[00:00:07]
HOW'S THAT? CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES.
[CALL TO ORDER]
RIGHT.I'M GONNA OFFICIALLY, UM, CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER, UM, QUICKLY, UH, TWO MINOR ITEMS, CORRECTIONS, TYPOS ON OUR AGENDA FOR TODAY.
IF WE LOOK AT ITEM SE, ITEM SEVEN, VOTING ITEMS FOR COMMITTEE, UH, THIS SHOULD SAY DISCUSSION OF FUTURE MEETINGS.
UM, SO, UH, JUST SCRATCH OUT THE WORD AGENDA THERE.
AND THEN THE NEXT ITEM, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ITEM, IT'S, IT'S NOTED AS ITEM SEVEN.
THAT SHOULD BE ITEM NUMBER EIGHT.
SO WITH THAT, UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATION TODAY? ALL RIGHT, NO PUBLIC SPEAKERS TODAY.
[1. Approval of minutes from the May 22, 2023, Budget Committee of the Water and Wastewater Commission]
MINUTES.UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION FOR THE MINUTES FROM THE 20 MAY 22ND MEETING? I KNEW THAT WE ACCEPT THE MINUTES.
IS THERE ANY MORE DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND.
ALL RIGHT, IS ANONYMOUS UNANIMOUS? ALL RIGHT.
[2. Project Connect Status Update]
ITEM NUMBER TWO, PROJECT CONNECT, STATUS UPDATE.UH, MY NAME IS JOSEPH GONZALEZ, AUSTIN, WATER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, UH, OVER FINANCIAL SERVICES.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL BE PROVIDING ADDITIONAL DETAIL, UH, RELATED TO THE AUSTIN WATER, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET TODAY, STARTING WITH, UH, A PROJECT CONNECT STATUS UPDATE.
UM, SO UN UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF DETAILS, UH, RELATED TO, TO PROJECT CONNECT IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT ON, ON OUR BUDGET AND, AND R C I P PLAN.
UH, BACK ON JUNE 6TH, UM, A JOINT MEETING BETWEEN, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND CAPITAL METRO WAS HELD, UH, TO SELECT, UH, A FINAL ROUTE, UM, A FINAL LIGHT RAIL ROUTE.
AND, UM, THE, THE SELECTED ROUTE WAS APPROXIMATELY A 10 MILE ROUTE, UH, FROM STRETCHING FROM 38TH STREET AND GU GUADALUPE, UH, TO THE NORTH, UH, DOWN TO, UM, TO RF AND SOUTH CONGRESS, UH, TO THE SOUTH, AND THEN, UH, OVER TO YELLOW JACKET LANE AND, AND EAST RIVERSIDE, UH, TO THE EAST IN, IN DEL VALLEY, NEAR, NEAR THE AIRPORT.
UM, WITH THAT SELECTION, UH, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IS NOW WORKING, UH, ON, UH, CONTRACTS WITH CONSULTANTS TO, UH, WITH A, AN AUGUST GOAL, UH, TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED DRAFT, UH, CONCEPTUAL, UH, DESIGN.
AND, AND THAT DESIGN WILL, WILL, YOU KNOW, UH, START TO GIVE US MORE INFORMATION IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
NOW, THE SELECTED LIGHT RAIL ROUTE IS EXPECTED TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT TO, TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, ALONG THE ROUTE WITH WATER TRANSMISSION MAINS AS LARGE AS, UH, 72 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND WASTEWATER CONVEYANCE PIPELINES AS LARGE AS 48, UH, WITHIN THE PROPOSED LIGHT RAIL CORRIDOR.
NOW, BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT WILL BECOME CLEARER AFTER THAT CONCEPTUAL DESIGN IS COMPLETED.
SO WE DON'T ANTICIPATE, WE DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE, UM, ANY, ANY PROJECTS RELATED TO PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR, UH, FOR THE F FY 24 TO 28 BUDGET.
UH, SO THE EARLIEST THAT WE WOULD REALLY EXPECT TO START TO PROGRAM THOSE PROJECTS INTO OUR CIP PLAN, UH, WOULD BE WITH NEXT YEAR'S, UH, FIVE YEAR SPENDING PLAN, THE 25 TO 29 SPENDING PLAN.
AND, UH, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
WELL, IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT THEY'LL BE INCORPORATED.
I THINK JUDY'S GOT A QUESTION.
I WAS JUST WONDERING, SO JOSEPH, THAT MONEY, THAT, UH, MONEY WOULD BE BY PROJECT CONNECT OR IT WOULD BE ADDED INTO OUR BUDGET SOMEHOW, OR WOULD WE STILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THOSE LINES OR WHAT? UH, THAT'S STILL TO BE DETERMINED.
WE, WE DO EXPECT THAT THERE WOULD BE, UM, SOME, SOME CONTRIBUTION BY AUSTIN WATER, BUT WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A SENSE OF, OF WHAT THOSE AMOUNTS WOULD LOOK LIKE.
AND, AND, AND FRANKLY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE SPECIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD BE IMPACTED.
[00:05:01]
YOU.SO DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER NEXT YEAR WHEN WE LOOK AT THE BUDGET.
THAT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF MONEY,
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALL RIGHT, MOVING ON
[3. Fiscal Year 2024-2028 CIP Plan Review]
TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, PHYSICAL YEAR 2024 TO 2028 C I P PLAN REVIEW.AND, UH, FOR, FOR THE CIP PLAN REVIEW, I'M GONNA HAND IT OFF TO, UH, CHRISTINA ROMERO TO, TO, UH, GO OVER THE DOCUMENTS, THE, THE SUPPORT THAT WE'VE PROVIDED.
WE DON'T, UH, PLAN ON GOING, UM, LINE BY LINE.
IT'S A, YOU KNOW, IT'S A, IT'S A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF, OF, OF PROJECTS.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE, UH, SIGNIFICANT, SIGNIFICANT ONES AND, UH, CERTAINLY ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
HELLO, CHRISTINA ROMERO WITH AUSTIN WATER, UH, FINANCIAL MANAGER.
AND I'M GONNA GO OVER THE, UH, FIVE YEAR AUSTIN WATER CAPITAL PLAN.
UM, SO BACK IN OUR LAST MEETING AT THE END OF MAY, WE PRESENTED A VERY, VERY HIGH LEVEL SLIDE OF WHAT THAT FIVE YEAR CAPITAL PLAN LOOKS LIKE.
UM, IN TOTAL, IT'S ABOUT 1.86 BILLION.
WE HAVE SOME VERY STRATEGIC PROJECTS, LARGE STRATEGIC PROJECTS ON THE LIST, UM, AND I'M, I'LL POINT THOSE OUT.
UM, SO THE LARGEST PROJECT THAT'S IN THIS PLAN IS OUR WALNUT CREEK EXPANSION, OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLAN EXPANSION TO A HUNDRED, UH, MILLION GALLONS PER DAY.
UH, THAT'S ABOUT FI ALMOST, UM, 575 MILLION.
SO THAT TAKES UP A, A LARGE, UH, PORTION OF THIS PLAN.
UH, NEXT IS OUR SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT, TRANS A B IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE MAKING.
UH, SO THAT'S THE SECOND LARGEST PROJECT THAT WE HAVE IN THE PLAN.
UM, NEXT IS OUR AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT.
SO WE HAVE A PILOT BUILT IN THIS FIVE YEAR PLAN, ABOUT 21 MILLION, BUT TOWARDS THE END OF THE FIVE YEAR PLAN, OUR FULL SCALE'S GOING TO BEGIN, AND IT'S ABOUT 67 MILLION IN THE PLAN CURRENTLY.
AND THEN WE HAVE OUR WILLIAMSON CREEK WASTEWATER INTERCEPTOR AT 62 MILLION, OUR CENTER STREET PUMP STATION REPLACEMENT AND ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS AT 43.8 MILLION IN OUR AAMI.
SO OUR ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR POTABLE AND RECLAIMED WATER SERVICES, IT'S AT 39 MILLION.
AND SO THOSE, UH, ROUND OUT, UH, THE TOP PROJECTS OUT OF THIS LIST, UH, THAT WE WANNA POINT OUT TO YOU TODAY.
AND I'M, UH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
QUESTIONS
SO I WAS LOOKING BACK AT, UH, FROM, ON LAST YEAR'S, UH, BUDGET SUMMARY, AND IT HAD THE, UH, 20 23, 20 27, UM, FIVE YEAR CAPITAL SPENDING, AND IT HAD IT DIVIDED UP IN PERCENTAGES, RIGHT? SO I WAS JUST LOOKING, COMPARING, YOU KNOW, LAST YEAR'S TO, YOU KNOW, HOW BROKE DOWN THIS YEAR.
AND SO LAST YEAR HAD A 34% WATER, 63% WASTEWATER.
AND MAYBE YOU'VE ANSWERED THIS BECAUSE OF THE WALNUT CREEK, BUT YOU KNOW, NOW IT'S 28% WATER AND 69% WASTE WAS THE WALNUT CREEK, YOU KNOW, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, MOVED INTO THIS BUDGET CYCLE THAT WASN'T NECESSARILY PROJECTING FROM THE LA YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? SO WITHIN ONE YEAR, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, 6% LESS SPENT IN THE FIVE YEARS ON WATER AND THEN PUT THE WASTEWATER.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THAT CHANGE ON THAT.
UM, SO THAT CHANGE IS DUE TO MANY FACTORS.
UM, MORE UPDATED INFORMATION THAT WE'RE GETTING, UH, FOR THE PROJECTS AND WHAT IT WILL COST IN ORDER, UH, TO DO THE PROJECTS.
UH, ALSO, UH, WHEN YOU ADD IN THE, UH, NEW LAST YEAR, SO INSTEAD OF 27, 28, UM, 20 EIGHT'S ALSO, UH, PRETTY LARGE AMOUNT, UH, FOR THE WALNUT CREEK.
SO A LOT OF IT'S, UH, CONTRIBUTED TO THE WALNUT CREEK.
AND IN OUR PLAN, YOU CAN SEE WE ARE WASTEWATER HEAVY AND DOING ALL THESE IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE, THAT ARE NEEDED FOR OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND, AND I WOULD JUST ADD, YOU KNOW, UM, OUR, OUR CAPITAL PLAN OVERALL HAS GROWN.
YOU KNOW, JUST LOOKING AT IT FROM, FROM A WATER PERSPECTIVE, LAST YEAR WATER WAS ABOUT 466 MILLION, AND I THINK IT'S, UH, FIVE, IT'S, UH, 5 55.
UH, SO IT'S GROWN, UM, IN PART DUE TO, YOU KNOW, JUST,
[00:10:01]
UH, CHANGES IN TERMS OF WHERE PROJECTS ARE IN THE PROJECT TIMELINE, BUT, BUT ALSO, UH, INFLATION AND, AND, YOU KNOW, CONSTRUCTION COSTS HAVE, HAVE INCREASED.UM, AND, AND, AND THAT APPLIES TO, TO WALNUT AS WELL, YOU KNOW, MORE OF THE WALNUT PROJECT IS IN THE FIVE YEAR PLAN AS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR, BUT THOSE COSTS HAVE ALSO ESCALATED.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? NOPE.
UM, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, BUT I THINK THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM WILL ANSWER 'EM BETTER FOR ME.
SO I'M GONNA WAIT UNTIL WE GO THROUGH THAT.
UM, IT'S DEFINITELY AN EXTENSIVE BUDGET AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE RECLAIMED WATER'S GROWING NEVER SO SLOWLY, BUT IT IS GROWING.
SO THAT'S GOOD, CUZ THAT'S A, DEFINITELY AN EFFORT ON OUR PARTS.
UM, SO WITH NO OTHER QUESTIONS, WE WILL MOVE TO
[4. Fiscal Year 2024 Operating Requirements Summary]
ITEM NUMBER FOUR, UH, FISCAL YEAR 2024, OPERATING REQUIREMENT SUMMARY.UM, AND, AND FOR, FOR THIS ITEM, I'M GONNA HAND IT OVER TO SONG LEE FLOYD, WHO'S OUR FINANCIAL MANAGER OVER THE O M BUDGET.
BUT I DID WANT TO JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, THE, THE MATERIALS AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS.
SO WE, WE SUBMITTED OUR BUDGET, UH, AS WE DISCUSSED, UH, AT, AT THE LAST MEETING.
WE SUBMITTED OUR BUDGET BACK IN MAY, UH, TO THE BUDGET OFFICE.
SINCE OUR BUDGET SUBMITTAL, UH, THE, THE BUDGET OFFICE HAS, HAS BEEN REVIEWING AND WORKING WITH CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TO, TO REVIEW, UM, AND COMPILE, UH, THE, THE CITY'S BUDGET AND ENROLL OUR BUDGET INTO THE CITY BUDGET.
THAT PROCESS IS STILL ONGOING.
WE ARE STILL GETTING SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE EVEN, UH, OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS.
AND, UM, AND, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THESE MEETINGS ARE SOMEWHAT CHALLENGING BECAUSE OUR, OUR PROPOSED BUDGET ISN'T FINAL.
UM, BUT WE WANT TO GIVE YOU GUYS AS MUCH INFORMATION AS WE CAN, UM, SO THAT YOU GUYS CAN, CAN HELP, YOU KNOW, WRITE THE REPORT AND, AND DEVELOP A RECOMMENDATION FROM, FROM THE COMMISSION PERSPECTIVE.
AND, AND SO THE WAY WE'VE HISTORICALLY DONE THAT IS, IS REALLY JUST TRY AND WALK THROUGH, STARTING WITH OUR CURRENT YEAR BUDGET AND, AND HOW OUR CURRENT YEAR BUDGET, YOU KNOW, CHANGED IN TERMS OF CURRENT YEAR BUDGET TO OUR FORECAST, WHICH HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO COUNCIL AND IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
UM, SO WE'LL START WITH KIND OF A WALKTHROUGH OF THE MAJOR CHANGES FROM, FROM CURRENT YEAR BUDGET TO, TO FORECAST, AND THEN, UH, A HIGH LEVEL UPDATE OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES THAT WE ANTICIPATE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET FROM FORECAST TO, TO THE FINAL BUDGET SUBMITTED.
NOW, WE'RE NOT AWARE OF ANY, ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO OUR BUDGET AS, AS IT WAS PROPOSED, ALTHOUGH AT THE TIME THERE WERE STILL SOME, SOME CITYWIDE NUMBERS WE HAD NOT RECEIVED YET.
SO, AND WITH THAT, UH, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO
SOLI, FLOYD, AUSTIN WATER FINANCE.
SO, LIKE JOSEPH SAID, I WILL HELP WALK THROUGH A QUICK COMPARISON BETWEEN THE CURRENT YEAR F Y 23, UH, OPERATING REQUIREMENT BUDGET VERSUS THE F Y 24 PROPOSED AMOUNTS.
SO THIS IS ONLY ON THE OPERATING REQUIREMENT PIECE, WHICH IS THE PART OF THE BUDGET THAT EACH PROGRAM AREA AND THEIR AD HAS THE MOST, UH, HAS THE MOST CONTROL.
THE REST OF THE BUDGET WOULD BE, UM, TRANSFERS AS WELL AS DEBT SERVICES, WHICH ARE MOSTLY THE WORK OF TREASURY, BUDGET OFFICE, AND US, THE FINANCE TEAM.
SO, AND, UH, WE'LL DO THIS IN, NORMALLY DO THIS IN TWO PIECES, UH, LIKE JOSEPH MENTIONED.
SO WE WILL START WITH THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE F Y 23 BUDGET AND THE FORECAST THAT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED.
SO I'LL GO DOWN THE LIST, UH, AND POINT OUT A FEW HIGHLIGHTS, PROBABLY NOT ONE BY ONE.
UH, AND THEN LET ME KNOW IF THERE'S A PARTICULAR LINE THAT YOU HAVE.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST ITEMS THAT'S, THAT'S A COST DRIVER FOR FY 24 IS AUSTIN WATER IMPLEMENTED A TENTION STIPEND, WHICH IS 10% OF THE BASE SALARY.
SO TOTAL WEIGHS FIGO MEDICARE FOR THIS COST WILL COME UP TO BE ABOUT 8.3 FOR THE YEAR,
[00:15:01]
$8.3 MILLION FOR THE YEAR.YOU MIGHT ALSO SEE ANOTHER NUMBER LATER ON, UH, WHICH BUDGET OFFICE MIGHT BE PRESENTING IT DIFFERENTLY, WHICH IS 7.7 MILLION AND JUST BE, UH, NOTED THAT AMOUNT IS BECAUSE IT DOES NOT INCLUDE FICA MEDICARE.
SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE'S NO CONFUSION.
WE ARE PRESENTING TO YOU 8.3 MILLION BECAUSE THAT'S THE COMPLETE NUMBER WITH THE, I GOT MEDICARE.
AND WE ALSO SEE, UH, CHEMICAL COST HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DUE TO THE INFORMATION.
SO WE'VE FORECASTED A 4.5 MILLION INCREASE IN CHEMICAL.
THE NEXT NUMBER ACTUALLY IS A DIRECTION FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE.
THEY HAVE DIRECTED US TO INCLUDE A 3% BASE SALARY INCREASE FOR WAGE ADJUSTMENT, UH, FOR 24 IN OUR FORECAST.
WE ALSO, DURING THE FORECAST, UH, WE HAVE INCLUDED A TOTAL OF 27 NEW FTES FOR 24.
AND AT SAME TIME, THERE WERE ABOUT 20 NEW FTES THERE.
THAT WAS, UH, PART OF THE EXTERNAL REVIEW RECOMMENDATION.
AT THAT TIME DURING THE FORECAST, WE WERE THINKING, OKAY, WE ARE GOING TO SUBMIT A 23 BUDGET AMENDMENT TO INCORPORATE THESE 20 NEW FTES INTO OUR CURRENT YEAR BUDGET, WHICH WILL INCREASE THE CURRENT YEAR, UH, C Y E AND WILL CARRY OVER TO 24.
BUT AS I GO ON, YOU'RE GOING TO NOTICE THAT THAT PLAN HAS CHANGED DURING THE FORECAST.
WE ALSO RECEIVED A, UH, UH, RECOMMENDATION FROM AE TO INCREASE THE UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM SUPPORT 2.3 MILLION.
SO WE INCLUDED THAT AMOUNT IN OUR FORECAST.
AND THEN, UM, WE NORMALLY INCLUDE A INFLATION ADJUSTMENT RATE DURING FORECAST FOR OUR COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL.
AND SO FOR THIS YEAR, WE SAYS A RATE OF 4.4%, UM, THAT WOULD BE ACROSS THE BOARD FOR ALL CONTRACTUAL AND COMMODITIES THAT THAT WILL BE IMPACTED.
COUPLE OTHER THINGS, UM, TO POINT OUT, ONE WOULD BE THAT, UH, WE DID HAVE TWO ROUNDS OF LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT.
THE FIRST ROUND IS BASIC LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT.
THE SECOND ROUND IS COMPASSION REVIEW THAT H R D HAS DONE.
SO THERE WERE A FOLLOW UP ADJUSTMENT, SO THERE WERE TOTAL OF TWO ROUNDS AND, UH, UM, WE ESTIMATED THE COST BASED ON WHAT WE SEE AT THAT TIME, WHICH WE SAW THERE WILL BE, UH, AROUND 2 MILLION.
BUT AS I GO ON, YOU, YOU'LL SEE THAT AMOUNT IS NOT, NOT ENOUGH, UH, UH, THE ACTUAL AMOUNT ACTUALLY QUITE HIGHER THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE, THERE'S A OFFSET AMOUNT DOWN HERE TOO, BECAUSE DURING THE 23 F Y 23 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, UH, PRO PROCESS, WE WERE TOLD BY THE BUDGET OFFICE TO IN INCLUDE $1 MILLION.
SO THE NUMBERS ARE GETTING MUCH BIGGER.
SO LAST YEAR WE ACTUALLY INCLUDED THE $1 MILLION, UH, AS A LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT IN OUR BUDGET FOR 23.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU SEE THE OFFSET AMOUNT.
SO THE LIVING WAGE IS BEEN IN DISCUSSION FOR QUITE A WHILE.
IT STARTED, UH, JULY, UH, JUNE TIME P TIME PERIOD LAST YEAR.
WE END UP INCLUDING $1 MILLION AND IMPLEMENTED IN OCTOBER 1ST THIS YEAR.
SO I MEAN OCTOBER 1ST AND LAST YEAR, F Y 22.
SO, UM, LET'S SEE, A FEW OTHER THINGS HERE.
THE ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTION, UH, THAT'S LESS THAN 1 MILLION, AND IT'S LESS THAN 1%.
UH, IT'S A, IT'S AN INTERESTING PERCENTAGE THAT, UH, BUT IT IS COMING FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE.
THEY TOLD US TO BUDGET THE AMOUNT, UH, OR TO INCLUDE THE AMOUNT IN FORECAST.
ALSO THE TWO, UH, FREE NUMBER 5%, 10%, 5% FOR FREE MAINTENANCE, 10% FOR
[00:20:01]
FREE FUEL.BOTH ARE ALSO DIRECTIONS FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE, UH, WHICH WE ALSO INCLUDED.
ANOTHER ITEM IS ALSO FROM THE, UH, DIRECTION FROM BUDGET OFFICE, WHICH, UH, BASED ON OUR, THEY RUN THE QUARTERLY, UH, PERSONNEL SAVING PERCENTAGES FOR EACH CITY DEPARTMENT.
SO OUR PERCENT, BASED ON OUR ACTUAL PERCENTAGES, THEY WANTED US TO INCREASE OUR VACANCY SAVING PERCENTAGE A LITTLE BIT.
SO THAT'S ABOUT 1.9 MILLION WE INCLUDED IN FORECAST.
SO THAT TOTAL TO BE 31.4 MILLION.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE PRESENTED DURING FORECAST.
AND SO OUR, TO OUR, UH, SUBMITTED FORECAST VERSUS OUR APPROVED F Y 23 BUDGET FOR OPERATING REQUIREMENT ONLY, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE ABOUT 30 MILLION.
I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, UH, JUST TO STOP HERE AND SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER MUSGROVE.
BUT, UM, ONE THING I WAS WONDERING IS THAT HOW MANY THINGS ARE, LIKE, I FEEL LIKE SOME STUFF WAS DOUBLE COUNTED.
LIKE YOU'VE GOT THE VACANTS, THE, UH, LET ME, LEMME THINK.
YOU HAD THE, YOU KNOW, LIKE ALL THE CHEMICAL MONEY THAT WENT UP, AND THEN ALSO YOU HAD 4% FOR ALL COMMODITIES.
SO I JUST DIDN'T, I WANNA KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS KIND OF, AND WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE DIFFERENT, HOW YOU WERE DOUBLE COUNTING SOME OF THAT, OR DO YOU NEED THE FULL AMOUNT OR WHAT? GREAT QUESTION.
WE, UM, ACTUALLY HAVE IMPLEMENTED A FORECAST MODEL SCENARIOS A COUPLE YEARS AGO, RIGHT? SO IT'S A VERY COMPREHENSIVE MODEL.
SO IN THAT MODEL, WE HAVE OVERALL, UM, INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FOR PRO, FOR COMMODITIES FOR CONTRACTUAL, BUT WE ALSO HAVE INDIVIDUAL LINES THAT BROUGHT OUT FROM THE MODEL THAT YOU CAN DO INDIVIDUAL ADJUSTMENT.
SO WE PULLED, EVERY YEAR WE PULL CHEMICAL OUT BECAUSE THE CHEMICAL IS ALWAYS A, A SIGNIFICANT ITEM THAT WE LOOK MUCH CLOSER TO VERSUS, UH, THE OTHER SMALLER ITEM.
AND WE ALSO PULL ELECTRICITY OUT, ELECTRIC COST OUT.
UM, WE PULL PERSONNEL COST OUT.
SO, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE LINES FOR INDIVIDUAL, UM, LINES FOR NEW FTS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, NO, IT'S NOT DOUBLE COUNTED BECAUSE WE DO PAUSE THESE PARTICULAR OBJECT CLOSE OUT, BUT IT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
AND THEN ALSO THE VA, UM, THE VACANCY PAY OR WHATEVER IT IS Y'ALL YES.
ARE THE VACANCY PERCENTAGE, WELL, NOW YOU SAID IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE 1 MILLION, BUT WHAT'S THE PERCENTAGE THAT THEY'RE ASKING YOU TO DO THIS YEAR? VACANCY? UH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
I, WE USE, WE NORMALLY BUDGET AROUND 7%.
I THINK THAT THIS YEAR THEY, UH, INCREASE IT TO 9%.
SO VACANCY SAVING, IT'S BECAUSE WE'VE ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE VACANCIES, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
SO, UM, HISTORICALLY WE ACTUALLY HAS BEEN BUDGETING AROUND 5%.
AND, UH, SO, UM, BASED ON PAST HISTORIES, WE, WE ALWAYS WANTED TO AIM THE VACANT SAVING A LITTLE LOWER TO, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN ACHIEVE IT, RIGHT? BUT, UM, BUT THE PAST FEW YEARS WE'VE HAD CHALLENGES FILLING THE POSITIONS.
SO, UM, SO OUR VACANCY STATEMENT IS PRETTY HIGH, AND THE BUDGET OFFICE SEES THAT TREND.
UH, OUR HR REALLY IS WORKING NONSTOP AND TO FILL THE VACANCIES, THEY SEE THE TREND TOO, THAT IT'S TRAINING A LITTLE HIGHER.
SO THEY ASK NOT JUST US, UH, UH, CITYWIDE THAT THEY DO NOW TRAIN ANALYSIS AND THEY ARE ASKING US TO INCREASE A LITTLE BIT, AND WE ARE, WE AGREE THEY IS TRAINING HIGHER.
SO, OKAY, SO THAT'S MONEY THAT IS ACTUALLY IN YOUR BUDGET THAT YOU, THAT IS HIGHER THAN WHAT IT WOULD BE, BUT ANSWER THAT'S PUT, SORRY, NOT WORDING THIS CORRECTLY, BUT THAT PUTS MONEY IN YOUR BUDGET BECAUSE YOU, YOU'RE ASSUMING YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO HIRE THESE PEOPLE RIGHT, UNTIL PARTWAY THROUGH THE YEAR OR SOMETHING? WELL, THE, IT'S A TRICKY, OH, SORRY.
IT'S A TRICKY NUMBER BECAUSE, UM, SAVING NUMBER IS A OFFSET INCREASE IN VACANCY PERCENTAGE IS ACTUALLY, UH, OFFSET OF YOUR ACTUAL PAYROLL COST.
SO IT COMES IN AS A NEGATIVE NUMBER.
[00:25:01]
SO IF YOU INCREASE YEAH, INCREASE VACANCY, SAVING PERCENT MEANS THAT YOU ARE SAYING, OKAY, I'M NOT GOING TO HIRE AS MANY EMPLOYEES AS I WANTED TO, COMES BACK.SO THE MONEY IS ACTUALLY TOO HIGH, RIGHT? CAUSE HAVE ENOUGH NUMBERS.
THAT'S WHY WE, WE NORMALLY DON'T, DON'T, YOU KNOW, BUDGET ADD A, A, A VERY HIGH NUMBER, BUT WE DO SEE THE TREND IS HIGHER AND WE AGREE THE TREND IS HIGHER.
AND SO WE ARE, WE ARE ADDING MORE SAVINGS TO THE PERSONNEL COST.
IT, IT'S, IT'S A CONFUSING NUMBER AND I, I WOULD JUST ADD, YOU KNOW, WE, WE BUDGET FOR POSITIONS AS, AS IF THEY WOULD, THEY WOULD BE FILLED, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, NEW POSITIONS.
UM, AND SO VACANCY SAVINGS IS JUST A RECOGNITION THAT WE, WE DO HAVE VACANCIES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
IT, IT TAKES US TIME TO HIRE NEW POSITIONS.
UM, AND, AND HISTORICALLY THAT NUMBER HAS BEEN PRETTY LOW.
I WILL SAY THAT AS OF, UM, AS OF OUR MOST RECENT VACANCY, SAVINGS OR VACANCY REPORT, UH, WE ARE BACK UNDER 10%, UM, VACANCY RATE, UM, FOR, FOR THE UTILITY.
AND WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TARGETING, UM, YOU KNOW, 8% BY, BY THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
SO, SO THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS ASSUMPTION IS, IS, UH, IN LINE WITH THAT EXPECTATION.
UM, BUT, BUT AS SONG LEE MENTIONED, I MEAN, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE, UH, A REALLY GOOD JOB OF, OF HIRING LAST YEAR.
WE SET A RECORD, UH, IN TERMS OF NUMBER OF HIRES.
WE HIRED, UH, 300, WE FILLED 300 POSITIONS, UH, THIS YEAR WE'RE ON PACE, UM, FOR ABOUT 375 POSITIONS.
AND, AND OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS, WE'VE SEEN, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF A SLOWDOWN IN TERMS OF, OF ATTRITION.
AND SO, UH, IF THOSE TRENDS CONTINUE, WE EXPECT TO BE, UH, LIKE I SAID, IN, IN THE 8% RANGE IN TERMS OF, OF VACANCY SAVINGS FOR THE UTILITY.
NOW, THAT'S NOT TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE DON'T STILL HAVE SOME, SOME AREAS AND, AND, AND OPERATIONS THAT ARE HIGHER THAN THAT.
AND, AND, AND THAT CONTINUE TO BE A CONCERN.
UH, BUT WE ARE, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, UH, HR, OUR HIRING TEAM IS, IS, UM, THEY'RE, THEY'RE BLOWING AND GOING AND, AND, AND, UM, FILLING POSITIONS AS QUICKLY AS, AS, AS THEY CAN.
AND WITH THE SLOWDOWN AND ATTRITION, THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, ALLOWED US TO PULL DOWN OUR VACANCY RATE TO THE LOWEST IN THE CITY.
JUST FOR MY KNOWLEDGE, WHAT'S THE TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN AUSTIN WATER? AUSTIN WATER CURRENTLY HAS 1361 FOR F Y 23, SO THAT'S A KIND FT.
BUT I DON'T HAVE A CURRENT LEGACY NUMBER.
WE'LL HAVE TO PULL OUT AN EMAIL.
SO JUST TO SUMMARIZE THAT, YOU DID INCREASE THE PERCENTAGE, YOU USED TO USE FIVE, NOW YOU'RE USING EIGHT OR EIGHT OR, UH, FOR THE BUDGET OR FOR AC FOR, FOR THIS BUDGET? FOR, FOR BUDGET, WE'RE, WE'RE ACTUALLY RUNNING AROUND 9%.
BUT YOU STILL FEEL PRETTY COMFORTABLE WITH THAT? YEAH, UH, YOU KNOW, IT DOES TAKE TIME TO, TO FILL, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY OUR, OUR, OUR NEW HIRE POSITIONS.
UM, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, EVEN IF OUR VACANCY RATE IS SLIGHTLY LOWER, YOU KNOW, AT AT YEAR END, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE ADD POSITIONS EVERY YEAR, YOU KNOW THAT THAT VACANCY RATE JUMPS UP AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR BECAUSE YOU'VE ADDED NEW POSITIONS THAT YOU HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO FILL YET.
UM, AND, AND THEN WE, WE SLOWLY WORK, WORK OUR WAY DOWN.
SO IF WE END AT 8%, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR AVERAGE FOR THE YEAR IS STILL GONNA BE HIGHER THAN THAT, AND WE, WE EXPECT THE SAME TO HAPPEN NEXT YEAR.
UM, THE STIPEND, DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTION? UM, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE STIP, THE STIPEND THAT'S NEW, CORRECT? YES.
WAS THAT, UH, A RESULT OF THE AUDIT OF AUSTIN WATER? UM, IT WASN'T A DIRECT RESULT OF, OF THE EXTERNAL REVIEW, UH, BUT WAS A RECOGNITION THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE NEEDED TO DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT WE COULD TO, UH, TO NOT ONLY BE ABLE TO, TO RECRUIT, UH, YOU KNOW, NEW EMPLOYEES AND, AND OFFER COMPETITIVE WAGES, BUT DO EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO, TO RETAIN EXISTING EMPLOYEES.
AND THAT, THAT'S BEEN THE CHALLENGE REALLY OVER, OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF IS, LIKE I SAID, OUR, OUR HR HIRING TEAM HAS, HAS DONE A TREMENDOUS JOB IN TERMS OF FILLING POSITIONS.
IT'S JUST, UH, WE, WE'VE KIND OF BEEN TREADING WATER IN TERMS OF TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH ATTRITION.
AND SO, SO THAT, THAT STIPEND THAT, YOU KNOW, IS A RETENTION STIPEND,
[00:30:01]
UH, FOR EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE BEEN WITH THE UTILITY FOR AT LEAST A YEAR.UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AN EFFORT TO, TO TRY AND SLOW ATTRITION.
ARE THESE INDIVIDUAL SELECTED SPOT BONUSES OR SIGN-ON BONUSES, OR A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING? UH, WE, IN ADDITION TO RETENTION STIPEND, UH, FOR EMPLOYEES WHO, WHO'D BEEN WITH UTILITY FOR A YEAR, UH, WE, WE'VE ALSO IMPLEMENTED, UM, RECRUITING, UH, YOU KNOW, BONUSES, UH, TO, TO ATTRACT NEW EMPLOYEES AS WELL.
UM, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF TRYING TO RUN THE GAMUT OF, OF DOING ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN DO, UM, TO, TO RETAIN STAFF, BUT ALSO, UH, YOU KNOW, TO CONTINUE TO RECRUIT, PARTICULARLY IN, IN AREAS OF NEED.
COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS SECTION? THAT 10% FOR HEALTH INSURANCE, WAS THAT DIRECTED BY THE BUDGET? YES.
YEAH, 10% FOR HEALTH INSURANCE IS ALSO, UM, DIRECTED FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE.
AND THEN ONE MORE QUESTION, THE TWO ROUNDS OF LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENTS, UM, AT 2 MILLION, WERE, WERE NOT FEELING THAT THAT'S SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH? NOT AT ALL.
AND, UH, WHEN WE TURN THE PAGE, WE WILL SEE THAT WOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST NUMBERS.
I NEED TO EXPLAIN, IF THERE'S NO MORE QUESTIONS ON THIS, I'LL, I'LL LET IT, I'LL LET US PROCEED TO THE NEXT PAGE.
IT'S A GREAT LEADING TO LEADING QUESTIONS.
VERY GOOD, GOOD LEADING QUESTION.
SO THE SECOND PIECE IS, WE ARE COMPARING BETWEEN THE FORECASTED 24 AMOUNT AND, UH, THE PROPOSED FY TOTAL FOR, UM, BUDGET AMOUNT.
SO THE FIRST AMOUNT YOU SEE 6.7 MILLION, UH, IN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE, UH, FORECAST AND THE BUDGET.
THAT'S BECAUSE DURING FORECAST PROCESS, WE DON'T SEE THE CURRENT PAYROLL SUMMARY.
THE CURRENT PAYROLL SUMMARY DOESN'T GET INTERFACED FROM OUR PAYROLL SYSTEM BANNER INTO OUR BUDGET SYSTEM ECOM UNTIL, UNTIL AROUND MARCH TIME, WHICH FORECAST ALREADY COMPLETED.
SO WHAT WE DID IS AS SOON AS THE INTERFACE HAPPENS, WE DID A DOWNLOAD SO WE CAN SEE WHAT OUR CURRENT PAYROLL LIES.
AND THAT'S WHEN WE REALIZED, WELL, LIKE, WHOA, WE SEE A MUCH BIGGER DIFFERENCE THAT, THAT, UH, COMPARED TO FFY 20 THREES BUDGET FOR PAYROLL.
AND THAT'S THE AMOUNT YOU SEE HERE.
AND OF COURSE WE DID A LITTLE DIGGING, RIGHT? WE, WE CHECK IN WITH THE BUDGET OFFICE AND MAKE SURE THAT THEIR DATA AND OUR DATA WE'RE SEEING CONSISTENT AMOUNTS.
SO AT END OF THE DAY THAT FROM THE FEEDBACK FROM THEM THAT WE ARE, UM, SEEING A MUCH HIGHER LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT, UH, IMPACT.
AND THE TWO ROUNDS, ONE IS, LIKE WHAT I SAID, THE INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION SECOND ROUND WAS, UH, UH, EXTENSIVE REVIEW FOR COMPRESSION.
AND ON TOP OF THAT, UH, THAT, THAT DIDN'T COVER ALL OF THE INCREASE WE SEE.
WE ALSO REALIZE THAT UTILITY OVER THE YEAR, UH, FOR THROUGHOUT F Y 23 HAS BEEN DOING UTILITY TITLE MARKET STUDIES INDIVIDUALLY.
SO THIS IS NOT A CITYWIDE HR, UH, EFFORT.
IT'S MORE AUSTIN WATERS HR, RIGHT? DOING THE MARKET STUDY.
UH, IT, IT WAS PERFORMED, UH, IN CONJUNCTION WITH, WITH WITH CITY HR RD.
BUT, BUT IT WAS THE, THE MARKET STUDY WAS FOCUSED SPECIFICALLY ON AUSTIN WATER AND NOT THE, THE ENTIRE CITY.
SO IT'S AUSTIN WATER TITLES, AND THERE WERE ABOUT 30, UH, WE, WE GOT AN UPDATE FROM OUR HR MANAGER, WHICH IS AROUND 30 TITLES, UH, WHICH TOTALED ANOTHER 2.706 MILLION IMPACT FOR THE YEAR.
AND ALSO WE, WE ALSO HAVE HAVE THE CLASSES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, BUT THE AMOUNT IS MUCH SMALLER.
SO, SO THESE ARE, UM, ADD UP TO THE AMOUNT THAT YOU SEE.
SO, SO THIS, SO THIS 6.7 IS WHAT YOU REALLY NEED.
[00:35:02]
PAYROLL IS, UM, KIND OF SEMI-AUTOMATIC, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S THE CURRENT PAY AMOUNT THAT IS FEEDING INTO BANNER, I MEAN, FEEDING FROM BANNER INTO ECOMMS. SO ESSENTIALLY THIS IS THE AMOUNT WE SEE ALREADY IN OUR PAYROLL.SO YES, IN OTHER WORDS, THIS IS THE AMOUNT WE WILL NEED TO GET THE PAYROLL, UH, CONTINUING ON WITH THE SAME PAYROLL AMOUNT.
IT'S IN THE CITY'S BUDGETING SYSTEM, AGAIN, IS BASED ON ALL OF OUR APPROVED POSITIONS, AND, AND IT'S BASED ON A SNAPSHOT IN TIME.
AND SO THAT SNAPSHOT HAPPENS AFTER THE FORECAST SUBMITTAL.
AND, AND SO WHEN THAT SNAPSHOT HAPPENED, UH, THIS IS THE ADDITIONAL AMOUNT OF PAYROLL COSTS FOR, FOR, FOR SALARIES, RETIREMENT BENEFITS, UH, THAT WE NEED TO TRUE UP, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BASE TO, TO BASE.
IN OTHER WORDS, THIS, THIS WOULD BE ROLL FORWARD AS OUR, OUR, OUR BASE PERSONNEL COST.
AND, AND THAT 3% THAT YOU SAW ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE IS ON TOP OF THAT.
AND THEN ALSO THAT, UH, WE RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM BOTH OF OUR PURCHASING GROUP AS WELL AS OUR OPERATIONS, THAT THE CHEMICAL AMOUNT INFLATION COST THAT WE ESTIMATED, UH, THE ONLY FORECAST WAS IN, UM, UM, DOESN'T SEEM ENOUGH.
UH, ONE THING WITH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORECAST PROCESS AND THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IS FORECAST PROCESS IS MORE TOP DOWN BECAUSE WE AS A FINANCE PEOPLE ARE DOING OUR BEST JUDGMENT CALL AND WE SOME INPUT, BUT MORE LIMITED INPUT FROM THE OPERATIONS.
BUT THE BUDGET PROCESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IS BOTTOM UP.
SO THEY KNOW THEIR BUSINESS AND THEY START PUTTING IN THE NUMBERS, AND THEN WE COMPILE THE DATA AND TAKE A CLOSER LOOK TO SEE IF THE NUMBERS ARE REASONABLE.
SO WHEN THAT HAPPENED, WE REALIZED, OKAY, WE WERE STILL MORE CONSERVATIVE THAN NEEDED ON THE CHEMICAL COST, SO WE HAD TO ADD THAT TO THE PROPOSAL AMOUNT.
AND THEN, UH, AE ALSO SURPRISED US WITH, UH, ADDITIONAL INCREASE ON THE UTILITY, UH, BILLING SYSTEM SUPPORT COST.
SO WE HAD TO, UH, INCLUDE THAT.
AND WE, WE DO, WE, WE, WE DID NOT, UM, INCLUDE ANYTHING FOR OVERTIME DURING THE FORECAST, BUT WHEN WE DID THE BUDGET, WE REALIZED THAT THE ACTUAL SPENDING FOR OVERTIME IS TRENDING, UM, HIGHER THAN WE THOUGHT COMPARED TO THE BUDGET.
ONE IS THERE MIGHT BE A ADDITIONAL OVERTIME NEEDS, BUT ALSO LIVING WITH THE ADJUSTMENT, I THINK PLAYED A, A BIG ROLE IN THAT BECAUSE WHEN YOU ADJUST THE BASE COST, EVEN IF YOU ARE, UH, USING THE SAME AMOUNT OVER TIME, THE PAY GETS HIGHER.
SO, SO, SO THAT'S THROUGH COMMUNICATION AND, UH, WITH OPERATING, I MEAN OPERATIONS, UH, MANAGERS, THAT'S HOW WE, THE STORY WE HEARD.
THEY'RE LIKE, WE ARE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING OURS, BUT THE PAY HAS INCREASED DUE TO THE SALARY ADJUSTMENT, WAGE ADJUSTMENT.
SO, AND, UM, I DO NEED TO PULL MY NOTES.
SO THE NEXT ITEM IS SERVICES AUTHOR, UH, INCREASE, AND THAT IS MOSTLY CONTRACTUAL COST FOR RESTORATION SERVICE CONTRACT, UH, SEWER LINE, LUT CONTROL SERVICE CONTRACT, AND THEN FLOW MONITORING SERVICE CONTRACT.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE MAINTENANCE PIPELINE CONTRACT INCREASED AS WELL 0.7 MILLION.
SO THESE ARE, UM, PRETTY MUCH OUR DAY TO DAY, UH, OPERATIONS NEEDS THAT THE PROGRAM AREAS ARE RECORDING THAT THEY NEED TO INCREASE THE BUDGET.
AND THEN WE HAVE THE BRAZOS LEGAL AUTHORITY IN INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT, UH, THAT ONE COME FROM THE AUTHORITY ITSELF, AND THEY TOLD US THAT THEY NEED, UH, INCREASE BASED ON THEIR BUDGET FORECAST.
AND THEN, UH, SOME OTHER SMALLER, UM, INCREASES FROM OTHER CONTRACTUAL COMMODITIES, RENTAL AS EQUIPMENT, PIPELINE FEEDING, UH, BIO SOLIDARY USE SERVICES, COMPUTER
[00:40:01]
HARDWARE, ELECTRIC SERVICES, UH, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, AND THEN, UH, CHILL MINIS.SO WE NORMALLY REPORT ON ITEMS A LITTLE OVER, UM, 500 K IS NORMALLY THE THRESHOLD WE WOULD USE.
SO BY THIS ONE WE GO, WE GOT A LITTLE, UH, DEEPER BECAUSE WE WANTED THAT MISCELLANEOUS NUMBER RIGHT TO MINIMIZE THAT NUMBER AND TO, TO, TO BE ABLE TO BALANCE THE BOTTOM LINE AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
SO, SO THAT'S WHY YOU SEE SOME, UH, SMALLER DOLLAR AMOUNT HERE.
AND THEN WE HAVE SOME, UH, DIFFERENCES ALSO THAT BETWEEN THE FORECAST AND THE, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET, WE REALIZE THAT WE SEE, UM, A DECREASE.
SO WE RECORDED DISEASE AS WELL.
SO YOU SEE METER, UM, UH, WAS A DECREASE.
UM, THAT'S PROBABLY RELATED ALSO DIRECTLY WITH AAMI PROJECT THAT WE ARE DOING.
SO THE METERS COST FOR THE REGULAR METERS DECREASING, AND THEN THIS IS MORE METERS, UH, MAINTENANCE COST.
AND THEN YOU SEE THE, UH, TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE, UH, WE SEE DECREASE HERE.
UH, WE ALSO SEE A DECREASE IN COMMERCIAL INCENTIVES, UH, RELATED TO CONSERVATION EFFORT.
AND THEN WE ALSO SEE, UM, LAST YEAR WE BUDGETED A 1.6 MILLION FOR THE, UM, FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS TO WORK ON OUR RATE CASE AND REVIEW.
AND, UH, SO MAJORITY OF THAT AMOUNT IS ONE TIME SPENDING AMOUNT.
SO WE ARE TAKING THAT AMOUNT OUT, UH, OUT OF THE CURRENT YEAR'S BUDGET.
AND THEN HERE IS INTERESTING NUMBER.
SO EARLIER I MENTIONED THAT WE FORECASTED DURING THE FORECAST, WE WERE CONSIDERING ADDING 27 NEW FTES FOR 24, AND ALSO AT THE SAME TIME WAS GOING TO ADD ANOTHER 20 NEW FTES, UH, BASED ON THE EXTERNAL REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS TO 23, RIGHT? THAT'S A TOTAL OF 47 NEW FTES, UH, DURING THE FORECAST WILL BE ADDED, HOWEVER, AFTER, UH, FURTHER, UH, JUST FOR, I THINK IT WILL PROBABLY EX RIGHT.
EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT ON OUR NEXT AGENDA.
ON THE EXTERNAL REVIEW UPDATE.
SO AFTER, UH, FURTHER REVIEW, UH, WE DECIDED TO, UM, USE OTHER METHODS TO FUND OR TO, TO, UM, CONVERSE SOME OF OUR EXISTING POSITIONS, VACANT POSITIONS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE EXTERNAL REVIEW, UH, FT NEEDS.
SO, UH, THAT'S WHY FOR 24 PROPOSED FTES, WE DROPPED THE NUMBER FROM 47 TO 20, WHICH IS COST WISE, IT'S A DIFFERENCE OF $3.3 MILLION.
SO WE TOOK THAT OUT, UH, FROM THE FORECAST AMOUNT.
SO IN AND OUT, UH, WE TRIED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM LINE, WHICH IS $10.8 MILLION DIFFERENCE.
IT IS AN INCREASE, AN ADDITIONAL INCREASE COMPARED TO THE FORECAST.
SO, SO THESE TWO PIECES TOGETHER, OF COURSE, IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 23 BUDGET VERSUS THE 24 BUDGET FOR THE OPERATING REQUIREMENTS.
SO I'LL TAKE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.
I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF INFORMATION, SO COMMISSIONERS, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER GRO, UM, I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT THE, IS ANYTHING HAPPENED IN THE LEGISLATURE THAT WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE MORE, NEED MORE MONEY IN OUR BUDGET OR LESS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? DID THEY DO ANYTHING? I KNOW THERE WERE SOME WITH LOST CREEK, AND I DIDN'T EVER HEAR WHERE THAT ENDED UP, BUT ARE WE STILL OPERATING THAT PLANT OR NOT? SO FOR, FOR LOST CREEK, THERE, THERE WAS LEGISLATION, UM, THAT, UH, ALLOWED CERTAIN DISTRICTS TO, UH, REVERT BACK TO, UM, TO BEING A WHOLESALE CUSTOMER RATHER THAN, UM, YOU KNOW, SO TO, TO BE DE ANNEXED OR, AND, UH, LOST CREEK, UM, I BELIEVE RIVER PLACE ARE, ARE INCLUDED, UH, AS DISTRICTS THAT THAT COULD BE DE ANNEXED.
UM, WE DON'T ANTICIPATE ANY, ANY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS TO OUR CROSS STRUCTURE.
UH, THEY WERE, THEY WERE WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS BEFORE THEY WERE ANNEXED AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, UH, YOU KNOW, IN EACH OF THE DISTRICTS WAS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY, BUT, YOU
[00:45:01]
KNOW, WE, WE TOOK ON THEIR FACILITIES AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IN, IN SOME CASES WE, WE, UH, MAY HAVE DISMANTLED SOME OF SOME OF THEIR, UH, FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, TO, TO PROVIDE SERVICE DIRECTLY FROM, FROM OUR FACILITIES.UH, WE WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO, TO THOSE DISTRICTS.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S REALLY JUST A MATTER OF WHETHER THEY'RE PAYING US THROUGH, YOU KNOW, WHOLESALE RATES OR, OR RETAIL RATES, UH, ON AN INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER BASIS.
UM, SO THAT WON'T BE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT TO US, UM, EITHER REVENUE WISE OR, OR COST WISE.
UM, THEN, AND THERE AREN'T ANY, THERE WEREN'T ANY OTHER SIGNIFICANT, UH, LEGISLATION THAT, THAT IMPACTED, UM, OR, OR THAT WE ANTICIPATE WILL IMPACT OUR, OUR COST STRUCTURE.
LIKE AFTER, AFTER WINTER STORM URI AND, AND, AND, AND SOME OF THE RELIABILITY EFFORTS INCIDENT BILL THREE, UM, THERE, THERE, THERE WERE NO, UH, SIGNIFICANT, UH, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT LEGISLATION THAT WAS, UM, THAT WAS APPROVED THAT IMPACTS OUR, OUR COST OF DOING BUSINESS OR OUR REVENUES STRUCTURE.
MY, MY OTHER QUESTION WAS ABOUT, UM, SALARIES ON, LIKE, DID YOU, IS THE HR GONNA LOOK AT THOSE SALARIES FOR THE EMPLOYEES THAT THEY HAVE THE HARD AND HIGHEST TURNOVER BY TITLE OR BY DIVISION AND TRY AND PUT MORE MONEY INTO THOSE, THOSE AREAS, OR I'M JUST WONDERING HOW THE WHOLE, YOU CAN'T JUST GO ACROSS THE BOARD AND DO A CERTAIN PERCENT, YOU'VE GOTTA TARGET THOSE AREAS OF THE ONES THAT CAN'T BE HIRED EASILY.
AND, AND AS WE, AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A, AN AUSTIN WATER SPECIFIC MARKET STUDY AND NOT ALL OF, NOT ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE, THAT MARKET STUDY, UH, WAS IMPLEMENTED PARTICULARLY, YOU KNOW, WHERE IT IMPACTED CITYWIDE TITLES.
UM, H R D, UM, YOU KNOW, CENTRAL HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT, UH, IS IN THE PROCESS OF, OF UNDERGOING OR OR ABOUT TO START.
I THINK THEY'RE, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR CONSULTANTS NOW.
SO IT'S IN THE EARLY STAGES, UH, TO DO A CITYWIDE MARKET STUDY.
UH, BUT WE ALSO CONT ARE CONTINUING TO HAVE DIALOGUE WITH, WITH H R D, YOU KNOW, IN PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF, OF THOSE POSITIONS THAT, THAT ARE STILL THE, THE HARDEST TO FILL.
UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE CONTINUING TO HAVE DISCUSSIONS, UH, REGARDING POSITIONS IN, IN THE AUSTIN WATER MARKET STUDY, UH, WHERE, WHERE THERE WAS NO, NO ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO, UH, TO PAY GRADES OR, OR, OR MARKET, YOU KNOW, UM, THE MARKET RATES FOR, FOR THOSE POSITIONS.
UM, AND WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING TO HAVE ONGOING DISCUSSIONS.
UM, BUT, BUT THOSE THINGS WILL, WILL TAKE A WHILE.
UM, YEAH, NO, TO ADD TO WHAT YOU HAVE SAID THAT I DO HAVE THE LIST THAT WAS PROVIDED, I MENTIONED EARLIER, 29 30, UH, ONE YEARS BECAUSE IT'S A NEW TITLE, SO 29 WAS AFFECTED.
SO READING THESE IS, UH, AUSTIN WATER PIPELINE TECH TECHNICIAN FAMILY, SO THE, THE TECH COORDINATOR, ASSOCIATE ASSISTANT SENIOR WORKER, I, I, IT'S A CAREER ADVANCED, UH, PATH.
SO, AND THEN THERE'S, UH, AUSTIN WATER TREATMENT OR M TECH FAMILY, AND, UH, SO THERE'S, UM, ALSO SUPERVISORS AS WELL IN, IN THIS AREA, AND THERE'S ALSO WATER METER TECHNICIANS.
SO YEAH, DEFINITELY THESE AREAS THAT ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO, UH, FEEL WHERE WE'RE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK.
SO, AND, AND I WOULD JUST, YOU SAY, OUR ONGOING DISCUSSIONS REALLY ARE, UH, YOU KNOW, BASED ON, ON RISK AND, AND THOSE AREAS WHERE, WHERE WE HAVE THE HIGHEST VACANCIES.
AND SO, SO THOSE ARE THE AREAS THAT, THAT WE'RE, UH, DEFINITELY FOCUSED ON IN TERMS OF OUR ONGOING EFFORTS TO, UM, TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO FILL AND RETAIN THOSE POSITIONS.
I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION JUST TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS CORRECTLY.
SO JUST TO PULL ONE ITEM OUT, UM, THE ADDITIONAL AE UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM SUPPORT, UM, YOU, YOUR ORIGINAL BUDGET WAS 2.3 INCREASE AND THEN YOU REASSESSED AND DECIDED YOU NEEDED TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL 1.9 TO IT? YES, AND THESE AMOUNT ACTUALLY COMES DIRECTLY FROM, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY.
SO CURRENTLY OUR AUSTIN ENERGY UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM SUPPORT BUDGET
[00:50:01]
FOR 20, UH, FY 23 IS AT 18.8 MILLION.AND SO THEY GIVE US A NUMBER EARLIER AND AS A, UH, ESTIMATE, UH, DURING FORECAST, AND THEN THEN LAY ON, THEY GIVE US A, UH, MORE, UH, ADAMANT 24, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET NUMBER, AND THAT IS, UM, RIGHT NOW IT'S AT 22.95, SO ROUND UP 23 MILLION FOR 24.
SO YEAH, THAT'S A DIFFERENCE OF 4.1 0.9 OR 5% INCREASE, TWO POINT, YEAH, FOUR POINT.
YEAH, IT'S QUITE A, QUITE A, SO IT HAPPEN DOLLAR DIFFERENCE.
SO THE WAY, THE WAY THAT, UM, THE WAY THAT TRANSFER, UM, IS, IS CALCULATED IS IT'S, IT'S BASED ON A HISTORICAL BASIS AND, AND IT'S AN ALLOCATION PROCESS, UM, LOOKING, LOOKING AT A NUMBER OF FACTORS.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, THEY, THEY PAY FOR OUR, OUR METER, UH, OUR METER READING CONTRACT.
UM, ABOUT 99% OF THE CITY'S METER READING IS, IS FOR, FOR OUR METERS.
UM, THEY'VE, THEY'VE GOT A, A LIMITED NUMBER OF METERS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY DON'T HAVE, UM, AUTOMATED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR OR CUSTOMERS HAVE OPTED OUT.
UM, SO, UM, BECAUSE IT'S IN ARREARS, IN OTHER WORDS, UH, THE NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET IS BASED ON FISCAL YEAR 2022 COST.
UM, IN, IN, UM, 21, UM, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED TO GET PICTURES TAKEN OF EVERY SINGLE METER READ.
AND, AND SO THAT ADDED, I REMEMBER THAT ADDITIONAL COST TO OUR CONTRACT, UM, 20 FISCAL YEAR 22 WAS THE FIRST FULL YEAR OF, OF THAT ADDITIONAL SERVICE.
AND I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER, I THINK, UM, AND I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY HOW MUCH THE COST WAS FOR, FOR THAT PARTICULAR, UH, SERVICE ENHANCEMENT, UM, BUT, UH, BECAUSE IT'S IN ARREARS, YOU KNOW, FISCAL YEAR 24 IS THE FIRST YEAR THAT WE'RE REALIZING THE FULL COST OF THAT.
UM, IN ADDITION, UM, THE, THE, THE PROCESS FOR, UM, ALLOCATING THE, THE, UH, THEIR SUPPORT COST WAS REVIEWED A FEW YEARS BACK, AND, AND PART OF THAT PROCESS SHOWED THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY ADJUSTED THE ALLOCATION, UM, TO REDUCE SOME OF THE COSTS THAT AUSTIN WATER AND AUSTIN ENERGY WERE BEARING PROBABLY IN, IN A DISPROPORTIONATE WAY, UH, AS COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER, UM, SOME OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE BILLED ON, ON THROUGH CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES.
AND, UH, AS A RESULT OF, OF THAT REVIEW AND, AND UPDATE TO THE PROCESS, UM, THERE WAS KIND OF A PHASED IN APPROACH OF, OF PHASING IN THE COST, THE INCREASED COST FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
UH, SO AS A RESULT, WE HADN'T SEEN AN INCREASE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE BEEN FLAT OVER THE LAST TWO TO THREE YEARS, AND SO, SO PART OF THIS IS ALSO CATCHING UP.
UM, SO IT, IT, IT'S A COUPLE OF THINGS.
UH, WE, WE DO REVIEW THAT ALLOCATION ON AN ANNUAL BASIS WHEN IT COMES TO US AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHERE WE FOUND ISSUES AND CORRECTED 'EM.
UH, WE DID NOT FIND ANY ISSUES WITH THE ALLOCATION, UM, THAT WE RECEIVED THIS YEAR.
AND IF YOU GUYS ARE GOOD WITH IT, THAT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER.
YEAH, AS YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY, UM, 22 VERSUS 21 WAS A HALF A MILLION DOLLAR DECREASE, 23 VERSUS 22, UH, IS ALSO HALF A MILLION DOLLAR DECREASE.
SO, LIKE JOSEPH SAID, NOW THEY ARE, THEY'RE CATCHING UP, THEY'RE CATCHING UP, UH, AFTER THEY DONE THE COST REVIEW, SO, AND THEY DO ALL OUR BILLING AND EVERYTHING, CORRECT.
SO THAT, THAT COVERS, UH, BILLING, CUSTOMER CARE, METER READING, UM, ADMINISTERING THE CAP PROGRAM, UM, YEAH.
UM, METER, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY'VE GOT A TEAM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE'VE GOT SOME FOLKS TOO, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE KIND OF FIRST RESPONDERS IF THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, IF, IF SOMEBODY'S QUESTIONING A METER READ AND WE NEED TO GO OUT AND GET A MEET REREAD, UH, SO SERVICE ORDERS RELATED TO, UM, REREADS OR, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE KIND OF THE FIRST RESPONDERS.
UH, IS THERE ANY CONCERN ABOUT THE DROUGHT? CUZ WE'RE CONTINUING TO DECLINE IN OUR WATER
[00:55:01]
SUPPLY AND THAT'S GONNA BE WATER RESTRICTIONS AND THAT MEANS LOWER UTILITY BILLS, RIGHT? UM, OF COURSE THERE, THERE'S ALWAYS CONCERN ABOUT DROUGHT.I THINK FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, EARLY IN THE DROUGHT, YOU KNOW, AS WE SAW LAST YEAR, WE, WE ACTUALLY SAW EXCESS REVENUES, UM, BECAUSE WE, YOU KNOW, FOR, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF THE SUMMER WE, UH, WE, WE HADN'T INCREASED THE CONSERVATION OR, YOU KNOW, STAGE.
UM, AND, AND SO LAST YEAR WE ACTUALLY SAW EXCESS REVENUES AS, AS PEOPLE, AS DEMAND INCREASED OVER THE HOT DRY SUMMER.
UM, WE ARE SEEING, UH, AN INCREASE IN DEMAND JUST OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS THAT HAVE BEEN, IMAGINE INCREASINGLY HOT AND DRY MM-HMM.
UM, BUT CERTAINLY AS THE, THE, THE LAKE LEVELS DROP THAT'S, YOU KNOW, A VISIBLE TRIGGER TO, TO CUSTOMERS, UM, THAT, THAT MAYBE THEY NEED TO START PULLING BACK.
UM, HAVING, HAVING SAID ALL THAT, YOU KNOW, COMING OUTTA THE LAST DROUGHT, OUR, OUR DEMAND IS STABILIZED.
YOU KNOW, PRIOR TO THE LAST DROUGHT OR THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST DROUGHT, OUR AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL DEMAND WAS ABOUT 8,800 GALLONS PER MONTH OF, OF CONSUMPTION, UH, THROUGHOUT THE DROUGHT THAT DROPPED TO 5,800 GALLONS.
AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SO LAST YEAR WE WERE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THAT WITH THE HOT DRY SUMMER.
THE, THE YEAR PRIOR WAS, YOU KNOW, A MILDER SUMMER WITH WET SPRING.
AND, AND WE WERE, UH, YOU KNOW, BELOW THAT IN TERMS OF, OF DEMAND CUZ PEOPLE DIDN'T NEED, UH, TO, TO WATER AS MUCH, BUT ON AVERAGE, WE'RE STILL AT ABOUT 5,800 GALLONS PER MONTH.
UM, AND, AND SO THAT'S A GOOD THING IN TERMS OF HAVING KIND OF STABLE DEMAND MM-HMM.
SO, SO WE ARE SOMEWHAT INSULATED FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, HUGE DROPS IN CONSUMPTION RELATED TO, UH, TO DROUGHT AND LAKE LEVELS.
[5. External Review Update]
UM, NOW WE'LL MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER FIVE,AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE, UM, A, A, A BIG UPDATE HERE.
YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME POSITIONS AND, AND LY UH, ALLUDED TO THEM, YOU KNOW, SHORTLY AFTER THE EXTERNAL REVIEW WAS COMPLETED, WE HAD CONTEMPLATED, UM, A MIDYEAR BUDGET BUDGET AMENDMENT, UH, TO ADD 20 NEW POSITIONS.
UM, AND, AND MOST OF THOSE POSITIONS WERE REALLY ALREADY IN OUR, OUR STAFFING PLAN.
THEY WERE, UH, THINGS THAT WE HAD RECOGNIZED, UM, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WOULD HELP US, YOU KNOW, BE MORE RESPONSIVE, MORE RESILIENT IN TERMS OF, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, EMERGENCIES.
BUT, BUT YOU KNOW, ALSO IN TERMS OF OPERATIONS AND, AND CUSTOMER CARE.
UM, AND, AND SO PART OF THAT WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, ACCELERATING POSITIONS THAT WERE ALREADY IN, UM, OUR, OUR FUTURE STAFFING PLANS, BOTH IN 24 AND IN 25.
WE GENERALLY TAKE KIND OF A TWO YEAR LOOK IN TERMS OF OUR STAFFING PLAN, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE NEXT BUDGET FISCAL YEAR, AND THEN A PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
UM, AND THEN WE ADJUST AS NEEDED, YOU KNOW, AS WE GET CLOSER TO THAT SECOND YEAR.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, AT, AT, AT THE TIME, YOU KNOW, THE CITY AS A WHOLE AND AUSTIN WATER, UM, HAD A HIGHER VACANCY RATE AT THAT TIME WE WERE AT ABOUT 14%.
AND, UH, SO THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF CONCERN IN TERMS OF DISCUSSIONS AMONGST THE EXECUTIVE TEAM AND CITY MANAGEMENT ABOUT ADDING 20 NEW POSITIONS MID-YEAR WHEN, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A 14% VACANCY RATE.
SO, SO WE TOOK ANOTHER LOOK AT IT AND, UM, WE PROPOSED, YOU KNOW, THE ACCELERATING NINE OF THOSE POSITIONS, UM, AND, AND RECLASSING EXISTING VACANT POSITIONS TO FILL THEM RATHER THAN ASKING FOR 20 NEW FTES, MID MIDYEAR, UH, SOME OF THOSE RECLASS HAVE TAKEN PLACE, SOME ARE STILL IN, IN, IN PROGRESS.
UM, BUT IN TERMS OF, OF, OF THOSE POSITIONS, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE ADDED NINE POSITIONS TO ADDRESS EXTERNAL REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS,
[01:00:01]
UH, TOTALING ABOUT, UH, A MILLION DOLLARS.UM, THAT'S THE COST OF THOSE POSITIONS.
THAT DOESN'T REFLECT THE, THE, THE BUDGETED COST THAT WE HAD FOR THOSE POSITIONS.
UM, IN, IN THE PREVIOUS TITLES.
IN ADDITION FOR, UM, FOR FISCAL YEAR 24, WE, YOU KNOW, WITH THE NINE, WE, UM, WE IDENTIFIED A, A COUPLE OF OTHER POSITIONS TOTALING ABOUT 275 MILLION THAT WE'VE INCLUDED IN, IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET, UM, TO ADDRESS EXTERNAL, YOU KNOW, REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS.
ONE IS RELATED TO, UH, TO AAMI AND, AND ONE IS TO, TO HELP WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, CAPITAL, YOU KNOW, INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITION ASSESSMENTS, WELL, SPECIFICALLY AT THE TREATMENT PLANS.
UM, SO, SO THOSE ARE THE ONLY TWO POSITIONS THAT WE'RE PROPOSING, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF F FY 24 THAT ARE RELATED, UH, TO THE EXTERNAL REVIEW.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, MUCH OF THE EXTERNAL REVIEW REALLY JUST HIGHLIGHTED THINGS, UM, THAT WE WERE ALREADY DOING IS, IS, YOU KNOW, UH, CHAIR TRU IS, AS YOU KNOW, FROM HAVING PARTICIPATED IN, IN SEEING OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEWS FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR WINTER STORM URI AND, AND, YOU KNOW, OTHER, OTHER OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT WE'VE HAD.
WE, WE'VE DONE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, SOME COMPREHENSIVE AFTER ACTION REVIEW AND, AND, AND MANY OF THE THINGS THEY HIGHLIGHTED, WE HAD HIGHLIGHTED IN, IN PRIOR AFTER ACTION REVIEWS AND, AND, UM, SO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, OPERATIONALLY THAT THEY RECOMMENDED ACTUALLY WERE ALREADY IN IN OUR BUDGET.
AND SO WE HAD ABOUT, UM, UH, I THINK, LET'S SEE, ABOUT THREE AND A HALF MILLION, ACTUALLY NOT QUITE, UH, ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MILLION OF OTHER COSTS, UM, THAT ARE IN, UM, ACTUALLY IN OUR CURRENT YEAR BUDGET, IN OUR FISCAL YEAR 23 BUDGET THAT, THAT ARE ROLLING FORWARD, UM, THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO EXTERNAL REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THEN FROM A CAPITAL SPENDING PLAN, UH, PERSPECTIVE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, CAPITAL PROJECTS ARE, ARE KIND OF SLOW TO TAKE OFF, BUT WE'VE GOT, UH, WE HAD SEVERAL, UH, CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT WERE ALREADY IN THE PIPELINE THAT, YOU KNOW, ADDRESSED EXTERNAL REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS FROM, YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS TO ENHANCE, YOU KNOW, WATER SUPPLY AND, AND PRESSURE ZONES, UH, PARTICULARLY IN THE SOUTH, UM, LIKE PUMP STATION REHABS, UH, ELEVATED STORAGE, TRA TANKS, UM, TRANSMISSION MAINS, YOU KNOW, UM, ADDITIONAL TRANSMISSION MAINS, UM, UM, SPECIFICALLY AT, AT ULRICH, UM, YOU KNOW, ULRICH, UH, YOU KNOW, CENTRIFUGE REPLACEMENT AND, AND DISINFECTION CONVERSION.
UM, SO THOSE ARE, I THINK THE, THE BIG ONES THAT, UM, ARE, ARE RESPONSIVE TO, UH, THE EXTERNAL REVIEW.
BUT AGAIN, THERE'S NOT A, THERE'S NOT A TON OF NEW STUFF THERE.
UM, IT'S, IT'S REALLY JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I, I THINK THE EXTERNAL REVIEW IS JUST, UH, CONFIRMED THAT WE WERE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF ON, ON THE RIGHT PATH IN TERMS OF OUR OWN AFTER ACTION REVIEW AND THE THINGS THAT WE, WE WERE, UM, PLANNING TO DO OR ALREADY HAD UNDERWAY.
ONE COMMENT IS A LOT OF THAT WAS IMPLEMENTED IN LAST YEAR'S BUDGET, RIGHT? A LOT OF THAT WAS IN, IN THE CURRENT YEAR BUDGET.
AND A LOT OF 'EM ARE C I P PROJECTS NOW IN THE FIVE YEAR PLAN AS WELL.
AND SO THEY'RE LOCKED AND LOADED AND READY TO GO.
AND SO NO NECESSARILY SPECIAL ADJUSTMENTS TO THE 24 BUDGET BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY IN MOTION.
NO, I THINK THE, THE, THE BIGGEST AREA IS, IS STAFFING.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND AGAIN, THERE IT WAS, IT WAS PRIMARILY, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, ACCELERATING POSITIONS THAT WE HAD ALREADY, UM, TALKED ABOUT FROM, FROM AN EXECUTIVE TEAM PERSPECTIVE AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, STILL WANTING TO BE RESPONSIVE AND, AND, AND, AND, UM, SO ACCELERATING 'EM.
BUT, BUT AGAIN, UM, MANY OF THEM WERE POSITIONS AND, UM, AND THINGS THAT WE HAD ALREADY HIGHLIGHTED IN TERMS OF OUR OWN AFTER ACTION REVIEWS.
COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? UM, NO MORE QUESTIONS.
[6. Budget Committee Report Discussion]
TO ITEM NUMBER SIX, A BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT DISCUSSION, UH,[01:05:01]
MEMBERS.THERE IS A COPY OF THE REPORT FROM LAST YEAR.
UH, IT'S KIND OF A GOOD EXAMPLE.
WE JUST LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THINGS THAT, UM, WE WERE PRESENTED THAT MIGHT BE DIFFERENT FROM THE BUDGET THE YEAR BEFORE.
UH, AND THE WAY I LIKE TO LOOK AT IT IS WHAT DO I WANNA TELL MY COUNCIL MEMBER ABOUT THIS BUDGET IN PARTICULAR AND HOW IT DEVIATES FROM BUDGETS IN THE FORMER YEARS? UM, IN PARTICULAR, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IT'S PRESENTED TO US, THE, THE BIG CHANGES.
UM, SO WE DO NEED TO WORK ON THIS.
UM, UH, I THINK WHAT WOULD, I'D LIKE TO, IF WE COULD GET A, A CONSENSUS ON THE ITEMS TO BRING TO COUNCIL'S ATTENTION, THEN THE STAFF AND I CAN HELP DRAFT THAT LETTER AND, UM, WE CAN BRING IT TO COUNCIL FOR, FOR, UM, RECOMMENDATION TO, TO COUNCIL AND REMIND ME OF THE CALENDAR ON THIS
SO I'LL JUST, UH, I'LL KIND OF GO OVER THE, YOU KNOW, HIGH LEVEL REVIEW OF, OF, OF THE BUDGET CALENDAR.
UM, ON, ON JULY 14TH, THE PROPOSED BUDGET IS, UH, WILL WILL BE PUBLISHED AND RELEASED, UH, ON JULY 19TH, THE CITY MANAGER WILL PRESENT, UH, THE PROPOSED BUDGET TO, TO COUNCIL.
UM, AND, AND SO THAT TRIGGERS, UH, HISTORICALLY THAT'S TRIGGERED US, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING YOU WITH, UM, THE DETAIL OF THE, OF THE BUDGET DOCUMENTS, PROVIDING YOU, UH, WITH, WITH, YOU KNOW, MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION, UM, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF THE BUDGET.
AND, UM, SO FOR, UH, FOR SPECIFICS ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH EXTERNAL REVIEW, WHAT WE'RE DOING, WHAT, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU, YOU'VE GOT CAPITAL, UM, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE CAPITAL PROJECTS, BUT THE TYING THOSE TO, TO EXTERNAL REVIEW, UM, ALL OF THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO YOU.
THE, UM, THE COMMISSION MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 7TH.
UM, THAT, THAT, DURING THAT MEETING, WE WILL PROVIDE A, A BUDGET OVERVIEW OF THE BUDGET PRESENTATION TO COMMISSION, AND THAT'S THE MEETING WHERE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THERE WILL BE AN ITEM ON THE AGENDA TO, TO DISCUSS THE RECOMMENDATION AND REPORT.
UM, SO WE'LL, WE'LL NEED TO, TO FINISH THE RECOMMENDATION, UM, IN ADVANCE OF, OF THAT MEETING.
AND, YOU KNOW, WEEK BEFORE, RIGHT, WE, WE'VE TRIED TO DO IT A WEEK BEFORE.
UM, AND THEN, UH, SO I, I THINK HISTORICALLY WE'VE, WE'VE KIND OF TRIED TO WORK BETWEEN THAT WINDOW OF THE BUDGET BEING RELEASED AND, AND HAVING ALL OF THE SPECIFIC NUMBERS AVAILABLE TO US TO, TO, TO DROP IN.
UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE ISSUES, UM, YOU KNOW, BUT ONCE THE BUDGET'S RELEASED, WE CAN, WE CAN PULL DOWN, UH, SPECIFIC NUMBERS AND TALK IN MORE SPECIFICS.
UM, SO I THINK WE CAN, WE CAN PUT TOGETHER THE FRAMEWORK OF THE KEY ITEMS THAT YOU GUYS WANNA HIGHLIGHT, AND THEN AS THE BUDGET'S RELEASED, WE CAN, WE CAN, WHAT WE TYPICALLY DO IS WE DROP IN THE ACTUAL NUMBERS TO KEEP US ACCURATE AS, AS BEST WE CAN.
YEAH, I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE, UM, A GOOD IDEA.
AND SOME ITEMS I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION IN THIS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IS OF COURSE THE STAFFING.
AND I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE A LITTLE THOUGHT ON HOW OUR WATER USE IS STABILIZED AS FAR AS THE DROUGHT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF IT REALLY NEEDS NUMBERS, BUT THAT, UM, WE'RE NOT ANTICIPATING A BIG SPIKE BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL THESE THINGS IN PLACE.
UM, I, I, I WOULD LIKE, SINCE WE ARE PLANNING TO HAVE A RATE INCREASE, I JUST WANT A REAL BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THAT IS AND CERTAINLY, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE TOUCH ON THE FACT THAT, UM, WE DIDN'T HAVE ONE LAST YEAR,
SO, UM, UH, COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON WHAT WE COULD SUMMARIZE IN THIS LETTER? COMMISSIONER MUSGROVE, I'LL LET YOU GO FIRST.
UH, SUSAN, I THINK WE'VE SEEN, MAKE SURE WE MENTIONED ABOUT THE, UM, EXTERNAL AUDIT AND WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO THERE.
HOW MUCH MONEY MUCH WERE THAT, OTHER THAN THAT, I DON'T THINK EVERYTHING YOU SAID WAS GREAT, SO I DON'T, I DON'T THINK ANYTHING ADDITIONAL THAT
[01:10:01]
I CAN THINK OF.AND FROM THE, FROM THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, KIND OF GROWTH OF THE, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY WALNUT CREEK POINTING OUT, I GUESS THESE SPECIFIC LARGE, UM, EXPENDITURE PROJECTS, UH, TO HIGHLIGHT TO COUNCIL I THINK WOULD BE GOOD.
DO WE THINK DEFEASANCE IS GOOD TO DISCUSS? HAVE WE BEEN REALLY ACTIVE THIS YEAR? ON IT THIS YEAR? WE, WE HAD SIGNIFICANT DEFEASANCE AND WE ARE PLANNING LARGE DEFEASANCE NEXT YEAR, UM, IN, IN FACT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, THAT THAT'S KIND OF AN EVER EVOLVING, UM, PROCESS, BUT WE EXPECT TO, TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT DEFIANCE NEXT YEAR.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T GET TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT THE FEASANCE TRANSACTIONS.
YOU KNOW, I, IT'S GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, EVEN AS WE ENTER A PERIOD OF, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE FREQUENT RATE INCREASES, UM, DEFIANCE TRANSACTIONS AND OUR DEBT DEBT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN MINIMIZING THOSE, THOSE RATE INCREASES.
I I JUST THINK IT'S, UH, I OUTSTANDING AND I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE'RE NOT DOING THAT.
SO THAT'S, UH, A LITTLE BIT ON THE EXTERNAL AUDIT, HOW IT RELATES TO THE BUDGET.
UM, THE STAFFING COULD PROBABLY ROLL UP IN THAT ONE TOO.
UM, THE SUMMARY OF THE KEY C I P PROJECTS, UM, THE DEFIANCE, THE RATE INCREASE DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS, OR JUST SOMETHING SAYING THAT WE'RE STABLE, UH, DON'T ANTICIPATE ANY SPIKES OR, OR DECREASE SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN OUR INCOME.
UH, I DON'T KNOW IF WE REALLY NEED TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE YEAH.
ON THE DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS THAT, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, JUST LOOKING AT 2024, BECAUSE LAST YEAR IT WAS SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE HAD JUST GONE INTO STAGE ONE, YOU KNOW, LAST JUNE, AND, AND THEN THE COMMENT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR, BUT WE DON'T EXPECT THE SIGNIFICANT AND WE'RE MORE LIKELY YOU GONNA BE GOING TO STAGE TWO OR SOMETHING DRAMATICALLY.
SO I FEEL LIKE, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH FROM A BUDGET STANDPOINT CAN YOU REALLY ADD TO THAT, BUT IT JUST SEEMS TO ME GOING TO STAGE TWO THERE SHOULD HAVE SOME MORE OF AN IMPACT IN GOING FROM CONSERVATION TO STAGE ONE.
BUT AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH CAN YOU QUANTIFY THAT? UH, BUT JUST MAYBE A STRONGER STATEMENT THAN WHAT WAS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LAST YEAR'S STATEMENT.
YEAH, THE, THE AND THE RAIN WE SAW, YOU KNOW, KIND OF AT THE END OF MAY AND EARLY JUNE, UM, PUSHED OUT.
YOU KNOW, I, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAD ANTICIPATED AS EARLY AS, AS JUNE, UM, THAT, THAT WE MIGHT HIT STAGE TWO, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
UM, CLEARLY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT THERE YET.
UM, YOU KNOW, NOW WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING MAYBE MID-JULY, END OF JULY.
UM, BUT IT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT AS WE ENTER STAGE TWO, UM, THAT THE BIGGEST CHANGE IS KIND OF THE SHRINKING OF THE AVAILABLE HOURS.
UM, IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S STILL ONE DAY A WEEK IRRIGATION SYSTEM, ONE DAY A WEEK.
HAND WATERING IS JUST LIMITING THE, THE, THE HOURS.
UM, WE, WE DO, UM, WE DO EXPECT THAT TO IMPACT, YOU KNOW, LEVEL OF DEMAND.
UH, BUT, BUT REALLY I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, PEOPLE KIND OF NEED TO SEE THE, THE LAKE LEVELS DROP BEFORE, BEFORE IT KIND OF HITS HOME.
AND I DON'T THINK THAT'S QUITE HAPPENED YET.
AND WE'VE HAD RAIN, SO PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK WE'RE FINE
IT REALLY, WHAT IT DID WAS IT, IT KIND OF DELAYED, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, HITTING, HITTING STAGE TWO.
UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE ARE 52% NOW.
UM, I DON'T THINK I CHECKED TODAY, BUT
WELL, UM, WE WILL WORK TO COME UP, UM, WITH THAT LETTER.
I'LL ALLOW YOU GUYS TO, UM, COME UP WITH THE FACTS AND THE NUMBERS AND BRIEF IS FINE.
WE DON'T NEED, UM, LONG PARAGRAPHS.
IT'S JUST A LITTLE SOMETHING TO
[01:15:01]
LET OUR, OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS KNOW THAT, THAT WE HAVE LOOKED AT IT AND VETTED IT AND FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH IT, QUITE FRANKLY, OR HAVE ANY CONCERNS.BUT I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY CONCERNS THIS, THIS TIME.
UH, AS I DON'T KNOW IF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS FEEL THE SAME AS I DO.
I DON'T WANNA SPEAK FOR THEM, BUT YEAH.
UM, MOVING TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN,
[7. Discussion of Future Agenda Meeting]
DISCUSSION OF FUTURE MEETINGS.UM, WE, IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL DATA, UH, TO REVIEW, IF THERE'S NO OTHER REQUESTS, THEN THIS CAN BE OUR LAST MEETING FOR THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, BUT IF THERE'S OTHER ITEMS THAT, THAT YOU FEEL WE SHOULD DISCUSS, UM, THEN WE CAN CERTAINLY TRY TO SCHEDULE ANOTHER MEETING.
SO I WAS WANTED TO ASK COMMISSIONERS THEIR THOUGHTS ON THIS.
ANY, ANY ADDITIONAL, UH, PRESENTATIONS OR PERTAINING TO THE BUDGET THAT YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE? I DON'T KNOW, SUSAN.
COMMISSIONER MAXWELL GAINES, DO YOU HAVE ANY? I HAVE, I MEAN, I THINK I HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION, POSSIBLE NEED, SO YEAH.
NO ADDITIONAL MEETINGS, UH, FOR MY SAKE.
UM, WITH THAT, UM, WE WILL NOT PLAN ON HAVING AN ADDITIONAL MEETING.
SO, UM, WE CAN MAKE A MOTION TO, UH, CONCLUDE THE BUSINESS OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE FOR THIS FINANCIAL YEAR.
UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION? I MOTION TO CONCLUDE BUSINESS? SECOND.
ALL IN FAVOR RAISE YOUR HAND IS UNANIMOUS.
SO WE'LL CLOSE THIS, UH, COMMITTEE AND SO I GUESS WE DON'T GO TO ITEM EIGHT
AND SO IT IS, WHAT TIME IS IT? FOUR 30? EXACTLY.
UM, UM, UH, I CALL THIS MEETING TO ADJOURN.