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   ↳You arrived here from a search for “FY22-23 Budget” — transcript expanded below

   Review of Proposed Departmental Budgets for FY22-23

   discussed

   The City Manager presented updated state revenue estimates and reviewed six proposed FY22-23 departmental budgets, beginning with the City Council budget. Extended discussion focused on the $58,000 in-kind special events line item, with debate over whether to keep it as a separate presentation line or fold it into individual department budgets. Council reviewed and generally accepted proposed adjustments to cultural affairs ($12,000), West Pasco Historical Society ($18,000), and Citizens Academy ($5,000) line items.

   • direction:Staff to provide a list of other line items across departments tied to special events spending, and consider quarterly reports on special events expenditures. (none)

   📍Sims Park🏢Chamber of Commerce🏢Cultural Affairs Committee🏢West Pasco Historical Society👤Debbie Manns👤Matt👤Mike👤Mrs. Biest#Chasco Fiesta#Christmas Parade#Citizens Academy#Communications Services Tax#Cultural Affairs Budget#FY22-23 Budget#Fourth of July#Half-cent Sales Tax ($1,236,826)#Hot Summer Night#In-kind Special Events Support#Local Option Gas Tax 1 ($773,016)#Local Option Gas Tax 2 ($561,495)#Penny for Pasco (Local Discretionary Surtax)#State Revenue Sharing ($842,982)

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   [00:00:13] We're here. So, let's go ahead with a review of some more budgets. [00:00:19] Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, since our meeting last week, the finance director has passed [00:00:27] on to me the state revenues, the estimates that we have received for state revenues, [00:00:34] and I thought I'd report to you on that this evening before we introduce the six budgets [00:00:40] that we're due to present to you this evening. State revenue sharing, those figures have [00:00:48] been received, and the estimate is that we will receive $842,982. That is an increase [00:00:59] in the amount of $11,152 over last year's funding level. The half-cent sales tax, we [00:01:10] will receive $1,236,826, which is $334 less than what was received last year. $334 less. [00:01:26] The communications services tax has not been released to the city at this time. The local [00:01:36] option gas tax one and two have been released. The first gas tax is estimated at $773,016, [00:01:53] and the second is estimated at $561,495. Collectively, those two figures represent just over $140,000 [00:02:04] increase over last year's funding level. Lastly is our local discretionary surtax program, [00:02:14] more commonly referred to as Penny for Pasco, and that has not been received yet. Mrs. Biest [00:02:20] dutifully checks the revenue department's website more than once per day, and we're [00:02:29] hopeful to get those funding sources very soon so that we can complete our work on [00:02:40] the budget. As a reminder to you, the presentations that we are making to you this evening are [00:02:46] tentative because we don't have the benefit of full revenue information at this time, [00:02:52] so we may be coming back to you at some point in the future with proposed cuts. [00:02:58] The first budget, if you'll allow me to present, is the city council budget. There have been [00:03:17] modest adjustments made in the proposed budget, both in line with account numbers for professional [00:03:28] services in the amount of $3,000 to reflect closer to what our level of expenditure is [00:03:36] expected in the current year, and travel and training, an additional $2,000 to cover expenses [00:03:47] also through the end of the current year and in line with actual expenses from the prior year. [00:03:55] I'm recommending a slight adjustment in the cultural affairs budget, which in the fiscal [00:04:08] year 21-22 was appropriated at $15,000. This year's recommended level of funding is $12,000. [00:04:17] The cultural affairs committee, as you know, makes recommendations to you for the use of this [00:04:25] funding to support art and cultural activities in the city during the last two years. They have [00:04:34] ended up with surpluses, or we have ended up, I should say, with a surplus in that line item, [00:04:41] so I think it's appropriate to drop it a bit this year. The other two items that I'm recommending [00:04:53] slight decreases in are the West Pasco Historical Society, which was previously funded at $20,000. [00:05:03] I'm recommending $18,000, and I'm also recommending that we drop our in-kind support of special events [00:05:13] from $60,000 to $58,000 this year as a result of the fact that we have launched a Citizens Academy, [00:05:22] and we plan to host two Citizen Academy classes per year. We have appropriated a budget amount of [00:05:32] $5,000 to support the program expenses. We have dropped miscellaneous charges down by $2,000. [00:05:42] Dues and memberships, we had a slight adjustment of $1,000. With that, the City Council's expenses [00:05:56] are $270,000, $270,000, $330,000 to include, of course, the personnel services. And if there are [00:06:15] any questions, I'm prepared to respond to them. On the special events, this in-kind, I know that [00:06:26] you put in an estimate of the amount to be used this year, and I'm still wondering if the services [00:06:36] that are in-kind, which come from the various departments, which are, as I believe, budgeted [00:06:41] within there, are there adjustments that are being made to remove the budget here and transfer it as [00:06:48] a journal entry against those expenses, or how is that working? Because we had this kind of big [00:06:55] discussion once before, and in theory, we could eliminate it and allow those department expenses [00:07:04] to come before us and be paid directly from where they come, mostly police, some fire, some public [00:07:10] works, and, you know, it might be easier for you to be able to tell us how we're doing in those departments [00:07:18] based on having us restricted to those funds this way. [00:07:22] An adjustment is made. The presentation here is really just for your benefit and to show you how much in-kind [00:07:30] has actually been spent or planned to be spent. We budgeted 60, and we have allocated or will allocate by the end of [00:07:37] the year all of that in-kind. So it's really presentation for presentation purposes. But yes, the more it has been [00:07:45] adjusted to budget for those within each department, it's just that it would be separated, and so it would just be a [00:07:53] matter of preference. [00:07:55] I think the issue, and it was a number of years ago, it was after you had been on council and before you went to work [00:08:01] for the city, during the Great, actually during the Great Recession, as I recall, there was some question about [00:08:10] how much are we actually spending, and it was hard to get a straight answer. And I think that's when we started trying to [00:08:17] put it all as an overall line item under council and then JE it to the appropriate places when it actually got spent. [00:08:28] I've made my point to you all before, which I think the straight answer is we've got a multimillion dollar departments that [00:08:35] have within their funds the money budgeted. The transfer is just to tell us because we're watching our special events like [00:08:43] bird dogs, but we also have special events that the recreation puts on themselves. We've got low cost festivals, which are special [00:08:50] events that come from wherever else they come from. And when the times were tough, you were looking for places to get money and to [00:09:01] tighten up the ship. I don't think that that's really necessary or appropriate, if any of my colleagues agree, but that's from that, [00:09:12] from the city council agenda altogether. We don't really participate in the allocation of those costs. [00:09:21] You know, I kind of like it, so it gives an idea of what we approve, because as those events come up, we approve them down or up. [00:09:28] And allocated how much money we spend for one event for the next. You know, I kind of like to see that, you know, and even though we may not [00:09:39] necessarily be in dire straits as financially as we once were, we're no by means overflowing in cash and, you know, got tons of money either. [00:09:55] We do have tons of money, but that's beside the point. [00:09:58] Well, tons of money in what respect? [00:10:00] Cash. We get the cash report. We have money. This is $60,000 in an overall operation that keeps us busy looking at $60,000 out of a $6, $8, $10, $12 million budget. [00:10:14] I don't think it's necessarily, you know, we keep watch on it, but it gives an idea of what we're going to approve. If it goes away, then we just approve item by item by item. [00:10:24] And, you know, it's just a budget tool from my perspective of what we've decided to spend or what we haven't decided to spend. [00:10:31] It gets buried if it's not a line item here, and that's why I do like having the line here. [00:10:38] So the issue, and again, at the start of the Great Recession, we were well into six figures on special event support, but you couldn't tell it because it was all buried. [00:10:50] And we decided at that point, let's figure out what are we going to spend on special events and give it a line item number because otherwise you've got no control. [00:11:02] So question with this, this doesn't give us any idea where it's spent and what departments it's spent on. [00:11:08] No, it winds up getting divvied out pretty much by event. [00:11:15] Annually it's presented. [00:11:17] Annually presented out, but this gives you a starting point for that annual allocation. [00:11:22] And there's nothing magic about the $60,000 or the $58,000. [00:11:27] We can pick a number, and I'm certainly open to that. [00:11:31] The point is I don't want to have a blank check that's just being spent without any accountability. [00:11:39] Well, that's a good way to reference your good support for your argument, but it's not true. [00:11:45] I mean, we can easily get reports as to how much money is being spent on these events throughout the year. [00:11:50] I think the idea that we're bird-dogging it is fine. [00:11:53] I propose that we have four events, we support them, and that we don't put everybody into this anxiety every time there's a Christmas parade, which they don't have money to put up the Christmas parade. [00:12:06] Do we want to do it, or do we want to sit here and hold the Chamber of Commerce up for anxiety or to see who can do it or not? [00:12:15] Or the Chasco, or the Fourth of July, or the other. [00:12:18] So I've been advocating to just at least separate those. [00:12:21] We have fees, and we do go through calculations for special events that are not sponsored by the city. [00:12:28] So this could be changed. You could say city-sponsored, in-kind support of special events. [00:12:34] But when we put the line item, we're asking everybody that we have a line item, and we're letting them come up and ask us for support. [00:12:41] And we gave that for a private event that didn't have anything to do with Sims Park or for that music event a few weeks ago. [00:12:52] Did that come out of cultural affairs and not out of a special event? [00:12:57] It was cultural affairs. [00:12:58] So the amount of time and effort that it takes to put all of these schedules and projects and time of staff and ourselves looking it over, [00:13:09] when I've been asking for us to talk to each other for several years, and we don't seem to get the time to really focus on the big issues, the big dollar issues. [00:13:20] So I think it's a distraction that could easily be handled by the staff, and they can bring it to us if they feel like they're in trouble. [00:13:28] The Black Lives Matter, the Proud Boys, the police spending that we do, that we have no ability to plan for, [00:13:35] could cause us to have to hear back that we're in trouble with the budget or not. [00:13:41] But we've set a limit. When we should be doing as much entertaining, it's part of our whole promotion. [00:13:48] So I don't know. Anyway, I seem to be in the minority. My two colleagues can fall one way or the other. [00:13:54] And I think I'd prefer, at least at this point, to see it here, just because we can. [00:14:01] Matt, what do you think? [00:14:03] I'm fine with the way it is. I mean, are you advocating maybe don't have a number so we can do more? [00:14:11] Well, no, I'm suggesting that when anybody gets to decide how much money they want to be allocated for an event for overtime, [00:14:23] and then that's the old way the events could hire their own help. [00:14:31] And we've had strong objection to that from the staff, that they want to make sure that it's a police coverage for these events. [00:14:38] But yet we have other things that go on in town that don't have any police coverage at all. [00:14:42] Events that took place last weekend or the other event. [00:14:46] So it seems to me that the special events that are near and dear to the city's hearts are the ones that get the most scrutiny, [00:14:53] because they go through this process. [00:14:55] Because if somebody else wants to hold an event, a protest, [00:15:00] whatever, we're told we can't stop it. [00:15:02] So, I think we ought to step it up with good events [00:15:05] and make sure we have a good positive outlook than to sit here [00:15:09] and have us debating how much money to give [00:15:12] to the volunteer groups that we support. [00:15:15] I don't, I mean, I guess I don't have a problem with the way it is now. [00:15:18] The biggest thing is, you know, [00:15:20] it's accounted for properly where it needs to go. [00:15:22] Yeah, if we want to have a discussion on having a different number in there, [00:15:26] I'm open to that. [00:15:28] My concern is just, let's have some general ballpark. [00:15:34] What exactly are we spending on these big events? [00:15:37] And, you know, I could argue all over the map on where that number should be, [00:15:43] and there's a good argument that it ought to be higher than what it is. [00:15:48] But if we're going to do that, I just want us to budget for it and know that up front [00:15:54] that we've got X number of dollars that we are planning on spending as part [00:15:59] of the budget that says we value special events. [00:16:04] So, let me ask one more time the accounting question that's really at the heart of this, [00:16:08] which is the money that we have in our police and fire budget [00:16:14] and our public works budget and throughout incorporates an estimate [00:16:19] of the cost of those departments for the year. [00:16:22] Do you not incorporate in that number an estimate of these costs as well? [00:16:28] Or do you have to make a journal entry and expense this out, and then make a journal entry [00:16:36] and reduce the expenses of the police and fire departments? [00:16:39] Because there's only one dollar being spent, and it's in two places is what I'm saying. [00:16:50] So, there is overtime for special events budgeted in the police and fire. [00:16:55] That doesn't encompass all of like just the events that go through the set meetings. [00:17:02] I believe there's other types of special events that they service as well. [00:17:06] This line item in the city council is really for presentation purposes. [00:17:11] There are some dollars budgeted, police, fire, but public works, [00:17:15] there's not like a dedicated line item specifically for public, for special events. [00:17:21] And recreation, same there, there's not. [00:17:23] So, there are entries that happen to make sure that those expenses are accounted [00:17:28] for when events happen, but not necessarily for police and fire [00:17:33] because there's an amount already there. [00:17:37] So, overall, there is a bit of double budgeting happening [00:17:46] because we're just putting here the whole amount that we're deciding is in kind. [00:17:52] And like I said, in some of the budgets, there may be the same amount budgeted, [00:17:57] and it's fixed at the end. [00:17:59] But really, this line item is just for your presentation [00:18:02] to show you what you've dedicated to in kind services for the year. [00:18:06] So, there is a reconciliation, but. [00:18:10] So, I guess I don't quite understand that. [00:18:13] So, this money is strictly in kind? [00:18:15] I mean, theoretically, that budget, it didn't have to be in kind. [00:18:20] It could be actually cash expenses that we pay for outside services. [00:18:24] Is that right? [00:18:26] Historically, it has been in kind. [00:18:28] We haven't used it for anything. [00:18:31] So, we never, you know, paid for any actual invoices [00:18:35] or covered any costs other than providing services for the events. [00:18:39] That's tradition, but is that because of the way it's budgeted, [00:18:42] or would that still be an option? [00:18:46] Well, I think it's an option. [00:18:47] I think that's just historically how it's been. [00:18:50] But we have, in the Recreation and Aquatic Center budget, [00:18:54] they are expenses budgeted for city-sponsored events. [00:18:59] So, we do have money set aside for that. [00:19:02] And so, we could do something similar if there are costs, you know, [00:19:06] that you want to cover for, you know, private events, things like that. [00:19:12] We could dedicate a line item for that as well, or add money in here. [00:19:16] So, it's really a preference in what you want to use the money for. [00:19:20] And again, it's really not a whole lot of money. [00:19:23] I mean, you think, take $60,000 compared to what is the Chasco budget? [00:19:28] You know, for the whole week. [00:19:29] $350,000. [00:19:30] That's for the whole budget. [00:19:31] And for one event. [00:19:33] So, it's, you know, I know that's one of the major ones that we help sponsor. [00:19:38] But still, yeah. [00:19:40] If I may belabor the point, Mike, just one last time, and say, [00:19:43] I don't disagree with you all about keeping track of the cost [00:19:47] and being good stewards of the city's money. [00:19:50] But my point to you is, I would prefer for the city to come to us [00:19:54] as we go through the year, and we get requests, [00:19:56] and tell us how they're doing with their budget, which [00:19:58] is how they make all the other financial decisions in the city, [00:20:01] rather than have us set this figure down. [00:20:05] To the mayor's point, we could do what the staff tells us [00:20:12] we could do without having any dollar value put here, [00:20:16] because it's all listed in somewhere else. [00:20:20] And as she said, police and fire are the bulk of it. [00:20:23] And Public Works is doing stuff from one department to the other, [00:20:27] because they're so short as it is. [00:20:29] It's a miracle to see how they're still functioning [00:20:34] from what we heard last week. [00:20:35] But it's really a presentation thing. [00:20:38] I don't mean to be argumentative, but we don't really [00:20:42] know how much it's going to cost as things change every year. [00:20:46] And I believe that those funds are budgeted already. [00:20:49] And I'm just saying, save $60,000, and take it out of the budget, [00:20:53] and keep us posted. [00:20:55] Give us a report, tell us how much you're spending. [00:20:58] Follow your same procedures if you want to. [00:20:59] I just don't see the need for this dollar amount to be in here. [00:21:03] It's an interesting point. [00:21:04] If that $60,000 is all included in other line items, [00:21:08] then it is a duplicate. [00:21:09] And it's not all included, but there are parts that are. [00:21:13] So does that mean then, when we go into someone [00:21:15] who comes in for a request, we're going to want to say, [00:21:18] all right, we're going to approve x amount of dollars out of Public Works, [00:21:21] x amount of dollars out of Police, x amount of dollars out of Fire? [00:21:26] No. [00:21:27] Wow. [00:21:28] Well, typically what happens is, at the beginning of the fiscal year, [00:21:31] or maybe even September, so the month before the fiscal year, [00:21:35] the city manager will bring to you, we will have already [00:21:38] accepted applications for events applying for this in-kind amount. [00:21:42] And so we present to you those events, and the $60,000 basically [00:21:48] is allocated to those events and approved ahead of time. [00:21:51] So then throughout the year when those events happen, [00:21:53] in their agreement that they sign for the events, [00:21:58] we say, OK, you've been allowed this amount of in-kind, [00:22:02] and that's all that they receive. [00:22:03] And then anything in excess of that, if the police department [00:22:07] or the other departments end up providing service that exceeds that cost, [00:22:12] then we do bill them for the excess. [00:22:14] So that's really how it happens. [00:22:17] There's another side of this, the money side, [00:22:19] which is revenue and communities that I'm familiar with when [00:22:25] they have music events. [00:22:26] Let's take the Chaska Opiesta, for example, with that big budget. [00:22:30] Let's say they have a profit. [00:22:33] It is not unusual for events to be supported by the city, reports required, [00:22:41] and from the funds that are net funds, funds coming back to the city. [00:22:47] Because one year you've got to rain out, and you lose everything, [00:22:50] and you get a bill for the police. [00:22:52] We did that. [00:22:53] That was done one year when I was here for the hot summer night thing [00:23:00] when it rained, and the bills were there because the folks had been allocated. [00:23:04] And then the nonprofit couldn't pay for it. [00:23:07] So I think, from your point, Mike, we could have more events by doing what? [00:23:15] And I hate to keep talking about Bradenton, but I'm familiar with them. [00:23:18] They just approved funding and wanted more money [00:23:21] to go to the producers to do a better band or something [00:23:27] would draw more people and bring more economy. [00:23:30] But they get money back. [00:23:31] So they get a report, and the revenues are shared back [00:23:36] to the city to offset the cost. [00:23:37] So I think that's an easier way to deal with the nonprofits [00:23:42] that we decide to sponsor than to go through this torturous situation [00:23:47] of everybody worrying to death. [00:23:49] For four events, or five, or however many we choose, we really want to happen. [00:23:55] If there's revenue to be made, then show us. [00:23:58] And if you don't show us the financials, then, as example, [00:24:04] put the money in an event fund for yourself, for your movies, for whatever. [00:24:09] I think there's a better way to do it. [00:24:11] That's what I'm saying. [00:24:12] And anyway, either, so. [00:24:22] Any other questions on city council? [00:24:24] Yeah, if you could get us just a list of the other line items [00:24:34] that are tied into special events. [00:24:38] Because that's what I'm interested in, is more than necessarily a specific number [00:24:41] in a specific line item somewhere. [00:24:44] I want to have a handle on what we're spending. [00:24:47] And it won't necessarily be presented that way in the budget. [00:24:52] But taking both recommendations or suggestions, we can, let's say we approve $60,000 [00:25:01] or $58,000 next year for our special in-kind services. [00:25:06] Then I can make sure that each, that $58,000 is budgeted throughout the departments in, [00:25:12] you know, described as special events funding. [00:25:16] And then just have a special report to give you quarterly or as part of the budget how that, [00:25:25] you know, where it's at in each of the budgets. [00:25:27] So that you won't have this one line item. [00:25:29] And I guess hopefully that satisfies both. [00:25:31] Trying what I'm trying to get to. [00:25:34] But I think it gives us flexibility during the course of the year. [00:25:37] Now we have to have a discussion that we've gone over budget. [00:25:40] Otherwise, we could have a general discussion. [00:25:42] We'd have like every other discussion of where you found money to do something. [00:25:45] Or we have money available to do it as you look through the year. [00:25:49] And I think that's a better way to be able to act on our fee. [00:25:53] I'm just not sure about the flexibility. [00:25:55] Because if we approve those events ahead of time, then it's still set as it is now. [00:26:00] So I'm not sure if that would resolve the problem. [00:26:03] We may at some point want to modify the budget to increase that item, the $58,000, [00:26:13] to cover something that none of us has even thought about before. [00:26:16] And even with those events that we get ahead of time, [00:26:19] if we had quarterly reports showing how much was spent, [00:26:22] we would know when newer events come up if we can afford to do it or not right then. [00:26:28] Well, we usually obligate the whole amount. [00:26:31] And so there really isn't any extra. [00:26:33] And that's kind of the point, too, I think. [00:26:35] If we want to take that approach, if you're proposing that, we can increase this number. [00:26:40] And whatever number it lands on, I can make sure that in the departments that are involved [00:26:46] in events has a special event line item, expense item, that in total will tie [00:26:52] to whatever number you come up with and take it out of this account altogether. [00:26:59] Or just remember that it's for, maybe I can drop it down at the bottom [00:27:02] and not be part of the total number. [00:27:04] But just as a. [00:27:05] Basically, this is the total we've allocated. [00:27:08] Yeah, I can do it that way as well. [00:27:10] That's all I want. [00:27:11] I don't care where it shows up on the form. [00:27:13] Well, it might just as well show up in the CRA that has the money coming in, [00:27:17] where this budget doesn't get it, too. [00:27:20] And we can adopt the fact that it's an economic report that comes in after. [00:27:26] The tourist development tax wants to see how many beds there were. [00:27:29] There's economic analysis we can do from these events that we can learn from. [00:27:33] And so maybe when we do redo our redevelopment plan, maybe. [00:27:39] What do you think about that, Mr. Peters? [00:27:42] That it's really, the events sort of support the business and grow the economy. [00:27:46] Yeah, and maybe, Crystal, you can remind me, [00:27:49] when do we actually approve the allocation for that money for those events? [00:27:52] Typically in August or September of each year. [00:27:55] Before the budget's finalized. [00:27:58] Okay. [00:27:59] And that's really what I'm interested in seeing, what we do that. [00:28:02] Whether it's listed here or somewhere else. [00:28:04] But I'd like to have an idea what we're planning on on each event. [00:28:10] And then, obviously, budget's a budget, and you can make modifications if deemed necessary. [00:28:17] But still, I'd like to have some kind of idea of a track, what we're expecting, what we want to run on. [00:28:23] So whether it's $60,000 here, or we got a separate page, here's the special events. [00:28:27] We're allocating 15 here, 20 here, and whatever. [00:28:30] That's kind of what I'm more interested in. [00:28:33] And whether it's, I know this, I think four different events add up to that $60,000, I think, right? [00:28:40] Yeah. [00:28:41] And that's basically all, so just draw me a map. [00:28:43] All right, I'll work with the city manager to come up with a revised presentation. [00:28:47] We've beat this one to death. [00:28:49] Anything else on the city council in that case? [00:28:54] Next. [00:28:55] The next budget for presentation is the city manager's budget. [00:29:00] And there are two full-time positions in the budget. [00:29:10] And in terms of the operating expenses for the budget, [00:29:18] we're showing just modest increases in copier expenses, and printing, and binding. [00:29:28] And a reduction in operating supplies miscellaneous. [00:29:34] A reduction in dues and memberships, and a reduction in books and publication. [00:29:39] The total operating budget for the city manager's office is $256,350. [00:29:46] Motions? [00:29:49] In that case, next. [00:29:51] The next budget would be the city clerk's. [00:29:53] And I have asked Ms. Myers to present the city clerk's budget. [00:29:58] Thank you, City Manager Maynes. [00:30:00] Pleasure to present the City Clerk's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. [00:30:05] Under the operating expenses, the first line item, you'll see that there was an increase in the elections amount. [00:30:11] That was due to the increase in costs that were from the Supervisor of Elections Office themselves. [00:30:18] Moving down, the next decrease was for the code book update service. [00:30:25] That was reduced as there's only one department in the city that still requires, or still wants the printed copy. [00:30:32] Everyone else relies on the online version. [00:30:36] Legal advertising was decreased due to a surplus that we had in this year. [00:30:42] And the office supplies were also decreased for the same reason, for a surplus. [00:30:48] Which brings the overall budget for the City Clerk's office to be $81,040. [00:30:54] Any questions, anyone? Hearing none, next. [00:30:57] The next budget is economic development, and we'll ask Barb to come up and sit next to Councilman Murphy and present the budget. [00:31:13] Thank you. Thank you, City Manager Manz. Can you hear me okay? Okay, great. [00:31:19] Ours is pretty simple. Our budget hasn't really had a lot of changes to it. [00:31:24] There's a slight increase in the print. [00:31:27] But other than that, I would say overall pretty much the same as the year before. [00:31:34] We are absent a Senior Administrative Assistant, and eventually we will get that person hired. [00:31:41] Questions? Hearing none, next. [00:31:47] The total budget for economic development is $202,820. [00:31:54] The next budget is human resources, and Mr. Fuchs will present that to us this evening, this late afternoon. [00:32:12] Thank you, City Manager Manz. [00:32:24] For our increases, our professional services miscellaneous is going to increase. [00:32:31] And what that consists of is salary studies. [00:32:36] We've done a few salary studies that we're anticipating doing some more. [00:32:40] Background checks, drug screening, things of the like. [00:32:43] We have decreased our labor attorney services that fluctuates based on labor negotiations that we have, [00:32:51] and we don't have any massive collective bargaining agreements in the next fiscal year. [00:32:58] We also have increased our employee support programs. [00:33:01] As we're coming through sort of post-COVID, we hope we'll be able to do a little bit more of that. [00:33:06] So we wanted to fatten that budget up a tad bit. [00:33:12] The insurances, we are projecting a 10 percent increase. [00:33:16] We are still in renewal processes with some of that. [00:33:21] So we don't have finite numbers there yet, but we're projecting a 10 percent increase there as well. [00:33:29] The employee engagement is another area that we are looking at, [00:33:34] and we have done some work on that already, and we're looking at continuing it. [00:33:38] So there are some engagement initiatives and some perks that we've passed along to the employees of the city. [00:33:45] And the other increase are our dues and memberships and our subscription and newspapers. [00:33:51] And based on me getting here a few months ago, [00:33:54] there are some venues that provide us with some professional insight from folks outside of the city [00:34:03] that I think would be beneficial for us to be a part of. [00:34:05] So we have started branching out into those areas and looking at subscriptions and also organization memberships. [00:34:16] Questions? [00:34:21] Where is that in place yet, or are you still, is that the last piece of the Tyler technology? [00:34:28] Are you fully implementing with that? [00:34:31] So we have a few things going on currently. [00:34:33] So we are digitizing our files, and I think that we're going to continue to do things like that. [00:34:38] And then, yes, and there's a full expanse of Tyler that was, I don't want to speak too much on this because it predates me, [00:34:47] but to fully implement it, there will probably be some additional costs to that. [00:34:52] So that software, as I remember it, would allow a person to apply online, submit their application, [00:34:59] and allow you to do a lot electronically of what has been otherwise done. [00:35:04] Is that a recommended course of action considering all of our stuff? [00:35:09] Yeah, the cost related to that has already been incurred in previous years. [00:35:13] And so now that we have Carl on board and Rob, we are moving forward with going live into that module. [00:35:22] But, yes, we do already have that module, and that is the functions of it that we plan on using. [00:35:28] Where we're at now is that there's some just architectural issues that we need to cross that hurdle, [00:35:33] and when we get that done, we'll be rolling smooth. [00:35:36] On the employee incentives, I'm not sure. [00:35:41] I've talked about hiring incentives and trying to give the staff up. [00:35:47] Would that go in the actual departments then, if there was a salary, or is that something you're considering? [00:35:56] This actually represents a holiday payment that is made. [00:36:02] Okay, so if there was to be a program that we said, [00:36:05] here, let's do a hiring thing and offer some employees to come to the city, [00:36:10] because with all that has been said about the need and the potential lack of local talent [00:36:19] that is appropriate for or is applying for jobs here, [00:36:23] and all the great attraction we talked about before of getting employees to come here from around, [00:36:29] whether it's a $1,500 or $2,000 moving expense or whatever it might be, [00:36:34] which you would normally do for a higher level employee, [00:36:38] those are the kind of things that cause someone to be burning up somewhere up north [00:36:46] where they don't have air conditioning because they're not used to the 100 degree weather that's coming at them, [00:36:50] or freezing in the winter and deciding it's time to move and taking these jobs. [00:36:59] And I think if that is a possibility, I would be supportive of finding the revenue, [00:37:06] whether we increase our payment from the CRA to the loan back to the city. [00:37:11] If you're struggling to find ways to make this work, I just want to redouble down and say no. [00:37:26] I understand the point that you're making, Councilman Altman, [00:37:30] and we did program some money already in the budget for a program that's been kicked off by Human Resources already, [00:37:37] and it's a referral program for positions in the city that's open to city employees [00:37:43] that make referrals to others for employment with the city. [00:37:47] You're talking about something a little broader scale, though, [00:37:51] and I feel that we've programmed enough money in our employee support program to be able to cover some of that, [00:38:03] but if we're talking about the scale that I think you're talking about, [00:38:10] then I'd feel much more comfortable if maybe we bumped it up even further, maybe to a 35 number. [00:38:23] So with that, I'm just wondering if that, you know, [00:38:27] obviously some positions are more difficult to fill than others in different departments and so forth, [00:38:31] shouldn't that expense really rather than be in the Human Resources expended to that particular department, [00:38:38] just like the salaries would be? [00:38:41] If it's something that's paid out to the new employee through payroll, [00:38:45] then yes, it would be an expense for that department. [00:38:48] And so if we do, if a program like that comes to fruition and we do start it, [00:38:54] then whether it's budgeted here or if it's budgeted here, [00:38:59] then we can easily do a budget transfer to the appropriate department to cover it. [00:39:03] Hypothetically, we were going to run full-page advertisements in Dallas and Tulsa, [00:39:10] pointing out that we have sea breezes and it doesn't go into triple digits very often. [00:39:14] Then I would say Human Resources would be appropriate. [00:39:24] But I think it's important. [00:39:27] I do, too. [00:39:34] The final budget that will be presented to you this evening is Technology Solutions. [00:39:39] And Mr. Green will join us up here. [00:39:43] And Rob's going to talk a little bit about the Technology Solutions department. [00:39:57] You do have an agenda item this evening, [00:40:00] which talks about the reorganization of the department [00:40:05] and the budget that's being presented to you this evening does reflect the changes [00:40:13] that are being recommended to you. [00:40:16] If you don't recommend them, then we'll restructure the budget. [00:40:19] That was going to be my next question. [00:40:25] With the exception, Mrs. Speece reminded me of one help desk technician, [00:40:30] which is not currently in this budget and will require your approval, [00:40:35] even though in the end we have to save money based on the restructuring plan [00:40:41] that we'll be presenting to you later on this evening. [00:40:44] Mr. Green, take it away. [00:40:46] Good evening. [00:40:49] I just want to go over some of the accomplishments. [00:40:52] You know, me being here, it's coming on June 1st, but still being part of the team. [00:40:58] I just want to go over the accomplishments from this past budget season. [00:41:04] So as we talked about reorganization of the technology department, [00:41:11] we completed the citywide Office 365 migration, completed council chambers, [00:41:18] AV equipment improvement project, [00:41:22] implemented a fresh service desk ticketing system that we use to communicate [00:41:27] with the departments to keep track of technology needs. [00:41:34] We completed the police dispatch relocation and renovation. [00:41:39] Additionally, we policed the body camera equipment upgrades [00:41:44] and upgraded the network cabling in the technology department [00:41:51] and consolidation of the Verizon wireless billing equipment. [00:41:57] Any questions on that before I go to the initiatives for next year? [00:42:01] The Office 365 system, is that the business basic or just the web-based, [00:42:08] or does it include the... [00:42:13] It's in the cloud. [00:42:14] It's all cloud. [00:42:15] It's all cloud-based. [00:42:16] And basically we're moving from, we essentially move from kind of, [00:42:22] right now we're in a hybrid state, so there's another component to it, [00:42:25] but currently we are just, we're in the cloud, [00:42:28] and essentially where everybody's mail is in the cloud [00:42:32] and you can access it from remote, but we still house some of it here, [00:42:37] which the next component of it would be the decommissioning to go completely in the cloud. [00:42:42] Because the old exchange server is on-prem. [00:42:45] We're no longer touching with our iPads. [00:42:48] Correct. [00:42:49] So, okay. [00:42:50] Yes, sir. [00:42:51] Any other questions? [00:42:53] No? [00:42:54] All right. [00:42:56] So for the upcoming budget season, [00:42:59] some of the initiatives that we'd like to take a look at is ELAN network migration, [00:43:05] which I guess was approved previously by council before I came. [00:43:12] That's to upgrade the network [00:43:14] and how we pass the data between all the sites infrastructure-wise. [00:43:22] Technology bill consolidation, [00:43:24] so that we can get a better understanding of the technology budget [00:43:29] and how the money is being spent there. [00:43:35] Network backup and data implementation. [00:43:38] Essentially what that is going to be, you know, with storms and everything, [00:43:43] we want to be able to protect our data and be able to still operate remotely [00:43:49] and not necessarily rely on the servers that we have in-house, [00:43:52] so that what that is is essentially going to allow us to be more flexible [00:43:58] and have better backups. [00:44:02] Internet provider consolidation. [00:44:06] That's just consolidating our providers that we have, [00:44:09] but still having some diversity so that if one provider goes down, [00:44:14] we still have the other to kind of offset that. [00:44:19] Citywide wireless implementation. [00:44:23] So with that citywide wireless implementation, [00:44:25] we're looking to do some infrastructure stuff that I'll talk about [00:44:29] in some of the capital stuff I've got coming up. [00:44:35] A gap analysis. [00:44:37] So if you have questions regarding that, [00:44:40] basically looking at the way we do business [00:44:44] and how we handle the IT department in regards to security-wise, [00:44:49] making sure that, you know, our users are educated, [00:44:54] making sure that our data is protected and things of that nature. [00:45:00] Public Works phone system upgrade. We had some old, we have some lines that are from a provider that's essentially kind of going out of business and we need to get those migrated over so that we can manage that and do better about bringing those numbers to our current system. [00:45:26] And then City Hall library rec and center door access control implementation. That's also part of another capital project, but that where I'm essentially wanting to look at securing City Hall better with door access controls and cameras and kind of upgrading that type of security. [00:45:51] The next thing is the ID badge management implementation, which is basically going to citywide IDs that would be used for accessing the doors based off of permission levels and working with the different departments on that just to kind of secure the building a little bit more. [00:46:10] And then basically network security consolidation. What that is, is essentially we're trying to, you know, we have many pieces that protect our network and just trying to get those all in one place because some of the things that we're trying to do is just have one provider that could monitor multiple things instead of dealing with different vendors. [00:46:37] So those are just kind of some of the highlights of the past and soon to come. [00:46:46] On the data center implementation, you're, you're basically moving stuff that we currently house in house to a data center. [00:46:53] That is correct. So this way it's all it's off site and our servers are backed up. So like put it in two different equations. One say the building, you know, we kind of have some water damage, but the servers are servers are still functioning, but we still can get a backup from our off site and still operate. [00:47:18] Or scenario number two, if the building is completely gone, we still can, we still can operate because we have everything off site. [00:47:27] My day job office sits at 12 feet above sea level, and I'm currently doing exactly that with our, our servers is getting everything out into the cloud because, you know, knock on wood, we haven't had a serious storm come through here, but one of these days we will. [00:47:49] And if that gear is sitting at basically sea level, which you're pretty close to it here as well, that's not healthy. So I'm, I'm really glad to hear you're, you're making that move. [00:48:01] It's kind of a two prong approach. I'm looking at if New Port Richey or just, you know, part of New Port Richey or just all of New Port Richey. So one is going to be kind of out of like in another state. And then the other one, I'm getting a connection at, at the county data center. [00:48:21] So, yeah, that, that, that makes a lot of sense. When we had Irma come through, basically everything this side of a little road was evacuated. [00:48:35] They were potentially having a storm surge that might have gone all the way up in here. Things have gone bad. So, yeah, this is, for the benefit of my colleagues, this is a really good idea. [00:48:52] And then last, I just want to go over the capital equipment improvements for next year that I'm recommending, which is the city, citywide facility wireless and rewiring project. [00:49:08] What that consists of is a lot of the buildings, particularly City Hall, the wire, the network cabling is, is older. And with us getting a faster circuit and whatnot, we need to be able to take advantage of that. [00:49:22] We need to upgrade the cabling to support that and also introduce, you know, part of that, that issue exists in a lot of the buildings, but specifically City Hall. [00:49:34] But then the other piece of it is introducing wireless in the buildings and trying to get that up and running. [00:49:44] And then the next item is the data processing equipment, the ELAN, that's to get a connection at the county in addition to the disaster recovery out of state. [00:49:59] And then the PC replacement program, looking to put that item in to upgrade our equipment yearly between different departments and have like a four to five year cycle and keeping up with that equipment. [00:50:14] And then under the software piece, introducing PagerDuty, which is like an on-call program for my staff. We get, we get calls in the middle of the night from either the PD or the rec center, and this will better manage. [00:50:33] It also better manage, you know, that communication as well as keep track of that information. And it also integrates with the ticketing system that I've implemented. And then the other piece is we're looking to take some of that Munis and Tyler ERP system that we have and looking to move some of that into the cloud as well, instead of housing that on-prem. [00:51:02] So Rob and I did find out today that that number that we currently are proposing is not quite high enough, and so we're working with them to get a better, a more accurate number, like you know. [00:51:15] The goal is to move a lot of our services in the cloud. It's just best for just where we live and just to, so that we can operate remotely and still work. [00:51:28] So it also puts more of the liability on Tyler Technologies versus the city. [00:51:34] But you did save $100,000 in software, so are you telling me we're done paying Munis or Sun Guard? [00:51:45] We are on track to be out of it by the end of this fiscal year. So next year, there's no money budgeted for that support. [00:51:55] $100,000 that you've been able to free up by having finally freed ourselves from that, and you're using some of that. [00:52:10] Yeah, we're looking at filling that position this year, and we do have a concentration on that. So that's something to come. [00:52:40] On your capital equipment improvements, the thing about going wireless versus rewiring, I mean, it seems like maybe, I mean, if we're going wireless, how much rewiring do we really need to do? [00:52:55] Well, you talk about your infrastructure. So, and with wireless, actually, to be honest, wireless is more of like a luxury and a convenience. [00:53:06] With the wireless, we're looking to have internal and external, like public and internal for flexibility. [00:53:15] But internally, without being hardwired and having the infrastructure, you wouldn't have any wireless, because at the end of the day, everything has to be hardwired, the access points and everything. [00:53:27] Having the public access would be handy. We had a non-partisan, I guess you could call it a debate, but presentations by some of the non-partisan candidates this past Saturday over in the library. [00:53:49] And a couple of them needed to Zoom in, and the person that was doing the presentations was using her T-Mobile phone as a hotspot for her notebook to connect. [00:54:05] And for any of you that don't have T-Mobile, it is absolutely awful in this block. I barely have a signal at all. [00:54:16] And so having a public access that's secured away from anything that the library was doing or uses internally, but was available for that sort of thing, would be really, really convenient. [00:54:33] Any time we've got somebody that's using the big conference room upstairs for any sort of presentation, because they could get into YouTube or whatever it is for their presentations. [00:54:46] Or in the case of this past Saturday, they could have done a Zoom meeting, but didn't have people looking up for extended periods of time. [00:54:59] And then the last item, the city hall access control and camera upgrade. So again, as I explained before, we're looking to utilize the ID badging and get door access controls. [00:55:12] This is a continuation project. It was something that was started previously, but I'm enhancing it more and hoping to move it rapidly to securing the buildings and coming up with the ID badge that would be issued and have the employee's picture on it, what department they're in. [00:55:34] And then essentially give them the access control and just have the city's logo and stuff on it standardized. And then just making those doors available and then upgrading some of the cameras that we have within the city. [00:55:54] I have a question, a two-part question. The first having to do with your comment about the Wi-Fi and the availability of internet. It's been such a big economic infrastructure issue nationwide. [00:56:13] It was one of the really items that was called out in some of these American Rescue Acts and some of the other things. My grandson, whenever I bring him home from school, he always says, this is the worst place for his phone. And it may be that he's got the phone you're talking about. [00:56:35] Whether it's T-Mobile or anything else, there have been a sort of, I don't know if it was prevailing, but there have been an opinion that because we have folks who are down on their luck, we did not want to be able to, we were not overexcited about making sure we had free access in hot spots, for example. [00:57:02] But yet, at the same time, our cities, whether it's a Starbucks or a bar or a restaurant or anybody coming together in the park or anywhere else, it's become a member of the family, right? There's nobody that doesn't want to have that access. [00:57:23] And so I don't know if it's the dark fiber or – some cities are actually getting engaged in that utility, and I don't know how smart or worthwhile, but a lot of them do it for manufacturers to make sure they have dependable service. [00:57:46] If there's not good dependable service that's available through the frontier or whatever. [00:57:55] So I think that you've talked about all of the enhancements we make for the staff and the accessibility and getting to be able to use it in the library. [00:58:08] I'm interested to learn if there are improvements that we should make that will bring our city into a more modern city that allows for folks to hang out here other than being at the bar, which is fine. [00:58:27] We have some good traffic and good traffic at the park. [00:58:31] But to diversify our coffee shops and restaurants that are coming, we're going to have more people. [00:58:37] I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to how many people use it or whether it gets crowded. [00:58:44] So I'm really – this is about what I'm the worst at, but I know that it's a big issue. [00:58:50] Like the Connected City out in Worcester Chapel? [00:58:53] Yeah, and now they're bragging about it and saying that they've got this brand new place. [00:58:58] And it's like, well, we may be old, but we can be just as current, part of our three-term explanation of ourselves. [00:59:07] And on that item, when you talk about badges and entry and getting in, and we've changed our service as far as how we've done things at the rec center where people can go in early, I think, to work out. [00:59:22] I use a hammer and nails if I can rather than, you know, going to the gym. [00:59:30] But nevertheless, is it possible with our water billing and all of our activities that we have for our citizens, whether it's an event or to buy a mug that says New Port Richey on it or to pay a fee for whatever we have a fee for, is there a possibility or is it all useful for us to provide? [01:00:00] a passport, for the lack of a better word, to our residents. Community [01:00:07] development districts do that all the time to control whether someone's a [01:00:12] guest or who they are. And I don't want to be Big Brother, but at the same time, [01:00:16] you know, you talk about cameras, we've got a million cameras. Some communities [01:00:22] have camera monitoring businesses that look at 35, I don't know, do you know the [01:00:31] number of cameras we have across our city looking at our parks and our [01:00:35] recreation and our outdoor sites? Yes. I'm going to guess it's over a hundred. [01:00:40] It would take, yeah. So if you have a hundred cameras, when you get into, after [01:00:47] the fact, and you have to go find the camera, and you have to find the [01:00:50] incident, you talk about security. I'm curious to learn, maybe not this year's [01:00:57] budget, but going forward, is there a way that we can tighten up the security, not [01:01:03] only for our employees, but also for our residents to know there are certain [01:01:08] things that they can do easily, that when they're doing business with the city, I [01:01:13] don't know that it's a definitely a door opening thing or whatever, but a city [01:01:20] credit card, for lack of a better word, or a city access card that gives them [01:01:25] access and proves that they're a city resident and they're entitled to, for [01:01:31] example, go to the rec center or... [01:01:40] It's just a thought. We're thinking about, there is something to be said [01:01:46] if we have the public wireless set up with the library. There's an [01:01:52] argument to be made to set it up in one or more of the parks as well, specifically [01:01:57] Sims, and I know we've already got, I think, we've already got internet to the [01:02:07] bandshell, so it wouldn't be terribly difficult to put something off of that. [01:02:14] But yeah, T-Mobile is awful from a self standpoint. Verizon, who ought to be [01:02:21] really good, is also notoriously bad in the downtown, even though they've got a [01:02:27] building with an antenna on the top of it, they don't do wireless often. So... [01:02:33] If you have any knowledge about all that, or you can bring us some information, I would [01:02:37] really... It's hard to say for current when somebody's, you know, knocking the [01:02:42] side of their phone like it's a car, and they're trying to get it to start, you know, and it's not working. [01:02:47] Go ahead and bang the phone.

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3. 4Adjournment▶ 1:02:48
4. 3Communications