Raincross Group on 115 Trust

RE: Additions to the 115 Trust

I am writing on behalf of The Raincross Group, the long-standing Riverside support group of experienced community leaders.

We have heard numerous presentations and read articles about the impending financial challenges due to PERS. We understand the city's unfunded liability is about $627 million. We congratulate the city for establishing the 115 Irrevocable Trust for the purpose of setting aside funds to help pay the PERS unfunded liability.

At the present time the city has $4 million General Fund reserve funds in excess of the city's aspirational reserve goal of 20%. We endorse the proposal to put this $4 million into the 115 Trust.

We recommend that the City Council take this one step further. The city established the 20%, Aspirational General Fund Reserve goal before the PERS unfunded liability was clearly defined. Reserves are designed to provide a contingency against catastrophic events. We believe the PERS unfunded liability qualifies as a possible catastrophic event. Thus, we recommend that the city add an additional $10 million to the 115 Trust. We believe this action will leave the General Fund reserves at about 17%. This is still above the 15% reserve level that is considered a Best Practice by California Cities.

Using $10 million from the 20% Aspirational reserve goal will be definitive step in addressing the PERS unfunded liability and will remove the temptation to spend it on something else that does not constitute a pending catastrophe.

Raincross Group on Measure A

SUPPORT for MEASURE a ($715M RCCD Bond Measure) on the March 3, 2020 Ballot

The Raincross Group, a longstanding Riverside support group composed of experienced community leaders, supports and endorses Measure A, the $715 million bond measure on the March 3, 2020 ballot.

This Measure is proposed by the Riverside Community College District (RCCD) as a college improvement bond.

If approved by 55% of the voters, it would provide funding for all campuses to:

• Maintain and improve classrooms and student service centers

• Expand access for students with disabilities

• Improve student safety with security lighting, cameras, communication systems, smoke detectors, and fire alarms

The Raincross Group supports Measure A for several reasons:

• It will provide funding for improvements on all 3 campuses (Riverside, Norco, Moreno Valley)

• It would cost approximately $50.00 per year for the typical homeowner

• The proposed improvements are very much needed and overdue

• The last RCCD bond issue was approved by voters in 2014, and the funds have been properly and successfully invested in the promised projects

The Riverside Community College District provides affordable higher education to about 60,000 students, added nearly $1 billion to the local economy in 2019, and supports nearly 13,000 local jobs.

We respectfully recommend a YES VOTE ON MEASURE A on the March 3, 2020 ballot.

Successful Main Library Advocacy

Raincross Group is proud to announce that on February 5th, 2019 the City Council of Riverside voted 5-1 to approve main library funding. We want to thank everyone that came out to speak and all those who signed our change.org petition.

We'd also like to extend our appreciation to the Riverside City Council for agreeing to move forward with the library plans. We will continue to provide updates on the library as they become available.

Downtown Riverside Main Library Advocacy

The Raincross Group urges the Riverside City Council and Mayor of Riverside to approve financing  and move forward with construction of the new downtown library. Approval of the library is crucial for the revitalization of downtown Riverside.

Signing onto this petition will assist in showing council members the urgency in approval of the finances and construction of the new library.