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IT'S 10 O'CLOCK AND I WILL CALL TO ORDER, UH, THE WORK SESSION OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
IT'S AUGUST 8TH, 2023, AS I SAID, AT 10 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
UH, WE ARE MEETING IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT AUSTIN CITY HALL, WHICH IS LOCATED AT 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET, AND WE HAVE A QUORUM OF THE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, PRESENT MEMBERS, UH, A COUPLE OF ITEMS, UH, AND FOR THE PUBLIC AS WELL.
COUNCIL MEMBER POOL WILL BE OFF THE DAIS FOR MOST OF THE DAY TO DAY.
UH, UH, SHE'S RESTING AT HOME AFTER NOT FEELING WELL OVER THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS.
AND OF COURSE, WE ALL ARE DISAPPOINTED, UH, THAT SHE CAN'T BE WITH US RIGHT NOW, BUT WE WISH HER THE BEST AND LOOK FORWARD TO HER CONNECTING, UH, TO OUR MEETING LATER.
COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER WILL ALSO BE OFF THE DICE THIS MORNING, AND HE WILL BE JOINING US, UH, LATER IN THE MORNING.
UH, AND HE'LL BE JOINING US REMOTELY.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, THE ITEM ON THE
[1. Presentation and discussion of the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Proposed Budget. ]
AGENDA IS A PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FISCAL YEAR 20 23, 20 24, PROPOSED BUDGET.AT THE LAST MEETING OR WORK SESSION, THERE WAS A, A QUESTION RAISED, AND BY, I BELIEVE IT'S COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, WANTING FOR SOME DIRECTION OR SOME, UH, DISCUSSION RELATED TO HOUSING AND, UH, PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
SO, UH, WITHOUT OBJECTION, WE WILL START WITH THAT.
AND THEN WHAT I THINK I'LL DO TO TRY TO MANAGE, UH, THIS, AND, AND, AND AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT FOR THE PUBLIC THAT MAY BE WATCHING WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, IS TODAY, THIS ME, THIS WORK SESSION IS A QUESTION AND ANSWER OPPORTUNITY FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, TO ASK QUESTIONS OF STAFF AND GET, GET ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
AND, UM, THE WAY I'LL TRY TO MANAGE THAT IS WHEN WE HAVE A BROAD GENERAL TOPIC LIKE HOUSING AND PUBLIC, UH, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH AND PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
I'LL ASK COUNCIL MEMBERS TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
AND THEN WE'LL MOVE TO ANOTHER BROAD GENERAL TOPIC THAT WE KNOW WE'VE HAD A LOT OF COUNCIL QUESTIONS WITH, FOR EXAMPLE, PROBABLY PUBLIC SAFETY WILL BE THE ONE AFTER THAT.
AND I'LL, I'LL TRY TO WORK US THROUGH, UH, IN A, IN A EFFICIENT WAY SO THAT WE CAN GET ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED, UH, BUT DO IT WHERE WE'RE, WE'RE NOT RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE AND RUNNING STAFF UP HERE FROM ALL OVER THE PLACE.
SO, WITH THAT, UNLESS THERE'S QUESTIONS OF ME, UH, MANAGER, ALL RECOGNIZE YOU, UH, THANK YOU, MAYOR.
I THINK, UH, WE'RE GONNA CALL ON CARRIE.
SHE'S GONNA KICK US OFF, AND I THINK SHE'S GONNA BE, UH, PROVIDING YOU THE PRESENTATION TODAY AS I UNDERSTAND IT.
AND SO, CARRIE, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU, AND WE'RE READY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS AFTER THE PRESENTATION.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, I, I, WHILE SHE IS STEPPING UP TO THE MICROPHONE, UM, I, I KNOW YOU ALL JOIN ME.
I'VE, I'VE NOW SWUNG BY A COUPLE OF, UH, TOWN HALL MEETINGS THAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE HAD, AND CARRIE IS AT ALL OF THOSE.
UH, AND CARRIE IS, UH, SHE DOES A GREAT JOB AT INTERFACING WITH THE PUBLIC AND PROVIDING ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
AND SO, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE STILL GOT A WAYS TO GO IN THIS BUDGET PROCESS, I THINK IT'S ONLY APPROPRIATE.
WE THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING FOR US.
AND WITH THAT, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYOR.
THANK YOU COUNCIL, UH, CARRIE LANG, BUDGET OFFICER WITH THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
YES, I AM THE ONE UP HERE TALKING UP HERE, HAVING THE CONVERSATION, BUT IT IS THE WORK OF THE ENTIRE STAFF THAT GETS US TO THIS POINT.
AND SO THIS PRESENTATION WOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT MY, MY GOOD FRIENDS BEHIND ME, UM, AS WELL AS THE STAFF AT THE BUDGET OFFICE AND THE DEPARTMENT.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED WITH OUR CONVERSATION TODAY.
THIS MORNING, WE'RE GONNA START TALKING ABOUT PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING OR CONTINUING THAT CONVERSATION.
AND SO WHAT WE WANNA DO IS MAKE SURE WE DO AN OVERVIEW OF THE COMPONENTS OF OUR HOMELESSNESS RESPONSE.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, A OVERVIEW OF THAT AS A WHOLE, THE, UH, HOUSING OR DEVELOPMENT PIPE PIPELINE THAT WE'RE SEEING AS WELL AS PLANNED SPENDING.
AND FINALLY, A INVESTMENT FOR P S H.
SO, WE WANNA START WITH A CONVERSATION OR A A, A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE LARGER HOMELESS RESPONSE EFFORTS.
AS YOU KNOW, IN THE BUDGET DOCUMENT, AND AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HOMELESSNESS RESPONSE, WE TALK ABOUT THE CORE AREAS THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON, WHETHER IT'S CRISIS RESPONSE, PUBLIC SPACE MANAGEMENT, OUR REDUCING INFLOW.
AND THE BIGGEST PORTION, ALMOST, UH, OVER HALF OF IT, 51% IS HOME HOUSING STABILIZATION.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS 34% OF OUR TOTAL SPENDING PLAN.
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UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT FISCAL YEAR 24 AND THE PROPOSED SPENDING THAT WE HAVE, THAT'S AT $27.6 MILLION WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THAT.AND SO WHEN WE SAY HOUSING STABILIZATION, PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING INCLUDES SITE, SITE-BASED RENTAL, UM, AS WELL AS HOUSING VOUCHERS AND TENANT-BASED RENTALS.
THIS SLIDE HERE JUST REALLY TALKS THROUGH THE SPENDING AS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT OVER THE LAST, UH, COUPLE OF WEEKS BASED ON CAPITAL SPENDING, C I P DOLLARS, OUR OPERATING DOLLARS THAT YOU'LL SEE.
AND THEN WITH P S H IN PARTICULAR, THERE AREN'T ANY GRANT DOLLARS, UM, THAT WE'RE INCLUDING IN THE SPENDING PLAN BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT OUR APA FUNDS, THE STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RELIEF, OR S L F R F AND HOME ARPA.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE A LITTLE BIT LATER SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE SPENDING PLAN FOR THOSE.
UM, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, UM, CAPITAL SPENDING, IT IS THE FLUCTUATION OF WHAT PROJECTS THAT WE ANTICIPATE OVER THE NEXT, UH, YEAR, THIS FISCAL YEAR ESTIMATE, AND FISCAL YEAR 24 PLANNED.
UM, AND SO AS THOSE, AS THOSE PROJECTS KEEP COMING ONLINE, WE'LL SEE THOSE, THOSE EBBS AND FLOW IN THE CAPITAL PROGRAM.
THIS CHANGE THAT YOU SEE HERE ON THE OPERATING SIDE IS BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE CONTRACTS.
UM, THESE ARE MULTI-YEAR CONTRACTS.
AND SO IF THERE ARE SOME SAVINGS THAT WE, UH, ANTICIPATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 23, WE'LL JUST MOVE THOSE SPENDING PLANS OVER TO FISCAL YEAR 24.
SO THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THAT BIG BUMP IN THE PLAN SPEND FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 BECAUSE OF THE SAVINGS THAT WE'VE RECOGNIZED IN THIS FISCAL YEAR.
SO THEN WE LOOK AT WHAT, UM, P S H OR PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS OVERALL.
UM, AND WE WANT TO START THE CONVERSATION BY TALKING ABOUT THE ELIGIBLE POPULATION.
THERE IS PRIORITIZED PLACEMENT.
IT'S FOR THOSE WHO HAVE CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS, UM, THOSE WHO NEED OR HAVE DISA DISABLING CONDITIONS AND WHO NEED PRIORITIZED PLACEMENT.
SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AND WHO WE TARGET, THOSE ARE THE TARGET, UH, NEIGHBORS THAT WE LOOK FOR WHEN WE ARE LOOKING AT PLACING THEM IN P S H, AS WELL AS THINKING ABOUT WHERE OUR CURRENT GAP IS RIGHT NOW, UM, ABOUT 3000 HOUSEHOLDS ARE IN NEED OF P S H.
AND THEN THINKING ABOUT THE SERVICE MODEL, HOW DO WE, UM, WHAT, WHAT HAVE WE CREATED AS A SERVICE MODEL FOR THIS PROGRAM? AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
THAT MEANS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE INDIVIDUAL USUALLY DOESN'T PAY ANY MORE THAN 30% OF THEIR TOTAL INCOME.
UM, AND SO IT IS REALLY INCOME BASED.
THEY CAN PAY UP TO ABOUT 300 OR $350 A MONTH.
IT INCLUDES CASE MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICES, SUCH AS MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE.
AND THEN WE TRY TO REDUCE THE SCREENING BARRIERS THAT PEOPLE COME ACROSS IN THIS PARTICULAR HOUSING, UM, PROGRAM SO THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE AS LITTLE, UH, LIMITED NUMBER OF BARRIERS AS POSSIBLE IN GETTING THEM PLACED.
AND THEN WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THE MODEL LOOKS LIKE, PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS, UM, WE ARE FOCUSING ON SITE-BASED.
HISTORICALLY, WE'VE DONE TENANT BASED AS WELL AS SITE-BASED.
WE'RE FOCUSING ON SITE-BASED DEDICATED DEVELOPMENT.
UM, THERE ARE TENANT BASED, WHICH ARE VOUCHERS THAT ARE PART OF THE PROGRAM.
BUT IN, UM, 2010, WE BEGAN LOOKING AT SITE-BASED AS AN OPTION.
AND THEN, UM, IN 2019, WE OPENED UP OUR FIRST SITE-BASED P S H PROJECT.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S 50 UNITS AT TERRACE, AT OAK SPRINGS.
UM, OVER OVER 90% OF OUR CURRENT CAPACITY IS TENANT-BASED PROGRAMS, BUT WE ARE TRYING TO TRANSITION TO MORE SITE-BASED PROGRAM.
AND THEN, AS YOU SEE AT THE, IN THE LAST BULLET FINDING HOME, A T X HAS SET A GOAL OF 1000 UNITS OF SITE-BASED P S H, UM, AS PART OF THEIR GOALS FOR THAT PROGRAM.
AND SO IN ORDER TO DO, UM, PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING SUCCESSFULLY, WE HAVE THREE, UH, THREE AREAS THAT MUST BE MUST BE COMPLETED ARE THREE ELEMENTS.
THE FIRST IS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING CANNOT EXIST WITH ALL THREE OF THESE ELEMENTS IN PLACE.
AND THE FIRST IS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT.
AND THAT IS, YOU KNOW, THE FUNDING TO ACTUALLY BUILD THE UNITS THEMSELVES OR TO PURCHASE THE UNITS THEMSELVES.
IT CAN BE A VARIETY OF SOURCES FOR THE CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT.
UM, WE HAVE TAX, CREDIT EQUITY, OTHER FEDERAL OR STATE PROGRAMS, THE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES OR OTHER GOVERNMENT ENTITIES SUCH AS TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, IT'S USUALLY A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT OF MANY OF THESE, UH, FUNDING OPTIONS.
AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN, OUR HOUSING DEPARTMENT IS USUALLY A PART OF ALL, OF, MOST OF THE SITE-BASED PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROGRAMS THAT ARE IN DEVELOPMENT RIGHT NOW.
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THE SECOND ELEMENT IS THE WRAPAROUND SERVICES, UM, SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.THIS INCLUDES ONSITE CASE MANAGEMENT, UM, WHICH KEEPS THE INDIVIDUALS CONNECTED TO OTHER SERVICES THAT THEY MAY NEED, SUCH AS BASIC HEALTH NEEDS, PUBLIC, UM, BASIC NEEDS OF BASIC HEALTHCARE.
AND THEN IT'S ALSO INCLUDES A VARIETY OF FUNDING SOURCES.
SO, AS YOU ALL KNOW, OUR, UH, PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT HAS THE, THE CONTRACTED SUPPORT SERVICES.
THERE ARE OTHER, UM, MUNICIPALITIES OR, UM, GOVERNMENT ENTITIES ACROSS THE REGION THAT SUPPORTS, UH, WRAPAROUND SERVICES.
AND THEN OUR NONPROFIT PARTNERS ALSO DO THIS AS WELL.
THIS IS OFTEN CONSIDERED THE BACKBONE OF P S H BECAUSE THESE SERVICES ALLOW FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS TO STAY IN HOUSING, GET THE SUPPORT THEY THAT THEY NEED, SO THEY DO NOT RETURN TO HOMELESSNESS.
AND THEN THE FINAL ELEMENT IS THE RENTAL SUBSIDY OR THE OPERATING SUBSIDY THAT IS PROVIDED THROUGH WHAT MANY KNOW AS VOUCHER PROGRAMS. THESE VOUCHER PROGRAMS PAY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT THE TENANT PAYS AND WHAT THE MARKET IS FOR THOSE UNITS.
AND SO WE, UM, THE, THE VOUCHER PROGRAM CONSISTS OF, AGAIN, SEVERAL DIFFERENT FUNDING.
IT COULD BE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, IT COULD BE LOCAL FUNDING TO PROVIDE FOR THESE VOUCHERS, AND THEY'RE USED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FACILITIES STAY OPERATING SO, YOU KNOW, DAILY, THE MAINTENANCE THAT'S NEEDED, THE GROUNDS UPKEEP, ALL THE THINGS THAT'S NEEDED TO KEEP THE FACILITIES IN SPACE SO THAT WE CAN USE IT FOR YEARS TO COME.
SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT ALL THESE ELEMENTS AND THE THINGS THAT WHAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HAVE BEEN IN THE PIPELINE, YOU'LL SEE THAT THIS SLIDE HERE SHOWS OUR ANTICIPATED PIPELINE, WHICH INCLUDES THE THREE ELEMENTS THAT I JUST DISCUSSED.
AND SO, AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE 126, UH, UNITS THAT ARE SITE-BASED UNITS IN OPERATION TODAY.
UM, WE, WE HAVE 1,444 TENANT-BASED UNITS.
WE ANTICIPATE ONGOING UNITS COMING ON SITE-BASED UNITS COMING ON THROUGH, UH, 2026.
AND SO WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS OUR ANTICIPATED GROWTH.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT, UH, ANTICIPATED FOR 2023, WE HAVE 279, UM, UNITS THAT WE ANTICIPATE COMING ON BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR.
THAT INCLUDES, UM, SPARROW AT RUTLAND, ALCON'S TERRACE, AND PECAN GARDENS.
THOSE ARE ALL FUNDED WITH, UM, WITH 2018 BOND DOLLARS.
UM, AND THOSE ARE, THAT WILL GET US TO WHAT WE KNOW IS A SUCCESSFUL, WHAT WE SEE AS A SUCCESSFUL PIPELINE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE GOALS FROM FINDING HOME A T X AND CONTINUING THIS WORK TO, UH, REDUCE HOMELESSNESS IN THE, IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN FINALLY, I WANTED TO JUST TALK THROUGH THE, THE APA SPENDING.
THERE WAS SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, THERA SPENDING PLAN AND HOW SOME OF THE DOLLARS HAVE BEEN REALLOCATED.
UM, THIS 95.3 IS THE TOTAL A SPEND FOR HOMELESSNESS RESPONSE.
HOWEVER, 14.1 MILLION WAS THE AMOUNT ALLOCATED FOR CAPITAL PURCHASES.
UM, WE REALLOCATED 3 MILLION OF THAT FOR EMERGENCY SHELTER CAPITAL, WHICH LEFT 11.1 MILLION AVAILABLE FOR ONGOING, UM, CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT WORK IN JUNE.
WE, UH, ENCUMBERED OR SPENT 10.5 MILLION, AND WE HAVE A $600,000 BALANCE FOR, UH, HOUSING CAPITAL IN, IN PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
AND THEN HOME ARPA, THAT 11.4 MILLION WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY, UH, BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR, BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON OUR SPENDING PLAN.
WE ARE GOING TO GO BACK AND MAKE SOME, UH, RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO THAT SPENDING PLAN, BUT 1 MILLION IS CURRENTLY IN THE RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, UH, ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
AND, UM, THE TEAM WILL GO BACK TO ADJUST THAT SPENDING PLAN WITH PLANS TO, TO FULLY OR TO BEGIN EXPENDING THE REMAINING DOLLARS IN FISCAL YEAR 24.
AND THAT IS OUR P S H PRESENTATION.
HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, THANK YOU MS. LANG FOR THE PRESENTATION.
SO, IS IT CORRECT, IS IT ACCURATE TO SAY THAT WE, IN THIS PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 24, THAT WE HAVE A REDUCTION IN OUR CAPITAL DOLLARS FOR PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING BASED ON PREVIOUS YEAR ON? AND I'M LOOKING AT SLIDE FOUR.
THAT IS NOT A REDUCTION IN THE BUDGET.
THAT IS JUST THE ANTICIPATED SPENDING PLAN BASED ON, UM, THE PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN PLACE THAT, THAT THE TEAM IS WORKING ON IN DEVELOPMENT, THAT CAN FLUCTUATE IF, IF, UM, THE PROJECTS MOVE ALONG ANY FASTER.
IF WE HAVE SAVINGS OF THAT 15 MILLION THAT YOU SEE IN THIS FISCAL YEAR, THAT SPENDING PLAN CAN BE UPDATED FOR FISCAL YEAR 24.
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OKAY.AND 'CAUSE A, A LOT OF FEEDBACK WE'RE HEARING, THE CONCERNS WE'RE HEARING FROM OUR COMMUNITY IS THAT, UM, WE ARE NOT CONTINUING AND, AND IN FACT, WE'RE NOT ACCELERATING OUR INVESTMENTS IN PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
AND SO WITH THIS, CAN YOU SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PLAN SPEND VERSUS WHAT WE ARE PROJECTING? BECAUSE YOU SAID WE COULD ALLOCATE MORE, BUT BASED ON LAST FISCAL YEAR, WE SPENT 15 MILLION ON CAPITAL FOR THIS UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR, WE'RE PROJECTING TO SPEND 10 MILLION.
SO THAT IS, WE'RE PROJECTING TO SPEND LESS ON PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
AND I'M GOING TO TURN AND LOOK AT ROSIE TO HAVE HER PROVIDE HER INSIGHT.
I WAS JUST SAYING THAT I COULD ANSWER THAT.
UM, SO THE ESTIMATE THAT YOU SEE THERE FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 IS FROM APRIL OF THIS YEAR.
AND, AND THAT IS WHAT WE WERE ANTICIPATING.
WE MIGHT SPEND THROUGH OUR RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
UM, RECALLING THAT THOSE PROJECTS ARE PROJECTS THAT ARE APPLICATIONS THAT COME TO US.
AND SO WE'RE RESPONDING TO FUND THE, THE NEEDS THAT COME TO US.
IF ADDITIONAL DOLLARS OR ADDITIONAL REQUESTS COME IN FOR P S H AND THEY SCORE APPROPRIATELY, AND IT'S THE RIGHT TIME FOR US TO INVEST IN THOSE PROJECTS, WE WILL INVEST IN THOSE PROJECTS.
UH, YOU CAN ALSO NOTE ON THE HOME A R P DOLLARS.
UH, WHILE WE CURRENTLY HAVE, UH, AN APPROVED SPEND PLAN WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THAT HAS A MILLION DEDICATED TO CAPITAL THROUGH THE RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, WE ARE LOOKING TO DO A SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO SHIP ALL OF THOSE DOLLARS INTO OUR RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.
SO THAT WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL, UM, $10 MILLION THAT'LL GO INTO RHODA FOR US TO SPEND ON, UM, P S H THIS COMING FISCAL YEAR.
WE JUST HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE, THE CHANGE IN PROCESS WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
AND WHEN, WHEN DO YOU ANTICIPATE US FINDING OUT ABOUT THAT? I, IT'S, WE HAVE THE DOLLARS ALLOCATED, WE HAVE AN APPROVED SPEND PLAN.
IT'S JUST CHANGING IT KIND OF FROM ONE LINE ITEM TO A DIFFERENT LINE ITEM.
AND SO THOSE AMENDMENTS, UH, HAVE TO GO THROUGH HUD.
UM, I DON'T HAVE A TIMEFRAME ON THAT, BUT I ALSO DON'T FORESEE A PROBLEM WITH GETTING, UH, THOSE FUNDS AWARDED IN FISCAL YEAR 24.
AGAIN, RECOGNIZING THAT WHEN WE MAKE AN AWARD, WHEN YOU GUYS, AS THE, THE GOVERNING BODY FOR AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION MAKE AN AWARD THAT'S SETTING THE MONEY ASIDE OR PROCESSING THE PAPERWORK, THE DRAWS ON THAT WILL, WILL HAPPEN OVER TIME AS THE THE PROPERTY ACTUALLY GOES INTO CONSTRUCTION.
SO IS THIS THE, THE PLAN, THE P S H PROJECTED SPENDING CHART THAT WE HAVE, IT IS IN, IT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE ARPA DOLLARS? THAT'S CORRECT.
BECAUSE AT THIS POINT WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT 600,000 LEFT IN ARPA DOLLARS.
WELL, IT'S THE, IT, WHEN I SAY ARPA, THERE'S ARPA, S L F R F I, I ALWAYS GET THAT ACRONYM WRONG.
UM, THAT'S, THAT'S THE FUNDING THAT CAME THROUGH, UM, THE HOMELESS STRATEGY OFFICE.
UH, AND WE WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS TO PLAN FOR THOSE DOLLARS FOR EXPENDITURE.
AND SO THAT'S A DIFFERENT BUCKET OF FUNDS.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE, THE SITE-BASED UNITS? IT ALSO APPEARS THAT WE HAVE A REDUCTION IN SITE-BASED UNITS.
IS THAT ACCURATE? SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT, JUST TO BE, SO I CAN BE CLEAR IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT SLIDE SEVEN.
THOSE ARE THE UNITS THAT ARE COMING ONLINE EACH YEAR.
SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE 126 SITE-BASED PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNITS IN OPERATION TODAY.
I ANTICIPATE MOVING AS WE CONTINUE TO SPEND, AS WE CONTINUE TO SEE PROJECTS COME ONLINE AND REQUESTS COME IN MM-HMM.
THESE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT WE KNOW ABOUT TODAY THAT THE CITY HAS INVESTED OUR RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DOLLARS IN.
SO JUST TO CLARIFY, THE AMOUNT THAT WE ARE PROJECTING TO SPEND IN PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND CAPITAL COSTS RIGHT NOW HAS 10 MILLION INCLUDED IN THE BASE BUDGET.
YOU HAVE SHARED PUBLICLY THAT WE ANTICIPATE GETTING A $10 MILLION, UM, FEDERAL HOME GRANT.
IS THAT RIGHT? SO THAT WOULD PUT US AT 20 MILLION.
SO WE WOULD HAVE AN INCREASE IN PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING CAPITAL FUNDING.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S JUST WHAT WE ESTIMATE BECAUSE WE CAN'T FORECAST WHAT PROJECTS ARE GONNA COME TO US AND WHAT WILL CONTAIN PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
SO WE'RE BASING THAT $10 MILLION ESTIMATE ON WHAT WE'VE SEEN OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND WHAT WE'VE SEEN THE TREND TO BE.
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IF WE GET REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL AND IT, AND ITS SCORES APPROPRIATELY THROUGH OUR CRITERIA AND THE EVALUATION AND THE UNDERWRITING AND EVERYTHING THAT WE DO ASSOCIATED WITH THAT PROGRAM MM-HMM.WE'LL SPEND MORE THAN THAT $10 MILLION.
THAT'S JUST WHAT IF WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE AN ESTIMATE FOR WHAT WE THINK IS GONNA COME THROUGH.
WE DON'T SEPARATE, WHEN WE FUND OUR RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROJECTS, WE DON'T SEPARATE OUT WHETHER WE'RE FUNDING A 50% UNIT OR A 30% UNIT OR A PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNIT.
UH, WE TRACK THAT, BUT THE FUNDING ISN'T DELINEATED BY M F I LEVEL.
AND THEN WHAT ABOUT THE TENANT BASED SUPPORT? I HAVE THIS CHART ON PAGE SEVEN, SO SHOWS ZERO ANTICIPATED FOR RIGHT.
SO, UM, JUST TO REITERATE THAT THIS CHART SHOWS NEW, UH, SORT OF UNITS OR BEDS COMING INTO SERVICE EACH YEAR, NOT THE CUMULATIVE PORTFOLIO.
THE TOTAL COLUMN SHOWS YOU WHERE WE WOULD ANTICIPATE BEING AT THE END OF 2025 OR SO.
UM, IT, WE, IT IS PLAUSIBLE THAT THERE WILL BE INCREASED TENANT-BASED PROGRAMMING, BUT IN FACT, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS REALLY LEAN INTO THE SITE-BASED P S H BECAUSE IN OUR MARKET, OUR PROVIDERS ARE HAVING SO MUCH DIFFICULTY FINDING AVAILABLE UNITS IN THE RENTAL MARKET TO PLACE THOSE TENANT-BASED RESOURCES.
SO WHILE THERE COULD BE SOME, I EXPECT IT TO BE MODEST, NOT ONLY THE CITY, BUT THE CONTINUUM OF CARE, THE HUD FUNDING, UM, IS BEING PRIORITIZED FOR SITE-BASED P S H RATHER THAN, THAN TENANT-BASED.
AND MS. GRAY WITH THIS, I MEAN, TO ME, THE WAY I SEE IT IS WE ARE INVESTING AND INJECTING CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES, NOT ONLY HERE AT THE CITY, BUT THE COUNTY HAS ALSO DEDICATED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT, ALSO OVER A HUNDRED MILLION.
UM, THE STATE HAS COME IN TO ALSO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SUPPORT TO ME TO SEE THE AMOUNT OF SITE-BASED UNITS THAT COME ONLINE.
IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT'S AT THE SCALE THAT WE NEED TO RESPOND TO THE CRISIS THAT WE HAVE.
ARE THESE CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES OF HOW MANY SITE-BASED UNITS WE CAN BRING ONLINE? LIKE WHAT ARE, WHAT'S SOME CONTEXT HERE THAT WE SHOULD BE CONSIDERING? I, I WOULD NOT DESCRIBE IT AS CONSERVATIVE.
UM, AND SO I MEAN, I THINK IF WE CONSIDER THAT RIGHT NOW, TODAY WE HAVE 126 SITE-BASED P SS H UNITS, AND WE ARE PROJECTING THAT BY THE END OF 2025 OR SHORTLY THEREAFTER, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT OVER A THOUSAND.
THAT IS A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN SITE-BASED P S H, UH, UH, SPARKED IN PART BY THE FINDING HOME A T X EFFORT, WHICH REALLY SAID WE NEED TO LEAN INTO THIS.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE, UH, THERE'S A, A VERY SUBSTANTIAL GAP.
AND SO WHILE THERE WILL BE A CONTI CONTINUED NEED, UH, PROBABLY ANOTHER 2000, UM, HOUSEHOLDS OR SO NEEDING SERVICES AT THE END OF THAT PERIOD, UH, THIS IS THE RESULT OF A VERY INTENTIONAL EFFORT, UH, ON THE PART OF NOT ONLY THE CITY, BUT ITS PARTNERS, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY, THE HOUSING AUTHORITY, THE HUD, THE CONTINUUM OF CARE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SITE-BASED P S H, UM, IN A A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
THESE NUMBERS ARE JUST CITY LED SITE-BASED UNITS, RIGHT? NO, MA'AM.
UH, UH, SO ALMOST ALL PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROJECTS HAVE MULTIPLE FUNDING SOURCES.
I CAN'T THINK OF A SINGLE P S H PROJECT THAT HAPPENS WITH A SINGLE FUNDER.
UH, UH, USUALLY THERE'S A, A PARTNERSHIP, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS WE PROVIDE SOME CAPITAL AND THE HOUSING AUTHORITY PROVIDES VOUCHERS OR, UH, TYPICALLY THERE WILL BE FOUR TO FIVE CAPITAL SOURCES IN A SINGLE PROJECT.
SO THIS IS A GLOBAL, UM, PIPELINE.
UH, THE REALITY IS THE CITY IS IN MOST OF THESE PROJECTS IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
UM, I'M WONDERING IF YOU COULD PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO WHETHER THE CURRENT BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN CONSISTENT IN FUTURE BUDGETS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERING THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF DIFFERENT PRIORITIES AND CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES, I WANNA KNOW IF WE SHOULD ANTICIPATE ANY ADJUSTMENTS IN THE FUTURE.
AND IF YOU COULD ELABORATE ON THE TYPES OF DECISIONS COUNCIL MAY FACE IN FUTURE BUDGETS, UM, SO THAT WE CAN START THINKING ABOUT THAT EVEN NOW AS WE MAKE DECISIONS.
I THINK AS WE LOOK AT THE ANTICIPATED SPENDING, IT HAS, IT'S A, UM, IT WOULD BE VARIED BASED ON, AS ROSIE STATED, THE AMOUNT OF, UM, OR THE TYPES OF APPLICATIONS THEY RECEIVE.
AND SO WHEN, UM, THE TEAM LOOKS AT THE PROPOSED SPENDING FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR OR THE COMING FISCAL YEARS, IT, THEY'RE LOOKING AT ALL OF THOSE DYNAMICS.
[00:25:01]
CHANGES FROM AN OPERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, BUT, UH, I THINK IT'S AN ONGOING CONVERSATION THAT WE CAN HAVE, AND ROSIE AND HER TEAM AND, AND DIANA AND HER TEAM CAN PROVIDE UPDATES TO LET US KNOW IF THERE ARE CHANGES THAT WE'LL NEED TO MAKE IN THE MAKING, THE COMING, UH, FISCAL YEARS.AND THEN THIS MAY BE MORE FOR DIANA OR MS. GRAY, EXCUSE ME.
UM, COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THE SPECIFIC CRITERIA AND METRICS USED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROGRAMMING? I WANNA KNOW HOW THE BUDGET ALLOCATION SPECIFICALLY WILL BE TIED TO THOSE OUTCOMES AND HOW FREQUENTLY PROGRESS REPORTS WILL BE MADE TO COUNCIL RELATED TO THAT SPENDING AND THOSE OUTCOMES.
SO I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO THE PRIMARY OUTCOMES.
AND THEN, UM, ADRIAN, UH, UH, STIRRUP, THE DIRECTOR OF A P H MAY WANNA SPEAK TO THE REPORTING CADENCE ON THE SERVICE SIDE.
UM, THE PRIMARY, UM, MEASURE AROUND PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS HOUSING STABILITY.
THESE ARE INDIVIDUALS THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE DEMONSTRABLY, BUT FOR THE, THE RENTAL SUPPORT AND THE, THE, THE ROBUST SERVICES WOULD NOT, UH, REMAIN HOUSED.
AND SO WE PRIMARILY, UH, BUT CERTAINLY NOT ONLY LOOK AT, UM, AT KEY, UH, MILESTONES, ARE INDIVIDUALS STILL IN THEIR HOUSING, UM, AND DOING WELL.
AND SO, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, UM, ON AVERAGE, I, OUR HOUSING STABILITY AT A YEAR OR SO IS UPWARDS OF 90%.
UM, AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE HISTORICALLY DONE A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.
THAT'S WHAT WE CONTINUE TO WANT TO SEE.
AND THAT'S A CHALLENGE GIVEN THE, THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE CONDITIONS AND SITUATIONS THAT PEOPLE FIND THEMSELVES IN.
WE ALSO LOOK AT INCREASES IN INCOME, WHETHER THAT'S EARNED INCOME OR INCOME FROM BENEFITS, CHANGES TO EMPLOYMENT.
UH, AS, UH, MS. LANG, UH, MENTIONED, PERMANENT SUPPORT OF HOUSING IS TARGETED TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY DON'T WORK.
UM, BUT WE DO SEE INCREASES IN EMPLOYMENT.
UM, AND THEN, UH, AT THE MORE GRANULAR LEVEL, WE DON'T NECESSARILY DO THIS WITH EVERY PROGRAM, UM, BUT ACROSS THE SYSTEM WE HAVE DONE COST BENEFIT, UM, STUDIES PREVIOUSLY WITH OUR PARTNERS THAT SHOW THAT PUBLIC SPENDING FOR INPATIENT STAYS FOR, UM, UH, INCARCERATION, UH, FOR EMERGENCY ROOM UTILIZATION, FOR UTILIZATION OF, UH, E M S SERVICES, ET CETERA, ALL DECREASE SIGNIFICANTLY.
YEAH, I, I ABSOLUTELY AGREE THAT MITIGATION OF THE PROBLEM RELATED TO INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IS A MUCH MORE COST EFFECTIVE WAY TO, UM, SPEND THOSE DOLLARS.
UM, THE PEOPLE THAT I TALK TO IN THE COMMUNITY WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO THOSE OUTCOMES.
AND IF THERE'S ANY WAY THAT WE COULD CREATE SOME SORT OF DASHBOARD, MAYBE ON A VERY HIGH LEVEL OR SOMETHING WHERE WE COULD POINT OUR CONSTITUENTS TO, TO SAY, LOOK, YOUR INVESTMENTS ARE PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS, THESE ARE THE OUTCOMES.
I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF MY COLLEAGUES WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT WHEN WE'RE SPENDING THESE DOLLARS, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMUNITY KNOWS THE BENEFIT THAT THEY'RE GETTING OUT OF THEM.
AND NOT JUST THROUGH THESE TYPES OF DISCUSSIONS, BUT SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY CAN LOOK DIRECTLY.
HI, I'LL COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER.
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANTED TO ADD, PLEASE? YEAH, JUST BRIEFLY.
SO THE STAFF COLLECT PERFORMANCE MEASURES ON AN ANNUAL AND, UH, QUARTERLY.
AND THEN REPORTS ARE POSTED ANNUALLY TO THE OPEN DATA PORTAL.
BUT I THINK BECAUSE OF THE LONG-TERM NATURE OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, AS MS. GRAY MENTIONED, SORRY, DIRECTOR ULA, UM, WE CAN WORK WITH COUNCIL ON AN ANNUAL PERFORMING OR REPORTING PERIOD IF YOU WOULD LIKE, BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW, THAT AS A STANDARD, IT'S QUARTERLY AND THEN RESULTS ARE POSTED ANNUALLY TO OUR OPEN DATA PORTAL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING UP ON THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, I'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, THEN COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
UH, I WILL TRACK MY, THAT ANSWERED MY QUESTION.
I'M SORRY TO NOT BE WITH Y'ALL TODAY, BUT APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO CONFIRM, YOU SAID THESE ARE GLOBAL, SO THESE INCLUDE THE COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS, CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND DO THEY INCLUDE THE CONVERSION OF NORTHBRIDGE? UH, NO, SIR.
UM, OH, AS YOU, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE FOR THE TIME BEING ELECTED TO CONTINUE OPERATING NORTHBRIDGE AS A BRIDGE SHELTER.
UH, AND SO WE HAVE, UM, ELIMINATED NORTHBRIDGE FROM THE PIPELINE AT THIS TIME.
AND LOOKING AT KIND OF OUR GLOBAL GOALS THAT WERE SET OUT A COUPLE YEARS AGO, IT WAS A HUNDRED PS OR I MEAN, A THOUSAND P
[00:30:01]
S H UNITS, AND THEN 300 UNITS FOR THE CONTINUUM OF CARE.ARE THOSE SEPARATE 300? THOSE ARE NOT P S H THOSE ARE JUST, I ASSUME, LIKE 30% UNITS? THAT THAT'S CORRECT.
UM, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL ATTEMPT A DESCRIPTION AND LET DIRECTOR TRUELOVE, UM, CORRECT ME.
SO WHAT WE CALL CONTINUUM OF CARE OR C O C UNITS ARE ESSENTIALLY UNITS THAT ARE FLEXIBLE.
THEY'RE AVAILABLE TO THE SYSTEM FOR REFERRING CLIENTS.
YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT I SPOKE EARLIER ABOUT PEOPLE WITH TENANT-BASED RESOURCES.
SO THEY HAVE A PORTABLE VOUCHER AND A CASE MANAGER ASSIGNED TO THEM, BUT HAVE HAD A VERY DIFFICULT TIME FINDING UNITS.
SO IN ADDITION TO OUR SITE-BASED P S H WITH DEDICATED, UH, RENTAL SUBSIDY AND SERVICES, WE'VE ALSO INCENTIVIZED THE CREATION OF UNITS THAT ARE JUST SET ASIDE AVAILABLE FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS.
UM, AND, UM, I BELIEVE, UH, AT OUR LAST COUNT WE WERE ALSO ON TRACK TO MEET THAT GOAL OF 300 PLUS C O C UNITS.
AND DO WE HAVE ANY KIND OF STUDY OR ESTIMATE OF WHAT PERCENT OF THE UNHOUSED POPULATION NEEDS P S H NEEDS THAT LEVEL OF, UH, SERVICES OR VERSUS, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S JUST A 30% UNIT OR EVEN ALL THE WAY ON THE OTHER END DIVERSION.
WHAT'S OUR, WHAT DO WE THINK THE PERCENT OF THE POPULATION ACTUALLY NEEDS THIS LEVEL OF HOUSING? SO, UM, UH, LET ME GIVE YOU, IF IT'S OKAY, A GROSS NUMBER RATHER THAN A PERCENTAGE IN A 2020 ANALYSIS THAT LOOKED AT WHAT OUR SORT OF RIGHT SIZED OR SYSTEM AT EQUILIBRIUM WOULD INCLUDE.
THE ESTIMATE AT THAT TIME WAS FOR AROUND 4,500, UH, UNITS OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
UM, THAT IS THE SAME ANALYSIS THAT WE UTILIZED WHEN WE DID OUR RECENT, UM, STUDY AROUND OUR SHELTER PORTFOLIO.
AND WE CURRENTLY HAVE, UM, 1,570.
SO BASED ON THAT APPROXIMATELY, WE'RE PROBABLY AT AROUND 3000, UH, UNITS SHORT.
UM, AND AGAIN, WE HAVE ABOUT A THOUSAND IN THE PIPELINE RIGHT NOW.
AND ONCE SOMEONE GOES INTO P S H, IS IT PRETTY MUCH THAT THEY WILL BE THERE FOR QUITE SOME TIME? IS THERE MUCH CHURN THROUGH, OR SHOULD WE KIND OF COUNT THAT BED AS OCCUPIED FOR THE LONG HAUL? SO THERE ARE NO, UM, TIME LIMITATIONS BY PROGRAM DESIGN IN PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
PEOPLE CAN STAY THERE, RENEW THEIR LEASE, UM, SO LONG AS THEY'RE ABLE, THEY WANT TO, AND THEY'RE ABLE TO COMPLY BY THE TERMS OF THEIR LEASE.
IN PRACTICE, THE AVERAGE TENANCY IS AROUND FIVE YEARS.
UM, AND THERE ARE A VARIETY OF THINGS THAT HAPPEN.
SO PEOPLE WILL SOMETIMES WILL MOVE ON AND, AND DETERMINE, YOU KNOW, I MAY NEED A RENTAL SUBSIDY, BUT THAT PERSON NO LONGER NEEDS THE INTENSIVE CASE MANAGEMENT THAT COMES ALONG WITH THE UNIT, AND SO THEY GO ELSEWHERE.
WE HAVE A LOT OF FOLKS WHO DO GO ON TO MORE, UM, UH, INTENSIVE SETTINGS, CARE SETTINGS, UH, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY LIVING, UM, UNSHELTERED HAS SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON PEOPLE'S HEALTH OVER TIME.
AND WE ALSO HAVE AN AGING POPULATION, SO IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR PEOPLE TO MOVE INTO A NURSING HOME EVENTUALLY.
UM, AND OF COURSE WE HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO, WHO PASS AWAY, UH, AND, AND THEN THERE IS SOME ATTRITION WHERE PEOPLE LEAVE OR, UM, OR ARE UNSUCCESSFUL IN THE SETTING.
BUT AGAIN, OUR TURNOVER IS SOMETHING LIKE 15% TOTAL.
AND MY LAST QUESTION, THE, WHAT'S THE EXPANSION OVER AT, UM, UM, MOBILE LOAVES AND FISHES? IS THAT INCORPORATED HERE? IS THAT A SEPARATE, UH, THOSE AREN'T P S H UNITS, SO I'LL, LET ME, I'LL, I'LL, LET ME, UM, GIVE AN ANSWER.
SO 50 UNITS ARE CURRENTLY COUNTED AS PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS THAT, UM, VIA, UH, HUD, UM, UH, R F P THAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR, UH, THERE WAS AN AWARD TO MOBILE LOAVES AND FISHES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FAMILY ELDER CARE THAT PROVIDED, EXCUSE ME, NOT ONLY, UH, THE UNIT THAT, UH, THAT MOBILE LOAVES AND FISHES WAS, UH, PROVIDING THEIR ON SITE, BUT ALSO THE RENTAL SUBSIDY AND SERVICES THAT, UM, THAT WE SPOKE ABOUT BEING CRITICAL TO THIS MODEL.
THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF MORE UNITS AT MOBILE LOAVES AND FISHES EVENTUALLY BEING CONVERTED FORMALLY TO P S H, BUT RIGHT NOW THERE IS NOT DEDICATED SERVICES DEDICATED RENTAL SUBSIDY, UH, AS WELL AS A COMMITMENT TO, UM, TAKE REFERRALS THROUGH THE COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM.
SO WE SEE THAT AS A VERY IMPORTANT POTENTIAL SOURCE OF NEW P S H
[00:35:01]
UNITS.UH, BUT IT WILL BE DEPENDENT ON INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF SERVICES, UH, AND RENTAL SUBSIDIES ALONG WITH, UH, REACHING AN AGREEMENT WITH THE, THE, UM, COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM TO ACCEPT THOSE REFERRALS.
WELL, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL VERY MUCH AND, UH, THAT'S ALL I GOT.
UM, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ON SLIDE FOUR.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY, SO YOU SAID SOMETHING THAT THERE WERE SAVINGS FROM FISCAL YEAR 23 THAT WE'RE ROLLING OVER, WASN'T SURE, UM, WHETHER THAT WAS FOR THE CAPITAL OR OPERATING OR IF THAT WAS JUST A POSSIBILITY IF THERE WERE SAVINGS, THE SAVINGS THAT ARE ANTICIPATING FISCAL YEAR 23 ARE IN THE OPERATING.
AND THEN, SO THE 6 MILLION THERE MAY STILL BE SAVINGS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T COME ONLINE AS EARLY AS WE THOUGHT.
IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED? I'M SORRY, CAN YOU SAY THAT AGAIN? SO THE, SO THE P S H, I'M ASSUMING THAT THE P S H UNITS DIDN'T COME ON AS EARLY AS WE THOUGHT, SO THAT THERE'S EXTRA FUNDING IN THERE? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND SO THEN THAT WOULD ROLL INTO ON TOP OF THE 17 OR THE 17 INCLUDES THAT PROJECTED SAVINGS? THE 17 INCLUDES THAT PROJECTION.
BUT IT ALSO INCREASES BECAUSE WE HAVE UNITS ONLINE, SO YOU HAVE TO HAVE MORE IN OPERATING.
SO WE HAVE TO BUILD THE UNITS AND THEN WE HAVE ONGOING OPERATING COSTS.
SO YOU WOULD EXPECT OVER TIME, IF WE WERE HAD A GOAL THAT YOU WOULD BE INCREASING YOUR OPERATING AND DECREASING YOUR CAPITAL OVER TIME UNLESS YOU HAD A WHOLE MUCH LARGER GOAL AT THE END FOR THE P S H.
IS THAT CORRECT? IF I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION CORRECTLY, YOU'RE SAYING WOULD THE OPERATING INCREASE AS THE UNITS COME ON TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES AND FOR FISCAL YEAR 24, THE SPENDING IS BASED ON THE CURRENTLY ANTICIPATED, UM, UNITS THAT ARE COMING ON.
AND THEN OF COURSE, AS WE LOOK AT THE OUT YEARS, IF THERE ARE NEEDS FOR INCREASED, UH, OPERATING TO SUPPORT THOSE.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE WOULD DO IN THE FUTURE BUDGET CYCLES.
YEAH, AND I WAS JUST POINTING OUT THAT, THAT IF BY VIRTUE OF THE WAY THIS WORKS, ONCE THOSE UNITS COME ONLINE, YOUR OPERATING IS GONNA INCREASE FASTER THAN YOUR CAPITAL BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS THE SERVICES.
UM, UNLESS YOU WERE TRYING TO BUILD ANOTHER A THOUSAND UNITS, WHICH YOU MIGHT TRY TO DO, BUT AT THIS POINT, THAT'S NOT IN THIS PERIOD, THAT'S NOT NOT THE GOAL.
IS THAT CORRECT? BUT I WOULD ALSO SAY THAT THE CAPITAL DOLLARS WILL TYPICALLY BE REFLECTED FIRST.
AND THEN WE, WE SPEND THE DOLLARS AS THEY GO INTO CONSTRUCTION AND THEN THE OPERATING AND THE SERVICES DOLLARS COME INTO PLAY ONCE THOSE UNITS ARE IN PRODUCTION.
SO THERE'S A SPIKE IN CAPITAL AND THEN A COUPLE YEARS LATER ALMOST THERE'S A SPIKE IN OPERATING AND SERVICES NEEDS.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO, TO GET AT IN TERMS OF THE PATTERN THAT WE WOULD OBSERVE AS WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, UM, THESE NUMBERS.
UM, I THINK THAT WAS MY MAIN QUESTION.
THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
AND IT'S ACTUALLY SORT OF OUT OF TURN, 'CAUSE THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, UM, ASKED SOME QUESTIONS THAT GOT ME THINKING, SO, YOU KNOW, AS SOME BUDGET AMENDMENTS, WE'RE BRINGING A $550,000 BUDGET AMENDMENT TO ONE OF THOSE AFOREMENTIONED SEVEN PROJECTS.
AND I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHY, UM, THE PARTICULAR FACILITY I'M MAKING REFERENCE TO CAN'T USE BOND DOLLARS OR OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDING AND HOW THAT WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO OUR PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING GOALS.
AND I DON'T THINK THAT QUESTION IS FOR YOU.
I SHOULD, I SHOULD HAVE PREFACED IT WITH THAT
UM, I, I BELIEVE THE PROJECT THAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO IS ONE OF, UH, SEVEN PROJECTS.
IT'S PART OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY SUPPORTIVE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE.
IT IS A LITTLE BIT IDIOSYNCRATIC IN THAT IT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
IT IS A FACILITY THAT PROVIDES BOTH LONGER TERM SHELTER AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT.
SO IT'S NOT RESIDENTIAL, UM, RESIDENTIAL HOUSING PER SE.
AND SO BECAUSE OF THAT, BECAUSE OF THE CONFIGURATION OF THE UNITS WHICH DON'T, UH, CONFORM TO CODE OR MEET HOUSING QUALITY, UH, STANDARDS, WHICH IS A HUD UH, TERM OF ART, IT, IT IS NOT REALLY IN THE HOUSING CATEGORY.
AND THE MONEY THAT THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT IS UTILIZING IS EXPLICITLY FOR RESIDENTIAL HOUSING PER SE.
I WOULD LOVE TO EXPLORE MOVING FORWARD, ESPECIALLY
[00:40:01]
WITH THE HOUSING AND PLANNING COMMITTEE, HOW WE CAN RECONFIGURE THOSE REGULATIONS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, RULES ARE NEVER NECESSARILY SET IN STONE.SO I WONDER IF WE COULD BUST THAT OPEN AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
SO I LIKE TO, ARE THESE BOND COVENANTS? IT IT, THEY'RE, THEY ARE, BUT THIS IS MORE, UM, I, I WOULD WANNA BRING OUR LAW DEPARTMENT INTO THAT CONVERSATION.
NATURALLY THAT'S PART OF HOW WE'VE GOTTEN THE, THE AUTHORITY TO USE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT IT IS HOUSING, WHICH IS, SO THERE, THERE'S A LEGAL COMPONENT TO THAT.
AND, AND I'M SURE THERE'S SOME, SOME PRIOR LEGAL OPINIONS THAT WE CAN SHARE IN ADVANCE TO, TO HELP YOU, UM, KIND UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT TO THE POINT WHERE WE'RE AT.
UM, SOMETHING TELLS ME WORKING THROUGH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, NOTHING IS GONNA GO FAST.
SO
I LIKE TO, TO CONTINUE IN THE CONVERSATION.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, MEMBERS, IF THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS, WE YEP.
I DO HAVE SOME MORE QUESTIONS.
THIS IS, UM, TO TAKE IT BACK TO THE COUNTY PROJECTS.
I WAS WONDERING, DO WE HAVE AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THOSE PROJECTS OR IF YOU COULD PROVIDE ANY, UM, ANYTHING NEW THAT WE SHOULD KNOW AND, AND BE CONSIDERING OF? I, I DID HAVE A MEETING WITH THE TRAVIS COUNTY COLLABORATIVE, AND I THINK THEY ARE STILL EXPERIENCING A GAP IN, IN FINANCING THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH.
UH, I WAS EXPECTING TO RECEIVE, UH, SOME APPLICATIONS FOR THE MOST RECENT QUARTER OF RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE THAT, UH, THE APPLICATIONS WOULD'VE COME IN THIS, THIS PAST WEEK.
I WOULD HAVE TO CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DID IN FACT COME IN.
UH, BUT THEY'RE STILL TRYING TO COVER A FUNDING GAP TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ABLE TO, UM, TO HAVE THEIR CAPITAL STACKS COME TOGETHER.
UH, I WANNA SAY THAT'S AROUND 12 AND A HALF MILLION.
UM, I DON'T KNOW, BASED ON THE APPLICATIONS THAT ARE GONNA, I DON'T KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'VE RECEIVED APPLICATIONS.
I DON'T KNOW HOW THOSE ARE GONNA SCORE AS WE LOOK AT, UM, OUR FIRST QUARTER AWARDS.
UM, ALL OF THAT WOULD BE WAY TOO PRELIMINARY FOR US TO, UM, FOR US TO GIVE AN OPINION ON.
AND CAN YOU REMIND US, BUT WE HAVE APPROVED, UH, RECALLING THE THREE, UM, PFCS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE FULL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION? YES.
AND CAN YOU REMIND US HOW MANY UNITS THAT INTENDS TO PUT ONLINE? I DON'T HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF ME.
MAYBE MANDY OR JAMIE ARE WATCHING AND THEY CAN TEXT IT, AND IF THEY DO, THEN I WILL SHARE THAT AS SOON AS I GET IT.
AND BECAUSE THOSE PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNITS ARE NOT INCLUDED? NO, THEY ARE INCLUDED, INCLUDED, INCLUDED.
I, I MEAN, I COULD GO THROUGH MY DOCUMENTS AND PULL OUT THE NUMBER, UM, AND MAYBE DIANA KNOWS OFF THE TOP OF HER HEAD, BUT THOSE, UH, THE TRAVIS COUNTY COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS ARE ABSOLUTELY PART OF THE PIPELINE OF NUMBERS THAT YOU SAW UP ON THE SCREEN EARLIER.
AND I GUESS WHY, HOW, LIKE, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW LONG IT'S TAKING US TO BUILD THESE SITE-BASED PERMIT SUPPORTIVE POLICY? I, I FEEL LIKE IT'S, UM, IT, IT'S TAKING THE AMOUNT OF TIME I GUESS THAT I WOULD EXPECT IT TO.
UM, MOST OF THESE ARE, ARE, HAVE FUNDING THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH TAX CREDITS.
THEY HAVE VERY STRICT TIMELINES ON WHEN THEY HAVE TO GET THEIR CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY.
WE HELP THEM THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AS THEY MAY NEED TO, TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO CONSTRUCT WITHIN THEIR TIMEFRAMES.
IT JUST TAKES SEVERAL YEARS, UM, FOR THESE PROPERTIES TO COME ONLINE.
UM, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NEW CONSTRUCTION, TWO OF THE PROPERTIES THAT ARE COMING ONLINE, UH, IN CALENDAR YEAR 2023 ARE IN FACT CONVERTED HOTELS.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE SEEING THEM HAPPEN FASTER.
UH, ONE OF WHICH IS ALCON'S TERRACE, UM, WHICH IS 50 UNITS OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND THE OTHER BEING PECAN GARDENS, WHICH IS 78 UNITS OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
UH, AND WE ANTICIPATE THOSE BEFORE THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR.
UM, SO IT'S HAVING A BALANCED APPROACH.
AND WE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU RECALL, UM, WHEN WE STARTED THE SITE SPECIFIC APPROACH OR THE SITE-BASED APPROACH FOR PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST PROJECT THAT WE HAD WAS TERRACE OAK SPRINGS IN 2019, AND THAT WAS 50 UNITS, AND THAT WAS UNHEARD OF AT THE TIME.
AND THAT'S WHY YOU SEE PROJECTS LIKE SPARROW AT RUTLAND COMING ON, WHICH HAS GOT 101 UNITS OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING MM-HMM.
UM, SO THE, THE PROJECTS THAT ARE IN OPERATION RIGHT NOW THAT MAKE UP THAT 126 MM-HMM.
AND THEN IT'S A SMATTERING OF UNITS IN A NUMBER OF OTHER PROJECTS.
AND THAT SMATTERING HAS GROWN OVER TIME, AND YOU'LL SEE MORE AND MORE OF THOSE COMING ONLINE AS WE SPEND, UM, THE, THE, AS WE SEE THE 2018 GEO BOND FUNDED PROJECTS COMING ONLINE.
AND THEN AS WE SEE HOW THINGS WILL PROGRESS WITH THE 2022 GEO BOND COUNCIL MEMBER ONE, UH, ONE OF THE, SORRY, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'LL WANT TO COME BACK AT A LATER DATE.
WE, WE WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF ENGAGING AN AUDIT AND THAT AUDIT'S GONNA, UH, EXPLORE HOW THE HOUSING, HOW HOW THE A H F C WORKS, HOW THE PERMANENT, HOW THE, IT WORKS WITH THE HOMELESS
[00:45:01]
DIVISION SO THAT WE CAN KIND OF AT LEAST HAVE A PICTURE, A A MACRO PICTURE OF WHAT OUR OBJECTIVES ARE, WHAT OUR LANE IS, WHAT'S THE LANE FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN UNDER OUR, UH, TOOLS THAT WE HAVE, AND THEN MAYBE PERHAPS IDENTIFY THE, THE LANES FOR OTHER JURISDICTIONS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE ON.AND THEN WE NEED TO GET INTO THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.
WE'VE HAD SEVERAL MEETINGS WITH PE WITH INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
AND AS YOU WOULD KNOW, OUR, OUR DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IS NOT, UH, EASILY NAVIGATED.
AND SO THEY HAVE, THEY NEED ASSISTANCE IN GETTING THROUGH THAT PROCESS AND WE NEED TO FIND WAYS TO STREAMLINE THAT MM-HMM.
SO WE NEED TO GO THROUGH THAT.
AND SO ALL THOSE THINGS ARE GONNA EXPORT IN TWO DIFFERENT PHASES, AND THEN WE CAN BRING THE DETAIL WORK SO THAT WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET DONE YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT.
AND WHEN DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT AUDIT? WELL, THE AUDIT, WE SHOULD GET IT, WE SHOULD ENGAGE IT PRETTY QUICK AND THEN LIST OUT THE QUESTIONS.
WE WANT THEM TO GO AT IT AND THEN HAVE THEM, UH, GO TO DO THE WORK.
I DON'T HAVE THE TIMELINE YET TILL WE NEGOTIATE THE CONTRACT.
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS HOW CAN WE SCALE UP FOR PRODUCTION OF THE PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNITS.
UM, AND, AND CERTAINLY WOULDN'T WANT OUR OWN, UH, YOU KNOW, ADMINISTRATION POLICIES AND REGULATIONS TO BE A BARRIER IN THAT DEVELOPMENT.
SO, AND THE ONLY, THE ONLY WORRY AND IT, AND IT'S A WORRY THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIGURE OUT LATER, SOME OF THIS IS ONE TIME FEDERAL MONEY THAT'S BEING USED TO HELP US DO THIS MM-HMM.
AND WHEN THAT FEDERAL MONEY IS NO LONGER THERE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO SCRAMBLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA DO THE FINANCING OF MOVING FORWARD.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING WE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO.
WE JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT'S GONNA, WHAT IT WOULD TAKE.
IT'S A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR CITY TO HAVE THIS INJECTION OF FEDERAL DOLLARS TO SUPPORT US IN OUR EFFORT ON CREATING, UH, A BETTER HOMELESSNESS RESPONSE SYSTEM.
UM, YOU KNOW, NOW THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS ASKED THE STAFF TO COME BACK TO THE OFFICES, I'M SURE THEY'RE GONNA BE BROUGHT FASTER.
I DO JUST WANNA PUNCTUATE WHAT YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THE, UH, THE TWO HOTELS THAT THE CITY PURCHASED THAT'S BA'S AND PECAN GARDENS, THOSE TWO HOTELS THAT THE CITY PURCHASED A FEW YEARS AGO.
YOU ANTICIPATE THOSE COMING ONLINE AS PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNITS BY THE END OF 2023, CORRECT.
AND THERE'S A THIRD HOTEL, IT'S, UM, BUNGALOWS AT CENTURY PARK, AND IT IS, UM, FOLLOWING IN 2024, THEY'RE ALL UNDERGOING MINOR REHABILITATION TO HAVE THEM BE SUITABLE FOR THIS TYPE OF HOUSING MM-HMM.
UM, BUT THEY WILL BE QUICKLY DELIVERING NEEDED HOMES.
I'M, I'M HAPPY TO HEAR THAT AND I'M EXCITED TO, TO HOPEFULLY BE THERE WHEN WE, UM, WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE OPENING.
THE LAST QUESTION I HAVE ON THIS TOPIC IS AROUND THE NORTH BRIDGE SHELTER.
SO IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET, DO WE HAVE IT OPERATING FOR THE FULL YEAR OR IS IT ONLY INCLUDING, ARE WE INCLUDING OPERATING FUNDS FOR SIX MONTHS? THE FULL YEAR, MY UNDERSTANDING IS NORTH BRIDGE IS SIX MONTHS OF FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEAR 24.
COLLEAGUES, I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT BECAUSE I THINK THAT HAS BEEN A NEED THAT WE HAVE AS A CITY TO PROVIDE THAT BRIDGE SHELTER, ESPECIALLY AS PART OF THE HEAL INITIATIVE, UM, WHEN WE'RE CONNECTING INDIVIDUALS TO, UM, EMERGENCY AND TEMPORARY, UH, SHELTER OPPORTUNITIES.
AND WITH THIS, IT COMES WITH WRAPAROUND SERVICES.
AND SO, UH, I WANT US TO, TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT RIGHT NOW IT'S ONLY FUNDED TO CONTINUE FOR SIX MORE MONTHS.
AND I DO HAVE SOME CONCERNS AROUND THAT.
SO THERE ARE SIX MONTHS OF DEDICATED GENERAL FUNDS, UM, FOR NORTHBRIDGE IN THE BUDGET THIS YEAR.
A P H HAS INDICATED WE BELIEVE WE CAN FIND ALTERNATE FUNDING SOURCES FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR WITH THE INTENT OF OPERATING FOR COUNCIL.
THE COUNCIL, WE'RE NOT GONNA STOP FUNDING THIS AT SIX MONTHS.
SO THAT, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE OPERATE FOR 12 MONTHS AND I'LL ASK THE STAFF TO MAKE SURE THEY FIGURE A WAY TO DO THAT.
WE HAVE IT ON RECORD RIGHT HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, THEN COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, THEN COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES MADE ME THINK ABOUT SOMETHING.
ROSIE, DO YOU HAVE, OR DIRECTOR OF MY APOLOGIES.
UH, A WHETHER IT'S FORMAL ANALYSIS OR FEELING ABOUT THE BOTH COST PER UNIT AND TIME IT TAKES TO COME ONLINE FOR PURCHASING A HOTEL VERSUS OUR GROUND UP P S H PROJECTS, WHAT IS ONE MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN THE OTHER? AND IS ONE REALLY FASTER THAN THE OTHER? I HAVE TO THINK THAT PURCHASING A HOTEL WOULD BE FASTER, EVEN IF IT REQUIRES SOME RENOVATION.
'CAUSE YOU'RE NOT BUILDING IT FROM THE
[00:50:01]
GROUND UP.UM, COST PER UNIT THOUGH, I'M NOT SURE.
I, I WOULD WANNA DO SOME ANALYSIS ON THAT, UM, BECAUSE IT DOES, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE ARE VERY FEW HOTELS THAT ARE POSITIONED TO BE ABLE TO JUST TURN THE KEYS OVER AND HAVE IT BE ABLE TO OPERATE AS PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.
AND, AND THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A MISNOMER TO THINK THAT WE CAN MAKE THAT CHANGE REALLY QUICKLY.
WE CAN GET THAT, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU, I, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE LOOKING AT THE TIMELINE FOR SOME OF THESE, IT HAS TAKEN QUITE SOME TIME, YOU KNOW, JUST ALMOST AS LONG AS YEAH.
THE SPARROW AND IN SOME INSTANCES, BUT, AND THERE ARE OTHER, THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS INVOLVED THERE, SO I KNOW IT'S NOT.
UM, BUT I JUST WANTED
UH, AND THE OTHER THING TO NOTE IS THAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO, AS WE'VE, AS WE'VE GONE THROUGH TIME SINCE THE PANDEMIC, WE'VE BEEN CONTINUING TO KIND OF WATCH HOW HOTEL PRICING MIGHT, UM, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
AND, AND IT, IT, THE ESTIMATES AND THE, THE SALES PRICE THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING FOR APPROPRIATE HOTELS HAS NOT BEEN AS COST EFFECTIVE AS, AS IT WOULD'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, FIVE, SIX YEARS AGO.
SO IT, IT'S QUICKLY NOT BECOMING AS FEASIBLE AS WE WOULD HOPE IT TO BE.
COUNCIL MEMBER VALA THEN COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
I JUST WANNA SHIFT GEARS A LITTLE BIT AND TALK ABOUT THE, UM, THE, THE TENANT, UH, ASSISTANCE, UH, THE RENTAL ASSISTANCE, UH, THAT WE'VE, UH, PROVIDED.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE HAVE JUST SIGNED, UH, A CONTRACT, UH, WITH, UH, EL ELANO FOR I BELIEVE $7.8 MILLION.
UH, AND I THINK, UH, CAN YOU, WHEN IS THAT A CONTRACT SUPPOSED TO BE KICKING IN? UH, WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE'LL START DEPLOYING FUNDS AS SOON AS IT'S EXECUTED, UM, POTENTIALLY EVEN BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH.
OR THAT WE EXPECT IT TO BE EXECUTED THIS MONTH.
UH, SO IMMINENTLY, IMMINENTLY ESSENTIALLY.
UH, AND THAT CONTRACT IS FOR THE $7.8 MILLION THAT COUNCIL ALLOCATED, UH, IN THE LAST BUDGET YEAR? CORRECT.
UM, AND WE, BECAUSE WE WERE COMING OFF OF THE PANDEMIC, UH, WE WERE NO LONGER ABLE TO UTILIZE THE, THE STRUCTURE OF THE RENT PROGRAM AND IN THE EXEMPTIONS THAT THAT WAS CONTRACTED UNDER.
UH, AND SO WE KNEW THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE A DELAY IN, IN DEPLOYING THOSE FUNDS SO THAT WE COULD ESTABLISH A PROGRAM AND GO THROUGH A COMPETITIVE PROCESS.
AND, AND YOU SAW THE RESULT OF THAT WITH THE CONTRACT WITH L ONE SAMANO, UM, IN JULY.
AND, AND SO BASICALLY, I GUESS DURING THE PANDEMIC, I MEAN, WE HAD THE, YOU KNOW, ARPA MONEY AND OTHER, UH YES.
SOURCES OF FEDERAL FUNDING, BUT I GUESS THOSE WERE ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS, SO THAT WAS KIND OF EXPEDITED TO GET IT OUT THE DOOR AND GET IT INTO PEOPLE'S HANDS.
AND IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT PROGRAM IN BACK, UH, DURING THE PANDEMIC.
UM, IN, IN THAT, IN THAT CASE, I MEAN, FOLKS COULD LITERALLY APPLY FOR FUNDS AND GET FUNDED, UM, JUST DIRECTLY WITH THE CURRENT PROGRAM.
WERE LOOKING TO HELP THOSE THAT ARE REALLY AT THE BRINK OF EVICTION.
UM, THEY HAVE TO BE REFERRED INTO OUR, OUR SERVICES AND, AND IT'S NOT JUST CALLING AND APPLYING FOR FUNDS.
I, I COMPLETELY, UH, UNDERSTAND.
AND SO, UH, SO PRIOR TO THE $7.8 MILLION, UH, THAT, THAT, THAT ARE ABOUT TO START GOING OUT THE DOOR, UH, WHEN DID THE FEDERAL FUNDING KIND OF RUN OUT OR, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE WE IN TERMS OF OUR PAST EFFORTS KIND OF DOVETAILING WITH OUR, OUR CURRENT EFFORTS? YEAH.
OUR, OUR FED, THE LAST FEDERAL DOLLARS WE GOT, UM, I BELIEVE WERE IN, WERE ALLOCATED IN JANUARY OF 2022.
UH, AND THAT WAS THROUGH KIND OF A RESHUFFLE OF FUNDS THAT HADN'T BEEN SPENT BY OTHER JURISDICTIONS.
AND SO THEY, THEY REDEPLOYED THOSE TO US AND THAT WAS ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS OR SO.
AND WE'VE BEEN DEPLOYING THOSE DOLLARS SINCE THROUGH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH AND THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS.
'CAUSE WE DID NOT HAVE A CONTRACT IN PLACE AND WE DID NOT HAVE FUNDING FOR A LONGER TERM PROGRAM UNTIL WE GOT INTO THE, THE FISCAL YEAR THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW WITH THE AWARD THAT CAME IN, THE BUDGET THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW.
AND DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE OF WHAT THE DRAW DOWN IS GONNA BE ON THAT $7.8 MILLION CONTRACT? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW LONG WILL THAT MONEY LAST? BASED ON OUR WORK WITH L ONE, UH, WE ANTICIPATE A SPEND OF, OR AT LEAST A NEED OF ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS A MONTH.
AND SO THAT 7.8, UH, MILLION DOLLARS CONTRACT REALLY WILL PROBABLY ONLY LAST US IF WE SPENT IT TO THE NEED THAT WE'RE BEING ASKED.
UM, IT WOULD LAST US THROUGH APRIL OF 2024.
SO IN THIS FISCAL YEAR, THEN WE'RE DRAWING THE 7.8 MIL FROM THE LAST, FOR THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR.
BUT THEN LOOKING FORWARD, UH, WE
[00:55:01]
SHOULD PROBABLY, AGAIN, ASSUMING THAT WE WANT TO TRY AND, AND, AND KIND OF MATCH THE NEED OR, OR, YOU KNOW, GET THAT MILLION DOLLAR A MONTH GOAL, WE'RE LOOKING AT ANOTHER, LET'S SAY 4 MILLION, $5 MILLION TO KIND OF GET US THROUGH THIS FISCAL YEAR AT A RATE OF ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS IN RENTAL ASSISTANCE PER MONTH.UH, I HAVE AN AMENDMENT TO THAT EFFECT, AND I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO KIND OF PIN DOWN EXACTLY, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE WANT TO ADD ONTO, UH, THAT, THAT, THAT $7.8 MILLION SO THAT WE ARE, DO HAVE A CONSISTENT FLOW.
AND, AND I KNOW WE, WE WERE, YOU KNOW, TALKING THE OTHER DAY AND, AND MY PREFERENCE WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T WANNA USE UP ALL, I, I'D LIKE TO PARCEL THAT OUT OVER THE 12 MONTHS SO THAT THERE'S MONEY AVAILABLE AND NOT HAVE IT KIND OF ALL GO WITHIN THE, I MEAN, I'M GONNA LEAVE THAT TO Y'ALL IN, IN, IN THE, IN THE CONTRACT AND ALL THAT, BUT MY SENSE WOULD BE TO, TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN DOWN THE ROAD.
YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE COULD BE A DOWNTURN IN THE ECONOMY, THERE COULD BE, YOU KNOW, NATURAL DISASTERS, THERE COULD BE A LOT OF THINGS THAT, THAT MIGHT MM-HMM.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IN, IN, WE'RE, WE'RE PREVENTIVE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO RELOCATE AND GO THROUGH ALL THE PROBLEM AND HAVE THEIR KIDS GO THROUGH ALL THE PROBLEMS AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF.
UM, SO, UH, AND, AND WITH THE MILLION DOLLARS, UH, UH, UH, HOW, HOW, WHAT'S THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF PER PERSON IN TERMS OF THE, THE RENTAL ASSISTANCE? IT, THE, EACH HOUSEHOLD HAS A MAXIMUM, UH, AMOUNT OF BENEFIT OF $6,000 IF THEY COME THROUGH, UM, THE PROGRAM.
AND THAT COVERS TENANT STABILIZATION, IT COVERS PERHAPS SOME BACK RENT.
IT MIGHT COVER, UM, UH, REPRESENTATION AT EVICTION PROCEEDINGS, MAYBE SOME FUNDING TO HELP WITH, UH, RELOCATION THAT IS NOT ANTICIPATED TO BE SPENT, UH, FOR PROJECTS THAT ARE COMING UP THROUGH THE CITY'S, UH, TENANT RELOCATION ORDINANCE.
AND, AND SO THE, THE DIFFERENCE, UH, THEN THE TENANT RELOCATION ASSISTANCE FUNDS ARE GOING TO BE, UM, FOR FOLKS THAT ARE BEING DISPLACED.
YOU KNOW, THEIR THEIR APARTMENT COMPLEX YES.
IS BEING REMODELED, IS BEING TORN DOWN WHEREVER THE CASE MAY BE.
AND WE'RE HELPING THEM GET FROM, YOU KNOW, POINT A TO POINT B.
UH, WHEREAS THEIR EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE IS FOR PEOPLE THAT THEIR APARTMENT'S FINE, BUT THEIR FINANCIAL SITUATION IS NOT, AND, AND THEY NEED, UH, UH, SOME HELP.
UM, AND I I, IN TERMS OF THE LEGAL ASSISTANCE THEN, IS, IS THE TEXAS RIO GRANDE LEGAL AID AND ALSO INVOLVED IN, UH, IN THE MIX IN TERMS OF, OR WHO IS PROVIDING THE, THE LEGAL ASSISTANCE.
'CAUSE A LOT OF THESE FOLKS ARE ON THE VERGE OF, OF EVICTION, I WOULD IMAGINE, WHEN THEY'RE CONTACTING, UH, ELANO, I BELIEVE TRALA IS TEXAS RIO GRANDE LEGAL AID IS PART OF THE, THE MIX THERE.
I I, I APPRECIATE THE, UH, THE, THE ANSWERS TO THE, THE, THE QUESTIONS BOTH, YOU KNOW, HERE AND, AND UH, UH, AND, AND JUST IN OTHER, UH, UH, CONVERSATIONS, I, I GREATLY, UH, SUPPORT ADDING TO THAT, UH, $7.8 MILLION SO THAT WE CAN, YOU KNOW, REALLY KIND OF ADEQUATELY FUND RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
I KNOW THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, I DON'T THINK THAT WE FUNDED RENTAL ASSISTANCE AT ALL IN ANY, YOU KNOW, SUBSTANTIVE WAY UP UNTIL, YOU KNOW, A HANDFUL, UH, UH, OF YEARS AGO.
UM, BUT I, I REALLY THINK THAT WE SHOULD DO IT IN A STEADY AND REGULAR AND ONGOING WAY SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THESE KINDS OF ESTABLISHED CONTRACTS AND ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS, UH, AND, AND KIND OF PERFECT, UH, THE, THE, THE, THE PROCESS.
UH, AND, AND I WOULD JUST NOTE THAT THE CONTRACT WE JUST ISSUED WAS FOR A THREE YEAR CONTRACT.
THE TWO YEARS WOULD BE PENDING, YOU KNOW, UH, FUNDING AVAILABILITY.
BUT I, I JUST, I REALLY WOULD ENCOURAGE, UH, US AS A BODY AND, AND THE CITY IN GENERAL TO JUST ROLL THIS INTO KIND OF OUR ONGOING EXPENSES AND OBLIGATIONS.
I, I DON'T KNOW AT WHAT LEVEL 12 MILLION MIGHT BE A, YOU KNOW, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN CONTINUE TO FUND IT AT THAT LEVEL, BUT I, I THINK WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO FUND IT AT, AT SOME SUBSTANTIVE, UH, LEVEL.
LET ME, I, I WANT TO LOOK INTO THIS 'CAUSE I, IT, IT'S HARD FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND WHY WE'D HAVE ENTERED INTO A YEAR CONTRACT THAT RUNS OUT IN, IN, IN SIX MONTHS, EIGHT MONTHS.
UH, THAT'S GOTTA BE SOMETHING IS AMISS IN TERMS OF OUR STAFF WORK ON THAT.
AND I INTEND TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT.
WE'LL, WE'LL EVALUATE THIS AND WE'LL, UH, WE CERTAINLY DON'T WANNA LEAVE ANYBODY GETTING OUT OF HOUSING.
'CAUSE THAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO KEEP, TO KEEP PEOPLE IN HOUSING.
BUT WE NEED TO EVALUATE THOSE NUMBERS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE, THEY'RE REALISTIC.
UH, WELL AGAIN, THANK Y'ALL, UH, VERY MUCH I APPRECIATE, UH, YOUR, UH, EFFORTS IN THIS REGARD.
UH, THE FEEDBACK THAT, THAT WE'VE GOTTEN JUST ANECDOTALLY IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN IS DOING A GOOD JOB AND THAT MM-HMM.
THAT, THAT TRIAL IS DOING A GOOD JOB.
UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AND AGAIN, I, I JUST, UH, I, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S, UH, UH, WORK ON IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
THANK YOU MAYOR, FOR THE RECOGNITION.
I AM, I JUST WANTED TO REVISIT MY PREVIOUS QUESTION, AND I THINK THIS IS MAYBE MORE, UM, PART STAFF, BUT
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PART MANAGER QUESTION.UM, I JUST WANNA BE CLEAR THAT OF OUR SEVEN COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS, UM, BY NATURE OF HOW, THE ONE THAT WE ALL KNOW THAT I'M MAKING REFERENCE TO, UM, THE FACT THAT THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO OBTAIN FUNDING THROUGH OTHER SERVICES LIKE BONDS OR TAX CREDITS, ET CETERA.
BUT THIS COUNCIL WANTS TO BE SURE THAT THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT IS SUCCESSFUL.
UM, DO WE HAVE TO FUND IT THROUGH OUR GENERAL BUDGET
SO I, I, I'M, I'M LOOKING AT CARRIE TO SEE, I, I KNOW THAT THE TYPE OF, UM, SERVICE THAT THEY'RE PROVIDING MAKES IT NOT QUALIFY FOR THE PROGRAMS THAT WE ADMINISTER THROUGH THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
SO HOW OTHER FUNDING SOURCES THAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE FOR THAT, I THINK WOULD BE A QUESTION FOR, UM, FOR FINANCE.
AND IT'S OTHER, IT'S, IT, MY UNDERSTANDING IS IT'S A, A A GAP OF ABOUT $550,000 IN, AND THAT'S ULTIMATELY WHAT I'M MAKING.
WHAT THEORETICALLY SHELTER IS THE GAP IN FUNDING.
AND I THINK ULTIMATELY WHAT I'M SAYING IS IF THERE IS ANY OTHER POSSIBLE WAY THAT THE CITY COULD HELP TO FUND, YOU KNOW, THAT GAP, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT WE CAN COMMIT TO.
AND, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD, UM, I WANNA KNOW, IS THERE A WAY THAT I CAN BE ADVISED, AND IT DOESN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN FROM THE DAY IS THIS MORNING, BUT IS THERE A WAY I CAN BE ADVISED ON HOW TO AMEND OUR BUDGET SO THAT, YOU KNOW, TO, UM, COUNCILWOMAN POINT EARLIER ABOUT PREVENTATIVE SERVICES AND COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN KELLY'S COMMENTS ABOUT PREVENTATIVE SERVICES, LIKE THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THIS KIND OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAMMING IS EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO THAT EXTENSION OF BEING ABLE TO REALLY GET THE FULL, UM, BENEFIT FROM P S H PREVENTION IS, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE, MY GRANDMOTHER'S QUOTE, BUT I THINK Y KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
UM, I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE CAN'T FILL THAT GAP.
AND SO, AGAIN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION THIS MORNING.
SO WHAT I, WHAT I WILL, I CAN COMMIT TO IS LOOKING INTO THE DETAILS OF THE PROJECT AT THIS MOMENT.
I'M NOT AWARE, BUT WE WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THE DETAILS AND GET BACK WITH YOU ON WHAT OPTIONS ARE COULD BE AVAILABLE FOR, FOR THAT PROJECT.
COUNCIL MEMBER MEMBERS, UNLESS THERE'S ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR, UH, IN THE, IN THE ARENA, IF YOU WILL, OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS AND, UH, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH WITHOUT OBJECTION.
I'LL MOVE TO, UH, PUBLIC SAFETY, GENERALLY POLICE.
AND THEN THE ORDER I THOUGHT I WOULD GO IN IS POLICE AND THEN E M SS.
SO LET ME ASK FIRST, ARE THERE ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WOULD LIKE FOR US TO BRING UP, UH, PEOPLE THAT CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS RELATED TO A P D AND THE POLICE BUDGET COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER? DID, WAS THAT RAISING YOUR HAND OR? I THINK I NEED TO TALK TO STEPH, UM, AND LEGAL FIRST ON SOMETHING BEFORE WE DO THAT.
UM, THAT'S WHAT THIS DAY'S SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT IS BEING ABLE TO GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
HOW ABOUT E M S? IS THERE ANYBODY WHO WOULD LIKE FOR ME TO CALL UP SOMEBODY FROM, OH, I THOUGHT YOU WERE POINTING AT ME.
I SAID, LOOK, I, I KIND OF KNOW WHAT I'M I WANT, BUT, UH, YEAH, I GOT IT.
IT, IT'S RYAN, THE, THE, THE WIZARD OF OZ IS UP ABOVE HERE.
SOMEBODY FROM E M SS COME DOWN SO THAT, UH, A P D WHAT? A P D OH, I'M SORRY.
A P D IT DOESN'T HURT MY FEELINGS IF YOU CRY OUT.
WHY DON'T YOU ASK YOUR QUESTION AND WE'LL SEE IF SOMEBODY, YEAH, SURE.
IT'S ABOUT OUR ASSET FORFEITURE RULES.
I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHEN WE HAVE ASSET FORFEITURE FUNDS, DO THOSE, DO EXPENDITURES FROM THOSE FUNDS HAVE TO RECEIVE COUNCIL APPROVAL SAME AS, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER BUDGET THRESHOLDS WHEN WE APPROVE A PURCHASE? OR ARE THOSE FUNDS SOMEHOW DIFFERENT RULES APPLY WHERE, WHERE THEY CAN JUST BE SPENT BY THE DEPARTMENT? AND MAYOR, I JUST WANNA CLARIFY.
I HAVE QUESTIONS FOR A P H NOT ON HOMELESSNESS.
WELL, I, THAT'S WHY I ASK, SO ALL RIGHT.
WE'LL CALL 'EM BACK UP IF I COULD.
BUT TO THE, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER, YES.
THAT, THAT IS A SEPARATE, UH, FUNDING PROCESS, BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL SEIZED FUNDS.
THE BUDGET'S PRESENTED TO COUNCIL FOR BUDGET APPROVAL, BUT THE ACTUAL, THE ACTUAL PURCHASES ARE DONE THROUGH PURCHASING WITH WITHOUT, OR, UH, AFTER
[01:05:01]
THE APPROVAL OF THE BUDGET, THEN THEY MAKE, THEN THEY CAN MAKE THEIR PURCHASES WITHOUT COUNSEL, UH, INTERACTION.AND IS THAT BY POLICY OR, OR IT'S BY BOTH, BOTH THE FEDERAL STATUTE AND THE STATE STATUTE FOR SEIZED FUNDS.
IT HAS TO BE KEPT IN THE, IT CAN'T BE CO-MINGLED, UH, WITH CITY FUNDS, HAS TO BE SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNTS FOR BOTH OF THOSE ACCOUNTS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO A P D E M S? OKAY.
IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER HAS AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION FOR AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
I JUST, UM, TEXTED DIRECTOR STIRRUP.
I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION ON, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER VELAS QUESTION REGARDING MAGISTRATE, BUT I'M NOT SURE.
I'M TRYING, THAT'S PUBLIC SAFETY, SO, OKAY.
THAT'S WHY, JUST FLAGGING THAT.
UM, YES, COUNCIL MEMBER, I, I HAVE A QUESTION THAT, THAT FOR HONESTLY, BUDGET, UH, UH, IT'S A BROADER QUESTION.
IT DOESN'T QUITE FIT IN THE CATEGORY.
LANGUAGE ACCESS HAS BEEN A REAL PRIORITY FOR MYSELF AND, AND, AND MY STAFF.
AND, UH, I THINK WE DO A, A, A, A DECENT JOB OF, UH, THE LANGUAGE ACCESS.
THAT SAID, WITH THE BUDGET DOCUMENT, THERE IS NO, LET ME REPHRASE THAT.
IS THERE A SPANISH VERSION OF THE BUDGET DOCUMENT? NO, THERE ISN'T A SPANISH VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT.
AND I UNDERSTAND IT'S A HUGE DOCUMENT, UH, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT TRANSLATING THE, UH, YOU KNOW, ENTIRE, UH, DOCUMENT IS A, IS GONNA BE A BIG EFFORT.
THAT SAID, I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO SEE AT LEAST THE SUMMARY WHERE Y'ALL ARE HITTING ALL THE, KIND OF THOSE MAIN POINTS IN THOSE KIND OF LIKE FIRST 60, 70 PAGES, THE CITY MANAGER'S MESSAGE, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS LIKE THAT.
IF WE COULD HAVE, AT THE VERY LEAST, KIND OF A, A, A, A SPANISH VERSION, POTENTIALLY OTHER LANGUAGES, AGAIN, I WOULD, YOU KNOW, LET THE, THE, THE C P I O AND THE, THE CITY FIGURE OUT WHICH ARE THE, THE, THE BEST.
BUT OBVIOUSLY, SPANISH IS A, IS A, A HUGE LANGUAGE HERE, UH, IN AUSTIN.
AND I THINK IT WOULD REALLY, FOR THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, MONOLINGUAL SPANISH SPEAKERS, JUST HAVING THAT KIND OF SUMMARY DOCUMENT IS ONE PLACE TO GO WHERE YOU CAN JUST KIND OF FLIP THROUGH AND SEE THE MAJOR KIND OF HEADLINES AND WHERE THE, UH, EMPHASIS AND THE FOCUS IS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO TO, TO PUT THAT OUT THERE.
OBVIOUSLY IT'S KIND OF LATE IN THIS BUDGET PROCESS, BUT MOVING DOWN THE ROAD, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO, AS MUCH AS WE POSSIBLY CAN PROVIDE, UH, YOU KNOW, SPANISH LANGUAGE DOCUMENTS, UH, AS PART OF THE BUDGET PROCESSES.
THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK INTO, UM, FOR, EVEN AS WE PREPARE THE APPROVED BUDGET, THERE MAY BE PORTIONS THAT WE CAN LOOK AT TRANSLATING AND IN FUTURE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT CYCLES.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY HAS A QUESTION RELATED TO HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
DO WE HAVE SOMEBODY THAT CAN, WELL, WHY DON'T YOU ASK YOUR QUESTION AND WE'LL SEE, SEE HOW WE GET THAT ANSWERED.
YEAH, SO, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF INTEREST IN MY COMMUNITY, SPECIFICALLY.
HI, DIRECTOR SNIPES, UM, AS YOU, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ATTENDING THE FIRST DAY OF THE CLASS THAT I TAUGHT LAST WEEK.
BUT, UM, WE TAUGHT 18 STUDENTS SUCCESSFULLY COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TRAINING.
AND MY QUESTION NUMBER 36 WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS OF H S E M.
AND WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW IS IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN TO THE COMMUNITY WHAT INVESTMENTS IN OUR BUDGET ARE RELATED TO COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS.
UM, I GOT SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS WHILE I WAS TRAINING THE, THE CLASS OVER THE LAST THREE DAYS.
AND THANK YOU TO ALL THE OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY, UM, UNITS THAT CAME OUT TO HELP SUCCESSFULLY TEACH THAT.
SO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
KEN SNIPES, DIRECTOR, HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
UM, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW, UM, ITEMS THAT WE'LL BE MOVING FORWARD FOR, UM, HELPING THE COMMUNITY, UM, PREPARE AND, UH, BECOME MORE RESILIENT, UM, AS IT RELATES TO, UH, PROGRAMS LIKE SEARCH TRAINING.
WE'RE CERTAINLY LOOKING AT, AT, AT THAT PROGRAM, UH, AND ALREADY EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES TO, UH, ADD THAT TO, UM, SOME OF THE UPCOMING WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING.
UM, AND WE'VE TALKED QUITE A BIT ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR, UM, OUR DROP-INS AND, AND OUR, UM, OTHER WORK THAT WE'RE DOING WITH OUR COMMUNITIES, UM, WHERE WE'RE BRINGING THAT INFORMATION TO THE COMMUNITIES AND HELPING THEM UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT'S AVAILABLE AND WHAT THEY CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
I DID SEE IN YOUR RESPONSE TO THE BUDGET QUESTION THAT YOU ARE DEVELOPING A ONE TO TWO HOUR CONDENSED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TRAINING CLASS.
AND I NOTICED THAT AS A CITY AS A WHOLE, WE KIND OF LACK LIKE SENIOR ACCESS TO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.
I THINK THAT'S A REALLY UNIQUE NICHE, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO I'M WONDERING IF THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING POSSIBLY IN THE FUTURE YOU MIGHT BE ABLE
[01:10:01]
TO, TO WORK ON.AND ALL OF OUR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL KIND OF WORK ON SOME PLANS FOR THEM AS WELL, BUT WE HAVE SOME THINGS ALREADY IN THE HOPPER AND THOSE WILL BE COMING OUT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EXPLAINING THAT SO THAT WE CAN GET IT OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
AS YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND PREPAREDNESS IS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART, SO I APPRECIATE YOUR ANSWER TODAY.
COUNCIL MEMBER, FUENTES, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ON THIS? YES, DIRECTOR.
SN ACTUALLY, I JUST WANTED YOU, I SAW THAT THERE'S AN INTERACTIVE MAP WITH COOLING CENTERS LOCATED AND JUST WANTED TO SEE IF YOU WANTED TO SPEAK TO THAT.
'CAUSE I THOUGHT THAT THAT WAS A REALLY COOL VALUE ADD FOR US TO OFFER OUR COMMUNITIES, RIGHT? SO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
UM, SO THE INTERACTIVE MAP FOR COOLING SYSTEMS, UH, COOLING CENTERS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE, UH, UH, PRODUCTS THAT WE'RE CREATING TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT MAY BE AVAILABLE TO THEM IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.
AND WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, UH, OF THOSE TYPES OF, UH, ACTIVITIES.
UH, IT'S BEEN REALLY IMPORTANT WITH THE, UH, ONSET OF THE, THE HEAT WAVE THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW TO MAKE IT, UM, UH, MORE WIDELY KNOWN WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO TO COOL OFF.
YES, AND I, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR LEADERSHIP.
I MEAN, THAT'S THE TYPE OF, YOU KNOW, INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE WAYS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE OUR CITY GOVERNMENT ENGAGE IN MORE OF.
AND SO I'M REALLY PLEASED TO SEE THAT OUT FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
WE, I THOUGHT I SAW A P H COME BACK IN THE ROOM.
WHY DON'T YOU COME FORWARD AND, UM, I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.
AND I MAY ALSO HAVE ONE FOR E M S THAT I'LL COME BACK SEE BEFORE THAT.
SO, UM, IN QUESTIONS ONE AND SIX THAT I SUBMITTED, UM, THEY WERE ASKING KIND OF WHAT GRANT FUNDING WOULD, UM, BE DISAPPEARING, UM, BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
AND THERE'S MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF A P H GRANT FUNDING THAT IS ENDING IN QUARTER THREE AND QUARTER FOUR OF FISCAL YEAR 24, AS OUTLINED IN THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.
AND I THINK IN ANSWER TO A QUESTION THAT COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES HAD AS WELL, CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW MANY STAFF WILL BE IMPACTED? I MEAN, SOME OF THIS IS COVID MONEY AND, AND IT MIGHT JUST BE LIKE WE'RE MOVING ON FROM THE PANDEMIC, BUT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL IMPACT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES, UM, FROM THOSE GAPS.
KIMBERLY MADDOX, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
SO FOR SOME OF THOSE GRANTS THAT ARE ENDING THROUGHOUT FISCAL 24, UM, THE STAFFING FOR MANY OF THOSE, WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH OUR ARPA ALLOCATIONS.
SO THOSE STAFF WOULD BE CONTINUED THROUGH DECEMBER OF 24.
SO IT'S NOT A, IT'S JUST A FEW MONTHS, BUT IT DOES GET US THROUGH THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
UM, I WOULD HAVE, I CAN GO BACK AND GET YOU A MORE DETAILED ANSWER ON ANY OF THE PROGRAMMING THAT'S GOING TO END, UM, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT, BUT I CAN GO GET THOSE ANSWERS FOR YOU AND BRING THEM BACK TO YOU IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS.
AND THEN IN ON A SPECIFIC AREA THAT JUST RECENTLY CAME TO MY ATTENTION AS WE WERE TRYING TO, UM, THINK ABOUT GAPS IN OUR S T I RESPONSE, UM, AND I'M A CO-SPONSOR ON AN AMENDMENT OF, OF COUNCIL MEMBER OF VE ALASKA, WAS THAT THE D S H SS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED SOME STATE CUTS TO PUBLIC HEALTH THAT ARE GONNA IMPACT OUR S T I AND DISEASE RESPONSE WORK.
CAN YOU SPEAK TO WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT CONCERNS A P H MAY HAVE ABOUT OUR CAPACITY AS THE PUBLIC HEALTH? UM, I GUESS, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CALL AUTHORITY, UM, YOU KNOW, TO RESPOND.
SO I KNOW OF, AND CASSIE DEION HERE, SHE MAY BE ABLE TO GIVE MORE.
I KNOW THAT THE, UM, THE D I S FUNDING WAS SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING THAT WAS DURING THE PANDEMIC THAT IS COMING TO AN END THAT DOES CURRENTLY FUND THREE STAFF PERSONS, UM, THAT WORKS IN THE S T I AND I CAN LET CASSIE GIVE YOU MORE PROGRAMMATIC, UM, DETAIL.
CASSIE VI, UM, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
UM, TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, WE DID GET A NOTIFICATION FROM THE, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES.
THERE ARE FEDERAL PASS THROUGH FUNDS THAT WE RECEIVE FOR, UH, DISEASE INTERVENTION, UM, SPECIALIST SUPPLEMENTAL.
AND, UH, WHAT WE ARE AWARE OF IS THAT COME DECEMBER 31ST, THERE ARE THREE POSITIONS WITHIN ALSO PUBLIC HEALTH THAT ARE GOING TO BE AFFECTED BY THOSE FUNDS, UM, CEASING TO, TO BE ALLOCATED TO AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
AND SO WE ARE LOOKING TO SEE WHAT, WHAT DO WE HAVE WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT TO SHORE THOSE UP, UM, AND HAVE MADE SOME, SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T SEE A, UM, CHANGE IN SERVICE OR CAPACITY FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR.
SO YOU, YOU, YOU HAVE RESOLVED THAT ISSUE AND, AND FIGURED OUT A WAY FORWARD, OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER? WE DO FOR THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
WE DO HAVE, UM, CAPACITY WITH ARPA TO BE ABLE TO EXTEND
[01:15:01]
THOSE, UH, THOSE, UH, POSITIONS FOR THE, UH, FOR THE REMAINING, UH, MONTHS WITHIN THE FISCAL YEAR.AND, UM, WHEN YOU DO HAVE THE ANSWERS TO THE OTHER QUESTION, I I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND IF, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA BE LAYING A BUNCH OF PEOPLE OFF OR, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE LOTS OF VACANCIES ALL OVER AND, YOU KNOW, JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE PUBLIC HEALTH NEED.
SO AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME WHEN YOU HAVE AN ANSWER, UM, THAT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
AND, UM, MAYOR, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T HAVE MY, MY NOTES ORGANIZED EXACTLY HOW YOU WERE DOING IT, BUT I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR E M SS AND RELATED TO MAGISTRATE, ALL THE PUBLIC SAFETY ONE, APPROPRIATE MAYOR PROTI, I HAD A QUICK ONE ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH, AND I APOLOGIZE FOR MY VOICE TODAY.
PUBLIC HEALTH, YOU'D COME BACK UP.
WE'LL TRY TO GET ALL THIS COMPLETED BEFORE WE GO TO THE NEXT ITEM.
I CAN TELL YOU'RE WORKING VERY HARD TO TRY TO KEEP US TRYING ON THE SAME TOPIC.
I'M TRYING, I'M TRYING, I'M TRYING.
WE PUT IN A Q AND A ABOUT, UM, THE WORKFORCE FIRST PROGRAM.
DO YOU KNOW IF THAT LINE ITEM IS BEING SUSTAINED OR INCREASED THIS YEAR, WORKFORCE, OR IS THAT ONE WE SHOULD JUST WAIT ON? I KNOW THAT'S RUN THROUGH A, A PUBLIC HEALTH CONTRACT.
WORKFORCE FIRST, SORRY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR LAURA FUENTE WILL HAVE THOSE DETAILS FOR YOU.
YES, THAT IS A COLLABORATIVE GRANT.
SO THERE IS 295,000 FROM AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
WE ARE WORKING TO CONFIRM THE AMOUNT FROM THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT CONTRIBUTE TOWARD THE LARGER CONTRACT.
WE'LL WAIT FOR THAT ANSWER IN THE Q AND A.
TIM, ANYTHING ELSE ON PUBLIC HEALTH? ALL RIGHT.
E M SS, UM, IF YOU'D MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN AND WHILE THEY'RE COMING DOWN, UH, I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN WORKING TO TRY AND IMPROVE, UM, THE REVENUE PROCESS AND THE BILLING SYSTEM FOR E M S.
UM, I NOTICED THAT IN THE BUDGET IT SAYS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN A, IT, IT PROJECTS A REVENUE INCREASE OF ABOUT 4 MILLION OR A 9.3% FROM THE BUDGETED LEVEL IN THE PRIOR YEAR.
UM, IT ATTRIBUTES THAT TO AN INCREASED NUMBER OF TRANSPORTS, UM, WHICH WE MAY VERY WELL HAVE AN INCREASED NUMBER OF TRANSPORT.
BUT HOW ARE YOU DOING ON THOSE REVENUE MANAGEMENT EFFORTS, WHICH WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BRING US MORE REVENUE? YES.
UM, WE'RE PREPARED TO COME TO SPEAK TO YOU AT THE SEPTEMBER AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE TO GIVE YOU A FULL BREAKDOWN OF ALL OF THE EFFORTS THAT WE'VE DONE.
BUT, UM, AT THIS POINT, WE HAVE NEARLY COMPLETED THE, THE FULL BACKLOG THAT WE'VE HAD.
UM, LAST COUNT A COUPLE WEEKS AGO WHEN WE LOOKED, IT WAS LESS THAN 5,000 TRANSPORTS THAT WERE REMAINING TO BE BILLED.
UM, AND SO WE DO ANTICIPATE THAT, UH, THAT BACKLOG SHOULD BE COMPLETED WITHIN THE NEXT, UH, SEVERAL MONTHS.
UM, AND WE CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH SOME OF THE OTHER PROCESSES IN TERMS OF, UH, IMPROVING DOCUMENTATION AND BILLING COMPLIANCE, UH, IMPLEMENTING SOME OF THOSE PROCEDURES.
IN TERMS OF, UM, REALTIME EVALUATION OF COMPLETENESS OF DOCUMENTATION, REALTIME, UH, INSURANCE, UH, WE ARE GETTING OUR, OUR DOCUMENTS DONE IN A TIMELY MANNER AND TIMELY FILINGS AND ALL OF THOSE VARIOUS THINGS THAT WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT AT LENGTH.
UM, HAPPY TO PRESENT YOU WITH A MORE IN DEPTH PRESENTATION.
THINK I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MORE IN DEPTH PRESENTATION.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IS THAT MONEY GOING TO GET, YOU KNOW, IS THAT GETTING CREDITED IN FISCAL YEAR 23 AND THEN JUST WASHED INTO THE GENERAL FUND WE HAD AS A COUNCIL, UM, DETERMINED THAT WE WANTED THAT FUNDING TO GO BACK INTO E M SS FOR, UM, RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT.
UM, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF A BLACK BOX WHERE THAT MONEY IS, IF, IF THIS 4 MILLION INCREASE IS ATTRIBUTED TO TRANSPORT FEES AS, AS OPPOSED TO THE INCREASE IN REVENUE.
WE'VE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL THIS YEAR AND OUR, OUR REVENUE, UH, CYCLE MANAGEMENT, WE HAVE SEEN A DRAMATIC INCREASE.
UM, WE ARE COMING IN OVER BUDGET FOR OUR PROJECTED REVENUE FOR FISCAL YEAR 23.
UM, AND THAT IS WHY WE ARE PROJECTING A HIGHER REVENUE FOR, FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, S THE SPECIFICS AS TO HOW THAT WAS ALLOCATED, I WOULD DEFER TO MY, MY COLLEAGUES IN FINANCE.
UH, THAT'S $4 MILLION BUDGET TO BUDGET.
UM, IT'S ABOUT, UH, THEY'RE EXPECTED TO WORK THROUGH THE $4 MILLION BACKLOG.
UM, SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ESTIMATE, I THINK IT'S ONLY ABOUT $2 MILLION GROWTH.
SO WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE THAT FULL BACKLOG WORKED OFF IN F Y 23.
SO THE ACTUAL TRANSPORT IMPACT IS ONLY, UM, ABOUT $2 MILLION.
SO THE ESTIMATE IS GONNA BE EVEN HIGHER THAN WHAT WAS IN THE ESTIMATE IN THE BUDGET REFLECTS, UH, WORKING OFF THE BACKLOG ENTIRELY IN F Y 23, RESULTING IN $4 MILLION IN REVENUE, SOME OF WHICH WAS ANTICIPATED IN THE BUDGET, BUT NOT ALL.
PROBABLY ABOUT AN EXTRA 2 MILLION ABOVE THE BUDGETED ESTIMATE FOR THAT COMPONENT OF THEIR REVENUE.
BUT THAT'S ALREADY IN THE BUDGETED ESTIMATE, THAT'S ALREADY REFLECTED IN THE ESTIMATE AND FLOWS THROUGH TO THE RESERVE CALCULATION FOR F Y 24? YES.
I LOOK FORWARD TO THE PRESENTATION.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS,
[01:20:01]
UM, I'M NOT SURE WHO THE QUESTION WILL BE FOR, BUT I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.SHE HAS A QUESTION RELATED TO MAGISTRATION AND I I, SO I WANT TO PUT THAT IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY CATEGORY.
WHAT I ANTICIPATE WE WILL DO IS GO, I'LL ASK IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT FIRE AFTER THIS, AFTER MAGISTRATION QUESTION, FIRE, THEN I'M GONNA GO TO PARD AND THEN WE'LL GO TO GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENTS AND I'LL KIND OF READ THOSE OUT.
SO AS, AS YOU WANNA PREPARE YOUR NOTES.
SO WHY DON'T YOU ASK YOUR QUESTION AND WE'LL FIGURE OUT WHO WE NEED TO GET.
AND I'LL JUST SAY, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS BROADLY ABOUT VACANCIES THAT MAY BE, YOU KNOW, ALL DEPARTMENTS.
UM, THERE WAS A QUESTION FROM COUNCIL MEMBER VELA FOR 90, UM, ITEM 97 THAT, UM, ASKED ABOUT ADDITIONAL MAGISTRATION COSTS FOR COUNCIL AT FIRST APPEARANCE PROGRAM.
AND IT, THE ANSWER JUST SAYS THAT THERE'S $600,000 IN ONE-TIME FUNDING INCLUDED TO SUPPORT ADDITIONAL MAGISTRATION COSTS.
I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT 600,000 WAS FOR.
THAT'S A CONTRACT, UH, ED VAN, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, THAT'S AN ANTICIPATED INCREASE IN THE CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE WITH THE COUNTY FOR THOSE SERVICES.
SO YEAH, THE COUNTY'S PRESENTED US WITH A, A, A BILL THAT'S A BIT MORE THAN WHAT WE HAVE IN THE, IN THE, IN THIS BUDGET.
AND WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF NEGOTIATING THAT NUMBER.
AND I'LL JUST ADD, I KNOW WE HAD PUBLIC HEALTH BEFORE, AND, AND IT MAY BE IN HERE.
I'M STILL WAITING FOR AN ANSWER.
AND IT MAY BE IN HERE, AND I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET.
THERE WAS A BIG REDUCTION IN WHAT THE COUNTY WAS PAYING US FOR OUR PUBLIC HEALTH, UM, WHICH I'M STILL WAITING TO UNDERSTAND IS THEY CHARGE US MORE AND WE CHARGE THEM LESS.
IT CONCERNS ME GONNA GET ON THAT
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS RELATED TO FIRE? ALL RIGHT, THEN WE'LL GO TO PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.
IS, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS RELATED TO PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT? YES, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO, WELL, I'LL WAIT FOR THE DIRECTOR TO GET UP HERE.
AND ACTUALLY BEFORE THAT I JUST WANTED TO ALSO CONGRATULATE PARKS AND SAY THANK YOU FOR THE POOL SITUATION.
IT COULD NOT HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME.
UH, IN TERMS OF, WE HAVE ALL THE POOLS OPEN ALL HOURS.
I THINK JUST ABOUT ALL PARTS OF THE POOLS TOO.
'CAUSE I MEAN, I'VE SEEN, LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, BAR YOU, SOMETIMES THEY'LL, THE SLIDES WON'T BE OPEN AND THIS PART WON'T BE OPEN OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
BUT I THINK ALL OF, UH, UH, THE POOLS HAVE BEEN OPEN, CRITICALLY NEEDED DURING, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, IF NOT THE HOTTEST SUMMERS WE'VE EVER HAD.
UH, AND, AND ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I, I KNOW IT'S, UH, HARD TO STAFF THOSE UP AND GET 'EM OPEN, AND I KNOW WE'VE STRUGGLED IN THE PAST, BUT, UH, THE, UM, I THINK THE $20 AN HOUR, UH, MINIMUM WAGE, UH, HELPED, UH, TREMENDOUSLY, AS DID THE ADDITION OF, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME, UH, UH, FULL-TIME, UH, PERMANENT LIFEGUARDS.
UH, AND I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP, UH, UH, UH, WITH, UH, WITH YOU DIRECTOR, UH, MCNEELY ABOUT THAT, JUST ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I KNOW LAST YEAR YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT, UH, IN DISCUSSIONS, UH, SURROUNDING MOVING SOME OF THE LIFEGUARDS THEY WERE BEFORE, JUST TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND FOR THE FOLKS THAT WERE, UH, NOT HERE LAST YEAR.
THERE WERE ALL LIFEGUARDS, WERE TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES, EVEN THE ONES THAT WORKED YEAR ROUND.
UH, BUT NOW WE'VE CREATED, UH, I BELIEVE 13, UH, PERMANENT FULL-TIME LIFEGUARD POSITIONS THAT ESSENTIALLY STAFF THE, YOU KNOW, BARTON SPRINGS, UH, UH, UH, SHY, UH, A HANDFUL OF OTHER POOLS THAT ARE, UH, OPEN, UH, I'M, I'M SORRY, NOT SHY, UH, STACY, BIG STACY, UH, AND A HANDFUL OF OTHER POOLS THAT ARE OPEN, UH, YEAR ROUND.
AND I KNOW, UH, YOU HAD PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED THAT YOU WANTED TO GET TO ABOUT, YOU KNOW, 25 OR 30 KIND OF, YOU KNOW, FULL-TIME, UH, PERMANENT LIFEGUARDS.
UH, AND I JUST WANTED TO, TO ASK YOU, YOU KNOW, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THE LIFEGUARD SITUATION? WHERE ARE, UH, WE AT WITH, UH, WITH, UH, THE LIFEGUARDS? SO KIMBERLY MCNEELY SERVING AS THE DIRECTOR FOR PARKS AND RECREATION.
SO THAT CONVERSATION OCCURRED LAST YEAR, I BELIEVE, WHEN WE WERE HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT, UH, THE PARKS AND OR ABOUT THE SWIMMING POOL AND THE AQUATIC FACILITIES.
UH, SO 13 LIFEGUARDS HAVE CERTAINLY BEEN, UH, VERY, UH, HELPFUL IN MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE OUR YEAR ROUND POOLS STAFFED APPROPRIATELY OPENING ON TIME, UM, WITHOUT DELAY.
AND ALL PARTS OF THE SWIMMING POOLS OPEN, UH, INCREASED NUMBER OF FULL-TIME LIFEGUARDS CERTAINLY HELPS HELP WITH, WITH THE RELIABILITY OF OUR OPERATION.
HOWEVER, WE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL, OBVIOUSLY THIS YEAR.
WE'VE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL IN, UH, OPENING OUR SWIMMING POOLS WITH THE, UH,
[01:25:01]
LIVING WAGE AND, AND THE, AND THE BONUS STRUCTURE THAT WE'VE HAD, AND WE INTEND TO BUILD UPON THAT, UH, THAT SUCCESS NEXT YEAR.UM, SO I SAY ALL THAT TO SAY THAT, UM, OF COURSE OUR, OUR PREVIOUS, UM, ESTIMATE STILL STANDS, BUT WE HAVE OBVIOUSLY BEEN ABLE TO, AS WE'VE TESTED THIS YEAR WITH OUR, WITH OUR NEW, UH, STRUCTURE OF, OF A $20 LIVING WAGE IN 2080 NEXT YEAR, WE'VE PROVED THAT IT'S, IT'S VERY POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY, UH, EVEN WITH TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.
SO, UH, YOU'RE, YOU FEEL PRETTY COMFORTABLE MOVING FORWARD.
DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE MOVING FORWARD THAT THE, YOU KNOW, $20 SOON TO BE 2080 IS ENOUGH TO FILL THE LIFEGUARD POSITIONS THAT YOU NEED? YOU KNOW, LOOKING TO NEXT YEAR, WE FEEL FAIRLY CONFIDENT, UM, MM-HMM.
AND I KNOW IN CONVERSATIONS, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, MY STAFF HAS BEEN TALKING TO YOU AND WE'VE BEEN, UH, TALKING AS WELL, BUT YOU REALLY KIND OF PRIORITIZED ACTUALLY, SECURITY AND MAINTENANCE, UH, UH, SEEMS TO BE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE GREATEST, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, NEED OR KIND OF, YOU KNOW, A, A PRIORITY, UH, FROM, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THAT? YOU KNOW, IN, IN TERMS OF, UH, UH, IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, NOT JUST THE POOLS, BUT YOU KNOW, THE, THE GENERAL, UH, PARK SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD.
SO THE REASON WHY SAFETY AND SECURITY IS THE TWO TOP PRIORITIES, WHICH BY THE WAY, YOU, UH, COUNSEL IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET, THERE IS ALREADY FUNDING FOR BOTH OF THOSE THINGS.
UH, BUT THE REASON WHY THOSE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT OUR PERFORMANCE MEASURES, AND WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT DATA THAT COMES IN THROUGH OUR 3 1 1 CALLS AND DATA THAT COMES IN THROUGH OUR CAF SYSTEM, AND ALSO JUST THE GENERAL NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS THAT COME INTO THE OFFICE, THAT, UH, THOSE ARE THE PLACES THAT WE ARE RECEIVING THE MOST CONCERNS FROM OUR CONSTITUENCY AND OUR PERFORMANCE MEASURE WENT FROM IN THE MID SEVENTIES, UH, FOR PEOPLE FEELING AS THOUGH THE GREAT MAP, THE, THE GROUNDS OF THE PARK SYSTEM, OR THAT THE PARK SYSTEM, IT'S, UM, HOW, HOW WELL IT LOOKED AESTHETICALLY PLEASING.
IT WAS, IT WENT FROM THE MID SEVENTIES DOWN TO THE UPPER SIXTIES.
AND SO IT'S OBVIOUS THAT, UH, WE NEED TO DO, UH, A LITTLE BIT BETTER JOB THERE.
SO THAT'S, THEREFORE, THOSE ARE THE TWO.
AND I THINK THAT SOMETIMES SAFETY AND SECURITY AND THE WAY THAT THE GROUNDS LOOK, THOSE TWO THINGS GO TOGETHER.
UM, WHEN INDIVIDUALS SEE TRASH AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS, THEY AUTOMATICALLY THINK, OH, THEIR IMPRESSION IS THAT PERHAPS THIS ISN'T AS SAFE A PLACE AS I THOUGHT IT WAS.
WELL, I, I, I, UH, APPRECIATE THAT AND, AND I, I, THAT'S A HIGH CONCERN FOR THE PUBLIC AS WELL.
JUST, YOU KNOW, CLEANLINESS, SAFETY, UH, OF THE PARKS, CLEAN BATHROOMS, YOU KNOW, TRASH CANS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, E EMPTIED AND MAINTAINED.
UH, YOU KNOW, UH, I, UH, I'M GLAD TO, TO SEE THAT.
THE BASE BUDGET, I THINK HAD SOME, SOME, UH, UH, FUNDING FOR THAT.
AND, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, UH, THAT'S, UH, HOPEFULLY THAT WILL, WILL HELP, UH, THE PARKS WITH, UH, WITH MAINTENANCE, UH, OUR PARKS GET A LOT OF LOVE AND A LOT OF USE.
I, I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH BASE ABOUT THAT.
DIRECTOR, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, I TH I THINK SHE HAS A QUESTION ABOUT PARKS.
SO, UM, AS YOU'RE AWARE, WE HAVE A, A VERY, UM, GREAT CEMETERY ADVOCATE IN MY DISTRICT, AND I WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR, UM, BEING AT THAT MEETING AND FOR HELPING FACILITATE IT.
BUT I THINK ON A BROADER SPECTRUM, OUT OF THAT CAME TO ME THAT THE IDEA THAT NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THE CITY DOES WITH CEMETERIES.
AND SO I WAS WONDERING IF YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN IN THIS PUBLIC SETTING, ARE THERE ANY NEW POSITIONS FOR, UM, CEMETERY MAINTENANCE IN THE BUDGET? THERE ARE NO NEW POSITIONS FOR CEMETERY MAINTENANCE IN THIS PARTICULAR BUDGET.
HOWEVER, LAST YEAR WE DID RECLASSIFY INTERNALLY WITHIN OUR BUDGET.
WE RECLASSIFIED FORWARD POSITIONS TO, FOR CEMETERY MAINTENANCE TO HELP BOLSTER OUR ABILITY TO TAKE CARE OF THE CEMETERIES.
AND IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT WE DO HAVE MULTIPLE CONTRACTORS THAT GO OUT TO THE CEMETERIES TO DO THE WORK.
I'M WONDERING IF MAYBE IN FUTURE BUDGETS WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO CONSIDER, UM, BRINGING ON EMPLOYEES TO TAKE OVER THOSE POSITIONS AS A POSSIBLE WAY TO SAVE MONEY.
DO YOU THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO LOOK INTO MORE? THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A LONGER TERM GOAL.
IT ACTUALLY, IF ANYONE WAS HERE, UH, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAD SET IN MOTION THAT EXACT, UM, THAT EXACT, UH, IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO BRING THE INTERNMENTS IN HOUSE.
AND SO WE HAVE, RIGHT NOW, WE ARE INTERNING FOR CHILDREN AND, UM, AND INFANTS, HOWEVER, WE STILL NEED A LITTLE MORE TIME TO BECOME PER BECOME BETTER, UH, EQUIPPED AND BETTER ABLE TO DO INTERNMENTS FOR, UH, ADULTS.
AND SO THEREFORE, OVER TIME, AS WE LEARN HOW TO DO THAT, WE'LL BE ABLE TO CONSIDER BRINGING THOSE POSITIONS IN-HOUSE AND, UH, ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR A CONTRACT, WHICH WOULD MEAN THAT THAT CONTRACTUAL DOLLARS WOULD THEN BE SPENT, UH, DIRECTLY ON CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEES.
BUT IT, IT'LL JUST TAKE US A LITTLE MORE TIME TO GET THERE.
[01:30:01]
YOU, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG THAT MIGHT TAKE? WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE NEXT, ABOUT A YEAR, YEAR AND A HALF.THAT, THAT'S NOT TOO BAD OF A TIMELINE.
I WAS THINKING INITIALLY, MAYBE LIKE FIVE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, HOW MIGHT WE BE ABLE TO EXPEDITE THIS? BECAUSE LONG TERM, IF WE'RE ABLE TO DO THOSE TYPES OF INTERNMENTS AND BRING ON STAFF, I THINK INVESTING IN THE STAFF OF THE CITY WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER USE OF THOSE DOLLARS FISCALLY.
UM, AND THEN I WAS JUST WONDERING, FINALLY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING UP HERE.
UHHUH,
AND WE ALSO HAVE SOME MONEY FOR ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT OR TRANSPORTATION FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS, UM, THAT WILL HELP US GET THROUGH THIS YEAR.
AND THEN WE WILL, UH, CONTINUE TO EVALUATE WHAT THE NEEDS ARE AND PERHAPS IN FUTURE BUDGETS COME BACK WITH ADDITIONAL, UH, ADDITIONAL ASKS, UM, IN YEARS PAST.
SO IF YOU LOOK IN HISTORICALLY AT OUR, AT OUR ASKS, WE HAVE TRADITIONALLY ASKED FOR IN UPWARDS OF SIX POSITIONS PER YEAR FOR, UM, FOR MAINTENANCE.
SO THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE STILL POSITIONS THAT, UM, WOULD BE UTILIZED SHOULD WE EVER RECEIVE THEM.
BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE PREPARED TO WORK WITHIN THE, UM, THE TEMPORARY SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE.
AND I JUST HAVE ONE FOLLOW UP QUESTION MM-HMM.
RELATED TO CEMETERIES, HOW MANY CEMETERIES DOES THE CITY OPERATE AND HOW MANY IN, I GUESS INTERNMENTS WOULD YOU SAY YOU DO YEARLY? I'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THE INTERNMENTS THAT WE DO YEARLY, AND I'M COUNTING ON MY FINGERS.
WE HAVE AUSTIN MEMORIAL, UH, OAKWOOD, OAKWOOD ANNEX, EVERGREEN PLUMBERS, AND I FEEL LIKE THERE'S ONE MORE THAT I'M MISSING.
I JUST CAN'T THINK OF THE SIXTH ONE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS WE WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER? WELL, UH, I WOULD, UH, AND THIS IS MAYBE A, A CONVERSATION FOR LATER, BUT YOU HAVE A LOT OF PRIORITIES THAT YOU HAVE TO, UH, GRAPPLE WITH DURING THE BUDGET PROCESS.
BUT I WOULD SAY THAT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT SOME OF THE KIND OF THE BASE, UH, WORK THAT WE DO, THAT'S FUNDAMENTAL RECREATION AND LIBRARIES ARE KEY.
AND AT LEAST IN MY PAST EXPERIENCES, THOSE DEPARTMENTS, BECAUSE OF THE FUNDING PRESSURES AND IT'S A FUNDING PRESSURES FROM A WHOLE LOT OF AREAS, THOSE GET LIMITED.
AND SO YOU GET THE, YOU GET THE CONCEPT OF YOUR FACILITY RICH, BUT CASH POOR, IN OTHER WORDS, YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF STUFF TO TAKE CARE OF.
AND THAT'S SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH RESOURCES TO TAKE CARE OF THE, THE, THE THINGS WE BUILT, THE PARKS, WE'VE ACQUIRED, THE LIBRARIES, WE'VE ACQUIRED THE BRANCHES THAT WE HAVE.
SO I DO THINK AT SOME POINT WORK THROUGH OUR BUILDING SERVICES AND THROUGH OUR GROUNDS MAINTENANCE THAT WE DO, WE DO OWE COUNSEL A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ABOUT ALL THOSE NEEDS SO THAT WHEN YOU WEIGH BUDGET PRIORITIES FOR NEXT YEAR, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE DEMANDS THAT ARE BEING PLACED ON OUR SYSTEM, ON OUR FACILITIES, BY OUR CITIZENS THAT USE THESE SERVICES AND WHAT KIND OF FUNDING WE MAY NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT IN A LONG-TERM BASIS.
UM, I WANNA JOIN COUNCIL MEMBER VELA AND CONGRATULATE YOU AND YOUR STAFF AGAIN ON THE, UM, LIFEGUARDS AND, YOU KNOW, LOOKING TO OTHER CITIES AND THE STRUGGLES THEY'RE HAVING, NOT BEING ABLE TO HAVE THE POOLS OPEN, UM, AND, AND HOW MUCH THOSE POOLS ARE MEETING FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
PROUD OF THE WORK THAT, THAT WE DID, YOU KNOW, TOGETHER LAST YEAR TO REALLY CHANGE THE DYNAMIC, UM, AND MAKE THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE NEEDED.
SO, SO CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT.
UM, CAN YOU REPEAT THE PERFORMANCE MEASURES RELATED TO MAINTENANCE AND WHERE WE WERE AND WHERE WE ARE? WE, WE WERE IN THE MID SEVENTIES.
I BLINKED, I THINK THE NUMBER WAS SPECIFICALLY WAS 74, AND WE ARE NOW DOWN TO THE UPPER SIXTIES, THE NUMBER BEING 68%, WHICH JUST MEANS THAT 68% OF THE PEOPLE RESPONDING TO THE SURVEYS FELT AS THOUGH, UH, THE GROUNDS AND THE PARK SYSTEM APPEARED TO BE, UM, APPROPRIATELY CARED FOR.
AND I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK MANY OF US ARE HEARING MORE AND MORE COMPLAINTS ABOUT, UM, SECURITY AND MAINTENANCE IN OUR PARKS, UM, PARTICULARLY IN OUR PARKING LOTS AND IN TERMS OF SECURITY, AND THEN JUST THE MAINTENANCE ISSUES.
SO, UM, IF YOU COULD SHARE THOSE PERFORMANCE MEASURES WITH US, I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, I WANNA GO BACK TO, YOU KNOW, A QUESTION THAT I RAISED, UM, WHEN WE HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT, I THINK IT WAS THE CAPITAL BUDGET OR, OR WHEN WE DID THE GENERAL FUNDS, WHICH IS WE'VE ADDED ALMOST 500 ACRES OF PARK LAND, UM, IN THIS LAST FISCAL YEAR, AND WE ARE ADDING ZERO FTES TO MAINTENANCE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME I'M SEEING, YOU KNOW, VERY SPECIFICS THAT WE'RE ADDING, UM, STAFFING FOR, FOR GIVENS AND, AND, AND THE MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER.
BUT WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THESE LAND SPACES, UM, ARE PART
[01:35:01]
OF OUR PARKS SYSTEM AND THEY REQUIRE MAINTENANCE.SOME OF THOSE HAVE PLAYGROUNDS AND OTHER THINGS THAT NEED TO BE MAINTAINED.
OTHERS ARE JUST, YOU KNOW, OPEN SPACES AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE $395,000 THAT WAS ADDED FOR THE O AND M FOR YOUR CAPITAL, UM, EXPENDITURES IN THE PAST.
YET WE HAVE 500 ACRES, SO THAT SEEMS LIKE A REALLY SMALL AMOUNT FOR 500 ACRES.
I KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING LIKE 200,000 FOR ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE.
UM, BUT HOW IS IT THAT WE ARE HANDLING THE O AND M RELATED TO LAND PURCHASES? IS THERE A FORMULA FOR THAT? SO THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PUTS TOGETHER A FORMULA AND, AND, UH, PRIORITIZES ITS NEEDS AND THEN BRINGS THAT INFORMATION FORWARD AND IT, IT, IT IS CONSIDERED AGAINST ALL THE OTHER REALLY IMPORTANT NEEDS OF THE CITY.
SO YES, THERE IS A FORMULA, YES, IT IS GIVEN ITS DUE CONSIDERATION, BUT THERE IS ONLY A FINITE AMOUNT OF MONEY, WHICH THEN IS, UM, DETERMINED TO BE DISTRIBUTED AMONG ALL THE MANY NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENT.
SO UNDERSTAND, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT YOU KNOW, FROM OUR CONSTI, AND THIS IS NOT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A MORE OF A QUESTION OF WHAT, YOU KNOW, HOW BUDGET HAS TO APPROACH THINGS AND THE CITY MANAGER, UM, YOU KNOW, WE OUGHT TO BE SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE BRINGING ON THIS LAND.
THERE'S THIS MUCH MONEY PER ACRE THAT HAS TO GO IN TO MAINTENANCE MOVING FORWARD, AND WE MAY NEED TO GO BACK AND DO SOME BACKLOG WORK TO, TO FIX THAT BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T BEEN APPROPRIATELY INVESTING IN THE O AND M TO MAINTAIN, UM, THE LANDS THAT WE, WE ARE PUTTING FORWARD EVERY OTHER DEPARTMENT BECAUSE THEY'RE BRICKS AND MORTAR, THEY GET THE PEOPLE TO BE IN THE BRICKS AND MORTAR WHEN THAT BRICKS AND MORTAR OPENS.
BUT OUR COMMUNITY IS VASTLY USING OUR PARKS MORE THAN THEY'RE USING THESE OTHER SPACES, AND YET WE ARE NOT DOING THE MOST BASIC MAINTENANCE.
SO I DON'T HAVE A FIX FOR THIS IN THIS BUDGET.
UM, BUT CITY MANAGER, AS YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, COMING BACK TO HELP US UNDERSTAND HOW WE'RE SHORT CHANGING PARKS OR LIBRARIES, YOU KNOW, THIS IS PART OF THE PROBLEM FOR BOTH PARKS AND LIBRARIES IS THE O AND M FOR THE O AND M FORMULAS THAT GO WITH THAT CAPITAL BUDGET.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, FOR COLLEAGUES WHO'RE INTERESTED, I'M THINKING OF BRINGING IN AN ITEM FROM COUNCIL, UM, SOMETIME IN THE FALL AND WE'LL NOT HAVE IT, YOU KNOW, TOGETHER FOR NEXT WEEK.
THAT REALLY PUSHES THIS FORWARD BECAUSE WE CANNOT CONTINUE AT THIS PACE.
UNFORTUNATELY, OUR LAND PURCHASES ARE GONNA GO DOWN BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA LOSE THE PARKLAND DEDICATION FLOW OF FUNDS, BUT WE STILL HAVE TO MAKE UP THIS BACKLOG AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE ARE GONNA FUND THE PARKS THAT ARE BEING LOVED TO DEATH AS WE GROW AND AS WE ARE MORE URBAN AND WE HAVE LESS, YOU KNOW, SPACES, THESE PARKS ARE GONNA BECOME THAT MUCH MORE IMPORTANT AND THEY'RE GONNA BE THAT MUCH MORE LOVE, AND WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE MAINTAINED.
SO I WANNA THANK COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS FOR PUTTING FORWARD AN AMENDMENT, UM, THAT PROVIDES SOME ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE THIS YEAR.
UM, I HOPE OUR COLLEAGUES WILL CONSIDER, UM, JOINING ME AND YOU CO-SPONSORING THAT.
I THINK THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
I THINK WE COULD DO MORE THAN THAT, BUT, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO BE REASONABLE IN, IN, IN THE ASK IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS.
UM, BUT IT, I THINK IT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MAYOR PRO TIM, AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
I WILL ADD ONTO THE CONGRATULATIONS ABOUT HAVING ALL THE, THE POOLS OPEN THIS YEAR.
I KNOW THREE OF US ARE FORMER LIFEGUARDS, AND SO WE ALWAYS LIKE TO MAKE SURE WE'VE, WE'VE SHARED THAT INFORMATION FOR FOLKS WHO HAVE AN INTEREST IN PUBLIC SERVICE AT ANY LEVEL.
UM, BUT WE'RE REALLY HAPPY OVER THE YEARS, UM, SINCE COVID WHEN THE POOLS HAD TO SHUT DOWN, THAT WE WERE ABLE TO REBUILD THAT PIPELINE OF LIFEGUARDS AND, UM, OTHER PEOPLE THAT WORKS IN OUR WORK IN OUR PARKS AND RECREATION FACILITIES.
UM, I DO HAVE ELLIS AMENDMENT TWO HAS BEEN POSTED, AND IT IS ABOUT THOSE F T E POSITIONS, YOU KNOW, TEMPORARY FULL-TIME POSITIONS.
UM, AS WE KNOW THAT A LOT OF DEPARTMENTS HAVE STRUGGLED WITH VACANCIES AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE RIGHT LEVEL OF BUDGETING FOR FULL-TIME STAFF AND BALANCING WHAT IS ONE-TIME FUNDS VERSUS ONGOING FUNDS.
UM, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE NEED FOR SECURITY THROUGH OUR PARK SYSTEM? I KNOW I THINK IT WAS LAST BUDGET CYCLE.
WE HAD DONE SOME WORK MOSTLY ABOUT WHO WAS MANAGING KIND OF THE ASSESSMENT OF SECURITY NEEDS FOR SOME OF THE BUILDINGS, MAKING SURE WE HAD, YOU KNOW, A PERSON WHO HAD ALL THE KEYS AND KNEW EXACTLY IF SOMETHING NEEDED TO BE OPEN OR SHUT OR LOCKED OR UNLOCKED THAT WE HAD THAT.
UM, ARE THESE PERSONNEL NEEDS THAT, THAT YOU MIGHT NEED THIS YEAR OR ARE THESE MORE OF FENCING, LIGHTING LOCKS AND, AND OTHER THINGS THAT ARE MORE LIKE CAPITAL FUNDS RATHER THAN, UM, THE PERSONNEL THAT GO WITH THOSE? THEY ARE BOTH, AND WE WILL MAKE GOOD USE OF, OF ANY AMOUNT OF, UH, FUNDING THAT WE HAVE BEEN IN THE, IN THAT HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO US IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
SO, UM, WE HAVE SEEN AN UPTICK OF JUST
[01:40:01]
BAD DECISION MAKING AND POOR BEHAVIORS THROUGHOUT THE PARK SYSTEM THIS YEAR.UM, WE HAVE PLACED, WE'VE, THROUGH OUR VACANCY SAVINGS THIS YEAR, WE PLACED 10 CAMERAS IN 10 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, AND THEY ARE MOBILE, SO WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MOVE SOME OF THEM AND LOOK IN OTHER AREAS TO BE ABLE TO, UM, TO MONITOR WHAT IS HAPPENING.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING VERY DIRECTLY WITH, UH, OUR FRIENDS IN A P D WHO HAVE HELPED US TO MONITOR THOSE, UH, AND, AND BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE MAKING BAD CHOICES AND THEN, UM, HAVE CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR THAT.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT CORRECTIVE ACTION IS, BUT IT'S IN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AREA, SO THAT'S WHY I CAN'T SPEAK EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS, BUT I, I KNOW THAT THEY ARE ADDRESSING THAT.
WE HAVE HIRED OVERTIME OFFICERS TO BE IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS WITHIN OUR PARK SYSTEM WHERE WE KNOW THAT, UH, BAD BEHAVIORS OR, UH, PEOPLE ARE, UM, VIOLATING ORDINANCES, UH, ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UH, YOU KNOW, IN YOUR OWN DISTRICT YOU HAD SOME BAD CHOICES WHERE INDIVIDUALS PHYSICALLY MOVED BOULDER SO THAT THEY COULD GET ONTO THE SOCCER FIELD.
UH, SO THAT INDIVIDUAL THAT WE HAD HIRED LAST YEAR FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY WAS WORKING ON AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ENTIRE PARK SYSTEM TO TALK ABOUT GATES WE'RE STARTING WITH GATES, WHAT WOULD IT COST FOR ELECTRONIC GATES? HOW MIGHT WE BE ABLE TO SECURE SOME OF OUR PARK SYSTEM? WE'RE SUPPLEMENTING THAT WITH CAMERAS AND THEN GIVING THAT INFORMATION TO A P D.
WE ARE IN SOME CASES HIRING OFF-DUTY OFFICERS AND OR WE'RE HIRE OVERTIME OFFICERS, I'M SORRY, AND OR, UM, SECURITY GUARDS IN CERTAIN AREAS WHERE WE BELIEVE THAT IT'S MOST APPROPRIATE SO THAT PEOPLE WILL STILL CONTINUE AND WANT TO ACCESS THE SPACE.
UM, AND THERE'S MORE OF THAT TO BE DONE.
UH, WE DID HAVE A, A BASIC SECURITY ASSESSMENT OF OUR BUILDINGS, AND SO WE KNOW WHAT THOSE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE COSTS AND HOW WE WOULD PHASE THOSE OVER TIME TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR BUILDINGS ARE MORE SECURE.
UM, AND ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT WE RECEIVE WOULD GO TO ANY OF THOSE THINGS, EITHER EQUIPMENT OR PERSONNEL BASED UPON WHAT WE'RE ASSESSING, UH, IS THE NEED IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA.
WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH A NOT-FOR-PROFIT PARTNER WHO IS CONSIDERED FUNDING AN ACTUAL OVERALL PARK SYSTEM ASSESSMENT THAT WILL GIVE US EVEN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, HOW TO MAKE OUR SPACES, UH, MORE APPEAR AND BE PERCEIVED AS MORE SAFE.
SO NOT ONLY BE SAFE IN REAL, IN, IN THE REAL TIME, BUT ALSO BE PERCEIVED THAT WAY.
SO WE'RE HOPING THAT WE GATHER ALL OF THAT INFORMATION ALONG WITH THE PRELIMINARY INFORMATION, AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO CREATE, UM, SOME REAL, MAKE SOME REAL GOOD DECISIONS THAT ARE PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY.
SOME THINGS MIGHT HAVE TO BE TEMPORARY AS WE LEARN MORE, UH, SO THAT EVERYBODY WILL FEEL SAFE COMING TO THE PARK SYSTEM.
AND WE'RE DOING THAT, UH, NOW WITH VACANCY SAVINGS.
AND THEN NEXT YEAR WITH THE PROPOSED BUDGET, THERE'LL BE SOME SPECIFIC MONEY INFUSED INTO SAFETY AND SECURITY THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO USE TO FOR IMPLEMENTATION.
I, I APPRECIATE THAT AND I APPRECIATE YOUR COORDINATION WITH US ON THE SITUATION WE HAD IN DISTRICT EIGHT.
UM, I AM BRINGING A BUDGET AMENDMENT SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE SAFETY AND ACCESS IN THE CIRCLE C METRO PARK, MOSTLY BECAUSE I WASN'T FAMILIAR WITH THE NEEDS OF ALL PARKS AND DIDN'T WANNA MAKE IT A BIG UMBRELLA STATEMENT ABOUT WHAT THAT PROCESS SHOULD LOOK LIKE.
BUT WE HAVE HAD INDIVIDUALS MULTIPLE TIMES ENTER THOSE FIELDS AND ESSENTIALLY DESTROY ALL OUR PARTS OF THE SOCCER FIELDS, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH TIME AND ENERGY WE PUT INTO MAKING SURE THOSE SPACES ARE ACCESSIBLE FOR EVERYONE.
AND THEN TO HAVE PEOPLE MAKE THOSE FIELDS UNUSABLE FOR FOLKS WAS REALLY, UM, UNFORTUNATE TO SAY THE LEAST.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE AMENDMENTS DOES ADDRESS THAT PARTICULAR ISSUE, AND I KNOW WE'VE HAD ISSUES, UM, WITH THE BELLA WAY AND THINGS LIKE THAT JUST OVER THE YEARS THAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO ADDRESS.
SO I KNOW IT'S ON YOUR RADAR AND WE WANNA DO WHAT WE CAN AS A COUNCIL TO HELP WITH THAT.
UM, SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT OTHER FOLKS KNOW OR SITUATIONS, UM, I'D BE HAPPY TO LOOK INTO IT AND HELP, BUT WANTED TO KEEP THIS AMENDMENT VERY SPECIFIC TO JUST ONE PROBLEM WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE.
UM, MY LAST QUESTION FOR YOU IS JUST GONNA BE ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, DURING THE WINTER STORM OF THIS FEBRUARY PARD HAD A LOT OF DETRIMENTAL IMPACTS WITH DEBRIS AND TREE BRANCHES AND CLEANUP.
UM, HAVE Y'ALL BEEN REIMBURSED THROUGH FEMA DOLLARS FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO? OR HOW, HOW DOES THAT WORK WHEN YOU PUT SO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY INTO TRYING TO MITIGATE THE DEBRIS DAMAGE? SO WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SAME PROCESS THAT THE REST OF THE CITY DOES TO, UH, PUT TOGETHER THE ESTIMATES OF WHAT THE RECOVERY COSTS ARE, AND THEN WE SUBMIT THAT TO FEMA AND
AND IT IS A, UM, LONG-TERM PROCESS.
SO ANY, ANY, UM, COST THAT WE'VE INCURRED THIS YEAR, IT WILL PROBABLY BE, I THINK WE ARE ANTICIPATING MAYBE 2025 SEEING SOME OF THOSE DOLLARS BACK AND THEY'LL GO BACK INTO THE, UH, GENERAL FUND, UH, RESERVES.
SO IF I COULD JUST ADD TO WHAT CARRIE SAID, IT'S USUALLY A 75%
[01:45:01]
REIMBURSEMENT RATE.AND BECAUSE IT'S SO, UH, IT TAKES, UH, THAT AMOUNT OF TIME FOR FEMA TO REIMBURSE YOU, AND IT'S IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
IT'S NOT HISTORICALLY YOU CAN'T REIMBURSE FOR THE YEAR THAT YOU'VE ALREADY SPENT.
SO IT, IT ENDS UP THAT MONEY ENDS UP BEING PART OF THE GENERAL FUND, UM, COLLECTION OF, OF REVENUE THAT WE'VE RECEIVED THAT PARTICULAR YEAR.
I'M, I GUESS THAT MAKES SENSE PROCEDURALLY JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GO BACK AND PUT MONEY INTO A BUDGET FROM YEARS AGO, BUT IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT, YOU KNOW, RESOURCE RECOVERY IN PART AND ALL OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT WORK IN DEBRIS MITIGATION AFTER THESE STORMS ESSENTIALLY JUST HAVE TO RE-STRATEGIZE WHAT THE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR WILL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO COVER.
IS THAT KIND OF HOW THIS WORKS WITH THAT, THAT MANY YEARS OF GAP IN BETWEEN THE MONEY SPENT AND THE MONEY BEING RECOUPED? WELL, YOU MAY RECALL, UH, FOR A R R WE DID A TRANSFER FROM THE GENERAL FUND EMERGENCY RESERVE TO COVER SOME OF THEIR EXTRAORDINARY, EXTRAORDINARY EXPENSES.
SO WE TRIED TO, UH, ABSORB A LOT OF THAT IMPACT BY USING THE RESERVES.
UM, FOR, FOR COVID, WE DID THE SAME THING.
OFTEN WHEN WE HAD HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF UNANTICIPATED EXPENSES WITH RESPECT TO PAR, THEY HAD A FEW MILLION IN EXPENSES, WE LOOKED AT THAT VERSUS THEIR ANTICIPATED, UH, ESTIMATED SPEND FOR THE YEAR AND FOUND THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO ABSORB IT.
AND SO THERE IS NO NEED TO, UH, TRANSFER THOSE EXPENSES TO THE RESERVES.
UM, SO IT'S BEING FUNDED OUT OF ONGOING SAVINGS THIS YEAR.
UM, AND THEN WHEN WE ULTIMATELY GET A REIMBURSEMENT, IT'LL BE POSTED TO THE, TO THE GENERAL FUND RESERVES, AND WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THE DEPARTMENTS.
IF, IF THEY ANTICIPATE THOSE CHARGES WILL RESULT IN THEM GOING OVER BUDGET, THEN WE'LL START LOOKING AT WHETHER OR NOT WE NEED TO TRANSFER FROM THE RESERVES.
BUT AS THE CHARGES ARE INCURRING, OF COURSE THE DEPARTMENT TAKES ON THOSE EXPENSES AND WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO SEE WHERE THEIR LAND.
AND SO IN SOME CASES, LIKE IN PARTS CASES THIS YEAR, WE THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO MANAGE IT BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF SAVINGS THEY WERE GENERATING.
UM, IN FUTURE YEARS, WE'LL JUST MAKE SURE WE WORK CLOSELY TO SEE HOW THAT PLAYS OUT FOR EACH DEPARTMENT.
YEAH, SO, SO IN THE PAST, THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAS RELIED UPON THE BUDGET OFFICE TO HELP US FIND MONEY IN RESERVES, AND WE'VE, WE'VE NOT EVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO HELP US MAINTAIN OUR BUDGET FOR THAT GIVEN YEAR.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT LEVEL OF DEPTH ON, ON HOW THE TRANSFER OF MONEY AND OVER THE YEARS ACTUALLY PLAYS OUT IN REAL TIME.
UM, MANAGER, IS THIS PART OF WHY THE RESERVE PROCESS IS SOMETHING YOU'RE WANTING TO ADJUST THIS YEAR? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
WHEN YOU THINK OF, UH, IN 21, WE HAD YURI IN 23, YOU HAD MARA MM-HMM.
AND, AND I THINK THE, THE, THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THIS PROGNOSTICATION, THAT THAT'S GONNA BE, THOSE ARE GONNA EVENTS THAT ARE GONNA HAPPEN WITH MORE FREQUENCY, AND THAT'S WHY THOSE RESERVES ARE SO CRITICAL SO THAT WE CAN BE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH AND RESILIENT ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO ADDRESS THOSE.
I THINK THE BIGGER QUESTION THAT YOU'RE, THAT, THAT YOU AND MAYBE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN, IS WHEN YOU RESPOND TO A STORM LIKE THAT, THAT MEANS YOUR, YOUR ROUTINE WORK PROGRAM THAT YOU HAVE TO DO MAINTENANCE OF PARKLAND, THE MAINTENANCE OF PLACE, SCAPES, ET CETERA, MAY SUFFER.
BECAUSE WHAT YOU'VE GOTTA DO IS DEPLOY RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH THAT EMERGENCY.
AND SO WE GET BEHIND AND THAT WE GET BEHIND AS A RESULT OF THOSE THINGS.
AND SO I THINK WHAT WE OWE TO THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL IS A, IS REALLY A, A REPORT THAT, THAT DETAILS ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE, THE ASSET MANAGEMENT, YOU KNOW, IN MY, MY FIVE MONTHS NOW, ALMOST SIX MONTHS HERE, THE, THE, THE, THOSE KINDS OF BASIC CORE ISSUES HAVE BEEN CROWDED OUT BY HOMELESS, BY AFFORDABILITY, BY TRANSPORTATION, BY PUBLIC SAFETY.
AND REALLY WHAT WE OWE IS TO, TO TRY TO PUT THIS ISSUE BEFORE THE WHOLE COUNCIL SO THAT THOSE GET THE AIRPLAY ALONG WITH THESE OTHER IMPORTANT PRIORITIES.
JUST TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO BALANCE HERE, SO THAT WHEN YOU ARE DOING THE BUDGET, YOU UNDERSTAND HOW THOSE RESOURCES CAN BE USED TO TRY TO ACHIEVE SOME OUTCOME.
I, I KNOW THAT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT RESERVES, IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE STOW AWAY OUR ACORNS FOR A RAINY DAY.
BUT THE TRUTH IS WITH, WITH CLIMATE CHANGE AND, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL WILDFIRES AND STORMS AND FLOODING, IT JUST SEEMS THE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'VE GOT A STRONG RESERVE SYSTEM IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, WE NEED TO FOCUS ON VERY CAREFULLY.
AND AGAIN, TO KEEP LOOKING, I MEAN, TO KEEP, UH, REEMPHASIZING, WE DO HAVE A CAP THAT, THAT WE SUFFER OR THAT WE HAVE AS A GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY, AS DOES THE COUNTY AND OTHER, OTHER JURISDICTIONS.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS, IS AT SOME POINT, ONCE ED ED HAS TALKED ABOUT ONCE THE SALES TAX BEGINS TO MODERATE ITSELF AND SLOW DOWN THE, THAT PINCH IS GONNA GET FELT, MAY NOT BE IN THE NEXT YEAR, BUT IT'S GONNA GET FELT EVENTUALLY.
AND THEN WE'LL HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOR HOW WE DEAL WITH THOSE EVENTS.
COUNCIL MEMBER, I, I'VE BEEN REQUESTED BY A COUPLE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS SO THAT THEY COULD BE AT AN EVENT AT NOON.
WOULD IT BE OKAY? I I, I'VE GOT COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, I'VE GOT COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON ALTER, WISHING TO
[01:50:01]
SPEAK.WOULD IT BE OKAY IF WE RECESS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A LUNCH BREAK AND COME BACK, LET'S SAY AT ONE AND THEN TAKE THIS TOPIC BACK UP? OR DO YOU WANNA GO AHEAD AND TALK NOW? UM, I'LL BE REALLY, REALLY QUICK.
IF I CAN, UM, COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, IT'LL, IT'LL LOSE THE TRAIN COUNT COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, AND THEN COUNCILMAN AROUSE AND ALTER.
I'LL, I'LL POSE IT AS STATEMENTS AS OPPOSED TO QUESTIONS, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY SPECIFICALLY, UM, ALONG THE LINES OF THIS TOPIC OF CONVERSATION, I REALLY APPRECIATE COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER'S COMMITMENT TO PARKS AND REC CENTERS AND SPACES THAT, YOU KNOW, ARE SUPER CRITICAL TO OUR COMMUNITY.
SO I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO WORK WITH YOU AND MAYOR PRO TAM ON ANY OF THOSE EFFORTS MOVING FORWARD.
BUT MY STATEMENT IS MORE ALONG THE LINES OF JUST WATCHING HOW SPACES LIKE THE CARVER LIBRARY, FOR EXAMPLE, IT LARGELY SERVES AS AFTERSCHOOL CARE.
THE KIDS IN MY DISTRICT AND THE O TWO, THEY GO STRAIGHT TO THE CARVER AFTER SCHOOL.
AND MS. DORE, SHOUT OUT TO MS. DORE, ENDS UP BEING AN AFTERSCHOOL CARE PROVIDER BECAUSE THE KIDS DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE ELSE TO GO.
UM, SO I'D LIKE TO BRING THAT UP AND JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, UM, MOVING FORWARD I'LL ASK THE QUESTION WHEN WE HAVE MORE TIME ABOUT HOW WE CAN SHED SOME LIGHT ON, UM, THE DILEMMA THAT PLACES LIKE THE CARVER FACE, UH, WITHOUT PROGRAMMATIC EFFORTS THAT REALLY HELP FOLKS LIKE MR. RE.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, I'D LIKE TO SAY IN LIGHT OF THE, THE MAC BEING TEMPORARILY CLOSED, UM, FOR RENOVATIONS, I THINK THE CARVER COULD BE A GREAT SPACE, UM, FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO RELOCATE TEMPORARILY.
AND I'D LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SOME Q AND A AROUND HOW WE CAN DO THAT.
AND THEN LASTLY, SPACES LIKE THE MILLENNIUM YOUTH ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX.
UM, I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW, YOU KNOW, OFTENTIMES, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS INCLEMENT CONDITION, THESE KIDS ARE HANGING OUT IN 104 DEGREE WEATHER 'CAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE TO GO, BUT WE HAVE ALL THIS PART SPACE THAT'S WIDE OPEN AND AIR CONDITIONED.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PUTTING SOME EFFORT TOWARDS, YOU KNOW, HOW WE CAN INVEST IN THOSE SPACES.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO SAY DIRECTOR MCNEELY ONE OF THE HARDEST WORKING LADIES IN SHOW BUSINESS.
UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL YOUR CONTINUED EFFORTS AND YOUR COMMITMENT.
UM, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE STORM MARA DAMAGE FROM THE TREES IN OUR PARKS, WE HAVE A 65 YEAR WEIGHT BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY TRIM A TREE, WHICH IS WHY WE HAD A LOT OF DAMAGE WHEN WE HAD THE ICE.
AND SO DOING THE MAINTENANCE EARLIER IS REALLY IMPORTANT WHEN YOU HAVE THE DISASTERS BECAUSE YOU HAVE LESS DAMAGE FROM THEM.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY HAVE TO BE LOOKING HOLISTICALLY AT THESE ISSUES AND UNDERSTANDING THE BACKLOG IS THERE AND, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES FOR THAT.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, I, YOU KNOW, NEXT TIME I HOPE WE CAN REIMBURSE PAR FROM THE RESERVES AND LET THEM SPEND ON THE MAINTENANCE AND DO THE OTHER THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO GET DONE, RATHER THAN MAKING THEM HAVE TO, TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT IN THEIR BUDGET.
UM, AND IT SHOULD BE MORE EVEN ACROSS DEPARTMENTS.
WE ARE RECESSED UNTIL 1:00 PM ORDER THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL FOR THIS BUDGET WORK SESSION.
IT IS 1:00 PM ON AUGUST 8TH, 2023.
AND WE CONTINUE TO MEET IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS LOCATED AT AUSTIN CITY HALL, UH, WHICH IS LOCATED AT 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
WE HAVE A QUORUM OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT.
AND WHAT WE WILL DO IS, UH, WHAT I TRIED TO DO EARLIER, THE STEP TODAY IS GO THROUGH THOSE ITEMS THAT, UH, HAD RECEIVED THE MOST QUESTIONS.
AND I THINK WE'VE GONE THROUGH ALL OF THOSE.
UH, SO WHAT I'LL DO NOW IS, UH, IS ASK COUNCIL MEMBERS IF, IF, IF THEY HAVE A SPECIFIC AREA THEY WANT TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT.
AND THEN WHAT I'LL HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO IS IF A COUNCIL MEMBER SAYS, I WANNA TALK ABOUT X, WE GET FOLKS DOWN, THEY CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS, AND WE ALL STAY ON X UNTIL WE'VE EXHAUSTED THAT KIND OF LIKE WHAT WE ATTEMPTED TO DO THIS MORNING.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.
I HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING OUR C I P PROGRAM WITHIN AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
I ALSO HAVE QUESTIONS, UH, TO OUR PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
WHAT I'M GONNA TRY TO DO IS GET THE ONE AT TIME C
[01:55:01]
P QUESTION.THAT, THAT WAY WHAT WE CAN DO IS GET PEOPLE DOWN, GET EVERYBODY QUESTIONS ANSWERED, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT ITEM.
IS THAT OKAY? THAT WORKS FOR ME.
SO, UH, PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION, WHY DON'T YOU ASK YOUR QUESTION AND WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN GET THAT ANSWERED.
SO MY QUESTION IS, IN CONTINUATION OF THE CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD LAST TIME WITH DIRECTOR MENDOZA, WE HAD IN THE PRESENTATION, UM, IN OUR BUDGET PROPOSAL, WE HAVE ABOUT A LITTLE UNDER 300 MILLION IN THE C I P SPENDING PLAN.
AND SO MY QUESTIONS ARE FOCUSED ON HOW MANY, UM, FTES WE HAVE ARE FOCUSED ON THE IMPLEMENTATION SIDE OF THINGS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT.
AND HAVE WE CONSIDERED ADDING ADDITIONAL FTES IF THAT MEANS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SCALE THE RATE IN WHICH WE CAN EXPEND OUR C I P DOLLARS.
I TRIED TO DRAG THAT OUT AS LONG AS I CAN.
MR. MENDOZA, IF HE'D COME DOWN, MR. MENDOZA OR WHOEVER IS HE COMING? THANK YOU.
IT IS FOCUSED ON, WE ARE PROJECTED TO SPEND A LITTLE UNDER 300 MILLION IN OUR C I P SPENDING PLAN FOR THIS PROPOSED BUDGET.
AND MY QUESTION IS, IF YOU COULD TALK US THROUGH OUR F T E CAPACITY WHEN IT COMES TO IMPLEMENTATION STAFF AND CONS, ANY CONSIDERATIONS THAT WERE MADE BY THE DIVISION FOR INCREASING INTERNAL F T E SO THAT WE CAN ACCELERATE OUR PACE.
RICHARD MENDOZA, INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
EVERY YEAR WE GO THROUGH A WORKLOAD ANALYSIS TO SEE, UH, TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATE RESOURCES IN TERMS OF PROJECT MANAGERS, CONSTRUCTION INSPECTORS, CONSTRUCTION, UM, UH, MANAGERS WORKING IN CLOSE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CAPITAL, UH, DELIVERY SERVICES, UH, DEPARTMENT.
OUR ANNUAL C I P, UH, AROUND THAT $300 MILLION CONSISTS OF A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS THAT ARE DELIVERED THROUGH, UH, UH, DIFFERENT WORK GROUPS.
UH, WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ITSELF.
UH, WE HAVE AN IN-HOUSE CAPITAL DELIVERY DIVISION THAT FOCUSES ON THE PORTFOLIO OF PRIMARILY THE LOCAL MOBILITY AND ACTIVE MOBILITY PROJECTS.
SO THESE ARE THE NEW SIDEWALKS, THE NEW URBAN TRAILS, THE NEW SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL, UH, PROGRAMS, THE INTERSECTION SAFETY AND PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT VISION ZERO.
SO THAT SPAN, UH, FOR THIS UPCOMING, UM, BUDGET YEAR, IT'S MAYBE 25% OF THAT TOTAL.
300 MILLION, I CAN GET YOU THE EXACT NUMBER.
AND SO WITHIN THAT TEAM, UH, WE HAVE, UH, OUR OWN PROJECT MANAGERS AND, UH, ALSO, UM, CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS TO ENSURE THOSE PROGRAMS ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED, UH, ON TIME AND ON BUDGET.
MY MY QUESTION IS MORE IN PERHAPS OUR FINANCE TEAM CAN JUMP IN HERE.
HOW MUCH DID WE, HOW MUCH WAS OUR C I P SPENDING PLAN LAST FISCAL YEAR FOR WITHIN THESE TWO? LAST FISCAL YEAR WAS SLIGHTLY HIGHER.
IT WAS ON THE ORDER OF AROUND 320 $350 MILLION.
NOW, THAT IS A COMBINATION OF BOTH THE LOCAL PROGRAMS THAT THE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ITSELF MANAGES, AND ALSO THE LARGER C I P PROGRAMS, NAMELY, UM, FROM THE, UH, THE 2016 CORRIDOR PROGRAM THAT CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES HAS NOW BEEN CONSOLIDATED AND UNIFORM IN ONE DEPARTMENT TO FOCUS ON EXPEDITING THAT DELIVERY.
THEY'RE WORKING VERY AGGRESSIVELY THIS YEAR TO COMPLETE THAT.
WE ALSO HAVE, UH, SIGNIFICANT, UH, PROJECTS FROM 2018 AND 2020.
THE LONGHORN DAM IS ONE OF THOSE THAT ARE GONNA BE GOING INTO, UH, FINAL DESIGN, REDBUD TRAIL BRIDGE, BARTON SPRINGS BRIDGE.
WE HAVE SOME SUBSTANDARD STREETS, KNUCKLES CROSSING THAT ARE MOVING FORWARD.
AND SO WHAT WE DO THERE IS WE ENLIST THE SERVICES OF THE CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND THEY HAVE THEIR OWN, UH, COMPLIMENT OF PROJECT MANAGERS, SOME IN-HOUSE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS.
UH, I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH THEM.
I USED TO BE OVER THAT, OVER THAT, UH, DIVISION.
AND, UH, I KNOW ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, THEY PERFORM SERVICES FOR MORE THAN JUST MOBILITY.
THEY ALSO SUPPORT, UH, WATERSHED PROTECTION, AUSTIN WATER, UH, PARKS AND REC.
AND EVERY YEAR THEY GO THROUGH AN EXERCISE IN FORECASTING WHAT THE, UH, THE NEXT YEAR C I P IS FOR TWO REASONS TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE RESOURCED AND WE HAVE THE PHYSICIANS IN-HOUSE OR A COMBINATION OF IN-HOUSE AND STAFF AUGMENTATION TO FULLY, UH, DELIVER THOSE PROJECTS ON TIME AND ON SCHEDULE.
BUT THEN ALSO TO REC RECALCULATE,
[02:00:01]
SHE HAS A SPECIFIC QUESTION.MY, WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET A SENSE OF, IF LAST FISCAL YEAR WE HAD SPENT 320 MILLION IN OUR C I P SPENDING PLAN, WE KNOW THAT WE STILL HAVE ABOUT 700 IN MOBILITY BONDS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN, UH, SPENT YET.
UH, WE HAVE MORE THAN A BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF NEW SIDEWALK NEEDS, YOU KNOW, NEW CORRIDOR NEEDS, NEW, YOU KNOW, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS.
I'M TRYING TO SEE WITH THIS NEW, THE MANAGER PROPOSED THE CAPITAL SERVICES DELIVERY DIVISION WITH THIS NEW DIVISION THAT WAS DONE WITH THE INTENTION OF EXPEDITING DELIVERY.
HOW COME OUR C I P SPENDING PLAN FOR THIS YEAR IS NOT GREATER CA COUNCIL MEMBER? LET ME LET MAKE AN ATTEMPT ON ON THAT.
I, I, I THINK MAYBE JAMES CAN ADD SOME ADDITIONAL DETAIL HERE THAT JUST GOT, THAT JUST GOT STOOD UP.
SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S IN ITS INFANCY.
ONE IS YOU'RE, THE, THE, THE RATE OF SPEND DEPENDS ON HOW FAST WE'VE ENGINEERED THINGS OR, OR USED ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES OF APPROPRIATE ARCHITECTURAL COMPANIES.
AND, UH, SO THAT'S IN THE PROCESS OF BEING WORKED THROUGH.
AND SO THAT THE, THE CAPITAL REQUIREMENT IS DEPEND, IT DEPENDS ON THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE THAT'S READY TO ROLL, THAT THE PROJECTS ARE READY TO GO.
AND SO I THINK AS WE GET MORE AND MORE EXPERIENCE WITH RESPECT TO THE CAPITAL DELIVERY, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A MORE, UH, A DEFINITE ESTIMATE OF HOW THOSE, UH, BUT THOSE ESTIMATES ARE BASED ON WHAT'S READY TO GO.
AND, UH, IT ISN'T, WE, WE CAN'T SPEND FASTER THAN WE DESIGN AND GET READY TO BUILD, ACQUIRE PROPERTY, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
THOSE ARE THE DRIVERS ON THIS.
AND IT, AND EITHER JAMES OR ROBERT CAN ADD TO ADDITIONAL DETAIL TO THAT.
AND I GUESS, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
CITY MANAGER, I, I'M TRYING TO THINK THROUGH THIS FROM A, WHAT IF WE HAD MORE IMPLEMENTATION STAFF WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT, WOULD THAT ALLOW US TO INCREASE THE RATE OF DELIVERY, ROB? SURE.
ROBERT, GOOD INTERIM ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
'CAUSE YOU'RE DOING THE SAME THING WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS HOW CAN WE ACCELERATE? AND WE LOOKED AT YOUR QUESTION AND FROM A STAFFING STANDPOINT, FROM THE TRANSPORTATION USER FEE, THEY'RE A SPONSOR DEPARTMENT THAT WOULDN'T HELP ANY.
AND THE CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES SIDE, THAT'S THE IMPLEMENTER, AND THOSE FOLKS AREN'T, THEY'RE FUNDED BY THE CAPITAL PROJECTS THEMSELVES.
SO WE DON'T NEED MORE STAFF THERE.
AS A MANAGER SAID, WE JUST NEED TO INCREASE OUR EFFICIENCY.
SO WE THINK WE'RE APPROPRIATELY STAFFED IN THIS BUDGET TO, TO MAKE THOSE IMPROVEMENTS, TO START ACCELERATING THE PROGRAM.
YOU MIGHT NOT SEE IT THIS YEAR, BUT THE YEARS COMING, WE'LL, WE'LL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT SUPPORT.
AND I WOULD JUST AS YOU, AS THE DEPARTMENT DOES YOUR INTERNAL ANALYSIS AND YOU'RE ABLE TO HAVE THOSE FORECASTS OR ESTIMATES OF, OF HOW WE'RE ABLE TO ACCELERATE, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK I WOULD CERTAINLY BE INTERESTED IN A MID-YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENT.
UM, WHATEVER IS, IS NECESSARY.
SO I, AND WE HAVE PLANNED TO COME BACK TO AUDIT FINANCE AND START SETTING THAT STAGE FOR HERE'S THE NEW SCHEDULE AND THEN, UH, REPORT PROGRESS ON THAT.
SO WE WOULD ABSOLUTELY DO THAT.
IF WE NEED MORE STAFFING OR RESOURCES TO IMPLEMENT EVEN FASTER, WE'LL COME BACK AND ASK YOU THAT.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS? ALL RIGHT.
UM, COUNCIL PUENTES, YOU INDICATED YOU WERE READY WITH SOMETHING ELSE.
UH, THIS IS FOR THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
UM, I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE IMAGINE AUSTIN PLAN, IF THERE WAS CONSIDERATION TO AN UPDATE.
UH, I THINK THERE'S 3 MILLION ALLOCATED FOR THE IMAGINE AUSTIN UPDATE.
IF YOU CAN PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT AROUND, UM, THAT ALLOCATION AND, UM, WELL, I GUESS I'LL START THERE SOME CONTEXT, PLEASE.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
LAUREN MIDDLETON PRATT, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING.
SO THE 3 MILLION, UM, WILL BE SLATED FOR STAFF AUGMENTATION, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, RELATED EXPENSES, AND LOOKING AT OUR CURRENT ZONING, LOOKING AT POTENTIALLY NEW ZONING.
IF YOU RECALL ON THE, UM, THE GANTT CHART, WE HAVE A, A LARGE BODY OF WORK THAT WILL REQUIRE COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING.
SO, UM, COMPATIBILITY, UM, AGAIN, TOWN ZONING.
THAT WAS ONE THAT WAS BROUGHT UP, UH, THAT WE'VE HEARD FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION THAT THEY'D REALLY LIKE FOR US TO LOOK INTO.
UM, AND SO ANYTHING THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED AS COMPREHENSIVE OF THE NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING, WE'LL DO THAT WITHIN THAT IMAGINE AUSTIN UPDATE AND THE $3 MILLION WOULD BE, BE ALLOCATED TOWARDS THOSE EFFORTS.
SO THAT SOUNDS LIKE, THAT SOUNDS MORE IN LINE WITH THE 3 MILLION IS TO HELP, UH, HELP US ACHIEVE THE GOALS THAT ARE ALREADY OUTLINED WITHIN THE IMAGINE AUSTIN PLAN, NOT NECESSARILY TO DO A REVISION OF THE IMAGINE AUSTIN PLAN ITSELF TO DO A COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE TO THE PLAN.
SO WHAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED IN THE GANTT CHART, THOSE
[02:05:01]
ARE ALSO ITEMS THAT WE WILL, THAT WE WILL PUT TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE.AGAIN, ACROSS THE BOARD, WE WILL BE LOOKING AT OUR CURRENT IMAGINE AUSTIN, UM, COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND LOOK TO DO A HOLISTIC UPDATE TO IT.
SORRY IF THAT IS OR IS NOT ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION.
BUT WITH THE PRIORITIZATION OF THE ITEMS LISTED ON THE GANTT CHART MM-HMM.
COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UH, A QUESTION.
UM, IMAGINE OFTEN IT'S WHAT, 11 YEARS OLD NOW? 12 YEARS OLD? I THINK I, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS TIME TO UPDATE, UH, OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
THAT SAID, I SURE WOULD LIKE TO, I, I SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MONEY ALLOCATED FOR THAT.
AND MY SENSE WOULD BE TO KNOCK OUT THE PENDING, YOU KNOW, ITEMS THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE PARKING YOUR, YOU KNOW, UH, THE SMALL ITEM FROM COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, THE VARIOUS OTHERS THAT ARE OUT THERE BEFORE KIND OF DELVING INTO THE, INTO THE, THE, YOU KNOW, FULL REWRITE.
IN OTHER WORDS, WE'VE GOT SO MUCH ON OUR PLATE RIGHT NOW IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE DOING.
WOULD IT MAKE SENSE TO, TO, TO, YOU KNOW, MAYBE PAUSE A LITTLE BIT AND REDIRECT THOSE RESOURCES FOR THE TIME BEING TO KNOCKING OUT THE, UH, THE ITEMS THAT, THAT, THAT WE'VE PUT ON YOUR PLATE.
UH, THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT TENSION? WE, WHAT'S NICE ABOUT IT IS WE CAN CREATE THE TIMELINE THAT WE NEED AND THAT MEETS COUNCIL'S NEEDS.
I DID FORGET TO MENTION THAT THE UPDATE WILL INCLUDE A FUTURE LAND USE MAP, WHICH A LOT OF US, UM, LIKE TO CALL A PLUMB.
UH, SO THAT WILL ALSO BE IN THE CONVERSATION.
WHAT'S NICE ABOUT, UM, AND THANK YOU FOR COMMITTING THOSE FUNDS, IS WE WANT TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL TO SAY, WHAT ARE, WHERE ARE YOUR PRIORITIES? HAVE A WORKSHOP WITH YOU TO HEAR WHERE YOU SEE THIS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE GOING SO THAT WE HAVE YOUR INPUT, AGAIN, HAVING EXTENSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND SO THE OUTLINE AND THE TIMELINE IS NOT SET IN STONE YET, SO WE WELCOME THE PROC WHATEVER PROCESS YOU'D LIKE TO SEE US FOLLOW.
AND COUN COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO BE KIND OF, UH, IT'S, IT'S INTENDED TO BE ATTITUDE.
IT'S INTENDED TO FIT INTO A LARGER FRAMEWORK, AND IT'S NOT INTENDED TO DELAY US, BUT I DO THINK WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE ATTENDANT CONSEQUENCES OF THE INDIVIDUAL CODE AMENDMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN OVERALL PLAN.
THAT'S ALL THIS IS INTENDED TO DO.
SO YOU'RE ABLE TO SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S THE OBJECTIVE THAT WE WANNA ACHIEVE, UH, SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW THESE PIECES FIT TOGETHER.
AND IN TERMS OF THE SUFFICIENT RESOURCES TO, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO THE CONVERSATION THAT WE'VE HAD SINCE I THINK THE FIRST DAY THAT YOU STARTED
YES, MAYOR PRO TIM, JUST PROGRAMMATICALLY, I'M, I'M INTERESTED IN THE CONVERSATION AROUND US CITYWIDE PH FLU.
I'M SURE THERE'S PROBABLY SOME EARS PERKING UP ABOUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WOULD PUBLIC INPUT LOOK LIKE? SO I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE THE FUTURE OF THAT BEING.
AND THEN I ALSO WANNA FLAG FOR YOU IN SOME OF OUR DISCUSSIONS AROUND LAND DEVELOPMENT AND, AND ZONING ALONG THE WAY, I KNOW THAT THE CURRENT, IMAGINE AUSTIN HAS THE CENTERS KIND OF DRAWN IN A VERY BLOBBY WAY,
AND I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S ANY INTENT TO TRY TO SHORE UP SOME OF THE EXACT BOUNDARIES OF WHERE SOME OF THOSE CENTERS SHOULD BE, ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE'S GONNA BE THINGS LIKE E T O D PLANNING THAT WE KNOW IS IN THE WORKS.
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES VERY SPECIFICALLY, AND HOW, HOW FOLKS SHOULD LOOK TO THAT INFORMATION COMING DOWN THE PIPELINE? I WISH I COULD TODAY.
UM, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF CONTINUING TO GROW OUT OUR STAFF.
UM, AND ONE SIGNIFICANT PIECE IS OUR COMMUNICATION STAFF.
AS SOON AS WE BRING ON, UM, THAT MANAGER, WE WILL KICKSTART HOW WE WILL DO OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AS IT RELATES TO COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AS IT RELATES TO CODE AMENDMENTS AND, AND ALL OF THE, THE OTHER REQUIREMENTS OF OUR DEPARTMENT.
SO, I'M SORRY THAT I'M NOT ABLE TO GIVE YOU A FULL PLAN TODAY, BUT WE, WE DO HAVE IT QUEUED UP FOR, FOR OUR NEW STAFF.
I, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THAT
UM, AND SO I AM A LITTLE CURIOUS ABOUT, SINCE WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS AROUND E T O D PLANNING, YOU KNOW, IN THE FUTURE MM-HMM.
HOW TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHO'S IN WHAT LANE AND WHICH GROUPS WILL BE REACHING OUT TO WHICH, YOU KNOW, ORGANIZATIONS AND NEIGHBORHOODS TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND THAT BETTER.
SO I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ANSWER TODAY ON THAT, BUT JUST KIND OF A GENERAL FLAGGING OF PROCESS QUESTIONS.
UM, AND THEN WE DO STILL HAVE ONE QUESTION THAT IF I HAVE MY
[02:10:01]
SCREEN OPEN RIGHT AND REFRESHED.UM, WE HAD ONE ABOUT THE E T O D TYPE OF WORK AND C I P, SO IT'S NUMBER 180 9.
THAT ONE IS STILL PENDING, SO WE'LL WAIT ON AN ANSWER FOR THAT.
BUT IT WAS ABOUT THE 500 K IN THE C I P PLAN FOR THE E T O D PLANNING EFFORTS.
UM, SO I THINK THAT ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS ON THOSE, BUT MAYBE THOSE WERE JUST MORE OF HELPING FLAG WHERE SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS I'VE SEEN LAND, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE PROCESS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS WITH, OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, GOING BACK TO AGAIN, THE TIMELINE, EXCUSE ME,
I KNOW, RIGHT? I JUST WANTED TO CATCH YOU BEFORE YOU LEFT.
WOULD ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, I MEAN, IN TERMS OF EXPEDITING THE, THE, THE, UH, UH, CODE AMENDMENTS, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO, YOU KNOW, TO HELP YOU GET THOSE BACK TO US QUICKER? I LOVE THE QUESTION.
RIGHT NOW WE CURRENTLY HAVE APPROXIMATELY $500,000 IN OUR F Y 24 BUDGET FOR, UH, CONSULTANT AUGMENTATION OUTSIDE OF E T O D PLANNING AND, AND ALL OF THE OTHER COMMITMENTS.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE A SOLICITATION OUT FOR ZONING, UM, CASE APP APPLICATION FOR, FOR THE BACKLOG THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE, CODE AMENDMENT AS WELL AS DENSITY BONUS, UM, CONSULTANT, UM, AUGMENTATION.
ONCE WE START, ONCE WE EMBARK ON THOSE PROJECTS, THERE MIGHT BE A, AN ADDITIONAL NEED.
UM, I CAN THROW OUT THE NUMBER OF $500,000.
I'M SURE THAT WE WILL FIND A WAY TO UTILIZE THOSE FUNDS.
UM, BUT UNTIL WE CAN BRING ON THOSE CONSULTANTS HERE, WHAT THEIR, WHAT THEIR FEES ARE.
WE DON'T HAVE FINITE NUMBERS FOR YOU TODAY, BUT, UM, AT THE END OF THIS WEEK, WE SHOULD HEAR FROM ALL OF THE CONSULTANTS AND HAVE BETTER, HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF HOW MUCH WE'LL NEED.
AND I, I APPRECIATE THAT, THAT RESPONSE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, VERONICA REIO, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
UH, LAUREN IS ALSO DOING A GREAT JOB OF ADDRESSING THE VACANCY NEEDS IN THE DEPARTMENT.
AS WE'RE DOING THAT, WE WILL READDRESS AND SHE HAS OUR COMMITMENT THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO THAT WORKLOAD AND WHAT IS IN FRONT OF US IN THIS, IN THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
AND I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF RESOURCES GOING IN AND HIRING HAPPENING AND, AND CONSULTANTS BEING, UH, BROUGHT ON BOARD.
UH, AGAIN, I GUESS JUST AS WE, YOU KNOW, GO DOWN THE ROAD, IF YOU DO DECIDE, YOU KNOW, AS THE CITY MANAGER THAT, HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT WE NEED, UH, A, B, C, UH, HAPPY TO, TO REVISIT THIS, UH, AT A LATER DATE.
ANYTHING ELSE ON THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT? OKAY.
IS THERE ANOTHER DEPARTMENT THAT SOMEBODY WANTS TO BRING UP? COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.
I HAVE SOME, I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING.
UM, SO I NOTICED IN THE BUDGET, UM, WE FORTUNATELY HAD A VERY LARGE INCREASE IN OUR HOT FUNDING ABOVE WHAT WE WERE ANTICIPATING.
UM, WE MADE GRANTS LAST YEAR, I THINK THAT WERE TWO YEAR GRANTS.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE THOSE MIGHT HAVE BEEN PREMISED ON A LOWER ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF HOT COMING IN.
SO I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND HOW THOSE ADDITIONAL HOT DOLLARS, UM, THAT ARE GOING TO THE CULTURAL ARTS ARE GONNA BE SPENT.
SO, NOVIA HORAB, DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
AS WE ENTERED INTO BUDGET SEASON IN F Y 23, WE COMMITTED TO ONLY SPEND ACTUALS.
SO THE AMOUNT THAT WILL BE SPENT IN 24 WILL BE ADJUSTED BETWEEN THE THREE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE APPROVED, THRIVE, ELEVATE, AND NEXUS.
AND SO WE WILL MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THOSE PROGRAMS BASED ON ACTUALS.
SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT A EXISTING GRANTEES WILL GET ADDITIONAL MONEY OR WILL YOU DO ADDITIONAL GRANTS? SO THE, UM, THRIVE PROGRAM WILL GET THE SAME AMOUNT THAT THEY DID THIS YEAR, AND THEN WE WILL ADJUST, ELEVATE, AND NEXUS AND POSSIBLY INCREASE THE NUMBER THAT WE ARE ABLE TO FUND.
YOU'RE GONNA ADJUST THE AMOUNTS AND POTENTIALLY ADD ADDITIONAL RECIPIENTS? POTENTIALLY, YES.
AND HOW IS THAT DECISION GONNA BE MADE ONCE WE EVALUATE THE FINAL NUMBERS? UM, WE ARE STILL IN THE FIRST PILOT YEAR.
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OUR NEXUS GRANTS WILL GO OUT IN SEPTEMBER, AND THEN WE WILL REEVALUATE TO COME BACK TO START THE NEXT CYCLE AT THE BEGINNING OF F Y 24.FOR THE ACTUALS FROM THIS PAST, FROM FISCAL YEAR 23 OR MUCH HIGHER.
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW MUCH DIFFERENCES? UH, I CAN GET BACK WITH YOU.
I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
YEAH, IT IS DEFINITELY SEVERAL MILLION.
YOU KNOW, A LARGE, A LARGE INCREASE IN RESOURCES THAT WE CAN USE TO FUND CULTURAL ARTS.
UM, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION OF USING ANY OF THAT TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT DIDN'T GET FUNDING IN THE FIRST ROUND, WHO WERE LEGACY ORGANIZATIONS? AGAIN, THEY WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, REAPPLY AND TH ELEVATE AND NEXUS AT F Y 24, BUT THE ONES THAT WERE APPROVED IN THE FIRST COHORT FOR THE TWO YEAR CYCLE, THEY WILL CONTINUE INTO NEXT YEAR.
UM, SO I HAVE A QUESTION FOR OTHER DEPARTMENT ONE.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANYTHING ON CULTURAL ARTS OR, UH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? AND THAT'S 14 MILLION WE ESTIMATE TO SPEND NEXT YEAR.
AND HOW MUCH IS THAT ABOVE WHAT YOU HAD PROJECTED ORIGINALLY? PROBABLY AROUND, I BELIEVE, 2 MILLION, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN.
ABOUT 2 MILLION MORE THAN WE SPENT THIS YEAR.
ANYONE ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS ON ECONOMIC OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? ALRIGHT, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER.
UM, SO I WANTED TO SPEND A LITTLE TIME TALKING ABOUT VACANCY RATES.
UM, SO IN QUESTION 83 ON VACANCY RATES, THERE'S A LOT OF, I JUST CALL MY COLLEAGUE'S ATTENTION TO THAT, UM, ANSWER.
UM, I WANTED TO BEGIN BY ASKING WHY THE MANAGEMENT SERVICES, UM, VACANCY LEVEL IS SO HIGH.
IT'S WENT FROM A YEAR AGO IT WAS AT 30.4% AND NOW IT'S AT 32.2%.
I KNOW THERE'S BEEN SOME CHANGES OF WHAT WAS IN MANAGEMENT SERVICES, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE WE SEEING THOSE VACANCIES? I THINK IN MY CONVERSATIONS WITH MR. VINO FOR THE FINANCIAL STUFF, IT SOUNDED LIKE THEY'D MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS ON FILLING THEIR VACANCIES.
SO WHERE, WHERE ARE WE SEEING THOSE VACANCIES AND WHERE THEY CONCENTRATED? 'CAUSE THEY PROBABLY ARE IN CERTAIN DEPARTMENTS OR CERTAIN GROUPS WITHIN MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
YEAH, SO THE MANAGEMENT SERVICES BUDGET DESCRIBED IN THE BUDGET, UM, DOCUMENT IS COMPRISED OF A, A NUMBER OF THE SMALLER OFFICES YOU'LL FIND IN, IN MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
SO IN PARTICULAR, HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
THERE WERE POSITIONS ADDED IN THE BUDGET LAST YEAR THAT THEY'RE STILL WORKING TO GET FILLED.
UH, CIVIL RIGHTS IS ANOTHER OFFICE THAT HAS, UM, JUST OFF THE CUFF, I KNOW HAS QUITE A FEW VACANCIES.
UM, AND SO WE COULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE EXACTLY WHERE THOSE VACANCIES ARE ACROSS THE MANAGEMENT SERVICES GROUP.
YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M SAD TO HEAR THAT WE'RE STILL EXPERIENCING THOSE VACANCIES AND HESO.
WE HAD CONVERSATIONS LAST YEAR OR AT SOME POINT DURING THIS YEAR.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE EXPECT HESO TO DO ALL THIS WORK.
WE GAVE THEM POSITIONS IN THE LAST BUDGET, AND THOSE NOT BEING FILLED YET SUGGESTS THERE'S NOT THE PRIORITY THAT I THINK THIS COUNCIL HAS ON THE EMERGENCY PLANNING.
UM, SO I REALLY WANNA SEE US KIND OF FILLING THOSE VACANCIES.
UM, THERE, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE HIGH VACANCIES, OR AT LEAST IN THE COMPARISON FOR, UM, THIS CHART WHEN THEIR VACANCIES WENT UP.
UM, AND SO I KIND OF WANTED TO JUST BROADLY ASK, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE ABOUT THE STRATEGIES FOR FILLING THE VACANCIES CITYWIDE.
UM, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT 9 1 1.
UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE YET HAVE, UM, CLOSURE ON THE PLAN FOR 9 1 1, BUT SORT OF JUST BROADLY, HOW ARE WE THINKING ABOUT THE STRATEGY? I KNOW IT'S BEEN A PRIORITY OF THE CITY MANAGER, UM, BUT AS WE, YOU KNOW, GO INTO THIS FINAL WEEK OF THE BUDGET DELIBERATIONS, UM, I KNOW FOR ME THAT RECRUITMENT RETENTION SET OF ISSUES IS REALLY PARAMOUNT.
I WANNA UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING.
COUNCIL MEMBER, WE NEED TO GET, CERTAINLY GET YOU MORE DETAIL, BUT HERE'S THE, THE OVER JUST THE BRIEF SUMMARY.
WE, YES, THERE'S BEEN A FOCUS ON THIS.
UH, FOR INSTANCE, THE
UH, MRN HAS JUST, UH, STEPPED INTO THAT ROLE ON A PERMANENT BASIS.
AND WE, HE KNOWS AND RECOGNIZES THAT WE, WE HAVE TO FOCUS SOME ATTENTION ON HIRING POSITIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN AUTHORIZED.
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OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UH, HAVE NOT BEEN AS, UH, THAT'S WHY WE INSTITUTED THE, IF IF YOU HADN'T FILLED IT WITHIN 24 MONTHS, WE SWEPT THEM.I THINK THAT WAS AN EFFORT TO TRY TO GET DEPARTMENTS TO FOCUS ON OPENING THOSE REQUISITIONS, TO FILL THOSE SLOTS.
AND THERE'S JUST GONNA BE SOME CONTINUED FOCUSED ATTENTION.
I KNOW THERE'S A COUPLE OF IDEAS THAT WE'VE GOT ON 9 1 1 WHERE WE THINK THAT WE CAN, UH, DO SOME SHORING UP OF THE 59 VACANCIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR CALL TAKERS.
AND WE'VE GOTTA FIGURE OUT WHEN WE CAN, UH, GO LIVE WITH THAT.
UH, ID WITH THOSE, UH, CONCEPTS THAT HAVE BEEN SHARED WITH US.
AND WHAT WE CAN DO IS JUST STAY ON.
ALL WE CAN ASK IS ALL WE CAN ASK, ALL WE WILL DO IS KEEP, UH, UH, ASKING THE DEPARTMENTS.
SO IF YOU HAVE THOSE VACANCIES, YOU NEED TO OPEN THE REQUISITIONS SO THAT THEY CAN BE HIRED.
A LOT OF THEM REQUISITIONS HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN MADE.
AND SO WE WE'RE ASKING DEPARTMENTS, IF YOU HAVE THE VACANCY SITTING IN YOUR, IN YOUR POSITION CONTROL NUMBER, YOU SHOULD SUBMIT THE REQUISITIONS WHEN YOU NEED TO FILL THOSE SLOTS.
WE HAD A DISCUSSION WITH PARKS HERE EARLIER TODAY.
WE KNOW THAT WE CAN MOVE SLOT, MOVE POSITIONS OUT OF CERTAIN AREAS OF PARKS INTO AREAS THAT ARE MORE IMPORTANT.
AND SO PART OF IT, UH, IS FOR US TO KIND OF FOCUS ON WHERE WE PUT THE HU THE HUMAN RESOURCES TO WORK AT THE, AT THE HIGHEST PRIORITY.
BUT WE OWE YOU A MORE COMPLETE ANSWER THAN THAT.
UM, AND YOU OBVIOUSLY EVALUATE YOUR, YOU KNOW, DIRECTORS.
UM, HOW IS FIXING THEIR VACANCY RATE PART OF THEIR EVALUATION? WELL, I MEAN, WE'VE MADE PERSONNEL CHANGES, AS I SAID.
SO THAT'S ONE PART OF THE EVALUATION.
UH, WE, WE'VE ASKED THEM TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
I WILL, WE'LL CERTAINLY WORK WITH, UH, ASSISTANT MANAGERS IS THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT REPORT TO THEM TO MAKE SURE THIS IS FOCUSED ATTENTION.
THIS IS THE ONE ELEMENT OF A WHOLE HOST OF THINGS WE'VE GOTTA DO IN TERMS OF EVALUATING PEOPLE.
BUT, BUT I WILL SAY, JUST FOR A MOMENT, THAT WE HAVE A VERY DECENTRALIZED HR FUNCTION.
IT'S VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT WAS WHEN I WAS HERE 21 YEARS AGO.
UH, AND SO WE, WE DELEGATED A LOT OF THAT HR FUNCTION IN INSIDE THOSE DEPARTMENTS.
AND I MUST SAY THAT THOSE DEPARTMENTS SOMETIMES HAVE NOT AS BEEN DILIGENT, AS DILIGENT AS THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
AND, AND OPENING THE REQUISITIONS, DOING THE RECRUITMENT AND HIRING SOME, SOME HAVE TRIED TO LAY THIS OFF ON THE MUNICIPAL, THE, UH, CIVIL SERVICE AND CERTAINLY CIVIL SERVICE MAY SLOW US DOWN A LITTLE BIT, BUT THAT'S NOT THE REASON FOR THIS.
IT'S ONE THAT WE JUST HAVEN'T PAID ENOUGH ATTENTION TO IT.
ANOTHER IS THAT WE'RE, UH, MAN, I DON'T, I DON'T TRY TO DO THIS TO BE
BUT HAVING A LOT OF PEOPLE WORKING FROM HOME HAS BEEN A PROBLEM.
UH, AND BECAUSE, UH, THOSE, SOME OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS FOUR OR FIVE DAYS A WEEK, THEY'RE WORKING FROM HOME.
IT'S HARD TO, TO GET THAT TEAM SPIRIT AND CAMARADERIE THAT NEEDS TO GO THAT TO GET THIS DONE.
SO PART OF THIS IS WE NEED TO CHANGE THAT, THAT CULTURE SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE THAT SENSE OF URGENCY THAT THE COUNCIL HAS.
AND AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE COMMIT TO YOU.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, TO ADD MY, UM, COMMENTS ON THIS TOPIC IN PARTICULAR.
IT SOUNDS LIKE, YOU KNOW, 9 1 1 STAFFING IS AN ISSUE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO ALL OF US, AND WE KNOW AT LEAST TWO OF OUR COLLEAGUES OR THREE OF OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE AMENDMENTS AROUND NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER COUNCIL, ALISON TER, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, I THINK COUNCIL VELA MAY ALSO HAVE AN AMENDMENT ON THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER.
UM, SO MANAGER, I WANTED TO FLAG ON THURSDAY, WHEN WE GO THROUGH OUR, OUR OUR AMENDMENTS, THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME FOR STAFF TO HIGHLIGHT OR SURFACE THE IDEAS THAT YOU HAVE ON STRATEGIES TO STAFF UP.
I JUST WANNA CLARIFY, I DON'T HAVE AN AMENDMENT THIS YEAR.
I HAVE HAD THEM MULTIPLE TIMES, AND I'M HOPING THAT THE, THIS TIME AROUND WILL BE THE CHARM FOR 9 1 1, MAYOR, ONE, ONE OTHER THING, I JUST, I KNOW, AND I KNOW THIS HAS TO DO WITH POSITIONS, AND SOMETIMES THE, THAT'S KIND OF THE, THE, I GUESS THE IMPETUS IS TO ADD POSITIONS TO DO SOME WORK.
AND I MUST SAY THAT SOMETIMES THAT IS NOT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY, ESPECIALLY WE, IF WE HAVE A SYSTEM THAT JUST, WE CAN'T PUT ADD THE, UH, THROUGHPUT TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT DONE.
AND THAT'S WHY YOU DO STAFF AUGMENTATION.
THE, THE THINGS THAT RICHARD TALKED ABOUT HERE A MINUTE AGO.
YOU CAN USE CONSULTANTS, UH, TO GET SOME OF THIS WORK DONE SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE TO GET IT DONE.
BUT WE, WE'VE GOTTA BRING BACK THE ENTIRE, UH, DISCUSSION ON THAT ITEM.
UH, AND WE CAN DO THAT ON THURSDAY.
UM, BEFORE, SINCE WE'RE, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE ABOUT TO WIND UP, I WANNA RECOGNIZE THE CITY MANAGER, UH, UH, MAYOR COUNCIL, UH, MANY OF YOU HAVE EXPRESSED CONCERNS ECHOING, UH, WHAT OTHERS, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY HAVE SHARED REGARDING THE CREATION OF THE COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS EQUITY DEPARTMENT, PLUS OTHER, UH, ASPECTS OF OUR REORGANIZATIONS.
FUNDAMENTALLY, THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED THAT TOUCHED THE HISTORY OF HOW THE EQUITY OFFICE IN PARTICULAR WAS ESTABLISHED AND IT'S CRITICAL, UH, CRITICALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ABLE BE ABLE TO FOCUS, UH, YOUR ATTENTION ON THE RESOURCE ALLOCATIONS FOR ALL THESE DEPARTMENTS AS YOU ADOPT THE BUDGET FOR 24.
[02:25:01]
I WANNA TAKE A STEP BACK.UH, WE'RE GONNA REASSESS THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE BEEN EXPRESSED BY THE CREATION OF THESE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES.
AND ONCE THE BUDGET'S APPROVED, THERE ARE SOME SENIOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS THAT I'M CONSIDERING ESTABLISHING AS WELL AS RESTRUCTURING THAT WILL FURTHER IMPROVE OUR VISIBILITY AND ALIGNMENT FOR THIS ORGANIZATION.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING WITH YOU THOSE, UH, THAT ANALYSIS AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME.
I APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR COMMENTS ON HOLDING OFF ON ANY ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES ON THE EQUITY OFFICE, CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICE, SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCY OFFICE.
UM, I KNOW THROUGH A SERIES OF CONVERSATIONS THAT I'VE HAD WITH YOU ALONGSIDE COUNCIL MEMBER VELA VELASQUEZ CADRE AND RYAN ALTER, UM, WE'VE ALL SHARED, UM, CONCERNS THAT WE'VE HEARD FROM OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO GIVING US THE TIME AND SPACE TO HAVE THESE MORE PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR COMMUNITY FROM A PROCESS THAT'S NOT COUPLED WITH THE BUDGET IS APPRECIATED.
SO I APPRECIATE YOUR LEADERSHIP ON THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.
UH, FIRST AGAIN, I JUST WANT TO THANK THE CITY MANAGER.
I APPRECIATE, UH, UH, HIS COMMENTS.
AND I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SALES TAXES, I BELIEVE FOR OKAY, OUR C F O, MR. VINO, YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SALES TAX COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.
UH, WE, CAPITAL METRO RELEASED ITS, UH, A BUDGET ESTIMATE.
UH, RECENTLY, THEY, UH, ARE LOOKING AT A FOUR AND A HALF PERCENT SALES TAX GROWTH.
THEY'RE BUDGETING FOR A FOUR AND HALF PERCENT SALES TAX GROWTH.
UH, THE CITY IS BUDGETING FOR, I BELIEVE, 3.5% SALES TAX GROWTH.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO ASK YOU, YOU KNOW, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THAT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES? UH, YOU KNOW, JUST KIND OF GET YOUR THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS? SURE.
AND, UM, I HAVE NOT COMPARED NOTES YET WITH THE CAP METRO C F O, UH, THAT C F O IS FAIRLY NEW, BUT IN THE PAST WE HAVE COMPARED NOTES.
WE'RE USUALLY WITHIN 1% PLUS OR MINUS.
UM, THEIR SERVICE TERRITORY, THEIR SALES TAX AREA IS NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS OURS.
SO THAT'S GONNA BE PART OF THE REASON FOR WHEN WE LOOK AT NUMBERS, HAVING THE VARIANCE.
UM, ALSO WHAT I DON'T KNOW IS THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT THINGS ON MORE OF AN ANNUAL BASIS.
IF YOU JUST LOOKED AT A FULL 12 MONTHS OF DATA, YOU COULD CERTAINLY, UM, MAYBE SEE A TREND THAT WOULD WARRANT HIGHER THAN THE THREE AND A HALF PERCENT WE'RE PROJECTING.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAST FOUR MONTHS, IF YOU LOOK AT THE VERY RECENT HISTORY, WE'RE AROUND THREE OR 4% IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRENDING THE LAST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS, WE WILL GET ANOTHER SALES TAX DATA POINT, UM, UM, I BELIEVE NEXT WEEK.
AND, UM, SO THAT, OH, WE'RE GETTING IT TOMORROW, I WAS TOLD.
SO, UM, SO WE'LL HAVE THAT ADDITIONAL DATA POINT.
I WILL REACH OUT AND SEE WHAT THEY'RE THINKING.
ANOTHER THING IS, YOU KNOW, WITH SALES TAX, WHAT WE PROJECTED IS IT'S GROWTH OFF OF THE CURRENT YEAR.
SO IN THE CURRENT YEAR, I BELIEVE WE'RE PROJECTING THREE AND A HALF PER OR SIX POINT A HALF PERCENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 23.
AND THAT IS A PROJECTION 'CAUSE WE HAVEN'T CONCLUDED 23 YET.
THERE'S A TWO MONTH LAG ON SALES TAX COLLECTIONS, BUT WE'RE ASSUMING A THREE POINT A HALF PERCENT GROWTH NEXT YEAR ON TOP OF A SIX POINT A HALF PERCENT GROWTH THIS YEAR.
WHAT I DON'T KNOW IS, YOU KNOW, CAP METRO MIGHT BE ASSUMING 5.5% IN THE CURRENT YEAR, AND THEN FOUR POINT A HALF PERCENT GROWTH NEXT YEAR.
AND IT, IT MAY MAYBE KIND OF COMES OUT TO THE SAME.
SO A LOT OF IT IS, UH, DEPENDS UPON WHAT YOU'RE PROJECTING THIS YEAR VERSUS NEXT YEAR, THAT SERVICE TERRITORY AND, AND, AND, AND HOW LONG OF A TIMEFRAME ARE YOU LOOKING AT TO BASE YOUR PROJECTIONS ON? BUT WE'LL COMPARE NOTES WITH THEM.
UH, I APPRECIATE IT AND, AND I KNOW THAT, UH, UH, I'M TRYING TO KEEP, YOU KNOW, ONE EYE ON THE ECONOMIC, UH, INDICATORS, UH, WHICH HAD BEEN STRONG.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A GOOD INFLATION NEWS, WHICH I KNOW CAN BE KIND OF NOT KIND OF A CONTRA INDICATOR FOR SALES TAX GROWTH.
OBVIOUSLY, IF THERE'S A LOT OF INFLATION, THEN YOU KNOW, YOUR SALES TAX WILL WILL GROW WITH THAT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, JUST IN GENERAL, I THINK WE'VE HAD STRONG ECONOMIC GROWTH.
YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMY LOOKS DECENT.
INFLATION IS, YOU KNOW, STARTING TO, TO, UH, ABATE A LITTLE BIT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I I HOPE WE CONTINUE IN THIS KIND OF GOLDILOCKS, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, E ECONOMY, UH, ANY, I GUESS YOU'RE COMFORTABLE WITH THE THREE POINT HALF PERCENT THAT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU'RE SEEING OUTSIDE IN THE MACRO ECONOMIC WORLD, Y'ALL ARE STICKING WITH IT THREE AND A HALF, HUH? THAT'S OUR RECOMMENDATION.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S OUR MOST VOLATILE REVENUE SOURCE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT, WHEN IT DECIDES, UH, THAT IT'S TIME FOR A RECESSION AND IT LEVELS OUT, IT, IT'S GENERALLY NOT GONNA BE A NICE SLOW LINEAR GROWTH PATH, RIGHT? IT GOES UP VERY FAST AND IT COMES DOWN VERY FAST.
SO IF WE DO HIT A RECESSION, WE'RE, WE'RE LIKELY TO SEE A, A, A FIVE TO 10% DECLINE, AND WE'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT.
SO WE ALWAYS ADVISE COUNCIL TO BE CONSERVATIVE ON THAT NUMBER.
OF COURSE, WE HAVE THAT BUDGET STABILIZATION RESERVE FUND GETTING BACK TO THE RESERVE LEVEL CONVERSATIONS THAT, THAT HELPS STABILIZE US DURING THOSE ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS.
BUT, UM, CERTAINLY THE MORE AGGRESSIVE WE ARE ON SALES TAX, THE MORE RISK WE PUT OURSELVES AT, YOU KNOW,
[02:30:01]
UH, OF, OF NOT HITTING THAT NUMBER.WE WOULD ALWAYS LIKE TO BE A LITTLE BIT ABOVE OUR ESTIMATES THEN THE ALTERNATIVE, RIGHT? IT'S NOT A PROBLEM FOR US TO COME IN A MILLION OR TWO ABOVE OUR ESTIMATES IF WE COME IN A MILLION OR TWO BELOW THEM.
WELL, WE GOTTA FIGURE THAT OUT,
YEAH, AND, AND I COMPLETELY AGREE.
I MEAN, BETTER TO BE CONSERVATIVE WITH YOUR, UH, REVENUE PROJECTIONS, UH, THAN, UH, EXCESSIVELY OPTIMISTIC AND THEN BE IN A, A WORLD OF HURT, YOU KNOW, DOWN THE ROAD.
I JUST WANTED TO, TO, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, TO TOUCH BASE ABOUT THAT.
UH, IT WOULD BE GREAT, I MEAN, FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE, IF WE COULD BOOST THAT UP.
UH, LET'S SEE WHAT I GUESS TOMORROW BRINGS AND SEE WHAT THE, THE NUMBERS ARE.
WE'RE ALL HOPING FOR A GOOD SOLID NUMBER.
COUNCIL MEMBER MEMBERS, I THINK, OH, SORRY, MAYOR, YOU STILL GOT SOMETHING? GO.
UH, A R R UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.
A QUICK, UH, QUESTION FOR THEM SHOULDN'T TAKE, BUT A COUPLE MINUTES, RICHARD, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
MEMBERS, I'M GONNA NEED TO EXCUSE MYSELF.
SO I'M GONNA TURN OVER THE, UH, MEETING TO THE MAYOR PRO.
TIM, I, I JUST WANNA REMIND EVERYBODY WE MEET AGAIN IN TWO DAYS ON THE 10TH.
UM, THAT WILL BE OUR AMENDMENT DAY AS WE'VE AND I F C DAY, AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, WHERE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL LAY OUT THEIR AMENDMENTS AND PROPOSED AMENDMENTS, PROPOSED IFCS, AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION.
AND IF WE NEED STAFF, WE'LL OBVIOUSLY HAVE THEM AVAILABLE AS WELL.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE 16TH IS, IS POSTED AS THE DAY THAT WE WILL, UH, HAVE THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE ON THE BUDGET.
THERE WILL ALSO BE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THAT DAY, AND IF NEEDED, WE WILL USE THE 17TH AND THE 18TH.
AND WITH THAT MAYOR PRO TEM, I APOLOGIZE, BUT I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
UM, JUST, UH, I WANTED TO DRILL DOWN JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ON THE TRANSFER CENTER.
I, I, YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY I HAVE AN AMENDMENT.
WE JUST PUT IT, DRAFTED IT JUST IN CASE.
BUT, UM, THE, UH, THERE WAS SOME PLANNING THAT, UH, I, I THINK IS, IS, UH, SCHEDULED TO BE DONE SOME STUDIES ON THE A R TRANSFER CENTER.
DO YOU HAVE ANY, UH, DETAILS ON HOW MUCH THE, THE DEPARTMENT IS ANTICIPATING, UH, THE, TO SPEND ON THE STUDY? ANY IDEA OF A TIMELINE, ANYTHING LIKE THAT? SURE.
UH, RICHARD MCHALE, INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.
UM, WE HAD A PRESENTATION, UH, EARLIER LAST WEEK, UH, ABOUT THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER.
I HAD MENTIONED, UH, THAT THAT PROJECT HAD SOME REMAINING FUNDS LEFT OVER FROM THE FEASIBILITY STUDY THAT WAS DONE ON THAT PROPERTY.
SO WE INTEND TO USE THOSE FUNDS TO DO, UH, SIMILAR STUDIES FOR, UH, A TRANSFER STATION.
UM, WE'VE ALSO, WE ARE ABLE TO TAKE SOME OF THAT MONEY TO DO SOME, UH, FEASIBILITY STUDY ON OUR FM EIGHT 12 PROPERTY.
FOR SOME PROJECTS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING OUT THERE, THAT FEASIBILITY STUDY IS GONNA BE ABOUT 80,000.
SO WE'RE PROJECTING ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A, A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR THE PROPERTY.
UM, NOW THIS ALL DEPENDS ALSO AS FAR AS WHAT PROPERTY WE'RE LOOKING AT.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT CITY PROPERTIES RIGHT NOW.
IF WE ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY A CITY PROPERTY, THE PROJECT CAN MOVE ALONG A LITTLE BIT QUICKER.
UH, THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST PROJECTS TO GO THROUGH THE PUBLIC FACILITY CORPORATION.
SO, UH, AND I THINK IT WAS MENTIONED AT THE, THE LAST MEETING THAT, THAT FROM R F P TO MOVE IN WAS ABOUT 48 MONTHS.
MY GOAL IS TO HAVE A TRANSFER STATION OPERATING PRIOR TO OUR LANDFILL CONTRACT EXPIRING, WHICH WILL BE ABOUT MAY OF, UH, 2029.
SO ABOUT ABOUT FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, UH, THAT CONTRACT WILL EXPIRE.
SO WE, WE'D HOPE TO HAVE SOMETHING IN PLACE BY THEN, BUT IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE PROPERTY THAT'S PICKED.
UM, IF WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THAT PROPERTY QUICKLY, THE FEASIBILITY STUDY ITSELF WILL PROBABLY TAKE ABOUT SIX MONTHS.
SO I THINK THE MONEY WE HAVE RIGHT NOW SHOULD GET US THROUGH, UH, THE EARLY PLANNING STAGES AND THE FEASIBILITY STUDY.
SO I THINK POSSIBLY IN F Y 25, WE MAY BE COMING BACK AND LOOKING FOR SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL MONIES TO ACTUALLY, UH, MOVE THAT PROJECT THROUGH.
I JUST WANTED TO, YOU KNOW, JUST TO GET THAT ON THE RECORD AND IN A PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND AGAIN, JUST TO REITERATE, I THINK IT'S A GREAT PROJECT.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT Y'ALL ARE PLANNING AND, AND, AND MOVING FORWARD ON IT.
UH, AND, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, TO, UH, UH, READING THE, THE STUDY WHEN, UH, WHEN IT'S DONE AND, AND READY TO GO.
I APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT AS WELL.
AND I'VE GOT ONE QUESTION AS WELL.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS FOR RESOURCE RECOVERY? FIRST, I'LL JUST JUMP RIGHT IN.
UM, WE HAVE A QUESTION AND ANSWER THAT'S, UH, NOT YET RESPONDED TO YET, AND IT IS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE LITTER ABATEMENT AND CREEK STUDY THAT Y'ALL DID.
UM, IT SUGGESTED THAT THERE SHOULD BE A FULL-TIME TRASH COORDINATOR OR, OR WHAT I WANNA CALL THE TRASH GURU OF JUST KEEPING TRACK OF ALL THE PROJECTS.
UM, CAN YOU TELL ME IF THAT POSITION IS BAKED INTO THIS BUDGET ALREADY OR IF WE NEED TO ALLOCATE SOME DOLLARS TOWARD THAT POSITION? SO THAT PROJECT WAS ACTUALLY DONE BY WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
[02:35:01]
I DON'T BELIEVE WATERSHED HAVE ANY FUNDING IN THERE FOR THAT POSITION, BUT OUR, UH, A R R DOES HAVE STAFF THAT BASICALLY DO THAT.THE, OUR LITTLE ABATEMENT DIVISION MANAGER BASICALLY HAS THAT ROLE.
SO WE KIND OF SEE THAT AS A TASK THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN-HOUSE.
SO, SO WE WOULDN'T WANT TO, UH, ADD ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ANOTHER PERSONNEL WHEN I THINK WE HAVE EXISTING STAFF THAT CAN DO THAT WORK.
WE'VE ACTUALLY DONE A LOT OF THAT WORK.
BUT I THINK, UM, THERE'S SOME GAPS AS FAR AS THE COMMUNITY GROUPS THAT WE'VE REACHED OUT TO.
WE HAVEN'T, UH, EN ENCOMPASSED EVERYONE THAT IS INVOLVED IN THAT.
UM, IN FACT, TODAY I JUST SAW AN ARTICLE ABOUT UT UH, DOING A PROJECT ALONG WEST CAMPUS THERE WHERE THEY'RE GONNA BE DOING SOME LITTER STUFF AND THAT WAS THE FIRST WE HAD HEARD ABOUT THAT.
SO THERE'S A, THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE NEED TO HAVE A BETTER AWARENESS OF EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY.
BUT I THINK WE CAN DO THAT EX THAT WORK EXISTING IN-HOUSE.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR STAFF? ALLISON ALTER, THANK YOU.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. MIKEL.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR LAUNCHING THE HAZARDOUS WASTE PILOT IN DISTRICT 10 AND DISTRICT FOUR, MY CONSTITUENTS.
I REALLY LOVE THAT AND I WAS GLAD IN OUR CONVERSATIONS TO CONFIRM THAT THAT WOULD BE CONTINUING.
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO EXPAND THAT TO ANOTHER NORTHERN DISTRICT? SO, UH, WE WILL BE MAINTAINING THAT PILOT, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVEN'T ADDED ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO EXPAND IT CITYWIDE, WE THINK WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO EXPAND IT.
SOME OTHER AREA, OTHER DISTRICTS, UH, IN NORTH AUSTIN, THOSE ARE AREAS THAT ARE TYPICALLY, WE SEE LESS PARTICIPATION AT OUR FACILITY AT THE SOUTHEAST, UH, AND OUR TODD LANE, UH, HOUSEHOLD HAZARDS WASTE FACILITY.
SO I THINK WE CAN EXPAND THAT, UM, EVER SO SLOWLY IN THOSE AREAS.
WE DON'T WANT TO GET TOO MUCH AHEAD BECAUSE WE'RE NOT SURE THE DEMAND.
UM, WE ACTUALLY EXPECT THAT A, A LOT MORE FOLKS TO COME DOWN FROM THE NORTHERN AREAS.
BUT IN, IN TALKING WITH THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WE FIND A LOT OF 'EM ACTUALLY LIKE GOING TO THE FACILITY BECAUSE THEY'RE ABLE TO PICK UP, UH, MATERIALS FROM OUR REUSE STORE AND BRING THINGS THAT OUR CURRENT CURBSIDE COLLECTION SYSTEM DOESN'T, UH, COLLECT SUCH AS ELECTRONICS AND STUFF.
SO, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I THINK WE'D RATHER LIKE PHASE THIS IN INSTEAD OF GOING FULL CITYWIDE.
AND I THINK WE CAN, WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT IN THIS UPCOMING BUDGET YEAR WITH THE EXISTING RESOURCES WE HAVE BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN A NOT AS LARGE OF AN INCREASE AS WE HAD EXPECTED.
YEAH, I THINK WHAT WE ARE HEARING FROM FOLKS IS THEY HAVE A LOT OF STUFF AT THE BEGINNING AND THEN THEY'RE MAYBE NOT, YOU KNOW, KIND OF STORED UP FOR A WHILE AND IT NEEDS TO GET OUT.
UM, BUT UM, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT IT WILL BE ABLE TO PHASE OUT, PHASE IN MORE.
I DIDN'T EXPECT IT WOULD GO CITYWIDE ANYWAY.
I WAS JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION OF MAKING IT AVAILABLE, UM, BECAUSE I KNOW MY CONSTITUENTS ARE REALLY HAPPY, UM, WITH HAVING THAT OPPORTUNITY.
YEAH, I I THINK AT SOME POINT WE WOULD WANNA BE CITYWIDE JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS THAT AREN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE FACILITY.
THEY DON'T HAVE A VEHICLE OR, OR THERE'S SOME OTHER MEANS OF, UH, OF OBSTACLES FOR THEM TO GET THERE.
SO, UH, OUR GOAL IS TO, AS FROM AN EQUITY STANDPOINT IS TO, TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO ALL THE CITIZENS.
I JUST MEANT THAT WITH THE PHASING SINCE IT, IT SEEMS TO COME IN WAVES, SO YOU WOULD HAVE TO PHASE IT OR IT WOULDN'T WORK ANYWAY, BUT THANK YOU.
AND THEN I SAW DIRECTOR MORALES HAD COME DOWN.
I DON'T WANNA SKIP OVER YOU IF YOU MADE THE EFFORT TO COME ON DOWN.
UM, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE NEEDS FOR THAT LITTER ABATEMENT STUDY FOR THE CREEKS IS SUFFICIENTLY MET WITH THIS YEAR'S BUDGET? DO YOU NEED ANY EXTRA POSITION TO ASSIST? WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON, JORGE MORALES, DIRECTOR WATERSHED.
UH, I WOULD SAY DITO TO WHAT, UH, RICHARD JUST SAID AND WE DID HAVE PREPARED THE ANSWER.
YOU SHOULD BE GETTING IT SHORTLY, BUT WE DON'T THINK WE NEED IT FOR F Y 24.
WE NEED MORE COORDINATION BEFORE WE CAN COME BACK WITH WHAT THAT MIGHT BE LOOKING LIKE.
ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR STAFF WE NEED TO COVER COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER? SO I DON'T HAVE A QUESTION FOR STAFF, BUT I KNOW THERE WERE SEVERAL ANSWERS THAT CAME UP TODAY THAT RELATED TO SOME COLLEAGUES AMENDMENTS.
SO I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE AMENDMENTS THAT ARE NO LONGER PERTINENT.
UM, IF YOU COULD LET US KNOW SO THAT WE CAN KEEP THAT IN MIND.
I'M JUST GLAD TO HEAR SEVERAL OF THE CONCERNS WERE ADDRESSED, BUT IT JUST WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE NOT SINGLED IN ON THOSE AMENDMENTS TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER, WHETHER FOLKS WHO ARE PROPOSING THOSE FEEL LIKE, UM, THOSE NEED TO, TO CONTINUE TO BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION.
I HAD A FEW THAT I HAD PUT IN AS PLACEHOLDERS HOPING THAT WHEN THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WERE COMING IN THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY BECAUSE THEY WERE ADDRESSED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
UM, DOES, DOES STAFF KNOW WHEN THE REST OF THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS MAY COME IN? SHOULD WE EXPECT THOSE BEFORE THURSDAY SO WE COULD MAKE AMENDMENTS IF WE, IF WE NEED TO WITH SOME OF THOSE NUMBERS? YES.
WE ARE REALLY PUSHING TO GET THEM DONE BY TOMORROW.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE'RE DOWN TO, UM, UNDER 40.
I BELIEVE THAT'S IN, THEY MAY TELL ME SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY IN A MINUTE, BUT I THINK WE'RE UNDER 40 QUESTIONS THAT WE'RE STILL TRYING TO RESPOND TO.
WE'RE TRYING TO GET 'EM PUSHED OUT BY TOMORROW.
AND THEN TOMORROW WE'LL BE GETTING THE SALES TAX FINAL ASSESSMENTS AS WELL,
[02:40:01]
WE'LL, WE'LL RECEIVE THOSE NUMBERS.
WE'LL RECEIVE THAT REPORT TOMORROW.
AND THEN, UM, ERIC WHO DOES ALL THE REVENUE CALCULATIONS, WE'LL BE WORKING ON DISTRIBUTING THAT INFORMATION AFTER HE FINISHES HIS, HIS ANALYSIS.
LAST CALL FOR QUESTIONS FOR TODAY.
I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS UP, SO I WILL JUST AS A FRIENDLY REMINDER TO MY COLLEAGUES, UH, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GONE THROUGH AND IF THERE'S ANY LAST AMENDMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MADE, UM, OR ANY OTHER PROPOSALS THAT PEOPLE WANNA BRING FORWARD, IT'S BEST TO DAYLIGHT THEM AS AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
I THINK AT THIS POINT, AS WE DEVELOP OUR SPREADSHEET AND FINALIZE THE, THE LAST FEW DOLLARS AND, AND LOCATIONS THAT SOME OF THE FUNDING MIGHT BE COMING FROM FOR THESE AMENDMENTS, WE'LL WANNA KNOW EXACTLY WHAT DOLLARS WE'RE LOOKING AT AND WE'LL ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE PULLED DOWN ANYTHING THAT'S UNNECESSARY AT THIS POINT OR, UM, ARE AWARE OF ANY AMENDMENTS THAT MIGHT POTENTIALLY BE COMING.
I KNOW I HAD ONE LAST YEAR, WE HAD TO SWITCH AT THE LAST MINUTE, BUT BY THEN WE HAD SO MANY DAYS OF DISCUSSION ABOUT, UM, WHITTLING THROUGH THOSE LAST FEW DOLLARS THAT IT JUST DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO TRY TO PUT IN AN ADDITIONAL ASK AT THE LAST MINUTE.
SO JUST MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT EVERYTHING DAYLIGHTED ON THE MESSAGE BOARD.
AND I THINK THAT COVERS US FOR TODAY.
I WILL GO AHEAD AND ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 1:48 PM AND THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR ALL OF THE DISCUSSION TODAY.