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[12:48] » To the May 19th, 2026 city council work

[12:51] session meeting. Um, our meetings are

[12:53] public and you're welcome to join us in

[12:55] person or by watching from the council

[12:57] agenda page, Zoom, uh, or YouTube. Um we

[13:01] hope that you will continue to join us

[13:02] in whichever manner you feel the most

[13:04] comfortable. Uh this is a work session

[13:06] meeting

[13:07] during which there is no public comment.

[13:10] Uh you can join us on May 19th during

[13:13] our 7 p.m. formal meeting to share your

[13:16] comments. Uh we of course welcome your

[13:19] feedback anytime by mail at PO Box

[13:22] 145476

[13:25] Utah 84114.

[13:27] Um, you can also email us at

[13:30] council.commentsslc.gov.

[13:34] Uh, or uh you can also leave us a

[13:37] message at at our 24 uh phone uh a

[13:42] 24-hour phone comment line 8015357654.

[13:47] Comments we received on agenda topics

[13:50] are shared with council members and

[13:52] posted on our website slc.gov/counsel.

[13:55] gov/consel.

[13:57] Our first agenda item is item one, which

[14:00] is a fiscal year 2026 2027 budget

[14:03] council staff overview. And we're going

[14:05] to turn the time to Jennifer Bruno, our

[14:07] council executive director.

[14:09] » Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I will

[14:12] just um share my screen.

[14:18] Here we go.

[14:26] Why is it not?

[14:29] There we go.

[14:31] Um, so this is just a a perspective from

[14:34] the legislative branch looking at the

[14:36] overview of the budget as it's been

[14:39] presented by the mayor. Obviously, um,

[14:41] Mary Beth and the finance team did a

[14:43] great job going over, um, how the budget

[14:45] is put together from a, you know,

[14:47] dollars and cents perspective,

[14:49] percentages, changes in different

[14:50] departments. This is a a little bit of a

[14:53] um higher level kind of conceptual

[14:55] overview of the budget. Um I don't know

[14:58] why it did that.

[15:00] Uh the role of the council. So this is

[15:03] one thing that we just to remind the

[15:05] council the reason why uh the council

[15:08] looks at the budget um in the depth that

[15:10] they do.

[15:12] Let's see why is it not okay having

[15:16] technical issues on myself. [laughter]

[15:19] The reason why the council looks at the

[15:21] budget is is really to address what does

[15:24] the community need in real time. Every

[15:26] year that changes and um the reason why

[15:29] you all are elected is to um hear from

[15:32] your residents what are the needs? They

[15:34] change every year. What are what are the

[15:36] ways that those needs can be addressed?

[15:37] Usually it relates to money. And so

[15:39] that's um I think the main purpose of

[15:42] the budget. Um but the other kind of uh

[15:45] values that we hold um in terms of

[15:47] looking at the budget and the the role

[15:49] that the council has in the budget is

[15:51] how any decision you make this year

[15:53] might affect budgets in future years,

[15:56] right? Because um you can't necessarily

[15:59] bind councils, but I mean even this year

[16:01] we've gotten questions about how did we

[16:03] end up in this property tax increase

[16:05] situation and you know how how did our

[16:08] decisions in the past bring us here. So

[16:11] that's something that will will be a

[16:12] theme throughout several of the

[16:14] department um budget discussions. Um

[16:17] that kind of also relates to that next

[16:19] bullet point of how any decisions you

[16:21] guys make this year might create

[16:23] unintended consequences both from a

[16:25] budget personnel

[16:27] um citizen experience perspective,

[16:30] right? Any decisions you guys make might

[16:32] have the ability to for example see less

[16:35] watering in parks or less mowing in

[16:37] parks, things like that. Um, so we want

[16:40] to be sure to just disclose all of the

[16:42] potential consequences that might come

[16:44] from any budget decisions you make. And

[16:46] then I'm really proud of how our city

[16:49] um, ensures a transparent um, process

[16:53] for the budget so that we are very open

[16:55] with the public about how we're using

[16:58] tax dollars. Um, uh, just as a reminder,

[17:01] our budget hub is link.slc.govfy20.

[17:05] gov/fy27

[17:09] um for any budget information uh for

[17:12] anyone who's looking. Um and then you

[17:15] know of course all of that is rooted in

[17:18] the policy goals and priorities of the

[17:20] council. The policy goal of equity, the

[17:23] policy goal of transparency, um the

[17:26] policy goal of taking care of our um

[17:28] community, our assets, things like that.

[17:30] So that's another reason why um just

[17:34] some highle takeaways from the mayor's

[17:37] proposed budget. Um from the legislative

[17:39] perspective, this is the first

[17:41] substantial property tax increase in

[17:43] several years. Um and I think the mayor

[17:46] mentioned um in her speech that it

[17:48] wasn't a decision taken lightly um and

[17:52] uh that it it was uh arrived at with

[17:57] serious u evaluation. I think the next

[18:00] bullet point gets to what that

[18:01] evaluation was was which is that it cuts

[18:03] almost an equivalent amount from the

[18:05] overall budget as the amount of the

[18:07] property tax increase. Um, one council

[18:10] member asked me how we would explain to

[18:13] citizens that they're paying more

[18:16] um and potentially getting less. And I

[18:19] guess um it was um this sort of a light

[18:22] bulb moment when I went to the grocery

[18:24] store recently and you know you are

[18:27] spending more and there is less in your

[18:30] grocery cart and it's just it that is

[18:33] the that that is the reality that we're

[18:35] living. [clears throat] Um I think that

[18:38] it's important for this council to know

[18:42] though that a lot of those cuts are um

[18:46] potentially one time in nature. I think

[18:48] that the administration challenged

[18:50] departments to come up with efficiencies

[18:52] and I they did an admira admirable job

[18:55] coming up with those efficiencies.

[18:57] It's always interesting to see how those

[19:00] efficiencies can last over time, right?

[19:02] And if those are efficiencies that can

[19:04] last into the future and especially as

[19:06] it relates to operations.

[19:09] um it does use less money, less sorry,

[19:11] less one-time money than in previous

[19:13] years, which um you know, Mary Beth and

[19:15] I talk about have talked about for 20

[19:17] years now. [laughter] So, I think it's

[19:20] one of those goals that we're always

[19:22] trying to achieve is aligning one-time

[19:25] money with one-time expenses and ongoing

[19:27] money with ongoing expenses. Um,

[19:30] something that you'll probably hear

[19:31] about from residents who might be

[19:33] employees of the city is that there's no

[19:35] across the board cost of living increase

[19:37] for employees. And um, this is the first

[19:40] year in a long time that that will be

[19:42] the case for city employees. And so

[19:44] because those employees are also

[19:45] experiencing inflation, that's, you

[19:47] know, something that's uh, difficult.

[19:49] But I think if you ask any city

[19:50] employee, they're grateful for a job and

[19:52] not to be laid off. So um, there is an

[19:55] increased investment in affordable

[19:57] housing. uh but it is in different

[20:00] formats. So last year the investment in

[20:03] affordable housing was about $8 million.

[20:05] This year it's about $10 million.

[20:08] That said, funding our future uh the

[20:12] transfer the typical transfer for

[20:13] funding our future that goes to the RDA

[20:15] for the NOA is being paused for one

[20:18] year. I think there was a recognition

[20:22] that the westside community initiative,

[20:24] so the money that the city gets from the

[20:26] tax increment from the inland port has

[20:29] grown pretty significantly since

[20:31] previous years. And so it enables the

[20:33] RDA to continue investment in affordable

[20:36] housing without that NOA or sorry

[20:39] without the funding our future dollars.

[20:41] Um but I think I'm just flagging that as

[20:43] a a thing to consider in the long term.

[20:46] those funding our future dollars for

[20:48] affordable housing are really flexible.

[20:50] Um whereas the westside community

[20:52] initiative dollars are um by our own

[20:54] policy um guided to be west of I-15.

[20:59] Um that said that there there's still

[21:01] significant investments in affordable

[21:03] housing from RDA programs and project

[21:06] areas. So there will still continue to

[21:08] be sorry CRA I'll remember that at some

[21:11] point. Um there will continue to be um

[21:14] investments in affordable housing in the

[21:16] different CRA project areas. Um and

[21:18] you'll hear more about the CRA budget on

[21:20] Tuesday. So we'll get into that more. Um

[21:23] it does also add 40 FTEES in critical

[21:26] service areas. So I think we talk about

[21:28] like how to balance the budget while

[21:30] recognizing that it's not that the needs

[21:32] have decreased in our city. So the

[21:35] efficiencies that departments have

[21:36] realized um have enabled the and and

[21:40] then the proposed property tax uh

[21:42] increase have enabled um the budget to

[21:44] add FTEES in critical service areas. And

[21:48] I left um the fire department off here,

[21:50] but fire justice court legal system CIP

[21:53] are kind of the main highlights. And

[21:55] I'll there's a chart in a little bit

[21:57] later that I'll go through that. Um,

[21:59] this is something we talk about a lot in

[22:02] that each kind of decision you guys

[22:04] make, each um, big topic in the budget

[22:08] has balancing tests, right? It's not

[22:11] that there's a right answer or a wrong

[22:13] answer. It just means that you're

[22:14] balancing different outcomes of

[22:18] decisions. So, um I I'm not going to

[22:20] read all of these, but as an example,

[22:23] the property tax increase, it does add

[22:25] to the burden on residents and

[22:27] businesses in the city, but on the flip

[22:29] side, it also helps reduce the

[22:31] structural deficit in the future because

[22:33] it it aligns ongoing money with ongoing

[22:37] needs. Um it also reduces the city's

[22:40] reliance on sales tax, which is a

[22:43] volatile source of revenue. Um that is

[22:46] something that I think a lot of cities

[22:48] rely heavily on. Um, we've seen our city

[22:52] grow in our reliance on sales tax and

[22:55] that's something that I think the budget

[22:57] nerds of the city have appreciated to,

[22:59] you know, as uh as a good thing, meaning

[23:02] we have a robust sales tax revenue

[23:05] source, but it is a volatile source of

[23:07] revenue and if the economy turns and our

[23:10] budget is balanced on sales tax, that is

[23:12] a difficult thing to adjust. Whereas

[23:15] property tax is a reliable source of

[23:17] revenue. So, [snorts]

[23:18] um I'll just leave the rest of those um

[23:20] for you guys to read at another time. Um

[23:23] this is the general fund revenue trends.

[23:26] The only reason I'm sharing this is that

[23:28] and the reason that there's a red that

[23:30] it went down in this proposed budget.

[23:33] The main reason is because, and I think

[23:35] Mary Beth talked about this on Tuesday,

[23:37] the um finance department is proposing

[23:40] to separate the CRA property tax revenue

[23:45] and the library property tax revenue

[23:47] into an entirely different account from

[23:49] the general fund. So, I just wanted to

[23:51] flag that because we do these like

[23:54] longitudinal, you know, charts of what's

[23:57] happening with revenues and whenever you

[23:58] make like a policy shift, I think it's

[24:00] important to kind of call that out.

[24:03] Um, we've gone through this, I think, at

[24:05] the retreat. The only things that you

[24:07] guys can control that the city can

[24:09] control are property taxes, use of fund

[24:12] balance, and then other revenue, which

[24:14] is essentially fees. You cannot control

[24:16] sales tax. Um,

[24:19] you you can if the state lets you, if

[24:23] the state authorizes you guys to enact

[24:25] sales tax, you can. Um, this uh I think

[24:28] we've also been through. This is just

[24:30] kind of showing um the property tax

[24:33] distribution um for a typical kind of

[24:36] Salt Lake City household. Just to

[24:38] highlight that Salt Lake City's portion

[24:40] of the property tax bill is about 25%.

[24:44] Um I've also separated out some of the

[24:46] bonds that are um being discussed in

[24:49] both the city, the county, and the

[24:51] school district. Um, I think especially

[24:53] the school district in Salt Lake City,

[24:56] voters approving the school district's

[24:58] bond this last I can't remember if it

[25:00] was last calendar year or the year

[25:02] before. Um, but it's a very very very

[25:04] significant bond. And so that will be

[25:06] something that I think it will be

[25:07] important for taxpayers to look for and

[25:09] know about um in future years. What most

[25:13] people don't realize is that the bill

[25:16] for bonds does not show up until the

[25:18] entity, whether it's the school district

[25:20] or the county or whoever, actually

[25:22] issues the bond. And so that could be 2

[25:25] years after you vote. That could be 5

[25:27] years after you vote. There's a 10-year

[25:30] um time frame for tax exempt bonds to

[25:33] issue those bonds, but um I think that's

[25:35] important for people to know. Um

[25:38] so truth in taxation. So, this has come

[25:41] up uh a lot in the last um couple of

[25:44] weeks. Do your property taxes go up when

[25:48] the value of your home goes up? This is

[25:52] not supposed to be like a pop quiz, but

[25:55] » No, you guys passed. Good job.

[25:59] [laughter]

[26:00] So, um Utah is unique. It has a truth

[26:05] and taxation process that the core value

[26:09] of that truth and taxation process is to

[26:12] hold the government's budget the same.

[26:15] So if you consider that baseline

[26:17] property tax budget that green line as

[26:20] what the state wants us to operate with.

[26:22] So if your the value of your home goes

[26:25] up the rate of property taxes that

[26:29] 0.0000 0000 whatever figure

[26:32] automatically goes down. And that

[26:34] automatic thing happens at the state tax

[26:36] commission level because we tell the

[26:39] state tax commission what is the dollar

[26:41] amount that we need that green line to

[26:43] be. Do we need that dollar amount to be

[26:45] $50 million? Do we need it to be $80

[26:47] million? What we're assume what they're

[26:50] assuming is that we have the same dollar

[26:51] amount yeartoear. So if your value goes

[26:54] up, the rate goes down. In theory,

[26:56] you're paying the same amount of money.

[26:58] Likewise, if your value goes down, and

[27:00] this actually happened in 2009 when

[27:03] property values really tanked um in the

[27:06] area, the rate actually floats up to

[27:09] hold the government harmless to values

[27:12] going down. So, um you could think about

[27:15] this in a case like Detroit, right? That

[27:18] might have been helpful for their

[27:20] government to have that system. They

[27:22] don't have that system there. So um

[27:24] there are there are pros and cons to the

[27:27] truth and taxation system but this is

[27:29] the system we have in Utah. The only

[27:32] exception is new growth which is you

[27:34] know like you have a blank piece of

[27:37] property and then next year you have an

[27:38] apartment building on that blank piece

[27:40] of property and so now that property is

[27:42] considered new growth and the city is

[27:44] allowed to collect more money because of

[27:46] that property. Um or if you say like

[27:49] we're saying this year that green line,

[27:51] that baseline property tax budget is not

[27:53] enough to pay for our bills. We need to

[27:55] increase that green line by $13 million.

[27:57] And so we're going to ask residents what

[28:00] they think about that and go through a

[28:01] tooth and taxation process and we're

[28:03] going to raise that money. Um this is

[28:06] just a kind of hypothetical of what

[28:08] happens with new growth. So um again

[28:12] that baseline property tax budget is

[28:14] where we operate on a normal basis. If

[28:17] new development occurs in the city that

[28:20] raises our new

[28:23] baseline essentially. So um

[28:26] hypothetically so for example in this

[28:28] budget the um uh mayor's finance team

[28:32] projects that we'll get approximately

[28:33] $2.5 million from new growth this year.

[28:36] Um they actually they do a great job

[28:38] kind of projecting that based on

[28:41] building permits and certificates of

[28:42] occupancy which are kind of which are

[28:44] really good indicators of is this thing

[28:46] an actual new thing or is this just you

[28:48] know a building that was remodeled. Um

[28:51] it doesn't always pan out and we don't

[28:53] find out the actual new growth figure

[28:55] until uh June 12th now um by state law.

[29:00] So then we can collect um additional

[29:02] money from that new development.

[29:05] [sighs] This is um intended to just be

[29:08] uh an overview of what your tax notice

[29:11] will look like in July. This is what

[29:14] most residents will get in July. I've

[29:15] blocked out I just picked a random

[29:17] resident. I've blocked them out to

[29:19] protect the innocent. Um but I just

[29:21] wanted to highlight in that gold um kind

[29:23] of bar on the left there. Those are the

[29:26] only lines related to Salt Lake City. Um

[29:30] it's really important and um our

[29:33] communications group is working on ways

[29:35] to make it more accessible for to

[29:38] educate folks how to read through their

[29:40] property tax statement because that

[29:43] tells you which government should I call

[29:46] if I have concerns about the total bill

[29:49] that's at the bottom of that number. The

[29:51] other thing I wanted to highlight here

[29:53] that I think is not always um uh obvious

[29:57] is in Utah um when you have a primary

[30:01] residence you receive a 45%

[30:04] value reduction. So for example, this

[30:07] home is assessed at in 2024, so this was

[30:10] from 2024 is assessed at 787,500,

[30:15] but the taxes are assessed on 433,125.

[30:21] So it's a benefit to homeowners in Utah

[30:25] and um which is great for homeowners. It

[30:29] does cause it does cause the uh

[30:32] situation where when governments decide

[30:34] to increase taxes whether it's the city

[30:36] or the county or whoever um it it's kind

[30:39] of a disproport disproportionate version

[30:41] or u burden on commercial properties.

[30:44] Commercial properties do not receive

[30:46] that same exemption and so they are

[30:47] taxed at the full value of their

[30:49] property.

[30:52] Next, this is um the these are the

[30:55] amounts that are in the proposal for the

[30:58] fiscal year 2027 property tax increase.

[31:01] Um the state law was changed this last

[31:03] year to require a property tax impact

[31:06] statement, which I think is helpful from

[31:09] a transparency perspective, frankly, to

[31:11] let residents see exactly what their

[31:14] additional money is paying for. So you

[31:16] can see 1.7 million of the property tax

[31:19] increase is going to fire. 98,000 is

[31:22] going to public lands, 432,000 to

[31:26] justice court, 172,000 to the attorney's

[31:29] office, 800,000 to CAN. Um it might be

[31:33] helpful here to say youth and family

[31:36] programming. Um

[31:38] the city has recognized that federal

[31:41] grants for youth and family programming

[31:43] have been eliminated or reduced and um

[31:45] this is the city stepping into that

[31:47] space to make sure those programs don't

[31:49] end. The uh almost half of the property

[31:52] tax increase is going to CIP. The next

[31:54] slide will talk about exactly which

[31:57] projects in CIP are proposed to be

[31:59] funded with the property tax increase.

[32:01] And then several items that you can see

[32:03] in non-departmental.

[32:05] Um you can see that uh 961,000 is

[32:08] related to legal defenders. So I think

[32:10] we talked about that on Tuesday in the

[32:12] justice court briefing that you know the

[32:15] justice court is kind of a holistic

[32:17] system that requires if you're going to

[32:18] in if you are increasing in one area you

[32:21] need like judges for example you also

[32:23] need to increase in prosecutors and

[32:25] legal defenders because it's a a whole

[32:26] system. So that adds up to the total $13

[32:28] million increase. These are the um

[32:32] proposed CIP projects that will be

[32:34] funded with the property tax increase.

[32:37] Um I think I mean from from my takeaway

[32:40] it seems that most of these items fit in

[32:43] the category of maintaining or fixing

[32:47] what we already have. I think maybe the

[32:49] one exception is the vision zero safety

[32:52] improvements citywide which I know has

[32:53] been a a huge um goal of the councils.

[32:57] This also notes that if for some of

[32:59] these items, the [clears throat]

[33:00] property tax increase isn't the only

[33:02] funding source for some of those items.

[33:05] Some of those items are combined with

[33:06] the general fund or um county funds or

[33:10] class C funds in order to make that

[33:12] total higher. So, for example, street

[33:14] reconstruction, total investment in

[33:16] street reconstruction for the fiscal

[33:17] year 27 budget is 8.3 million of which

[33:20] the property tax is paying 627.

[33:24] Um, this is a chart just kind of showing

[33:26] where the FTEES are changing. Um, and

[33:30] again, I don't want to read through all

[33:31] of this text. Sorry for all the text on

[33:33] the [laughter] slides, but this is to

[33:36] show uh the in red is where um

[33:39] departments are proposing to eliminate

[33:41] FTEES and in blue um is showing where

[33:45] some FTEES are contingent upon the

[33:47] property tax proposal. Um there are also

[33:50] several additional FTEES that are being

[33:53] proposed that are not part of the

[33:54] property tax proposal. You guys are

[33:57] fully um empowered to decide which FTEES

[34:01] are funded with the property taxes and

[34:03] which FTEES should just be in the base

[34:06] budget. So this is what is proposed but

[34:08] it doesn't mean that you guys have to

[34:10] stick with it.

[34:13] Um so some other consideration for

[34:15] residents as they think about um bills

[34:18] both property taxes and other bills is

[34:20] the decisions of other governmental

[34:21] entities right like school district's

[34:23] decision for on raises county's decision

[34:26] on properties to buy things like that um

[34:29] and especially bonds I've noticed that

[34:32] um especially school districts are

[34:34] relying very heavily on bonds um and

[34:38] there are usually several years that

[34:40] separate when voters go to the polls,

[34:43] decide that they want new buildings for

[34:45] their kids, and then when the bill

[34:48] actually comes due, there's usually

[34:49] several years separating that. So, just

[34:51] as a good reminder of that, um again,

[34:54] the geo geo bond thing. And then, um

[34:57] utility fee increases um city and Rocky

[34:59] Mountain Power and um the administration

[35:01] has put together a handy, um calculator

[35:04] for people to figure out their rates.

[35:06] That's another thing that our

[35:07] communication staff has been working on

[35:09] with um the administration's

[35:11] communication staff about how to make

[35:13] sure um that's all um transparently

[35:17] communicated to residents. And then this

[35:20] this slide was actually left over from

[35:22] the retreat, but I decided to keep it in

[35:25] because I just can't help myself.

[35:28] [laughter]

[35:28] This is diverted revenue. So, I think

[35:32] that our city um is in a unique position

[35:36] because we're the capital city. We get a

[35:38] lot of attention and we have a lot of

[35:40] very important projects that want to

[35:43] locate here, which is great. I think the

[35:45] flip side of that coin is that sometimes

[35:47] those projects, the funding for those

[35:49] projects can come with diversion of

[35:52] revenue that would otherwise come to the

[35:54] general fund. And so I think we have to

[35:56] keep that in mind as we talk about

[35:59] property tax increases and talk about

[36:01] how to balance the budget is that the

[36:03] reason we're sometimes in this

[36:05] especially tight situation is because

[36:08] several million dollars of ours has

[36:10] already been spoken for or has already

[36:11] been diverted. So that's that.

[36:16] Sorry for all the talking.

[36:19] Um do you guys have any questions? And I

[36:21] see we have council member Wharton

[36:23] that's joined us on online as well. So

[36:25] we have council member Wharton and Petro

[36:26] online.

[36:27] » Council member Dugan.

[36:29] » Thanks Jennifer. I appreciate that very

[36:30] much. And back to the truth and

[36:32] taxation.

[36:34] » So that those rules apply to all the

[36:37] line items in your property tax.

[36:39] » Yes.

[36:40] » Bill.

[36:41] » So there's 12 line items I think we have

[36:44] in our bill. So each line item has that

[36:48] same requirement of the baseline new

[36:51] growth increases it but otherwise it has

[36:54] to be the same there.

[36:56] » And so when residents see a property tax

[36:58] increase it could be from the county the

[37:00] school board mosquito abatement

[37:03] » Metro water

[37:04] » Natural water

[37:05] » Central Utah water project

[37:06] » Others. Yes. So uh but ours Salt Lake

[37:11] City is those three there that you

[37:14] highlighted in the middle.

[37:15] » Yes. I think the maybe the one asterisk

[37:18] I would say is on each entity the bond

[37:24] line item is the one exception where

[37:28] an entity does not need to go through

[37:30] truth and taxation to increase the

[37:32] amount. What we and what we have to do

[37:34] is send the tax commission our exact

[37:38] bill for all of the bonds we have to

[37:41] pay. Um and then the tax commission

[37:44] allows us to set that rate on the bill

[37:46] [clears throat] to pay those uh geo

[37:48] bonds. Not our sales tax bonds. Our

[37:51] sales tax bonds are built into our

[37:52] general fund, but our geo bonds. Um, so

[37:56] for example, uh, the second trunch of

[37:58] the parks bond will likely, um, and

[38:02] maybe Mary Beth can correct me here.

[38:04] Will it appear on this calendar year's

[38:06] tax notices or next calendar year? It'll

[38:09] be this calendar year. Okay. So, that's

[38:11] something that Salt Lake City residents

[38:12] will see is the second trunch of the

[38:14] parks bond, which they approved um, you

[38:16] know, several years ago voting for. So,

[38:19] » And one more question on the uh uh pay

[38:23] raise side of the house.

[38:26] That's for the un uh

[38:29] » Non-represented.

[38:30] » Non-represented.

[38:31] » Sorry. Thank you for that.

[38:32] » Employees.

[38:32] » Yeah.

[38:33] » And that is I don't know what the

[38:36] percentage of employees that is, but

[38:38] it's non-representative. It's not

[38:40] police. It's not the fire. It's not uh

[38:43] ask me.

[38:44] » Yes.

[38:44] » It's a non-representative employees on

[38:46] that side.

[38:47] » That is accurate. And I I probably

[38:48] should have clarified, there is a line

[38:51] item in each department that uh

[38:53] department directors can work within a

[38:56] line item, a certain amount of money. Um

[38:58] and it's based on how many employees are

[39:00] in each department to give um market

[39:03] adjustments or pay increases to specific

[39:05] employees on a case- by case basis. So

[39:07] it's not necessarily like to hold

[39:09] employees stagnant in their careers.

[39:11] It's just um recognizing the tight

[39:14] budget,

[39:14] » Right? It was it was to bring those who

[39:16] are below well below the market rate up

[39:19] to closer to or at least to the market

[39:21] rate.

[39:22] » Yes.

[39:22] » Correct. Okay.

[39:25] » Thank you.

[39:27] » Any other questions online? No,

[39:32] » You don't see any hands up. Oh, looks

[39:34] like council member Wharton has a

[39:36] question.

[39:38] » Thank you. Um thanks Jen for that

[39:41] overview and um explaining the um truth

[39:44] in taxation.

[39:46] Um

[39:48] can you talk [clears throat] a little

[39:49] bit about um how

[39:53] given the um 13.5 million

[39:58] um

[40:00] what would

[40:02] um so a lot of residents have said just

[40:05] you know cut cut make cuts

[40:07] » [clears throat]

[40:08] » Um cut back um you know cut cut back on

[40:12] the extras is what I've heard a lot of

[40:15] um can Can you talk about how um

[40:22] just what that would would look like in

[40:24] a situation like this when we're where

[40:26] we have something [clears throat]

[40:28] um as high as 13.5 million.

[40:32] » Yeah, I think and I would welcome um you

[40:34] know if Mary Beth or if anyone from the

[40:36] mayor's team wanted to speak more to it.

[40:38] I think what I observe is that there w

[40:40] there is a lot of cutting back in this

[40:42] budget. Um and in fact it's just about

[40:45] the same amount as the property tax

[40:47] increase. So each department um was

[40:50] asked to find 5% of their uh department

[40:54] budget in cuts. Um not all of it ended

[40:58] up you know it was evaluated obviously

[41:02] with the needs of the city. And so, um,

[41:04] it doesn't necessarily mean that each

[41:05] department was cut by 5%, but you'll

[41:07] see, um, in the, uh, key changes that

[41:10] each department has, um, has made pretty

[41:14] significant cuts. I think I flagged um

[41:16] for you guys in the beginning of this

[41:18] though, one concern um I could see is

[41:22] how sustainable are those cuts and are

[41:25] we going to find that um what a

[41:28] department thought that they could do

[41:30] without or push off for a couple years

[41:32] is really needed. Um I I I observed that

[41:36] in the aftermath of the 2009 budget

[41:39] crunch where there were a lot of cuts

[41:41] made out of necessity. Um and then we

[41:44] realized that a lot of those cuts were

[41:46] really to essential functions of the

[41:48] city. Um so yes, so we there are a lot

[41:51] of cuts in that and I think we can focus

[41:53] on that as each department comes to

[41:54] brief you guys. I think that would be

[41:56] helpful.

[41:58] » Yeah. I mean one that comes to my mind

[42:01] that was impacted

[42:04] you know even when I came on to the

[42:07] council and we did funding our future in

[42:10] 2018.

[42:12] Um and that was that we, you know, uh

[42:16] before the recession, we had two road

[42:18] crews, um that that just worked around

[42:22] the clock, um all, you know, repairing

[42:25] and um one of them was cut. Um and we

[42:31] didn't

[42:33] bring that back until after the road

[42:36] study. Um and um as part of funding our

[42:41] future and um found that be you know the

[42:45] re by cutting that and having it gone

[42:48] for essentially 10 years um this date

[42:52] the overall quality of our roads was

[42:55] going down every year and we were it was

[42:57] kind of compounding instead of us um e

[43:01] keeping up with the problem or reducing

[43:03] the problem. like the roads were

[43:04] crumbling faster than we could repair

[43:06] them because we only had one crew. Um,

[43:09] are there other examples that uh you can

[43:13] think of that you um you said that you

[43:16] had some thoughts come to mind from back

[43:18] then?

[43:19] Um I think that the other um area that

[43:24] was cut pretty significantly in ' 09 was

[43:27] seasonal and maintenance dollars from

[43:30] public lands which at that point was um

[43:33] in

[43:34] I can't remember the name of the

[43:36] department now. It was in a big it was

[43:37] in a different department. It wasn't its

[43:39] own department but it was cut

[43:41] » Public services I think.

[43:42] » Yeah. Yeah. And I think um it took

[43:46] several you know years maybe a decade

[43:50] for us to kind of bring that back and I

[43:52] think that um to some extent I think

[43:56] what we hear from residents to some

[43:57] extent is still maybe lingering effects

[44:00] of that. Um I don't see that level of

[44:03] cut coming in this budget. I think the

[44:08] benefit of having this budget, the cuts

[44:11] in this budget being part of the mayor's

[44:15] deliberative process and not be if um

[44:18] those of you who are around in09

[44:19] remember we had to make a lot of those

[44:22] cuts in the middle of the fiscal year.

[44:24] So it was kind of mi midstream cuts.

[44:28] [laughter]

[44:29] So the options are a lot more limited

[44:31] when you're cutting in the middle of a

[44:33] budget year than when you're looking

[44:34] forward into the next budget year and

[44:36] can be a little bit more strategic. And

[44:38] so um just my general observation for

[44:41] this budget is that those cuts are a

[44:43] little bit they're a little bit more

[44:44] strategic. I think it doesn't

[44:46] necessarily completely erase the the

[44:49] need to be vigilant about when we

[44:51] realize that cuts are not sustainable.

[44:54] So,

[44:57] » Thank you.

[44:59] » Um, thank you, Jen. Always love hearing

[45:01] you talk about the budget and how

[45:03] animated you get and how clear you

[45:05] explain it to to all of us and to folks

[45:07] joining us online. So, I want to follow

[45:10] up on what you were talking about in

[45:12] regards to some of the cost savings

[45:14] found this year, particularly um want to

[45:18] zero in on vacancies.

[45:20] Um, I understand, you know, we are

[45:22] saving money this year by holding a

[45:25] position vacant and we've seen a number

[45:27] of vacancies across departments.

[45:30] What happens next year or the following

[45:33] fiscal year 28? Um, and how does the

[45:37] city plan for or anticipate that, decide

[45:39] to never fill the position, close it

[45:41] down versus say, "Hey, we realize we

[45:44] actually are having some real service

[45:46] impacts by not having these um these

[45:48] positions filled." So that's my first

[45:50] question about vacancies and I have a

[45:52] couple others.

[45:52] » Great. I think I mean that's a great

[45:54] question. Um and we

[45:58] I I want to say most budget years there

[46:01] are vacancy savings in several of the

[46:04] larger departments especially um just

[46:06] based on turnover and retention. And I

[46:09] think it's actually kind of a

[46:12] responsible way to do budgeting. Meaning

[46:14] it doesn't leave money on the table that

[46:16] you know is not going to be needed,

[46:17] right? Like you know at a certain point

[46:20] there's going to be enough turnover

[46:21] where you're going to have a month or

[46:22] two of a position of salary savings. Um

[46:25] I think and I'll you know look to Mary

[46:28] Beth if you want to add anything but I

[46:29] think what they'll probably need to do

[46:31] what each department will need to do is

[46:33] for fiscal year 28 evaluate if one if

[46:37] the vacancy savings is sustainable. So

[46:41] if the let's hold on for this tight year

[46:44] is something that is a longer term

[46:46] thing. I know that's what we'll be doing

[46:48] in our department is evaluating if these

[46:50] vacant positions are truly not needed.

[46:54] Um, and I think that that's where you're

[46:56] seeing some of the reduction in FTEES

[46:58] that some departments have decided to

[47:00] make, which is them kind of forecasting.

[47:02] It's not just about vacancy savings.

[47:04] It's about where did they actually need

[47:07] positions. So, but that's a uh that is

[47:11] definitely top of mind for

[47:13] um concerns for the fiscical year 28

[47:15] budget.

[47:17] » Thank you. Um, and as you can see, I'm

[47:20] thinking about this budget about

[47:21] decisions made in the past that bring us

[47:23] to this present moment and recognizing

[47:25] that decisions we make this year affect

[47:28] future years. And so, I'm really taking

[47:30] kind of that whole timeline perspective.

[47:32] Um, we've got, you know, we've got a

[47:36] reliance that we've had to use on on our

[47:39] fund balance and that's happened in

[47:41] previous years and we're using it again

[47:43] this year. Next year may not be an

[47:46] option for us. So, I'm curious as we

[47:49] both find these efficiencies, but

[47:52] there's also a property tax increase,

[47:54] how can I understand what's going to

[47:56] happen with our structural deficit in

[47:58] the next year or two?

[48:00] » I think that um that's where I think we

[48:03] will lean heavily on um the finance

[48:06] department to look into some of the

[48:08] revenue tools that um we talked about a

[48:12] little bit on Tuesday. the um

[48:15] transportation utility fee and the venue

[48:18] event tax um parking taxes. Um I think

[48:22] there are still some revenue streams

[48:24] that um that we can look at. I also

[48:28] think that just to be perfectly candid,

[48:30] I think that some of these vacancy

[48:32] savings will probably cause departments

[48:34] to reevaluate, you know, how services

[48:37] are deployed. um which may cause entire

[48:40] shifts. So that what would have been a

[48:43] structural deficit because maybe you

[48:45] have you know 10 positions to do a job

[48:48] that maybe only takes three is not a

[48:51] structural deficit because the

[48:52] department has decided we can do this

[48:54] job with three positions instead of 10.

[48:56] Um I think that to a certain extent

[48:59] there's a structural deficit every year,

[49:01] right? because you have health insurance

[49:04] costs, uh, inflation with contractual

[49:07] agreements that departments have with

[49:09] people. Um, to some extent the pension

[49:12] system, Utah retirement systems tells us

[49:15] every year it's sort of like a surprise.

[49:16] Here's your here's your bill. Um, this

[49:19] year it was better. Uh, but in other

[49:20] years it hasn't been. So, um, to some

[49:24] extent there's not a there's there's no

[49:26] way to completely avoid a structural

[49:28] deficit. Um, but it's just about how do

[49:31] you uh how do you manage the size of it?

[49:34] So,

[49:36] » Okay,

[49:37] » Victoria,

[49:38] » Victoria, it's your turn.

[49:41] » Thank you. Um, and yeah, Jen, thanks.

[49:43] This is really helpful to have a

[49:45] succinct kind of centralized review like

[49:48] this. Um, I know that some of the things

[49:50] that we need to do carry some political

[49:54] challenges. um fees. I know that, you

[49:58] know, uh developers who go to

[49:59] municipalities that are newer than us

[50:01] pay more in certain fees there than they

[50:03] do here just because we haven't adjusted

[50:06] our rates or been without the political

[50:09] pressure to adjust them uh since like

[50:11] the '9s literally. And so if you

[50:13] incorporated after like 1992 and you

[50:16] have a higher rate than us and so we're

[50:19] developing a modern city on an

[50:21] antiquated rate scale. Can you maybe

[50:23] help un with understanding this probably

[50:26] isn't a right now thing but maybe like a

[50:28] um a future-looking information. I'd

[50:31] love to know what some of the barriers

[50:32] are on some of those future revenue

[50:34] things just to prepare. I'm happy to get

[50:37] into whatever political trench I need to

[50:39] to make sure that the city is in solid

[50:42] financial shape and that we're not going

[50:44] back to our um our residents, especially

[50:48] those who are on um restricted incomes

[50:51] to ask for more property tax increase.

[50:53] But I'd love to know just to prepare

[50:55] myself psychologically, mentally,

[50:57] politically, socially, you know, for the

[50:59] for those because it it seems really

[51:01] important that we don't just keep

[51:02] relying on property owners for our

[51:06] revenue increases.

[51:07] » That's a that's a really great point and

[51:09] I think um the fees that come to mind

[51:13] that um we maybe are not recouping as

[51:16] much as we could are impact fees. Um, I

[51:21] know that the administration is working

[51:23] on updating the impact fee study to come

[51:26] up with a, you know, more uh, updated

[51:30] true cost of those impact fees. Um,

[51:33] public utilities as well charges impact

[51:35] fees and they haven't um, updated in

[51:37] several years. And so I think the goal

[51:39] was to bring all of the city's impact

[51:41] fees back to the council for approval. I

[51:44] can say the last time that the impact

[51:46] fees were reviewed, there was a

[51:49] substantial

[51:51] um uh political conversation about the

[51:55] balance of well, we we can't just give

[51:57] these people a bill, you know, based on

[51:59] I mean, we do a study to say it costs,

[52:02] you know, X dollars, let's say $2,000.

[52:04] cost $2,000 per unit that's built in

[52:08] order to fund the needs that are going

[52:11] to happen as a result of that additional

[52:13] unit. Um there's a calculation that

[52:16] happens after the sort of objective

[52:18] calculation which is does that mean that

[52:21] we're stalling development in our city?

[52:23] And if we charge $2,000, are we going to

[52:26] kill development in our city? And

[52:27] sometimes the answer is no. Or sometimes

[52:29] the answer is we might kill development.

[52:31] And so instead of charging 2,000, the

[52:33] council could decide to say we're going

[52:34] to charge 1,500. Um, and so that was

[52:37] that was kind of the conversation the

[52:39] last time the impact fee study um was

[52:42] brought to the council. And I wouldn't

[52:43] be surprised if it's a similar

[52:44] calculation. Now, there's a lot of

[52:47] competition with even neighboring

[52:48] cities, right, to say, do we want

[52:50] housing built in our city or in

[52:53] neighboring city where maybe impact fees

[52:54] are cheaper. Um, so there's that. The

[52:57] other um I think tricky one to be

[52:59] perfectly honest in our city is going to

[53:01] be the transportation utility fee

[53:03] because um two of our major nonprofit

[53:07] um partners in the city, the university

[53:09] and the LDS church will probably see a

[53:12] pretty significant change in how they're

[53:15] interacting with the city in terms of

[53:17] dollars. And so that's probably a

[53:19] conversation that will have to happen on

[53:21] a political level as well in order to um

[53:24] realize that money. But I think that

[53:26] will be happening over the next year. So

[53:28] that's a in a couple months problem.

[53:33] » Okay.

[53:35] Thank you for the questions everyone. Um

[53:39] thank you so much Jennifer for for the

[53:41] overview uh and and uh for helping us

[53:44] understand this these budgets uh for

[53:47] this year and how we're going to

[53:48] approach the discussion. Um, moving on

[53:51] to uh item number two, which is fiscal

[53:54] year 2026 2027

[53:56] budget discussion for the police

[53:58] department. We're going to welcome at

[54:00] the table Michael Sanders, council

[54:02] policy analyst, chief Brian Reid, SLC

[54:05] police chief, uh, and Shelley Dietrich,

[54:08] uh, financial manager.

[54:17] » Great. Thank you, chair. Um, so the FY27

[54:21] Police Department budget is proposed to

[54:23] be approximately $142 million, which is

[54:27] an increase of a little over $7 million

[54:29] or 5.24% from last year. This budget

[54:33] continues funding for 13 FTEEs, which

[54:36] would be funded by the Utah Inland Port

[54:38] Authority proposed under budget

[54:41] amendment number five, which is actually

[54:42] currently under consideration.

[54:45] Additionally, it proposes adding four

[54:48] other FTEEs with this budget proposal.

[54:51] None of the proposals from the police

[54:53] department budget will rely on the

[54:55] property tax increase, which we

[54:56] discussed. Um, assuming all FTEEs are

[54:59] approved, the police department would

[55:01] have staff of 797 positions, 63 623

[55:06] would be sworn officers, and there'd be

[55:08] 154 civilian staff. Notable items from

[55:11] the budget include funding for the real

[55:13] time crime center and drone as a first

[55:15] responder programs

[55:17] » And additionally

[55:21] » And additionally the social worker

[55:23] program and mental health responders

[55:24] have been moved from the non-EP

[55:26] department the non-EP departmental

[55:27] budget and into the police department

[55:30] based budget. With that, I'll yield the

[55:32] floor to Chief Red.

[55:36] » Let me give that. Sorry. First of all, I

[55:37] want to thank uh Michael for all of his

[55:39] support and help uh through this

[55:41] process. So, thank you. I want to thank

[55:42] the council executive director Bruno and

[55:45] not just for this, but just I've called

[55:47] her quite often and then Mayor Menhal

[55:50] for the the support in this budget as

[55:51] well. Um I we I just want to start off

[55:55] by saying that our our police department

[55:57] feels very supported by the council over

[55:59] this past year and uh we have some

[56:02] indicators that are showing our morale

[56:04] is is is up in the in the police

[56:06] department and we want to keep that

[56:07] momentum going. Uh we really emphasize

[56:10] being a learning organization. So when

[56:13] mistakes are made, we sit down as a

[56:15] team. We don't point fingers. We learn

[56:16] and we improve. And so that's a posture

[56:19] that we want to take in the police

[56:20] department. And and the value in that is

[56:22] that uh people are making decisions and

[56:25] learning and and we're becoming a

[56:26] stronger organization.

[56:28] Um

[56:30] uh next slide.

[56:35] Uh next slide.

[56:38] Uh just a couple accomplishments that I

[56:41] want to highlight. This year uh you we

[56:43] we started a or we put together a new

[56:46] mission vision values. This is was an

[56:48] exercise that we did with our police

[56:51] officers and professional staff. Uh this

[56:53] this exercise and our new mission,

[56:55] vision, values has really aligned our

[56:56] organization and kind of put us all on

[56:58] the same page. And as I mentioned, being

[57:01] able to push decision-m down to lower

[57:03] levels because we're all aligned has

[57:05] been very valuable. We are currently

[57:07] fully staffed. Now, all of those

[57:09] officers are not going to be deployed

[57:11] until uh November, December time frame,

[57:13] but we are currently fully staffed and

[57:15] excited about that. and we're starting

[57:17] to see the impacts of those those

[57:20] officers as they come out onto the to

[57:21] the street and and uh if I go to the

[57:24] next accomplishment uh we we we saw an

[57:27] overall decrease in crime last calendar

[57:29] year to date this year we're down it's

[57:32] actually 21% I checked with our data

[57:35] people today year to date compared to

[57:36] the same time period last year uh this

[57:39] includes violent crime going down um so

[57:42] we're we're having some some great

[57:44] successes there our officers are out

[57:45] working very hard. Uh I will also in and

[57:48] I don't have it in here, but our call

[57:50] response times are are are also dropping

[57:52] over the past year and we're seeing

[57:54] improvements there as well. So ju

[57:56] generally the the goal of this of this

[57:58] budget and these budget requests are to

[58:00] help us continue to bring crime down um

[58:03] improve call response times um which

[58:06] will then allow us over time to reinvest

[58:09] our officers time into community

[58:11] engagement, traffic safety, which is a

[58:14] problem in the city. we're having too

[58:15] many uh fatalities around traffic safety

[58:18] and then also investing more in our

[58:20] youth to get in on the front end so we

[58:22] have less issues uh down the road with

[58:24] these these youth. Uh next slide.

[58:30] When we talk about efficiencies, we're

[58:32] still kind of in the process of writing

[58:33] our strategic plan and and getting some

[58:36] key metrics in place so we can see

[58:38] efficiencies uh improving. Uh one of the

[58:41] big ones is we're working on 12-hour

[58:42] [clears throat] shifts. Uh we think

[58:44] that's going to improve staffing ac

[58:46] across the city and put officers in out

[58:48] on the streets in the time at the times

[58:50] we need them the most. Uh we're working

[58:52] closely with the union and the city on

[58:54] this uh to make sure we we're we're

[58:56] thoughtful in in some of these u changes

[58:58] around shift shift shift allocation. Um

[59:02] we're also working on a number of

[59:03] efficiencies. Uh we'll talk about

[59:05] overtime later, but we have brought

[59:06] overtime costs down this past fiscal

[59:09] year and we anticipate and our requests

[59:11] will reflect a a continued decrease in

[59:13] overtime as we get more fully staffed

[59:15] and become more efficient. Um and then

[59:18] we're we're going to talk a lot about in

[59:20] our budget today the our real-time crime

[59:22] center and expanding our drone first

[59:24] responder program. This is an alternate

[59:27] response and we're finding that we don't

[59:29] have to send officers to a number of

[59:31] calls when we send the drones. Uh or we

[59:34] give officers better information and

[59:35] improved response. Uh maybe a case where

[59:39] we don't have to send an officer at all,

[59:41] but it may be a social worker. And so

[59:43] we're finding some efficiencies there.

[59:45] Uh which is great. And then the last

[59:47] thing that I'll mention is we've worked

[59:48] really hard with our partners uh across

[59:50] the social services and criminal justice

[59:53] system. And for instance, in the real

[59:55] time crime center, we're we're

[59:57] partnering with the University of Utah

[59:58] and the Utah Transit Authority. They're

[1:00:00] providing resources so that we don't

[1:00:02] have to come to you and ask for that. Uh

[1:00:04] we're working closely with DPS and DNR

[1:00:06] uh Department of Natural Resources on

[1:00:08] the Jordan River and they're putting a

[1:00:09] lot of resources into our city and

[1:00:11] helping out there. And then uh of course

[1:00:15] you mentioned the Inland Port Authority

[1:00:17] who's putting a significant investment

[1:00:18] into our police department all saving

[1:00:20] the Salt Lake City taxpayer. Next slide.

[1:00:27] Uh Michael mentioned our overall budget.

[1:00:29] You can see a breakdown and you can see

[1:00:31] the mayor's recommended budget request

[1:00:33] of of 7 million with the 17 FTEES. 13 of

[1:00:36] those being the Inland Port. If you want

[1:00:37] to go to the next slide and you can see

[1:00:40] most of our budget is made up of

[1:00:41] personnel. [snorts] Um, so, uh, we're

[1:00:46] really really excited that the Inland

[1:00:47] Port Authority invested, uh, into the

[1:00:49] police department and we'll have 12

[1:00:51] additional officers and an evidence

[1:00:52] technician which will help us in the

[1:00:54] northwest quadrant with some of the

[1:00:56] challenges that we're having out there

[1:00:57] and in our on the west side of Salt Lake

[1:00:58] City. So, we're we're excited for that.

[1:01:01] I wanted to just to briefly mention

[1:01:02] fleet. Uh, last year the council, the

[1:01:05] mayor's office supported a number of an

[1:01:08] in a pretty good investment into our

[1:01:09] fleet. We still have a long way to go

[1:01:11] with our fleet and we in certain cases

[1:01:15] we have several cars that are past

[1:01:16] service life that need to be re re uh

[1:01:18] replaced and in certain cases we're

[1:01:20] actually investing more in maintenance

[1:01:22] and repairs than the car is worth. So

[1:01:25] we're just asking for continued support

[1:01:27] and investing in our mainten

[1:01:31] with uh the situation that we're in. It

[1:01:34] is a public safety risk, but also it's a

[1:01:36] recruiting retention tool. I mean, when

[1:01:38] officers do care about the cars that

[1:01:40] they're driving and so uh that's their

[1:01:42] office and and so when we we compete for

[1:01:44] the best officers in the state, our

[1:01:46] officers are constantly looking at

[1:01:47] salary, equipment, training, development

[1:01:50] opportunities, support from elected

[1:01:52] officials. So, it's important. Next

[1:01:54] slide.

[1:01:57] Uh these are the key changes in the

[1:01:59] budget which is in the budget book.

[1:02:00] We'll go over these one uh one at a time

[1:02:03] and feel free to ask questions along the

[1:02:04] way. Uh we if you want to go to the next

[1:02:07] slide, we can just get right into it.

[1:02:10] The school district approached us last

[1:02:11] year and requested two additional uh

[1:02:15] school resource officers for the

[1:02:16] district. Uh this is uh that request. Uh

[1:02:20] the the thing to note here is half of

[1:02:23] the funding will come from the school

[1:02:24] district. So even though it shows this

[1:02:26] amount, half of that will be in

[1:02:27] reimbursed back to the police department

[1:02:29] for those two FTEEs. We're working with

[1:02:32] the school district on ensuring that our

[1:02:34] school resource officers and they're

[1:02:35] doing an amazing job by the way, but

[1:02:37] they're investing in individuals,

[1:02:39] particularly kids who are at risk. And

[1:02:41] so, a lot of what we're doing, we're

[1:02:42] kind of retooling how we use our school

[1:02:44] resource officers, working closely with

[1:02:46] the district, and we're we're seeing

[1:02:47] some amazing outcomes. And you'll see

[1:02:49] here in the coming weeks an amazing

[1:02:51] story from one one of our school

[1:02:52] resource officers and how they invested

[1:02:54] in some youth, and we're excited for

[1:02:56] that to come out soon. Any questions on

[1:02:59] that one or should we just keep going

[1:03:00] and you'll interrupt if

[1:03:02] » Chief? Oh yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

[1:03:05] » Uh so so I on the school resource

[1:03:08] officer's request from the school

[1:03:09] district.

[1:03:11] My understanding was that they we split

[1:03:14] them with the school district. We split

[1:03:16] the cost with them. So is this the half

[1:03:18] the cost of for two?

[1:03:20] » This is the full cost. Half of that will

[1:03:22] be reimbursed back to our budget mention

[1:03:24] at the end that

[1:03:25] » We just have to get approval from you to

[1:03:26] get the to get the full amount and then

[1:03:28] it'll it will be reimbured. So that will

[1:03:30] be cut in half.

[1:03:31] » Okay. And what happens? So in the budget

[1:03:33] with this

[1:03:35] you know

[1:03:37] $25,000 is that going goes back to to

[1:03:41] the general fund or it stays within

[1:03:43] » The personnel

[1:03:44] » Revenue the general fund.

[1:03:45] » Okay. Okay. Thank you. Do you have

[1:03:48] » Yeah. cuz we're doing

[1:03:49] » And chief I wasn't quite sure would was

[1:03:51] the uh because we had the the SRO

[1:03:54] discussion at the state level and then

[1:03:57] we had at the schoolboard level. Uh was

[1:03:59] this a state mandate that we increase

[1:04:01] the SRO or this just come from the

[1:04:04] school districts or was it like a highly

[1:04:06] recommended from the state level or do

[1:04:08] you remember? So, so the this the the

[1:04:10] the legislature passed a bill that

[1:04:13] requires schools uh to to have a

[1:04:16] guardian, private security or a school

[1:04:18] resource officer. So, the schools can

[1:04:21] determine how that breakdown is. So, I

[1:04:23] think part of this is affected by that.

[1:04:25] Um it's the school district's request

[1:04:27] and they and they they they in in

[1:04:29] talking to uh the superintendent, they

[1:04:32] prefer school resource officers to

[1:04:34] private security or guardians. So

[1:04:36] » Yeah, that that decision I'm totally

[1:04:38] supportive. I just My question really

[1:04:40] was more is like it was a a these are

[1:04:44] the three ways you can do this but we're

[1:04:46] not going to give you any funding either

[1:04:47] for it. It was mandated but not funded.

[1:04:52] I shouldn't say if it was mandated

[1:04:53] that's right.

[1:04:53] » Yeah. I think I I think that the

[1:04:55] requirement was put in place and I don't

[1:04:57] know what type of funding was provided

[1:04:58] » But they didn't provide any funding for

[1:04:59] that.

[1:05:00] » I I I would think I think school

[1:05:02] districts would say not enough but okay.

[1:05:04] I don't know for sure what funding was

[1:05:05] provided to school districts.

[1:05:07] » Okay, thank you.

[1:05:11] » Okay, sorry. Next slide.

[1:05:15] » Uh the next the next request is one FTE

[1:05:18] for a drone pilot. This is an officer

[1:05:20] position. Uh you know, we're going to

[1:05:22] talk more about the the drone our our

[1:05:25] real-time crime center as we go through

[1:05:26] this presentation today. Um, I think the

[1:05:28] main point that I would just make on

[1:05:30] this drone pilot, um, we're doing

[1:05:33] everything we can to find internal

[1:05:34] resources. So, we've we've reallocated

[1:05:37] internally to add positions to our

[1:05:39] real-time crime center. As I mentioned,

[1:05:40] the University of Utah and UTA are

[1:05:42] committing some resources. Uh, but this

[1:05:44] will be a drone pilot that will help us

[1:05:46] uh get get off of the ground. um these

[1:05:49] drones are arriving at to calls in 1 to

[1:05:51] two minutes where officers are taking

[1:05:54] depending on the call anywhere from six

[1:05:56] and a half up to 15 minutes. And so a

[1:05:58] lot of cases are being cleared by these

[1:06:00] drones. So we just think this alternate

[1:06:02] response is a is a real investment in in

[1:06:05] getting call response times down,

[1:06:06] getting better information to our

[1:06:09] officers. Um I would also add that that

[1:06:12] we we deploy for the fire department. So

[1:06:14] that's another efficiency that we're

[1:06:16] finding that that we we deploy on fire

[1:06:18] calls uh fires in the hills or in in

[1:06:21] buildings and and to give them that

[1:06:22] overview. So um this that's what this

[1:06:25] request is. Uh next slide.

[1:06:30] This next uh request is related to our

[1:06:32] real-time crime center. This individual

[1:06:34] will be an analyst uh who will uh work

[1:06:38] within the real-time crime center. One

[1:06:40] of the main focuses of this an analyst

[1:06:42] will be threat management. Uh you know

[1:06:46] in this day and age there's a lot of

[1:06:47] threats coming in to the police

[1:06:48] department. We have to assess those

[1:06:50] threats. We have to research and do do

[1:06:53] background work on those. This uh this

[1:06:55] analyst will do all of that provide for

[1:06:57] event research. Uh you know we have a

[1:06:59] lot of events in the community and so

[1:07:00] that this analyst will pro will support

[1:07:02] all of those efforts.

[1:07:05] Next slide.

[1:07:08] Uh

[1:07:09] coming back to the overtime just to give

[1:07:12] some background. So we're projecting

[1:07:15] overtime costs for FY27 at $6.5 million.

[1:07:19] This would represent almost a 10%

[1:07:21] decrease from FY26.

[1:07:24] And if you go back to FY25, we were at

[1:07:27] 8.2 million. So this fiscal year, we've

[1:07:29] been able to reduce overtime by almost

[1:07:32] 13% and we're projecting to get that

[1:07:34] down another 10%. Uh so this request of

[1:07:37] 1.7 million represents that 10%

[1:07:40] decrease. Uh we will always have

[1:07:42] overtime in the department. We're

[1:07:44] requesting this one time because we want

[1:07:46] to see what we're going to be able to do

[1:07:48] this year with alternate response with

[1:07:50] becoming more fully staffed and we think

[1:07:52] maybe hopefully we can even get it down

[1:07:54] more. But we're requesting one time just

[1:07:56] to make sure we have the overtime as we

[1:07:58] get our officers trained and and put out

[1:08:00] into the field.

[1:08:02] » Go ahead. kind of like along the lines

[1:08:05] of the uh overtime side of the house.

[1:08:07] You know, we get a lot of we you get a

[1:08:11] lot of uh requests and and uh

[1:08:15] from the University of Utah for all the

[1:08:17] events that they have at the at the

[1:08:18] stadium and other places and are is it a

[1:08:22] uh are we being fully paid for all our

[1:08:24] services that we provide the at the

[1:08:26] university level? And is that a separate

[1:08:28] contract or how does that work? because

[1:08:30] it seems like we we have to deploy a lot

[1:08:32] of officers for a lot of those things

[1:08:34] and it and it's got to be mostly

[1:08:36] overtime because it's uh

[1:08:38] » Yes,

[1:08:38] » They're not uh so all of the University

[1:08:41] of Utah sporting events are reimbursed

[1:08:44] by the University of Utah. Uh Greek Row,

[1:08:47] they reimburse for our officers to work

[1:08:49] overtime shifts on Greek Row as I

[1:08:51] mentioned with the Realtime Crime

[1:08:53] Center. They're they're putting uh

[1:08:54] personnel and and and helping us invest

[1:08:57] in in that as well. And then uh our

[1:09:01] public order unit, they're they're going

[1:09:03] to be putting officers on our public

[1:09:05] order unit. So I I feel like we have a

[1:09:06] really strong partnership with the

[1:09:07] University of Utah and and I'm I'm sure

[1:09:10] if there's any concerns, we could go to

[1:09:12] them and and but I I feel like it's a

[1:09:15] pretty fair relationship that we have

[1:09:17] going. Most most of the overtime is

[1:09:18] reimbured.

[1:09:20] » Council Petro,

[1:09:23] » Thank you. When we say overtime, is this

[1:09:26] the overtime that covers the basic

[1:09:29] functionality of the city? Are officers

[1:09:31] still will have the opportunity to do

[1:09:33] overtime

[1:09:35] um when community entities are asking

[1:09:36] and paying for that? Is that accurate or

[1:09:38] are we discontinuing that as well?

[1:09:42] » Oh boy. Could you I'm sorry, council

[1:09:44] member, can you maybe just ask that

[1:09:46] question one more time? It's a little

[1:09:47] hard to understand. Oh, [clears throat]

[1:09:48] » You sorry. Um, so the when you say

[1:09:53] overtime and what we're paying for here,

[1:09:56] that's the overtime that covers

[1:09:59] functionality within the city. That is

[1:10:02] when we've been understaffed, people

[1:10:04] taking extra shifts to make sure that

[1:10:08] the city doesn't lag behind. But the

[1:10:10] overtime where entities in the community

[1:10:13] pay for our officers to do either

[1:10:16] special events or some ongoing security,

[1:10:18] those sorts of things, that sort of

[1:10:20] overtime still stays. Is that correct?

[1:10:24] » Yeah. So, we have like the Delta Center

[1:10:26] who reimburses us, City Creek who

[1:10:27] reimburses us. So, we have a lot of

[1:10:28] contractual overtime that's reimbursed.

[1:10:31] I think this amount, and Shelley can

[1:10:32] correct me if I'm wrong, represents the

[1:10:34] overtime that we expend for mitigation

[1:10:36] shifts, for overtime for demonstrations

[1:10:39] for instance. Those are very expensive

[1:10:41] for us. Um, and just regular overtime

[1:10:44] for callouts for our investigations

[1:10:46] division, our our special operations

[1:10:48] division for just normal operations.

[1:10:51] » It does include special events, but

[1:10:52] those are reimbursed as part of the

[1:10:54] special event process.

[1:10:57] » Thank you so much for the clarification.

[1:10:59] Thank you. Other

[1:11:03] questions on this request?

[1:11:06] Okay, we'll go to the next

[1:11:10] slide. Okay, so this is actually a

[1:11:12] reduction, a onetime reduction. We're

[1:11:14] currently holding open eight vacancies.

[1:11:17] These are these are these vacancies are

[1:11:20] within our professional staff, our

[1:11:21] civilian staff, which goes across

[1:11:24] basically all of those divisions. Um, I

[1:11:26] just want to say our personal our

[1:11:28] professional staff do an amazing job in

[1:11:30] the department sometimes in the

[1:11:32] background. We don't we don't see their

[1:11:34] work as much, but our police department

[1:11:36] could not operate without them. So, this

[1:11:38] is quite a sacrifice on on our

[1:11:40] professional staff to to hold these

[1:11:42] vacancies open, but we're committed to

[1:11:43] doing that. And and as as you mentioned

[1:11:45] earlier, executive director Bruno will

[1:11:47] evaluate through the year to see what we

[1:11:49] can do on the on the long term here. Um,

[1:11:52] but it is it is definitely a sacrifice

[1:11:55] for our professional staff to do this.

[1:11:56] We appreciate them

[1:11:59] and and the positions may vary through

[1:12:01] the year, but we'll we're committed to

[1:12:02] holding open funding for at least that

[1:12:04] amount. And if we can do more, you know,

[1:12:06] we would do more. We'll have to evaluate

[1:12:09] as the year goes on. Next slide.

[1:12:14] Uh this next request is uh nearly

[1:12:17] $400,000

[1:12:19] uh for our real-time crime center

[1:12:21] technology. This is uh for cameras,

[1:12:24] drones, uh our LPRs, replacements. Um

[1:12:29] what we're trying to accomplish here is

[1:12:31] to get kind of on a 5-year rotation. So

[1:12:33] some of this the funding will will go to

[1:12:35] new tech, new cameras. You know, we pull

[1:12:37] trailer cameras and we get requests

[1:12:39] constantly to put put a trailer camera

[1:12:40] here or a trailer camera there or a pole

[1:12:42] camera in the city. So, this is allowing

[1:12:45] us to increase the number of cameras um

[1:12:47] but also replace equipment as it ages.

[1:12:51] So, that's what this request is.

[1:12:53] » Yeah. Councilman Eric Carson,

[1:12:55] » Do you have a sense of the breakdown of

[1:12:58] what is a replacement of existing

[1:13:01] equipment versus purchasing of new

[1:13:04] equipment

[1:13:05] » On a percentage basis? Um, I do have a

[1:13:08] slide or a slide here. Yeah, here it is.

[1:13:11] Thank you. I had it on text, but here it

[1:13:13] is. Um,

[1:13:15] here we're requesting about 15. Let's

[1:13:18] see. 15. I'm just going to look at a

[1:13:20] percentage basis and we can get this

[1:13:22] this detail to you. I would say it's

[1:13:24] about it's a little it's probably a 5050

[1:13:27] or 6040 split between new and

[1:13:30] replacement.

[1:13:31] » 60% new, 40% replacement.

[1:13:34] » Um I mean without doing the math on the

[1:13:36] spot here, I can get you the the

[1:13:38] specific, but but I I think it's it's a

[1:13:39] little of both. We're trying to kind of

[1:13:40] hit hit it in the middle there.

[1:13:42] » Thank you.

[1:13:42] » But I can get you specific details. We

[1:13:44] can work on that.

[1:13:46] » Council member Dugan.

[1:13:48] » Yeah. We had this discussion before on

[1:13:50] the grant funding and stuff like that,

[1:13:51] the contracts we have with the the

[1:13:53] cameras and the other uh surveillance

[1:13:55] stuff and do we have contracts with the

[1:13:58] the Flock group?

[1:13:59] » We have no contracts with Flock.

[1:14:01] » Okay. Just appreciate that. I I think

[1:14:02] we've already discussed it before, but I

[1:14:05] » That came up again. So, thank you very

[1:14:07] much.

[1:14:07] » And oh, I want to do back on the

[1:14:10] replacement. So, this is these

[1:14:13] replacements. We're going to we're

[1:14:15] always going to be replacing new ones

[1:14:16] and old ones. Is it is it like a cycle

[1:14:18] right now the city has cycles on the

[1:14:20] computers it's whatever it is three

[1:14:22] years or something like that is that the

[1:14:23] same thing where they have about a

[1:14:25] lifetime of

[1:14:27] three years two years something of that

[1:14:28] nature

[1:14:29] » I mean techn is changing fast but you

[1:14:31] know I think on average we're thinking

[1:14:32] about a about a 5year rotation um give

[1:14:35] or take you know give or take give or

[1:14:37] take and

[1:14:38] » And again um we know it's a tough budget

[1:14:40] year like if if this has to be one time

[1:14:42] you know that's we understand whatever

[1:14:43] we can do to to be a team player you

[1:14:46] know we'll do that But yeah, we're

[1:14:47] trying to get on an on we want the

[1:14:49] ongoing funding so we can just have a

[1:14:51] replacement. Uh we'll grow it some, but

[1:14:53] we'll mostly it's for replacement.

[1:14:57] » Uh Chief, the in the past I I learned uh

[1:15:01] about moving these cameras, the trailer

[1:15:02] cameras and installing the pole cameras

[1:15:04] was challenging. Um so are we trying to

[1:15:10] find a way what is the system that we

[1:15:12] have right now to move them faster or

[1:15:15] install them faster and uh because we

[1:15:19] may have even more um so that's even you

[1:15:22] know more complication.

[1:15:23] » Yeah. Right now we have officers that

[1:15:25] are doing that and one of the things

[1:15:26] that we're looking at is is is that the

[1:15:28] best model or should we use our civilian

[1:15:30] response team and that's kind of I think

[1:15:32] what we're looking at to so we use you

[1:15:34] know our officer resources more

[1:15:36] effectively and so I think we're trying

[1:15:38] to look at a model of of moving toward a

[1:15:40] maybe a civilian uh based you know team

[1:15:44] that could do something like that and we

[1:15:46] may have internal resources just to kind

[1:15:47] of work on that.

[1:15:48] » Okay. Uh and a follow-up question

[1:15:51] regarding this item. Um and are

[1:15:55] there uh license plate readers in within

[1:15:58] this budget line item too?

[1:16:00] » There are.

[1:16:00] » There are. Okay.

[1:16:01] » Yeah. And and and and many of them are

[1:16:03] for replacement. We can also work with

[1:16:05] you on what what you're comfortable

[1:16:06] with. But yeah, there's there are

[1:16:08] license plate reader uh in in there.

[1:16:11] » Yeah. Any other questions? I I see Chris

[1:16:16] Chris Wharton.

[1:16:18] Um, hi Chief. Thank you for the

[1:16:21] presentation and thank you for talking

[1:16:22] about um the

[1:16:25] um work that we do with the University

[1:16:27] of Utah um police department for Greek

[1:16:30] Greek row. I think um I put in a request

[1:16:33] to to meet and talk about that because I

[1:16:36] think there are some opportunities for

[1:16:38] more efficiency there um and talking

[1:16:41] with um the dean of students. Um but so

[1:16:46] I just wanted to highlight that and say

[1:16:47] that I'm interested in in hearing more

[1:16:49] about that and we can have a separate

[1:16:51] meeting.

[1:16:52] Um the other thing I wanted to ask about

[1:16:54] is just that um from my from my

[1:16:59] residents um I have heard a lot of

[1:17:03] really positive feedback um about um our

[1:17:07] officers and about the department being

[1:17:09] um more responsive to um kind of

[1:17:13] neighborhood issues um just a presence

[1:17:17] in the neighborhood and then also um um

[1:17:22] traffic concerns, things like that. Um,

[1:17:25] and those continue to be the number one

[1:17:28] thing that constituents reach out to me

[1:17:30] about. And I I know that um it's

[1:17:33] expensive to do, you know, targeted

[1:17:36] enforcement and to be out there doing

[1:17:37] tickets and that um our officers

[1:17:41] um a lot of times, you know, they have

[1:17:43] to take priority calls. But um can you

[1:17:47] speak to what in this budget um is going

[1:17:49] to help um with that problem? Because

[1:17:52] again it's it is the number one thing

[1:17:54] that residents reach out to me about and

[1:17:56] it's not even close to um you know the

[1:18:00] second and third place things that they

[1:18:01] reach out about. Um it's speeding, it's

[1:18:05] speeding in school zones, it's um

[1:18:09] traffic noise um that is um you know so

[1:18:14] disruptive that it's um having health

[1:18:18] impacts

[1:18:20] um and it's um yeah responsiveness to

[1:18:23] sort those same sort of issues. Can you

[1:18:25] just speak to that in this budget? Yes.

[1:18:28] I mean, one, the overtime will continue

[1:18:31] to allow us to do some of that targeted

[1:18:33] enforcement, and I think also the

[1:18:35] investment in the real-time crime center

[1:18:37] will allow us to respond to issues. So,

[1:18:41] in February, we ran a pilot where we uh

[1:18:45] deployed our drone as first responder,

[1:18:47] which we're going to talk about in the

[1:18:48] next I think it's the next budget item.

[1:18:50] We deployed that drone uh to certain

[1:18:54] calls for service, lower priority calls,

[1:18:56] and we were able to clearly 40% of those

[1:18:58] calls without sending an officer.

[1:19:01] That's really significant for two

[1:19:02] reasons. One, it means we can send

[1:19:05] officers to higher priority calls and

[1:19:06] get there quicker or it means we free up

[1:19:08] officer time to be more proactive. And

[1:19:11] again, as I said earlier and kind as we

[1:19:13] as we began the presentation, traffic

[1:19:16] safety is a problem in the city. I mean,

[1:19:18] we're we're losing more people to that

[1:19:20] than homicide right now. And so, we do

[1:19:22] need to reinvest. And I think as we get

[1:19:25] fully staffed, as we have the overtime,

[1:19:27] as we invest in the real-time crime

[1:19:29] center, alternate response, that will

[1:19:31] free up our officers to be more present.

[1:19:33] you know, we started a a foot patrol in

[1:19:36] the downtown area, which is is is

[1:19:38] proving to be very successful and and

[1:19:40] popular, and we want to be able to

[1:19:42] spread that across the city and and have

[1:19:44] our officers have more beat integrity.

[1:19:47] Uh when the department was down on

[1:19:50] staffing and crime was up, um not just

[1:19:54] here, but across the country, uh police

[1:19:56] departments really just had to respond

[1:19:58] to the highest priority calls and

[1:19:59] everything kind of fell by the wayside.

[1:20:01] I'm confident that over time with full

[1:20:04] staffing, with this investment, you

[1:20:06] know, we can start be be starting to

[1:20:08] handle these quality of life issues and

[1:20:10] and be be more responsive, be more

[1:20:12] connected to the community, um, and work

[1:20:14] on some of these issues. I I hope that

[1:20:16] answers your question. And on on the

[1:20:17] second point, we'll have my team set up

[1:20:19] a meeting with you, council member, on

[1:20:20] the University of Utah.

[1:20:22] » Thank you,

[1:20:26] » Counciloman.

[1:20:29] » Thank you. And thank you, Chief. Um, so

[1:20:33] the first thing I want to just draw

[1:20:34] attention to is clarifying that the

[1:20:38] inland court is rightfully returning tax

[1:20:41] increment to the city. There would be

[1:20:44] not there would not be a need for these

[1:20:46] additional officers if the development

[1:20:48] out there wasn't happening and we would

[1:20:50] be able to pay for these officers if the

[1:20:53] taxes were flowing as typically

[1:20:55] designed. However, the state has come up

[1:20:58] with this brilliant idea of an authority

[1:21:00] to preempt that taxation. So, I am

[1:21:02] grateful for the collaboration, but I

[1:21:04] really think especially in such a

[1:21:06] difficult taxation year. It's very very

[1:21:09] very clear to our neighbors that this is

[1:21:12] not an act of grace or charity, it is an

[1:21:15] act of rightful returning of taxes to a

[1:21:19] primary function of the city. Um the

[1:21:23] second thing is in concept I am in

[1:21:25] support of anything that amplifies the

[1:21:27] effectiveness of our skillful police

[1:21:30] force. Anything that returns us to

[1:21:34] community based policing and allows us

[1:21:36] to engage with our neighbors. Um, this

[1:21:39] is not a you problem, Chief, but I am

[1:21:41] putting on the public record that our

[1:21:43] data usage AI policies are not in a

[1:21:47] place yet where we can fully be

[1:21:50] confident with some of these

[1:21:51] investments. And so as we are investing

[1:21:53] as a council, I want us to challenge

[1:21:55] ourselves to also be investing as policy

[1:21:58] makers in making sure that the way we

[1:22:01] use the data, the way we use these

[1:22:03] tools, the way we collect and retain

[1:22:06] things is in the best interest of civil

[1:22:09] liberties, civil rights of all people.

[1:22:13] Uh we don't legislate for the people who

[1:22:15] abide by the law. It doesn't matter to

[1:22:17] me how much premeditation is required in

[1:22:19] murder for 31st degree because I haven't

[1:22:21] murdered and will not murder. We have to

[1:22:24] have protections for those who will

[1:22:26] violate though. So I am not worried

[1:22:28] about you chief. I'm not worried about

[1:22:30] the officers who I engage with. I am

[1:22:33] worried about making sure that as we

[1:22:35] move forward we have policy that

[1:22:37] protects the rights no matter who is

[1:22:40] doing what where in our city. So I just

[1:22:42] want to put that on the public record.

[1:22:45] Thank you, council member. And we're

[1:22:46] happy to work with you on that. And we

[1:22:48] want to have a sustainable uh we we want

[1:22:51] to have a sustainable program so that we

[1:22:53] can utilize the technology

[1:22:54] appropriately. So, we're always happy to

[1:22:56] engage. Thank you.

[1:22:59] » Um Chief, one more thing. Um the

[1:23:04] in 2024 the budget 2024 2025 I believe

[1:23:08] that's when what the budget was the the

[1:23:11] council uh shared their their um focus

[1:23:16] on the Jordan River. Um and uh I believe

[1:23:19] it was before you you were joined. Um

[1:23:23] and uh I wanted to our intent then and

[1:23:27] and maybe I can be corrected uh by

[1:23:30] [clears throat] our our own staff here

[1:23:32] uh about what uh we were intending there

[1:23:36] uh was to create sort of a a group of

[1:23:39] officers that were just hyperfocused on

[1:23:41] the river uh on the river trail and

[1:23:44] going up and down. Um and

[1:23:49] and that was a big deal for you know our

[1:23:52] community on the west side but certainly

[1:23:54] uh this you know generally for the whole

[1:23:56] city. I am not sure where that is. Uh

[1:23:59] and I would love an update and and if if

[1:24:03] that has changed you know I I would love

[1:24:05] to get an update. So last fall we

[1:24:08] deployed the two green space uh bike

[1:24:10] squads

[1:24:12] uh that were obtained off of a federal

[1:24:15] grant. The city council I think had to

[1:24:16] put some money in. You put some money in

[1:24:18] as well. And so they've been deployed

[1:24:20] since October and they're operating over

[1:24:22] in that area. And uh we hope you're

[1:24:26] seeing them and we hope you're feeling

[1:24:27] the effects of their work. But we we

[1:24:29] feel like we're making a lot of good

[1:24:30] progress over on North Temple along

[1:24:34] um both and we'll continue to to keep at

[1:24:38] it. Uh one one thing that we are also

[1:24:41] looking at is we've seen really great

[1:24:43] success with the downtown foot patrol is

[1:24:45] looking at areas like Sugar House and

[1:24:47] and North Temple and do we start using

[1:24:50] utilizing that model as well and in

[1:24:53] those areas and so we're having those

[1:24:54] discussions as well.

[1:24:56] » Great. Thank you. I that would be

[1:24:58] amazing for me to and maybe for you know

[1:25:01] council member Petro to to share with

[1:25:03] our community councils about you know

[1:25:05] how that discussion ended up and

[1:25:07] something tangible that department is

[1:25:09] doing certainly beyond that I think it's

[1:25:13] very obvious to us that live on the west

[1:25:15] side the improvements on North Temple

[1:25:17] and the Jordan River Trail it's

[1:25:19] significant um and a significant

[1:25:22] positive change um and uh there is still

[1:25:25] some work to do but it's, you know,

[1:25:28] please I would like you to share with

[1:25:30] with the officers that are working in

[1:25:31] the area. Uh we're very thankful uh to

[1:25:34] to see that improvement. So,

[1:25:36] » Thank you for that and we will share

[1:25:37] that. And I I just I will tell you we

[1:25:39] are committed to the residents of the

[1:25:40] west side and and making sure they have

[1:25:42] public safety and and we will keep at

[1:25:44] it. And you may not always see the bike

[1:25:47] squad on bikes. They do a lot of uh work

[1:25:50] uh with the drug activity that we we

[1:25:52] sometimes see in public. So, if you're

[1:25:54] not always seeing the bike squads on

[1:25:56] bikes, that's why. But they are out

[1:25:58] there working hard, very hard.

[1:26:01] All right. Uh, next. Let's see where we

[1:26:04] at here on the next slide. I didn't

[1:26:10] » Okay, next slide.

[1:26:13] Um, the the contractual increases. This

[1:26:17] is just an inflationary increase for

[1:26:19] things like uniforms, gear, ammo, safety

[1:26:23] equipment, and other supplies. This

[1:26:25] factors in at about a 1.86% inflationary

[1:26:29] increase. Um, again, you know, if it can

[1:26:32] be ongoing, that's great because those

[1:26:34] costs probably aren't coming down, but

[1:26:36] you know, we'll be a team player. But

[1:26:38] that's that request. And then the last

[1:26:40] one, uh, this is specifically for our

[1:26:43] drone as first responder program, and

[1:26:45] this is for the ongoing costs for the

[1:26:48] five drone docks that will be placed

[1:26:50] across the city for our drone's first

[1:26:52] responder program. As I mentioned

[1:26:54] earlier, um, we cleared nearly 40% of

[1:26:58] our calls in a test in February with

[1:27:01] these drones. Um, it's going to improve

[1:27:04] response times and we're going to be

[1:27:08] able to just a couple examples. One, we

[1:27:11] were able to speed up officers when a

[1:27:13] woman was threatened by an individual

[1:27:15] with a pipe. We were able to not send

[1:27:18] officers to a call where it was it was

[1:27:21] relayed as a violent person uh with a

[1:27:24] weapon, which was not the case. It was

[1:27:25] someone having a mental health crisis.

[1:27:27] We could send social workers or not send

[1:27:28] an officer at all. and we were able to

[1:27:31] pull a an individual off of a parking

[1:27:33] garage with the drone guiding officers

[1:27:35] in to to the location, which would have

[1:27:38] taken much longer to find her. So, this

[1:27:41] is this is going to be a gamecher. Uh

[1:27:44] again, I want to emphasize uh that we

[1:27:47] are not patrolling with these drones.

[1:27:49] We're not randomly flying them around.

[1:27:51] We're flying them to calls for service.

[1:27:54] uh when they fly across the city, we're

[1:27:55] keeping the camera as much as we can.

[1:27:57] The camera pointed up so it's not

[1:27:59] pointing down as it flies across the

[1:28:01] city. We're getting it to the call. It's

[1:28:03] it's giving our officers real-time

[1:28:04] information and then we're we're

[1:28:06] bringing it back. Um we keep a we keep a

[1:28:09] a record of the flight, the flight path,

[1:28:12] the case number, the reason for the

[1:28:14] flight. Um and that's all uh recorded

[1:28:19] and that's what the cost is there.

[1:28:23] And next slide.

[1:28:26] » And I think that's the last slide. Any

[1:28:29] questions?

[1:28:30] » Any last questions? Uh, Council Member

[1:28:32] Dugan and Carlson.

[1:28:34] » No. Carson, then.

[1:28:37] » Uh, thank you, Chief, um, for your

[1:28:39] presentation. My first question, I don't

[1:28:42] I think I know the answer to, but I

[1:28:44] think it's helpful to at least um, since

[1:28:46] this is public record, have an

[1:28:48] opportunity for residents to understand

[1:28:50] the answer to this question as well. So

[1:28:52] when the city publish when the mayor uh

[1:28:55] publishes her proposed budget and um

[1:28:58] residents of Salt Lake City just take a

[1:28:59] look at the pie chart of you know how

[1:29:02] much is going to each department. They

[1:29:04] look at the pie chart and they say wow

[1:29:06] the majority of our funding is going to

[1:29:08] the police department. You've got a

[1:29:12] deficit problem. You're going to raise

[1:29:13] my property taxes. Why not just cut from

[1:29:16] the police department? So, help me um

[1:29:19] provide an explanation when residents

[1:29:22] say to me, "Well, why don't you just

[1:29:24] balance your budget by cutting uh all of

[1:29:27] the resources that you've put in towards

[1:29:28] your police department?"

[1:29:32] » Well, you're asking a biased person

[1:29:34] probably that question because I am a

[1:29:36] police officer. I I think generally

[1:29:38] public safety is so critical and we hear

[1:29:41] concerns, council uh member Wharton

[1:29:44] brought up concerns in neighborhoods

[1:29:45] with speeding or by school zones or uh

[1:29:49] you know we've obviously the issues

[1:29:51] around homelessness which is not all

[1:29:54] homelessness that we are experiencing

[1:29:55] when we see those things on the streets.

[1:29:57] Much of it is but some of it's

[1:29:58] criminogenic behavior um violent crime

[1:30:02] all of those things. um to have a safe

[1:30:04] uh uh capital city uh I think you have

[1:30:07] to invest in in a police department.

[1:30:09] Now, as I mentioned, we're looking at

[1:30:12] efficiencies and when you know we we

[1:30:14] have to look out a number of years and

[1:30:16] so we're trying to figure out how we're

[1:30:17] going to model what resources we need.

[1:30:19] We feel like that this this investment

[1:30:21] in the police department in the short

[1:30:23] term is going to continue to bring call

[1:30:25] response times down. We're already

[1:30:26] seeing that those improvements. Uh we

[1:30:28] never want to be comfortable with what

[1:30:30] our call response time is. We always

[1:30:31] want to try to get that down. If you're

[1:30:34] if you're I our our priority one call

[1:30:36] response times are 6 and 12 minutes as

[1:30:38] uh as of April 2025. If you're if you're

[1:30:42] threatened uh

[1:30:45] in some way uh 6 and a half minutes is a

[1:30:48] long time. So that's actually a good

[1:30:50] call response time nationally, but we

[1:30:53] want to try to bring it down down even

[1:30:55] more. So, the the investment in public

[1:30:57] safety drives uh drives people in the

[1:31:00] community to get out and get into their

[1:31:02] parks. Uh we've had a lot of complaints,

[1:31:04] you know, with drug use in the parks and

[1:31:06] we can't take our kids to the parks or

[1:31:08] certain public spaces. So, we do need

[1:31:10] the investment. Um but we want to we

[1:31:12] want to be cognizant of people who are

[1:31:14] concerned that we're getting too much

[1:31:15] money and find ways to be more efficient

[1:31:17] for sure and we're committed to doing

[1:31:18] that.

[1:31:20] » Thank you, Chief. And then just a

[1:31:22] follow-up question to that because I

[1:31:24] feel like this is kind of the the number

[1:31:25] one question that I get pretty often is

[1:31:27] people look at the budget, they look at

[1:31:28] the page graph and say, "Well, just cut

[1:31:30] from there. It'll solve all your budget

[1:31:32] woes." I don't think it's that easy. Um,

[1:31:35] but I'm asking this question just for

[1:31:37] the public record and so people

[1:31:39] understand more about um how our budgets

[1:31:42] are formed. Um,

[1:31:44] so I think it's something like maybe 92%

[1:31:47] I could be getting this wrong, but 92%

[1:31:50] of the police department budget is

[1:31:52] associated directly with personnel.

[1:31:54] Personnel costs include health care, um,

[1:31:57] pensions, salaries, etc. Um, what are

[1:32:02] some of the drivers of those personnel

[1:32:04] costs and help me understand how things

[1:32:06] like labor agreements factor into that.

[1:32:08] » So we do have collective bargaining. So

[1:32:10] we are under anou with with our unions.

[1:32:13] So those those costs are are factored in

[1:32:15] there as well or factored in there. Um

[1:32:19] when you talk about recruiting you know

[1:32:21] if you you want the best you want the

[1:32:22] best officers you want the best talent

[1:32:24] and when you're competing for a limited

[1:32:26] resource we have to compete with other

[1:32:28] you know other departments across the

[1:32:30] state and nation. So a lot of it is

[1:32:32] driven by just market uh market uh you

[1:32:36] know the mark what the market is for for

[1:32:38] an officer. But yeah, the the theou

[1:32:41] controls a lot of those costs for sure

[1:32:43] and the collective bargaining. Um, you

[1:32:45] know, I'll always say this, we're always

[1:32:47] willing to sit down if people are

[1:32:48] concerned. I'm willing to sit down and

[1:32:50] and and hear them out and and uh see if

[1:32:53] they have ideas. I mean, we we we we

[1:32:55] take feedback and we try to improve and

[1:32:57] get more efficient and we're always

[1:32:58] willing to sit down with people and and

[1:32:59] and see if we can get better.

[1:33:02] » Thank you, Chief. Sorry, my last

[1:33:03] question.

[1:33:05] um in thinking about uh this proposed

[1:33:08] investment in the real time crime center

[1:33:10] and the uh highest and best use of

[1:33:13] officer time towards those higher

[1:33:15] priority calls. How do you think looking

[1:33:18] forward maybe over the next 5 years this

[1:33:21] will impact the staffing needs of the

[1:33:22] department?

[1:33:24] Yeah, I mean I think I think our

[1:33:25] alternate response I think the real time

[1:33:27] crime center may help us not have to ask

[1:33:30] for more officers as we move toward the

[1:33:32] Olympics and you know the capital city

[1:33:33] is just getting large. I mean we have

[1:33:35] hockey now. We have we have basketball.

[1:33:39] Uh there's potential for baseball in the

[1:33:41] future. Uh the University of Utah is

[1:33:43] expanding. I mean we just have more

[1:33:45] traffic, more events coming into to our

[1:33:47] city uh all the time. That's a lot of

[1:33:50] people. So, there are there are high

[1:33:51] demands on the police department. Um,

[1:33:54] I'm hoping that this alternate response

[1:33:56] can help free up time to respond to

[1:33:58] those those calls more quickly. And I

[1:34:00] also hope to Council Member Wharton's uh

[1:34:04] um concerns that he hears from his

[1:34:06] residents that we can also free up

[1:34:08] officer time just to engage on those

[1:34:10] quality of life issues, the traffic

[1:34:12] safety, the noise, um just just engaging

[1:34:15] with our youth so that we don't have

[1:34:17] issues with our youth in the future. Um,

[1:34:20] so I think those are I think the

[1:34:22] real-time crime center will help us get

[1:34:24] to a place where we can be more

[1:34:25] efficient and effective

[1:34:28] and we're seeing we're seeing it work

[1:34:29] pretty well across the country.

[1:34:32] » Uh, Council Petro and then Council

[1:34:34] Member Young.

[1:34:36] I just wanted to thank you, Chief, for

[1:34:39] being someone who is trustworthy.

[1:34:42] Whether we're asking you to go talk to

[1:34:44] the inland court or we're asking you to

[1:34:46] go meet with homelessness advocates,

[1:34:48] every time I hear that our police

[1:34:51] department is in the community, you all

[1:34:53] are representing the city. You're

[1:34:57] reshaping trust where it needs to be.

[1:35:00] This is I'm doing these surveys with my

[1:35:02] constituents. Public safety without

[1:35:04] exception is the number one place my

[1:35:07] constituents want investment. And that

[1:35:10] can be kind of difficult because some

[1:35:12] when some people say public safety, they

[1:35:13] mean social workers. When some people

[1:35:15] say public safety, they mean the sworn

[1:35:17] officers. Um, and I'm just really

[1:35:19] thankful. I want to put on the public

[1:35:21] record. I'm very thankful for your

[1:35:22] leadership for the officers who have

[1:35:25] been serving the west side and the whole

[1:35:26] city so faithfully. Um, and I look

[1:35:29] forward to being creative with you about

[1:35:31] how we keep our city safe, continue to

[1:35:33] grow in the face of all of the all the

[1:35:36] conflicts and issues we have coming

[1:35:37] here.

[1:35:40] » Thank you, Council Member.

[1:35:45] » Council Young,

[1:35:46] » Thank you. Um, Chief Red and to the

[1:35:49] team, again, I echo Council Member

[1:35:51] Petro's thanks. Um, one of the things

[1:35:53] that I think is also helpful to

[1:35:55] highlight is the way that your

[1:35:58] department has successfully been using

[1:36:00] data to be able to drive resource

[1:36:03] allocation to be more thoughtful with

[1:36:06] the resources we have. Um, just because

[1:36:08] again not everybody has insight to that,

[1:36:11] I'm wondering if you could give kind of

[1:36:13] like the the twominute overview of how

[1:36:16] like the data that you gather really

[1:36:18] helps to direct um resources in a more

[1:36:22] effective way so that if if I could

[1:36:24] speak so broadly that we're almost doing

[1:36:27] more with without having to increase um

[1:36:30] staffing um as the city has grown.

[1:36:34] » Sure. I mean, one example because this

[1:36:36] was the big issue when I when I came

[1:36:39] joined the Salt Lake City Police

[1:36:40] Department was some of the issues on the

[1:36:42] Jordan River Trail and some of the

[1:36:43] homeless related or transient related

[1:36:46] calls for service. Um, this is these are

[1:36:49] these are community members calling in

[1:36:51] or businesses or whatever indicating

[1:36:53] there's problems. So, we have a heat map

[1:36:55] that we we look at every week to see

[1:36:58] where the bulk of those calls are coming

[1:37:00] in from community members and then we

[1:37:02] will deploy our homeless resource center

[1:37:05] officers, our social workers uh or and

[1:37:08] even our patrol officers into those

[1:37:10] areas to uh try to see what the issue

[1:37:13] is. Um, I can I can give an example. In

[1:37:16] downtown, we were having a hot spot and

[1:37:17] we found out that we had uh we had drug

[1:37:20] dealers who were coming to that location

[1:37:22] and and and that's why we were having

[1:37:24] some of the issues that we were having.

[1:37:25] So, we that's an example of the way that

[1:37:28] we're using we're using data to um you

[1:37:31] know try to deploy our resources more

[1:37:33] efficiently.

[1:37:34] » Thank you. I appreciate the example

[1:37:36] because for me knowing that you're using

[1:37:40] that data driven approach gives me

[1:37:42] confidence as a council member related

[1:37:45] to the asks that are coming through

[1:37:47] related to your budget. Um and I

[1:37:50] appreciate seeing the connection between

[1:37:53] those two. Um, and I think to me it also

[1:37:56] gives me confidence in how you're both

[1:37:59] looking to be at the forefront of

[1:38:00] innovation to be thoughtful about our

[1:38:02] use of resources where we need like the

[1:38:05] human response aspect whereas where we

[1:38:08] may have you know alternative

[1:38:10] opportunities to be able to um be

[1:38:13] thoughtful about those deployments. Um,

[1:38:15] and just wanted to say that I that does

[1:38:17] give me a lot of confidence in the

[1:38:20] budget requests that come forward just

[1:38:21] knowing that that's a day-to-day

[1:38:23] practice of Salt Lake City Police.

[1:38:25] » Thank you. And we're writing our

[1:38:27] strategic plan now and we're going to

[1:38:28] have we're going to we're going to

[1:38:30] continue de to develop better key met

[1:38:32] keep key key performance indicators

[1:38:34] metrics. So we we have some work to do

[1:38:36] still, but we're definitely um utilizing

[1:38:39] data and it's helpful. Thank you.

[1:38:41] » Thank you.

[1:38:44] We're good. Thank you, chief. Thank you,

[1:38:46] everyone.

[1:38:47] » You council,

[1:38:49] » We have scheduled a tentative break that

[1:38:52] we passed. So, um I would like uh all of

[1:38:56] us to consider continuing with the with

[1:38:58] the discussion. I hope if anybody has

[1:39:01] strong opinions against

[1:39:03] speak now. Okay, we're going to continue

[1:39:06] with item number four, fiscal year 2026

[1:39:09] 2027 budget discussions. Uh this is

[1:39:12] about community and neighborhoods uh

[1:39:14] department. Now we're gonna uh welcome

[1:39:18] at the table uh Allison Roland, council

[1:39:21] policy analyst, uh Tommy Hanser,

[1:39:24] director of community and neighborhoods,

[1:39:26] Mike Oerllo, deputy director, and Brent

[1:39:30] Beck, financial manager is

[1:39:33] um Allison is your time.

[1:39:38] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um

[1:39:41] you know I always it always strikes me

[1:39:43] that can is a very diverse um department

[1:39:47] with building services, engineering,

[1:39:49] housing stability, planning,

[1:39:51] transportation, youth and family and

[1:39:53] then of course the arts council which is

[1:39:55] going to be um briefed in the next uh in

[1:39:58] the next bit. But um in spite of that

[1:40:03] you guys managed to pull it all

[1:40:05] together. So I'll just go over the

[1:40:06] basics quickly. um

[1:40:09] and then turn it over to the people who

[1:40:11] really know. Um the proposed FY27 budget

[1:40:15] is 41.4 million which is just about the

[1:40:18] same as FY26.

[1:40:21] The staff size will also remain just

[1:40:23] about the same. The largest cost savings

[1:40:26] um 702,000

[1:40:28] and change um is will be achieved

[1:40:32] through an attrition savings pool which

[1:40:35] is essentially holding vacated positions

[1:40:38] open for four to five months rather than

[1:40:40] filling them immediately.

[1:40:42] Other cost reductions come from cuts in

[1:40:45] the hive pass program. And this is for

[1:40:46] general writership, not for special

[1:40:48] populations like school kids and their

[1:40:50] guardians and from a variety of smaller

[1:40:53] items like the city match for fix the

[1:40:55] bricks um which now that the federal

[1:40:58] program has expired um there um it

[1:41:02] basically the program will be closed.

[1:41:04] Um, the most significant increase costs

[1:41:08] are an $800,000 one-time youth and

[1:41:12] family

[1:41:13] uh

[1:41:15] I was going to say subsidy. It's a

[1:41:16] subsidy. I guess that's fair. Um, for to

[1:41:19] replace federal funds which have

[1:41:21] disappeared as well. Um, and give the

[1:41:23] youth and family division time to try to

[1:41:26] find more um to try to find additional

[1:41:30] sources of revenue for their programs.

[1:41:33] and 330,000

[1:41:35] ongoing for taking over funding for the

[1:41:37] VO VOA homeless outreach team and

[1:41:41] shelter the homeless resource center

[1:41:43] liaison. So those are the two really big

[1:41:45] increases. Um and there are policy

[1:41:48] questions sprinkled throughout the uh

[1:41:51] the staff report. So I will turn it over

[1:41:53] now to Tammy.

[1:41:57] Thank you. Um, thanks to the council for

[1:41:59] the opportunity to present um, community

[1:42:01] neighborhoods FY27

[1:42:03] proposed budget. I also want to thank

[1:42:06] Allison Roland. She's been great to work

[1:42:07] with as always. Um, before we u dive

[1:42:11] into the budget proposal itself, I want

[1:42:13] to begin by recognizing the exceptional

[1:42:15] team um, behind this work. The

[1:42:18] accomplishments reflected in this budget

[1:42:19] are the result of a dedicated, talented,

[1:42:21] and missiondriven department. Allison

[1:42:24] outlined all of the various divisions

[1:42:26] within the department. Um, we're a large

[1:42:29] department with a broad scope of work.

[1:42:31] Next slide, please.

[1:42:36] Every division within the department

[1:42:37] plays a critical role in serving

[1:42:39] residents, strengthening neighborhoods,

[1:42:40] supporting community partners, and

[1:42:42] improving or implementing council

[1:42:44] priorities. Their expertise, creativity,

[1:42:47] and commitment to public service are

[1:42:49] reflected throughout this proposal. Next

[1:42:52] slide, please.

[1:42:57] Can's uh recent accomplishments are

[1:42:59] numerous um too numerous to list, but a

[1:43:02] sampling include the completion of the

[1:43:04] $89 million funding our future street

[1:43:07] bond that resulted in 122 miles of

[1:43:10] street reconstruction, 310 mi of

[1:43:12] pavement resurfacing, 60 mi of sidewalk

[1:43:16] curb and gutter, and we added over 2700

[1:43:18] new trees and plants. We have also been

[1:43:22] working hard within building services to

[1:43:24] create efficiencies with building

[1:43:26] inspections and we are currently current

[1:43:29] on all rental inspections which is a

[1:43:31] great accomplishment for that team. We

[1:43:34] have found efficiencies by

[1:43:35] cross-training building inspectors. Um

[1:43:38] by doing so we are building internal

[1:43:40] capacity, improving institutional

[1:43:42] knowledge, increasing responsiveness and

[1:43:45] um providing long-term value to the

[1:43:47] city. On the transportation note, we

[1:43:51] have successfully navigated the

[1:43:53] requirements of the transportation bill

[1:43:55] from 2025 which recently sunset SB95

[1:44:00] and we are currently going through the

[1:44:02] steps to comply with SB242.

[1:44:05] Um that process um now entails

[1:44:07] negotiating with UD do on an an

[1:44:10] agreement between our two entities.

[1:44:13] Um we are also continuing to implement

[1:44:16] thriving in place the anti-displacement

[1:44:18] plan that the council adopted a few

[1:44:20] years ago. Um this effort includes

[1:44:23] various aspects including those in

[1:44:26] planning and housing stability. An

[1:44:28] example of a success is the tenant

[1:44:30] resource center that started in the fall

[1:44:32] of 2024. To date, we have assisted over

[1:44:36] 2,200 individuals through that portal.

[1:44:39] Um, which is great. Um, we are also

[1:44:43] another accomplishment is uh continuing

[1:44:46] to provide highquality summer and

[1:44:48] afterchool programming in spite of

[1:44:50] significant federal cuts to our grants.

[1:44:54] Next slide, please.

[1:44:58] In terms of efficiencies, over the past

[1:45:01] year, we have focused on operational

[1:45:03] efficiencies and long-term

[1:45:05] sustainability of the department from a

[1:45:08] financial aspect. This includes

[1:45:10] implementing the commercial and mixeduse

[1:45:12] zoning district consolidation. This

[1:45:15] consolidation reduced the amount of

[1:45:17] zoning code. Um, also reducing resources

[1:45:21] necessary to administer the code and it

[1:45:24] created efficiencies for developers and

[1:45:26] property owners. These efficiencies in

[1:45:28] administering the code actually allowed

[1:45:29] us to shift staffing resources to work

[1:45:32] on adoptions of or um drafting of

[1:45:35] community plan updates.

[1:45:38] We um transferred the advantage service

[1:45:40] contract to public services to

[1:45:42] centralize cleaning efforts and to

[1:45:44] provide for staffing and funding

[1:45:45] efficiencies. The mayor mentioned this

[1:45:47] in her budget presentation to you. That

[1:45:50] um transfer allowed the city to find I

[1:45:53] think it was like a million dollars in

[1:45:54] savings.

[1:45:56] Um we are also coordinating with public

[1:45:58] services to optimize administrative

[1:46:00] office space. That includes re-imagining

[1:46:03] the old library. Um this will allow the

[1:46:06] city to utilize existing real estate

[1:46:09] instead of um looking to bond to build

[1:46:11] new administrative office sta space. Um

[1:46:15] and then within youth and family with

[1:46:17] the budget cuts that have been faced

[1:46:18] we've optimized budget expenditures.

[1:46:20] We're really looking at how we plan for

[1:46:23] and order supplies um for youth

[1:46:26] programming. Um we've gone up and down

[1:46:29] through that budget to cut where we can

[1:46:32] and create efficiencies to make the the

[1:46:34] delivery of services as streamlined and

[1:46:36] efficient as possible. Next slide,

[1:46:38] please.

[1:46:43] Um Allison provided an overview of CAN's

[1:46:47] budget. As she mentioned within K's

[1:46:49] budget, we're about flat from FY26.

[1:46:54] Also on this slide, you will see a new

[1:46:56] revenue change. That's new revenue that

[1:46:58] we're proposing for the general fund.

[1:47:01] And then um we also looked through our

[1:47:04] non-EP non-departmental expenditures

[1:47:07] that are attributed to our department

[1:47:09] and we fi found about a million dollars

[1:47:11] in savings there. Next slide.

[1:47:17] So, the new revenue that I just spoke

[1:47:20] about is $177,000.

[1:47:23] This wouldn't be new revenue for the

[1:47:24] Department of Community and

[1:47:25] Neighborhoods. It would go into the

[1:47:27] general fund. But, as the mayor's office

[1:47:30] asked us to look at cuts, we looked

[1:47:32] across the board at where we could

[1:47:34] either gener um generate new revenue or

[1:47:37] reduce expenditures. and in generating

[1:47:40] new revenue. The green vehicle program

[1:47:43] was implemented several years ago and

[1:47:47] the initial policy reason for

[1:47:48] implementing this program was to

[1:47:50] encourage

[1:47:52] uh individuals to buy EV vehicles and in

[1:47:56] looking at this program now we really

[1:47:57] think that the market the EV market is

[1:48:00] strong and the city's policy in regard

[1:48:02] to EV parking really isn't influencing

[1:48:05] the EV market anymore. So, if we

[1:48:08] eliminate this program, um it would be a

[1:48:11] net of 177,000 in new parking revenue

[1:48:15] for FY27. We worked with finance on that

[1:48:18] number, but it would actually be even a

[1:48:22] greater amount of revenue in future

[1:48:24] years because the finance department

[1:48:26] built in a few months to phase that

[1:48:29] program out. Um the other reason we are

[1:48:32] proposing to um eliminate the program is

[1:48:36] the EPA um publishes an EPA smartway

[1:48:40] vehicle list on an annual basis and our

[1:48:43] city code is actually tied to that list

[1:48:45] and there have been recent changes with

[1:48:48] the current federal administration with

[1:48:50] the EPA and how that list is managed. So

[1:48:53] there's actually lack of clarity right

[1:48:55] now on what new cars qualify. Um, the

[1:48:59] other consideration with the program is

[1:49:02] there are still green stickers out there

[1:49:04] on vehicles that qualified

[1:49:07] as an efficient vehicle sever several

[1:49:09] years ago but would no longer qualify

[1:49:11] under current lists. So that is one

[1:49:15] proposal for new revenue. Um, the second

[1:49:18] item on the slide is access and

[1:49:19] belonging. This is actually revenue or

[1:49:22] budget neutral. This budget was in the

[1:49:23] mayor's office last year. access and

[1:49:26] belonging staff moved from the mayor's

[1:49:28] office to community and neighborhoods.

[1:49:30] So, this is operating budget that was

[1:49:32] left in the mayor's office that we're

[1:49:33] asking to transfer over to CAN. It is

[1:49:36] budget that is used to operate the

[1:49:38] programs um including welcoming week,

[1:49:43] the IFAR dinner, um partnership events,

[1:49:46] new American projects, and know your

[1:49:48] neighbor volunteer fingerprinting.

[1:49:51] The third item on this slide is the

[1:49:54] police department lease contractual

[1:49:57] increases. We are contractually

[1:49:59] obligated um for this budget through

[1:50:02] lease agreements. So, community and

[1:50:04] neighborhoods, the real estate services

[1:50:06] team, we manage lease agreements um

[1:50:08] throughout the city, including the

[1:50:10] police department. So, this would be

[1:50:11] increases for the CL crime lab, the

[1:50:13] community connection center, and the

[1:50:15] police substations. Next slide, please.

[1:50:21] VA and shelter the homeless, $330,000.

[1:50:25] We're requesting this to be ongoing

[1:50:27] funding within CAN's budget. This is

[1:50:30] actually not new funding. It's currently

[1:50:32] funded through a BA in FY26.

[1:50:36] And in previous years, it was actually

[1:50:38] those contracts were funded through the

[1:50:40] state mitigation funds. Last year, um,

[1:50:43] the city shifted the priorities of the

[1:50:46] state mitigation funds from efforts that

[1:50:50] were being carried out through CAN to

[1:50:51] the police department because the state

[1:50:54] wanted cities to prioritize public

[1:50:55] safety with those funds. Um, so we want

[1:50:59] to build in the VA and shelter the

[1:51:01] homeless into housing stabilities

[1:51:03] budget. Um, VA is for a homeless

[1:51:06] outreach team. Um this team is actually

[1:51:09] working a lot with the connect program

[1:51:12] in PD. It's for engaging persons

[1:51:15] experiencing homelessness um for that

[1:51:18] program and also engaging that

[1:51:21] population like if there's an encampment

[1:51:23] mitigation. And then the shelter the

[1:51:25] homeless contract that is um how much is

[1:51:29] that one?

[1:51:31] 80,000. That would be for a homeless

[1:51:33] services liaison for the homeless

[1:51:35] resource center. And this liaison is

[1:51:37] actually an FTE employed by shelter the

[1:51:40] homeless that mitigates issues,

[1:51:42] coordinates with stakeholders and um

[1:51:44] does community outreach um with

[1:51:47] regarding the resource centers.

[1:51:51] And then um our fifth request is a large

[1:51:55] one. It is 800,000 for youth and family.

[1:51:59] Um, this would be funding to keep youth

[1:52:01] and family programming relatively

[1:52:03] stable, compensating for the loss of

[1:52:06] federal funding. Of note, even with this

[1:52:10] $800,000 request, this would if if the

[1:52:14] council approves this request, the

[1:52:16] division would still be over $500,000

[1:52:20] less in budget in FY27 than in FY26

[1:52:24] because there have been other federal

[1:52:26] budget cuts. But in talking with the

[1:52:29] team and looking at how we can optimize

[1:52:31] the 800,000 would keep programming for K

[1:52:35] through 6 and teens stable. We would

[1:52:39] consolidate adult programming. Right now

[1:52:41] we have an adult programming site in the

[1:52:43] Fair Park neighborhood as well as at

[1:52:45] Sorenson. We would consolidate adult

[1:52:47] programming at Sorenson and find some

[1:52:49] cost savings there. And like I said

[1:52:51] before, the division has already found

[1:52:53] some efficiencies and cost savings. So,

[1:52:55] we feel like 800,000 is the minimum that

[1:52:58] would be needed to keep programming

[1:53:00] relatively stable. I am sure you will

[1:53:03] agree that these programs are critical

[1:53:05] in supporting working families within

[1:53:07] our city and investment in youth and

[1:53:09] family collectively advances public

[1:53:11] safety, educational

[1:53:13] outcomes, workforce training, and

[1:53:16] community well-being. So, we feel

[1:53:18] strongly that this is would be good

[1:53:20] money spent if the council decides to

[1:53:23] approve. Next slide, please. Let let me

[1:53:26] construct uh council member Dugan.

[1:53:28] » Yeah, thank you Tammy and I'm uh agree

[1:53:32] with you on that number about the youth

[1:53:35] and family services. Can you kind of

[1:53:38] give the uh the city and the council and

[1:53:41] the metrics that you kind of make that

[1:53:44] decision for you? I mean, what are you

[1:53:45] tracking there as far as how many youth

[1:53:47] and families and K through sixth graders

[1:53:49] that you're you're touching by that

[1:53:52] funding and what you're not touching

[1:53:55] because you've lost that

[1:53:58] the other $500,000 I think you just

[1:54:00] mentioned that you're going to still

[1:54:01] find efficiencies. Can you kind of guess

[1:54:03] give us a broad view of those metrics

[1:54:05] that you're uh using to justify that

[1:54:09] because I think it's incredibly valuable

[1:54:12] uh and it's necessary but it'd be nice

[1:54:14] to know some of those metrics that

[1:54:15] you're tracking with that.

[1:54:17] » There are a lot of metrics we are

[1:54:19] tracking for the youth and family

[1:54:20] division and programming. I don't have

[1:54:23] them memorized on the top of my head but

[1:54:24] we have we actually have that data put

[1:54:26] together in a wireframe that we can send

[1:54:28] over. But the um program tracks

[1:54:32] enrollment. Um the programming is

[1:54:35] offered on a sliding scale basis in

[1:54:37] terms of the fees for the program. So

[1:54:39] most of the kids qualify for free or

[1:54:42] lowcost programming because they are

[1:54:45] from lower income families. So we have

[1:54:47] um income information on the students

[1:54:51] and the the participants um in looking

[1:54:54] in working with the team. and Liz Rich

[1:54:56] is here if you have any specific

[1:54:58] questions on on metrics. Otherwise, we

[1:55:00] can email those afterwards. But in

[1:55:02] looking at the the $500,000

[1:55:06] reduction, if we get the $800,000 that

[1:55:09] we're requesting, in talking it through

[1:55:12] with Liz and also with the mayor's

[1:55:14] office, we want to be responsible with

[1:55:16] taxpayer money. And we really looked at

[1:55:19] at programming and the the benefits that

[1:55:22] the programming is providing the

[1:55:24] community. And the adult programming is

[1:55:26] very valuable. It's it's well used. It's

[1:55:28] like computer labs. Um ESL. I think

[1:55:33] there's some financial literacy

[1:55:34] training, other things like that. We

[1:55:36] really feel like the um services for

[1:55:39] youth, the K through six and the teens

[1:55:42] is essential to keep intact for the

[1:55:44] community. So, we really looked at then

[1:55:47] consolidating the adult programming at

[1:55:49] Sorenson and just creating other

[1:55:51] efficiencies that would limit the cuts

[1:55:54] to services for youth. Does that help?

[1:55:57] » Yeah, that it does. And I just wondered

[1:55:59] and there's probably a lot of pressure

[1:56:01] to for the services too. It's it's not

[1:56:04] like you have a lot of empty seats. You

[1:56:07] have more requests than

[1:56:11] » Right weight lists.

[1:56:12] » You have the weight list.

[1:56:13] » And the program has um Liz, who's a

[1:56:17] newer director, she's been with youth

[1:56:19] and family for a long time, but she

[1:56:21] stepped in the director role um a bit a

[1:56:24] bit over a year ago, I believe. um she's

[1:56:26] really been creative, been forward

[1:56:29] thinking. Um she's been a lifesaver in

[1:56:33] working through all of these funding

[1:56:34] cuts. We've also um experienced other

[1:56:37] challenges like we had programming at

[1:56:39] the fair park. Um and then we moved to

[1:56:42] the lied boys and girls club, but the

[1:56:44] Boys and Girls Club is now selling lies.

[1:56:46] So now we're talking to the about moving

[1:56:48] programming into the Northwest Rec

[1:56:50] Center, which the county has been great

[1:56:53] to work with. So, um, there's been a lot

[1:56:55] going on with Ethan family.

[1:56:57] » Appreciate that and I'd love to see some

[1:56:59] of those metrics just to, you know, for

[1:57:01] there's probably a lot of questions

[1:57:02] about that, but because it's a big

[1:57:03] number, but I think that the the cost

[1:57:06] benefit is is huge. So, appreciate that.

[1:57:09] Thank you,

[1:57:10] » Carson.

[1:57:11] » Um, thank you for this presentation thus

[1:57:14] far. I think I want to uh follow up on

[1:57:16] Council Member Dugan's questions about

[1:57:18] the 800,000 for the youth and family

[1:57:21] programming and that's really coming um

[1:57:24] about this year because of uh federal

[1:57:26] funding uh cuts and and um changes

[1:57:29] related to that. And so I think my

[1:57:32] question as I'm thinking about this is

[1:57:33] are you thinking about this kind of as a

[1:57:35] bridge year and then in fiscal year 28

[1:57:38] finding additional resources to support

[1:57:41] this line item or how are you thinking

[1:57:44] about for future years?

[1:57:46] » That is a great question and I meant to

[1:57:49] mention that this is an 800,000 one-time

[1:57:52] funding request so we're not requesting

[1:57:54] ongoing. Um that being said, we are

[1:58:00] still it's still to be determined

[1:58:01] whether we can find other resources or

[1:58:04] other grant opportunities. Uh we also

[1:58:07] want to look at local grant

[1:58:09] opportunities um philanthropic

[1:58:11] opportunities. So we want to spend the

[1:58:13] next year uh analyzing and looking at

[1:58:16] other resources. We also recently um

[1:58:20] hired a national consultant who did a

[1:58:22] three-year strategic plan. And I think

[1:58:24] one of Allison's policy questions to you

[1:58:26] was if you want us to present that

[1:58:28] strategic plan to you. That plan was in

[1:58:32] process when funding cuts started to

[1:58:34] happen. So it does talk about some

[1:58:36] options with funding. So um I don't have

[1:58:40] any good answers for you now, but it's

[1:58:42] something we are working through.

[1:58:47] I just wanted to clarify really quickly

[1:58:49] um because I'm trying to mention it each

[1:58:51] time a department is before us that is

[1:58:53] related to the property tax. So um the

[1:58:55] $800,000 for youth and family is part of

[1:58:58] the $13.5 million property tax increase

[1:59:00] proposal.

[1:59:02] » Thank you. I meant to mention that as

[1:59:04] well. [laughter]

[1:59:05] Um the next item is a $700,000 cut from

[1:59:09] non departmental from vacant building

[1:59:12] maintenance.

[1:59:14] um this funding um for the current

[1:59:17] fiscal year, a portion of that has gone

[1:59:20] to the Fiser Mansion. I think it was

[1:59:22] 400,000's going to Fisher Mansion. So,

[1:59:25] we have been strategically looking at um

[1:59:28] improvements to uh vacant and

[1:59:32] underutilized city properties to help

[1:59:34] keep those buildings um well-maintained

[1:59:38] and improved as we look at um

[1:59:40] disposition strategies. So currently

[1:59:42] Fischer Mansion receives some of the

[1:59:44] money. We also use the money for just

[1:59:46] ongoing security and maintenance

[1:59:48] expenses. So we're proposing to cut the

[1:59:50] entire pot of money, but obviously we

[1:59:53] still need a strategy and a source for

[1:59:56] paying for um maintenance and utilities

[1:59:59] and lawnmowing and whatnot. So we are

[2:00:02] going to use the surplus. We're

[2:00:03] proposing to use the surplus property

[2:00:05] account for those basic expenses up to

[2:00:08] 200,000.

[2:00:11] The next item is a $50,000 cut from

[2:00:15] non-EP departmental transit outreach,

[2:00:18] education, and marketing. This um amount

[2:00:21] that R can receives in its annual budget

[2:00:24] is $100,000. So, we're proposing to cut

[2:00:26] it in half. And we're also proposing to

[2:00:29] broaden the scope not just to the

[2:00:32] transit network, but um CIP and road

[2:00:35] projects in general to do outreach and

[2:00:37] engagement with the community.

[2:00:40] Um the third one uh for our reduction

[2:00:42] request is the hive pass. Uh we were

[2:00:46] faced with tough decisions with this

[2:00:48] budget proposal and perhaps the toughest

[2:00:51] decision is to propose the cut to this

[2:00:54] program. The Hive Pass program currently

[2:00:57] provides discounted transit passes to

[2:00:59] residents regardless of their income.

[2:01:02] There are about 440 users of this pass a

[2:01:06] month. Um we made this decision for two

[2:01:09] primary reasons um faced with the budget

[2:01:12] um challenges that we are this year.

[2:01:14] First, we want to ensure that the

[2:01:16] transportation funding is doing the most

[2:01:18] good for the most in need. So we are

[2:01:22] leaving the lowincome pass program

[2:01:24] intact. That program partners with

[2:01:27] service providers to provide daily and

[2:01:29] monthly transit passes for the city's

[2:01:32] most vulnerable residents. And we are

[2:01:35] also proposing to leave intact the

[2:01:37] school district program that provides

[2:01:39] passes to school age children and

[2:01:42] guardians. Um we also are prioritizing

[2:01:47] the frequency of the transit network. We

[2:01:50] didn't want to look at any cuts there.

[2:01:52] So the city contributes about $10

[2:01:55] million a year for the go routes, the

[2:01:57] frequent transit network and for the

[2:02:00] ondemand programs. And so looking within

[2:02:03] the transportation division faced with

[2:02:06] um budget challenges, we felt like the

[2:02:08] hive pass since there isn't an income

[2:02:10] qualification

[2:02:12] that was where we could take the

[2:02:14] reduction over the low income the school

[2:02:18] district partnership and the frequent

[2:02:20] transit network because it's essential

[2:02:23] to keep that frequency up with the

[2:02:25] network. The other concern with the Hive

[2:02:28] pass program is it's getting more

[2:02:29] expensive to administer. So to keep

[2:02:32] administering it at the current level,

[2:02:33] we would actually have to ask for

[2:02:35] additional budget.

[2:02:37] So right now the budget is I think

[2:02:39] 350,000 to provide the passes. Um but

[2:02:44] the amount there's also an amount to

[2:02:46] administer the program. I think

[2:02:47] currently it's 60,000 and that will be

[2:02:49] increasing to about 150 if we don't cut

[2:02:53] the program. So we would actually have

[2:02:54] to ask for money to keep administering

[2:02:56] the program.

[2:02:58] » Council Dugan. Thank you for that

[2:03:01] explanation. Yeah, it is a it is a hard

[2:03:05] decision to make there on that one

[2:03:07] because as you said it's a valuable

[2:03:10] service. We want people on public

[2:03:11] transportation and this is a nice way to

[2:03:13] pe get people on keep people on buses.

[2:03:16] Do we have a number of how many of the I

[2:03:18] think it's 440 or somehat that use a

[2:03:21] pass would qualify for the lowinccome

[2:03:26] uh

[2:03:29] support for a pass if they were in that

[2:03:32] if they had taken that route instead of

[2:03:33] the hive pass route.

[2:03:35] » Do we do we have an idea? And

[2:03:37] » I don't think we have any idea because I

[2:03:40] don't think we collect any sort of

[2:03:41] income data with the hive pass applic.

[2:03:45] Yeah, because that's not part of the

[2:03:47] eligibility criteria.

[2:03:50] » And is there there's probably other

[2:03:52] multiple sources for passes, companies

[2:03:55] provide passes. Uh we have low-inccome

[2:03:58] passes.

[2:04:00] Is there we're going to be providing

[2:04:03] information for people who currently get

[2:04:05] the high pass where there's other

[2:04:07] options for them to get a pass? Because

[2:04:10] I I it is a service that they're using

[2:04:12] and they're using the pass because

[2:04:13] that's why they want it. and how do we

[2:04:15] make sure that they still ride the

[2:04:16] public transportation, they still get to

[2:04:18] work in that regard.

[2:04:20] » Um, I can coordinate with the

[2:04:22] transportation team on ideas for that.

[2:04:25] Um, I do know a lot of employers provide

[2:04:27] passes like Salt Lake City does. Um, but

[2:04:31] I don't know if we have a comprehensive

[2:04:32] list of of those sources and um I'd need

[2:04:37] to talk to the transportation team about

[2:04:39] and maybe UTA about um other ideas for

[2:04:43] communicating

[2:04:45] um programs and offers for transit

[2:04:48] passes.

[2:04:49] » Yeah, I I keep on I'm trying to push

[2:04:51] more and more people on about public

[2:04:53] transportation because it helps

[2:04:54] everybody. It helps people who aren't on

[2:04:55] the track on the public transportation

[2:04:57] because there's fewer cars, but it also

[2:04:59] helps people get to work and, you know,

[2:05:00] affordable living.

[2:05:03] So, I'd love to have that communication

[2:05:04] so we can absolutely use all the

[2:05:07] different services for everybody and not

[2:05:09] just the easiest one, which might have

[2:05:11] been the high pass.

[2:05:13] » Yeah. One idea, maybe we've done this

[2:05:15] with housing and with other um areas

[2:05:17] within CAN, maybe we could create a web

[2:05:19] page with resources.

[2:05:23] » Yeah. Yeah.

[2:05:23] » Um and ideas for transit passes.

[2:05:27] » Consumer Carlson.

[2:05:29] » Um in regards to uh the on demand, I

[2:05:33] think that's if I remember right, it's

[2:05:34] about like 3.5 million. Um

[2:05:38] maybe as a follow-up, I'd love to see

[2:05:40] how many writers are served by that

[2:05:42] program, number of trips um that that

[2:05:45] program helps to uh supplement.

[2:05:48] » We can get you that information. And our

[2:05:51] partnership with UTA with the frequent

[2:05:53] transit networks um is interesting in

[2:05:57] that we are subsidizing the frequency of

[2:06:00] the transit network and then as the

[2:06:02] system and the the frequency is in place

[2:06:05] for a while and then writership

[2:06:07] increases

[2:06:09] there's that's actually bringing in more

[2:06:11] revenue to UTA and our subsidies then

[2:06:13] being reduced. So we're actually seeing

[2:06:16] some of those positive impacts start to

[2:06:18] happen. So we can provide that

[2:06:20] information to you.

[2:06:22] » Uh thank you for the update. Since we

[2:06:25] are talking about the the high pass, I

[2:06:28] been reached out you know many members

[2:06:30] of the committee reached out to me about

[2:06:32] you know what this looks like uh to the

[2:06:34] city. Uh the impact to individual

[2:06:37] families. you highlighted how tough this

[2:06:41] was to decide between all of these

[2:06:43] programs that do took do good in our

[2:06:46] community and uh choosing between all of

[2:06:48] them is not easy. So, thank you for um

[2:06:52] you know looking through your budget and

[2:06:54] trying to thoughtfully make deci tough

[2:06:58] decisions and and uh uh prioritizing

[2:07:01] what what programs does the best um um

[2:07:06] does the best for for uh for the most

[2:07:09] people. Um I do I would like more

[2:07:12] information about uh the subsidy you

[2:07:15] know the the high pass that is income uh

[2:07:18] qualified. Um I wonder if you know

[2:07:21] ending this program will increase the

[2:07:23] demand on on the on that portion of of

[2:07:26] the of the pass. Um I I struggle with

[2:07:30] the write out you know completely ending

[2:07:32] of it. Um but I you know I would love to

[2:07:35] get a little more information as well

[2:07:38] about uh managing this program and you

[2:07:41] know what um what does it cost to manage

[2:07:44] it and you you you mentioned that it may

[2:07:47] require even more uh resources to manage

[2:07:49] it. I would love more information about

[2:07:51] that as well. Um so certainly this is

[2:07:55] one of those uh programs that I struggle

[2:07:57] with and it when you are looking at your

[2:08:01] own department it makes sense that

[2:08:02] you're looking into this these programs.

[2:08:05] Um I would like to see it certainly for

[2:08:07] us it's it's appropriate to do this is

[2:08:10] look at at it holistically through all

[2:08:13] the different departments in the city.

[2:08:16] Um, and I'm more inclined to find

[2:08:19] savings in other places within the city

[2:08:21] to try to uh, you know, potentially

[2:08:25] hopefully try to make an impact or keep

[2:08:27] something like this going. Um, which is

[2:08:30] not on you, uh, and and it's within us.

[2:08:34] uh and I know that uh 440 you know

[2:08:38] individuals use this pass and it seems

[2:08:40] significant to me and uh in some ways

[2:08:43] disconnected and disjointed maybe to

[2:08:45] what of the goals of the city are. Again

[2:08:47] this is not on you because you have a

[2:08:49] tough decision to make and try to find

[2:08:51] the the most impact for for the money

[2:08:54] that we have and you met the task that

[2:08:57] administration gave you which is try to

[2:08:59] find savings uh within your your

[2:09:02] program. Um, Council Member Wharton has

[2:09:04] a question.

[2:09:08] » Thank you, Tammy. Um, I appreciate

[2:09:10] [clears throat] the presentation and,

[2:09:12] um, yeah, CAM is, um, one of our biggest

[2:09:16] departments and is vast in terms of all

[2:09:18] the services that are provided. So, um,

[2:09:20] thanks for recapping all of that.

[2:09:23] Um I don't want to

[2:09:26] uh like micromanage or or say that you

[2:09:30] know ane every not every anecdote that

[2:09:33] we

[2:09:35] uh see is representative of um

[2:09:41] you know like system flaws or whatever.

[2:09:43] Um, but I do get quite a few um,

[2:09:47] requests throughout the year from people

[2:09:49] that are um, either businesses in my

[2:09:52] district or constituents that um, say

[2:09:55] that, you know, they filed for this

[2:09:58] permit or asked for that and um, that

[2:10:02] there are delays or inefficiencies in

[2:10:04] the system. And a lot of times, um, I

[2:10:07] just want to say like to to our credit

[2:10:09] and our and your staff's credit, um,

[2:10:13] most of the time when I look into those,

[2:10:15] the delay is actually on the petitioner.

[2:10:20] um and uh or it's something that they

[2:10:24] um something's been back to sent back to

[2:10:26] them for um that like something's

[2:10:28] incomplete or whatever and they didn't

[2:10:32] know that or they missed an email or

[2:10:35] something like that. Um but sometimes it

[2:10:39] is um delay on the city's part or that

[2:10:42] there's some kind of like

[2:10:44] um

[2:10:46] um it seems like extra uh or um more

[2:10:53] processes that could be streamlined. So

[2:10:56] I'm really interested. I appreciate the

[2:10:58] what you've already done to add to that.

[2:11:00] I I'm convinced that there are um more

[2:11:04] efficiencies that we can do out there.

[2:11:07] Um and so uh I just would be really

[2:11:10] interested to hear more about that in

[2:11:12] the coming year. Um I think you said

[2:11:15] that that was something that that

[2:11:17] uh you and your team were going to

[2:11:19] study. Um so I'm really interested to

[2:11:21] hear more about that.

[2:11:24] » Thank you for that feedback, council

[2:11:26] member. And I know this has been an

[2:11:28] ongoing topic of discussion and the

[2:11:31] administration has often talked about

[2:11:33] efficiencies and improvements that we

[2:11:35] are looking into. Um I think the time is

[2:11:39] right for some major um analysis to take

[2:11:43] place for um those processes. I have the

[2:11:47] utmost confidence in the building

[2:11:49] services and the planning team and

[2:11:51] engineering. Um, one tricky thing is is

[2:11:55] that building permitting crosses

[2:11:58] departments. So there like public

[2:12:01] utilities is involved in other

[2:12:02] departments. Um, but the mayor's office

[2:12:05] is supportive of looking into

[2:12:08] significant changes. Another um kind of

[2:12:12] sea change that we're experiencing is

[2:12:14] the new IMS director has come to the

[2:12:16] table really wanting to be part of that

[2:12:18] discussion and looking at because

[2:12:21] process improvements a lot of times have

[2:12:22] to come along with technology

[2:12:25] improvements. We've been using the same

[2:12:27] technology for a long time and um he's

[2:12:30] really interested in going down that

[2:12:33] path exploring improvements and ideas

[2:12:36] and alternatives with us. So, I'm

[2:12:39] excited to see what we can do over the

[2:12:40] next year.

[2:12:44] » Okay. Well, thank you. Yeah. I and I

[2:12:47] think you know to the extent that we've

[2:12:50] done a lot of these big changes to

[2:12:52] consolidate

[2:12:54] um zones and um things like that in

[2:12:58] planning I I think we should try to do

[2:13:00] like commensurate

[2:13:02] um

[2:13:04] like efficiencies um inhouse within our

[2:13:08] own systems to uh

[2:13:11] yeah to address that even though I know

[2:13:13] it's multi-ep departmental and and that

[2:13:16] you know there our constraints based on

[2:13:18] technology, but I would just love to see

[2:13:20] that um us look at these things more

[2:13:24] comprehensively and and prioritize that.

[2:13:27] So, thank you. I appreciate it.

[2:13:29] » Thanks,

[2:13:31] » Council Member Young.

[2:13:34] » Thank you. Um I just wanted to dive a

[2:13:37] little bit deeper on the youth and the

[2:13:39] family programming. um because that is

[2:13:42] one of the pieces that would be funded

[2:13:45] by the proposed property tax increase.

[2:13:48] Um can you give us like a maybe a couple

[2:13:50] more details about that um to help folks

[2:13:53] understand why um those programs are so

[2:13:57] essential to our families and residents

[2:13:59] in Salt Lake?

[2:14:03] » Sure. Uh, youth and family provides

[2:14:07] afterchool programming, summer

[2:14:09] programming. Um, this is not only

[2:14:12] benefiting the kid, providing positive

[2:14:14] social outcomes, there's educational

[2:14:17] standards that the programming meets.

[2:14:19] So, it's not just daycare, there's an

[2:14:22] actual education component to the

[2:14:24] program. And it's also essential for

[2:14:26] working families. This allows working

[2:14:29] parents, single moms to be at work while

[2:14:32] their kids are doing something that

[2:14:35] provides knowledge and um social skills.

[2:14:39] So we really feel that um the

[2:14:42] programming is essential. If you look at

[2:14:44] the demographics of the kids that

[2:14:46] participate in the program in the

[2:14:49] programming, it's a lot of um extremely

[2:14:52] low-income vulnerable populations, new

[2:14:54] Americans. So, um, it's really

[2:14:58] essential, we feel, to keep this

[2:14:59] programming at a stable level. But like

[2:15:02] I did say, we looked critically at where

[2:15:05] the money was going, how we would create

[2:15:07] efficiencies. And we're asking for the

[2:15:10] 800 and cutting from the current budget

[2:15:14] 500,000 because we felt like if we were

[2:15:17] going out and asking for property tax

[2:15:21] funds to be used for these programs that

[2:15:23] we had to be critical and use our

[2:15:26] funding as wisely as possible.

[2:15:30] » Thank you. And I I appreciate those

[2:15:32] additional details. I would just for the

[2:15:35] the broader community conversation draw

[2:15:37] an analogy um to cuts that we recently

[2:15:41] saw happening um at the county level and

[2:15:45] kind of the the public outcry associated

[2:15:48] like with those cuts um when they were

[2:15:51] part of consideration and I appreciate

[2:15:55] um you looking at efficiencies within

[2:15:57] that space um but but tying it to a key

[2:16:00] core demographic and a need that we want

[2:16:03] to continue to meet within our community

[2:16:06] to allow those working parents that

[2:16:08] opportunity um to you know provide

[2:16:12] educational opportunities for their

[2:16:14] kids. To me these are very similar

[2:16:16] conversations. So I just wanted to draw

[2:16:18] that analogy um in terms of kind of the

[2:16:22] the rationale and the justification for

[2:16:24] that aspect of this request.

[2:16:28] Can someone repeat?

[2:16:33] » Did you say Petro?

[2:16:35] » Yes, I did.

[2:16:36] » Okay. Um, Tammy, I wanted to thank you

[2:16:40] for this presentation and for

[2:16:43] the amazing work that we know you do.

[2:16:45] Um, I want to start it off with the

[2:16:48] Sony. I think it was really interesting

[2:16:50] to hear that there's actually costing

[2:16:53] » V consumer Victoria. I um the sound is

[2:16:58] not very clear. So maybe the connection

[2:17:03] is a little poor. I wonder if you can

[2:17:07] slow down the So we have time to

[2:17:11] translate in our brain.

[2:17:14] » Is this better?

[2:17:15] » Yes.

[2:17:17] » Okay. It's stupid Bluetooth. Sorry. I'm

[2:17:19] being a mom while I'm being a council

[2:17:20] woman.

[2:17:21] Um, no Tammy, I just wanted to say thank

[2:17:24] you as usual. This is pretty remarkable

[2:17:27] stuff. Your your knowledge and expertise

[2:17:29] in protecting the city on such wide

[2:17:32] ranging things is really remarkable. Um,

[2:17:35] first of all, on the zoning, it's really

[2:17:37] interesting to hear to see the um

[2:17:40] economic impact of this. Really

[2:17:41] exciting. I'd love to track some data

[2:17:44] throughout the year to see what it looks

[2:17:46] like for adoption and what's actually

[2:17:49] happening with our land use to have a

[2:17:50] comprehensive um idea of how successful

[2:17:53] or how much we need to modify. But this

[2:17:55] is a really really interesting data

[2:17:56] point. Thank you for bringing it. Um

[2:17:58] secondly, I'll look for a similar data

[2:18:00] point with the hive pass if we do end up

[2:18:03] cutting it. If uh I don't I don't I say

[2:18:06] if because council member Dugan is

[2:18:07] really persuasive and if he finds a way

[2:18:09] to not cut it, I know we won't. But if

[2:18:11] we do end up cutting it and we see a

[2:18:13] change in ridership as a result, I

[2:18:15] really would love to revisit that and

[2:18:17] make sure that we collect that data

[2:18:18] point so we can have a robust discussion

[2:18:21] going forward. But then finally, I want

[2:18:23] to join the youth and family programming

[2:18:26] chorus. I openly admit that this is a

[2:18:29] place where I am possibly the greatest

[2:18:31] hypocrite because for a long time I've

[2:18:34] wanted this uh programming to be

[2:18:36] transferred to something more privately

[2:18:38] funded just because you know I want to

[2:18:41] keep as much free for the core city

[2:18:43] services at this moment in time. This is

[2:18:47] to me a core city service if we haven't

[2:18:49] transitioned it. Our families who rely

[2:18:51] on this service do not have the

[2:18:53] bandwidth to absorb this. And the, you

[2:18:57] know, $2 a year that'll be returned to

[2:19:00] the property tax holder if we don't fund

[2:19:02] it is not worth the collective impact of

[2:19:05] what we can do if we do fund it. So, for

[2:19:08] me, this is a core city service at this

[2:19:10] point. I am so thankful for leaders like

[2:19:13] Liz and you, uh, Representative Romero,

[2:19:16] who make sure that we have bang for our

[2:19:18] buck. But at this point, I am viewing

[2:19:20] youth and family services as a core city

[2:19:23] service. While I do look forward to us

[2:19:26] finding ways to privatize and reduce

[2:19:28] reliance on the general fund for it, I

[2:19:32] am fully in support of it and I'm going

[2:19:34] to go to the Mat to make sure that we

[2:19:35] don't do it. I'm thankful to you and the

[2:19:37] mayor for finding a path even in a tough

[2:19:39] budget year for us to protect these

[2:19:41] families. But thank you.

[2:19:46] » Um, quick question. I noticed uh that

[2:19:49] advantage was you know reabsorbed within

[2:19:53] you know the department. I'm a little

[2:19:55] worried.

[2:19:55] » No, it's still in public services. Yes.

[2:19:58] » Uh so we still have a contract with

[2:19:59] Advantage Services.

[2:20:01] » Yes. Well, actually oh um you're talking

[2:20:05] about on the next slide cuz I'm actually

[2:20:08] not done with my slide. So I have the

[2:20:11] list of things I want to chat with you.

[2:20:13] Maybe I let you talk about first. I can

[2:20:17] um be efficient.

[2:20:19] » No, no, you are being efficient. I am uh

[2:20:21] just a good student, I guess. Uh

[2:20:23] [laughter]

[2:20:23] keep keep going. Keep going.

[2:20:25] » There's two different advantage services

[2:20:27] contracts. So, one is still in can. So,

[2:20:30] and and for the record, we would love to

[2:20:33] uh preserve the Hive Pass program, but

[2:20:35] we we know there are it's a challenging

[2:20:38] budget year. So, um we will leave

[2:20:40] [clears throat] it at that. Next slide,

[2:20:41] please.

[2:20:46] Um, we are also proposing a $125,000

[2:20:51] reduction in non non-dep departmental

[2:20:54] that goes um transfers to the arts

[2:20:57] council foundation. This would reduce

[2:20:59] the city's transfer to the arts council

[2:21:02] um from 1,25,000

[2:21:04] to 900,000. This cut would cause

[2:21:07] reductions in programming such as the

[2:21:10] busker fest, Mondays in the park,

[2:21:12] springboard for the arts, professional

[2:21:14] development, or other programming. If

[2:21:16] historical practices followed, it would

[2:21:19] be the arts council foundation board

[2:21:21] that decides what specific programming

[2:21:24] would be cut. And the foundation board

[2:21:26] could look at because they leverage the

[2:21:29] city's money with grants and other

[2:21:31] fundraising. So they could look at grant

[2:21:34] opportunities or um other sources of

[2:21:37] revenue within the foundation to cover

[2:21:39] programming. We have I think the next

[2:21:41] agenda item is the arts council. So we

[2:21:43] can get into this more. Council member

[2:21:45] Pu, I know that public art is very

[2:21:47] important um for you. So this isn't the

[2:21:50] public art portion of the arts council.

[2:21:52] This is the transfer to non-dep

[2:21:54] departmental that is mostly for

[2:21:56] programming. Um, the next item is

[2:21:59] $50,000 proposed to be cut from planning

[2:22:03] for a historic preservation consultant.

[2:22:05] This funding has been used over the past

[2:22:08] few years to update historic survey

[2:22:10] records for local historic districts. We

[2:22:13] feel that we can transfer these duties

[2:22:15] inhouse. Um, we still have some

[2:22:18] consulting money that would remain

[2:22:19] within planning for the expertise that

[2:22:21] we need like for architectural

[2:22:23] historians and other consultants. The

[2:22:26] next item is a $50,000 cut um for

[2:22:30] engineering's public outreach

[2:22:32] consultant. This would cut that funding

[2:22:34] entirely. Council member Young, you I'm

[2:22:37] sure are familiar with these services

[2:22:38] with the Sugar House Street

[2:22:40] Reconstruction Project. That funding

[2:22:42] paid for the consultant that did

[2:22:45] outreach with the community. Um we feel

[2:22:48] that with the although we would miss

[2:22:50] this funding, we feel that with the um

[2:22:55] completion of the streets bond and with

[2:22:57] shifting our priorities more from large

[2:23:00] reconstruction projects to local streets

[2:23:03] that um we can manage without this

[2:23:06] funding and do those efforts inhouse. Um

[2:23:08] the next one, if you go to the next

[2:23:10] slide,

[2:23:14] um housing fix the bricks match. There

[2:23:17] was a federal requirement through FEMA.

[2:23:19] Um we no longer have FEMA funding for

[2:23:21] fix the bricks. So we do not need this

[2:23:24] $84,000 match. Um reduction number eight

[2:23:28] is the neighborly software for $60,000.

[2:23:31] We would not be this wouldn't be a cut

[2:23:33] in services. we would be shifting the

[2:23:35] software expense from the general fund

[2:23:37] and charge it to federal grants like

[2:23:39] CDBG.

[2:23:41] um the housing funding our future

[2:23:44] contract. This 90,000 $92,000 reduction

[2:23:47] from funding our future, it actually

[2:23:49] wouldn't result in a loss in services

[2:23:52] because the tenant resource center is

[2:23:55] administered by the community

[2:23:56] development corporation of Utah and you

[2:23:58] just admin or you just awarded funding

[2:24:00] to CDCU for that program through the

[2:24:03] funding our future round. So this

[2:24:06] reduction would not result in loss of

[2:24:08] services. Next slide please.

[2:24:12] the homelessness contracts. Um we

[2:24:15] haven't been using um an amount every

[2:24:18] year that's allocated for portable

[2:24:20] toilet rentals for 32,000. So we're

[2:24:23] proposing to reduce that. But we are

[2:24:26] proposing to have a $12,000 increase for

[2:24:29] advantage services a place for your

[2:24:31] stuff. So this would increase that

[2:24:33] contract from 85,000 to 97,000. So

[2:24:36] that's for the storage program. That's

[2:24:38] program still administered through CAN,

[2:24:40] but the cleaning is administered through

[2:24:42] public services. And then the last two

[2:24:46] are um vacancy savings essentially.

[2:24:49] There's actually an engineering 7

[2:24:52] position that's currently open that

[2:24:54] we've agreed to hold open for the entire

[2:24:56] year. um because we've consolidated um

[2:25:00] engineering management efforts within

[2:25:02] transportation, we don't want to

[2:25:04] eliminate that FTE yet because we want

[2:25:07] to make sure that this is a viable path

[2:25:09] forward. Um I did listen to the earlier

[2:25:12] briefing and I think Jennifer, you

[2:25:14] described our approach to vacancy

[2:25:16] savings spoton. Um we really want we

[2:25:19] have a large um the last item is a

[2:25:21] $72,000

[2:25:23] attrition vacancy savings pool. We did

[2:25:26] not want to eliminate any FTEEs. Right

[2:25:28] now, um CAN is a large department with

[2:25:31] about 250 employees. So, we naturally

[2:25:33] get quite a bit of vacancy savings over

[2:25:36] the year. This is more than we typically

[2:25:38] get. So, we are planning to hold

[2:25:40] positions open for a longer period of

[2:25:42] time. And we also want to look at any

[2:25:46] efficiencies or combining of job

[2:25:48] responsibilities over the next year. But

[2:25:50] we really wanted to take the next year

[2:25:52] to kind of analyze how that shakes out.

[2:25:56] And I think that is it. Um, again, I

[2:26:01] appreciate the partnership and support

[2:26:03] from the council and I'd be happy to

[2:26:05] answer any more questions or hear any

[2:26:07] more feedback.

[2:26:08] » Council Mugan has more questions.

[2:26:09] » Sorry, I just one more question about

[2:26:10] the fix the brick program. So, is that

[2:26:12] program now because the feds aren't

[2:26:15] uh supporting it, is that eliminated or

[2:26:19] is it still a fix the bricks? you're

[2:26:20] just not uh

[2:26:22] » So the council has allocated over some

[2:26:26] previous budget rounds some funding from

[2:26:28] CDBG so there is a smaller pot of money

[2:26:31] that is still being used for fix the

[2:26:32] bricks the FEMA program there was not an

[2:26:36] income requirement for um recipients of

[2:26:39] the program but since it's CDBG and HUD

[2:26:42] there is an income requirement with the

[2:26:45] smaller pot of money that that we still

[2:26:47] have.

[2:26:48] » Gotcha. Thank you very much. But the

[2:26:49] FEMA had a match requirement and that's

[2:26:52] where the general fund um allocation

[2:26:55] came in play. Um so we don't need that

[2:26:58] anymore. So that's why we proposed that

[2:27:00] reduction.

[2:27:01] » Gotcha. But the program's still ongoing

[2:27:03] and but there's there's now more of the

[2:27:04] income uh threshold for that.

[2:27:08] » And a lot less money.

[2:27:09] » And a lot less money. Right.

[2:27:11] » Okay. Thank you.

[2:27:15] » I wonder there's no hands up. So I guess

[2:27:19] it's my turn. Uh so the the cleaning

[2:27:23] portion of the advantage uh can you

[2:27:26] explain a little more about how we're

[2:27:27] going to maintain uh

[2:27:30] service levels? Um you know a little bit

[2:27:36] tell me a little more.

[2:27:37] Um, when Jorge presents public services

[2:27:40] budget, he can get in much more detail

[2:27:42] than I can with that because the new

[2:27:44] urban services team has been operating

[2:27:47] for almost a year. And um, we did

[2:27:50] transfer the advantage services portion

[2:27:52] of the cleaning to public services for

[2:27:55] administration by that team. And it's my

[2:27:57] understanding that they have found a lot

[2:27:59] of cost savings with that contract and

[2:28:01] transferred a lot of that scope of work

[2:28:03] inhouse.

[2:28:04] » Okay, that that's helpful. um EV uh the

[2:28:08] north the north temple substation uh and

[2:28:10] you have the the downtown the region

[2:28:13] street substation and the north temple

[2:28:15] substation as part of the increase for

[2:28:17] $60,000. How much is that? How much of

[2:28:20] that is the north temple? Uh, and are we

[2:28:22] using it? Because I is it that necessary

[2:28:25] right now? And I know it's probably the

[2:28:27] smallest portion of that increase, but I

[2:28:29] would love

[2:28:30] » It is very small. I can't remember the

[2:28:32] exact amount off the top of my head, but

[2:28:34] I do remember it's a 5-year lease. It's

[2:28:37] the downtown site is an actual precinct.

[2:28:40] The one on North Temple is just a bike

[2:28:42] substation. Uh, I did ask um the police

[2:28:46] department a while ago if they're using

[2:28:48] it and they they did say that they use

[2:28:50] it. It's not a high amount of rent. I do

[2:28:54] remember the first year the city

[2:28:56] actually paid zero rent and then I think

[2:28:58] it went up to like 1,200 and it it ticks

[2:29:00] up every year but it's it's not a lot of

[2:29:03] money.

[2:29:04] » Yeah. No, I remember that you know the

[2:29:06] offer because I was part of that

[2:29:08] conversation very early on. It took us a

[2:29:11] year to actually get pull it off. So

[2:29:13] that free year was uh but uh I would

[2:29:17] love to if we are constructed you know

[2:29:20] to to maintain that rent that makes

[2:29:22] sense. But I I would love to uh ask the

[2:29:25] department uh you know if we're going to

[2:29:28] vacay that place to start looking at it

[2:29:31] you know sooner rather than later and

[2:29:32] still getting locked in into a continued

[2:29:35] rent when we might not need it. Uh

[2:29:37] ultimately it may not be a lot of money

[2:29:38] and and they might see value on it. Um

[2:29:41] but you know I would love more

[2:29:43] information about that. [clears throat]

[2:29:44] Um then there is um uh you mentioned EV

[2:29:49] uh parking um which is uh I think is it

[2:29:52] makes sense to to make that change. Um

[2:29:55] is the EV electrical uh portion the cost

[2:29:58] of the electricity for those uh u

[2:30:02] charging units uh within uh your

[2:30:04] department? it isn't

[2:30:07] » It is.

[2:30:08] » So I would love to have that

[2:30:10] conversation as well. So I'm gonna flag

[2:30:12] it for all of us to make sure that we

[2:30:14] have that conversation as well. Um as

[2:30:17] far as dispositional properties, um it's

[2:30:20] a question I have. I there is I keep

[2:30:23] learning about new properties that we

[2:30:25] own and we have owned for a while and I

[2:30:28] would love to find out what are we going

[2:30:30] to do with them because they cost us a

[2:30:32] lot of money to maintain. I still don't

[2:30:34] know um if there is a grand plan to to

[2:30:39] dispose of them or to develop them or uh

[2:30:43] and I feel like this is a conversation

[2:30:45] we had had for a little while. You know,

[2:30:47] maybe because it's an administrative

[2:30:49] thing. It makes sense that we may not be

[2:30:51] privy to the details, but when we have

[2:30:55] um

[2:30:56] budget struggles, you know, to me, you

[2:30:59] know, it comes to mind all the

[2:31:00] properties that we own. And you know, is

[2:31:02] it possible that we disposing or some of

[2:31:05] them may make sense to try to cancel out

[2:31:09] some of the costs that we have? Yes, is

[2:31:12] one-time money, but you know, uh we have

[2:31:14] we we have uh made decisions like that

[2:31:17] in the past and currently too. So I

[2:31:20] would love to know a little more about

[2:31:21] the disposition of property within the

[2:31:23] department.

[2:31:24] » We'd be happy to have that discussion.

[2:31:26] » Thank you. Any other random questions or

[2:31:29] not random or very smart ones?

[2:31:33] » No. Okay.

[2:31:34] » Could I correct just quickly what I said

[2:31:36] before? Um it looks like it's

[2:31:39] sustainability and public services that

[2:31:41] take care of the EV chargers.

[2:31:43] » Okay. We're looking forward to that

[2:31:44] discussion soon. Um thank you so much

[2:31:46] for the update. I I I cannot speak

[2:31:49] highly of the work that you guys do in

[2:31:51] that department. I it's just incredible.

[2:31:54] Uh so

[2:31:56] really uh we are very lucky to have you

[2:31:59] uh as a team leading this city. So thank

[2:32:01] you.

[2:32:02] » Well, thank you. A lot of the credit

[2:32:03] goes to the division leadership. A lot

[2:32:06] of I think a lot of them are behind me.

[2:32:09] » Thank you.

[2:32:12] Uh council members, we are

[2:32:17] Not too far behind. We made up some time

[2:32:19] somehow. Oh, the break. That's how uh we

[2:32:22] ate on that break. Um we're still good,

[2:32:24] right? We can do this.

[2:32:28] » You need a

[2:32:30] » Yes, we do have a quorum. Okay, I will

[2:32:32] speak slowly to give you a little more

[2:32:35] time.

[2:32:36] » Oh god. One one at a time. We have

[2:32:38] quorum issues. Um take turns. Uh so

[2:32:43] moving on to item number five for this

[2:32:46] is again fiscal year 2026 2027 as a

[2:32:49] budget discussion for the arts council.

[2:32:51] Now we're going to welcome Sylvia

[2:32:53] Richards council policy analyst Felicia

[2:32:56] Baka arts council director uh Lauren uh

[2:33:00] Laurel Conan Alder arts council

[2:33:03] assistant director. Sorry for you know

[2:33:06] all of the blame on my English. Uh

[2:33:09] [laughter]

[2:33:09] so thank you. It is your time, Sylvia.

[2:33:12] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is uh as you

[2:33:14] mentioned, the arts council briefing,

[2:33:16] which is a division of the community and

[2:33:19] neighborhood development department.

[2:33:22] This division supports, local artists,

[2:33:25] arts organizations, and cultural

[2:33:28] programs.

[2:33:30] Um, it is funded through the general

[2:33:32] fund and arts foundation contributions

[2:33:35] and includes nine full-time employees

[2:33:37] plus part-time and seasonal staff.

[2:33:40] The proposed budget for the arts council

[2:33:43] is 1,ion200,

[2:33:45] excuse me, 1,275,844,

[2:33:49] which is a reduction of 5.8%

[2:33:52] as compared to fiscal year 2026.

[2:33:57] As a result of proposed cuts, the

[2:33:59] division may need to consider cancelling

[2:34:02] smaller programming events, which Tammy

[2:34:04] just mentioned in the CAN budget, and

[2:34:07] Felicia or Laurel will address in their

[2:34:09] presentation. the arts council, the CAN

[2:34:12] department, the mayor's office provided

[2:34:14] information during small group meetings

[2:34:16] and transmitts earlier this year uh in

[2:34:21] response to council member questions and

[2:34:23] the adoption of a legislative intent to

[2:34:26] review the arts council's funding,

[2:34:28] programming, and priorities.

[2:34:31] And with that, I'd like to turn the time

[2:34:34] over to Felicia and Laurel.

[2:34:37] » Thanks, Sylvia. Um, thank you all for

[2:34:39] having us here and I want to thank some

[2:34:41] of our board members and staff for being

[2:34:43] present. Um, we know this is a year with

[2:34:47] really difficult decisions for the

[2:34:48] administration and council and I want to

[2:34:51] just say as of this organization for the

[2:34:55] past eight years. Um, we've had a lot of

[2:34:57] conversations about how we do things and

[2:34:59] what we facilitate, but I have never

[2:35:01] once had to doubt the administration or

[2:35:05] council's belief in the power of arts as

[2:35:08] essential to the social, cultural, and

[2:35:10] economic fabric of our city. And um,

[2:35:12] this isn't the case everywhere and we

[2:35:14] never take this for granted. Um, we've

[2:35:17] had a banner year and we're so excited

[2:35:19] to share it with you today. Um

[2:35:21] throughout this presentation we'll refer

[2:35:23] to a number of items in your transmittal

[2:35:25] and council questions. Next slide.

[2:35:32] Um this year we completed a public

[2:35:34] private partnership that raised $1.4 4

[2:35:36] million including the largest singular

[2:35:39] grant to our organization for public art

[2:35:42] with over 100,000 attendees, 13 projects

[2:35:46] in every city council district and over

[2:35:48] 50 events and broad international press

[2:35:50] including the New York Times. We started

[2:35:53] eight Capitol Public Art projects this

[2:35:55] year, more than any year in the last

[2:35:58] decade, with many more in progress and

[2:36:00] more on that later. We were selected as

[2:36:02] a national partner of the Smithsonian

[2:36:05] Folk Life Festival for Living

[2:36:06] Traditions, the nation's most renowned

[2:36:09] folk festival, and tripled our

[2:36:11] fundraising goals. And we hope you'll

[2:36:12] all join us starting tomorrow. Despite

[2:36:15] higher venue costs and reduced capacity

[2:36:18] during the transition to the Civic

[2:36:19] Center, the Twilight Concert Series,

[2:36:22] an 8% increase in ticket sales from 2024

[2:36:26] to 2025. The series continues to

[2:36:29] activate downtown and the civic campus

[2:36:31] while remaining affordable and

[2:36:33] accessible to residents who might not

[2:36:35] otherwise have the opportunity.

[2:36:37] According to an economic impact study

[2:36:39] last season, the series generated more

[2:36:41] than $1.6 $6 million in downtown

[2:36:44] economic activity, continued to support

[2:36:47] the careers of local emerging artists,

[2:36:49] and even drew a surprise appearance from

[2:36:51] Post Malone, whose tickets are an

[2:36:53] average of $150 to $700 in Salt Lake

[2:36:57] City right now. As part of our continued

[2:37:00] goals to reach new residents, this is

[2:37:02] evidenced by 23% of our grant

[2:37:05] applications being new firsttime

[2:37:07] applicants. And [snorts] lastly, at the

[2:37:09] council's request, we conducted a review

[2:37:12] of annual mural production in five

[2:37:14] comparable cities and found that our

[2:37:16] program produced 33% more murals than

[2:37:19] the cities included in the comparison.

[2:37:21] And more to come on that. Next slide.

[2:37:27] We just because we're an arts

[2:37:28] organization wanted to share some images

[2:37:30] of what we do. This is Olifer Aliasen's

[2:37:33] uh Symphony of Disappearing Sounds of

[2:37:35] the Great Salt Lake at Memory Grove,

[2:37:37] which served 25,000 diverse residents,

[2:37:40] the Living Traditions Festival, and then

[2:37:42] one of our public art projects, Life on

[2:37:44] State, serving emerging artists.

[2:37:49] Next slide.

[2:37:53] uh our Twilight concert series with our

[2:37:55] appearance from Post Malone, our new

[2:37:57] ballpark mural program and um bike rack

[2:38:00] murals in the foothill trails. Next

[2:38:02] slide.

[2:38:06] This is a image of some of the programs

[2:38:08] that our city project grants support

[2:38:12] murals at Liberty Park and a park um or

[2:38:15] a public art project in the fair park

[2:38:17] that was recent. Next slide.

[2:38:21] So from our conversations last year and

[2:38:24] for those of you that might be newer, we

[2:38:25] thought it would be good to res revisit

[2:38:27] our organization's structure as it

[2:38:29] relates to the budget. A go we are a

[2:38:31] governmental nonprofit as defined by

[2:38:33] state code, which is an independent

[2:38:35] nonprofit that receives most of its

[2:38:37] funding from various public entities. We

[2:38:40] were created in 1976 as a missionalign

[2:38:43] nonprofit advancing shared civic goals

[2:38:45] while maximizing and leveraging public

[2:38:47] and private investment. In 2020, the

[2:38:50] structure was re-evaluated and Salt Lake

[2:38:52] City reaffirmed the implementation and

[2:38:54] impact of this structure with the

[2:38:56] administration and move forward to

[2:38:57] fortify it with an annual operating

[2:38:59] agreement and public benefit analysis.

[2:39:02] We are governed by this operating

[2:39:04] agreement with Salt Lake City in a

[2:39:05] non-EP departmental contract. We undergo

[2:39:08] an annual um independent audit that's

[2:39:10] integrated into the city's audit and we

[2:39:12] report and are accountable to state,

[2:39:14] county, and federal entities as well as

[2:39:16] several other private foundations. We

[2:39:18] have 64 private funders across our

[2:39:21] programs. This year to really simplify

[2:39:24] this structure, it looks like two arms.

[2:39:26] The Arts Council Foundation operates

[2:39:28] programs including the Finch Lane

[2:39:30] Gallery, Living Traditions, Busker

[2:39:32] Festival, Poet Laurette, City Arts

[2:39:34] Grant, among others. And we also support

[2:39:37] non-C capital components of public art

[2:39:39] here. City public art funding rests on

[2:39:42] the city side of operations and includes

[2:39:44] CIP funding as well as the facilitation

[2:39:47] of many other funds for public art

[2:39:48] outside our division. Next slide.

[2:39:52] Part of this oversight structure is two

[2:39:55] primary boards. The Arts Council Board

[2:39:57] oversees foundation policy, budget, and

[2:40:00] strategic oversight and acts as an

[2:40:02] advisory body to the city and mayor on

[2:40:04] arts. And the art design board

[2:40:06] recommends public art projects for

[2:40:08] mayoral approval by ordinance. Next

[2:40:11] slide.

[2:40:15] So with the non-EP departmental funding

[2:40:17] that we receive, we think about it as

[2:40:19] going into three different buckets. the

[2:40:21] city arts grants, the public programming

[2:40:24] which we've talked about which includes

[2:40:26] things like living traditions and

[2:40:27] twilight and busker and then facility

[2:40:29] maintenance of our beloved little 1930

[2:40:33] uh home.

[2:40:35] Next slide please.

[2:40:40] We raise on average and we're really

[2:40:42] proud of this 30 cents on every taxpayer

[2:40:46] dollar except for the last four or five

[2:40:48] years we've raised 55 to 65 uh% of our

[2:40:53] total budget and we again we have over

[2:40:56] 64 private funders for our programming

[2:40:59] this year. Next slide.

[2:41:04] We are examining a number of strategies

[2:41:06] to incorporate the budget cut and those

[2:41:08] have already been discussed a couple of

[2:41:10] times today. Uh we are looking at

[2:41:13] cutting the bus busker festival which

[2:41:16] happens at the end of May. Jordan River

[2:41:18] strolls is a part of this program.

[2:41:21] Mondays in the park the city arts grants

[2:41:23] could see a reduction and other

[2:41:26] supplemental public art would be just

[2:41:28] the outreach that happens align aligned

[2:41:31] with that. uh we will work hard to

[2:41:34] maintain the service levels and quality

[2:41:36] that we have. Uh the criteria that we

[2:41:39] are considering is in the orange box. We

[2:41:42] are preserving programs with high impact

[2:41:44] of heart of artists and public served.

[2:41:47] We're maintaining diversity of

[2:41:49] programming to preserve grant funders.

[2:41:52] We are preserving revenue generating

[2:41:54] programs. We will consider

[2:41:56] recommendations of course from you and

[2:41:58] from our board uh based on our strategic

[2:42:01] plan. We will consider eliminating

[2:42:04] programs with escalating costs in the

[2:42:06] future and we are considering what other

[2:42:08] services are being provided with similar

[2:42:10] offerings extern external to the city.

[2:42:13] Next slide.

[2:42:17] So, we also uh wanted to talk about our

[2:42:19] public funding because our public

[2:42:21] funding makes up about 30% of our raised

[2:42:25] dollars.

[2:42:26] So, we get a significant grant from the

[2:42:30] zoo arts and parks fund. Uh the zoo arts

[2:42:33] and parks fund has two tiers and we are

[2:42:36] in the tier one group and the tier one

[2:42:38] group uh make up the the largest of the

[2:42:42] cultural entities in this in the city.

[2:42:44] For example, um Utah Museum of Fine

[2:42:48] Arts, Tracy Aviary, Redbute Gardens are

[2:42:50] all tier one organizations. We are the

[2:42:52] only local arts agency which is a spec

[2:42:56] special designation within that tier.

[2:42:59] And in terms of the formula for the way

[2:43:01] tier one organizations are funded, it's

[2:43:04] based on two things. It's based on a on

[2:43:06] a qualifying expenditure and then the

[2:43:09] services that we offer. They do look at

[2:43:12] the narrative that we provide on the on

[2:43:14] the diversity of the programs that we

[2:43:16] offer. And this year we uh got about

[2:43:20] $215,000 in that grant. The Utah

[2:43:24] Division of Arts and Museums is the

[2:43:25] state funding and we are defined as the

[2:43:28] only local arts agency within Salt Lake

[2:43:30] City. Uh the state defines a local arts

[2:43:34] agency as an agency that provides

[2:43:36] diverse programming and also can provide

[2:43:38] grants, short-term policy create

[2:43:40] supporting policy creation and public

[2:43:43] art. The this LAA status could change if

[2:43:46] we had large shifts in our mission and

[2:43:49] funding could be the basis for a reduced

[2:43:51] grant award. If we were to significantly

[2:43:54] change the breadth of our programming or

[2:43:56] serve considerably fewer residents, that

[2:43:58] could also impact our award.

[2:44:01] Additionally, the state is already

[2:44:03] anticipating a reduction in their FY27

[2:44:07] general operating support grants of 30%

[2:44:10] due to a change in the funding that the

[2:44:12] state received from that the state

[2:44:14] received from the legislature. And

[2:44:16] that's going to result in approximately

[2:44:18] a $14,000 cut to us this year.

[2:44:23] Uh we received federal funding. Uh it's

[2:44:25] a grant specifically for the Living

[2:44:27] Traditions Festival and the federal

[2:44:30] administration under President Trump has

[2:44:32] again uh requested or proposed complete

[2:44:35] elimination of the National Endowment

[2:44:37] for the Arts which is where that funding

[2:44:39] comes from. We're hopeful that this will

[2:44:42] be uh again a bipartisan supported

[2:44:46] National Endowment for the Arts uh

[2:44:49] effort and and that it has it has

[2:44:52] survived previous cuts. We are hopeful

[2:44:54] it will survive this uh this

[2:44:55] recommendation. Uh and in recent years

[2:44:58] we have averaged between 25 20 to

[2:45:01] $45,000.

[2:45:03] So we are hoping to again see something

[2:45:05] like that next year.

[2:45:08] Uh it's also important to know that all

[2:45:11] this government funding uh these sources

[2:45:14] compose again 30% of our non-EP

[2:45:17] departmental funds but we are pro

[2:45:19] prohibited from spending any of these

[2:45:21] grant funds on public capital expend

[2:45:24] expenditures.

[2:45:26] Next slide.

[2:45:30] Now, we're going to transition to

[2:45:31] focusing specific on public art um

[2:45:35] centered on some of our conversations

[2:45:37] that we've hope had over the last year.

[2:45:40] Um so again coming the Japan town mural,

[2:45:43] the new u mural to come on out of the

[2:45:45] blue and then the another image of the

[2:45:48] ballpark murals. Next slide.

[2:45:53] So in this slide, as you can see, we

[2:45:55] partner and leverage many funds in the

[2:45:57] city for public art, and investment in

[2:46:00] dollars has been steadily increasing. As

[2:46:03] I mentioned, in FY26, we started more

[2:46:05] individual projects than in any past

[2:46:08] decade with over 15 projects or so in

[2:46:10] process right now. And we also created a

[2:46:13] very much needed maintenance fund in

[2:46:15] 2022. Um, please note in this chart that

[2:46:19] percent for art funding is in red. So,

[2:46:21] this is the only fund within our own

[2:46:23] budget, the jurisdiction of our own

[2:46:26] budget. Um, we're incredibly grateful to

[2:46:28] all our partners in the CRA and public

[2:46:30] lands and enterprise funds and many

[2:46:32] others that support these efforts in the

[2:46:34] city for us to facil facilitate as an

[2:46:36] agency on our behalf. Um, and that CIP

[2:46:40] funding, you'll see it here, distributed

[2:46:42] in the in the year that the project

[2:46:44] starts, but again, we're looking at, I

[2:46:45] believe this year we were at about

[2:46:47] $151,000.

[2:46:49] Next [snorts] slide.

[2:46:53] So, we're gonna Oh, you [laughter]

[2:46:56] » Get to I get to share the good news

[2:46:57] about the murals and the challenge that

[2:46:59] you gave us to look at our uh the cities

[2:47:03] that surround us and some of the things

[2:47:05] that are that have been done there. This

[2:47:07] is a photo of the of one of the uh

[2:47:11] murals in the ballpark, the 10 murals

[2:47:13] that were uh were um commissioned this

[2:47:17] fall. Next slide.

[2:47:20] So, we're actually really grateful that

[2:47:22] you invited us to look at uh what uh

[2:47:25] other mural programs are doing uh and

[2:47:27] how we could aspire to them. Uh because

[2:47:30] we are thrilled to share that we are

[2:47:34] actually doing really well in terms of

[2:47:36] our of of comparisons.

[2:47:38] uh we looked at five Utah cities and we

[2:47:41] had 33% more murals in terms of the

[2:47:45] annual murals produced uh in that report

[2:47:48] done by an outside uh consultant. Um so

[2:47:52] this slide highlights some of the murals

[2:47:54] that are complete and some that are in

[2:47:56] progress. So uh we partnered with Love

[2:47:58] Your Block and in your meeting materials

[2:48:01] there are photos of some of these of the

[2:48:04] Love Your Blocks murals from the last

[2:48:06] year. Uh the 33% higher number doesn't

[2:48:11] include any of the photo any of those

[2:48:14] love your block projects although we

[2:48:16] love working with love your blocks and

[2:48:18] we do collaborate with them. We just

[2:48:20] wanted to make sure you were aware of

[2:48:21] those. Uh we adapted our grants program

[2:48:26] in order to fast track a funding tool

[2:48:29] for murals through the grants and this

[2:48:32] year we had four murals funded through

[2:48:34] that. And then in yellow you can see the

[2:48:37] murals that were completed this year. Uh

[2:48:40] we had one uh permanent with Bloomberg

[2:48:42] and uh two temporary murals. Uh we had

[2:48:47] the 10 ballpark murals and then we had

[2:48:50] the blocks mural that we partnered with.

[2:48:53] Uh we have that we are coming up this

[2:48:55] year. We have Japan Town that was

[2:48:58] recently announced and it was in an

[2:49:00] earlier slide. Uh we have the pop the

[2:49:03] Popular Grove pickle ball court. We have

[2:49:06] the Jordan River Parkway is going to be

[2:49:08] receiving four murals. North Temple will

[2:49:10] be receiving six murals. And then uh I

[2:49:14] know it's a different surface, but out

[2:49:15] of the blue, the whale is going to get a

[2:49:18] a facelift and that is considered a

[2:49:19] mural as well. Uh and then we also are

[2:49:24] working on donations. So, I'm going to

[2:49:25] talk a little bit more about that, but

[2:49:27] we are in the process of uh accepting

[2:49:29] the rack into our collection

[2:49:32] or the rack collective into our

[2:49:33] collection. Okay, next slide.

[2:49:35] » One quick question.

[2:49:36] » Just one quick question. Uh mostly for

[2:49:38] bragging rights. Uh you said you

[2:49:40] compared uh Salt Lake City mural

[2:49:42] production to five peer cities. What

[2:49:44] were those five peer cities?

[2:49:46] » We like bragging rights, too. Uh so we

[2:49:48] have South Salt Lake, Murray, Midvale,

[2:49:50] Provo, and

[2:49:53] I'm blanking. Uh,

[2:49:54] » It's in your cap.

[2:49:55] » Ogden. Did you say Ogden?

[2:49:56] » No, I did say Ogden. So, Ogden. I'm glad

[2:49:59] that somebody smarter here is good.

[2:50:02] » What was the total of murals that you

[2:50:04] you're using?

[2:50:05] » Uh, those cities had a total annual

[2:50:09] production of 12 at its highest point

[2:50:12] annually. Collectively, they have more

[2:50:14] than that because some of them have had

[2:50:15] programs in the past, but of recent year

[2:50:18] totals, 12 is the most. And so again,

[2:50:20] ours were 33% higher, but not including

[2:50:22] any of the love your block efforts or

[2:50:24] even the facade improvement program that

[2:50:26] we partner with in the city.

[2:50:28] » Yeah. So you're comparing you're

[2:50:30] comparing how many murals they're

[2:50:32] producing is per

[2:50:33] » Just a total number. Yes.

[2:50:35] » Yeah. Yeah. And you know, SA Lake is the

[2:50:37] size of a council district actually

[2:50:39] smaller than a council district here,

[2:50:40] right? And they're creating 10 every

[2:50:42] year. But that is a good point of

[2:50:45] comparison. I like where the trend that

[2:50:46] we're we're seeing.

[2:50:47] » Yeah. And they do have um a really high

[2:50:50] quantity uh geography and kind of

[2:50:52] physical landscape is important. High

[2:50:55] high um quantity of light industrial

[2:50:58] manufacturing buildings and less

[2:51:00] buildings that have historical

[2:51:01] requirements not to be painted or uh

[2:51:04] property owners that um are vigilant

[2:51:06] about um not having murals that may be

[2:51:09] beloved and that are torn down that

[2:51:11] affects development. So there's some

[2:51:13] factors that are hard to compare there.

[2:51:15] » Yeah.

[2:51:16] Uh the next slide is was taken this

[2:51:19] week. Uh this is Cosmo and Cosmo is uh

[2:51:22] in his new home. I think it's a a he is

[2:51:26] in his new home and we are really

[2:51:28] thrilled that he is uh that he's landed

[2:51:31] and and there's some fun stuff coming up

[2:51:33] with uh announcing that as well. Next

[2:51:35] slide.

[2:51:38] So we have received feedback this year

[2:51:40] that there uh that we could do better

[2:51:43] and we are trying to do faster more and

[2:51:45] better. Uh but we are trying to

[2:51:47] streamline some processes to make our

[2:51:49] public art processes more accessible. Uh

[2:51:52] and I want to just walk you through a

[2:51:54] few of the things that we've been

[2:51:55] working on. So we facilitated more

[2:51:58] donations of artwork to the city. We've

[2:52:00] talked about Cosmo and the rack. We also

[2:52:02] uh are happy that down the hall we have

[2:52:04] Martha Hughes Cannon now living in this

[2:52:06] building. Uh we and this is a a

[2:52:09] statutory process for accepting a

[2:52:12] donation. Um, next we have drafted city

[2:52:16] a citywide guide for internal

[2:52:18] departments and community members to aid

[2:52:20] in the facilitation of community

[2:52:22] sponsored public art. Uh, the 14 council

[2:52:26] project or the $14,000

[2:52:29] through the legislative intent in the

[2:52:31] seven council districts is well underway

[2:52:32] and it will be completed this year.

[2:52:35] We are actively working to structure a

[2:52:38] tri-governmental partnership with the

[2:52:40] state and county to facilitate public

[2:52:42] private partnership for public art to be

[2:52:45] placed in Salt Lake City. And this uh

[2:52:48] Robert Love Robert Indiana love

[2:52:50] sculpture is an example of that effort.

[2:52:53] We are currently working on both loaning

[2:52:55] out and borrowing artwork at city hall.

[2:52:59] And as a reminder, we are we helped

[2:53:01] ensure the public benefit funding for

[2:53:03] public art in the downtown

[2:53:05] entertainment, cultural, and convention

[2:53:07] district for public art in the coming

[2:53:10] years totaling no less than $5 million.

[2:53:13] So that is coming up as well. Next

[2:53:15] slide, please.

[2:53:19] So there's also a list contained in your

[2:53:22] transmitt of ways that we're hoping to

[2:53:24] work more closely together in the

[2:53:25] future. But I wanted to share some

[2:53:27] potential mechanisms that other larger

[2:53:29] cities have in place that could be a

[2:53:32] model for our city in the future when

[2:53:35] they expand their public art programs.

[2:53:37] These are tools um of course we'd have

[2:53:40] to consider with our city family. Um we

[2:53:42] could expand the percent for art program

[2:53:44] to enterprise funds. Um right now we do

[2:53:48] have that program that we partnered with

[2:53:49] the CRA on and we could formalize it

[2:53:51] with other enterprise funds. Um we do

[2:53:54] not have a percent for art program

[2:53:56] within the transportation or streets

[2:53:58] budgets. Many cities do. Um there are

[2:54:01] planning and development based

[2:54:02] incentives that we could develop for

[2:54:05] concessions on planning and zoning where

[2:54:07] we could um require allocations for

[2:54:10] public art. We do this with the CRA. Um,

[2:54:13] many cities have impact fees with

[2:54:15] required cultural allocations. And as we

[2:54:18] build more business improvement

[2:54:20] districts in the city, we have an

[2:54:22] incredible partnership of course with

[2:54:24] our downtown alliance, but for things

[2:54:26] like Sugar House coming online, we can

[2:54:28] um uh request requirements for cultural

[2:54:32] uh programs in there. Next slide.

[2:54:35] And looking ahead for the rest of the

[2:54:37] budget year, um this is an installation

[2:54:40] coming to Pioneer Park which states the

[2:54:42] name of the park but when viewed from

[2:54:44] other perspectives is modeled on uh

[2:54:47] different languages and their various

[2:54:50] patterns.

[2:54:51] Next slide.

[2:54:55] The following public art projects are

[2:54:57] projected for completion in FY27 with

[2:54:59] many more not listed here coming in 2028

[2:55:02] like Fleet Block, Glendale, Fairmont,

[2:55:04] and Mlen. But we'll have Pioneer Park,

[2:55:07] the Donner Trail Park coming on, 20

[2:55:09] sculptures in 20 different bond parks,

[2:55:12] the reinstallation of the goals of Salt

[2:55:14] Lake City with the CRA, and um again

[2:55:17] many more projects. Next slide.

[2:55:21] Other milestones for budget that we're

[2:55:24] looking forward to is our CIP project

[2:55:26] for the Finch Lane Gallery renovations,

[2:55:29] launching the poet laurette program

[2:55:31] fully reinvisioning the mayor's artist

[2:55:33] awards in the 40th anniversary of our

[2:55:35] twilight concert series. Um we're again

[2:55:38] thankful to be here and looking forward

[2:55:40] to working together more in the future

[2:55:42] and um we appreciate the constructive

[2:55:44] feedback that we've received and we're

[2:55:46] happy to answer any questions.

[2:55:49] some members.

[2:55:53] President

[2:55:55] » Appreciate all the work. Uh we all need

[2:55:58] art. So, uh I I really do appreciate all

[2:56:02] the work you're doing and and the

[2:56:03] transformation from, you know, the

[2:56:05] concerts right here on the civic center.

[2:56:07] So, that's that was a great uh I mean, I

[2:56:10] know we had to make the move, but it

[2:56:12] also it seemed like it was uh still

[2:56:15] great rep venue and it and it worked out

[2:56:18] well. So, We were kind of worried there

[2:56:20] a bit, but I'm appreciate for that. And

[2:56:22] I and I also appreciate all the the

[2:56:23] murals and the and the public art. Um,

[2:56:27] you know, if you ever go to a city that

[2:56:29] doesn't have any art, you really realize

[2:56:30] that

[2:56:31] » There's a lack of beauty in it. So, any

[2:56:33] big city and any good city has good art.

[2:56:35] So, I appreciate your work and and uh

[2:56:37] providing us for the art and the music.

[2:56:39] Thank you.

[2:56:40] » Thanks.

[2:56:42] » Uh, my questions relate to performing

[2:56:45] arts. Um the Twilight series I mean

[2:56:48] we're approaching the 40 maybe the 40th

[2:56:51] year of the Twilight series.

[2:56:52] » That's correct.

[2:56:53] » Uh Select City has changed a lot since

[2:56:56] you know you know for for the last 40

[2:56:58] years and I will well think that is a

[2:57:02] tradition to select city. I would love

[2:57:03] to dig in a little more about um you

[2:57:07] know the revenue that this uh this uh

[2:57:10] this series creates.

[2:57:11] » Sure. um the cost um as far as what you

[2:57:15] know really cost us in and and in and

[2:57:18] salaries and and putting it together.

[2:57:20] Also, I would like to dig in a little

[2:57:21] more about the economic impact that the

[2:57:24] numbers the economic impact that you

[2:57:26] mentioned.

[2:57:27] » Absolutely. Uh and and dig in a little

[2:57:29] more about that. I I know that we're now

[2:57:31] competing with other venues and other

[2:57:33] concert series in in Salt Lake City. Uh,

[2:57:37] and I'm not sure while I really

[2:57:39] appreciate I attended my myself to

[2:57:41] Twilight before I joined the council.

[2:57:43] Now, uh, I I wonder if the role of the

[2:57:47] city has shifted a little bit about

[2:57:49] this. And I, again, I value the work. I

[2:57:51] value the the the series. I wonder if

[2:57:55] uh, the role in the last, you know,

[2:57:57] almost 40 years has changed a little

[2:57:59] bit. um and if the place of select city

[2:58:02] is to compete with other concert venues

[2:58:04] and other concert series. Uh and um but

[2:58:08] again so that information will be

[2:58:10] awesome for me. Um I appreciate the

[2:58:13] presentation. Uh I appre appreciate big

[2:58:16] time the the change uh and the direction

[2:58:19] uh the transparency uh and the work that

[2:58:22] you have put on uh and your team has put

[2:58:25] on to to level up the the the department

[2:58:29] the division sorry not the department.

[2:58:31] » Um so any information about those things

[2:58:33] will be great.

[2:58:34] » I can speak to that right now. Okay. So,

[2:58:36] um, some of you might remember, I'm

[2:58:38] looking [laughter] at you, um, that the

[2:58:40] Twilight concert series used to be

[2:58:42] produced in house and it was an economic

[2:58:44] challenge on the city. In, uh, 2019, I

[2:58:48] believe, I was tasked with restructuring

[2:58:50] the way that program ran. So, we

[2:58:53] produced the series with a private

[2:58:54] vendor. The cost of that program, of

[2:58:56] course, since those times, um, has

[2:58:58] increased the total cost like for

[2:59:00] Twilight Concert Series. Um, in total

[2:59:03] for that program, this is not what we

[2:59:05] pay, but for total production of that

[2:59:08] concert series, it's about $1.2 to $1.3

[2:59:11] million.

[2:59:13] We pay $180,000

[2:59:17] on a contract to get the same value for

[2:59:20] the residents of Salt Lake City. So,

[2:59:22] outside our staff salaries that help

[2:59:25] facilitate that program, it's a $180,000

[2:59:29] contract. Um the economic impact uh is

[2:59:33] generated from a study that we

[2:59:35] participate in within an organization

[2:59:37] nationally called Americans for the

[2:59:39] Arts. And we participate in that study

[2:59:42] um with the state, with the county, with

[2:59:44] the cultural corps and many entities

[2:59:46] nationally to generate the impact, the

[2:59:49] economic impact of attending nonprofit

[2:59:51] arts events in cities. The last study we

[2:59:54] participated in was in 2022. And the way

[2:59:58] that we generate this number is that

[3:00:00] it's based on the average per person's

[3:00:02] spending. When a resident comes

[3:00:04] downtown, they're taking public

[3:00:06] transportation. They're getting

[3:00:07] babysitters. They're going to food.

[3:00:09] They're getting they're going to bars.

[3:00:11] They're um patronizing places downtown.

[3:00:15] And um based on the attendance of the

[3:00:17] Twilight Concert Series in that series,

[3:00:19] which is 41,000 people, we that's how

[3:00:23] the math is created of generating the

[3:00:24] economic impact of the series. Um, and

[3:00:28] we do think the program is unique. As I

[3:00:30] mentioned, Post Malone tickets right now

[3:00:33] are $150 to $700. Most concerts in the

[3:00:38] cities are about $70 to $80 for

[3:00:41] nationally touring bands. We do think

[3:00:44] that gathering and belonging for music

[3:00:46] experiences of of course you can do that

[3:00:48] in the city, but the uniqueness of this

[3:00:50] program is the affordability and the

[3:00:52] accessibility. Um, another feat that we

[3:00:55] pull off with this program, which most

[3:00:57] national bands do not um, favor, is

[3:01:00] allowing local musicians to open for

[3:01:02] them. We're really about professional

[3:01:04] development and launching the careers of

[3:01:07] u, young artists in the community. And

[3:01:10] this is a key component of that program.

[3:01:13] And third, like tour tourism and

[3:01:15] economic um, livability of downtown. Um,

[3:01:19] that's a really important part of the

[3:01:21] program. It's been important to us that

[3:01:22] that program stays downtown for those

[3:01:24] reasons. It's close to public

[3:01:25] transportation. So, we we do believe the

[3:01:28] program is very unique in in its

[3:01:31] accessibility for residents where they

[3:01:32] might not have opportunity.

[3:01:35] » Sorry about that sound. This is not

[3:01:37] » It's okay.

[3:01:38] » The sound in the in those microphones

[3:01:40] somehow it just like cuts out and it

[3:01:42] comes back immediately. So,

[3:01:43] » And and I'll just say with performing

[3:01:44] arts and the programs that we have

[3:01:46] proposed for potential elimination, we

[3:01:48] really are looking at services that are

[3:01:51] duplicative in the community potentially

[3:01:54] um services that have the escalating

[3:01:56] costs in the future, which we've

[3:01:58] identified the busker fest as that. um

[3:02:01] and uh ones that other again service

[3:02:04] providers could do and ones that don't

[3:02:07] um jeopardize our grant funding in terms

[3:02:09] of people served and impact and and the

[3:02:12] funders that we have many of our

[3:02:13] programs are bundled with certain

[3:02:14] funders as well. So again that criteria

[3:02:17] is how we made that determination.

[3:02:19] » Yeah. Will you expand a little bit maybe

[3:02:21] uh I'm not sure how how many uh

[3:02:24] employees uh you know do help with with

[3:02:27] the putting together of the of the uh of

[3:02:31] the concert series. Oh. Um, yeah, we

[3:02:35] have one um staff designated for

[3:02:37] performing arts on our team which um

[3:02:40] does a variety of of programs. Um,

[3:02:43] Living Traditions, Busker Festival,

[3:02:45] Mondays in the Park, performing arts

[3:02:47] generally. Um, as I mentioned, Twilight,

[3:02:50] um, and Buskerfest are also contracted

[3:02:53] services for us. So, they're um, they

[3:02:55] can be a little bit more low touch, but

[3:02:57] we we all work across all our programs.

[3:03:00] So, there's a number of staff that have

[3:03:02] a different role in Twilight.

[3:03:03] » Okay. Any other questions? Everybody's

[3:03:06] very quiet.

[3:03:08] » Okay. I think we're good. Thank you so

[3:03:10] much.

[3:03:10] » Thank you.

[3:03:14] » Thank you,

[3:03:19] » Council members. We have We're almost

[3:03:23] done. So, let's

[3:03:25] uh five minutes behind. That's not too

[3:03:27] terrible. Um let's uh move on to item

[3:03:30] number six. Um cultural co summary uh on

[3:03:34] the blocks update. Um we're going to

[3:03:38] welcome Sylvia Richards uh again at the

[3:03:40] table and she's staying at the table.

[3:03:42] And we're going to uh welcome Lucas

[3:03:46] Horns, the blocks program manager. D

[3:03:49] Brewer, Downtown Alliance executive

[3:03:51] director. Is your time Sylvia?

[3:03:54] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, this briefing

[3:03:58] is an update on the block B blocks arts

[3:04:01] district, formerly known as the cultural

[3:04:04] corps. The blocks is a city and county

[3:04:07] initiative focused on growing and

[3:04:09] celebrating Salt Lake City's creative

[3:04:11] community. This is a review of year 9

[3:04:16] and um a preview of the plan for year

[3:04:20] 10. And with that, I will um pass the

[3:04:24] baton on to Lucas and D and Felicia if

[3:04:28] she still wanted to participate.

[3:04:33] » Okay. Hi, council. Uh great to see you

[3:04:36] all. I'm excited to report on what the

[3:04:37] blocks has been up to for the last year

[3:04:39] and give you a preview of what we have

[3:04:40] on the horizon. Uh first off, I want to

[3:04:43] introduce myself. I realize I'm a new

[3:04:45] face since you last had this briefing

[3:04:47] about a year ago. My name is Lucas Horns

[3:04:49] and I took over for Britney Helmers as

[3:04:51] program director of the blocks about six

[3:04:53] months ago. Uh, next slide, please. So,

[3:04:56] as you all know, the blocks is a

[3:04:59] visionary initiative of the city and

[3:05:01] county to promote downtown Salt Lake

[3:05:03] City as the premier arts and culture

[3:05:06] destination of the Inter Mountain West.

[3:05:08] Next slide, please. Our boundaries per

[3:05:13] our contract with the cultural corps run

[3:05:16] roughly from 600 west to 300 east and

[3:05:18] north temple to 400 south. Next slide,

[3:05:21] please.

[3:05:24] Our team is made up of myself and Kai

[3:05:26] Henrikson. He regrets not being able to

[3:05:28] be here today. He's taking a muchneeded

[3:05:30] vacation to visit some family in

[3:05:31] Colorado. Next slide, please.

[3:05:36] Our cultural core budget committee is

[3:05:37] made up of eight members. These are

[3:05:39] representatives from the city and the

[3:05:40] county. A lot of these names are

[3:05:42] familiar to you. Those uh names on the

[3:05:44] left are your city representatives.

[3:05:46] Those on the right are the county

[3:05:48] representatives. Next slide, please. Oh,

[3:05:51] and just to note, we meet every two

[3:05:53] months. Uh the cultural core budget

[3:05:54] committee uh monitors our spending and

[3:05:57] ensures that our our programs and

[3:06:00] spending are meeting the goals of the

[3:06:01] cultural core action plan. So, what are

[3:06:04] the goals of the cultural core action

[3:06:05] plan? As much as I hate reading off of a

[3:06:07] slide, uh I think these are all really

[3:06:10] thoughtful and important and I think

[3:06:11] that our our programming really touches

[3:06:13] on all eight of these. So, I'm going to

[3:06:15] go through them quickly. One, celebrate

[3:06:18] and promote Salt Lake's rich array of

[3:06:19] arts and cultural activities and

[3:06:21] experiences. Two, support increased

[3:06:23] collaboration and creative development

[3:06:25] among Salt Lake's creative community.

[3:06:28] Three, enhance Salt Lake's brand and

[3:06:29] support increased visitation from the

[3:06:31] region and inner mountain west. Four,

[3:06:33] expand and diversify audiences for Salt

[3:06:35] Lake's arts and culture. Five, foster

[3:06:38] downtown as an inclusive, diverse, and

[3:06:40] welcoming place. Six, support downtown

[3:06:43] residential growth. Seven, enhance the

[3:06:46] downtown business environment. And

[3:06:48] eight, enrich the urban experience and

[3:06:50] sense of place. These are lofty goals,

[3:06:53] and so I want to go over how we're

[3:06:54] achieving these goals. Next slide,

[3:06:56] please. I've really boiled our work down

[3:06:58] into three focus areas. First of all is

[3:07:00] our programming and events. We put on a

[3:07:02] lot of our own programming, activations,

[3:07:05] public art to add to the arts offerings

[3:07:07] in downtown Salt Lake. And just to note

[3:07:10] that we really focus almost entirely on

[3:07:12] producing free all ages programming as

[3:07:15] not all arts organizations are able to

[3:07:17] offer this downtown and we see it as a

[3:07:19] really important niche to fill in in

[3:07:21] downtown's arts offerings. Secondly is

[3:07:23] marketing and promotion. We have over

[3:07:25] two dozen arts organizations who are

[3:07:27] consistently performing or exhibiting in

[3:07:29] downtown. This is the highest

[3:07:30] concentration of arts activity in the

[3:07:32] region and we want to amplify all the

[3:07:34] work going on so the community really

[3:07:36] recognizes downtown as an arts

[3:07:38] destination. Between our combined

[3:07:41] followers with the downtown alliance, we

[3:07:42] have about 300,000 followers between

[3:07:44] newsletter subscribers and social media

[3:07:46] followers. And all 300,000 of these

[3:07:49] folks get updates weekly about all the

[3:07:52] fun events and things happening in

[3:07:53] downtown. And lastly, fostering

[3:07:56] collaboration. As part of the downtown

[3:07:58] alliance, we see ourselves as a really

[3:08:00] unique player as an arts organization

[3:08:02] that also has really intimate,

[3:08:03] meaningful ties to the business

[3:08:04] community. We like to bring stakeholders

[3:08:08] into the same room that are business

[3:08:09] owners, property owners, as well as arts

[3:08:12] organizations to really recognize that a

[3:08:14] thriving arts environment does uplift

[3:08:16] the business community downtown. Next

[3:08:19] slide, please.

[3:08:22] I want to go over some metrics. Um, and

[3:08:24] just a note that I'm reporting metrics

[3:08:26] on the calendar year. Our programming

[3:08:28] runs during the warmer months. And so

[3:08:30] it's important that we report on a

[3:08:31] calendar year because as we're expanding

[3:08:34] and introducing new programs, we're

[3:08:36] doing that planning on the calendar

[3:08:37] year. And so to measure the efficacy and

[3:08:41] uh impact that these new programs,

[3:08:43] expansions, new campaigns have, it's

[3:08:45] important that we do it on a calendar

[3:08:47] year, although our fiscal year does run

[3:08:48] same day as yours, July to June. So

[3:08:51] looking back on 2025 in numbers, we put

[3:08:54] on 26 events and activations. That was

[3:08:56] up 17% from 2024. We commissioned seven

[3:09:00] works of public art downtown. That was

[3:09:01] up 40% from 2024.

[3:09:04] We hired 140 artists and performers from

[3:09:07] the local community, up 82% from the

[3:09:10] year before. And lastly, we Arctics

[3:09:13] venues sold about 750,000

[3:09:16] tickets. This is not our programming,

[3:09:18] but we use it as an important metric to

[3:09:20] gauge the health of the general art

[3:09:22] scene downtown. You'll notice those

[3:09:24] ticket sales are down 8% from 2024, and

[3:09:27] I'll go over why that is uh in a later

[3:09:30] slide. It's not concerning, don't worry.

[3:09:32] Next slide, please.

[3:09:35] Looking at our marketing in 2025, we

[3:09:37] posted to social media 1.4,000 times to

[3:09:40] our 300,000 followers. We sent out 52

[3:09:44] weekly newsletters. This is our this

[3:09:46] week downtown series written by the

[3:09:48] downtown Josh Jones. These newsletters

[3:09:51] have a 40% open rate which if you know

[3:09:53] anything about newsletters is pretty

[3:09:55] remarkable and a testament to the the

[3:09:58] value people find in in these

[3:10:00] newsletters. Next slide please.

[3:10:03] We were in the press quite a bit this

[3:10:05] year uh for our different uh or last

[3:10:08] year, excuse me, for our different uh

[3:10:11] some of our public art commissions as

[3:10:13] well as activations we were doing on

[3:10:14] Main Street. Next slide.

[3:10:17] And now I want to talk about show a

[3:10:20] little bit of data to back up the the

[3:10:22] impact that our programming had last

[3:10:24] year. Uh this is showing home distance

[3:10:27] by mile by miles from downtown for

[3:10:31] people who visited Arctic's venues. So

[3:10:33] on the uh y-axis there you have the

[3:10:36] percent of visitors to Arctic's venues.

[3:10:39] That's Capital Theater, Abraven Hall,

[3:10:40] Eckles Theater, and Rose Wagner. These

[3:10:43] are not all the arts venues downtown,

[3:10:44] but they're representative of where

[3:10:46] people are coming from to visit arts in

[3:10:48] downtown. On the x-axis, you have their

[3:10:51] home distance by miles. So you can see

[3:10:53] that about a third are coming from

[3:10:55] within 10 miles. Another third are

[3:10:57] coming from 10 to 30 m and still another

[3:11:00] third are coming from more than 30 miles

[3:11:01] away with a lot coming from over 250 mi

[3:11:04] away. What this data is showing is that

[3:11:06] we are achieving our goal of

[3:11:07] establishing downtown as a regional arts

[3:11:09] destination

[3:11:11] um

[3:11:13] with so many visitors coming from from

[3:11:15] across the region and frankly across the

[3:11:17] country.

[3:11:19] Please

[3:11:19] » Just a quick question. This is a an

[3:11:22] really interesting um chart. Can you

[3:11:25] explain, you know, maybe some of the

[3:11:27] reasons for the 250 mi uh radius in

[3:11:31] terms of more people coming from from

[3:11:33] that radius versus 30 to 50, 50 to 100

[3:11:36] or 100 to 250?

[3:11:38] » Yeah, absolutely. That's because that

[3:11:40] includes the entire country. And so, um,

[3:11:44] we have a lot of, we have, we had

[3:11:45] visitors from all 50 states, uh, buy

[3:11:48] tickets to our arts venues. And so,

[3:11:53] 250 mi to 2,000 miles is a much bigger

[3:11:57] area than 150 to 250 mi, if that makes

[3:12:00] sense. So, that's why there's there's

[3:12:03] such a large number coming from 250.

[3:12:06] I'll just I'll pipe in with what I know

[3:12:07] from the so I serve on the board of the

[3:12:09] Eckles Theater and so we dove into a

[3:12:11] little bit of the of because we were

[3:12:13] seeing kind of similar trends. I

[3:12:14] actually think it's a credit to the

[3:12:17] national level of acts both music and

[3:12:21] you know Broadway kind of touring

[3:12:23] performance and the value that you get

[3:12:25] as in terms of like comparing if you're

[3:12:28] going to go see a Broadway show in

[3:12:29] Chicago versus here the value of Salt

[3:12:31] Lake City it's a much cheaper place to

[3:12:33] go and so we're seeing that a lot of

[3:12:34] people are choosing to see those

[3:12:37] national touring acts because of the

[3:12:40] Echo Theater is more affordable than

[3:12:41] seeing in San Francisco or you know

[3:12:43] somewhere like that

[3:12:44] » 100% and it speaks to our local arts

[3:12:47] organizations as well. Ballet West is at

[3:12:50] par with any ballet company you can see

[3:12:52] as well as the Utah Symphony and Utah

[3:12:54] Opera and the ticket price is going to

[3:12:55] be a lot cheaper and you're going to

[3:12:56] have a much more enjoyable stay

[3:12:58] depending on which city you're going to.

[3:13:00] Next slide, please.

[3:13:03] So, once these these visitors are coming

[3:13:05] from across the region and coming into

[3:13:07] our downtown, they're not just visiting

[3:13:08] our arts venues, they're spending money

[3:13:10] in our downtown. We know arts are an

[3:13:12] economic driver. Last year in 2025,

[3:13:15] 317,000

[3:13:17] of the visits generated by our downtown

[3:13:20] Arctics venues, uh those visitors went

[3:13:23] to re restaurants or retail directly

[3:13:26] before or after visiting the theater.

[3:13:28] This data comes from Placer AI, just as

[3:13:30] a as a side note. Um but that's showing

[3:13:33] that that the arts are attracting

[3:13:35] visitors and those visitors are not just

[3:13:37] coming for the arts. They're coming into

[3:13:38] downtown to to put their money into the

[3:13:40] local economy. [clears throat] Next

[3:13:42] slide, please.

[3:13:44] Now I want to get to those Arctics

[3:13:45] ticket sales trends. Um so as you can

[3:13:50] see over the last four years those

[3:13:52] numbers have gone up and down quite a

[3:13:53] bit. This is actually more due to the

[3:13:55] variability in the number of shows at

[3:13:57] the Eckles Theater. Eckles Theater

[3:14:00] relies on a lot of touring shows. Um and

[3:14:03] that number just varies greatly from

[3:14:05] year to year. If we take Eckles out of

[3:14:07] the equation, next slide please.

[3:14:10] and we look at just Capital Theater, a

[3:14:11] Braven Hall and Rose Wagner Theater. You

[3:14:14] can see that there is a steady incline

[3:14:16] in ticket sales year-over-year,

[3:14:18] including from 2024 to 2025. Next slide,

[3:14:21] please. I want to quickly go through

[3:14:23] some highlights from 2025 of in terms of

[3:14:26] our programming. Next slide. 2025 was

[3:14:29] the second year of our co-create

[3:14:30] program. This is our artist and

[3:14:32] residence program where we invite

[3:14:33] artists to envision a placemaking

[3:14:36] project in the downtown. We had five

[3:14:39] projects last year including Echoes of

[3:14:41] the Great Salt Lake. This was a new

[3:14:43] symphony piece performed on Gal Gallivan

[3:14:45] Plaza inspired by the Great Salt Lake.

[3:14:47] Next slide. We had Sonder SLC. This was

[3:14:51] a photo gallery that's still on display

[3:14:53] in the Vicilius Prriscos Walkway by

[3:14:55] artist Kelly Freshman. Next slide,

[3:14:57] please. Little Stages was a program

[3:15:01] invisioned by local community organizer

[3:15:04] Tim Sullivan who wanted to create these

[3:15:06] pop-up stages that were easy for buskers

[3:15:09] to carry around the city and set up to

[3:15:11] essentially build mobile concert venues.

[3:15:13] Next slide. Absolutely amazing animals

[3:15:17] was a large-scale mural uh produced by

[3:15:20] artist Dallas Graham on the back of a

[3:15:21] parking garage on Edison Street. Next

[3:15:23] slide. And the day of the dead festival

[3:15:26] was put on by local muralist Betto

[3:15:28] Kanejo that brought around 200 attendees

[3:15:31] to Feice Gallery for for a large

[3:15:33] festival. Next slide. Moving on from

[3:15:36] co-create.

[3:15:39] 2025 was also the second year of our

[3:15:41] step-in on Main program. These are the

[3:15:43] free concerts put on on the front steps

[3:15:45] of the Eckles Theater every Friday night

[3:15:47] from June through September. These

[3:15:49] performances range from anywhere from

[3:15:51] jazz to Brazilian dance to drum groups

[3:15:54] and everything in between. Next slide.

[3:15:58] We also put on the uh third annual

[3:16:00] mariachi fest at the Eckles Theater,

[3:16:02] bringing four mariachi groups, one

[3:16:04] national from New York and three local

[3:16:05] mariachi groups. Next slide.

[3:16:08] Curbside theater was a partnership with

[3:16:10] SB Dance. We programmed that show on the

[3:16:12] rooftop of a parking garage on Pure Pont

[3:16:14] Avenue. This offered a really cool venue

[3:16:17] and a free dance performance in downtown

[3:16:19] with sweeping views of the mountains in

[3:16:21] city skyline. Next slide. And lastly, we

[3:16:25] continued our urban plane air program.

[3:16:27] We brought uh 19 artists to the farmers

[3:16:31] market to paint scenes that they saw at

[3:16:33] the market and then sell their work at a

[3:16:35] pop-up gallery at the market the

[3:16:36] following week. Next slide, please. I

[3:16:40] want to talk about some of our

[3:16:41] programming we have on the uh horizon in

[3:16:43] 2026. Now, next slide. We're continuing

[3:16:47] co-create again this year, and I'm

[3:16:49] really excited to announce the three

[3:16:50] projects we've selected. The Wish

[3:16:52] Exchange Place will be an uh

[3:16:54] installation that will be interactive on

[3:16:55] Exchange Place up for three months uh by

[3:16:58] artists Alejandra Moya and Kathy Tran.

[3:17:01] Bees Around the Block is a series of

[3:17:03] sculptures on Main Street envisioned by

[3:17:05] uh urban planner and designer Landon

[3:17:07] Krazik. Standing room only is it will be

[3:17:09] a series of dance performances as well

[3:17:11] as installations at former theater sites

[3:17:14] in downtown. This is by local

[3:17:15] choreographer and dancer Constance. Next

[3:17:18] slide.

[3:17:20] Fridays on Maine. This is an expansion

[3:17:21] of our stepping on Main program. So I'm

[3:17:23] really excited to include two more

[3:17:25] stages in addition to the steps of the

[3:17:27] Eckles Theater. We'll have a second

[3:17:29] stage at the um at where Gallivan Center

[3:17:33] intersects Main Street and a third stage

[3:17:35] at Exchange Place. So, we're going to

[3:17:36] put live music and dance performance up

[3:17:38] and down Main Street every Friday night

[3:17:40] from June through September. Next slide.

[3:17:43] The Art Garden. This is a popup art

[3:17:47] exhibition and beer garden held at the

[3:17:49] site of the former Utah Theater on Main

[3:17:51] Street between 100 South and 200. This

[3:17:55] um is a partnership with the Utah Utah

[3:17:57] Museum of Contemporary Art who will be

[3:17:58] be building out two uh art exhibi

[3:18:01] exhibitions and we'll be partnering with

[3:18:03] local breweries to serve beer. And

[3:18:05] although there's beer, this space is

[3:18:07] still all ages. Next slide. Urban plane

[3:18:10] air. We're expanding this program as

[3:18:12] well. Uh we're relieving the market and

[3:18:14] we're bringing 30 artists to paint 30

[3:18:17] iconic buildings around downtown Salt

[3:18:18] Lake. Their art will then be displayed

[3:18:20] in the windows of the buildings that

[3:18:21] they feature. Next slide.

[3:18:24] We'll also be expanding our curbside

[3:18:26] theater program to additional

[3:18:28] performances on parking garage rooftops

[3:18:30] because this is such a unique

[3:18:32] interesting place for a a show like

[3:18:34] this. Uh we're we'll be moving over to

[3:18:36] the parking garage right here at the

[3:18:38] echo uh excuse me on exchange place that

[3:18:41] offers really beautiful views of this

[3:18:43] building in the mountains as you can see

[3:18:44] there. Next slide. Curtain up. This is a

[3:18:48] firstofits-kind event to celebrate the

[3:18:50] start of the 2026 2027 arts season. This

[3:18:53] will bring all arts organizations

[3:18:55] programming in the downtown into one

[3:18:57] under one roof. Uh to to celebrate the

[3:19:00] start of the season, we'll be screening

[3:19:02] a short film that previews each art

[3:19:04] organization's upcoming season from the

[3:19:06] ballet to the opera to modern dance

[3:19:07] companies to Yumoka and everyone in

[3:19:10] between. This will be on September 8th.

[3:19:12] I'll be sure to send you an invite soon.

[3:19:14] Next slide, please.

[3:19:17] And then we have some really exciting

[3:19:18] marketing campaigns um really painting

[3:19:22] the picture of downtown as a arts

[3:19:25] destination showing the breadth and

[3:19:26] diversity of artists working in downtown

[3:19:28] and public art that we have here in

[3:19:30] downtown. So be sure to follow us on

[3:19:32] socials to to keep up with those

[3:19:34] campaigns. Next slide.

[3:19:37] And so much more. I don't want to go

[3:19:39] into these too much detail. Our

[3:19:42] programming is quite extensive, but we

[3:19:44] have continued ongoing programs such as

[3:19:46] our exhibitions on Maine where we

[3:19:48] display public art on Main Street on our

[3:19:49] kiosks. We loan assets to artists like

[3:19:52] lighting, sound systems, stage for free

[3:19:55] if they're working downtown. And then

[3:19:57] we've done a number of partner events um

[3:20:00] already some of these occurred this year

[3:20:02] such as signs was a block party we did

[3:20:04] with Sundance and Feice Gallery during

[3:20:07] the Sundance Film Festival. Cir Kickass

[3:20:10] was a circus performance we put on at

[3:20:11] Gallivan Center with Utah Presents. Uh

[3:20:14] Mariachi Fest will be happening again on

[3:20:16] June 20th. Pogo Fest is a multi- venue

[3:20:19] music festival that will be also

[3:20:20] happening on June 20th. Uh we'll be

[3:20:23] putting up an outdoor stage as part of

[3:20:24] that festival on Exchange Place. The

[3:20:26] Cycle Nation installation is up right

[3:20:28] now in the Vicilus Prriscos Walkway. I

[3:20:31] recommend going and checking it out at

[3:20:32] night. It's a cool interactive uh

[3:20:35] sculpture that lights up when you crank

[3:20:36] these hand cranks. And the Bakau

[3:20:38] installation will be displayed next

[3:20:40] month uh on a Bravo Plaza. This is a

[3:20:43] collaboration with the Gina Bachau

[3:20:44] Foundation. We'll be building a

[3:20:46] large-scale sculpture built out of

[3:20:48] pianos for that. Next slide, please.

[3:20:52] These are our partners that we're

[3:20:53] working with on all of these programs.

[3:20:54] They range from property owners to

[3:20:56] developers to businesses and of course

[3:20:58] the majority of the arts groups working

[3:21:00] downtown. Next slide.

[3:21:03] I wanted to offer just a really high

[3:21:04] overview of our budget for FY27 which

[3:21:07] begins on July 1. Um

[3:21:11] you will be receiving in a transmitt a

[3:21:13] more detailed breakdown of our budget.

[3:21:15] This budget was approved by the cultural

[3:21:17] core budget committee just this week. Um

[3:21:19] but we also found out just this week

[3:21:21] that we'll be receiving open streets

[3:21:22] funding. Thank you very much. And we're

[3:21:24] excited to apply that and expand the

[3:21:26] exciting programming we have this summer

[3:21:28] even more. So the the new budget you you

[3:21:32] will receive will will reflect that

[3:21:33] additional funding as well.

[3:21:36] Next slide. And with that, I'll turn it

[3:21:38] over to you all for any questions.

[3:21:47] Council members,

[3:21:49] I put a minute in my mouth so I can

[3:21:51] barely speak. Um

[3:21:54] no. And will you expand a little bit on

[3:21:56] the open streets funding? Um I'm a

[3:21:58] little confused about that. thought we

[3:22:01] made some, you [clears throat] know,

[3:22:02] there was some changes regarding the

[3:22:04] open um the temple opening and whatnot,

[3:22:06] but is that a proposed

[3:22:16] » So, I think I think it's my

[3:22:18] understanding that some funds within uh

[3:22:21] the city and potentially was open

[3:22:23] streets was redirected to other

[3:22:25] programming and in budget amendment 4,

[3:22:28] you all approved an additional $100,000

[3:22:31] go to the blocks contract. So not

[3:22:33] exactly open streets programming but to

[3:22:36] the mission of the blocks.

[3:22:38] » Sorry for the confusion.

[3:22:39] » We did aund I think that in last year's

[3:22:42] budget we did a little but I guess it's

[3:22:45] the current year.

[3:22:46] » It was a budget on me

[3:22:47] » And I I could it was my understanding it

[3:22:50] was redirected. I could be misspeaking

[3:22:52] but it was in BA4 the extra 100.

[3:22:55] » That that helps. Um

[3:22:58] he's nodding. Okay, we have a Okay, that

[3:23:00] helps a lot. Um, it I will uh it's

[3:23:04] impressive the amount of work that

[3:23:06] you're doing with with the funding that

[3:23:07] you're getting. So, I you know, I'd love

[3:23:09] to see more more more fun things uh

[3:23:12] happening on POP and downtown um and to

[3:23:15] see more activation in our in our city.

[3:23:18] So, uh impressive work. Any

[3:23:20] » No, just thanks.

[3:23:22] » Okay. No, I see some hands. Uh, I don't

[3:23:25] know which one was first, so I'm going

[3:23:27] to give um time to council member Petro

[3:23:30] first.

[3:23:33] » Thank you and thanks for the work. Um,

[3:23:35] the numbers on the performances and the

[3:23:38] statistics that you gave, are any of

[3:23:40] those redundant with what we saw from

[3:23:42] the arts council? And if not, how do we

[3:23:45] decide who gets to count what as part of

[3:23:48] their programming or does everyone just

[3:23:49] get to claim it because we contributed

[3:23:51] to it?

[3:23:52] » Yeah, that's a really good question.

[3:23:54] Yeah. So the events and activations that

[3:23:56] I was counting for 2025 and 2024 were

[3:24:00] blocks produced events and activations

[3:24:02] where a blocks staff member was present.

[3:24:05] So uh they there shouldn't be redundancy

[3:24:08] between anything that this arts council

[3:24:10] produced.

[3:24:11] » Thank you so much. That's really

[3:24:12] encouraging to hear.

[3:24:13] » Yeah.

[3:24:14] » One

[3:24:16] » And one mural.

[3:24:19] » That's the only redundancy I'm speaking

[3:24:22] for.

[3:24:23] Uh, Felicia and Felicia for one second.

[3:24:30] » Uh, Council Wharton.

[3:24:33] » Um, thank you for that presentation. Um,

[3:24:36] Lucas, that was really comprehensive and

[3:24:38] I'm really excited about um all the

[3:24:40] programming that's that's happening and

[3:24:42] [music] um and what we're going to be

[3:24:44] able to continue to do. and just wanted

[3:24:47] to congratulate you in this new role and

[3:24:50] um we look forward to uh working with

[3:24:52] you as one of the partners.

[3:24:54] » Thank you.

[3:24:56] And the last question I have um relates

[3:24:59] how do you get 40% of people to open

[3:25:01] your newsletter because no one opens

[3:25:03] ours. So any tips for the council?

[3:25:06] » It's amazing. If you're not already

[3:25:07] subscribed to it, it's a really

[3:25:09] well-written newsletter that has a lot

[3:25:11] of whimsy in it that I think people look

[3:25:12] forward to every week. So, it's it's a

[3:25:15] it's a credit to Josh Jones's writing. I

[3:25:16] think

[3:25:17] » We need whimsy. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

[3:25:20] Thank you for your time.

[3:25:23] » Oh, no.

[3:25:25] » Chris, do you have more questions?

[3:25:26] » Oh, sorry.

[3:25:29] » I think it's probably gone.

[3:25:35] » Um, council members, this

[3:25:39] uh concludes that portion of the agenda.

[3:25:41] We're going to move on to the reported

[3:25:43] announcements from the executive

[3:25:44] director,

[3:25:46] Lehua.

[3:25:48] » The V team here. Um

[3:25:50] » The V team. Not quite.

[3:25:52] » Um

[3:25:52] » Always the

[3:25:53] » We have uh Linda came and passed out a

[3:25:56] handout. And this is something that we

[3:25:59] did when the council had um the last

[3:26:02] vacancy. Um and Cindy Lou may come up to

[3:26:05] the table so that she can help me

[3:26:08] uh correct. She will correct me if I say

[3:26:11] anything not quite right

[3:26:15] » And she will make sure the record is

[3:26:16] clear.

[3:26:17] » You can throw the hand sanitizer towards

[3:26:19] us.

[3:26:20] » Yeah. Do you want to

[3:26:23] » Okay.

[3:26:24] » So, this is an important update.

[3:26:26] » This is an important update. This is to

[3:26:27] confirm the timeline for filling the

[3:26:29] vacancy in district 4. Uh the timeline

[3:26:32] has been created based on a conversation

[3:26:35] with actually the three of the members

[3:26:36] here in person um during the chair vice

[3:26:39] chair meeting on Tuesday. Um the

[3:26:42] calendar is a visual look of what I

[3:26:45] would run through in this outline

[3:26:46] handout that you have as well just to

[3:26:48] confirm. Um if it's okay I'll just read

[3:26:51] through this and you guys can stop me if

[3:26:53] you have questions. Um so the the

[3:26:57] process basically is um outlined in

[3:26:59] state code and it requires that the

[3:27:01] council would receive applications and

[3:27:04] conduct interviews with eligible

[3:27:08] applicants and then um select a new

[3:27:10] council member within 30 days. Um based

[3:27:13] on the way the counting works out uh

[3:27:16] Wednesday was day one and the 30-day

[3:27:19] would 30 days would end on June 11th.

[3:27:22] Um, because of the number of meetings

[3:27:24] that the council already has on your

[3:27:26] calendar, uh, due to the budget, I don't

[3:27:29] anticipate that you would need to add

[3:27:30] any new council meetings. Uh, but you

[3:27:34] can confirm that for me as we walk

[3:27:36] through this. Um,

[3:27:39] there's also been a question, so I just

[3:27:41] wanted to go over a little bit of

[3:27:42] general info. There's been a question

[3:27:44] just about how it works. when council

[3:27:46] member Young was selected and appointed

[3:27:49] to fill the vacancy in district 7 there

[3:27:52] um she needed to hold elections because

[3:27:56] of the amount of time left in the term

[3:27:59] in this situation because there is less

[3:28:01] than two years left in the in the term.

[3:28:03] Whoever you appoint will serve the

[3:28:06] remainder of the term and then elections

[3:28:08] will still be held in fall of 2027 for

[3:28:12] the next term um beginning in January of

[3:28:15] 2028. Uh the recorders office will also

[3:28:18] post the applications

[3:28:20] um on the website once they have been or

[3:28:23] the names of the applicant and the

[3:28:25] paperwork on a website once those

[3:28:27] applicants have um the eligibility has

[3:28:30] been verified. So, that information is

[3:28:32] available to the public um along with

[3:28:35] also a conflict of interest form. Um,

[3:28:38] and we'll see how this plays out in your

[3:28:41] timeline down below. But just wanted to

[3:28:43] note um Cindy Lou pointed out that

[3:28:45] there's a new state code requirement

[3:28:47] that conflict of interest forms would be

[3:28:49] placed and available online for 7 days

[3:28:53] before the council appoints the new

[3:28:55] candidate. So, that is another extension

[3:28:58] that needs to be accounted for in our 30

[3:29:00] days. Could uh are we allowed to request

[3:29:03] the the conflict of interest form with

[3:29:05] the application?

[3:29:06] » Exactly. It will be

[3:29:08] » So it's it's so

[3:29:09] » Yeah they won't be a valified a verified

[3:29:11] candidate until they submit that.

[3:29:13] » Okay. So it's part of the process.

[3:29:14] » It will be part of the application.

[3:29:16] » Okay.

[3:29:18] » Okay. And then also you'll you um will

[3:29:21] have a resolution placed on one of your

[3:29:23] upcoming agendas that just cl addresses

[3:29:26] um the voting circum different voting

[3:29:29] circumstances. It's a new state code

[3:29:31] requirement as well that that

[3:29:32] information is um formally adopted so

[3:29:35] that everyone knows what to expect about

[3:29:37] how voting will occur. So, I'll just run

[3:29:39] through the dates. Um as we said, May

[3:29:41] 13th, yesterday, Wednesday, May 13th was

[3:29:44] day one. Um and so from that time, uh

[3:29:48] our office, Cindy Lou and the recorder's

[3:29:50] office, Keith and his staff have been

[3:29:53] coordinating on getting an ad posted. Um

[3:29:56] there is a requirement for a legal ad to

[3:29:58] be placed in the paper. It will be

[3:30:00] placed with the Salt Lake Tribune um and

[3:30:03] it and Utah legals. Um and it basically

[3:30:07] outlines what the timeline will be when

[3:30:09] application the application period

[3:30:11] opens, when it closes, and when the

[3:30:13] council anticipates you might hold the

[3:30:15] interviews and make um an appointment.

[3:30:19] Um, so in that time, not only will the

[3:30:22] public notice go out, but also um the

[3:30:26] your council staff communications team

[3:30:28] will kick into gear. Um, there's a there

[3:30:31] will be social media posts, website

[3:30:34] updates. Um, they have a vacancy hub

[3:30:37] website that goes through and explains a

[3:30:39] lot of the information that people can

[3:30:42] expect. We also take emails from anyone

[3:30:44] who wants to receive notification as we

[3:30:48] proc progress through this process and

[3:30:50] also notice will be posted in the city

[3:30:53] building. Um and the recorders office is

[3:30:56] also able to post that in the district 4

[3:30:58] library and other community gathering

[3:31:00] spaces too. So I I would say we will go

[3:31:03] ahead and do those steps but you guys

[3:31:05] can tell me if you don't want any of

[3:31:08] those things to happen.

[3:31:11] Could we add an additional things?

[3:31:13] » Yeah, of course.

[3:31:14] » Um, could we uh can we ensure that the

[3:31:17] newsletter on the social media pages for

[3:31:20] the district

[3:31:21] » Specific

[3:31:22] » Are updated so those that are in that

[3:31:24] email list and they're following those

[3:31:26] pages

[3:31:27] » Of course

[3:31:27] » Get it get

[3:31:29] » The nudge.

[3:31:30] » Yep. Absolutely. We will do that.

[3:31:32] So, the application period would begin

[3:31:36] next Monday, May 18th, and then it would

[3:31:38] extend through Monday, June 1st, at 5:00

[3:31:42] p.m. The council's past policy and

[3:31:44] practice has been to keep the

[3:31:46] application period open for two weeks.

[3:31:48] So, that is that twoe period, especially

[3:31:50] given that there's a holiday in the

[3:31:52] middle of it. Um the application um

[3:31:56] obviously will follow the state code

[3:31:58] requirements for what information needs

[3:32:00] to be provided. And then in the last

[3:32:03] time that the council held this process,

[3:32:06] we also included three to four questions

[3:32:08] on the application that the applicants

[3:32:10] would provide written answers to when

[3:32:13] they turn in their application. Um,

[3:32:17] I'm going to keep going, but I have a

[3:32:20] question for you on when the application

[3:32:21] period closes, but we'll come back to

[3:32:23] that. Um

[3:32:26] given applications being completed and

[3:32:30] provided to the council, um if the

[3:32:32] application period closes on Monday,

[3:32:34] June 1st, then realistically those would

[3:32:37] be the recorder's office could provide a

[3:32:40] complete packet of all of the

[3:32:41] applications to you by Tuesday morning

[3:32:44] on June 2nd. Given that, do you want to

[3:32:48] consider having interviews held on

[3:32:51] Thursday, June 4th, or do you want to

[3:32:53] wait and see how many applications you

[3:32:56] have to review and then decide

[3:32:59] on an interview and appointment

[3:33:02] schedule?

[3:33:04] I think it would have to be on the

[3:33:06] number of applications we have, but even

[3:33:08] on a Thursday, even if it's just only a

[3:33:10] few, uh I almost think that we need more

[3:33:13] time, especially that's the and because

[3:33:16] we have the budget going on also that I

[3:33:18] would recommend the 9th as a first date

[3:33:22] that we could actually interview it and

[3:33:25] select.

[3:33:26] » Yeah. And the reason that's helpful too,

[3:33:28] just to insert, is this 7-day conflict

[3:33:30] of interest posting requirement. If you

[3:33:34] wanted to definitely plan on Thursday,

[3:33:36] June 4th, we would want to change the

[3:33:39] application close date.

[3:33:41] » So the nine will meet that, right?

[3:33:43] Because if the applications end on the

[3:33:45] on the first,

[3:33:46] » That that will be enough time for that

[3:33:48] piece.

[3:33:50] » Nine seems to seems reasonable to me.

[3:33:53] » Um,

[3:33:54] » Okay. I think we got Sarah's Sarah's

[3:33:56] nodding. Yes.

[3:33:57] » Okay.

[3:33:59] » Okay, that's perfect. And then that also

[3:34:00] allows you flexibility

[3:34:02] » For me too.

[3:34:04] » Thank you. It also allows you

[3:34:06] flexibility if you did need to delay

[3:34:09] the final appointment until for one more

[3:34:12] night for whatever reason, then you

[3:34:13] would have until the that Thursday the

[3:34:15] 11th. So you we we'll just kind of

[3:34:17] reserve that as 9th and 11th. Okay. Um

[3:34:23] so that takes us through those last few

[3:34:27] items. Um

[3:34:30] next page um direction needed date a

[3:34:34] item one we already covered also item

[3:34:37] two and then so application questions.

[3:34:40] I've listed here the four questions that

[3:34:43] were used on the district 7 vacancy

[3:34:46] application. I modified them very

[3:34:49] slightly just to account for the fact

[3:34:50] that this is a different district. If

[3:34:52] you wanted to review those and give me

[3:34:54] any edits and council members online,

[3:34:56] I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that

[3:34:58] you have this information in your email

[3:35:00] either from Kristen or me earlier this

[3:35:02] afternoon. Um, and so if you wanted to

[3:35:05] review those questions and either give

[3:35:06] those to me now or by tomorrow, um, I

[3:35:10] could follow up with you all tomorrow to

[3:35:12] get any edits to the questions.

[3:35:14] » I personally think that there are

[3:35:15] accurate questions. they're they follow

[3:35:17] the a pattern of you know that we have

[3:35:20] followed in the past. Um but if maybe if

[3:35:25] any council member has changes or

[3:35:28] suggestions

[3:35:29] » Um but then by you know

[3:35:34] Monday uh you know we go with this

[3:35:37] questions um or no time right now.

[3:35:41] » Well I think it's tomorrow Friday would

[3:35:43] be good so that by Monday the

[3:35:45] application is available.

[3:35:46] So if but if you don't have any

[3:35:48] suggestions on changing them um then

[3:35:52] let's you know submit them by tomorrow.

[3:35:56] » Perfect.

[3:35:58] » Yeah. No no edits here.

[3:36:02] » No edits.

[3:36:03] » Me either.

[3:36:04] » Me neither. Thank you.

[3:36:06] » Perfect. Okay. We'll go with those.

[3:36:07] » Don't even wait then.

[3:36:08] » Then we can have it already online. Um

[3:36:12] regarding the interview format. Um, in

[3:36:14] the past the council um had on the night

[3:36:18] of interviews, um, state code requires

[3:36:21] that you give everybody an opportunity

[3:36:22] to address the council. The way that

[3:36:24] you've handled that in the past is to

[3:36:26] give each of the applicants five minutes

[3:36:28] to address the council on any topic they

[3:36:31] they want to. Do you want to continue

[3:36:33] with that practice for round one?

[3:36:36] » Generally, yes. Let me ask a clarifying

[3:36:38] question. So we are required to give

[3:36:41] every applicant

[3:36:43] uh every single one of them

[3:36:45] » An interview opportunity.

[3:36:47] » An interview opportunity and it has to

[3:36:48] be in a public meeting.

[3:36:50] » Correct.

[3:36:50] » It does and it does have to be eligible.

[3:36:53] So only validated applicants. Okay. If

[3:36:55] someone does not meet the requirements

[3:36:58] that are outlined in state code or does

[3:37:00] not submit their conflict of interest,

[3:37:01] they would not be available to be

[3:37:04] interviewed.

[3:37:05] » Let me ask about the time. Do we have to

[3:37:07] tell them how much time we're going to

[3:37:09] give them?

[3:37:10] » Yeah, that's my question. I'm wondering

[3:37:12] if it's like possible to give a range

[3:37:15] and then adjust and give them a final

[3:37:18] number based on how many applicants we

[3:37:20] had.

[3:37:21] » That's that's what I Yes, we we're

[3:37:23] synced in here.

[3:37:24] » What do you think is a good minimum

[3:37:25] number?

[3:37:26] » I feel like between three and five, but

[3:37:28] you know,

[3:37:28] » That's what I was thinking. Yes,

[3:37:30] » So you know, if we have 20 people apply,

[3:37:33] you know, we might go with a three. Um,

[3:37:35] you know, so that's sort of the the

[3:37:37] general sense.

[3:37:38] » The way that we've provided that

[3:37:40] information to the applicants in the

[3:37:42] past is once the application period is

[3:37:44] closed and we collect all of the

[3:37:46] applications, we I have sent them an

[3:37:49] email to just let them know what to

[3:37:51] expect in terms of next steps. And so we

[3:37:53] could even just wait until at that time

[3:37:56] tell them whatever you all have decided.

[3:37:59] » Okay.

[3:38:01] » Okay. And then in the past also we come

[3:38:04] up with a plan in case there's a round

[3:38:06] two, round three, round four. And the

[3:38:09] way that we've done that in the past is

[3:38:11] um round one is over, the council takes

[3:38:14] a vote to reduce the number of

[3:38:16] applicants who move on to round two and

[3:38:19] then you give them a question and let

[3:38:20] the applicants address the council um

[3:38:23] just on that one question and you give

[3:38:25] them two to three minutes to respond to

[3:38:27] that. Um, are you okay with that as a

[3:38:30] process for round two?

[3:38:31] » Could we do some rank choice voting?

[3:38:33] Although

[3:38:33] » Oh, rank choice voting might be

[3:38:35] interesting. Is it the same question for

[3:38:37] every applicant in round two?

[3:38:39] » I think that's what we did last time.

[3:38:41] » It is. [clears throat]

[3:38:42] It is what you did.

[3:38:43] » No,

[3:38:45] no, experience.

[3:38:46] » We got different questions and I think

[3:38:49] that that is one of the things I would

[3:38:52] flag feels a little inequitable.

[3:38:56] Um, and I just wonder if there's a way

[3:38:58] like like I said, you can have one

[3:39:00] applicant step out, one answer, and then

[3:39:03] come back in and answer um, so that

[3:39:05] they're answering the exact same

[3:39:07] question because I know in the final

[3:39:09] round we were answering different

[3:39:10] questions.

[3:39:13] » Yeah, that's

[3:39:15] Sarah. I believe Sarah

[3:39:18] » It might be worthwhile and I'm going off

[3:39:21] out of my lane but perhaps if there's an

[3:39:24] opportunity to pull the various

[3:39:26] questions so that you could determine

[3:39:29] which ones you want to ask as a group

[3:39:31] and have that consistency before the

[3:39:33] meeting. That would help. You don't have

[3:39:36] to share them with the public until you

[3:39:37] present them, but it would help with the

[3:39:39] congruence of all of you providing what

[3:39:41] you're interested in for the round two

[3:39:44] or the final round.

[3:39:46] » I like that as an option. Customer

[3:39:48] Wharton.

[3:39:49] » So, this will be my seventh time going

[3:39:52] through this process and it is uh never

[3:39:57] uh flawless. Um and it's um almost

[3:40:02] always

[3:40:04] um we discover some kind of flaw from

[3:40:07] the previous pro way that we did it. I

[3:40:11] mean I think that one way to avoid that

[3:40:14] is to

[3:40:16] give some questions uh or give a list of

[3:40:20] questions and let the applicant select

[3:40:23] which questions they want to answer. Um

[3:40:26] and that might give us you know, we

[3:40:29] could have it some questions that we

[3:40:30] want everyone to answer and then some

[3:40:32] questions that it's like you can pick

[3:40:33] which one of these you want us to you

[3:40:35] want us to know. Um, and then that way

[3:40:38] we might be able to kind of get

[3:40:41] not be getting the same thing over and

[3:40:43] over, but also be getting new and and

[3:40:46] relevant information. Um, but I'm sure

[3:40:48] that there's probably some flaw in that

[3:40:50] as well. But, um, that's the best thing

[3:40:53] that I've thought of um to address this.

[3:40:56] What what about to just merge some of

[3:41:00] the ideas? We select some questions for

[3:41:02] round two and we let them pick uh

[3:41:06] » You know out of those questions to which

[3:41:08] one they want to address. Um

[3:41:10] » Sure

[3:41:11] » I don't know. I I remember the the

[3:41:15] process that I went through. It wasn't I

[3:41:17] mean the flaw there that you guys didn't

[3:41:19] select me but um that was the biggest

[3:41:22] flaw. Chris looking at you. Um

[3:41:24] » I know I

[3:41:26] » Um but uh I would never forget that. Um

[3:41:29] but uh

[3:41:29] » The people the people of district 2

[3:41:31] promptly informed us they disagreed. So

[3:41:35] I'm glad that they did because this is

[3:41:37] not this is the le this is the worst

[3:41:39] part about being on the council.

[3:41:40] » No, no, no. I I don't care. Um so Dan,

[3:41:45] » My question we on round two, we're not

[3:41:47] giving them the questions until we give

[3:41:49] them the questions at round two.

[3:41:51] » Right.

[3:41:52] » Yeah. I think I think that's what we're

[3:41:53] asking here is that from Sarah's point,

[3:41:55] we we pick we can maybe pick out of a

[3:41:58] hat or we say we're going to select

[3:41:59] these questions to give them in round

[3:42:01] two and this question you've given round

[3:42:02] three.

[3:42:03] » But isn't that what Sarah flagged as

[3:42:05] like an odd um process?

[3:42:07] » But but we but we give them all the same

[3:42:09] question, but we don't tell them that

[3:42:12] question until we come to that round

[3:42:13] two.

[3:42:14] » Is that what you're saying, Sarah? So, I

[3:42:17] just remembered that there was a

[3:42:19] fishbowl and there were random questions

[3:42:21] that were in there and they drew out a

[3:42:23] question and I got to answer it and then

[3:42:25] they drew out a different question and

[3:42:27] another candidate got to answer it and

[3:42:30] at least from my perception and memory

[3:42:33] of it, I felt like I got an easier

[3:42:37] question and and I felt bad for the

[3:42:41] other applicant in that process.

[3:42:45] uh

[3:42:46] hearing some of these and I think maybe

[3:42:48] this was uh Council Member Wharton or

[3:42:50] maybe Council Member Young's uh

[3:42:52] suggestion. I think for round two, I

[3:42:55] like the idea of like here are

[3:42:56] recommended questions and then letting

[3:42:58] the applicant select um from that pool

[3:43:01] of recommended questions. That was your

[3:43:03] suggestion. I know it was somebody's

[3:43:05] idea. I'm trying to give credit trying

[3:43:06] to give credit. whoseever idea it was,

[3:43:08] I've aligned in that direction so that

[3:43:11] we hear a diversity of responses um and

[3:43:14] we are able to uh kind of compare

[3:43:17] answers across candidates for those who

[3:43:19] decide to answer the same question. Um I

[3:43:22] would like to suggest and this is my

[3:43:24] first rodeo on this so happy to defer to

[3:43:27] other council members. I imagine there

[3:43:29] will be around three and possibly around

[3:43:32] four. Um maybe maybe not. Um, I would

[3:43:36] like to leave subsequent rounds after

[3:43:39] round two open for more specific and

[3:43:41] tailored questions to the candidates.

[3:43:46] » I I will be okay with that. Um, what if

[3:43:49] we to throw a wrench in this whole

[3:43:51] conversation, the last five minutes?

[3:43:54] Who hates the idea of of rank choice

[3:43:57] voting? I mean, we, you know, that's how

[3:43:59] voters elect people. we just rank and

[3:44:02] you know we just use the process and

[3:44:03] it's just done in one ballot. Um it's a

[3:44:07] little harder for your side. Um

[3:44:09] potentially um

[3:44:11] » I the reason I would say I'm hesitant to

[3:44:15] do that but we do we do uh break it down

[3:44:19] and we need to look at the percentage

[3:44:21] year. If you have five candidates up

[3:44:23] there where do we break the line off for

[3:44:26] take the top two? Do we need unanimous

[3:44:29] respon unanimous or do is it you know

[3:44:31] you only need four.

[3:44:33] » So it it needs to be a majority but we

[3:44:36] also have to determine how the if a if

[3:44:38] it isn't a majority how the next segment

[3:44:42] next group of people would be um

[3:44:44] defined. That's part of the resolution

[3:44:46] that the attorney is preparing in

[3:44:48] response to the state legislation. So

[3:44:49] they asked that to be clarified before

[3:44:51] the process is defined. So what I can

[3:44:54] offer is that the attorneys are working

[3:44:56] on the resolution to outline that plan

[3:44:59] in respect of how you've done this in

[3:45:02] the past and we would circle a draft

[3:45:04] back to you for your review of that

[3:45:06] voting process so that we secure the

[3:45:10] reality that it must be a majority.

[3:45:12] » Okay. And the the other thing is in the

[3:45:15] past we've had some where uh we had two

[3:45:18] candidates that were neck and neck and

[3:45:20] we went through a couple different

[3:45:21] rounds and and it uh changed some uh

[3:45:26] votes there to make it. So I think that

[3:45:28] would have and we selected the right

[3:45:30] candidate uh but we may not have

[3:45:33] selected the right candidate if we had

[3:45:34] the right rate right. So that's that's

[3:45:37] why I'm always hesitant on that. It may

[3:45:39] shorten the process, but it may not be

[3:45:43] the the uh the best outcome.

[3:45:47] » Yeah, I'm okay if we don't do that and

[3:45:49] we stick to the process that we have in

[3:45:51] the past. Um we do it one round and then

[3:45:56] we have some questions that we we

[3:45:58] pre-select

[3:45:59] um and we let them decide for which one

[3:46:01] they want to answer. Um that sort of

[3:46:04] meets both worlds of issues here. uh to

[3:46:08] keep consistency but at the same time

[3:46:10] allowing us to some flexibility on some

[3:46:12] of the questions. Um

[3:46:15] and then we maybe to your point, Council

[3:46:20] Member Carlson,

[3:46:22] allow for some flexibility if there are

[3:46:24] more rounds. Um you know, anybody has

[3:46:27] any thoughts about that process?

[3:46:31] My only worry is having uh a a question

[3:46:34] come out that hasn't really been vetted

[3:46:36] from the rest of the council members. So

[3:46:37] that's and then directed to those. I

[3:46:39] think the questions that we ask, no

[3:46:41] matter where we ask should all be vetted

[3:46:43] and we all should agree to those

[3:46:44] questions, not have you know Dugan say,

[3:46:47] "Oh, this is my question now that we've

[3:46:48] gone all this stuff." It should be

[3:46:50] vetted by all of us and we kind of it's

[3:46:52] written and we just

[3:46:53] » So let's do this for round number three.

[3:46:55] We don't just get to throw a question

[3:46:58] out there. We coordinate what question

[3:47:00] we're gonna in the majority manner.

[3:47:02] Yeah. You know, four of us at least

[3:47:04] decide what question to ask if there is

[3:47:06] a round three and four.

[3:47:08] » And then we ask that question.

[3:47:10] » So we don't just throw random questions

[3:47:11] on there.

[3:47:12] » It may be random questions, but maybe a

[3:47:14] majority of us agreeing to that

[3:47:16] [laughter] random question.

[3:47:18] » Okay,

[3:47:19] » Perfect. Um,

[3:47:20] » Clear as mud.

[3:47:21] » Clear as mud. Great.

[3:47:22] » I think most of it is clear as mud or is

[3:47:25] actually really clear. And then on this

[3:47:27] voting process thing, we'll report back

[3:47:29] to you guys. We'll probably take time in

[3:47:30] another announcement to just get really

[3:47:32] clear on that.

[3:47:33] » No, and I appreciate it is a very clear

[3:47:35] process. I I do appreciate the staff

[3:47:38] working on these. Uh I know that we're

[3:47:40] working through the budget, working

[3:47:42] through all of the things. It's a big

[3:47:43] deal. Uh I also appreciate the

[3:47:46] consistency that this council um you

[3:47:49] know is following uh with in this

[3:47:51] process um and following the the same

[3:47:54] generally the same process we always

[3:47:56] followed to to solve this this issue. So

[3:47:59] um I think that that means a lot to me

[3:48:01] and I think it should mean a lot to the

[3:48:02] community. So thank you.

[3:48:05] » Sorry just one more question um because

[3:48:08] that's the word of the hour. Um, I

[3:48:11] imagine that uh applicants may want may

[3:48:14] have questions about can I talk to

[3:48:16] current council members about their

[3:48:18] experience to introduce myself and what

[3:48:20] I'd like to do confirming that that is

[3:48:22] allowed in the process or are there any

[3:48:25] restrictions or um items we should be

[3:48:28] aware of when talking to applicants?

[3:48:31] » Sure.

[3:48:33] Thanks for asking the question. there's

[3:48:36] been a an adjustment in the practices in

[3:48:39] order to keep the relationships clear

[3:48:42] from your voting. Right? So there have

[3:48:44] been an opportunity generally what what

[3:48:46] has been followed in my recollection and

[3:48:49] Lehwa can correct me if I'm wrong it was

[3:48:51] that if someone wanted to speak to you

[3:48:52] or wanted to share more about their

[3:48:53] experience it was encouraged that they

[3:48:55] provide a recommendation letter or that

[3:48:57] they put something in writing so that it

[3:48:59] can be within within the public record

[3:49:01] and it could be directed it's

[3:49:03] essentially directed to the entire

[3:49:04] council on their priorities so that it's

[3:49:07] beyond the application. It's just a

[3:49:09] recommendation. It's not required.

[3:49:10] That's totally optional, but there is

[3:49:12] not a legal component about any

[3:49:15] relationship or discussion you have with

[3:49:17] any of the applicants as a council

[3:49:19] member. And I would refer to Mark for

[3:49:22] any legal guidance.

[3:49:28] » We're good.

[3:49:29] » Okay. Thank you everyone. This meeting

[3:49:31] is journ. Thank you. [laughter] Bye.

[3:49:50] » [music]

Salt Lake City Council Work Session - 05/14/2026

Transcript