City Council Workshops (09-21-26)

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[0:00] All right. Welcome, everyone.

[0:22] We’ll get our workshop started

[0:25] Today is September 21st, and we

[0:28] have a workshop today on the

[0:31] biennium budget. So let’s just

[0:34] as a reminder, have make sure

[0:36] your mics on when you speak a

[0:38] state your name. And we’ll get

[0:40] started with staff introducing

[0:42] themselves.

[0:44] >> Good afternoon, Mayor Pro

[0:45] Tem Council community. Lisa

[0:47] Brandel, deputy city manager.

[0:50] >> Good afternoon. Kadee Skyle

[0:52] Chief Financial Officer Good to

[0:53] see you.

[0:57] >> Are you ready to begin?

[0:59] >> Yes. Okay, we’ll go ahead

[1:02] and get started. This is our

[1:04] workshop on the City Manager’s

[1:06] recommended biennium budget

[1:08] preview. And we’ll go ahead and

[1:10] get started. And so we have

[1:15] prepared an agenda here. We ar

[1:17] going to start with opening

[1:19] remarks from our City Manager,

[1:20] Lannen Pluckhahn. We are going

[1:23] to go over the budget

[1:25] presentation history, how we’ve

[1:27] gotten here to this point, a

[1:28] the status, an overview of the

[1:33] 2728 biennium budget. It’s a

[1:35] preview, an overview, and and

[1:38] highlights. We’re going to go

[1:39] into some specific highlights

[1:41] of the budget. And then we are

[1:44] going to discuss revenue. The

[1:48] strategies that we’ve talked

[1:50] about a few times with you. O

[1:52] the budget and how we prepare

[1:54] it and update on the general

[1:58] fund, Fire and Street Forecas

[2:01] We’re going to talk a little

[2:03] bit about the timeline, the

[2:05] remaining timeline on the

[2:07] biennium budget, and then have

[2:10] opportunities for discussion.

[2:11] But at any time during this

[2:13] presentation, please feel free

[2:14] to ask us any questions. So

[2:18] with that, I’m going to turn it

[2:20] over to our city manager,

[2:21] Lannen Pluckhahn. To start wit

[2:23] opening remarks.

[2:25] >> All right. Thank you, Lisa.

[2:27] So I’m happy to be able to

[2:28] bring the council, the current

[2:29] state of the budget as we head

[2:31] towards October, which is our

[2:32] publication deadline leading

[2:33] into November, which would be

[2:35] the final approval of the

[2:37] budget. And as the Council may

[2:39] remember, we’ve approached thi

[2:41] budget season a little

[2:42] differently than we have in t

[2:43] past. One of the things that I

[2:45] wanted to commit to early on

[2:46] was really going back and

[2:47] taking a very close look at how

[2:49] the city used the money that we

[2:51] already had, and use that to

[2:53] frame how the budget would be

[2:55] shaped going forward. And as w

[2:57] really got into some of the

[2:58] items related to the budget, I

[3:00] know you’ve heard me use the

[3:01] term reset budget for some of

[3:03] the items that really were n

[3:06] more study than we were going

[3:07] to be able to complete leading

[3:09] in the run up to this budget.

[3:10] And so some of those decisions

[3:12] led us to being able to pause

[3:14] some ongoing expenses,

[3:16] including things like

[3:18] contributions to the city’s

[3:19] vehicle fund for equipment

[3:22] repair, and replacement for all

[3:23] of the rolling stock that we

[3:25] buy for our non public safety

[3:26] related departments. And I say

[3:28] that because I know that the

[3:30] numbers definitely look bette

[3:31] in the third year than they had

[3:32] in the past. But I just want to

[3:34] be a little bit cautious about

[3:36] that, because some of the

[3:37] decisions that we have made now

[3:38] are holding year three on the

[3:40] forecast artificially lower

[3:41] than it would be. We would

[3:43] fully anticipate that some of

[3:44] those costs and expenses will

[3:46] have to show up into the nex

[3:47] year’s budget. But compared to

[3:49] where we started with a loomi

[3:51] deficit for the coming bienniu

[3:52] that we were largely able to

[3:54] eliminate through a combination

[3:56] of ongoing expense changes and

[3:58] also some one time use of fun

[4:02] I’m pretty happy with where

[4:03] we’re sitting, and one of the

[4:05] things I just want to

[4:07] acknowledge is that, you know,

[4:08] I feel like there might be a

[4:11] little bit of budget whiplash

[4:12] going on with people having

[4:13] looked at the budget numbers

[4:14] the first time and remembering

[4:16] what we went through in 2024,

[4:18] where we ended up having to d

[4:20] staff reductions and did some

[4:21] pretty dramatic staff

[4:23] reductions to where we’re

[4:24] sitting now, where we’re not

[4:25] projecting a deficit going

[4:26] forward. And we’re actually

[4:28] able to not only continue to

[4:29] put funding towards some of the

[4:31] council’s ongoing priorities,

[4:33] but also address some of the

[4:34] ones that council has asked us

[4:36] to look at over the last coupl

[4:38] of years. So there are some

[4:41] decision points in there where

[4:42] we still need some input from

[4:43] the City Council during this

[4:45] session that will really help

[4:46] us shape the next iteration of

[4:48] the budget, and that would be

[4:49] the one that would be headed

[4:51] out towards publication on

[4:53] October 1st. And full printing

[4:54] and public consumption. So w

[4:57] that, I will turn it back ove

[4:58] to Lisa and Katie, unless you

[5:02] have any questions for me ahead

[5:04] of that.

[5:06] >> Do you have any questions?

[5:08] Okay. No questions. Let’s go

[5:09] ahead.

[5:11] >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. We’re

[5:13] going to start a little bit

[5:15] about the process and how we

[5:16] got to this point, going over

[5:18] the budget presentations that

[5:21] we’ve shared with you since t

[5:24] spring. Starting with today,

[5:26] we’ve had a total of four

[5:27] budget workshops starting in

[5:32] April 27th and then in July.

[5:34] And we had a brief, a August

[5:37] 24th. We do have ongoing

[5:40] structural deficit about that

[5:43] later, although it has closed

[5:46] little bit. When you saw it i

[5:50] August, the the structural

[5:53] deficit comes from deferral o

[5:54] a decade through constrained

[5:57] spending and new revenues. And

[6:00] during the April, April 27th

[6:02] workshop, we forecasted a

[6:04] deficit. And as long mentioned

[6:06] in his opening remarks, we

[6:08] decided to analyze past legac

[6:12] practices, practices. The

[6:13] structure of the budget makes

[6:15] them operational decisions and

[6:17] return in July. And then when

[6:20] we returned in July, we shared

[6:23] that we had a closure of the

[6:25] deficit for 2728, forecasted

[6:28] with use of one time funds,

[6:31] pausing a program,

[6:32] contributions, leveraging other

[6:34] funding sources, new revenue,

[6:37] and some internal operational

[6:40] decisions. And during August,

[6:42] we did some revision to the

[6:44] financial and investment

[6:46] policies, which were approved

[6:49] by council. Thank you for doing

[6:51] that. And we provided an upd

[6:54] to the budget on the work don

[6:56] to date. And today we’re going

[6:59] to preview the city manager’s

[7:01] budget with the majority of the

[7:03] status quo. Continuation of

[7:06] council priorities, opportunity

[7:08] for discussion with you and

[7:10] receive your feedback and

[7:12] preparation for the October 1st

[7:14] budget publication. So with

[7:19] that, we’re going to go into

[7:20] the overview of the 2728

[7:25] biennium budget. So with this

[7:29] budget, we have held departm

[7:31] spending patterns. In fact, we

[7:33] have scrutinized them more than

[7:34] in the past, which will have a

[7:37] downstream effect in the future

[7:39] years. We’ve made some

[7:40] operational decisions that lay

[7:42] the foundation for the city to

[7:44] continue its work and meet the

[7:46] challenges of the future. We’ve

[7:48] been strategic on the use of

[7:50] leveraging existing funding

[7:51] that’s pivoted away from

[7:53] reliance on the general fund,

[7:55] which also has a future

[7:57] downstream effect. Importantly,

[7:59] this budget continues the

[8:01] priorities of council that has

[8:03] been outlined in the strategic

[8:05] plan and also addresses other

[8:06] emerging issues such as public

[8:09] defense. We are preparing for

[8:10] the future needs that are

[8:12] coming, such as debt service

[8:14] for capital projects of the

[8:16] Public Works Operational Center,

[8:19] PFAs and other future impacts

[8:21] such as annexation. We

[8:24] reallocated the budget where

[8:25] necessary, to fund needed

[8:28] initiatives. We redefined the

[8:30] ongoing budget from past

[8:32] practices and pivoting to new

[8:34] practice budget practices that

[8:36] allow for planning for the

[8:38] future. And so we are going t

[8:42] talk about the highlights of

[8:44] the work that’s continuing t

[8:46] be done, such as the

[8:48] comprehensive plan

[8:50] implementation, the continued

[8:51] work in homelessness support

[8:53] and outreach, public defense,

[8:55] and affordable housing. So I’

[8:59] going to share something that

[9:01] I’ve heard our city manager say

[9:03] often. We often focus on what

[9:06] we’re not able to do, but not

[9:08] on the work that we’re doing

[9:09] and what is possible. So

[9:12] despite constrained resources,

[9:14] these next slides show counc

[9:17] and the community what the cit

[9:18] is continuing to do while als

[9:20] preparing for the future. We

[9:25] are increasing funding for

[9:26] public defense. We are

[9:30] proceeding with construction

[9:31] and or remodel of fire stati

[9:33] three, six and eight with

[9:35] proposition two bank capacity.

[9:37] We’re funding for seed work

[9:39] into annexation, including a

[9:41] partnership with Clark County.

[9:44] We are supporting the opening

[9:45] of the Bridge Shelter, which i

[9:47] opening this fall, and the

[9:49] study for the Performing Arts

[9:50] Center, which is in process

[9:52] right now. There are component

[9:57] in the budget for the Heights

[9:59] development, affordable housing

[10:02] the rental registration progr

[10:04] and the Chekalov building

[10:06] remodel and specific items

[10:08] under equity, climate and

[10:11] community safety. We’re also

[10:13] going to talk a little bit

[10:15] about organizational resilienc

[10:17] which established resources for

[10:18] the city to meet future nee

[10:20] and prepare for unforeseen

[10:22] circumstances. These next few

[10:24] slides will highlight those

[10:26] specific items under Programs

[10:27] of interest, City Council

[10:29] priority themes, and

[10:31] organizational resiliency. So

[10:36] the first slide we’re going to

[10:37] highlight the homeless program

[10:40] within the budget. The included

[10:43] in the budget is support for

[10:44] the bridge shelter, which is

[10:46] going to open this fall, as

[10:48] well as an emergency shelter

[10:50] assessment that develops a ten

[10:51] year capital improvement plan

[10:53] for all the city sites. The

[10:55] assessment will include asset

[10:57] management and future projects,

[10:59] and the heart team is growing

[11:01] in capacity due to the support

[11:03] from the Lynch Foundation,

[11:04] which is making a difference

[11:05] our community, and the Safe

[11:07] Stays and Safe Park will

[11:09] continue their operations.

[11:13] Under climate. A couple of

[11:15] items to highlight include a

[11:17] pilot of EV charging station

[11:19] for public stations and

[11:21] infrastructure implementation

[11:23] for city wide vehicles. Also,

[11:26] electronic vehicles are the

[11:28] standard for our city fleet,

[11:29] and anything different require

[11:31] an exception request. Parking

[11:33] is requesting electronic

[11:35] vehicles for their enforcement

[11:37] vehicles, and our police

[11:38] department is starting with a

[11:39] pilot for two patrol vehicles.

[11:42] Also included is a one time

[11:44] funding recommendation for

[11:46] solar installation installatio

[11:48] on the Firstenburg Community

[11:50] Center. Under equity, the

[11:55] equity goals of the

[11:56] comprehensive plan

[11:58] implementation are included.

[12:00] Continued training for city

[12:02] employees. Procurement will

[12:03] launch their five year

[12:05] Disparity study, and our

[12:06] General Services and Parks

[12:08] Department will work on Ada

[12:10] transition plan, work in

[12:11] various facilities and project

[12:17] And under community safety

[12:19] training and equipment

[12:21] resources are included for fir

[12:22] and is previously mentioned.

[12:24] The proposition two bank

[12:26] capacity will be used for fire

[12:27] station projects. Funding for

[12:30] an assessment of a regional

[12:31] fire authority is also included

[12:34] under police. In addition to

[12:36] the funding for proposition

[12:37] five, the Criminal Justice

[12:39] Grant and public Safety sales

[12:41] tax, funding for a headquarter

[12:44] land acquisition and resources

[12:46] for equipment are also include

[12:49] in additional note is that we

[12:50] will be working with both

[12:52] departments to establish an

[12:54] equipment repair and

[12:55] replacement strategy, which

[12:56] does not exist currently, much

[12:59] like we do for IT equipment,

[13:01] that funding is available when

[13:02] needed and doesn’t need to be

[13:04] requested at every biennium.

[13:09] Community safety also include

[13:11] transportation projects. These

[13:12] are. These are. This is just a

[13:15] highlight of some of the

[13:16] projects under transportation

[13:18] by no means includes all of

[13:20] them. So under the category of

[13:23] transportation, there is a

[13:24] total of 51.2 million in

[13:27] requested total projects. And

[13:29] under Transportation and

[13:31] mobility, there is a 101.100

[13:35] and 1.1 million in projects

[13:37] included in the 2728 budget.

[13:44] And under economic development

[13:47] extension of a position is

[13:49] included for continued support

[13:51] for small businesses in the

[13:53] downtown area and will also

[13:55] assist small business

[13:57] procurement, outreach and

[13:59] tracking for our procurement

[14:01] department. There’s a request

[14:04] for small business incubator

[14:06] focusing on product to market

[14:09] and construction and trade

[14:10] programs that support both hig

[14:12] growth startups and culturally

[14:14] aligned small businesses. It

[14:16] also focuses on accessing new

[14:19] markets and addressing local

[14:20] small business capital and

[14:23] support gaps in parking. The

[14:25] parking wayfinding will assist

[14:27] in improved site location

[14:29] identifiers to the community in

[14:31] downtown for parking, and the

[14:33] circulator assists with support

[14:34] for alternative mobility

[14:37] options. Under organizational

[14:43] resiliency. It refers to those

[14:45] items in the recommended budget

[14:46] that strengthen the city

[14:48] externally and internally. We

[14:51] do this by by anticipating l

[14:53] term changes in building long

[14:55] term viability. This is

[14:58] expressed in different items

[14:59] within the forthcoming

[15:01] recommended recommended budget,

[15:02] such as assessing our

[15:04] facilities in the historic

[15:06] trust and other existing

[15:08] facilities, conducting

[15:10] structural repairs in the

[15:12] officer’s row, dredging in the

[15:14] marine boat in the Marine Park

[15:16] boat launch area, replacing

[15:19] equipment in our parks,

[15:21] bringing on a professional

[15:23] investment advisor for our

[15:25] investment pool and sustaining

[15:27] our departments in parks,

[15:28] general services and finance t

[15:31] reduce leadership

[15:33] vulnerabilities. Under

[15:37] Comprehensive plan. Now that

[15:39] it’s adopted, the

[15:40] implementation work continues

[15:42] and begins at the same time.

[15:44] This includes review and

[15:47] monitoring, implementation of

[15:48] the equity goals, updating th

[15:50] park’s comprehensive plan, and

[15:52] having the staff capacity for

[15:54] key near-term goals and subarea

[15:57] planning. And these are some o

[15:59] the items relating relating t

[16:01] the work for the comp plan.

[16:03] It’s just a highlight. There

[16:04] are a few others in the

[16:06] recommended budget. Under

[16:11] boards and commissions. There

[16:12] is a point here for discussion

[16:15] with you in the recommended

[16:18] recommended budget. There is a

[16:20] recommendation for Boards and

[16:22] Commissions coordinator. The

[16:24] coordinator will will report

[16:26] the Director of Engagement an

[16:28] Access and lead the day to day

[16:30] work along with the coordinator

[16:32] There is a recommendation to

[16:34] engage for services to review

[16:35] all the boards and commissions

[16:37] as required in the Council

[16:39] policy 100 Dash six, which is

[16:42] review every four years of the

[16:43] boards and commissions under

[16:46] the leadership of the Director

[16:47] of Engagement and Access, the

[16:49] coordinator would handle this

[16:50] work. In addition to any pol

[16:52] updates, work with staff

[16:54] liaisons on annual reports,

[16:56] assist admin in scheduling,

[16:58] work with you on direction for

[17:00] board and commission

[17:02] recruitments, goals, formation

[17:03] and or dissolution, performance

[17:06] measures and other direction.

[17:08] If approved, the coordinator

[17:10] position would allow the

[17:11] director to continue her work

[17:13] for Vancouver for all engaged

[17:15] with the community and city

[17:16] employees. At this point, the

[17:19] breadth and level of the work

[17:21] of boards and commissions

[17:22] warrants a position up for

[17:25] council discussion is the

[17:26] request for an additional

[17:28] position. A youth coordinator

[17:29] that would work with the board

[17:31] and commissions. As it has bee

[17:32] stated by some counselors, the

[17:34] desire to engage with youth

[17:36] more. At this point in the

[17:39] recommended budget, a youth

[17:40] coordinator position was not

[17:42] recommended at this time due t

[17:43] trade offs that we had to make

[17:45] in the budget. If there is a

[17:48] desire for a youth coordinator,

[17:49] it would be an additional

[17:51] ongoing cost to the general

[17:52] fund of approximately 121,000

[17:56] per year. The boards and

[17:58] commissions coordinator is the

[18:00] same cost is the same annual

[18:02] ongoing cost. So I’m going to

[18:05] take a pause here and see if

[18:09] Council would like to discuss

[18:10] that. Adding a possible youth

[18:13] coordinator position on top o

[18:15] a boards and commissions

[18:18] coordinator position.

[18:20] >> All right. I’d also like us

[18:21] to open up for questions on the

[18:23] previous slides too. Sure.

[18:24] Because this is a very narro

[18:26] topic and we just went through

[18:27] 20 slides before that. So why

[18:30] don’t we first see if anyone

[18:31] has any thoughts or comments

[18:34] the question before us on You

[18:37] Coordinator. Counselors.

[18:42] >> I thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

[18:48] Long wanted this. So parting

[18:52] shots. Yes, I, I would like y

[18:58] know, we’re building a city f

[18:59] future generations. And I think

[19:02] those voices need to be

[19:03] integrated in order for them t

[19:05] be integrated fully and

[19:08] supported. Well, I think there

[19:11] needs to be something to walk

[19:13] through that somebody to walk

[19:15] through the process with them.

[19:16] So I, for one, am in support

[19:19] trying to find that funding.

[19:21] Thank you.

[19:22] >> Okay. All right. Counselor

[19:26] Perez.

[19:28] >> Thank you. I you know,

[19:31] Ridgefield has just recently

[19:33] added a youth council. The

[19:35] center now has a youth council,

[19:37] and we are a much bigger

[19:39] population with a growing youth

[19:43] population that deserves our

[19:46] attention indoors and inclusion

[19:50] into civic life. And for a very

[19:52] long time, we we have tried t

[19:57] incorporate services and

[19:58] programs that really benefit

[19:59] youth. At the end of the day,

[20:01] we need a youth council for the

[20:03] City of Vancouver, whether

[20:05] that’s coordinated by youth

[20:08] coordinator or a different typ

[20:10] of position. We need a youth

[20:12] council for the City of

[20:14] Vancouver. It’s ridiculous to

[20:18] see our surrounding

[20:20] jurisdictions that are way

[20:21] smaller in population size be

[20:24] further ahead than we are. A

[20:28] so whatever we need to do to go

[20:30] back and look at whatever

[20:32] positions we don’t want to

[20:34] narrow it to just a youth

[20:36] coordinator. But the outcome is

[20:37] we want to have an established

[20:39] youth council that we work w

[20:44] >> Councilor Harless.

[20:47] >> Yeah, I would love for us to

[20:49] explore how to do that as well.

[20:52] And, you know, prioritizing the

[20:55] boards and commissions

[20:56] coordinator, obviously that

[20:57] makes sense. However, I know

[20:59] there’s also other

[21:00] opportunities. If it’s not

[21:02] somebody that is a youth

[21:03] coordinator in title, maybe

[21:04] it’s an internship with one of

[21:05] our colleges or universities

[21:07] that are in the area. You know,

[21:10] those students need internshi

[21:12] opportunities. Sometimes

[21:13] they’re at no cost or low cos

[21:15] because they’re getting credits

[21:16] through the university, and

[21:18] that could be under the boards

[21:21] and commissions coordinator,

[21:22] for example, who would oversee

[21:24] that intern. I know we do

[21:26] internships in many departments

[21:28] here, so that might be an

[21:29] opportunity there until when.

[21:32] And if we could have someone

[21:34] specifically as a youth

[21:36] coordinator. But yeah, again,

[21:40] agree with where Councilmember

[21:42] Perez was going, where it’s

[21:44] more about the outcome of a

[21:45] youth council. That is the

[21:48] desire that I’ve heard up her

[21:50] from everybody.

[21:53] >> Any other counselor? Super.

[21:56] >> Thank you. I am I don’t

[22:00] think this is the time or p

[22:02] to debate how youth are

[22:06] integrated in, whether they’re

[22:08] integrated into existing board

[22:09] and commissions, or if it’s a

[22:10] separate youth council. I am,

[22:15] but I’m interested in seeing

[22:18] proposal more fully fleshed out

[22:20] Thank you.

[22:23] >> Any more thoughts on the

[22:24] Youth Coordinator portion of

[22:26] this question? Right now? I’d

[22:29] like to open it up for any

[22:31] thoughts or comments on the

[22:32] previous slides that █were

[22:34] discussing the overall themes

[22:35] of the manager’s budget.

[22:41] Counselor Perez.

[22:42] >> I just quickly on one of th

[22:46] slides, it says, all things

[22:49] equal, I’m trying to remember

[22:52] what slide it was. Can you jus

[22:53] elaborate what that means?

[23:02] >> Slide.

[23:02] >> Assuming all things equal,

[23:05] what.

[23:06] >> So assuming all of our

[23:10] assumptions for revenue, we

[23:14] took our our forecast very

[23:16] conservatively on the revenue

[23:18] side. So without being overtly

[23:26] aggressive on the revenue, I

[23:27] would say so revenues always

[23:31] kind of hard, especially on th

[23:33] sales tax and other items. We

[23:36] were very conservative on tha

[23:41] >> So it’s just all things

[23:43] equal, like the same status q

[23:45] Is that what it means? Yes.

[23:46] Okay. Okay. All right.

[23:49] >> All right. I’d like us to go

[23:51] to slide 18. 18. Sorry. There

[23:58] you go. Well, maybe it isn’t 1

[24:02] on this presentation. It’s

[24:03] about the parks budget. Maybe

[24:06] go back one. Let’s see where w

[24:09] are.

[24:11] >> They were kind of

[24:12] interspersed through different

[24:14] slides.

[24:15] >> Well, so my question

[24:16] revolves around, you know, the

[24:18] there’s a on one of the slide

[24:22] Maybe there it is. Yeah. Oh

[24:23] it’s 19. It’s at 18. The deputy

[24:26] director positions for Parks

[24:27] and General Services has caugh

[24:29] my attention. And one of the

[24:31] questions I have around that

[24:34] knowing that we’ve we

[24:35] definitely cut back on parks

[24:37] staff, park maintenance staff.

[24:38] You know, in our last budget,

[24:41] to the detriment it appears

[24:44] from, you know, the comments

[24:45] we’ve received from the gener

[24:46] public on parks maintenance and

[24:49] just not having enough staff t

[24:51] to do all the things that need

[24:52] to happen. I mean, closing

[24:54] restrooms instead of cleaning

[24:55] them and repairing them, you

[24:56] know, isn’t really a good

[24:57] solution for parks. And so I’m

[24:59] wondering how we’re addressing

[25:00] it by hiring a deputy directo

[25:02] instead of perhaps utilizing

[25:04] that, that funding for more

[25:06] staffing, or maybe there is a

[25:09] staffing component that you’re

[25:10] not highlighting.

[25:12] >> I can speak directly to the

[25:16] position of the deputy directo

[25:19] So these two departments are

[25:22] the last two departments that

[25:24] don’t have a deputy director.

[25:26] And with the size of the cit

[25:30] it’s good practice to have a

[25:35] deputy director for the size

[25:37] and the breadth of the positio

[25:40] in case of any leadership

[25:44] issues, or we want to avoid a

[25:47] points of failure because of

[25:48] the importance of these

[25:50] departments. And as far as the

[25:54] service levels and the

[25:57] regarding the Department, I’m

[25:59] going to defer that question

[26:02] Dave Perlick. I don’t know if

[26:03] he’s online. Oh, Dave. Dave’s

[26:07] here. Sorry, I didn’t see you

[26:08] Dave. I know Dave worked out a

[26:11] plan on this position

[26:13] specifically.

[26:14] >> Okay.

[26:15] >> I would say my position was

[26:17] exactly your position in the

[26:19] last budget. You know, we

[26:20] focused on deploying staff at

[26:22] the level of ensuring we

[26:25] maintain as many programs and

[26:26] services as possible. I’m

[26:29] strongly in favor of this

[26:31] proposal and this budget cycle

[26:32] only speaking for parks. The

[26:34] reason being we need to have a

[26:37] future as well as sustained

[26:38] service levels. And ultimately,

[26:40] we’re talking about significant

[26:43] work in our parks comprehensive

[26:44] plan to align a proposal for

[26:48] potential long term funding.

[26:49] And we’re also talking about

[26:51] annexing up to 35 facilities

[26:54] with Clark County. And we can’t

[26:56] I don’t believe we can

[26:57] adequately plan for the future

[26:58] with our current staff

[27:00] complement, focusing primarily

[27:03] on deploying programs and

[27:05] services that we offer today.

[27:06] So I think that additional

[27:08] management position would

[27:10] primarily be focused on those

[27:13] preparing us for for annexatio

[27:15] growth and sustainable funding.

[27:17] >> Are you proposing in this

[27:19] budget cycle, additional

[27:20] maintenance staff in.

[27:24] >> Yes, you’ll see a proposal

[27:27] coming through public works

[27:28] budget that would restore

[27:31] seasonal temporary staff in

[27:33] grounds maintenance. So there

[27:34] would be some there are. And

[27:36] and we’re talking about an

[27:38] additional position being moved

[27:41] to deploy that position to

[27:44] better support events and, and

[27:47] activities in the downtown area

[27:49] during the summer. So we’re

[27:50] trying to address some of tho

[27:52] major service impacts. I think

[27:55] ultimately, we will continue t

[27:57] one step up, maybe one step or

[28:00] two step back as we move

[28:03] forward without additional

[28:05] dedicated funding. And so I

[28:06] think we want to do both. We

[28:08] want to manage our service

[28:09] levels as well as possible and

[28:10] current resources, but make

[28:12] sure we’re doing the work to

[28:13] plan for the future as well.

[28:17] >> Okay. Thanks for all of

[28:18] those responses. Something to

[28:21] think about. Any other comment

[28:23] or questions on these previous

[28:25] slides or any of the proposals

[28:28] so far? All right. Oh we do.

[28:32] Okay.

[28:33] >> Mayor Pro tem, I, I

[28:35] appreciate you bringing that up

[28:36] and, and would love to see what

[28:40] this position description

[28:42] fleshed out. Thank you.

[28:46] >> Would we be able to see the

[28:48] position descriptions of all

[28:49] these new positions being

[28:50] proposed, just to better

[28:51] understand how they align with

[28:52] the work of the city, because

[28:54] there’s multiple new positions

[28:56] being proposed with this budge

[29:01] Okay, councilor.

[29:03] >> Just one more thought as w

[29:05] talk about the organization of

[29:08] the city, the staffing and suc

[29:10] just wanting to consider how

[29:13] top heavy we are with that

[29:15] compared to staff that’s out o

[29:18] on the ground doing the work.

[29:19] So I’m curious as to what tha

[29:22] level of work looks like with

[29:25] the addition of these topper

[29:28] topper top positions, such as

[29:30] the deputy positions. Not to

[29:32] say that they’re not important

[29:34] but I want to get a better

[29:35] picture of what we’re adding

[29:37] and where we may be top heavi

[29:40] than others, and especially in

[29:43] the different areas that we

[29:45] talk about the departments.

[29:48] >> Okay, we can do that.

[29:50] >> Okay.

[29:52] Let’s move on. Thank

[29:54] you.

[29:58] >> Okay, so transitioning a

[30:00] little bit here. We wanted to

[30:02] provide the council with an

[30:03] overview of some of the key

[30:05] revenue items in the

[30:06] recommended budget. And as you

[30:09] know, we have a new combinati

[30:11] of public safety funding that

[30:12] is helping support this

[30:13] priority area. The public

[30:16] safety sales tax is going to go

[30:17] into effect next year, raising

[30:19] about 5.6 million in 2027 and

[30:23] 7,000,000 in 2028. This is

[30:25] planned to support 16 new

[30:27] police positions, providing

[30:28] ongoing operational support for

[30:30] the real time Information

[30:31] Center, as well as an increas

[30:33] in support for public defense.

[30:36] The related HB 2015 grant

[30:38] funding is going to help

[30:39] support some of these position

[30:40] costs for a period of time as

[30:42] well, and help fund one time

[30:43] costs associated with

[30:45] additional staff like equipment

[30:46] and vehicles, as well as some

[30:48] of the infrastructure costs

[30:49] associated with that real time

[30:50] information center. And as you

[30:52] know, prop five revenues are

[30:54] supporting those 13 police

[30:56] positions. One city prosecutor

[30:57] and a legal assistant. There

[31:00] are also two revenue items tha

[31:02] we wanted to make sure to

[31:04] highlight for council

[31:05] discussion. The first of those

[31:08] is the inclusion of revenues

[31:09] from HB 2442, which is a 0.01%

[31:14] local sales tax dedicated to

[31:16] supporting children and family

[31:17] services. The recommended

[31:20] budget assumes some new revenue

[31:21] from this potential sales tax,

[31:23] but that new revenue starts in

[31:25] 2028. The plan is to come back

[31:30] and discuss this further with

[31:31] council during the year, to se

[31:32] if that is something that you

[31:34] all are interested in

[31:35] implementing. The current

[31:36] recommendation, assuming that

[31:37] there is support, would be to

[31:38] offset the current Justice

[31:40] Center Children’s Justice

[31:41] Center expenses with that new

[31:43] tax at about $1.7 million in

[31:46] 2028, that would leave about

[31:49] $5.5 million in remaining

[31:50] resources to be programed based

[31:51] off of council direction. And

[31:54] I’ll go ahead and talk about

[31:55] the second revenue item here

[31:58] for council discussion, and

[31:59] then pause there for for

[32:01] discussion. So the other chang

[32:03] to highlight for council

[32:04] discussion on revenue is the

[32:05] change in the utility tax,

[32:06] going from 28.9% to 28.99%.

[32:10] This change is expected to

[32:12] increase revenues by about

[32:14] $210,000 per year. The city

[32:16] manager is recommending to us

[32:18] these resources to fund a 1.0

[32:20] FTE that will help support the

[32:22] Climate Action Framework and

[32:24] generally help advance the

[32:25] city’s climate goals. So I wil

[32:27] pause there and see if there i

[32:29] any council discussion on those

[32:30] two items.

[32:32] >> All right. Do we have any

[32:34] thoughts that we’d like to

[32:35] share at this point? Okay.

[32:36] Council Member Stover.

[32:38] >> Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem,

[32:39] thank you for this discussion.

[32:44] Talk to me. How about how

[32:47] conservatively we’re

[32:48] forecasting this public safet

[32:50] sales tax.

[32:56] >> I would say that for 2027

[32:59] fairly conservatively, we are

[33:02] only counting on ten months of

[33:03] revenue in 2027, knowing that

[33:05] we have a kind of a two month

[33:06] lag before those revenues are

[33:08] to come in. So I think we’re

[33:09] feeling fairly confident about

[33:11] about the revenue projections.

[33:12] >> Are we putting in the

[33:16] possibility of a recession int

[33:20] those forecasts?

[33:22] >> What I would say is that

[33:24] right now, what we are looki

[33:26] at is not the finalized city

[33:29] manager’s budget, right? So

[33:30] we’re not necessarily looking

[33:31] at this from the perspective of

[33:33] exactly what all this public

[33:34] safety sales tax is going to

[33:35] fund. Like it’s not all

[33:37] finalized. And definitely

[33:38] something that we’ve been

[33:39] talking about is making sure

[33:41] that from an ongoing revenue

[33:43] and ongoing perspective,

[33:44] ongoing expense perspective,

[33:45] that we’re not kind of like

[33:46] fully capping ourselves out in

[33:48] year one, right? So we’re not

[33:49] looking at $7 million of, of

[33:53] revenue in year one and taking

[33:55] that all the way out in with

[33:58] expenses.

[33:59] >> Okay. So I live with the

[34:04] anxiety that we are way past

[34:06] due for an of a recession and

[34:10] that inflation pressures are

[34:12] not abating right now. And tha

[34:14] that’s going to have it’s we’

[34:16] already seeing the effects of

[34:17] that in consumer spending. So

[34:21] guess it’s great that you’re.

[34:28] You’ve got this additional

[34:31] capacity for other programing.

[34:34] And I hope that this council

[34:38] future councils will not budge

[34:45] that money out of forecasts,

[34:47] but will wait until that mon

[34:50] is actually in the accounts

[34:53] before any spending is propose

[34:57] Because I just I don’t trust

[35:00] the economy. To rely on sal

[35:06] tax. Thank you.

[35:11] >> Councilor Schober. If I

[35:12] could, I could address that a

[35:13] little bit too, because one of

[35:15] the things with the way that we

[35:17] have put the budget together is

[35:18] that we know that in future

[35:20] years that the expenses of the

[35:21] police officers that we hire

[35:22] will catch up to the available

[35:24] resources. So we focused on

[35:26] anything in the early years

[35:27] that would use kind of that

[35:29] margin is all things like one

[35:30] time expenses or capital

[35:32] expenses, much like we did wit

[35:34] proposition two, where we used

[35:35] the early years to fund

[35:37] improvements to fire stations

[35:38] and things like that. So tha

[35:40] gives us a buffer because in

[35:42] the event that we don’t see

[35:44] those revenues materialize, w

[35:45] can pull back on some of tho

[35:47] capital expenses to make sure

[35:48] that we don’t overextend

[35:51] ourselves. And with the way

[35:52] that we have things distribut

[35:53] it’s not linear where

[35:55] everything shows up in year one

[35:56] So if revenues don’t

[35:58] materialize or in your in your

[36:00] sort of material, excuse me,

[36:01] revenues don’t materialize in

[36:03] year one. Items that are that

[36:05] are anticipated for year two.

[36:06] Maybe some of those positions

[36:08] just don’t get created. We als

[36:11] then built buffers into the way

[36:13] that we are anticipating

[36:15] positions to show up in futur

[36:17] years. Typically, in the past,

[36:18] when we put something in, there

[36:19] was an assumption made that new position would always

[36:22] start on January 1st. And so

[36:24] was fully loaded for a full

[36:26] year. And we have scaled those

[36:27] back for nine months as well,

[36:29] just to make sure that as we g

[36:31] through some of these, we hav

[36:32] some lead time before some of

[36:34] those decisions would actually

[36:35] be implemented. It gives us the

[36:37] ability to pull some of those

[36:38] levers back. In the event the

[36:40] economy turns down.

[36:43] >> One other thing that I

[36:44] wanted to share on that is tha

[36:46] we’ve heard that there’s an

[36:47] interest in council in more

[36:48] regular updates on that, and s

[36:50] we are intending to come back

[36:51] periodically and provide

[36:52] updates to the Council on sort

[36:54] of the public safety, sales tax

[36:55] and spending on that. So

[36:56] hopefully we’ll be back before

[36:58] you too long before with an

[36:59] update on that.

[37:00] >> I’d like some clarification

[37:01] on this particular slide. When

[37:03] I read it the first time, I was

[37:06] assuming that these are three

[37:08] different taxes. Is that

[37:10] correct? Yes. Okay. So this

[37:12] House Bill two 4042 is an

[37:15] additional 0.01 that we’re

[37:17] discussing. Okay.

[37:18] >> And so if.

[37:20] >> You said program for 2028 a

[37:22] if it’s already been accepted

[37:24] and move forward.

[37:25] >> Let me drill down on that

[37:27] for you a little bit. So the

[37:28] way that the city manager’s

[37:30] recommended budget looks like

[37:31] right now is that there is a

[37:32] small amount of revenue assum

[37:35] in 2028 associated with this

[37:37] new sales tax. It’s about $1.

[37:41] million. And it’s offsetting

[37:43] the Children’s Justice Center

[37:45] expenses. If that sales tax

[37:47] were to move forward, there

[37:49] would be an additional $5.5

[37:51] million in capacity to be spe

[37:54] at council direction. What I

[37:56] was trying to to suggest

[37:58] earlier is that part of the

[37:59] plan would be to come back to

[38:01] council and have that

[38:02] conversation of, does that make

[38:03] sense? Is there interest in

[38:05] implementing that, that sales

[38:07] tax? And if not, there would be

[38:08] plenty of time to to address

[38:10] that in the budget and shift

[38:11] those resources elsewhere.

[38:13] >> What I what jumps out at m

[38:15] as is the idea of, of

[38:18] offsetting the Children’s

[38:19] Justice Center costs with a

[38:20] with this tax, the volatility

[38:25] of, again, kind of going back

[38:26] to a sales tax versus using our

[38:28] our budget that’s been budge

[38:30] for years as a staple stable

[38:33] income or contribution to the

[38:35] Children’s Justice Center as

[38:36] our contribution. The county

[38:39] has a contribution. We have a

[38:40] contribution. And I have been

[38:43] part of discussions, budget

[38:45] discussions with the Children’s

[38:46] Justice Center as the council

[38:48] representative for now, 2 or 3

[38:49] years now, trying to remember.

[38:51] But what they don’t need to

[38:55] hear is that we suddenly hav

[38:57] less funding to support. So

[39:01] this seems to me as if we’d b

[39:03] moving away from being a a

[39:09] consistent and trusted partner

[39:11] with a fund that suddenly dro

[39:13] because of recession or other

[39:15] reasons. And so I’m, I’m

[39:18] concerned about this particula

[39:19] proposal. If it was not

[39:23] offsetting and it was saying

[39:24] that we are actually providing

[39:26] additional funds for other

[39:28] capacity to the program that

[39:29] I’m interested in hearing. O

[39:34] we have thoughts. Councilmember

[39:36] Harless.

[39:38] >> On this same conversation

[39:40] about the sales tax. I’d like

[39:42] to see that it could even be

[39:44] used for this. You know,

[39:46] reading what was passed by the

[39:49] legislature, it looks like it’s

[39:50] more for assisting children

[39:52] with child care, other support

[39:55] services, after school

[39:56] programing, workforce capacity

[39:59] building, shelter and rental

[40:00] assistance and transportation.

[40:03] That doesn’t ring children, you

[40:05] know, supporting the children’

[40:07] justice centers. It might not

[40:08] even be. I’d like to see that

[40:10] it actually can be used for

[40:11] that, if that’s even how we

[40:13] even move forward.

[40:17] >> Sure. We can get you an

[40:18] analysis on that.

[40:19] >> Okay.

[40:20] >> All right.

[40:24] >> I’m not in favor of. HB 244

[40:30] at this time, basically,

[40:32] because the financial burden

[40:33] already on our our residents

[40:35] who are struggling to make end

[40:37] meet at this point, just to

[40:40] meet their basic needs, in

[40:42] particular, seniors and people

[40:43] with disabilities and those who

[40:44] live on a fixed income. And

[40:46] there doesn’t seem to be any

[40:49] protections in place for this.

[40:52] So at this point in time, giv

[40:55] all the other taxes being added

[40:57] not just here locally, I

[40:59] believe that this is not for u

[41:03] just to decide to add on

[41:04] another tax at this point.

[41:07] >> All right. So at this point,

[41:09] just to ask council for, I

[41:12] guess, a thumbs up if we have

[41:15] majority to even move forward

[41:16] with staff bringing us back

[41:17] more information on this or no

[41:19] because that’s what staff’s

[41:20] looking for today. So maybe

[41:22] just I’m going to look to this

[41:24] side and see we have two three

[41:27] Okay. So we do have a majorit

[41:29] to bring back more information

[41:30] on this particular item. But

[41:31] you’ve heard some of the

[41:33] concerns that have been raised

[41:34] for sure. Let’s talk about the

[41:37] increase to the utility tax. Do

[41:39] we have all the information we

[41:40] need to ask staff to bring bac

[41:43] more information or or not?

[41:47] >> I’d like.

[41:48] >> I’d like more information.

[41:50] >> I would like more

[41:51] information, please.

[41:52] >> All right. So we have a

[41:54] majority of bring us back some

[41:55] more information on the utility

[41:57] tax counselors. Do we have som

[42:00] more clarifying questions so

[42:02] that staff knows what questions

[42:04] and information they should be

[42:05] bringing back? I have some

[42:07] ideas myself, but go ahead,

[42:08] Councilor Stober.

[42:09] >> Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem.

[42:12] Typically when we talk about

[42:14] utility tax, there’s a there

[42:18] are graphs brought to us that

[42:21] show where we stack up versus

[42:24] our surrounding communities.

[42:27] Around us, other target

[42:30] communities. When it comes to

[42:31] our utility rates. So

[42:34] definitely want to understand

[42:36] the impact of this within th

[42:40] context.

[42:42] >> Okay. Anything else? All

[42:46] right. Let’s move on to the

[42:46] next slide.

[42:51] >> All right. So in previous

[42:52] work sessions, you all have

[42:54] discussed some of the

[42:54] strategies that city staff are

[42:56] deploying to help manage the

[42:57] structural operating deficit,

[42:59] to kind of reexamine and shore

[43:00] up our financial practices and,

[43:02] and still really try to make

[43:03] progress in council and

[43:04] community priorities in the

[43:05] coming biennium. We’re going to

[43:07] touch on several of these ite

[43:08] again before moving into a

[43:10] forecast update. So you have

[43:13] seen this table before. So I

[43:15] won’t go into each of these

[43:16] items listed here. But these

[43:18] actions taken in some represe

[43:20] the city’s efforts to really

[43:22] analyze opportunities, both one

[43:23] time and ongoing to direct the

[43:26] funds that we have available to

[43:28] us to their highest and best

[43:29] use, to make sure our financial

[43:31] planning is really grounded in

[43:32] reality and to help solve the

[43:33] budget gap that’s before us.

[43:35] That’s been a common theme tha

[43:37] you heard throughout the sprin

[43:38] and one that you’re going to

[43:39] hear going forward as well.

[43:43] These are a series of

[43:44] additional strategies that are

[43:45] being employed during the 272

[43:48] budget development process.

[43:50] What these strategies point to

[43:51] is, is a holistic and really

[43:54] cautious approach to the next

[43:56] biennium. The city is

[43:58] undertaking work to review our

[44:00] legacy financial practices. As

[44:01] Lon mentioned, for example,

[44:04] that work is going to continue

[44:05] going forward. It’s ongoing.

[44:07] We’ve got planned updates to

[44:08] various cost recovery practic

[44:11] and efforts underway to impro

[44:12] our planning for future

[44:13] equipment replacement, as Lisa

[44:15] mentioned. Overarchingly, this

[44:19] budget takes a disciplined

[44:20] approach to approving new

[44:22] budget requests and is really

[44:24] asking departments to assess

[44:26] their existing capacity and

[44:28] demonstrate their needs before

[44:29] new resources are approved. And

[44:31] that, more than anything, has

[44:32] led to an overall tightening of

[44:34] department budgets in a very

[44:35] intentional and strategic way.

[44:37] Going into this biennium, we’re

[44:39] going to be working on improve

[44:41] performance management and

[44:42] budget monitoring going forward

[44:43] and to that end, we’ll be doin

[44:45] a year end review with

[44:46] directors on their budgets to

[44:48] look at trends, kind of trying

[44:49] to see where are we

[44:50] overspending in areas where we

[44:52] underspending and discuss how

[44:53] that’s going to affect our

[44:54] future planning going forward.

[44:57] Our aim with all of this is

[44:59] preserve the capacity of the

[45:00] general fund and to, as we’re

[45:02] looking forward, evaluate

[45:03] multiple options to move work

[45:05] forward, both from a funding

[45:07] perspective and from an

[45:08] operational perspective. We

[45:10] certainly have more work to do.

[45:11] The city is still facing an

[45:13] operating deficit, but these

[45:14] efforts have helped balance

[45:15] this biennium budget and

[45:17] improve the financial outlook

[45:18] somewhat, as this approach kin

[45:19] of ripples through the future

[45:20] years of the forecast. And and

[45:22] what I mean by that is that our efforts to bend down the

[45:25] cost curve now are compounding

[45:27] in the out years of the

[45:28] forecast. But as you heard

[45:31] earlier, we know that we might

[45:32] see some revisions to those

[45:33] expenses in the future as we

[45:35] kind of further this analysis

[45:36] and kind of shore up our

[45:38] financial practices. So we know

[45:39] that we’ll see updates going

[45:41] forward. So with that in mind,

[45:45] I’ll provide an update on where

[45:46] things are at with the general

[45:48] fund, Street fire forecast i

[45:51] July and August. We shared with

[45:53] you this slide showing a small

[45:55] surplus in 2027. That’s kind

[45:57] kind of quickly overcome by t

[45:59] year over year impacts of the

[46:00] city’s structural operating

[46:01] deficit. So you see that $5.5

[46:03] million surplus kind of being

[46:04] eaten away over time. And then

[46:06] by 29 through 32, the total

[46:08] value of that operating deficit

[46:10] was estimated at a little over

[46:12] $100 million. This forecast

[46:17] slide has been updated to

[46:18] reflect the city manager’s

[46:19] recommended recommended budget.

[46:21] And so we’re showing ongoing

[46:22] revenues and ongoing

[46:24] expenditures over the next six

[46:25] years. And so we’re kind of

[46:26] shifting from this forecasted

[46:28] assumptions. And as Lisa

[46:29] mentioned, our forecasted

[46:30] assumptions are very

[46:31] conservative to what is

[46:32] actually the budget system kin

[46:34] of carried forward over time.

[46:37] The updated chart shows that

[46:39] the city is essentially

[46:41] balanced in 27 and 28, with th

[46:43] structural operating deficit

[46:45] arising again, kind of in the

[46:46] latter years of the forecast,

[46:48] that total estimated deficit

[46:49] across those years is just

[46:51] about $62 million. So that you

[46:54] can see, you know, compared to

[46:56] the prior forecast update, tha

[46:58] that revenue picture really

[46:59] hasn’t changed much. The more

[47:02] significant driver of the

[47:03] change in the forecasted

[47:04] deficit is the expense trend

[47:05] line. And, you know, the kind

[47:08] of the rationale there is that

[47:10] all the changes that the city

[47:11] has made to bend down that cost

[47:13] curve from an ongoing

[47:14] perspective, again, relative to

[47:15] that conservative forecast, are

[47:17] carried through each year at

[47:18] the forecast. So those savings

[47:19] compound year over year over

[47:21] year. So we still have a

[47:23] significant budget challenges

[47:24] on the horizon and lots of work

[47:27] to do on the strategies that we

[47:29] have kind of laid out before u

[47:31] But the conservative approach

[47:32] that we’re taking for this 272

[47:34] recommended budget is really

[47:35] kind of helping to ease the

[47:37] outyear issues that we’ve got.

[47:41] This next slide shows the same

[47:43] forecast chart for the 2728

[47:44] City Manager recommended budget,

[47:46] but it also reflects the use

[47:48] about $13 million for one time

[47:50] initiatives. And so you saw in

[47:52] the strategy slides and heard

[47:54] about in earlier conversations

[47:56] the various ways that the

[47:57] budget achieves one time cost

[47:58] savings over the biennium. And

[48:00] this forecast slide shows the

[48:02] application of one time

[48:03] expenditures in general fund,

[48:04] street and fire funds. These

[48:07] expenditures won’t won’t carry

[48:08] forward into the 2930 bienniu

[48:10] but they do set us up to

[48:12] advance really important

[48:13] initiatives. We wanted to

[48:14] highlight them for you. So th

[48:18] table shows a list of some of

[48:22] those one time initiatives tha

[48:23] are funded during the 2728

[48:25] biennium, and this funding is

[48:27] going to help advance work that

[48:28] you’ve kind of already seen us

[48:29] talk through in some ways. So

[48:31] the installing solar at

[48:32] Firstenburg, securing resources

[48:34] at the arts hub for phase one

[48:36] design and construction,

[48:37] supporting continued work in

[48:38] the comp plan and annexation

[48:40] planning and ensuring that our

[48:42] public safety departments have

[48:42] the equipment that they need.

[48:44] As we’re kind of working

[48:45] towards that improved approach

[48:46] for equipment replacement over

[48:48] the long term. So with that,

[48:50] think I’m going to turn it ba

[48:52] over to Lisa to talk about nex

[48:54] steps.

[48:54] >> Does Council have any

[48:55] questions on these forecasts?

[49:01] >> Go ahead.

[49:03] >> I have a question on slide

[49:07] 27 or 26. Keip going back one

[49:09] more. One more, I believe.

[49:14] There you go. Okay. Yeah, that

[49:16] one. I appreciate the review o

[49:19] legacy practices. I think

[49:20] that’s really important to to

[49:22] do. I’m curious about the

[49:25] department programmatic

[49:27] capacity and how much of that

[49:29] is administrative and how much

[49:31] of that could be centralized a

[49:33] opposed to each department

[49:34] having its own administration.

[49:37] So I was wondering if that was

[49:39] something that would be looked

[49:41] at in terms of legacy practic

[49:45] or have you considered that a

[49:47] an option?

[49:49] >> I think that’s certainly

[49:50] something to evaluate when I

[49:52] sort of thinking about what

[49:53] this bullet point means, where

[49:55] my head goes is more of a

[49:57] review of budget versus actua

[49:59] of each department and program

[50:01] within a department has a

[50:04] certain level of budget year

[50:06] over year, and evaluating

[50:09] whether or not that program i

[50:11] actually utilizing the capacity

[50:13] that they already have before

[50:16] requesting additional resources

[50:17] Right. So kind of really mak

[50:19] sure that we’re fully utilizing

[50:20] the resources that are already

[50:21] available to us before asking

[50:23] for more resources and having

[50:24] those programmatic and

[50:26] performance conversations at

[50:27] that level before seeing

[50:29] whether or not we need to add

[50:30] more resources to achieve the

[50:31] same goal.

[50:32] >> And my thought is about

[50:34] duplication of programmatic

[50:35] actions across departments tha

[50:37] could be reduced to a

[50:38] centralized approach. So that

[50:40] that’s just where my thought

[50:42] went with that, and something

[50:45] that I’m hoping you will

[50:47] consider as far as addressing

[50:49] some savings in the future.

[50:53] >> Thank you.

[50:55] >> All right. Any other

[50:57] questions? All right. I don’t

[51:01] see any other questions. Go

[51:03] ahead.

[51:07] >> Sorry.

[51:12] >> Okay. We are going to go

[51:15] over the timeline. We are fast

[51:19] approaching the publishing of

[51:22] the city manager’s recommended

[51:24] budget. We do have your

[51:28] feedback. And so I think we

[51:31] will provide that to you

[51:33] probably in a memo format or

[51:34] maybe through City Manager’s

[51:37] communication. Prior to that,

[51:41] we are required to publish the

[51:43] budget by law on October 1st.

[51:46] We also have two upcoming

[51:49] workshops, specifically on the

[51:51] budget, the published budget.

[51:54] The first one will be on

[51:55] operating budget on October

[51:57] 12th, and then the capital

[51:58] budget for October 26th, and

[52:01] then presented for council

[52:04] consent on November 2nd, and

[52:06] then the public hearing and

[52:08] adoption of the budget on

[52:12] November 16th. So with that, closes the presentation

[52:20] and opening it up for general

[52:23] discussion from council or

[52:24] feedback or any review of any

[52:26] previous slides.

[52:29] >> How is staff going to bring

[52:31] forward the budget when we i

[52:32] looks like there’s a few

[52:33] decisions on revenue side tha

[52:36] haven’t. That Council hasn’t

[52:37] weighed in on.

[52:42] >> Well, we could provide the

[52:46] information through. I’m going

[52:47] to look over to Lorne a little

[52:49] bit here. Because of the

[52:51] timeline, I think we could

[52:54] provide that in a memo format

[52:57] And I think with the date, I

[53:00] don’t think there’s any other

[53:04] method to communicate because I

[53:06] think there’s the community

[53:08] forum next week. Right?

[53:10] >> Yeah. And normally when

[53:12] we’ve had that had choices tha

[53:14] the City Council has to make,

[53:16] we kind of model it two

[53:17] different ways. What I would b

[53:18] inclined to do is to make sur

[53:21] that we give the council a lis

[53:23] Like if you were to choose to

[53:25] not move forward with an

[53:26] adjustment to the utility tax,

[53:28] this is what we would have to

[53:30] remove from the budget so you

[53:31] can see what the impact would

[53:33] be. But to actually prepare t

[53:35] budget as though those items

[53:36] are included in there. And, yo

[53:38] know, I’ll say that some of

[53:40] those items, they’ll be future

[53:41] decision points for the city

[53:42] Council. For example, if you d

[53:45] decide that you want to adopt

[53:47] the new children and family

[53:48] sales tax, we don’t have to d

[53:50] that in December of 2026. That

[53:53] could occur in 2027, leading u

[53:56] to January 1st. So those types

[53:58] of decisions, we can model them

[54:00] in there. But because of the

[54:02] supplemental process, we have

[54:03] the ability to make adjustments

[54:04] along the way. If you think

[54:07] back to the discussions that we

[54:09] had, we’ve had to do that in

[54:11] the past when we’ve had voted

[54:13] propositions out in front of

[54:14] the public, where we have to

[54:16] show what a budget could look

[54:17] like if the proposition passes

[54:19] and then end up adopting the

[54:20] budget for what it looked like

[54:21] when proposition five did not

[54:23] pass or, excuse me, proposition

[54:25] four did not pass.

[54:27] >> Well, just given the level

[54:28] of discussion that we had on

[54:30] those revenue, new revenue

[54:32] ideas, it. I would like to see

[54:35] it very clearly shown within

[54:37] whatever documents you share

[54:39] with us in the coming week.

[54:43] What what the effect of those

[54:45] decisions look like on our

[54:46] budget. So I think most counc

[54:49] would be in agreement with tha

[54:51] I’m seeing some head nods. So

[54:53] moving forward, as if it’s not

[54:55] a done deal yet would be my

[54:57] preference. And then obviously

[55:00] we ask for more information

[55:01] around those pieces too. And s

[55:04] staff is planning to provide u

[55:05] those those materials before

[55:08] our forum. Is that before n

[55:11] Monday, or is this something

[55:12] that you’re thinking of getting

[55:14] us before October, before the

[55:16] budget is published October 1st

[55:19] So when are we getting those

[55:20] materials? That’s my question.

[55:27] >> We can try and get to you i

[55:30] a memo that Lorne can

[55:32] distribute to you this Friday.

[55:35] >> Okay.

[55:38] >> All right. Do we have any

[55:39] other questions or discussions

[55:41] Oh, on.

[55:43] >> Not from my point of view. I

[55:45] think we will endeavor to get

[55:46] you the information that you

[55:48] need, because we want you to

[55:49] feel fully informed when you

[55:51] make those decisions.

[55:52] >> Okay? Yes.

[55:56] >> Just a comment. I heard fro

[56:00] community who attended some of

[56:01] the budget community meetings

[56:05] that you put on and got really

[56:07] good feedback. So just wanted

[56:09] to share about it. Sounds like

[56:12] it was a great success and was

[56:14] curious if there were more

[56:16] planned.

[56:20] >> We don’t have any more

[56:22] planned for right now, but I

[56:23] would not be adverse to doing

[56:25] that, especially once we hit

[56:26] the point where we do the have

[56:28] the budget adopted and go out

[56:29] and talk to the community about

[56:31] what is actually included in

[56:32] the budget. Because, as you s

[56:33] council still has some

[56:34] decisions to make between now

[56:36] and then. And while we’ve shown

[56:37] the community some of the

[56:39] highlights for what the draft

[56:40] budget contains, some of those

[56:42] may not make it through to th

[56:43] final version.

[56:45] >> Okay.

[56:45] >> Thank you. All right. Looks

[56:49] like that’s everything. We

[56:50] don’t have any more questions

[56:51] Thank you, staff, for joining

[56:52] us tonight. And that will be

[56:54] the end of our workshop time

[56:56] frame. We’ll be back at 630

[56:58] after a dinner break. Thank y

[57:00] everyone.