[0:08] Good evening. Welcome to the

[0:11] Ant-Man Finance Committee

[0:12] meeting. Start the meeting

[0:12] with their introductions to my

[0:15] left. Thank you, MR. CHAIRMAN

[0:19] Mike Deal District 20 forward.

[0:20] Thank you, MR. Chaired Brian

[0:22] Maori district. 25 thank you

[0:23] to write. Thank you, MR. Allen

[0:26] District, 15 party set. Thank

[0:28] you, MR. Chaired Nic Robertson

[0:30] strict for good evening.

[0:30] CHAIRMAN Miscarry Crystal

[0:32] Wells District 11, far West

[0:36] Side. Good evening. Maggie

[0:38] Frank miscarriages streak 19

[0:41] MR. Cahill, you so thank you.

[0:43] MR. Chaired their Cayo

[0:45] District. 23. All right. Thank

[0:46] you. We have 3 proposals for

[0:51] budget hearings. Up first is

[0:53] propose a proposal to 44, I

[0:54] understand all these proposals

[0:55] are you gonna bring together

[0:58] all at once? Yes, need to vote

[1:04] for one the time or Proposal

[1:08] to 44 45 46. Going all Mizzou

[1:13] break in between them. Too

[1:14] fat. This is a little

[1:18] confusing, but going resent to

[1:22] 44 into 46 because required

[1:24] public and then several a

[1:26] scarily, there's amendment to

[1:29] 45 45? So after that, we get

[1:29] in the that became so we have

[1:34] the floor, sir. Thank you,

[1:34] CHAIRMAN. Scary. And that was

[1:35] the committee. My name is Joe

[1:36] Bast and the executive

[1:37] director and general counsel

[1:41] of the Indianapolis 5 And we

[1:45] have 3 proposals for you to

[1:47] property tax general

[1:48] obligations, Bonds and the

[1:49] other is facility revenues by

[1:53] a proposal to 44, will be an

[1:55] issue metric wasn't there

[1:57] district. And as for a maximum

[2:00] out of 50 million dollars for

[2:01] construction of a operations

[2:03] graduating bw their current

[2:04] site. And as JUNE, 35, South

[2:08] West Street. And then moving

[2:09] proposal to 46 that will be a

[2:11] general obligation, bond

[2:13] issuance of the consolidated

[2:16] city taxing x amount of 12.5

[2:17] million dollars with the

[2:17] construction of a new impd

[2:20] North District station and

[2:24] then finally present to 45. I

[2:25] would approve the issuance of

[2:27] up to 35 million dollars of

[2:29] facility, revenue bonds to

[2:32] financing for and 2 parking

[2:32] garages as well as a

[2:33] pedestrian bridge at the

[2:39] community. Justice campus.

[2:41] Proposal to 44, like I said,

[2:43] is for a operations garage the

[2:47] current to w campus south of

[2:48] downtown just east of the

[2:52] river this would be maxed out

[2:55] of 50 million dollars. Max

[2:57] interest rate of 6.5% and a

[3:02] term not to exceed 20 years.

[3:03] This would allow dpw

[3:04] consolidate a lot of disparate

[3:04] facilities they have currently

[3:09] on that campus streamline

[3:13] operations and allow for

[3:13] improved storage maintenance

[3:19] of street. So here you see

[3:23] their current garages many are

[3:25] day there gathered campus. And

[3:27] so this would allow. And this

[3:31] new graduate streamlined lot

[3:38] of operations operations. Have

[3:43] issuers required to do by the

[3:45] deals you have, which is to

[3:47] the projected changes in levy

[3:50] and a tax rate for the taxing

[3:51] district here. The taxing

[3:51] district that's there for

[3:55] district. These are very

[3:59] conservative projections and

[4:01] increase in tax rate would be

[4:07] offset because decreases other

[4:15] taxing districts of the city.

[4:17] Goes to 46, other general

[4:17] obligation bond. This would

[4:19] the single city taxing

[4:23] district maximum out of 12.5

[4:25] million dollars, as you to see

[4:26] 6.5%, maximum term of 20

[4:30] years, this would be it for

[4:31] North District police station

[4:32] at this would be located at

[4:36] 38th and Sherman Avenue. It

[4:38] would create need to be in the

[4:42] space that improved space for

[4:42] visitors and employees of the

[4:48] game. North District. Here

[4:54] again are we checked? Id have

[4:55] next changes to Levy and tax

[4:56] rate of the civil city back to

[5:05] district. So we will be these

[5:09] 2 together. With one that

[5:12] fight as a team and usually

[5:12] the binding of the have the

[5:14] city Minneapolis, our

[5:18] financial advisors more

[5:19] advisors, words and numbers

[5:19] are about council we have yet

[5:20] to reach data and ready for

[5:30] this transaction. So obviously

[5:31] tonight where beforehand and

[5:32] finance, we have 2 additional

[5:32] hearings before the Board of

[5:36] Public Works in AUGUST and

[5:37] SEPTEMBER. Plan to go before

[5:41] the full council in SEPTEMBER,

[5:42] but make approval OCTOBER and

[5:43] pressing closing by the end of

[5:48] the year. And answer, any

[5:51] questions about rules? To 44

[5:56] into 4.46, thank I'm curious

[5:57] to what kind of bond are we in

[6:00] right now? The whole city. Was

[6:03] a number. You have it. Don't

[6:07] have it up and I I any other

[6:08] quick, any questions council

[6:10] moves. Thank you, MISTER

[6:14] CHAIRMAN. Apologize for

[6:17] following CHAIRMAN Kerry's

[6:19] question. What aside from the

[6:20] number was a capacity that's

[6:27] left a bond for 26. So So will

[6:28] be different each test. Taxing

[6:33] district. The city. We We just

[6:34] recently for the there there

[6:38] registered PRESIDENT You know,

[6:39] part of we reasoned that we

[6:41] maintain our credit ratings.

[6:43] Is that we do next or capacity

[6:49] that we hear him. It alleges

[6:50] that so I can find out

[6:50] specifically what you know,

[6:55] how much lead we and that's

[6:55] what But we're we're not

[6:58] approaches that. You're to be

[6:59] helpful how many texting used

[7:04] to get across the county?

[7:07] Thanks. Thank you. Any other

[7:10] questions or counselors? You

[7:12] know, this is a public

[7:13] hearings as anyone from

[7:13] audience would like to speak

[7:18] on this. Seeing entertain a

[7:23] motion. Moved. All those in

[7:30] favor say Aye. The question.

[7:33] We're going to that separately

[7:35] to 44, sorry, to 45

[7:39] separately. It's so good. So

[7:40] For a clear need to do. Just

[7:48] go down. 44 46. We did 44 46.

[7:50] All MR. Improved now. Class

[7:58] going to 45. All right. Listen

[8:00] to 45 would just a little

[8:01] revenue bond issuance accident

[8:02] out 35 million dollars to

[8:06] refund interim financing,

[8:06] construction of 2 parking

[8:07] garages. I'm thinking, this

[8:14] campus. And history with that

[8:15] 6.5 that actually bending the

[8:18] amendment and come before the

[8:20] council the source and is all

[8:23] the revenue the city.

[8:30] So it's a part of that. The

[8:31] cdc projects at the city

[8:34] worked Garmin bmo to Design

[8:35] and Finance the construction

[8:36] of these 2 parking garages and

[8:40] a pedestrian bridge. There is

[8:41] one that is just for staff of

[8:43] Erie County courts then a

[8:46] special office building

[8:48] garage, is a part the for the

[8:49] public Defender, probation

[8:50] staff and also offers a

[8:54] painful with parking. So bill

[8:55] that for a transfer agreement

[8:57] was approved by public health

[9:04] and safety back in Issued

[9:04] competitive bidding process.

[9:07] And Carmen was ultimately

[9:09] selected and we're coming

[9:09] towards the end of five-year

[9:10] buildup for a transfer

[9:17] agreement term. As the

[9:18] financing team. Here is divine

[9:19] day. Have to sit in app lists

[9:20] as again seeing more advisors

[9:22] is our financial advisor and

[9:25] of those became Evans as Bond

[9:26] Council. And we get to and

[9:32] right after this transaction.

[9:33] Fewer steps for this one will

[9:36] go before the full council 2

[9:37] and SEPTEMBER the final

[9:39] approval for the van board in

[9:40] OCTOBER and then pressing

[9:44] closing end of the year. Thank

[9:45] you. I think we have an

[9:46] amendment to this. MR.

[9:48] CHAIRMAN.

[9:54] MR. CHAIRMAN, I move to amend

[9:56] Section one, paragraph c a

[9:59] proposal. Number 2, 45 2026?

[10:00] By deleting the language that

[10:00] is stricken through and adding

[10:02] the underline language change

[10:05] in the not to exceed initial

[10:06] interest rate from 5.5% to

[10:10] 6.5% To read has fallen. And

[10:11] you can see strict corrected

[10:17] and section one, infection. I

[10:19] vote on the amendment only

[10:20] follows favor of the the

[10:23] moment an amendment say aye.

[10:26] Oppose none. All right. Any

[10:29] questions on proposal itself.

[10:33] Cancer k a we thank Mister

[10:35] Chair this this question sort

[10:38] of applies to both sets of

[10:42] proposals here. But we have a

[10:46] discussion last week about the

[10:49] building authority and in

[10:50] particular, the cjc and I and

[10:51] I don't know that you're the

[10:52] right person, but I don't know

[10:53] if you know the answer. So

[10:57] there's 2 questions here. My

[10:58] my presumption is we is the

[11:02] counselor dealing with this

[11:04] where if this garage was

[11:05] building authority building,

[11:06] they would just they still

[11:11] have access to. But think but

[11:12] they would do without our vote

[11:12] that it would just pass

[11:13] through is that is that your

[11:15] understanding? Don't vote on

[11:24] their bones. Cause of that.

[11:25] I've been firmly within. 75

[11:27] bank have no revenue bonds,

[11:31] which that. The buildings part

[11:36] that and all those also gone

[11:36] through the lessee, which

[11:38] would be that the the other

[11:43] question to you. Why is why is

[11:46] the garage to the cjc? Is

[11:49] under the bill a 40 foot, the

[11:49] parking garages or not. You

[11:52] have any understanding of why

[11:53] that is the previous thing

[11:55] mention that we heard there

[11:56] was some agreement with Dennis

[11:58] and operate. But I guess that

[12:00] doesn't make any sense to me

[12:01] because that was an operate,

[12:05] the garage and the city County

[12:05] goalie edits ability

[12:08] rebuilding And why we have

[12:09] retained ownership of the

[12:14] garage has been part of. The

[12:15] cjc itself. I can't speak to

[12:20] that. I was around when they

[12:22] were deciding, you exactly

[12:25] this works, that the cdc was

[12:33] lance We're going tax bonds.

[12:35] Structure payment had to be

[12:36] structured lease payments from

[12:38] the city to to the building

[12:38] authority. This is being

[12:42] financed through. You know,

[12:43] different a different

[12:46] mechanism. I don't know. So

[12:52] just just in terms you know,

[12:53] and how they with the finance.

[12:54] And that's, you but not sure

[12:56] exactly. Why that was decided

[12:58] at that time. Okay. There's

[12:59] nothing here. That's for

[13:03] That's as we could

[13:03] theoretically move garages

[13:05] under the building authority.

[13:07] So the cjc was one. A

[13:09] comprehensive campus cause. A

[13:11] much behind and nothing not

[13:15] that I could envision Doing

[13:16] anything about But like, don't

[13:17] know how you release break

[13:22] apart. The parking right. Like

[13:23] it's it's for whatever reason

[13:24] we decided to divest of the

[13:25] cjc. It wouldn't have the

[13:28] value. Without the parking

[13:33] vice versa. Read that the big

[13:36] the bigger parking garage it's

[13:38] connected to the rest of

[13:41] building, which don't think is

[13:42] owned by by the building

[13:45] That's like privately owned

[13:51] building. So really the only.

[13:54] City-owned portion would be

[13:55] it's relatively small garage

[13:59] for the judges and All right.

[14:00] Thank Any other question,

[14:03] counselors? I have a question.

[14:05] My question is a you on just

[14:11] 300. And the other. 1000 and

[14:12] these for the general public

[14:12] losing to use these parking

[14:20] spots. So the public out he's

[14:20] going right and has bases

[14:21] space is available to general

[14:26] public. Other spaces reserved

[14:28] information public defender.

[14:31] Staff and then the smaller

[14:32] garage is is just for judicial

[14:36] staff. I mean, right now

[14:37] there's most of the there's

[14:39] free this month, small area

[14:43] for, but you can pay its

[14:45] probably only 300 parking

[14:47] spots. Now and brunt of the

[14:48] parking is free. So is will be

[14:49] charge of this is going to be

[14:57] free for the public. I don't

[14:59] that I know that the money

[14:59] that we're making on private

[15:02] office building is that in

[15:04] word is going top of that. And

[15:07] so I don't know. Would have to

[15:09] leave it to the controller's

[15:10] office. You need to speak to

[15:10] training is an answer on pre.

[15:13] She ate it. Any other

[15:17] questions. Any one of general

[15:23] public speak on to 45? Seeing

[15:25] entertain a motion. So moved

[15:28] if moving second. All those in

[15:34] favor say Aye. Opposed last

[15:36] You're off off the hot seat If

[15:37] you would try to get some

[15:38] answers on some of So let's go

[15:39] to the full council. Thank

[15:44] you. Up next is a Marion

[15:48] County treasurer's office.

[16:21] You have a form. It takes to

[16:22] MR. CHAIRMAN committee, my

[16:25] name this spiral and I am to

[16:27] serve Marion County,

[16:30] Treasurer. I'm joined here.

[16:31] That's thing. But wish I the

[16:34] fire deputy and I'm going to

[16:38] begin with an I'm having a

[16:39] really had today. So if you to

[16:41] clarify or slow whatever, just

[16:47] let me just give me side. We

[16:50] going to present at 2027

[16:50] budget. And I have just going

[16:55] to jump right into The first

[16:58] flight you will see is in for

[16:59] a town of the 40 patients with

[17:02] The Perry County Treasurer's

[17:03] Office. It's the

[17:03] administrative decision.

[17:07] County finance division

[17:07] division and the customer

[17:11] service to Michigan. We are

[17:14] very proud of some of our

[17:15] agency staffing numbers today.

[17:19] We have 25 fill positions with

[17:20] 2 vacancies. 4 of the 8

[17:24] managers are female one point

[17:27] that we are really proud of is

[17:29] that the average tenure for

[17:31] the office for our employees.

[17:35] It's 7.2 years with 76% of the

[17:39] folks there think more and

[17:43] that ever happening at least 3

[17:49] years. It is a where education

[17:50] experience is very So we're

[17:51] especially proud of that. You

[17:55] want to keep. He said a We

[17:56] also have focus on changing

[17:57] with Association of India.

[17:59] They can't make these and the

[18:02] National Association of

[18:06] counties, Indiana County

[18:08] Treasurer's Association and

[18:10] and I won't go down that every

[18:12] minute in the U.S. Senate to

[18:17] give feel of what chart like.

[18:17] The pink decisions or managers

[18:21] stay consistent yeah, happy to

[18:24] take any questions on anything

[18:32] I'm going throw it over Gary

[18:35] ca internal breakdown gender

[18:36] staffing. Also know is that

[18:36] the employee level of the

[18:39] management levels a little

[18:40] different this report. We

[18:43] we've had additional higher

[18:46] and the bucket that hr uses.

[18:46] They include our financial

[18:49] analysts part of staff. So

[18:49] when it comes to gender, we

[18:55] have 67% female. 33% male. And

[18:56] when it comes to management on

[18:58] on their internal breakdowns.

[19:01] 55 45. I also like to

[19:03] highlight our racial breakdown

[19:04] when when it comes to

[19:06] especially Hispanic the

[19:07] nation. We're higher than the

[19:09] all city county average. And

[19:12] you can see the next column

[19:12] where says manager by

[19:13] ethnicity, what we're really

[19:16] proud of is. All the 5

[19:17] categories. We have at least

[19:18] one manager when it comes

[19:19] multi racial, Hispanic, Asian,

[19:24] white black. A few numbers to

[19:28] help you understand treasures.

[19:34] Tough We 356,000 parcels for

[19:37] 2025. We collected in 2025.

[19:40] About 1.8 billion dollars

[19:45] pretty taxes and all revenues

[19:46] we invest and the average

[19:49] monthly balance of 466 million

[19:52] dollars. And we distribute to

[19:53] a 2.7 billion to about 48

[20:00] units of When talk a little

[20:02] bit about some and

[20:03] improvements that we've made

[20:07] in the treasurer's I have to

[20:08] announce that we had to

[20:13] performance metrics for 2020

[20:16] set. So we're on our to been

[20:22] for 2025. Another point that

[20:23] very proud of this said in the

[20:27] recently completed culture is

[20:28] a The Marion County

[20:29] Treasurer's Office had a score

[20:34] of 95%, which tells me that

[20:35] hopefully the team doing

[20:35] something right. People are

[20:39] enjoying working there. They

[20:39] feel were aboard they feel

[20:42] like they're appreciated. And

[20:48] we're very proud After 20

[20:49] years with the same vendor, we

[20:52] have branched out and we are

[20:54] going through. We have

[20:55] completed the process we're

[20:59] going through conversion to a

[21:02] tax software and on stuff

[21:04] which is with backs off. That

[21:05] was probably that year in the

[21:09] making. And something new and

[21:11] different way this year. We

[21:14] set out about 7500 courtesy

[21:16] letters and that is for

[21:18] letters that went out to

[21:20] people complain cuenta their

[21:21] fall taxes. We sent the

[21:24] letters found in JANUARY and

[21:26] what we were hoping we would

[21:30] is get people to bring my so

[21:32] it gives us more of a chance

[21:33] to invest that they didn't get

[21:38] the money and center. Cost

[21:39] about 7500 use a dollar. A

[21:44] letter as a ballpark and of

[21:48] MARCH 31st, it received can.

[21:49] Now some people will say,

[21:51] well, that's money. We can't

[21:52] any way. Yes, that's true. But

[21:56] we got it done which is which

[22:01] is the key point here. We

[22:02] established as part of the new

[22:03] fund system, a new call center

[22:07] solution, which is made our

[22:08] life so much easier in terms

[22:11] of the phone providing

[22:12] customer service and also it

[22:15] enables us to look at metrics

[22:17] about the calls are being

[22:18] answered. How long it's

[22:22] taking. Calls are dropped. The

[22:23] important stuff to provide

[22:26] customer service. And the

[22:33] final I like it we still have

[22:35] a barge that underbanked

[22:36] population and it ring cam,

[22:39] which means that people

[22:42] frequently literally and I'm

[22:43] not exaggerating acts of cash.

[22:46] 8 tax bills. It's not optimum

[22:50] for safety. Yeah. You know,

[22:53] this not the cat homes. So

[22:54] what it started doing this

[22:58] happening, a bank out in the

[22:59] hall way to talk to these

[23:00] people are as they are

[23:05] standing in line for to pay

[23:06] their property tax bill to

[23:08] talk to them that the virtues

[23:10] establishing a banking

[23:12] relationship. It's just a

[23:12] small thing. But we've seen

[23:15] some real benefits from it.

[23:18] When it comes to progress

[23:18] improvement. When one thing

[23:19] that like to highlight is and

[23:23] a lot of time it spent in the

[23:24] office doing this processing

[23:29] payments. Very, very manual

[23:30] process. But we try to process

[23:33] as much internally as possible

[23:35] for 2 reason. It's it's more

[23:37] accurate and we get the money

[23:38] deposited in our in our bank

[23:40] quicker. So you can see 2016

[23:42] when this when all started, we

[23:44] had 206,000 payments that were

[23:46] processed by a 3rd party. And

[23:49] that's and that's down to

[23:51] 6269,000 as of as of last

[23:53] year. They say that about

[23:57] 34,000 lot bought fees and I

[23:59] really take my hats off to our

[24:01] to our 3 managers are revenue

[24:03] to cover manager customer

[24:04] service manager and really our

[24:07] executive assistant who we're

[24:08] all cross train and answering

[24:11] the phones and processing mail

[24:12] answering email and that's

[24:15] what what can get it done. The

[24:18] other thing is we have new

[24:19] cash, cow nurse. Going to be

[24:21] new bills which cask ales.

[24:22] Would be unable to read. So we

[24:26] invested in new cash counters,

[24:27] $10 bills post to roll out

[24:29] later this year and every 2

[24:31] years going to be new bills.

[24:32] So that should help us

[24:36] identify counterfeit funk's.

[24:38] One thing that we will

[24:39] continue to worrisome goals

[24:42] list. Is increasing the number

[24:46] of APRIL as part of It

[24:49] provides convenient funds for

[24:52] paid security efficiency. Of

[24:54] course, we always consider the

[24:56] environmental impact and let's

[24:58] not kid anybody the more we

[25:00] can save postage by using

[25:04] paperless, it saves us money.

[25:06] So currently we have just

[25:08] under 35,000 and our goal for

[25:09] 2027, it's another 10%

[25:16] increase for Another Purdy and

[25:18] gold is to continue safe with

[25:19] investment public funds and

[25:21] the chart you're looking at,

[25:22] it's really the investment

[25:25] income that was generated last

[25:26] year from JANUARY to DECEMBER.

[25:27] And you'll be you'll notice

[25:28] there's a big increase during

[25:32] a time where property tax

[25:33] payments or a do so they MAY

[25:37] JUNE NOVEMBER, DECEMBER. Also

[25:39] have the liquid rate. So the

[25:41] majority of our funds are

[25:42] money market account.

[25:44] Investments accounts, liquid

[25:46] accounts. And we have a

[25:47] short-term portfolio between

[25:49] 60 to 65 Million. Where we

[25:54] invest your leanne CDs,

[25:56] agencies stretched treasuries.

[25:56] And there's a last year there

[25:59] was a 38 basis point

[25:59] difference this year. That MAY

[26:00] be a little higher. We have

[26:04] ceded this outstanding. We

[26:04] have the financial U.S.

[26:06] Institutions that bid on it

[26:09] agencies, Treasury CDs, it

[26:10] will probably be something

[26:13] around. 4.2 to 4.4 will be the

[26:15] yield Arco current money

[26:17] market yields about 3.6 osos

[26:20] about it. 68 a basis point

[26:22] difference when it comes to

[26:25] and the difference. What? One

[26:26] of the reasons why I brought

[26:30] that up is having a

[26:31] comprehensive short-term

[26:32] investment strategy where we

[26:35] invest 2 to 3 years, 2 to 3

[26:37] years, securities. We're able

[26:38] to get additional interest

[26:40] income so that additional 5

[26:41] basis points, which we're

[26:43] probably going to have next

[26:44] year generates 250,000

[26:49] additional interest income. I

[26:51] want talk a little bit of

[26:52] something that they focused on

[26:53] increasingly over the past

[26:56] couple of years. And that

[27:02] community engagement, Beach

[27:04] positions into the community

[27:07] outreach coordinator and we do

[27:09] special where we are we go out

[27:10] into the public, whether it's

[27:14] with a partner a community

[27:15] development corporation and

[27:17] the county fair, you know,

[27:19] we've worked with Martin to

[27:23] upright into planner at We get

[27:28] a really neat segment with e a

[27:31] r p and what we can to its

[27:33] target, zip codes in the areas

[27:36] with the highest incidence of

[27:38] tax sale. Tech sell

[27:43] properties. And you can see on

[27:46] this slide. Those are the top

[27:49] 5 performing as a JULY 2026.

[27:51] This is where we would spend

[27:55] the bulk our activity and what

[27:57] we to us have people there

[27:59] that can speak both English

[28:01] and Spanish and we will do

[28:03] what we call operate that

[28:06] check ups. Make sure that they

[28:07] have all of the deductions and

[28:10] credits to which they are

[28:12] eyeful walk through the bill

[28:19] with Tell them about value and

[28:20] just in general provided all

[28:24] the information that we have.

[28:25] The next slide gives. Our guys

[28:27] are budget breakdown of were

[28:31] opposing and increase of

[28:32] 318,004 for all characters. 9

[28:35] point one percent increase. We

[28:37] look at the character

[28:38] breakdown for a character one.

[28:43] It's a 10.6% increase 209,000.

[28:46] Our staffing levels for 2027

[28:47] opposed to be the same as in

[28:50] 2026, the increases is with

[28:50] the 3% cost of living

[28:51] adjustment. The stepping

[28:56] great. Attrition, increase and

[28:58] attrition rate and health

[29:00] insurance increases when it

[29:02] comes to character to do with

[29:04] supplies, operating supplies,

[29:07] which which used send out tax

[29:11] bill. $575 increase. And $46

[29:11] increase overall in character,

[29:16] too. For a character 3. We

[29:17] have close $108,000 increase.

[29:22] 7.3, 3%. With with

[29:23] professional services. I say

[29:27] there's a $61,000 increase

[29:28] about $9,000 increase with the

[29:32] new last a phone system and

[29:33] 10,000 in each of the

[29:34] categories when it when it

[29:36] comes to post its mail service

[29:39] and thinking we continue to

[29:41] get to post increases every

[29:42] year. So that's the appears to

[29:43] be something that also happen

[29:45] in 2027 in character. For no

[29:52] change. When it comes to

[29:53] There's a 1.4 billion dollar

[29:57] increase proposed. And in

[29:58] investment income. We have 1.1

[30:04] billion dollar increase. And

[30:04] just the next light really

[30:09] just shows a investment income

[30:10] relative to the budget over

[30:14] last 3 years and will for a

[30:14] 2027. So we've had a

[30:18] consistent. Good, good, good

[30:20] performances when it when it

[30:21] comes to deals this investment

[30:29] of art. And that's it. In a

[30:29] nutshell, you have all of the

[30:30] report said the fact that you

[30:33] will also included copies of

[30:34] the documents that we hand our

[30:41] public This is before and

[30:43] Thanksgiving in the Bush

[30:45] Spanish and make sure that we

[30:49] have any of those and We go to

[30:51] public. Thank you for the

[30:54] opportunity to be here the

[30:54] seat I appreciate your

[30:57] listening and consideration.

[30:58] It's always an honor to come

[31:01] before the committee I'm happy

[31:03] to take questions. Thank you

[31:05] your presentation. Counter

[31:12] Cahill. Thank you, MR. Chair

[31:14] the $7500 on letters and

[31:18] corrected. Sooner than

[31:19] expected. 8.7 million dollars.

[31:23] How that? The driver on the

[31:26] 1.1 million? Investment. What

[31:27] how much of that when we look

[31:33] at this? Investment income,

[31:33] what what was the net effect

[31:36] what you somebody by moving

[31:42] that forward? Well, I think

[31:43] going take a swipe at answer

[31:46] and then let by cutting the

[31:49] body. And earlier, it's less

[31:50] that the taxpayer is going

[31:54] first of all, but also that

[31:55] enables us to invest the money

[31:59] for a longer period I do. I

[32:02] think that was part of the 1.1

[32:07] million Incre soar. I I can

[32:08] tell you led to an increase in

[32:09] our interest, our names, I

[32:10] think it would be hard to

[32:14] quantify it. Yeah, we get a

[32:16] break down early. It's it's

[32:17] it's more. I would I would say

[32:17] that some of that with wooden

[32:22] table probably. We we both

[32:23] receive the payments earlier

[32:23] and we probably receive 40% of

[32:28] it. Before the bills went out

[32:30] in APRIL that we would have

[32:32] gotten in JANUARY, FEBRUARY or

[32:36] MARCH. So it was it was it was

[32:37] well worthy. Well, worth the

[32:38] investment. The other thing is

[32:40] and the calls that were coming

[32:43] in 4th front to the office. We

[32:46] were able to identify people

[32:50] that that have problems, maybe

[32:50] maybe move MAY have been

[32:51] unaware that that day that he

[32:52] didn't pay their property tax

[32:56] bill. So we were able to. Deal

[32:57] with those customers getting

[32:58] customer service. Part of the

[33:01] really busy period when they

[33:01] were, they would do it had a

[33:03] tougher time getting to the

[33:05] office. It also helped out

[33:06] with a payment. So the people

[33:07] that are struggling to make

[33:08] their payments, they were able

[33:11] to. Contact our office and

[33:16] that MAY have. Unable to start

[33:17] process with the starting

[33:19] making payments online, but we

[33:20] so that it was easier for to

[33:24] become I mean, just my quick

[33:26] and dirty showed it was should

[33:27] have this just by moving it

[33:30] forward like a month. One

[33:34] generated about 30,000 extra.

[33:36] As far as items that some of

[33:38] 500 generating 30,000 doesn't

[33:43] come that through great do so.

[33:47] And looking you. Okay? Yeah.

[33:49] The what? Given that what is

[33:51] MAY be on this that what is

[33:53] driving the 1.1 that isn't new

[33:55] increased rates that you're

[33:58] forecasting. The biggest thing

[34:00] is is our our average monthly

[34:02] balance continues to increase.

[34:02] So as a property levy

[34:04] increases as as late

[34:07] increases, our average balance

[34:08] it is as long as interest

[34:08] rates stay stay. Precept

[34:11] steady. I think if we get a

[34:15] 3.0, 3, 5%, interest will be

[34:17] able to make the make. The

[34:17] budgeted numbers running

[34:19] higher than that right think.

[34:21] Thank you any other questions

[34:25] or comments, counter boots.

[34:27] Thank you both for the

[34:28] presentation. If you could go

[34:29] just back one slide, please to

[34:33] 20. And looking at the

[34:35] difference 2 questions, one.

[34:38] The amount of interest,

[34:40] investment earnings is

[34:41] increasing rapidly. So why do

[34:42] you keep the budget amount

[34:46] fixed? And 15, one, 50? It

[34:51] went up in. There's been when

[34:53] when you when we look at the

[34:58] interest rate environment. The

[34:59] environment has changed

[35:01] dramatically beginning of the

[35:01] year. Our money market rates

[35:06] were. Substantially higher and

[35:07] they can they continue to go

[35:10] down. So so as as the money

[35:11] market rates have gone down,

[35:12] which is which is the bulk of

[35:13] rain come the short-term

[35:17] investments have. Going you

[35:21] know looking at our budget and

[35:22] understanding that there's

[35:23] there's kind of this does next

[35:25] between short-term

[35:27] investments, liquid

[35:28] investments and the increase

[35:31] in the average balance for a

[35:32] month. So using that that that

[35:37] kind of factored into. The

[35:38] budget number. I say, too,

[35:40] there's a little bit of it

[35:44] surveyed, but you go in It's

[35:46] difficult to what some of the

[35:47] stuff that's going on and

[35:49] said, what can I be? What

[35:52] might be coming down pike? So

[35:53] I think we have a tendency to

[35:57] be fairly conservative. Women.

[35:59] When making assessment

[36:03] historically has the amount of

[36:06] the earnings exceeding the

[36:06] budget has steadily grown

[36:08] historically over the years.

[36:10] More than just this 2 year

[36:12] history. And I I would say

[36:14] some of these factors 2020. 25

[36:18] 1 of the big factors was the

[36:19] timing of the book. You know,

[36:22] the interest in the So we we

[36:24] had a 21. We had one being

[36:25] that that was 20 Million. That

[36:28] was over 5%. So we're able to

[36:29] put 2025, which really made a

[36:31] difference interest. That's

[36:34] it's a time where short term

[36:37] sure. And finally due to sup

[36:39] 8, the 26 number 2 Frederick.

[36:41] See the budget member again, I

[36:44] I and it's it's it's it's

[36:48] really hard to dissipate with

[36:49] with the Fed and tariffs then

[36:51] the and the and the inflation

[36:53] environment. So we have to be

[36:53] somewhat conservative and try

[36:59] to have have a figure they are

[36:59] able to make but not have

[37:01] something that is

[37:05] substantially all. Thank you.

[37:08] Thank you. Any other questions

[37:09] from council, anyone from the

[37:11] audience only speak on this,

[37:14] seeing Thank As long she is

[37:15] very much next and counting

[37:18] on. Are there.

[38:01] We have the floor. Good

[38:02] evening, MISTER Chair and

[38:05] members of the for the record

[38:07] I am Island and I and the

[38:09] privilege of serving as the

[38:13] Marion County Auditor present

[38:16] with me tonight as my chief

[38:17] financial Officer, Tiffany

[38:20] Matthews and I will in that

[38:25] they're supporting me. Here

[38:27] tonight to present at the 2027

[38:34] budget presentation. We often

[38:35] see on the screen. And you

[38:41] also to say printed copy of

[38:45] budget presentation packet.

[38:46] Just think we go over the for

[38:50] you. A Marion County Auditor's

[38:53] Office is comprised 3 areas

[38:54] which include the accounting

[38:57] payroll real estate tax

[38:58] provisions. The mission of the

[39:02] office. Marion County

[39:05] Auditor's Office is to deliver

[39:05] exceptional customer service

[39:08] while providing the most

[39:09] efficient and effective

[39:12] support to our Mary County

[39:14] residents, city county

[39:20] employees and then there's.

[39:21] Our accounting Department

[39:23] division provides accounts

[39:23] payable and receivable

[39:27] functions for all agencies.

[39:29] And ensures payment for all

[39:30] city and county bills. The

[39:31] division reconciles cash

[39:33] balances and funds and also

[39:35] issues 10. 99 ce our payroll

[39:40] department. Is responsible for

[39:42] processing payroll and

[39:42] ensuring adherence to a

[39:43] clickable legal requirements,

[39:47] including new hiring reporting

[39:49] obligations and we also train

[39:50] and provide support to all

[39:55] agencies. Agency. Time keepers

[39:57] and those are responsible for

[39:58] a time. Keeper is responsible

[39:59] for just what it says. Time

[40:01] people in every agency in

[40:03] imax. I really I'm proud of

[40:03] that because we did not have

[40:11] that Our real estate and tax

[40:12] Department, that division

[40:13] provides customer service for

[40:14] Marion County. Residents

[40:16] processes all tax deductions,

[40:17] abatements tax bill

[40:21] corrections and refunds that

[40:22] division and ministers all

[40:23] noticing requirements,

[40:24] redemptions and refunds for

[40:27] the annual tax sale as well as

[40:29] investigates homestead

[40:29] deduction, fraud throughout

[40:33] the county. The next slide you

[40:38] see for flex. The positions

[40:39] that we have in the auditor's

[40:44] office. Totaling 30 33

[40:46] positions. We have 5

[40:47] administration positions, 7

[40:50] payroll positions. 10 and a

[40:52] real estate division. 11

[40:57] physicians and accounting. We

[41:00] have 2 openings, real estate

[41:01] and one in accounting. So if

[41:03] you all know someone that is

[41:03] interesting in them and send

[41:08] them our way. Our agency

[41:12] staffing demographics. 27

[41:16] women. And for me, 10 women in

[41:19] leadership to land as well.

[41:23] All of our employees that I've

[41:26] mentioned. We have one

[41:29] biracial, Ali, one of Army's

[41:32] Hispanic, African-American, 3

[41:34] Hispanic, 12 African-American,

[41:36] 14 Caucasian and in

[41:37] leadership. We have one

[41:38] Hispanic, one 4

[41:39] African-American and 7

[41:43] Caucasian. Far as community

[41:46] engagement. We are in the

[41:49] process of mailing letters.

[41:51] And new application forms to

[41:52] veterans currently receiving

[41:56] deductions to inform them. Of

[41:58] changes to disabled Bennett

[41:59] veterans, deductions and

[42:01] credits. The letters for

[42:02] Veterans of going out this

[42:09] week. Recently I had an

[42:10] interview with the local news

[42:12] to educate homeowners about

[42:16] Homestead. Deduction. I don't

[42:18] have the time. I don't know

[42:18] when interview will be aired

[42:21] just because the everybody's

[42:25] been been about the in recent

[42:26] floods that we have had. But

[42:28] we are trying our best to

[42:33] educate. Now, residents The

[42:34] what we offer and Islanders

[42:37] office. Let's talk about 2026

[42:42] progress and improvements. So

[42:42] the auditors office introduced

[42:46] a new automated clearing House

[42:46] reimbursement option for

[42:50] employees. The initiative aims

[42:51] to streamline the

[42:53] reimbursement process and

[42:55] reduce the reliance on paper

[42:58] checks. We're transitioning

[42:58] from paper. We the goal is to

[43:03] become a paperless county. Our

[43:04] a c 8 reimbursement option for

[43:05] employees began JUNE. The 8th

[43:09] of this year. This this is for

[43:11] the city and county employees

[43:11] who normally receive

[43:13] reimbursements for like

[43:16] conferences, meals, supplies,

[43:17] mileage, cell phones or any,

[43:21] you know, reimbursable items

[43:22] and employee has been approved

[43:23] to purchase by their agency.

[43:26] And we're happy to report that

[43:27] that is going well. And

[43:29] basically what that means is

[43:30] instead of getting a paper

[43:30] check, they have the option to

[43:32] have it automatically

[43:34] deposited into they're

[43:34] checking account or savings

[43:40] account what have you? We're

[43:43] using you are using budgeted

[43:46] funds to review current Wt w 2

[43:48] 10 99 processes to ensure

[43:50] compliance with recent changes

[43:50] in the applicable laws and

[43:52] regulations. So excited

[43:53] basically to be working with

[43:58] our contract. That legal. Tax

[43:59] professionals on our w 2 10 99

[44:07] process us. Goals for 2027.

[44:10] Expand automated clearing

[44:11] house participation by adding

[44:13] more vendors. What does that

[44:16] mean? Liz Ellis left. It

[44:20] reduces check printing costs.

[44:21] So we MAY allocate those

[44:22] resources to other future

[44:27] initiatives. I mentioned

[44:31] earlier the host it. The House

[44:32] to credit, but beginning in

[44:34] 2026, the state mandates that.

[44:40] County auditor shall. And that

[44:41] Homestead investigations and

[44:43] Beal for in eligible that

[44:45] deduction is in prior years

[44:48] before the language said it

[44:52] was discretionary and that I

[44:58] want to talk about. Before the

[45:00] next light that like the home

[45:03] state sweet. Now that so New

[45:10] York so in regard to ach. So

[45:12] in the beginning of my term.

[45:16] We were receiving complaints.

[45:16] The vendors were not being

[45:20] paid fast enough and then

[45:20] there's didn't want to do

[45:21] business with the city or the

[45:24] county. We implemented a new

[45:26] payment request platform that

[45:30] allowed us to be paperless

[45:30] also MAY paying invoices much

[45:35] quicker. Our initial start of

[45:36] a ch was the introduction of

[45:37] employee reimbursement, which

[45:41] I just mentioned. Councilor

[45:44] Cahill. Reached out with

[45:47] concerns. Regarding met terms

[45:49] on payments and provided which

[45:57] i have. A copy of of you guys

[45:58] is so the city County Council

[45:58] calling can that was invoiced

[46:02] on JULY 31st. And this year

[46:06] with a due date of AUGUST,

[46:07] 30th with net terms with

[46:07] terms. But it was paid on

[46:13] AUGUST. 12th. People soften

[46:19] just before Top of largest one

[46:20] like tell you about people,

[46:21] Southside, what people's out

[46:22] some people south as the

[46:22] capabilities of setting that

[46:28] terms. Acm and our purchasing

[46:28] department met with their

[46:31] legal counsel over concerns

[46:32] that payments could not or

[46:36] could be late. That or not

[46:40] contracted purchase orders. We

[46:44] must consider. All payments

[46:47] that a 30 terms such as

[46:54] utilities. Such as utilities

[46:55] are not contracted purchases.

[46:59] Rent, for example, rent

[47:00] Invoiced at 7.15, on JULY.

[47:03] 15th is due on AUGUST. 1st. So

[47:04] it doesn't mean that 30 days.

[47:08] All right. So what are we

[47:10] doing? What is the result? Be

[47:11] honest with you. We don't have

[47:12] the resolve, but we do have a

[47:16] plan. So the next steps. Are

[47:17] partnering acm and the

[47:20] Treasurer's office to do an

[47:24] analysis of cash flow Nick

[47:26] terms and the frequency of a

[47:28] ch transactions. Also, I

[47:31] talked to staff on today.

[47:33] Councilor Cahill about too,

[47:35] just looking at every invoice

[47:39] that we receive and then

[47:44] figuring out how do we manage

[47:45] particular invoices? And so I

[47:52] also learned today that we can

[47:55] also set whatever the number

[47:56] of the default rather that 0

[47:58] right, 20 days, right, 30

[48:02] days. The goal of, though, for

[48:04] offices to again, by me

[48:07] receiving those complains from

[48:09] vendors. It is to make sure

[48:13] that. Vendors are paid on time

[48:14] because also what happens is

[48:18] sometimes. CHAIRMAN Lusk

[48:21] Arias. We will get invoices

[48:22] from agencies and they're

[48:28] already. The 30 day deadline,

[48:28] right? So it's up to my

[48:32] office. I feel at that time.

[48:33] To like make sure that the

[48:35] vendors are getting as soon as

[48:40] possible. So we don't have it

[48:42] all figured out yet, but we

[48:43] will definitely look into what

[48:43] we're going to do. The

[48:48] research to find out how we

[48:52] can process invoices in 30 day

[48:54] next period, right? Because I

[48:55] understand I do understand

[48:58] where you're coming from

[49:00] because if a bill is the

[49:02] statement date is JULY, the

[49:03] 31st right? But the due date

[49:07] is AUGUST. The 30th, we

[49:10] probably set a default. Our

[49:10] look wages make sure that the

[49:14] bill is not late and have it

[49:16] pay like 5 days prior to

[49:16] write. So guess I do

[49:18] understand and I'm hoping that

[49:21] I'm answering some of your

[49:25] questions that had your email.

[49:26] So with that being said, I'm

[49:29] going to go ahead and continue

[49:30] to go through the presentation

[49:33] and then I will take any

[49:33] questions or any comments

[49:37] from. The council members.

[49:39] Okay. So let's talk about 2027

[49:44] priorities and goals. The

[49:45] homes week. We are currently

[49:46] conducting coasted

[49:47] investigations. However, we

[49:48] are limited due to our current

[49:50] property taxing system and

[49:53] ability to gather information.

[49:53] Our treasure actually talked

[49:54] about the new tech scene.

[49:58] System that we all bought into

[50:02] myself. The assessor and the

[50:03] treasurer, which she talked

[50:07] about tax off and exiled is I

[50:08] think going to do less a world

[50:14] of good in regard how we are,

[50:15] you know, tracking their

[50:16] taxes. Our taxes on multiple

[50:19] part parcel is at once the

[50:20] current property tax. System

[50:21] does not have that capability.

[50:24] So we're excited About ix off

[50:24] using it. And even that just

[50:25] the features that it brings

[50:28] with it. I think it'll be good

[50:33] for the county engaging in the

[50:35] go. Ineligible homestay it

[50:37] data and software providers in

[50:39] early spring that can provide

[50:39] data. So we're working

[50:43] organizations that actually I

[50:45] have Don, like Homestead,

[50:47] sweeps before. So our goal is

[50:50] for any monitoring software to

[50:53] continually research current

[50:53] deduction recipients in our

[50:55] tax base and alert U.S. Went

[50:58] public record data suggest the

[51:00] property is no longer serving

[51:01] as the principal place of

[51:03] residence. So for the homes

[51:04] that pretty you are supposed

[51:08] to be living at the residence

[51:10] and it is your responsibility

[51:11] as homeowner's responsibility

[51:14] to report that if they are no

[51:15] longer residing at that

[51:19] residence at that address.

[51:21] Let's talk about revenue,

[51:22] comprehensive homestead

[51:23] deduction and the ala says the

[51:25] net result is that we collect

[51:27] up to 3 years of additional

[51:29] taxes and associated

[51:30] penalties. These collections

[51:31] go to the auditors and

[51:35] eligible deductions, fun, the

[51:36] greater impact to the Texan

[51:38] units. The net revenue crease

[51:39] after removing the fraudulent

[51:42] erroneous Homestead deduction

[51:46] from the specific parcel.

[51:51] Budget breakdown. Increase

[51:52] just a little bit account. Our

[51:55] county, our county general,

[51:59] for 2026. Was 14 million,

[52:02] 346,550 were $4. It is

[52:07] increased too 15 million,

[52:07] 107,764 dollars. Our in

[52:13] eligible deductions. For this

[52:20] year was $655,000. $903. This

[52:24] year, solo wars, $662,128

[52:31] endorsement. See one up. From

[52:33] $155,509 to $182,096. Our

[52:37] elected officials training

[52:38] remain the same. Looks like I

[52:40] probably do some traveling

[52:42] nurse. I'm educating myself,

[52:45] but local emergency planning

[52:46] is in my budget. I'm not

[52:47] really surely sure why. But

[52:49] it's $110,000 and it remained

[52:53] the same for next year. But a

[52:54] breakdown for personnel

[53:01] character. One. 2027 to a

[53:06] about 145 $1461. But the

[53:10] difference of $562,705 in

[53:13] eligible deductions went down

[53:22] this year from $572,759 to 268

[53:26] $1985, which with the

[53:30] difference of $303,774.

[53:35] Totaling on for this year,

[53:37] 2 billion 814 million,

[53:43] $814,446 with the $258,931 in

[53:44] my notes say here, the

[53:45] character, one budget

[53:52] increased by. I 258,931 about

[53:56] $31 due to increasing cola

[53:59] union and non-union and

[53:59] changes in health insurance.

[54:01] So this budget funds, 33

[54:03] full-time employees with 3%

[54:04] cola health insurance

[54:08] increases. And step and grade

[54:12] increases. Character to

[54:16] supplies. County General Fund

[54:23] for this year. $537 and went

[54:27] down the difference of $1113.

[54:30] Eligible deductions and 2026

[54:31] was 23,000 stay the same. So

[54:36] that's the euro with the if

[54:38] you could say a total of

[54:40] $23,537 with a difference of

[54:43] 1000, $113. And the for that

[54:49] difference. Is reduced

[54:49] gasoline funding based off of

[54:50] usage. So I'm not driving my

[54:59] city car lot Budget breakdown

[55:03] character, 3 I'm just going

[55:04] share with you. I'm not going

[55:06] to go through all the the

[55:09] figures here, but our charge

[55:12] facts increased by $14,112.

[55:15] You'll see the The slide and

[55:19] then mental health costs sunny

[55:23] and we saw an increase to

[55:26] $524,447 to a total of

[55:32] 9 Million. And capital for

[55:33] last, but not least there are

[55:36] no changes. Our in eligible

[55:39] deductions. 23,000 for this

[55:43] year and $23,000 for next

[55:46] year. That is conclusion of my

[55:54] 2027. It brings me and I.

[55:59] Available to answer ultimately

[56:01] any questions think PRESIDENT

[56:02] Luiz. Thank you. Thank you for

[56:05] your presentation to sit

[56:07] question regarding the

[56:09] Homestead Review. Any day that

[56:12] speaks to how often folks are

[56:13] utilized as the ducks and that

[56:15] should not be using

[56:24] I think we don't have exactly

[56:28] because. We don't have the

[56:32] means to gather all the data

[56:35] itself. By engaging with a

[56:36] company that can provide the

[56:37] software utilizes obviously

[56:43] like dmv records. We thank

[56:47] your dmv be in the records.

[56:50] Any public data essentially it

[56:51] will pull that would be can

[56:55] determine now on a day-to-day

[56:57] basis, we usually are able to

[56:57] catch that as far as like

[57:01] somebody coming. Nguyen, maybe

[57:03] someone could say some of that

[57:04] report. They come in and

[57:09] they'll say we I move the year

[57:10] ago and now I'm Alicia knows

[57:11] me see my my home. So I need

[57:15] to, you know, Ed or whatever

[57:16] so than that, and that might

[57:20] trigger an investigation are

[57:22] So how how often if you don't

[57:23] mind is something like that

[57:24] happened again? Do you have

[57:27] figure that speaks to that? So

[57:28] let me say If you know just So

[57:30] let me say this I can't

[57:33] remember what year so Mary

[57:35] County is on this week before.

[57:37] Okay. Okay. What year was that

[57:41] 10 years ago? So with

[57:41] purchasing the new software

[57:44] that we have mix off. Well,

[57:46] hopefully to help us be able

[57:48] to catch right individuals

[57:51] that have more than one most

[57:52] it deduction, right? So that's

[57:52] why in the presentation,

[57:53] though, that I said we're

[57:57] meeting with. Companies that

[58:02] have done this before and that

[58:03] an initiative. Our is our goal

[58:07] of ours is next year to do.

[58:10] The sweet and also have in

[58:11] place whatever that looks

[58:14] like. We don't know yet

[58:15] something in place to catch

[58:19] individuals that are that have

[58:22] more than state deduction is

[58:23] that makes us so we don't have

[58:24] an answer yet, but it is on

[58:26] our things to do list to get

[58:28] done and the great thank you

[58:29] so much that the nra says see

[58:30] that data when you do have a

[58:32] thank you that run. Thank you.

[58:35] Counselor. Km. I think MISTER

[58:38] Chair. Thank you addressing

[58:39] those concerns because I you

[58:41] know, we've talked more in the

[58:42] past week about liquidity that

[58:44] think we talked to my time on

[58:47] the council and is important

[58:48] and that cash flow and paying.

[58:52] And I agree we should not. And

[58:53] I'm not saying it's your fault

[58:54] when somebody he's an invoice

[58:55] after it was already do, we

[58:58] shouldn't be paying invoices.

[58:59] Late, but I also don't think

[59:00] we should be paying early

[59:04] because it has great cash And

[59:05] I think this goes back to last

[59:06] year's discussion because you

[59:07] were talking about moving more

[59:11] jc age and inherently that and

[59:12] addressed. We could cut, you

[59:15] know, another week. Plus, when

[59:15] you don't mail a check, but

[59:17] now you see agent. Well, if

[59:19] you're not issuing that ac age

[59:20] on the day that it's too well,

[59:24] actually, they too. It's like

[59:24] if there's a weekend or

[59:25] whatever. But if you if you're

[59:27] not issuing that at that time

[59:29] and you do kind of like this,

[59:31] then because at least in this

[59:35] case, calling it example,

[59:36] there was checkpoint, the mail

[59:37] and then And then it went in

[59:40] the mail that got cash.

[59:41] Probably was only off by a

[59:42] couple days. But when we see

[59:43] age that still gets bigger.

[59:46] And although we picked a

[59:48] colleague example not of

[59:50] dollar amount. My concern is

[59:54] more like and we have a major

[59:55] contractor looking milestone

[59:56] or something that with check

[59:56] as Labour's pch as a lot zeros

[59:58] at the end and the math of

[1:00:03] that. So my my question my

[1:00:04] follow-up question is last

[1:00:05] year's presentation talked

[1:00:07] about a ch converting more to

[1:00:07] that. You've got that is to do

[1:00:09] this year. And you said you've

[1:00:13] got employee reimbursement

[1:00:15] payments that's that's great

[1:00:16] for great things from the

[1:00:18] employees about that process.

[1:00:20] Better. Are there other than

[1:00:21] that? We have anybody on a

[1:00:22] stage today or is that still

[1:00:26] working properly? Yeah,

[1:00:28] absolutely. Of like a you

[1:00:29] have. We're working to expand

[1:00:32] the pilot, but we do have a

[1:00:33] couple of outside of our

[1:00:35] normal because we do a ch

[1:00:36] outside of that. I think last

[1:00:40] year we added, for example,

[1:00:41] state board of accounts we

[1:00:41] need to pay. And with this

[1:00:46] like. Taxing unit audits, when

[1:00:47] see those invoices, we added

[1:00:52] those 2 ach, but this year, I

[1:00:53] say talking with them about

[1:00:58] the ach process. And in

[1:00:59] talking about a pilot asked if

[1:01:00] we would include one of their

[1:01:05] vendors. So we did

[1:01:07] technologies. Second one was

[1:01:08] just added a couple of months

[1:01:11] ago and that score pay. So

[1:01:14] that's utilized by the the

[1:01:19] fuel payments up They

[1:01:20] situations where we're running

[1:01:24] into where payments for being

[1:01:25] and feels important for

[1:01:30] Obviously impd I d to be able

[1:01:30] to conduct We didn't convert

[1:01:38] those to ach so next step

[1:01:39] because we now have mandate.

[1:01:39] The wearing We talked about is

[1:01:42] next. Expanding that, but also

[1:01:46] doing it carefully, taking

[1:01:48] into consideration that terms

[1:01:49] consider e considering

[1:01:55] liquidity cash flow. We have

[1:01:59] talked of the treasurer's

[1:02:01] about what that might look

[1:02:02] like. So it might not be

[1:02:04] obviously ach every day. It

[1:02:06] might be picky. Some certain

[1:02:11] vendors to begin with

[1:02:13] discussing figuring out the

[1:02:15] frequently what that would

[1:02:16] look like. So and then I think

[1:02:19] with a ch 2, is that. It's an

[1:02:23] instant are Payment. So it we

[1:02:27] make the with the exception of

[1:02:29] mail. I that 30. We can set

[1:02:33] that date on on 30 right. And

[1:02:37] we know it's not going to be

[1:02:38] late that they received that

[1:02:42] day so we can maximize

[1:02:43] maximizing that 30 terms and

[1:02:44] also make sure not paying

[1:02:46] late. Yeah, no, that's that's

[1:02:48] good to hear. I I hope that

[1:02:48] and I'm glad to hear not

[1:02:49] surprised that I'm glad to

[1:02:53] hear the Laker fuel supplier

[1:02:54] for that makes perfect sense.

[1:02:55] I guess I would hope that we

[1:02:59] would kind of the big dollars

[1:02:59] because I realize that the

[1:03:04] goal is to eliminate the papal

[1:03:05] charity. But in my experience,

[1:03:10] bang for the buck is actually

[1:03:12] The individual payments, even

[1:03:14] though so we MAY still be

[1:03:18] sending of a projected to

[1:03:19] college Buffalo, Yorkers. And

[1:03:22] yes, a ch 2. You know,

[1:03:25] electric company esta citizens

[1:03:26] milestone, too. So are you

[1:03:28] anybody gets in my opinion,

[1:03:31] anybody 7 figures a year and

[1:03:32] that peak hour, I look at

[1:03:35] that. So that's that's free.

[1:03:36] And I guess my final thing I'm

[1:03:37] glad I want him and you are

[1:03:39] conversations now. I think

[1:03:42] there MAY be an opportunity

[1:03:43] for some training with regard

[1:03:46] to people saw and it might

[1:03:47] address some of what you're

[1:03:50] talking about. Where rent

[1:03:50] doesn't but that it might be

[1:03:54] as simple as saying for rent

[1:03:55] put the day, the rent is due

[1:03:56] with net 0 and then the

[1:03:59] payment will at the So I think

[1:04:03] I think our understanding at

[1:04:04] the moment and that's talking

[1:04:08] with the Rp team and my xyz,

[1:04:11] Europe. He handles, you know,

[1:04:12] peoples problems or issues

[1:04:16] river. Have that we might be

[1:04:17] able to do that on a Hope.

[1:04:18] We're hoping we can do that on

[1:04:18] a b#

[1:04:18] #

[1:04:19] level which which

[1:04:22] would be helpful that way. We

[1:04:23] know that specific specific

[1:04:27] vendor possibly. Kind of nutty

[1:04:31] some of those out that we can.

[1:04:32] You know, if that is, you

[1:04:34] know, 15 days are only giving

[1:04:35] 15 days for that. We can set

[1:04:35] it for that specific vendor

[1:04:37] rather than having it as of

[1:04:38] the fall across. People saw

[1:04:42] it. Yes, I would certainly

[1:04:43] help at center I believe

[1:04:45] that's how it's supposed want

[1:04:46] to hear that. But yeah, I just

[1:04:49] I want conclude with thanks

[1:04:50] again for this is major

[1:04:53] progress past year. Fishy with

[1:04:55] thank you. Thank Council

[1:04:56] council I just would like to

[1:04:57] say to you that I do think

[1:05:00] that we can get it done. I do.

[1:05:02] And I think it's having the

[1:05:03] conversations on like we live

[1:05:06] in a hyper right. So I but I

[1:05:08] do. I think that is something

[1:05:09] that having conversations and

[1:05:10] again, because I'd learn

[1:05:11] myself today in regard to the

[1:05:17] Deval, but the system and

[1:05:18] actually, if it's a rule right

[1:05:21] versus a law and what the

[1:05:24] auditor has the authority, if

[1:05:25] you will, to decide on what

[1:05:27] that number looks like. So we

[1:05:29] would definitely my staff and

[1:05:31] we taking a look into it and

[1:05:32] figure out what's best for

[1:05:34] good government for yeah, for

[1:05:41] the Thank Council rose. Thank

[1:05:42] you, MR. CHAIRMAN and I agree

[1:05:43] with you, counselor Cahill.

[1:05:44] This is very tedious work. So

[1:05:46] thank you. MADAM Auditor, you

[1:05:50] have done great work. I think

[1:05:52] the ach peace is not only

[1:05:54] reducing fraud, thought, but

[1:05:55] it's good for business. We

[1:05:55] don't want to drive those

[1:05:58] dinners. The waste we've had,

[1:05:58] you know, the course of

[1:06:01] several years and decades,

[1:06:05] even as so many vendors and

[1:06:06] other agencies and governments

[1:06:08] go to some of these things

[1:06:09] were losing out on great

[1:06:10] getting work done in a timely

[1:06:11] fashion. So I commend you for

[1:06:15] that. And again, prioritizing

[1:06:19] internally was huge. And it's

[1:06:20] it is so tedious and it's a

[1:06:21] case-by-case piece. I just

[1:06:22] want to shout out the team. I

[1:06:24] know it's a long day for you.

[1:06:25] Thank you for showing up and

[1:06:26] thank you for all the work

[1:06:26] that you all to thank. Thank

[1:06:30] you, MR. CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

[1:06:31] Any other questions on the

[1:06:32] ach? Is there a fee for the

[1:06:36] vendor? 0? It like $2 less

[1:06:40] than a and is less than a

[1:06:41] dollar? Yeah, it's It's like

[1:06:43] pennies compared to look at

[1:06:46] absolutely a check time. Thank

[1:06:47] you. Any other questions

[1:06:49] counselors, anyone from the

[1:06:51] audience seeing none. We'll

[1:06:52] move on to the item. Thank you

[1:06:59] very Thank you. And bringing

[1:07:06] rules for commute. It.

[1:07:37] Welcome. And good evening.

[1:07:38] Okay. Operation Officers

[1:07:39] Correction Council. So a

[1:07:45] pretty young 25th floor. 23rd

[1:07:46] you have all the attorneys you

[1:07:50] don't know where we are all

[1:07:52] right. You have the Thank you.

[1:07:53] Times kids with their thank

[1:07:56] your time tonight friend. If

[1:07:59] you are in that position

[1:08:00] council here tonight present

[1:08:01] the proposed 2027 budget for

[1:08:02] the Office Corporation

[1:08:05] counsel. To increase snapshot

[1:08:09] of our agency. We are the in

[1:08:13] law firm of the city county

[1:08:14] provide full comprehensive

[1:08:15] legal services to all of our

[1:08:15] city county agencies and

[1:08:20] employees. There are 3 fritzl

[1:08:21] divisions in our office. The

[1:08:22] litigation Division, the

[1:08:23] Counseling Division and the

[1:08:26] office. It's a prosecutor our

[1:08:26] office also administers the

[1:08:30] office of Equal Opportunity.

[1:08:32] Here's a snapshot of the occ

[1:08:33] organizational chart, as

[1:08:34] you'll see there, the 3

[1:08:38] divisions are listed in led

[1:08:38] Katie Campbell, our city

[1:08:42] prosecutor who's here tonight

[1:08:43] Ellen Gavitt, our chief

[1:08:43] counsel and Kylie Keys there,

[1:08:46] our chief litigation counsel,

[1:08:47] our senior staff is comprised

[1:08:50] of the first 3 rows. So it be

[1:08:51] the Corporation Council, the

[1:08:54] deputy corporation counsel,

[1:08:54] the 3 section chiefs, as well

[1:08:57] as our office administrator.

[1:08:58] Our leadership is 80% women

[1:09:05] and we are very proud of

[1:09:06] Here's a bit a look at she

[1:09:07] sees role is to look at the

[1:09:08] divisions and what used to

[1:09:09] vision does and what they do

[1:09:11] to provide support to city

[1:09:14] county. The litigation

[1:09:15] Division manages the docket of

[1:09:16] cases all the times. And each

[1:09:17] time the city of Indianapolis

[1:09:18] is listed as a defendant. That

[1:09:23] is the case. We take up last

[1:09:24] year, enforces on to the trend

[1:09:26] the past several years. Seen

[1:09:27] an uptick of cases filed

[1:09:28] against the city county and

[1:09:30] its employees last year, a

[1:09:33] total of 118 cases were filed

[1:09:37] with 114 resolve to be clear

[1:09:37] 114 leads back to cases. His

[1:09:38] office, obviously especially

[1:09:39] federal litigation last

[1:09:42] several years or can several

[1:09:43] years this year. So far, we're

[1:09:45] at 65 cases filed against the

[1:09:49] city with 76 resolved. This.

[1:09:50] That is a higher number than

[1:09:50] we were last at last year's

[1:09:54] budget presentation, which is

[1:09:54] potentially indicative that we

[1:09:55] are going to have more cases

[1:09:57] again filed against the city

[1:09:58] county just showing the amount

[1:10:00] work in the litigation

[1:10:02] section. The county section

[1:10:02] that's kind of you to view is

[1:10:05] the in-house counsel. Each

[1:10:06] agency is assigned their own

[1:10:07] counseling attorney. And

[1:10:08] that's usually the first

[1:10:09] attorney those agencies go to

[1:10:10] and they have a legal question

[1:10:13] the legal advice. The council

[1:10:13] section provides those told

[1:10:15] city County agencies as well

[1:10:17] as the 30 boards and

[1:10:20] commissions. Finally the

[1:10:21] office of see prosecutors, the

[1:10:22] office that's responsible for

[1:10:22] enforcing the code violations

[1:10:25] and ordinance violations. Last

[1:10:28] year, they filed 1128 cases

[1:10:32] and close 1002 this year, they

[1:10:36] filed 713 cases and close so

[1:10:41] far close 667. Without past 6,

[1:10:47] 6, 6, o that's good as far as

[1:10:48] agents to staffing and that's

[1:10:48] going to be a portion and

[1:10:52] future slides. Tonight we have

[1:10:53] 46, tough fte positions with

[1:10:56] 31 filled with 15 vacancies.

[1:10:58] Our focus of our senior staff

[1:11:00] since I've taken this role has

[1:11:02] been on finding ways to

[1:11:03] support our staff, continue to

[1:11:04] give the attorneys and the

[1:11:05] staff in our office a good

[1:11:08] opportunity, good experiences.

[1:11:10] What we retention we want and

[1:11:11] also have resource to help

[1:11:13] build their careers as well.

[1:11:15] So things we do and things

[1:11:17] that we use the budget for her

[1:11:17] character threes to pay for

[1:11:20] attorneys annual licenses. We

[1:11:23] reimburse support staff are

[1:11:24] maintaining credentials.

[1:11:25] That's probably was obviously

[1:11:26] seen with our paralegals. Many

[1:11:28] of them are notary publics. We

[1:11:28] find that very beneficial to

[1:11:29] have in our office will pay

[1:11:31] for them to get those

[1:11:32] commission's every few years.

[1:11:35] They need those something we

[1:11:36] introduced last year and we're

[1:11:40] going continue into 27 was

[1:11:41] reached a tourney, a $500 bank

[1:11:42] that they can use for their

[1:11:45] own professional development.

[1:11:46] As most probably know, in

[1:11:47] order to maintain your

[1:11:47] attorney license, you have to

[1:11:48] do a certain amount of

[1:11:49] continuing legal education

[1:11:51] every year. So this helps

[1:11:52] because most firms and other

[1:11:54] places will pay for that

[1:11:55] entirely. But this gives an

[1:11:56] opportunity to find not only

[1:11:58] programs and they have the in

[1:11:59] their individual job bankers,

[1:12:00] things that they will utilize

[1:12:03] to help them professionally.

[1:12:04] We provide each attorney with

[1:12:04] a membership to the and well

[1:12:06] wishes the in International

[1:12:09] Municipal Lawyers Association.

[1:12:10] There's also the Indiana

[1:12:11] Municipal Lawyers Association.

[1:12:13] They're members of that has an

[1:12:14] annual conference that all of

[1:12:15] our attorneys to tend to work

[1:12:17] in network and meet with all

[1:12:18] this will trays across

[1:12:20] Indiana. It's a very fun

[1:12:22] conference, they learned and

[1:12:23] kind of learn different

[1:12:24] strategies of all the things

[1:12:27] that we all MAY be facing.

[1:12:29] Finally, make sure we we've

[1:12:30] really developed some internal

[1:12:32] training education programs.

[1:12:34] So the attorneys don't need to

[1:12:34] dip into their bank. They can

[1:12:36] just here in the office. Get

[1:12:37] an hour Cle on a subject

[1:12:37] matter that's relevant to

[1:12:41] them. Looking to programmatic

[1:12:44] and fiscal successes of 26. I

[1:12:45] kind of put these into 3

[1:12:47] different buckets. The first

[1:12:48] and foremost, which is I think

[1:12:50] the primary responsibility of

[1:12:51] our offices, the reduction of

[1:12:52] liability of potential

[1:12:54] exposure of the city county.

[1:12:56] So that is advising monitoring

[1:12:57] compliance with state and

[1:12:59] federal laws and regulations

[1:12:59] past year and a half,

[1:13:02] particularly there's been a

[1:13:03] slew of new rules and regs and

[1:13:06] things coming out. So we have

[1:13:07] a symbol, a little team within

[1:13:07] our office to kind of keep an

[1:13:08] eye on that. What's happening

[1:13:11] at the federal level and

[1:13:12] what's happening in different

[1:13:13] states, especially cities that

[1:13:13] are similarly situated,

[1:13:17] Indianapolis to see what's

[1:13:18] happening in so we can quickly

[1:13:18] advise our clients get

[1:13:20] guidance and kind of interpret

[1:13:22] if there's pivots, we should

[1:13:23] suggest or recommend that also

[1:13:25] just having were never caught

[1:13:26] surprised by thing coming down

[1:13:28] from the state or federal

[1:13:30] level. We also resolve law try

[1:13:31] to work to resolve lawsuits.

[1:13:32] Earlier, as I mentioned, those

[1:13:35] numbers keep going up. So

[1:13:35] we're starting to implement a

[1:13:38] system this past year that

[1:13:39] helps identify what the issues

[1:13:41] are in that lawsuit. What the

[1:13:41] plaintiff truly is complaining

[1:13:45] about to see if we can offer

[1:13:45] what we can do and try to

[1:13:47] gather that evidence quickly

[1:13:50] and see if we can assess

[1:13:51] liability and make informed

[1:13:52] decision as far as settlement

[1:13:53] goes or to go forward with the

[1:13:56] litigation. And finally

[1:13:57] utilizing on economic impact

[1:14:00] options with a mindfulness of

[1:14:01] the very tight budget for

[1:14:04] these agencies. We started

[1:14:05] identify again what MAY be a

[1:14:06] plaintiff's complaint about

[1:14:07] him other than offering money.

[1:14:09] If it's a policy change

[1:14:09] looking into that and working

[1:14:10] with our agencies to see if

[1:14:12] that solve the problem. At

[1:14:13] that point, it was bringing

[1:14:15] and trying to find non-medical

[1:14:19] economic ways to solve law, to

[1:14:19] resolve lawsuits, internal

[1:14:21] legal education, which I've

[1:14:23] mentioned, we really try to

[1:14:24] milk the most out of our

[1:14:27] character, 3 In addition to

[1:14:27] outside lawyers taking the

[1:14:28] cases we do that don't have

[1:14:30] capacity to take or we're

[1:14:34] conflicted from taking. We've

[1:14:34] had a few of those counselors

[1:14:35] come in and provide very

[1:14:38] specific Cle trainings. We now

[1:14:39] have an annual section 1983

[1:14:41] training, which is a really

[1:14:41] specialized area of his full

[1:14:43] government law in federal

[1:14:44] court. We've also done a legal

[1:14:47] writing training to help.

[1:14:48] Encourage and advocate for

[1:14:51] lawyers to improve their

[1:14:52] advocacy skills. In addition,

[1:14:54] we have with our contracts

[1:14:56] comes expectations that those

[1:14:57] outside counsels well mentor

[1:14:59] our attorneys. So well, maybe

[1:15:02] with the outside. Those

[1:15:03] attorneys are expected in

[1:15:04] Turley who are monitoring them

[1:15:06] to engage the attorneys. 10

[1:15:07] depositions they're able to

[1:15:08] attend attend court hearings

[1:15:09] when they're able to attend

[1:15:11] and even take the first stab

[1:15:12] at writing the briefs and

[1:15:13] things like that stink. It

[1:15:13] feedback from attorneys who

[1:15:15] practice in this area and it's

[1:15:19] a mentor in that way. Finally

[1:15:19] responding to legal needs of

[1:15:23] city county agencies. These

[1:15:23] are necessarily subject matter

[1:15:24] legal, but this is how we can

[1:15:26] better serve the city county

[1:15:26] and how issues of questions

[1:15:29] brought to us or help agencies

[1:15:30] have tools they can use to

[1:15:33] kind of saw their problems.

[1:15:34] We're currently engaged with.

[1:15:37] I sa to help improve our a

[1:15:38] discovery of public records

[1:15:39] law, our public records

[1:15:41] processees. That's probably

[1:15:42] question we get the public

[1:15:43] records could comes in. How do

[1:15:46] we get this? What we do so I

[1:15:47] say has been incredibly

[1:15:50] helpful on developing an

[1:15:50] intranet where we can start

[1:15:51] printed materials, search

[1:15:54] terms. So in those the ios

[1:15:55] Reverend Agencies are charged

[1:15:57] with getting those public

[1:15:58] records request. They got

[1:15:59] confidence. These records are

[1:16:00] streamlined their narrow, but

[1:16:01] they're also comprehensive.

[1:16:02] What the of what the request

[1:16:06] is part problem solving urgent

[1:16:07] legal issues. Again, that's

[1:16:08] kind of goes back to following

[1:16:11] the state local different

[1:16:14] regulations and then also

[1:16:16] piggybacking on the first sub

[1:16:18] here during the work of the

[1:16:20] agencies and kind of engaging.

[1:16:21] I've been spending time with

[1:16:21] each agency to learn what they

[1:16:22] do. What are their legal needs

[1:16:23] know what their legal needs

[1:16:25] are and trying to help Bill

[1:16:28] that Internet. That's not out

[1:16:29] yet. But information on there

[1:16:29] that helps the agency's kind

[1:16:33] of. Self-help themselves

[1:16:33] before coming to us are

[1:16:34] helping to streamline that

[1:16:38] question. Katie impacts always

[1:16:39] challenging one to talk is

[1:16:41] where the internal agency. But

[1:16:42] and these are a few that I can

[1:16:45] highlight are happening this

[1:16:46] year. The opiate litigation,

[1:16:47] which is also been which has

[1:16:49] been going on for several

[1:16:50] years. We have received more

[1:16:53] of that distribution this year

[1:16:53] wrecked a 17 million we've

[1:16:56] received so far. We still

[1:16:57] project 70 million coming in

[1:17:01] from the opioid litigation.

[1:17:02] The Kia Hyundai lawsuit that

[1:17:04] dealt with alleged effect and

[1:17:06] the heat days and led to break

[1:17:08] ends and cause a lot of time

[1:17:09] and effort be spent by the

[1:17:11] impd on investigating those in

[1:17:13] solving those. I'm happy to

[1:17:15] say we are in preliminary

[1:17:17] final settlement, but that is

[1:17:18] truly all I can say about it

[1:17:18] right now because the court of

[1:17:20] the parties have agreed not to

[1:17:21] speak further on it until we

[1:17:21] hope reach that. But I will

[1:17:24] say I do. Hope that his

[1:17:25] resolve by this year by the

[1:17:28] end of this year. We also

[1:17:30] reviewing other class action

[1:17:31] opportunities, things where

[1:17:32] we've either purchase products

[1:17:34] are had issues that again,

[1:17:35] that we should be part of to

[1:17:35] make sure we get in on those

[1:17:37] early so we can maximize any

[1:17:41] settlement funds from that.

[1:17:42] Mitigating liability and

[1:17:46] finally get Hammer home 100.

[1:17:47] And the changes that that

[1:17:47] really is something has

[1:17:48] changed past years to develop

[1:17:49] a team to just keep an eye on

[1:17:51] everything going on out there.

[1:17:56] Looking his 2027. So the

[1:17:57] number one bullet point here,

[1:17:59] the pride, the thing for

[1:17:59] interim and that I care a lot

[1:18:01] about this office. I've had a

[1:18:02] phenomenal experience this

[1:18:03] office and gain experience as

[1:18:05] a litigator. That's my trade.

[1:18:06] We are currently going through

[1:18:08] a drought of litigation

[1:18:10] attorneys so if you look at

[1:18:11] the chart, we are going down.

[1:18:12] So we've had to do a lot of

[1:18:13] outside counsel because we

[1:18:14] have an obligation to

[1:18:17] represent the city county. But

[1:18:19] so immediate things we've

[1:18:19] taken. 26, I will say thank

[1:18:21] you to hr with them for

[1:18:24] working with me quickly. We

[1:18:25] knew we had to get the

[1:18:27] litigation specific salaries

[1:18:28] up to competitive. We weren't

[1:18:29] even close to even with you

[1:18:31] know, whatever. And we the

[1:18:33] state look at surrounding

[1:18:34] counties and what similar

[1:18:37] situated cities are. So we

[1:18:38] found a good able to up those

[1:18:39] salaries. We've got those

[1:18:42] listed last month finally

[1:18:43] getting bites again. So we're

[1:18:44] optimistic that that's going

[1:18:47] to be a helpful thing. Hr has

[1:18:49] been really helpful, would

[1:18:49] never lie to post our jobs

[1:18:50] before. It's just kind on the

[1:18:53] city county website. They've

[1:18:54] been really proactive in

[1:18:55] getting us into the all school

[1:18:56] job the U.S. And to divulge a

[1:18:59] job bank and kind of helping

[1:18:59] spread the word that we have

[1:19:02] these positions available.

[1:19:03] Looking to 2027 if we're still

[1:19:07] having this issue I've had

[1:19:08] people in various

[1:19:09] conversations. Guess it's

[1:19:10] saved by conversation of start

[1:19:11] with my personal network of

[1:19:11] attorneys that are very

[1:19:14] throughout different areas of

[1:19:17] law. But working see if it

[1:19:18] makes sense to change occ to

[1:19:19] what I'll call it a bigger for

[1:19:22] model. We create different

[1:19:22] positions like convert, I

[1:19:25] should positions to more like

[1:19:26] Doc review based to come in

[1:19:28] because at this point for

[1:19:28] litigation, attorney, you have

[1:19:30] to have 2 years of experience

[1:19:32] before women hire you because

[1:19:33] we are complex litigation. You

[1:19:36] are expected to be fun when

[1:19:37] you start on day one. So going

[1:19:39] to federal court and do any

[1:19:40] hearing so seen maybe that can

[1:19:44] get and that way again, some

[1:19:45] of straight of local school be

[1:19:47] eligible to start for those

[1:19:48] jobs. Start shadowing start

[1:19:49] going to those hearings. And

[1:19:50] they also have internal

[1:19:51] quickly within the office

[1:19:53] going for maybe a doctor

[1:19:55] attorney, too. And assistant

[1:19:57] us assistant corporation

[1:19:59] counsel. So everything's on

[1:20:01] the table. Continue take

[1:20:02] advice on that. Any boyer's

[1:20:02] out there. I've I'm always

[1:20:03] willing to try to figure out

[1:20:06] how we can make to to get that

[1:20:08] staffing that back up in

[1:20:09] litigation. The second is our

[1:20:13] sauce. A partnership. We again

[1:20:15] thank the council in 23

[1:20:16] appropriate funds to have

[1:20:18] partnership with the U.S.

[1:20:20] Attorney's office with an

[1:20:20] attorney that says 6 solely

[1:20:23] focused on Marion County,

[1:20:24] violent crime. That attorney

[1:20:26] was such a success that the

[1:20:26] U.S. Attorney's office

[1:20:27] snatched him up and to come

[1:20:29] out as assistant U.S.

[1:20:31] Attorney. But we successes

[1:20:32] hired a new attorney who is I

[1:20:33] think starting in 2 weeks for

[1:20:36] that's also position. So this

[1:20:37] has been a very mutually

[1:20:38] beneficial partnership with

[1:20:39] the U.S. Attorney's Office and

[1:20:44] plan to continue that 27

[1:20:45] shouldn't you be one of the

[1:20:46] things other than salary that

[1:20:47] the attorneys who talking

[1:20:48] about is again, all they do

[1:20:49] like having these internal

[1:20:50] trains. That's again,

[1:20:52] something common to all firms

[1:20:54] offer and of course, that Ray

[1:20:57] General's office offers those

[1:20:58] so should we have enough here

[1:20:59] 3 thinking about what other

[1:21:01] arteries but trainings we can

[1:21:02] offer them free of cost to

[1:21:04] them to benefit their careers

[1:21:04] and their service here. The

[1:21:09] city County. And finally

[1:21:10] always trying to make sure we

[1:21:10] live work with all our small

[1:21:14] locally owned firms here.

[1:21:16] Strangely being this

[1:21:17] litigation shortage. We have

[1:21:18] certainly well white in that

[1:21:21] on who we work with this year.

[1:21:22] I can even a model for work

[1:21:22] with this year after list that

[1:21:26] this has been. Kind of a dire

[1:21:26] situation of positive, aspect

[1:21:28] of being able to work with the

[1:21:30] smaller, especially women

[1:21:31] owned or minority owned firms

[1:21:32] who can do this work and help

[1:21:33] us out with that. So it has

[1:21:34] been opportunity to reach

[1:21:37] those smaller for Now to the

[1:21:42] numbers so overall, the

[1:21:43] variance skipped just where we

[1:21:45] are because most to character

[1:21:49] stay straight year. Stay flat.

[1:21:51] It's variance increase of

[1:21:52] 38,600. And $22. And I'll show

[1:21:56] you where that goes. Character

[1:21:59] Wian does increase by the

[1:22:01] 294,021. But that's all we do.

[1:22:01] The 3% cola and the increase

[1:22:02] of one percent for health

[1:22:05] insurance. Character to stays

[1:22:11] the same. Character 3, the

[1:22:13] $38,000. $38,576. Variance is

[1:22:16] again, specifically for we've

[1:22:17] had to increase our character

[1:22:19] 3 for outside law firms this

[1:22:20] year. And that covers that so

[1:22:22] we can pay off those bills. I

[1:22:24] should also just comment that

[1:22:26] view every attorney is taking

[1:22:27] the case during our litigation

[1:22:29] shortage has been made aware

[1:22:31] that our intent is to hire

[1:22:32] people and bring this case is

[1:22:33] back. And so this is something

[1:22:34] that we do hoping 27. We start

[1:22:37] getting more folks, bring it

[1:22:38] back. And so then we don't

[1:22:38] have that outside counsel

[1:22:42] anymore. Care to 4 cup. Stay

[1:22:45] flat. And then since we are,

[1:22:46] in fact, a chargeback agency

[1:22:48] that shows its pride different

[1:22:49] many other agencies are

[1:22:51] variants of the offset. What

[1:22:51] other regions of other

[1:22:53] agencies. That? I'll take any

[1:22:59] questions. Thank for your

[1:23:00] presentation. Looking over a

[1:23:02] little bit. You're you're down

[1:23:06] about 8 full-time employees

[1:23:07] without a total of 15. There's

[1:23:09] a few that we don't need to

[1:23:11] fill. The divisions

[1:23:11] functioning without those

[1:23:12] physicians who want to keep in

[1:23:15] case. We good candidates ease.

[1:23:16] Particularly that every

[1:23:17] division could use the help.

[1:23:19] They're still part of our item

[1:23:22] that in litigation 8 was the

[1:23:23] starting pay for an attorney.

[1:23:28] The higher. So varies now a

[1:23:29] litigation attorney we have

[1:23:32] now got up to 92. If it's a

[1:23:33] senior attorney with although

[1:23:36] that comes experience that we

[1:23:37] don't generally higher from

[1:23:39] the outside when that option

[1:23:41] case they come super qualify

[1:23:42] me that their career and what

[1:23:43] it does public service that

[1:23:47] starts at 101, that's health

[1:23:47] care and everything. That's

[1:23:50] right. Ok? Any questions from

[1:23:58] the counselors? My And we're

[1:24:02] boots. I is an attorney.

[1:24:03] Council routes. Thank you.

[1:24:10] Think I'm sure you've done the

[1:24:11] math, the expense of

[1:24:11] character, 3 expense of hiring

[1:24:16] out. Versus. Kerry can one

[1:24:17] expensive staffing those

[1:24:20] positions so you don't have to

[1:24:21] la suggest that you're going

[1:24:23] to be saving money. Increasing

[1:24:27] your staff. That's correct.

[1:24:30] That's correct. I mean, we

[1:24:31] obviously negotiate races from

[1:24:32] here on pain with private

[1:24:35] citizens generally pay for

[1:24:38] items, but again, increasing

[1:24:39] smaller for the better with

[1:24:41] with with lower rates.

[1:24:41] Sometimes we used to big firms

[1:24:42] that are specialized cases

[1:24:43] like you know, generally about

[1:24:45] police cases and things like

[1:24:47] that that have specialized

[1:24:48] areas of law or constitutional

[1:24:52] questions but overall, I mean,

[1:24:53] you're kind of going to what

[1:24:54] I'm hoping is the nuclear

[1:24:57] option ever pushes the

[1:24:58] consideration we just can't

[1:24:58] get people. What does it look

[1:25:00] like to convert to housing

[1:25:03] council? Had. Social

[1:25:04] conversation about that. I

[1:25:05] understand that sometimes law

[1:25:08] firms are law firms would

[1:25:09] offer a flat rate solar much

[1:25:11] that is have a guarantee.

[1:25:13] Budget numbers open the and

[1:25:15] now of we do know having This

[1:25:17] how much discovery. So we have

[1:25:18] recovered that model. I want

[1:25:19] to be comfortable knowing we

[1:25:21] had a solid rate and that's

[1:25:23] what the person that would pay

[1:25:25] that for that every year. And

[1:25:26] even if they did more work,

[1:25:27] that's what the number is. So

[1:25:27] we have a guaranteed

[1:25:33] budgeting. And you feel

[1:25:34] comfortable you're going make

[1:25:36] a dent in the vacancy rate in

[1:25:38] the litigation attorney ranks.

[1:25:40] We have not had bites and

[1:25:43] months and months that we've

[1:25:45] got 2 bytes who this week so

[1:25:46] I'm hoping that's a sign of a

[1:25:47] changing Tide. Great. Thank

[1:25:49] you. Thank you. Thank you. Any

[1:25:50] other questions councilors

[1:25:54] seeing none. Anyone the

[1:25:55] audience now. Thank Thank you.

[1:25:58] See you budget review. A place

[1:26:02] in the last was the best.

[1:26:07] Marion County City Council. 35

[1:26:08] minute presentation. And I

[1:26:10] want to ask can just keep

[1:26:11] everything go right to the

[1:26:14] numbers that Monroe graded. Is

[1:26:20] we make right. I think we

[1:26:20] could I wanted that to you we

[1:26:28] thank you. And 3 sides. A

[1:26:32] CHAIRMAN. Scary, numbers Those

[1:26:32] friends in the audience and

[1:26:34] citizens feeling at home when

[1:26:35] a storm Moreland. I'm the

[1:26:37] chief staff and chief policy

[1:26:40] officer for the Indy City kind

[1:26:41] accounts. I'm here with our

[1:26:41] chief Financial Officer,

[1:26:46] Candice Harris. We're here to

[1:26:48] present 2027 budget. But

[1:26:49] before we get into the

[1:26:53] numbers. Still a little

[1:26:55] overview of the council

[1:26:56] landscape as we when we refer

[1:26:58] to the council this evening,

[1:26:59] we're talking about 2

[1:27:00] different aspects with

[1:27:03] council. There of course, the

[1:27:04] 25 member body of which you

[1:27:10] are all part of you are charge

[1:27:10] of making local laws, of

[1:27:15] course, adopting a budget by

[1:27:18] zing in providing consent to

[1:27:19] the administration their

[1:27:21] functions. But then there's

[1:27:22] also a second aspect of the

[1:27:23] council and that's the office

[1:27:23] of the council that supports

[1:27:27] that work. We are a 12 member

[1:27:32] staff. Who advises on policy

[1:27:34] last week, right reads public

[1:27:34] public policy research and

[1:27:39] support your efforts. We

[1:27:40] perform administrative duties,

[1:27:42] making sure that minutes are

[1:27:42] posted in a timely manner,

[1:27:43] making sure that the

[1:27:44] information is accessible to

[1:27:48] the public. And we also work

[1:27:48] to connect the work of the

[1:27:50] council with constituents. We

[1:27:54] communicate your work. And we

[1:27:57] are here to answer questions

[1:27:58] on a daily basis when the

[1:27:59] public wants to know more

[1:27:59] about what the council's up

[1:28:05] to. So on side with this this

[1:28:10] is a slide that that kind of

[1:28:10] gives visual layout of the

[1:28:12] landscape. The council's on

[1:28:17] the far left there. And these

[1:28:19] are all the legislative

[1:28:19] executive and judicial are all

[1:28:21] coequal branches of local

[1:28:24] government. I think one main

[1:28:26] thing I'd like take away from

[1:28:28] the slide is the role the

[1:28:31] voters we work for the public

[1:28:31] and we are ultimately

[1:28:32] accountable to to the voting

[1:28:37] public. So these priorities

[1:28:41] for Twenty-twenty 7. This is a

[1:28:43] theme that I've been hearing

[1:28:43] from other of departments and

[1:28:45] happy to hear it and

[1:28:46] investment people. We're

[1:28:48] looking to provide more. A

[1:28:51] professional development

[1:28:52] experiences within this. All,

[1:28:54] both for the council itself

[1:28:56] and the that that might look

[1:28:58] like media training,

[1:28:59] communications training,

[1:28:59] technology, training for the

[1:29:04] counselors and for staff. Also

[1:29:05] focus on technology to support

[1:29:12] our work. We have lots of data

[1:29:12] flowing through all

[1:29:14] departments in in the city

[1:29:15] government. We're looking at

[1:29:17] ways to harness those data

[1:29:18] points in ways that can better

[1:29:21] inform your work so that you

[1:29:23] are making crafting policy.

[1:29:28] That's backed by data. Also we

[1:29:28] believe the data can provide a

[1:29:32] very good side. Real-time

[1:29:34] snapshot, what's happening in

[1:29:37] your districts? This looks you

[1:29:38] how many police runs are

[1:29:40] happening in your districts?

[1:29:41] How many dog bites are

[1:29:45] occurring in your Where are

[1:29:46] their broken water mains are

[1:29:48] abandoned houses your

[1:29:50] districts. We think that it's

[1:29:53] a very smart to try to to use

[1:29:55] more the data that's flowing

[1:29:56] through this, that enterprise

[1:29:59] on a day-to-day basis to help

[1:30:00] you get better connected with

[1:30:04] your constituents. And then

[1:30:06] finally, working to strengthen

[1:30:09] our relationships state else.

[1:30:10] We see city of Indianapolis a

[1:30:13] major driver of growth for the

[1:30:15] whole state of Indiana. And so

[1:30:17] it's important that we are

[1:30:18] staying in close alignment

[1:30:19] with with the Indiana General

[1:30:20] Assembly, making sure that

[1:30:24] they all are aware of what

[1:30:25] you're up to and that

[1:30:28] communicating we need in order

[1:30:29] to to serve our community

[1:30:31] because we believe that

[1:30:32] Indianapolis is vital for the

[1:30:37] Overall, the state. Okay. So

[1:30:42] this is the team. This one

[1:30:43] went field. Winfield, Leanne

[1:30:45] at Piers came as hear us and

[1:30:46] you can solace. Leslie

[1:30:51] Williams, Kim Nance, Angela he

[1:30:51] and Sears and Fernando

[1:30:55] Ramirez. Strickland. We have

[1:30:57] to they can't rolls right now.

[1:30:58] The chief communications

[1:31:00] officer and the legislative

[1:31:03] and policy manager. Those are

[1:31:05] 2 really important roles.

[1:31:06] We're in the process right

[1:31:08] now. Feeling both of those

[1:31:13] roles and we're need to get

[1:31:16] those positions filled as soon

[1:31:19] as possible. And I open.

[1:31:22] Welcome, teeny input that you

[1:31:22] have if you know of people who

[1:31:23] are qualified and talented,

[1:31:28] who MAY want to join our team.

[1:31:30] Okay, give it to campus. So

[1:31:31] hunger could be over or is he

[1:31:31] demographic? So as you know,

[1:31:34] we're a small office and so

[1:31:35] being that we are a small

[1:31:37] office, we do have less than

[1:31:38] 10 years. So about 50% of

[1:31:39] staff has been with the city

[1:31:44] for over 10 years. And what

[1:31:44] the other part of other have

[1:31:45] over staffing little be less

[1:31:47] than 10 years 0 to 10. So

[1:31:48] pretty proud of that, as you

[1:31:49] know, not cover here is our

[1:31:54] office is majority female. And

[1:31:55] we also have about a 70% of

[1:32:01] our staff is a minority.

[1:32:03] Moving on to our 2027 budget.

[1:32:04] So the council office budget

[1:32:06] is road to be smart. You guys

[1:32:08] all know this year. We're

[1:32:12] rounding out about 3.4 million

[1:32:14] dollars, not uncommon with

[1:32:15] 80's with our agencies, that

[1:32:18] 82% of our budget does go to

[1:32:20] people. So that is majority of

[1:32:24] our budget. So just over to

[1:32:25] the right, you see a

[1:32:25] side-by-side based on previous

[1:32:29] years from 26 to 27. Well, are

[1:32:34] despite $86,000 it's something

[1:32:36] that I just kind of want to

[1:32:36] highlight, though. We are up

[1:32:40] 2.6% for 2027 over our budget

[1:32:43] is down 3.3% to 2025, as many

[1:32:47] of you guys remember last year

[1:32:47] we are, but it was reduced as

[1:32:52] a result of. We'll call it

[1:32:55] reserves. And so the council

[1:32:56] this following year, did not

[1:32:57] grow by the amount that we

[1:32:59] lost last year. So it just

[1:33:00] might increase to cover care

[1:33:03] to one expenses. Again, some

[1:33:03] of the other ones in the next

[1:33:11] slide. Moving on to just a

[1:33:14] quick overview of each

[1:33:15] characters care to Lanikai

[1:33:16] said that previous slide for

[1:33:17] about 2.8 million dollars. And

[1:33:22] compensation for all. 25

[1:33:24] counselors and our office,

[1:33:27] will be office of 12 so that

[1:33:28] this budget does pressed to

[1:33:29] fill vacancies that door and

[1:33:31] just mentioned. That's kind of

[1:33:34] where we're landau for the

[1:33:37] 2027 for counselor counselors

[1:33:39] and a council staff does get a

[1:33:42] cola this year is at 3%.

[1:33:43] Counselors are not eligible

[1:33:47] for stepping As for Stephen

[1:33:48] Grey, as you guys have heard

[1:33:50] amendment presentations, I do

[1:33:51] not know what that looks like

[1:33:54] for the council at this time

[1:33:55] as it is still very much its

[1:33:56] infancy as hr agoa fame or

[1:33:57] navigating what that might

[1:34:02] look like. Moving on to

[1:34:03] character 3 hurt or 3 budget

[1:34:07] is about $600,000 again with

[1:34:10] majority of a two-thirds of it

[1:34:10] going to internal backs that

[1:34:15] is par I it's a that is

[1:34:17] building authority. We and as

[1:34:18] well as a few other charges

[1:34:19] that we have the kind of go

[1:34:23] along with that. Rest of our

[1:34:26] budget goes exciting things

[1:34:26] such as does the operations

[1:34:27] are running as city county

[1:34:30] offices. So that's our we have

[1:34:32] some slurred legal support

[1:34:34] contracts for We have

[1:34:36] advertising because all

[1:34:36] businesses and have to get

[1:34:40] posted software for running

[1:34:42] out those meetings and other

[1:34:46] essential items that we have.

[1:34:49] For characters to 45. Again,

[1:34:50] not not really much happening

[1:34:54] 3,000 $1 to cover day-to-day.

[1:34:55] The to that you see for

[1:34:56] internal charge back here

[1:34:59] fight. What we pay because we

[1:35:01] have an in-house attorney.

[1:35:05] Don't utilize ccs. Heavy as

[1:35:07] some of the other But we do

[1:35:09] have to utilize them in time

[1:35:10] for they do So I think we're

[1:35:14] getting them for a that $2500

[1:35:16] and the other $2500 for

[1:35:18] equipment. And that's we use

[1:35:20] for various purposes for

[1:35:22] computers. If chairs break

[1:35:22] various items within the

[1:35:29] office. In essence, go ahead,

[1:35:29] will it? I would characterize

[1:35:32] our budget is pretty lean, but

[1:35:34] I would say that our staff

[1:35:39] very We will lie largely on

[1:35:40] I-10 or a in our relationships

[1:35:41] throughout the enterprise to

[1:35:44] get her work done. And with

[1:35:45] thank you taking questions.

[1:35:46] Think presentation, as for

[1:35:51] Mary. Share a quick question

[1:35:53] for them. Well, these

[1:35:55] computers in the car were a

[1:35:57] great idea. And we were all

[1:35:58] news and we is in best thing.

[1:35:59] We can invest your money in.

[1:36:04] And I think 3 people view some

[1:36:05] sense I've heard. Other

[1:36:06] counselor counselor Cahill

[1:36:08] said when he opens it, he has

[1:36:09] to wait. 45 minutes for us to

[1:36:11] an update to be able to use

[1:36:13] it. So what can we do with

[1:36:14] those and get mean, at this

[1:36:17] point, I thought was year him.

[1:36:19] So thank you for So I have

[1:36:20] heard that a So we we do pay

[1:36:22] for those. So we are currently

[1:36:23] going to have to rebid our

[1:36:27] staff or contract. But my

[1:36:30] understanding it was used as a

[1:36:30] secondary noting that the

[1:36:31] findings with down, I believe

[1:36:32] we can do voice vote even we

[1:36:35] do another meeting rooms. But

[1:36:35] that was the from my

[1:36:36] understanding the primary

[1:36:37] reason why we have a lot of

[1:36:39] times as we look at

[1:36:41] potentially having to shift to

[1:36:42] a different voting platform.

[1:36:43] I'm hoping that will be able

[1:36:43] to come a little bit more and

[1:36:47] from modernized system that

[1:36:48] maybe were able to use app on

[1:36:49] your or you something else to

[1:36:52] do it voting. But let's go

[1:36:54] down to that would be able to

[1:36:56] let those that have You are

[1:36:59] right. They are only for full

[1:37:02] council meetings. That was

[1:37:04] what we had intended use those

[1:37:06] forward to get away from the

[1:37:09] buttons. The time I had the

[1:37:09] concern that some people have

[1:37:11] enough trouble with the red

[1:37:12] and green button. So I don't

[1:37:14] think we need to implementing

[1:37:16] technology. So I still have

[1:37:17] that concern. I don't think we

[1:37:20] need to go to this computer

[1:37:21] system buttons. I've never

[1:37:21] seen them not work. And I've

[1:37:25] been here for going 10 years.

[1:37:27] So I would go school whole

[1:37:28] technology push. And if bugs

[1:37:29] don't work, we've got a voice.

[1:37:31] We know roll call, vote. I

[1:37:32] don't want raise more money on

[1:37:37] technology. We don't use.

[1:37:46] This. With just a quick one.

[1:37:46] Thank you. Why do we have a

[1:37:49] charge back from? I s a, you

[1:37:52] know, budget. We do have a

[1:37:53] charge brings That's under

[1:37:57] that under care to 3. So r I s

[1:38:02] a charge backs. It wasn't part

[1:38:03] of the 3.81 Yeah. That's a

[1:38:08] part creating. So part of

[1:38:09] that, too, that as well as

[1:38:10] like we have to pay for dark

[1:38:17] copiers. For the exact number

[1:38:18] for I say, I can tell you so

[1:38:21] far are controlled is the 3.81

[1:38:22] I did not break it down, but

[1:38:24] the exact amount that we pay,

[1:38:27] I say the 3.81, but I can let

[1:38:29] you know what that say did

[1:38:31] switched to a billing model

[1:38:31] that you can go online. Be

[1:38:33] more than happy to share that

[1:38:35] Lee and every month I review

[1:38:38] it is about a quarter lack

[1:38:40] period to make sure that's

[1:38:40] accurate. Since we went to

[1:38:41] actual face charges I say,

[1:38:49] thanks. And you know what?

[1:38:50] Thank you, MR. CHAIRMAN, thank

[1:38:53] you both for your

[1:38:55] presentation. I was chatting

[1:38:56] with the assistant and mail

[1:38:58] and I just wanted to publicly

[1:38:59] publicly say thank you for

[1:39:01] creating priorities that are

[1:39:04] tangible that we all can work

[1:39:05] towards. And then again, thank

[1:39:06] you for all your efforts thus

[1:39:07] far this year because I know

[1:39:10] we throw a lot at you for a

[1:39:11] small team. There's 25 of us.

[1:39:12] And so just want to publicly

[1:39:13] say thank you for all your

[1:39:17] efforts. Instrument. Thanking.

[1:39:18] Yeah. Thank you all. So you do

[1:39:22] a great job. Anything else to

[1:39:27] see any? We are adjourned 7

Administration and Finance Committee

Agenda

Transcript