REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 08/21/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: City Manager’s Office - City Clerk
SUBJECT:
Title
RESOLUTION NO. 2024-072, APPROVING THE CITY-WIDE RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to update and amend the City-wide Records Retention Schedule to modernize the City’s records retention requirements. This schedule will facilitate document management and specify the times and circumstances at which City Departments may purge obsolete physical and electronic records efficiently and legally pursuant to Government Code Sections 34090 through 34090.6 and the Secretary of State’s Local Government Records Management Guidelines, as mandated by Government Code Section 12236 et seq.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2024-072, approving the City-wide Records Retention Schedule.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
Government Code Section 34090 provides a process whereby any City record which has served its purpose and is no longer required or is not classified as a “permanent record” may be destroyed as long as the destruction of said records follows a transparent statutory process and will not interfere with the services and functions of the City. Making periodic updates to a public agency’s records retention in an open setting serves two purposes. First, the modern records retention schedule informs the public, staff, and public officials of the City’s requirements for records management and lawful destruction. Second, an update like this provides a rational and responsible way to maintain critical documents while purging and streamlining the agencies’ files of non-essential paperwork.
The Secretary of the State of California has established guidelines for the maintenance of records for local government agencies, including City and county agencies. These guidelines and the statutes cited above serve as the basis for establishing local retention requirements for documents maintained in the City’s Departments. The local records retention schedule reflects the types of documents and files that are currently in use or maintained in the Departments.
Departments accumulate records that pertain to the operation and administration of the City. These records include both physical (hardcopy or microfilmed images) and electronically stored documents.
Staff engaged with a consultant, Gladwell Governmental Services, Inc. (GGS), to develop an updated City-wide Records Retention Schedule to continue the City’s commitment to best recordkeeping practices and reflect the Departments’ business practices. The schedule will apply to all types of City records, regardless of format, including paper, electronic, microforms, social media, electronic texts, portable media, and any future information formats adopted by the Departments. GGS worked with each division to develop a uniform schedule for physical and electronic records maintained in their respective Departments. This schedule identifies all record series (types of records) and is the basis for updating the City’s Records Retention Schedules that are now presented for the City Council’s consideration.
ANALYSIS:
The Records Retention Schedule, included as Exhibit A to Resolution No. 2024-072, applies to all Departments and functions and denotes the retention requirements and timeframes for each record series based on state, federal, and other minimum requirements of applicable law, as well as each Department’s administrative, operational, historical, and reference needs. Each Department has approved the associated citations and references. In some cases, the City has opted to retain records for a longer period of time than required by state or federal law. In no instance has the City opted to retain a record for a shorter period of time than required by law. In all cases, the minimum time period for retention under Government Code Section 34090 is two years.
The program's purpose is to apply efficient and economical methods to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of all records managed by the City.
The retention schedules were written interactively with representatives from all Departments participating in the project. They provide clear, specific record descriptions and retention periods and apply current law and technology to the management of City records. By identifying which Department is responsible for maintaining the original record and by establishing clear retention periods for different categories of records, Corona will realize significant savings in labor costs, storage costs, free filing cabinets, and office space, and realize operational efficiencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no cost associated with this request.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is to adopt a City-wide Records Retention Schedules. There is no possibility that this action will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: SYLVIA EDWARDS, CITY CLERK
REVIEWED BY: JUSTIN TUCKER, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Citywide Retention Schedules
2. Exhibit 2 - Resolution No. 2024-072
3. Exhibit 3 - Records Destruction Policy
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Electronic Telecommunications Policy