[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.