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GOOD[1. THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2023 Call to Order at 6:00pm Invocation a. Discussion of the General Fund b. Discussion of Cooperative Efforts c. Discussion of Hotel Occupancy Fund d. Discussion of Special Revenue Fund e. Discussion of All Other Funds, Vehicle & Equipment Replacement Funds, and Facility Maintenance Funds f. Discussion of Debt Service Fund g. Discussion of DeSoto Development Corporation (DDC) Budget & Work Plan]
EVENING, EVERYONE.UH, IT IS NOW 6:08 PM I'M MAYOR RACHEL PROCTOR, AND I WANNA WELCOME YOU ALL TO THE FIRST NIGHT OF OUR BUDGET WORKSHOP.
UM, AT THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO ASK OUR ACTING CITY SECRETARY, UH, DEPUTY CHRISTOPHE BOWERS, TO CONDUCT A ROLL CALL FOR US, PLEASE.
BUT I'M GOING, UH, RIGHT TO LEFT.
COUNCIL MEMBER NICOLE RAPHAEL HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDRE BIRD.
COUNCIL MEMBER DINA MARKS, COUNCIL MEMBER CRYSTAL CHISHOLM HERE.
UH, MAYOR PROAM, LETICIA HUGHES.
AT THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO, UM, GIVE IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER, UH, FOR THE NEXT ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA.
THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR BEING HERE THIS EVENING.
SO WE ARE EXCITED TO, UH, TO GO AHEAD AND PRESENT TO YOU OUR DRAFT, UH, FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET FOR THE UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR.
UH, JUST SO THAT EVERYONE KNOWS, WE START OUR FISCAL YEAR ON OCTOBER, ONE OF EVERY, EVERY YEAR, AND THAT RUNS ALL THE WAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30.
UH, SO IN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO GET THIS APPROVED, UH, THE END OR THE MIDDLE END OF JULY IS USUALLY WHEN WE ARE, UH, MEETING HERE WITH THE CITY COUNCIL.
UH, THERE IS A PROCESS THAT GOES ON FROM HERE, UH, WHERE WE OBVIOUSLY, UM, CONTINUE TO RECEIVE SOME INPUT, FINALIZE SOME NUMBERS, UM, WE'LL KIND OF MENTION AS, AS WE TALK ABOUT TAX RATES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, KIND OF WHAT THINGS ARE STILL IN DRAFT MODE, UM, BUT KIND OF PUTTING FORTH THAT OPERATING PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR.
THE BUDGET REALLY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT GUIDING DOCUMENT THAT WE HAVE FOR THE CITY EVERY YEAR THAT ESTABLISHES OUR PRIORITIES, SETS THE FUNDING LEVELS, UH, FOR ALL OF OUR DIFFERENT SERVICE AREAS THAT WE CAN DELIVER EXCELLENT SERVICES TO OUR RESIDENTS, UH, HERE IN DESOTO.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA, ACTUALLY, BEFORE I JUMP INTO, UH, THE DETAILS OF THE BUDGET, FIRST OF ALL, I DO WANNA RECOGNIZE ALL THE STAFF THAT WE HAVE WITH US TODAY, UH, AND THE TREMENDOUS WORK THAT THEY DO BOTH EVERY DAY, UM, FOR US, UH, HERE IN THE CITY, BUT ALSO AS IT RELATES TO PREPARATION OF THE BUDGET.
YOU CANNOT PREPARE A BUDGET WITHOUT THE WORK OF DOZENS AND DOZENS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DEDICATED TO HELPING LOOK THROUGH LINE ITEMS, REVIEW THEIR LINE ITEMS, ANTICIPATE WHAT'S COMING UP OVER THE NEXT YEAR, AND MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, FOR THAT.
SO I WANT TO APPLAUD THEM FOR ALL OF THE EFFORT THEY'VE PUT IN OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS AS WE'VE WORKED TOGETHER TO ESTABLISH THIS BUDGET AND TO PRESENT TO YOU, UM, ALL, HOW MANY PAGES ARE THERE SO FAR, TRACY? I'M SORRY.
HOW MANY PAGES DO WE HAVE IN THIS BUDGET SO FAR, OR THE PRESENTATION? UH, UH, PROBABLY ABOUT 400, MAYBE.
ALL TOGETHER, IT'S ALL GLORIOUS 400 PAGES, UH, TO, UH, TO BOTH THE PUBLIC AND TO OUR CITY COUNCIL.
SO WITH ALL AND, BUT IN PARTICULAR, WE DO WANNA THANK OUR FINANCE STAFF.
UM, SO WE HAVE OUR FINANCE STAFF IS LED BY OUR FINANCE DIRECTOR, TRACY CORMIER, ALL THE WORK THAT HE AND HIS STAFF PUT INTO PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS AS WE'VE, AS WE'VE DONE THAT.
ALRIGHT, NOW LET'S GO AHEAD AND JUMP IN.
AND I BELIEVE, UH, SOMEONE IS HELPING WITH THE SLIDES FOR THE FIRST, UH, FEW, AND THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO TRACY FOR THE REMAINDER.
UM, AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR FOR 2024, UM, WE WILL RUN THROUGH JUST A COUPLE OF THE PRIORITIES THAT WE'VE, UM, THAT WE'VE KIND OF ESTABLISHED FOR THIS ONE.
FIRST OF ALL, MAINTAINING THE TAX RATE.
UM, SO WE ANTICIPATE THAT THE TAX RATE NEXT YEAR WILL REMAIN THE SAME, UM, AT SIX, A LITTLE OVER 69 CENTS PER A HUNDRED DOLLARS OF ASSESSED VALUATION.
UH, THIS WILL BE THE 13TH YEAR IN A ROW THAT THE CITY OF DESOTO HAS LOWERED OR MAINTAINED ITS TAX RATE.
UH, SO THAT'S A, A TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT, UH, THAT HAS BEEN DONE WITH A LOT OF, UH, CAREFUL FISCAL, FISCALLY PRUDENT PLANNING, UM, AS WELL AS MAKING SURE THAT DURING THAT TIME THAT WE'VE ALSO BEEN ABLE TO COVER OUR SERVICE LEVELS AND PROVIDE GREAT SERVICES TO THE DESOTO RESIDENTS.
UM, IT DOES REPRESENT A BALANCED GENERAL FUND AS WELL.
THE GENERAL FUND IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FUND THAT THE CITY HAS, AND IT IS A BALANCE FOR THE PURPOSES OF OUR BUDGET.
UM, WE CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON ACHIEVING BUSINESS PLAN PRIORITIES AND THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
UH, SO AS WE BEGIN THE PROCESS EVERY YEAR OF LOOKING AT THE BUDGET, UH, WE ARE TIED INTO WORK PLANS AND WORK PLANS ARE TIED INTO BUSINESS PLANS, AND BUSINESS PLANS ARE TIED INTO STRATEGIC PLANS THAT ENSURES THAT FROM THE VERY TOP OF THE ORGANIZATION TO THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE ORGANIZATION, THAT WE ARE ALIGNED IN THE TYPES OF PRIORITIES THAT WE ARE ADDRESSING, BOTH IN THE BUSINESS PLAN AND THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
UM, WE ALSO CONTINUE TO INVEST IN AREAS THAT ARE IDENTIFIED AS HIGH PRIORITY WITH OUR CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS.
EVERY OTHER YEAR, THE CITY CONDUCTS A CI A CITIZEN SURVEY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR RESIDENTS THINK OF THE SERVICES THAT WE DELIVER, AND ALSO ASKING THEM WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SERVICES THAT WE NEED TO IMPROVE ON AND FOCUS ON OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
AND I'LL COVER THAT IN JUST A COUPLE SLIDES.
UH, AND THEN THIS IS THE, UM, OTHER PRIORITIES.
THIS IMPLEMENTS THE, THE FIRST FULLY FUNDED YEAR WITH SALARY ADJUSTMENTS THAT WERE INTRODUCED IN FISCAL YEAR 2023.
UH, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, THAT WAS A HUGE FINANCIAL COMMITMENT THE CITY COUNCIL MADE LAST YEAR.
UH, BUT WE, WE, BUT WE ONLY PARTIALLY FUNDED IT LAST YEAR BECAUSE THE REST OF IT WAS A MID-YEAR TYPE OF AN ADJUSTMENT FOR US.
THE REST OF IT IS FULLY FUNDED IN THIS CURRENT YEAR.
UH, AND SO THAT WHEN YOU TALK, TALK ABOUT USES OF NEW MONEY, THAT WAS A LARGE USE OF THE NEW MONEY, UH, WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE COVERING THOSE SALARY, UH, ADJUSTMENTS FOR THIS, UH, CURRENT FISCAL YEAR IN 2024.
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FIFTH ITEM RIGHT THERE, WE CONTINUED TO IMPLEMENT LARGE AND PRIORITIZED CAPITAL PROJECTS.YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THAT LIST THERE, RIGHT? THE MACALLAN PARK AQUATIC CENTER, WESTMORELAND ROAD, WIDENING, PLEASANT RUN ROAD WIDENING, DANIELDALE ROAD WIDENING HAMPTON ROAD TRANSFORMATION PROJECT.
UM, AND THEN THE PCI STUDY ROAD MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDATION OF $5 MILLION EVERY YEAR.
UH, WE ARE PROUD TO SAY THAT THE BUDGET INCLUDES ALL OF THOSE ITEMS FUNDED WITHIN THE, UH, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
UH, THAT TAKES A LOT OF FOCUS, A LOT OF DEDICATION ON BOTH IN THE CITY COUNCIL, UM, AND ALSO STAFF TO ENSURE THAT THE TYPES OF PROJECTS THAT WE ARE DELIVERING ARE THE TYPES OF TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS THAT WILL CONTINUE TO GROW OUR COMMUNITY, MAKE IT BETTER FOR OUR RESIDENTS, AND ULTIMATELY CONTINUE TO GROW OUR TAX BASE.
ALRIGHT, SO IN THE COMMUNITY SURVEY LAST TIME THAT WE CONDUCTED A SURVEY, IT WAS 2022.
UH, SO JUST, UH, JUST LAST YEAR, UM, DURING THAT TIME, UH, WE ASKED CITIZENS WHICH SERVICES SHOULD RECEIVE THE MOST EMPHASIS FROM CITY LEADERS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
AND THESE ARE THE TOP FOUR RESPONSES THAT THEY GAVE US.
OVERALL QUALITY OF POLICE, FIRE, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IS NUMBER ONE, ENFORCEMENT OF CITY CODE AND ORDINANCES.
NUMBER TWO, OVERALL QUALITY OF OF CITY WATER AND CITY UTILITIES.
NUMBER THREE, AND OVERALL QUALITY OF CITY PARKS AND RECREATION PROGRAMS AND FACILITIES WAS NUMBER FOUR POINT OF INFORMATION.
PLEASE, ON THE, UM, BAR SIDE, WHAT DOES THE COLORS REPRESENT? UM, OH, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER RIGHT NOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY, DO YOU REMEMBER FIRST, SECOND, THIRD PRIORITY.
YEAH, SO BLUE WAS THE FIRST PRIORITY, RED WAS THE SECOND PRIORITY, AND YELLOW WAS THE THIRD PRIORITY.
OKAY, SO THAT'S, SO, SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE HOW THEY STACKED UP.
SO THE MOST PEOPLE LISTED NUMBER ONE AS THE, THE THE NEED FOR THE MOST PRIORITY.
RIGHT? UM, AND THEN THE CITY PARKS AND PROGRAMS WAS THE FOURTH ONE WITH THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY, UM, BUT TENDED TO HAVE MORE PEOPLE IDENTIFYING IT AS NUMBER THREE ON THEIR LIST.
IN THIS, UH, NEXT SLIDE THOUGH.
SO ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SOME THINGS THAT, EXCUSE ME, THAT RESIDENTS SAID THAT WE NEEDED TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE ON, RIGHT? REMEMBERING THAT OVERALL IN OUR MAJOR CATEGORIES OF CITY SERVICES, DESOTO IS DOING GREAT, UH, ESPECIALLY AS YOU COMPARE TO TEXAS AVERAGES AND THE US AVERAGES.
UH, SO THIS SLIDE HERE REPRESENTS THE OVERALL SATISFACTION RATES FOR RESIDENTS COMPARED TO THE TEXAS AVERAGE AND THE, UH, US AVERAGE.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE BLUE LINE THERE REPRESENTS THE CITY OF DESOTO.
WE ARE FAR ABOVE AND BEYOND, UH, ALL, ALL OF OUR, ALL, ALL OF OUR PEERS IN BOTH TEXAS AND, AND THE US, UM, ON THAT.
SO ALTHOUGH THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO WORK ON, I JUST WANTED TO EMPHASIZE THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE HERE THAT SAYS, OVERALL OUR RESIDENTS ARE VERY SATISFIED WITH THE LEVEL OF SERVICES THAT THEY'RE RECEIVING FROM THE CITY OF DESOTO.
UM, AND THAT COMES IN LARGE PART BECAUSE THE CITY COUNCIL HAS CONTINUED TO FOCUS IN MAKING SURE THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THE DELIVERY OF GREAT SERVICES TO OUR RESIDENTS REALLY IS THE FOCUS OF OUR CITY MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, CITY MANAGER, RIGHT? YES.
I HAVE A QUICK, CAN WE GO BACK TO THE SURVEY SLIDE? I HAVE A QUESTION.
I GUESS JUST FOR CONTEXT OF THE, AND I SEE IT SAYS 2022, CITY OF DESOTO, TEXAS SURVEY FINDINGS REPORT, BUT IN COMPARISON, OKAY, SO I DO SEE THE SOURCE, SO ETC INSTITUTE, SO IT IS, UH, I GUESS WITH THE, UM, THE DATA WE'RE COMPARING IS THE QUESTIONING AND THE WAY THE QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED ARE COMPARABLE ON EACH OF THESE, I GUESS COMPARISONS.
IS THAT RIGHT? I HOPE I, MY QUESTION MAKES SENSE, CORRECT? YEAH.
SO ONE THING THAT THE, UH, CITIZEN SURVEY DOES IS IT, SO THEY, THEY DO SURVEYS FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT CITIES, AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, THEY GO OUT AND RANDOMLY SURVEY MANY, SURVEY MANY CITIES AS WELL TO HELP PROVIDE COMPARISON DATA FOR CITIES THAT ARE EVALUATING THEMSELVES.
SO THEY, THEY HAVE A STACK OF CITIES THAT THEY'VE DONE, DONE SURVEYS WITH, AND THEN THEY HAVE A NUMBER OF, OR JUST RANDOM SURVEYS THAT THEY CONDUCT ALL THE TIME IN DIFFERENT CITIES, UH, TO BE ABLE TO HAVE COMPARISON DATA BOTH IN THE TEXAS REGION AND ALSO IN THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE.
UH, SO, SO AS THEY COME BACK AND THEY CAN KIND OF SAY, OKAY, HERE'S HOW YOU'RE COMPARING TO OUR, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE WE'VE SURVEYED IN TEXAS, HERE'S HOW YOU'RE, UH, YOU'RE COMPARING TO THE PEOPLE IN THE US UH, WITH THAT FOR AVERAGES.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS, YOU CAN KIND OF SEE AT, AT THE TOP THIS IS MEASURING, UM, THE RESPONDENTS WHO RATED THE ITEM FOUR OR FIVE ON A FIVE POINT SCALE WITH FIVE BEING VERY SATISFIED AND ONE BEING, UH, ONE BEING THE LOWEST.
RIGHT? VERY DISSATISFIED ON THERE.
SO, SO AGAIN, OVERALL WE HAVE VERY HIGH MARKS WHEN IT COMES TO THE OVERALL DELIVERY OF OUR SERVICES HERE IN THE CITY.
OKAY, SO WHAT WE, WE, I'M GOING BACK TO JUST A COUPLE OF SLIDES, UM, IN, IN OUR MEMORY HERE, BUT THERE WERE A COUPLE OF ITEMS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED AS BEING, UH, WHERE OUR RESIDENTS SAID IN THE CITIZEN SURVEY, PLEASE FOCUS ON THIS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
AND SO WHAT WE WANT TO DO AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS IS JUST EMPHASIZE THAT WE CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THESE AREAS THAT OUR CITIZENS HAVE ASKED US TO INVEST IN.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? WE ADDED TWO POLICE OFFICERS IN 2022, WE ADDED TWO MORE IN 2023.
WE ADDED THREE COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICERS TO OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT IN 2023, AND WE ADDED FIVE POLICE OFFICERS IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET THAT'S BEFORE YOU RIGHT NOW FOR 2024, UH, DOING QUICK MATH IN MY HEAD, RIGHT? THAT'S NINE POLICE OFFICERS PLUS THREE COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICERS, 12 PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT, YOU KNOW, HELPING OUR, OUR POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
WE'LL HAVE OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT UP A LITTLE BIT LATER SHARING WITH US SOME OF THE ADVANCES
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THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO MAKE BECAUSE THEY HAVE INCREASED STAFFING LEVELS IN SOME OF THE DIFFERENT AREAS.UM, WE ALSO IMPROVED OUR REGIONAL SALARY COMPETITIVENESS IN THAT AREA.
THE REGIONAL CARE TEAM WAS FORMED SHOT SPOTTER TECHNOLOGY WAS IMPLEMENTED, BALLISTICS ANALYZING SOFTWARE WAS IMPLEMENTED.
WE HAVE NEW BODY-WORN CAMERAS, AND IN-CAR CAMERAS THAT WE'RE INSTALLING, THE HIGH INTENSITY CRIME REDUCTION UNIT WAS FORMED IN 2022.
WE HAVE FIXED DRIVER, UH, FEEDBACK RADAR, OUR SPEED SIGN PROGRAM, THE P 25 RADIO PROJECT, ALL OF THAT TO HELP SUPPORT OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT AND CONTINUE TO INVEST IN SERVICES THAT DELIVER EXCELLENT QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE TO OUR RESIDENTS.
IN THE AREA OF CODE ENFORCEMENT, ADDED A CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER IN 2022, ADDED ONE IN 2023, AND ALSO A HALFTIME, UH, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER IN 2023 AS WELL.
WE HAVE THE RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM THAT WAS, UH, THAT WAS IMPLEMENTED THE APARTMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM THAT WAS IMPLEMENTED, AND WE ALSO RECLASSED A CODE SERVICE SUPERVISOR AS WELL IN THE WATER AND SERVICE SEWER UTILITIES AREA.
WE ADDED A MAINTENANCE WORKER.
WE ALL, WE ARE CONTINUING TO FOCUS ON THE WESTMORELAND AND HAMPTON ROAD PUMP STATION IMPROVEMENTS.
THAT'S A HUGE PROJECT THAT REALLY IS, IS DESIGNED TO HELP CONTINUE TO BRING QUALITY WATER TO OUR RESIDENTS.
WE HAVE THE ELECTRICAL, ELECTRICAL RELIABILITY PROJECT THAT'S, UH, UNDER DESIGN RIGHT NOW.
OUR CHLORINATION PROJECT THAT WE FINISHED IN 2023, THAT THAT ENSURES THAT THE, UH, WATER ALL THE WAY FROM WHEN WE RECEIVE IT FROM DALLAS WATER UTILITIES ALL THE WAY TO THE HOME, HAS A PROPER LEVEL OF CHLORINE IN IT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS, UH, A SAFE WATER FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
UM, ANNUAL RENOVATION AND REPLACEMENT PROJECTS THAT ARE ONGOING.
AND THEN WE HAD NO RATE INCREASES IN OUR WATER AND SEWER UTILITIES, BOTH IN 2022 AND IN 2023.
AND IN OUR PARKS DEPARTMENT, UH, WE HAVE, UH, WE, WE'VE BEEN REPLACING SHADE STRUCTURES AS YOU'VE BEEN DRIVING AROUND THE CITY.
YOU'VE SEEN THOSE CHANGING, UH, THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
UH, THE MACALLAN PARK AQUATIC AND REC CENTER IS ONGOING.
WE'VE DONE A NUMBER OF FACILITY UPGRADES AT OUR RECREATION AND CIVIC CENTER.
UH, WE ARE PLANNING FOR SENIOR CENTER RENOVATIONS IN 2024 WITH OUR CDBG FUNDS.
UH, WE'VE BEEN DOING PLAYGROUND REPLACEMENTS LAST, UH, THIS YEAR, AND WE'LL BE CONTINUING INTO THAT FOR NEXT YEAR.
THE ZIEGER PARK ADULT USE AREA WAS, UH, FINISHED THIS YEAR.
ERNIE ROBERTS PARK INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND, UH, AND MOSLEY POOL.
ALL OF THESE DESIGNED TO, AGAIN, CONTINUE TO ADDRESS THOSE AREAS THAT OUR RESIDENTS ASK WHEN THEY SAY, WHAT SERVICE, WELL, YOU KNOW, WHAT AREA CAN WE, UH, SHOULD WE BE INVESTING OUR FUNDING IN? THE BUDGET FALLS VERY CLOSELY TO THAT TO SAY, THESE ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST PRIORITIES THAT WE HAVE AS A CITY TO CONTINUE TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE, UH, THE SERVICES THAT THEY WANT.
ALRIGHT, THAT'S ALL THAT I HAVE, UM, AS AN INTRODUCTION.
UH, NOW TRACY IS GOING TO TAKE US INTO THE DETAILS OF THE BUDGET.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THANK YOU, UH, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL FOR, UM, FOR COMING THIS EVENING.
WE'RE EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU AS WE CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS.
AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, AS A MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDING MUNICIPAL SERVICES TO OUR RESIDENTS, THAT IS OUR GOAL, AND TO DO THAT VERY, VERY WELL AND MAKE SURE THAT IT'S THE TYPE OF SERVICES THAT OUR, OUR RESIDENTS WANT.
UH, SO TRACY, GO AHEAD AND TAKE IT OVER FROM THERE.
UH, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR COUNCIL.
UM, AS I MOVE THROUGH THE, UH, POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, I ALSO WILL REFER TO PAGES IN THE BOOK, SO THAT WAY YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL.
AND AS I'M MOVING FORWARD, PLEASE STOP, INTERRUPT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON ANY PARTICULAR ITEMS. UM, THE FIRST COUPLE SECTIONS OF THE, YOUR, YOUR PROPOSED BUDGET IS, IS BASICALLY INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES.
YOU KNOW, JUST TO GET YOU FAMILIAR WITH WHAT YOU'RE GETTING READY TO REVIEW.
UH, I WILL START ON PAGE 18 OF THE, OF THE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SECTION.
UM, I WANNA START WITH THE GO AHEAD.
WERE JUST BEFORE YOU GO TO PAGE 18, JUST IN SECTION ONE, JUST WANTED TO, YEAH.
NOT, UH, GO LINE BY LINE, BUT JUST, UH, PROBABLY NEED SOME ADDITIONAL REVIEW, UM, JUST TO TAKE CARE OF SOME OF THE DETAILS LIKE THE CITY LOGO.
UM, AND WHAT SECTION IS THAT ONE IN THE INTRODUCTION? YES, SIR.
THERE WERE A COUPLE OF DATA POINTS THAT, UM, SEEM TO NEED TO BE UPDATED.
WE, WE KNOW THAT NEEDS TO BE UPDATED.
YES, THAT'S STATED ON THE COMMUNITY PROFILE.
IT STATES AT THE TOP TWO BE UPDATED.
UM, STARTING ON PAGE, UM, SIX 18, UM, OF THE BOOK.
AND OF COURSE ON THE, UH, SLIDE, UH, THIS, UM, GRAPH HERE SHOWS OUR TOTAL REVENUE PRETTY MUCH, UM, ALL OUR CITY FUNDS AND AS YOU CAN SEE, PROPERTY TAX AND MISCELLANEOUS AND CHARGES FOR SERVICES.
OUR MAIN, UH, REVENUE FOR, UH, CITYWIDE ALL FUNDS.
AND I JUST WANT TO KIND OF ELABORATE ON MISCELLANEOUS, 'CAUSE THAT IS A LARGE NUMBER.
THAT NUMBER IN ITSELF IS ABOUT 50 MILLION, AND THAT AMOUNTS TO OUR POSSIBLE DEBT SALE FOR, UM, FISCAL YEAR 24.
SO I JUST WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT BECAUSE THAT IS A LARGE NUMBER AND THAT'S WHERE WE CATEGORIZE OUR DEBT SERVICE PROCEEDS.
NEXT YOU SEE OUR, UM, OVERALL GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES AND HIGHEST CATEGORIES, THE GENERAL FUND ENTERPRISE FUNDS AND DEBT SERVICES, AND ALSO OUR CAPITAL PROJECT FUNDS.
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UM, MOVING ON TO THE GENERAL FUND, UM, I'M, I'M GONNA START OFF ON PAGE THREE OF THE GENERAL FUND SECTION, AND WHAT THAT DOES IS JUST LIST ALL OUR, OUR TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE TRANSFERS AND OUR TOTAL OPERATING EXPENDITURES FOR THE GENERAL FUND.UH, WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING FOR FISCAL YEAR 24, UH, WITH OUR PROPOSAL.
WE DO, UM, STAY WITHIN OUR, UM, FUND BALANCE POLICY, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS THE END OF THE YEAR.
MOVING ON TO GENERAL FUND REVENUE.
UH, OF COURSE WITH ANY CITY, UH, MAJORITY OF OUR REVENUE IS PROPERTY TAXES.
UM, WE, WE PUT IN ABOUT 64% OF OUR, UM, REVENUE IS FROM PROPERTY TAXES, 17% IS FROM SALES TAX AND ABOUT 6% IS FROM FRANCHISE FEES.
UM, THIS YEAR I THINK, UH, UH, CITY MANAGER WRIGHT MENTIONED THAT WE WE'RE NOT PLANNING ON, UM, INCREASING OUR OVERALL TAX RATE.
UM, AND IT'S NOT BEEN, UM, INCREASED, UH, FOR THE LAST, UH, 13 YEARS, UH, JENNIFER AND BUDGETED.
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND EMPHASIZE JUST AT THIS POINT THAT WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR FINAL NUMBERS FROM DCA.
UH, SO, SO THIS IS SUBJECT, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THIS PART'S CLEAR.
WE DON'T RECEIVE THESE FINALIZED NUMBERS UNTIL EARLY AUGUST.
WE, WE WILL RECEIVE OUR CERTIFIED LETTER PROBABLY MONDAY, AND SO WE'LL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF, AND WE WON'T RECEIVE OUR INS RATE PROBABLY TILL MAYBE THE FIRST OR SECOND WEEK IN AUGUST.
AND THEN THAT WAY WE CAN KIND OF BACK INTO OUR M AND O RATE, RIGHT? YEP.
UH, ONCE AGAIN, OUR, OUR GENERAL FUND BUDGET, WE ARE, UH, CURRENTLY AT THIS TIME AND THIS SUBJECT TO CHANGE TOO, WE ARE BASING OUR GENERAL FUND BUDGET ON THE 7 BILLION TAXABLE VALUE.
UH, WHICH IN TURN WILL GIVE US, YOU KNOW, THE 64% OF OUR PROPERTY TAX REVENUE THAT'S BUDGETED WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND.
AND, AND FOR, JUST FOR PLANNING PURPOSES FOR 25, WE JUST, YOU KNOW, PUT A THREE, THREE TO 3% INCREASE ON THE, UH, BUDGETED AMOUNT.
UH, I KNOW THERE WAS A REQUEST FOR US TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THE HOMESTEAD, YOU KNOW, A POSSIBLE ESTIMATED, WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE IF WE WAS TO OFFER A HOMESTEAD? AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE SLIDES IN YOUR, IN YOUR WORK, UM, HOW DOES IT WORK? THIS IS WHAT I'M GONNA SPEAK ON, THE QUALIFICATIONS, THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.
AND WHAT WE DID IS WE JUST THREW A NUMBER OUT THERE AS FAR AS $10,000 FOR AS FAR AS ESTIMATES.
UM, BASICALLY WHAT A HOMESTEAD WOULD DO, SAY FOR INSTANCE, JUST FOR THE CITY PORTION OF THE TAXES, IF YOUR VALUE IS 200,000 AND, UM, YOU HAVE A $10,000 HOMESTEAD, BASICALLY YOUR PROPERTY TAXABLE VALUE WOULD YOUR TAX RATE AND, UH, VALUE, UM, WHAT YOU WOULD PAY WOULD BE BASED ON 190,000.
WHAT IT, WHAT IT IS TAKES TO QUALIFY, BASICALLY IT HAS TO BE YOUR PRIMARY RESIDENT.
UM, IF YOU, OF COURSE, IF YOU TEMPORARY MOVE AWAY, YOU CAN STILL QUALIFY, YOU JUST MAKE, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST CAN'T BE GOING MORE THAN TWO YEARS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, IF YOU'RE IN A MILITARY SERVICES, YOU STILL WILL QUALIFY AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE, THE APPLICATION HAS TO BE FILED BEFORE THE DATE YOU QUALIFY FOR EXEMPTION.
AND BASICALLY THE PROCESS, UM, WE DISCUSS AND DETERMINE THE EXEMPTION AMOUNT.
UH, CITY COUNCIL HAVE TO PASS A RESOLUTION.
NOW, IN ORDER FOR THIS TO GO INTO EFFECT, WE WOULD HAVE TO PASS THE RESOLUTION AND, AND SEND THE INFORMATION OVER TO DALLAS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT BY APRIL OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.
AND SO BASICALLY, IF WE DECIDE TO DO THIS IN THE FUTURE, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE IT'S DONE IN MARCH OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.
AND BASICALLY WHAT WE DID, UM, WE JUST DID AN ESTIMATE NOW, UH, WITHOUT TRULY KNOWING THE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS, WHAT I DID IS I TOOK THE HOUSEHOLDS THAT QUALIFIED FOR THE SCHOOL HOMESTEAD BECAUSE THEY HAVE SIMILAR CRITERIA TO QUALIFY.
AND SO JUST TO DO AN ESTIMATE, ESTIMATE, IF WE TOOK A $10,000 EXEMPTION, THAT WOULD GIVE US 116 MILLION.
AND THEN YOU JUST TAKE THAT TIMES OUR TAX RATE.
SO BASICALLY FOR EVERY $10,000 IN EXEMPTION THAT, UH, IS, UH, PROPOSED, WE WOULD LOSE $640,000 IN OPERATIONAL REVENUE AND $166,000 IN, UH, INS REVENUE WITH A TOTAL, UH, ESTIMATED LOSS OF $806,000.
NOW, OF COURSE, THAT NUMBER WOULD FLUCTUATE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS, AND THEN ALSO, YOU KNOW, WHAT EXEMPTION THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED.
UH, ANY QUESTIONS FROM COUNSEL COUNCILOR PARKER? NOT ON TOPIC.
YES, SHE, OH, THERE IS, OH YEAH, YEAH, THERE IS.
SHE DID HAVE, UH, QUESTIONS AND COUNSEL, PLEASE, PLEASE FEEL FREE 'CAUSE OF THE NATURE OF TONIGHT'S FORMAT, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO JUST JUMP IN WITH QUESTIONS.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT ON ME TO, UH, ACKNOWLEDGE YOU.
BUT, UH, COUNCILWOMAN PARKER, OF COURSE, SHE COULD NOT BE HERE TONIGHT.
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UM, AND SHE HAD QUESTIONS REGARDING THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION SPECIFICALLY.UM, SHE SAID, HOW WOULD, HOW WILL THIS EXEMPTION AND THE ONE FROM THE STATE WORK TOGETHER, UM, IT WOULDN'T NECESSARILY WORK TOGETHER.
OURS WOULD BE TOTALLY SEPARATE FROM THE STATE AND THE STATE WILL AFFECT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S TAXABLE VALUE AND NOT THE CITIES.
THAT WAS HER ONLY THAT, THAT SEEMS TO BE HER ONLY QUESTION REGARDING THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
SHE DOES HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THE PRESENTATION.
UM, THE NEXT COUPLE PAGES IN THE GENERAL FUND IS REALLY, IS JUST REALLY CHARTS TO GIVE YOU, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES, KIND OF GIVE YOU THE HISTORY OF OUR, UM, TAX RATE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
UM, ALSO OUR, UM, SALES TAX, YOU KNOW, SALES TAX HISTORY OF COURSE.
UM, UM, I'M SORRY, I DID MISS ONE PART.
UH, THIS IS, I JUST WANTED TO SHOW THIS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES OF HOW WE CALCULATED OUR PROPERTY TAX REVENUE AT THIS TIME FOR THE PROPOSAL.
AND BASICALLY WE JUST TOOK 7 BILLION, WHICH IS OUR, UM, WHAT WE'RE USING FOR, UH, BUDGET PURPOSES AND THEN TIMES IT BY THE TAX RATE.
AND THEN THAT'S, THAT WOULD BE OUR CURRENT TAX OPERATIONAL REVENUE FOR THE YEAR OF 38.4 MILLION.
AND ONCE AGAIN, JUST OUR SALES TAX HISTORY, UM, OVER THE YEARS, UM, SALES TAX IS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF OUR, UM, LARGEST REVENUE SOURCES FOR THE GENERAL FUND.
FRANCHISE FEES IS OUR NEXT, THAT'S, IT'S ABOUT 6%.
UM, AND, AND THAT FLUCTUATES THROUGH YEAR TO YEAR, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE PRETTY MUCH TRY TO STAY CONSERVATIVE, UM, WITH OUR FRANCHISE FEES, BUDGETING GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES.
UM, JUST LIKE WITH, WITH ANY MUNICIPALITY, UM, FIRE PUBLIC SAFETY IS OUR LOGIC.
UM, POLICE AND FIRE TOGETHER CONSISTS OF ABOUT 48% OF OUR OVERALL GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURE.
AND THEN AFTER THAT IS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES WITH 14% AND OUR NON-DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES IS AT 9%.
AND THAT CONSISTS OF TRANSFER TO S-W-R-C-C, OUR JAIL, AND THEN ALSO OUR INSURANCE FUND AND OUR ECONOMIC INCENTIVES THAT MAKES UP OUR, UM, NON-DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES BUDGET.
AT THIS POINT I'M GOING TO KIND OF MOVE THROUGH THE DEPARTMENTS.
UM, BUT ONE OF, ONE THING I DID WANNA HIGHLIGHT IN THE BOOK THAT IF YOU NOTICE WE HAVE A NEW FORMAT IN, IN KIND OF CERTAIN AREAS AND THAT'S OUR NEW, UM, REPORTING SYSTEM FROM OUR NEW, UM, FROM TYLER MUNI.
AND I JUST KIND OF WANTED TO PUT THAT IN THERE BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE'RE MOVING FORWARD.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE STILL KIND OF HAD TO USE OUR OLD FORMAT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE ALL OUR HISTORY WAS, BUT NEXT YEAR WE WILL HAVE ALL OUR HISTORY IN TYLER, SO WE WILL BE IN THE NEW FORMAT.
I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT.
UM, STARTING ON PAGE SIX 13, UM, WE CAN MOVE THROUGH THE GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.
UM, STARTING WITH, UM, CITY COUNCIL, UM, UM, BASICALLY I'M, I'M GONNA KIND OF HIGHLIGHT, YOU KNOW, ANY MAJOR INCREASES OR EVEN MINOR INCREASES THAT WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED FOR EACH, UH, DEPARTMENT AND PROGRAM.
OF COURSE, WE INCREASE THE OUT FOR COUNCIL RETREATS AND, UM, CONSULTANTS AND FACILITATORS.
UM, EACH ONE OF MOSTLY THE DEPARTMENT AND PROGRAM BUDGET HAS A CITY MANAGER MENTIONED EARLIER, WILL HAVE AN INCREASE RELATED TO OUR COMPENSATION STUDY.
SO I'M NOT GONNA MENTION THAT IN EACH ONE, BUT JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT ALMOST EVERY DEPARTMENT WAS AFFECTED BY THAT WITH SOME TYPE OF INCREASE AS FAR AS THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICES AND SELF, UM, CONSULTANTS AND, UH, RETREAT, UM, PRESENTERS, UM, INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THE CITY SECRETARY RECORDS MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, COMMUNICATION, UM, CONTRACT SOFTWARE, UH, TO UTILIZE IN FISCAL YEAR 24 AND ADDITIONAL FOR TRAINING AND EDUCATION FOR CONFERENCES.
AND MOVING FORWARD TO FINANCIAL SERVICES.
THERE WAS NO MAJOR, YOU KNOW, INCREASE THERE, OF COURSE.
WE DID HAVE, UM, A COUPLE WHERE WE WERE GONNA REPLACE OUR SCANNERS AND THEN, UM, SHIRTS FOR, UM, STAFF AND LOGO AND, UH, DCA EXPENDITURES DID INCREASE SOMEWHAT, BUT IT WASN'T A, A MAJOR INCREASE.
MOVING ON TO, UH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
[00:25:04]
UM, INCREASE FOR UNIFORM AND UNIFORMS AND STAFFING FOR STAFF.UH, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLY SERVICES.
UH, INCREASE AND THEN CONTRACT, CONTRACT SERVICES FOR MAINTENANCE AND HVAC SERVICES.
AND THEN ALSO IN OUR EQUIPMENT SERVICES, UM, INCREASE FOR CERTIFICATION FOR STAFF, AND OF COURSE ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO UPDATE THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PAGE NUMBER.
UM, THE NEXT PAGE NUMBER YOU CAN LOOK AT IS FOR PARK AND RECREATION.
AND THAT IS PAGE NUMBER 60 71, THE FIRST.
AND ALSO TOO IN THE NEW FORMAT, YOU WILL SEE THE DESCRIPTIONS FOR LINE ITEMS IN CASE YOU HAD ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE, FOR THOSE.
UH, WE HAD ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE UPDATE THEIR COMPREHENSION PLAN, UM, ALSO THE JUNE, UH, TEAM CELEBRATION, ADDITIONAL FUNDING, AND THEN ALSO, UM, THE ICE, UH, SKATING RINK.
UM, ALSO ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE SENIOR CITIZENS PROM.
AND THEN, UM, ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR MOWING AND MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS, AND THEN ALSO ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR POOL MAINTENANCE AND FIXTURES.
ANY QUESTIONS UP UNTIL THIS POINT? UM, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO, UH, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, UH, WE WILL HAVE A PRESENTATION, UM, REGARDING THEIR, UH, STAFFING AND, UM, DEPARTMENT.
IS THAT BETTER? OKAY, WE'LL TRY THIS AGAIN.
UM, FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW ME, MY NAME IS RYAN SNICK.
I'M THE ASSISTANT CHIEF OF POLICE FOR THE DESOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UH, WHAT WE'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ALL TONIGHT ABOUT IS JUST BRIEFLY TO GO BACK TO, TO 2015 AND, AND KIND OF GO BACK OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS AND LOOK AT OUR AUTHORIZED VERSUS OUR ACTUAL SWORN PERSONNEL STRENGTH IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UM, WE, WE WANTED TO SHOW YOU THE, THE, UH, THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE MADE OVER THE PAST EIGHT YEARS IN, IN GETTING TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE TO SERVE THE CITIZENS OF DESOTO.
AND THESE ARE, THESE ARE END OF CALENDAR YEAR NUMBERS FOR EACH OF THESE INDIVIDUAL YEARS, JUST TO POINT OUT.
AND SO IN 2015, WE'RE ROLLING ALONG, WE HAVE 74 AUTHORIZED, UH, OFFICERS.
THESE ARE FULL-TIME BUDGETED SWORN OFFICER POSITIONS.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IN THIS PARTICULAR PRESENTATION.
UH, ONE OF THOSE WAS, WAS FROZEN UNTIL 2016,
[00:30:01]
IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT YEAR.SO WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT 73.
AND WE HAD AT THE END OF THAT YEAR, 69, FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS, 66 OFFICERS THREE, WE HAD THREE OFFICERS WHO WERE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF TRAINING AT THAT TIME.
UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE ROLLING ALONG HERE IN 2016.
UM, VERY SIMILAR, 75 FULL-TIME BUDGETED SWORN POSITIONS, 69 FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS, 66 AND THREE AND SIX VACANCIES CS.
AND YOU KNOW, WHEN I BREAK DOWN THAT, THAT 69 FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS AGAIN, UM, THOSE 66 OFFICERS I'M TALKING ABOUT, THOSE 66 ARE AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
THEY ARE IN SERVICE TO THE CITY AS OPPOSED TO BEING IN TRAINING.
WHEN I TALK ABOUT RECRUITS IN THIS PRESENTATION, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE OFFICERS WHO ARE EMPLOYED, BUT IN VARIOUS LEVELS OF TRAINING, IN 2017, WE MOVED UP TO 76 FULL-TIME BUDGETED SWORN POSITIONS.
AND THAT INCLUDES A, UH, A PUBLIC SERVICE OFFICER POSITION THAT WE RECLASS TO.
SO TECHNICALLY WE JUST, WE CHANGED THE, THE TITLE OF A POSITION AND IT ALLOWED US TO EMPLOY ANOTHER PERSON AS AN OFFICER.
WE GAVE UP THAT, THAT PSO POSITION THAT YEAR.
WE WERE AT 70 FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS, UH, 65 WE'RE ACTUALLY ON THE STREET.
SO YOU, YOU NOTED THAT WE'VE LOST ONE OVER THE YEAR.
FIVE RECRUITS NOW IN TRAINING AND SIX VACANCIES.
AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, HERE, HERE'S WHEN THE BAD STUFF STARTS TO HAPPEN IN, IN 2018.
UH, WE HAVE ANOTHER FULL-TIME, UH, BUDGETED SWORN POSITION.
WE'VE RECLASSED ANOTHER PSO AT THAT POINT IN TIME, AND WE ARE DOWN TO 61 FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS IN, IN 2018.
UM, EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY THOUGH, ONLY 53 OF THOSE OFFICERS ARE OUT THERE ON THE STREET SERVING THE PUBLIC.
SO WE ARE 24 OFFICERS DOWN AT THAT POINT.
AND, UH, LATER ON IN THE PRESENTATION, WE'LL GO INTO, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF A YEAR BY YEAR, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY SEPARATIONS THAT WE HAD.
AND WE CAN KIND OF SHOW YOU THAT THAT 2018 WAS A BIT OF AN OUTLIER, BUT, UM, IT, IT REQUIRED QUITE A RECOVERY IN 2019.
WE ARE AUTHORIZED A COUPLE MORE POSITIONS AT 79.
SWORN OFFICERS STILL ONLY 62 ON THE STREET.
WE HAVE SIX IN TRAINING, 11 VACANCIES, 2020, AGAIN, 79 69 ON THE STREET.
67, UH, I'M SORRY, 69 FULLTIME 67 ON THE STREET.
TWO RECRUITS STILL 10 VACANCIES, 2021.
WERE UP INTO THE, THE EIGHTIES.
SWORN OFFICERS, 65 OFFICERS IN SERVICE TO THE CITY.
EIGHT RECRUITS, EIGHT VACANCIES.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE DOWN INTO SINGLE DIGITS OF, OF VACANCIES AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
SO WE'RE SLOWLY BUILDING BACK 20 22 83.
WE HAVE AT THAT POINT IN TIME, 79 FULL-TIME, SWORN OFFICERS, UH, 74 OFFICERS ON THE STREET.
SO WE'RE BACK UP TO REALLY OUR AUTHORIZED STRENGTH BACK IN 2015.
BY THE TIME LAST YEAR ROLLS AROUND, OR I'M SORRY, THE END OF LAST YEAR, WE HAVE FIVE RECRUITS IN TRAINING.
AND SO MOST IMPORTANTLY, 2023, THIS IS WHERE WE'RE AT CURRENTLY.
WE ARE AUTHORIZED 83 FULL-TIME BUDGETED SWORN POSITIONS BY ORDINANCE.
WE'VE BEEN ALLOWED TO OVERHIRE BY FIVE.
SO THAT PUSHES THAT NUMBER UP TO 88.
AND YOU CAN SEE WHERE WE'RE AT.
WE'RE, WE'RE AT 88, WE ARE AT ZERO VACANCIES, UM, 79 OFFICERS AND NINE RECRUITS.
SO WE HAVE BUILT BACK AND, AND OBVIOUSLY, UM, THAT, THAT SALARY ADJUSTMENT WAS, WAS VERY IMPORTANT THERE.
AND AGAIN, YOU'LL, YOU'LL SEE, YOU'LL SEE NOT ONLY IN THE OFFICERS THAT WE'VE ADDED, BUT IN, IN THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS THAT HAVE SEPARATED OVER THAT EIGHT YEAR PERIOD OF TIME.
SO WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT, JUST BRIEFLY, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE THOSE OFFICERS ARE TODAY, WHERE THEY ARE ASSIGNED TODAY.
[00:35:02]
IN OUR PATROL DIVISION, THAT INCLUDES A CAPTAIN AND HE'S OVER THE ENTIRE DIVISION.WE HAVE, UH, PATROL SERVICES IN PATROL WITH FOUR LIEUTENANTS, FOUR SERGEANTS, TWO CORPORALS, AND 35 OFFICERS CURRENTLY.
UM, ANYTHING THAT'S HIGHLIGHTED IN GOLD THERE, THAT'S A PROJECTION FOR THOSE, THOSE NINE OFFICERS THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY IN TRAINING, BY THE TIME ALL OF THEM ARE OUT OF TRAINING, WHICH WILL BE MAY OF 2024, IF, IF EVERYBODY MAKES IT THROUGH, WE PROJECT THAT FOUR OF THOSE OFFICERS WILL BE ADDED TO THE 35 OFFICERS IN OUR PATROL SERVICES.
PATROL DIVISION ALSO INCLUDES OUR TRAFFIC AND K NINE UNIT, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO INCREASE BY AN ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC OFFICER AGAIN, UH, BY MAY OF 2024.
WE'D LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER CANINE OFFICER, IF THAT'S POSSIBLE, UM, BY MAY OF 2024.
MOVING ON TO OUR SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION, CURRENTLY WE HAVE 21 SWORN OFFICERS ASSIGNED TO THAT DIVISION.
THAT INCLUDES A CAPTAIN, A LIEUTENANT, AND A TASK FORCE OFFICER.
UM, OUR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION FALLS UNDER OUR SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION.
WE HAVE A SERGEANT OF CORPORAL AND SIX INVESTIGATORS.
WE ANTICIPATE AGAIN THAT, UH, THOSE, THOSE OFFICERS IN TRAINING, UH, ONCE THEY, UM, MOVE OUT OF TRAINING, WE WILL BE ABLE TO ADD ANOTHER INVESTIGATOR, UH, HOPEFULLY NO LATER THAN THAN MAY OF 2024.
WE HAVE, UH, OF COURSE, AS THE CITY MANAGER MENTIONED, OUR NEW HIGH INTENSITY CRIME REDUCTION UNIT.
CURRENTLY, WE HAVE TWO OFFICERS ASSIGNED THAT, THAT WOULD INCLUDE, UH, ONE MORE BY MAY OF 2024.
AND WE HAVE AN OFFICER ASSIGNED TO COMMUNITY POLICING.
UH, I'M SORRY, CHIEF, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU FOR THE INVESTIGATORS.
UM, ARE THEY ALL FULL-TIME? UH, YES.
AT LEAST ALL, ALL THESE PERSONNEL HERE, COUNCILWOMAN ARE, ARE FULL-TIME PERSONNEL.
UM, CONTINUING WITH SUPPORT SERVICES, THAT ALSO INCLUDES OUR SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE A SERGEANT AND FOUR OFFICERS ASSIGNED.
AND, UH, AGAIN, WE'D LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER OFFICER ASSIGNED TO, UH, TO THE SRO DIVISION BY MAY OF 2024.
AND OF, OF COURSE, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT ALSO DEPENDS ON THE ISDS NEEDS, UM, AS WELL.
SO, UH, UH, AGAIN, THOSE ARE JUST PROJECTED NUMBERS IN GOLD.
AND OUR CARE TEAM CONSISTS OF ONE OF OUR LIEUTENANTS AND AN OFFICER.
AND THEN LASTLY, UM, ADMINISTRATION INCLUDES 18 SWORN OFFICERS.
AND WE ARE FOR THE PURPOSES OF, OF THIS PRESENTATION, THAT INCLUDES OUR RECRUIT OFFICERS IN TRAINING.
SO WE HAVE THE CHIEF, THE ASSISTANT CHIEF, A FACILITY SERGEANT.
WE HAVE A NUMBER OF FOLKS, UH, ASSIGNED TO OUR PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS PORTION OF THAT DIVISION.
WE HAVE ONE LIEUTENANT NOW, UH, IN OUR JAIL WHO WAS COMMANDING OUR JAIL AND MOVING ON TO THE RECRUITS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE NINE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF TRAINING.
AND SO WE'VE OUTLINED WHAT, WHAT THOSE STAGES ARE AND, AND WHEN YOU WILL SEE THEM ON THE STREET, UM, OCCUPYING A A, A FULL-TIME, UH, POSITION WITH US.
UM, WE HAVE TWO THAT ARE CURRENTLY ASSIGNED TO FIELD TRAINING, ANTICIPATING TRAINING COMPLETION DATE IS THIS NEXT MONTH.
SO, UH, HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE MOVING THEM INTO PATROL ON THEIR OWN.
WE HAVE FOUR OFFICER RECRUITS WHO BEGAN THE NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS POLICE ACADEMY ON MARCH THE 20TH.
UH, THEY SHOULD GET OUT ON AUGUST THE 25TH.
WE'RE LOOKING AT LATE FEBRUARY FOR THEM TO COMPLETE THEIR TRAINING.
THAT INCLUDES OUR, OUR ONE MONTH OF IN-SERVICE TRAINING.
WE HAVE AN OFFICER RECRUIT WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN TO THE ACADEMY AND IS T COLT CERTIFIED.
AND SHE IS WAITING ON THE OTHER FOUR TO COMPLETE THEIR TRAINING.
SHE WILL JOIN THEM IN FIELD TRAINING AND WILL FINISH UP LATE FEBRUARY, 2024.
AND THEN WE HAVE TWO OFFICER RECRUITS WHO BEGAN THE ACADEMY JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT MID-OCTOBER GRADUATION FIELD TRAINING COMPLETION BY MID-MAY OF 2024.
[00:40:01]
AND SO REALLY, IF YOU TAKE ANYTHING FROM THIS, PROBABLY THESE LAST COUPLE OF SLIDES, WE'VE GOT A, A LINE GRAPH HERE.THE, THE GOLD LINE IS OUR, OUR AUTHORIZED, UM, SWORN PERSONNEL.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT HAS GRADUALLY AND, AND SLOWLY MOVED UPWARDS.
UM, OUR, OUR ACTUAL NUMBERS, UH, OUR, OUR OFFICERS THAT WE EMPLOYED, THAT NUMBER TOOK A STEEP DECLINE IN 2018.
BUT WE ARE RAPIDLY MOVING BACK AND YOU CAN SEE WITH THE, THE FIVE OVER HIRES THAT WERE AUTHORIZED, YOU KNOW, WE'RE UP AND ABOVE OUR, OUR AUTHORIZED STRENGTH.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S GREAT NEWS FOR US.
IT'S GREAT NEWS FOR THE CITY OF DESOTO AND, AND ITS CITIZENS.
AND, UH, LASTLY, THE, THE GREEN LINE.
THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE THE ACTUAL NUMBERS.
THOSE WERE THE ACTUAL OFFICERS WHO WERE ON THEIR OWN AND SERVING.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE GONE FROM A LOW OF, OF 53 ONLY FIVE YEARS AGO.
I, I THINK IT'S REALLY AN AMAZING ACCOMPLISHMENT, UH, THAT, THAT WE'VE ADDED 26 OFFICERS IN, IN THAT SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, GOTTEN THEM TRAINED, KEPT THEM HERE.
AND SO NOW WE ARE SERVING THE CITY WITH, WITH 79 FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS, UM, SERVING AT A HUNDRED PERCENT CAPACITY.
AND THEN I MENTIONED THIS EARLIER JUST TO SHOW YOU THE SEPARATIONS.
AND, UH, UH, AGAIN, I MEAN, EVEN IF YOU TAKE OUT THE OUTLYING YEARS OF, OF 2018, WHERE WE LOST 19 OFFICERS AND I, I HAVEN'T BROKEN THESE DOWN, OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT REASONS FOR THOSE SEPARATIONS, BUT 19 IS A, A HUGE NUMBER FOR ANY REASON.
THIS YEAR, WE'VE, WE'VE LOST ZERO OFFICERS.
WE'VE, WE'VE HAD NO SEPARATIONS.
AND YOU LOOK AT, YOU LOOK AT THE OTHER YEARS, WE'RE AVERAGING ABOUT SIX.
UM, I I THINK THAT SAYS A LOT.
WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, TO HANG ON TO OUR OFFICERS.
AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, UM, THE, THE SALARY ADJUSTMENT I THINK IS A BIG PART OF THAT.
NOT ONLY HANG ON TO THOSE OFFICERS, BUT HIRE A, A A LOT OF NEW OFFICERS WHO, UM, ARE EXCITED ABOUT SERVING THE PUBLIC HERE.
AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR YOU, COUNSEL.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME? THANK YOU, CHIEF.
ANY QUESTIONS, COUNSEL, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AND THANK YOU, UH, UH, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SUCCESS THIS YEAR THAT I KNOW THAT MEANS A LOT TO BOTH OF, UH, YOU TO CHIEF THAT GOES TO U2 COSTA.
UH, MY QUESTION IS, NOW THAT YOU'RE AT 88, DOES, DOES THAT OR YOUR BUDGETED FOR 88, LEMME CORRECT MYSELF, IS THAT THE NEED FOR THE CITY AT THIS POINT? OR DO YOU PROJECT THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT, WHAT IS YOUR PROJECTIONS OF WHAT WOULD BE A, A HEALTHY AMOUNT OF POLICE OFFICERS FOR THE CITY OF DESOTO AT THIS TIME? SO I'M, I'M GONNA LET CHIEF COSTA ADDRESS THAT QUESTION.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE Y'ALL ARE READY FOR THAT.
CHIEF, YOU, YOU, YOU WANNA HELP ME OUT ON THIS ONE? ALL RIGHT.
QUESTION IS, DO WE FEEL THAT THAT'S ENOUGH TO SERVE THE CITY OF DESOTO WITH OUR CURRENT POPULATION AND ALL THAT'S GOING ON? MY SHORT ANSWER IS NO.
I ALWAYS ASK FOR MORE OFFICERS, AND WE CAN ALWAYS USE MORE OFFICERS.
UM, RIGHT NOW THERE'S AN ORDINANCE THAT WE CAN OVER HIRE BY FIVE.
IF THAT STANDS, THEN THAT, THAT WILL HELP US GET OVER 90.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, I, IN YEARS PAST, WE PUT A NUMBER ON WHERE WE SHOULD BE.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE MORE, THE BETTER, THE MORE THAT WE CAN DO SOME OF THOSE SPECIALIZED THINGS THAT WE DO, IF WE KEEP THAT OVER HIGHER, THEN I THINK THAT WE CAN, UH, WE CAN GET TO THAT 93 AND THAT WILL, THAT WILL HELP US GET TO, UH, THOSE MORE OFFICES THAT WE WANT TO PUT IN, UH, THE SCHOOLS IN OUR, IN OUR CID, OUR, OUR INVESTIGATIONS AND THOSE SPECIALTY UNITS TO HELP THE OFFICERS ON PATROL AND TO, UM, SPECIFICALLY TARGET, UH, CRIMES AND, UH, BEING MORE, UH, INTERACTIVE WITH THE COMMUNITY.
SO AS YOU ADD MORE OFFICERS, WON'T THAT ALSO INCREASE? I MEAN, DO WE HAVE ENOUGH CARS, VEHICLES FOR THAT TOO? SO WE HAVE TO INCREASE THAT TOO AS WE HAVE MORE OFFICES? YES.
WE, THIS YEAR WE'RE PROPOSING MORE, MORE CARS BECAUSE WE'RE NOW AT 88.
AND, UM, AND IF WE INCREASE OUR STAFFING, THEN YES, WE HAVE TO INCREASE THAT.
[00:45:01]
HOLDING BACK OUR STAFFING BECAUSE WE CAN'T INCREASE, UH, THE EQUIPMENT, THEN THAT'S, THAT'S NOT DOING US JUSTICE EITHER.SO THE ADDITIONAL ADD-ONS THAT YOU, YOU, YOU PROJECT THAT YOU NEED TO GO OVER TO HIT THE 90 THERE, THOSE WERE THE ONES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED AS, UM, 2024 EDITION? NO, NO, THE 2024 THAT HE OUTLINED WERE COMING FROM THESE NINE OFFICERS.
WHAT WE, WHAT WE PLAN TO DO WITH THOSE NINE OFFICERS WHEN THEY FINISHED THE TRAINING, WE SAID BY MAY OF 2024, WHEN EVERYBODY IS ALL TRAINED UP AT THAT POINT IN TIME IS WHEN WE CAN SEE ALL THOSE PEOPLE GOING INTO THOSE, THOSE UNITS.
ANYTHING ELSE, MAYOR? TEMP HUG.
I CAN TELL YOU WANNA SMILE AND JUST LAUGHING INSIDE AND I'M HAPPY FOR YOU.
MADAM MAYOR, I, I DID HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION, UH, FOR POLICE.
UM, I, THE DAY THAT WE, WE HAD SOME MEETING HERE AND THERE WAS, UH, THE, UH, CORPORAL, UH, HE GAVE A PRESENTATION LAST TIME ON TRAFFIC AND SPEEDING.
UM, K CRACKLE, I APOLOGIZE, UH, CORPORAL.
UM, AND IN THAT PRESENTATION, UM, I, WHAT I TOOK FROM IT ALSO WAS THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR, UH, TRAFFIC, UM, TRAFFIC EQUIPMENT, UH, SPECIFICALLY AS I WAS, I BELIEVE IT'S RELATED TO, UH, SPEEDING OR, OR, OR, UH, HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN REFERRING TO, UH, THE DWI INVESTIGATIONS THAT, UH, HE'S LOOKING FOR THAT, UH, THAT EQUIPMENT YES.
WHICH WOULD ALSO HELP OUR CID AND, UM, WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T PUT IN FOR THAT THIS YEAR BECAUSE IT WAS, UH, AN EXPENSIVE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT.
HOW MUCH IS IT? UH, 70,000, I BELIEVE.
AND IT'S, IT'S A, UH, IT'S A DEVICE THAT WE CAN USE TO, UH, DO A 3D OF A, OF A CRIME SCENE AND ALSO OF A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT.
AND, UH, IT WILL, IT WILL PLOT THINGS AND, AND PUT IN, UH, EXACT, UH, LOCATIONS, UH, BY FEET AND SO ON.
SO IT IT'S A GOOD, IT'S A GOOD TOOL, BUT IT IS AN EXPENSIVE TOOL.
I BELIEVE THAT'S ALL OUR QUESTIONS.
UM, TO CONTINUE, UM, IF YOU, YOU KNOW, JUST TO REFER TO YOUR BOOK, YOU HAVE, UH, ON PAGES ONE 12 AND ONE 13 IS THE POLICE SUMMARIES FOR THEIR PROPOSED BUDGET.
AND I THINK WE'VE PRETTY MUCH TALKED ABOUT A LOT ALREADY, ABOUT A LOT OF HIGHLIGHTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 AS FAR AS PERSONNEL AND, UM, EQUIPMENT.
I NOTICED ON HERE THAT CARE TEAM, UM, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE GOING UP YEAR OVER YEAR, BUT THEY WEREN'T INCLUDED IN THE PRESENTATION.
IS THERE, WAS THERE AN EXPLANATION FOR THE INCREASE IN THEIR, THEIR PROPOSED BUDGET? UM, THEIR INCREASE IS PRETTY MUCH AS PERSONNEL.
IF YOU'RE LOOKING ON PAGE ONE 16 YES, SIR.
THAT'S JUST RELATED TO PERSONNEL.
THERE'S, THERE'S ALSO WITH A CARE TEAM, UM, RIGHT NOW WE DO HAVE A GRANT THAT IS PAYING FOR THE MAJORITY OF, AS YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT I'M RIGHT.
THAT GRANT ENDS IN ON MAY ONE, APRIL 24, MAY ONE, MAY ONE, AND ENDS ON MAY ONE.
AND SO FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR THAT THAT AMOUNT HAS TO BE SPLIT FUNDED, WHAT WAS BEING FUNDED BY THE GRANTS BEFORE, UM, BECOMES A THREE-WAY SPLIT BETWEEN, UH, THE CITY OF DESOTO, THE CITY OF CEDAR HILL, AND THE CITY OF DUNCANVILLE, UH, AS SHARING THOSE COSTS.
SO THERE IS, UH, WHILE THERE YOU WON'T NECESSARILY SEE IT IN THEIR BUDGET, THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION IN, IN ANOTHER LINE TO FUND, UH, THE GENERAL FUND TO FUND THIS FUND TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT THREE-WAY SPLIT BETWEEN THE CITIES.
SO YOU SAID IT'S CEDAR HILL, UH, DESOTO AND, AND DUNCANVILLE.
SO, BUT LANCASTER'S A PART OF THE PROGRAM TOO, RIGHT? CORRECT.
BUT THEY'VE OPTED TO NOT PARTICIPATE ONCE WE, ONCE THE GRANT ENDS AT THIS POINT.
UM, MOVING ON TO FIRE ON PAGE 1 26.
UM, A COUPLE HIGHLIGHTS IS THE PURCHASE OF AN AMBULANCE AND A GENERATOR.
UM, ALSO INCREASE IN VEHICLE REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE, AND THEN A RECORD MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SYSTEM.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, INCREASE IN, UH, TRAINING.
UM, MUNICIPAL COURT, UH, 1 32 AND, UM, BASICALLY, UM, AN INCREASE AS FAR AS THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE FOR THEIR, UH, LT SYSTEM, UH, SOFTWARE SYSTEM.
[00:50:02]
1 38.UM, ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR MOBILE DEVICES FOR, UH, THE, UM, CITIZENS WHO USE THE LIBRARY.
AND THEN ALSO ADDITIONAL FOR, UH, TRAINING AND CONFERENCES RELATED TO LIBRARY.
JUST WANTED TO, TO UNDERSTAND, UH, IN TERMS OF PROGRAMMING, WAS THERE ANY, UM, INCREASED COST FOR PROGRAMMING? IS THERE A NEED FOR INCREASED COST FOR PROGRAMMING FOR THE LIBRARY? WE DON'T SEE A CURTAIN CURRENT NEED FOR, YOU KNOW, TO INCREASE THAT.
I THINK WE'RE DOING PRETTY GOOD.
NOW, AND I THINK, UH, YOUR TEAM IS AMAZING AND SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR DOING A GREAT JOB AND LEADING THAT EFFORT.
UM, BUT I WOULD, UM, LIKE US TO CONSIDER, UM, UH, FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR, JUST UNDERSTANDING, UM, REALLY TAKING A DEEP DIVE INTO THE PROGRAM AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND THINGS LIKE THAT AND SEE WHERE THERE MIGHT BE SOME, SOME PLACES WHERE WE CAN, UM, ADD TO, UH, AND I'M ONLY SAYING IT BECAUSE I DO ASK QUESTIONS OF STAFF AND, YOU KNOW, FOR THE LONGEST, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE BEEN WORKING BY THE SWEATER, THEIR BROW AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S, YOU KNOW, A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT, AND I'M NOT, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO, UM, YOU KNOW, GET INTO THE MIDDLE OF STAFF AND BUSINESS, BUT JUST WANNA MAKE CERTAIN THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, LIBRARY IS GOOD.
'CAUSE I THINK THE WORK THAT YOU DO IS GREAT.
WE ARE STARTING TO SEE AN INCREASE IN ATTENDANCE, SO MOST LIKELY WE PROBABLY WILL NEED TO INCREASE THAT FOR FISCAL YEAR 25.
AND, AND, AND YOU MAY, UH, REMEMBER LAST YEAR, UH, IN THE LIBRARY BUDGET, WE ACTUALLY INCREASED, UH, SEVERAL OF THEIR PROGRAMMING LINES LAST YEAR TO BE ABLE TO BETTER ACCOMMODATE SOME OF THE PROGRAMS, UH, THAT, THAT THEY HAVE.
AND SO, UH, SO WE, WE DID MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT IN THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR TO INCREASE, UH, SOME OF THEIR LINES, UH, FOR THAT AS WELL AS FOR NEXT YEAR.
THEN INCREASING KIND OF THAT DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION COMPONENT OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING AS WELL, UM, TO HELP PROVIDE SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDING IN THAT AREA.
UM, MOVING ON TO PAGE, UM, 1 46, UM, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
UM, THERE WAS ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR WIRELESS DEVICES FOR THE, UH, NEW ERP SYSTEM AND NEW EMPLOYEES, UH, REPLACEMENT OF THE PHONES AND COMPUTER SERVICES NETWORK SOFTWARE.
TRACY, REAL QUICK, 'CAUSE I, WE, WE, WE DID FORGET, UH, CHRISTOPH SENT ME A TEXT, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE REMINDER.
UH, WHEN WE WERE IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WE DID HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS HERE FOR, UM, UH, FROM COUNCILWOMAN, UH, PARKER TO ADDRESS AS WELL RELATED TO CODE ENFORCEMENT.
AND SO, SO THE QUESTION JUST REAL QUICK, WE'LL ASK 'EM, AND THEN THE ONES THAT WE CAN'T ANSWER, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND DO, UM, UH, FOR THOSE, UH, FIRST QUESTION WAS, UM, LET'S SEE, I SEE THAT THERE WAS A MENTION OF ADDING ONE OFFICER IN 2022 AND THEN ONE IN 2023 AFTER THOSE WERE ADDED.
ARE THERE ANY REPORTS THAT SHOW WHAT UPDATES OR METRICS CHANGED BASED ON THOSE OFFICERS? UM, THE ANSWER IS NOT IN OUR MATERIALS HERE.
IF THERE'S INFORMATION THAT IS DESIRED, WE CAN CERTAINLY GET THAT INFORMATION TOGETHER AND SHARE IT.
UM, JUST KIND OF WHAT SPECIFICALLY WE'RE LOOKING FOR, UM, WITH THAT, SO I CAN FOLLOW UP WITH COUNCILWOMAN PARKER AND, AND FIND OUT THE DETAILS OF WHAT IT'S SPECIFICALLY SHE'S LOOKING FOR, UM, AND PROVIDE THAT DETAIL.
WELL, I I, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT CO BECAUSE I, I WAS, I WAS GONNA WAIT 'CAUSE I FIGURED YOU WERE DOING CODE SEPARATE AND THEN BECAUSE IT WASN'T IN THE PRE PRESENTATION EITHER FOR ANY ADDITIONAL ADS OR WHAT THE CURRENT, SO WILL THERE, IS IT, IS IT NOT SEPARATE IF WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT DURING THE POLICE COR? CORRECT.
SO, SO IN THE POLICE AREA IS WHERE, WHERE, WHERE, WHERE CODE WAS? CORRECT.
WE, WE CAN GO BACK AND TALK, BUT THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE CAN'T OKAY.
SO TO HER QUESTION, I, I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE.
UM, I, I THINK WHAT I, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS SOME KIND OF, UH, LIKE UNDERSTANDING THE NEED, UH, AND WHAT ACTUALLY EXISTS.
FOR INSTANCE, LOOK, TAKING A LOOK AT THE CALLS THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY GETTING FROM EMERGENCY, UH, NON-EMERGENCY AND DIRECTLY OR THE CODE, UH, GO, GO REQUEST BASICALLY THE, THE VOLUME THAT WE'RE GETTING AND BOUNCING THAT AGAINST, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE VOLUME, ARE WE MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE CITY, UM, ESPECIALLY DURING THE PEAK, PEAK TIMES OF THE DAY WHEN IT'S COMING IN.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE, BUT, UH, OFFLINE, UH, THE EVENING HOURS AND THEN WEEKEND, I KNOW PART-TIME, THERE'S PART-TIME ON THE WEEKEND ON LIKE SUNDAY, LIKE EARLY IN THE DAY I THINK, AND THEN SOMEBODY ON SATURDAY I BELIEVE.
BUT IS THAT SUFFICIENT? LIKE WHAT IS THE NEED FROM A CO PERSPECTIVE AND THEN ALSO FROM ANIMAL CONTROL? OKAY.
YEAH, WE, WE, WE CAN PULL THAT INFORMATION IN CERTAINLY.
MAKE SURE THERE'S, AND THEN THERE'S, IS THERE ANY REPORT THAT WOULD HELP A, A CITY OF DESOTO SIZE UNDERSTAND THE NUMBER OF CODE OFFICERS NEEDED?
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UM, I KNOW WE'VE DONE THAT IN PREVIOUS TIMES THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT CODE ENFORCEMENT, THE NUMBERS OF, COMPARED TO OTHER CITIES, WE CAN CERTAINLY PULL THAT INFORMATION AS WELL.UM, BUT WE CAN PULL, UH, THAT INFORMATION.
UH, ARE THERE ANY REPORTS REGARDING THE RENTAL REGISTRATION THAT WILL BE SHARED? UH, THE COUNCIL MAY REMEMBER THAT WHEN WE COMPLETED A YEAR OF THE RENTAL REGISTRATION, WE ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH A DETAILED PRESENTATION OF THAT PROGRAM.
UM, I CAN SEND THAT PRESENTATION TO COUNCILMAN PARKER.
SHE MAY JUST NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH THAT TO KIND OF SEE WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE AT THE TIME.
UM, AND WE CAN PROVIDE, IF THERE'S ANY FOLLOW UP INFORMATION THAT'S NEEDED, WE PROVIDE THAT TOO.
SO IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, A BIG PART OF THE ISSUE, UH, THAT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S WHAT SHE, WHY SHE'S ASKING THAT IS THAT THE ADMINISTRATIVE PIECE OF BEING PROACTIVE TO GO FIND THE, THE LOCATIONS THAT ARE ACTUALLY, UM, NOT ABIDING BY THE ORDINANCE.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT THE SOFTWARE YOU ALL HAVE ADDED, IDENTIFIES THOSE AREAS, BUT THERE'S STILL THAT SECOND PIECE ONCE IT'S IDENTIFIED ACTUALLY GOING OUT AND CONDUCTING INSPECTIONS.
AND SO, UM, AND I THINK IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, THE NUMBER WAS VERY LOW OF THE REGISTERED AMOUNT WHEN, UH, CHARLES DID THE PRESENTATION.
SO THAT'S WHY I'M KIND OF CURIOUS.
DO, IS THERE A NEED FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE PIECE FOR THAT SHORT TERM RENTAL TO BE PROACTIVE? IS SHE SPEAKING OF THE LONG TERM RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM OR THE SHORT TERM RENTAL? WE HAVE TWO.
UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE LONG, RIGHT NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LONG, THIS IS THE, THE, I RENT MY PROPERTY TO LIKE PEOPLE FOR YEARS FOR TENANT.
UH, YOU'RE RIGHT, RIGHT NOW WE ARE, UH, LETTERS ARE GOING OUT TO THOSE IDENTIFIED PROPERTIES, UM, FOR IT.
SOME OF 'EM ARE, ARE RESPONDING BACK THAT THEY'RE NOT SHORT TERM RENTAL PROPERTIES.
SO WE ACTUALLY HAVE SOME FOLLOW UP TO DO WITH THE COMPANY TO VERIFY WHAT, WHAT, WHAT LEVEL OF, UH, GUARANTEE ARE WE HAVING RIGHT NOW WITH THIS.
SO WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THOSE ISSUES.
REMEMBER IT WENT LIVE IN MAY, SO WE'RE STILL IN THE INFANCY OF GETTING ALL OF THAT WORKING THROUGH, UM, WITH IT.
BUT, UH, AS OF RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE STARTED SENDING OUT LETTERS.
UH, WE NEED TO DO SOME FOLLOW UP WITH THE COMPANY TO FI FIGURE OUT WHY WE'RE GETTING SOME RESPONSES BACK THAT INDICATE THAT THEY'RE NOT, UH, SHORT TERM RENTAL PROPERTIES.
UH, LET, JUST MAKE SURE I GOT THEM ALL.
UM, ONE OTHER THING I DID WANT TO HIGHLIGHT, UM, WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS THAT WE ARE PUTTING FUNDS AWAY FOR THE FUTURE PURCHASE OF A MICROSOFT SUITE UPGRADE, UM, ALONG WITH OUR, UH, EMAIL AND, UH, PHONE SYSTEM.
MOVING ON TO PAGE 1 54 IS OUR HUMAN RESOURCE, UM, HIGHLIGHTS.
THERE IS, UH, SOFTWARE UPGRADES, UM, AND THEN ANNUAL AWARD LUNCHEON, UM, INCREASE.
AND THEN ALSO THE INCREASE FOR THE NEO GOV SUBSCRIPTION SOFTWARE.
UM, NEXT ON PAGE 1 59 IS OUR NON-DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES.
AND I THINK I MENTIONED THIS EARLIER, TO WHERE, UM, WE FUND OUR PARTICIPATION FOR S-W-R-C-C AND THE JAIL OUT OF THIS FUND.
AND THEN ALSO TOO, UM, THIS YEAR WE ARE, WE'RE DOING SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
UM, NOW WE'RE FUNDING OUR LIABILITY, TML WORKER'S COMPENSATION INSURANCE.
WE MOVED THAT TO ANOTHER FUND, A SEPARATE FUND.
SO IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 1 59, UM, YOU CAN SEE WHERE WE'RE NOW TRANSFERRING TO OUR, UH, 600,000 TO OUR LIABILITY INSURANCE FUND, 1 0 7.
AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IN THIS CASE, WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, PUT ALL OUR EXPENDITURES AND REVENUE RELATED TO OUR CLAIMS INSURANCE, WORKMAN'S COMP, ANYTHING IN ONE FUND, AND THEN THAT WAY WE CAN BETTER TRACK IT AND BETTER IDENTIFY, YOU KNOW, SOME OF OUR PROBLEM AREAS.
WELL, I AIN'T GONNA SAY PROBLEM AREAS, JUST SOME OF OUR AREAS OF WHERE WE HAVE THE MOST EXPENDITURES, YOU KNOW, RELATED TO OUR INSURANCE.
AND TRACY, REAL QUICK, BECAUSE THIS, THIS PART I THINK IS, IS A, IT'S A, IT'S A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE COUNCIL UNDERSTANDS KIND OF WHAT IT IS WE'RE RECOMMENDING.
HOW MUCH DID WE, ARE WE MOVING OUT OF THE UH, YEAH, I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT YEAH, PLEASE.
YEAH, GO AHEAD AND JUST EXPLAIN THAT RIGHT NOW, WHY WE'RE DOING THAT.
AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, ALONG WITH STARTING UP THIS FUND, WE PLAN TO, UH, TRANSFER $250,000 OUT OF OUR STABILIZATION FUND.
UM, IF YOU LOOK ON PAGE, UM, 1 69, UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, THE REVENUE SOURCE FROM STABILIZATION FUND IS $250,000, AND THAT'S GONNA BE PART OF THE TRANSFER OVER THE 600.
AND THEN ALSO THE PUBLIC UTILITY HAVE A SHARE OF THAT INSURANCE COST.
AND THEN ALSO WE BRING IN REVENUE, UM, FROM MY INSURANCE CLAIMS. YES, IT'S, SO THINK OF IT KIND OF LIKE SETTING UP AN
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INSURANCE FUND, RIGHT? RIGHT NOW, OUR, UNFORTUNATELY OUR INSURANCE FUND IS SITTING INSIDE THE GENERAL FUND, WHICH MEANS IT'S REALLY HARD TO TRACK AND TO KIND OF PINPOINT HOW MUCH IS IT, DOES IT HAVE IN BALANCE? WAS IT ABLE TO SAVE MONEY LAST YEAR? YOU'RE KIND OF, WE'RE FUNDING JUST KIND OF FUNDING IT ON A YEAR TO YEAR BASIS.UH, A A BEST PRACTICE IN THIS AREA IS TO SET UP YOUR OWN KIND OF INSURANCE FUND WHERE YOU CONSTANTLY TRANSFER MONEY IN, IT HANDLES CLAIMS THAT ARE COMING IN AND OUT OF THERE.
AND YOU CAN TRACK ALL YOUR CLAIMS ALL IN JUST ONE AREA THERE.
AND YOU CAN HAVE IT BY DEPARTMENT TO KIND OF SEE WHAT YOUR CLAIMS LOOK LIKE.
BUT ALSO AS YOU DON'T SPEND MONEY IN A YEAR, IT KIND OF STAYS IN THAT FUND.
AND IS THERE AS A, AS A BANK TO HELP YOU AGAINST FUTURE LOSSES, UM, THAT WOULD COME, THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO KIND OF CREATE THIS, THIS FIRST TIME FUND BALANCE IN IT TO GET IT STARTED SO THAT IT, WE'RE NOT STARTING WITH A ZERO BALANCE ACCOUNT, UM, WHEN WE DO THAT.
SO THAT, THAT'S WHY WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT THIS SHIFT IN PUTTING SOME MONEY INTO THIS, SETTING UP THIS NEW FUND AND PUTTING SOME MONEY IN THERE IN THE BEGINNING.
HOW DO, SO WHERE'S THAT FUND BALANCE COMING FROM? YOU SAID FROM THE STABILIZATION POINT? SO 3 26 IS COMING OUT OF THE, AM I LOOKING AT THE RIGHT ONE? 250,000.
MAY I ASK, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE 250 K? WAS THAT BASED ON INSURANCE, UH, PREMIUMS FROM LAST YEAR? YEAH.
SO IT'S BASED ON ALL THE MONEY THAT WE HAVE.
SO, AND WHAT WE WOULD'VE SET ASIDE IN THE GENERAL FUND FOR THIS, THIS YEAR, RIGHT.
TO PAY LIABILITY COSTS, UM, TO HANDLE CLAIMS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO THAT WAS THE $600,000? YES, ROUGHLY.
AND THEN WE TOOK A LOOK AT THAT AND SAID, OKAY, IN A NORMAL YEAR THAT'S GONNA ADJUST.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE NORMALLY DO PRETTY GOOD.
IT PRETTY MUCH HITS THAT AMOUNT.
WE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT SHORT, WE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT OVER.
UM, BUT MAYBE A BALANCE OF TWO 50 TO START WITH, YOU KNOW, IT WAS JUST KIND OF A, WE DON'T NEED A HUGE BALANCE, BUT WE NEED SOMETHING, UH, IN THERE.
AND WE, WE THOUGHT TWO 50 WAS PROBABLY THAT RIGHT LEVEL TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT TOO CLOSE, BUT WE ALSO DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY IN THERE.
UM, SO TWO 50 WAS, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, ANY YEAR WE'RE GONNA HAVE 600, $700,000 WORTH OF COSTS THAT KIND OF FLOW IN, OUT, FLOW IN AND OUT OF HERE.
UH, SO IT WAS, UH, JUST AN ATTEMPT TO TRY AND GET SOMETHING IN THERE THAT WE THOUGHT WOULD BE ADEQUATE.
SO, AND SO IN FUTURE YEARS, HOW WILL WE GET THE MONEY? IS IT ALWAYS GONNA COME FROM THE, UH, RAINY DAY FUND, OR, OR IS IT GONNA COME FROM THE JUNE? YEAH, OUR, OUR ANTICIPATION IS THAT WE WOULD ONLY NEED TO DO THIS ONE TIME.
RIGHT NOW, IF WE HAD SOME LARGE LOSS IN THE FUTURE, WE'D HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THAT JUST AS WE WOULD IN THE GENERAL FUND, UH, FOR IT.
BUT WE'LL HAVE IT OVER HERE, THIS ONE TIME FUND.
AND AGAIN, BECAUSE WE'RE MOVING MONEY OVER FROM THE GENERAL FUND EVERY YEAR IN THEORY.
WE SHOULD HAVE GOOD YEARS AND BAD YEARS AND IDEAS THAT THE, WHEN YOU HAVE A GOOD YEAR, IT HELPS PAY FOR THE BAD YEARS.
WE'LL SPEND A BALANCE, BUILD UP A BALANCE, SPEND A BALANCE, AND IT'LL JUST KIND OF, UH, FLUCTUATE LIKE THAT.
MR. CARMIA, WHAT'S THE BALANCE RIGHT NOW ON THE STABILIZATION FUND? UM, IF YOU TURN TO PAGE 1 73, IT WILL SHOW THAT THAT SHOWS OUR STABILIZATION FUND.
AND I WILL GO TO SAY THAT THERE WAS A MISPRINT.
YOU HAVE A PROJECTED 250 AND 23 AND A PLANNING 25.
WE ARE ONLY GONNA DO IT ONE TIME.
UM, COMING INTO THE, WE'RE PROJECTED TO COME INTO THE YEAR WITH THE $3 MILLION FUND BALANCE.
AND, AND I'M SORRY, THE RAINY DAY FUND, UM, THAT'S FUND 1 0 7 OR 1 0 8.
1 0 7 IS THE NEW LIABILITY FUND THAT WE'RE SETTING UP.
AND THEN THE RAINY DAY FUND, JUST GENERALLY SPEAKING, HIGH LEVEL, THAT IS FOR, UM, BASICALLY WE, UH, WE HAVE A POLICY RELATED TO, AND IT IS BASICALLY FOR FUTURE TYPE DISASTERS OR ANYTHING EMERGENCY NEEDS THAT WE MAY HAVE TO HAVE.
OUR JUSTIFICATION FOR THAT IS THAT ACCIDENTS ARE BY DEFINITION KIND OF WHAT YOU WOULD USE THAT MONEY FOR, RIGHT? YEAH.
YOU KNOW, SO SOMETHING, SOME EMERGENCY, IT, IT'S AN ACCIDENT, IT'S SOME SORT OF A LIABILITY THING WE'VE GOTTEN OURSELVES INTO.
IT'S IT, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S INADEQUATE USE OF THAT, OF THAT FUND TO BE ABLE TO MOVE THE MONEY OVER.
UM, PAGE 1 0 1 65 IS OUR PEG FUND.
AND THOSE REVENUES ARE GENERATED FROM OUR, UH, FRANCHISE FEES FROM OUR CABLE TELEVISION.
AND THEN THEY'RE, OF COURSE PUT BACK INTO OUR, UM, CABLE BROADCASTING SYSTEM FOR THE CITY.
AND THEN, THEN ONCE AGAIN, WE TALKED ABOUT 1 0 7 AND 1 0 8.
UH, ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR THROUGH THE JOURNAL FUND? 'CAUSE WE ARE ABOUT TO MOVE INTO COOPERATIVE EFFORTS COUNCIL, ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? COUNCILMAN RAPHAEL? NO.
UM, WITH THAT, I WOULD START OFF WITH, WITH ONE OF OUR COOPERATIVE EFFORTS IS, UM, SWRC, OUR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.
AND IF YOU TURN TO PAGE, UH, 13, UM, IT JUST FAR AS THE REVENUE, UM, THE REVENUES GENERATED FROM THE PARTICIPATION
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OF THE CITY OF DESOTO, CEDAR HILL, AND DUNCANVILLE.UM, WE SHARE, AND, UM, EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES A AMOUNT.
AND THEN ALSO EVERYONE, 9 1 1 E 9 1 1 FEES SUPPORT THIS FUND.
AND THEN THAT MAKES UP THE REVENUE SOURCES THAT SUPPORTS OUR, UM, SWRC REGIONAL DISPATCH.
UM, ALSO TO, UM, IN THE FUTURE, THE, UM, THE REGIONAL AUTHORITY IS LOOKING AT PURCHASING A NEW CAD SYSTEM AND DEPUTY CITY MANAGER ICE CAMERON IS KIND OF GONNA BRIEFLY TOUCH ON THAT.
YOU HAVE, I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE REVENUE.
ON THE REVENUE FOR, UM, THE, UH, REGIONAL, UH, COMMUNICATION CENTER.
I NOTICED THAT THE, WHAT THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTE IS ALL DIFFERENT.
IS THAT BASED ON POPULATION OR CALLS? WELL, IF YOU TAKE, WELL, IF YOU TAKE LIKE THE CITY OF DESOTO SHARE AND THEN YOU TAKE THEIR E 9 1 1 SHARE, THAT SHOULD BE A TOTAL.
AND IF YOU TAKE EACH ONE, THEY ALL SHOULD TOTAL THE SAME BASED ON THEIR E 1 9 1 REVENUE.
SO, COUNSEL, UH, UH, DIRECTOR MEYER MENTIONED THE, UH, CAD SYSTEM FOR ESTHER C SO, CAD SYSTEM IS, UH, COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY USE TO RECEIVE AND DISPATCH THE CALLS FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES TO, UH, CEDAR HILL, DESOTO, AND, UH, DUNCANVILLE POLICE, FIRE, POLICE AND FIRE.
AND SO, UH, RIGHT NOW WE'VE, WE, THE CURRENT CAST SYSTEM IS REALLY NOT ROBUST ENOUGH TO MEET THE NEEDS.
IT, IT WORKS, BUT IT, THEY HAVE TO EMPLOY A LOT OF WORKAROUNDS IN ORDER TO MAKE IT WORK.
AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, THIS FOR WHEN WE WERE PLANNING THE FY 23 BUDGET, UH, COUNCIL DID APPROVE FUNDING FOR A, UH, CONSULTANT FOR US TO HIRE A CONSULTANT TO DO A NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR SWCC IN TERMS OF THE CASH SYSTEM.
AND SO, UH, AND THAT INVOLVED, YOU KNOW, ANALYZING THE CURRENT CASH SYSTEM, FIGURING OUT WHAT THE NEEDS ARE, WHERE WE KIND OF, WHERE THE GAPS KIND OF ARE, AND THEN TAKING A LOOK AT WHAT SYSTEM WE NEED, AND ALSO HELPING US TO DO THE BID BID SOLICITATION AS WELL AS EVALUATION AND ALL OF THAT.
AND SO WE DID HIRE, UH, BARRY DUNN TO HELP US WITH THAT.
THEY'VE GOTTEN, UH, WORKED WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT, UH, DEPARTMENTS FOR THE DIFF ALL THE CITIES, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, S-W-R-C-C.
AND THEY ARE IN THAT PROCESS NOW OF, UH, THEY'VE DONE DEMOS, THEY'VE INTERVIEWED, UH, UH, UH, VENDORS AND, UH, DONE DEMOS OF THE PRODUCT.
NOW THEY'LL BE LOOKING TO KIND OF VERIFY THE REFERENCES AND THEN SET UP ONSITE, UH, VISITS SO THAT THE TEAM POLICE FIRE AND EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO GO TAKE A LOOK AT IT CAN ACTUALLY SEE IT IN ACTION.
AND SO, UH, BASED ON THAT, OUR CONSULTANT WHO HAS, WHO HAS DONE THIS NUMEROUS TIMES, HE'S ESTIMATING PROBABLY ABOUT SEVEN AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS COST FOR THAT.
UH, NOW, AGAIN, THAT'D BE SPLIT BETWEEN THE THREE CITIES, BUT IT'S ABOUT SEVEN AND A HALF MILLION DOLLAR COST FOR THAT, FOR, UH, THE, THE PRODUCT ITSELF AS WELL AS THE, UH, MAINTENANCE CONTRACT AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CASH SYSTEM.
AND SO, UH, WE, WE, LOOKING AT, UH, AND IT DOESN'T IMPACT FY 24 BUDGET.
UH, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING IS, UH, FINANCING THAT OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD AND PROBABLY, UH, GOING OUT AND GETTING A LOAN OR ISSUING DEBT IN 2024.
AND WE WON'T HAVE A PAVEMENT UNTIL FFY 2025.
UH, BUT THE IMPACT OF THAT IS ABOUT, UM, FOR EACH CITY WE'LL BE LOOKING AT AN ADDITIONAL BEGINNING FY 20, UM, FIVE, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT AN ADDITIONAL $171,000 PER CITY, UH, TO PAY THAT.
NOW THAT ESTIMATE IS ON THE HIGH SIDE.
UH, THAT'S WHAT OUR CONSULTANT, UH, GAVE US IN TERMS OF THE HIGHEST ESTIMATE.
IT MAY COME BACK IN A LITTLE LOWER THAN THAT, BUT HE DOESN'T REALLY ANTICIPATE IT BEING TOO FAR OFF FROM THAT.
AND SO, UH, THE NUMBER THAT YOU SEE IN THE PLANNING BUDGET FOR FY 25 DOESN'T REFLECT THAT.
WE HAVEN'T REALLY GOTTEN THAT NUMBER IN YET.
UH, BUT, BUT WE JUST WANNA MAKE COUNCIL AWARE THAT THAT'LL BE COMING DOWN THE PIPE.
HAS EVERY CITY, UH, IS EVERY CITY, UH, BEING TOLD THIS AT THIS TIME, AND, AND DO THEY HAVE AN OPTION TO OPT OUT OF NOT PAYING THAT? AND IF THEY DO, DOES THAT MEAN THAT THE COST INCREASES HIGHER FOR THE CITIES THAT DO? WELL, THEY'VE ALL BEEN, THEY'VE ALL BEEN MADE AWARE OF IT.
AND THERE IS
UH, THE, THE CITIES THAT PARTICIPATE WITH US, THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR OWN 9 1 1, UH, CENTER.
UH, AND SO, YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S NO OPTION TO OPT OUT OF THAT.
THE, THE, THE CAD SYSTEM WE HAVE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED YEAH.
AND, AND THE POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN ALL THREE CITIES KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THAT TRANSITION IS ON, ON THAT PART.
SO I DON'T ANTICIPATE ANY, ANY, ANY WORRIES OF OPTING OUT.
[01:10:01]
SAID, EVERYONE'S A LITTLE BIT WORRIED ABOUT THE COST OF THAT.UM, ON THAT PART AS WE MOVE FORWARD, 'CAUSE IT'S IN 2025, IT WAS THE 170,000, BUT WHAT IS IT THE YEAR AFTER THAT? DO YOU HAVE THAT NUMBER WITH YOU AS IT CONTINUES TO GROW? IF WE DON'T GET ANY MORE GRANT FUNDING THINGS, WELL ACT ACTUALLY, UH, 2025, IT'S A LITTLE LOWER.
BUT THAT'S BECAUSE WE'LL STILL HAVE THAT.
WE WON'T HAVE A PAYMENT FOR THAT SYSTEM.
AND THEN I'M THINKING OF THE ENG, UH, RIGHT, THE 9 1 1 SYSTEM UP AS WELL.
THERE ARE SOME OTHER AREAS WITHIN RIGHT.
THAT'S SOME OTHER COSTS THAT ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO ESCALATE OVER SOME TIME.
AND SO WE'RE ALL WATCHING VERY CAREFULLY THAT 9 1 1 FUND, UM, TO, BECAUSE, AND IT MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE A JOINT ENVIRONMENT.
WE, WE, WE, WE DON'T, WE CAN'T JUST DO IT OURSELVES.
WE HAVE TO HAVE ALL THE CITIES ON BOARD.
AND SO WE, WE'VE YEARS OUT, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT THESE INCREASES LOOK LIKE, RIGHT.
SO THAT THEY CAN PLAN THEIR WAY INTO IT SUCCESSFULLY, UH, FOR THAT AND TAKE AWAY THE SHOCK OF HEARING ABOUT IT DURING A BUDGET PROCESS THAT IN WITHIN TWO MONTHS YOU HAVE TO RAISE THAT MONEY.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD? OKAY, THANK YOU.
YEAH, I JUST WANNA ADD, I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE, UM, OH GOSH.
THE RADIO, THE TRI-CITY PUBLIC RADIO TOWER, UH, I'M SORRY, LET ME READ IT.
THIS ONE COVERS THE COST OF THE RADIO TOWER RENTAL SPACE FOR THE TRI-CITY, UM, SAFETY RADIO SYSTEM.
IS THAT THE TOWER THAT'S ON OUR PROPERTY, OR IS THAT DIFFERENT PROPERTY IS NOT IN DESOTA, THAT TOWER.
ELI, YOU MIGHT, WHAT, WHAT PAGE ARE YOU LOOKING AT? OH, UM, SEVEN DASH NINE EVENING, MADAM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL.
SO THE TOWER SPACE THAT WE RENT IS IN CEDAR HILL.
IT'S, IT'S PART OF THE OLD RADIO SYSTEM.
AND OUR GEAR IS HOUSED ON THAT SITE, AND WE PAY A MONTHLY FOR THAT.
AND WE'RE STILL LOCKED IN ON A CONTRACT RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE HAVING OUR LAWYERS AND THEIR LAWYERS DISCUSS, BUT, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO GET OUT OF THAT CONTRACT NOW THAT WE'RE MOVING TO, UH, UM, THIS, UH, DALLAS RADIO SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S ON OUR PROPERTY, RIGHT? UH, ONE OF, PART OF IT.
BUT THE LIABILITY NOW FOR THE TOWER EQUIPMENT IS ON DALLAS.
WE ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PIECE OF, UH, EQUIPMENT INSTALLED ON THAT TOWER.
AND SO OUR, UH, OUR TOWER SPACE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES.
BUT, UH, SO WE'RE IN NEGOTIATIONS TO TRY AND REDUCE THAT COST.
BUT, UM, IT'S NOW IN LITIGATION, OUR, NOT IN LITIGATION, BUT IN THE LAWYER'S HANDS.
BUT YOU ANTICIPATED GOING DOWN LATER? UH, YES.
THEY MAY LOCK US INTO A, UH, VERY LONG TERM AGREEMENT, BECAUSE THE AGREEMENTS WERE PREVIOUSLY SIGNED FOR 20 YEAR CONTRACTS.
AND SO WE'VE GOT ABOUT 12 YEARS LEFT AND WE WE'RE TRYING OUR BEST TO GET OUT OF IT.
THAT, UH, BEGINS, UH, SWIC DISCUSSION.
WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE, ANOTHER COOPERATIVE EFFORTS, THE JAIL, WHICH STARTS ON 26.
AND OF COURSE, THE JAIL, UM, CONSISTS OF THE CITY OF DESOTO, UH, LANCASTER, CEDAR HILL AND GLEN HEIGHTS.
AND AS FAR AS THE REVENUE, UM, ALL THE, THE CITIES CONTRIBUTE, UM, FOR THE REVENUE PORTION.
AND JUST TO NOTE, UM, GLEN HEIGHTS HAS A, A, A LESSER AMOUNT AND CHIEF, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT THAT'S BECAUSE OF THEIR USAGE.
ANY QUESTIONS? SCHOOL NOW, MR. CORMIER, I SUPPOSE, UH, USAGE IS BASED ON AN AVERAGE USE, CORRECT? I MEAN, THERE'S NO REAL WAY TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH A CITY WILL USE THE FACILITY AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
THE USAGES BY HOW MANY PRISONS THAT THEY BRING IN.
SO WE LOOKED AT WHAT THEY DID A YEAR BEFORE WE MADE THE CONTRACT WITH THEM, AND WE LOOK AT US JUST, UM, CEDAR HILL AND DUNCANVILLE, AND, UH, WE ENDED UP, UH, IN LANCASTER.
AND WE ALL BRING IN ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT EVERY YEAR, GIVE OR TAKE SOME, BUT GLEN HEIGHTS BRINGS IN CONSIDERABLY LESS.
AND SO WE, WE LOOKED AT THAT AND WE SAID THAT THEY SHOULD PAY A PERCENTAGE LESS, WHATEVER THAT PAYMENT IS, UH, WHATEVER THAT PERCENTAGE WAS.
I SUPPOSE A PART OF THAT IS POPULATION SIZE AS WELL.
'CAUSE THEY'RE STILL UNDER 20,000 RESIDENTS, RIGHT.
AS, AS THE POPULATION GOES UP AND, AND THE MORE PEOPLE
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THEY BRING INTO OUR JAIL, UM, THEN OBVIOUSLY WE LOOK AT THAT EVERY YEAR WE'LL GO UP.SO IF YOU LOOK, IT'S GONNA INCREASE AS THE OTHERS ARE GONNA INCREASE NEXT YEAR AND, UH, THE YEAR AFTER.
THANK YOU, MR. COME, WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.
UH, AS FAR AS IN YOUR BOOK, UM, YOU HAVE A GRAPH IN THERE THAT KIND OF JUST SHOWS HER THE HISTORY OF OUR, UH, REVENUE OVER THE YEARS.
UM, THE HOTEL FUND SUPPORTS OUR PARKS AND OUR ARCH PROGRAM AND ALSO OUR NAN'S FARM.
AND IF THE, WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT OUR SUMMARY SHEETS, YOU CAN SEE WE DO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT FUND BALANCE, UM, IN OUR, UM, HOTEL FUND.
BUT THE PLAN IS, UM, THIS YEAR, UM, IS TO MOVE MAJORITY OF THOSE FUNDS TO A PROJECT FUND, UM, TO COVER THE NAS FARM, UH, RENOVATION.
I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE NANCE FORM MAINTENANCE, UM, THE 50,000 FOR THE NANCE FORM MAINTENANCE.
AND SO JUST WANTED TO UNDERSTAND LIKE, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE RELATED TO, UM, FEATURE UPGRADES? IT COVERS, IT COVERED, IT COVERS THINGS LIKE YOU MOWING THE GRASS, UH, YOU KNOW, PAYING FOR ELECTRICITY BILLS, UM, YEAH.
THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT, THAT'S WHERE MAINTENANCE COSTS BREAKS.
'CAUSE I SEE THE, THE MINOR REPAIRS AND PAINTING YOU JUST THAT PIECE.
SO YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S HEAVIER MAINTENANCE.
IT'S NOT THE MAINTENANCE CONTRACT.
IT'S OUT THERE FOR REGULAR STUFF.
SO IF THEY HAD TO DO A PAINTING THAT'S SEPARATE FROM STANDARD MAINTENANCE, THAT WOULD BE A, YOU KNOW, A HEAVIER COST.
SO WE HAVE A STANDARD MAINTENANCE.
WE'VE BEEN DOING $50,000 EVERY YEAR FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
WE DON'T SPEND THAT WHOLE THING.
IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE ACTIVITY OF THE YEAR.
NEXT WE HAVE OUR SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS AND BASICALLY THESE FUNDS, UM, REVENUE USUALLY SUPPORTS, UH, DESIGNATED, UH, TYPE OF ACTIVITIES.
NOW, I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH EVERY, YOU KNOW, FUND THAT WE USE, BUT, UM, I WILL SAY THAT, UM, A LOT OF THESE FUNDS, FUNDS ARE BUDGETED AND TRANSFERRED IN FROM THE GENERAL FUND AND OUR WATER AND SEWER AND ANY OF OUR ENTERPRISE FUNDS.
AND LIKE I SAID, IT'S TO SUPPORT, UM, A DESIGNATED ACTIVITIES.
BUT I WILL ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS REGARDING A SPECIAL REVENUE FUND.
COUNSEL, ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING, UH, SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS? OKAY.
HEARING NOW WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.
UM, NEXT WE HAVE OUR ALL OTHER FUNDS, VEHICLE REPLACEMENT FUNDS AND OUR, UM, FACILITY MAINTENANCE FUNDS.
AND THEY PRETTY MUCH SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
UH, ONCE AGAIN, THESE REPLACEMENT FUNDS ARE FUNDED THROUGH OUR GENERAL FUND AND OUR ENTERPRISE FUNDS.
AND IT'S BASICALLY TO REPLACE ALL OUR, YOU KNOW, HEAVY EQUIPMENT, OUR VEHICLES, YOU KNOW, AND, YOU KNOW, TO LET'S US DO BUSINESS AS A CITY.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH EACH AND, UH, EVERY FUND, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO A SPECIFIC ONE, UM, WE'LL ANSWER.
TRACY, WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND GO THROUGH JUST REAL QUICK, JUST POINT OUT PAGE 15 DASH 27, JUST SO EVERYONE'S AWARE OF THAT PAGE THERE.
UH, THE POOL MAINTENANCE FUND, IS THAT THE ONE YOU'RE LOOKING AT? NO, SORRY.
IT'S THE, IT'S THE ONE, UH, IT, IT'S FOR FUND FOUR 20.
IT'S THE DETAILS OF, OF VEHICLES.
ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS OUR, OUR, THIS IS OUR VEHICLE REPLACEMENT FUND.
UM, THESE FUNDS HERE ARE, UM, ARE TRANSFERRED OVER FROM THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, UM, THROUGHOUT THE GENERAL FUND.
UM, AND THESE, THIS FUND HERE REPLACES ALL OUR VEHICLES THROUGHOUT EVERY SINGLE DEPARTMENT, POLICE DEVELOPMENT SERVICE, ANY DEPARTMENT WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND THAT'S PURCHASING A VEHICLE.
AND THEN ALSO OUR HEAVY EQUIPMENT IS PURCHASED THROUGH THIS FUND.
AND THEN WE ALSO PUT MONEY, UH, FUTURE FUNDS AWAY FOR, YOU KNOW, FUTURE, UM, FIRE EQUIPMENT OR, UM, ENGINES, AND THEN ALSO FUTURE EQUIPMENT FOR, UM, POLICE VEHICLES.
ANY QUESTIONS? I'LL, I'LL PLAN JUST ONE, JUST FOR, FOR THE SAKE OF, UH, EMPHASIZING IT.
UH, WE ARE, UM, PROPOSING TO PURCHASE A NEW BRUSH TRUCK, UM, IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
[01:20:01]
THAT IS TO HELP OBVIOUSLY WITH THINGS SEEMING TO ALWAYS BE DRIER, UH, THAN, THAN WE WOULD WANT.RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ONE BRUSH TRUCK, UH, ONE BRUSH TRUCK.
IF IT, IT, IT'S A VEHICLE THAT IS USED IN A VERY UNIQUE WAY RIGHT.
AND CAN BE PRONE TO BREAKING DOWN, YOU KNOW, UH, EASILY BECAUSE OF WHAT IT DOES, UM, FOR THAT.
AND SO HAVING A SECOND ONE WOULD ALLOW US TO HAVE ONE IN RESERVE, UH, FOR THAT.
AND SO RIGHT NOW WHEN OUR, IF OUR BRUSH TRUCK GOES DOWN, ALL THE CITIES ARE KIND OF SHARING BRUSH TRUCKS ON THAT.
AND THIS WILL JUST PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE SURETY THAT, THAT IF WE DO HAVE SOME SORT OF A GRASS FIRE, UM, WHICH WHEN AGAIN, WHEN IT'S VERY DRY, YOU'RE RUNNING BRUSH FIRES A A LOT, UM, ON 'EM, WE WILL JUST BE BETTER ABLE TO RESPOND TO THOSE, UM, IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.
SO DOES THE BRUSH TRUCK, UM, FALL INTO THE, I GUESS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT JUST THE LENGTH OF TIME IT TAKES TO GET THOSE VEHICLES, IS THAT, DOES THAT FALL INTO THAT LENGTHY TIMELINE TO ACTUALLY GET THOSE SPECIAL MONTHS? 12 TO 16 MONTHS.
UM, MR. WRIGHT, UM, FOR THE, THE, UM, THE TRUCK THAT CLEANS THE, THE STREETS, WHAT AM I PAPER THERE? DUH.
UM, ARE, ARE YOU ADDING, ARE WE ADDING A ANOTHER THIS YEAR? I, I, AND I WAS ASKING BECAUSE OF A CALL THAT I CONNECTED YOU WITH, UH, THAT, THAT CODE WAS, THEY WERE SWEEPING THE STREET AND I HAD A RESIDENT CALL ME, UM, AND THEY WERE STATING THAT THERE WAS A TRUCK DOWN AND, YOU KNOW, YEAH.
SO, SO WE, I DO WANNA GO AHEAD AND DO THAT.
WELL, WELL, THE TRUCK ITSELF, THE, THE, UH, CURRENT TRUCK THAT WE HAVE HAS BEEN REPAIRED.
AND IT IS BACK IN SERVICE, RIGHT? YEAH.
I, I SAW THE EMAIL, UH, LAST WEEK.
AND I, I, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, IT WAS BECAUSE IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT STRONG ENOUGH OR IT'S NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO, OR EQUIPPED ENOUGH TO LIKE, BE STRONG ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE STREETS.
IT'S, IT'S A WE NEED A, A MORE ROBUST VERSION.
THAT WAS WHAT THE, THE, THE PERSON WORKING WAS TELLING.
THAT'S WHY IT KEEPS BREAKING DOWN, MA'AM.
MAYOR COUNSEL, I THINK WHAT I'VE HEARD, IT'S NOT A INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL TYPE VEHICLE, BUT IT IS NOT THAT OLD A VEHICLE, BUT WE ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH IT FREQUENTLY DOWN.
HAS THAT, UH, HOW HAS THAT IMPACTED, UH, THE SCHEDULING, THE, THE DESIGN SCHEDULING FOR TREE SWEEP FOR, EXCUSE ME, FOR STREET SWEEPING, UM, IN THE CITY, TREMENDOUSLY NEGATIVELY IMPACTED.
WE ARE NOT ABLE TO SWEEP, UH, SWEEP STREETS.
WE HAD A REGULAR SCHEDULE GOING ON, BUT IT'S FREQUENTLY DOWN AND WE ONLY HAVE THE ONE PLUS THE ONE EMPLOYEE.
SO I REMEMBER MY FIRST YEAR DOING THIS BUDGET THAT, THAT WAS LIKE SOMETHING THAT WE WERE DISCUSSING.
AND I REMEMBER THE COST OF IT WAS QUITE EXPENSIVE.
DO YOU, CAN YOU ELABORATE ON WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO GET ANOTHER, SO THERE'S MORE RELIABILITY AND THAT CITY SERVICE CONTINUES, UM, THE WAY THAT IT WAS YOU, THE CITY DESIGNED IT TO BE, I'M NOT PREPARED TO ANSWER THAT, BUT I CAN GET THE INFORMATION SIRAM THAT IS TO BE CONSIDERATION.
I HAD, UH, ENCOUNTERED A RESIDENT IN WALMART WHO, WHO HAD BEEN COUNTING ON HIS STREET BEING SWEEPED IN, AND HE FOUND OUT SOMETHING SIMILAR.
BUT I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND, I THOUGHT LAST YEAR WE ADDED, UH, UH, FUNDS IN THE BUDGET FOR AN ADDITIONAL STREET SWEEPER, OR WAS IT FOR A NEW STREET SWEEPER? OR WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL NEXT YEAR.
THE ONE WE HAVE IS NEWER, RIGHT? YEAH, YEAH.
THE, THE, THE ONE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW IS A MORE RECENT PURCHASE, UH, FOR, I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHEN IT WAS, BUT IT'S BEEN IN A SHORT, WE'VE ONLY HAD A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
THAT'S LIKELY THE ONE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE REFERRING TO HERE.
THERE IS A SKI REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE FOR SWEEPERS.
I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE NEXT ONE IS.
I DON'T KNOW IF, I ASSUME IF YOU KNOW THAT.
YEAH, I'M LOOKING THROUGH MY NOTES NOW.
YEAH, THE CURRENT ONE IS, WAS REPLACED A FEW YEARS AGO, SO IT, IT WAS, IT IS A, WE DIDN'T BUDGET FOR A SECOND ONE, AN ADDITIONAL ONE.
THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I, THAT'S WHAT I REMEMBERED.
I THOUGHT WE HAD BUDGETED FOR.
WHICH REQUESTING A SECOND ONE, RIGHT? NO MA'AM.
HAVE WE EVER HAD TWO, UM, AT, AT ANY ONE TIME? NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF.
AND THE ONE WE'VE HAD HAS ARRIVED SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
I BECAME AN EMPLOYEE IN MARCH OF 2022.
'CAUSE WE UTILIZE THE OLD ONE AS A TRADE-IN VALUE.
SO JUST SINCE LAST YEAR, THE ONE WE'VE PURCHASED HAS BEEN DOWN FREQUENTLY.
WHAT IS THE LIFESPAN OF THEM, OR HOW OFTEN ARE, SHOULD YOU TO MR. WRIGHT'S POINT ABOUT THE SCHEDULING? DOES, HOW DOES THAT WORK FROM A LIFECYCLE PERSPECTIVE? I'M NOT, FOR ME WITH THREE PEOPLE, AS I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT, BUT YES, SIR.
IT SHOULDN'T BE AT THIS POINT.
I WAS ABOUT TO SAY IT SHOULD BE A YEAR LATER.
UM, I THINK, I THINK I REMEMBER THE CONVERSATION,
[01:25:01]
UM, WHEN WE HAD ABOUT STREET SWEEPERS, AND I THINK A POINT OF THE CONVERSATION WAS THAT THEY WERE VERY EXPENSIVE.AND I THINK WE ALMO, I THINK WE TALKED ABOUT POSSIBLY PUTTING FUNDS ASIDE TOWARDS A NEW ONE.
BUT I KNOW WE HAD, WE TALKED REALLY, I BELIEVE IN DEPTH ABOUT THE STREET SWEEPERS, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE OUTCOME OF THAT CONVERSATION BEING TO PUT FOR A NEW ONE.
I THINK WE EVEN DISCUSSED BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT THAT THEY COST, IT WOULD BE PROBABLY MORE PRUDENT TO START TRYING TO SAVE FOR ONE OR SOMETHING TO THAT NATURE.
BUT I DO REMEMBER THE CONVERSATION.
I JUST DON'T REMEMBER THE OUTCOME, UH, OF THAT CONVERSATION.
YEAH, I'M LOOKING ON PAGE, UH, WELL, I'M IN THE SANITATION FUND, BUT, UH, IT'S SHOWING, UH, THAT IN 2022, WE, UM, WE PROBABLY DIDN'T RECEIVE THE BILL IN 2022, BUT WE PURCHASED IT IN 2022, UH, 221,000, UH, SPENT FOR A STREET SWEEPER.
AND SO WE PROBABLY GOT IT THIS YEAR, THIS FISCAL YEAR.
AND SO IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE, UH, ABOUT 85,000 OR SO A YEAR PROGRAM, UH, TO PUT ASIDE.
SO IF THE, IF THE, I GUESS YOU, WHAT WAS THE TERM YOU USED? NON-INDUSTRIAL IS WHAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY.
THE, THE STREETS SWEEP WE HAVE IS CONSIDERED TO BE NON-INDUSTRIAL.
I TRULY, I TRULY DON'T KNOW IN DEPTH WHAT WE HAVE.
I'LL HAVE TO LOOK INTO IT, BUT THAT'S WHAT I'VE HEARD.
UM, THE PREVIOUS STREET MANAGER WA WAS SAYING IT'S NOT AN INDUSTRIAL, BUT WE ORDERED IT.
WELL, I'M, WELL, MY POINT FOR ASKING THAT IS IF WE SPENT 200 UPWARDS OF $200,000 ON THE ONE WE HAVE NOW, THEN I'M THINKING, I CAN IMAGINE THE CONVERSATION WAS AROUND THE COST OF A ONE THAT IS A, YOU KNOW, AN INDUSTRIAL ONE OR WHATEVER.
I CAN IMAGINE THAT'S A VERY COSTLY VEHICLE IF THE ONE WE HAVE NOW IS $200,000.
WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL LOOK INTO THIS A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE IT'S, IT HAS BEEN DOWN MORE THAN IT SHOULD BE.
AND SO FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, THIS UNIT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE WORKING FOR US, UH, VERY WELL.
WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE PLAN IS, UH, FOR IT.
IN SOME CASES, IF, IF WE GET RID OF IT A LITTLE BIT SOONER THAN LATER, WE CAN GET MORE TRADE IN VALUE FOR IT, THAT MIGHT HELP US BUY AHEAD A LITTLE BIT.
WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THIS ONE'S NOT FUNCTIONING FOR US THE WAY THAT IT NEEDS TO.
UM, WE, WE CAN'T HAVE OUR STREETS SWEEPER DOWN ALL THE TIME, SO, AND SO WHO IS REPAIRING IT? IS IT THE CITY? IS IT THE CITY, OR DO YOU HAVE NO, IT'S ON THE WARRANTY.
IT'S, IT'S GOING BACK EACH TIME.
IT'S GETTING COVERED BY THE WARRANTY.
BUT AGAIN, IT'S DIFFERENT THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING TO KEEP US FROM NOT SWEEPING STREETS.
SO IT'S GOING BACK TO THE, UM, THE, THE VENDOR.
UM, MOVING ON TO DEBT SERVICE.
UM, CURRENTLY OVERALL, WE, UM, AFTER THIS FISCAL YEAR END, WE WILL HAVE ABOUT 94.6 MILLION IN TOTAL, UH, DEBT.
AND WE PAY ANYWHERE BETWEEN NINE AND 10 MILLION OF PRINCIPAL EACH YEAR.
NOW, UM, WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SUMMARY SHEETS RIGHT NOW, THAT IS THE ESTIMATE.
WE WILL NOT GET OUR INS RATE TILL PROBABLY A COUPLE MORE WEEKS, AND THEN THOSE NUMBERS WILL BE ADJUSTED FOR THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
UM, AS FAR AS OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, UM, IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WE DO PLAN TO SELL BONDS FOR THE MACWAN N RECREATION CENTER, AND THEN ALSO OUR ROAD PROJECTS THAT THE CITY MANAGER MENTIONED EARLIER IN THE PRESENTATION.
UH, WE HAVE NOT DETERMINED A DATE YET.
OF COURSE, WE ARE LOOKING AT THE RATES AND THEN ALSO LOOKING AT OUR SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT WHEN CONSTRUCTION STARTS WITH THE, UH, RECREATION CENTER.
UM, WITH THAT, UM, YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS RELATED TO OUR DEBT SERVICE? OKAY.
MOVING ON TO OUR, UM, DESOTO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
UH, WE HAVE THE DDC, UM, DIRECTOR MATT CARLSON WILL PRESENT THAT PORTION OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
WELCOME TO THE PODIUM, MR. CARLSON
THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO RUN THROUGH.
JUST TO, UH, SOME BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS.
I THINK YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU THE, THE PROPOSED BUDGET, AND THERE'S JUST A COUPLE, A COUPLE SMALL CORRECTIONS THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT.
BUT JUST TO HIGHLIGHT IT, UM, OUR REVENUES ARE RELATIVELY FLAT, UH, AS A RESULT OF THE POINT OF SALE CHANGE THIS LAST YEAR.
AND THEN WE'RE ALSO PROJECTING A FLAT SALES TAX INTO NEXT YEAR, JUST ON A CONSERVATIVE BASIS.
UM, WE ANTICIPATE THAT SALES TAXES WILL GROW, BUT THIS LEAVES US A VERY CONSERVATIVE, UH, APPROACH.
[01:30:01]
OUR PERSONNEL NUMBERS DO INCREASE, UH, THAT REFLECT IN ADDITION OF A PROJECT MANAGER POSITION.UH, THE NUMBER OF PROJECTS THAT WE ANTICIPATE THAT ARE ALREADY BEGINNING ALONG THE PROJECT, UH, ALONG THE HAMPTON ROAD CORRIDOR, ARE GONNA REQUIRE A HANDS-ON APPROACH THAT WE AREN'T STAFFED FOR TODAY.
CITY MANAGER AND I TALKED ABOUT THAT EARLIER THIS YEAR AND DECIDED THAT THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE A, A POSITION THAT WE WANT TO ADD.
UM, WE HAVE ACTUALLY ANTICIPATED FUNDING A PORTION OF THAT WHEN THE TS FUNDS BEGIN TO FLOW IN.
UM, BUT UNTIL THEN WE'LL BE FUNDING THAT OUT OF THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES ARE RELATIVELY FLAT.
WE, UH, WE ALLOCATE EACH YEAR THE MAX THAT'S ALLOWED BY STATE STATUTE, WHICH IS 10% OF OUR REVENUES.
THAT'S DOWN A LITTLE BIT FROM LAST YEAR, BUT ONLY BECAUSE THE REVENUES WERE DOWN AND WE'RE JUST BUDGETING IT AT 10%.
WE DON'T USUALLY SPEND ALL OF THAT ON THE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES.
IT ACCUMULATES FROM YEAR TO YEAR IF WE DON'T SPEND IT.
BUT WE'RE LIMITED IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH WE CAN SPEND BY STATUTE.
SO WE ALLOW THAT TO BUILD UP FROM TIME TO TIME.
ON THE OPERATIONS SIDE, WE SEE A SLIGHT DECREASE IN OUR OPERATING EXPENSES.
A FAIR AMOUNT OF THAT, VIRTUALLY MOST OF IT ANYWAY, IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHANGE IN OUR APPROACH WITH THE GOOD, WITH THE, UH, GROW DESOTO MARKETPLACE.
SO YOU SEE A SLIGHT DECREASE, A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE, IF YOU WILL, IN REVENUES FROM THE MARKETPLACE.
AS WE BOW OUT OF THAT AND PUT THAT INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WE'VE ONLY BUILT IN THREE MONTHS OF REVENUES FROM THAT, UH, PROJECT.
WE'VE ONLY BUILT IN THREE MONTHS OF EXPENSES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IT AS WELL.
SO YOU SEE A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN THE OPERATIONS COSTS.
UM, AND THEN ALSO OUR ENDING FUND BALANCE IS SLIGHTLY DOWN, UH, FROM THAT DECREASE IN REVENUE.
MR. COSTON, CAN YOU, UM, CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THE POINT OF SALE CHANGE AND WHAT THAT IS? UM, I'M GONNA LEAVE THAT TO THE CITY MANAGER.
HE'S MUCH MORE INVOLVED IN IT THAN I AM.
SO THE, UH, SO, SO THE POINT OF SALE, UH, THERE'S, THE STATE HAS BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, THE STATE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE IN PARTICULAR HAS BEEN TRYING TO, UH, CHANGE THAT DEFINITION OF WHAT POINT OF SALE MEANS, AND THAT HAS IMPACTED SOME OF OUR BUSINESSES.
UM, AND AS A RESULT, UH, REVENUE THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY COUNTED AS THE DESOTO SALES TAX, UH, THEY'RE, SOME OF THEM ARE NO LONGER COUNTING THAT TAX AS CITY OF DESOTO SALES TAX, UM, FOR IT.
NOW, WE'RE FORTUNATE NOW THAT IN, YOU KNOW, SOME CASES, THOSE ARE, UH, THERE WERE REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENTS IN PLACE, RIGHT? SO WHAT WE NO LONGER RECEIVE, WE NO LONGER GIVE BACK, WHICH IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE NET RESULT OF THAT, IT'S VERY, VERY SMALL, UM, TO THE CITY.
BUT WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS THAT THE OVERALL TOP NUMBER OF SALES TAX COLLECTIONS DOES GO DOWN, EVEN THOUGH THE NET RESULT TO THE CITY IS NOT AS SIGNIFICANT AS IT WOULD REFLECT AS THAT TOP LINE.
AND I JUST HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE, UH, ADDITION FOR THE PROJECT MANAGER.
WHAT EXACTLY, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE'VE, YOU ADDED SOMEONE LAST YEAR TOO, RIGHT? I BELIEVE WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY ADD ANYBODY.
WE PUT THE PERSON IN THE POSITION THAT HAD NOT BEEN, WE HAD HAD THAT STAFFED IN OUR BUDGETING.
WE JUST NEVER HAD THE PERSON THERE.
THIS ACTUALLY ADDS AN, AN ADDITIONAL PERSON TO THE HEADCOUNT FROM FOUR TO FIVE, AND THAT PERSON WILL BE WORKING HAND IN GLOVE WITH THE DEVELOPERS AND OVERSEEING THE, THE PROJECTS THERE.
I MEAN, ALREADY WE'RE SEEING THAT WITH ONE OF OUR, OUR, UH, OUR NEW PROJECTS ON THE HAMPTON ROAD CORRIDOR, THE ROOTS CHICKEN SHACK.
IT'S, IT'S SITTING DOWN WITH THAT DEVELOPER, LITERALLY FROM THE START, BECAUSE THESE ARE, THESE ARE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE DEVELOPER THAT JUST TAKE A WHOLE LOT MORE ATTENTION THAN WE HAVE THE CAPACITY FOR IN-HOUSE TODAY.
AND AS THOSE PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, IT'S A RELATIVELY SMALL PROJECT IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, WHEN YOU START TO THINK ABOUT THE PROJECTS AT THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH END, WE THINK ABOUT THE MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING, THOSE ARE ALL GONNA BE MUCH MORE INTENSIVE IN TERMS OF THEIR OVERALL COMMITMENT OF TIME AND EFFORT.
SO THIS JUST GIVES SORT OF A, A LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENED WITH SALES TAX OVER TIME.
UM, THE, THE INTERESTING THING THAT WE FOUND IS AS A RESULT OF, IT'S BEEN HIGHLIGHTED A LITTLE BIT OF THIS POINT OF SALES TAX, UH, RETRENCHING SOME OF THOSE SALES TAXES THAT ALL THE OTHER AREAS CONTINUE TO GROW AT A SUBSTANTIAL RATE.
MR. CORMIER, DO YOU KNOW THE, THE OVERALL RATE OF, OF GROWTH OF SALES TAX ACCEPTING THE, THE ONE POINT OF SALE CHANGE? UM, I KNOW BEFORE THE POINT OF SALE SPECIFIC TAXPAYER WAS ABOUT 30% OF OUR OVERALL OF SALES TAX.
NOW THAT IT'S DROPPED TO 5%, ALL OTHERS IS AROUND 96%, 96, 95, 90 6%.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE BEING CONSERVATIVE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS IN BUDGETING AT THAT CURRENT RATE.
[01:35:01]
TO A BETTER HANDLE ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FROM A GROWTH STANDPOINT.WITH THAT ANOMALY DROPPED OUT, MR. MATT, DOES THE, THE CITIES HAVE LIKE ANY RECOURSE TO LIKE MAYBE ADD A LINE, UH, AND INCREASE LIKE HIS SALES TAX, JUST IN GENERAL, LIKE TO OFFSET THAT? UM, I LAUGH BECAUSE
I THINK ANYTHING BEYOND THAT, I THINK THERE IS A PROVISION IN THE STATE STATUTES, ALTHOUGH MR. CORNY, YOU'RE PROBABLY BETTER THAN I TO ANSWER THAT.
IS THERE NOT A SPECIAL LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX THAT'S AVAILABLE TO YOU FOR A, A FIXED TERM ON A TEMPORARY BASIS? UH, THAT ONE I'M NOT SURE ABOUT.
UH, BUT ON A, ON A REGULAR BASIS, THE 2 CENTS THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW IS THE, IS IS THE MAX MAX, YEAH.
THERE MAY BE SOMETHING, A PROVISION THERE FOR SOME EMERGENCY, UM, OF SOME SORT, BUT I'M, I'M NOT FAMILIAR ENOUGH WITH IT RIGHT NOW AND NOT KNOWING ENOUGH ABOUT IT MYSELF TO PROBABLY SPEAK INTELLIGENTLY ON THE TOPIC.
I DO BELIEVE YOU'RE RIGHT AND, UH, THAT THERE ARE SOME LOCAL OPTIONS.
I BELIEVE GRAND PRAIRIE MIGHT HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT INTERESTING, UH, FOR THEIR EPIC, UM, AND SOME OF THOSE THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UM, BUT I DO, I DO DO BELIEVE THERE ARE SOME OPTIONS FOR LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX.
UM, BUT I, WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S SALES TAX.
I KNOW THERE'S SOME LOCAL OPTIONS WHERE YOU CAN YEAH.
AND TYPICALLY THEY'RE SET FOR A PERIOD OF TIME.
THEY HAVE, THEY'RE REQUIRED BY LAW TO SUNSET.
THEY HAVE A VERY SPECIFIC PROGRAM OF WORK THAT THAT HAS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH.
UM, BUT I'M, I HAVE NOT HAD TO DO ANYTHING WITH THAT HERE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND I ONLY ASK BECAUSE I, WITH, TO MAYOR'S POINT AND, AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP THE, UH, OTHER CITIES, IS THAT WITH ALL THE PROJECTS WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, I KNOW MCOWEN AT ONE, IT WILL AT ONE POINT PROVIDE A REVENUE BASE TO THE CITY, RIGHT? WITH HAMPTON ROAD PROJECT.
IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY TO START PREPARING MAYBE HAVING A ANOTHER STREAM OF, OF REVENUE THAT WE COULD, WE WE COULD TAP INTO TO OFFSET THE DECREASE THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW AND, AND NOT HAVING TO PLAY IT SO CONSERVATIVE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS? SO I, I WON'T ANSWER FOR SALES TAX FOR THE REST OF THE CITY, BUT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, UM, WE HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL ENOUGH FUND BALANCE THAT IT, IT WON'T AFFECT OUR OPERATIONS, UM, SIGNIFICANTLY.
UM, TO THE POINT THAT, UH, TO THE CITY MANAGER'S POINT EARLIER, IF, IF YOU WERE GIVING ME A DOLLAR AND I GAVE YOU 90 CENTS BACK, THE ONLY REAL IMPACT TO ME, WHEN IT'S ALL SAID AND DONE, IT LOOKS LIKE A BIG NUMBER UP TOP, BUT AT THE BOTTOM LINE IT'S 10 CENTS.
AND THAT'S KIND OF THE, ON A MUCH SMALLER SCALE, OBVIOUSLY, BUT, BUT THAT'S KIND OF THE, THE, THE GIST OF IT.
IT JUST ISN'T A BIG ENOUGH NUMBER THAT'S IMPACTING US THAT WE CAN'T MAKE UP ANY DIFFERENCE OR SHORTFALL THAT IT WOULD BE, UM, OUT OF OUR, OUR FUND BALANCE AS IT IS, WE DON'T SPEND, WE DON'T SPEND OUR UN UNALLOCATED GRANTS, UH, EVERY YEAR TO THEIR FULLEST AMOUNT.
SOME OF THAT WILL CHANGE WITH THE HAMPTON ROAD, WITH THE HAMPTON ROAD CORRIDOR.
WE ANTICIPATE HAVING TO FUND MORE PROJECTS THERE AS OUR BIOLIFE SCIENCE HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR BEING SOME SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS.
BUT WE KNOW WE HAVE THOSE FUND BALANCES TO HELP BACKSTOP US IF WE NEED TO.
AND WE ALWAYS HAVE THE OPTION OF BONDING AGAINST THE FUTURE CASH FLOWS AS WELL.
AND I BELIEVE THOSE, LIKE THE, SPEAKING OF THE LOCAL OPTIONS, AGAIN, NOT KNOWING ENOUGH TO SPEAK INTELLIGENTLY ON IT, I BELIEVE IT HAS TO BE PROJECT SPECIFIC, SO IT CAN'T JUST BE FOR ANY USE, IT HAS TO BE FOR THIS SPECIFIC PROJECT.
YEAH, I WAS ABOUT TO SAY, THAT MAY BE SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK INTO.
UM, JUST LIKE SHE SAID, JUST KEEPING IN MIND SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE, LOOKING AT FUTURE WAYS TO FUND SOME OF THAT STUFF.
SO THE LAST SLIDE THAT I HAVE IS JUST, JUST A, A BRIEF SORT OF WORKFORCE OR A WORK PLAN OVERVIEW OF THE THINGS THAT WE ANTICIPATE NEXT YEAR ON THE RECRUITMENT SIDE, AN INCREASE IN, IN OUR SECTOR FOCUS, UH, FOR OUR OUTBOUND MARKETING AND OUR REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT.
UM, CONTINUING TO FOSTER THE BROKER AND FOSTER THE BROKER RELATIONSHIPS, UH, AND INCREASE OUR OVERALL OUTREACH.
AND THEN A MUCH MORE FOCUSED, UH, CONTINUED FOCUS ON MARKETING STRATEGY THAT TARGETS THOSE SPECIFIC INDUSTRIES AND SPECIFIC COMPANIES.
ON THE RETENTION SIDE, THE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND OUR INDUSTRY VISITS IS GROWING ON THE DAILY BASIS.
WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT'S AFFORDING US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR BUSINESSES AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR FUTURES LOOK LIKE.
SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES WILL INCREASE A LITTLE BIT NEXT YEAR FROM WHAT WE'VE DONE AT THE, AT THE MARKETPLACE TO WHAT WE'LL DO WITH THE DECK, UM, BROADENING OUR OVERALL SCOPE AND EFFORTS THERE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
[01:40:01]
FUNCTIONAL COUNCILS SPECIFICALLY, THE FIRST ONE WILL, THOSE WILL BE THE HUMAN RESOURCE ROUNDTABLE, BUT WE'LL ALSO DO A GENERAL MANAGERS ROUND TABLE.UH, AND THAT'LL BEGIN THIS COMING YEAR.
THE RETAIL RECRUITMENT PIECE, UH, CONTINUES AND, AND OUR, OUR WORK THERE IS SORT OF UNENDING, UM, THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE HAMPTON ROAD CORRIDOR, THE BELT VINE COMMERCIAL NODES.
AND NOW THAT THE I 35 CORRIDOR, UM, WE FOUND A GREAT DEAL OF INTEREST AROUND THAT PROJECT.
UM, THE STAFFING OF THE PROJECT MANAGER WE MENTIONED.
AND THEN THE LAST PIECE IS THE, THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, WE CONTINUE TO INCREASE OUR EVOLVEMENT WITH ALL OF OUR PARTNERS.
UM, AGAIN, THAT'S NOT A ROLE WE'RE STAFFED FOR, BUT WE JUST CAN'T IGNORE IT AND WE NEED TO BE THE CONVENER TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN, AND WE FOUND OURSELVES FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL IN THAT ROLE.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE THAT FOR THIS NEXT YEAR IN A LITTLE BIT GREATER EFFORT.
I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU'VE, YOU SAID IT TWICE NOW.
UH, THE INVESTMENT IN, UM, DESOTO MARKETPLACE.
SO JUST SO I UNDERSTAND, THE INTENT IS THE INTENT TO, IS TO, UH, INVEST FOR THE CITY, OR EXCUSE ME, UH, DDC, TO INVEST IN WHAT MONTY PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
SO REMEMBER, HE PRESENTED YOU SORT OF AN OVERALL LOOK OF WHAT HE'D LIKE THAT TO GO TOWARDS.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE'LL FIND SOME SORT OF COMMON GROUND ON THAT IN TERMS OF INVESTMENT.
AND WE DON'T KNOW THE SPECIFICS OF THAT, FRANKLY, WE HAVEN'T BEEN GIVEN THE COSTS OF THAT YET FROM MONTY.
UM, BUT REMEMBER, YOU ALL APPROVED A, UH, INLINE CENTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM THIS LAST YEAR.
HIS, HIS CENTER COULD EASILY FALL WITHIN THAT.
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT IT IS OF WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN PROVIDE SUFFICIENT INCENTIVES TO, TO MAKE THAT INTO WHAT WE ANTICIPATED THERE.
UM, SO THAT'S PART OF THE WIND DOWN PROCESS AND WE'VE BUILT A LITTLE MONEY INTO OUR, INTO OUR BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR TO HELP WITH THAT.
BUT WE REALLY DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE YET.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I MIGHT ANSWER? ALRIGHT.
MADAM MAYOR, THAT STAFF PRESENTATION FOR THE BUDGET WORKSHOP TODAY.
YOU SURE? ARE YOU SURE? YEAH, MY PLEASURE.
MAY I HAVE A QUESTION? MAY I HAVE TO ASK? LOOK, DON'T, DON'T, DON'T, I I'M NOT GONNA KEEP ON HERE ALL NIGHT.
WE, WHENEVER WE GET AHEAD, WE TAKE TWO STEPS FORWARD AND THREE STEPS BACK.
SO THE, I DIDN'T SAY MUCH ABOUT THE HOMESTEAD PIECE AND I I GET IT.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT I KNOW THAT IS BEING, THAT IS RECOMMENDED.
HOWEVER, FOR THE SAKE OF THE RESIDENTS WHO HAVE ASKED FOR A HOMESTEAD, IS IT POSSIBLE ONCE THE NEW, THE TAX RATES HIT TO LOOK AT WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE IF WE DID THE SIMILAR MODEL, LIKE WITH THE SENIOR, UM, UM, HOMESTEAD WHERE THE CITY DID 5,001 YEAR AND THEN 5,000 ANOTHER YEAR.
UM, AND THEN EVEN CONSIDERING ONCE WE GET THE TAX RATE, IF, LORD I'M GONNA REGRET SAYING THIS, IF WE TOOK BACK THE PENNY THAT WE, WE GAVE LAST YEAR, LIKE IF, HOW COULD WE MAKE IT WORK, UM, FOR THE CITY SO TO OFFSET THE 800 K THAT THE CITY WOULD LOSE FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE? IS THAT, IS THAT FAIR TO LIKE, TO ASK? 'CAUSE I, I REALLY WANNA PAINT A TRUE PICTURE.
'CAUSE I GET ASKED ALL THE TIME WHY DESOTOS TAXES ARE SO HIGH, WHICH WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE NOT THE, THE SOUTHWEST WE'RE THE LOWEST.
HOWEVER, UM, THEY, THEY SEE THAT NOT HAVING ONE IS A NEGATIVE THING.
AND IF THERE IS SOME WAY THAT WE COULD FINAGLE THE NUMBERS POSITIVELY AND LEGALLY, UH, COULD THAT BE SOMETHING THAT WE COULD OFFER IN A MORE CONSERVATIVE MANNER? YEAH.
WHAT WHAT WE CAN DO IS WE CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AS, AS WE KIND OF MOVE INTO NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET, RIGHT? AS, AS I THINK TRACY WAS MENTIONING, UH, THERE'S A MARCH TIMELINE, RIGHT, TO KIND OF LOOK AT FOR THAT FOR, FOR, FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND SO WE CAN CERTAINLY, UH, DO THAT EXPLORATION AS WE LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR.
UM, A CO COUPLE THINGS, UH, TO JUST KEEP IN MIND, NUMBER ONE IS THAT THAT STATE DID PASS THAT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, UM, UH, HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, RIGHT? ON THE, ON THE SCHOOL SIDE OF IT.
AND SO THAT, THAT WILL BE A GOOD THING FOR JUSTSO RESIDENTS IN GENERAL, RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, THANK YOU STATE, UM, ON THAT ONE.
AND THANK YOU FOR NOT TOUCHING CITIES, BY THE WAY 'CAUSE YOU
SO THAT'S, THAT'S AN EFFECTIVE WAY FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND THAT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON EVERYONE'S TAXES, UM, OVER THE NEXT YEAR.
UM, THE SECOND PART IS THAT BECAUSE OF SB TWO, WHICH WAS FROM A COUPLE YEARS AGO, RIGHT? THE IDEA OF KIND OF MOVING OUR RATE UP TO OFFSET LIKE A, A A A, UM, A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'LL HAVE THAT FLEXIBILITY BECAUSE OF SB TWO.
SO WHAT, WE'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT THAT IMPACT
[01:45:01]
LOOKS LIKE.NOW, SB TWO IS STILL KIND OF A, A BLACK BOX WHEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING HOW IT WORKS IN DETAIL.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, AND, AND THERE'S THESE FIRST COUPLE YEARS OF IT WERE MORE UNUSUAL THAN, THAN, THAN MOST.
SO HOPEFULLY OVER TIME THERE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE CAN BE ABLE TO USE SB TWO AND WHAT YOU'RE MENTIONING IN, IN A COLLABORATIVE WAY.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND IT WELL ENOUGH RIGHT NOW TO BE ABLE TO PREDICT IT, UH, VERY FAR OUT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT, IT WAS ACTUALLY MUNICIPAL COURTS.
IT WAS 30,000 PUT IN THERE FOR NEW FURNITURE, AND I JUST WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHERE EXACTLY WHERE THE NEW FURNITURE GO.
DO YOU WANNA TAKE THAT JUDGE? OKAY.
WE'VE BEEN BUDGETED FOR THE LAST, LAST, THIS FISCAL YEAR AND NEXT FISCAL YEAR FOR FURNITURE FOR OUR NEW COURTROOM ANNEX THAT WILL BE BUILT WHEN THE REMODELING GETS DONE OVER BY WATER AND COURT, OUR FI UH, FINANCING COURT.
SO THAT MONEY'S JUST SIMPLY BEEN CARRIED OVER.
WE, WE DIDN'T, IT'S NOT BUILT YET.
SO IF AND WHEN IT IS BUILT, WE'LL HAVE THE MONEY FOR THE FURNITURE OVER THERE.
SO THE, SO WHEN WE DO THE, UH, RENOVATION TO ESSENTIALLY THAT HALF OF, OF THE BUILDING, RIGHT? YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, UM, WHAT IS RIGHT NOW THAT THAT HALLWAY THAT YOU WALK INTO, THAT WILL BE THE, THERE, THERE WILL BE A COURT AREA WITHIN THAT SPACE.
SO, SO IT'LL, THAT, THAT'LL BE THE COURT NOW, INSTEAD OF HOLDING COURT IN THIS ROOM, UM, IT BE TROUBLE OVER THERE, HAVE JURY.
THE PLAN IS IF WE HAVE JURY TRIALS, WE'LL DO THEM IN HERE, BUT WE HAVE VERY FEW JURY TRIALS.
SO WE'LL DO CONDUCT ALL OF, ALL OUR, MOST, ALL OF OUR BUSINESS O OVER IN THE COURT.
AND THEN MY NEXT QUESTION IS, I DO IT ONE WHILE.
WE TALKED ABOUT A FLEX SPACE FOR COUNCIL TO HAVE A SPACE A FEW YEARS AGO.
AND SO WHAT, WHAT'S THE UPDATE ON THAT? I DON'T HAVE A DATE RIGHT NOW.
THERE, THERE, THERE'S A COUPLE OF BUILDING, UH, THINGS THAT WE ARE DOING AND WE'RE MARCHING ALONG.
UH, THAT ONE, UH, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER WHAT ORDER IT'S IN.
THIS, THAT ONE'S, THAT ONE'S NEXT ON, ON THE LIST.
WE WE'RE THE GOT OTHER IDEA AS WELL.
THE, THE, YEAH, THE, THE FINANCE, UH, SIDE OF IT.
THERE'S AN ADMINISTRATION AREA.
YOU, YOU, I SAW YOU'RE LIKE THE WAND.
WELL, I, I THINK THE QUESTION IS NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES.
IF THERE'S NO NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES, THEN IT'S TWO IN LINE.
IF THERE'S NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES, THEN IT'S THREE IN LINE.
SO, SO IT'S, IT IT IS, IT'S IN THE LINE OF THINGS, UH, TO, TO BE DONE.
BUT IT IS NOT FIRST UP IN LINE.
WHERE, WHERE IS IT? THE ADMINISTRATION AREA YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COUNCIL AREA, THE, YEAH, THE, THE COUNCIL ROOM Y YES, THE COUNCIL ROOM SPACE.
AND, AND I'M SURE IT FLEX SPACE, BUT IT WAS A SPACE, BUT CORRECT THAT IF COUNCIL WANTED TO, 'CAUSE I THINK IT WAS BACK WHEN, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER OR AT THE TIME MEMBER WROTE HIM, UM, UH, MOORE WAS HERE THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT THIS AND SO, MM-HMM.
YEAH, IT'S, IT'S IN THE ADMINISTRATION AREA.
REDESIGN, UH, FOR THAT IT'S OVER.
IT'S EXACT AREA WOULD BE, IF YOU KNOW WHERE ESTHER, UH, SITS RIGHT NOW, WHERE HER OFFICE IS, MS. MS. WILLIAMS OVER THERE.
UH, IT IS UTILIZING THAT SPACE OVER THERE IS WHERE IT WILL BE IN THAT AREA.
COUNSEL, ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS BEFORE WE ADJOURN FOR TONIGHT? OKAY.
HEARING NONE, COUNSEL, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
IT'S BEEN MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER CHISHOLM, A SECOND BY MAYOR PRO, TIM HUGHES.
UH, TO ADJOURN, I HAD TO MAYOR PRO TIM HUGHES, UH, TO ADJOURN OUR MEETING COUNCIL.
THAT MOTION PASSES YOU UNANIM UNANIMOUSLY.
WE ARE NOW ADJOURNED AT 7:57 PM FOR OUR ACTING CITY SECRETARY, UH, TO TAKE THAT NOTE.
UM, AND WE WILL BE BACK HERE TOMORROW AT 9:00 AM AM SHARP.
AND WE KNOW THAT WE WILL BE TRYING TO MOVE THROUGH OUR, UM, OUR, UH, AGENDA ITEM SO THAT WE CAN SUPPORT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, PARKER FOR THOSE WHO ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND, UH, HER MOTHER'S HOME ONGOING SERVICES TOMORROW AT 11:00 AM AND SO WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO MOVE THROUGH OUR ITEMS AS MUCH AS WE CAN SO THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SUPPORT HER TOMORROW.
[2. FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2023 Call to Order at 9am Invocation Continued discussion of any items A-E from Thursday, July 20th. a. Discussion of Public Utilities b. Discussion of Sanitation Fund c. Discussion of Drainage Fund d. Discussion of Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)]
GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY.IT IS 9:00 AM AND I WANT TO CALL OUR SECOND HALF OF OUR BUDGET WORKSHOP TO ORDER.
AT THIS TIME, I'M GONNA ASK OUR CITY SECRETARY IF SHE WOULD CONDUCT A ROLL CALL.
[01:50:01]
LETITIA HUGHES, COUNCIL MEMBER PERT PARKER.COUNCIL MEMBER NICOLE RAPHAEL HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDRE BIRD HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER DYNA MARKS COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, AT THIS TIME I'M GONNA GIVE IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER AND HE CAN MAKE ANY INTRODUCTIONS HE NEEDS TO.
THE, UH, WELCOME BACK EVERYONE, UH, FOR OUR SECOND DAY.
UH, JUST KIND OF A QUICK RUNDOWN OF, OF OUR ORDER.
UH, FOR THIS MORNING, WE'LL BE COVERING, UH, COVERING SOME OF OUR, UH, OUR, OUR UTILITY FUNDS.
WE'LL BE DOING PUBLIC UTILITIES, OUR SANITATION FUND, OUR DRAINAGE FUND, AND THEN REVIEWING OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
UM, ON THIS, WE WILL BE WORKING UNDER A TIMELINE TODAY THAT WE'RE TRYING TO END BY 10 30.
UM, SO WE ARE, UH, SO WE'LL KIND OF JUST ASK THAT EVERYONE CONTINUE TO KIND OF HELP US, UH, MOVE ALONG THERE.
IF FOR SOME REASON WE GET DONE AND THERE IS NOT, AND WE HAVE NOT COVERED ALL THE TOPICS, WE'LL JUST RESCHEDULE, UM, MAYBE AT A FUTURE MEETING FOR US TO COVER, UH, WHATEVER IT'S THAT WE DON'T COVER TODAY.
UM, WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO OUR FINANCIAL DIRECTOR, TRACY CORMIER.
HI, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR COUNCIL.
UM, TODAY, UH, WITH US PRESS FOR TIME.
I'M GONNA BRIEFLY GO OVER THE, UM, BUDGET SUMMARIES FOR THE PUBLIC UTILITY, AND THEN I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO DAN JACKSON FROM WILL DAN, WHO WILL GO OVER OUR RATE STUDY.
UM, IF YOU CAN GO TO PAGE, UH, NINE FOUR OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY FUND SECTION.
AND CURRENTLY WE HAVE 26.1 MILLION, UM, REVENUE BUDGETED, OF COURSE, THAT WILL, UM, BE ADJUSTED BASED ON THE RATE THAT, UH, POSSIBLY COULD BE ADOPTED.
AND RIGHT NOW WE HAVE, UH, 28 MILLION IN EXPENDITURES.
IF YOU MOVE ON TO PAGE NINE 20, UH, FIVE, JUST, UM, JUST A COUPLE HIGHLIGHTS.
UM, ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.
UM, ALSO ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR FURNITURE FOR THE NEW RENOVATION OF THE OFFICE.
AND OF COURSE, UNIFORMS AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT FOR STAFF AND, UH, NEW UNIFORM, I'M SORRY, NEW METERS AND, UH, RADIOS.
AND THEN ALSO JUST LIKE, UM, ANY OTHER FUND.
UM, THE COMPENSATION STUDY INCREASE.
UH, WE USUALLY UPDATES OUR STUDIES EACH YEAR.
AND THEN THE NEXT COUPLE PAGES, STARTING ON 9 29 IS OUR METER REPLACEMENT AND EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT FUNDS, AND THEN ALSO OUR UTILITY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND OUR CIP FUND.
UM, WITH THAT, UM, WE WILL TURN THAT O OVER TO DAN FROM WITH THE WATER RATE PRESENTATION.
UH, I AM DAN JACKSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF WILL DAN FINANCIAL SERVICES.
UM, TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ALREADY KNOW ME, WE'VE HAD THE PLEASURE OF BEING THE, UH, CITY'S WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE CONSULTANTS FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS.
THIS IS OUR 21ST YEAR OF SERVICE TO THE CITY, AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE CHANCE TO COME BACK.
EVERY YEAR WE DO AN UPDATE, AN ANALYSIS OF THE CITY'S WATER AND WASTEWATER AND SANITATION RATE STRUCTURES, AND WE PROVIDE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE RATES THAT ARE GONNA BE NECESSARY FOR YOU TO MEET YOUR OPERATING AND CAPITAL OBLIGATIONS.
SO I'M GOING TO QUICKLY GO THROUGH, UM, OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR, UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR 2024.
BUT BEFORE I START, I WANTED TO PRESENT THIS, UH, CHART HERE THAT COMPARES THE RATES OR THE MONTHLY CHARGES THAT CITIZENS HERE IN THE CITY OF DESOTO PAY FOR 7,500 GALLONS OF WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICE TO SOME OF YOUR NEIGHBORS.
UM, THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL FAMILY HERE IN THE CITY OF DESOTO USES ABOUT 7,500 GALLONS OF WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICE A MONTH.
OBVIOUSLY SOME PEOPLE USE MORE, SOME PEOPLE USE LESS, BUT THE AVERAGE PRESENTS A VERY GOOD BENCHMARK.
ONE OF THE KEY QUESTIONS BOTH RATE PAYERS AND CITY LEADERS OFTEN ASK IS HOW DO OUR RATES COMPARE TO OUR NEIGHBORS? THIS CHART SHOWS THAT YOUR RATES COMPARE VERY FAVORABLY TO MOST OF YOUR NEIGHBORS, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, YOU'RE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN SOME, YOU'RE A LITTLE BIT LESS THAN OTHERS.
UM, HOWEVER, KEEP IN MIND THE FACT THAT 30 TO 40% OF UTILITIES IN THE STATE OF TEXAS CHARGE RATES THAT DO NOT COVER THEIR COSTS.
SO JUST BECAUSE A NEIGHBORING UTILITY MAY HAVE RATES THAT ARE LOWER THAN YOURS, THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THEIR COSTS ARE LOWER, THAT THEY RUN A MORE EFFICIENT OPERATION.
IT MIGHT MEAN THAT THEY'RE SUBSIDIZING THEIR WATER AND SEWER FUND FROM THE GENERAL FUND.
YOU DON'T DO THAT, THAT HERE IN DESOTO AND YOU NEVER HAVE, UH, YOU, YOU WOULD, THE THE RATES YOU CHARGE REFLECT THE FULL COST OF PROVIDING THAT SERVICE.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT IN THE MIDDLE.
AND SO THIS CHART, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, SHOWS YOU THAT WHAT YOU ARE ASKING YOUR RATE PAYERS TO PAY IS CERTAINLY NOT OUT OF PROPORTION TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE PAY FOR WATER AND SEWER SERVICE HERE IN THE CITY.
UH, JUST QUICK BACKGROUND CHART HERE.
RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE ABOUT 23,942 WATER ACCOUNTS.
[01:55:01]
UM, YOU'VE SEEN SOME PRETTY STEADY GROWTH OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND WE'RE FORECASTING THAT YOU'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SEE THAT GROWTH OVER THE NEXT DECADE.ON THE WATER SALES SIDE, YOU SOLD ABOUT 2.4 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER IN THE LAST UH, YEAR, AND THAT AMOUNT IS EXPECTED TO STEADILY INCREASE.
NOW IN, IN REALITY, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IS THE NUMBER WILL BOUNCE UP AND DOWN A LITTLE BIT.
OBVIOUSLY, IN HOT YEARS YOU SELL MORE WATER AND WET YEARS, YOU SELL A LITTLE LESS WATER, BUT THE TREND IS GENERALLY UPWARDS.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS SINCE THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE TO YOU ABOUT THIS TIME LAST YEAR? FIRST OF ALL, THE CITY WAS ABLE TO GO WITHOUT A WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE INCREASE IN 2020 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023.
THAT'S GOOD BECAUSE MOST UTILITIES RAISE THEIR RATES EVERY YEAR, AND SO YOU MANAGE TO DO GO A YEAR WITHOUT THAT ADJUSTMENT.
AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER, YOU'VE GOT SOME ONGOING FINANCIAL NEEDS.
LOOK, YOUR COSTS ARE GOING UP.
COST OF EVERYTHING GOES UP THREE TO 3% OR SO A YEAR JUST DUE TO INFLATION.
BUT IN RUNNING A WATER UTILITY, YOU ALSO HAVE THE ADDITIONAL OBLIGATION OF CAPITAL FUNDING BECAUSE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, IT COSTS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BUILD A WATER SYSTEM TO PUSH WATER THROUGH TO YOUR CUSTOMERS TO ENSURE THAT THEY'VE GOT THAT LEVEL, UH, LEVEL OF SERVICE THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO THEM.
WELL, LIKE ANY ASSETS THEY WEAR OUT OVER TIME.
AND SO YOU HAVE TO INVEST IN THAT SYSTEM.
AND SO THE CITY HAS A PLAN TO, TO ISSUE ABOUT $8 MILLION IN NEW DEBT EACH YEAR FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS TO FUND THESE CAPITAL REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
IT'S HARD TO SPEND THAT KIND OF MONEY, BUT IT'S NECESSARY BECAUSE YOU WANT YOUR WATER SERVICE TO CONTINUE TO BE A VERY HIGH QUALITY.
BUT PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT IMPACT I INVOLVES YOUR WASTEWATER PROVIDER, TRINITY RIVER AUTHORITY.
THEIR COSTS ARE PROJECTED TO INCREASE AT AN, AT A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT RATE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU'VE GOT TWO SHEDS, THE 10 MILE CREEK RATE AND THE, UH, SHED AND THE RED OAK CREEK SHED.
AND BOTH OF THOSE ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE BY DOUBLE DIGIT PERCENTAGES EACH YEAR OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS.
NOW, YOU KNOW, TRA IS SUBJECT TO THE SAME CHALLENGES TOO.
THEY'RE, THEY HAVE TO DO A LOT OF EXPANSION.
THEY'VE GOTTA DO A LOT OF REPAIR, A LOT OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, BUT THEY'RE PASSING THOSE COSTS THROUGH TO YOU, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU'RE ULTIMATELY, THE RATE PAYERS HAVE TO ABSORB THOSE COSTS.
SO THIS HERE IS A FORECAST OF YOUR COST FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
IN THE CURRENT YEAR, YOUR WATER OPERATION, IT'S COSTING YOU ABOUT $13.3 MILLION TO OPERATE YOUR WATER SYSTEM.
THAT AMOUNT IS EXPECTED TO GO UP BY ABOUT $4 MILLION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, FROM 13 MILLION TO 17 MILLION.
YOU CAN SEE ONE OF THE LINE ITEM LINE ITEMS IS FUTURE DEBT, WHICH IS THE $8 MILLION THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE ISSUING EACH YEAR THAT YOU HAVE TO PEN, UH, SPEND YOUR, YOUR, UH, THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO FUND.
BUT LOOK AT THE WASTEWATER SIDE.
YOUR WASTEWATER COST OF SERVICE IS $15 MILLION IN THE CURRENT YEAR, BUT IT'S EXPECTED TO GO TO $24 MILLION IN 2028.
YOUR TRA PURCHASES ARE EXPECTED TO BASICALLY DOUBLE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND SO THAT IS WHAT'S DRIVING THE RATE PLAN THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING TO YOU TODAY.
WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT YOU IMPLEMENT A ONE YEAR RATE PLAN EFFECTIVE IN OCTOBER OF 2024, UH, 2023 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2024.
THIS CHART RIGHT HERE SHOWS THE ACTUAL RATES THEMSELVES.
AND THEN ON THE NEXT PAGE, I'LL SHOW YOU THE MORE IMPORTANT SLIDE, WHICH IS THE IMPACT ON RATE PAYERS.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT YOU INCREASE YOUR MONTHLY MINIMUM CHARGES ACROSS THE BOARD TO ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS, AND THAT YOU ADJUST YOUR VOLUME TRIC RATE ON THE WATER SIDE AND ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE AS WELL.
UM, WHILE WE'RE NOT, UH, SUGGESTING RIGHT NOW THAT YOU, THAT YOU IMPLEMENT THE FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS IN 2025 AND BEYOND, WE DO WANNA LET YOU KNOW THAT DUE TO THESE TRA RATE ADJUSTMENTS, THE INCREASE THIS YEAR IS THE FIRST OF ADDITIONAL ADJUSTMENTS THAT YOU, THAT WE'RE GONNA RECOMMEND THAT YOU IMPLEMENT IN ORDER PRIMARILY TO FUND THE TRA AND THE DEBT COSTS.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN TERMS OF WHAT PEOPLE PAY? WELL, LIKE I SAID, THE AVERAGE RATE PAYER USES 7,500 GALLONS OF WATER AND SEWER SERVICE A MONTH.
THAT RATE PAYER PAYS $119 AND 55 CENTS FOR THAT SERVICE UNDER THIS PLAN THAT, UH, THEIR MONTHLY BILL WOULD GO UP BY $11 AND 64 CENTS.
IF YOU USE 5,000 GALLONS, YOUR BILL GOES UP ABOUT $7 AND 95 CENTS.
NOW, THE WAY WATER BILLING WORKS IS THAT IF THE AVERAGE USAGE IS 7,500 GALLONS A MONTH, THAT MEANS ABOUT 70% OF YOUR MONTHLY WATER AND WASTEWATER BILLS ARE GOING TO BE 7,500 GALLONS OR LESS.
SO THE VAST MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS WILL SEE INCREASES OF SOMEWHERE BETWEEN SEVEN AND $11 A MONTH UNDER THIS PROPOSAL.
OBVIOUSLY, IF YOU USE MORE WATER, YOU'RE
[02:00:01]
GOING TO, YOUR BILL WILL GO UP A LITTLE BIT MORE, AND IF YOU USE LESS WATER, YOUR BILL WILL GO UP A LITTLE BIT LESS.ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, YOU WOULD SEE THE SAME BASIC LEVEL OF ADJUSTMENT.
AND LIKE I SAID, THAT'S THE ADJUSTMENT WE RECOMMEND FOR THIS YEAR.
HOWEVER, IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS, WHEN WE COME BACK BEFORE YOU, WE ARE IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, AS LONG AS TRA CONTINUES TO IN TO IMPLEMENT THESE INCREASES, WE'RE GOING TO BE RECOMMENDING SIMILAR ADJUSTMENTS FOR EACH OF THE NEXT THREE TO FOUR YEARS.
THAT'S REALLY, UM, UH, THE PRESENTATION IN A NUTSHELL.
I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE AT THIS TIME.
THANK YOU FOR, UH, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US AGAIN, UH, THIS YEAR.
CAN YOU GO BACK TO THE SLIDE THAT SHOWED, UH, THE INCREASES FOR, UH, THE, JUST WANNA TAKE A MOMENT TO, FOR ALL THE CITIES? NO, THAT THE ONE YOU WERE JUST ON THIS ONE? YES.
THANK YOU COUNCIL, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? YES.
I HAD A QUESTION RELATED TO, I THINK THIS IS MORE SO RELATED TO OUR, OUR WATER REPORT THAT WE DO THE WALLET WATER QUALITY REPORT AT THE END OF IT, IT LETS US KNOW, IT GIVES US KIND OF WHERE OUR STATUS IS.
AND I THINK THIS PAST YEAR WE LOST LIKE 24 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN ANSWER THAT OR IF, UH, SOMEONE ELSE COULD COULD SPEAK TO THAT.
AND MY QUESTION AROUND THAT FOR THIS YEAR, AND THEN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, I THINK IT WAS LIKE 89 MILLION GALLONS.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, UM, WHAT IS, WHERE IS THAT LOSS IN OUR SYSTEM AND HOW ARE WE ADDRESSING THAT? UM, I AM NOT SURE I'M THE RIGHT PERSON TO, UH, ANSWER THAT.
HI, GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
SO THE, THE FIRST PART OF YOUR QUESTION IS YES, WE DO HAVE TO CONDUCT A, WHAT'S CALLED A WATER LOSS AUDIT EACH YEAR, AND THAT IS REPORTED ON OUR, UH, YOU PROBABLY SAW IT ON OUR CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT IN RELATION TO OUR WATER LOSS.
SO YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY GONNA HAVE INHERENT WATER LOSS WITH, UH, WATER MAIN BREAKS, AND ALSO WE'RE REQUIRED BY THE STATE TO FLUSH OUR, UH, DEAD END MAINS AT ANY TIME.
WE PUT A NEW MAIN INTO SERVICE.
SO THERE IS GONNA BE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF WATER LOSS THAT YOU ACTUALLY DO EXPECT.
IT WAS A LITTLE BIT, UM, HIGH THIS YEAR, AND ME BEING NEW, I HAVEN'T QUITE PINPOINTED ON WHAT THE CAUSE OF THAT IS, BUT WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT WE ARE MAKING SOME STEPS TO GET SOME MORE RELIABLE, UH, METERING THAT'S GONNA BE INSTALLED, UH, THIS COMING FALL.
AND ALSO WE'RE, UM, DOING A BETTER JOB AS STAFF WITH, UH, METERING OUR FLUSHING EFFORTS WHEN WE'RE DOING OUR FLUSHING OF OUR DEAD END MAINS TO KIND OF SEE AND TUNE AND TUNE IN THAT NUMBER A LITTLE BIT MORE AND THEN KIND OF SEE, UM, AND THEN WE'RE ALSO DOING LEAK DE AN ONGOING LEAK DETECTION PROGRAM AND, UH, ACTIVELY FIXING, FIXING INFRASTRUCTURES AS WE SEE, UM, WATER LOSS OCCURRING.
AND SO I GUESS, SO IS THAT ADDRESSED IN THE BUDGET? YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING'S THAT YOU'RE SPEAKING ABOUT JUST IN SO METERS, SO I SAW IT WAS ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS FOR METERS, CORRECT? NO, NO.
AND MAYBE I'M TOO, TOO GONE TOO FAR.
BUT YEAH, SO THAT'S ACTUALLY OUR UTILITY CUSTOMER METERS.
UH, WE DID PROGRAM ACTUALLY FLOW METERS FOR OUR, FOR OUR PUMP STATION AND, UH, FY 23, AND THEN WE DO APPROPRIATE FUNDS ON AN ONGOING BASIS TO DO ONGOING LEAK DETECTION.
THANK YOU MADAM MAYOR, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.
YOU MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR PRESENTATION THAT SOME CITIES CHOOSE NOT TO COVER OR TO COVER THE SHORTAGE BY, BY, UM, BY THE GENERAL FUND OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
IS THAT, THAT TARGETING OF FUNDS, IS THAT, IS THAT PREDICATED ON LIKE, UH, A REDUCTION FOR SENIORS OR IS THAT ACROSS THE BOARD? HOW IS THAT IMPLEMENTED? IT, IT GENERALLY WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED ACROSS THE BOARD.
WHAT A CITY WOULD DO IS THEY WOULD DECIDE, WELL, I'VE GOT A $30 MILLION BUDGET, BUT I'M ONLY GONNA FUND 28 MILLION FROM THE RATES AND I'LL JUST DO A CONTRIBUTION FROM THE GENERAL FUND OF THE OTHER 2 MILLION.
GENERALLY WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT RESULTS IN AN ACROSS THE BOARD LESSENING OF THE RATE INCREASE THE DOWN, UM, CITIES DO THIS, IT'S NOT ILLEGAL.
UH, IT'S, HOWEVER, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY GOOD FINANCIAL POLICY FOR TWO REASONS.
ONE, WHAT IT MEANS IS THAT THE MONTHLY BILL, A PERSON PAYS FOR WATER AND SEWER SERVICE IS NOT REFLECTIVE OF WHAT THE COST THE CITY INCURS IN PROVIDING THAT SERVICE.
YOU'RE BASICALLY SELLING YOUR PRODUCT AT A LOSS.
AND NO, IT'S NEVER GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE TO SELL A PRODUCT AT A LOSS.
SECONDLY, EVERY DOLLAR YOU USE FROM THE GENERAL FUND TO SUPPORT THE WATER AND WASTEWATER RAPE FUND IS A DOLLAR THAT'S NOT AVAILABLE FOR OTHER CITY SERVICES, POLICE, FIRE ADMINISTRATION, ALL OF THAT.
SO, LIKE I SAID, CITIES DO IT, UH, BUT, UH, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE BEST POLICY.
YOU ANSWERED MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION.
AND SO THE DETRIMENT OF THAT POLICY WOULD BE THAT YOU'RE TAKING FUNDS FROM THE GENERAL FUND THAT TAKES MONEY OUT OF A ROTATION THAT ARE USED TO SUPPORT FIRE POLICE, RIGHT? OTHER CITYWIDE AMENITIES TO COVER
[02:05:01]
FUNDS WHERE THE, THE, THE, UM, THIS ENTERPRISE FUND ITSELF SHOULD COVER.IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
UH, COUNSEL, DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? CITY MANAGER WRIGHT, DID YOU HAVE COMMENTS? YEAH, SO IN, IN THE, IN, IN THE EFFORT TO, UH, BRING FORWARD A RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL, UM, FOR ADOPTION, I'M, I'M KIND OF LOOKING FOR A LITTLE BIT OF FEEDBACK TODAY.
UM, OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS WE'VE HAD, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOTTEN TO THE BUDGET MEETING ITSELF AND THEN HAD ALTERATIONS IN THE ACTUAL, UH, WATER WASTEWATER RATES, UM, FOR THAT.
AND SO I I, I WANTED TO KIND OF JUST CHECK THE, CHECK THE TEMPERATURE OF THE COUNCIL RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IF THERE IS, HERE, HERE'S THE SITUATION WE'RE RUNNING INTO RIGHT NOW IS THAT IF THERE IS, UH, NOT AN INCREASE IN THE RATE WE NEED TO GO AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO OUR CAPITAL PROGRAM TO NOT DO CERTAIN PROJECTS.
I THINK THAT ONE OF THE NEXT BIGGER ONES THAT WE HAVE COMING UP IS THE, UH, THE DANIEL DALE ELEVATED, UH, TANK.
AND THAT SUPPORTED THE, THE GROWTH IN THAT AREA FOR IT, THAT THAT IS A PROJECT THAT WE WILL HAVE TO DELAY IF WE DON'T HAVE INCREASES IN RATES, UM, BECAUSE OF, OF THE PROJECTED KIND OF WHERE THOSE THAT, THAT THAT SCHEDULE IS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO IF THERE IS AN, IF THERE'S A DESIRE BY THE COUNCIL TO KEEP THE RATE WHERE IT IS, WE NEED TIME TO BE ABLE TO PROGRAM THAT INTO OUR CAPITAL PROGRAM, UM, EFFECTIVELY.
SO, SO I'D LIKE SOME FEEDBACK FROM THE COUNCIL TODAY ABOUT KIND OF WHERE, WHERE YOUR THOUGHTS ARE FOR, UH, ADOPTION OF THIS, UH, WHEN WE GET TO SEPTEMBER FOR, UH, FOR THE RATES.
UM, I'M TRYING TO FORMULATE MY COMMENT.
IT HAS TO DO WITH ESSENTIALLY WHAT YOU SAID, UM, IN TERMS OF HOW WILL IT, I GUESS IN TERMS OF WHAT AMOUNT OF THIS, LIKE IS THIS THE, AND I'M TRYING TO MAKE SURE I WORD THE QUESTION CORRECTLY OR CAN WORD IT TO WHERE IT'S BEST UNDERSTOOD IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT THAT'S PRESENTED HERE TODAY IN TERMS AS, AS IT PERTAINS TO THOSE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
WILL THIS GET US, WILL THIS RATE, IF WE INCREASE, LET'S SAY WE DO THESE RECOMMENDED INCREASES, WILL IT GET US TO FULL COVERAGE OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS? OR IS THIS AMOUNT, WILL IT GET US OVER AND ABOVE WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO COVER THOSE IMPROVEMENTS? DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? IT DOES, YEAH.
BECAUSE I'M SAYING IF THIS IS, IF WE CAN, IF WE CAN INCREASE, BUT MAYBE NOT TO THIS DEGREE, WILL IT STILL GET US TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE TO COVER OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS? UM, SO, SO THERE, THERE'S TWO FACTORS IN THERE AS KIND OF AS, AS DAN WAS KINDA MENTIONING, THERE ARE TWO FACTORS IN THERE THAT KIND OF PLAY INTO THE FUTURE A LITTLE BIT, RIGHT? SO THIS RATE TODAY HELPS US GET TO WHERE WE WILL NEED TO BE AS WE CONTINUE TO ISSUE DEBT EVERY YEAR, RIGHT? SO, SO IT'S AN ONGOING STACKING FORMULA THAT YOU HAVE THAT THAT IS AHEAD OF US.
AND SO A A ONE TIME FOLLOWED BY NOT RAISES IN THE FUTURE WILL OCCUR, WILL GIVE US THE SAME PROBLEM WE WOULD BE IN TODAY WHERE YOU'D BE, OKAY, WE NEED TO SLOW UP THE CAPITAL PROGRAM IN ORDER TO, BUT, BUT THEN YOU ALSO HAVE THE TRA SIDE, RIGHT? IF TRA IS INCREASING THEIR RATES, RIGHT, THEN YOU HAVE, THEN WE'RE GONNA BE RUNNING INTO THAT PROBLEM ANYWAY, YOU KNOW, FOR, AND EVERY YEAR YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE TRA RATE AND SEE WHAT ARE THEY ACTUALLY RAISING THEIR RATES TO, UM, FOR THAT FORMULA.
SO THE, THE, THE FEE THAT'S IN THERE TODAY, UM, HAS THE SCHEDULE AS WE'VE KIND OF LAID IT OUT RIGHT NOW WITH THE CAPITAL PROGRAM.
AND THAT'S KIND OF KEEPING PACE FOR THE MOST PART WITH OUR, UH, OUR WATER, UH, MASTER PLAN THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS LIKE HAMPTON ROAD, WESTMORELAND, YOU KNOW, PUMP STATIONS, ALL OF THOSE ARE $10 MILLION PLUS PROJECTS.
THESE ARE VERY, AND THEN THAT'S KIND OF THE POINT.
THESE ARE, THE PROJECTS WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW ARE VERY LARGE CAPITAL PROJECTS.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE, IT'S NOT LIKE A MILLION DOLLARS HERE AT A MILLION DOLLARS THERE.
UM, THEY ARE $10 MILLION PLUS PROJECTS, UM, FOR IT.
AND SO YOU KIND OF QUICKLY SEE THAT, OKAY, IF, IF WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE THAT FUNDING, WE NEED TO SLOW UP THAT PROJECT UNTIL THAT FUNDING KIND OF CATCHES UP TO IT, UM, FOR IT.
AND IN SOME CASES WE WOULD BE DELAYING IT FOR, YOU KNOW, UNTIL WE GET THEIR INCREASES TO BE ABLE TO PAY FOR THOSE, THOSE DEBT INCREASES.
I GUESS, I GUESS A PART OF, A PART OF JUSTIFYING THE INCREASE TO MYSELF AND EVEN TO RESIDENTS, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, OF, UM, IF WE DON'T DO THESE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, WHAT DETRIMENT, I GUESS, COULD THAT HAVE TO THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF SERVICE AND QUALITY OF SERVICE, UM, AS IT PERTAINS TO DELIVERING WATER AND, AND SO FORTH.
SO I GUESS THAT'S A, SO, AND I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S FOR THIS PART OF THE PRESENTATION OR NOT, BUT, UM, THAT WOULD HELP TO KIND OF JUSTIFY THE INCREASE IN MY MINDAND.
UH, MS. DELACEY MAY, MAYBE YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND, AND ADDRESS, UH, THE UPCOMING PROJECTS THAT ARE, UH, THAT, THAT ARE ANTICIPATED.
IF YOU WILL RECALL, LAST MONTH, WE BROUGHT A PROJECT BEFORE YOU FOR THE WESTMORELAND PLUM STATION PROJECT THAT'S CURRENTLY IN DESIGN.
WE ANTICIPATE NEXT YEAR ACTUALLY TEEING UP THAT PROJECT FOR CONSTRUCTION.
AND OUR PRELIMINARY OPINION, UH, CONSTRUCTION COST FOR THAT PROJECT IS APPROXIMATELY ABOUT ABOUT $10 MILLION FOR A, A COMPLETE REHAB OF THE STATION.
THAT STATION WAS PUT ONLINE IN 1986.
SO IT IS AGING INFRASTRUCTURE IN ONE OF OUR LARGEST PUMP STATIONS.
SO OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A PROJECT THAT REALLY NEEDS TO MOVE FORWARD AS CITY MANAGER WRIGHT, UM, ALLUDED TO EARLIER, THERE'S A,
[02:10:01]
THERE'S A THREE PART PROJECT THAT WAS CALLED OUT IN OUR MOST RECENT MASTER PLAN, UH, THAT INCLUDED A NEW ELEVATED STORAGE TANK IN THE, UH, BOLTON BOONE ZONE AND THE, UH, DEMOLITION OF THE CURRENT PUMP STATION THAT'S THERE AND RELOCATING THAT PUMP STATION TO THE HAMPTON ROAD, UH, PUMP STATION, AS WELL AS, UH, LAYING A 20 INCH WATERLINE, UH, TO, UH, FROM, UH, CENTER PARK, I BELIEVE UP TO WESTMORELAND.SO OUR CON IN TALKING TO OUR CONSULTANTS, THAT'S A PROJECT THAT REALLY, EVERYTHING'S KINDA LIKE TIED TO THE HIP BONE.
IT REALLY ALL NEEDS TO BE DONE IN SEQUENTIAL ORDER.
SO IN ORDER FOR THAT TO, IN ORDER FOR US TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT GROWTH IN THAT AREA, AND ALSO TO BE ABLE TO, UH, SATISFY OUR REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AS FAR AS STORAGE CAPACITY NEEDS, YEAH.
THAT IS ALSO A PROJECT THAT WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD AS WELL.
MR. LACEY, THE BOLTON BOONE, AND THE, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THOSE THAT ARE TIED TO THE HIP BONE IN YOUR WORDS.
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE IN TERMS OF A NUMBER? SO, IN TERMS OF, SO IN TERMS OF A NUMBER FOR THE ENGINEERING COST, WE'RE LOOKING AT PROBABLY APPROXIMATELY ABOUT $3 MILLION.
AND I WANNA SAY IF, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, I BELIEVE THAT CONSTRUCTION COST IS ABOUT 13 TO 14 MILLION FOR ALL, FOR ALL THREE OF THOSE PROJECTS.
COUNCIL, ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? UM, CITY MANAGER WRIGHT, AGAIN, IS KIND OF SEEKING, UM, SOME FEEDBACK AND, AND GAUGING OUR TEMPERATURE FOR THE INCREASE.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY I AM IN SUPPORT OF IT, AND I BELIEVE THAT AS LONG AS WE EDUCATE OUR RESIDENTS ABOUT THE NEED, THEN I THINK WE'LL BE OKAY.
THANK YOU, MAYOR PRO TEM COUNCIL.
UM, ANY ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK AS WE MOVE FORWARD? YES, I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT, SO THE INCREASES ARE BASED OFF CONSUMPTION, AND SO YOU'RE SAYING THE CON THE THESE INCREASES ARE NECESSARY FOR THE CIP FROM THE CONSUMPTION STANDPOINT, HOWEVER, YOU ALSO NOTED THAT IT WAS BAD POLICY WHEN OTHER CITIES HAVE, UM, TAKE, HAVE, UH, SUPPLEMENTED, I SUPPOSE FROM THE GENERAL FARM TO THE CONSUMPTION PIECE.
SO YOU HAVE THE CONSUMPTION SIDE.
THAT PART I UNDERSTAND, BUT CONSIDERING THE NECESSARY THINGS THAT WE HAVE GOING ON IS, WHILE IT, IT'S, IT IS CONSUMPTION, BUT IT IS ALSO JUST PLAINO INFRASTRUCTURE, WHETHER WE USED IT OR NOT, THOSE THINGS WOULD HAVE TO BE DONE.
SO IN TERMS OF WHAT, UH, WHAT DOES THE CAPITAL STACK LOOK LIKE IN OTHER CITIES? YOU KNOW, DID THEY CONSIDER, MAYBE IT WASN'T, THEY SU THEY SUPPLEMENTED BECAUSE SIMPLY OF CONSUMPTION, BUT THEY SUPPLEMENTED THEIR CIP THEIR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WITH THEIR GENERAL FUNDS.
ARE THERE ANY EXAMPLES OF THAT? UM, GENERALLY IT'S MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, IN OUR EXPERIENCE, IT'S BEEN TO SUPPLEMENT THE CIP, UM, THAT THEY'RE JUST NOT WILLING TO ADJUST RATES HIGH ENOUGH TO COVER THE CIP NEEDS.
BUT ALSO, BUT ALSO KEEP THIS IN MIND, I WORK FOR SOME UTILITIES THAT HAVE INCREDIBLY LOW RATES.
THEY HAVE REALLY LOW RATES BECAUSE THEY LITERALLY DON'T PUT ANY MONEY INTO THEIR SYSTEM, AND SO THEIR SYSTEM IS FALLING APART, THE QUALITY IS DETERIORATING.
IT'S SORT OF LIKE AN OLD PHILOSOPHY THAT SAYS, I CAN SAVE A HUNDRED DOLLARS BY NOT CHANGING THE OIL IN MY CAR, RIGHT? SO I'M NOT, I'M NOT REALLY TALKING ABOUT SAVING, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED DOLLARS TO DO WHAT YOU JUST SAID.
BUT MORE SO IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAD, IF THERE WAS A MIDDLE GROUND, SO WE HAVE THE CONSUMPTION INCREASES THAT WE HAVE, RIGHT? BUT WE ALSO HAVE SOME FUNDS IN OUR GENERAL FUNDS TO HELP WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
I GUESS I'M DECOUPLING THE CONSUMPTION PIECE WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE PIECE, BUT, YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND HOW IT ALL GOES TOGETHER, BUT JUST WANTED TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT OTHERS, OTHERS, WHAT OTHER EXAMPLES ARE THERE OF THAT? AGAIN, MOST CITY, IN MY EXPERIENCE, MOST OF THE CITIES THAT WE'VE WORKED FOR THAT HAVE DONE SOME FORM OF SUBSIDY FROM THE GENERAL FUND, DO IT FOR THE CAPITAL PROJECTS.
THEY, THEY, THEY FOLLOW THE EXACT PHILOSOPHY THAT YOU'RE FOLLOWING THAT IS THAT YOU RAISE, YOU, YOU MAKE THE RATE PAYERS PAY THE OPERATING AND CONSUMPTION BASED INCREASES LIKE TRA AND THEN THE GENERAL FUND CONTRIBUTES TO BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO, UH, FOR THE SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S, I MEAN, VERY WELL-MEANING VERY UNDERSTOOD, VERY WELL.
HOWEVER, THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT THE COST OF WATER SERVICE IS A COMBINATION OF THE TWO, AND IT'S HARD TO DECOUPLE THE CAPITAL COSTS FROM THE OPERATING COSTS BECAUSE THEY'RE BOTH, YOU CAN'T HAVE A WATER SYSTEM WITHOUT THE CAPITAL SPENDING AND YOU CAN'T HAVE THE WATER SYSTEM WITHOUT THE OPERATING SPENDING.
SO YES, WHILE YOU CAN USE TAX MONEY TO PAY THE CAPITAL, YOU'RE STILL RESULTING IN THE SAME OUTCOME.
AND THAT IS PEOPLE ARE PAYING, NOT, THE PEOPLE ARE NOT PAYING THE TRUE COST OF THE PROVISION OF WATER.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE DON'T, WE TRY TO DISCOURAGE CITIES FROM DOING THAT.
AND THEN I KNOW ONE, WHILE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT, WE POSSIBLY MAY TALK ABOUT DOING A WATER AUDIT.
UM, ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH INDEPENDENT WATER AUDITS, THINGS LIKE THAT, AND HOW THAT CONTRIBUTES TO GREATER INFORMATION BY WATER AUDIT? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT GOING TO DIFFERENT HOMES AND DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S LEAKAGE OR, OR, UM, WHETHER WATER IS BEING I, YOU KNOW,
[02:15:01]
EXCESSIVELY, I THINK, I THINK POSSIBLY.'CAUSE ON THE CITY SIDE, WE DO OUR OWN WATER AUDITS, RIGHT? RIGHT.
OKAY, THEN YES, IT'S, IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO DO THAT.
AND EVEN MORE SO NOW, AS WATER RESOURCES BECOME MORE AND MORE STRAINED, WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT WATER GOING DOWN THE STREET.
YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT SPRINKLER SYSTEMS OPERATING WHEN IT'S RAINING OUTSIDE.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANT WATER TO BE U WE DON'T WANT, THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE SOME LOST, LOST WATER IN A SYSTEM.
THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE SOME AMOUNT, BUT THE, THE CHALLENGE IS TO TRY TO MINIMIZE THAT.
AND FROM, FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN IN THE PAST, CITY DE SOTO'S ALWAYS DONE A VERY GOOD JOB AT TRYING TO MINIMIZE THAT WATER, THAT EXCESSIVE WATER LOSS.
AGAIN, IT'S NEVER GOING TO BE PERFECT.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER BUR, COUNCIL MEMBER CHISHOLM, WE, I HAVE NOT HEARD.
WELL, I THINK YOU WERE IN AGREEMENT WITH WHAT IS BEING RECOMMENDED.
COUNCIL MEMBER CHISHOLM WAS SEGE.
UH, YEAH, I, I'M STILL KIND OF STRUGGLING WITH THE RATE INCREASE, HONESTLY.
UM, I, WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE, I JUST STRUGGLE WITH THE, THE CUSTOMER, THE RESIDENTS TAKING THAT IMPACT FOR THE CIPI, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE, I MEAN, I, I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
I JUST, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW.
SO IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE SOMEWHAT OF A CONSENSUS TO, UM, CONSIDER THE RECOMMENDED, UM, THE RECOMMENDED INCREASE, UM, FOR YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO, I THINK I'M, EXCUSE ME, MADAM MAYOR, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE CONSUMPTION, UM, TOTAL IS, NOT CONSUMPTION, BUT THE, THE DIFFERENCE OF THE INCREASE.
WHAT IS THAT? HOW MUCH ARE WE CAPTURING WITH THIS INCREASE? SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS ON ONE OF THE OTHER SLIDES, BUT FROM WHERE WE ARE TODAY CURRENTLY TO WHERE WE, WHERE WHERE YOU'RE RECOMMENDING WE BE, WHAT IS THAT NUMBER? UH, IS THAT HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL REVENUE? UM, UNFORTUNATELY I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT WE COULD CERTAINLY GET THAT.
AND THEN, UM, TO YOUR QUE, AND THAT WAS A, THAT WAS ACTUALLY A PART OF MY QUESTION THAT I DID NOT ASK AS IT PERTAINED TO HOW IT IMPACTS THE CIP OR WHAT IT PUTS TOWARDS IT.
BUT AS, AS CITY MANAGER WRIGHT MENTIONED, KEEPING THAT IN MIND IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH IT CAPTURES, UM, WITHIN THE FISCAL YEAR, THEN IT STACKS TO A DEGREE IS CORRECT.
IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT AS IT GOES TOWARDS THAT.
SO IT WOULDN'T BE LIKE ONE, ONE INCREASE IS GONNA CAPTURE ALL OF THE CIP IMPROVEMENTS, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S STACKED OVER YEARS, OVER TIME.
SO I GUESS IF THERE, IF THERE COULD BE SOME, UH, SOME MODEL PRESENTED IN TERMS OF WHAT THE, AGAIN, WHAT THAT INCREASE IS, AS SHE MENTIONED, UM, IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT AMOUNT IS, IN TERMS OF WHAT IT CAPTURES WITHIN THE FISCAL YEAR VERSUS OVER TIME, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT DOES.
AND AS IT PERTAINS TO OUR CIP PROJECTS THAT WE'RE PROPOSING, UM, AGAIN, IT WOULD KIND OF HELP WITH THE UNDERSTANDING OF IT AND TO, UM, TO CAPTURE, YOU KNOW, JUST TO BE ABLE TO AGAIN, KIND OF JUSTIFY THE INCREASE TO OUR RESIDENTS, WHICH ARE THE CONSUMERS AND BENEFIT FROM THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, UM, THAT ARE MADE.
SO, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND AND I'M, I'M, YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT RESIDENTS HAVING TO, UM, HAVING TO, YOU KNOW, TAKE THE COST OF THE INCREASE.
HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, THAT IS THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T, YOU KNOW, IF YOU TRY TO STAY THE SAME MM-HMM.
AND I THINK IT'S JUST REALLY ABOUT JUSTIFYING, UM, JUSTIFYING THAT TO THE RESIDENTS, UM, IN TERMS OF WHAT, WHAT THE REAL NEEDS OF THE CITY ARE AND, UM, MM-HMM,
SO AGAIN, I I, I DON'T WANT TO USE THE TERM I SUPPORT THE INCREASE, HOWEVER I UNDERSTAND THE INCREASE.
UM, BUT I, I THINK IF WE COULD GET SOME ADDITIONAL MODELS AS FAR AS WHAT THE INCREASE LOOKS LIKE, AS WELL AS WHAT THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS LOOKS LIKE, AND HOW THOSE, UM, WORK TOGETHER, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL AS WELL AS WE CONTINUE MAD.
MAYOR, MAY I ASK ALSO THAT IF, BECAUSE WITH THIS, COULD WE, COULD, DO SENIORS STILL GET A DISCOUNT FOR, WOULD THAT STILL BE IN EFFECT AS WELL? YEAH.
OH, I DON'T THINK, YEAH, I DON'T THINK WE'RE PROPOSING TO REMOVE THE DISCOUNTS.
MM-HMM,
BECAUSE AGAIN, THE, THE TR THE DEBT PART IS, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT THIS PART'S WELL UNDERSTOOD.
THE DEBT PART IS LIKE, IF, IF WE'RE GONNA DO THE PROJECTS, THAT PART IS CERTAIN, RIGHT? WE, WE KNOW THAT THOSE ARE INCREASED COSTS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE.
TRA IS ALWAYS A BIT OF A QUESTION ON IT FROM YEAR TO YEAR.
LIKE THEY, THEY FORECAST AND THEN THEY, THEY LET YOU KNOW.
SO IT'S, WHILE IT'S PROJECTING THAT NUMBER, WE, AND WE DON'T WANNA IGNORE THAT FACT, WE ALSO HAVE TO DO AN, AN ANNUAL CHECK-IN ON WHERE THAT RATE IS TODAY TO BE ABLE TO DETERMINE ARE WE FALLING BEHIND OR ARE WE CATCHING UP ON THAT? AND SO THERE'S A PART OF IT THAT IS LESS CERTAIN THAN THE OTHER PART, UM, ON, ON THAT.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, SO IN THAT MODELING, IF WE COULD KIND OF JUST SEE A LITTLE BIT OF THE SEPARATION OF THAT PART TO HELP US UNDERSTAND HOW
[02:20:01]
MUCH IS FOR SURE AND HOW MUCH IS, UH, BASED ON FUTURE DECISIONS BY TRA TO INCREASE THEIR RATES ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.I'M GONNA, UM, RECOMMEND WE MOVE TO THE NEXT ITEM.
SENIOR MANAGER, RIGHT? THAT YOU GET WHAT YOU NEEDED.
UM, NEXT WE HAVE THE, UH, SANITATION FUND.
UM, IF YOU TURN ON PAGE FOUR IN THAT SECTION, IT LISTS THE SUMMARIES.
UM, CURRENTLY WE HAVE 6.9 MILLION, UH, BUDGET AND RE AND REVENUE.
AND THO AND THAT OF COURSE COMES FROM RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL FEES AND EXPENDITURES.
RIGHT NOW WE ALSO HAVE ABOUT 6.97 BUDGETED AND, UM, EXPENDITURES.
AND ABOUT 80% OF THOSE EXPENDITURES ARE RELATED TO DISPOSAL AND, UM, COLLECTION FEES.
UM, WITH THAT, WE WILL HAVE, UM, I THINK DAN, AGAIN TO COME UP AND GIVE US OUR, UM, PRESENTATION ON A PROPOSED RATE STUDY.
I'LL BE EVEN QUICKER ON THIS ONE.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, LET'S, UH, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT PEOPLE PAY FOR SANITATION SERVICE HERE IN THE CITY AS COMPARED TO, UM, OTHER, UH, AREAS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, A RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER PAYS A MONTHLY FEE OF $26 AND 52 CENTS TO THE CITY.
NOW, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT SANITATION THAT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM WATER AND WASTEWATER, AND THAT IS, THERE'S DIFFERENT LEVELS OF SERVICE HERE IN THE CITY.
DESOTO, YOU HAVE TWICE A WEEK PICKUP.
MANY CITIES IN THE FORT WORTH METROPLEX DO NOT.
UH, I KNOW IN DENTON WHERE I LIVE, IT'S ONCE A WEEK.
AND IN FRISCO WHERE I USED TO LIVE, IT'S ALSO ONCE A WEEK.
THIS CHART RIGHT HERE SHOWS THAT THE LIGHTER COLORED BARS ARE THE ONE DAY PER WEEK PICKUP.
AND THE, THE DARK BLUER ONES ARE THE TWO DAYS PER WEEK PICKUP.
SO IT IS SHOWING THAT YOUR SANITATION RATES ARE TRENDING A LITTLE UPWARDS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, ONCE AGAIN, YOU ARE BASICALLY IN THE BALLPARK.
AND WHAT WE'VE ALSO SEEN IS THAT IT IS MUCH MORE COMMON IN SANITATION FUNDS FOR THERE TO BE SUPPORT AND SUBSIDIES FROM THE GENERAL FUND, FROM THE CLIENTS THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH THAN IT IS IN THE WATER AND WASTEWATER FUND.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE SANITATION FUND? WELL, AGAIN, LIKE WATER AND WASTEWATER, YOU TRY TO RUN IT LIKE A BUSINESS, LIKE ANY BUSINESS COSTS GO UP FROM YEAR TO YEAR, AND YOUR COSTS ARE GOING UP THREE OR SO PERCENT A YEAR JUST DUE TO INFLATION.
BUT THE BIG FACTOR ON SANITATION IS YOUR CONTRACT WITH REPUBLIC SERVICES, THEY HAVE, UH, YOU'VE JUST FINALIZED A NEW CONTRACT WITH THEM AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE IMPLEMENTING A 13% INCREASE IN THEIR DISPOSAL FEES.
THAT IS A VERY SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF YOUR TOTAL BUDGET, AND THAT IS GONNA REQUIRE, ONCE AGAIN, FOR YOU TO PASS IT THROUGH TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, AND THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE A, A LARGER ADJUSTMENT THIS YEAR.
AND NEXT, IN ORDER TO, JUST, JUST TO CORRECT THAT STATEMENT, DAN, JUST A LITTLE BIT, IS THAT WE ARE, WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THE FINALIZATION OF THAT CONTRACT, I'M SORRY, WITH REPUBLIC FRIGHTENED.
SO, ALTHOUGH IT HAS NOT BEEN FINALIZED YET, WE HAVE FORECASTED THAT ANTICIPATED RATE INTO THE, THE FORECASTING FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND SO I, UH, I BELIEVE AT OUR NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING IS WHEN WE WILL PROBABLY HAVE THAT READY FOR YOU TO GO AHEAD AND CONSIDER THE ACTUAL CONTRACT ITSELF.
THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
UM, WE'RE ALSO RECOMMENDING THAT YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE TWO WEEK, THE TWO PICKUP PER WEEK POLICY.
UM, AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU HAVE IMPLEMENTED A SCHEDULE OF PURCHASING ONE STREET SWEEPER EVERY FIVE YEARS.
STREET SWEEPERS ARE EXPENSIVE, $180,000 AND THE NEXT ONE IS SCHEDULED RIGHT NOW TO BE PURCHASED IN FISCAL YEAR 2025.
SO, PRI AND FINALLY, YOUR SANITATION FUND HAS BEEN STRUGGLING A BIT THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
IT'S BEEN STRUGGLING TO, FOR THE REVENUES TO MEET EXPENSES.
SO FOR THAT AND FOR THE FACT THAT YOUR INCREASES, UH, YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF EX INFLATION RELATED INCREASES, AND DUE TO THE ANTICIPATED REPUBLIC INCREASES, WE'RE GONNA RECOMMEND A SLIGHTLY HIGHER ADJUSTMENT IN 2024 AND 2025.
SO THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE, YOUR RATE OF $26 AND 52 CENTS, WE RECOMMEND ADJUSTING THAT TO 29 97 IN OCTOBER, EFFECTIVE IN OCTOBER OF 2023.
THAT'S A $3 AND 45 CENTS, UH, PER MONTH INCREASE FOR YOUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
AFTER YOU IMPLEMENT THAT, YOUR FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS, WE ANTICIPATE BEING MUCH LESS BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN, YOU'VE GOTTA MEET THE HIGHER ANTICIPATED REPUBLIC, UM, INCREASE.
ONCE YOU DO THAT, YOUR INCREASES ARE GONNA BE A DOLLAR TO A DOLLAR AND A HALF A MONTH, UH, EACH YEAR AFTER THAT.
SO THAT'S OUR RECOMMENDATION FOR THE, UH, SANITATION SIDE.
SO ONCE AGAIN, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
MI GUESS I WANNA TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE LAST SLIDE.
UH, IF YOU COULD GO BACK, UH, FOR ME PLEASE, UM, WHY SUCH A BIG JUMP AND NOT JUST SPREAD IT EVENLY ACROSS YEAR OVER YEAR, UM, FOR THE INCREASE THIS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO FUND ALL OF THE REPUBLIC
[02:25:01]
INCREASE THIS YEAR, IF YOU SCALED IT BACK, LET'S SAY YOU DID IT $2, $2, $2, YOU COULD DO THAT, BUT IT WOULD MEAN THAT YOU SANITATION FUND WOULD PROBABLY RECOVER LESS THAN ITS COSTS IN 2024 AND 2025.AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO SUPPORT IT FROM THE GENERAL FUND.
BECAUSE THE THING IS REPUBLIC'S HITTING YOU WITH THAT 12% INCREASE IMMEDIATELY.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT'S CAUSING THE, WELL, THAT'S WHAT'S CAUSING THE INCREASE TO BE HIGHER IN, IN, IN THIS YEAR.
AND I KNOW WE HAD TO SIGN NDA, SO I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT SAY FROM THAT CON THAT COMMITTEE, SO I WON'T SAY ANYTHING, BUT I DON'T, FOR SOME REASON, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE 13, 12% INCREASE JUST BASED ON WHAT WE SAW.
UM, UM, THAT JUST SEEMS STRANGE.
SO, SO THE INCREASE IS REALLY BASED ON, YOU REMEMBER, WE, WE WENT OUT TO MARKET, UH, FOR THE, UH, SANITATION RATES.
SO THE, THE PROPOSED RATE FOR UH, REPUBLIC IS REALLY THE LOWEST OF THE THREE COMPANIES FOR, FOR ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE.
SO EITHER WAY, WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT AN INCREASE OF MINIMUM OF 12% OR MORE, REGARDLESS OF WHAT COMPANY WE WE WERE TO GO WITH.
SO, SO THAT IS WHY THAT THAT LOOKS THAT WAY.
AND, AND, AND, AND ON TOP OF THAT, AS DAN MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, SANITATION RATES HAVE NOT BEEN RECOVERING THE COST.
SO WE, SINCE EVEN BEFORE I BECAME DEPUTY CITY MANAGER, WE WERE JUST EATING UP FUND BALANCE.
SO THE FUND, THE FUND HAS GOTTEN TO A POINT WHERE NOW IT IS
SO WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO, UH, BE, UH, SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THAT AREA.
SO RIPPING OFF THE BANDAID ESSENTIALLY IS WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? PRETTY MUCH, YEAH.
RIPPING OFF THE BANDAID IN THE SAME YEAR THAT YOU HAVE A SERVICE LEVEL INCREASE COST AS WELL.
AND, AND SO IT'S LIKE RIPPING OFF THE BANDAID AND THEN DOING IT AGAIN, UH, FOR IT IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CATCH UP TO WHERE WE ARE.
'CAUSE, UH, THE LAST TWO YEARS WE HAVE SUBMITTED TO THE COUNCIL IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FINANCIAL RESERVE POLICY.
A, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT OUR, THE SANITATION FUND IS THE ONLY FUND THAT WE HAVE THAT DOESN'T MEET ITS FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS IN THE RESERVE POLICY.
IT HAS BEEN USING THE FUND BALANCE ON THERE, AND NOW WE'RE BELOW THE MINIMUM, UM, FOR THIS.
SO OUR TARGET HERE IS TO BRING IT UP TO AT LEAST THE MINIMUM LEVEL, COVER THE COST, COVER IT AT, AT THE MINIMUM LEVEL, AND THEN FROM THERE, THEN AT LEAST IT STABILIZED ITSELF, AND THEN WE CAN CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD, UM, IN A FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY WITH THAT FUND.
UM, MR. CAMERON, YOU, UM, I REMEMBER US GOING THROUGH THE HEARING OR, UH, THE PRESENTATION WITH REPUBLIC AND WE DECIDED THIS YEAR TO EXERCISE OUR OPTION TO KINDA KEEP RATES FLAT.
WE, WE, UH, WE HAD THAT ONE REMAINING FINAL OPTION AND THAT JUST MAINTAINED THE STANDARD 3% INCREASE THAT WAS IN THAT CONTRACT.
CAN YOU SHARE WITH US WHAT THE, UH, WE ARE, WHAT WE'RE PROJECTING, UH, THE FUND BALANCE TO END FOR 2022 THIS YEAR? CAN YOU, IS THAT, I WAS LOOKING, AND I'M SEEING TWO DIFFERENT NUMBERS.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE FUND BALANCE, WHERE WE STARTED THIS FISCAL YEAR AT AND WHERE WE'RE PROJECTING TO END THIS FISCAL YEAR? ONE SECOND.
I, OH, TRACY, TRACY CAN ANSWER.
UM, IF YOU LOOK ON PAGE, LEMME MAKE SURE I HAVE THE RIGHT ONE.
ON PAGE FIVE AT FOUR AND FIVE, UM, WE'RE PROPOSED COMING INTO 24 OF 175,000.
AND, UH, RIGHT NOW, CURRENTLY WE ARE PROPOSED TO END AT 192, BUT I'D SAY WE WILL ADJUST THAT SO WE MEET THE MINIMUM, UM, FUND BALANCE, UH, REQUIREMENT BEFORE YOU APPROVE THE ADOPTED BUDGET.
AND THAT ADJUSTMENT WOULD BE A TRANSFER FROM THE GENERAL FUND? UM, NO, WE PROBABLY HAVE TO LOOK AT THE EXPENDITURES AND, UM, MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT THERE.
WELL, I, I, I THINK HIS QUESTION WAS HOW AT THE END OF THE CURRENT YEAR IS THIS YOUR, THAT IS, SO, SO AT THE END OF THE LAST FISCAL YEAR, WHERE WERE WE FUND BALANCE WISE? OH, AND WHAT ARE WE PROJECTING THE FUND BALANCE TO BE? LAST FISCAL YEAR, WE WERE AT 3 52 WAS OUR BEGINNING FUND BALANCE IN 23, AND WE'RE PROJECTED TO END AT 1 75.
UM, DID I ASK YES, THAT IS, AND TO THE PRESENTERS, UM, UM, UM, TO HIS POINT, THIS IS, UM, THIS PARTICULAR SANITATION, UM, DEPARTMENT, THIS, THIS PARTICULAR FUND, UH, WE KINDA CONTROL ALL OF THE COST WITHIN IT, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF, I MEAN, WITH REPUBLIC AND WITHOUT SUBCONTRACT.
THERE'S NOT LIKE A, AN OUTSIDE AGENCY SUCH AS THE, UH, TRA THAT IMPOSES, IS THAT CORRECT? NO, I MEAN, IT IS OUR CONTRACT WITH REPUBLIC.
[02:30:01]
THAT WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER AT ALL.IT IS, IT IS A CONTRACT WITH REPUBLIC.
UH, SO ONCE WE ESTABLISH THAT CONTRACT, THEN WE AGREE UPON INCREASES THAT CONTRACT WILL INCLUDE, UH, YOU KNOW, AN AGREEMENT UPON WHAT THE MINIMUM OR MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF INCREASES WILL BE EACH YEAR.
WHEREAS WITH CRA, THERE'S NOT, THERE'S NO CONTROLLING ACT.
AND, AND, AND, AND TO THAT POINT, UM, I, I KNOW THAT THE PUBLIC SPOKE AT THE LAST TIME WE BROUGHT THIS PUBLIC SAYING THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING LESS THAN TWO PICKUPS.
THEY LIKE THE, THE FLEXIBILITY OF CERTAIN THINGS.
UM, CITY MANAGER WRIGHT, ANYTHING SPECIFIC YOU'RE NEEDING FROM US ON THIS ONE? K KIND OF, KIND OF THE SAME DIRECTION WE WERE LOOKING AT BEFORE? UH, THIS ONE SEEMS TO BE AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, IT'S A LITTLE BIT EASIER BECAUSE WE KNOW WHERE THE COST WILL BE BASED ON OUR CURRENT DIRECTION RIGHT NOW WITH, UH, WITH THE RENEGOTIATION OF THE CONTRACT AND KIND OF WHERE WE ARE, UM, WITH THAT.
AND SO JUST KIND OF MAKING SURE, UH, THAT, BECAUSE THE, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT RATES AND THEN WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT A CONTRACT SOON TO BE ABLE TO, TO APPROVE THAT, UM, TOO.
AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, EVERYONE'S IN, IN LOCKSTEP WITH HOW IT IS THAT THOSE TWO THINGS ARE MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER.
UM, WITH IT, IF ONE CHANGES, THE OTHER ONE KIND OF NEEDS TO CHANGE AS WELL IN ORDER TO NOT PUT US INTO A NEGATIVE FINANCIAL POSITION.
SO, SO IF EVERYONE'S COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT DIRECTION WE'RE HEADING RIGHT NOW, THEN THEN THAT MEANS THAT THESE ARE, THESE ARE THE RATES THAT WHERE THEY NEED TO BE ALONG WITH THE, WHAT WOULD BE A NEW CONTRACT WITH REPUBLIC MOVING FORWARD, UM, ON THAT, IF THERE'S ANY, UH, CHANGES TO EITHER ONE OF THOSE, THEN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE AC ACCOUNTING FOR THAT.
COUNSEL, IS THERE A CONSENSUS TO MOVE FORWARD? AGREED.
THANK YOU, COUNSEL, WE CAN MOVE FORWARD TO THE NEXT ITEM.
YOU WON'T HEAR FROM ME AGAIN TODAY, SO
UM, NEXT WE WOULD MOVE ONTO THE DRAINAGE FUND.
AND IF YOU CAN TURN TO PAGE, THE, THE SECTION AND PAGE 15, 16 AND 17, THAT LIST START DRAINAGE FUNDS AND DEPARTMENTS.
AND I THINK WE HAD A DETAILED PRESENTATION AT THE WORK SESSION ON MONDAY TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW WHERE WE HEADED, YOU KNOW, IN THE FUTURE AS FAR AS THE DRAINAGE REVENUE AND THE DRAINAGE CHARGES.
BUT CURRENTLY MOVING INTO FISCAL YEAR 24, OUR RATES WILL STAY THE SAME.
AND WE HAVE A TOTAL REVENUE BUDGET OF 1.6 MILLION.
AND THEN OF COURSE, EXPENDITURE IS AT 1.6 MILLION.
AND I CAN ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS, COUNSEL, ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.
HEARING NONE, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT ITEM.
WELL, UM, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO, TO GET A COMPILATION OF JUST ALL THE INCREASES, YOU KNOW, SO THE, THE PROJECTED INCREASES, I KNOW WE HAVE IT ALL IN, YOU KNOW, THESE DIFFERENT PART AND PARCELS, BUT THAT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE JUST FAR AS WHICH SPECIFIC FUNDS COUNCIL MEMBER R FOR ALL THE FUNDS THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED, BUT JUST ALL OF THE SANITATION FUNDS YEAH.
THAT WE'RE SPEAKING OF ALL THE YEAH, ALL THE UTILITIES, ETC.
AND MAYBE PUT THEM IN SOME SORT OF A TABLE WHEREAS WE CAN DIGEST IT A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
UM, MOVING ON, UH, WE HAVE A DISCUSSION OF OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN BY ELIZABETH AND OUR DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
DO YOU HAVE THE PRESENTATION? OH, OKAY.
I AM ELIZABETH ESI, I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND I'M GONNA GO OVER THE CIP CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, UM, KIND OF ON THE BEHALF OF THE ALL DEPARTMENTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, PARKS DOES THEIR OWN CIP WITH THE AQUATIC CENTER, UH, PUBLIC UTILITIES DOES SOME WATER PROJECTS ON THEIR OWN.
AND THEN, UH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DOES MOST OF THE STREETS PROJECTS AS WELL AS THE WASTEWATER PROJECTS.
SO, UH, WHAT IS CIP? IT'S THE FIVE YEAR PLAN FOR THE MAJORITY OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS.
THE TYPICAL COST OF THESE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ARE OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND, AND OUR CIP PROGRAM IS, UH, TYPICALLY FIVE YEARS OR EVEN LONGER.
AND THE PURPOSE OF THE CIP IS SO THAT WE COULD HELP WITH THE BUDGET IMPACTS, THE FUNDING COMMITMENTS, UH, SUCH AS DALLAS COUNTY FEDERAL STATE FUNDING, ARPA FUNDING, WHICH IS AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT, AND CDBG FUNDING THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT, AND ALSO, UM, UH, HOW THAT AFFECTS BOND ELECTIONS AND SALES.
SO THIS IS JUST AN ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS FOR OUR CIP PROGRAM.
SO IN TOTAL, IF YOU ADD UP ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROJECTS, WE ARE LOOKING AT, UH, 267 MILLION THAT WERE PROJECTED TO SPEND OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD.
[02:35:01]
UM, AND I KNOW YOU WERE INTERESTED IN, YOU KNOW, WATER THERE.SO THAT'S COMING IN AROUND 59 MILLION AND THEN WASTEWATER, YOU KNOW, 19 MILLION.
SO, UM, AND THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY.
IF I WERE TO ADD ALL OF THE PROJECTS PUT TOGETHER, AND I DO HAVE NOTES ON THE SIDE, YOU KNOW, PARKS INCLUDES THE RECREATION AQUATIC CENTER FACILITIES, UH, INCLUDES THE PUBLIC FACILITY BUILDING, BUT DOES NOT INCLUDE NAN'S FARMS AT THIS TIME.
AND THEN THE ROADWAY DEVELOPMENT, THOSE ARE ROAD WIDENING PROJECTS, BUT THEY DON'T INCLUDE, UM, OH YEAH.
AND, AND, AND THESE ARE JUST ESTIMATED OF, OF COURSE, BUT, UH, IT'S WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY PROJECTING OUR CIP PROJECTS TO BE.
SO, AND THIS DOESN'T INCLUDE ANY FUNDING SOURCES, THESE ARE ESTIMATED EXPENSES.
SO IF WE HAVE ANY SAVINGS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS OR ANY PREVIOUS YEAR OF BOND SALES, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE THIS FUNDING IN THIS, UM, UH, CHART, IT'S JUST THE EXPENSES.
SO JUST TO AVERAGE OF THE CIP PROJECT COSTS, ROAD WINDING OR ANYWHERE FROM 16 TO 18 MILLION, ASPHALT RECONSTRUCTION OF A ONE MILE ROADWAY IS ABOUT A EIGHT, 800,000 WASTEWATER R AND R, WHICH IS THE RESIDENTIAL WATER AND WASTEWATER REPLACEMENT.
AND THEN RESURFACING, WE TYPICALLY, UM, ALLOCATE THREE TO THREE AND A HALF MILLION PER YEAR TRAFFIC SIGNALS, UH, UP, YOU KNOW, IS A 350,000 AND THEN A TRAFFIC SIGNAL WITH INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS, THAT WOULD BE ABOUT 3 MILLION SIDEWALKS FOR ONE MILE IS ABOUT 470,000.
HERE'S A MAP OF JUST A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE GO HAVE GOING ON IN DESOTO RIGHT NOW.
THE BLUE ARE PROJECTS IN DESIGN AND FUTURE CONSTRUCTION, AND THEN THE RED ARE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN AWARDED FOR CONSTRUCTION ALREADY AND THAT HAVE EITHER RECENTLY BEEN COMPLETED OR, UM, ARE GOING TO BE COMPLETE WITH OUR CONTRACTOR THAT'S WORKING ON THEM RIGHT NOW.
AND I DO HAVE SOME EROSION PROJECTS IN THERE AS WELL.
JUST TO GIVE YOU A GENERAL OVERVIEW.
YOU KNOW, WE TRY TO, UM, KEEP THAT EQUITY THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF DESOTO.
SO FOR OUR ROAD WINDING PROJECTS LIKE WESTMORELAND ROAD, UM, WE HAVE GOING ON IS FROM BELTLINE TO PARKVILLE, WE'RE GOING TO BE EXPANDING IT TO A FOUR LANE DIVIDED CONCRETE ROADWAY.
THE PROJECTED COST IS 17 AND A HALF MILLION.
WE HAVE A COUNTY WITH UH, UH, UH, THIS IS A JOINT PROJECT WITH DALLAS COUNTY FOR 3 MILLION, IS WHAT THEY'RE CONTRIBUTING.
RIGHT NOW IT'S GETTING VERY, VERY CLOSE TO THE COMPLETION OF DESIGN.
WE STILL HAVE TO GET AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH DALLAS WATER UTILITIES.
UM, BUT AFTER THAT, IT SHOULD BE GOING TO CONSTRUCTION RATHER QUICKLY.
THIS IS ALSO A JOINT PROJECT WITH DALLAS COUNTY WHERE WE ARE SPLITTING THE COST 50 50, UM, EXCEPT FOR WATER, WASTEWATER, LANDSCAPING, ANY ARTWORK THAT THOSE COSTS, THE CITY'S PAYING A HUNDRED PERCENT.
AND LIKE I, LIKE MENTIONED BEFORE, FOR OUR ROAD WINDING PROJECTS, THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMPONENTS ARE FUNDED OUT OF OUR WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITY RATES.
SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE RATE INCREASES DO FUND THESE PROJECTS AS WELL, UM, OR A PORTION OF THESE PROJECTS.
SO DANIELDALE ROAD IS GONNA BE EXPANDED TO FOUR LANES.
UM, WE'RE IN 60% DESIGN PLANS RIGHT NOW.
QUICKLY GOING TO THAT 90% PLEASANT RUN ROAD.
THIS IS A PROJECT THAT HAS, UM, WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A LAST PROPERTY TO ACQUIRE, WHICH, UM, SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH.
SO IN ABOUT A COUPLE MONTHS WE PROJECT WE'LL HAVE THAT PROPERTY AND IT, UH, CLOSED ON THE PROPERTY.
AND SO WE'LL CONTINUE WITH FRANCHISE UTILITY RELOCATIONS, WHICH WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY SIX MONTHS BEFORE WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GO TO CONSTRUCTION.
ROTARY DEVELOPMENT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A PROJECT THAT HAS BEEN PLANNING FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS, I'M TOLD, BUT IT'S A $39 MILLION PROJECT FOR THE ROADWAY PORTION.
WE REALLY WANTED TO IMPROVE THE ROADWAY AND HAVE THIS BE A REALLY DE COOL DESTINATION LOCATION THAT RESIDENTS AND PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE OF DESOTO COME AND ARE ENTERTAINED.
UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS A 30% DESIGN ON WEST OR ON HAMPTON ROAD.
AND WE'RE JUST COORDINATING, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GIVING COUNCIL PERIODIC UPDATES.
WE DO HAVE A PROJECT WEBSITE, IT'S CALLED ENVISION HAMPTON ROAD.COM, AND WE'RE JUST, UH, GIVING UPDATES AROUND THAT AS WELL AS, UH, THE CHARACTER BASE CODE INFORMATION IS ON THAT WEBSITE AS WELL.
THIS IS JUST INSPIRATION PICTURES, WHAT WE HOPE TO, UH, OR THE ATMOSPHERE
[02:40:01]
WE HOPE TO OBTAIN WITH THE PROJECT FOR STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.UM, SO ONE WE'VE JUST COMPLETED ON KEYSVILLE STUDENT RES FOR OLD HICKORY AND SILVER CREEK.
WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON ELL ROAD.
THEN WE WILL GO TO THE MEADOWS PARKWAY AND WINTERGREEN.
AND WE ARE GATHERING INFORMATION TOGETHER FROM OUR PAVEMENT CONDITION INDEX REPORT, AS WELL AS FROM STREET MAINTENANCE OR ANY OTHER, UM, INPUT FOR OUR NEXT, UM, CONSTRUCTION PROJECT THAT WE WILL GO INTO DESIGN.
SO WE HAVEN'T STARTED DESIGN ON OUR NEXT PROJECT YET, BUT WE'RE GATHERING INPUT RIGHT NOW FOR THAT PROJECT.
FOR OUR ALLEY PROJECTS, WE HAVE SOME THAT ARE GONNA BE COMPLETED.
THE 2021 ALLEY RECONSTRUCTION IS NEAR COMPLETION.
THEY'RE WORKING ON THEIR LAST ALLEY LIVE OAK ALLEY.
AND THE 2023 ALLEY RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT IS IN DESIGN RIGHT NOW FOR WATER AND SEWER RENOVATION PROJECTS, UH, WHICH ARE FUNDED OUT OF OUR WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITY RAID AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE THESE RENOVATION PROJECTS.
PHASE ONE OF THE 2021 R AND R HAS BEEN COMPLETE.
THEY'RE WORKING ON PHASE TWO, WHICH IS A RESURFACING.
PHASE ONE IS THE PIPE BURSTING OF THE WATER AND SEWER AND THE 2023 R AND R WE'RE IN DESIGN RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO NEXT YEAR WE'D BE IN CONSTRUCTION FOR DRAINAGE AND EROSION PROJECTS.
THERE'S JUST A PLETHORA, UM, YOU KNOW, WOLF CREEK COVE MEADOW LAKE GROVE SHORELINE, WHICH IS ARPA FUNDED.
AND THEN WE GET, YOU KNOW, REQUEST, UH, PERIODICALLY.
UM, AND WE CONSIDER THOSE FOR ADDITIONAL DRAINAGE PROJECTS.
AND WE ARE UPDATING OUR, UM, DRAINAGE UTILITY FEE RIGHT NOW TO ACCOMMODATE SOME OF THESE CIP PROJECTS FOR WASTEWATER.
YOU KNOW, OUR METHODIST CARE FACILITY, THAT SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S ERODING HEATH CREEK B BRANCH MAIN LINE REPLACEMENT AND WEST LAKE DRIVE TRUNK LINE REPLACEMENT, THOSE PROJECTS ARE IN DESIGN RIGHT NOW FOR FACILITIES.
WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, FACILITY RENOVATION PROJECTS, THE BLUE BONNET ROOM AND KITCHEN AND PEON ROOM ARE JUST COMPLETED.
WE HAVE THE REC CENTER RESTROOMS THAT WERE ALSO COMPLETED IN FIRE STATION THREE RENOVATIONS, FINANCE AND COURT RENOVATION.
WE HAVE THAT AT 90% DESIGN RIGHT NOW.
AND NANCE FARMS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CHRISTOPHE'S WORKING ON IN ADMINISTRATION.
THE DESIGN WAS JUST AWARDED, BUT WE ARE GOING THROUGH PLANNING AND ZONING RIGHT NOW.
WE HAVE TRAFFIC SIGNAL PROJECTS AS WELL.
SO WE'RE DOING A TRAFFIC SIGNAL UPGRADE OF, UH, SEVERAL OLD TRAFFIC SIGNALS THAT NEED UPGRADING.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE SPEED RADAR SIGN INSTALLATION AND LED STREETLIGHT UPGRADES THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH CONTRACTS WITH ENCORE
PARKS DOES THE RECREATION AND AQUATIC CENTER IS ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST PROJECTS, OR IS THEIR BIGGEST PROJECT THEY'RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW? THEY ALSO ARE GONNA BE OVERSEEING THE SENIOR CENTER RENOVATION TO SOME EXTENT IN THE, IN PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT.
PUBLIC UTILITIES DEFINITELY DOES NOT LIST ALL THE PROJECTS THEY'RE WORKING ON.
THERE'S PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, 12 PROJECTS IN TOTAL CIP PROJECTS.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE THEIR FACILITY RENO, UH, NEW NEW BUILDING.
THEY HAVE THE HAMPTON ROAD PUMP STATION, THE WESTMORELAND PUMP STATION, AND ARPA, UH, ENERGY, POWER, AND THEN THE WESTMORELAND ROAD PUMP STATION REHABILITATION PROJECT.
IS THERE ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, COUNSEL.
ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING CIP? YES, COUNSEL? YES.
UM, RE IF YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE SLIDE FOR PARKS, UM, I NOTICED ON THERE THAT THERE IS A PLAYGROUND REPLACEMENT ONGOING.
WHAT SPECIFIC PARKS, UM, REPLACEMENTS ARE WE DISCUSSING? BECAUSE I DIDN'T, I ALSO SAW THAT IT JUST, I'VE ONLY SEEN MACAU, UM, UM, AQUATIC MENTION IN THIS SO FAR.
I'M NOT SURE IF I KNOW THE EXACT PARTS PARKS THAT WELL.
OH, AND MR. GLOVER, THE REASON WHY I'M ASKING IS BECAUSE I THINK FOR THE LAST LONG AS I'VE BEEN ON THE COUNCIL, UM, UM, KIVA PARK HAS BEEN ONE THAT HAS BEEN LISTED AS A PARK THAT WAS GOING TO BE UPGRADED.
BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH, UM, INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
AND CONSIDERING ALL THAT'S HAPPENING IN THAT AREA, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT HASN'T FELL OFF THE CITY'S RADAR.
YES, IT WAS INCLUDED IN THE CIP AND SO THAT IS ONE OF THE PARKS THAT IS IN INCLUDED IN OUR CIP AND AND WHAT SPECIFICALLY WILL YOU BE DOING? JUST REPLACING THE PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT? YEAH, WE WERE ALSO LOOKING AT SOME, UM, UH, WE NEED TO ADD SOME ELECTRICITY JUST FAR SOME CAMERAS
[02:45:01]
'CAUSE WE'VE HAD ISSUES OVER THERE WITH THAT AS WELL, REPLACING THE PLAYGROUNDS.UH, AND I'D HAVE TO GET THE REST OF REST OF THAT AND WE CAN SEND THAT TO YOU.
BUT I KNOW THOSE ARE TWO, THOSE WERE TWO OF OUR PRIORITIES BECAUSE OF THE ACTIVITY THAT WAS GOING ON AT THAT FACILITY.
AND THEN THE DREDGING THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AT BRIARWOOD TO GET THAT POND UP TO, UH, UH, UH, AESTHETICALLY PLEASING.
UM, IS THAT ALSO IN THIS BUDGET AS WELL OR DO WE HAVE, UH, CAPITAL FROM FISCAL YEAR 23 TO TAKE CARE OF THAT? THAT'S IN 23, SO THAT'LL BE DONE IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR, OR SCHEDULED TO BE DONE IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
ARE ARE YOU LOOKING TO ADD CAMERAS, UH, TO THAT PARK AS WELL? CONSIDERING THE FIRE THAT WAS, UH, SOMEONE CREATED IN THE TRASH CAN? UM, THIS PAST LAST YEAR, IT WAS VERY UNFORTUNATE 'CAUSE YOU ALL DID AN AMAZING JOB RENOVATING THAT PARK, BUT JUST TO KEEP DOWN SOME OF THAT VANDALISM OR BE ABLE TO BE PROACTIVE IN CATCHING THE VANDALISM AS THIS, UH, WHEN IT HAPPENS, UH, IT, IT, IT, IF WE HAVE AVAILABLE FUNDING TO DO THAT THERE, BECAUSE I THINK WE ALSO HAVE SOME ELECTRICAL NEEDS THERE AS WELL.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE UPDATE ALL OF OUR PARKS BEFORE WE COMMIT TO PUTTING CAMERAS THERE, UNLESS THERE'S CONTINUED ACTIVITY THAT GOES ON THERE.
OKAY, COUNSEL, ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CIP? YES.
I WAS JUST GONNA, UM, SAY THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND THEN I, I KIND OF HEARD MUSIC IN MY EARS WHEN YOU MENTIONED PLEASANT RUN.
SO ARE WE ACTUALLY, ARE WE ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT CLOSER
WE SCHEDULE ANOTHER TOWN HALL.
AND, AND, AND IF I CAN JUST GIVE A, A REAL QUICK SHOUT OUT TO OUR DEVELOP DEVELOPMENT SERVICES STAFF, UM, FOR IT, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'VE EVER HAD THIS MANY PROJECTS GOING ON AT ONE TIME.
THERE ARE A LOT OF PROJECTS GOING ON AROUND TOWN, UM, WITH THAT AND THEY'VE BEEN MANAGING THOSE PROJECTS VERY WELL.
UM, KEEPING THEM, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD.
SO I JUST WANT TO EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION FOR THEM, UM, THAT THEY'VE BEEN WORKING VERY, VERY HARD TO KEEP ALL THAT GOING.
CITY MANAGER WRIGHT, CONSIDERING THAT, ARE YOU ALL LOOKING TO, UH, ADD ANY ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO HELP WITH THE COST OR HELP WITH, UH, KEEPING THINGS MOVING TO SPEED? WE DEFINITELY DON'T WANNA LOSE MS. ELIZABETH OR ANYBODY
THIS BUDGET ITSELF DOES NOT, UH, DOES NOT DO THAT.
BUT WE ARE HAVING ONGOING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE STAFFING LEVELS, UH, FOR THAT DEPARTMENT.
SO YOU'RE HAVING ONGOING, UM, DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THAT DEPARTMENT.
UM, WILL THAT BE, WHERE WOULD THAT, WHEN WOULD THAT BE REFLECTED IN THE BUDGET? WOULD THAT BE, IS IT, IS IT, WHEN YOU SAY ONGOING DISCUSSIONS, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? STAFFING CORRECT.
POSITIONS THAT ARE ALREADY, UM, NOTED OR, YEAH.
WELL, AND THAT WILL, AND, AND SO AT OUR SUMMER RETREAT, WHEN WE'RE TALKING MORE ABOUT A, A FORMATION OF A NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES, IT'S ALL KIND OF TIED UP IN THAT CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW ABOUT WHAT, WHAT, WHAT'S THE FUTURE OF THESE DEPARTMENTS, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE STAFFING OF THEM LOOK LIKE, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
SO THAT, THAT'S WHERE WE'LL ANTICIPATE HAVING THAT, UH, THAT CONVERSATION.
AND THEN WHATEVER COMES FROM THAT, WE'LL KIND OF CONTINUE TO WORK ON FIGURING OUT WHAT THAT RIGHT SERVICE LEVEL LOOKS LIKE AND HOW IT IS THAT WE STAFF IT APPROPRIATELY.
SO I, I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER RIGHT NOW.
I, I THINK IT'S KIND OF A LITTLE BIT IS, IS UP TO THE COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL'S DESIRE OF HOW WE MOVE FORWARD WITH SOME, UH, OTHER PLANS THAT WE HAVE.
COUNCIL, ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS BEFORE WE WRAP UP? WE MADE GREAT TIMING THIS MORNING, SO I APPRECIATE, UH, YOU ALL, UH, GETTING US THROUGH THIS INFORMATION.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? SENIOR MANAGER, YOUR RIGHT.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED FROM US? I DO NOT.
AT THIS TIME, COUNSEL, WE UH, THAT CONCLUDES ALL THE ITEMS ON OUR BUDGET WORKSHOP AGENDA, I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
THAT MOTION WAS MADE BY MAYOR PROTI, SECOND BY COUNCILMAN BUR TO ADJOURN OUR BUDGET WORKSHOP.
COUNCIL ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
THAT MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
THANK YOU COUNCIL, WE ARE NOW ADJOURNED.
UM, AND THANK YOU TO OUR STAFF.
LET ME, I WOULD BE REMISS, I KNOW IT'S BEEN MENTIONED, BUT THANK YOU TO OUR STAFF COUNCIL.
IF WE COULD GIVE THEM A GREAT HAND CLAP FOR, UM, ALL OF THE WORK THAT WENT INTO, UM, TURN, UH, THE WORK THAT WENT INTO GETTING THIS.
I KNOW THAT IT WAS A HEAVY LIFT, SO WE APPRECIATE, UM, YOUR WORK ON THIS.