[CALL TO ORDER ]
[00:00:03]
WE'RE GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER AT 3 0 4.
WE HAVE ALL COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN PERSON, MYSELF, CHAIR ION.
WE HAVE VICE CHAIR MAXWELL GAINES, COMMISSIONER PENGE, AND COMMISSIONER WOLSTONCROFT.
FIRST ITEM IS WE HAVE NO, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS, NO SPEAKERS TODAY.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
SO THE FIRST ITEM WILL BE THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE MAY 8TH BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING.ALL OF THE COMMISSIONERS SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A COPY OF THAT FOR REVIEW, IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
OTHERWISE, IF I COULD GET A MOTION TO APPROVE THESE MINUTES.
I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
IF WE CAN RAISE YOUR HANDS TO VOTE.
GREAT MINUTES ARE APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY ONTO
[Items 2,3 & 4]
THE SECOND ITEM, WHICH IS OUR FIRST DISCUSSION ITEM.IT IS THE AUSTIN WATER FINANCIAL FORECAST, OPERATING REQUIREMENTS AND COST DRIVERS.
HI, GOOD AFTERNOON, BUDGET COMMITTEE.
I'M THE ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR AUSTIN WATER.
AND SO, UM, WE'LL BE COVERING THE OPERATING REQUIREMENT COST DRIVERS THAT WERE INCLUDED IN OUR FORECAST SUBMITTAL, AND THAT FORECAST WAS RELEASED BACK IN APRIL.
UM, ADDITIONALLY JUST KIND OF WANNA SET THE STAGE AS LAST TIME WE TALKED ABOUT FORECAST, AND WE'LL CONTINUE DOING THAT.
UH, THE BUDGET WILL NOT BE RELEASED TILL MID-JULY, AND THAT DATE LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE ON JULY 13TH.
IT WILL BE PUBLISHED, BUT JULY 16TH IT WILL BE PRESENTED TO COUNCIL.
AND, UM, AFTER THAT WE HAVE THE WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION ON JULY 29TH.
UM, AND SO, UH, AS PART OF OUR AGENDA ITEM TODAY, WE'LL ALSO BE DISCUSSING THE PREPARATION OF THE REPORT FOR THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND, UH, AS WE DO OUR BUDGET PRESENTATION THAT DAY ON JULY 29TH AS WELL.
SO, UH, YOU'LL HAVE, UM, A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME THIS YEAR TO REVIEW THE BUDGET ONCE IT'S RELEASED, AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET THAT LINK THE DAY IT'S PUBLISHED.
AND SO NOW I WILL TURN IT OVER TO OUR DIVISION MANAGER.
SO LEE FLOYD OVER OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, AND SHE WILL DISCUSS OUR OPERATING REQUIREMENT COST DRIVERS.
SO LEE FLOYD AUSTIN WATER FINANCE.
SO I WILL GO OVER THE AUSTIN WATER FY 27 FORECAST OPERATING REQUIREMENT, UH, KEY COST DRIVERS.
SO, UM, THE FIRST CATEGORY ARE THE CITYWIDE BASED COST DRIVERS.
THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT RECEIVED DIRECTLY FROM BOE BUDGET AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE.
UH, WE USED TO CALL THEM BUDGET OFFICE, SO THEY HAVE A NEW NAME,
OKAY, SO FIRST, THANK YOU, JOSEPH.
SO, UM, WE, WE HAVE TWO KEY DRIVE COST DRIVERS THAT WE RECEIVED FROM, UH, FROM THE BOE.
ESSENTIALLY, WE DON'T DO MUCH, UH, WITH THESE ITEMS WHEN WE RECEIVE THEM.
WE JUST INCLUDE THEM IN OUR FORECAST AS DIRECTED.
SO ONE OF THEM IS FOR MARKET STUDY, UH, ADJUSTMENTS THAT CITY HAS PLANNED FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR, WHICH, UH, AUSTIN WATERS ALLOCATION WAS $2.4 MILLION.
AND THE OTHER ONE WAS PROJECTED INSURANCE COST INCREASE FOR AUSTIN WATER.
IT'S $1.2 MILLION THAT WE INCLUDED IN 27 FORECAST.
AND THE NEXT ITEM, DEPARTMENT-WIDE BASED COST DRIVERS, THESE ARE AUSTIN WATER'S ASSUMPTIONS.
OKAY? SO EVERY YEAR WE DO INCLUDE INFORMATION IN, UH, IN OUR FORECAST.
AND FOR 27 FORECAST, WE INCLUDED A 3% INFORMATION RATE FOR OUR CONTRACTUAL SERVICE SERVICES COST, AND THAT TOTAL TO BE ABOUT $2.5 MILLION.
AND THEN WE ALSO INCLUDED, UH, SOME AMOUNT, ADDITIONAL AMOUNT FOR BOTH CHEMICAL AND ELECTRIC SERVICE COST.
AND THESE, WE ACTUALLY GATHER THE INFORMATION AND NEEDS FROM OPERATIONS.
AND THEN BASED ON THEIR ASSUMPTIONS THAT THEY PROVIDE US PROJECTIONS, WE INCLUDED THEM IN THE FORECAST, WHICH IS $1.9 MILLION
[00:05:01]
FOR CHEMICAL AND $1.2 MILLION FOR, UH, ELECTRIC SERVICE COST.AND THEN WE ALSO RECEIVED SOME COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTIN PUBLIC WORKS.
UM, THEY WANTED US TO INCREASE THE FUNDING FOR THEIR STREET CAR CREW RELATED WORK.
SO, UH, DURING FORECAST THEY ASK US TO PROVIDE ANOTHER ADDITIONAL $1.8 MILLION, UH, EXTRA FUNDING.
AND, UH, IT WAS APPROVED BY THE MANAGEMENT, UH, AUSTIN WATER EXECUTIVE TEAM.
AND WE INCLUDED THAT AMOUNT IN OUR 27 FORECAST.
AND THEN THE LAST PIECE, UH, IN THE DEPARTMENT WIDE, UH, WAS THAT WE ALSO RECEIVED, UH, COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTIN ENERGY.
UH, DURING THE FORECAST TIMEFRAME, THEY TOLD US THAT THE UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM SUPPORT COST FOR 27 WAS PROJECTED TO DECREASE.
SO, UH, WE INCLUDED THE $1.8 MILLION DECREASE IN, IN THE FORECAST.
AND THEN THE NEXT PIECE, NEXT CATEGORY, UH, DEBT SERVICES AND TRANSFER OUT.
THESE ARE ALSO, UH, MOSTLY AUSTIN WATERS PROJECTIONS.
AND, UH, SO WE HAVE PROJECTED TO ADDITIONAL $16.5 MILLION INCREASE IN DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, UH, FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR, FISCAL YEAR 27.
WE ALSO, UH, INCREASED THE CASH FUNDING, UH, TRANSFER TO CIP FUND THAT INCLUDE WATER WASTEWATER AS WELL AS RECLAIM.
SO YOU'LL SEE THAT THE WASTEWATER AMOUNT WAS $8.9 MILLION, WATERS 3.5 MILLION, AND THEN RECLAIM WATER INCREASE ADDITIONAL $1.3 MILLION.
AND THEN, UH, THIS ONE ACTUALLY, UM, WE CALCULATED THE AMOUNT BASED ON OUR PAST TWO YEARS OF TWO YEARS OF REVENUE AS WELL AS CURRENT YEAR CYE TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH WE'LL TRANSFER TO GENERAL FUND.
AND BASED ON THEIR CALCULATION, WE INCLUDED $3.3 MILLION MORE FOR NEXT YEAR'S FORECAST.
AND THEN, UH, THE NEXT ONE, THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.
ACTUALLY THIS AMOUNT CAME FROM THE, UH, BOE AS WELL.
UH, THAT'S A CD WIDE SUPPORT SERVICES ALLOCATION THAT THEY SPREAD INTO EACH INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENT.
THAT INCLUDES CD'S, GENERAL SERVICES, INCLUDES THEIR, YOU KNOW, BOE, UH, FOR US RELATED CONTROLLER'S, OFFICE LAW, ALL OF THESE CITYWIDE, UH, THE CITY'S HR.
SO, AND THEN, UM, THE LAST ONE IS, UM, OUR OWN PROJECTION THAT WE WERE GOING TO DECREASE THE TRANSFERS OPERATING TO DEBT DEFENDANT AMOUNT COMPARED TO, UH, 26.
SO WE HAD A, A BIG, UM, BIG AMOUNT FOR THE TRANSFER OPERATION TO DEBT DEFENDANTS IN 26, AND WE GOING TO, UH, SCALE BACK A LITTLE BIT.
SO WE WILL, UM, THE DECREASE WILL BE 12.6 MILLION.
YEAH, AND I'LL, UM, ADD TO THAT THE REASON FOR THE DECREASE, UM, FOR THE DEBT DEFIANCE IS WE RECEIVED A ONE-TIME PAYMENT FROM A DEVELOPER, AND THOSE FUNDS WERE USED AS DEBT DEFIANCE TO PAY BACK DEBT.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, ANTICIPATING THIS DECREASE FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND THEN THE, WE ALSO REQUESTED, UH, DURING THE FORECAST A TOTAL OF 41 NEW POSITIONS AND WHICH TOTAL TO BE ABOUT $5 MILLION.
AND LEE Y UH, WILL HELP GO OVER SOME OF THE MORE DETAILED INFORMATION RELATED TO THAT.
YES, BUT, BUT BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO HER, JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, IT JUST SAYS, TRANSFERS OUT, TRANSFERS OUT FROM WHERE, LIKE A DIFFERENT FUND TRANSFER OR A DIFFERENT TRANSFER FROM AUSTIN WATER TO, TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
SO, SO THIS BUDGET OR, OR THIS LISTING BASICALLY SHOWS A LISTING OF, OF CHANGES FROM OUR OPERATING FUND.
AND, AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE PAYMENTS THAT WE MAKE EXTERNALLY, WE TRANSFER 'EM TO A FUND THAT THE CITY'S TREASURY OFFICE MANAGES.
SO, SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A FUND TO FUND TRANSFER.
UM, SO IN SOME CASES IT'S, IT'S TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT FOR
[00:10:01]
SERVICES THEY PROVIDE.UH, BUT YOU CAN ALSO SEE THAT THERE'S A WATER WASTEWATER, CIP, THOSE ARE STILL FUNDS WE MANAGE, BUT THEY'RE STILL A SEPARATE FUND FROM THE OPERATING FUND.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY, IF NOT, THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO LEE.
THIS IS LEE YOUNG AUSTIN WATER FINANCE.
SO I WILL GO OVER, UH, 41 NEW FTS.
UM, IN 27 WE REQUESTED, SO IN 27, AUSTIN WATER REQUESTED TOTAL 41 NEW FTS ACROSS SEVEN EM AREAS.
SO I WILL PROVIDE A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THIS NEW FTE IN EACH AREA.
THE FIRST ONE IS FOUR NEW FTES, SUPPORT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND SATISFACTION.
SO THIS NEW FTES STRENGTHEN 24 7 CUSTOMER SERVICES AND M AND SYSTEM SUPPORT, IMPROVE SYSTEMS RESPONSE AND CONVERT KEY TEMPORARY ROLES TO PERMANENT STAFF TO PROVIDE CONSISTENT SUPPORT TO OPERATIONS AND DISPATCH DISPATCH SERVICES, THE 13 U FT E SUPPORT ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY.
SO THIS NEW FTS ENHANCED SYSTEM RELIABILITY, SCADA OPERATIONS, CYBERSECURITY MAINTENANCE, CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, AND THE TREATMENT PLAN SUPPORT WHILE PREPARING FOR FACILITY EXPANSION.
INCREASED AUTOMATION CIP DELIVERY AND THE WORKFORCE STAB STABILIZED THROUGH THE CONVERSION OF TEMPORARY ROLES.
ONE UFT SUPPORT FINANCIAL VISIBILITY, THIS NEW FTE ESTABLISHED AND LEAD NEW SERVICES OFFICE TO MANAGE THE UTILITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENS COORDINATION OF DEVELOPMENT RELATED SERVICES.
SO A NEW FTE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY AND PERFORMANCE.
SO THIS NEW FTE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE FACILITY RESILIENCY, CIP PROJECT DELIVERY, WATER LOSS REDUCTION, PIPELINE ENGINEERING AND REUSE SYSTEM OPERATIONS, INCLUDING CONVERSION OF AL POSITIONS TO PERMANENT ROW A-N-U-F-T-E SUPPORT OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION.
SO THIS A-N-U-F-T-E SUPPORT LIFT STATION GROWTH, REMOTE FACILITY OPERATIONS.
AND THEN 24 7 SC A COVERAGE WHILE REDUCING OVERTIME DEPENDENCY AND IMPROVED WORKFORCE CAPACITY AND OPERATIONAL BALANCE.
THREE NEW FTES SUPPORTED REGULATORY AND THEN AND RELIABILITY PERFORMANCE.
THESE THREE NEW FTES SUPPORT ATE PER TREATMENT PROGRAM COMPLIANCE INCLUDING PERMITTING, INSPECTION ENFORCEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL MONITORING WITH CONVERSION OF TEMPORARY POSITION TO PERMANENT ROLES.
TWO NEW FT SUPPORT STAKEHOLDERS UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT.
SO THESE TWO NEW FT SUPPORT, UTILITY DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, WATER FORWARD ENGAGEMENT, STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION AND ENGAGING SUPPORT FOR PRIVATE ONSITE REVIEW SYSTEM AND CUSTOMERS CONSTRUCTION, TWO NEW FT SUPPORT, WATER RESOURCE SUSTAINABILITY SUPPORT, WASTEWATER SYSTEM PROTECTION, RECLAIM WATER PLANNING, AND WILDFIRE RISK MITIGATIONS.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION? YES.
UM, SO ON A NUMBER OF THESE, IT TALKS ABOUT ADDING POSITIONS TO HELP NEUTRALIZE OVERTIME SPENDING.
AND YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT CAN, YOU KNOW, GET OUTTA HAND IS, IS THERE ANY IDEA OF KIND OF THE AMOUNT OF DISPLACEMENT, LIKE, LIKE WHAT IS THE OVERTIME SPENDING NOW THAT THIS WOULD ACCOMPLISH? YOU KNOW, SO IS IT LIKE A ONE-TO-ONE OR A, I DON'T KNOW, I'M JUST TRYING TO GET A SENSE OF, UM, YEAH, HOW IS THAT DISPLACING SO I CAN HELP ANSWER THAT.
SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO IS TO REDUCE OVERTIME BY ADDING A NEW CREW TO HELP OFFSET THAT OVERTIME.
IT'S GOING TO TAKE TIME TO DO THAT.
THERE'S HIRING AND TRAINING INVOLVED, SO
[00:15:01]
WE WON'T SEE AN IMMEDIATE DECREASE IN THAT OVERTIME IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS, BUT OVER TIME WE SHOULD BE SEEING THAT OFFSET.AND ALSO, UM, THE NEED IS THERE FOR A NEW CREW, YOU KNOW, DUE TO ALL THE OVERTIME THAT'S HAPPENING WITH THAT.
AND SO, UH, THAT'S HOW WE APPROACHED IT IS EVERY YEAR WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THIS OVER TIME AND SEEING WHERE ARE OUR NEEDS AND HOW DO WE OFFSET THAT WITH, UM, FTES.
SO FOR, FOR SOME OF THESE TEAMS, I MEAN, WE'RE, WE'RE SEEING, UM, YOU KNOW, OVER TIME LEVELS, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE BOARD, YOU KNOW, BOTH WITH SUPERVISORS AND UM, AND, AND STAFF THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, HOURS WISE, LIKE IN IN, IN THE 60 TO 80% LEVELS.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, IN A 40 HOUR WEEK, UM, WELL MORE THAN 50 TO 60% LEVEL, THEY MIGHT BE WORKING, UM, 60, 65 HOURS, UH, A WEEK.
AND, AND SO WE'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE PILOTING THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT IT HAS THE INTENDED IMPACT, UM, BUT ADDING TEAMS TO, UM, TO GROUPS THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, A SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER LEVEL OF OVERTIME THAN WE DO KIND OF ACROSS THE, THE UTILITY.
AND AS, AS TINA SAID, IT'S, IT'S GONNA TAKE US SOME TIME TO, UM, TO FILL THE POSITIONS.
UH, BUT WE'RE SETTING UP A PROCESS TO, TO MONITOR, UM, YOU KNOW, AS THOSE POSITIONS GET FILLED, MONITOR THE IMPACT ON OVERTIME LEVELS AND, AND SO IT SHOULD BRING DOWN OVER TIME LEVELS ACROSS THE, THE TEAMS THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF OVERTIME CURRENTLY.
AND ALSO JUST TO ADD, UM, WE DID HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH THE OPERATIONS, UH, DIRECT, UH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND UH, UH, WE ARE HOPING THAT FOR EACH EMPLOYEE WE ADDED, IT WILL HAVE 1600, UH, OUT OF THE 2080 PRODUCTIVE HOURS.
SO ESSENTIALLY FOR EACH EMPLOYEE ADDED, IF THE EMPLOYEE HAS 1600 PRODUCTIVE HOURS, THAT SAVES AND NOT SOMEWHERE ELSE 1600, UH, OVERTIME, WHICH OVERTIME IS PAID BY TIME AND A HALF.
SO ESSENTIALLY THE TOTAL SAVING WILL BE 1600 TIMES TIME AND A HALF TIMES THE, THE RATE OF THE EMPLOYEE.
IT'S JUST A WOULD, IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE TIME FOR THAT PERSON TO GET TRAINED, HIRED, TRAINED AND BECOME FULL FUNCTION, YOU KNOW, JUST FULL EFFECTIVE.
ESSENTIALLY THE ESTIMATE WAS ABOUT NINE MONTHS, HOPEFULLY.
SO WE, YEAH, WE WON'T SEE A, A FULL YEAR OF BENEFIT, BUT HOPEFULLY WE'LL SEE SOME FOR THE NEXT COMING YEAR.
YEAH, NO, THAT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, RUNNING A BUSINESS MYSELF AND MM-HMM
YEAH, YOU, YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SPEND A LOT ON OVERTIME.
UM, BUT IT'S ALSO LIKE MAKING SURE THAT THE OVERTIME IS NECESSARY, BUT IT'S LIKE, ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES BEING PRODUCTIVE DURING THOSE OVERTIME, YOU KNOW, VERSUS JUST LOGGING AND, UM, AND SO, YEAH, BUT I KNOW WITH A UTILITY LIKE THIS, THERE'S ALWAYS REPAIRS AND THINGS HAPPEN, AND SO JUST WANTED TO KNOW THAT THERE'S A WAY TO MONITOR AND, AND HOW THESE NEW FTES CAN BENEFIT THAT.
UM, THANK YOU LEE, FOR, UH, THE OVERVIEW OF, UM, EACH OF THE DIFFERENT DIVISIONS ADDING NEW STAFF.
UM, WHEN I WAS READING THROUGH THE POSITION SUMMARIES, UM, OBVIOUSLY AS COMMISSIONER MAXWELL GAINES MENTIONED, UM, SEVERAL OF THESE ARE, UM, TRYING TO COST NEUTRALIZE OVERTIME.
OTHERS ARE OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING TO THE ROBUST, AMBITIOUS CAPITAL PLAN THAT WE HAVE GOING ON.
AND SO PLANNING FOR LONG-TERM NEEDS ON THE TEAM.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, BREAKING IT DOWN, WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT 11 TEMPORARY CONVERSIONS, 30 NEW FTES.
CAN Y'ALL HELP CONTEXTUALIZE THAT LIKE IN A REGULAR BUDGETARY CYCLE? IS THIS IN LINE WITH ROUGHLY HOW MANY NEW STAFF MEMBERS WE TYPICALLY HAD IN A GIVEN YEAR? IS THIS SORT OF, UH, YOU KNOW, COMPARED TO OTHER YEARS, KIND OF MAYBE A LARGE STAFF FLOAT ANTICIPATING, UM, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WE'LL HAVE COMING UP? JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, IS THIS LIKE A BIG YEAR FOR HIRING OR IS THIS SORT OF IN LINE WITH WHAT WE'D EXPECT? SURE.
UM, SO THIS IS A BIG YEAR FOR HIRING
THERE ARE MORE FTES, UM, IN THIS FORECAST THAN WE NORMALLY HAVE.
IT'S USUALLY AROUND BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, AROUND 20 ISH IF, IF NOT BETWEEN 20 AND 30.
AND SO THIS IS, UH, A LARGER ASK, BUT A A LOT OF THAT REALLY IS DUE TO, UH, THE OVERTIME AS WELL AS THE TEMP CONVERSIONS.
UH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, IF IF YOU'RE A TEMP FOR A LONG DURATION OF TIME, THEN YOU PROBABLY SHOULD BE PERMANENT.
WE PROBABLY NEED THAT POSITION AS A PERMANENT POSITION AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE
[00:20:01]
ACKNOWLEDGING THAT AND, UM, AND TRYING TO FIT THAT WITHIN OUR, UM, FORECASTING AND BUDGET NEEDS.UM, SO, AND WE'RE LOOKING, YOU KNOW, LONG TERM IN OUR FIVE YEAR FORECAST, UH, IT IS AROUND, UH, THE 40 ISH, UH, ASK, UH, 40 FTES PER YEAR, UM, JUST, UH, SURELY BASED ON, ON NEED, CONTINUED TEMP CONVERSIONS, UM, ADDRESSING ANY OVERTIME, UM, AS WE GO THROUGH EACH YEAR, BUT ALSO JUST AS GROWTH IS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT OUR UTILITY AND THE WORKLOAD CONTINUES TO GROW AND THE INNOVATION, UH, JUST MAKING SURE WE'RE, UH, ABLE TO MEET NEEDS.
AND JUST TO ADD TO WHAT TINA SAID, UM, WE SHOULD HAVE DONE A SUB TOTAL OF THE NEW FT VERSUS TEMP, BUT IF YOU ADD THEM ALL UP, THERE'S A TOTAL OF 11 TEMP CONVERSIONS AND THEN 30 NEW FT.
SO WE'LL ADD THAT NEXT TIME FOR YOU.
SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO ADD THAT, BUT ACTUALLY I JUST VERIFY, I KIND OF REMEMBER IT WAS 11, SO I JUST FLIP IT REALLY QUICK.
AND DID IT, DID IT COUNT? THIS IS A GOOD GROUP TO DO QUICK MATH WITH
SO, SO OF THE TOTAL, IT'S, IT'S 19, YOU KNOW, NEW, NEW, WELL, 19 NEW FTES, UM, THAT AREN'T CONSIDERED COST NEUTRAL.
UM, SO COST NEUTRAL IS, IS KIND OF A NEW BUCKET FOR US.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVEN'T HAD, YOU KNOW, COST NEUTRAL, UM, ADDITIONS IN THE PAST.
IN OTHER WORDS, TRYING TO REDUCE OVER TIME OR, OR, OR SOME OTHER COST THAT, THAT WE'RE INCURRING.
UM, AND, AND THAT REALLY REPRESENTS THE, THE BIGGEST INCREASE IN, IN WHAT WE'VE DONE HISTORICALLY.
WE'VE TARGETED, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN ONE AND 2% AND WE'VE GOT, UH, YOU KNOW, ROUGHLY 1400 EMPLOYEES, SO 2%, UH, YOU KNOW, GROWTH AND WHICH KIND OF MATCHES OUR, OUR CUSTOMER GROWTH IS ABOUT ABOUT 2%.
AND SO WE TRY AND MAINTAIN, UM, STAFFING INCREASES AT A LEVEL THAT, YOU KNOW, ROUGHLY MATCHES OUR, OUR, OUR CUSTOMER GROWTH.
UM, AND, UH, BUT THE MAJORITY OF THESE POSITIONS, 14 COST NEUTRAL, UH, PLUS, UM, TEMPORARY CONVERSIONS, 11, THAT'S 25 OF THE 41 ARE BASICALLY TO KEEP DOING WORK.
WE'RE ALREADY DOING EITHER THROUGH, UM, TEMPORARIES AND CONTRACTORS OR THROUGH OVERTIME.
AND THEN 19 OF THEM ARE, ARE NEW POSITIONS FOR WORK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE AREN'T REALLY DOING TODAY OR, OR WE NEED TO SUPPLEMENT TO, TO, YOU KNOW, BASED ON WORKLOAD.
AND THOSE POSITIONS ARE PRIMARILY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF 'EM ARE AROUND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, WHETHER IT BE, YOU KNOW, GROWING OUR RECLAIMED PROGRAM OR, OR WATER LOSS.
UM, SO IF, IF, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF OUR HISTORIC ASK, THE 19 NEW POSITIONS IS, IS IN LINE OR A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN WHERE WE'VE BEEN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
UM, AND WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE CONTAIN COSTS FROM, FROM AN OVERTIME PERSPECTIVE OR, UM, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T LIKE TO HAVE LONG TERM TEMPORARY OR, OR CONTRACTOR POSITIONS.
YOU KNOW, IF WE HAVE THESE POSITIONS FOR MULTIPLE YEARS, THEN THEY REALLY SHOULD BE STAFF.
JUST A QUICK FOLLOW UP, YOU MENTIONED, UM, IN A GIVEN YEAR YOU MAY HAVE LIKE A 2% STAFF GROWTH GOAL DOES, THAT'S INDEPENDENT OF ANY ATTRITION THAT WE MAY BE TRYING TO FACTOR IN, CORRECT? THAT'S, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO IT'S, IT'S NEW FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS, NEW NEW POSITIONS.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO CLOSELY MONITOR OUR, OUR VACANCY LEVELS.
UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY RIGHT AROUND 8%.
I THINK WE'RE A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN 8%.
I HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST, UH, I DON'T REMEMBER THE LAST REPORT, BUT, UM, WHICH IS ONE OF THE LOWEST VACANCY RATES IN, IN THE CITY.
UM, AND, BUT WHEN WE, WHEN WE DO, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN, UM, OUR, UM, YOU KNOW, DIVISIONS OR, OR, OR, UM, PROGRAM AREAS ASK FOR NEW POSITIONS, WE ALSO DO A REALITY CHECK, RIGHT? DO WE HAVE EXISTING LONG-TERM VACANCIES IN, IN THOSE AREAS? UM, SO IN OTHER WORDS, IF WE'RE NOT FILLING THE POSITIONS WE ALREADY HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT FACTORS INTO WHETHER OR NOT WE WOULD RECOMMEND, UM, YOU KNOW, ADDING NEW POSITIONS IN, IN THOSE AREAS.
JUST ONE REAL QUICK FOLLOW UP FROM, UM, THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS.
I GUESS, HOW DO, HOW DO THESE INCREASES RELATE TO OTHER THREE DEPARTMENTS? SO ARE THEY ROUGHLY IN LINE WITH YOU GUYS? JUST THE OVERALL PERCENTAGE? I DON'T NEED EXACT NUMBERS.
SO HOW THEY ALIGN WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS AS FAR AS LIKE THE NEW FTES, UM, THERE, THERE'S SOME DEPARTMENTS THAT REALLY AREN'T
[00:25:01]
DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING IN ADDRESSING THE TEMP AND OVERTIME THEY'RE, THEY'RE DOING WHAT MEETS THEIR NEEDS.AND SO THEY MAY HAVE TOTAL DIFFERENT REQUESTS, UH, BASED ON THEIR NEEDS FOR THEIR SPECIFIC DEPARTMENT AND ANY INITIATIVES THAT THEY'RE DOING.
AND SO THEIR REQUESTS MAY BE MUCH UNDER OUR REQUEST, AND, BUT WE ALL, YOU KNOW, COME FORTH WITH, UM, WHAT IS BEST FOR EACH DEPARTMENT.
JUST A FOLLOW UP, I GUESS, DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF WHAT THE ENTIRE CITY IS ASKING FOR? OR LIKE, ARE YOU GUYS 10% OF THE CITIES ASK, OR, I MEAN, IS THE TOTAL FDE POSITIONS REQUEST FOR CITY FOR THIS YEAR IS LIKE 120? I'M, I'M JUST TRYING TO GET A SCALE ON THAT.
I GUESS YOU THAT'S TOO EARLY FOR THIS CONVERSATION.
WELL, SO THE, THE INFORMATION THAT IS, IS AVAILABLE TO US IS, IS IN THE FORECAST.
UM, THERE'S NO SUMMARY DOCUMENT FOR, FOR FTES, BUT WE COULD LOOK BACK AT, UM, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS.
UH, YOU KNOW, I, I DO KNOW, I MEAN, SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS THAT, THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH, UH, ARE ASKING FOR FEWER POSITIONS THAN, THAN WE ARE ASKING FOR.
UH, BUT LIKE I SAID, UM, YOU KNOW, 14 OF THE POSITIONS OR POSITIONS THAT WE EXPECT TO BE COST NEUTRAL, 11 ARE FOR, YOU KNOW, TO, UH, CONVERT EXISTING TEMPS TO, TO LONG TERM.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, THE 19 IS PROBABLY STILL HIGHER THAN MOST DEPARTMENTS.
SORRY, JUST ONE LAST QUESTION, JOSEPH, AND HERE, DO YOU EXPECT PUSHBACK FROM WHEN YOU TAKE THIS TO THE ACTUAL APPROVAL PROCESS? DO YOU EXPECT ANY KIND OF PUSHBACK WITH THE FACT THAT THIS NUMBER IS HIGHER THAN WHAT SOME OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE ASKING? HOW DO YOU, JUST TRYING TO THINK FURTHER AND SAY LIKE, HOW WOULD YOU GET AROUND SOMETHING LIKE THAT? UM, WE, WE'VE ALREADY MET WITH, UM, CITY MANAGER AND WE DID RECEIVE SOME, SOME QUESTIONS, UH, ABOUT OUR ASK.
UM, AND, AND ANY TIME AND, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY IN, UM, THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT WE'RE IN AND THE OVERALL BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS THAT THE CITY IS SEEING.
UM, I MEAN, THERE IS A DESIRE TO, TO, TO BE CONSERVATIVE IN TERMS OF OUR ASK, BUT, UM, I THINK THAT GENERALLY, UM, OUR ASK, YOU KNOW, WILL PROBABLY BE PORTED QUESTION ON THE, UH, TEMP CONVERSIONS.
WE ALL KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET A NEW PERSON IN AND TRAIN THEM.
DO WE HAVE ANY EXPECTATION THAT THE CURRENT FOLKS THAT ARE FILLING THOSE POSITIONS AS TEMPS WOULD STAY ON FULL-TIME AND COME JOIN AUSTIN WATER? YEAH, SO FOR THAT, UM, WE WOULD HOPE THEY WOULD APPLY FOR THAT JOB PERMANENTLY AND, UM, AND, AND STAY ON WITH AUSTIN WATER.
AND SO OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD INFORM THEM THAT, UH, WHEN WE'RE IT'S TIME TO HIRE AND THAT THE POSITION'S POSTED, AND IF THEY'RE INTERESTED, PLEASE, YOU KNOW, UM, COMPLETE AN APPLICATION.
BUT AT THIS TIME, I MEAN, WE HAVEN'T HEARD THAT ANYBODY'S NOT INTERESTED, SO THAT'S A GOOD THING.
UH, I THINK SOME OF THESE TEMPS, UH, MAY JUST WANNA BE PERMANENT AND HAVE A PERMANENT POSITION.
I GUESS KNOWING THAT THEY HAVE TO, IT STILL FOLLOWS THE SAME PROCESS AS ANY OTHER POSITION, IT'S NOT AN AUTOMATIC ROLLOVER.
IT WOULD STILL BE, UM, COMPETITIVE.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM A BUDGET BUDGETING PERSPECTIVE, WHEN WE BUDGET FOR NEW POSITIONS, WE BUDGET FOR A FULL YEAR.
UM, KNOWING THAT IT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T POST UNTIL, WE CAN'T BEGIN A HIRING PROCESS UNTIL, UM, AFTER THE BUDGET IS ADOPTED AND THE NEW FISCAL YEAR STARTS.
SO WE CAN'T START UNTIL OCTOBER 1ST.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH 41 NEW POSITIONS, IT'S GONNA TAKE US A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO, IF, IF WE GET ALL OF THEM, IT'S GONNA, IF WE TAKE US A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO GET 'EM ALL POSTED AND THROUGH, YOU KNOW, A, UM, HIRING PROCESS.
UM, BUT BECAUSE WE BUDGET FOR THE FULL POSITION, YOU KNOW, WE, UM, WHEN WE HAVE TEMP CONVERSIONS AND WHERE WE HAVE OVERTIME, UH, WE WOULD PROPOSE A LOWER BUDGET, YOU KNOW, FOR THE TEMP POSITIONS AND FOR OVERTIME IN ANTICIPATION OF, OF THE POSITIONS BEING FILLED, AND DURING THE TIME THAT IT TAKES FOR THE POSITIONS TO BE FILLED, ESSENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, IF WE STILL NEED TEMPS, UH, AND IF WE'RE STILL INCURRING OVERTIME, WE WOULD COVER THAT WITH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BUDGET THAT IS BEING BUDGETED FOR THE PROPOSED NEW POSITIONS.
AND SO WE EXPECT THAT IT WOULD, IT WOULD GENERALLY WASH.
SO FOR A, UH, HISTORICAL CONTEXT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GETTING FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM COVID, BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT HAD HIRING, YOU KNOW, ISSUES AND SO YOU'RE SAYING 20 TO 30, TYPICAL, RIGHT.
WHAT WAS THE TREND LIKE THROUGH THOSE COVID YEARS? SO MEANING, I'M JUST WONDERING, IS THERE THIS, BECAUSE OF
[00:30:01]
THIS OVERTIME NOW, IS THIS LIKE TRUE PIN UP DEMAND FOR EMPLOYEES THAT IT'S LIKE REALLY HITTING A FAN, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH IT'S WHATEVER, FOUR YEARS AFTER COVID OR WHATEVER, RIGHT.UM, AND JOSEPH CAN CHIME IN, BUT FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, UM, DURING THOSE COVID YEARS WHEN WE WERE HIRING, UM, IT WAS, IT WAS DIFFICULT TO GET APPLICANTS IN THE DOOR.
NOW WE GET SO MANY APPLICANTS IN THE DOOR, SO THAT, UM, HAS REALLY SHIFTED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, I WOULD SAY.
UH, BUT PRIOR TO THAT, WITH COVID, UH, YOU WEREN'T SEEING AS MANY APPLICANTS AND SOMETIMES WE WERE REPOSTING SEVERAL TIMES OR EXTENDING THE POSTING OUT.
UM, BUT NOW WE'RE SEEING SO MANY APPLICANTS JUST FOR ONE POSTING.
IT'S, UH, IT'S REALLY TICKED UP AND, UM, WHICH IS TO OUR BENEFIT, RIGHT? AND THAT'S REALLY GREAT FOR US.
UM, AND DEFINITELY, UH, WE HOPE THAT TREND DOES CONTINUE SO THAT WHEN THESE POSITIONS DO POST THAT WE, UH, GET QUALIFIED APPLICANTS, UH, YOU KNOW, AND PICK THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB.
THAT'S MY TURN TO STILL, UM,
UM, SO ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE NEW FTS BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD? OKAY, SO I WILL NOW, UM, SHOW THE AUSTIN WATER, UH, CAPITAL, UH, SPENDING PLAN THAT WAS APPROVED, UH, LAST, UH, AUGUST BY CITY COUNCIL.
THAT'S THE 26TH TO 30, UH, PROPOSED CIP PLAN.
THE CURRENT CIP PLAN IS, UM, PART OF THE BUDGET PROCESS, SO WE'RE UNABLE TO SHOW YOU THAT, UM, BUT ABOUT 90% OF THESE PROJECTS ARE JUST MOVING FORWARD.
THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE'RE DOING FOR THE NEXT YEAR.
UM, AND AS UH MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS MEETING, THE BIGGEST ONE IS WALNUT CREEK EXPANSION.
AND, UH, SO I WILL TURN THIS OVER TO FREDDA GU AND SHE WILL, UM, BRIEFLY GO OVER THE CIP.
HELLO EVERYONE, MY NAME IS FREDDA GU AND I'M THE CAPITAL ISIS ACCOUNTING TEAM MANAGER.
AND I WILL GO OVER WITH YOU ABOUT THIS CAPITAL BUDGET SPENDING, UM, UPDATE SECTION.
AND HERE ON THE SCREEN, AND YOU CAN SEE THE SUMMARY, ACTUALLY THE SUMMARY IS FALL FY 26 TO 2030, WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED BY CITI LAST YEAR.
AND HERE IS JUST THE SUMMARY TO BREAK IT DOWN BY THE CATEGORY.
AND YOU CAN SEE RECLAIM WATER, WATER AND WASTE.
AND AFTER THAT WE EVEN BREAK DOWN BY THE FDU INFRASTRUCTURE TAB, AND YOU CAN SEE IT LISTED OUT THE CURRENT FDU INFRASTRUCTURE HAS BEEN SET UP UNDER EACH CATEGORY.
AND HERE WE ALSO SOME, UH, SUMMARIZED EACH YEAR'S TOTAL SPENDING PLAN.
AND YOU CAN SEE ON THE FIRST PAGE, AND HERE YOU CAN SEE THE TOTAL WASTEWATER WILL BE $119 MILLION, ABOUT WATER WILL BE $873 MILLION.
AND FOR WASTEWATER IS $1.7 BILLION, JUST LIKE TINA SIDE AND, UH, THE WASTEWATER MAINLY BECAUSE ABOUT OF THE WINTER CREEK EXPANSION PROJECT.
SO THE TOTAL SPENDING PLAN IS AROUND $630 MILLION.
SO THIS PROJECT ACTUALLY IS FALL, YOU KNOW, UH, THE FILTER, UM, WASTEWATER TREATMENT, UH, INCREASE THE CAPACITY, SO THAT'S FALLS, THE FILTER, UH, FILTER NEEDS.
AND ON WATER SIDE, ACTUALLY THE LARGEST PROJECT CURRENTLY IS, UH, UH, ACRO FALLS STORAGE, UH, AS R RECOVERY PROJECT.
SO THIS PROJECT ACTUALLY IS DESIGNED FOR THE LONG TERM, UH, WATER SUPPLY RESILIENCY.
AND, UH, THE CONCEPT ACT ACTUALLY IS JUST TO, TO START WATER UNDERGROUND AND, UH, ONCE PERIOD OFTEN SUR PLUS AND THE RECOVERY FALLS THE PERIOD IN THE FUTURE WHEN NEEDED, SUCH AS THE DROUGHT CONDITION.
SO FOR THIS TYPE OF THE, UH, THING NEED, UM, FALL, UM, I THINK THIS IS ON THE WATER WASTE WATER SIDE.
AND ALSO WE HAVE SOME KIND OF THE, UH, RECLAIM, UM, WATER IMPROVEMENT, UH, ACTUALLY PROJECT FOR THE SPENDING PLAN IN THE FOLLOWING FIVE YEARS.
AND STARTING FROM THE SECOND PAGE INTO LAST PAGE, THAT'S ACTUALLY THE DETAIL, UM, FOR EACH OF THE CATEGORIES.
UM, YOU CAN SEE ALL THE DETAIL SUB PROJECT HAS BEEN LISTED FOR EACH CATEGORY AND ALSO EACH YEAR'S SPENDING PLAN
[00:35:01]
HAS BEEN LISTED OUT.I'M NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THIS.
UM, I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UM, THE BREAKDOWN.
SO, UM, AND I, I SPENT SOME TIME YESTERDAY WHEN THE ATTACHMENT WAS SENT OUT AS WELL.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, TYPICALLY WHAT I'M, I'M USED TO SEEING WITH CIP SAYS AS THE PROJECT GETS FURTHER ALONG, YOU KNOW, THE NUMBERS SORT OF TAPER DOWN, MEANING YOU'VE GOT SOME PROJECTS THAT END IN 27, 28, AND THEN THERE ARE OTHER PROJECTS THAT PICK UP.
I DON'T SEE THAT, ESPECIALLY WITH RECLAIMED, I DON'T SEE THAT TREND.
IS THAT LIKE ON PURPOSE, ARE YOU GUYS LIKE FOCUSING, LIKE IF YOU JUST SEE THE RECLAIMED PROJECTS, PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING IS SET OUT TO BE DONE BY 2029, IS THAT ON PURPOSE? IS THAT LIKE, I KNOW RECLAIMED WATER IS A BIG INITIATIVE, BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IF THERE'S SOME LOGIC TO THAT.
UM, RECLAIMED IS A BIG INITIATIVE, OUR GO PURPLE PROGRAM WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD OUT OUR RECLAIMED UM, INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SO THAT'S PART OF THAT BUILDING OUT OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND INVESTING MORE IN OUR RECLAIMED SYSTEM, ESPECIALLY WITH THE, UM, GO PURPLE, UH, SURCHARGE THAT WE COLLECT.
SO THOSE DOLLARS THAT WILL GO AND FEED INTO THE CIP TO HELP SUPPORT THAT INITIATIVE.
BUT THIS SEEMS LIKE SOME OF THE BIG PIPELINES, RIGHT? SO YOU'RE STILL, SO THIS IS REALLY JUST, THIS IS NOT THE FULL RECLAIM WHAT A MASTER PLAN BUILT OUT, IT'S REALLY JUST THE KEY PROJECTS.
'CAUSE WE'RE SAYING LET'S JUST FOCUS ON GETTING THIS DONE AND THEN LET'S WORRY ABOUT EXPANDING FURTHER OR SOME MORE.
AND SO THIS IS REALLY EVERY YEAR WE UPDATE THE FIVE YEAR PLAN.
SO THIS COULD LOOK DIFFERENT NEXT YEAR, UM, AND NEXT YEAR'S PLAN IS PROJECTS ARE MOVING FORWARD AND ANY CRITICAL PROJECTS GET MOVED AHEAD.
AND SO WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE THOUGHTFULLY INVESTING, UH, EVERY SINGLE YEAR HEAVILY INTO OUR RECLAIM SYSTEM.
AND MY LAST QUESTION, AND NOT NECESSARILY RECLAIM, JUST OVERALL ALL CIPS, UH, PROBABLY MORE THE PIPELINE KIND OF ONES AND NOT LIKE THE BUILDING IMPROVEMENT ONES.
ARE YOU CONSIDERING LIKE A P THREE PARTNERSHIPS AND THINGS LIKE, I MEAN, THIS IS ALL COMING FROM AUSTIN WATER'S CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET, RIGHT? SO ARE THERE OTHER MECHANISMS OF FUNDING? I KNOW THERE'S DEFINITELY TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT ARE YOU ALSO LOOKING AT SOME OTHER KINDS OF PARTNERSHIP OR IS IT PRIMARILY LIKE, WE'RE JUST GONNA LIST THESE, WHICH ARE COME, GONNA COME FROM AUSTIN WATER, CIP? SURE.
SO, UM, WE UTILIZE THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, AS YOU MENTIONED, BUT WE'RE ALSO ANTICIPATING CLOSING, UH, IN THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS ON, UH, EPA BILLION DOLLAR LOAN FOR WALNUT CREEK EXPANSION.
UM, NOW I'VE JUST CAME TODAY FROM A MEETING REGARDING P THREES, AND SO THE, YOU KNOW, FOR P THREES, THERE'S, THERE'S STILL A LOT TO CONSIDER AS, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU WOULD UTILIZE THAT PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, UH, PRIVATE PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP FOR, UM, AND, UM, AND MAKING SURE IT'S TO THE, ALSO TO THE BENEFIT OF OUR RATE PAYERS, UM, AS WELL.
AND SO IT WOULD NEED TO TAKE TIME TO, UH, DETERMINE IF WE WERE TO GO THROUGH A P THREE, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? WHERE DO THE RISK LIE IN THAT? UM, BECAUSE WE ARE ABLE TO ISSUE COMMERCIAL PAPER, WE ARE ABLE TO ISSUE REVENUE BONDS.
AND WHAT I FOUND TODAY IS THAT A LOT OF THESE P THREES ARE BEING UTILIZED BY SMALLER RURAL, UH, UTILITIES AND, AND NOT SO MUCH HEAVILY ON A LARGER MU UH, MUNICIPAL UTILITIES.
AND SO, UM, AND IT'S REALLY JUST LOOKING AT THE RISK.
WHAT ARE YOUR RISKS? AND I WAS TOLD TODAY, READ THE FINE PRINT.
YEAH, READ THE FINE PRINT, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, NOTHING'S OFF THE TABLE, BUT I WOULD SAY IT JUST NEEDS FURTHER DISCUSSIONS AND RESEARCH AND DETERMINING IS THAT RIGHT FOR AUSTIN WATER AND OUR RATE PAYERS.
AND THEN CIRCLING BACK TO YOUR, YOUR RECLAIM QUESTIONS.
A LOT, A LOT OF THE PROJECTS THAT YOU SEE LISTED ARE, UM, PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE BOOKS FOR, FOR A LITTLE WHILE MM-HMM
UM, AND, AND PROJECTS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, INTENDED TO COMPLETE THE CORE.
YOU, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ESSENTIALLY HAVE TWO RECLAIMED SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, COMING OUT OF, YOU KNOW, OUR WALNUT CREEK WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AND OUR SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT.
AND COMPLETING THE CORE MEANS TRYING TO CONNECT THOSE TWO SYSTEMS SO THAT THERE'S, YOU KNOW, UH, CONNECTIONS AND REDUNDANCY.
UM, AND, AND THAT'S A LOT OF THE PROJECTS THAT, THAT YOU SEE ON, ON THIS LIST.
UM, WE ARE WORKING AND, AND PLANNING TO, TO REALLY RAMP UP OUR RECLAIMED PROJECT SPENDING.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE COMPLETE THE CORE, THEN WE CAN KIND OF START TO BUILD OUT AND, AND LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES
[00:40:01]
TO, TO GROW OUR SYSTEM.UM, THOSE PROJECTS BY AND LARGE JUST AREN'T PROGRAMMED IN, IN THE FIVE YEAR YET.
UM, AND, AND SO THOSE PROJECTS WILL BE COMING AND, AND, UH, HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO, YOU'LL START TO SEE AN INFLUX OF NEW RECLAIMED PROJECTS, UM, START TO SHOW UP HERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT GO PURPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, A GO PURPLE COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE MM-HMM
UM, THAT, UH, COLLECTS ROUGHLY $12 MILLION A YEAR.
AND, AND RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW, UH, AND THAT MONEY, YOU KNOW, IS EARMARKED FOR, YOU KNOW, INCENTIVES TO, UM, TO, FOR ONSITE REUSE SYSTEMS, FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS, UH, BUT ALSO TO HELP SUPPLEMENT THE FUNDING, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR OUR RECLAIMED CAPITAL PROJECTS.
UM, AND SO WE INTEND TO USE IT IN, IN, IN A COUPLE OF WAYS.
UM, YOU KNOW, USING IT TO, TO DEFE DEBT TO CREATE CAPACITY TO TAKE ON NEW PROJECTS, UM, BUT ALSO SUPPLEMENT THE FUNDING FOR, FOR NEW PROJECTS AS AS AS THEY COME ON.
UM, FIRST OFF, I'M NOT GONNA START WITH A QUESTION.
JUST INTERESTING POINT ABOUT P THREES.
I FIND THAT ENTIRE SUBJECT FASCINATING.
UM, I, I MEAN IN, IN TERMS OF, UH, TINA, I'D LOVE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN SEEING, UM, AS YOU'VE BEEN SORT OF SCANNING THE FIELD.
THE, THE BIG P THREE THAT I KNOW ABOUT IN TEXAS IN TERMS OF A UTILITY OF OUR P AND SIZE WOULD PROBABLY BE SAWS, VISTA RIDGE, UM, A FEW YEARS AGO.
UM, AND PIGGYBACK OFF OF THAT, WHAT IF IT'S AN UPDATE, WHATEVER
UM, SO WHATEVER YOU'VE LEARNED AND HOW THAT MIGHT BE SHAPING YOUR STRATEGY IN TERMS OF, UM, THE FINANCING FOR THESE PROJECTS WOULD LOVE TO LEARN MORE AT A LATER DATE.
UM, AND I ALSO KNOW JUST, UM, FROM, FROM OTHER EXPLORATIONS, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITIES IN TERMS OF HOW THEY'RE UTILIZING P THREES AS A FINANCING TOOL, BUT I THINK THEY'RE ALSO REALLY INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE EXAMPLES FROM OTHER UTILITIES LIKE ELECTRIC AND ESPECIALLY TRANSPORTATION.
AND OTHER UTILITIES ACROSS THE US IN TERMS OF LIKE HOW TO PUT TOGETHER THE FINE PRINT AND WHAT CONCESSIONS WE'RE MAKING TO THE PRIVATE PARTNER IN TERMS OF WHAT PIECES THEY OWN AND, AND, AND WHAT THEY'RE SORT OF CONTROLLING AND COLLECTING FEES FROM OVER THE LIFE OF THE PROJECT.
UM, PARKING METERS IN CHICAGO, LOOK IT UP,
UM, THAT'S AGAIN, NOT A, NOT A QUESTION, MORE OF A COMMENT.
UM, MY, MY QUESTION IS REALLY JUST MAKING SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING SOME OF THE BIG TREND LINES THROUGHOUT EACH OF THE PIECES OF, UM, THE, THE CURRENTLY APPROVED 26 TO 30 CIP, UM, AND SO WE JUST DISCUSSED THE RECLAIMED WATER.
OF COURSE, WE'RE SEEING MOST OF THOSE CORE PROJECTS TAPER OFF BY 29 BECAUSE IT'S FOCUSED ON BUILDING THE CORE AND WE'LL BUILD OUT FROM THERE, UM, FOR THE WATER PROJECTS.
UM, 27 AND 30 RIGHT NOW ARE SORT OF THE BANNER YEARS BECAUSE OF COST RELATED TO A SR UNDER THE CURRENT PLAN AND, UM, FOR WASTEWATER SEEING THAT PEAK IN 27, 28 AND 29 SPECIFICALLY AROUND WALNUT CREEK.
IS, THAT'S A CORRECT CHARACTERIZATION OF WHAT I'M SEEING ON THIS CHART ON PAGE ONE, CORRECT? YES, THAT IS CORRECT.
THEN MY SPECIFIC QUESTION IS COMING IN AROUND, UM, WHAT WE CAN DISCUSS NOW, UM, AROUND HOW THE CHANGES TO A SR MAYBE CHANGING THE FORECAST GOING INTO THE NEXT FIVE YEAR CIP, THE, THE, THE NEW UPDATE.
UM, I SEE TWO LINE ITEMS HERE FOR A SR, IF I CAN FIND THEM AGAIN.
GO PAGE 1, 2, 3, 4, THE TOP OF PAGE FIVE.
IT'S MAYBE LIKE THE FIFTH ONE DOWN.
A SR FULL SCALE PROJECT, THE TWO LINES ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.
CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO LINES ARE? SURE.
SO FOR THAT ONE, THE FIRST 1, 2 1 2, 7 0.036, UH, THAT IS, UH, A PILOT.
AND SO, AND THEN, UH, A LITTLE BIT FURTHER DOWN, YOU'LL SEE SUB PROJECT 21, 27 0.047.
AND SO THIS PLAN WAS PROPOSED, UH, AND APPROVED WELL BEFORE WE RECEIVED INFORMATION REGARDING THE CHANGES IN, IN THE A SR AND, AND MOVING IT TO TRAVIS COUNTY.
AND SO, UM, SO WE WILL HAVE SOME CHANGES.
UM, THEY'RE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, I KNOW THE COMMISSIONS BEING BRIEFED ON A SR, UM, AND HOW THAT WILL MOVE THE PLAN.
AND SO IF WE DO NOT SPEND AS WE INTENDED, WE THOUGHT WE WOULD SPEND IN THIS
[00:45:01]
PLAN FOR, UH, YEARS 27, 28, 29, AND 30, THEN, UM, WE JUST RECONFIGURE THE PLAN EACH AND EVERY YEAR OF, OF WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE BASED ON NEW INFORMATION THAT WE CONTINUE TO RECEIVE FROM OUR ENGINEERS OF WHERE WE ARE WITH THE PILOT AND, UM, HOW THAT PILOT IS DRIVING THE FULL SCALE.UM, DEFINITELY, UH, I KNOW THAT WE CAN EXPECT SOME CHANGES TO HOW THE PILOT'S GOING TO BE FUNDED OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
SO THESE TWO LINES, UM, THEY HAVE THE SAME SUB-PROJECT ID, DIFFERING UNIT CODES.
CAN YOU JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO A SR, UM, PROJECTS, UM, WITH THE TWO DIFFERENT UNIT CODES? THE FIRST ONE, P 0 81, THE SECOND ONE, P 7 53, BUT WITH THE SAME PROJECT ID AND, UH, PROJECT NAME, UM, BOTH A SR.
SO, UM, A LOT OF THESE, UH, HAVE, YOU MAY SEE IN THE WHOLE PLAN ITSELF.
THEY MAY HAVE THE SAME SUB PROJECT NUMBERS MULTIPLE TIMES.
IT COULD JUST BE THE WAY WE'RE DOING OUR FUNDING, THEY'LL HAVE THE SAME SUB-PROJECT, BUT UNDERNEATH IT'S DIFFERENT FUNDING MECHANISMS THAT WE THINK WE MAY HAVE THAT ARE SET UP AS PLAN.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE COLUMNS AND YOU LOOK UNDER FUND AND IT SAYS PLAN, THAT MEANS WE REALLY HAVEN'T SET THE FUND JUST YET.
THERE'S, UM, NO SPENDING YET IF YOU SEE PLAN.
AND THAT JUST MEANS IT'S A PLACEHOLDER OF WHERE WE THINK WE MAY NEED TO ISSUE DIFFERENT FUNDS.
AND, AND WE HAVE A SLEW OF FUNDS, WE HAVE DIFFERENT FUNDS FOR, UM, ISSUING, UH, WATER CASH, UH, WATER DEBT, UM, TWDB LOANS, EPA LOANS.
AND SO IT JUST DEPENDS WHEN IT'S TIME FOR THAT PROJECT TO BEGIN AND WE NEED TO ISSUE THE FUNDING, THEN THAT WOULD CHANGE TO WHATEVER FUNDING THAT IS.
WHETHER YOU'RE GONNA SEE 30, 60 AT THE TOP, 42, 70, 85, WHATEVER THOSE FUNDS LOOK LIKE, UM, WE WOULD GO IN AND MAKE THOSE UPDATES WHEN THEY'RE READY TO START SPENDING AND HAVE BUDGET.
SO WHAT THIS IS, IS THIS IS REALLY A PLAN.
UM, NO ONE HAS ALL THIS BUDGET YET.
IT, IT'S JUST THIS IS WHAT WE PLAN AND THINK THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN.
AND THEN EVERY YEAR WE JUST GO AND UPDATE THE PLAN BASED ON, UH, WHICH PROJECTS HAVE MOVED FORWARD, WHICH MAYBE HAVE NOT, UM, OR NOT AS FAST OR MAYBE NEED TO BE PUSHED OUT AND DELAYED FOR SOME OTHER REASONS.
AND SO, UM, SO THIS IS PRETTY MUCH OUR, OUR BEST PLAN TODAY, OR I WOULD SAY YESTERDAY SINCE THIS WAS, UH, LAST YEAR'S PLAN.
I'M JUST TRYING TO, UM, UH, BE LITERATE ON, UH, THESE COLUMN YEAH.
AND, UM, SO THE, THE DIFFERENT UNITS MEANS JUST DIFFERENT UNITS OF AUSTIN WATER THAT WOULD BE MOVING FORWARD ON THIS COMPONENT OF A SR? CORRECT.
AND SO THEY WOULD BE RECEIVING FUNDS TO MOVE FORWARD ON THAT SPECIFIC COMPONENT OF A SR? CORRECT.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THE TWO SEPARATE ENTRIES, YES.
AND, AND WE CAN ALSO BREAK THE FUNDING UP INTO PHASES OR, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER WE, WE NEED TO ON THERE.
AND SO WHAT I THINK IS PROBABLY WE COULD DO THIS NEXT YEAR'S, UM, PRESENTATION.
UH, SO WHEN YOU ARE READING IT BEFORE WE GET HERE, MAYBE SOME TICK MARK LEGENDS.
UH, SO I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT WANTING TO KNOW ABOUT THE FUND AND UNIT AND WHAT THAT MEANS.
WE CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT FOR NEXT TIME TOO.
AND THEN, UM, I THINK LAST QUESTION BEFORE I GIVE IT BACK TO THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS ON ANYTHING ELSE THEY'D WANNA ASK ABOUT, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED, UH, AT THE TOP OF, UM, THIS COMPONENT OF THE DISCUSSION THAT ABOUT 90% OF THESE PROJECTS ARE GOING TO BE ROLLING FORWARD INTO THE NEXT, UM, UPDATE OF THE FIVE YEAR CIP.
UM, DO WE HAVE A SENSE OF, UM, MAYBE FOR THE NEXT, FOR THE SPECIAL CALL AT THE END OF JULY, UM, MAYBE HIGHLIGHTING THE 10% THAT AREN'T, UM, AND THAT MAY JUST BE A SR, UM, BUT MAYBE LESS OF A QUESTION.
I THINK MORE OF A, OF REQUEST FOR THE END OF JULY, JUST HOPING US UNDERSTAND WHAT IS MOVING FORWARD AND WHAT ISN'T, UM, IN THE UPDATE.
WE CAN HIGHLIGHT THE LARGEST ONES THAT AREN'T MOVING FORWARD, OR MAYBE THEY WERE JUST PUSHED OUT OF THE FIVE YEAR PLAN.
AND THAT THAT DOES HAPPEN QUITE OFTEN BECAUSE WE, WHEN WE DO OUR PLANNING, WE LOOK AT 10 YEAR PLANS AND WE DETERMINE WHAT WE CAN FIT IN A FIVE YEAR WELL, AND UM, YOU KNOW, THE BIGGEST, UH, PROJECT IS WALNUT CREEK, SO THAT DEFINITELY DRIVES A LOT.
AND, UM, THAT WALNUT CREEK AND, UH, AS WE CAME BACK TO COMMISSION FOR THE INCREASE IN WALNUT CREEK, THAT'S REALLY WHAT'S DRIVING THE NEXT FIVE YEAR PLAN UPDATE.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE SEEING THE, THE BIGGEST CHANGE WAS THE DOLLAR AMOUNT FROM THIS PLAN TO THIS NEW PLAN.
WAS WALNUT CREEK DRIVEN? YEAH.
JUST A QUICK CALCULATION FOR THE 27 OF THE 323 MILLION FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS, 206 MILLION
[00:50:01]
IS WALNUT CREEK.SO JUST FOR KNOWING HOW MUCH OF A CHUNK, YOU KNOW, WALNUT CREEK IS IN THAT, UH, TOTAL.
YEAH, YEAH, NO, GOOD QUESTION THOUGH.
BUT, UH, BUT DEFINITELY, UH, IT IS WALNUT CREEK DRIVEN.
I'M GLAD YOU ASKED THE QUESTION ABOUT THE FUNDS AND THE PLANS.
I HAD JUST ASSUMED THAT ONE WAS LIKE BASTROP COUNTY AND ONE WAS TR LIKE TON COUNTY, RIGHT.
SO IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT RIGHT.
UM, AND I GUESS MY THOUGHT HERE, JUST A QUESTION.
I MEAN, THERE'S MANY LINE ITEMS THAT ARE ALL ZEROS ACROSS THE BOARD, RIGHT? UM, ARE WE TO ASSUME THAT THOSE ARE JUST LOWER PRIORITY PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN BUMPED OR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THEY'RE KIND OF LOOKING TO MAYBE START IN 31 OR SOMETHING? OR LIKE, I GUESS WHY WOULD THEY BE INCLUDED IF THEY'RE NOT FUNDED? SURE.
SO, UM, THE ONES THAT ARE ZERO, THEY'RE INCLUDED BECAUSE THERE'S JUST A PLACEHOLDER THAT, UH, FOR IT, IT, IT MAY MOVE FORWARD, IT MAY NOT, IT DOESN'T HAVE AN ESTIMATE RIGHT NOW FOR BUDGET.
THEY COULD BE WAITING FOR SOME ESTIMATES TO FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH, UM, IT WOULD COST TO DO THESE PROJECTS, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE REALLY JUST INCLUDED AS JUST A PLACEHOLDER AND, AND REVISITING THEM SO WE DON'T LOSE TRACK OF THE LIST THAT WE HAVE.
AND ANY PROJECTS THAT HAVE NUMBERS FOR 26 OR WE DO ASSUME THAT THOSE ARE ALREADY STARTED AND HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED AND ARE MOVING FORWARD CURRENTLY.
SO THOSE THAT HAVE NUMBERS FOR 26, YES, THEY ARE ASSIGNED FUNDING ALREADY.
THEY WOULD'VE ASKED FOR THEIR BUDGET, UM, IN, IN PHASES.
WE, WE PROVIDE THEM BUDGET IN PHASES AND SO, UH, NOT EVERYBODY GETS THE ENTIRE POT OF WHAT THEY NEED RIGHT UP FRONT.
AND, AND WE DO THAT PURPOSELY, RIGHT.
JUST TO MAKE SURE LIKE YOU'RE ON TARGET AND, AND NO ONE'S HOLDING ON TO THAT NEEDED APPROPRIATION BECAUSE THEY MAY BE SITTING ON IT WHEN SOMEONE ELSE NEEDS IT.
UM, SEEING, I GUESS IF NOBODY HAS ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A NOTE THAT WE HAVE COVERED, UM, DISCUSSION ITEMS TWO, THREE, AND FOUR.
[5. Discussion of the Water and Wastewater Commission Budget Recommendations Report ]
TO DISCUSSION ITEM FIVE, WHICH IS A DISCUSSION OF THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS REPORT.AND SO, UH, SORRY, MY PDF IS A LITTLE SLOW, BUT I'M TRYING TO PULL UP, UM, LET SEE THE REPORT.
YEAH, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA SHUT THIS.
UM, SO ON THE SCREEN, YOU'RE SEEING THE REPORT THAT WE SAVED AND WE DID A LITTLE BIT OF UPDATES JUST SHOWING THE YEARS, LIKE 27 THROUGH 31 FOR YOU.
OH, CAN YOU SEE IT? OH, WRONG ONE.
OKAY, LET'S SEE IF THIS ONE WILL SHARE.
THANK YOU FOR POINTING THAT OUT.
UH, IT DID NOT AUTOMATICALLY MOVE
I, SO THIS IS A REPORT AND, UM, EVERY YEAR USUALLY, UH, WE JUST HAVE THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE REPORT.
UM, AND, UM, AND YOU CAN CHANGE THIS REPORT UP HOWEVER YOU WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE IT.
AND THEN USUALLY STAFF PROVIDES YOU THE NUMBERS THAT WE'VE GIVEN YOU AND WE FILL THE REPORT AND THEN, UH, WE PROVIDE IT BACK TO YOU, UM, FOR JUST COMPLETION, UH, FOR PRESENTATION AT THE WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION.
AND SO I GUESS, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THIS IS DUE BY THE END OF JULY, IS THAT CORRECT? UM, IT WOULD BE DUE BEFORE WE GO TO THE WATER WASTE WATER COMMISSION AT THE END OF, YES.
UH, AND, AND SO THERE'S PLENTY OF TIME NOW.
I THINK LAST TIME WE HAD, UH, A QUICK TURNAROUND, UH, BECAUSE WE HAD RELEASED, WE HAD RECEIVED THE RELEASED BUDGET, AND I THINK YOU'LL TURN THIS AROUND PRETTY QUICKLY, UM, FOR THAT.
[00:55:01]
UH, THE BUDGET WILL BE RELEASED AGAIN.DID I SAY THE 16TH? LET ME GO BACK.
AND SO THE, THE PUBLISHED IS ON THE 13TH, SO THIS GIVES PLENTY OF TIME BEFORE THE 29TH MEETING IN ORDER TO, UM, COMPLETE WITH BUDGET IF YOU NEED TO.
THE COMMISSION MEETING, I THINK IT'S THE 23RD.
I GUESS COMMISSION MEETING IS THE 23RD.
WELL THEN I NEED TO CHANGE THAT.
I THINK WE MAY HAVE THOUGHT THE 29TH, THAT FIRST.
WE HAVE, IS THAT RIGHT? TWO? OH, I'M SORRY.
WE'LL HAVE A, WE HAVE A, YOU'RE THINKING COUNCIL, COUNCIL MEETS JULY 23RD.
AH, OUR FULL COMMISSION WILL MEET JULY 15 AS A REGULAR MEETING DATE, AND WE ADDED A SECOND ONE.
THIS IS HEATHER COOK FROM AUSTIN WATER.
WE ADDED A SECOND ONE ON JULY 29TH OF THE FULL COMMISSION.
SO WE HAVE TWO FULL COMMISSION MEETINGS IN JULY BECAUSE OF THE BUDGET SCHEDULE.
THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT, HEATHER.
SO, AND WHILE WE'RE TALKING, SCHEDULE A REMINDER TO EVERYONE, WE DON'T HAVE A COMMISSION MEETING THIS MONTH.
WE HAVE CANCELED IT FOR, UM, THIS MONTH.
AND I WOULD SAY, UM, WE CREATED HAVING TWO MEETINGS IN JULY SO THAT, UM, THIS BUDGET COMMITTEE WAS NOT PRESSED TO PUT THE REPORT TOGETHER AND I THINK A DAY Y'ALL DID IT LAST TIME, MAYBE, UH, IT WAS REALLY QUICK TURNAROUND, BUT GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT THE PROPOSED BUDGET TOO.
AND THEN OF COURSE, REQUEST OF STAFF IF THERE'S ANY UPDATES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN, UM, THE REPORT.
NO, UM, THIS WAS JUST A DISCUSSION FIRST, BUT WE WOULD DEFINITELY SHARE THAT REPORT AFTER THE MEETING, UH, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH OUR NORMAL PROCESS OF DOING THAT.
AND, UM, THEN, UM, HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, THE CHAIR WOULD LIKE TO WORK ON THAT REPORT WITH EVERYONE ON THE BUDGET COMMITTEE THAT WOULD, UH, THEN COME TOGETHER AND THEN, UM, WHAT REQUESTS THAT YOU HAVE OF AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
YEAH, I WOULD SAY THAT THE, THE TURNAROUND WAS QUICK BECAUSE OF A GREAT SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE BY YOUR STAFF.
SO IT WAS, UH, WELL, THANK YOU.
MADE IT EASY FOR US TO, UH, MEET THOSE DEADLINES.
AND WE WANNA MAKE THIS AS EASY AND PAINFUL AS POSSIBLE, BUT ALSO PAINLESS.
UH, BUT PAINLESS IS POSSIBLE, BUT WE ALSO, YOU KNOW, WANNA GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO PRESENT TO THE FULL COMMISSION, UM, IN SUPPORT OF, UH, WHAT WE'VE SHOWN THIS COMMITTEE AS FAR AS, UM, OUR BUDGET TO MAKE THAT RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL.
YEAH, AND I, I THINK I WOULD JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, ADD, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GUYS CAN, CAN REVIEW THE REPORT, YOU KNOW, FROM YEAR TO YEAR, IT, IT HISTORICALLY HASN'T CHANGED A LOT.
UM, ALTHOUGH WE, WE ARE CERTAINLY OPEN TO THAT.
IF, IF, IF THERE'S ANY FORMAT CHANGES OR ANYTHING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU FEEL LIKE WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO ADD, UM, YOU KNOW, PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK, UH, TO, TO US, UH, YOU KNOW, THROUGH, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SEND IT TO VICKI OR, OR, UM, YOU KNOW, OR DIRECTLY TO TINA AND MAYBE COPY VICKI.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT.
A LOT OF WHAT WE DO, UM, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY AFTER THE, THE BUDGET DOCUMENT IS PRESENTED TO COUNCIL AND, AND PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, WE'LL GO IN AND WHERE, WHERE THERE ARE NUMBERS, WE'LL UPDATE NUMBERS AND, AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE CAN DO A LOT OF THAT WORK UPFRONT.
UM, BUT THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK TO YOU GUYS FOR AREAS OF FOCUS, RECOMMENDATIONS, CONCERNS, AND, AND THEN WE CAN INCORPORATE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, AS, AS AS WE RECEIVE INPUT AND FEEDBACK.
SO IF I'M WALKING THROUGH THE SCHEDULE HERE, RIGHT, YOU GUYS RELEASE IT ON THE 13TH, THEN WE HAVE 13, 14, 15 TO REVIEW.
WE HAVE A COMMISSION MEETING ON THE 15TH.
IS THAT WHEN IT'S PRESENT? IT'S NOT PRESENTED TO US THAT DAY.
BECAUSE YOU COUNSEL GETS IT ON THE 16TH.
SO WE WOULDN'T DO IT TO THE 29TH.
THAT'S US ON THE 29TH MM-HMM
AND SO WE COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE THIS REPORT COMPLETELY FILLED OUT AND THEN VOTE ON IT ON THE 29TH, HEATHER COOK AUSTIN WATER.
SO BECAUSE THIS BUDGET COMMITTEE IS A SUBCOMMITTEE THAT'S SPECIFIED IN THE BYLAWS, UM, OF THE COMMISSION, UH, YOU HAVE TO FORM AS WE ARE DOING TODAY, A PUBLIC MEETING WITH AN ADVANCE AGENDA.
SO IN ORDER TO APPROVE THIS REPORT, THE COMMITTEE NEEDS TO DO IT IN AN OPEN PUBLIC MEETING THAT'S POSTED IN ADVANCE THREE BUSINESS DAYS IN ADVANCE, RIGHT? TO TO APPROVE THE REPORT.
TO APPROVE THE REPORT, BUT TO UPDATE THE REPORT, WE
[01:00:01]
CAN DO THAT.AND, AND WE HAVE, WE, WE HISTORICALLY HAVE DONE IT VIA EMAIL.
AND, AND SO, UM, AND, AND TYPICALLY THE, THE CHAIR, UM, KIND OF COORDINATES IT AND WE CAN, WE CAN RECEIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM, UH, INDIVIDUAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS, UM, AND THEN SHARE THOSE WITH, WITH THE CHAIR.
UM, AND, AND, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, INCORPORATE CHANGES IN, IN THAT WAY.
UM, BUT AS SOON AS THE BUDGET DOCUMENT IS OUT ONLINE, WHICH WILL BE IN ADVANCE OF THE ACTUAL PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL, WE CAN MAKE, WE WILL MAKE THAT AVAILABLE TO, TO YOU GUYS.
AND THAT WILL START THE, ESSENTIALLY THE CLOCK ON, ON HOW WE CAN MAKE UPDATES AND CHANGES BECAUSE THE ACTUAL BUDGET DOCUMENT WILL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
I HAVE ONE OTHER FOLLOW UP QUESTION.
UM, SO WOULD IT BE CONSIDERED, AND MAYBE IT'S A HEATHER QUESTION, IS IT CONSIDERED A QUORUM IF WE COORDINATE ON THIS REPORT? LIKE ON THIS RECOMMENDATION REPORT? IT'S WHAT IF WE CREATED A SHAREPOINT THAT'S NOT CONSIDERED BREACH OF CORE? I DON'T BELIEVE WE CAN DO THAT.
I THINK THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS BROUGHT UP LAST YEAR.
NO, BECAUSE I WAS THINKING, YEAH, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPORT, BECAUSE IT'S AGAIN OF YOUR FULL BODY.
WE CAN'T CREATE A WALKING QUORUM WHERE YOU'RE WORKING ON THE REPORT.
NOW, ONE MEMBER OF THE REPORT COULD WORK BY THEMSELVES ON IT AS A DRAFT TO BRING TO THE FULL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER IN A PUBLIC POSTED MEETING.
BUT WE CAN'T HAVE THE FOUR OF YOU OR THE THREE OF YOU WORKING ON A REPORT OFFLINE THAT BREAKS OPEN MEETINGS RULES AND QUORUM RULES, RIGHT.
AND IF THEY ASSIGN SPECIFIC SECTIONS TO PEOPLE, THAT'S MICROPHONE.
IF THAT'S, IF WE ASSIGN CERTAIN SECTIONS AND SAY, HEY, YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS COMMITTEE MEMBER, THAT'S STILL BASICALLY BREACH OF OPEN RECORDS, RIGHT? YEAH, I THINK, HMM.
I THINK MAYBE KEEPING IT TO WHERE IF THERE'S INPUT IN A, ON A SPECIFIC SECTION OR LIKE, HOW ABOUT THIS? I'LL DRAFT, I'LL DO THE DRAFT AND THEN IF THERE'S, AND SEND IT TO JOSEPH OR WHOEVER, MAYBE HEATHER, AND THEN SEND IT OUT FOR FEEDBACK, RIGHT? AND THEN THEY CAN INDIVIDUALLY SEND FEEDBACK TO YOU.
IS THAT FUZZY STILL? YEAH, I MEAN THERE WOULD BE A DRAFT FROM THE CHAIR IF THIS IS YOUR CHOICE, THAT WOULD THEN GO OUT FOR, UM, CONSIDERATION IN A PUBLIC POSTED MEETING AND YOU ALL WOULD DISCUSS YOUR INPUT.
YOU CAN REVIEW IT ON YOUR OWN, JUST LIKE YOU DO THINK OF THE FULL COMMISSION MEETINGS, RIGHT? WE SEND YOU THE COUNCIL ITEMS THAT YOU'RE GONNA REVIEW IN ADVANCE IF YOU HAVE TIME, AND THEN YOU BRING YOUR QUESTIONS AND YOU MAKE YOUR VOTE AND RECOMMENDATIONS SAME PROCESS.
BUT IN THIS CASE, IT'S A DOCUMENT THAT'S BEING PRODUCED BY YOUR COMMITTEE.
SO I KNOW IT'S A DIFFERENT ANIMAL, BUT THE EDITING REALLY SHOULD BE HAPPENING IN A PUBLIC MEETING BECAUSE YOU ARE A PUBLIC BODY WITH A QUORUM OF THREE.
SO I THINK WE'RE CIRCLING AROUND AN ANSWER TO A QUESTION I'D LIKE TO ASK, WHICH IS WE NEED A THIRD BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING IN THIS ROOM SCHEDULED SOMETIME IN JULY BETWEEN THE RELEASE OF THE BUDGET AND THE POSTING DEADLINE FOR THE JULY 29TH COMMISSION.
THAT'S EXACTLY THE WEEK OF JULY 20TH IS THE WEEK THAT WE NEED TO HAVE ANOTHER MEETING.
AND WE CAN DO THAT IF, IF YOU ALL ARE AVAILABLE, YOU, YOU COULD IN THEORY HAVE A MEETING CLOSER TO JULY 29 AS WELL, IF THAT WORKS, GIVES YOU A LITTLE MORE BREATHING ROOM.
UM, FOR POSTING RULES, WE JUST HAVE TO POST ON THE JULY 29 FULL COMMISSION AGENDA THAT YOU'RE BRINGING THIS BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT FORWARD TO THE FULL COMMISSION IF YOU'RE, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S THE POINT.
SO, BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE REPORT ITSELF, THE THREE BUSINESS DAYS BEFORE THE FULL COMMISSION ON THE 29TH, IF THAT HELPS.
I'LL BE REMOTE FOR ANY OF THOSE DAYS, AND THAT'S POSSIBLE, WHICH WOULD DEFINITELY BE BETTER FOR ME TO DO IT THE WEEK OF THE 20TH.
AND WE CAN, AS LONG AS THE CHAIR OR A CHAIR DESIGNEE IS PRESENT IN PERSON, THE REST OF YOU CAN BE REMOTE ON WEBEX,
SO YEAH, I, I, THAT'S, THAT'S POSSIBLE TO HELP WITH SCHEDULES BETWEEN 15TH, 20TH, 29TH.
I'LL BE REMOTE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S FINE.
WHILE WE'RE ALL LOOKING AT OUR CALENDARS.
IS THERE A BETTER DATE FOR THE COLLECTIVE? I THINK MAYBE THAT WOULD GO INTO DISCUSSION NUMBER SIX, WOULD IT? HMM.
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WE DID IT 'CAUSE WE KNEW IT.UM, SO, UH, IF THERE'S NOT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE, THE REPORT, WE'LL MAKE SURE TO GET THAT, UM, REPORT TO YOU.
WE'LL GET YOU THE LINK FOR LAST YEAR'S COMPLETED REPORT AND THEN WHAT WE'VE CREATED JUST AS A, A DRAFT UPDATE WITH THE YEARS AND LANGUAGE.
[6. Review and possible action for future Budget Committee meeting schedule ]
WE CAN MOVE ON TO ITEM SIX, WHICH IS THE, UH, REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION FOR FUTURE BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE.AS DISCUSSED MOMENTS AGO, THE WEEK OF JULY 20TH WOULD BE PREFERRED, UM, AT LEAST ON MY END AND A FEW OTHERS AS WELL.
UM, IF THERE'S A DATE THAT WORKS BEST FOR COMMISSIONERS, PLEASE ADVISE.
OTHERWISE WE CAN SEND SOME EMAILS AROUND.
YES, I CAN FACILITATE SCHEDULING IF WE NEED TO OFFLINE, THAT'S OKAY.
IF THERE'S A BETTER DATE FOR YOU GUYS AS WELL.
UM, I KNOW JULY GETS TRICKY WITH WORLD CUP MATCHES AND SUCH
YEAH, I WAS JUST GONNA, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THURSDAY AFTERNOON, THREE O'CLOCK AND SO I WAS JUST GONNA SUGGEST THE 23RD, THURSDAY AFTERNOON, THREE O'CLOCK AGAIN, GIVE YOU A WEEKEND TO WORK ON THE DRAFT.
I PROBABLY, I'LL PROBABLY BE REMOTE, BUT, UM, IT'S FINE.
LETS, ANY OF THE DATES ARE GONNA BE REMOTE FOR ME.
YEAH, I JUST, UH, IT IS A CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE, BUT I, SO WE DON'T KNOW FOR SURE WHAT ALL'S GONNA BE ON THAT, UM, COUNCIL AGENDA.
SO THERE IS A CHANCE SOME OF OUR STAFF MIGHT BE TIED UP.
IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE, BUT WE, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THAT THAT'LL BE, UM, YOU THINK ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE ADDING THE, THE DEPUTIES, IF, IF, IF, IF THERE'S SOMETHING FINANCE RELATED, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WILL, ONE OF US WILL BE A COUNSEL, ONE OF US WILL BE HERE.
WE WILL, WE WILL MAKE OURSELVES AVAILABLE.
SO DEFINITELY, UM, ONE OF US WILL BE HERE AND UH, AND MAKE SURE WE GET THIS MEETING.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE SCHEDULING OF THE MEETING DISCUSSION ITEM SIX.
UM, WOULD THERE BE A DISCUSSION ON FUTURE DONE ITEMS? ARE THERE, AND IS THERE ANYTHING, AND I KNOW WE'VE GONE THROUGH WHAT WE NORMALLY GO THROUGH, IF THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIFIC THAT YOU GUYS WANNA DISCUSS.
I KNOW DURING THE DISCUSSION WE DISCUSSED, UM, A COUPLE THINGS THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL SPECIFICALLY FOR THE 29TH.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WOULD GO ON A FUTURE BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA, BUT HAPPY TO BRING THAT BACK UP EITHER DIRECTLY TO YOU, HEATHER AND VICKY.
UM, OR IN THE JULY 15TH MEETING.
MAKE SURE YOU WRITE THAT DOWN SO YOU DON'T FORGET.
WELL, THANKS EVERYONE FOR JOINING.
IF THERE ARE NO MORE ITEMS OR POINTS OF DISCUSSION FOR THE WHOLE GROUP, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL THE MEETING CLOSED AT FOUR 13