Financial Consultant Services for Public-Private Partnership

The City of Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (CAP) is located at 2100 E Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91362. The CAP contains City Hall, an 1,800 and 400 seat performing arts theatres, small tenant spaces, and various meetings rooms that are open to the public for reservation. In addition, there is a 700+ stall public parking structure on site that provides parking for customers utilizing City Hall and City and tenant staff. The parking structure charges a parking fee for patrons utilizing the theatres for performances.

City Council adopted a Downtown Core Master Plan (DCMP) to guide the development of the City’s downtown core along Thousand Oaks Boulevard, of which the CAP, Westside parcel, and Eastside parcel are located. The DCMP established a vision for the downtown core and identified the initiatives the City should pursue to create an active pedestrian-friendly area. The City established its Campus Master Plan Project (Project) to develop the CAP and Westside parcel located in the downtown core. Working with RRM Design Group and informed by public outreach, staff developed a conceptual plan for the development. The conceptual plan includes the construction of a new City Hall on a portion of the Westside parcel, private development of the Westside parcel, and adaptive reuse of the existing City Hall portion of the CAP with retail, office, and restaurant uses.

The City is seeking a financial services consultant to provide strategic, financial and economic analysis and services throughout the term of the Project. The City currently has $35 million in reserves for the Project and anticipates that to increase to $40 million by December 2024. Although the City does have cash set aside, it is anticipated that other financing strategies will need to be employed. This may include a combination of property disposition, including sale and/or lease of City-owned property, issuance of bonds, parking district formation, community facilities district formation, and/or other potential financing strategies. As the City intends to partner with a private developer for portions of the Project, analysis and recommendations on public-private partnership (P3) delivery methods are also requested.

The City of Thousand Oaks is located in eastern Ventura County and consists of 56 square miles. The City population is approximately 122,000. The City is a general law city operating under the Council/Manager form of government. The City Council is comprised of five elected members, with one member serving as Mayor on an annual basis. On July 18, 2023, the City Council adopted an ordinance which will move the City to district-based elections starting in November 2024.

The City owns property directly adjacent to the CAP, called the Eastside parcel and Westside parcel. The Eastside parcel was developed in the early 2000's via a Disposition and Development Agreement with Caruso Properties into The Lakes retail shopping center and surface parking. There is an existing Ground Lease between the City and Caruso. Caruso has an entitled project to develop the back portion of the parcel where the existing surface parking is with an apartment complex.

The former Thousand Oaks Redevelopment Agency purchased the Westside parcel prior to dissolution. The parcel was transferred to City ownership. The Westside parcel contains small buildings fronting Thousand Oaks Boulevard which are currently leased by the City to commercial tenants on a month-to-month basis. The City-owned parcels immediately behind the buildings are undeveloped.

City Council declared the Westside parcel surplus land at its June 18, 2024, City Council meeting. The City provided notice to the public as required under California's Surplus Land Act. The City did not receive any material requests to negotiate either a sale or lease of the subject property during the required time period under the Act and, based on the lack of interest from housing sponsors, will now move forward with considering a variety of uses for the property consistent with the vision identified by City Council.

In addition to this RFP/Q, the City plans to issue an RFP/Q for Architectural Engineering Services for the Project on September 20, 2024.

Financial Information:

The City has a FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget of $112,958,450. Police services are provided via contract with Ventura County Sheriff's Office. Fire services are provided by the Ventura County Fire Protection District. As of June 30, 2023, ending General Fund fund balance increased $15.1 million compared to prior fiscal year’s increase of $3.1 million, from $166.2 million to $181.2 million, of which $17.5 million is unassigned. General Fund Revenues, including other financing sources, for FY 2022-23 were $107.8 million, an increase of $13.2 million (14.0 percent) compared to FY 2021-22. Sales Tax is the primary revenue source for the City's General Fund, comprising approximately 1/3 of revenue. The City incorporated without a general municipal property tax and is considered a low property tax city. The City receives property taxes in the form of tax equity allocation (TEA) and property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees (VLF).

Debt Information:

On April 15, 2020, the City's Public Financing Authority issued $8,790,000 of 2020 Refunding Lease Revenue Bonds. The purpose of the bonds is to redeem the Authority’s 2010 Refunding Lease Revenue Bonds. These bonds are payable solely from, and secured by, a pledge of revenues consisting primarily of lease payments to be made by the City pursuant to a lease agreement. If the City defaults on its obligation to make lease payments due over the term of the lease agreement, there is no available remedy for acceleration of the total lease payments due over the term of the lease agreement. The bonds mature annually in amounts ranging from $650,000 on June 1, 2021, to $970,000 in 2031. Interest on the bonds is payable on June 1 and December 1 of each year, at an interest rate of 4.0 percent. As of June 30, 2023, amounts outstanding with and without unamortized premiums are $7,415,036 and $6,760,000, respectively. The bonds were for the improvement of the City's two libraries, including construction of a children's expansion of the Thousand Oaks Grant R. Brimhall Library.

The City has two existing community facilities districts and subsequently issued bonds for the construction of public improvements within these districts. The bonds are liabilities of the property owners and are secured by liens against the assessed property. The City acts merely as the fiscal agent for the collection of principal and interest payments from the property owners, disbursement of such monies to the bondholders, and, if appropriate, initiation of foreclosure proceedings. As such, these bonds in the outstanding amount of $14,599,000 as of June 30, 2023, are not considered obligations of the City and are not reflected in the accompanying basic financial statements.

Legal Debt Margin Calculation for FY 2022-23

Assessed value $35,349,644,233

Debt limit (3.75% of total assessed value) $1,325,611,659

Less net amount of debt applicable to debt limit $7,415,036

Legal debt margin $1,318,196,623