State of La Quinta: Leaders tout fiscal health, progress on SilverRock, business growth
Sherry Barkas
La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans touted the city's financial stability, welcoming business climate and progress on several capital improvement projects Wednesday at the annual State of the City.
She pointed to the Highway 111 corridor project as one of the biggest challenges facing the city in the coming years. The city gets 75% of its sales tax revenue from the 2-mile stretch of Highway 111.
Hosted by the Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce, the luncheon event drew about 300 people to the Embassy Suites in La Quinta.
Evans was joined in the presentation by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sanchez and Councilmembers Robert Radi, John Peña and Kathleen Fitzpatrick – each of whom delivered an update on a specific topic.
Evans touted the development of the city's "crown jewel," SilverRock Resort, which is on course for the two Montage brand luxury hotels to open in fall 2021.
A presentation by SilverRock Resort developer Robert Green included a drone video of the site where the Montage and Pendry luxury hotels and residential units are being built – a key development for the city's financial future.
"A major milestone was met about a week-and-a-half ago when submitted our first set of drawings for vertical construction of the Montage residential units," Green said.
Plans for the 134-room Montage hotel also have been submitted and within about two weeks, plans will be submitted for the conference and shared services building, he said.
By the end of the year, all of the drawings for the entire $400 million project, including the 200-room Pendry hotel, will be filed with the city for plan check, Green said, and vertical build should begin in spring 2020.
"It's a great feat …," he said.
When the first phase is complete and the hotels are open, the resort will have more than 500 employees. When the full 525 acres are built out, "we will have over 1,000 employees to run that project on a daily basis," Green said.
"We are trying to put a completely different look on everything that we're doing, so it's very unique and compelling architecturally and from a design perspective," he said. "We're very excited to be in La Quinta. We plan to be here for a very, very, very long time."
La Quinta's financial outlook
The general fund operates with a budget of nearly $58 million, and for this fiscal year was adopted with a surplus of roughly $292,000.
"The financial picture of the city of La Quinta is very robust. You should all be very proud of it," Radi said.
Transient occupancy – or TOT – sales and property taxes are the primary revenue sources for the city. Public safety – police and fire account for 43% of expenditures, followed by capital improvement projects.
The voter-approved Measure G, which raised the city's sales tax 1 percentage point starting in 2017 and now brings $10.2 million in additional revenue to the city per year, is used to help with police costs; infrastructure, landscaping and other projects as prioritized by residents.
The city also has paid 50% of unfunded pension liabilities with about $6.8 million.
Total, the city has about $37.7 million in various reserve accounts.
Improving roads, drainage
Much of Wednesday's presentation focused on multi-million-dollar capital improvement projects – the ongoing work in the Village area, along with drainage improvements on Calle Tampico and Eisenhower Drive and landscape improvements to the north area.
"We've come a long way since incorporation (in 1982) when we had dirt streets out here, no curbs and gutters …," said Peña. "That was always one of our dreams, to improve everything that is good about La Quinta and we're getting there."
Highway 111: While a lot of projects are underway, there are also many in the design stage, Evans said.
Among the projects is the city's Highway 111 "vision" project. Earlier this year, the city contracted with Rangwala and Associates consulting firm to help develop a plan that will guide how Highway 111 properties can continue to grow and thrive.
"How do we combine retail-tainment? how do we continue the traffic flow, but perhaps standardize the landscaping look, the signage in all those areas? How do we coordinate with all those business owners up there … that we don't always have control over but can partner with to make that experience more exciting?"
Those are the challenges, Evans said.
The analysis by Rangwala is expected to help guide the city with those decisions.
A joint City Council and Planning Commission study session is planned later this month to review the study.
Village Complete Streets: Phase 1 of the $13.5 million Village complete streets construction project – which most encountered on Calle Tampico when they arrived at Embassy Suites on Wednesday – is underway .
The project is focused on making the roadways safer and more accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists in the La Quinta Village, Fitzpatrick said.
Phase 1 of the project includes a mid-street crosswalk in front of the hotel and leading to Old Town as well as drainage improvements on Calle Tampico, she said.
A roundabout at Desert Club Drive and Tampico was recently completed.
"Work within the roadways will be complete by Thanksgiving, and they will then start work on sidewalks," Fitzpatrick said.
The second phase of the project is expected to start in January at Avenida Bermudas and Avenue 52, she said.
Stay up-to-date on the project with alerts, by texting LAQUINTAVILLAGE at 222828.
The city has received about 183 licenses for new businesses within the city over the past year, Evans said.
Among those recently opened or coming to the city are Floor & Décor; Marriott Residence Inn; golf cart dealer Cart Mart; Caddyshack Golf Cars; and Marvyn's Magic Theatre.
Evans asked that the chamber coordinate efforts to help promote the new businesses. "This just helps everybody," she said.
The city has received 514 new short-term rental permit applications since October 2018, bringing the total licensed vacation rentals in the city to 1,305, Sanchez said.
The rentals brought the city just over $3.5 million in TOT revenue for fiscal year 2018-19, he said.
The city is partnering with a new vendor to oversee the vacation rental properties, find those that are not licensed and bring them into compliance and assist with permit renewals.
In concluding the State of the City, Evans pointed out that while Wednesday's update focused largely on infrastructure, just two years ago, the council was talking about the floods and how the city needed to invest "millions and millions of dollars to make our roads better and our drainage system better. And those are things that are happening," Evans said.
"Walkability, sense of community – all those things are happening, but we've got to have the infrastructure to attract the business, in order to attract the people … and it doesn't work without people," she said.
"We couldn't do this without everybody in this room," Evans said. "I think, as I look around this room, and realize the relationship I have with you, your businesses, the company, services you provide, it really is about community."
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Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com or (760) 778-4694. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherry