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IT'S NINE OH ONE AND I'LL CALL TO ORDER THE WORK SESSION OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL ON APRIL 21ST, 2026.
WE HAVE A QUORUM OF CITY COUNCIL PRESENT AND WE ARE MEETING IN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS LOCATED IN AUSTIN CITY HALL AT 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
UM, MEMBERS, THE WAY WE'LL GO IS WE HAVE SOME SPEAKERS, SO WE'LL HEAR FROM OUR SPEAKERS, AND THEN, UH, WE WILL GO INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO TAKE UP A DISCUSSION OF TWO ITEMS. ONCE THE EXECUTIVE SESSION IS COMPLETE, WE WILL COME OUT AND WE WILL HEAR, UH, WE WILL GO WITH THE BRIEFING ON THE FINANCIAL FORECAST, AND WE'LL FOLLOW THAT WITH THE, UH, AGENDA ITEM A SIX.
[Additional Item]
THE CITY CLERK AND ASK THAT YOU PLEASE CALL THE SPEAKERS.WE'RE GONNA START WITH REMOTE SPEAKERS.
FIRST SPEAKER IS SUSANNA WOODY.
GOOD MORNING, HONORABLE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER.
MY NAME IS SUSANNA, LED WOODY, AND I SERVE AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE DELL VALLEY COMMUNITY COALITION.
I'M HERE TODAY ON BEHALF OF OUR ORGANIZATION TO EXPRESS OUR SUPPORT FOR THE PROPOSED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE HOTEL PROJECT AT CIRCUITS OF THE AMERICAS.
THIS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTS A REAL LONG AWAITED OPPORTUNITY FOR DELL VALLEY.
FOR YEARS, OUR COMMUNITY HAS NEEDED A TRUE ECONOMIC ANCHOR, YET WE HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY OVERLOOKED AND UNDER INVESTMENT.
THIS PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SHIFT THAT TRAJECTORY BY BRINGING STABLE JOBS AND PATHWAYS FOR ADVANCEMENT, CREATING MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES CLOSE TO HOME FOR OUR YOUTH, AND ATTRACTING SERVICES, AMENITIES AND GATHERING SPACES THAT WE DON'T HAVE IN DELL VALLEY AND HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO ACCESS.
WE RESPECTFULLY ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS PROJECT, AND WE URGE THE CITY TO ENSURE THAT REVENUE GENERATED IS REINVESTED INTO THE DELL VALLEY COMMUNITY WITHIN CITY LIMITS.
THIS IS MORE THAN A DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BEGIN ADDRESSING YEARS OF UNDERINVESTMENT AND ENSURE THAT DELL VALLEY IS NOT LEFT BEHIND.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND YOUR CONSIDERATION.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT US@ATX.DCC.ORG.
AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
NEXT REMOTE SPEAKER FOR ITEM A SIX IS LUKE, UH, CHARLTON.
GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER LUKE CHARLTON.
I'M THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF RITA, PROPOSING TO BE THE DEVELOPER OF THE HOTEL, AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS, UM, WHEN THE ITEM COMES UP.
WE'RE GONNA SWITCH TO IN-PERSON SPEAKERS FOR ITEM A SIX, AS YOUR NAME IS CALLED.
IF YOU CAN PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE PODIUM AND STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.
JUAN RODRIGUEZ, APRIL BROWN, AND MICHAEL WHALEN.
I'M THE POLITICAL DIRECTOR FOR UNITE HERE, LOCAL 23 AND HERE TO SPEAK, UM, ON ITEM A SIX.
UH, WE ARE IN STRONG SUPPORT OF THIS.
UM, WE'VE WORKED WITH RITA, UM, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, PARTICULARLY IN HERE IN HOUSTON.
UM, AND WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THEM DEVELOPING THIS HOTEL.
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PRESIDENT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION SAID, UM, THIS IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR WORKING PEOPLE, UM, IN DELL VALLEY AND, UM, I THINK AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, UM, REALLY INCREASE WAGES AND BENEFITS FOR WORKING PEOPLE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROJECT.UM, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY ALL I HAD TO SHARE AND I'M HAPPY TO, UH, TALK WITH ANYBODY ABOUT THIS PROJECT.
GOOD MORNING, HONORABLE MAYOR, UH, AND CITY COUNCIL.
I'M THE PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE VALLEY COMMUNITY COALITION.
UM, AND I'M HERE BEHALF OF DVCC TODAY TO SUPPORT THE READ AGREEMENT WITH, UH, A POTENTIAL READ AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE DAKOTA HOTEL HAPPENING AT C THE AMERICAS.
UH, OUR ORGANIZATION HAS WORKED WELL WITH C UH, SACRED THE AMERICAS IN THE PAST.
UM, AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY WE'RE VERY EXCITED, UM, TO HAVE A NEW PARTNER LIKE RITA HELP US EXPAND THE WORK AT CRESCENT.
UM, AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY THAT THIS, THAT THE VALLEY HAS NOT HAD IN THE PREVIOUS, UM, PREVIOUS YEARS.
UM, THIS WILL BRING IN JOBS AND WILL BRING IN PARK LANDS A WILL BRING A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY AND PEOPLE AT THE VALLEY TO DESERVE TO HAVE A PLACE TO WORK AND WHERE THEY LIVE, UH, WITHOUT HAVING TO COMMUTE AN HOUR AND A HALF, UH, TO HERE.
UM, BUT YEAH, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UH, THIS KIND OF SCALE OF PROJECTS DOES NOT OCCUR VERY OFTEN IN OUR COMMUNITY WANTS AND IF THERE'S MORE OPTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES WITHOUT HAVING TO GO ACROSS THE CITY TO FIND THEM.
UM, BUT YEAH, IF YOU HAVE ANY GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE FEEL TO CONTACT ME.
I THINK APRIL BROWN'S WAVING FOR THE CLERK, UH, MICHAEL WHALE ON BEHALF OF RITA.
AS YOU'VE ALREADY HEARD, THIS IS A TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECT TO DELL VALLEY CREATING A LONG AWAITED ECONOMIC ANCHOR FOR DELL VALLEY AND THE EASTERN CRESCENT.
RITA TAKES ON FULL FINANCING, CONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS AND RISK.
THE PROJECT IS ESTIMATED TO COST MORE THAN $950 MILLION AND GENERATE OVER $10 BILLION IN OVERALL DIRECT AND INDIRECT ECONOMIC BENEFIT FOR THE COMMUNITY OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
THE CITY HAS NO UPFRONT PAYMENT, NONE.
THIS IS COMPLETELY PERFORMANCE-BASED REIMBURSEMENT.
IF RITA DOES NOT BOOK ROOMS AND GENERATE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, THE CITY OF AUSTIN REBATES $0 AND RITA IS STILL ON THE HOOK FOR PROPERTY TAXES ON THE HOTEL ITSELF.
THIS IS A MODEL THAT OTHER TEXAS CITIES HAVE FOLLOWED OFTEN IN THOSE CASES WITH UPFRONT PAYMENTS OR ABATEMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES, NEITHER OF WHICH ARE BEING SOUGHT HERE.
UNFORESEEN EVENTS CAN OCCUR SUCH AS PANDEMIC WAR OR FIRE THAT WOULD REDUCE OR ELIMINATE GUEST RESERVATIONS AND THEREFORE REDUCE OR ELIMINATE ANY REIMBURSEMENT TO RITA.
ALTHOUGH PROPERTY TAX COLLECTION, WHICH GOES TO THE GENERAL FUND, WOULD CONTINUE AT AN ESTIMATED $600 MILLION FOR ALL LOCAL TAXING JURISDICTIONS OVER 30 YEARS.
THIS INCLUDES OVER $160 MILLION IN PROPERTY TAXES TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND OVER $260 MILLION TO DELL VALLEY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT.
THERE WILL ALSO BE SALES TAX OF AT LEAST $40 MILLION OVER THE 30 YEAR TERM.
THIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO INVEST MEANINGFULLY IN AUSTIN'S WORKFORCE.
RITA WILL BE ENTERING A LABOR AGREEMENT WITH UNITE HERE, LOCAL 23, WHICH WILL CREATE SIGNIFICANT JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY OF THE 900 PERMANENT JOBS ON SITE.
RITA ESTIMATES THAT 650 TO 700 WILL BE UNITE HERE JOBS.
THIS POSITION, THESE POSITIONS AND THE PROJECT REALLY SERVE AS A WORKFORCE INVESTMENT AND A LONG-TERM GENERATOR OF NEW ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND REVENUE FOR THE CITY.
OF COURSE, WE ARE ALL AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
IF YOUR NAME HAS BEEN CALLED, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE PODIUM, XIA JOSEPH AND APRIL BROWN.
OKAY, THANK YOU MAYOR COUNCIL, I'M ZENO JOSEPH AS IT RELATES SPECIFICALLY TO ITEM A 0 0 6 CIRCUIT OF AMERICA'S HOTEL.
MY OPPOSITION IS TO THE LANGUAGE AND BACKUP, WHICH SPECIFIES THAT YOU ARE APPROVING AN ORDINANCE WAIVING THE STAFF PRESENTATION, PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT AND PORTAL SETUP AND PUBLIC HEARING REQUIREMENTS.
I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHY YOU WOULD LACK TRANSPARENCY ON AN ITEM THAT I JUST HEARD IS $950 MILLION.
SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOU DO HAVE A PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAN THROUGH HUD AND SPECIFICALLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT IS USED IN THIS, UH, NOT NECESSARILY IN THIS AREA, BUT IT IS SPECIFIED BY HUD.
SO I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO BE MORE TRANSPARENT.
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PROJECT, I WOULD ASK YOU TO BRIEF THE PUBLIC.I WOULD ALSO ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOUR PAST AGREEMENTS WITH SAMSUNG AND APPLE HAVE NOT GARNERED THE JOBS THAT THEY HAVE SPECIFIED, AND SPECIFICALLY IT WAS ONLY $4.7 MILLION FOR THE METRO RAPID IN 2020 TO SERVE SAMSUNG TO APPLE.
AND TO DATE YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING TO PROVIDE LOW INCOME RESIDENTS IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN, NORTHWEST AUSTIN ACCESS TO THE JOBS.
I'M NOT SURE HOW YOU ANTICIPATE THAT ANYONE WHO LIVES NORTH OF US, 180 3 NORTHEAST SPECIFICALLY WOULD BE ABLE TO GET TO THE CIRCUITS OF AMERICA JOBS.
AND SO I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE, MAYOR, MY COMMENTS AS THEY ALWAYS ARE, ARE IN THE CONTEXT OF TITLE SIX OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, WHICH PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RACE, COLOR, AND NATIONAL ORIGIN.
AND SPECIFICALLY IF YOU RECEIVE THE FEDERAL FIN FUNDING, THEN ALL OF YOUR PROGRAMS MUST BE NON-DISCRIMINATORY.
AND AS YOU ARE AWARE, THE TRANSIT SYSTEM IS DISCRIMINATORY AND BLACKS AND IMMIGRANTS AND ALSO THE HISPANICS NORTHEAST OF US 180 3 HAVE INFREQUENT, UNRELIABLE, DISCONNECTED ROUTES.
SO I WOULD JUST ASK YOU TO BE MORE TRANSPARENT WITH THE PUBLIC.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
WE HAVE BRIGHT AND SUMMERS, DAVID CRUZ, ANDIA, JOSEPH, GOOD MORNING MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
I'M BRIAN SUMMERS, PRESIDENT OF ASME LOCAL 1624, THE UNION THAT REPRESENTS CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY EMPLOYEES.
I KNOW WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY.
WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT THE SALES TAX PROJECTIONS ARE GONNA LOOK LIKE AND START TO DIG, DIG INTO THE BUDGET.
AND THIS IS SORT OF A KICKOFF TO THE BUDGET SEASON BECAUSE IT SETS PARAMETERS FOR THAT CONVERSATION AND IN THE SPIRIT OF SETTING PARAMETERS, I WANT TO CLARIFY WHERE OUR UNION STANDS ON PROJECTIONS WE SAW LAST WEEK FOR IT SAVINGS THAT WILL BE FACTORED INTO THE BUDGET.
TO PUT IT VERY CLEARLY, AME SUPPORTS THE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION.
THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE RECEIVED A BRIEFING ON LAST WEEK.
IT'S EVIDENT TO OUR MEMBERS, TO THE IT WORKERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT THAT MONEY TIED UP IN SOFTWARE AND VARIOUS CONTRACTS IS NOT BEING SPENT WISELY AND WE WANT THAT MONEY TOO.
WE KNOW THAT EVERY DOLLAR WE'RE ABLE TO SAVE REPRESENTS A DOLLAR THAT'S AVAILABLE FOR EMPLOYEE RAISES, FOR SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRACTS, FOR PARKS FACILITIES AND MORE SO WHERE THE UNION CAN HELP SUPPORT EFFORTS TO REALIZE THOSE SAVINGS.
WE'RE A READY AND WILLING PARTNER, BUT I WANT TO STATE JUST AS CLEARLY THAT A REORGANIZATION OF THE CITY'S IT WORKFORCE IS NOT REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE THESE SAVINGS.
YOU'LL HEAR THAT THE CONSOLIDATION OF HUNDREDS OF IT PERSONNEL IS A NECESSARY COG IN THE WHEEL OF SAVINGS FROM THAT FROM APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION.
BUT THAT WASN'T THE CASE ON MARCH 4TH WHEN DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR LAKEY PRESENTED TO AUDEN FINANCE COMMITTEE.
WHEN DE DIRECTOR LAKEY PRESENTED TO AUDEN, UH, AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION ON MARCH 19TH, LAKEY STATED THAT EVEN THOUGH THOSE ARE BOTH TECHNOLOGY OPTIMIZATION INITIATIVES, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME INITIATIVE.
AND SO WHAT HAS CHANGED IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE WORKFORCE HAVE SPOKEN UP.
AND SO NOW I WANT TO STRESS THAT WE CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS WITHOUT CREATING NEW ONES.
IT SPENDING DECISIONS ARE CHOICES.
THEY CAN BE IMPROVED BY GOVERNANCE PROTOCOLS, EXPLORING AND IMPROVE FEDERATED MODEL AND COMMITTING TO SOUND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT.
I ALSO WANNA TAKE A MOMENT AS WE START THIS BUDGET PROCESS TO SAY THAT A 0% COST OF LIVING RAISE FOR CITY EMPLOYEES IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
IT DOES NOT SHOW VALUE TO OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS.
IT DRIVES AWAY OUR TALENTED WORKFORCE.
AND SO THAT MUST BE A TOP PRIORITY THIS BUDGET CYCLE.
I AM WITH AFSCME 1624 STOP ONE A TS CAMPAIGN.
LAST WEEK, DIRECTOR LAKEY PRESENTED TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE ON THE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION INITIATIVE.
OVER THE LAST TWO MONTHS, IT WORKERS HAVE EXPRESSED CONSISTENT SUPPORT FOR THIS EFFORT IN PUBLIC AND IN PRIVATE.
AFME SUPPORTS APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT MODERNIZATION DOESN'T REQUIRE CENTRALIZING HUNDREDS OF IT WORKERS INTO ONE TINY DEPARTMENT THAT IS NOT READY TO MANAGE A HIGH PERFORMING WORKFORCE WITH DIVERSE SPECIFICATIONS.
REDUCING OVERLAPPING SOFTWARE VENDOR CONTRACTS AND LICENSING IS THE REAL PATH TO SAVINGS.
BUT TODAY WHEN YOU HEAR FROM DIRECTOR LANG, SHE WILL CALL THESE SAVINGS ONE A TS, EVEN THOUGH MANAGEMENT HAS REGULARLY SAID THAT ONE A TS AND APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION ARE TWO SEPARATE INITIATIVES.
IF ONE A TS AND APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION HAVE BEEN REPRESENTED AS TWO SEPARATE INITIATIVES UNTIL RECENTLY, HOW CAN WE SUDDENLY BE TOLD THEY RELY ON ONE ANOTHER? LET'S CALL THIS FOR WHAT IT IS, A SLEIGH OF HAND TO JUSTIFY A HIGH RISK REORGANIZATION OF OVER 1000 WORKERS MANAGEMENT IS NOW TRYING TO REFRAME OATS AS A BUDGET OPTIMIZATION PROJECT.
THEY CAN'T DEFEND CONSOLIDATING THE WORKFORCE ON ITS
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OWN MERITS, BUT THE LEVEL OF DETAIL AROUND SAVINGS FROM APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION IS PROOF THAT THE CITY MANAGER CAN SHOW HIS WORK WHEN HE WANTS TO.SO WHERE IS THE SAME LEVEL OF DETAIL FOR ONE A TS? WHERE'S THE PUBLIC ROI? WHERE IS THE COST BENEFIT? WHERE IS THE PROOF THAT A DANGEROUS REORGANIZATION IS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK THOSE SOFTWARE SAVINGS? THIS REBRAND IS AN ATTEMPT TO PAPER OVER SLOPPY WORK AND CREATE A FALSE CHOICE BETWEEN PROTECTING PUBLIC SERVICES AND COST SAVINGS.
IT WORKERS HAVE REPEATEDLY COME BEFORE THIS D TO SAY WE CAN CUT COSTS FROM REDUNDANT SOFTWARE WITHOUT ENACTING A RISKY UNPOPULAR CONSOLIDATION THAT HAS NO PROOF.
THANK YOU MAYOR COUNCIL, I'M ZENOBIA JOSEPH.
I JUST WANTED TO BE SPECIFIC AS IT RELATED TO TITLE SIX IN MY COMMENTS QUOTE.
ADDITIONALLY, THE CIVIL RIGHTS RESTORATION ACT OF 1987 DEFINED THE WORD PROGRAM TO MAKE CLEAR THAT DISCRIMINATION IS PROHIBITED THROUGHOUT AN ENTIRE AGENCY.
IF ANY PART OF THE AGENCY RECEIVES FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.
THAT'S IN TEXT DOTS, FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, TITLE SIX RECIPIENTS 2025, PAGE THREE.
I JUST WANNA CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION, I'M GONNA GO BACK TO THE FY 2024 TO 25 BUDGET.
ON PAGE 1 45 YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE WAS A $550,000 EARMARK FOR MOVABILITY.
I WANT THE CITY MANAGER TO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE IS NO PROOF THAT YOU'RE TAKING ANY CARS OFF THE ROAD.
I WOULD ASK YOU TO GO NORTHEAST OF US 180 3 AND SEE 8 0 1 FOR YOURSELF SPECIFICALLY WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THE CLIMATE POLLUTION REDUCTION GRANT, I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE CAPITAL METRO JUST APPROVED THAT $5 MILLION YESTERDAY.
HOWEVER, YOU ARE NOT TAKING CARS OFF THE ROAD.
ROB SPILLER SAID IT WAS ELUSIVE.
AND SO WHAT I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOUR BUDGET DOES INCLUDE FEDERAL LANGUAGE, FEDERAL GRANTS.
IT'S IN THE OPERATING BUDGET AS WELL AS THROUGHOUT THE DOCUMENT.
SO THERE WAS NOTHING IN BACKUP FOR THE PUBLIC TO ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT MS. LANG IS ACTUALLY GOING TO PRESENT TO COUNSEL.
AND I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE STAFF HAS BEEN CIRCUMVENTING THE LAW BECAUSE THEY DO NOT POST TRANSPARENTLY WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DISCUSS.
I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE AS WELL THAT YOU'VE HEARD ME MENTION NORTH LAMAR AD NAUSEUM, BUT WHEN I TESTIFIED LAST TUESDAY BEFORE THE COMMUNITY, OR LAST TUESDAY WHEN I LOOKED AT THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES, IT SAID THAT I MENTIONED THE SHELTERS ON MOPAC.
THEY ARE ACTUALLY JUST TRYING TO CHILL OUR SPEECH.
I RECOGNIZE THAT BEING BEFORE YOU EQUATES TO A ME EXERCISE AND FUTILITY, BUT I AM HERE NONETHELESS BECAUSE YOU ARE VIOLATING TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 AND THE FAIR HOUSING ACT AS WELL.
I WOULD ASK THE CITY MANAGER TO LOOK AT PREVIOUS CONTRACTS.
THANK YOU MS. JOSEPH MAYOR, ALL SPEAKERS HAVE BEEN CALLED.
MEMBERS, UH, AS YOU'VE JUST HEARD, THAT CONCLUDES THE SPEAKERS ON THE PUBLIC COMMENT PART OF THE WORK SESSION.
SO WHAT WE'LL DO NOW AS I'VE INDICATED, AND I'LL JUST REPEAT IT, IS WE'RE GONNA GO INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
WHEN WE RETURN FROM THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, WE WILL TAKE UP ITEM B ONE, WHICH IS THE CITY'S FIVE YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST.
AND THAT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY ITEM A SIX, UH, RELATED TO THE HOTEL THAT WE'VE HEARD DISCUSSION ABOUT.
[E. Executive Session]
NOW GO INTO A CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION TO TAKE UP TWO ITEMS PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 51 0 71 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE.THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E ONE DISCUSSING LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO CUNNINGHAM ET AL VERSUS CITY OF AUSTIN ETAL D ONE DASH GN 2 6 0 0 215 2 IN THE 261ST DISTRICT COURT IN TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS CONCERNING THE CITY'S TRANSPORTATION USER FEE.
ALSO PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 5 1 0 7 1 OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE, WE WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E TWO, WHICH IS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO SB FOUR PASSED DURING THE 85TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION REGARDING ENFORCEMENT BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENTITIES OF STATE AND FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS.
IS THERE ANY OBJECTION TO GOING INTO A CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THE TWO ITEMS ANNOUNCED? HEARING NONE, THE COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 9:19 AM THANKS EVERYBODY, WE'LL SEE YOU IN A LITTLE BIT.
IT'S 1110 AND I'LL, UH, THE CITY COUNCIL IS BACK IN PUBLIC SESSION.
UH, WE ARE OUT OF THE CLOSED SESSION AND CLOSE AND, AND IN THAT CLOSED SESSION WE DISCUSSED LEGAL ISSUES RELATED ITEMS E ONE AND E TWO.
[B1. Presentation of the City's Five-Year Financial Forecast [Kerri Lang, Director - Office of Budget and Organizational Excellence.]]
WILL GO TO ITEM B ONE ON OUR AGENDA, WHICH ARE BRIEFINGS AND A PRESENTATION OF THE CITY'S FIVE YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST.AND I WILL RECOGNIZE DIRECTOR LANG.
GOOD MORNING MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
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OF BUDGET AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE, AND I HAVE WITH ME DEPUTY DIRECTOR ERIC NELSON.WE ARE HERE TO TALK TO YOU TODAY ABOUT OUR CITY'S FIVE YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST.
UM, THIS FORECAST PROVIDES AN INITIAL POINT IN TIME ANALYSIS OF THE CITY'S PROJECTED REVENUE COMPARED TO BASIC EXPENDITURE COST.
THE FINANCIAL FORECAST REPORT WAS DISTRIBUTED TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL ON LAST WEDNESDAY THE 15TH.
THE FULL REPORT WALKS THE THROUGH THE GENERAL FUND AND EACH OF THE CITY'S ENTERPRISE FUNDS.
HOWEVER, WE WILL FOCUS THIS DISCUSSION TODAY ON THE GENERAL FUND.
THE POWERPOINT PACKET THAT YOU HAVE INCLUDES AN APPENDIX THAT PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF EACH IN EACH ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENT.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE DEPARTMENTS, WE ARE HAPPY TO ANSWER THOSE AS WELL.
SO TODAY WE'LL START OUT BY WALKING THROUGH THE FISCAL YEAR 26, THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR FINANCIAL UPDATE.
THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE THE 27 BUDGET TIMELINE, PROVIDE YOU THE GENERAL FUND FORECAST, TALK THROUGH OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, AND THEN COUNCIL PRIORITIES.
ERIC NELSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN BUDGET AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE, UH, FY 26 YEAR END GENERAL FUND REVENUE COLLECTIONS ARE PROJECTED TO END THE YEAR ABOUT $6 MILLION OR 0.4% ABOVE BUDGET.
THIS IS PRIMARILY DUE TO STRONGER THAN ANTICIPATED SALES TAX COLLECTION, WHICH WE'RE NOW EXPECTING TO END THE YEAR 16 POINT A HALF MILLION DOLLARS HIGHER THAN BUDGET, WHICH WOULD BE A TWO POINT A HALF PERCENT GROWTH RATE IN COMPARISON WITH THE NEGATIVE 1% THAT WAS ASSUMED IN THE BUDGET.
PROPERTY TAX ON THE OTHER HAND, IS EXPECTED TO END THE YEAR ABOUT SIX POINT A HALF MILLION DOLLARS BELOW BUDGET BECAUSE OF HIGH LEVELS OF HIGH LEVELS OF APPEALS ACTIVITY.
THE PROPERTY TAX ROLE FOR THIS YEAR CURRENTLY SITS ABOUT $1.8 BILLION LOWER THAN IT DID AS OF THE CERTIFIED ROLE IN JULY THAT WE BASE THE BUDGET ON.
AND SO OUR ACTUAL TAX LEVY IS NOW LOWER THAN WHAT WE EXPECTED AND SUCCESSFUL APPEALS FROM PRIOR YEARS ARE ALSO LEADING TO REFUNDS OF PROPERTY TAX PAYMENTS FROM THOSE YEARS.
WE ALSO EXPECT TO BE A BIT BELOW BUDGET IN OUR OTHER REVENUE CATEGORY BECAUSE OF EVEN WEAKER THAN EXPECTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS FRANCHISE FEE COLLECTIONS.
AND BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF THE UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING OUR PUBLIC HEALTH FOOD ESTABLISHMENT PERMITTING FEE STRUCTURE, UM, BOTH OF WHICH ARE MORE THAN OUTWEIGHING HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED PARKING FEE REVENUE.
SO AS WE LOOK AT OUR GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR, UM, IN AGGREGATE, WE EXPECT THE GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENTS TO COME WITHIN THEIR EXPENDED THEIR EXPENDITURE BUDGET.
UM, WE ARE SEEING STABILIZATION IN OUR VACANCY SAVINGS BECAUSE OF THE HIRING, UM, FOCUS THAT THE DEPARTMENTS HAVE DONE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS.
DEPARTMENTS ARE STILL SEEING INFLATIONARY PRESSURES THAT CONTINUE TO, UM, WE CONTINUE TO SEE THAT ACROSS EXPENDITURE CATEGORIES.
SO EVERYTHING FROM AQUATICS, CHEMICALS, PUBLIC SAFETY UNIFORMS, UM, THINGS LIKE UM, EMS, MEDICAL AND DENTAL SUPPLIES.
THEY'RE SHOWING THOSE INFLATIONARY PRESSURES.
AND THEN DEPARTMENTS, UM, WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH US THROUGHOUT THE REMAINING OF THIS BUDGET, UH, PROCESS TO REFINE THEIR NUMBERS AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
SO LOOKING AT OUR TIMELINE, UM, WE ARE HERE TODAY ON THE 21ST.
WE HAVE RECEIVED OVER A HUNDRED RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OUR BOYS AND COMMISSIONS, UM, THAT WAS DUE ON MARCH 31ST.
THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BEING ANALYZED AND WILL BE SENT TO DEPARTMENTS FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS AS WE CONTINUE THE BUDGET PROCESS.
WE WILL BE BACK IN ABOUT A MONTH, UM, TO TALK TO THE BODY ABOUT COUNT PRIORITY SETTING.
UM, GIVEN THE INFORMATION THAT YOU'RE HEARING TODAY, THINKING THROUGH WHAT THE NEXT SEVERAL STEPS AND SEVERAL MONTHS WILL LOOK LIKE, ASKING FOR SOME PRIORITY SETTING GOING FORWARD.
AND THEN WE WILL PRESENT THE BUDGET IN JULY, MID-JULY ON THE 16TH.
FOLLOWING THAT, THERE WILL BE SEVERAL WORK SESSIONS FOR APPROVAL IN MIDGUT.
NOW TURN IT BACK TO ERIC TO TALK THROUGH GENERAL FUND REVENUE.
UH, LOOKING AHEAD TO OUR FY 27 REVENUE COLLECTIONS, WE ARE FORECASTING TOTAL REVENUE OF $1.53 BILLION.
IF THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS THE VOTER APPROVAL PROPERTY TAX RATE, IT WOULD BE ABOUT $25.1 MILLION LESS THAN THAT AT THE NO NEW REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS RATE, WHICH WE'LL DIVE DEEPER INTO IN A FEW SLIDES.
WE'LL ALSO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT EACH OF OUR MAJOR REVENUE CATEGORIES.
OVERALL, WE EXPECT PROPERTY TAX TO INCH A BIT CLOSER TO COMPRISING 50% OF OUR REVENUE WITH SALES TAX REPRESENTING ABOUT ONE QUARTER AND UTILITY TRANSFERS AND OTHER REVENUE TOGETHER REPRESENTING A BIT MORE THAN A QUARTER TOTAL PROJECTED REVENUE GROWTH FOR FY 27 IS WEIGHED DOWN A BIT DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF ONE-TIME TRANSFERS IN FY 26 FROM OUR BUDGET STABILIZATION RESERVE AND FROM
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PLANNING CIP THAT WE ARE NOT ANTICIPATING WILL BE REPEATED IN FFY 27.OTHER REVENUE IS HISTORICALLY THE SLOWEST GROWING OF OUR MAJOR REVENUE CATEGORIES AND WE EXPECT THAT TREND TO CONTINUE INTEREST EARNINGS ARE PROJECTED TO CONTINUE TO DECLINE FROM THEIR FY 24 PEAK OVER THE COURSE OF THE FORECAST PERIOD AND THAT DECLINED COUNTERACTS MUCH OF THE MODERATE ANTICIPATED GROWTH IN MANY OF THE OTHER REVENUE SOURCES IN THIS CATEGORY.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT THE COMBINED TRANSFER FROM OUR TWO UTILITIES WILL GROW BY ABOUT $10.3 MILLION NEXT YEAR AND BY A FURTHER $37.9 MILLION OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD.
AS BOTH UTILITIES CONTINUE TO INSTITUTE PLAN RATE INCREASES, THIS GROWTH IS PROJECTED TO BE A BIT FASTER THAN THE COMBINED GROWTH IN OUR OTHER REVENUE SOURCES.
AND SO WE EXPECT THE UTILITY TRANSFER REVENUE TO TICK UP A BIT AS A PERCENTAGE OF OUR TOTAL REVENUE, BUT IT SHOULD STILL BE WELL BELOW THE 15 TO 20% LEVEL THAT WAS TYPICAL IN THE PREVIOUS DECADE.
TURNING TO SALES TAX, THIS CHART ILLUSTRATES THE WILD RIDE WE'VE BEEN ON SINCE THE PANDEMIC, INCLUDING THE TWO PARTICULARLY LACKLUSTER YEARS OF GROWTH WE'VE JUST EXPERIENCED.
WHILE WE HAVE SEEN SOME IMPROVED COLLECTIONS IN RECENT MONTHS, OUR GROWTH FORECAST FOR FY 27 AND BEYOND REMAINS CONSERVATIVE DUE TO THE WEAKNESSES AND ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS AT THE NATIONAL AND PARTICULARLY LOCAL LEVEL.
WE CONSULT WITH JOHN HOCKS AT TXP INCORPORATED FOR OUR ECONOMIC FORECASTING AND UNFORTUNATELY HIS READ ON THE DATA IS THAT WE ARE LIKELY TO CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE ECONOMIC STAGNATION OVER THE NEAR TERM INFLATION HAS REMAINED STUBBORN STUBBORNLY HIGH AND THIS HASN'T BEEN HELPED BY THE RECENT FUEL PRICE SHOCKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE IRAN WAR.
THE STUBBORN INFLATION ALSO MEANS THAT THE FED HAS A, APPEARS TO HAVE PAUSED ITS SERIES OF RATE CUTS AND RATES REMAIN TOO HIGH TO MAKE FINANCING MANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS OR INVESTMENTS FEASIBLE IN AUSTIN.
SPECIFICALLY, ECONOMIC GROWTH IS SLOWING, PARTICULARLY IN THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR.
WE ARE SEEING OCCUPANCY CHALLENGES IN OFFICE AND MULTI-FAMILY PROPERTIES.
HOUSEHOLD DEBT IS AT RECORD LEVELS AND THERE'S A HIGH DEGREE OF CONSUMER UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF THE ECONOMY.
IN SHORT, THERE ARE NO STRONG DRIVERS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THEREFORE THE EXPECTATION IS THAT SALES TAX GROWTH SHOULD ROUGHLY TRACK GROWTH IN PRICE LEVELS.
CORE INFLATION IS CURRENTLY TRACKING AROUND 2.3% IN TEXAS AND THAT'S THE MAIN FACTOR DRIVING OUR YEAR END SALES TO SALES TAX GROWTH ESTIMATE OF TWO POINT HALF PERCENT.
THAT SAID, WE'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING SOME SURPRISINGLY STRONG MONTHLY RESULTS, PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO OUR TWO MOST RECENT PAYMENTS.
SOME OF THIS STRENGTH IS LIKELY THE RESULT OF COMPARISON WITH ESPECIALLY WEAK MONTHS IN THE PRIOR YEAR WHERE WE EXPERIENCED NEGATIVE GROWTH.
BUT OVERALL, UH, WE'RE FRANKLY JUST WITNESSING COLLECTIONS THAT ARE STRONGER THAN THE ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS SUGGEST THAT THEY SHOULD BE.
AND OUR FEAR IS THAT WE MAY BEGIN EXPERIENCING MORE FLAT OR NEGATIVE MONTHS AGAIN AS THE FISCAL YEAR PROGRESSES.
ULTIMATELY, OF COURSE, WE WILL REEVALUATE OUR PROJECTIONS AS WE RECEIVE MORE DATA AND INCORPORATE THESE RESULTS INTO THE FINAL PROJECTIONS THAT DRIVE THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
THIS GRAPH SHOWS WHAT COULD BE CALLED THE CONE OF UNCERTAINTY WITH RESPECT TO SALES TAX PROJECTIONS OVER THE COURSE OF THE FORECAST PERIOD, WE WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT THE 20 YEARS PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC AND FOUND OUR STRONGEST FIVE YEAR RUN OF SALES TAX GROWTH AND OUR WEAKEST FIVE YEAR RUN.
SO WE HAD ONE FIVE YEAR STRETCH WHERE WE GREW AT A COMPOUND AVERAGE RATE OF 8.1% PER YEAR AND WE HAD ONE FIVE YEAR STRETCH WHERE WE GREW AT ONLY 0.8% ON AVERAGE PER YEAR.
AND ACTUALLY THESE WEAKEST FIVE YEARS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED THE STRONGEST FIVE YEARS.
WE APPLIED THOSE TWO DIFFERENT GROWTH RATES TO OUR FY 26 ESTIMATE ESTIMATE TO GENERATE THIS EXPANDING CONE SHOWING TWO EXTREMES OF POTENTIAL SALES TAX GROWTH.
I SAY EXTREMES, BUT I SHOULD ADD THAT 20 YEARS IS A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE AND IT'S CERTAINLY POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD EXPERIENCE FIVE YEARS WHERE SALES TAX ACTUALLY DECLINES OR I SUPPOSE WHERE WE ACHIEVE EVEN STRONGER GROWTH.
BUT BASED ON OUR RECENT HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE, THESE ARE THE TWO EXTREMES ON THE LOW END, THAT WOULD MEAN AN FY 31 TOTAL SA SALES TAX REVENUE IS ONLY $16 MILLION HIGHER THAN WE EXPECTED TO BE THIS YEAR, BUT ON THE HIGH END IT WOULD MEAN THAT SALES TAX WOULD BE $178 MILLION HIGHER.
OUR FORECAST PROJECTIONS WORK OUT TO A COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF 2.7%, WHICH PUTS US ABOUT A QUARTER TO A THIRD OF THE WAY UP INTO THE CONE.
AND THESE PROJECTIONS ANTICIPATE AN ADDITIONAL $54 MILLION IN SALES TAX COLLECTIONS BY FY 31.
MOVING TO PROPERTY TAX BASED ON PRELIMINARY DATA FROM THE TRAVIS CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT, PROPERTY VALUES ARE PROJECTED
[00:30:01]
TO TO DECLINE BY 2.9% FOR TAX YEAR 2026, WHICH WOULD BE THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR OF DECLINES.BUT THE ACTUAL TOTAL WILL ULTIMATELY DEPEND ON THE VOLUME AND OUTCOME OF PROTESTS, WHICH ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO BE AT OR NEAR RECORD.
HIGH LEVELS NEW CONSTRUCTION, WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE STATE PROPERTY TAX REVENUE CAP IS PROJECTED AT $3.1 BILLION, A DECLINE OF ABOUT 435 MILLION FROM LAST YEAR AS A RESULT OF THE RELATIVELY SUBDUED ENVIRONMENT FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS OF HIGH INTEREST RATES.
TRANSLATING THESE PROJECTIONS INTO GENERAL FUND REVENUE, WE EXPECT PROPERTY TAX REVENUE TO REACH $716.6 MILLION AT THE NO NEW REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS RATE AND $741.6 MILLION AT THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE.
OUR TYPICAL HOMEOWNER WOULD SEE A PROJECTED ANNUAL INCREASE OF ABOUT $96 AT THE NO NEW REVENUE M AND O RATE AND ABOUT $155 AT THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE.
THE NO NEW REVENUE M AND O RATE IS THE RATE THAT RAISES THE SAME AMOUNT OF REVENUE FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS AS IN THE PRIOR YEAR FROM PROPERTIES TAXED IN BOTH YEARS NET OF STATE MANDATED ADJUSTMENTS.
SO WE MIGHT EXPECT THE INCREASE TO OUR TYPICAL OWNER HOMEOWNER TO BE CLOSER TO ZERO AT THAT RATE, BUT THERE IS ANOTHER COMPONENT OF THE PROPERTY TAX RATE THAT GENERATES REVENUE TO SERVICE OUR VOTER APPROVED AND OTHER ELIGIBLE DEBT, WHICH IS DRIVING MUCH OF THAT PROJECTED INCREASE.
THIS DEBT SERVICE PROPERTY TAX RATE IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE IN FY 27 AND THE TAX BILL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RATE IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE AS WELL.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE OVER $1 BILLION IN AUTHORIZED BUT UNISSUED DEBT ASSOCIATED WITH BOND INITIATIVES APPROVED BY THE VOTERS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS AND THE CITY'S ANNUAL DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS ARE PROJECTED TO INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE FORECAST PERIOD AS WE CONTINUE TO ISSUE THIS DEBT.
I WANT TO CONCLUDE THIS REVENUE COMPONENT OF OUR PRESENTATION WITH A QUICK TRUE UP VERSUS OUR FFY PLANNED, UH, FY 27 PLAN BUDGET PROJECTIONS.
MANY OF THE SAME DYNAMICS WE'VE DISCUSSED ARE DRIVING THE VARIANCES BETWEEN THE PLAN AND OUR CURRENT FORECAST, PARTICULARLY OUR IMPROVED SALES TAX RESULTS.
PROPERTY TAXES NOW PROJECTED TO BE A BIT LOWER AS A RESULT OF THE APPEALS DYNAMIC AND DUE TO A LOWER THAN ANTICIPATED NEW CONSTRUCTION NUMBER FROM TEAC AD UTILITY TRANSFER REVENUE HAS BEEN REVISED SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD DUE TO THE TRUE UP BETWEEN ESTIMATED AND ACTUAL YEAR-END REVENUE AT AUSTIN ENERGY AND OTHER REVENUE IS A BIT LOWER DUE THE DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING PUBLIC HEALTH PERMITS AND THE LOWER COLLECTIONS AND TELECOM FRANCHISE FEES.
AND NOW I'LL SEND IT BACK OVER TO CARRIE TO DISCUSS GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES.
THE INNER CIRCLE OF THIS CHART TALKS THROUGH THE REVENUE OR SHOWS THE REVENUE, UM, THAT ERIC JUST DISCUSSED.
THE OUT RING IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENTS AND THE PERCENTAGE OF THE OVERALL BUDGET EACH REPRESENTS THE GENERAL FUND HAS 13 DEPARTMENTS AND FUNDING FOR SOCIAL SERVICES POLICE, FIRE EMS AND FORENSIC SCIENCE MAKE UP 64.7% OF GENERAL FUND USES THE OTHER NINE DEPARTMENTS AND SOCIAL SERVICES FUND ROUND OUT TO 31.4% AND THEN TRANSFERS OTHERS ARE AT 3.9%.
AS WE TALK THROUGH OUR CITYWIDE COST DRIVERS, THESE ARE THE INITIAL AS, UH, COST ASSUMPTIONS FOR THESE MAJOR EXPENSES THAT IMPACT ALL FUNDS INCLUDING INTERNAL SERVICES, ENTERPRISE AND GENERAL FUND.
PER THE FISCAL YEAR 27 PLANNED YEAR, THERE'S NO BUDGET OR NO WAGE INCREASE FOR CIVILIANS IS ASSUMED FOR THIS FORECAST PERIOD OR FOR THIS FORECAST.
UM, LATER IN THE PRESENTATION WE'LL ADDRESS THE IMPACTS OF ADDING THE WAGE INCREASES AND OTHER COST DRIVERS, ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO CIVILIAN INCREASE.
UM, CURRENTLY AUSTIN HUMAN RESOURCES IS IS CONDUCTING A CITYWIDE MARKET STUDY THAT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION IN ADDITION TO, UM, THE WAGE.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE LIVING, LIVING WAGE ASSUMPTIONS, THERE IS NO ANTICIPATED LIVING WAGE INCREASE FOR FISCAL YEAR 27.
UM, AND IN ADDITION TO WAGES, UM, OUR SWORN EMPLOYEES, THEY ARE RECEIVING WAGE INCREASES PER THEIR CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS.
OUR SHARED SERVICES ALLOCATION IS, UM, PROJECTED OR ASSUMPTIONS INCLUDE A 5% INCREASE.
THIS IS FOR OUR SUPPORT SERVICES.
UM, TECHNOLOGY IS THINGS SUCH AS IT CTECH OUR FLEET MAINTENANCE AND FUEL ALLOCATIONS.
WE ARE PROJECTING A 5% INCREASE IN OUR HEALTH INSURANCE, UH, PROJECTIONS FOR CITY CONTRIBUTIONS.
AND THEN THERE'S AN INCREASE FOR, UM, THE, UH, STATUTORY REQUIRED PAYMENTS FOR OUR THREE PENSIONS MOVING FORWARD TO OUR BASE COST DRIVERS FOR THE GENERAL FUND.
UM, OUR SALARY INCREASES INCLUDE,
[00:35:01]
WHICH OF, AS YOU ALL KNOW IS OUR LARGEST EXPENSE IS IT DOES INCLUDE THE INSURANCE AND PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS THAT I JUST MENTIONED, AS WELL AS THE CONTRACT, UH, RELATED LABOR AGREEMENTS FOR POLICE, FIRE AND EMS. IT ALSO INCLUDES THE, UH, MARKET STUDY THAT, UM, AUSTIN HR IS COMPLETING RIGHT NOW, AND THAT'S AT THE 38.7 MILLION WE ARE ANTICIPATING, OR, UM, INCLUDING A PROJECTED 13.7 MILLION INCREASE TO OUR BUDGET STABILIZATION RESERVE FUND TO GET OUR RESERVES BACK TO THE 70% POLICY.AND THEN, UM, 16.1 MILLION ACROSS THE GENERAL FUND FOR OUR SUPPORT SERVICES AND INTERNAL SERVICES ALLOCATIONS.
WE'RE SEEING CONTRACTUAL INCREASES ACROSS, ACROSS THE DEPARTMENTS AT 3.9 MILLION ANTICIPATED MARSHALING YARD.
THAT'S THE 3 MILLION TO TO FULLY FUND THE MARSHALING YARD OPERATIONS AND FISCAL YEAR 27.
UM, AND THEN THE TRANSFER TO AUSTIN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES SUPPORTING WHAT WE'RE CALLING THE RESIDENTIAL AFFORDABILITY STABILIZATION INITIATIVE.
THIS IS TO HELP, UM, REDUCE THE INCREASES TO THE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, UH, FEES THAT HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
32 NEW FIRE POSITIONS OR INCLUDED IN THE FORECAST BASED ON THE, UM, WORKWEEK SCHEDULE THAT IS ANTICIPATED FOR OCTOBER 27TH, 2027 PER THE CONTRACT.
AND THEN WE'RE ANTICIPATING, UH, 2.9 MILLION, UH, SAVINGS BEGINNING IN FISCAL YEAR 27 FOR THE ONE A TS INITIATIVE, AS WELL AS, UM, THE REDUCTIONS THAT WE INCLUDED IN THE PLANNED YEAR OF REDUCING OR ELIMINATING THE TRANSFERS TO OUR CAPITAL REHABILITATION FUND AND THE HOUSING TRUST FUND, AS WELL AS REDUCTIONS TO OUR SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRACTS.
LOOKING AT EXPENDITURES FOR THE REMAINING OF THE, UH, FISCAL FINANCIAL FORECAST, WE DO ANTICIPATE, OR WE HAVE INCLUDED A 3% WAGE INCREASE BEGINNING IN FISCAL YEAR 28 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 31.
THAT RESULTS IN AN INCREASE OF $173 MILLION.
UM, THE COST ALLOCATIONS FOR OUR INTERNAL SERVICES OR OUR SHARED SERVICES FUNCTIONS ARE ESTIMATED TO INCREASE AT 58 MILLION AND THEN CONTRACTUAL INCREASES.
AND THESE ARE JUST THE BASE INCREASES THAT WE ARE ANTICIPATING.
THAT'S 8.8 MILLION FOR THE LIFE OF THE FISCAL FORECAST.
WE ARE STARTING TO, UH, ANTICIPATE INCREASED SAVINGS FROM THE, UM, IMPLEMENTATION OF ONE A TS.
UM, AND THAT INCLUDES THE APPLICATION RATIONAL RATIONALIZATION AND SOME OF THE, UM, ANTICIPATED SAVINGS FROM THE CONSOLIDATION.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT WHAT WE HAVE IN OUR FISCAL YEAR 27 FORECAST IN COMPARISON TO OUR PLANNED YEAR, UM, THAT WAS PRESENTED DURING THE PROPOSED BUDGET PROCESS, UM, WE ARE ANTICIPATING A $1.5 MILLION SAVINGS BASED ON THE, UM, REDUCTION OR, OR, UH, REMOVAL OF THE LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 27, AS WELL AS, UM, INCREASES IN, UM, OUR SUPPORT SERVICES OR OUR ALLOCATIONS BASED ON THE LIABILITY RESERVE AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION ALLOCATIONS.
AND THEN WE ARE SEEING, UM, A DEPARTMENTAL ADJUSTMENT, A DECREASE IN IN UM, EXPENDITURES BECAUSE THE PUBLIC SAFETY HEADQUARTERS, ALTHOUGH WE'RE STARTING TO MOVE IN, WE'RE SEEING, UH, DEFERRED COSTS AS WE CONTINUE TO HAVE TENANTS AT THAT LOCATION.
AND SO WE DO NOT ANTICIPATE CITY COSTS FOR THAT LOCATION UNTIL FISCAL YEAR 28, AS WELL AS THE WAREHOUSE, WHICH IS ANTICIPATED TO BE AVAILABLE BEGINNING FISCAL YEAR 28.
UM, WE HAVE INCLUDED THE TRANSFER TO THE BUDGET STABILIZATION RESERVE FUND AS WELL AS THE NEW $2.9 MILLION TRANSFER TO DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR PROJECTIONS FOR OUR RESERVES, UM, WE ARE, UM, ANTICIPATING ENDING THE YEAR AT 16.4%.
UM, THAT IS BETTER THAN THE 15.7 THAT WE ANTICIPATED AT THE AMENDED BUDGET.
WE ARE FORECASTING A TRANSFER TO REACH THE 17% LEVEL FOR FISCAL YEAR 27.
AND THEN, UM, FOR THE LIFE OF THE FORECAST, WE ARE ANTICIPATING AN AVERAGE OF 8.7 MILLION TO CONTINUE TO MEET THE FINANCIAL POLICY.
WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PLANNED ONE-TIME EXPENDITURES FOR FISCAL YEAR 27 OR THROUGH THE LIFE OF THE, UH, FORECAST OUT OF OUR BUDGET STABILIZATION RESERVE FUND.
SO NOW THAT WE'VE WALKED THROUGH THE BASE FORECAST OF BOTH THE EXPENDITURES AND THE REVENUE, THIS CHART SHOWS THE COMBINED REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE TO INFORM THE OVERALL OUTLOOK OVER THE FORECAST PERIOD, SHOWING EXPENDITURE GROWTH AT 3.2% AS WELL AS THE BOTH OF THE REVENUE SCENARIOS.
THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE GROWTH IS AT 3.4% AND THEN THE NO NEW REVENUE, UM, MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS GROWTH IS AT 1.7% OVER
[00:40:01]
THE FORECAST PERIOD.OF NOTE, AT THE VOTER APPROVAL LEVEL, WE'LL SEE AN INITIAL DEFICIT IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS.
THE FORECAST BEGINNING AT 7.1 MILLION SURPLUS BEGINNING IN FISCAL YEAR 29, GROWING TO A 15 POINT 15 MILLION SURPLUS BY FISCAL YEAR 31.
AND UM, AGAIN, THIS IS WITH OUR BASE FORECAST EXPENDITURES.
THIS IS NOT WITH ANY NEW, UM, INVESTMENTS.
SO LOOKING AT THAT VOTER APPROVAL RATE SCENARIO, UM, WE WILL HAVE A DEFICIT IN FISCAL YEAR 27 OF 1.3 MILLION.
THAT DEFICIT GROWS TO 15.1 MILLION IN FISCAL YEAR, EXCUSE ME, THAT SURPLUS INDICATES OF 15.1 MILLION SURPLUS BY FISCAL YEAR 31.
UM, OUR COST SAVING MEASURES ARE STILL, UM, INCLUDED IN THIS FORECAST PERIOD.
SO EVERYTHING THAT WE LAID OUT IN THE FISCAL YEAR 27, UH, PLANNED YEAR IS INCLUDED IN THESE UH, ASSUMPTIONS.
AND THEN AGAIN, MEETING OUR RESERVE REQUIREMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 27 AND ONGOING GOING, LOOKING AT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE SCENARIO, THAT DEFICIT FOR, FOR THE FIRST YEAR GROWS TO 26.4 MILLION.
UM, AND THEN IT GROWS TO 122 MILLION BY THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD.
IN ADDITION TO THOSE PLANNED YEAR, UM, REDUCTIONS THAT WE MENTIONED EARLIER, WE WILL ALSO NEED TO IDENTIFY AN ADDITIONAL 26.4 MILLION IN REVENUE COLLECTIONS OR EXPENDITURE SAVINGS AND JUST, UM, TO GIVE SOME EXAMPLES, THESE ARE NOT, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS OR IDEAS OF REDUCTIONS, BUT THESE NEXT COUPLE OF BULLETS TALK ABOUT SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT THESE DOLLARS COMPARE TO.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT 26.4 MILLION, IT'S EQUIVALENT TO ABOUT 240 PUBLIC SAFETY POSITIONS ACROSS ALL OF OUR SWORN EMPLOY, UH, SWORN DEPARTMENTS.
UM, IT'S EQUIVALENT TO, UM, ALL OF OUR BRANCH LIBRARIES, 17 OF OUR COM COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTERS.
UM, AND THEN THAT AMOUNT EXCEEDS THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR SEVERAL OF OUR OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
NOW AGAIN, WE'RE NOT RECOMMENDING THESE REDUCTIONS, BUT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS UNDERSTOOD OF WHAT THIS EQUIVALENT CHANGE WOULD LOOK LIKE IF WE WERE TO, UM, ADD BACK IN THE FISCAL YEAR 27 PLANNED REDUCTION.
UM, THIS IS, THIS IS A SLIDE THAT STATES WHAT THE OVERALL DEFICIT WOULD LOOK LIKE.
SO WE WOULD SEE A $50.6 MILLION DEFICIT WITH ADDING BACK IN THE SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRACTS, ADDING, UM, OUR TRANSFERS TO BOTH THE CAPITAL REHABILITATION FUND AND FUNDING OUR LOCAL HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM.
UM, INCREASING OUR WAGE ADJUSTMENTS TO 3% FOR CIVILIANS AT THAT 7.3 MILLION.
AND THEN RESTORING THE FIRE OVER TIME.
UH, FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE FOUR PERSON STAFFING THAT WAS AGREED UPON IN THE CONTRACT AT 6 MILLION.
ADDING THESE DEFICITS BACK IN OR ADDING THESE PROGRAMS BACK IN OR THESE PRIORITIES BACK IN WOULD RESULT IN A $51.9 MILLION DEFICIT IN FISCAL YEAR 27 GROWING REDUCING TO 38.7 MILLION, UM, IN 20, IN 2031 AT THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE.
OF COURSE, AT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, THAT BEGINNING DEFICIT IS 76 MILLION OR 77 MILLION GROWING TO 176 MILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 31.
OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS, STAFF HAS BEEN WORKING, UM, TO ANALYZE OUR SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRACT FUNDING, DOING A COMPLETE ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT BUDGET OF 74.2 MILLION, AS WELL AS IDENTIFYING ABOUT 20 ADDITIONAL MILLION DOLLARS ACROSS THE GENERAL FUND THAT PROVIDES SERVICES OR GRANTS TO OTHERS.
THE TEAM IS FINALIZING THE ANALYSIS THAT WILL ULTIMATELY, ULTIMATELY PLACE THESE CONTRACTS AND GRANTS INTO THREE TIERS, LEGALLY REQUIRED OR OPERATIONAL ESSENTIAL OR SERVICES THAT WE ARE PAYING OTHERS TO DO ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
AND IF WE DID NOT HAVE THESE CONTRACTS, THE CITY WOULD STILL HAVE TO REQUIRE, THE CITY WOULD STILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THESE SERVICES, WE WOULD PROVIDE THEM DIRECTLY.
UM, THE SECOND TIER IS IDENTIFYING EFFICIENCY, SO LOOKING AT WHERE THERE MAY BE DUPLICATION OF SERVICES THROUGH THESE CONTRACTS AND GRANTS.
AND THEN THE THIRD TIER IS LOOKING AT THE PERFORMANCE OF, UH, THESE CONTRACTORS AND THESE, UM, THESE SERVICES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE, UM, PROVIDING THE SERVICES AS WE PLAN, MANAGING THE FUNDING THAT THEY'VE RECEIVED AND HAVING THE IMPACT THAT WAS INTENDED FOR THESE CONTRACTS.
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL MONTHS OF INPUT AND COLLABORATION, INCLUDING CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR GOVERNMENT PARTNERS, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS HAVE PROVIDED THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS, COMMUNITY TOWN HALLS AND MORE RECENTLY WE HAD MEETINGS WITH OUR SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRACT VENDORS, UM, AND OF COURSE WITH OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE GOING TO CREATE THIS RUBRICS.
[00:45:01]
WE ARE WORKING TO ACTUALLY FINALIZE THE RUBRICS AND WE'LL COME BACK TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE AND THE BEGINNING OF, UM, MAY AND THEN TALK TO THE FULL COUNCIL.UM, MID-MAY, WE STILL HAVE APA FUNDS.
UM, WE HAVE ABOUT, UM, 11.7 MILLION OF ENCUMBERED DOLLARS.
THOSE DOLLARS HAVE TO BE SPENT BY THE END OF, UH, DECEMBER 31ST, 2026.
SO WE HAVE ABOUT SEVEN OR EIGHT MONTHS TO FINISH SPENDING THOSE, THOSE FUNDS.
UM, YOU AGAIN, $11.7 MILLION, ABOUT 1.9 MILLION IS IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT, UM, SUPPORTING THE COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT AND IT PROJECT AS WELL AS STAFFING AND SUPPORT.
UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HAS ABOUT 1.4 MILLION THAT IS CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED HOMELESS STRATEGY HAS 6.8 MILLION, UM, FUNDING, RAPID REHOUSING, LANDLORD ENGAGEMENT, HOMELESS SUPPORT SERVICES, AND UH, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.
AND THEN THERE'S 1.5 IN ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS THAT ARE STILL ENCUMBERED OUT OF THE ARPA FUNDS MOVING FORWARD TO OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
THIS SLIDE HIGHLIGHTS OUR FISCAL YEAR 26 SPEND PLAN.
UM, THE DEPARTMENTS AND THE STAFF IS STILL WORKING ON DEVELOPING THE FISCAL YEAR 27 SPEND PLAN AND THAT WILL BE UPDATED IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
THIS CHART INDICATES THE SPENDING ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS, SO, UM, ENTERPRISE AS WELL AS OUR, UH, PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS, AUSTIN ENERGY AND AUSTIN WATER CONTINUE TO HAVE ROBUST CAPITAL PROGRAMS. THE DARK GREEN SECTION, UM, REPRESENTS AVIATION SPENDING AS THEY CONTINUE TO MAKE THEIR LARGE CHANGES ACROSS THE AIRPORT.
OUR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS OR PBS AS IT'S LISTED ON THIS CHART, THOSE ARE THE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, UM, THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS.
AND THEN OTHER REP, UM, OTHER PRIMARY PLANNED SPENDING MOSTLY REPRESENTED REPRESENTS THE CONVENTION CENTER SPENDING.
THIS SLIDE JUST FOCUSES ON OUR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS THAT WE'VE, UM, HAD OVER THE LAST, UH, 20 YEARS, UM, INCLUDING, UM, THE 2006 BOND.
IT SHOWS THE TWO, UM, PROGRAMS THAT WERE NOT APPROVED BY THE VOTERS IN 2014 AND A PORTION OF THE 2012 BONDS, UM, SHOWING THE, THE TOTALS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIFIC AND COMPREHENSIVE BONDS ACROSS THAT TIMEFRAME.
LOOKING AT THE SPENDING OF OUR ACTIVE BONDS, WE CURRENTLY HAVE FOUR ACTIVE BOND PROGRAMS. 2016 IS TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY FOCUSED AND IS 70% EXPENDED.
OUR COMPREHENSIVE 2018 BOND HAS ABOUT 83%, UM, EXPENDED SO FAR WITH A DIFFERENT BREAKDOWN ON THE DIFFERENT, UH, PROPOSITIONS WITHIN THAT BOND.
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE OF 2020 HAS 53% EXPENDED, AND THEN THE 2022 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOND HAS 29% EXPENDED.
IF YOU WOULD NOTE ON SLIDE 16 WHEN ERIC WALKED THROUGH THE DEBT SERVICE, UM, THE DEBT RATE FOR OUR, UH, TAX RATE AS THESE DOLLARS ARE SPENT DOWN, THAT HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON THAT DEBT RATE.
ON SLIDE 16 AND NOW WE'RE JUST GONNA HAVE A BRIEF CONVERSATION ABOUT COUNCIL PRIORITIES.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE UNFUNDED PRIORITIES THAT COUNCIL HAS GIVEN US THROUGH RESOLUTIONS.
UM, SINCE MARCH 1ST, 2025, WE RECEIVED 132 COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS WITH 12 OF THOSE BEING UNDER REVIEW FOR FISCAL IMPACT IN THE CURRENT BUDGET OR IN THE FINANCIAL FORECAST.
THERE ARE NO, THERE'S NO FUNDING FOR THESE 12, UM, APPROVED IFCS.
OF COURSE, WE'RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, AND THIS IS JUST A SAMPLE OF THAT FULL LIST.
YOU CAN SEE THE FULL LIST IN THE FINANCIAL FORECAST REPORT.
AND WITH THAT, I AM HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, COUNCIL MEMBERS, ANY QUESTIONS? ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO START? UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLEN.
MAYOR PRO TEM, I HAVE JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AND THEY MIGHT BOUNCE AROUND.
UM, ON SLIDE NUMBER 19, YOU MENTIONED THE MARKET STUDY.
WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR COMPLETION OF THAT? WILL IT BE IMPLEMENTED BY OCTOBER 1ST OR IS THAT GONNA PUSH US INTO THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR? THE PLAN IS TO IMPLEMENT THAT MARKET STUDY IN, UH, FISCAL YEAR 27.
AND SO IS THERE NOT ACROSS THE BOARD PAY SCALE INCREASE FOR EMPLOYEES BECAUSE THE MARKET STUDY WILL SHOW THAT SOME OF THE SALARIES NEED TO BE INCREASED AND THEY WILL, THEY'LL BE INCREASED THROUGH THAT METHOD? NO, SO THE, UM, WAGE INCREASE WAS NOT INCLUDED PER THE PLANNED YEAR.
SO THAT WAS A SEPARATE ANALYSIS FROM THE MARKET STUDY.
I, I THINK, UM, AUSTIN HR IS WORKING ON
[00:50:01]
A PLAN TO INCORPORATE OR LOOK AT WHAT THE IMPACTS OF THE MARKET STUDY WILL BE COMPARED TO WHAT THE ANALYSIS WILL BE FOR A POTENTIAL INCREASE ACROSS THE BOARD.UM, AND THEN I WANTED TO ASK HOW OUR CREDIT RATING IS DOING.
I KNOW WE HAVE HAD DISCUSSIONS AROUND DEBT CAPACITY ONGOING, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE LAST BUDGET THAT WE ADOPTED.
UM, BUT I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW IF OUR BUDGET STABILIZATION RESERVE HAS BEEN SOLID AND IF OUR CREDIT RATING IS HOLDING STEADY.
WE'RE, UM, IN THE LAST RATING CYCLE WE WERE UPGRADED BY FITCH TO AAA, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST RATING YOU CAN GET.
SO WE'RE CURRENTLY AAA WITH FITCH AND STANDARD AND POS AND UM, DOUBLE A PLUS WITH MOODY'S AND ALL RATINGS ARE ARE LISTED AS STABLE.
AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION FOR NOW, UNLESS I COME UP WITH SOME MORE IS GOING TO BE, UM, THE MENTION OF THE FOUR PERSON STAFFING.
SO IS THE FISCAL YEAR 26 TO 27 PROPOSAL GOING TO CHANGE FOUR PERSON STAFFING? THERE'S NO PROJECTED CHANGE TO THE FOUR PERSON STAFFING MODEL.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, PER THE CONTRACT, IT WAS AGREED UPON TO STAY WITH THE FOUR PERSON STAFFING.
WHAT THIS IS SAYING IS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT INCREASING THE OVERTIME BUDGET FOR FIRE TO ADDRESS THAT, UM, THAT CONTRACT CHANGE.
'CAUSE I HAD SEEN IT IN THE REDUCTION LIST AND IT WAS SAYING IF IF YOU CHANGE THE REDUCTION THAT'S BEEN FORECASTED, THEN IT WOULD INCREASE THE DEFICIT.
SO IN THE FISCAL YEAR 27 PLANNED YEAR, UM, AND THIS WAS BEFORE THE CONTRACT WAS APPROVED, THAT $8.3 MILLION WAS INCLUDED IN THE PLANNED YEAR.
AND WE'RE SAYING IN ORDER TO RIGHT SIZE THE FIRE OVERTIME BUDGET BASED ON THE CURRENT SPEND THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE DEPARTMENT, WE WOULD NEED TO ADD THAT BACK IN AT $6 MILLION.
I JUST REMEMBER THE LAST TIME WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IT, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE ADDRESSING THAT COMPREHENSIVELY AND MAKING SURE WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT AND UNDERSTANDING, YOU KNOW, WHAT STAFFING LEVELS ARE NEEDED AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE EVERY PERSON ON HAND TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN IT'S NEEDED, WHEN THERE'S A STRUCTURE FIRE, THAT WE'VE GOT AMPLE STAFFING FOR THOSE SITUATIONS.
UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER LANE.
UM, THIS IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
WE'LL OBVIOUSLY TAKE SOME TIME TO DIGEST.
UM, BUT I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ASSUMPTIONS.
UM, ON PAGE FOUR, IT MENTIONS INFLATIONARY PRESSURES AGAIN ON FOR ALL EXPENDITURE CATEGORIES.
I WOULD LIKE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW YOU'RE ACCOUNTING FOR INFLATION IN THE PROJECTIONS EVEN.
YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT FREQUENTLY WE USE A STABILIZED RATE OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING HOW YOU'RE HANDLING THAT.
SO IN THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR, WE'VE JUST ASKED DEPARTMENTS TO MANAGE IT WITHIN THEIR APPROPRIATION.
AND SO WHAT THEY'VE, WHAT THEY TYPICALLY DO IS JUST MOVE AND FIND SAVINGS IN OTHER WAYS TO CH STAY WITHIN THEIR APPROPRIATION.
AS WE HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM ON BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, THEY LET US KNOW OF WHAT INCREASES THEY'RE ANTICIPATING, WHETHER IT'S CONTRACTUAL, UM, AND WE HAVE CONVERSATION BACK AND FORTH WHETHER THESE ARE BASELINE INCREASES OR IF THESE ARE ENHANCED REQUESTS.
AND WE'LL GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS TO HONE IN WHAT COSTS, UM, OUR INFLATIONARY TO IDENTIFY IF ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS NEEDED IN EACH DEPARTMENT.
ARE THERE ANY DATA SOURCES THAT YOU'RE USING TO ESTIMATE AND WE, WE TYPICALLY WORK CLOSELY WITH THE, WITH THE, UH, DEPARTMENTS BECAUSE SOME OF THOSE, SOME OF THOSE, UM, INFLATIONARY COSTS ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE CATEGORIES THAT THEY ARE, UM, EXPENDING.
AND SO, SO THEY MAY BE SEEING THINGS, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, IN AQUATICS MATERIALS, THEY'RE SEEING AN INFLATIONARY, YOU KNOW, INCREASES IN THOSE CHEMICALS TO, TO MAINTAIN THE POOLS.
AND SO AS THEY'RE SEEING THOSE CHANGES YEAR, UH, MONTH OVER MONTH, THEN WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
AND THAT'S PART OF THE REASON WHY I HAVE THE CONCERN IS JUST BECAUSE THE INFLATIONARY PRESSURES ARE SO GREAT, UM, THERE ARE SPIKES IN THESE ONE TO THREE YEAR WINDOWS AND, UM, IT IS ONE OF MOST, A LOT OF THESE AREAS THAT REALLY LAID OUT, UM, SOURCES THAT YOU WERE USING TO ESTIMATE AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND AS WE'RE LOOKING AT PROJECTIONS, UM, IT'S AN IMPORTANT FACTOR AND WHERE WE END UP.
AND SO I JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT THE PERHAPS CONSIDERATION OF LOOKING AT IF, IF WHAT WE'RE USING RIGHT NOW PRIMARILY IS OUR, IS OUR OWN DEPARTMENTAL RESOURCES TO FIGURE IT OUT.
UM, MAYBE CONSIDERING LOOKING AT ACTUAL INFLATION RATE FOR THE TRAILING 12 MONTHS AS A BASIS FOR PROJECTION OR BRINGING IN NATIONAL OR LOCAL DATA SOURCES.
[00:55:01]
I THINK THAT TEXAS WOULD BE PARTICULARLY INSTRUCTIVE, UH, BECAUSE, UH, OR TEXAS OR AUSTIN BECAUSE OF THE HANDLING OF PROPERTY TAXES AND RECAPTURE AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS REALLY DRIVING INFLATIONARY PRESSURES HIGHER IN CITIES THAN WE SEE OTHER PLACES.BUT I, I WOULD JUST, I WOULD CERTAINLY WELCOME SOME DATA SOURCES AROUND INFLATION AND THOSE WHO ARE ON MOBILITY COMMITTEE WITH ME HAVE HEARD ME ASK THOSE QUESTIONS A LOT.
UM, I WANTED TO TURN TO PAGE 15.
UM, I AM WONDERING IF, AS WE THINK ABOUT THE NEW CONSTRUCTION THAT IS EXEMPT FROM THE PROPERTY TAX CAPS, HOW DO WE HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHERE THE, LIKE DO WE HAVE ANY KIND OF A HEAT MAP OR A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF WHERE THAT CONSTRUCTION HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST YEAR WHERE IT'S, WHERE IT IS, WHERE THE PIPELINE IS SHOWING THAT IT'S HAPPENING? AND I SPECIFICALLY ASKED THIS QUESTION BECAUSE I THINK THAT WE MAY WANNA LOOK AT WHERE THIS GROWTH IS HAPPENING AND HOW WE CAN REMOVE SOME STRUCTURAL BARRIERS TO PROMOTE IT.
AND I THINK OF MY OWN DISTRICT WHERE THERE ARE A TON OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES THAT HAVE COME ONLINE IN THE LAST THREE YEARS AND THERE ARE A BUNCH OF MID RISES RIGHT NEXT TO LAKELAND STATION THAT ARE ABOUT TO START LEASE UP.
UM, BUT NONE OF THE, UM, NONE OF THE APPROACHES TO MAKING IT EASIER OR FASTER OR LESS EXPENSIVE TO BUILD.
SO FAR, THOSE INCENTIVES ARE NOT AVAILABLE.
LIKE THEY HAVEN'T BEEN CRAFTED IN A WAY THAT OPENS UP THESE PROCESSES A LITTLE BIT MORE.
THE ONLY QUESTION IS HAVE YOU, DO YOU, IS THERE ANY KIND OF A VISUALIZATION OF WHERE CONSTRUCTION HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS AND WHERE WE THINK IT WILL BE HAPPENING BASED ON THE PIPELINE? NOT CURRENTLY TO MY KNOWLEDGE, BUT IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD HAVE, UM, SEE IF WE COULD INTERFACE TCAD SYSTEM WITH OUR, WITH OUR GIS FOLKS AND SEE WE COULD COME, WHAT WE COULD COME UP WITH.
WE HAVE A MEETING COMING UP MY OFFICE WITH A DEMOGRAPHER.
AND UM, I HAVE NO URGENCY TO RECEIVING THAT, BUT IT MAY COME AS A BUDGET QUESTION.
UM, YOU, I'M NOT ON 17 MYSELF YET.
UM, THIS IS THE ONE AREA THAT WAS PROJECTED HIGHER AND IT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION BECAUSE SO MUCH SALES TAX COMES FROM DOWNTOWN.
WE HAVE NO CONVENTION CENTER IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS AND IT IS WELL ESTABLISHED THAT CONSTRUCTION ZONES IMPACT SALES.
AND SO IT JUST CAUGHT MY EYE A BIT.
WHY ARE WE PROJECTING THAT ONE GROWING AND NOT THE OTHERS? UH, LARGELY JUST DUE TO THE ACTUAL RESULTS WE'RE SEEING.
UM, I THINK THAT WHILE TOURISM AND CONVENTION ACTIVITY HAS DRIVEN A LOT OF SALES TAX GROWTH, AUSTIN HAS JUST BECOME SO LARGE THAT WE HAVE A PRETTY DIVERSIFIED SALES TAX BASE.
AND SO, UM, EVEN IN, IN THESE YEARS WHERE THE CONVENTION CENTER ISN'T DRIVING A LOT OF THAT ACTIVITY, IT'S STILL POSSIBLE TO HAVE, UM, GROWTH JUST FROM, UM, BECAUSE OUR BASE HAS BECOME SO LARGE.
UM, 'CAUSE I THINK, I THINK THERE'S A PERCEPTION THAT IT SALES TAX IS REALLY PERHAPS MORE DEPENDENT ON THE DOWNTOWN AREA THAN IT SOUNDS LIKE IT IS SUPER HELPFUL.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION ON PAGE 20 RELATING TO THE FIREFIGHTER COST DRIVER AND THIS ALL THIS ALSO RELATES TO KIND OF THE VACANCY ESTIMATE STATEMENTS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE NEED TO STAFF A IN FIRE OR IS THAT ALREADY OFFSET BY REDUCTIONS IN OVERTIME? ARE WE PROJECTING REDUCTIONS IN OVERTIME? HOW IS OVERTIME BEING AND BEING AND, AND VACANCIES BEING HANDLED IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES? SO FOR FIRE IN PARTICULAR, THESE 32 NEW FIRE FIGHTER POSITIONS ARE BEING ADDED SO THAT THERE IS, UM, A STABILIZATION OF OVERTIME IS IT SHOULD OVER AS, AS THEY MOVE FORWARD WITH THE REDUCED WORK WEEK, THESE POSITIONS SHOULD HELP WITH THAT TO STABILIZE OVERTIME.
OKAY, SO THAT WOULD BE MORE LIKE A YEAR TWO OUT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? YES.
SO, SO, UM, THE OVERTIME, UM, OR EXCUSE ME, THE REDUCED WORK WEEK DOESN'T HAPPEN UNTIL FISCAL YEAR OR FISCAL YEAR 27, NO, EXCUSE ME.
FISCAL YEAR 28 IS WHEN THE ACTUAL REDUCTION HAPPENS.
WE'RE HIRING THE POSITIONS NOW SO THEY CAN BE AVAILABLE AND TRAINED UP FOR THAT REDUCED WORK WEEK IN FISCAL YEAR 28.
UM, AND THEN I, I RECALL EARLY IN THE PRESENTATION THERE WAS KIND OF A STATEMENT ABOUT VACANCY STABILIZING BECAUSE OF THE HIRING.
AND YET I, I THINK THAT, I SUSPECT THAT THAT IS FOR NOT OUR PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES BECAUSE WE STILL HAVE SOME PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL VACANCIES
[01:00:01]
BEING CARRIED IN OUR OKAY.UM, I WOULD LOVE TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE PUBLIC SAFETY PART OF THAT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL, IF THAT'S A BUDGETARY QUESTION THAT COULD COME TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE FOR A LITTLE BIT OF LOOKING AT IT OR ELSEWHERE.
BUT THAT IS, THOSE ARE, THERE WILL BE QUESTIONS FOR COMING FROM ME ON THAT IF IT DOESN'T END UP IN SOME SORT OF A BRIEFING.
AND THEN FINALLY I WANTED TO TOUCH ON THE UNFUNDED RESOLUTIONS AND UM, I, I, I WANTED TO NOTE THE RELEASE, THE IMPORTANCE OF SOME OF THE RESOLUTIONS, UM, IN ACTUALLY EXPANDING EFFECTIVE SERVICES TO ALL OF OUR CITY AND SAVING, UM, SAVING MONEY.
ULTIMATELY IT REQUIRES A LITTLE BIT OF INVESTMENT, BUT AS WE ARE DOING IN SOME OTHER THINGS, BUT SAVING MONEY AND POTENTIALLY AND DELIVERING BETTER SERVICES AT THE SAME TIME.
AND I SPECIFICALLY WANTED TO CALL OUT THE JOINT EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT RESOLUTION, UM, THAT WAS PASSED ALMOST, IT WAS PAST LAST BUDGET CYCLE.
AND I'M VERY, I WELCOME GETTING, RECEIVING THE REPORT THAT HAD BEEN SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER IN OUR MAY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING.
I SPONSORED THAT AND I SPONSORED IT BECAUSE OF THE EXACT ISSUES THAT I'M BRINGING UP.
AND, UM, I JUST HOPE THAT THERE'S A LENS ON THOSE TYPES OF INVESTMENTS AS YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE UNFUNDED IFCS.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.
DID, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? I THINK I'LL RESERVE MY QUESTIONS AND ASK THEM OFFLINE.
UM, I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, FOURTH, FOURTH TIME, FIFTH TIME NOW, BECAUSE WE HAD WENT TO BUDGETS LAST TIME.
UM, SO MY, MY FIRST QUESTION, UM, RELATES TO, UH, PAGE 20 ON THE WORK SESSION, UH, SLIDE DECK THAT Y'ALL PRESENTED.
UH, IT SHOWS, UM, UH, THIRD LINE FROM BOTTOM PROJECTED GENERAL FUND SAVINGS FROM ONE A TS AND INITIATIVE.
IT, IT SHOWS THAT THE FORECAST INCLUDES 2.9 MILLION IN SAVINGS.
UM, CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THOSE 2.9 MILLION SAVINGS? AND, AND BY THAT I MEAN, WHAT SYSTEM SYSTEMS OR CONTRACTS MIGHT BE EITHER ELIMINATED OR, OR CONSOLIDATED? I, I'LL RESPOND TO THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, ED VAN NINO, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, BOTH THE NUMBER ON THIS PAGE AND THE MORE SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER SHOWN ON THE SECOND PAGE, WHICH IS THE AMOUNT OVER FIVE YEARS.
UM, IN AGGREGATE THEY ADD UP TO $30 MILLION.
AND THOSE ARE AT WHAT I WOULD SAY CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES BASED UPON THE CONSULTANT STUDIES THAT WE'VE SEEN.
AND WE HAVE TWO STUDIES NOW, ONE BY GARTNER CONSULTANT, UH, LOOKING AT THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND BENCHMARKING.
UM, AND THEN THE SECOND, UH, UH, CONSULTANT LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT, UM, APPLICATION CONSOLIDATION OPPORTUNITIES.
AND BOTH STUDIES INDICATED SUBSTANTIAL, UH, POTENTIAL TO SAVE MONEY DEPENDING UPON HOW THE CITY ULTIMATELY IMPLEMENTS IT.
THE LOW SIDE OF THOSE ESTIMATES WAS AROUND $60 MILLION IN TOTAL.
UM, AND, UM, TYPICALLY ABOUT HALF OF THE SAVINGS IDENTIFIED, UM, ON IT, THINGS COME BACK TO THE GENERAL FUND, AND THE OTHER HALF WOULD BE EXPECTED TO GO TO THE ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENT.
SO WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN THIS PRESENTATION IS AN INDICATION AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING WHICH APPLICATIONS ARE WE GOING TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO CONSOLIDATE AND WHEN, UM, AND HOW WILL THE ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMIC CHANGES, UM, RESULT IN SAVINGS.
WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE A CONSERVATIVE APPROACH HERE, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THE DETAILS IN TERMS OF WHICH FIVE APPLICATIONS ARE WE GONNA TURN OFF IN FISCAL YEAR, UM, 27 IN ORDER TO GET THAT SAVINGS, OR, UH, WHAT OTHER CONTRACTUAL CHANGES MIGHT WE BE ABLE TO MAKE? UM, BUT WE THINK THESE ARE VERY ACHIEVABLE OVER THE TIMELINES WE'VE LAID OUT IN THE FORECAST BASED UPON THE CONSULTANT REPORT AND WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE TO DATE.
BUT THE DETAILS WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE AS WE GET INTO THE FISCAL YEAR.
UH, AND THEN AS A FOLLOW UP ON PAGE 25, LAST SENTENCE THAT TALKS ABOUT, UH, THERE ARE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES IN OUT EARS TO FUND NEW INVESTMENTS SLASH SERVICES AS, AS ONE A A TS SAVINGS MATERIALIZE.
CAN YOU CLARIFY WHAT THAT MEANS? YES.
GOING ALONG WITH WHAT, UM, ED JUST MENTIONED AS THE ANTICIPATED SAVINGS IN THE OUT YEARS, THAT SHOWED A, THAT RESULTED IN A REDUCTION IN OUR OVERALL EXPENDITURES.
UM, AND SO, UM, THAT DEBT THAT YOU SEE OR THAT DEFICIT THAT YOU SEE IN FISCAL YEAR 27 AND 28, YOU START SEEING THE SURPLUS MOVING FORWARD 29 THROUGH 31, UM, AT THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE, ASSUMING THAT THE REDUCTIONS IN THE PLANNED YEAR CONTINUE.
SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CAVEATS THAT, THAT GO INTO SHOWING THAT, THAT SAVINGS AND, AND
[01:05:01]
REALIZING A SURPLUS IN THE OUT YEARS.SO ARE THERE CONSTRAINTS THAT LIMIT COUNCIL'S ABILITY TO RE REINVEST THEM INTO, INTO NEW PRIORITIES? SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME.
ARE THERE, ARE THERE ANY CONSTRAINTS THAT WOULD LIMIT COUNCIL'S ABILITY TO REINVEST THEM INTO NEW PRIORITIES? NO, THERE AREN'T.
I WOULD, I WOULD SAY ONLY AROUND THE FUNDING SOURCES.
SO AGAIN, GOING BACK TO THE POINT THAT WE HAVE ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENTS AND SAVINGS THAT ARE REALIZED BY THESE EFFORTS IN THE ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENTS, WE WOULD WANT TO STAY THAT WOULD NEED TO STAY, HAVE THOSE SAVINGS BE FOCUSED ON THAT ENTERPRISE, UM, AS OPPOSED TO SAVINGS IN THE GENERAL FUND OR SUPPORT SERVICES DEPARTMENTS WOULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, MORE GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ADDRESSING COUNCIL PRIORITIES.
UM, AND THEN I GOT TWO MORE QUESTIONS.
UH, AT THE APRIL 15TH AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, WE HEARD THAT THERE WOULD BE, UH, $7.2 MILLION IN ANNUAL SAVINGS TIED TO 28 CONTRACT RETIREMENTS OVER THREE YEARS.
HOW, HOW WAS THAT FACTORED IN, INTO THE PRESENTATION THAT WE SAW TODAY? UM, SO THAT WOULD BE PART OF THE, OF THE TOTAL $30 MILLION THAT'S REFLECTED OVER THE FIVE YEARS OF THIS FORECAST, OF THAT $30 MILLION SAVINGS.
UM, 7.2 MILLION WAS, UH, THE ESTIMATED SAVINGS FROM APPLICATION RETIREMENT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, DECISIONS HAVEN'T BEEN MADE.
THIS IS BASED UPON THE INITIAL CONSULTANT REPORT AND THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS.
BUT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH A PROCESS OF EVALUATING THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS WITH OUR DEPARTMENTS AND MAKING FINAL DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHAT APPLICATIONS WE WOULD RETIRE AND ON WHAT TIMELINE.
THESE THINGS ARE GONNA TAKE TIME TO REALIZE, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GOING TO, IF WE, IF, IF WE'RE GONNA GET RID OF SOME OF THESE APPLICATIONS, 'CAUSE WE HAVE REDUNDANT APPLICATIONS ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY, IT'S GOING TO TAKE TIME TO TRANSITION USERS, TO TRANSITION DATA, TO TRANSITION THE REPORTS TO CONDUCT TRAINING.
UM, BUT THAT WOULD BE THAT 7.2 MILLION THERE, UM, OVER A THREE YEAR PERIOD WOULD BE PART OF WHAT WE'RE REFLECTING IN THIS PRESENTATION.
BUT THAT WAS ON THE KIND OF THE, THE, THAT WAS THE NUMBER THAT WERE, WERE THINGS THAT THE CONSULTANT WAS SAYING, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO IDENTIFY THESE SAVINGS, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO REVIEW THE CONTRACTS AND IDENTIFY THESE SAVINGS.
THEY DIDN'T SAY THAT WAS THE ONLY SAVINGS WE'D BE ABLE TO REALIZE.
AND SO THAT NUMBER WILL CONTINUE TO GROW AS THEY CONTINUE TO DO THEIR WORK.
AND WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS, THE MORE DETAILED PROCESS OF REVIEWING ALL OF THE APPLICATIONS, UM, AND MAKING DECISIONS AS A CITY ON WHICH RE APPLICATIONS WE CAN RETIRE.
THAT 7.2 MILLION IN THAT PRESENTATION WE EXPECT WILL INCREASE TO SOMETHING MORE ALONG THE LINES OF THE 30 MILLION OVER FIVE YEARS REFLECTED IN THIS PRESENTATION.
BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOT, IT'S NOT 7.2 ON TOP OF THE 30.
THAT 7.2 IS PART OF WHAT WE THINK WE CAN REALIZE THROUGH THE $30 MILLION.
UM, I, I'LL COME, COME BACK TO ME.
I'LL, I'LL THANK, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER
UM, I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK Y'ALL BEEN DOING.
CLEARLY YOU'VE BEEN SCOURING THROUGH EVERYTHING TO TRY TO MAKE THIS PICTURE AND, AND THESE NUMBERS ADD UP.
I DO WANT TO TAKE A STEP BACK THOUGH, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, IF YOU LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S THE, THE FIVE YEAR FORECAST CHART AND YOU SEE THE $1.3 MILLION DEFICIT OR EVEN SURPLUS IN THE OUT YEARS, THE PICTURE SEEMS PRETTY ROSY COMPARED TO THE DISCUSSION WE'VE HAD.
BUT UNDER THE SURFACE OF ALL THAT I THINK IS REALLY WHAT YOU SHOWED ON SLIDE NUMBER 20.
AND THAT'S THE HOW WE GOT HERE, RIGHT? THAT, THAT REALLY ENTERING INTO THIS BUDGET, WE ARE $50 MILLION IN THE WHOLE, AND THAT'S ON SLIDE 28.
UM, AND THEN YOU HAVE TAKEN THAT PROJECTED DEFICIT AND COME UP WITH WAYS TO NARROW IT DOWN TO 1.3, RIGHT? BUT TO DO THAT, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND YOU, YOU, YOU'RE NOT HIDING THE BALL.
16 MILLION, 16.8 MILLION IN SOCIAL SERVICE CUTS ANOTHER 7.8 MILLION IN THE LOSS OF THE HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM.
UM, YOU KNOW, DEFERRING OUR CAPITAL REHABILITATION FUND, OF COURSE, NO CIVILIAN WAGE INCREASES.
THERE ARE REAL PAINS BEING FELT TO GET TO THE 1.3.
SO I JUST, I DON'T WANT IT TO BE LOST IN THE CONVERSATION THAT, OH, WE'RE ONLY 1.3 MILLION DEFICIT.
THERE'S A LOT OF PAIN TO GET EVEN TO THAT POINT.
[01:10:01]
LOSS OF THE LOCAL HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM, I THINK IS THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THROUGHOUT THIS PRO PROCESS, I'M GOING TO CERTAINLY BE, UM, LOOKING AT WAYS WE CAN AVOID BECAUSE WE ARE TAKING COMMITMENTS AROUND OUR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND THE OPERATIONS OF THOSE UNITS THAT WE HAVE POURED LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO.AND IF WE DON'T HAVE THE OPERATIONS DOLLARS, THOSE PROJECTS CAN'T SUSTAIN.
AND SO THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I SEE AS A REALISTIC OPTION FOR THE CITY TO JUST NOT DO GOING FORWARD.
UM, I DO THINK WE NEED TO REFINE OUR SOCIAL SERVICES AND, AND TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THAT.
I DO WANNA ASK, UH, AND I DON'T HAVE THE SLIDE IN FRONT OF ME, BUT YOU, YOU OUTLINED THOSE TIERS ON THE FIRST TIER.
UM, THOSE THAT ARE LEGALLY REQUIRED FROM THE CITY, OH, WE LOST, THERE WE GO.
UM, HOW HAVE Y'ALL INCORPORATED 'CAUSE THROUGH AT THE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE, WE HAD THAT RESOLUTION AROUND, AND THE COUNCIL ADOPTED, YOU KNOW, WHAT, HOW WE WANTED TO INCORPORATE SOME PRIORITIES INTO THAT.
ONE OF THOSE BEING REALLY JUST LIKE CRITICAL LIFE SAFETY, RIGHT? IF SOMETHING'S KEEPING SOMEBODY ALIVE, WHETHER THAT'S DOING IT AT A CITY FACILITY OR SOMEWHERE ELSE, THAT'S A TOP PRIORITY.
SO HOW DOES THAT FIT INTO THE TIER SYSTEM? SO WE ARE ALSO, WE'RE WORKING ON A FULL RUBRIC BASED ON THAT, THE, THAT INSTRUCTION THAT WE WERE GIVEN.
AND SO THESE ARE THE GENERAL ASPECTS OF THAT RUBRIC.
UM, WHAT WE ANTICIPATE WILL HAPPEN IS THOSE THINGS THAT ARE, UM, ESSENTIAL, EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT SPACES THAT THE CITY OPERATES DIRECTLY, UM, THEY WOULD RISE TO THE LEVEL OF THESE ARE THINGS WE NEED TO CONSIDER KEEPING BECAUSE OF THE, THAT DYNAMIC.
UM, WHEN WE, WHEN WE STARTED THIS REVIEW, WE WANT TO REALLY BEGIN BY SEPARATING WHAT WE ARE CALLING SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRACTS NOW BECAUSE THOSE ARE CONTRACTS TO DO THE SERVICES THAT WE NEED TO DO VERSUS GRANTS THAT, UM, ARE SERVICES THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO THE, UH, COMMUNITY THAT HELP US MOVE FORWARD IN SEVERAL AREAS OF THE WORK THAT WE DO.
UM, BUT, BUT THEY ARE NOT MANDATORY FOR US TO DO.
SO WE'RE, IT'S GONNA ELEVATE BOTH OF THOSE THINGS, WHETHER OR NOT IT IS A OPERATIONAL, UH, REQUIREMENT BECAUSE IT'S OUR FACILITY OR A LIFE SAFETY BE, EVEN IF IT'S AT ANOTHER FACILITY.
AND WHEN WE WALK THROUGH THE FULL RUBRIC IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, UM, WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHOW YOU ALL THOSE DYNAMICS BASED ON THAT RESOLUTION.
UM, COMPLETELY SWITCHING GEARS ON A TAX QUESTION.
YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW WE HAVE LESS MONEY BECAUSE OF THE MORE SUCCESSFUL PROTEST RATES.
DO WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ASSUME A HIGHER PROTEST SUCCESS LEVEL? LIKE IF, IF TCA IN JULY SAYS, YOU KNOW, WE, THIS IS OUR CERTIFIED ROLE, BUT WE STILL HAVE 5 BILLION IN PROTEST, CAN WE ASSUME THAT, YOU KNOW, 50%, 80%, WHATEVER IT IS OF THOSE PROTESTS ARE GONNA BE SUCCESSFUL AND SET OUR RATE ACCORDINGLY? OR DO WE JUST HAVE TO GO ON WHAT THE ROLE IS ON THE DAY THAT THEY PROVIDE? SO WE DON'T HAVE A PERFECT ONE-TO-ONE MECHANISM, BUT WE HAVE A PRACTICAL MECHANISM WHERE WE COULD USE OUR COLLECTION RATE REALLY THAT'S SUPPOSED TO REFLECT DELINQUENCIES OR NON-PAYMENTS, BUT WE COULD USE THAT AS A LEVER TO REFLECT THIS EROSION IN THE TAX BASE THAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS.
WELL, I, I'D LIKE FOR US TO LOOK AT WAYS TO BETTER PROJECT AND, AND I'D BE INTERESTED TO KNOW, LIKE, WHAT HAPPENS IF WE OVER PROJECT? DOES THAT JUST MEAN WE DON'T GET, YOU KNOW, THREE AND A HALF PERCENT NEXT YEAR IT'S 3.4 OR LIKE HOW, WHAT'S THE, WHAT ARE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OVER PROJECTING? UH, THERE'S NO RISK BECAUSE THE, UM, THE CALCULATION WILL ADJUST THAT OUT.
IT'S, IT'S, UM, IT'S NOT TIED TO OUR ACTUAL COLLECTIONS.
IT'S TIED TO THE VALUE ON THE ROLL AND OUR TAX RATE.
WELL, AS WE GET CLOSER TO JULY AND AUGUST, I'D LIKE TO JUST SEE WHAT, WHAT ASSUMPTIONS WE'RE USING AND HOW WE MIGHT NOT, UH, FIND OURSELVES HERE AGAIN.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO ASK ABOUT FIRE OVER TIME, A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT COUNCILOR ELLIS WAS TALKING ABOUT, BUT WE ASSUMED IN THE CURRENT YEAR'S BUDGET OF REDUCTION IN, WELL ASSUME WE BUDGETED $8.3 MILLION LESS IN FIRE OVERTIME THAN THE YEAR BEFORE.
[01:15:01]
SAFETY COMMITTEE COUPLE WEEKS AGO, ONE OF THE, ON THE PRESENTATION AROUND OVERTIME FIRE HAS ALREADY FULLY SPENT ALL THEIR OVERTIME THAT WE'VE BUDGETED FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR, AND WE'RE ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH, AND THAT'S A $9 MILLION SPEND.SO HOW, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO FOR THE NEXT, I MEAN, I, I DON'T THINK THE CHIEF CAN HAVE NO OVERTIME FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
HOW DO WE BALANCE THAT? YOU'RE CORRECT.
UM, THE CHIEF CAN'T HAVE ANY NO OVERTIME FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH HIM AND HIS TEAM TO IDENTIFY WHETHER THEY CAN FIND OTHER SAVINGS IN OTHER AREAS.
SO WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO SCRUB THEIR BUDGET SOME, AND I FULLY ANTICIPATE THAT TOWARD, UM, AS WE CONTINUE TO REFINE DEPARTMENTS BUDGETS ACROSS THE CITY THAT USUALLY WE HAVE SAVINGS ACROSS THE, ACROSS THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.
I KNOW WE'RE DEALING WITH SOME INFLATIONARY COSTS, BUT EVERY YEAR WE'VE SEEN SOME LEVEL OF SAVINGS ACROSS, ACROSS THE GENERAL FUND.
AND SO WE'LL LOOK AT THAT OVERALL.
UM, AND THEN, UM, AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT POTENTIALLY REACHING THEIR APPROPRIATION, THEN WE'LL DECIDE AT THAT POINT WHETHER OR NOT WE NEED TO COME BACK AND ASK FOR AN ADJUSTMENT OR AN, AN AMENDMENT TO THEIR BUDGET TO ADDRESS THAT.
BUT RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM TO TRY TO MITIGATE THAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
BECAUSE I, I KNOW THAT CONVENIENTLY THE NUMBER THAT, UM, WE'RE THINKING OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, SOMEWHERE AROUND THAT $6 MILLION FIGURE, WHICH WE ALSO HAPPEN TO BE RUNNING $6 MILLION OVER OUR ESTIMATES.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT'D BE VERY EASY TO SAY, WELL, 6 MILLION, 6 MILLION, IT'S ALL, YOU KNOW, WE, WE END IT ALL EVEN, BUT THAT $6 MILLION THAT IF ISN'T SPOKEN FOR IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET OR IN THE NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET COULD ALMOST FULLY SOLVE THE LOCAL HOUSING VOUCHER WHOLE, RIGHT.
IT'S NOT JUST MONEY THAT 'CAUSE IT'S LEFTOVER COULDN'T BE USED FOR A DIFFERENT APPROPRIATED PURPOSE.
SO I JUST WANNA, UM, I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO, YOU, YOU DO, UH, A MAGNIFICENT JOB GOING THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT BUDGETS TO, TO FIND THE EVERY EVERYBODY'S OVER.
THEY MIGHT NOT LOVE YOU BY THE END, BUT, UH, YOU, YOU MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE DEPARTMENTS ARE DOING WHAT, WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO.
SO I I'M YOUR FAVORITE PERSON,
UM, I ALSO WANT TO JUST KIND OF TO STEP BACK AS, AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THIS OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, AND, AND IT'S DISCUSSED IN PUBLIC, YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU MENTIONED, YOU CONFIRMED FOR THIS, THE, THE EXPENDITURES OVER TIME, THE GROWTH RATE IS LIKE THREE POINT A HALF OR 3.3%, UH, IS OUR COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEAR FORECAST PERIOD.
AS, AS IT WOULD SO HAPPEN, I PULLED UP WHAT OUR CURRENT ANNUAL AND 12 MONTH INFLATION RATE IS, AND IT'S 3.3%, RIGHT? SO WE ARE GROWING, NOT BECAUSE WE'RE DOING MORE, WE'RE JUST PAYING FOR THE THINGS THAT WE CAN PAY FOR RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A CITY HAVE BEEN GROWING SLOWER, BUT STILL 0.7%.
SO WE'RE GROWING AND THINGS ARE GETTING MORE EXPENSIVE AND WE'RE NOT EVEN KEEPING UP WITH THAT.
SO I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT CONTEXT AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS, THAT THE CITY'S EXPENDITURES AREN'T GROWING BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GETTING MORE BLOATED.
WE ARE BARELY, IF AT ALL, KEEPING UP WITH WHAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING.
UH, AND THAT'S A JUST A, I THINK PEOPLE LOSE SIGHT OF THAT SOMETIMES.
UM, I'LL END THIS WITH, I WOULD ASK THE MANAGER AND, AND YOU, AS WE GET TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND, AND WE START WORKING THROUGH THIS TO COME UP WITH A LIST FOR THE COUNCIL OF IF, IF YOU HAD TO TAKE YOUR PROPOSED BUDGET AND CUT $20 MILLION WORTH OF WHAT WAS IN THERE AND, AND MORE, I KNOW YOU DID HERE KIND OF HIGH LEVEL HERE'S, HERE'S A GENERAL SENSE OF HOW YOU COULD FIND $26 MILLION, RIGHT? AND, AND YOU DID IT BY DEPARTMENTS, BUT LIKE, I'M TALKING ACTUAL LINES OF, YOU KNOW, $3 MILLION TO PARKS BLANK AND $2 MILLION TO ANIMAL SERVICES, WHATEVER, BUT ACTUAL APPROPRIATION.
WHAT, HOW WOULD YOU DO THAT? AND, AND THE REASON KIND OF THAT NUMBER, YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED THE HOUSING TRUST FUND, THE, THE, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO HAVE THE LOCAL HOUSING VOUCHER, WHAT IMPACTS WE'RE GOING TO SEE TO THE SOCIAL SERVICE CUTS.
[01:20:01]
TO BE CUTTING IN ONE AREA AND JUST SHIFTING A COST PROBABLY TO PUBLIC SAFETY.AND SO I WANT TO BEST TO BE ABLE TO WEIGH THOSE THINGS, WHETHER WE, WE CHOOSE THOSE LEVERS, BUT WE NEED TO HAVE THE INFORMATION OF, OKAY, WHAT'S THAT NEXT CUT? IF WE'RE TRYING TO WEIGH IT AGAINST THAT THING, THAT FIRST THING THAT'S NOT FUNDED RIGHT? 'CAUSE THAT'S THE STRUGGLE WE HAVE IS WE WANNA FUND SOMETHING, BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S TRADING AWAY FROM.
AND SO BEING ABLE TO, TO WEIGH THOSE AGAINST EACH OTHER IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UH, IT CAN BE BUDGET QUESTION NUMBER TWO.
UH, BUT I JUST, I APPRECIATE ARMING US WITH THAT INFORMATION.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER BROER, UH, LET'S GO WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUEZ.
AND THEN WE WILL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER UCCI.
UM, THANK Y'ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, I HAD A QUICK COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
ONE, FIRST, ACTUALLY A REQUEST.
THE FIRST ONE IS ON SLIDE FOUR, IF, CAN WE GET A LIST OF THE, UH, THE VAC VACANCY RATE CHANGES FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR FOR DEPARTMENTS AND THE NEW VACANT POSITIONS THAT ARE BEING ELIMINATED DUE TO THAT, UH, OUR VACANCY POLICY? YES.
AND WE'RE ACTUALLY WORKING ON A VACANCY DASHBOARD THAT WILL GIVE THAT INFORMATION, UM, CLOSER TO REAL TIME.
UH, ON SLIDE 20, UM, WHAT WOULD OUR, WHAT WOULD BE OUR PERCENT IN RESERVES IF WE DON'T MAKE THAT THIR? $13.7 MILLION TRANSFER.
UH, AND ALSO ON SLIDE 20, WHAT, UH, PROGRAMS ARE GOING AWAY OR BEING IMPACTED BY THE REDUCTION IN THE HOUSING TRUST FUNDS? AND DO WE HAVE A LISTING OF THOSE YET? SO IT'S PRIMARILY LOCAL HOUSING VOUCHERS.
UM, THERE ARE OTHER PROGRAMS THAT, UM, HAVE BEEN FUNDED HISTORICALLY THROUGH THE HOUSING TRUST FUND, SUCH AS EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
I, I'M NOT SURE OF THE EXACT AMOUNT OF THAT.
UM, AND THEN THERE ARE SOME FUNDING THAT IS CON GONNA CONTINUE BECAUSE IT'S FUNDED THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN DISNEY BONUS PROGRAM.
SO THERE IT IS A MIXTURE OF TWO FUNDING SOURCES, GENERAL FUND AND, AND DDB.
UM, BUT WE CAN GET YOU A FULL LIST OF WHAT HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN FUNDED AND WHETHER OR NOT THOSE ARE, UM, WERE ONE-TIME IN FUNCTION OR IF THEY WERE ONGOING PROGRAMS. THANK YOU.
AND, UH, EARLIER YOU'D MENTIONED, I'M, I'M, I'M LOOKING AT SLIDE 36.
EARLIER YOU'D MENTIONED BEING PEOPLE'S FAVORITES.
UH, I KNOW THAT I'M YOU AND THE CITY MANAGER'S FAVORITE, SO, UH, I'M SURE WE'LL RESOLVE THE FJC BEING ON THAT UNFUNDED LIST BEFORE WE GET TO TO BUDGET.
SO JUST WANTED TO THROW THAT OUT THERE FOR MY COLLEAGUES AND KNOW THAT I'M FIRST IN LINE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MAT SEAL, COUNCIL MEMBER VELES.
'CAUSE YOU SAID YOU ARE HIS FAVORITE OR YOU'RE NOT.
YEAH, THAT'S NOT WHAT HE TOLD ME.
UM, AND, UH, TO MY COLLEAGUES FOR SOME REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
UM, I GUESS FIRST I JUST WANNA REITERATE WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER AL ALTER SAID ABOUT 3.3% INFLATION.
UM, AND A, YOU KNOW, RELATED ASPECT TO THAT IS THAT IF WE'RE NOT GIVING OUR CIVILIAN STAFF ANY RAISE AT ALL, THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY TAKING A PAY CUT, RIGHT? IN TERMS OF ACTUAL BUYING POWER OF THEIR WAGES.
SO, UH, IN KIND OF, UH, CONNECTION TO HIS REQUEST FOR, YOU KNOW, $20 MILLION OF CUTS, I MEAN, TO ME TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND IF WE DIDN'T MAKE FURTHER CUTS TO SOCIAL SERVICES CONTRACTS, AND IF WE GAVE CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES A COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT, WHAT WOULD THAT BUDGET LOOK LIKE? IS IS ONE OF MY, MY BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS.
UM, BUT I DID WANNA BUILD A LITTLE BIT ON WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE ASKED ABOUT WITH THE ONE A TS INITIATIVE.
AND I GUESS I'LL DIRECT MY QUESTIONS TO YOU.
UM, CFO HE KNEW, AND I WANNA SAY I REALLY APPRECIATED THE A TS DIRECTOR'S PRESENTATION TO AUDIT AND FINANCE.
UM, IN TERMS OF ALL THE, UM, REALLY BENEFITS THE CITY COULD, COULD REAP FROM THIS APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION INITIATIVE.
UM, I THINK THERE'S SOME QUESTION ABOUT WHAT IS ONE A TS WHAT'S ENCOMPASSED WITHIN IT, BUT I'M GONNA ASSUME THAT APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION IS ONE ASPECT OF ONE A TS.
IS THAT A FAIR WAY TO SAY IT, MR. MANINO? YEAH, I WOULD SAY STAFF IS USING THE TERM ONE A TS MORE BROADLY TO CAPTURE ALL OF THE IT OPTIMIZATION EFFORTS, UM, AROUND, UH, ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN, APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION, CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS.
YOU KNOW, WE NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE MULTIPLE REDUNDANT SOFTWARE PACKAGES, SOMETIMES WE HAVE MULTIPLE CONTRACTS WITH THE SAME SOFTWARE VENDOR.
SO JUST BROADLY THE IDEA OF A ONE CITY APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.
SO WHAT WE, AND IT WAS REALLY EXCITING TO HEAR, HEAR DIRECTOR, UH, UM, WAS IT LAKES REPORT, UM, UH, THAT, UH, WE COULD REAP POTENTIAL SAVINGS BETWEEN 49 MILLION AND 142 MILLION, UH, IF WE FULLY IMPLEMENT THE APPLICATION RATIONAL
[01:25:01]
RATIONALIZATION INITIATIVE, THAT'S BASED UPON THE PARCEL SALVO REPORT.AND AGAIN, IT'S OBVIOUSLY A VERY BROAD RANGE, BUT WHAT THEY, WHAT THE CONSULTANT INFORMED THE AUDIT COMMITTEE WAS, IT REALLY HAS TO DO WITH THIS CITY MANAGEMENT'S DECISIONS ON WHERE WE THINK IT MAKES SENSE FOR THE CITY TO CONSOLIDATE APPLICATIONS.
AND WHERE WE DON'T, THERE STILL IS GONNA BE A, A A LOT OF WORK AND DISCUSSIONS WITH DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF ABOUT WHAT CONSOLIDATIONS CAN WE REALLY MAKE WORK AND WHICH ONES DON'T WE WANT TO PURSUE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, BASED UPON THOSE DECISIONS, LOW END, 42 MILLION, HIGH END, 150 MILLION ISH, A HUNDRED, 149 MILLION TO 142 MILLION.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF HOW ONE A TS CONNECTS TO THE FINANCIAL FORECAST, IS IT JUST THE, THE SAVINGS FROM THE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION THAT'S BUILT INTO THE FIVE-YEAR FORECAST? OR ARE THERE OTHER SAVINGS THAT ARE BUILT IN IT? IT'S, I WOULD CALL IT MORE OF A PLACEHOLDER BASED UPON THE ANTICIPATED SAVINGS FROM ALL THE INITIATIVES WE'VE TALKED ABOUT.
SO CERTAINLY THE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION WOULD BE A BIG PART OF THAT.
BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE ALSO WORKING WITH GARTNER ON CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS.
SO THE BIG CONTRACTS WE HAVE WITH LARGE SOFTWARE VENDORS, AND AS WE CONSOLIDATE, HOW DO WE RENEGOTIATE THOSE CONTRACTS, UH, TO OPTIMIZE OUR, OUR VALUE? UM, SO IT'S ALL OF THE INITIATIVES COLLECTIVELY.
AGAIN, IT'S NOT JUST ONE THING.
A LOT OF IT CERTAINLY WOULD COME FROM THE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION, BUT THIS IS MORE OF A PLACEHOLDER FOR ANTICIPATED RESULTS THAT WE THINK ARE ON THE CONSERVATIVE END OF THE SPECTRUM THAT WE'VE BEEN ADVISED BY OUR, BY OUR, UM, CONSULTANTS THAT THEY THINK WE CAN REALIZE IN REGARDS TO THE PROPOSAL TO, UM, MOVE FROM, I GUESS WHAT WE CALL A FEDERATED MODEL OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, WHERE WE HAVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY STAFF ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND, YOU KNOW, THE PROPOSAL TO MOVE THOSE FOLKS UNDER THE A TS SHOP.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE CONSOLIDATION OF STAFF AND THE TRANSFER OF STAFF, IS THAT REFLECTED IN THE ECONOMIC FORECAST? IS THAT EXPECTED TO REAP FINANCIAL SAVINGS THAT WE CAN COUNT ON? UM, I THINK THERE WILL BE SAVINGS THAT RESULT FROM THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, REGARDLESS OF SAVINGS, WE THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE OVERALL EFFORTS BECAUSE THE REASON WE ARE WHERE WE ARE, WHERE WE HAVE SO MANY REDUNDANT APPLICATIONS AND MULTIPLE, UH, INSTANCES OF THE SAME APPLICATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, UM, A LACK OF A COHESIVE STRATEGY IS BECAUSE OF THE WAY WE'VE BEEN ORGANIZED AND THE WAY WE'VE GOVERNED OUR IT DECISIONS OVER DECADES.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE STORIES WE HEARD FROM OUR APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION CONSULTANTS IS IF ALL YOU DO IS GO THROUGH A PROCESS OF RATIONALIZING YOUR APPLICATIONS AND CONSOLIDATING AND SAVING MONEY, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY THEY SEE WITHIN THREE TO FIVE YEARS, YOU JUST GET BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE WITHOUT IMPLEMENTING, UH, ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES AND GOVERNANCE CHANGES THAT GO ALONG WITH THE RATIONALIZATION PROCESS.
SO I THINK CERTAINLY AS YOU LOOK AT, UM, AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT STAFF, IT'S NOT JUST CITY STAFF, THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF STAFF AUGMENTATION.
SO THESE SYSTEMS WILL HAVE, SOMETIMES THEY'RE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED, SO JUST ONE THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH, MICRO STRATEGIES, SOMETIMES ON THE VERY COMPLICATED REPORTS WE HAVE TO HAVE A, UH, EXPERT FROM MICRO STRATEGIES OR A CONSULTING FIRM THAT HAS EXPERTISE IN THAT APPLICATION THAT CAN COME AND DEVELOP REPORTS FOR US, FOR OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEMS. AND ALL THE DIFFERENT BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOLS WILL HAVE THOSE TYPES OF STAFF AUGMENTATION CONTRACTS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
IF YOU GO FROM 14 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOLS TO TWO OR THREE, WE DON'T NEED AS MANY CONSULTANTS STAFF AUGMENTATION TO, TO MANAGE ALL THOSE DIFFERENT REPORTS AND ALL THOSE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT STAFF, AND THE NUMBERS YOU SAW IN THE, UM, IN THE GARTNER REPORT IS LOOKING AT ALL OF CITY STAFF AND ALL THE AUGMENTED STAFF THAT WE GET THROUGH CONSULTING CONTRACTS, BUT CERTAINLY AS WE REDUCE THE NUMBER OF CONTRACTS, THE NUMBER OF BODIES NEEDED TO MAINTAIN ALL OF THOSE CONTRACTS IS GOING TO STREAMLINE.
SO AS WE STAND HERE TODAY, ARE YOU ABLE TO PARSE OUT WHAT THE SAVINGS COULD BE IF WE MAINTAIN A FEDERATED MODEL, MAYBE WITH SOME IMPROVEMENTS, BUT WENT THROUGH WITH THE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION, OR IS THAT SOMETHING YOU'VE STUDIED OR, YEAH, I'D HAVE TO, WE, I THINK WE'D WANT TO SIT DOWN WITH OUR CONSULTANTS AND OUR IT STAFF TO SEE IF THE, YOU KNOW, THE DATA WE HAVE, WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO COME UP WITH PROJECTED SAVINGS FROM ALTERNATIVE MODELS.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED, YOU KNOW, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE AT LEAST 400 EMPLOYEES THAT COULD BE IMPACTED BY THE CONSOLIDATION PROPOSAL.
UM, HAVE YOU PRICED OUT WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO INCORPORATE THOSE FOLKS INTO A NEW DEPARTMENT, THE
[01:30:01]
TYPE OF TRAINING, OTHER TYPE OF RESOURCES THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO MAKE THAT CONSOLIDATION MORE SEAMLESS? WELL, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT REFLECTING, UM, ANY SAVINGS FROM STAFF REDUCTIONS IN THE FISCAL YEAR 27 BUDGET, OR, YOU KNOW, OTHER THAN IN THE, THE, THE, THE BROADER 2.9 TO MILLION AND 27 AND 30 MILLION OVER THE FIVE YEARS.BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW ALL OF THOSE STAFF POSITIONS ARE, ARE LOOKING TO MOVE THEM INTO EXISTING ROLES WITHIN THE ONE A TS MODEL.
SO THERE'S NO, UH, UH, REDUCTIONS OR IN STAFFING THAT WE'RE PROPOSING AS A PART OF THE FY 27 FORECAST THAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE.
BUT WOULDN'T YOU NEED MORE SUPERVISORS, MORE TRAINING, MORE STRUCTURES TO INCORPORATE THOSE PEOPLE INTO A NEW DEPARTMENT? UM, I, I THINK BROADLY OVER TIME, YOU MIGHT NEED FEWER SUPERVISORS.
YOU KNOW, IF, IF AS, AS YOU LOOK AT A CONSOLIDATED APPROACH TO VARIOUS IT FUNCTIONS WHERE, YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY YOU MIGHT HAVE, UH, DATABASE MANAGERS SPREAD ACROSS 5, 6, 7, 8 DEPARTMENTS AND NEEDING SUPERVISORS FOR THOSE EMPLOYEES ACROSS ALL THOSE DEPARTMENTS, YOU PROBABLY HAVE A NEED FOR FEWER SUPERVISORS IN A CONSOLIDATED MODEL.
UM, NOW TRAINING, UH, CERTAINLY AS WE START LOOKING AT THE APPLICATION SIDE OF THINGS, WE ARE GONNA HAVE TO INVEST IN TRAINING COSTS TO TRAIN USERS WHO ARE USED TO USING SYSTEM X.
NOW WE'RE GONNA BE USING SYSTEM Y, SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO TRAIN THE EMPLOYEES ON MOVING TO THE NEW SYSTEM Y.
BUT, UH, IN, IN TERMS OF THE CENTRALIZATION EFFORT, UM, WE MAY STILL NEED TO DO SOME TRAINING, BUT, UM, TRYING TO THINK OF ANY EXCEPTIONS TO THIS.
AND KARICA, YOU KNOW, MAY HAVE ANY, BUT IF YOU'RE CURRENTLY A DATABASE MANAGER, YOU'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO BE A DATABASE MANAGER WORKING ON DATABASES.
SO, UM, NETWORKING PEOPLE ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO, TO DO NETWORKING, ALBEIT IN A MORE COHESIVE AND, UM, CONSOLIDATED FASHION.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY NEED TO BE SOME TRAINING INVOLVED IN THAT.
BUT GOOD MORNING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, SPECIFIC TO THE TRAINING PIECE OF THAT, WE DO NUMBER ONE IN-HOUSE TRAINING ON SOME OF OUR INTERNAL SYSTEMS. AND THEN OFTEN WITH THE CONTRACTS WE HAVE WITH OUR SOFTWARE VENDORS, OUR TECHNOLOGY VENDORS, THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FROM TRAINING DIRECTLY FROM THOSE VENDORS, OR THEY'RE ALREADY ASSOCIATED IN WITH THE CONTRACTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SITUATIONS WHERE PEOPLE AREN'T LEVERAGING THE TRAINING THAT'S OUT THERE AND AVAILABLE TO THEM.
SO OUR FOCUS IS REALLY TO LEVERAGE WHAT WE HAVE WITHIN THOSE DIFFERENT CONTRACTS.
AND AS WE RENEGOTIATE THOSE CONTRACTS, MAKE SURE THAT TRAINING IS AVAILABLE BOTH TO, UH, THE TECHNICAL PROFESSIONAL AND THEN FOR THE END USER.
HOW MANY EMPLOYEES IN THE AT TS DEPARTMENT RIGHT NOW? UH, 360 1.
SO IF WE ADD OVER 400 MORE, AM I HEARING THAT THAT'S NOT GONNA INCREASE COSTS FOR MANAGEMENT? UM, MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE COMING OVER IN SUPERVISORY TITLES.
UM, SOME ARE NOT, AND THEY ARE BEING ALIGNED WITH EXISTING SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS, AND THERE WILL BE SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UM, UH, NEW POSITIONS AND NEW MANAGER LEVELS, BUT WE ALSO HAVE VACANCIES, UM, THAT WE WOULD WANT TO REPURPOSE.
SO WE WOULD NOT BE ADDING ANY NET NEW POSITIONS INTO THE ORGANIZATION.
YEAH, I'M NOT SO MUCH ASKING ABOUT NEW POSITIONS, BUT IT, I MEAN, AND I, I CAN MOVE, WE CAN MOVE ON, BUT I'M JUST, IT DOESN'T SOUND SEEM RIGHT TO ME THAT YOU COULD DOUBLE THE SIZE OF A DEPARTMENT WITHOUT HAVING INVESTMENT IN, IN NEW ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE, LEADERSHIP INFRASTRUCTURE, TRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE.
I DON'T SEE HOW YOU CAN JUST MAGICALLY TRANSFER 400 PLUS PEOPLE.
COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN.
I'VE, UH, GOT SOME QUESTIONS, UH, PARTICULARLY AROUND HELPING ME UNDERSTAND BETTER DEBT SERVICES.
I KNOW WE'RE SHORT ON TIME, WE'VE GOTTA GET TO THE LAST AGENDA ITEM, BUT, UH, IF WE GO TO SLIDE 34, I THINK, UH, IT SAYS THAT WE'VE GOT TOTAL AUTHORIZED, BUT UNISSUED PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS, UH, A LITTLE OVER A BILLION DOLLARS.
THE MAIN THING I'M STRUGGLING WITH IS WE MET WITH CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES RECENTLY.
I GOT A NUMBER FROM THEM FOR WHAT WAS, UH, WHAT THEY'RE CALLING UNOBLIGATED.
AND I'M JUST TRYING TO STANDARDIZE HOW WE WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I GET DIFFERENT NUMBERS DEPENDING ON WHAT WE LOOK AT AND, AND
[01:35:01]
EVEN IN THE CHART HERE, WHEN I ADD UP THE, THE ENCUMBERED, UH, AND THE BALANCE IS, I DON'T GET TO 1.02 BILLION.SO CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH WHAT THE DIFFERENT TERM? I THINK IT'S A TERMINOLOGY PROBLEM.
CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH WHAT THAT IS? SURE.
UM, SO THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT SPENDING, AND THIS IS TALKING ABOUT BONDS.
SO IN TERMS OF SPENDING, OBVIOUSLY, RIGHT, YOU GOT MONEY THAT'S OUT THE DOOR, CHECKS HAVE CLEARED, THE MONEY HAS BEEN EXPENDED.
UM, WE ISSUE OUR BONDS TO REIMBURSE OURSELVES, SO WE INCUR THE EXPENSES FIRST, AND THEN WE ISSUE BONDS TO REIMBURSE OURSELVES FOR THE SPENDING THAT'S OCCURRED.
SO YOU'VE GOT SPENDING, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN ENCUMBERED THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SPENT YET.
WE DON'T ISSUE THE BONDS FOR ENCUMBERED FUNDS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT BE ENTERED INTO A CONTRACT ON A LARGE PROJECT.
UH, WE HAVE THE CONSULTANT ON BOARD AND WE ENCUMBER THE FUNDS.
WE, WE LOCK THEM AND SET THEM ASIDE IN THE SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ABLE TO, UH, PAY THAT CONTRACTOR AS THEIR WORK, UM, PROGRESSES.
AND THEN THERE'S A, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE AN OBLIGATED PIECE WHERE WE HAVEN'T REACHED, UM, A POINT YET WHERE WE HAVE A CONTRACT IN PLACE, OR WE HAVEN'T ENCUMBERED THE FUNDS, BUT WE ARE AT A STAGE WHERE THE FUNDS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE OBLIGATED, OBLIGATED TO THAT PROJECT.
THE PROJECT'S FAR ENOUGH, FAR, FAR ENOUGH ALONG THAT THE DEPARTMENT'S CONSIDERING THAT A, AN OBLIGATED, UM, FUND.
SO THAT'S WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT WE HAVE X AMOUNT OF UNOBLIGATED DOLLARS LEFT.
THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT IS WHAT'S LEFT AFTER WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT MONEY THAT'S BEEN SPENT, MONEY THAT'S BEEN ENCUMBERED OR MONEY THAT'S BEEN OBLIGATED.
THE BONDS ARE ONLY SOLD FOR THE MONEY THAT'S ALREADY BEEN EXPENDED.
AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT UNAUTHORIZED OR AUTHORIZED, BUT UN ISSSUED BONDS, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE.
AND SO IT'LL BE ABOUT, THE MONEY THAT'S BEEN ENCUMBERED PROBABLY GETS EXPENDED LARGELY OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR.
AND THEN AFTER IT'S BEEN EXPENDED, THE YEAR AFTER THAT, WE WILL ISSUE THE BOND.
SO THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS LAG.
THERE'S A LAG TIME BEHIND EVERY YEAR.
UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT AS I COMMUNICATE NUMBERS OUT TO CONSTITUENTS THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT THE MOST RELEVANT INFORMATION I CAN TALK ABOUT FOR THEIR PURPOSES.
AND SO I WANNA TAKE THIS CONVERSATION AND LINK IT BACK TO THE EARLIER SLIDES.
I THINK IT'S SLIDE 16, THAT'S ABOUT, UM, THEIR OWN ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX DEBT, WHICH IS INCREASING FROM, IT LOOKS LIKE 450 TO $512.
AND I'M ASSUMING THAT INCREASE IS CONNECTED TO SOME COMBINATION OF, OR MAYBE I SHOULD JUST ASK Y'ALL, BUT I, MY GUESS IS THAT THAT'S CONNECTED TO, UH, ISSUING THE, THAT THAT GAP ISSUING THE BONDS FOR THE, UM, FOR THE PROJECTS THAT ARE NOW ENCUMBERED OR AS WE'RE SPENDING THROUGH IT.
AND THEN I THINK, AND THEN THE OTHER QUESTION THAT'S CONNECTED TO THAT IS MAKING SURE THAT FROM THE TOTAL CIP SPENDING, WHICH IS SLIDE 32, THAT WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THE PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS, OR IS THERE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE DRIVING THAT INCREASE OF $62? YOU SAID 5 32, BUT YOU'RE TALKING THESE, DO YOU MEAN THE FIVE 12 HERE, THE 4 55? I SAID FOUR 50 TO FIVE 12, YEAH.
THE $62 IS THE DELTA BETWEEN THE TWO YEARS, THE YEAR ON YEAR INCREASE.
SO THAT INCREASE IS, UM, REFLECTING BONDS THAT WE WOULD'VE SOLD LAST YEAR THAT ARE NOW GONNA BE SHOWING UP IN THE NEXT YEAR'S TAX RATE.
JUST THE PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS, JUST GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS IN TOTAL, JUST THE YEAR BONDS.
SO THE, OF THE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, I MEAN, IN AGGREGATE ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF THOSE ARE PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BONDS, AND ABOUT A THIRD ARE NON-VOTER APPROVED SOURCES, UH, FOR CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION OR SHORT TERM CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS.
UM, WHERE DO THOSE WIND UP BEING IN SLIDE 32, OUTTA CURIOSITY ON SLIDE TWO? ARE THEY IN THE OTHER CATEGORY? YES.
YES, THOSE ARE INCLUDED IN THE OTHER CATEGORY.
UM, I GUESS IT'D BE USEFUL AND WE CAN CONNECT AFTERWARDS TO SEE IF I CAN GET A BETTER BREAKDOWN OF WHAT THE OTHER CATEGORY LOOKS LIKE, SO I CAN UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE I, YEP.
I THINK THE NOTES FROM SOME OF THE OTHER SLIDES WERE A LOT OF THAT WAS CONVENTION CENTER, BUT, BUT I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CO PORTION OF THAT IS AS WELL.
UM, BUT SO FAR EVERYTHING I JUST SAID IS MOSTLY ACCURATE, OTHER THAN THE, THE POINT YOU MADE ABOUT BEING BOTH PIB AS WELL AS CO YES.
FOR WHAT'S MAKING UP THE $62 INCREASE FROM YEAR TO YEAR.
UM, THE OTHER QUESTION I'VE GOT IS, AND THIS IS BUILDING ON COUNCILOR
[01:40:01]
CADRY, IS IN A NUMBER OF OTHER QUESTIONS, UH, TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS YEAR WE'RE SEEING ONE A TS AND OTHER THINGS REFLECTED IN THE BUDGET CHANGE, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE YET TO UNDERSTAND, UH, ANY OF THE OTHER IMPACTS.AND I THINK YOU'VE GOT SOME STUFF THERE FOR, THIS WAS A SERVICES CONTRACTS YOU'RE ACCOUNTING FOR, BUT IN TERMS OF LIKE THE CONSULTING AUDIT IN TERMS OF OTHER ASPECTS OF SHARED SERVICES, CONSOLIDATION, IN TERMS OF AUDIT, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE'VE TOUCHED ON THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS OR YEAR, THAT COULD IMPACT THE BUDGET IN A, WHETHER DEBIT OR CREDIT THAT IS TOO EARLY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE IMPACTS WILL BE.
IS THAT FAIR OUTSIDE OF THE ONES THAT ARE LISTED IN THIS REPORT? SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME PLEASE.
SO YOU'VE, YOU'VE ACCOUNTED FOR, UM, YOU'VE ACCOUNTED FOR SOME CHANGES THAT ARE REFLECTED AS FAR AS ONE A, UH, OATS OR, UH, ONE A TS YOU'VE ACCOUNTED FOR.
I THINK SOME CHANGES IN, IN SOCIAL SERVICES CONTRACTS OR THINGS THAT WE ANTICIPATE DOING ONCE WE'VE GOT FULL CLARITY AROUND IT.
BUT I DON'T SEE HERE ANYTHING REGARDING LIKE THE CONSULTING CONTRACTS AND THE AUDIT.
I DON'T SEE ANYTHING REGARDING MAYBE OTHER SHARED SERVICES WORK OR OTHER ASPECTS OF ONE A TS, UM, ESPECIALLY GIVEN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE LISTED IN THE GARTNER REPORT.
I THEN THERE'S THE AUDIT THAT WAS PASSED EARLIER THIS YEAR.
SO I'M JUST CURIOUS, WHEN, WHEN DO YOU ANTICIPATE SOME OF THE THINGS BEING REFLECTED IN FUTURE FORECASTS? SO WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROGRESS MADE ON SHARED SERVICES, UM, IN THE COMING MONTHS.
AND SO DETERMINING WHAT, IF ANY, IMMEDIATE SAVINGS THAT WOULD THEN BE REFLECTED IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET, UM, AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK AND, AND REVIEW, UM, THE CONTRACT SPEND WILL IDENTIFY IF THERE ARE SAVINGS THERE.
SO THAT'S CONTINUED WORK THAT'S HAPPENING, UM, THAT WE WERE NOT FURTHER FAR ENOUGH ALONG IN THIS TIMELINE TO ANTICIPATE ANY SAVINGS THAT COULD COME FROM THAT.
UM, IT'S STILL VERY MUCH IN THE DISCOVERY AND REVIEW PART, AND SO WE'LL HAVE TO MAKE THOSE UPDATES AS WE GET FURTHER ALONG IN THE, FOR, I MEAN, THE PROPOSED BUDGET PROCESS.
I'LL LOOK FOR THOSE UPDATES WHEN YOU'RE ABLE TO SHARE THEM.
AND I'M HOPING THAT THEY COME, UM, AHEAD OF JULY 15TH IF POSSIBLE.
UH, THE LAST THING IS JUST A VERY, FIRST OF ALL, APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS AND, AND THE WORK THAT'S, AND STILL BEING DONE.
UH, AND JUST FINAL COMMENT, WHICH IS JUST, UH, UH, OTHER FOLKS THAT HAVE WORKED IN THIS SPACE HAVE ADVISED ME TO FIRST GO AFTER THE SLOW FAT RABBITS AND THEN GO AFTER THE SACRED COWS.
AND MY FEAR IS THAT WE GET TO A PLACE WHERE WE'VE DECIDED SOME PROCESSES ARE SO UNPALATABLE WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT 'EM.
AND I'M JUST HOPEFUL THAT IF WE WANT TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PRIORITIES, ABOUT SAY, FUNDING WAGE INCREASES FOR CITY STAFF, THAT WE PROBABLY NEED TO HAVE MOST OF THESE THINGS OR IF NOT EVERYTHING ON THE TABLE FOR THIS DISCUSSION IN THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, UM, THOSE UPDATES.
COUNCIL MEMBER DUING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, OR YOU? OKAY, I GOT IT.
UM, I HAVE JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS.
DO WE HAVE ANY FEMA FUND REIMBURSEMENTS, ANY FEMA REIMBURSEMENTS PENDING, OR HAVE WE RECEIVED ALL OF OUR FEMA REIMBURSEMENTS FROM OUR NUMEROUS WINTER STORMS? I THINK WE'VE RECEIVED MOST OF THE DOLLARS.
WE DON'T HAVE REIMBURSEMENTS INCLUDED IN OUR FORECAST.
UM, AT THE MOMENT, I THINK WE'VE RE RECEIVED MOST OF THE DOLLARS THAT ANTICIPATE WE ARE APPEALING SOME OF THE DECISIONS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE.
SO THERE MAY BE SOME FUNDING THAT COMES BACK IN.
UM, BUT, UM, WE DON'T HAVE ADDITIONAL DOLLARS ANTICIPATED RIGHT NOW.
AND WITH REGARD TO THE UTILITY REVENUE BEING DOWN, IS THAT BOTH UTILITIES, THE MAJORITY ELECTRIC, MAJORITY WATER? ANY SENSE OF THAT? YEAH, I, I THINK THERE WERE STILL UP YEAR OVER YEAR IS JUST THEIR YEAR END ACTUAL CAME IN A BIT BELOW ESTIMATE AT AE AND A BIT ABOVE AT WATER.
AND THE NET EFFECT WHEN YOU RUN IT THROUGH THE THREE YEAR AVERAGE CALCULATION WAS THAT $1.6 MILLION CHANGE.
AND THEN THE LAST, UH, QUESTION WOULD BE ON THE HOUSING VOUCHERS, UH, THOSE VOUCHER AND IN IN PARTICULAR, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TER, UH, MENTIONED THE, THE PSH, THE ONES THAT WE'RE, UH, USING TO SUPPORT OUR, UH, NUMEROUS PSH PROJECTS, UH, AT, AT THIS POINT, DO WE KNOW WHAT THE EFFECT
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OF ZEROING OUT, UM, HOUSING VOUCHERS WOULD BE ON THOSE PROJECTS? IN OTHER WORDS, DO WE HAVE A SENSE OF EXACTLY HOW MUCH OF THAT MONEY IS GOING TO SUPPORT THOSE, UH, PSH PROJECTS AND, AND WHAT WOULD BE THE EFFECT OF, UH, OF CUTTING OFF THAT FLOW? I SEE SOME STIRRING IN THE BACKGROUND THERE.SO, DILETTA DEAN, UH, DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN HOUSING, UH, YES.
UH, THE AMOUNT THAT, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT FOR THIS CURRENT FISCAL YEAR, 7 MILLION, UH, 700,000, UM, AND THE IMPACT OF THAT WOULD BE THOSE RESOURCES ARE SPREAD OUT AMONGST, UH, SEVERAL, UH, PSH PROPERTIES.
AND THE ABSENCE OF THAT SUBSIDY WOULD, UH, DRASTICALLY IMPACT THE CASH FLOW OF THOSE PROPERTIES, THEREBY MAKING THEM, UH, DIFFICULT TO OPERATE WITHOUT THAT, UH, INFUSION.
AND, AND JUST TO, SO I'M CLEAR ON HOW WE, WE OPERATE THAT ESSENTIALLY THE, THE PERMANENTLY SUPPORTIVE HOUSING WILL, UH, GET SOMEBODY, UH, WHO WAS ON THE STREETS INTO, UH, HOUSING WITH SUPPORTIVE SERVICES, AND THEN THE CITY IS ESSENTIALLY PAYING THEIR RENT OR A PORTION THEREOF WITH THE HOUSING VOUCHER.
IS THAT E ESSENTIALLY HOW IT WORKS? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO NOT ONLY WILL IT IMPACT THE OPERATIONS OF THE OVERALL FACILITY, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THE, THE T SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS NOT GONNA GET THAT REVENUE, BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE EFFECT WOULD BE ON THE, ON THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THE ROOMS? YES, THERE ARE, UM, I BELIEVE APPROXIMATELY 300 TO 350 INDIVIDUALS THAT WOULD BE DISPLACED IF THE HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM WAS NOT FUNDED.
I, I JUST WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT.
'CAUSE UH, UH, I MEAN, WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN, UH, BOTH FOR OUR, OUR PROJECTS AND FOR THE PEOPLE, UH, THAT ARE IN THEM.
UH, WE NEED TO HAVE, UH, STABLE, UH, PSH PROJECTS AND WE DEFINITELY DON'T NEED TO PUT, YOU KNOW, 300 TO 350 ADDITIONAL FOLKS, UH, BACK ON, UH, THE STREETS, ESPECIALLY THERE HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, GETTING, UH, STABILIZED AND, AND, AND, AND LOOKING TOWARD A, A, A BETTER FUTURE.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, MS. DEAN, UH, APPRECIATED.
I SAW THERE WAS A, A HEALTH INSURANCE INCREASE THAT, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE RIGHT NOW OF, OF, UH, HOW MUCH OF THE CITY'S GONNA BEAR AND, UH, IF, UH, ANY WILL BE PASSED ON TO THE EMPLOYEES? THAT 5% IS THE CITY CONTRIBUTION.
UM, WE'LL BE WORKING WITH HR TO UN UNDERSTAND ANY PLAN CHANGES IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS AND MONTHS.
WE, I DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION TO DATE.
I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT.
AND, AND, AND TO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL'S COMMENTS, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, INFLATION, EVERYBODY'S GETTING PINCHED BY INFLATION.
UH, AND I, UH, I, I DON'T THINK THAT A 0%, AGAIN, I'M ONLY GONNA SPEAK FOR MYSELF, BUT MY SENSE IS THAT THERE'S A NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WOULD AGREE WITH ME THAT I DON'T KNOW IF 0% IS, IS, UH, UH, REALISTIC GIVEN THE INFLATIONARY SITUATION.
I MEAN, I I, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GIVE 4%, LIKE WE HAVE VIRTUALLY EVERY YEAR THAT I'VE BEEN ON THE DA, BUT, UH, I, I JUST, I, I CAN'T IMAGINE NOT GIVING OUR EMPLOYEES SOME LEVEL OF, UH, COST OF, UH, OF LIVING, UH, INCREASE.
AND, UH, I'LL LEAVE IT AT THERE.
ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON THE FINANCIAL FORECAST? THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH.
AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE POOLED ITEM, ITEM NUMBER SIX, AND I WILL TURN IT OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.
[A6. A Business Expansion Program economic development incentive agreement with RIDA COTA Hotel, LLC for a term up to 30 years, with performance-based payments in an amount not to exceed an amount equal to 8.25 percent of the gross room night revenue generated by hotel operations and approve an ordinance waiving the staff presentation, public announcement and portal setup, and public hearing requirements of Ordinance Nos. 20180830-057 and 20240926-013. Funding: Funding is contingent upon available funding in future budgets of the Economic Incentive Reserve Fund. Pulled by Council Member Fuentes.]
ITEM.IT'S A POTENTIAL CITY PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH A PROPOSED HOTEL CONFERENCE CENTER DEVELOPMENT IN DELL VALLEY.
WANTED TO BE SURE WE HAD TIME AS A DAS FOR US TO HAVE A CONVERSATION TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT THE PROPOSAL, AND ALSO TO SHARE WHY I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A DELL VALLEY STRONG PROPOSAL THAT IS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE TO OUR DELL VALLEY COMMUNITY.
AND AS YOU'VE HEARD FROM COMMENTARY EARLIER TODAY, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE COMMUNITY, THEY WANT TO SEE WHAT WILL BE KIND OF FIRST OF ITS KIND AND MEANINGFUL CITY INVESTMENT.
UH, THIS POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP BRINGS A MAJOR ECONOMIC HUB THAT THE DELL VALLEY COMMUNITY NEEDS.
IT'S 900 PERMANENT FULL-TIME JOBS ABOVE THE CITY'S LIVING WAGE, RELIABLE HEALTH BENEFITS AND PENSION.
THIS AGREEMENT INCLUDES LOCAL HIRING PROVISIONS TO ENSURE OUR NEIGHBORS ARE PRIORITIZED SO THAT PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS, FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALWAYS CALLED THIS COMMUNITY HOME, ARE FIRST IN LINE TO BENEFIT FROM ITS GROWTH.
THIS PARTNERSHIP ALSO DELIVERS NEARLY 12 ACRES OF DEDICATED PUBLIC PARKLAND, FULLY DEVELOPABLE, FULLY PUBLIC, AND BUILT FOR OUR DELL VALLEY NEIGHBORS.
AND THAT INCLUDES TWO FULL-SIZED SOCCER FIELDS CONSTRUCTED AND DONATED BY
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CODA, VALUED AT 2 MILLION.AND THAT IS SIGNIFICANT AS SOMEONE WHO HAS LONG TIME CHAMPIONED THE EXPANSION OF SOCCER FIELD ACCESS.
I HAVE MANY AREAS IN MY DISTRICT THAT ARE EARMARKED FOR FUTURE SOCCER FIELD DEVELOPMENT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING TO ACTUALLY DEVELOP IT.
SO FOR THIS PROPOSAL TO COME FORWARD WITH THAT LEVEL OF COMMITMENT, IT IS SIGNIFICANT.
IT ALSO SETS ASIDE ADDITIONAL PARKLAND, WHICH THE CITY COULD USE FOR A FUTURE RECREATION CENTER IN DELL VALLEY, AS WELL AS ESTABLISHES AND BUILDS ON A DELL VALLEY ISD INTERNSHIP PROGRAM.
AND SO THE TIMING OF THIS PROPOSAL IS IDEAL.
UH, THERE'S NO UPFRONT COST TO THE CITY, AND AT A TIME WHEN WE JUST GOT THE FINANCIAL FORECAST AND UNDERSTANDING THE BUDGET, FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS THAT WE'RE UNDER THIS PROJECT WILL GENERATE LONG-TERM TAX REVENUE FOR THE CITY AND DELL VALLEY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, AS WELL AS THE OTHER, UH, TAXING JURISDICTION, A CC, CENTRAL HEALTH AND, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER OS I BELIEVE YOU COMMENTED ON THIS EARLIER, THIS POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP ALSO PROVIDES A DIRECT INVESTMENT INTO OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND, WHICH WE KNOW IS, UH, MONTHS AWAY FROM BEING ZEROED OUT LATER THIS YEAR AS WE APPROACH OUR BUDGET CONVERSATION.
SO WITH ALL OF THIS IN MIND, I WANNA ENSURE THAT STAFF MADE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE, UH, TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE AND TO ALSO HIGHLIGHT, I DID PRINT OUT, UH, COPIES FOR YOU.
THERE IS A DRAFT MOTION SHEET THAT I HOPE TO ADD TO THE CONVERSATION, UM, THAT IS EVER EVOLVING, BUT IT REALLY JUST PROVIDES SOME DIRECTION TO THE CITY MANAGER AS HE MOVES, AS COUNCIL CONSIDERS THIS PROPOSAL, AND SHOULD HE GET THE AUTHORIZATION AND NEGOTIATE THE AGREEMENT, UM, THAT WE ENSURE THAT THIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT BIND THE CITY TO USE ANY OF OUR GENERAL FUND REVENUE.
AND SINCE IT WOULD BE LEVERAGING THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX REVENUES, I WANNA ENSURE THAT WE HAD SOME CLARITY ON THAT PARTICULAR USAGE.
AND SO, AGAIN, THAT IS JUST A DRAFT MOTION SHEET FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
WE'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH THE FINAL DETAILS OF THAT MOTION SHEET, BUT JUST WANTED TO FLAG IT FOR YOUR AWARENESS.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, DR. JOHNSON, UH, DOS COMMENTS? YES, DR. JOHNSON, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ES THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT OVERVIEW.
AND, UH, WE'RE BASICALLY HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, UM, UH, TO HELP THE COUNCIL ON THIS ISSUE.
WELL THEN, UH, WE'LL OPEN UP ANY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER.
HEY, RICH, I APPRECIATE COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES PULLING THIS ITEM.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK OFTENTIMES THESE AGREEMENTS, UH, CONFOUND THE PUBLIC, RIGHT? THEY THINK WE'RE, UH, WRITING A CHECK TO SOME THIRD PARTY, UH, AND, AND OF COURSE IN A DAY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ALL THE MONEY, WE DON'T HAVE A SAY, HOW CAN, HOW CAN YOU BE DOING THAT AND NOT FUNDING OUR PARKS OR OUR SOCIAL SERVICES? AND, AND THOSE THINGS ARE, ARE NOT, THAT, THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS, RIGHT? WE SO HELP, UH, JUST EXPLAIN BOTH THE DOLLARS THAT ARE BEING GENERATED FROM THIS THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE GENERAL FUND, SO GROW THAT PIE, BUT ALSO THE TERMS UNDER WHICH THE PAYMENTS WOULD BE MADE AND WHERE THAT MONEY'S COMING FROM AND WHAT THAT MONEY CAN BE USED FOR CURRENTLY.
LEMME TURN OVER TO MATT, UM, TO DRILL DOWN INTO THAT AND I'LL CHIME IN AS NECESSARY.
MATTHEW SCHMIDT, DIVISION MANAGER WITH AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
UH, SO REALLY, I MEAN, THIS IS A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP WHERE WE'RE, UH, MAKING AN INVESTMENT INTO THIS, UH, HOTEL DEVELOPMENT TO REALLY STIMULATE THAT TOURISM ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT IN THE DELL VALLEY AREA.
UH, BASED ON INITIAL, UH, ESTIMATES, UH, WHAT WE REALLY DO IS WE DO A FISCAL IMPACT MODEL, UH, BASED ON THE, UH, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, UH, THAT ARE MADE, UH, THROUGH THIS PROJECT.
AND THEN WE PROJECT OUT WHAT THOSE IMPACTS COULD MAKE TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, BASED ON THOSE REVENUE STREAMS SPECIFICALLY TO PROPERTY TAX, SALES TAX, UH, AND THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX THAT'S, UH, SPECIFICALLY GONNA BE GENERATED FROM THIS PROJECT.
UH, BASED ON THOSE SPECIFIC FIGURES WE HAVE, UH, RECEIVED, UH, THROUGH THE APPLICATION 985 MILLION AS MENTIONED IN CAPITAL INVESTMENT SPECIFICALLY, UH, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOTEL.
OF THAT 900, UH, 85 MILLION, $450 MILLION HAS BEEN TAGGED AS BEING, UH, MOST LIKELY BEING SOURCED TAXABLE PURCHASES WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS WELL.
SO WE'RE ABLE TO GENERATE AGAIN, UH, WHAT IS THAT SALES TAX GONNA BE GENERATED FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, BASED ON THOSE FIGURES, WE'VE KIND OF COME UP TO A VERY CONSERVATIVE FIGURE OF ABOUT 200 MILLION THAT WOULD BE DIRECTLY, UH, GOING TO THE, UH, GENERAL FUND OVER THE 30 YEAR TERM OF THIS SPECIFIC AGREEMENT.
UH, AND THAT'S A MIXTURE OF THE PROPERTY TAXES THAT ARE BEING GENERATED BY THIS, UH, PROJECT ITSELF, AS WELL AS SOME RESIDENTIAL, UH, PROPERTY TAXES BASED ON WHAT WE ASSUME, UH, WILL BE GENERATED ON THE NEW JOBS THAT ARE BEING CREATED AND BROUGHT INTO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, WE LOOK AT THAT AS A VERY CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE AS WELL, BECAUSE WE DON'T LOOK AT THE FULL HOTEL OPERATIONS OVER THAT 30 YEARS.
UH, SO THERE'S OTHER ADDITIONAL TAXABLE PURCHASES OR SALES THAT
[01:55:01]
WILL BE ATTRIBUTED TO THIS PROJECT, UH, THAT WILL MOST LIKELY SEE THAT NUMBER INCREASE, UH, OVER THE LIFE OF THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENT.UH, AND THEN WE'VE HAD SOME, UH, JUST A GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS WITH THE ACTUAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY PORTION, UH, BUT WE RECOGNIZE THAT THAT'S SUCH A VARIABLE JUST DUE TO THE, UH, NATURE OF THE ECONOMIC FORECAST BETWEEN NOW AND 30 YEARS, THAT IT'S HARD FOR US TO TRULY PIN DOWN A SPECIFIC NUMBER RELATED TO THOSE IMPACTS AS WELL.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF THE BENEFITS THEY'RE RECEIVING, THEY'RE NOT GETTING DOLLARS OUTTA THE GENERAL FUND, BUT INSTEAD DOLLARS FROM THE HOTEL TAXES THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE GENERATING AND GETTING A SHARE OF THAT BACK, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
THE WAY THIS IS CURRENTLY STRUCTURED IS THAT WE WOULD LOOK AT THEIR PERFORMANCE BASED ON THEIR, UH, OCCUPANCY RATES AND THEIR ROOM REVENUES, UH, AND THEN RETURN A PORTION OF THAT, UH, BACK TO THE PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, LEMME DRAW A ADDITIONAL DISTINCTION.
UM, THE 985 MILLION INVESTMENT IS DEPLOYED PROBABLY WITHIN THE FIRST THREE OR FOUR YEARS.
OUR REBATE OF THE HOT TAX IS OVER A 30 YEAR PERIOD.
SO WHEN YOU DO A, UM, PRESENT VALUE ANALYSIS ON THAT, IT REPRESENTS ROUGHLY 88%, 88.8%, UH, PRIVATE, 11.2%, UM, PUBLIC.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT, UM, RATIOS IN THE WORLD OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THAT IS A REALLY GOOD NUMBER BECAUSE THE STANDARD, WHEN YOU LOOK AT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH IS MORE LIKE ANYTHING, UM, 15% OR BELOW IS CONSIDERED A GOOD USE OF PUBLIC DOLLARS.
BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT FROM A, UM, PRESENT VALUE ANALYSIS, OUR MONEY IS STRETCHED OVER 30 YEARS, NOT PAID UPFRONT, WHICH MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE BECAUSE THEIR MONEY IS DEPLOYED, UH, UPFRONT.
SO WHEN COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES TALKED ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE BENEFIT OF THIS, WE'VE ALSO BEEN LOOKING AT THAT STRATEGY TO SEE HOW IT LOOKS IN TERMS OF DEPLOYING CITY RESOURCES WHERE WE ULTIMATELY PICK UP 200 MILLION PLUS OR WHATEVER IN, UM, NEW PROPERTY TAX, WHICH I THINK IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CITY.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT DISTINCTION BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT FROM A RACIAL, LIKE FINANCIAL, RACIAL PERSPECTIVE IS ACTUALLY, IT'S ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD DEAL.
WELL, I APPRECIATE, UH, COUNCILMAN FUENTES WORK ON THIS.
I KNOW IT'S BEEN A VERY DIFFICULT AND MOVING TARGET, UM, BUT IT'S GONNA BE GREAT NOT ONLY FOR DISTRICT TWO, BUT FOR THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
UH, WE'LL, WE'LL FIGURE OUT ALL THE DETAILS HERE BETWEEN NOW AND THURSDAY, BUT, UM, THIS IS GOING TO ALLOW US TO DO MORE AS A CITY.
UH, AND THAT IS, THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL, THANK YOU MAYOR PROAM AND COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES FOR PULLING THIS ITEM.
UM, I GUESS, UH, DR. JOHNSON, I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHY THIS DEAL IS REALLY BENEFICIAL TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND I GUESS PART OF WHAT I'VE NOTICED IS IN ADDITION TO AS, UH, MATTHEW SHARED THE, THE DIRECT PROPERTY TAX REVENUE, UM, THERE'S ALSO GONNA BE INCREASED SALES TAX REVENUE, ALSO, NOT ONLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CITY, BUT ALSO TO THE COUNTY, DELL VALLEY, ISD.
WE HEARD SOME SPEAKERS EARLIER AND SO, UM, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, GOOD JOBS FOR WHERE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WORKING AT THE HOTEL CAN LIKELY AFFORD TO LIVE IN THE CITY, WHICH IS OF COURSE A WONDERFUL THING.
SO IF YOU COULD JUST SHARE ANY, ANY OTHER THOUGHTS YOU HAVE ON WHY THIS IS A GOOD DEAL FOR THE CITY? OH, GREAT QUESTION.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL, I, I THINK FUNDAMENTALLY, UH, THE ABILITY TO HELP TRANSFORM DELL VALLEY, I THINK THAT'S A, AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS.
BUT WHEN YOU REALLY START TO LOOK AT JUST THE COLLECTIVE PIECES FROM THE JOBS TO THE PARKS, TO THE SOCCER FIELDS, TO THE CONTRIBUTION TO THE TRUST FUND, UM, I DON'T KNOW, WHEN YOU START TO LOOK AT IT COLLECTIVELY, IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY, IT'S A GOOD DEAL, RIGHT? I THINK I, WHEN YOU ALSO LOOK AT THE ADDITIONAL TAXES GENERATED IN PARTICULAR IN A TIME WHERE IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT FOR US TO FOCUS ON GROWING THAT TAX BASE, I THINK IT SENDS A PRETTY GOOD MESSAGE IN TERMS OF WHERE WE TRYING TO GO.
IS THERE THINGS WE NEED TO WORK OUT? YES.
BUT I THINK IN TERMS OF WHAT I BELIEVE AUSTIN STANDS FOR, I THINK STRUCTURALLY THE DEAL HAS ALL OF THOSE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS.
UM, AND THAT'S WHAT I REALLY THINK.
AND I JUST WANNA THANK COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES FOR THIS MOTION.
I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF HOW DO WE PROTECT, YOU KNOW, HISTORIC PRESERVATION DOLLARS AND CULTURAL AL ARTS DOLLARS AS A PART OF THIS DEAL.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO FURTHER DISCUSSION.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SLE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER.
I JUST WANNA THANK YOU BOTH FOR THE HARD WORK THAT'S GONE INTO THIS AND, AND ALSO TO COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES FOR SUCH STRONG LEADERSHIP.
UM, BRINGING TOGETHER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEALS WITH THE STRONG OF FUNDAMENTALS IS NO EASY TASK ANYWHERE.
AND, UM, I APPRECIATE THE THOUGHTFULNESS THAT'S GONE INTO IT AND THE WILLINGNESS AND AVAILABILITY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS OFFLINE AS WE HAVE
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THEM.A QUICK, UH, FINAL QUESTION FROM ME.
SO THEN, UH, THE, JUST TO CLARIFY, THE, UH, MONEY THAT WE GET FROM THIS PROJECT FOR THE GENERAL FUND PROPERTY TAXES AND SALES TAXES, UH, THERE ARE NO REBATES COMING OUT OF THOSE, UH, SOURCES OF, UH, REVENUE, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND, UH, WITH NOTHING FURTHER, UH, UH,