Budget Committee December 02, 2024   12/2/2024

Consent

• • SPEAKER_00
  • 00:00:12
    Interesting.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:01:12
    Good afternoon, my name is Aisha Chugtai and I'm the chair of the Budget Committee.
  • 00:01:16
    I'm going to call to order our regular meeting for Monday, December 2nd, 2024.
  • 00:01:22
    Before we begin the meeting, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation.
  • 00:01:32
    These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community.
  • 00:01:38
    Therefore all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast.
  • 00:01:46
    We ask all speakers to be mindful of the rate of their speech and clarity of their comments.
  • 00:01:53
    At this time I'll ask the clerk to call the roll so we can verify the presence of a quorum.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:01:58
    Councilmember Payne.
  • 00:01:59
    Present.
  • 00:02:00
    Wonsley.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:02:01
    Present.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:02:02
    Rainville.
  • 00:02:02
    Present.
  • 00:02:03
    Vitaw.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:02:04
    Present.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:02:05
    Ellison.
  • 00:02:05
    Here.
  • 00:02:06
    Osmond.
  • 00:02:07
    Present.
  • 00:02:08
    Let the record reflect that we have a quorum.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:02:26
    I will also remind my colleagues that we will be using speaker management today, so please make sure you sign in.
  • 00:02:33
    We have one item on our consent agenda today and three items on our discussion agenda.
  • 00:02:39
    We will start with the approval of the item on consent.
  • 00:02:42
    This is a technical correction amending language to complete the revenue transfer from American Rescue Plan Act funds to the general fund for the revenue replacement project.
  • 00:02:54
    Is there any discussion or are there questions from the committee related to this item?
  • 00:03:04
    I am not seeing any, so with that I will move approval of this item.
  • 00:03:09
    All those in favor please signify by saying aye.
  • 00:03:13
    Aye.
  • 00:03:13
    Those opposed say nay.
  • 00:03:16
    Any abstentions?
  • 00:03:18
    The ayes have it and that motion carries.
  • 00:03:20
    Next up is item number two, which is related to appointed, non-represented, and politically appointed employee salary schedules for 2025.
  • 00:03:29
    This item was originally heard at our last regular committee meeting, but was referred back to us by the City Council.
  • 00:03:37
    I've asked Brenda Miller from the Human Resources Department to give us another presentation considering that her first presentation was given to us in a bit of a rush state at the end of a very long meeting following our incredibly well attended second public hearing on the budget.
  • 00:03:56
    With that I will invite Ms. Miller to join us and begin her presentation.
  • 00:04:01
    Welcome.
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:04:02
    Thank you, Chair Chogtai and members of the committee.
  • 00:04:04
    I'm here to request a 4% increase to the appointed, non-represented, and politically appointed salary schedules for 2025.
  • 00:04:11
    This 4% increase, like I said, would go to the appointed, non-represented, and politically appointed.
  • 00:04:19
    It would cost approximately $2.7 million and would cover about 653 employees.
  • 00:04:25
    It would be effective the pay period beginning December 29th of 2024 and the increases support internal equity and are consistent with recently Adopted labor agreements and it's also consistent with external equity With projected labor market movement in 2025.
  • 00:04:44
    It's also in the 2025 budget Thank you
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:04:51
    Thank you for that presentation Ms. Miller.
  • 00:04:54
    Are there any questions or discussion from committee members?
  • 00:05:04
    I will first recognize Councilmember Cashman.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:05:07
    Thank you, Chair Chug-Thay.
  • 00:05:09
    Can you please explain the difference between appointed and politically appointed employees?
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:05:13
    Sure, the politically appointed employees are the ones that report to the council and to the mayor, so they're politically appointed.
  • 00:05:21
    The appointed are those typically directors who serve at the discretion of the mayor in various departments.
  • 00:05:33
    Some are issued through or some are identified through the council charter.
  • 00:05:37
    Others are just Jobs that we determine meet the criteria of section 2010 10 of the city charter Okay.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:05:47
    Thank you.
  • 00:05:48
    So an appointed position is any that's you know Selected by the mayor or the council instead of going through a regular hiring process They can be appointed by the mayor.
  • 00:05:59
    Yes.
  • 00:06:00
    Okay.
  • 00:06:00
    Thank you.
• • 00:06:01
    Mm-hmm
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:06:03
    Wonderful.
  • 00:06:04
    Next I will recognize Councilmember Chaudry.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 00:06:08
    Thank you Madam Chair, thank you for your presentation.
  • 00:06:11
    For the appointed employees, just to clarify, that's looking like for this specifically, is it leadership of departments?
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:06:21
    Yes, generally there are some folks that are below leadership levels that are appointed.
  • 00:06:27
    All of those have come to council in the past to be approved as meeting that section 2010-10 of the city charter.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 00:06:35
    And I it's good to know it's also Other folks that might not be like the director of the department But is this inclusive of all the directors of departments or some or it's not in total No, all the director all director level employees would be included in this.
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:06:53
    Okay, great.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:06:54
    Thank you Thank you
  • 00:06:59
    I am not seeing any further questions or discussion items.
  • 00:07:06
    I am actually going to move approval of, I want to split up the question here.
  • 00:07:17
    So 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 being taken up separately.
  • 00:07:22
    So I will start with item 2.1 which is approving an increase to the salary and wage schedule by 4% for the appointed employee group as discussed here today.
  • 00:07:34
    That includes all director level positions along with
  • 00:07:40
    most deputy director level positions across the enterprise and accounts for this increase accounts for about a million dollars.
  • 00:07:52
    So starting with that I will move to actually deny this increase and happy to have further discussion or we can have the clerks call the roll.
  • 00:08:09
    I will recognize Councilmember Cashman.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:08:13
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
  • 00:08:14
    On the motion to deny this, what would happen with the million dollars appropriated in the budget for it?
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:08:20
    That million dollars is currently a part of the current service level calculations for 2025, so it wouldn't be used for that purpose.
  • 00:08:32
    It would fall to the bottom line.
  • 00:08:33
    Okay, thanks.
  • 00:08:39
    I will next recognize Councilmember Chaudry.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 00:08:45
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
  • 00:08:48
    I know that this is We're taking this item back up as a body and just like wanted to note.
  • 00:08:56
    Oh, thank you wanted to note that Yeah, what what we're discussing is
  • 00:09:05
    What we're discussing is saving an additional million dollars.
  • 00:09:10
    I personally feel like it's prudent for us to consider this amid budget constraints and I think it's also important for the public to understand why we're having this discussion about denial for these higher level positions and a raise.
  • 00:09:25
    I think an additional million dollars potentially falling to the budget.
  • 00:09:29
    general budget line or us considering it as a part of our discussion for levy reduction is prudent.
  • 00:09:38
    I know we're going to have many discussions together as a body as we go through this budget cycle and so that's how I'm personally wrapping my head around this item.
  • 00:09:46
    and I'm supportive of denial at this time.
  • 00:09:52
    I understand that our directors and deputy directors and city staff at large work very hard within our city and at the same time this is already salary positions that are highly competitive, highly well paid and if
  • 00:10:08
    In this moment where we're facing a deficit where unfortunately we're going into a period of austerity budgeting or contemplating it and we don't Me personally, I don't want to go in a direction of layoffs.
  • 00:10:21
    I think this is a prudent way for us to discuss some savings and bringing back dollars to residents within our city
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:10:32
    Thank you.
  • 00:10:33
    Next I'll recognize Council Member Cashman.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:10:35
    Thank you Madam Chair and sorry that my questions are so disparate.
  • 00:10:38
    The next question that I wanted to ask and it's actually for you I believe is what is the average salary of this group if you know or if there's a range?
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:10:48
    I don't know.
  • 00:10:49
    I'm sorry.
  • 00:10:50
    I don't know what the average salary is.
  • 00:10:53
    The range can go anywhere from say $90,000 up to I believe as high as
  • 00:11:02
    300,000.
  • 00:11:02
    Okay.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:11:05
    I'll just, you know, kind of echo Councilmember Choudry's comments here that as we're approaching the budget right now and we're all looking for places to cut, I know many of us do have budget cuts that try to get a million dollars here, a million dollars there, and I do think that if we're looking at a four percent raise for some of the highest paid employees that that would be a good place to look for a cut.
  • 00:11:28
    So I'll also support this motion to deny on that item today.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:11:33
    Thank you, and then I'll just provide some context that the highest paid position is about three hundred and ninety thousand dollars Next I will recognize council member Rainville.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 00:11:49
    Thank you.
  • 00:11:50
    Who makes $390,000?
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:11:52
    The Commissioner of Community Safety.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 00:11:56
    Well, thank you for that.
  • 00:11:59
    I do agree that we have to look at our budget.
  • 00:12:01
    In fact, I have some amendments that call for reduction, but I think we should be more.
  • 00:12:05
    To me, this seems vindictive and that we're focusing on these people.
  • 00:12:09
    I don't like that message at all.
  • 00:12:11
    So I do look forward to continuing discussions about how we reduce the budget, but to single out one group and bear that I think is bad policy.
  • 00:12:21
    So I will not be supporting this motion.
  • 00:12:23
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:12:26
    Thank you.
  • 00:12:27
    Next I'll recognize Councilmember Chaudry.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 00:12:30
    Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
  • 00:12:32
    I just want to make sure that my intent is clear.
  • 00:12:34
    I'll just respectfully disagree with my colleague on a personality's comment on vindictiveness.
  • 00:12:40
    I think when we're sitting up here and when I'm sitting up here I'm looking at this as
  • 00:12:46
    We have a budget, we have to think about how we're going to find savings and this is a way to ensure savings are made while we're keeping our workforce intact.
  • 00:12:56
    We're making sure that our leadership and city staff maintains the salary that they are receiving.
  • 00:13:03
    I think this is a moment where we're all going to have to make some tough decisions.
  • 00:13:08
    This is one of them, but I have nothing but respect for our city staff that carries out the duties of our city every single day.
  • 00:13:14
    I know that they're trying to do the most that they can with the limited resources that they see forthcoming come to 2025.
  • 00:13:23
    I know that they asked in early budget conversations for many things to be within their department.
  • 00:13:31
    Some of them were able to come through in the mayor's proposed budget and then we'll take up discussion and do markup on our own so I just wanted to note that and I just I Also want to know just the difficult nature of this conversation There's a lot that we're balancing here and having this conversation
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:13:51
    Thank you.
  • 00:13:52
    Next I'll recognize Councilmember Vitale.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:13:54
    Thank you, Chair.
  • 00:13:55
    Just a quick question about the process.
  • 00:13:57
    You said that you were moving to, how did you, you phrased it differently.
  • 00:14:02
    We weren't just going to vote on it the regular way.
  • 00:14:05
    You said it different.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:14:06
    I moved to deny.
  • 00:14:08
    To deny.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:14:09
    Okay.
  • 00:14:09
    Alright.
  • 00:14:10
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:14:11
    Wonderful, thank you.
  • 00:14:13
    I'm not seeing any further discussion.
  • 00:14:14
    So with that I will ask the clerk to call the roll on item 2.1, which is 4% salary increases for appointed officials.
  • 00:14:23
    Yes, which is denying 4% salary increases for appointed officials.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:14:29
    Councilmember Payne.
  • 00:14:30
    Aye.
  • 00:14:31
    Wonsley.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:14:32
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:14:33
    Rainville.
  • 00:14:34
    No.
  • 00:14:35
    Vita.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:14:35
    No.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:14:37
    Ellison.
• • 00:14:38
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:14:38
    There are eight ayes and four nays
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:15:02
    Thank you.
  • 00:15:03
    Next I will move to approve item 2.2 which is a 4% increase for the politically appointed employee group.
  • 00:15:17
    I'll ask the clerk to call the roll.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:26
    Councilmember Payne.
• • 00:15:29
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:29
    Wonsley?
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:15:30
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:31
    Rainville?
  • 00:15:32
    Aye.
  • 00:15:33
    Vita?
  • 00:15:34
    Aye.
  • 00:15:35
    Ellison?
  • 00:15:36
    Aye.
  • 00:15:37
    Osman?
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 00:15:38
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:39
    Cashman?
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 00:15:39
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:40
    Jenkins?
  • 00:15:42
    It's absent.
  • 00:15:43
    Chavez?
  • 00:15:44
    Aye.
  • 00:15:44
    Chaudhry?
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 00:15:45
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:46
    Paul Massano?
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 00:15:48
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:49
    Vice Chair Koski?
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 00:15:50
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:51
    Chair Chug Thai?
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:15:52
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:15:53
    There are 12 ayes and 1 absent.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:15:57
    Thank you.
  • 00:15:58
    Next we will move to item number three, which is four percent increases for all classified jobs in the non-represented employee group.
  • 00:16:07
    I will move approval of this item and ask the clerk to call the roll.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:16:12
    Councilmember Payne.
  • 00:16:14
    Aye.
  • 00:16:15
    Lonsly.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:16:16
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:16:17
    Rainville.
  • 00:16:18
    Aye.
  • 00:16:19
    Vitau.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:16:19
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:16:20
    Ellison.
  • 00:16:21
    Aye.
  • 00:16:22
    Osman.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:16:23
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:16:24
    Cashman.
• • 00:16:25
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:16:26
    is absent.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:16:41
    Thank you.
  • 00:16:42
    Next up, so item number 2.1 has been denied, that motion carried.
  • 00:16:51
    Item number 2.2 and 2.3 have both been approved and that motion carries.
  • 00:16:58
    Those motions carry.
  • 00:16:59
    Next up, we have item number three and that is the appointed position in the Office of Community Safety of Deputy Commissioner of Community Safety.
  • 00:17:06
    For that, I will now re-invite Brenda Miller from the Human Resources Department to give that presentation.
  • 00:17:13
    Welcome.
  • 00:17:16
    Clerks, if we can make sure Ms. Miller's microphone is on.
  • 00:17:21
    Thank you.
  • 00:17:22
    Go ahead.
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:17:23
    I'm here to present the Deputy Commissioner of Community Safety for your approval.
  • 00:17:28
    The Deputy Commissioner of Community Safety is part of the Office of Community Safety and will lead various Office of Community Safety departments to provide equitable, ethical, and effective service delivery to the city while providing guidance and strategic work direction to assigned areas of responsibility.
  • 00:17:45
    The Deputy Commissioner of Community Safety has been evaluated at 830 points, grade 18.
  • 00:17:51
    The 2024 schedule ranges from 182 to 215,000.
  • 00:17:59
    This position will not be filled until 2025.
  • 00:18:05
    The 2025 costs for this position are funded by converting two MPD vacancies to this position and MPD discretionary funding.
  • 00:18:15
    The changes would be effective December 5, 2024.
  • 00:18:21
    This position meets the criteria of Section 2010-10 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances.
  • 00:18:29
    It reports to the Commissioner of Community Safety.
  • 00:18:31
    It's a member of the Office of Community Safety's Executive Management Team.
  • 00:18:35
    It develops and implements city policies, goals, and strategic planning for the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:18:41
    It requires leadership, team building, and strategy implementation and establishes policy goals and strategies that are consistent with the goals and priorities established by the Mayor, City Council, and the Commissioner of Community Safety Our request is that you find that the Deputy Commissioner of Community Safety meets the appointed criteria as defined in section 2010-10 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances and forward it on to Council for approval.
  • 00:19:09
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:19:10
    Thank you, Ms. Miller.
  • 00:19:11
    I will now invite Commissioner of Community Safety Todd Barnett to speak to this position.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:19:24
    Good afternoon.
  • 00:19:29
    also members of course I'm Todd Barnett Commissioner of Community Safety and I just wanted to make a couple of comments about this position Deputy Commissioner within the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:19:44
    This position is crucial at this time because of
  • 00:19:49
    What I believe is our shared goals to have compliance beyond the settlement agreement and hopefully the consent decree that we'll get and also The implementation of the safe and thriving community report and as you know, that's a 10-year plan
  • 00:20:09
    I think part of explaining this is that we have all of these requirements and conditions for the settlement agreement that we currently have.
  • 00:20:23
    and people focus in on MPD and all of that work that goes on there.
  • 00:20:30
    But when you look at what's being asked by LIFA and what we need to do, a lot of the alternatives to the response of police lie in a lot of the work that will come out of the Safe and Thriving Community Report and why do I say that?
  • 00:20:52
    because people, I think, look at MPD as separate.
  • 00:20:56
    They are part of our community safety ecosystem and part of that system, they play a critical role, there's no doubt there.
  • 00:21:09
    they're just a part of that system and as we're moving forward and looking at alternatives and being innovative and also being accountable to what we're doing and trying to use data and other things they are interconnected and so
  • 00:21:28
    Given the scope and the size of this work needed to accomplish the goals for community safety, a deputy commissioner is crucial and essential to ensuring a consistent, thoughtful, and intentional planning.
  • 00:21:43
    Not just across the five community safety departments, but across the whole enterprise.
  • 00:21:50
    Not just
  • 00:21:52
    I think a lot of people think of community safety in the five departments but when we're trying to move this work we have to move it as an enterprise and so we're constantly in contact with departments like IT or 311 or the City Attorney's Office in order to get this work done.
  • 00:22:10
    There's no doubt that the Deputy Commissioner would be a primary driver in the executive oversight
  • 00:22:17
    and implementation and compliance of the settlement agreement, but this person also provides executive leadership in coordination as we look at those priorities that are relative to the Safe and Thriving Community Report.
  • 00:22:36
    We see a lot of that in the work that Director Amanda Harrington does with our safety centers, with other things that we're trying to accomplish.
  • 00:22:49
    This position, of course, does not currently exist, although it is provided in the charter.
  • 00:22:57
    Right now, a lot of the duties of what the deputy commissioner would take on lie between myself and my chief of staff, of course.
  • 00:23:07
    So, for instance,
  • 00:23:09
    Right now, the Chief of Staff is involved in a lot of the work around the settlement agreement, but he's also in the DOJ negotiations.
  • 00:23:20
    And those are not the role for the Chief of Staff.
  • 00:23:23
    That's a role for the Deputy Commissioner or myself.
  • 00:23:26
    But we're just spread thin in what we need to accomplish in our sort of day-to-day operations and just as we move along in implementing
  • 00:23:37
    all the things that we have to do for community safety.
  • 00:23:42
    When you look at the deputy commissioner's role, I really look at it in about three areas.
  • 00:23:49
    And that is, one, when you look at that operational leadership, the chief of staff is really that day-to-day leadership with the immediate staff, where the deputy really oversees the operations and how things are connected overall.
  • 00:24:09
    Of course the deputy commissioner would substitute for me in places where I'm not available but also this person coordinates the departments in getting things done and making sure that we're aligned.
  • 00:24:25
    Whereas the chief of staff is more in communications making things are going well there where that deputy is really in controlling how we're moving as an enterprise to accomplish our goals.
  • 00:24:39
    So I'll end with just that the immediate need right now is the work that's being done on the Safe and Thriving Community Report and also the need to really address the heavy lifting involved with compliance beyond the settlement agreement.
  • 00:24:57
    Thanks.
  • 00:24:58
    I'll stand for questions if there are any.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:25:01
    Thank you for your presentation.
  • 00:25:03
    Colleagues, are there any questions related to this proposed appointed position?
  • 00:25:09
    I will first recognize Council Member Wonsley followed by Council Member Cashman.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:25:13
    Yes.
  • 00:25:13
    Thank you, Council Vice President Chuktai.
  • 00:25:16
    I just had a couple of questions and comments.
  • 00:25:19
    On the slide, it mentions that the presentation is being filled by two MPD
  • 00:25:24
    positions, can you clarify which specific roles within MPD is this being funded through or sourced through?
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:25:35
    Chair Chuktai, Councilmember Wasley, I have my Director of Administration to answer that question way more succinctly than I could, so I'll ever do that.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 00:25:44
    Thank you.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 00:25:47
    Thank you, Chair Chogtai, Councilmember Wonsley.
  • 00:25:50
    The two vacant positions are an Office Support Specialist II and a Project Manager.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:25:57
    That is good to know because we have budget coming out and I believe those are two budget items that I'm also looking at so it would be good to touch base on that piece and yeah.
  • 00:26:11
    With that too also can you share this might be a little bit more for the Commissioner in terms of just like a percentage breakdown.
  • 00:26:20
    of, you know, time you spend right now pertaining to the settlement agreement and that this new deputy commissioner will also spend just trying to get a sense of like offloading the workload for you and what you're spending now and how this person will take that up.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:26:38
    Yes, I shared, I checked that council member wisely and the director of administration was Maren Anderson.
  • 00:26:47
    Percentage wise, that varies, Council Member Wonsley.
  • 00:26:51
    And right now, if I could explain it this way.
  • 00:26:58
    When the State Human Rights Department went into negotiation, a lot of the heavy lifting for that was with the City Attorney's Office.
  • 00:27:11
    So that work, if you can think of it, when that settlement agreement was finalized,
  • 00:27:20
    that work started really then an NPD starting to ramp up and I think you saw that the last couple of budget cycles with the staff requests for that implementation unit and what have you.
  • 00:27:35
    So as that has been going on, also what's shifting is
  • 00:27:45
    Now that we have an independent evaluator in ELIFA, we're now focusing a lot on the compliance of that settlement agreement.
  • 00:27:56
    So where the lift started with the City Attorney, now that workload is moving more under the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:28:07
    And what you would have seen previously is MPD
  • 00:28:14
    working like this and I would say sort of like a silo although there were other departments but now what's needing to happen because being able to implement this work involves so many other departments is that sort of cross department work and how do we move
  • 00:28:37
    in a direction as a city instead of NPD just moving separately.
  • 00:28:42
    So I say all that to say that if I had to guess a percentage that I'm spending, I would say probably right now 30 percent
  • 00:28:58
    of my work is probably somehow connected to the settlement agreement itself and that's slowly ramping up.
  • 00:29:08
    Right now I think a lot of the last couple of weeks have been really focused on the possible consent decree.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:29:18
    And with the DLJ, because my understanding is also the DLJ's provisions were wrapped into the MDHR settlement agreement so we wouldn't have two separate consent decrees.
  • 00:29:29
    Do we foresee, again, those compliance provisions kind of wrapping up where you would be
  • 00:29:35
    having increasing responsibilities and then this deputy also will be having increasing responsibilities and I'm trying to figure out how does that pair then with Director Harrington's because you also mentioned the alternative response and from my understanding like Director Harrington is moving a bulk of that work largely a lot by herself.
  • 00:29:58
    Interest of how would a director at that level support her?
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:30:03
    Yes.
  • 00:30:05
    Chair Chuktai, Council Member Wisely, just to go back, there will still be two different agreements, if we can call them that.
  • 00:30:15
    We'll call the state when the settlement agreement, but there will be a separate consent decree from the federal government.
  • 00:30:30
    Yes, there are provisions within the settlement agreement that defers to the possible consent decree.
  • 00:30:39
    That's very true.
  • 00:30:43
    The idea, of course, is to have one independent evaluator.
  • 00:30:48
    I think you can probably expect that the federal government have other things that they look at that were separate from the state Human Rights Department, so there'll probably be other things in addition to the settlement agreement that need to take place.
  • 00:31:08
    We just don't know yet because that hasn't been finalized, but
  • 00:31:12
    We will have two agreements, one with the state and one with the federal government that we'll have to comply with.
  • 00:31:21
    Getting to Director Amanda Harrington, what I will say there is
  • 00:31:29
    and I think she'll agree with me.
  • 00:31:31
    She's done amazing work with the limited staff she has in what she does.
  • 00:31:39
    And if you can think of her as a
  • 00:31:44
    her own department almost, this person, this deputy commissioner could really help in that work.
  • 00:31:53
    How do we move the enterprise in this direction?
  • 00:31:56
    Because both of these things intersect with each other and having that type of executive oversight and support I think would be helpful.
  • 00:32:05
    Because it's really getting to the priorities of what is needed to have that breadth of knowledge.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:32:13
    And that's why I'm a little also confused because from my understanding, you know, Director Harrington comes to PHS
  • 00:32:21
    pretty frequently, she keeps us in the loop, does a very good job on that.
  • 00:32:26
    And she's reporting to us, she has implementation teams amongst the enterprise where they are representing staff, again, all across the enterprise of how they're moving the work forward around the safe and thriving communities report and plan, how they're moving that work forward.
  • 00:32:44
    So this idea that she is orchestrating this staff buy-in and also doing so while
  • 00:32:49
    getting other external agencies bought in so I will name and I'll just segue to like my comments then of like where I'm struggling with this position and this is kind of tied to our earlier discussion around the previous positions but just like the purpose of these deputy positions under the new government structure and how this is translating to also like
  • 00:33:11
    the underlying theme around how they're getting at increasing higher level of basically service to our residents and the key piece of like just public safety services because that's essentially what you all are charged with and that's what the good consent decrees are being charged with of how we're providing ethical non-racist you know armed safety services but also safe and thriving is like how do we streamline and provide quality unarmed safety services and pair those together and
  • 00:33:40
    and under this new umbrella of the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:33:45
    And it's been a challenge to really evaluate how these deputy director positions really have to streamline that and if they're just adding another layer of unnecessary bureaucracy.
  • 00:33:57
    And we haven't done a really good job of integrating just ongoing evaluation of whether or not they are helping or essentially doing that piece.
  • 00:34:10
    I will name we all know like our residents care about public safety like that's a top priority and I think you know I would rather like to see us prioritize us making those those programmatic investments and in fact like our last PHS meeting we had that OCS quarterly update and you all provided like thorough you know information on basically what you accomplished this year thus far
  • 00:34:35
    and then your tentative goals going into 2025 in the OCS work plan section.
  • 00:34:41
    A lot of it was, again, Director Harrington's lion's share of work of just the great things she's been doing with the, you know, collaborations she's doing with council members like Council Member Chavez or Council President Payne with the Lake Street Safety Center or the safety ambassador programs like working with us.
  • 00:35:02
    in spite of opposition initially from the mayor to roll out these critical safety programs and it's been great to be able to have that and as you mentioned it's just like one of her and it would be great to instead of have another director which she is a director why wouldn't we just repurpose that position to support
  • 00:35:21
    multiple of her and that was even reinforced by the NYU report where they're saying you actually do need to reinforce your expansion of unarmed safety services that's literally spelled out in the Safe and Thriving Communities report.
  • 00:35:35
    You have the capabilities to divert almost 50% of 911 calls away from MPD and this could actually tackle some of the staffing challenges that you all are talking about as it pertains to MPD and overall in your public safety system.
  • 00:35:49
    So Director Harrington is literally taking that on like face value.
  • 00:35:55
    So as we're talking about this conversation of prioritization, I'm really struggling to see in this current time how this position fits in with that particular need.
  • 00:36:06
    as organizationally when we could literally be providing a 200 and something thousand dollar position maybe to provide to maybe FTEs directly under her division right now.
  • 00:36:19
    So I would say I can't support this position based off of that.
  • 00:36:24
    that is delivering that.
  • 00:36:42
    that division that you've all set up and her amazing leadership they are delivering that and I would love to see that infrastructure be invested in and if we have resources like this available right now I would love to be that be reprioritized and you as the leader of this office to be able to make those decisions to be able to move those resources where it's being very clearly
  • 00:37:06
    like where it's being most effectively used.
  • 00:37:09
    So I'll just name that and why I won't be supporting this position today.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:37:14
    Chair Chuck, can I make one comment?
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 00:37:18
    Go ahead.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:37:18
    Thank you.
  • 00:37:20
    Councilmember Wonsley, I think we do agree about how amazing Director Harrington is.
  • 00:37:27
    But she can't keep up this pace.
  • 00:37:30
    I mean, her pace is unbelievable right now.
  • 00:37:36
    being able to take some of this load off just across this division would be helpful.
  • 00:37:44
    I don't know, I mean I haven't worked in any other division to talk about how they use their folks.
  • 00:37:52
    I think each time that I've come here and talked about a specific
  • 00:37:58
    position in the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:38:02
    I've really tried not to rush in field positions.
  • 00:38:07
    I've been thoughtful and intentional about trying to analyze what that
  • 00:38:15
    position should be used for or trying to reclassify a position.
  • 00:38:21
    Like I reclassified a position to have a directive of administration.
  • 00:38:24
    I was lucky to get who you saw here, Director Marian Anderson, to be able to help.
  • 00:38:35
    The touch points that Director Harrington is making comes with a cost with the speed at which we want to get this work done.
  • 00:38:50
    As I look at these two huge things for the city that's under community safety, and I think of the speed in which this council, ALIFA, the residents want things to happen, I do just think that this position is critical to moving this work
  • 00:39:13
    at a pace, one that's reasonable, but also at the pace that I think is being expected.
  • 00:39:20
    So thank you.
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:39:21
    I'm sorry, Council President, can I just offer a quick comment on that?
  • 00:39:26
    I'm looking at the org chart that you presented with the budget and I'm looking under the, as you mentioned, division.
  • 00:39:32
    that Director Harrington leads design and implementation and she has one senior project manager and a data analyst.
  • 00:39:38
    So actually you and I are not saying very different things.
  • 00:39:41
    What I'm saying is I would love to have seen instead of another upper level manager position that we're being asked to approve, why not another two senior program managers under this division
  • 00:39:51
    for this, the repurposing of this position for that.
  • 00:39:54
    To make investments in this particular division, as you just named, is doing incredible work and the lion's share of that work is being driven by one individual who, this is not sustainable.
  • 00:40:06
    We see Director Harrington,
  • 00:40:07
    I get emails from her at 9 p.m. That's crazy.
  • 00:40:11
    I know workers should be sending emails at 9 p.m.
  • 00:40:14
    But I know she's that dedicated and committed to that work to keeping us updated and making it clear that she is committed to making sure that this work is being seen through.
  • 00:40:24
    And I would love to have seen this position be reclassified for her to have gotten two additional FTEs for that.
  • 00:40:31
    So actually I don't think we're saying anything different.
  • 00:40:34
    I just wish I would not be approving this particular position
  • 00:40:37
    and seeing two FTEs is there for that division.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:40:41
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:40:44
    Thank you.
  • 00:40:44
    Next I will recognize Councilmember Keshen.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:40:50
    Thank you Madam Chair.
  • 00:40:51
    I believe my question is for Ms. Miller.
  • 00:40:53
    I was just wondering if how many deputy commissioner positions there are in the city and and how that position is very different from like an interagency coordinator like the positions we see in reg services and CPED and public works.
• • Brenda Miller
  • 00:41:12
    That's a very good question or a couple of questions and I don't have the answers for you today but I'd be happy to get back to you on that.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:41:19
    okay and then maybe this is for Commissioner Barnett is why did you seek a deputy commissioner versus an interagency coordinator you know I've been on the council for almost a year now but since the very beginning of the year my question for you has often been like why isn't there an interagency coordinator in the Office of Community Safety because in CPED and reg services and public works that's our go-to person that does what Amanda Harrington does with like the updates to council or
  • 00:41:48
    a liaising between 311 and Council and other departments and you mentioned that as something that the Deputy Commissioner would do.
  • 00:41:54
    So how did you make that decision?
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:41:59
    Chair Chuktay, Council Member Cashman, when I took on this role, I looked at what positions
  • 00:42:12
    we had in the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:42:15
    And so when you look, I think it's, I could be wrong, I think it's like 12.10 in the ordinance, it calls for a deputy within the Office of Community Safety.
  • 00:42:27
    So each of these roles within the office I've tried to fill.
  • 00:42:33
    The reason why I think this position specifically
  • 00:42:37
    is important.
  • 00:42:39
    Going back to some of my comments earlier is just that the lifting of the work that needs to be done across the departments
  • 00:42:51
    and I said that earlier and I would add to it is just not within the city of Minneapolis, but we're having these partnerships with Hennepin County trying to have partnerships with the state.
  • 00:43:05
    This position is crucial to doing that work at the speed that is expected of us.
• • Michael Cashman
  • 00:43:12
    Okay, thanks for that answer.
  • 00:43:16
    I would like to have a follow-up on the amount of deputy commissioners versus amount of interagency coordinators and just what the difference is between those roles or the expected differences between those roles and thank you Commissioner for outlining that it's more than just coordination within the enterprise but like with other governmental partners as well that you see this role playing as well.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:43:44
    Thank you.
  • 00:43:46
    And next I will recognize Councilmember Rainville followed by Councilmember Palmisano.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 00:43:52
    Thank you.
  • 00:43:54
    I will be voting for this and I'd like my colleagues to think through how we get to this higher level of non-armed public safety and we get through that by having the staff to carry it out.
  • 00:44:05
    So with the
  • 00:44:08
    I think we're going to get that done before the new regime takes over at the federal government.
  • 00:44:19
    So we will have one.
  • 00:44:21
    We need someone to carry that through.
  • 00:44:23
    and we really need help with our public safety from the county and state and we're not getting that help right now.
  • 00:44:29
    We need someone that is responsible and can be held accountable and that's what I see this position as.
  • 00:44:35
    Especially when we get into the solving the problem of homelessness.
  • 00:44:41
    We need that help from the county and the state to help keep everybody safe.
  • 00:44:45
    Those in the campus and those as neighbors.
  • 00:44:47
    So I really ask you
  • 00:44:50
    to think long and hard about how successful this position would be and to vote for it.
  • 00:44:55
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:44:57
    Thank you.
  • 00:44:58
    And next I'll recognize Councilmember Palmisano.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 00:45:03
    Thank you Madam Chair from this conversation.
  • 00:45:05
    I come in open-minded to this conversation.
  • 00:45:08
    I'll just say It sounds like we are doing this work, but it's coming at the cost of doing more integrated work It's coming at the cost of doing more safe and thriving communities integration It also sounds to me like having the Commissioner work so much on settlement agreement stuff means less attention and
  • 00:45:28
    to the Safe and Thriving Communities Report, less attention to other departments.
  • 00:45:34
    I get that our Office of Community Safety is, you know, and is still fairly nascent in its development.
  • 00:45:41
    It's a bit of a bare bones operation.
  • 00:45:43
    So if we are serious about compliance with the settlement agreement and integrating it with the Safe and Thriving Communities Report, we need qualified people working on it full time.
  • 00:45:54
    Not saying the commissioner isn't qualified, just saying he's pulled in a whole lot of different directions.
  • 00:45:58
    so those are my thoughts about it.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:46:02
    Thanks.
  • 00:46:04
    Thank you.
  • 00:46:06
    I'm not seeing anyone else in queue so with that I will move approval of this item.
  • 00:46:16
    All those in favor please signify by saying aye.
  • 00:46:19
    Aye.
  • 00:46:21
    Those opposed say nay.
  • 00:46:22
    Nay.
  • 00:46:24
    The ayes have it and that motion carries.
  • 00:46:29
    Could I ask for a roll call vote, please?
  • 00:46:32
    Yeah.
  • 00:46:33
    Clerks, will you call the roll, please?
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:46:41
    Council Member Payne?
  • 00:46:44
    Aye.
  • 00:46:45
    Wonsley?
• • Robin Wonsley
  • 00:46:46
    Nay.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:46:47
    Rainville?
  • 00:46:48
    Aye.
  • 00:46:49
    Vita?
  • 00:46:50
    Aye.
  • 00:46:51
    Ellison?
  • 00:46:52
    No.
  • 00:46:53
    Osman?
  • 00:46:54
    Aye.
  • 00:46:56
    Cashman?
• • 00:46:57
    Aye.
• • SPEAKER_10
  • 00:46:58
    Chair Ching
  • 00:47:12
    there are ten ayes and two nays.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:47:14
    That motion carries.
  • 00:47:16
    And our next and final item is a report on the third quarter 2024 financial status reports on select city funds.
  • 00:47:26
    We have finance staff on hand to give this presentation so I will welcome our city controller George Hardgrove to begin that presentation.
  • 00:47:36
    Welcome.
  • 00:47:42
    Take your time.
• • George Hargrove
  • 00:48:58
    Good afternoon, thank you Chair Chugtai, Vice Chair Koski, Council members.
  • 00:49:03
    My name is George Hargrove, the Controller for the City of Minneapolis.
  • 00:49:07
    And so I'm coming today to talk about the third quarter financial report.
  • 00:49:12
    Before I begin, I just wanted to acknowledge the hard work of the staff in the Controllers Division, particularly Randy Hagar and Ra Choth and all the managers and all the people that worked on this and worked on the forecast and everything as well, too.
  • 00:49:27
    So, anyway, I appreciate that.
  • 00:49:43
    There you go Next slide Then you got it?
  • 00:49:55
    Yep Okay, you can go to the next slide then
  • 00:50:01
    Okay, thank you, thank you, thank you as we get our technology in order here.
  • 00:50:06
    I just wanted to mention on this slide here that this forecast is a point of time as of September 30th.
  • 00:50:15
    We haven't done our audit yet, we're working on that for year end.
  • 00:50:19
    Like any point in time forecast, circumstances change from that time and so I just wanted to mention that, that new things can come up and so this is really as the way things were as of September 30th So anyway, moving on to our highlights here
  • 00:50:38
    I'm happy to say that in September of 2024, Fitch and Standard & Poor confirmed our AAA bond rating.
  • 00:50:48
    So that remains the same.
  • 00:50:51
    Another highlight that's a good thing is the parking revenues are rebounding.
  • 00:50:56
    They, I think, do plan on working on some capital projects, a few things that were deferred as well too because of the pandemic and the revenue hits that it took.
  • 00:51:08
    Property taxes are down, expected to be under budget by about $21 million.
  • 00:51:16
    We do the city's practices to budget the property taxes at the very full amount that's assessed, but there's usually a delinquency factor.
  • 00:51:24
    and so that's budgeted as an expense.
  • 00:51:27
    So we do expect it to be under budget but it's a little bit more under budget.
  • 00:51:32
    However, the good news is the downtown assets where the local sales taxes are deposited and they continue to do better and are recording higher revenue so far this year.
  • 00:51:45
    So anyway,
  • 00:51:48
    And then finally, the last highlight really is the ARPA spending.
  • 00:51:52
    There's a resolution that the council passed in November to wind it down by the end of this year.
  • 00:51:59
    So we're busy, and I know the departments are busy, spending the remaining funds.
  • 00:52:06
    They got transferred to the general fund, and then we expect the funding in the ARPA fund to be closed out at the end of the year, and then we can do the final reports for the federal government.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 00:52:17
    Next slide here.
• • George Hargrove
  • 00:52:18
    As far as our investments, as of September 30th, we have about $1,045,000 or so.
  • 00:52:29
    That's a decrease of about $65 million from last year, and that's versus a book value of about $110 million.
  • 00:52:36
    A book value, just to define that, that's the price that we bought the assets at.
  • 00:52:43
    and then of course that's compared against the current, you know, today's amounts to calculate a, you know, a gain or loss or unrealized gain or loss.
  • 00:52:55
    I'm happy to report the city's meeting fund balance net position and cash reserve minimums in all but very few funds.
  • 00:53:02
    One of them is the self-insurance fund.
  • 00:53:04
    That has quite a bit of cash, almost $165 million, but it has even more liabilities, so that will continue to assess our liabilities there as we move through the year-end process.
  • 00:53:18
    Then there's a new area that's on here for this third quarter here, and that's the Fleet Services or Equipment Fund.
  • 00:53:26
    They had some
  • 00:53:42
    to pay for new vehicles or things that have been ordered for quite some time.
  • 00:53:46
    So that's resulting in the cash starting to be depleted.
  • 00:53:49
    We forecast a little over a million dollars at the end of this year.
  • 00:53:53
    So that's something certainly that we'll want to take a look at and come up with a plan, although I do think the department is working on it right now.
  • 00:54:02
    Parking is still not at the target, but it is getting better, as I mentioned earlier.
  • 00:54:08
    And so that's on the bright side.
  • 00:54:12
    And then further good news is property services is now above the target.
  • 00:54:16
    So that's going to go off this list.
  • 00:54:17
    So one area added fleet and then one area of property services that came off the list this time around.
  • 00:54:26
    Moving on to the general fund.
  • 00:54:29
    The purpose of this fund is really to account for anything that basically doesn't belong in another fund or a more restricted fund.
  • 00:54:35
    It's typically the most unrestricted funding that the city has.
  • 00:54:38
    Typically property tax and fees and things like that that go in there.
  • 00:54:44
    As far as the cash balance, last year it was about $231 million and now it's at about $148.3 million.
  • 00:54:52
    It's increased from last time from the second quarter mainly I think because of the property tax receipts that were received this summer.
  • 00:55:02
    As far as the general fund balance, we're projecting an ending balance of about a little less than 170 million.
  • 00:55:08
    That's about 40.6 million less than what it was at the end of last year.
  • 00:55:14
    It's gotten a little better since the second quarter report.
  • 00:55:18
    in the sense that the expenditure forecast went down a little bit, and so that helped bump up the projections for the ending fund balance.
  • 00:55:28
    This does exceed the 70% minimum, but it's not at the recommended percentage of 25%.
  • 00:55:34
    So the minimum is about $113 million, which would be the 17%.
  • 00:55:39
    So we're about $56 million above that.
  • 00:55:43
    As you can see from the PowerPoint presentation, the 24 original budget included $18.2 million in fund balances, and then we've rolled over about another $25 million or so, so that's one reason why the fund balance is going down because of those
  • 00:56:02
    the rollovers, the planned use of fund balance plus the rollovers.
  • 00:56:06
    Of the $169.8 million, about $26-27 million should probably be in the restricted class mainly because it's public safety aid from last year and settlement agreements.
  • 00:56:21
    And then based on the third quarter general fund projections, the unrestricted balance is at about 21.5% at the end of this year.
  • 00:56:28
    So that helps maintain the city's AAA bond rating.
  • 00:56:34
    And then moving on further in the graphical sense here, this slide here kind of shows the different areas, different types of revenue that come in.
  • 00:56:44
    You can see almost half of it is property taxes.
  • 00:56:47
    and of course we have service charges, franchise fees, state aid transfers, other types of revenue too.
  • 00:56:54
    If you look at the chart down below here, comparing to the second quarter when we did the forecast before, we're down about 7 million or so in property taxes and service charges.
  • 00:57:07
    That's gotten a little worse, but fortunately it's been made up by
  • 00:57:10
    About the same amount going for the franchise fees and the license and the permits are going up by about seven million So they kind of have a boss at each other.
  • 00:57:17
    So we're still at the thirty six million dollar thirty six points three million under budget for revenue through through 24 so that that forecast really hasn't changed since the since the second quarter a few areas are up few down and
  • 00:57:33
    And then just looking at the timing of the revenue, you can see it's definitely backloaded in the fiscal year or the calendar year here.
  • 00:57:41
    at the city.
  • 00:57:43
    You can see where the steadily projects up towards the second half of the year when the receipts are received, especially for property taxes.
  • 00:57:53
    So we're planning on getting about 90, a little less than 95% or so of the revenue, of the budgeted revenue versus the average of the last three years is about 106%.
  • 00:58:02
    So that just shows the forecast is, it kind of explains kind of why the forecast is down this year.
  • 00:58:11
    Moving on to the expenditure side.
  • 00:58:14
    Expenses are trending a little bit lower than budget.
  • 00:58:24
    You can see we're about at $40 million under for the general fund that I mentioned earlier.
  • 00:58:30
    So that helped improve the
  • 00:58:32
    the forecast a little bit from the second quarter.
  • 00:58:35
    As far as the specific departments down below, internal services, the internal service departments are, you know, since the second quarter, their spending is projected to be up by about a million dollars from what we projected back in June, as well as the
  • 00:58:53
    I should say the public safety area as well, too.
  • 00:58:57
    So overall, since June, the spending is up by about $9 million, but we've also had a budget increase of about $10.5 million.
  • 00:59:05
    So that makes it a little bit better.
  • 00:59:09
    It helps a little bit on the fund balance projections.
  • 00:59:15
    And then the next slide just kind of shows the timing of the expenditures.
  • 00:59:19
    Again, we're projecting to be about 39.9 million under budget.
  • 00:59:24
    You can see they're backloaded as well to in December.
  • 00:59:27
    We typically have kind of two months worth of expenditures, especially for like contract services because we accrue things into the prior year when we get into January.
  • 00:59:36
    You can see we're projecting them to be about 95% of budget or so, which is fairly similar to the last three years.
  • 00:59:47
    So moving on to the other funds, the next category in our family of funds is the special revenue funds.
  • 00:59:54
    And they're generally used to keep track of funds that are restricted, possibly through some other government agency.
  • 01:00:01
    or through council action.
  • 01:00:04
    So this includes things like the convention center, the downtown assets, there's a special revenue fund in the police department, regulatory services, the grant and CPED has quite a few special revenue funds as well too.
  • 01:00:21
    So, first what I wanted to point out in terms of the fund balance, it's a $15.2 million decrease.
  • 01:00:27
    There may be a typo on your copy of the presentation here.
  • 01:00:32
    It's something I spotted last Wednesday, and so I just wanted to apologize for that and just make sure it is a decrease from the end of the year in 2023 for the fund balance.
  • 01:00:43
    So anyway, they've gone down a little bit driven by the downtown assets and some from CPIT as well, too.
  • 01:00:52
    The cash projected has also gone down quite a bit by about 103 million from last year's year end.
  • 01:00:59
    A lot of that is driven by ARPA as well, too, since I think almost 80 million or so has been spent since the end of last year.
  • 01:01:07
    And we talked about that earlier, too.
  • 01:01:09
    Our plan is to spend that down.
  • 01:01:11
    So that's kind of the story behind the special revenue funds on the next slide We just have you know specific kind of the specific numbers for each fund.
  • 01:01:20
    You can see the convention centers That's down a little bit from the second quarter when we came in June by about five million dollars or so most of that is due to
  • 01:01:32
    Revenue and then a 1 million dollar increase in transfers to the general fund The downtown assets fund is also down by about 5 million from when we were here in September actually say in the end of June generally because of debt service spending and then CPED is down as well to
  • 01:01:53
    So that's kind of the main changes on the special revenue funds.
  • 01:01:57
    Then the internal service funds.
  • 01:01:59
    These funds are what we call the proprietary funds, along with the enterprise funds.
  • 01:02:04
    And so they operate like regular businesses, but they're dedicated to serving the internal operations of the city's government and everything.
  • 01:02:14
    So rather than selling their service to the outside like water,
  • 01:02:17
    they concentrate internally like providing IT service.
  • 01:02:21
    So you can see some of the major ones is fleet we've talked about, property services, stores, IT through the intergovernmental services, self-insurance funds.
  • 01:02:32
    In this case, the net position was at $79.2 million, about a $10 million decrease from 2023, primarily because of
  • 01:02:43
    fleet and the increased purchases of new equipment.
  • 01:02:47
    Cash is down as, cash has increased actually from 2023.
  • 01:02:51
    That's driven by the self-insurance fund as well as property services and in addition to IT as well too.
  • 01:03:02
    So those departments kind of led to an increase in the cash projected from compared 2023 to 2024.
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 01:03:11
    And then moving on.
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:03:13
    You can see specific amounts here in the internal services.
  • 01:03:17
    You can see, like I say, fleet is down almost 10 million.
  • 01:03:21
    That's entirely due to capital spending.
  • 01:03:24
    Intergovernmental services, I think a lot of that is IT.
  • 01:03:29
    That's risen by about 6 million since the second quarter, since we forecasted the second quarter.
  • 01:03:35
    So that's gotten a little better, mainly because of decreased spending in the IT area as well, too.
  • 01:03:41
    Otherwise things have remained pretty constant since June 30th.
  • 01:03:47
    And finally onto our last group of funds.
  • 01:03:49
    This is the Enterprise Fund.
  • 01:03:51
    So these run like businesses and they generally sell their services outside of the city to the residents.
  • 01:03:57
    This can include utility operations like sanitary sewer, stormwater, water, solid waste, the parking fund.
  • 01:04:05
    That position is projected to be increased by about 9.4 million from the 2023 year end.
  • 01:04:12
    That's generally driven by the parking area and the water and sewer.
  • 01:04:16
    Projected total cash at your end is about 93.7 million.
  • 01:04:20
    That's a seven million dollar decrease and that's generally caused by waste in the stormwater area This is a fairly stable fund But the stormwater and the water are starting to draw down their balances for capital spending
  • 01:04:37
    And finally, the last slide kind of shows the specific areas.
  • 01:04:40
    You can see the sanitary sewer has, since last time, since June 30th, has gone down a little bit by about $5 million, mainly due to increased expenditures.
  • 01:04:54
    Stormwater's down by about $13 million.
  • 01:04:58
    Revenue is down there about $25 million, but spending and capital has also decreased.
  • 01:05:04
    as well too, so that's caused the cash in the net position to go down for storm water.
  • 01:05:10
    And then finally for water, that's up about 10 million dollars for the year so far.
  • 01:05:17
    And the last comment I'd want to make is I did attach the three reports that the council asked for last time, you know, after the second quarter report.
  • 01:05:26
    I don't have a presentation specifically on those reports, but I did attach those for your reference.
  • 01:05:32
    So at this point in time, I'll stand for any questions.
  • 01:05:34
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:05:35
    Thank you for that presentation.
  • 01:05:37
    Colleagues, are there any questions related to the third quarter financial status report?
  • 01:05:42
    I'll first recognize Councilmember Rainville.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:05:45
    Thank you.
  • 01:05:46
    Thank you for the very thorough report.
  • 01:05:48
    I just have a couple questions.
  • 01:05:50
    So, when you talk about the 21 million in property tax, the non, I believe you call it non-collectible amount?
  • 01:05:57
    Delinquent, yeah.
  • 01:05:58
    Delinquent?
  • 01:05:59
    Yeah, delinquencies, yeah.
  • 01:06:01
    Do we have any idea of, as these buildings get sold in downtown for less, they take us to tax court on their assessed value and that gets lower.
  • 01:06:12
    How do we account for that or do we have any knowledge of what's coming down the pipeline on that?
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:06:18
    I can answer the first part of the question.
  • 01:06:21
    When the tax court rules to lower someone's taxes, then that fits into that.
  • 01:06:27
    We call it delinquent, but it's not.
  • 01:06:28
    I guess you could call it delinquent and otherwise reduced.
  • 01:06:32
    As far as the downtown area, I'd have to defer on that.
  • 01:06:36
    I can talk to our property tax people and get a better idea of, you know, especially the Assessor's Office, I think, that could help us with specifically the downtown area.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:06:46
    And that would be great.
  • 01:06:47
    I don't mind waiting for that.
  • 01:06:47
    I'm just wondering if we could make that official, Madam Chair.
  • 01:06:52
    Then I could get a follow-up on that.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:06:54
    Clerks, if we can note that for administrative follow-up.
  • 01:06:58
    Would you like to have the Councilmember repeat the question?
  • 01:07:01
    Go ahead.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:07:01
    The question is, how is the decline in office values affecting our future property tax revenue coming in?
  • 01:07:12
    And then the second question I have is, you had mentioned the parking fund was doing well.
  • 01:07:20
    What do you mean by doing well?
  • 01:07:21
    There wasn't a stat on that.
  • 01:07:23
    Is it five million over?
  • 01:07:24
    Is it two million over?
  • 01:07:28
    I might have missed it.
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:07:30
    Okay, let me turn to that and get some more detailed information here.
  • 01:07:49
    Okay, so I'm looking at the detailed report.
  • 01:07:51
    So this is like the 60 page report that was attached to this.
  • 01:07:55
    Yeah, at year end on the revenue side, which is generally they account for like off-street parking, on-street, meters, towing, things like that.
  • 01:08:09
    It's gone from about 67 million or so in 2023 now up to about 70 and a half.
  • 01:08:16
    So that's about three million dollars more in revenue.
  • 01:08:19
    Then the use of funds, the debt service is down about four million dollars or so this year.
  • 01:08:25
    The rest of the transfers out to the general fund are down as well too.
  • 01:08:31
    So overall the expenses are a little bit down from last layer as well, but the revenue is going up.
  • 01:08:40
    So that's kind of helping it get back to the target value that they expect to reach next year.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:08:48
    That's great, thank you.
  • 01:08:49
    So if everything is looking good, paying the expenditures, the bills is down, the revenue is up, how come there's less money going into the general fund?
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:09:03
    I'd have to get back to you on that, on what the plan is.
  • 01:09:05
    It's usually
  • 01:09:06
    to subsidize somewhere in the general funding or department or so.
  • 01:09:10
    So if I could get back to you on what the plan is.
  • 01:09:12
    Sure, absolutely, no problem.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:09:15
    Yep, that'd be great.
  • 01:09:16
    Just curious as that doesn't make sense.
  • 01:09:20
    And then just the last comment, and I believe you answered this, but by keeping our minimum fund balance a little bit higher than the 17% that's required, that is what helps propel us into that triple A bond rating?
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:09:34
    Yeah, that's correct, Councilmember Rainville, yes.
  • 01:09:40
    That's one of the main things I think the radio agencies look at when assigning our bond rate is the amount of unrestricted balance or our ability to cover downturns or unexpected decreases or things like that.
  • 01:09:53
    So that's one of the things we always watch.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:09:57
    And by having that higher bond rating, this actually lowers our cost to borrow.
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:10:02
    Yes, that's right.
  • 01:10:03
    That's right.
  • 01:10:03
    Yeah, the interest rates are generally lower for AAA.
  • 01:10:06
    Thank you very much for your help.
  • 01:10:08
    Yeah, thanks.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:10:09
    Clerk, were you able to note Councilmember Rainville's second question?
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:10:16
    Thank you.
  • 01:10:17
    So if our expenditures in the parking fund are lower and the revenue is higher, how come there's less money going into the general fund?
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:10:28
    actually let's welcome CFO Dai to perhaps shed some additional light welcome
• • Dushani Dai
  • 01:10:38
    Good afternoon, Doshani Dye, CFO for the city.
  • 01:10:43
    CBP and Councilmember Rainville, I'd be happy to answer that question.
  • 01:10:48
    The reason why the reduction in transfer from the parking fund to the general fund, as well as the downtown assets fund, is due to the fact that the parking fund was not doing well for the last few years, and we did not want to go below their target levels.
  • 01:11:06
    So we decided to reduce the plan transfer from the parking fund into downtown assets fund as well as the general fund to be able to give them some relief.
  • 01:11:20
    In future budget years, we'll look at the current parking fund status and adjust the transfer as needed so they can keep their minimum target levels.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:11:33
    Thank you, that's very prudent and it makes a lot of sense.
  • 01:11:35
    So thank you, I don't need any follow up on that question.
  • 01:11:37
    I appreciate it.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:11:41
    Wonderful.
  • 01:11:42
    Are there any additional questions?
  • 01:11:46
    Next I'll recognize Council Member Chaudry.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 01:11:49
    Thank you Madam Chair.
  • 01:11:50
    Thank you for your presentation.
  • 01:11:53
    I just wanted to follow up on that minimum fund balance question.
  • 01:11:57
    So the minimum requirement is 17%.
  • 01:12:01
    When it comes to AAA bond rating, is it given if we are at the minimum amount or is there a threshold that
  • 01:12:10
    We're trying to reach that's at a higher percentage.
  • 01:12:13
    Is it more of an art rather than a science in that case?
  • 01:12:18
    Like if we stayed at 17%, would we still get triple-A bond rating because we had that factor in place?
  • 01:12:26
    Or is there a higher threshold that we have in mind as a city to receive it?
• • George Hargrove
  • 01:12:31
    My belief is that it is one of the main factors that the bond, you know, the rating houses consider, but not the only one.
  • 01:12:42
    I mean, for example, if you had horrible liabilities or things like that, that could play a factor.
  • 01:12:47
    I'd have to get back to you on a more concrete answer, like exactly what the weightings are and things like that, you know, from my colleague Alan Hoppe, but that's, in general, yeah, there's more than one factor that goes into bond ratings.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 01:13:02
    Yes, thank you, it looks like we have the CFO behind you.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 01:13:07
    I would love to answer that question.
  • 01:13:12
    The unrestricted fund balance is one of the criteria for our AAA bond ratings.
  • 01:13:18
    So our rating agency documentation is posted online so you could kind of take a look at all of the criteria that they use and why we're given the AAA.
  • 01:13:31
    They go into in-depth
  • 01:13:32
    analysis and a write-up on why they're giving us the rating.
  • 01:13:38
    One of the other decision-making factors for us is how we're structured, how we make decisions on financial matters, our budgeting tools we use.
  • 01:13:50
    and plan use of cash.
  • 01:13:54
    Whether it's one time or for ongoing purposes, there are multiple reasons for our AAA bond rating, not just the unrestricted fund balance target.
• • Aurin Chowdhury
  • 01:14:05
    Okay, thank you so much.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:14:06
    I appreciate it.
  • 01:14:09
    Thank you.
  • 01:14:10
    Any other questions?
  • 01:14:15
    or comments from committee members.
  • 01:14:17
    I'm not seeing any, so I will ask the clerk to file that presentation.
  • 01:14:25
    Thank you very much.
  • 01:14:27
    And with that, thank you all for your time.
  • 01:14:29
    We have concluded all business to come before the committee today.
  • 01:14:32
    And without objection, we stand adjourned until- Madam Chair, Madam Chair- I apologize.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:14:37
    I'm sorry.
  • 01:14:38
    It's actually not about this specific presentation.
  • 01:14:41
    It's going back
  • 01:14:43
    to a question earlier about the way you answered a question.
  • 01:14:46
    Could we go back to, and I know we've already taken this vote, but to the discussion item 2.1 about approving the increase of 4%.
  • 01:14:58
    We actually denied the increase for salary questions.
  • 01:15:02
    I heard you, Madam Chair, answer a colleague's question about what would happen to this money if we didn't approve this salary increase.
  • 01:15:13
    And I believe you said it would fall to the bottom line, right?
  • 01:15:18
    and I think that's responsible and we can deliberate about that on this dais so long as it actually then gets removed from the budget as we were talking about, right?
  • 01:15:28
    So I'm just curious, I mean keeping in mind that inflation is what we were adjusting for there, keeping in mind that the majority of the people that this affects are women and BIPOC employees and it's hard to recruit and retain.
  • 01:15:43
    I just wanted to make sure is this money that was just then cut from this budget already earmarked for a budget amendment to your knowledge?
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:15:54
    To my knowledge that that is it is one of the sources being used potentially so we will consider on Friday.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:16:02
    It's not actually going to be removed from the budget it's rather just going to be reappropriated to something in a budget amendment that I haven't yet seen.
  • 01:16:10
    For yeah, and that and that's up to the the Committee's consideration when we get to markup starting on Friday right, but the rationale used to cut this was about budgets being tight and having to look very carefully across the city and make responsible decisions and What I didn't have in front of me when I took that vote is that there's actually some other
  • 01:16:36
    You know initiative afloat that some of us on this council have information and a budget amendment for and others like me Do not and have not been shared So first I I do object to not having all the information when we make that decision But secondly my question is when will we be getting the budget amendments that we'll be working on on Friday my under my original understanding
  • 01:16:59
    from how this budget was outlined to me ages ago and the people were checking in with my staff on is that this would all be made public several days ago and I still don't have any information in front of me.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:17:11
    Yes, so Councilmember, as I shared with the body over email last week,
  • 01:17:21
    we had an influx of a pretty significant amount of budget amendments that were submitted by council members for the for inclusion in in the markup packet and we are and by we I mean the city attorney's office the the budget staff and the finance department
  • 01:17:42
    and the City Clerk's Office are working as quickly as we can to finalize the markup packet.
  • 01:17:49
    And when I contacted the body last week,
  • 01:17:56
    or two Fridays ago now, right after our amendments were due, I mentioned that in order to plan for unforeseen delays as we had already seen with the amount of time it was taking us to get through amendments, that we would plan to distribute the markup packet as quickly as we could today, that will be happening later today, and posting it for
  • 01:18:24
    For the public on in the limbs file Sometime tomorrow, so that's true.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:18:32
    I just want to say madam chair.
  • 01:18:34
    That's true You did change the process at the 11th hour after all the budget amendments were true We're supposed to be due you did change when we would be receiving our packet of amendments the only person who I have full understanding of all of their amendments is councilmember Wonsley and
  • 01:18:54
    It's relevant.
  • 01:18:56
    I was just asked if it was relevant.
  • 01:18:58
    It's relevant because this meeting we voted on...
  • 01:19:03
    Colleagues, colleagues, please, Council Member Palmisano is recognized to speak.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:19:07
    Please let's not speak over her.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:19:08
    Thank you.
  • 01:19:10
    We voted on an item on this agenda today and some of us had information that this will be used as a source for a budget amendment on Friday or on Monday.
  • 01:19:20
    and others of us didn't have that information.
  • 01:19:22
    So I'm just calling that out as something that is, that existed today.
  • 01:19:29
    Nine of us, I think, yeah, nine of us made a decision on removing an increase to salary and wage schedules to account for inflation for a group of our employees here at the city to be used for a future budget amendment like earmarked for a future budget amendment But I and I'm guessing that some of my other colleagues don't have that information as to what that is meant or intended to be used for and I just wanted to make that point in clarification because
  • 01:19:57
    I did vote against it, but I respect the opinion or the consensus of the body.
  • 01:20:03
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:20:05
    Great.
  • 01:20:06
    Thank you.
  • 01:20:07
    Next I'll recognize Councilmember Ellison.
• • Jeremiah Ellison
  • 01:20:10
    I'll just say I don't even know what we're discussing fully but it didn't factor into the decision of my vote and I just wanted to let my colleague know that but we do have positions I think that we heard the range was anywhere from 390,000 to 90,000 and I was going to say this during discussion but
  • 01:20:29
    you know felt like we could move on.
  • 01:20:31
    But I feel like this body would be happy to entertain any number of proposals right so maybe a four percent increase for folks making a hundred and twenty or less.
  • 01:20:38
    I'm just sort of pitch spitballing here.
  • 01:20:42
    But I think that that was you know to me the idea that we could save a million dollars and the question of does somebody who's making 390 or even 90 or 150 or 200 or 250 do they need a four percent increase
  • 01:20:55
    that was sort of the question in my opinion that was before the body and that was the question that I was answering with my vote not any other future question with any other anything in the future so I just wanted to make that clear and you know I don't fully know everything that we're discussing here but I guess I'm excited to get in fully in the know and see but that was the just to just answer that question that's the question I was trying to answer with my vote
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:21:19
    I would add some additional context here that, you know, one of the items that we approved today, item number two, the deputy commissioner of community safety position.
  • 01:21:32
    There are actually a couple of different proposals that will be included in the markup packet.
  • 01:21:39
    One of them is a mayoral amendment on
  • 01:21:42
    and then additional proposals that use those sources for a different purpose.
  • 01:21:58
    All of that is going to be taken up on Friday morning.
  • 01:22:05
    With that, I am going to adjourn this meeting until Friday, December 6th at 10am where we will begin markup.
  • 01:22:14
    Thank you all.