a decrease in the pension liability in the next year and the year after that,” he said. “I can’t tell you what a big deal that is.”

But pension issues drove Councilman Scott Peotter to vote against the budget.

He said he supports making the extra payments but doesn’t want them to go straight to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Instead, he wants the city to set aside the above-and-beyond payment amounts in a pension trust fund, or at least in a designated reserve fund until the city has fully evaluated the idea of a pension trust, which he said the city has previously offered to do but the Finance Committee has “procrastinated” on.

“That is a big deal,” Peotter said. “I don’t believe you should put all your eggs in one basket.”

Parking management

The council agreed to contract with a new parking management firm to collect fees for pay parking spaces, maintain meters and payment stations and enforce local parking regulations.

AmeriPark, part of the nationwide firm Citizens Parking, will handle the duties under an agreement not to exceed $7.3 million over five years.

The city has more than 4,000 on-street and off-street paid parking spaces, including the large beach lots. Parking revenue was about $7.8 million last year and is on track to beat that this year, according to a city staff report.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD