Budget Committee - October 01, 2025   10/1/2025

Roll Call

• • 00:00:37
    St Paul, City Council,
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:02:10
    I'm calling the St Paul City Council Finance and Budget Committee to order.
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    For the sake of our city clerk, I will very briefly take attendance.
  • 00:02:20
    Chair Yang?
• • Nelsie Yang
  • 00:02:22
    Here.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:02:24
    Councilmember Bowie?
  • 00:02:26
    Councilmember Coleman?
• • Nelsie Yang
  • 00:02:27
    Here.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:02:28
    Councilmember Johnson?
  • 00:02:31
    Councilmember Jost?
• • 00:02:32
    Here.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:02:33
    Council President Anchor Council President Anchor Here Council President Anchor Here Council President Anchor Here Council President Anchor Here Council President Anchor Here Council President Anchor Here
  • 00:02:49
    to present to our Budget Committee.
  • 00:02:52
    So please join me in welcoming Director of Department of Safety and Inspections, Director Angie Weese.
  • 00:02:58
    Thank you so much for being here today.
  • 00:02:59
    I will kick it off to you to roll through the presentation.
  • 00:03:02
    We really appreciate the time.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:03:04
    Thank you very much.
  • 00:03:06
    Thank you for having me.
  • 00:03:07
    Welcome, Council Member Coleman.
  • 00:03:09
    This is my first time in front of you since you've been sworn in, so welcome.
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    Angie Wiese, Director of Safety and Inspections and going to talk to you today about our 2026 budget proposal.
  • 00:03:26
    So just starting with our executive summary, I think you're well aware that this is a very, very tight budget year and so we really honed in on what our main core mission is and make sure that we're meeting the needs of customers.
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    So to promote safety and wellness where we live, work,
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    and work, prevent life and property loss, support neighborhood vitality and promote equitable, innovative and sustainable solutions that work for all.
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    So what that means for our 2026 budget proposal, we focused on creatively utilizing non-general fund resources for some of that critical work and this year that includes opioid settlement dollars, the recycling and solid waste fund and some grant money.
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    it also means that in for 2027 we're committing to ongoing personnel adjustments after utilizing 2026 as a kind of an assessment period in a post poly world for us at DSI and then also supporting new state introduced regulatory business line aka cannabis
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    So just as a reminder and to re-highlight our responsibilities and priorities in DSI, we always go back to these.
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    This comes straight out of our continuity of operations plans.
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    So anytime when things get really rough, this is where we hone in.
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    And it's to maintain the safety and habitability of as many structures and businesses as possible, including the safekeeping of animals.
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    And below that you see all of the business lines that really feed into that mission.
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    and secondarily to support the financial and economic systems of the city.
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    I think you'll see a sign of that too when I give the Paulie update on kind of how that shows up and of course with great customer service underscoring every interaction.
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    So a 2025 recap as I was trying to you know doing this I thought oh my gosh there's been a lot that's happened this year and certainly a lot that we didn't know about
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    when we were in the same position last year talking about the 2025 budget.
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    So we've had a huge focus on vitalization of downtown, cyber incident, of course, the accelerated, which necessitated this accelerated rollout of poly.
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    We've had high profile, long lasting appeals in nearly every business line.
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    and just personnel turnover which is something that
  • 00:06:34
    we experience all the time obviously but when you get some of the really experienced folks who go on to their next chapter in their life can be a real challenge.
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    I know that we get to the unfilled positions later in the presentation but I did want to highlight kind of what that experienced personnel turnover looks like in DSI for 2025.
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    We've hired 19 people to fill vacancies
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    that were in DSI and we also hired 17 temporary team members over 2025 and those run the gamut.
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    Not all temporaries are alike, so we've got a post-retirement employment option, we have a couple long-term leaves that are being backfilled, some special projects like poly, and summer support for our active summer season.
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    also in the 2025 budget recap for tenant protections and this is was proposed to be funded from the HRA funds from the housing trust fund but we've had a really great working relationship with OFE in this project the safe housing program had started with OFE
  • 00:08:01
    many years ago and so working with them and continuing to work with them has been fantastic.
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    Since there was content produced previously for tenant protections, we have that historic information and have a tracker going on what can be kept, what gaps need to be filled because the old language is not the same as the new.
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    The staff position audit forms are
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    under review kind of with all of the stakeholders on our side before we turn it over to HR and get their assessment on their concurrence on what the positions need to do and what titles they will be given.
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    Before we can do any requisition, we do need an accounting unit to be able to request for those positions.
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    That $380,000
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    was what we were projecting in 2024 dollars of what was needed for the work and that was for personnel, equipment and services.
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    Services being things like mailings, translation services, etc.
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    Like I said, that content tracker is really where the bones are of where we're tracking what needs to be done, what's left to do.
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    But we do need more bandwidth to be able to put together that educational plan, both for tenants and for landlords.
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    The intake process, the investigatory process, website needs, the integration with Polly, all of that needs to be worked out and worked through.
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    and then multimedia tools.
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    We know that our customers communicate in a variety of methods and so we would be looking at a variety of methods to be able to communicate with the different customer bases.
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    if you recall and it's okay if you don't but chapter 13 is DSI's administrative authority the change to add tenant protections to that and also the repealing of chapter 54 which conflicts now with chapter 193
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    I did talk to a deputy city attorney yesterday and she suggested working with him on that if that is meaningful to council and then ongoing funding source for the program is needed I'm not an expert in HRA funds but it's my understanding that the 2025 funds have not been spent that they could be rolled over to 2026 to fund the program
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:10:41
    And we've got, looks like two questions, Council President, then we'll go to Council Member Johnson.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:10:46
    Thanks, Council President.
  • 00:10:47
    I'll actually yield.
  • 00:10:47
    I suspect Chair Johnson's questions relate to this slide.
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    Mine actually relate to the previous slide, so to keep the flow going.
  • 00:10:56
    All right, just going back in time then, just for a second.
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    So Director, you had mentioned that there were no new positions hired in 2025.
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    And I'm just refreshing my memory from last year's budget conversation.
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    I know originally the department had
  • 00:11:10
    proposed five new FTEs for state energy code adoption.
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    Council didn't approve all of those, but I believe we did approve some of those new FTEs.
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    Are you saying that none of those folks were hired in 2025?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:11:24
    Correct, Council Member.
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    Those hires were with the implementation of a new fee.
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    So because we don't like to, that was in our eyes a package.
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    and so without the implementation of the new fee we have not gone forward with the new hires and we won't because we're committed to having a sound budget.
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    So even though my team has asked many times if we can hire those positions since we have not implemented the new fee we won't be hiring them until that's implemented.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:11:59
    And as a follow-up, I remember the new energy compliance fee being discussed as part of the budget process last year.
  • 00:12:05
    So those positions weren't going to be revenue neutral.
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    Why have we not implemented the new fee?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:12:10
    That I'd prefer to talk in a closed-door meeting related to a closed-door issue.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:12:20
    Put a period on that.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:12:21
    A closed-door issue.
  • 00:12:23
    OK, thanks, Director.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 00:12:26
    I will just simply say to my colleagues as well, some of you have been on the email exchanges that we've had.
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    I really appreciate being able to have a conversation with OFE and learning more about the check-ins.
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    I have appreciated the emails that we have received somewhat in response to the memos that we sent back in July.
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    But it has been very difficult to communicate with your office about tenant protections overall.
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    And it's been slightly disappointing.
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    I'm very supportive of this work.
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    I think one of the things that's been really challenging is the reason why the HRA has not had an action to release the funding has been because when we sent the memo we didn't receive a response.
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    When I asked for a meeting with the mayor and with your office, with you directly, we did not receive a response to schedule that.
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    and so it's really frustrating on my end to know kind of where this work is at.
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    I appreciated getting the updates from OFE and hearing about some of the things they would like to see around translation services, building through the website, getting some of the communications documents up.
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    It concerns me that we
  • 00:13:43
    have not made you know requisitions and I know that there's a need for an accounting unit but if that urgency is you know is there I feel like we would have the urgency of working together to ensure that the funding goes where it's supposed to and I haven't felt that urgency it's felt a little bit like we've had to prioritize many things which I definitely emphasize empathize with when it comes to poly and the recent cybersecurity attack that we've had
  • 00:14:12
    And we made the memo request back in July because we recognized that even with the requisition, even with the HR process, that it can take up to six months to hire for positions.
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    So with this being implemented in May, I've asked specifically to your office and to Director Logsdon and as well as Director Newborn specifically on timelines.
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    And OFE was able to respond to us with their formal response, including timelines.
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    committee.
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    We have not seen that
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    request that's coming in
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    of the City of St. Paul.
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    with me being able to plan ahead and think about our capabilities as well.
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    If this is of interest to all of our colleagues as well, the partnership on this work and moving it forward will be really important.
  • 00:15:39
    Because I struggle with we needed an accounting unit before the requisition, when we've asked to see the requisition, we haven't received it.
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    I struggle with the staff position audit forms being drafted, but there's been no communication with our office about what that is, how that looks.
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    I know that to be true because I've seen the different types of meetings and the meeting structures they had
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    it does not follow what we've carried this time and as the HRA chair I wouldn't want nothing more than to give you these funds and to be able to release the contingency and the silence in relation to my response even upon your return afterwards because we
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    I don't need to get into a full
  • 00:16:55
    I don't think the issue is that we don't want to we don't want to see the program move forward.
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    The issue is that the communication has lagged so bad to the point that I don't necessarily know what's actually going on with an ordinance that I led and have been passed.
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    and that's what's frustrating and so I hope that we can remedy that and be able to work through what that's going to look like in the past but our office has made multiple attempts to do that in an enclosed meeting we've made multiple attempts to do that in a one-to-one meeting we have heard nothing and the last check-in that we had was canceled.
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    So I think in being able to have some partnership in that capacity and to even be able to address this budget, this budget point that I hope we do address before the end of the year, I really want to know the plans, the timelines, and the communication with OFE, they have been responsive in that regard.
  • 00:18:02
    I don't understand why it's been so difficult to get some of the questions outlined in the memo answered from DSI.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:18:10
    Yeah, and I will just jump in.
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    I really appreciate the question, and I just want to name that in the pre-presentation time that we had together, I don't think I carried your concerns across the board, Chair Johnson, so I really appreciate you speaking them, both on record, but also so that we all can hear them.
  • 00:18:29
    So I just want to note, for my own due diligence as Budget Chair, I don't think that
  • 00:18:34
    in terms of stressing the importance of the information and getting at the really great critical questions that you ask.
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    I don't know if I did a good enough job then offering those over the table, and I'm sorry that
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    I think that's a little more on me to connect those dots.
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    But I will just say then we have Camude here and Tim and our staff.
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    I think this is a great one where we take notes of what the concerns were, what the requests were.
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    And my office is absolutely interested as budget chair, interim budget chair, to help push this information and get it back to council in a timely manner.
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    So I think this is one that certainly rises to the top for the follow up and I just really appreciate.
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    Chair Johnson, your continued request for transparency.
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    And I also think just a timeliness of communication with our department directors.
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    I always want to look past what the intent is.
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    And just for the sake of time today, hearing all of the concerns that you have, we'll make sure that we address them together.
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    I think not the only reason, but we also have a good update on poly.
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    So let's just keep it moving, but all of the commudes on notes, up to humeeds on notes, we've captured them.
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    And I just really appreciate you naming those concerns.
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    And I also want to name that I don't, as the only council member that was in the pre-presentation time,
  • 00:20:01
    I don't think I carried that tone and message, so I just want to own that as well.
  • 00:20:05
    So let's, I think, just keep it pushing, but I also want to own the part that I don't think I lifted up those concerns in a way that would have also assisted the Director Weese to answer some of those today in this moment.
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    So we've got all the notes and concerns.
  • 00:20:18
    We'll keep it pushing for the sake of time, but I do think it's very well noted that information has been requested, and we'll work on timelines together to make sure that the department will report back to the council members about
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:20:30
    I'm not sure what, right now it's an unfunded mandate and the work that we're able to do OFB and DSI have very different scopes of work.
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    They have different scopes of work in everyday life.
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    They have different scopes of work related to this ordinance.
  • 00:20:52
    They have been a tremendous partner and I'm happy that they're
  • 00:20:57
    of the City of St. Paul.
  • 00:21:18
    We replaced 25 and 35-year-old systems with a modern system.
  • 00:21:24
    We went from about 1,800 business lines in those two systems to 170, and that wasn't like decreasing the work.
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    It's that we looked at the work differently.
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    We combined things to make sure that we could get, you know, we challenged everyone to look at this differently.
  • 00:21:41
    And I'm reporting, you know, today as DSI, but really when I'm speaking about poly, it's a city-wide effort.
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    So we challenged everyone to look at their work differently.
  • 00:21:52
    The accelerated timeline meant that we were looking at a minimally viable product and that meant that about two-thirds of those 570 business lines went forward with the minimally viable product.
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    Critical documents only, but it also we made sure to have sound cash handling practices.
  • 00:22:09
    In the first week of Poly, to catch up on that backlog of all of the
  • 00:22:15
    applications and payments, et cetera, that weren't able to be done because of the cyber incident.
  • 00:22:23
    We had over 4,600 applications entered into Poly, 86 business licenses, 109 professional licenses, 46 plans, and almost $2 million in payments were processed through Poly.
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    That Poly rollout week was
  • 00:22:43
    It was still very fresh.
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    It was September 15th and so that first week we accomplished a lot.
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    We had probably 80 people entering applications to help us get with that backlog.
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    It was an all hands on deck and that is actually the reason Chair Johnson and my meeting was canceled that week because of the focus on poly roll out.
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    So we still have more to go.
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    The historic data is not yet converted, so the cyber incident did impact our systems.
  • 00:23:18
    The data itself is good, it's clean, but it does need to get converted to poly, and because we challenged everyone to look at their work so differently,
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    It's not really an apples to apples migration, so it's being worked on every day to try to get the historic data into Poly, but we're still working on that.
  • 00:23:36
    The biggest impacts for that are business licensing and our contractor licensing, vacant buildings, and the Fire Certificate Occupancy Program.
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    We still have a lot more reports and documents to get done.
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    Some are in flight, some need to be created, some just need little tweaks, you know, they're missing a phone number or something like that.
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    automations.
  • 00:23:58
    It's a strategic decision that we didn't have many of the automations live because it was easier to turn them on than to turn them off.
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    So we're going to be rolling those out as we make sure that they are working properly.
  • 00:24:12
    That goes with email confirmations too.
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    Online inspection scheduling and the connection into Outlook has been I think the largest adjustment for our inspectors is just getting used to a new way of communicating with our customers and managing their own schedule.
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    The addressing system or stamp as you might know it as, we still need a sustainable solution for that.
  • 00:24:37
    That's not part of Poly per se but it feeds Poly.
  • 00:24:42
    Enterprise Service Request connection to poly is I think finally on solid ground it took us a little bit longer to get there than with the MVP and that's the report a concern button that you used to see on the website would go to an MS form that would feed an email now it feeds into poly
  • 00:25:02
    and so that work can be then converted right to our inspectors in the field to determine whether the issue is founded and unfounded and the next steps in the workflow for that.
  • 00:25:16
    And as we've been rolling this out, people have come up with new ideas of things that they want to see in Poly and so we're working on that as well.
  • 00:25:30
    This one is my favorite.
  • 00:25:32
    It's my Polly top 10.
  • 00:25:34
    And then I realized that David Letterman hasn't been on the air for a long time.
  • 00:25:40
    But these are all things that Polly can do that our legacy systems didn't.
  • 00:25:47
    And I know that during yesterday's meeting, some of them do appear to be like, really?
  • 00:25:52
    You couldn't do that before?
  • 00:25:55
    But having an Inspector mobile app is huge for inspectors to be able to
  • 00:26:01
    of the City of St. Paul, City Council,
  • 00:26:24
    HPC team and PED gets a notification at the same time that our plan reviewers get the notification.
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    They're able to make an assessment at the same time on the same record.
  • 00:26:35
    Real-time application updates is huge for our customers.
  • 00:26:42
    Online inspection requests, I mentioned that before.
  • 00:26:45
    The 24-hour access to critical documents is really big for our customers, so being able to have things like a copy of their license available
  • 00:26:53
    any time they need it.
  • 00:26:54
    If they're maybe applying for a loan or need to do any sort of business and they need that document, they're able to get it, which goes to the self-serve historic lookup also.
  • 00:27:07
    And that's public or customer facing.
  • 00:27:11
    You can look up historic records for anything as soon as we get our historic data in, that is.
  • 00:27:17
    Emailing directly from the system, this is something, believe it or not, we could not do with our legacy systems.
  • 00:27:23
    We would have to save information out of the system onto our computers or drives, then go into Outlook and email, and now we can email directly from the system.
  • 00:27:33
    The other thing that that allows us to do is now it's not in our email, it's actually in the system, and anybody who's helping that customer can see the communication that has been going on with that customer.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:27:47
    This is not specifically a budget question, but because we're on poly with my colleague's permission.
  • 00:27:56
    I just want to ask a question about performance indicators.
  • 00:27:59
    I'm really glad we have poly, long awaited.
  • 00:28:03
    I am continuing to get not just urgent and many, but really desperate requests from businesses needing permits.
  • 00:28:11
    And it's escalated not just during the cyber attack that was worse.
  • 00:28:15
    but throughout the year.
  • 00:28:17
    And it's frustrating.
  • 00:28:20
    It's not good service.
  • 00:28:21
    I know you know that.
  • 00:28:22
    I know your department is working on that.
  • 00:28:23
    But I'm curious, in the appendix you talk about performance measurement and you talk about how Poly provides those management tools.
  • 00:28:29
    I am curious what our metrics are going to be in terms of responsiveness and efficiency with permitting specifically and responsiveness.
  • 00:28:37
    And I'm also curious whether department staff in their performance reviews are
  • 00:28:43
    being held to account for those performance metrics and whether that's part of the evaluation of staff performance on a yearly basis.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:28:50
    Thank you for the question.
  • 00:28:53
    It actually ties into this slide too because of the attrition adjustment.
  • 00:28:58
    So I know that you'll be hearing a lot of department directors come up here and talk about cuts of positions and we propose to the mayor's office to just carry I'll say extra high attrition for next year because our pain points are going to be different.
  • 00:29:18
    in a post poly world.
  • 00:29:20
    And permits is precisely one of them.
  • 00:29:23
    Our former system could not do address verification for plans, which meant that every single permit had to be manually entered if it had a plan, because there was no address verification.
  • 00:29:37
    Poly has address verification.
  • 00:29:38
    People can self-serve.
  • 00:29:39
    They can enter their own applications.
  • 00:29:42
    So that pain point, it would be
  • 00:29:45
    I would say on average two weeks just to get it entered into the computer, and that's before anyone even looked at it.
  • 00:29:51
    So when we talk about the timelines, I think of when it was submitted to the city, not from the time that a planner or viewer first touched it.
  • 00:30:02
    So we know our pain points are going to look different, and that's what this attrition is really.
  • 00:30:09
    We're committing to holding the extra attrition so that
  • 00:30:13
    for the 2027 budget and beyond, we can come with data that says these are where pinch points are.
  • 00:30:19
    This is where we can afford to, these are the things that we don't have pinch points.
  • 00:30:27
    It would not be reasonable to say that we don't need a plan review right now because we certainly have pinch points in plan review, but we also have pinch points at the front counter and just doing the entry.
  • 00:30:40
    To answer your question about performance reviews, yes.
  • 00:30:43
    The timelines are, I'm very confident to say that the timelines are not reflective of our staff's abilities.
  • 00:30:53
    It is capacity.
  • 00:30:56
    And the capacity to, and it's twofold.
  • 00:31:02
    Earlier this year you all approved us
  • 00:31:05
    our team really tries hard to work with customers on whatever is given to them and that means a lot of times
  • 00:31:35
    on a plan that you might look at and say, well, this isn't ready for review.
  • 00:31:40
    They continue to work with that customer instead of just saying, nope, come back when it's ready.
  • 00:31:47
    That slows us down on other projects and other projects where people are ready, and they have done their due diligence.
  • 00:31:52
    And 100% construction level drawings means 100% construction level drawings.
  • 00:32:00
    But we're continuing to monitor.
  • 00:32:02
    And yes, Poly has performance metrics
  • 00:32:05
    The managers will be able to have dashboards that are specifically tailored to manage performance of their teams for service level agreements based on the activity for that person.
  • 00:32:18
    It also has the ability to do some load balancing that indicates this person has all of these things, this person has a lower caseload at this time,
  • 00:32:31
    Council, and
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:32:49
    and I'm not by the way suggesting that staff are the reason for delays, but I do think when we set goals, if those goals then are not baked into how we evaluate staff performance, then they tend to just remain goals.
  • 00:33:00
    So I think I'm just asking about how those goals are incorporated into the daily work.
  • 00:33:04
    of the department.
  • 00:33:07
    Please share those metrics with us when they're developed.
  • 00:33:11
    It sounds like Poly will make things easier, which is great.
  • 00:33:13
    But I think it's really important for us to be public about we respond to a request within 48 hours.
  • 00:33:20
    We respond to a completed plan application within a week.
  • 00:33:25
    And the percentage of those requests that we do and don't meet our metrics on is something that the department has presented to us in the past and would be good to see in the future.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:33:34
    I'm also excited to see that mostly because I feel like with all the automated systems like in the year of 2025 you can now use a credit card online so I do hope that with this system it certainly improves since I'm also very excited to see that but much more in the in the way of just like you know continuing to support I think just like the very robust stand-up of this system and I
  • 00:33:59
    and I continue to find it sort of silly hearing you calling our old systems legacy systems when they were just like really old.
  • 00:34:05
    So we've got a question from Council Member Jost.
• • Saura Jost
  • 00:34:08
    Thanks, thank you Chair and Director Weese I have a couple of questions if that's okay about just the poly and the permitting review process.
  • 00:34:18
    So first question about and I also understand like when we're talking about permits and plan reviews you could have a project that's you know
  • 00:34:27
    got dozens of pages of drawings to review and one that's maybe like a few so some of them can certainly range and how much time they take, but about how many construction permit reviews do we have per year and then how many staff are dedicated to that process.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:34:43
    I don't have those numbers.
  • 00:34:44
    I know they're in my email, but I don't have them offhand.
  • 00:34:47
    But I can get them back to you.
  • 00:34:48
    OK. OK.
• • Saura Jost
  • 00:34:49
    Thank you.
  • 00:34:50
    And then I guess the other question was I know that the cybersecurity attack created a lot of challenges in some of our processes for reviewing permits and doing inspections because of some of the
  • 00:35:09
    I'm assuming some of the file types that we have for construction drawings and is that with the new poly system or just with kind of the progress we've been making moving through the cyber security attack, do you see those delays or lead times improving?
  • 00:35:25
    A hundred percent.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:35:28
    So one of the things that I skipped over on the Poly Top 10 was utilizing a different electronic plan review software system and it's more customer centered now.
  • 00:35:39
    So we were using project docs and we'll now be using Bluebeam.
  • 00:35:46
    The O is that that's that's customer focused.
  • 00:35:55
    People who do this work use Bluebeam in their everyday work and we were using an electronic plan review software that nobody uses in their everyday work other than government folks who are reviewing plans.
  • 00:36:09
    So to be utilizing a product that our customers are incredibly familiar with
  • 00:36:16
    is a big change in and of itself to assist both, you know, really that back and forth communication between us and our customers.
  • 00:36:24
    It's also integrated far better with Polly than in our legacy process was and that ever or the address verification really is a game changer with this because you could do electronic plan review but you had to start with an emailed application or a mailed or faxed or walked in application.
• • Saura Jost
  • 00:36:46
    okay thanks I appreciate that I think I'll just I'll just add that I know that we have a lot of you called them legacy processes and when you just told me that we now have Bluebeam which is something that at my other job I switched over to using almost a decade ago it just really informs me just how behind we are in some of these processes and I'm really grateful that we've made these upgrades
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:37:14
    So proposed changes for 2025 in the General Fund computer lease renewals and office supplies.
  • 00:37:23
    I mentioned this yesterday, but I'll go into a little bit more after getting their follow-up questions.
  • 00:37:32
    With the mobile inspection mobile app, we have now iPads.
  • 00:37:37
    of the City Council.
  • 00:37:58
    and taking a conservative estimate of where we could save money with lease renewals.
  • 00:38:04
    So just like the laptops on all of your desks right now, we utilize for laptops the US Bank leasing for our laptops and with the iPads we're able to save some money on that going forward.
  • 00:38:19
    fully support OTC in being able to support iPads in the future.
  • 00:38:24
    I already talked about the attrition adjustment, the Cannabis Registration Administration, and I should say Zoning Administration as well, but the funding comes from the registration portion of this.
  • 00:38:42
    We've done the audit form.
  • 00:38:45
    for this and HR agrees that it is a DSI Inspector III position and that is that requisition.
  • 00:38:54
    You'll see it in a future slide but that requisition is approved and we are looking forward to hiring that in the future.
  • 00:39:05
    And then a shift of HART funds.
  • 00:39:08
    from the General Fund to two actually special funds.
  • 00:39:14
    One, so nothing's changing with the Heart Team per se, just what is funding the Heart Team.
  • 00:39:18
    So the staff coming out of the opioid settlement dollars as well as a moderate amount of supplies and training and then some of the
  • 00:39:31
    Cleanup work is being shifted to recycling and solid waste fund.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:39:36
    Sounds good.
  • 00:39:36
    And I'll make a quick comment.
  • 00:39:38
    We've got a question from Council President.
  • 00:39:39
    One thing that I'm really interested in this sort of budget cycle and beyond is sort of what is the cost of doing business.
  • 00:39:45
    And so while I do agree 100% that moving positions that can be funded by other sources to help alleviate the general fund, like Super Smart, right?
  • 00:39:55
    Not arguing with that.
  • 00:39:56
    But part of me just wonders then what is
  • 00:39:58
    for a later question in time, but if those positions were to be on the general fund and if every position that you had in DSI, you know, sans special fund or grant funded, what would that cost actually look like for you to be staffed presently?
  • 00:40:14
    So it's sort of a rhetorical one, we'll follow up, but when I see that, I think, yes, that sounds great.
  • 00:40:20
    And I think even from an overall city perspective and budgeting perspective, having
  • 00:40:27
    a sense of
  • 00:40:29
    how many staff would be required to be paid through the general fund for even our constituents and residents to know that an x percent levy is just the cost of keeping our staff I think is just a really sort of a nuanced question but an important one to lift up so rhetorical you don't have to answer that but just seeing higher and best uses of money always yes and sort of what sort of that level setting expectation that we can set with our residents sort of recognizing then that
  • 00:40:58
    We are making active decisions to take positions off the general fund.
  • 00:41:03
    And that's not saying that the opioid dollars are ongoing, but just like it's not a necessarily permanent or ongoing source of funding, which we usually look at in terms of the general fund.
  • 00:41:15
    So then I'll go to the question from the council president.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:41:17
    Thanks, Vice President.
  • 00:41:18
    It's very much a follow-up on your question.
  • 00:41:21
    So I guess, Director, and maybe also this is a question for Director Mitchell,
  • 00:41:28
    I'm concerned about the shift of the HEART team from the General Fund to the opioid settlement dollars primarily for a couple of reasons.
  • 00:41:36
    One, as the Council Vice President pointed out, we don't typically use one-time sources for ongoing expenses.
  • 00:41:43
    And although the opioid settlement dollars have some tail, they're not an ongoing source that we can rely on forever.
  • 00:41:52
    That's one concern.
  • 00:41:53
    second of all we've been talking about the opioid settlement dollars for a while and we've been asking the administration and Ramsey County for sort of a joint coherent plan for the opioid dollars between the two of us and we haven't seen that and what I'm worried about happening now is that we are
  • 00:42:12
    we are shifting something that we would be doing anyway from the general fund which is homeless assistance response which is incredibly important and we are using dollars that are designated for opioid response and treatment and prevention which is also incredibly important to fund something that we can no longer carry in the general fund and I worry about that because it seems like rather than kind of cannibalizing the opioid fund which we desperately need for opioid treatment and prevention
  • 00:42:38
    I'm curious from both of you what the thinking is behind this shift.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:43:05
    We would Ramsey County is responsible for public health in the county and they do that in partnership with the city so yes to partnership with Ramsey County and how they're showing up for homeless assistance.
  • 00:43:26
    Homeless assistance has
  • 00:43:30
    as a fact of a strong tie-in with our opioid crisis.
  • 00:43:35
    So I often say that next year's budget isn't just a commitment to these changes, it's also a commitment to fund the things that we already fund.
  • 00:43:48
    And given the tight budget year, in order to have a commitment to fund this effort with our unsheltered population,
  • 00:43:58
    our unsheltered residents who struggle with opioid addiction to keep the commitment and the level of service that we provide through the HEART program.
  • 00:44:09
    Utilizing opioid settlement dollars is in my opinion a wise decision.
  • 00:44:18
    It does have tails I think and I'm not going to speak for OFS but I think they've done a good job of kind of planning for how
  • 00:44:27
    we would have to off-board things from the opioid settlement dollars in the future and been really conservative and practical with making sure we're not over committing ourselves in one year let's say to plan for the future.
• • SPEAKER_07
  • 00:44:46
    Council President, I think what Director Weese just just said at the end there was what I was going to add that opioid settlement dollars are one time but they are coming in over
  • 00:44:57
    I want to say 15 years.
  • 00:45:00
    So the way that we have it currently structured is to sort of ramp up as those costs that we have budgeted there grow with inflation and then have a phase off.
  • 00:45:12
    so that as those costs return to the general fund, there won't be any big major cliff for that work coming back to the general fund.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:45:20
    So just to clarify, the logic here is that if a special fund has more than one year's worth of funding in it or ongoing contributions to the special fund, then it is all right to fund ongoing expenses from the special fund.
• • SPEAKER_07
  • 00:45:35
    Council President, yes-ish, I would say, depending on the length of the expected funding.
  • 00:45:43
    This, we felt, was long enough that it was reasonable to put it on the special fund, provided that we also had a plan to slowly return it back.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:45:54
    And the plan to slowly return it back, just to be clear, is that we'll need to pay for it out of the general fund again later.
• • SPEAKER_07
  • 00:46:01
    That's the plan, yeah.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:46:04
    I can also add that we've actually done this one time before from ARP so HART started as an ARP funded and it slowly returned to the general fund and so this isn't new for this program actually I think but for ARP dollars this program wouldn't exist and we'd be seeing higher costs in a lot of other areas of the city because of not having this resource available
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:46:35
    We'll have two questions, Councilmember Johnson, Chair Yang, and then we'll pause till the end so we can allow Director Weese to cruise to the remainder of the slides, but we'll take two questions.
  • 00:46:44
    Chair Johnson, you're up.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 00:46:45
    I just wanted to better understand, Deputy Director Mitchell, about the special fund allocation and for 2026, just to clarify, how much are we anticipating getting from the opioids element in 2026?
• • SPEAKER_07
  • 00:47:00
    Council, Vice President, Chair Johnson.
  • 00:47:02
    I don't have that number off the top of my head, but I can follow up with that.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 00:47:06
    OK. And then is this the same fund that ARPA funding is currently in?
• • SPEAKER_07
  • 00:47:12
    Council member, yes, it's the same fund.
  • 00:47:14
    It's a different accounting unit.
  • 00:47:17
    Within the same fund.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 00:47:18
    okay and then how are you I guess if when we get the chance to know I know like with the opioid settlement dollars is that separate from the opioid 1 million dollar allocation now you're accounting for that the 1 million dollar allocation is part is is funded with opioid settlement dollars
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:47:39
    okay okay so it would be possible to get like a breakdown of the opioid settlement dollars as it relates to how the how we're anticipating spending for 2026 and what we're anticipating getting yes yep we can follow up with that for sure okay thank you yeah and if correct me if I'm wrong but if it feels like that might be able to even be answered before we leave today what is the anticipated opioid dollar amount for 2026 is that feel like something recently produced before we convene
• • SPEAKER_07
  • 00:48:09
    or end the meeting today?
  • 00:48:14
    We can try.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:48:16
    OK, sorry.
  • 00:48:17
    Sorry to put you on the spot, but it was like, I don't know, maybe we know.
  • 00:48:19
    OK, thank you.
• • Nelsie Yang
  • 00:48:23
    I just want to make sure I'm on the same page as some of the questions that were asked about earlier.
  • 00:48:27
    Customer Johnson, you asked about $1 million.
  • 00:48:31
    Is that what the mayor was proposing for treatment?
  • 00:48:36
    Yeah, because I am just a bit confused, but I really like all of the questions that were asked.
  • 00:48:44
    Those are the same questions that I had too, just wondering how much are we getting for the settlement for next year.
  • 00:48:51
    And I think it would be
  • 00:48:53
    I do find it would be valuable for us to just get a deeper dive on the opioid settlement overall because it is really confusing
  • 00:49:04
    I think from the OFS to me to clarify some of the questions, but I was even thinking prior to the meeting today, the $1 million in the mayor's proposal.
  • 00:49:14
    What pot of money was that coming out of?
  • 00:49:17
    And so if there are remaining money, then it would be really helpful to understand what are the other proposed uses for the rest of what is remaining.
  • 00:49:29
    Yeah, those are just my thoughts over I wanted to share.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:49:35
    Vice President?
  • 00:49:36
    I would agree 100% with Council Member Yang.
  • 00:49:41
    I was just wondering if we already have a budget presentation scheduled specifically about the opioid settlement dollars, both the $1 million proposed this year and just overall how much we're getting, what we're planning to do.
  • 00:49:52
    Is that part of our schedule, or could we add it to it?
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:49:58
    It is on.
  • 00:49:59
    Is it on?
  • 00:50:01
    It's not scheduled yet, but it's definitely something that we will look into.
  • 00:50:04
    It sounds like a really important follow-up, so I'm seeing head nods, so that sounds good.
  • 00:50:09
    Unfortunately, you will be first in the line.
  • 00:50:12
    So you'll be first in the line.
  • 00:50:16
    I'm sorry.
  • 00:50:16
    We've got 10 minutes left, and I want to get her through the slides, and then you'll be first up, Council Member Bui.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:50:25
    So historic look at general fund spending I can see on this slide and just for a breakdown of what that means for 2026 Dollars, I don't have the percentages on here, but you can see that the vast majority of DSIs budget is for personnel followed by services and lastly by materials
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:50:50
    I'm so sorry to stop you.
  • 00:50:51
    I'm running us on a faster schedule than I realize, so we will take an additional comment and question from Council Member Bowie.
  • 00:50:58
    Sorry, Nika.
• • Anika Bowie
  • 00:51:01
    I want some of the remarks that were made and also the questions and giving some context.
  • 00:51:05
    About two months ago, I have reached out to the administration, also Director Weezy, particularly around getting a briefing on the opioid settlement dollars.
  • 00:51:16
    I was informed that that was going to be in the budget conversation.
  • 00:51:19
    I'm not sure exactly which administration, which department head is posted.
  • 00:51:24
    to provide that.
  • 00:51:26
    In the lack of the transparency, I saw that it was putting to ensure that we have these conversations with our constituents.
  • 00:51:37
    So in the last town hall, Council Member Coleman and also Council President Naker was there for the conversation.
  • 00:51:45
    Coming from mainly community providers and Ramsey County was present as well.
  • 00:51:51
    we have not heard back from Office of Neighborhood Safety about what their plan is and I would say I do have
  • 00:52:01
    I'm happy to see that the opioid dollars are incrementally inside of the DSI's budget, but I think this conversation, this level of funding, really deserves attention and coordination and, like you mentioned, the joint partnership because it's not just incremental change.
  • 00:52:23
    These are one-time funding.
  • 00:52:25
    of the City of St Paul.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 00:52:45
    Council Member Bui, thank you for your comments on that.
  • 00:52:53
    Earlier I also spoke to some of the same challenges that we're facing with tenant protections.
  • 00:52:57
    I overall just think one of the things that I really want to echo is
  • 00:53:01
    Council's involvement in collaboration and partnership on some of these things that are really important to us.
  • 00:53:07
    And that's not necessarily regarding to this, you have like, you know, this is the 700,000 of the pot is going to DSA allocation, but the heart team and the work that the heart team does very supportive of.
  • 00:53:18
    you know as someone who really wants to continue to see some of these initiatives the one Community First Public Safety Program initiative that I felt was very intentionally designed to respond to a need that we were facing here in the city has been the HEART team and so the ongoing nature of the HEART team for me is like really important as a priority or my interests but I also want to make sure that like when we get like opioid settlement dollars when we're seeing multi-million dollar funding sources
  • 00:53:46
    I think it's really important on the partnership piece and the respect of the constituencies that we serve and the roles that we have as well so as the that what we could potentially bring and
  • 00:54:15
    It concerns me to hear the Chair of Public Safety not be able to get further information on the opioid settlement, just like it concerns me to be the chair of the HRA, the first black woman chair of the HRA, unable to get information on tenant protections.
  • 00:54:26
    And I just want to name that because I don't want it to continue to go unchecked.
  • 00:54:31
    I think in so many different ways and forms, it's a common denominator.
  • 00:54:35
    And I think I'm just slowly growing tired of asking and begging for that partnership.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:54:52
    The previous slide was related to the general fund spending history.
  • 00:54:57
    This is general fund financing and because DSI has a lot of fees for service that are
  • 00:55:07
    for the Department.
  • 00:55:10
    This is the historical look at that.
  • 00:55:13
    The 2025 is through July 30th.
  • 00:55:16
    Those will be a little bit off because of the cyber incident.
  • 00:55:23
    But when we look at trends, which will be coming up, I don't expect that to escalate to anything miraculous.
  • 00:55:35
    so spending this is just a little bit further breakdown to other funds other than the general fund city grants you see the
  • 00:55:47
    and the various funds there.
  • 00:55:49
    The special fund for 211 and as noted that includes more than just opioid settlement dollars.
  • 00:55:55
    211 is a very large, just like the general fund is very large.
  • 00:56:00
    It has different accounting units within it.
  • 00:56:03
    Assessment financing, the abatements that we perform that then go to tax assessment to recoup those costs.
  • 00:56:16
    and Charitable Gambling Fund we offloaded back in 2023 and as noted the 645 recycling and organized trash is new or proposed for 2026.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 00:56:33
    I'm not seeing this in any of the slides, so correct me if I'm just missing it, but in terms of the summary of revenue, are we planning to increase our fees for permits, for licenses, et cetera, by the inflationary costs that we've experienced this past year?
  • 00:56:56
    No, that is not part of the budget proposal.
  • 00:56:58
    And why are we not increasing those to just cover our costs in this year?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:57:04
    again something that I prefer to talk about at their time.
  • 00:57:10
    OK.
  • 00:57:10
    Sounds like we'll get a follow up.
  • 00:57:12
    We'll get a follow up on that one.
  • 00:57:19
    Historical spending, this includes all of the accounts just mentioned.
  • 00:57:23
    I should probably redo this graph so it comes in two different forms because having the wide disparity there is a little bit
  • 00:57:34
    FTE Summary Our teams aren't really divided into housing and economic development but rather than put every different accounting unit in here it seemed more appropriate to separate our folks into
  • 00:57:58
    I would like to thank the members of the committee and the folks who are focused on housing and folks who are focused on economic development there is certainly a lot of crossover but it is roughly I would say 50-50 across the department the big change here is just the five FTEs for opioid settlements that are being moved over to the opioid settlement dollars rather than the general
  • 00:58:30
    Unfilled positions These are the dates or approximate dates that and I believe we used the requisition date for these dates and The positions that remain unfilled in the status of those
• • Anika Bowie
  • 00:58:58
    I just had a quick follow-up, just a follow-up note.
  • 00:59:02
    For the, I think it was slide 15, I just had the total FTE summaries.
  • 00:59:08
    What I've seen from other department presentations, like the police and also the fire, I really saw it helpful to have a breakdown.
  • 00:59:17
    Because right here, with the description saying housing, economic development, as a council member, I'm not sure exactly what that all encompasses.
  • 00:59:26
    thank you so even with having if there's can be like a number of FTEs next to those boxes are some type of follow-up with the breakdown of how many inspectors how many staff in zoning etc animal control that would be really helpful I have that saved on my desktop so that is an easy one to follow back up
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:59:52
    It's actually in the same format but just has the FTEs and the different activities each of those sections performs.
  • 01:00:17
    Update on the ARP projects.
  • 01:00:21
    I already gave the update on the poly when that was the biggie.
  • 01:00:26
    Part of that was a match for our BRIC grant that's also ARP funded.
  • 01:00:32
    So I did include the BRIC grant on here, allowed the purchase of those mobile devices so that iPads, staff training, and then SOPs for
  • 01:00:46
    and the other
  • 01:01:14
    AARP projects that DSI benefited from or that our customers benefited from.
  • 01:01:20
    And I listed them here.
  • 01:01:23
    And that's because DSI wasn't responsible for managing the funds of these programs, but they certainly had an impact to the work that we do.
  • 01:01:36
    Revenue trends, changes, and outlook.
  • 01:01:38
    So as you saw on the graph, or the
  • 01:01:44
    for the chart, the revenue has steadily increased.
  • 01:01:48
    That was just for general fund, but if we look at all of the funds that DSI collects revenue for, there were a very large amount of
  • 01:01:58
    I'll say high dollar infrastructure investments that the city made that DSI is now collecting via permits.
  • 01:02:08
    So the Highland Bridge stormwater, that was a huge investment that was made several years ago.
  • 01:02:15
    And as permits are applied for on the site, they pay in to help recoup the costs of those investments.
  • 01:02:25
    I did not correct my typo here.
  • 01:02:27
    United Village, not Unite Village, the green infrastructure, Riverview and Water Street, the sewer infrastructure and the lift station, those investments had to be made in order for that development to take off there because without the investments in sewer and lift station, well, then people wouldn't be able to flush toilets or take showers.
  • 01:02:50
    So making those upfront costs are important and DSI collects
  • 01:02:56
    that was also an investment that we're starting to see through abatements, the recouping of that investment.
• • Saura Jost
  • 01:03:24
    I appreciate you bringing up the Highland Bridge stormwater feature, which is a stormwater feature and not a place to swim.
  • 01:03:37
    I also make sure I say that publicly whenever I can.
  • 01:03:41
    Could you say more about, since Highland Bridge was on pause and there
  • 01:03:48
    we're not as many permits being issued do you anticipate that and we're starting to recover some of those costs do you think that will have even more revenue coming as kind of that that site continues continues to build out I know the stormwater feature also like has building up because there's not as much stormwater going into it it's not
  • 01:04:09
    it's not the water is not flowing the way it normally would and there's been a lot of buildup of algae and so that's kind of been an issue too but hopefully you know with more projects coming through hoping that'll that will improve as well so I guess yeah do you see more more revenue coming through soon from that particular site thank you for the question I saying it's on pause would be news to me because part of the
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:04:36
    Permits that were entered were two projects for Highland Bridge that included some very high dollar recouping of costs related to the green infrastructure fee.
  • 01:04:47
    So I think one was over $400,000 and another was over $160,000 on a single permit to help recoup the costs of that infrastructure.
  • 01:04:59
    I wasn't part of the original planning and the cost recovery piece of that initial investment, but as I understand it,
  • 01:05:06
    The fee per square foot of land developed goes up year over year, so the further out we get
  • 01:05:19
    the higher the cost or the price is for per square foot and that's just because of inflation with I imagined the the expectation that it covers the cost of the initial investment but I think a follow-up on that is probably towards OFS.
• • Saura Jost
  • 01:05:41
    Yeah that sounds great yeah and in some projects around pause like there are a lot of things moving forward but there were a few
  • 01:05:46
    few things that had been on pause that are now not on pause, which I think were the projects you were probably just referring to.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 01:05:54
    Councilmember Johnson.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 01:05:56
    Thank you, Council Vice President.
  • 01:05:58
    I guess the question really is for either Director Bissi or Director Mitchell.
  • 01:06:05
    With the cannabis registration and just the cannabis work overall, let's say we don't get state sales tax revenue, or let's say the state doesn't do anything to alleviate some of the costs that this work may entail.
  • 01:06:17
    What is the plan for funding that in the future, I guess, on the city side?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:06:23
    thank you for the question the funding that is associated with this position is for the registration not for tax revenue so the registration fees are
  • 01:06:35
    a couple months ago and hopefully we'll come across your guys' desks for actual approval pretty soon and public testimony, but the registration fee is what is meant to cover the cost of this position.
  • 01:07:02
    I do mention the sales tax because I would be remiss to not mention the sales tax that is no longer in state law to help fund the activities that are associated with having cannabis business in our community.
  • 01:07:19
    So yes, the registration dollars fund the actual position, but to say that DSIs one position is the only thing
  • 01:07:28
    that would be associated with the regulation of this large change in our community.
• • Cheniqua Johnson
  • 01:07:37
    I guess that's kind of what I'm getting at is like will there be some sort of way that we're tracking our costs and like what it actually costs to I don't know I'm not as I just I'm just when we're thinking about the state and the federal government right now in other ways I'm just not as optimistic about relying on that as a funding source since I'm wondering here at the local level with that you know if we do have the one employee like that is funded through the fees
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:08:07
    how are we going to are we going to be tracking the cost that the additional cost that we incur and potentially aren't budgeting for to know like what the actual full expense will be or at least the projections or how it's going or yeah and I mention it here because it's more of a city-wide framework for that sales tax piece because the and the same can be said for like the licensing revenue that comes in right now
  • 01:08:35
    it helps fund other elements that support business licensing like police response and EMS response and public works, elements related to sidewalk cafes and all of that.
  • 01:08:51
    There's nothing that DSI does where we do in a silo.
  • 01:08:57
    it's and that's why it all goes into the general fund but the the costs associated this I think are TBD and they're gonna be from a lot of other departments too and it all depends on kind of how how the market goes so we'll see but we'll be monitoring it for sure
  • 01:09:21
    and I will always advocate that some of that sales tax should be returned to the city who's administering and supporting the businesses.
  • 01:09:34
    And then as far as revenue trends and changes, I expect it to be flat or in some elements of DSIs business to be down.
  • 01:09:45
    of the City of St Paul, City Council.
  • 01:09:46
    An example of that would be our fire certificate of occupancy program.
  • 01:09:49
    Without having the historical data in our system, we're not able to keep in line with the legal requirements of notification and I would say proper notification to be able to do our inspections as we would normally do them.
  • 01:10:05
    And so we are going to see a decline in some of our business
  • 01:10:15
    can plan for flat revenue expectations.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 01:10:18
    That sounds good.
• • Anika Bowie
  • 01:10:19
    We've got a question from Council Member Bowie.
  • 01:10:21
    Yes, thank you so much, Vice President Kim.
  • 01:10:24
    Thank you so much, Director Risi.
  • 01:10:26
    I just had a follow-up around the cannabis sales tax.
  • 01:10:30
    Is that something that we, the Council, would see included in our legislative agenda for next year?
  • 01:10:37
    Because I think that's something for, I guess, an example, like a franchise fee, right?
  • 01:10:42
    We weren't able to actually
  • 01:10:44
    and the City Council.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 01:10:59
    I had a quick question.
  • 01:11:00
    I'm sorry, I feel like I literally asked it on Monday.
  • 01:11:05
    For slide 16, can you talk us through the different positions the customer service specialist makes sense?
  • 01:11:14
    What was the principal city planner connected to?
  • 01:11:18
    Was that like a project?
  • 01:11:20
    Can you just refresh my memory?
  • 01:11:22
    I'm sorry.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:11:24
    Thank you for the question.
  • 01:11:25
    So Principal City Planner is within our zoning team and that's the person so if you're familiar with Tia Anderson that was the position that she was in and she took a position with planning and economic development so she's been gracious enough to stick with some of the projects but the backfill of that position is desperately needed and it's really for those really large
  • 01:11:51
    and the City Council.
  • 01:11:52
    We have a lot of site projects that have a ton of moving parts, so United Village, Highland Bridge, the Heights, Riverview, these are the large things that that principal city planner really both monitors but also is that direct connection, that kind of one point of contact from the development side to the city in order to make sure that we're connecting all the dots within the departments.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 01:12:20
    Thank you.
  • 01:12:26
    Hearing from Director Newborn and Talenden Equity Resources Department soon, to what do you attribute the delay in hiring, having vacancies since February or March or April?
  • 01:12:37
    Some of these I know were positions that we talked about last year being really important to hire.
  • 01:12:43
    Is that on the TIR side?
  • 01:12:46
    Is that on your department's side?
  • 01:12:47
    Is it just general interest?
  • 01:12:48
    Is it mismatch of salary to position?
  • 01:12:52
    Can you tell us more about what seems to be going on?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:12:55
    Yeah, they're all a little bit different.
  • 01:12:56
    So I'll skip the fire safety inspector, because that's super new.
  • 01:13:05
    The structural engineer has been, I said, posted for months.
  • 01:13:10
    And that's no joke.
  • 01:13:11
    It was posted until there was an applicant.
  • 01:13:13
    We received an applicant, who would have been great, but unfortunately accepted a different position.
  • 01:13:21
    So still working with HR to get some creative ideas on how we can get that position filled.
  • 01:13:28
    The Inspector 1, it notes that four were hired off of the current list and there's one more to go, so it's just the timing of our DSI Inspector 1.
  • 01:13:44
    There are three different
  • 01:13:47
    in the department that can hire off of that list and so some of it is timing and kind of who has the greatest need and being able to stagger some of that to and the skill sets so Inspector One is a I mean you could be looking at tall grass and weeds or you could be responding to zoning inquiries these are vastly different work and but it's the same title so still working on that one
  • 01:14:14
    That one will probably go to a new list, so it will be reposted.
  • 01:14:18
    It is a promotion position, so it will be posted internally first before externally.
  • 01:14:22
    The principal city planner position, we had several rounds of interviews, so that just took longer than, you know, given the nature of that role, we really, we needed to be somebody who is
  • 01:14:40
    self-managed and able to work cross-departmentally and can really bridge the gap between our customers' needs and the city's needs.
  • 01:14:52
    So we're just very diligent about that one.
  • 01:14:58
    The half FTE, just incredibly difficult to find somebody who's willing to work half-time on that role.
  • 01:15:08
    but we did hire our two full times off of the list and the customer service specialist.
  • 01:15:16
    They did interview candidates because the poly work was starting to ramp up for the front counter specifically right after that.
  • 01:15:26
    They didn't move forward with any of their candidates for fear of not having the time to dedicate to training those that hire.
  • 01:15:37
    Committee.
  • 01:15:37
    Unfortunately we did not hire that person and will probably be looking at 2026 for that hire.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 01:15:56
    Yes, we've got our Budget Officer Kamud and then we'll go to Council Member Bui.
• • SPEAKER_01
  • 01:16:01
    Thank you, Council Vice President.
  • 01:16:03
    I just wanted to clarify that we have a scheduled update regarding the text trends planned by the Ramsey County.
  • 01:16:09
    However, there is no information available at this time regarding an update on the opioid settlement.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 01:16:18
    Okay, that sounds good.
  • 01:16:19
    It sounds like there's a request to have it on the schedule.
• • Rebecca Noecker
  • 01:16:21
    I think the request was just for how many dollars are expected to come to the city in 2026.
  • 01:16:33
    And I think we know that information.
  • 01:16:35
    At least we've had it presented to us in the past as to how many dollars would be coming in in 2026.
• • Anika Bowie
  • 01:16:44
    I didn't have much of a question but just more so just it's kind of feedback and just my thoughts after hearing about the some of the challenges with hiring staff.
  • 01:16:55
    I know my office primarily I would say DSI complaints requests for information I like majority of my constituents are asking about it I know Director Weezy you've seen my emails and I know you've been
  • 01:17:07
    had your hands full with getting this poly up and running and getting through a cyber attack.
  • 01:17:13
    So I don't blame you for the department's inability to get back to me.
  • 01:17:21
    But there is still a huge gap.
  • 01:17:23
    And there is still a huge void that constituents are filling when they're reaching out to our office.
  • 01:17:29
    And we don't have access to.
  • 01:17:32
    the software to even get simple information around when an inspector had went out or what was the status of an inspection or what's the status of a complaint that comes from a constituent and they're wanting to see some type of accountability so whatever we can do to help with recruiting new staff to help with you know ensuring the customer service
  • 01:17:58
    I'm here to support that.
  • 01:18:06
    I'm also here to support whatever workforce development investments to actually be able to
  • 01:18:16
    to train our residents into these really valuable positions and look to certain models to actually retain them.
  • 01:18:27
    Because I think these are really incredible jobs that, like you mentioned, covers all aspects of people's lives, safety and housing.
  • 01:18:36
    I just wanted to say that I'd be remiss for any of my residents who may be watching, the million of viewers who may be watching and having a presentation from DSI and I just wanted to ensure that we really really really need staff to be able to be on that front line and have that follow up with our constituents.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:18:59
    I appreciate that
  • 01:19:18
    to find out where it's at.
  • 01:19:20
    It's on somebody's desk and it's in their notes because we have no software to be able to track the complaints.
  • 01:19:30
    Now we're almost there because that was part of the remaining one third that needed to be deployed related to complaints and getting that nailed down.
  • 01:19:42
    Some elements were there, some were not and not enough for them to be able to do the full
  • 01:19:48
    of the City of St. Paul.
• • Nelsie Yang
  • 01:20:21
    I just wanted to share my thoughts about the opioid settlement budget request or presentation request.
  • 01:20:33
    For me personally, I would be interested in us having a presentation around it if we don't have time because I know our schedule is really full.
  • 01:20:40
    It would be good to just get a briefing through email or an email for sure.
  • 01:20:45
    And then if council members want a one-on-one, I think it would be good to offer that up too.
  • 01:20:49
    I just have a few questions about slide 13, Director Weese for the General Government Special Projects.
  • 01:20:58
    In 2025, adopted, there's about $1.6 million in that cell there.
  • 01:21:04
    Is that for the Homeless Assistance Response Team?
  • 01:21:07
    What is that for?
  • 01:21:08
    Can you just refresh us on that?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:21:12
    I shook my head.
  • 01:21:14
    Apologize.
  • 01:21:14
    Part of it is the unsheltered response.
  • 01:21:18
    Part of it is the defederalized ARP dollars.
  • 01:21:25
    And I have to look at the budget book, but I think there's one other thing in there that I'm failing to remember for those dollars.
• • Nelsie Yang
  • 01:21:34
    OK, so the HART team that was funded through the general funds, or like for this year, for example, is that correct?
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:21:43
    For 2025, it's a yes and a no.
  • 01:21:47
    So it is funded in the general fund.
  • 01:21:51
    It is supported by the opioid dollars even in 2025.
  • 01:21:57
    So not all of the FTEs, but part of the funding, that accounting unit, was converted from the general fund to the 211.
• • Nelsie Yang
  • 01:22:09
    This is one that I will definitely have to put some more thoughts into.
  • 01:22:15
    One of the things that I do encourage my colleagues to do is to have conversations with our Ramsey County Commissioners about this.
  • 01:22:24
    I am also very supportive of our HEART team and the ways in which we as a city have had to step up and step in to do the work that we've counted on our government partners to do.
  • 01:22:35
    I do wonder though how much of it is like are we getting our fair share of the work really and like how certain are we that when we are putting in our own dollars that we are getting the service that other cities in the county are getting as well that way we're not one duplicating the work but just because we're putting in our own money that the county is not counting us out basically and like I brought this up
  • 01:23:02
    for the City of St. Paul.
  • 01:23:25
    and the City Council.
  • 01:23:32
    I have had conversations
  • 01:23:44
    and I would like to have more conversations with each of you about this too.
• • Saura Jost
  • 01:24:16
    I just had a comment I wanted to just add to what Councilmember Bui said.
  • 01:24:25
    I'm really supportive of the work that your department does and being able to fill these positions.
  • 01:24:32
    For me, I see the work that DSI does is really about making sure that
  • 01:24:37
    it's very much related to public safety which I know Council Member Bui also cares cares a lot about being the chair of that committee.
  • 01:24:43
    It's about making sure that our buildings are safe and our infrastructure is safe and it's just such important critical work and I know that the experiences that I've had with staff have been really great.
  • 01:24:54
    We had a really challenging issue this year in a building in our city and I requested someone from DSI reach out to me and someone called me that day and then they also joined a meeting with
  • 01:25:06
    and some very concerned constituents in my ward.
  • 01:25:08
    And my constituents were very, very appreciative of that.
  • 01:25:12
    And so I know that if we're able to fill these positions and really get the staff that we need and also move through this transition with Polly, which is a huge transition and takes time to really get the hang of for our staff and for our constituents, that we'll be able to deliver the services that our constituents really expect from us.
  • 01:25:31
    So I'm looking forward to that.
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 01:25:38
    Any other thoughts or questions from my colleagues?
  • 01:25:43
    I think I will just sort of wrap on a similar note that Chair Johnson is just continually in-pursuant of, and that is, I think, transparency.
  • 01:25:56
    And I think oftentimes when we're asking questions and looking for a little more accountability,
  • 01:26:00
    you know I am looking across this council and I see women that look like me and women that don't look like me right and I think the worst thing that we can do in terms of a relationship dynamic with departments and the administration is that we go back and we think is it because I'm a black woman on the council that is asking a tough question and so I know that's never the intent but I want to lift that up and name that and I just I look at the partners of my colleagues and
  • 01:26:23
    again I'm saying I'm assured that is not the intent but if that is the impact that's one that I would really be interested in sort of addressing and bridging with with all department staff but having heard that today I just would be remiss as the chair of the body to not
  • 01:26:41
    I want to add my voice to support to that.
  • 01:26:43
    We will be asking tough questions, we will be very direct and that is certainly should never be taken as a detriment because of who we are or what culture we come from or what our ethnicity background is.
  • 01:26:54
    So I want to lift that up and it was not the intent but when we think about how difficult it is for women to lead, how difficult it is for black women to lead, I just want to name that you have my complete support and sort of digging in a little bit more but making sure that we have sort of
  • 01:27:09
    Council, City Council, and the City Council.
  • 01:27:33
    because of that, part of the process that we agreed to was having department directors come on Monday to get those previews of those questions and that did not happen for your behalf as well, Director Risi.
  • 01:27:44
    So I also want to apologize and own that that was definitely an oversight on my part.
  • 01:27:50
    But I will partner up, continue to be a champion.
  • 01:27:53
    I think the questions that you're asking are direct and good.
  • 01:27:55
    thank you everyone for your time today we are right at time full 90 minutes Director Vesey thank you so much for your time and energy and I think just like the robustness of this report we really appreciate your partnership so thank you so much for your time in the council today thank you yeah with that we are adjourned