HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-01-07 TranscriptionPage 1
Budget Work session
Council Present: Botchway, Cole, Dickens, Mims, Taylor (arrived 8:08 A.M.), Thomas,
Throgmorton
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Andrew, Dilkes, Bockenstedt, Schaul, Voparil
Budget Overview and Highlights:
Throgmorton/ So what is this .... January 7, 2017, special work session about our budget! So I
think we're gonna begin with Geoff Fruin.
Fruin/ Okay, let's go ahead and jump in, uh, jump into this. Just to let you know, we are
recording this, uh, introductory session here. Basically my budget presentation to you.
We will not be recording the hours of department presentations you'll be getting after
this, so ... uh, the next hour or so will be recorded. Uh, as a way of introduction, this is,
uh, I figured the sixth budget that I've been involved with here, uh, in Iowa City, and so
one of the more enjoyable, uh, parts of the job or.....or, uh.... one of the more, uh, the
responsibilities that I enjoy the most, urn ... uh, particularly because of, uh, I think the
collaborative way in which we do this, uh, internally here. We're working with really
good people. Um, department heads all, uh, take this, um, responsibility very seriously
too and they submit responsible, uh, budget requests to us. That doesn't mean that
everything they ask for gets funded, uh, but .... but, uh, they are very responsible in their,
uh, requests to us. And then the budget team, uh, this year is out here — Simon, Dennis,
and Nick. Um, got to work with them again this year. They did the lion's share of the
work, uh, pulling together this budget and, uh, did so very well. Um, we were really
down two on our budget team this year because of the vacant, uh, Assistant City Manager
position and we had a .... a vacant budget analysis position. So, uh, particularly these
three individuals, uh, really worked hard this year to ... to pull it together with, um, fewer
resources than we've had in the past. Up on the screen you'll see the budget review
schedule. Uh, we're here today to discuss the operating budget, and then on Tuesday
we're right back at it, uh, I believe 1:00 for the Capital Improvement Plan Review. So
those'll be all the major projects, uh, roads, the parks, uh, public facilities, that type of
thing, uh, we'll get into on Tuesday afternoon. We are aiming to set the public hearing
on February 21 51. Uh, and that allows us to hold the public hearing and adopt the budget
on March 7a' and meet the statutory guideline of submitting it to the state, uh, by, uh, the
15th. So really, uh, if you think about any follow up that comes from today, um, that
would need to take place between, uh, January 10th and February 2151. That's
your .... really your window to be, uh, working, uh, on .... on any budget issues, uh, this
year. You can do that at your standard.... your regular work sessions or schedule, um,
additional work sessions as needed. One of the things I wanted to .... to, urn .... convey to
you this year is kind of my thoughts on, um, if I were in your shoes where I would focus
on this budget. We gave you 700 pages of information. I don't, uh, expect that you'll be
reading them all, page by page, so I tried to pick, uh, about 50 pages that .... that if I were
you, again, I would focus on. So there's the, uh, transmittal letter, which is, uh, the
executive summary and .... and much of that, uh, is covered in today's presentation. Uh,
the, uh, fund structure and description starts on page 65 and I'll talk a little bit about that
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council budget
work session of January 7, 2017.
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next, but that's, you know, so you can really understand how we budget, um....uh, in a
local government, what each of those funds mean, kind of what are those different pots of
money that .... that we draw from. That's.... that's basic information that, um ... uh, you
should, uh.... uh, pay attention to. Our financial and fiscal policies start on page 79. Um
(clears throat) uh, those are what guide us as we pull together the budget and, uh,
certainly what, uh, are aimed to protect the City and .... and maintain our solid financial
foundation. Long-range financial planning information starts on page 86. Um, that will
get into things like property tax reform, long-term debt strategies, uh, water rate studies,
that sort of thing. The general fund summary. We spend most of our time during budget
talking about the general fund. That's generally where the most discretion lies. Uh,
that's where Police, Fire, Parks, and a lot of our larger operations are funded out of. So I
think it's important that you understand that summary. All the revenues that make up the
general fund, uh.... uh, are ..... are detailed in there. And at the very end of the budget, on,
uh, page 652, we have, uh, an economic trends section, and this is something I've
actually, you know, thought about pulling out and doing a separate work session on later
in the year, but, urn .... uh, Nick pulls this together and has done a really nice job over the
last few years, um, trying to lay out for, uh, you and the readers of the budget, um,
exactly what are those important trends in our....in our, um, financial situation, uh, here.
So I think that's worth paying attention to. Uh, we did note that we have not updated
those with our 16 numbers yet. Those'll get updated with the final, um, the final budget
year. Uh, a little bit about the fund structure. Again I reference those page numbers, but
this is, uh, the general, um .... uh, structure that we work Within. Uh, you'll see across the
top in the brown we have the .... the, uh, general fund, which again, um, is the primary
operating fund for the City. We have special revenue funds, uh, the best way to think
about those are that's when we get revenue that's tied to a specific purpose. So we get
CDBG dollars. There's limits on how we use those funds. We get road use tax dollars.
There's limits. So any of those funding streams that we get that have those types of
limits, fall within that special, um, revenue fund category. Debt services, uh, pretty self-
explanatory. That's principle and interest on debts. Uh, permanent fund. We have one
small permanent fund but a permanent fund is, uh, one in which you only expend the
earnings, uh, you don't expend your.....your principle. So we have a perpetual care fund
for the cemetery. Very small fund we don't talk much about but that's what that is.
Enterprise funds are, uh, funds that we treat more like a ... a business enterprise, uh, where
they are, um, self-sustaining, so the .... the parking revenues that we bring in support the
parking system. Uh, the same with waste water and water, uh, those operations are really
designed to set rates, um, and, uh, extract other revenues that support those, uh,
operations. Capital projects funds. Uh, generally speaking those are, um .... uh, funds
aimed at, uh.... um, projects, uh, that are $25,000 and more, uh, towards our .... our public
facilities, our public assets. And then lastly we have internal service funds and ... and
those are, um .... uh, funds that we have that we charge out to other funds. So we have
a .... an equipment fund, um, and we ... we charge different departments, um, for the use
of ...or for the replacement of their vehicles and that sort of thing. So those are, um,
really self-supporting funds, um, that are .... that are, um.....um...... funded through
charges to other departments. Again that's the basic, uh, basic fund structure. The .... the
highlight of the .... the major funds, major funds is really just an accounting classification
that's based on the assets and liabilities or revenues and expenditures. It signals, um, that
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work session of January 7, 2017.
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the, uh, those are the funds with the most, uh, financial, uh, activity in there. Uh, that's
a .... that's a standard accounting designation. Okay, that's jumpin' into the budget.
Our ... our goals this year, uh, have not differed from, uh, the previous several years, but,
uh, first and foremost we want to provide some resources to achieve the goals that you've
set forth in your strategic plan. Uh, we want to continue to be mindful of the 2013
property tax reform and the impact that that's having on our budget, make sure we're
adequately prepared to, uh, deal with those impacts. Continue to maintain our bond
rating, uh, our triple-A bond rating. Working on our, uh, tax and .... and fee environment
for residents and businesses. So making sure that, uh, our utility rates are affordable,
making sure our property tax rates are affordable, that sort of thing. And the last one
is ... is to, uh, earn the, uh, GFOA Distinguished Budget Award and the, uh, Certification
for Achievement, uh.... uh, for Excellence in Financial Reporting, and um, that's really
not just so....so, um, the Finance Department can hang another plaque on the wall but
that should give the public some confidence that the manner in which we budget, the
process that we use, and the way which we report the, uh, information out publicly is
consistent with those best practices and that that information is, um, as tram ... as
transparent, uh, as can be. All right, this is my, uh.... uh, if I had one slide to summarize
the budget, this would be it. Um ... that is that we are in a very strong, uh, fiscal position
coming into fiscal year 18. Um, but I have some concerns about sustaining that in the
future, and I think that's a pretty consistent message that you've heard with past budgets,
um, but we've had some really robust, um, growth in the community the last couple years
and you'll see some, uh, information on that, uh, throughout the presentation today. Uh,
we've been able to grow our tax base, uh, significantly and that's offset some of these
initial hits that we've had on the property tax reform. Um, it's also produced, uh, some
strong one-time revenues. When you look at our building permit numbers, and we'll
show you those, urn .... uh, the....the spike in growth we've had and some of those
significant progress, uh, projects have brought in some, uh, large dollars on the building
permit side, and that's really afforded us an opportunity, uh, to start fiscal year 18 in a
very strong position. We have healthy reserves, and we'll talk about reserves in different,
uh, parts of our operation, but I feel very good about the level of reserves that we have.
Um, those are our kind of rainy -day funds for those unexpected expenses. Uh, we
continue to be able to reduce the tax rate and we'll talk a lot about tax rate today
and .... and, uh.... uh, where that's going. And, uh, again our .... our strong position
continues to be validated by the Moody's bond rating, uh, the triple-A bond rating there.
So that's.... those are, uh, kind of the, uh, the positive side and, um, on the ... the more of
the concerning side, urn ... uh, we know that the multi -residential base is gonna continue to
erode, and we'll get into that. Um, I'm going to talk a lot about the rollback figure, and
the rollback figure is .... is really the percent of, um, the taxable value of your home that
you pay, uh, that you .... you pay taxes on. So if your .... your home's worth $100,000, the
State sets a rollback at say 56% and you pay taxes on those, that .... that $56,000, and that
rollback number goes up and down, so when that rollback number goes up, it's really
good.....it's good for the City, uh, as a homeowner you're payin' higher percentage,
um... uh, you're payin' more taxes on a higher percentage of the value of your home.
When it goes down it's more challenging for us because you're not paying as much, uh...
uh, taxes on your home there. So we're gonna talk about the, uh.... um, the .... the trend
that we think we will see, which is a declining rollback figure, which puts .... pushes some
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work session of January 7, 2017.
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Budget Work Session
more, uh, financial pressure onto the City. Uh, we're gonna talk a little bit about backfill,
uh, it's something that you've heard, uh, staff talk about quite a bit. Uh, but that
continues to be a .... a vulnerable source for us, um, and.... and..... and could disappear,
um, in ... the current year or .... or, urn .... uh.....uh, a year that's not too .... not in the too
distant, uh, future. We'll also talk about volatile expense items. I've listed healthcare
and pensions here, but there's certain line items in the budget that.... they're very hard to
predict and, uh, any given year (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) large swings that
really impact the budget. And then the last piece is, you know, it's, uh, the strong growth
that we've had has been excellent, uh, but if you look back at the history of. ... of our
growth in the community, it's unlikely that we'll be able to sustain that level of growth,
and so while these first few years have been, uh, really strong, not sure that we can
continue to count on that level of growth going forward. Um, so all these things
individually are concerning, um, but what is really, really concerning is .... is, uh, a picture
in where three or four of these things come together at one time. So you get a .... you get
a big swing in healthcare costs and you lose the backfill from the State and your multi-
family continues to erode, and all of a sudden, um, that strong fiscal position that we have
right now starts to come into jeopardy. Um, so I'm gonna spend a little bit more time
now talking about the negatives and some of those concerns, and then we're gonna swing
into, urn .... the analysis of the current budget. So this is the, uh, current, uh, this is a .... a
slide showing the property tax reform. Point to a couple of, uh, different things, to start
with the, uh, the line graph on the bottom right there, and what you see there is a, urn ... a
time series, uh, information from fiscal year 1980, uh, projected through fiscal year 24.
The green line at the top and the red line at the top are the industrial and commercial, uh,
property tax, uh.... uh, property taxes. So you can see that historically, industrial and
commercial properties paid taxes based on 100% of their property's value. And then
right around that 2013 year, you see that they have gone down to that 90% level. Okay?
So that was .... that was the, one of the steps of the property tax reform, commercial and
industrial properties no longer pay based on 100% of their value. They pay based on
90% of their value, and the State said don't worry about it, cities, we're gonna backfill
that amount. So that's when we talk about backfill. It's that gap between that 100%
where the red and the blue, or I'm sorry, the green and the red line are, and then it drops
to 90% there. That's the 1.5 million that we talk about with backfill. That's the check
that we get every year from the State to make up that gap. You'll see a purple line
comin' out of there and the purple line didn't exist in years past. That's the multi -family
piece. That's the .... that' s the new property classification that they gave the apartments.
Um, apartments used to be classified under the commercial, so they were red. And you
see the purple continue to go down until it meets with the ... the blue line, which is
residential. So that's the biggest bit to us, um, when we .... when that fell out of that
commercial line, not only did we lose that backfill, uh, but that continues to drop, um,
year after year after year until it hits that blue line, and there's no....no backfill for that.
On the left you see a table there, um, on how that gradually gets down there, and so, uh,
in .... in the current fiscal year, fiscal year 17, um, those multi -family properties are payin'
taxes on 86% of their, um, property's value. And then for this budget that we're
presenting today, that drops to 82%. So when we talk about growth offsetting this
impact, these are the numbers I'm lookin' at. When we .... when we have growth of 4, 5,
6, 7%, that helps us offset the drop in the multi -family. When our growth is flat or 1%,
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work session of January 7, 2017.
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2%, that sort of thing, then all of a sudden this multi -family piece becomes more of a
drain on the budget. (both talking)
Mims/ Geoff (both talking) I'm sorry! Not to put you on the spot, or Dennis, but .... do either of
you know of. ... the entire, uh, value of property in Iowa City, excluding.... the University
and other non-taxable, what percentage is the multi -family?
Fruin/ I don't know off the top of my head (unable to hear people talking in background)
Mims/ About 10% Nick said? Okay. Thank you!
Fruin/ Um .... uh, if we kick it to the next slide, Simon. So that's the multi -family piece. I want
to talk about the rollback, um, assessment, and again, now we're talkin' about residential
properties, not the multi -family but really single-family, and there's a formula that the
State uses to determine what percent of your home, uh, value you pay taxes on, and you
can see we've listed from 1978 to 2016 how this has fluctuated, uh, but this is in part tied
to agricultural prices. You can see the decline from, uh, oh roughly 1990 or so, uh, all
the way to ... to 2006, um, this was a ... a period where in each of these years as that goes
down it's harder and harder for the City but what you saw there were ... were ag prices
falling, and that ag prices, uh, falling generally drags down this rollback number. Well
coming out of the recession in 2008, you saw ag prices rebound quite a bit. Matter of fact
they jumped up quite a bit. That pushes this number up and as a homeowner we're
payin' taxes on a .... on a greater percentage of our property's value. Well we've all
started to see the news now where ag prices, you know, the bubble's poppin' a little bit.
It's.... it's, they're starting to fall, um, at best they're stagnant, and what we really expect
now is that those ag prices will start to drag down this rollback number. So those
residential properties will be payin' a little bit less too. Um, we were a little bit surprised
that the rollback number went up, um, this year. Uh, we expected to start to see that
decline this year, but urn .... uh, it did go up a little bit but certainly looking ahead, this
becomes a .... a concern for us. Talk about the backfill too. Urn .... so we .... we covered
multi -family, we covered the single-family, and then there's the backfill piece. This is
the check that the City, or I'm sorry, that the State writes the City every year, uh, to .... to
make up that gap in commercial and industrial property tax loss. And you can see how
that filters through out budget. I don't think we've talked to you about this before. Um,
it's not just a $1.5 million check that, um, we have, you know, that's.... that.... that hits
one particular fund, but it's based on each of the individual levies that we have. So it hits
the general fund levy to the tune of 758,000, uh, but it also hits all the other levies and it
has impacts on things like our .... like our SSMID district, Iowa City Downtown District,
which would be hurt to the tune of 28,000, almost $29,000 should that backfill go away.
It hits our Transit levy. It hits our Library levy. So, um, but in total it's 1.5 million and
I've listed some equivalents on there. 1.5 million is, uh, roughly, uh, the equivalent of
46 -cents on our .... on our tax levy. It'd be the equivalent of, uh, 15 police or firefighter,
uh, positions. Um .... and then, you know, another perspective would be, you know, if
you .... if you looked at the net expenses on all three of our swimming pool, the Animal
Shelter, and our Forestry division, you'd get to about 1.5, and we can give you any
number, uh, of those scenarios, but the point bein', it's.... it's very significant. I want to
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work session of January 7, 2017.
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make it clear that should we lose the backfill, I'm not sayin' that these are ... these are the
options that ... that we would recommend to you as staff. I'm just tryin' to give you some
perspective on ... on what that number means. There's any number of ways to, urn .... uh,
to .... to respond to a loss of backfill, should that, uh, should that occur.
Throgmorton/ Geoff, you said that, uh, pretty quickly. I wonder if you could go back over what
the 1.5 million, or 1.6 million, is equal to in terms of police, fire, etc.
Fruin/ Yeah. So, uh, it's roughly 15, uh, police officer or firefighter positions. Um, and you
know you could think if you think of one of our fire stations, uh, not our.....not our
headquarter stations but our, one of our, um, stations 2, 3, or 4, um, you know, we can
operate a station like that with roughly 12 firefighters. So it's the equivalent of a little bit
more than, um, the operations of one of our fire stations out there. Pretty significant!
Um, if you look at the other operations, you know, again if ...if we were to close all three
pools. We have the Robert A. Lee, the Mercer, and City Park, um, look at our
contributions to the Animal Shelter, and our entire Forestry division within the Parks and
Recrea...Recreation department, that gets you to about 1.5 million.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Fruin/ Uh, another perspective would be our .... our Senior Center budget. Um, the general fund
supports the Senior Center to the tune of about $700,000 and so, uh, 1.5 million,
obviously, is, urn ... uh, even .... even closing the Senior Center, which again I'm not
suggesting. I don't want to .... I don't want to send that message out there. Again this is
about .... just perspective and scale, it....it doesn't even get you halfway there .... for the
loss of the backfill. Okay, and the last of the, uh, kind of the concerning pieces here
would be just the volatile expenses that we have, and we'll talk about each of these a little
bit in .... in more detail in the, uh, expense part of the presentation, but ... um, when you
have public safety pension contributions that, over the last few years have fluctuated from
a drop of 5 1/2% to over 30%, um, those are tough to budget for. Um, since, um, fiscal
year 10, our pension contributions for police and fire along have grown 109%. Um,
that's... that's.... that's tough, and it really, urn .... uh, not only is .... is tough to adjust to
that in .... in .... in a budget situation, but when you think about adding positions, those
police and fire positions are much more expensive than other City positions because of,
um, the 411, uh, pension system. Uh, we'll talk about public safety, medical expenses,
um, but uh, the ... the City, um .... pays medical claims on, uh, certain types of infectious
diseases and cancers that are presumed by State law to be duty related, and, um, that was
a law that was passed in 2009. We are seeing more and more expenses, more and more
medical expenses due to that law, and we have since even fiscal year 14 seen 140%
increase and we'll have more information on that later, but .... um, you know, these types
of expenses don't get discussed a lot in .... in public, but they really impact the budget and
they impact our ability to fund other initiatives, uh, in .... in the community. And health
insurance, I think we all know that there's volatility there. We increased health
insurance, uh, expenses 13% in last year's budget and we have 7 1/2% in this year's
budget.
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Mims/ Geoff, staff that are in the 411 retirement plan, police and fire, they still pay Medicare
taxes? I know they don't pay Social Security.
Fruin/ Don't pay Social Security. I .... (unable to hear response)
Mims/ They .... (both talking) They pay Medicaid but not Medicare? (unable to hear response)
Frain/ Medicaid but not Medicare.
Mims/ That.....that doesn't make sense to me because under federal .... I mean this is .... this law
that we pay (noises on mic) cancer stuff, when they retire, don't they still get Medicare
for their other health insurance as retirees?
Bockenstedt/ Not if it's presumed to be work related.
Mims/ Right but if it's not presumed to be work related, don't they still qualify for Medicare?
Bockenstedt/ Um ... I .... I believe so. I .... they do not pay the Social Security portion (both
talking)
Mims/ Right, they don't pay Social Security (both talking)
Bockenstedt/ I believe you're correct that they do pay the Medicare.
Mims/ The Medicare (both talking) See that's what I'm getting at, and not to belabor this at this
point in time, but I think that's something when we go back to legislative priorities again
we need to look at why the State passed that law that the cities are paying first dollar on
those presumed.... illnesses. Why not have Medicare still pay the first dollar and the
cities backfill on those so that the individual isn't having to pay the deductibles and gaps
and stuff. I mean, if they're payin' Medicare taxes all the time they're employed, why
shouldn't Medicare be the first dollar in, if. ... even if they're presumed illnesses are
related to work, then let us backfill it, not have Medicare benefit from us being the first
dollar in. Just ... it doesn't make sense to me.
Bockenstedt/ Yeah and I think it's probably just a case of nobody wants to be the first payer...
where Medicare would prefer that if. ... if it's a work related injury that they not be the
first payer.
Mims/ Right, but this is State versus federal. I mean Medicare's federal. So why ... what is the
benefit to the State .... we won't .... I won't belabor it. (several talking) I just ... bring it up
(mumbled)
Botchway/ Hey, Geoff, before you move forward, quick, um, kind of going back, can you go
back three slides? I wanted to stop .... that slide right there! So are we shootin' ourselves
in the foot I mean we .... we just....we're gonna talk about, you know, the, uh, $16.33,
um, so a reduction of 25 -cents to the property tax levy. You're talking about concerns of
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1.5 million. The emergency funds, while you know ... are important to use, obviously, for
you know those emergencies you're talking about, is there any way that we should be
thinking about .... I mean I'm just throwing it out there, again, as a hypothetical, not
reducing that property tax levy, ensuring that we have more money in our coffers to ... to
kind of elongate whatever concerns come out from the backfill?
Fruin/ Um, you know, when we get into the.....the property tax reduction, um, it's .... it's all
coming off of the .... the debt service levy. Um, and so when you're..,.. when you're
looking at your property tax rate, you look at all your different levies — your Library
levy, your Transit levy — and you make adjustments and.... and..... and the bottom line is,
or the net of all those changes is .... is what you're doing to the tax rate. The 25 .... or the
25 -cents that we're recommending that, uh, is reduced is all off the debt service levy.
Um, and you can see that that's a .... that's a fairly small piece, 350,000 of the ... of the 1.5
million, and we feel very comfortable, despite the threat of the loss of backfill, that we
can reduce that debt service levy, and we've been able to, urn .... uh, call some bonds
early and restructure some bonds to the point where we just don't need that .... that type of
revenue coming in. But .... it doesn't translate exactly to operations, as well. And I talked
about the strong growth. Um.....and, urn .... you know, just .... again, it's.... it's been great
these last few years, but realistically can we sustain this level of growth, and can we
count on it to offset the losses that we have, particularly in the multi -family, uh, sector.
So, uh, you have two graphs here. The one on the left is a calendar -year graph and it's
the building permit construction value. So when you submit a building permit, um,
there's a, uh, a statement of value of whatever you're constructing. And, uh, you can see
that there's an outlier on this graph. Um, it's 2016 clearly and in 2016 we saw nearly
$400 million worth of, uh..... uh, construction in the community. This doesn't include
any of the University, uh, properties, uh, as well. Um, but these are, uh, this is the ... the
level of development that... that, um, is occurring in our community right now, and you
can see that compared to years past. You look at, uh, 2009, uh, through 2011 there and
none of those years even hit 100, uh, million and here we are close to 400 million in ... in
16. The next graph to the right is, uh, what that translates to in .... in terms of, uh.... uh,
building permit revenue. So when you, um .... you know you submit your building
permit, you're telling us what the value is and then you're paying, um, a fee to the City
based, partly based on that .... that value, and we're switchin' to fiscal year here so you
can't necessarily go back and forth, apples to apples here, but you can see in fiscal year
16, which is the last blue line there, um, our building permit revenue jumped up, uh, to...
to slightly over 2 million, and you look historically back, and, you know, we were
hovering right around that 1 million. So we've doubled our, you know, our.....our,
probably our average annual building permit revenue in just that fiscal year 16. That
creates a surplus in our budget. That's revenue that we didn't anticipate or we didn't
budget for, and that gives us a much stronger position to start in coming into the fiscal
year 18 budget. We did put the year-to-date on fiscal year 17. Obviously we still have,
urn .... uh, you know roughly six months to go with that data, so you're.....you're likely to
see that fiscal year 17 number get up close to that fiscal year 16 number, and again, that
....we don't .... we don't budget at those higher levels. Uh, and so that's creating extra
revenue that we didn't anticipate that's helping us build our reserves. It's helping us, uh,
do a few things that we wouldn't be able to do. Most importantly it's helping us start
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fiscal year 18 in a .... in a very, uh, strong position. If it's the flipside, obviously if we're
only pulling in $500,000 of permit value, um, we've got the opposite problem. We're...
we're .... we're tryin' to figure out where we can fill that gap, you know, what expenses
do we need to cut or what other revenues do we need to, uh, bring in to balance that
budget. Okay, so the .... the next portion of the presentation is, uh, focusing on our
revenues, urn .... uh, in the budget. Um, this is all funds revenue. So if you remember
that .... the... the fund map I had up there early on. Um, this would be combining
everything into one, and, uh, you know, the point is we're showing the change from our
previous year's budget, or I guess our current year's budget, FYI to (coughing, unable
to hear speaker) 18. If you look at the net total change, we're actually bringin' in about
1.5 ... excuse me, percent less revenue. Um, you can see, uh, most of those lines are .... are
pretty status quo. Intergovernmental, um, changes is .... is mostly due to some significant
dollars we received for bus replacement in fiscal year 17. And then on the, uh, other
financial sources, that's mostly, um, reduced debt sales, uh, that we have, uh.... uh, there.
So pretty status quo, uh, when it comes to the overall picture on revenues. Uh.... same
information just shown on a pie chart. If you .... if you look at where all the money comes
into the City and gets... across all funds, property taxes make up just over a third of all the
money that we receive. Uh, the next largest piece would be charges for service and ... and
the biggest chunk of that would be your utility bill. You're payin' your water, your
sewer, your storm water, that sort of thing. Your federal, um .... uh, your
intergovernmental represents federal funds, CDBG, Home, State funds like road use tax
and local funds from 28Es, that sort of thing. We're gonna drill down to the, uh, the
general fund and ... and here ya see a different picture. When you get into the general fund
property taxes make up 65%, um, of all the revenue that we receive. Urn .... and the point
to make with this slide is that we don't have a very diversified revenue portfolio, and part
of that's just the constraint that the State puts on cities. We don't have the Home Rule
authority to .... to diversify our revenue like a lot of cities in other states might have. Um,
but it is somethin' that ... that, uh, is concerning. Certainly if we have, uh, property,
uh.... um .... if we have, uh, taxable valuations that are stagnant or declining, if we hit a
recession and we're not .... we're not growing, that impacts property taxes, which is the,
um, largest.... the largest funding source we have to .... to fund our general operations
here. So other cities, uh, in Iowa, uh, may .... may have a slightly more diversified, uh,
general fund, urn .... uh, that wouldn't have so much reliance on property tax and that
could be, uh, a higher utility franchise fee, uh, that could be local option sales tax, that
could be more hotel/motel tax. For some cities that could be gaming revenues. If you
have a casino. Um, we don't rely heavily on any of those sources that I just mentioned.
We don't have some of those sources I just mentioned. That pushes more, um, weight
onto property taxes here in Iowa City. So, uh.... when you look at that 65% of the
revenue coming into the general fund being property taxes you ask yourself, who's
paying for that 65%, and the answer is, uh, it's changing. Uh, and that's a predictable
outcome of the property tax reform from 2013. So we're looking at the, uh, percent of
taxable, uh, property values in the community by classification, and what you see, the
blue line is residential, and you see back in fiscal year 14, the first year after property tax
reform, um, that residential properties, uh, again we're talking the single-family
residential because at this time in 2014, multi -family was part of commercial. So back in
fiscal year 14, residential properties were paying, uh, 59.64%, um, you know, urn .... and
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if you fast -forward to fiscal year 18 at the other end of the graph, you can see that those
residential properties are now, um, representing 66.6% of the taxable, uh, property value
in our community. So it's a growth, you know, change of about 7%, and on the
commercial side you can see where they were, uh, making up about 37.4%, uh, in fiscal
year 14, that's down to .... um, fiscal year 18 where it's, uh, when you combine it with
multi -residential, about 31%. So you're definitely seein' a shift. There is more burden
on the residential sector when it comes to ... to property taxes, which is really what, um,
the State intended. They were reducing the burden on .... on business, and someone's
gotta pick up that burden, and it's the residential. Look at property tax receipts.
Um .... uh, in 2018 we're lookin' at, uh, bringin' in about $2.00, or I'm song, uh, 2%
more, uh, property tax receipts. And ... you know you ... it's a .... it's a little bit,
um .... um....counterintuitive in that we're lowering the property tax levy but we're
actually bringing in more property tax dollars. Uh, that's largely because of the,
um .... uh, the rollback figure, uh, continuing, uh, to go up there, but you know, in any
given year, uh... just labor costs and inflation are .... are pushin' the budget 3, 4%
pretty.....pretty easily. So when you look back at the last few years, with the exception
of last year's, uh, larger jump in receipts, you know, we've been under, um, you know,
what we've been experi.... you know, under that, kind of that labor and inflation rate of 3
to 4% and .... 2018, uh, continues to reflect that trend.
Dickens/ When do they do the residential, uh, reassessment?
Fruin/ Uh, this is .... 2018 is not a ... a reassessment year. So, that'll be in 2019, yeah. And that's
part of the jump in 17. Our property tax rate trend, urn .... over the last six years we've
been able to reduce our property tax rates and uh, if you combine it, it's about 8 1/2%
reduction over those six years and, uh, you know, the positive thing is when we look at
this slide internally as .... as the budget team, you know, we try to project out, you know,
what....what we can do, and I think for the next couple of -years, we can continue this
trend going forward, um, absent any, um, major changes in our.....in our financial
picture, but we're pretty well, um, prepared to continue to bring this number down. A lot
of that now is on the debt service levy, just like the 25%, uh, 25 -cent reduction we're
proposing with this budget. I think in future budgets you'll see us be able to continue to
draw down that, uh, that debt service, uh, levy a bit. We do try to bring this down
gradually. Um .... uh, we try to avoid the big swings. The last thing we want to do is .... is
drop this, to your point earlier, Kingsley, the last thing we want to do is to .... to drop our
rate only to have to push up a big .... a big spike next year. You know, this isn't a .... a
short-term kind of, uh, tool that we use. We really have to think long, uh, long-term
about how we adjust things. Uh, when you talk about property tax rates with your friends
and neighbors you have to keep in mind that, uh, the bill that they receive is, uh... um, not
just the City of Iowa City but there is other jurisdictions that have property taxing
authority and the bill that, uh.... uh, folks receive, um, is a combination of all the levies
from all those different, uh, entities. We call that the overlapping, uh, tax rate, and you
can see that Iowa City, um, has the largest share, um, at 43%, so 43% of your property
tax bill here is, um, directly, uh... uh, due to, uh, our decisions here, uh, at the City. 36%
for the School District, 18% for Johnson County. You can see that. And if we look at the
trends there, we go to the next slide, um .... this shows the trend from fiscal year 8 to fiscal
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year 17, and, uh, I wouldn't worry so much about the bar graphs on this one, but look at
the .... the orange line and you'll see that, um, you know, back in fiscal year 8, we were
closer to 44 1/2%, um, and so we've.... we're..... we're dropping here a little bit. Uh,
we're under 43% now. Um, and I think you'll see us continue to drop. Matter of fact I...
I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that you could see, um, you know, over
the next few years the City, uh, become secondary to the School District. If you think
about the ..... the financial pressures that the School District has, um, with the lack of State
funding and of course the large, um, GO, uh, issue that they're going to be talking to the
community about, if that were to pass, uh, you may see the School District become the...
the.....the largest shareholder of that, uh....that pie chart on the .... on the previous, uh,
page there and, you know, the one thing I didn't encourage you to think about is, you
know, really we're a team of governments here, uh, representing the community, and, uh,
if we know that the School District has, uh, these things, uh, ahead, that bond issue in
particular, ahead of us, um, and.....and you all determine that's something that .... that is
worthy of supporting, um, you .... you not only support it, um, vocally and .... and to your
constituents but one thing you can do that has a real impact is continue to drive down
your property tax levy to offset the financial impact on ..... on property owners, uh, for
that bond issue. So if their bond issue is going to, um, add and I'm .... I'm just making up
a dollar, you know, a number here. Add a dollar to the property tax levy, but you all can
drive down your property tax levy another 50 -cents, that, you know (laughs) that's a big
deal to ... to .... to folks out there. Um, it's.... it's hard to communicate that. People see
those as two different things, but at the end, they get their ... they get their property tax bill
and all these things are combined. So if you're reducing while they're adding, there's
some offset there, um, and that can provide some real .... real value to the community.
Cole/ Geoff, this might be the next slide, but setting aside the GO bond for the School District,
what are the trend lines, uh, for the levy with the School District as well as the County.
You know you've shown our trend line is going down. Is theirs stable? Is it going up?
What have their respective trend lines been?
Fruin/ I .... I don't know for sure. I would think the School District is going up a little bit (both
talking)
Andrew/ Yeah, the School District has increased, uh, some. In the last couple of years the
County has remained, uh, almost (both talking)
Cole/ ...so I think the point being is that people will see actual reductions in their property tax
bill. That's the goal. With our reduction. Because if we have the reduction and there's
another offset, although we're helping out the School District, they're not gonna see the
actual extra money in their pocket I guess (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, those things.... those things can offset. If we drop our property tax levy 25 -cents,
and ... and the School District, uh, raises it 30, um, as a .... as a property owner you don't
necessarily see that .... that difference there.
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Mims/ Don't forget, Rockne, the other impact is the overall valuation of taxable property and the
rollback.
Cole/ Yeah. Those are (both talking)
Mims/ Yeah, that affect what the property owner actually sees.
Cole/ Yep!
Fruin/ The, uh, next slide gets into some other major revenue sources. I think this is the last
revenue slide that we have here, but urn .... a couple other, uh, funding sources that .... that
we use in the ... in the general fund. The first one is the hotel/motel tax. Um, that's the
blue line on this graph, and you can see how that's climbed. The opening of the
Hampton Inn has helped, uh, there, and .... we have three new hotels under construction
right now. So, um, we continue (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) that this, uh, blue
line will push up over the years and that's.... that's really healthy for the City. That's, uh,
helping us diversify, uh, our ..... our revenue sources.
Dickens/ Why is there a drop in the gas and electric?
Fruin/ The.....the gas and electric excise tax is a, uh.... um, basically, um, a replacement of, uh,
property taxes. They used to pay property taxes. Now they don't anymore but there's
a ... there's a formula that's still based in part on property taxes. So as we drop our levy,
or as their valuations change, they're gonna pay less in that excise tax. The utility
franchise tax, that's the 1% tax that we have. Um, now that's.....that fluctuates quite a
bit, uh, just based on weather. So fiscal year 14 we had a really, really long, cold,
sustained winter, uh, that's gonna drive up energy use and that impacts our budget. Uh,
that one's a little bit tougher to ... to pin, but um, generally we get about $900,000 from
that revenue source, from that I%.
Mims/ Geoff, one of the other things as I was looking through here that I'd like to throw out,
again not for consideration for this year, but .... and I don't know when and where this
would come. As we're seeing more and more hotels and motels come online in the area,
I think we need to, uh, revisit the discussion on the dollars that are going to CVB out of
that. Um, I mean I think 25% of those hotel/motel taxes are going to the Convention and
Visitor Bureau. The question becomes at what point do they really need 25% of that
fairly significantly increasing pie. Um, and how much can we and Coralville and
anybody else maybe pull back for our own uses. So I .... I think that's something we need
to revisit soon.
Botchway/ If I remember correctly, we had some of that discussion before, and we can do that at
any time, right?
Fruin/ Yeah, there's.... there's, uh, State laws that .... that govern I think 50% have to go to, uh,
tourism -related types of activities. Doesn't say it has to do to the CVB, um but ... but you
have to...you have to use the majority of those funds that you receive to (both talking)
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Mims/ Ours Parks and Rec Department could use some money. (laughs)
Frain/ Yep! Some goes to Parks, but we distribute it, uh, a percent goes to Parks, a percent goes
to CVB, and a percent goes to our Police Department. (several talking in background)
Mims/ Yeah.
Thomas/ Do we know what the inc ... increase is in rol... um, hotel capacity? (several talking) I
read somewhere it's around 35% increase with the ... the various hotels, not just in Iowa
City but....
Frain/ Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me cause there's certainly a lot of new hotels around the
Coralville, uh, area too, but I don't.....I don't know that specific number but....
Thomas/ That's the number I recall was a 35% increase.
Fruin/ Wouldn't surprise me. Uh, the one point I want to make on that, and... and, um, especially
for those on the EDC Committee, as you're looking at the TIF policy, and we went
through those focus groups and one of the things that people rated the lowest, um, was
hotels. You know, so we asked what .... what types of projects should the City be
supporting and, uh, and I think at the very bottom of the list was hotels and .... and I just...
when you have local focus groups, um, a lot of, you know, local people don't benefit
directly from those hotels so it doesn't surprise me that that score's low, but thinking
about it from a larger city organization, again the .... the revenue that those hotels provide
above and beyond any other uses that .... that we could support with TIF, um, is really
valuable, and those revenues that they provide support our general fund and support the
activities that those same people in the focus groups probably are advocating for. So....
keep that in mind.
Throgmorton/ In regard to the utility franchise tax, am I right in remembering it's 1 % right now?
Fruin/ That's correct.
Throgmorton/ And we could, if we wanted to, increase it to 1 1/2 or 2 or something....
Frain/ You can go all the way up to 5%.
Throgmorton/ All the way to 5. Yeah. So, I guess that green bar would double, would it not, if
we chose to go from I to 2?
Fruin/ That ... for the most part. Yep. You might .... you might see some, you know, energy
conservation, uh, you know, people are payin' more on their bills, they're more likely
to .... to try to do things to conserve energy but, yeah. Uh, we'll talk real quick about
some comparative analysis and .... and this gets back to our tax rate and just looking at
how we stack up with other cities. Uh, the first column is our fiscal year 17 tax rate. So
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we're not talkin' about what's bein' proposed here cause I don't know what other cities
are proposing. It's a stage in the ballgame, but just looking at our current tax rate, you
can see, um, that we are, uh, making our way down to .... towards the middle of the pack.
Um .... uh, we are below Council Bluffs, Waterloo, Des Moines, and Davenport. If you
were to scan over, uh, to the second column, which is the fiscal year 12 tax rate, uh, we
would of really been tied for second there. Uh, Waterloo would have been the highest at
18.53, and then Council Bluffs is 17.85, and we're 17.84, so there's only a .... a penny
difference there. So we were among the highest in the state there. And ... and I should
mention, these are the 10 largest cities in Iowa and, uh, we've included also Coralville
and North Liberty as our .... as our neighbors here so that's how we get these 12 cities.
And you look at just the changes in tax rates from fiscal year 12 to fiscal year 17. Of the
12 cities, six have decreased their tax rates over this time, three have remained status quo,
and three have raised them, and so we've been able to, uh, drop a little bit. Um,
we .... we've, uh, had the largest decrease among these 12. Um .... and, uh, again if we can
continue to, um, follow the projections, I think we can .... we can, uh, fall pretty squarely
in the middle of the pack here. Uh....
Thomas/ Just... just, uh, I don't really want to discuss it in length but it...it really strikes me that
Ames is so low because it .... I would think, uh, Ames and Iowa City have very ... are
comparable cities in terms of their, how their finances are structured and yet there's a
pretty dramatic difference.
Fruin/ Yeah.
Thomas/ I don't need an answer, but just something to note.
Dickens/ (mumbled) private, privatized (both talking)
Fruin/ It's a .... it's a, definitely a mix of. ... of factors there, you know, one of them is they have a
local option sales tax and a good chunk of that goes to property tax relief and community
betterment, which is really other general fund type of expenses, um, but yeah, there's a
number of different factors that bring that down. Uh, we look at the utility franchise, and
so, you know, there's, urn .... you know we talked about the property taxes on the first
one, and we know one of those communities was Cedar Rapids, and ... and they've been
at, uh, $15.22. They haven't changed that. But again, cities can pull from different
revenue sources and ... and since fiscal year 12, Cedar Rapids has passed a local option
sales tax, and they've also increased their franchise fee. So it's ... uh, you know, it's .... it's
hard to compare these things. You really have to look at all the different options the city
has to really understand the revenues that they're bringing in. You'll see we're on the
low end of the franchise fees, particularly with the largest, uh, the larger cities. Um,
Dubuque and Cedar Rapids have recently raised theirs. And, uh, being that this is one of
the few revenue sources, uh, that .... that cities can control without referendum, I would,
you know, as financial pressures occur with property tax reform, you might see more
cities continue to rely on the franchise fee.
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Page 15 Budget Work Session
Andrew/ One thing to note there may be also that when we initially passed it, we passed it at 2%.
Uh, that was reduced the following year.
Frain/ Right.
Mims/ There was a lot of pushback!
Andrew/ Right.
Frain/ Local option sales tax, uh, these are the cities that have the local option sales tax, and, uh,
you know, um, it's a completely different scale of number. You know, franchise tax,
again we're talkin' about $900,000, uh, for 1% (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) Uh,
local option sales tax, we're talkin' about probably $10 million. So, it's a.....it's a much
different scale. I'll just point out, if you look at Cedar Rapids and what they bring in for
their street repair, $19 million. That' s the equivalent of our First Avenue grade
separation, our Washington Street project, and our annual resurfacing budget all in one
year, and that local option sales tax that they have, that's the scale of improvements that
they can provide to their community every year with that annual, uh, revenue source.
Cole/ In lost funds, can we use for any purpose or is it earmarked to a particular .... (both talking)
Frain/ You decide the purpose. There are a few (both talking)
Cole/ Okay.
Frain/ ....uh, purposes that are restricted, uh, for instance I know you cannot use a local option
for school -related, uh.... um, projects. Um, but yeah, the .... you would (several talking)
Mims/ Basically depends on the ballot language.
Cole/ Okay!
Dickens/ Cause we did affordable housing (several talking)
Cole/ So you can almost do anything, and so I guess my point being is that if we woke up
tomorrow and said that, learned that the backfill was going to be taken away, we would
be able to try to pass a local option for purposes of. ... that would be one option. Okay.
Frain/ Yeah, you could do that, and you could see the different cities..... um, street repair tends to
be the .... the most popular, along with property tax relief. Um.....but yeah, you can come
up With any....
Cole/ Okay. Thanks, Geoff?
Frain/ All right, we'll move on to the expenditure side and, um, skip to general fund
expenditures and... and I just want to drive the point home that, you know, if it comes to
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Page 16 Budget Work Session
the point where we have to balance the budget on the expenditure side, um, you're really
looking at people. When .... when 73% of your general fund budget is labor expenses,
um, there's really no other way to cut without impacting people. We're a service -driven
organization. We have people that deliver services, and that's what makes, um, that's
what makes it so tough when you find yourself in .... in bad budget situations is .... is
you're talkin' about positions. Uh, just a .... a highlight on the expenditure changes. Um
...uh, the bottom line is our expenditures is increase.... are.... are increasin' about a little
over 2%. You can see, uh, how that, uh.... uh, how that falls out .... how that falls in the
different categories. One of the changes we're recommending in this budget is that we
increase our .... our annual contingency. To, uh, we do, uh, typically do, uh.... uh.....
three-quarter percent, uh, contingency and we're.... we're, um, requesting that we bump
that up to 1%. And so that contingency's different than a, different than a reserve. That's
basically money that we budget for things that come up that we didn't expect. So, uh,
you know, it could be, you know, for instance we, you know, staff recommended we
change gears on the climate action plan and instead of the $25,000, uh, facilitator,
we ... we came back to you and said I don't know if that's the best idea. I think we should
go to this consultant, but it's going to cost $75,000. We provide ourselves a little bit of
wriggle room, without having to dip into reserves, to adjust to some of those things
that... that may come up in a year that ... that we can't anticipate at this stage. Uh, we'll
get back into some of these volatile expenses, and ... and provide you some more
information. So this is the, uh, Police and Fire pension contributions over, uh, the last
several years, and if you look at that bottom line, that percent change, uh, from year to
year, that's what really throws us for a loop. Uh, you know, when you get a 25%
followed by 31 %, um, and then for a couple years we .... we had negatives, you know, it's
just hard to .... hard to know exactly where this is going. The employee rate is fixed,
and .... and so that ... that rate, they pay, um, 9.4%. That's what the Police and Fire
employees pay. Um, our rate depends on the actuarial analysis that the .... that the State
provides. So basically what does that fund need to stay, um ..... uh, to .... to stay viable,
and so that's when you get these large swings. If you look at the highest year there, fiscal
year 15, we were paying over 30%. Okay? So again, the employee rate's fixed at 9.4.
We're payin' over in that year over 30%. In fiscal year 18 we're back down to 25.68%.
So you've seen a couple years decline there.
Dickens/ Now are these pensions invested by the State or....
Fruin/ Yeah. (several responding)
Dickens/ So it depends a little bit on (both talking)
Fruin/ Right!
Dickens/ ....how investments go (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah. Yeah, they .... they assume a 7 1/2% return, which we all think is .... way too
aggressive to assume, um, and when they miss that 7 1/2% assumption (several talking)
then we see our numbers drop off. So .... or our ... our numbers spike up.
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Page 17 Budget Work Session
Botchway/ So, I mean what are the other cities take? Like on this... perspective on this. I ... I
mean, I know that Tom (clears throat) had prior talked about, you know, how problematic
and volatile this is as well. I ... I guess I'm just not understanding why, from a city
perspective, as cities are, you know, deliberating on the same message presumably, why
there isn't more of a .... I don't know, I mean.....
Mims/ Keep in mind it's only your largest cities that are affected by this.
Botchway/ Well even more so, I mean that's.... that's my point, I mean .... (several talking)
Mims/ That's what I was (several talking)
Fruin/ We have no control. It's all ... it's all done at the State level, and, um, believe me the .... the
Metro Coalition, the largest cities, we continually talk about this. Um, but you're right,
it's .... it's just the largest cities, so your smaller cities aren't impacted and you think about
the representation in the State House and there's.... there's not a whole lot of interest
cause it...it doesn't impact a lot of those smaller communities. Even Coralville, you
know (several talking) Not ... for the fire, but even police. A police officer hired in
Coralville is under a different pension system than a police officer hired in Iowa City. A
much less generous pension system.
Mims/ They're under IPERS.
Fruin/ Yeah, they're under IPERS. Uh, the next one is the healthcare costs. I mentioned this a
little bit, uh, the .... the top is just, urn.... the.... the traditional healthcare, uh, insurance,
health insurance. Our premiums were about 13% increase last year and we're budgeting
7 1/2% this year. Uh, that's why when we .... when we go through collective bargaining
we continue to push the employee share up a little bit. Um, because we continue to see
our costs to provide those benefits, um .... uh, continue to go up, and there hasn't been
a ... any significant changes in benefit levels, uh, on that side either. The second bullet
point's probably the ... the more important one to drive home. Again, in 2009 the State
legislation added a presumption of responsibility of infectious disease and cancers. So,
it's just assumed if you have certain types of diseases, that it is, um, duty related. You
don't have to prove it was duty related. It's just assumed to be, and that ... that changes
things from a .... more of a medical situation to a worker's comp situation. And we're
really starting to see the increase in ... in .... in cost now and it's going to change from year
to year as .... as, um, different health conditions are identified and treated, but, uh, we're
budgeting a modest increase this year. A 1 % increase, um, but over the last, um, three
years, from fiscal year 14, uh, we've seen the budget grow $500,000 in this line item
and .... and this law is only seven years old. So you can assume that it's going to continue
to put a lot of pressure. This is one of the reserve levels, um, we have. This is in the
employee benefits, uh....um, side of...of things, um, where we don't think our reserve is
quite sufficient enough as we're experiencing this gro... uh, experiencing this growth
in .... in claims. We're about 21.41% reserve right now, and we'd like to see that get up
to 30%. So we're gonna, uh, gradually push for that over the next few years, and that'll
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Page 18 Budget Work Session
just give us more .... more cushion. These aren't predictable expenses. These are medical
claims and we don't know, you know, when those are coming and, uh, we need to be able
to, uh, build up the reserves high enough to be able to respond to those.
Mims/ And we also know what's happening with medical costs, so....
Fruin/ Okay. I'm going to talk a little bit about debt service here. Um, the, uh, State of Iowa
limitation, uh, of no more than 5% of the assessed property value. Um, we .... we meet
that just fine. We're projected to be about 1.24% of our total valuations. We have a local
policy here that, um our debt service shall not exceed 30% of our total levy. Our debt
service levy should not exceed 30% of our total levy. We're at 21.9%. And, uh, we're
able to, um, fall under these thresholds, uh, considerably because of the work, uh, largely
with Dennis and his staff, and ... and restructuring, um, our .... our debt and, uh, doing some
early calls and we're gonna continue to do that, and that's why you're seein' the tax rate
drop.
Mims/ Geoff, is that 21.9% based on the 25 -cent reduction for 2018 or are we at 21.9% now?
Fruin/ I think.....
Andrew/ That's FYI 8.
Fruin/ FYI 8.
Mims/ That's FYI 8? Okay, thank you.
Fruin/ Okay, so this shows, urn .... uh, the red line is our debt levels, our outstanding GO debt and
the blue is what the State permits you. So the State sets your bonding, uh, limits there,
and, uh... the third line in the table is the debt as a percent of limit, and you can see, uh, all
the way out to fiscal year 18 there, we're .... we're just under 25% of our limit, uh, that the
State allows, and that's.... that's a pretty low number if you were to compare us with
other cities. A lot of other cities are well over 50% and some are hooverin' right around
that ... that State limit, so we have a lot of authority to bond more, um, not suggesting that
we need to, but, uh, we certainly have the authority, uh, to do so. Um, the .... I want to
point out the bottom line, and the bottom line's not really tied to the graph at all, but
again it's that, um, 1.24% of our, um, is ... is our debt as a percent of total valuation. The
Moody's benchmark for this, for triple-A cities, is .75. (several responding) So these are
one of these scorecards that, uh, the Moody scorecard pieces that.... that we don't
conform with. Um, and we are actively trying to get that down, um .... uh, and .... and you
can see we've made progress back in fiscal year 10 we were at 1.7% up to 1.8% and now
we're down to 1.2, so, um, we have a .... as part of the debt management policy that
you've all approved, uh, which we tried to align with the Moody scorecard, um, we're
tryin' to get that down to .75. It'll happen gradually, if we can get there. Obviously
we're strong enough in other categories where Moody's is overlooked this, but it's one of
those areas where we're not .... not conforming to their standards.
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Cole/ Geoff, if we didn't do the .25, would we be able to get to that standard more quickly? In
terms of the property tax reduction?
Mims/ No. Doing the .25 helps us get down there faster.
Fruin/ Yeah, it's really (both talking)
Cole/ ...pay down the debt more quickly?
Fruin/ No, it's not about payin' down the debt. It's just about how much debt, you know, you're
holding comparing to that .... that total valuation. I think .... I think, you know, Dennis can
speak to this, but he's been very aggressive with .... with early calls, I mean as soon as we
can retire debt we're doing so. We're not necessarily waiting the full 10 years. Um ... so
I .... I don't ... I don't think that that would change things.
Bockenstedt/ We're currently trying to call in bond issues, particularly if they have higher
interest rates as .... as soon as we can. Um, and so we're tryin' to call .... this year two
bond issues in early and I think we're going to call in additional issues early next year,
and I think that's going to be our strategy over the next couple years is to continue to call
those in early. Um, and I think we're planning to do that that way, that the 25 -cents was
kind of, uh, it was in relation to some gap that's been created from those early calls. So
we're still planning to do additional early calls on top of that.
Cole/ Okay.
Botchway/ Is this goal achievable? The .75?
Bockenstedt/ Um, it's a difficult goal to achieve, uh, based on the Moody's levels, um, I think we
would have to .... to strive to continue to reduce the amount of, uh, debt we're planning to
issue on an annual basis. Um, and so I think we would have to continue to ... to set a
overall goal on an annual basis to reduce the amount that we're issuing, and one of those
strategies to do that would be to replace that with an alternate revenue source. So rather
than, you know, if we want to achieve our capital program for .... for streets and parks as
not using debt to achieve that program, but using alternate revenue sources which, uh,
Geoff previously mentioned to accomplish that capital program.
Mims/ The other thing to think about... when you look at what it is that's based on. It's based on
the total valuation. So economic development is significant because as you increase your
total valuation, the same dollar amount of debt is a lower percent. So .... you know, if you
want to get that percent down to .75, and if we don't have an alternate revenue stream,
okay, then there's two things we've gotta do. We've gotta really work on economic
development and increase our taxable valuation, and we've gotta be relatively
conservative in borrowing money.
Fruin/ That's right. Uh, the next two slides detail the Moody's rating. We like to show you this
annually to .... to put you....uh, let you know where we stand (both talking)
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Throgmorton/ What's that on the far left, Geoff? (laughter)
Fruin/ Yeah! Um, we sit very well. We're .... we're one of, uh, you know, just over 7% of cities
nationwide that are rated by Moody's, uh, that receive the triple-A bond rating. Um, and,
uh.... uh, are optimistic that we can stay there, um .... uh, so that's that, and then we look
at the, uh, the Iowa version of that, so now we're strippin' out all the cities in other ... other
states, in other states and lookin' at, uh, where we stand in the state of Iowa. And we're
joined by West Des Moines as the only two cities that are, uh, triple-A rated.
Botchway/ So what's West Des Moines' deal too, because they had a lower .... was it a property
tax levy as well? Is that, do I remember that correctly? Where .... where are they, I mean,
they saw that huge economic development boom, you know, seven to 10 years ago. Is
that where most of this is coming from? Not ... not this particular pieces. I'm sorry! But
some of the other stuff, prior?
Fruin/ Yeah... yeah, I haven't studied West Des Moines at all to know exactly what their,
uh.... what their makeup is. You know, it ... it's, it really takes a lot of study cause it's not
just what revenues are comin' in, but what are the services they offer to the community?
You know, do they have a volunteer fire department or they have a paid fire department?
Do they have things like a .... a Human Rights office and .... and you know, some of the
other, um, services that we offer the community that ... that our community really values,
other cities may not value, and so their expense picture's a lot different.
Andrew/ And there are things that go into the Moody's rating beyond just city operations and
city expenses. Some of it's based on the median income of the community, uh, things
like that where West Des Moines fits more of the triple-A profile than, uh, we typically
would. With all the students in town, without the same income, that sort of skews our
median income in a way that West Des Moines doesn't experience.
Fruin/ Okay, home stretch, we're gonna get into the analysis and kind of some summary points
here. Um, this is a quick picture of our enterprise fund balances. It's a lot of numbers up
there, uh, but you'll see our .... our major enterprise accounts listed there to the left. Um,
really what you ... what you want to look at is the .... the far right column, which is the
percent of expenditures and transfers out. So, if you take that top line, you know, Parking
has a ... a, roughly a 95% fund balance there. That's a very strong fund balance. You look
down the line, um, you can see that Transit has a strong fund balance, and um, we .... we
don't have necessarily a standard target for all of these different operations. You know,
for instance Transit, we're .... we're building a fund balance in Transit so that we can have
a .... a match to a federal grant if we can get, you know, if there's a grant opportunity for a
new Transit facility we want to be in position to say, yeah, we can .... we can pay the, uh,
20% match or the 30% match that ... .that's required there. Um, you know we look at
a ... like a .... a fund like, uh, water. You're really projecting out the capital needs of the
system over the long term and making sure that, um, you're bringin' in enough revenue
and ... that your fund reserve can .... can be nimble enough to adjust to those, uh, capital
needs. So, again, no.....no standard here but I .... I wouldn't, uh, express any .... any
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concern with any .... anyone of these enterprise funds. I think all of these reserve levels
are .... are pretty healthy.
Dickens/ What are we increasing this year as far as ... fees? (both talking)
Fruin/ Refuse, yeah and we'll get into that but our focus will be on refuse. Uh, a quick look at
just a comparison of utility rates. We're talkin' about the enterprise funds here. Um, you
can see where we stack up in the different categories. Um, we've kind of got it ranked
here. If we were to add `em all up, this is a really difficult table for us to put together
because you've got some private contractors here, uh, people.....people don't base their
rates on the same calculations. You know, people, uh, charge water differently. People
charge storm water differently. Um, so we try to normalize it the best we can, but, um, it
shows you that ... that we're slightly above average here, but you know, I just looked back
at the last couple of presentations, and we're .... we're definitely falling, um, here and I
expect us to continue to, uh, to fall down a little bit. One of the things that ... that we
should all feel really good about is we have a .... a new water plant. Yeah, it's 15 years
old, but that's very new in .... in water plant years, um, and uh, it has a lot of capacity left.
We have a new sewer plant, um, so some of those .... those major investments have been
made, and our rates are reflective of those investments. A lot of these other cities
are ... are facing the challenge of how do we pay for that water treatment plant upgrade or
that new sewer plant, and .... I .... you can see those .... those cities really start to push up
their rates now. Ina .... in a city like North Liberty, uh, where they have a .... a fast-
growing community, they.... they're struggling. I mean that's just natural, um ... that you
have to make major infrastructure upgrades in water and sewer, and you can see their
rates have to reflect that.
Thomas/ So ... so our issues are more on the distribution end?
Fruin/ Yeah. Absolutely. So here' s the highlight of the fee changes. Uh, no fee changes are
being recommended for water, sewer, storm water, or transit. Um, we try not to hit too
many of the categories that show up on a person's utility bill in any given year. We don't
want to create a .... a .... a big sticker shock. Uh, this year we're focusing on refuse and
recycling. Uh, we are recommending a 20....a 20 -cent increase for the solid waste, uh,
component of that, and a dollar increase for the recycling component. The 20 -cent on
solid waste is really just helpin' us keep up with .... with costs, labor costs. The dollar
increase is helping us switch from a, uh, dual -sorted stream to a, uh, single -stream
recycling, uh, to where we can basically collect and inter -mingle. It's a little bit more
efficient from us on the operations side. Um, if you fill your .... if you fill your trash bin
up, you can buy extra bags, um, and .... and we're.... we're, um, raising the cost of those
bags, we're proposing to, from $1.25 to 2.50, so this would be for the really heavy users.
If you, um, have a big family and you .... you.....you need more than that one bin, um,
you pay a little bit more for the extra waste that you generate. Uh, the biggest change,
and .... and Chris'll walk you through this a little bit too is .... we're proposing to eliminate,
uh, beginning in 2018 the, uh, $25 sticker for yard waste. Um, and replace that with a $2
monthly fee to all consumers. And we're doing that for a few reasons. One is, yard
waste is now evolving into yard waste and composting. So it's going to be a service that,
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um, you know yard waste, kinda dependent on where you lived. If you lived in a new
subdivision you really didn't use that service. If you were in an older, uh...... uh,
residential neighborhood with a lot of trees, you used it pretty heavily. You might have
bought two or three stickers. Um, but now the composting service that .... that we're, uh,
gettin' ready to roll out is .... is available to everybody. That's a lot easier to ... to manage
on a monthly fee. Plus I think just from a customer, um .... uh.... um, service and
efficiency standpoint, having people come in and buy stickers, having our staff buy and
manage a sticker process, um, you know a lot goes into that, um, even distributing the...
the leaf collection bags and things like that. A lot of, uh, energy goes into that, so what
we're, uh, suggesting is that it would be just a $2 monthly fee. You can provide your
own bags or your own, uh, you can even just, you know, get your own trash container
and, um, put your yard waste in that. So Chris'll give you more information on that, but
it's a .... a restructuring. We'd have one more year of the stickers, this year in 2017.
Parking, uh, the only adjust in parking that we're making is we're suggesting we take the
permit, uh, fees, uh, up $5. Uh, so if you're in a parking deck you're paying $80 a month
right now. That would go to 85. Uh, no change to the meter or the, uh, violation rate
structure. And then Parks and Recreation, we're generally seeing about a 3% increase
across the board in ... in those services with a few exceptions. Um, as a reminder, Parks
and Recreation fees, uh, we Will ask you to approve those increases, urn .... uh, here in the
next, uh, 30 days or so. Um, we do that because.....just because of the way their
programming falls, um, it's not very easy for us to do that on July Ist. It's easier for us
to .... to adjust those rates in the winter and roll those into the spring programming
because the spring programming, um, bleeds into the summer and .... and passes that July
Ist date.
Botchway/ Geoff, when we start to talk about the, urn .... the parking.... study. I don't think it's
just parking, but will we be able to talk about rates then as well?
Fruin/ Yeah, the .... the parking study's more focused in the neighborhoods and how, uh, we're
managing the neighborhood parking, but we can talk about rates at any time. This is a
good time to do it during budget. Okay, uh.... property tax impact, uh, we use a
$100,000, um, residential valuation just for ease of multiplication. If you have a two or
three or $400,000 home you can just apply that factor, uh, but even though we're
reducing our City tax rate 25 -cents, um. .... uh, a owner of a $100,000 property will pay
about $8 more in property taxes this year under this proposal, and that's because of that
rollback figure, uh, going up. And on the business side, um, this graph shows what has
happened, uh, to a $500,000 piece of commercial property since fiscal year 12, and uh,
you can see a ..... a dramatic reduction in the taxes paid over that period of time. Um,
that's primarily due to the .... the.....the State changes, you know, going from 100%, uh,
of. ... of taxable value to 9 ... uh, 90%. Um .... uh, but also reflects our drop in tax, uh, rate
as well, and I caution you, you know, you're not going to find too many commercial
property owners that would say, `Yeah, yeah, I've paid $1,500 less in taxes,' again, if the
School District's increased their tax rate, um, if their property valuation has gone up, uh,
which it likely has, um, then ... then this savings could be offset and they could actually be
paying more. So .... be careful about (laughter) making that assumption when talking to
business owners. Uh, when we .... we try to look at, you know, what's the impact to a, uh,
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Page 23 Budget Work Session
a household and if you .... so we combine the ... the, uh, increase in property taxes with all
our utility accounts and really.... really asking for the average residential user for about a
1.1% increase. So we're not increasing water, sewer. We're increasing refuse. Not
increasing storm water, and there's a slight increase in the property taxes that'll be paid.
All right, uh, a few budget highlights to .... to finish up here. Um, as I mentioned before
the, uh, significant development plus, um, some of the vacant positions that we've had,
just the turnover that we've had, created some savings on the expense side, has .... has
allowed us, um, really to start fiscal year 18 in a strong position. It created a significant
surplus in .... in fiscal year 16, and so there's several things that we're .... we're doin' with
this surplus. We're proposin' to do. One, uh, we'll talk about on.....on Tuesday a little
bit, but it makes the Public Work phase one project achievable now. We're gonna take
some of those surplus dollars, $2.5 million, transfer that over to the capital fund, and that
really is the gap that we needed to close to get phase one of the Public Works facility
going. Um, we wouldn't be able to do that had we not had that fiscal year 16 surplus.
Dickens/ Are we going to have to take any debt on that?
Fruin/ No. Well, I think we've got maybe $700,000, um, which is the most we can take. Uh,
the rest'll be paid from.....by, uh, you know, this transfer here and reserves that we've
built up, um, in other funds. Uh, we're suggesting a $500,000 transfer to the emergency
reserve fund, which pushes that fund over, uh, the $5 million mark. And then the
remainder of the surplus, we've, um.....uh, just left in the, uh, unreserved fund balance in
the general fund and so while we shoot for that 30% target, we're projecting that .... that
to be about 34%. Um ... and I'm .... I wouldn't .... I wouldn't be in a hurry to.....to draw
that back down to 30, just given some of the ... the concerns that we have. Again, it's
allowing us to start fiscal year 18 in a really strong position and, um, should there be, uh,
a .... an unexpected challenge, we'll be in good position to .... to, uh (mumbled) And ... and
I should say, it's not just an unexpected challenge. It could be an unexpected opportunity
too, urn .... if somethin' else comes up, for example, uh, a CIT proposal comes before us
and we need to, urn .... you know, provide some .... some funds for that. This is just some
extra flexibility that .... that allows us to do that.
Botchway/ Hey, Geoff, about the 500K, that's in addition to, or is that what we are giving to the
emergency reserve fund?
Fruin/ That's... that's the year's contribution, so it's in addition to what we already have in there.
Um, so it .... it, the last few years we've been contributing somewhere between, you
know, right around 1.5 million, I think 1.7 million. Um, this is a smaller transfer. Um...
Botchway/ Okay.
Fruin/ But you know generally whenever we have a surplus, we look at moving those funds into
the emergency reserve.
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Throgmorton/ Geoff, with regard to CIT, uh, you and I at least are aware that the County's...
inquired about whether we might be able to chip in some dollar amount to training and all
that (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, there's nothing plugged into the budget, um, right now because we...I just don't
have a number, um, but that's part of the reason that we have, you know, that we're
leavin' this larger, urn .... uh, undesignated reserve in the general fund so that we could
respond to that if it .... if it comes up.
Mims/ I think that's good, cause I think it will come.
Fruin/ Yeah, I think so.
Mims/ Yeah.
Taylor/ ...we could add that at any time (mumbled)
Mims/ Yeah, we'd have the flexibility to, yeah.
Cole/ And the emergency fund is unrestricted or have we a set .... or these the criteria that we
would use if we ever needed to use it. How do we (both talking)
Fruin/ No (both talking)
Cole/ ....do we define emergency?
Fruin/ Yeah, well .... the Council can define emergency. So you have the ability to, um, declare a
particular use of those funds as an emergency, uh, but .... but generally speaking it's for an
unexpected, uh, loss of revenue. So if the backfill comes out, we can tap into the
emergency fund and plug that in. If we have, um, spikes in expenses that we weren't
prepared to, uh (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) we can use it for that. We can use it
for flood mitigation projects, natural disaster responses, uh, but there's a clause in there
that allows the Council to designate any other use as an emergency.
Cole/ Okay.
Fruin/ Uh.... I've harped on the tax rate, uh, quite a bit. Um, the.... the..... the point I'll make, and
Terry brought this up earlier, is the .... the taxable valuation history there on the bottom.
Um, properties are assessed every other year, um, in Iowa City. So the odd years are
evaluation years. You see fiscal year 17, we jumped up 7 1/2%. That's really.... really
good growth, uh, in ... in .... in a single year. And even in fiscal year 18, which is a non-
evaluation year, so it's primarily looking at new growth in the community, um, it's not,
uh, existing properties being re-evaled, um, 3 1/2% is really strong. So even compared
to, um, you know, the .... the previous few years, um, the last two are ... are pretty
exceptional. Last two combined for just about 11% and that's roughly equal to the, uh...
uh, previous four years combined. That's the type of growth that we're havin' right now.
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Budge[ Work Session
Um, we have some personnel changes that .... that we're recommending that will be
touched upon in department, um, presentations. Uh, Communications Division, we are,
um ... uh, recommending that we, uh, reduce one and a half staff there, um, as part of a ... an
award. We had a retirement in the, uh, Communication Assistant position and uh, are
looking to do some things, uh, differently in that operation, uh, so that would go down
from seven and a half to six. Um, Finance, it would eliminate the vacant Budget
Mana ... Management Analyst position and within that same department add a Solutions
Architect in the IT, um, so those... those kind of cancel out there. Uh, Neighborhood
Services, um, we currently have a temporary Historic Preservation Planner. Um, I'm
recommending, uh, no new hours to that position, but that it become a, uh, permanent
benefited position. Um .... uh, I'm.....I'm doing that because I think it aligns with your
strategic plan goals to support historic preservation, and frankly, um, the Historic
Preservation Planner, it's really important that that person have some, um .... um,
knowledge of our historic districts and our historic properties, and when you rely on a
non -benefited half-time position, you're going to experience a lot of turnover in that
position by making .... by offering some benefits, you can hopefully have a little bit more
continuity in that position, which I think, um, benefits our historic preservation
operations quite a bit. It ensures that person in that position is well -versed on the
community, they know the districts and the landmarks, and they can evaluate, uh,
whatever proposals may be in front of them. Transportation Resource Management, uh,
this is .... this is not a really a new position, but if you recall when we had Dave Elias
retire and Dave was the, you know, the Supervisor over Landfill and Waste Water, at that
time we told you we were going to hire, um, a .... a supervisor over each of those
operations, that it was too much for one person. We haven't done that yet, and that
position fell out of the budget. We're .... we're just reintroducing that, cause we do still
plan to hire, um ... that position back, and then, uh, I am recommending two new positions
in our Streets operation. Um, that's a .... um, funded from road use tax dollars. Um .... uh,
that would, um.....allow us, uh, this time of year to add a 13'h snow route, urn .... uh, and,
um, when we added the 12a' snow route, um, several years ago, from that time to now
we've added about 45 lane miles, uh, to the .... to the community. Um, but it's certainly
not all about snow plowing, uh, that's just what's on our mind this time of year. It'll
allow another crew to really work the streets, and so whether it's, um, striping and
patching, signs, that sort of thing, um, I think it's, uh, it's .... it's the appropriate time to
recognize the .... the growth that we've had in the community and supplement that Street
staff. Um, also, um, thinking about your strategic plan and .... and how a new crew on the
Streets, uh, department can really look at, um, our bike infrastructure a little bit
differently and so, um, can we start to focus in on, um, bike lanes in the community. Not
necessarily, um, these.... these folks wouldn't necessarily be charged with adding new
bike lanes, but really making sure that the bike lanes that we have are, um, maintained to
a little bit of a higher standard than they are now, and so we're .... we're tryin' to work
through how a new crew can .... can contribute to that goal. Overall we're ... it'd be a
reduction of one position in the general fund, um, and really the responsibility, uh, for the
other three positions falls in, uh, other funds. So I mentioned the two, uh, in road use tax
and then the one would be paid for out of the Landfill fund. It gets funneled through the
general fund, but it's a Landfill expense.
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Page 26 Budget Work Session
Throgmorton/ Geoff, I can't help but wonder about the solutions architect positions. Uh, I can
think of many problems that need solutions (both talking) architects but what ... what does,
you know, what's it really entail?
Bockenstedt/ Uh, this position really represents kind of the ... the change in technology and
structure and .... and going from a, you know, where systems were programmed from
scratch throughout the City to now we're buying more prepackaged software programs,
and this position will really coordinate the database management, the programmers,
these, uh, accreditation of these software packages and make sure they all inter -operate.
Um, versus, you know, if you go back 15, 20 years ago, everything was custom
programmed, and tailored towards your exact needs, and .... and that's just not as feasible
approach these days to custom program everything since there's so many prepackaged
solutions out there that already exist, and so .... this position will help coordinate all of
those different software, database programming activities and make sure that they operate
efficiently and that we choose the best solution to meet our needs, uh, versus always take
an approach of we're going to go in and program something new. Now it'll be well,
should we buy software, how will that inter -relate with the other packages, and how will
that data transfer from one location to the other, and so this position is really just to
coordinate those overall activities, um, and... and.... and the change in the technology
solutions available.
Throgmorton/ Good deal! Thanks.
Botchway/ Hey, Geoff, wh.... you said there's a .... additional obviously workers added to the
Public Works piece that comes out of the road use fund.
Fruin/ Yes.
Botchway/ The benefits come out of that or is that general fund money?
Fruin/ No, um ... benefits on those, uh.... on the, uh, Streets employees is .... we transfer anything
from employee benefits over to the .... that operation?
Bockenstedt/ There is a .... there is a .... a minimal transfer from the employee benefits fund to the
road use tax fund, and by policy we set a limit on the amount of road use tax that'll be
used towards any employment benefits, and so there is a .... a transfer to cover that. I
don't know if I can earmark specifically how much of that would go towards these two
employees, since we look at a higher fund level.
Fruin/ So the answer is a little bit, yeah. (several talking) Okay, uh, the last, uh.... uh, two slides
I have really focus on your strategic plan and just pointin' out, uh, some of the examples
of how we're tryin' to align, uh, expenditures, uh, with, uh, your strategic plan. So, um,
local foods was a big part of your strategic plan, uh, last year you put in $25,000 for
collaborations with the County. Um, we've had a lot of success with that. We were
havin' some really good discussions about some programs you'll hear from Juli, uh, this
afternoon about, and we'd like to push that up just a little bit to 30,000. Um, we've got
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Page 27 Budget Work Session
two new community gardens that we hope to open up, uh, in fiscal year 17. Uh, that's
been included in the budget, and uh, we're gonna talk about, uh, even some educational
and instructional, uh, programming to go along with, uh, our community garden program.
We have, uh, 50,000 budgeted for, um, micro -loan and small business incentives. Um,
this 50,000 isn't necessarily needed all for the micro -loan program, so it....it gives us a
continued opportunity to work, whether it's a youth job training program or some
targeted small business programming, um, we still have some flexibility to .... to offer the,
uh, that kind of, uh, service out there. Movin' to the urban core, um, I'm recommending,
uh, the creation of a new grant program, um, and .... and frankly I .... I don't know how
this, um, I .... I don't know actually how the Preservation Commission feels about this
cause I .... I haven't talked to them about this, but I've seen this work in other
communities. Um, and it's .... it's really a .... a .... a pot of money that's designed to help,
uh, people that are living in historic districts that .... that have a need to upgrade their
property, urn .... uh, but may not have the means to do so in the way that's the most
historically appropriate way, uh, or his....historically sensitive way to do that. So
oftentimes when you're improving your property in a historic district it may be a little bit
more expensive because of, uh, you can't put vinyl siding back up on your .... on your
home. Um, this would allow the Historic Preservation, uh, Commission to create a .... a
grant for .... for homeowners to help offset some of those costs, um .... uh.....
Thomas/ Sounds like a great idea. I mean we often hear complaints of those of us who live in
historic districts that there's a .... an added cost that comes with, you know, maintaining
those .... those buildings.
Frain/ Um, a .... a, um.....a significant expenditure I'm recommending is for, uh, the restoration
of the Englert Theater and to preserve some of the historic elements of Film Scene's
operations in their current location, uh, at the Packing and Provisions Building. Uh, on
the ped mall. Um, they are, uh, getting ready to launch a, uh, significant capital
campaign in the community, and um .... uh, I feel, urn .... I feel like it's, uh, appropriate for
the City, uh, to make a significant contribution. The arts and culture scene are a huge
draw, uh, for our downtown. It's really what makes our downtown, uh, thrive. It benefits
all the surrounding businesses, and these organizations, these non-profit organizations,
struggle just to keep up with their operations. They don't have the funding capacity, uh,
to .... to go out and preserve their buildings and ... and.....and, um .... uh.....uh, in the
manner that they .... that they really should and so more details on this would come.
Obviously this would be something that needs to come before you for separate vote, even
outside of this budget, but, um, I'm looking at funding this through TIF, and that's going
to be a little bit different, um, because this isn't going to be a project -based TIF. This
would be a district -based TIF, where we take increment from the larger downtown area,
um, and, uh, contribute it back to the Englert and .... and to, uh, a smaller portion to, uh, to
Film Scene here for preservation in their .... in their existing buildings. Uh, so more on
this, uh.... urn, would come, um, but again it would be a.....a.....a TIF, uh, agreement and
we'd have a .... we'd present you with an agreement and have them come in and .... and
present what they're looking to do, but particularly at the Englert, it's accessibility
improvements, it's .... it's elevators, it's, uh, tuckpointing, it's windows, it's .... it's,
uh.... um, those .... those things that are just hard for a non-profit to .... to make it happen.
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Taylor/ Geoff, this would, uh, be to kind of help complement what they might receive in
voluntary contributions (both talking)
Fruin/ Correct, yeah. This would be a, um, a percentage of a larger capital campaign. I don't
know what their target is, but it's several million dollar, uh, target.
Throgmorton/ And the Film Scene part would focus only on the older building, is (both talking)
Fruin/ That's correct. Yes, it would not focus in at all on the, uh, the Chaun.... the build -out of
the Chauncey space. It would focus all on their, uh, the Packing and Provisions Building
on the ped mall. The, urn.... contribution that I'm recommending for the affordable
housing, uh, fund would be $650,000 and I felt it, um, it was really, urn .... it was really
a .... a emphasis for me, at least, to try to make sure that these dollars come out of the
general fund and not have to use TIF for these right away. Um, because TIF dollars
would be restricted geographically, and the general fund gives the most flexibility. Um,
but I want to make the point that this $650,000 is not kind of institutionalized into our
budget yet. So the way that we're making this work is a little bit complicated, but it...it
so happens that we are repaying the ... the general fund years ago .... um, fronted money for
the 420th Street industrial park, cause we .... the general fund paid for some infra...
infrastructure improvements out there, and the idea was that the TIF created in that
district would pay back the general fund. Well, now that's happening, so the TIF district
out there is paying back the general fund to the tune of about $940,000 over the next
couple of years. So these are dollars that the ... we were expecting to get back in the
general fund, but again are .... aren't plugged into our normal operations, and so .... those
$940,000.... um, plus a little bit of, you know, the general fund, uh.... um, balance and
surplus that we've had allows us to make a $650,000 contribution in each of the next two
years. So this gets us to fiscal year 18 and fiscal year 19. After that, I .... I don't exactly
know where those affordable, uh, housing dollars will come from. I'm.....I'm hopeful
that we can continue to .... to.....to find them, but at least for the next two years I feel
really good about using these, basically this loan repayment, and pushin' it over to the
affordable housing fund. Uh, you can see the sustainability piece is on there. Um, last
year you added a $100,000 for a carbon emissions reduction project. Uh, you will see on
Tuesday that we've made that an annual line item in our capital budget and we bumped it
up to 150. I don't have anything earmarked for this, but I assume your climate mitigation
action plan is going to have a series of things that ... that, uh.... um, are recommended that
will cost money, and so kind of like what we're doing with the next line item and
the ... and the bike master plan that's coming, master plans are only as good as your
implementation strategies, and if you don't have funds to implement the ... the projects,
you might as well not waste `em on the master plan. So, um, it's important, uh, I think if
you want to carry out the ... the vision of whatever those two plans produce that you have
some funding sources to back that up. Those both fall on the capital side and we can talk
about that more on Tuesday. The curbside composting, single-sim... single -stream
recycling we talked about, and then a few other, uh, programs. We have a balance in our
traffic calming fund, so every year we put $25,000 in and.....we just haven't had the
activity over the last five years to .... to use those funds on an annual basis, but we've
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certainly heard over the last couple of years, urn, the desire for some traffic calming in
the northside. Um, and so what we're suggesting is that we, um .... convene some sort of
neighborhood group and ... and City staff and determine, uh... uh, what those appropriate
improvements would be. I don't know what those are. We've .... we've seen proposals
for, um, some mini -roundabouts and .... and different intersections, um, but it could be...
it could be a number of different things. Form -based code, phase two, you've approved
phase one, the .... the contract with Opticos, and that's Dan Perolek's group. That doesn't
get ya to writtin' a code, so we had to include $150,000, um, assuming that when he's
done With his feasibility study that .... that there will be a desire to take that to actual code
language and we think that that'll be sufficient. A slight increase in PIN grants in ... in the
Public Arts program, uh, to continue to, urn .... uh, build those kind of, uh.... uh, grassroot,
uh, neighborhood programs. And then, uh, I see the social justice, continuing the winter
homeless shelter, racial equity grant program, police, uh, traffic stop analysis. We had
the pilot program, the summer fun pilot program, and we've taken that from a one-time
expense into more of an institutionalized part of our Parks and Recreation budget. Our
new Recreation Supervisor, uh, that comes on board on the 23`d, Raquisha Herrington,
uh, will, uh, oversee that program, uh, now and will, uh, also, uh, serve the role in .... of,
um, our special populations programming. So those are some examples of how we've
tried to align our expense side With, uh, your stra.... your strategic plan and with that, the
parting comment is just looking ahead to fiscal year 19 and what you may expect to see,
uh, this time next year. Um, we do expect that next year will be, uh, there'll be need for a
water rate increase. Uh, I don't think anything substantial. We're projecting about 2.6%
right now. Um .... uh, but that's probably the utility piece that we'll focus on.
Um .... a ... again, we don't know, uh... um, we .... we certainly aren't not counting on the
same level of building permit revenue that we got (laughs) in fiscal year 16. Um, so, um,
we don't know what impact that might have. Backfill is going to be a topic of discussion,
uh, this year. There's no doubt about that. And then every year we say this, but it's
probably more, uh, appropriate now than ever before, there's just uncertainty at the
federal level. We do not know what's going to happen to CDBG, Home, uh, our Housing
Authority dollars, uh, Airport, Transit, all those things could be, uh, looked at much
differently by the incoming administration and Congress. So, um, it's just kind of a wait
and see type of approach there. That's all I have. Thank you. (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Is that all, seriously?
Fruin/ Yeah! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Great job, Geoff! Thank you.
Botchway/ What elements did you add? There's a couple things in there I hadn't seen before.
Fruin/ Oh, I can't recall. A lot of it's the same but (both talking)
Mims/ ...slides kinda went through, I mean, either increases or additions.
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Botchway/ It was that, but then there's also ... I felt like there was just a little bit more.... detailed
information on some of the other areas that we hadn't seen before, and I could just be...
not remembering (both talking)
Frain/ Largely the same. Simon and Ashley spent a lot of time on it. Nick and Dennis helped. I
didn't....
Botchway/ Okay. (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, but....
Thomas/ I .... I didn't see any UniverCity. Maybe .... I don't know if that -just didn't make it into
the summary (laughs) or it just didn't make it into the budget.
Fruin/ Yeah, um, no, Doug .... Doug will talk about that when he comes in. I believe we're at
two, is that right? Three. I'm gettin...... I'm gettin' the three sign over, uh, there, so I
think we're at three .... three homes and there's a, um, an expansion of kind of a .... a
UniverCity facade program that we're introducing too. So it's roughly the same number,
uh, dollar figure investment into the UniverCity program, but we're gonna take a little bit
of a different spin with some money, at least we're gonna propose that to ya,
but .... Doug'll be prepared to talk about that.
Thomas/ And how much, urn .... do you have budgeted for the tree planting?
Fruin/ Can we defer to Juli on that one...
Thomas/ Okay.
Fruin/ ...when she comes up? (laughter) Yeah.
Mims/ Geoff, you don't know all these answers off the top (both talking) (laughter)
Frain/ No, I'm sorry I don't! (laughs) Yeah!
Mims/ Just picking! Just picking (both talking)
Frain/ But I've .... I'm confident the departments will.
Dickens/ (mumbled) Ash Borer too?
Frain/ Yes, she will talk about that.
Throgmorton/ All right, is there any .... any interest in taking a very short break, or should we just
turn directly to Eleanor?
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Fruin/ I would recommend that we go ahead and, um, do Eleanor real quick. We can ... we can
skip the City Manager and that stuff, but Eleanor probably has other things that she wants
to do with her Saturday.
Throgmorton/ That sounds good.
Cole/ (several talking) .,.hang out the whole day? (several talking)
Frain/ And so....
Dickens/ I thought we moved her to the very last! (several talking and laughing)
Mims/ Then she wouldn't be here right now! (laughter)
Dickens/ Sorry! (several talking and laughing)
Fruin/ My presentation was an hour and a half, I guess, looking at the clock. Hers will probably
be a minute and a half (laughter)
Mims/ Geoff, you're just keeping up the tradition Tom Markus started! (several talking and
laughing) Not by a whole lot! (laughs) But you know what, I mean, and maybe ... maybe
this is just something we do in the future. This summary, I think, is so good and so
important and I think taping this so that, you know, we can mention it to people.
Nobody's going to sit and listen to eight hours of this stuff. I don't think (laughs) but at
least if it's an hour, hour and a half, I think it's a really good way for the general public to
kind of get an overview of some of the real highlights and some of the changes, some of
the big issues we're doing, some of the great things that are happening but also some of
the concerns that we have in terms of the future. So, thank you.
Throgmorton/ I .... I agree completely.
Dickens/ (mumbled) (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Several times! (laughter) Great job, Geoff. Thank you. (several talking) Okay,
Eleanor, good morning. It's great to see you!
General Government Program Budgets:
City Attorney:
Dilkes/ Good morning!
Botchway/ Eleanor, what page are you on?
Dickens/ 40!
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Dilkes/ Oh! I'm .... I'm just about ready to tell ya. So (several talking) you can find the funding
for the City Attorney's office on pages 134 and 160. Um, I have, I mean .... (mumbled)
....most of my, um, budget is for personnel. 5.5 FTEs are funded out of the general fund
and you'll see that on page 134. And one, uh, of the attorneys in my office is funded, uh,
by the tort levy. Um, and you know, I have a little bit of money for services and supplies
but .... that's kind of it.
Mims/ Thank you! (laughs)
Dilkes/ (several talking and laughing) ....any questions you have? (laughter)
Throgmorton/ That was dramatically less than a minute and a half. (several talking and
laughing)
Fruin/ The one thing I'll say, you know, with.... with the labor contracts that we've.... have
approved, we won't be bargaining any time soon and .... um, it doesn't impact Eleanor's
budget. I think it comes out of here, but outside attorney services is .... is much less
expensive when you're not going through collective bargaining, so (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Yeah!
Dilkes/ And we kind of have a transition that we'll have to make in that area so that'll give us
some time to think about it, cause our outside counsel is retiring. Um .... and .... and that's
a .... that's a plan I guess I would make is outside counsel, um, typically is .... you won't
find that in my budget. You will find it in the budget of the department being served by
that outside counsel. So for instance the Mediacom outside counsel is being paid by Risk
Management, um, the Lusk outside counsel is being paid by Building Inspection.
Mims/ Enjoy your day! (several talking) I just want to say, real quick, thank you for the updates
that you and staff give us. Your staff give us on pending litigation and those kinds of
things. That's always ... very helpful, and obviously most of it is stuff that we can't talk
about publicly, but at least we have an idea what's going on, so I always appreciate
getting those updates.
Throgmorton/ Yeah (both talking)
Dilkes/ You bet!
Taylor/ Always good to have a heads up!
Mims/ Yeah.
Throgmorton/ Enjoy the day, Eleanor. Thank you. (laughter)
Botchway/ Eleanor, I'm going to head out with you (several talking and laughing)
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Throgmorton/ I guess we could turn to the City Clerk's office. Julie?
City Clerk:
Voparil/ I understand that Marian's presentations haven't been too long in the past, so I'm gonna
try to kind of keep up with that tradition. Um ... we don't really have a large budget in the
City Clerk's office, so I think it can go pretty quickly! Um, the City Clerk's office has
two major functions and that's duties assigned by the State and the City Code, as well as
those assigned by Council in achieving the Council's strategic goals. And the Clerk's
office is budgeted for four full-time employees, but currently has a vacancy, as we all
know (laughs) with the retirement of the City Clerk, who I might add I sorely miss
(laughter) I really appreciate the job that she's done over the years, um, and she's been a
good, very good mentor for me. Um, over the past few years we have spent a great deal
of time converting old documents into digital files. So, um, as you can see, um, by the
way the City Clerk's budget starts on page 127 and goes through 131. And as you can
see on page 130 by the end of the 2015 calendar year, we had converted over 93,000
microfilm images. We ... we're in the process now of gathering together the rest of the
microfilm that we have not had converted. There's a total of 9 .... about 93 more
microfilm rolls and they're mainly project files that we haven't really done anything with
yet. Before we converted a lot of the Council meeting proceedings folder. But, um,
we're currently getting those together and working on that. Um .... and ... that represents
the final phase of the microfilm conversion for the Clerk's office. Um, the project
doesn't end there, however, because we have to enable accessibility and enhance
searching capabilities, and so staff is required to OCR and index the digital images from
that when we get it back.
Mims/ What does OCR stand for? Did I miss....
Voparil/ It's .... part of, um, electronic ini... inti ... imaging.
Mims/ Okay.
Voparil/ Um, it's just a process that we have to run through so it reads every word in the
document so you're able to do a search on those words.
Mims/ Okay. Thank you.
Voparil/ So .... it makes documents a lot easier to find (laughs) uh, lot quicker to find. Um, so
that's ... that step will take staff time, well into the next year, and I also might add that
that's done as time permits, and until we ... we're running with a full staff, um, we
probably won't have a lot of time to .... to be working on that, but um, it is something that
we do as time permits. Uh, the City Clerk's office is proud of the fact that no files are
stored off-site, and that records are accessible 24/7 on the City website. And, um. ... I
would like to thank Council for your support of this project. The next fiscal year we hope
to add agenda prep software to shorten the prep time for electronic Council packets, and
that money's been approved in this year's current budget. Next year's budget does not
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include many new items. The increase in the 2018 budget includes funds to cover the
cost of the City election, estimated at $70....$70,000, and that's the primary, general, and
potential of a special that we .... threw in there. Where, uh, where with the recent passage
of Measure C, reducing the number of required signatures for initiative and referendum
elections, that we could be experi ... experiencing additional costs of $31,000 if that would
happen to occur. Any questions?
Throgmorton/ I ... Julie, because there's, uh, we're .... we're short one person in the Clerk's office,
I understand that various kinds of, uh, tasks cannot be performed in the short -run, until
we actually fill that position. Do you have a sense of what those tasks are, the ones that
we can't really get to yet, we're gonna have to push back a little bit?
Voparil/ Um, well one of `em I just mentioned on, um .... uh, the .... the OCRing and the indexing
of the microfilm when it comes back to us. Um, we probably can .... we can load it but to
actually get in and start, um .... we need to, um, index the templates, we need to do things
like that. It can be a very time-consuming project. Um....
Mims/ But other than that you feel like you can keep up with the day-to-day stuff for the most
part or....
Voparil/ I hope so. We're ... we're trying. We're all pitching in, the three of us. (laughter)
Trying to do as much as we can. Marian just did so much that I'm finding out just now
exactly how much she did do. I mean I know that she always did a lot and she always put
in a lot of hours but we're just finding out now just how much she really did do. Um,
being in the Clerk's office, we get asked a myriad of questions by the general public, and
a lot of things aren't even .... (both talking)
Mims/ Related to what (both talking)
Voparil/ Taken care of by our office, so, um, a ... a lot of our day, sometimes, is tracking down
how to help people or get them in touch with the right persons for certain things. Um...
and of course that has to continue because we're there 8 to 5 and .... we're always
answering our phones. So (laughs) ran .... that can also take up some, um, time. So,
uh....
Taylor/ I can believe that, cause every time I stop by the office there's someone at the desk.
Voparil/ Yes. (several talking) ...all the people coming in and out. A lot of licensing goes on.
Um ... so .... we have to keep up with all those things and um.....we're just, all I can say is
we're tryin' to do the best that we can! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, thanks to you and, uh.... your two fellow workers for stepping in and, you
know, working together as a team to make sure the .... the Clerk's office continues to
function really well. Do we have any other .... any questions for Julie (both talking)
Dickens/ Has there been any consideration about temporary (both talking)
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Throgmorton/ We talked about it a little bit, uh, I ... I, my .... Marian's thought was that it wouldn't
be necessary, assuming we can fill the position pretty quickly. Yeah.
Mims/ And hopefully we're on track to do that.
Voparil/ Yeah, and the trouble with temporary help is too that, um, you're spending staff time
trying to train that person on certain things that we all take for granted and we know
because we've worked in that office, so.... Yeah.
Throgmorton/ Okay! Any other questions for Julie? Thank you, Julie. Enjoy the rest of the day!
Voparil/ I'll be here! (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ It'll be fun! (laughter) So, uh, we'll go to Dennis.
Fruin/ Well do .... if you want a break we can take a break. We can ... because we're gonna be
here all day, we can fill in gaps if there's department heads that are trailin' behind or ... if
we want to work through lunch. So if you guys wanna break (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Well I think a short break would be helpful, of what, five minutes? Is that
reasonable?
Mims/ Yeah, that's good.
Frain/ I believe Police and Fire are here so we (several talking, noises in background)
Mims/ Okay.
(BREAK)
Throgmorton/ Okay, we could .... (people talking in background. Hey folks, we could begin,
urn .... urn, Chief, I hope you don't mind, we'll probably be eating, I don't know, bagels
and ... while you're talking.
Grier/ Eat away! (laughter) Eat away! (several talking) Make yourself comfortable, you got a
long day ahead of ya, so....
Throgmorton/ And Rockne will miss the first few minutes. He'll be back in, you know, probably
five minutes from now.
Grier/ Okay!
Throgmorton/ So, Chief John Grier, go ahead!
Fire Department:
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Grier/ Excellent! Thanks for having us. Good morning, everybody! I brought, uh, the wing
man this year. This is Brian Plotz. You've probably seen Brian rennin' around.
He's .... he started at the Fire Department not too long after I did, and he's a ... a recent
promotion to Deputy Chief. Roger Jensen just retired, so.....
Throgmorton/ Congratulations!
Grier/ Brought him along to kind of see the process and, uh, we're gonna spend a lot of time
workin' together. We're kinda revamping some admin duties over at the Fire
Department so .... we've got a lot of sharing that, uh, be good for him to see how this part
goes, so.... He's gonna jump in. If you ... if you have a question specific, uh, I'll let him
answer so... Uh, the Fire Department, our budget is pretty straightforward. I know you
have the copy in front of you. We're looking at what? Page 47 through .... (noises in
background) that's the other part. One (several talking) yeah, 186. So four fire stations.
Sixty-four personnel. I'll kind of go through some highlights for each of the, uh, the
areas administration, uh, operations, fire prevention, and training, and then certainly be
happy to entertain any questions you all would have about what we're doing and where
we're going. With the ... with the new year we've got a, uh, number of things that have
changed. Like I said, Brian's recent promotion. As it works in our service, that creates
some other movings, so we have a .... a new battalion chief, a new captain, and a new
lieutenant, and we have a new firefighter starting on Monday .... for his six-week
orientation. So we're looking forward to that, but.... So our, uh, succession planning
that we talk about a little bit in fire administration is in effect and we're .... I think we've
prepared our folks that are moving up, uh, pretty well for what ... for what they have going
on, but.... If we look at, uh, accomplishments, we did just finish up our community risk
and standards of cover document, and we've .... are working on finalizing our strategic
planning document. We worked with, uh, Institute of Public Affairs at the University.
Jeff Schott came and helped us out over four meetings and some, uh, stakeholder, uh,
external stakeholder, uh, surveys and internal stakeholder surveys. So I think we have
a ... a good working document and, uh, I think the best thing about our document is that it
will complement the City's strategic plan. That's somethin' that's ... we've always tried to
tie those in together so that we complement each other but ... I think we've got a good
working document and we're puttin' the final touches on that and I'm sure you'll see that
soon. Uh, some upcoming challenges, we're still, uh, working to meet our travel time
goals. If, uh.... we have a nice chart that we can show you some time in the future, but
the streets are the streets, so it takes us as long to get somewhere as it takes us to get
there. So those .... those times don't change much, but ... so we're... working at, uh, looking
at different ways we can do that in the fixture, and one of those might be some sort of
preemption, uh, signaling throughout the county would be a preferred approach cause
then everybody could use it — buses, snowplows, ambulances, police — all those .... all
those sorts of, uh, departments, and then we could also, uh, use some ... maybe some funds
from folks that come into the city to go to the hospitals as well, but .... uh, we're looking
at.... redoing a grant. We did one a year .... a few years back that did not get funded, but I
think that's something that would be nice to polish off and, uh, talk about resubmitting.
A regional grant. Uh, obviously the training center shows up on a number of these
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documents, and I'm sure we'll talk a little more about that later. And then just one of our
other things that's kinda out there is video conference equipment. We have some money
proposed in this budget to help us do a little upgrade to that. We have an older system
that we are no longer paying the service agreement on. It was not, uh... feasible to
maintain that cost cause it's just so old. So we're looking at, uh, different options.
What ... what that allows us to do is everybody stays in their stations and we can see each
other at the same time. It's kinda of a, uh, high-level, go -to meeting type video
conference system, so it...it works really well. No staffing changes proposed for, uh, fire
administration. And also under fire administration is weather alerts, sirens. We have 19
sirens in the city, 16 of those are early -90s models, so we're looking at revamping and
upgrading those at two a year, and that's the money you .... you see in there, so..... Uh,
also under fire administration you'll see under revenue we do have that $32,000 that's
coming in from University Heights. We ... we took over fire protection there July 1st. I
just saw, uh, the Mayor from University Heights in another meeting the other day. He's
very happy with our service. I think, uh, a number of folks are over there. I did hear
from some of them that said, uh, they already talked to their insurance folks and they did
get a little bit of a reduction. So that ... that was good to hear. And to date, we've run...
we've ru .... had 32 calls for service in University Heights. I think we can tie most of that
to the football season. I don't know if, uh, all those... compared to what Coralville had in
their annual report, if they documented each call that they went to, if they just saw
somebody at the truck but we document every incident so.... We have 32 to date. But I
think it's, uh, going pretty well. Under emergency operations, we, uh, we hit our target
pretty well. We guessed 7,000 calls for 2016. Our raw data shows 7,067.
Throgmorton/ Wow!
Grier/ So an increase of 1,051 calls, which is almost 15%. 14.8. Uh, Brian and I were just
chattin' about that. Some of...we'll clean up the data. I expect that that will go down a
smidge, cause we have some calls that are duplicated in there and then ... some that
generated an incident number that ended up not being an incident. Sometimes there'll be
a dispatch center... would assign it to Iowa City and it'd end up being a call in another
district or something like that. So we're still, uh, gonna have probably 1,000 call
increase. We're, uh, like everybody else, we're .... we're getting busy. I know that
the .... the Police are busy, and I know the County ambulance also is busy. It's ... all the
emergency services are. Uh, one of our highlights under emergency operations there at
the bottom of page 191. We do track how many times we have simultaneous calls. This
allows us to kinds gauge how often we don't have a, uh, apparatus available for that
particular district or how much .... how much time we're tied up and don't have a unit
available, and we had 26.8% of emergency incidents were overlapping. We're working
with the, uh.... new software system, where hopefully we can, uh, be able to kinda call
out those things a little bit more, that shows how many hours and minutes we were tied
up. I think we can do that now. It's just ... it's a little different look, so we're... gonna be
able to provide that information if you need it. We did just get a command, uh, response
vehicle in service. You've probably seen us around the years.... riding in a van. Rear -
wheel drive van in Iowa in the winter is (laughs) not the best. So we now have a four-
wheel drive vehicle, which, uh.... we certainly appreciate the opportunity to get that,
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so .... it's getting the finishing touches on it. Everybody's happy about that! Uh... under
upcoming challenges, cooking, uh, fires, we'll talk about those under fire prevention, as
well. We do have a.....a large number of (mumbled) inval.... invalid assists. Sony about
that! (laughs) And Brian has actually been the operations battalion chief for the last few
years, so he has done a lot of work, got a lot of inroads with, uh, multi -disciplinary team
in the county to ... how can we help these folks that are kinda caught in between. No local
family. Not sick enough or not, uh, hurt enough to go to some sort of care .... so we're
tryin' to figure out how we can do that, but he's spent a lot of time With that, and I think
we've got a better handle on it than we certainly had two years ago, and I think in the
future we'll, uh, continue to do that. It's going to be a group effort in the ... in the county,
obviously. But we do go out on a number of calls just to help folks up or to do some
small things so ... we wanna make sure that we get them the help that they need, so.... Uh,
no staffing level changes requests in operations either. Moving on to, uh, fire prevention,
of course a ... soft spot for fire prevention. I spent a number of years there, so I .... I like
what, uh, Fire Marshall Greer, not spelled the correct way, uh, has done with the
program. He took what we had in place and he certainly, uh, improved it a ... a lot. We
continue to, uh, work with Safe Kids. It's.... Safe Kids is kind of more from, uh, having
specialists in each discipline for keeping children safe and to locally we've done it as a,
uh.....what's the word? I just had it! (laughs) Clearinghouse! Somebody calls and says
I need help with X. We know who to call. We do a lot of car seat installs or checks, uh,
together with Safe Kids at Station #4 every other month we have a scheduled car seat, but
then we also have technicians that work every day and we've been getting .... hit
pretty.... pretty regularly with that. Hopefully we'll ... in April there's another class
coming up so Safe Kids is, it's still alive. We still do things. It's just ... like everything
else, there are a lot of things in the world that have kind of changed a little bit, so we've
using it more as a clearinghouse, directing people and then, uh, focusing on child
passenger seats, uh, Safe Kids Day, and just some things local. Safety village, that sort of
thing. Uh.... I struggled for years to get my foot in the door at the School District as a
Fire Marshall, and Fire Marshall Greer has done a great job of getting his foot in the door
with our Fired Up About Reading program. We're doing that down at Alexander
School... one of our firefighters stationed at Station #3, which I think his fiancee works
there, so I think that helped us as well (laughter) Uh, so we've got our foot in our
door .... in the door with our Fired Up About Reading program and we're excited about
that and hopefully we can expand a little bit. I know Chief Hargadine and I had
discussions, uh, before he left about kinda doing a tag -team sort of thing, where we could
do Police one time, Fire one time, you know, just kind of help to continue to build that
goodwill and....
Botchway/ I have one question and one comment. Um, one comment, thank you for that because
reading is a huge ... piece of what the School District's tryin' to do and so I appreciate you
spendin' the time and doin' that. The other part about the Safe Kids, um, around kind of
child seat protection or child seat installation. I know that you do it at your fire stations
and I appreciate that. Has there been any outreach efforts to do that, um, in other places
in the community?
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Grier/ Yes. We have scheduled events throughout the community during the year. It's more of a
Safe Kid's driven, uh, event than Fire Department. We ... we show up. Actually we, you
know, we have always participated, but we have a .... a team leadership, uh, Al Meebus
that's retired from the Police Department. He still helps and then Evelyn Wolf who used
to work for Bureau of EMS. They .... they kind of head those up. So we'll be in
Coralville one time. I think we have one coming up in North Liberty. Uh, we'll go to K -
Mart, uh.... it's not Sycamore Mall. County.... Market Place, the Market Place (laughter)
So we, yes, we do get out.
Botchway/ Okay.
Grier/ We .... we try to get out as much as we can. Uh, and another thing that we did this past
year, we did team up with American Red Cross. We used to do the battery change, you
know, which ... did not .... get what we were really wanting to. We just had folks calling
and wanting free batteries, which not opposed to helping people out, but, uh, so we went
with the Smoke Alarm Blitz and we went to a particular neighborhood. Uh, the Lucas
neighborhood, right? And, uh.... Red Cross had put in a number of, uh, smoke alarms
and now we have smoke alarm kits so that if we go on a call at somebody's house for
some reason, notice that their smoke alarms aren't working or they don't have any, we
will help them get some in, and we did .... on the next page, I think, if you looked ahead,
you saw that we did have ... uh, a good (mumbled) event. We had some smoke alarms
installed and two weeks later they had a fire in this house and the smoke alarms went off
and the young lady was able to get out. So ... that was, that's one of those wins. It's like,
oh, yes! You know? That's.... that's great! Uh, I already kinda talked about the, uh,
Fired Up About Reading. The compliance engine is somethin' that we put in place, uh,
last year. It ... funnels all fire alarm, sprinkler, hood, all those systems get funneled to a
third party that helps us maintain the database and send out the reminders to get repairs.
So ... that, I think that's helping a lot. Uh, a challenge for us is, uh, obviously as the city
gets more businesses and more things in it that we get stretched a little thin on our fire
prevention activities, so we're... looking at ways to help, uh, the Fire Marshall's office get
some of that. We do have an intern that helps us with a number of data entry points,
so .... but we're constantly evaluating how could we do this a little different. Uh, we're
also continue to work, uh, partnerships in the community, uh, especially with the
University. Something I never was able to get done in my time in that office was to have
all incoming freshmen take a fire safety class. You can do it online. You can get an
hour's worth of credit. There's a lot of institutions that do that. So, I think we've made a
little bit of progress, so .... I .... I think that will be a priority for Brian, and, uh... to get ... get
our foot in the door with that.
Cole/ What sort of agreement do we have with the University of Iowa? They pay us for services,
or how does that work? They don't have their own separate department, do they,?
Grier/ No they don't.
Cole/ Okay.
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Grier/ It's.... it's by contract.
Cole/ Okay.
Grier/ And it's, uh, I think it was... last.... in (mumbled) 1957 I think is the date. There's a ... quite
a bit of formula based on....
Cole/ Okay.
Grier/ ...our personnel costs, apparatus, square footage. They put it all in.
Cole/ Perfect. Thanks.
Grier/ It kind of flue .... it fluctuates by, uh, all those factors in there.
Cole/ Thank you.
Grier/ You bet! Uh, no staffing level changes... for fire prevention! Fire training is, uh... training
is very important to us. I mean we train for the worst things that we can and we spend a
lot of time tryin' to do it. We're just .... with our promotions we're getting a new training
officer as well, so it, uh, we're looking at, uh, how we do things and how we can improve
them to the next step, uh.... Bob Henry is a, getting promoted to Captain. He did a good
job of taking it to the next level. Now we're looking for the next step. Uh, training hours
for 15...16, the rough numbers are right around 17,000. So we did increase a little bit.
Now a number of those hours we do log are fitness training. I did check to see how many
hours we've spent in Coralville, using their training.....the regional training facility, and
that was 564 hours, and, uh.... I think we've developed a good working relationship with
Coralville to get over there. It just, uh..... as I've said in the past, it requires a little more
planning and the, uh.... spur of the moment training has decreased for us obviously
because we don't have that place to go, but uh, we certainly take advantage of when
buildings come open that we can, uh, train in before they're demolished for ... for
anything, and I guess we've got a line on a couple new buildings here in town that
we'll .... we'll train on. So you might see us out doing that, but ... uh.... so one of our
challenges obviously is the lack of the training center, and we are, uh, looking forward to
moving that project forward. Uh, we have been able this past year (coughing, difficult to
hear speaker) overtime to cover some crews so that we could have multi -company
training. We certainly appreciate that, ability to do that. Uh, the Youth Service... Youth
Emergency Service Academy. I think we're going into the third year. I think that is, uh,
on a trajectory up working with the Police, Johnson County Ambulance, um, how to, uh,
get youth involved and interested in public service. Our first year we did somethin..... we
did a little more of a, uh, academics and we though, `Well that didn't work as well as...'
and I think this last year we did a little better, and I think .... we're on track to make this
one even better. Henry's going to help us out with some.... some inroads on gettin' some
folks but we have had a couple that came back for a second trip ..... or we've seen I think
some of those folks in the academy show up that are now EMT students. So they're
coming back to do their ride time which is .... it's kind of interesting to see that it did
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interest them and they're moving forward.... with their plans for that. Uh, no staffing
changes in training either. And that's kinda the rough overview of what .... what we have,
and we'd certainly be happy to entertain any questions you'd have.
Botchway/ Uh, kinda going back to page 202, um, it talks about certifications obtained. Um, it
says, you know, and I don't know..... so one, what does this mean, cause it was kind of
confusing, at least for me. Um, because it seemed like fire officers and hazmat tech,
you're where you kinda wanna be as far as certifications are, but for safety officer we
have about, you know, 50% of folks, um, certified.
Grier/ Right.
Botchway/ Is this something, I mean.... are .... I guess what does this mean?
Grier/ It's an above and beyond certification. We require hazmat tech, and you see that the
fluctuation it goes when people come and go, you know. We have some new folks that
wouldn't be .... they weren't certified here, so we make them go through our certification
program so they weren't certified at the time. Uh, the fire officer and the safety officer,
those are optional certifications, which certainly we're encouraging folks to do those.
Uh... so that's why there's only about half of those.
Botchway/ Okay. Gotcha!
Grier/ The moves and shakers are probably in those. The folks that are interested in learning just
a little bit more. Uh, a lot of fire officers, obviously, would be taking the safety officer
class as well. Some of those are probably the same per .... the same folks. So....
Cole/ You mentioned hazmat. Are there any particular certifications that you need to address,
vertical buildings at six floors or more, are there ... or is it just generalized fire training?
Grier/ Generalized fire training. Uh, we do go on a highrise training each year. That's part of
our ongoing sort of thing. Uh... so I....I don't know .... we do high angle, if something
happens outside the buildings so we're able to take care of those problems or, you know,
a crane or .... we do see cranes around town quite a bit, or the window washer, that sort of
thing. Uh, and hazmat itself has different sub -categories, so we do a lot of, uh, general
training for the majority of the department. Station #2 would be, is considered the
hazardous materials station. That's where the County hazmat truck is housed and we
kinda help take care of that, and we, uh, do a lot of the training for the County team as
well, so....
Cole/ Thank you.
Grier/ You bet! (several talking)
Taylor/ What was the cost for the Coralville, did they charge to use their training?
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Grier/ They do not. Uh....
Taylor/ Oh, okay!
Budget Work Session
Grier/ Well, the ch ... the only charge would be if we used materials. If we use their LP gas or
any .... any materials they would have to purchase.
Throgmorton/ Chief, to follow up on Rockne's question, uh, Hancher's uniquely designed
building and it's not .... not full of perpendiculars, so to speak....
Grier/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ ...and does it pre ... present significant challenges for .... for the tepa... for firefi...
firefighters in terms of, you know, responding to emergencies there?
Grier/ I don't think so. I was in on the original designs of that. I mean the fire protection
systems in a building like that are, you know, state of the art.
Throgmorton/ Uh huh.
Grier/ You don't notice them, you know, cause we went there for a, uh, gathering. Of course by
habit I'm always doing this (laughter) I'm tryin' to find the sprinkler heads, and they've
got `em so matched in the wood you can't even hardly see the ... the cover on the sprinkler
head. So it's a fully sprinkled, fully alarmed building, uh, and anything of any height in
the jurisdiction has the same sort of systems. You know, multi -stairwells, multi -
elevators, multi -systems. So I think .... we've done well as far as our code adoption to
have those things that are most current be required here. So ... yeah. There're certainly
some intricacies of those types of buildings. A lot of open space in there, but ... that's also
designed into like the smoke removal systems and those sorts of things.
Throgmorton/ Probably inter... yeah, interesting. Thanks!
Grier/ Yeah, it's ver ... it's very .... the Music Building is another one. Cause I know they had like
an elev... an escalator going up .... oop, sorry, and it was like how are we going to do that,
and they designed a door, a rolling door, you know, it's one of those things where it's like
we need something to do this, you know. Somebody came up With it, so......
Throgmorton/ I have an unrelated question. It has to do with CIT training.
Grier/ Uh huh!
Throgmorton/ My recollection is that one of the firefighters went to, uh, San Antonio back in, I
don't know, October, November, whenever that was.
Grier/ Yes!
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Throgmorton/ Was that Bob Henry?
Grier/ Bob Henry, he was our training officer at the time and he's going to continue to, uh, keep
up with that training and help provide the training throughout the county. We've had
some folks in to the Fire Department already to talk about one of...we had a multi -topic
day and, uh, we had folks from the Sheriff s office were there, as well. So ... yeah, Bob
will continue to do that. He spoke highly of the training as well.
Throgmorton/ Excellent! Any other questions for the Chief?
Grier/ Great!
Throgmorton/ Welcome, Brian!
Plotz/ Thank you so much!
Throgmorton/Congratulations (several talking)
Grier/ Thanks for the opportunity! (several talking)
Fruin/ Take it easy on, uh, Interim Chief Campbell here (laughter) He's a first -timer! (laughter)
Cole/ I want your two-year plan .... now! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Good morning to you, Bill!
Police Department:
Campbell/ Good morning! (several talking in background) Well I probably have things
organized a tad bit differently than the Fire Department does and hopefully we'll, uh,
we'll get to the questions that, uh.... you have and hit some of the highlights, and if you,
uh, see things that you want to know more about, I'm sure you'll ask and we'll.... cover it
from there. So, been an interesting year at the Police Department as you all know,
Probably know more about the Police Department now than you did, uh, six months ago,
my guess is. As you can see on the organization chart, we're, uh, separated into two
different divisions — field operations, which has certainly the most, uh, personnel
associated with it. Has most all the police officers are on that side of the department.
Uh, the administrative services has some of the specialty functions in it, uh, far less
personnel but as you can see it's a little bit more diverse in what it does. Uh, animal, uh,
services is out of that section. So is the, um, training and accreditation, crime prevention,
a lot of the outreach, that kind of thing. Our records division, the station masters, the
civilian personnel primarily are on that side of the fence as well. Um, we will see
personnel changes, and as you know, we have some significant ones that are coming.
Um, and I'll cover that here in a moment. Um ... to talk about some of the things that
happened over the last year as far as some highlights, accomplishments, some events.
Uh, we continue to be involved in the St. Ambrose study. Um, which was done here in
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the spring. You would of obviously seen some of the presentations there. Uh, we're one
of, uh, two departments, I believe, in the state that voluntarily gets involved in that, and I
don't know that other departments actually, um, I don't think there are any departments
other than Davenport and Iowa City that actually do that. It showed, as you .... as you well
know, that, uh, our disproportionality in traffic stops is on its decline. Uh, which is
encouraging. We'll obviously continue to be monitoring that. This is probably one of
the first years that we've seen more meaningful data come out of that, cause we had some
inconsistent data that happened one year due to some, um .... data entry processes, uh, and
their evaluation of the data now is much more, um, accurate to location than it was
before. So, that continues to be meaningful in the way that they analyze it, and also it
gives us more information to ... to work with there. Uh, significant transitions in command
staff as well. Um, Chief Hargadine left in June. Um, so we've been, uh, without, uh, that
key leadership spot for about seven months now. Um .... we also saw a promotion to
Captain, which was me. Uh, so we've .... we've seen, uh, two-thirds of the command staff
change in that time period. So, hopefully we'll get a .... we'll have a Chief here and then
we'll be a little bit more stabilized and be able to .... to report differently next year on that.
Uh, we saw the, uh, the full-time status change for Henri Harper and the Community
Outreach Assistant position. Uh, that's been a wonderful thing for us. We ... we knew
that going into that, that that would be something, it would be a very positive thing for us.
Uh, we anticipate continuing to evaluate where and how that ... that position will be
utilized. Um, how to incorporate not only other parts of the department, but ... um,
Captain Kelsay and I are looking at how we might, urn ... more centralize some of the
community outreach aspects of the department. Right now we have several people that
fall under that umbrella, but there's no, urn .... uh, a couple of them have been under
grants. Now aren't so much under grants. Um .... of course the one is supported
somewhat by the Downtown Association. So there's some different intricacies to those
positions. They didn't ca ... all come online at the same time, but they're all fairly recent.
Um, trying to figure out how to work them together. Um, they already play nicely
together, but we'd like to kind of see how we might incorporate them together a little
more. (mumbled) accreditation is something that was very significant here in the last
couple months. That has been a three-year process. Um, it will change to a four-year
process here shortly. Uh, it culminates in an on-site visit, which occurred in early
December this year. Um, lot of build up to that, uh..... the standard has, I believe, a
hundred or so actual standards, but within that when you kind of take it all apart, with the
sub -standards, I think there's 480 -some that have to be met. Um, very significant
undertaking. Um, Sergeant Hart did a fantastic job with that this year. We will be
accredited, uh, I guess I should go to the punchline on that. The visit went, uh, well.
They had very good things to say about us. Um, the actual presentation and, um, defense,
if you will, of the .... of the accreditation process occurs in March in Me ... uh, in Mobile,
Alabama is where that will be. Um, the Chief and, um, Sergeant Hart and Lieutenant
(can't hear) will go to that, um .... continues to be a great thing for the department. As
you can see, there's some expense to that. There's no question about that. That has
become, without question, a full-time position. There's just a lot of updating to that. Uh,
a new computer system has come online with that as well that allows it to be done
through the course of the three years. They're able to track our progress. They require,
um, more consistent updates instead of coming at the end of that three years and .... and
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doing their work at that point as far as evaluations. So, it keeps the department more on
track. It also makes it so the actual end year, the last part of that phase, isn't so intense.
So hopefully we'll see that that'll be a positive thing for them.
Botchway/ What'd you mean by .... defense of the accreditation process?
Campbell/ Technically they go before a .... a board like this and are asked questions by that board
from what the assessors had. They call it a defense. It really is kind of done at that point,
but.... they.... the actual board has a chance to review what the assessors have put in
place, and the assessors, we went through a mock assessment with a group of assessors
who were not a part of the actual, uh, accreditation process to make sure we were ready.
Then two assessors come with an on-site for about four days, and then they present their
reports to the board. So it's ... it is more of a formality, not that there can't be questions
asked, uh, in that setting, but yeah.
Mims/ Sounds like defending your thesis. (several talking and laughing) Somebody doin' a
Ph.D.! (laughter)
Campbell/ Yeah, yeah! I think it's more a formality, um.... Um ... on a very positive side, and
this just came out here, uh, in the last couple weeks, but ... uh, FEMA finally closed out
the Animal, uh, Shelter this last, uh, in the last couple weeks, with the final payment of
$467,000, somewhere along those lines. And the Foundation, I believe, made their last
payment as well. So I can't say for sure, but I think the Shelter's now completely paid
for. That ... that's all done! Um, that obviously's been a .... when was the flood again? A
little while ago, so .... um.....
Throgmorton/ To celebrate that, my wife and I adopted a little kitten from the Shelter!
Campbell/ There ya go!
Throgmorton/ Yeah, it's very exciting.
Campbell/ There are more!
Throgmorton/ She's been in the house like five days now, he has that is! (several talking and
laughing) Very exciting.
Campbell/ Yes! Yes! Um, that ... and the Shelter continues to be a model, urn.... for ..... I hesitate
to say a ... it definitely is a regional model for the way things can be done in shelters. The,
uh, the entire, urn .... city leadership that would be involved in that from Des Moines came
and visited the Shelter. The city manager and a lot of folks from their organization, as
they plan a new shelter. I believe we had a visit from ... it was either New Zealand or
something that made a ... a stop through here to also take a look at it, as they were doing
some tours. Um, Liz does a fantastic job there and ... and they .... they continue to be a ... a
leader in this area, uh, without question. Um ... we had the overhires, as you already
know. Um, a little progress note on that — they're all four at the academy. Uh, they
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finished their first week this week. I didn't receive any evening phone calls or any, uh,
any last minute, uh, concerns like that, so the first week must have gone well. Um ... if
you've done your .... if you've followed your, uh, your numbers here, we sit at, uh, 82
officers typically is our authorized strength. Uh, without the Chief we would be at 81
right now. Uh, you add the two overhires, that kicks us up to 83. With Jody that would
take us to 84, which'd be two over our authorized strength. We did, however, have, uh, a
fairly new officer who was still on his probationary period resign yesterday. So that takes
us back down one officer. So when all this shakes out, um, we'll actually be one over our
authorized strength. So our authorized strength being 82, and uh, we'll be at 83 officers.
So that's where we will ... we Will sit when that's all done. Obviously that's a significant,
uh, move in the direction of diversifying our workforce, urn .... so that's a very positive
thing for us. Uh, the officer that ... that resigned was indeed a white male so .... as we kind
of projected that would be where that.... where those numbers would go.
Botchway/ When you talk about authorized strength, how does that pertain to increased level, or
increased, um, I wouldn't say demographics but population? And so is that a .... is there a
formula, is it a, you know, I think about .... kind of the question that Rockne asked, um, in
relation to Fire. Obviously Police also has, uh, some of those roles as well when it comes
to University buildings. I mean is there something... an added metric that allows for you
to have more?
Campbell/ I wish I could tell you the answer to that. I don't know the answer, and I don't know
what's gone into making up the numbers that we have right now. They have been pretty
solidly at that point for some time.
Fruin/ Yeah, we've, urn .... I .... I .... there are some baseline metrics that you can pull, some, you
know, X officers per 1,000 residents types of things. Um, it's ... it's hard to use those
because every city's a little bit different. I mean if you were to use that type of, um .... uh,
per capita type of staffing analysis here, you would fail to take into account that the
University has, um, their own police force. Um, so there's.... there's some of those,
urn... challenges. I don't put a whole lot of stock into those. I put more stock into what
the .... the Chief tells me we need and ..... and that data that he can show, uh, or she can
show that says this is why we need, uh, more officers on the street, and uh, certainly the
values that the .... the Council pushes forward. So a couple of years ago we .... we added,
um, a couple of positions, um, because we wanted to get it more into community
policing. So we added the, um.....the downtown, uh, position. We added the
neighborhood liaison position. Um .... so I wouldn't .... I wouldn't, at least from my
standpoint I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock into some of those standardized metrics. I
think it's more of a ... a feel community value and what you can afford.
Campbell/ Looking forward to some of the things that we may .... as challenges or opportunities,
goals for this next year. Um, we .... we'll continue to be partnering with San ... St.
Ambrose. I think that's very clear, uh, as far as that study and what goes on with that. I
think that will be an ongoing thing. Uh, each year we, uh, look to try to send a
supervisor, usually at a sergeant or a lieutenant level, uh, to a command training school.
Uh, that happened this last year with Sergeant Bailey. I think we have Lieutenant
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Deerson, uh, slotted to go in the fall this next year. What that usually entails is a
semester -long program, either at the University Northwestern or Northwestern
University, or at the FBI National Academy in ... in Washington, or in Virginia. Depends
on where there are openings, that kind of thing. We have to be on a waiting list for the
FBI Academy. Uh, the one at Northwestern, obviously, is a little more ... more
convenient, um, we'll send one again this next year. That's typically something we
factor into our training budget. Shouldn't see many changes because of that, but that's
something that we .... we are .... we are very committed to. Uh, those folks bring back a
lot of, uh, regional and national, uh, awareness, um, the contacts that are made there are
very advantageous for us as well. So that's something that we'll continue.... continue to
do. Uh, the (can't hear) accreditation, as I said the maintenance of that is an ongoing
thing and has become a .... a much more involved process for that person, in our case, uh,
the training sergeant is the one who handles that, uh, and keeps us on task with policy
review and that kind of thing. Uh, community outreach, as Geoff had said, has become
something that's been a very focused point for us. And I think has been fantastic
(coughing, difficult to hear speaker) how it's .... how it's played out in the community.
Um .... there's a number of events and you've probably heard about many of them, but,
uh, where the police will get involved with the community, especially the youth of the
community, whether it be baseball or soccer or basketball, some of the things you've seen
media releases on. The Youth Academy, which I believe we have three different types
that we provide — one for some elementary kids, and then junior high and high school,
different lengths, uh, of time are in each one of those, uh, academies. The Fire
Department and the Police Department both put that on together. The Citizens Police
Academy continues to be something that we see great interest in every... every, uh, spring
we have that, uh, very well received program. The Police Cadet program has not been
something that's gotten off the ground a great deal, but we've seen some youth that have
been interested in ... in that. That's something that ... that, uh, we'll see if Chief Matherly is
interested in pursuing that more, uh, but we certainly have that off the ground. Events
like National Night Out, Juneteenth activities, urn .... we can se ... continue to see what
those opportunities are. I think that, uh, Henri Harper's brought in some good
perspective on maybe where we can go with that and continue to bounce programs off of
him. The School District, um, Kingsley's been very involved in those discussions as
well. Troy and I have had some good discussions as far as how we might advance some
things there. Um, I think you'll see that continue and that will probably drive some of the
things you see us ask for in the future. Uh, as far as programs are concerned. Fortunately
many of those things are .... are not something that have a great cost associated with them.
It's a matter of prioritizing where you're gonna spend your time and who you're gonna
have doing that. And that's .... why that community outreach function we want to take a
good look at how we might organize that. It'll still stay in the same part in the
organizational chart, but it needs to be revamped as far as how it's viewed. Urn ... so
you'll see that probably happening here as Jody arrives as well. Uh.... we're gonna be
looking (mumbled) Animal Shelter operation as well. Uh, trying to improve efficiency
issues there. We've taken a look at some expanded hours. We recognize some need to
maybe look at when they're open. That obviously, you may see staffing issues come out
of that later, but at this point we're still tryin' to assess how that might be done. Uh, and
lastly, and I know that, uh, Chief Grier would .... would be able to speak to this as well or
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better than I will but .... one of the biggest, um.. ...I think, one of the biggest challenges
you're gonna see in the future, and I ... I don't know that, uh, it's been played upon a lot in
the media but we're seeing significant problems with heroin, um, across the country and
that's happening locally as well. I don't know that it's gotten a lot of media attention, but
to give a ... to give you a sense of the severity of it, I think in Iowa City alone we've had
six deaths in the last three or four months. Um, it continues to be a problem. We had a
death on Christmas day, um, that was a heroin overdose. Um, in ... in a very layperson's
manner basically that ... those overdoses suppress the respiratory system and basically put
the person into a .... respiratory arrest situation. We're .... we're fortunate that, uh, there's
a product out there that can help reverse that, if it's given quickly enough. Uh, the
ambulance service currently has it. Fire and Police are looking at the.... practicality, both
financially and also some of the ins and outs of carrying it .... out in .... out in the
community in the cars. I don't know that you'll see that, but we certainly are looking at
how that might be employed, cause it's certainly is something that can re .... reverse the
effects of that very quickly, but, urn .... again, six deaths in Iowa City alone is pretty
significant. It's taken over as a leading cause of death in Iowa, I believe, above, uh,
traffic crashes now. So, pretty significant and we've, I think the number of actual
overdoses is probably triple that as far as the non-fatal overdoses. So, that's something
that.... there's been a lot of focus on nationally. It is a problem locally as well. So we
continue to work with, um, the federal drug task force and other federal authorities as we
try to get a handle on how to address that, but that's a bigger problem, obviously, than
Iowa City but it is certainly something that is impacting our community. That's what I
have for you here. Um, I'm sure you do have questions about other parts of the budget.
It has not changed significantly. You won' see a lot of changes in it, uh.... as you look
through it. Most of it isn't operational. The personnel part of it, component, is the part
that would of changed, but that's again due to the overhires and so forth.
Throgmorton/ Bill, I'd like to ask a question that relates to immigration enforcement and the
discussion that we had last Tuesday night (clears throat) but especially with regard to...
uh, emails and phone calls that we or I have received pertaining to that. And many of
those, uh, communications, uh, basically claim that, uh, crime rates increased. And I, if I
remember rightly, you have one chart in .... in your part of the budget, uh, that has to do
with I don't know, violent crimes? And it shows some fluctuation but in general a
decline.
Campbell/ Yes.
Throgmorton/ And...
Campbell/ That is correct.
Throgmorton/ ....in Iowa City, uh, and that's very pleasing to see, of course, uh, but urn .... I .... I
think I want to make a general suggestion. We're doin' this great work with St. Ambrose
...St. Ambrose havin' to do with traffic stops, searches, and arrests. But as far as I know,
we aren't applying a similar kind of analysis to other forms of arrests.
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Campbell/ Yes.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, and I think it'd be pretty helpful to be able to do that, and I don't know if
your, uh, analytical folks have been thinking about that or not. Uh, but I also want to ask
a very specific question and it has to do with murders. Uh... to the bes... to the best of your
recollection, how many murders have there been in Iowa City over the past 10 years?
Campbell/ That would be a good question to ask me! Uh, I .... I would say that we ... we, and we
typically, I can speak kinda anecdotally that typically we see one or two a year, um, and
it's .... it depends how they're classified and how they're charged, or if they're charged, as
to whether or not .... how you would, how you would, uh, view those. Um, it's typically
about one a year. Maybe two. Uh, so .... so playin' that out over the last 10 years is
probably no more than 10, urn .... that's typically how we see that flow.
Throgmorton/ I get pretty frustrated when I get phone calls from people sayin', you know,
crime's increasing in Iowa City.
Campbell/ Right.
Throgmorton/ As best I can tell, it's not.
Campbell/ I would .... I would agree with that. I .... I think that we ... we certainly see, and this is
anecdotally speaking, we certainly see more firearms in calls than we have in the past.
So to say that crime is ... that's one of those that's harder to quantify, um, we see more
firearms associated with some of the drug trade especially. Does that make the city, uh,
does that make it so crime is going up? Not necessarily, but maybe the types of crimes or
what we see affiliated with those crimes can be more serious, even if it's not ending up
coming out in the charging aspect of things. To also address the issue of. ... of how we
assess data, I've spent some time with Stefanie Bowers on this and there's a ... been very
challenging as we look through some of the reporting that we do, and the reporting that
she has done, um, to find a ... a way to .... clarify what it means .... what an arrest means
versus a charge. Is an arrest an event? Is an arrest .... if you are charged with three
different things are you arrested three times? Some of the data and how it was presented
in past documents has made it challenging for us to move forward with the idea of what
an arrest is, what a charge is, cause a charge would be an individual event, but the system
has kind of viewed, um, at least terminology -wise, an arrest as being an individual event,
and so you can have someone arrested three times in one incident. So there's some
things about that that make it very difficult to talk apples to apples when you start talking
about (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) previous documentation and literature. So,
we've tried to .... tried to clean that up, um, I ... and Stefanie's done a great job of trying to
clarify what's in a lot of her, um, documentation on this. That's going to be a work in
progress too because that's .... and you're right, there's analyzation of that whole thing,
it's not just traffic stops. It's what type of stops are happening outside of that, uh, how
arrests are being done, and of course one of the biggest things and ... and, uh, Dr. Barnum
talked about this from St. Ambrose, um, consent searches are a huge thing within that.
That really kind of tells us where you're going as far as, um .... how you're doing as far as
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your, uh.....disproportionality. Uh, the whole idea of how you're applying consent
searches. So he talks about that a great deal but that's..... there's still some work that can
be done in that area. You're right.
Fruin/ Bill, the department still puts together, over here, sorry! (laughs) The, uh, an annual
report with some of the .... the basic crime data, don't ya? Uh, when do you typically
complete that?
Campbell/ I'm sorry?
Fruin/ When do you typically complete the annual report (both talking)
Campbell/ We start doing that now. Um, and you typically will see that in February or March,
we'll see that annual report come out. Uh, unfortunately, and you see this in some of
the ... some of the information that you have within the budget. The .... the federal
government doesn't follow our.... our..... our calendar year as far as their production of
data. So we can't provide that in the same framework at that time, but we do track the
local, we just can't many times compare it to other places.
Fruin/ Yeah, so we .... we put that up on our web site, but I'm not sure we've shared that directly
with the Council before. We'll make sure and ... when that annual report's complete, um,
to get that to you (both talking)
Throgmorton /I think Ive seen it once before at least in my last five years (both talking)
Fruin/ I can't recall, but .... um, that has some good basic crime rate data in it, um, that might be
helpful for you as you talk with folks that have concerns. (several talking)
Bockenstedt/ 673 of your book there is some statistical data in relation to the Police Department.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I think that's the part I was referring to, so thanks, yeah.
Mims/ The other issue and this is .... I'm just going to mention it cause we started down this path
a little bit, but it's beyond the scope of the budget and I think it's for another meeting, is
this whole idea of ...data on things other than traffic stops. To me a lot of the stuff on the
traffic stops was because, you know, the question is do the police really have a reason to
stop somebody and you start looking at disproportionality and we're looking at, you
know, people driving in different parts of the city, etc. When you start talking about
arrests for... certain other kinds of crimes, let's say armed robbery, you know, or other
things, I don't think you can get into any disproportionality, uh, comparison because
there you're looking at evidence that has come forward, uh, pretty strong evidence to
actually go out and arrest somebody. Now when you talk about disorderly conduct or
some things like that, then maybe you can because the questions is, is somebody who's
white being treated differently than somebody who is of color. So .... I think as we get
away from traffic stops and start talking about disproportionality in arrests, we've
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(laughs) gotta be really, really careful about how that conversation moves and what kind
of expectations we have, um, in terms of that. But again, that's for another day.
Campbell/ If I can make just one ... one comment to that, or .... or one clarification, and you're
right. It's a very complex topic. When we look at traffic stop data, we're looking at if
there would be a crime that would be committed, a robbery or whatever it might be, and
an officer stops a vehicle in conjunction with that, it's not on your traffic stop data. It
doesn't appear in that study cause it's not considered a traffic stop for that study's
purpose.
Botchway/ Wait a minute, say that one more time!
Campbell/ Yeah, so ... um, so if I .... if I am, if I respond to a call for service....
Botchway/ Right.
Campbell/ ...and I stop a vehicle that's affiliated with that event, that's not gonna show up in the
traffic stop data as a traffic stop.
Mims/ So in other words if there's a robbery and they left in a blue .... late model sedan and the
police stop a blue, late model sedan nearby, that's not showing up in the traffic stop data.
Campbell/ That is correct. It should not appear in it. If it does, it....it shouldn't appear.
Mims/ Right.
Botchway/ Well, hold up! Help me tease through....
Campbell/ Yeah!
Botchway/ ...because I remember Tom talking about the fact that if there was a traffic stop and
the individual has maybe a warrant, whatever the case may be, which could play on some
disproportionality elements, that would be in the data.
Campbell/ So .... backing up the.... the.... the concept of what that data is about, and this is why
the .... the, what Councilman Mims is saying when it comes to this, is .... is the officer self -
initiating this or making the decision who to stop, based upon their own observations of
an event, versus being call -driven. So, traffic stops, and we'll call `em that again. We
get into semantics now too.
Botchway/ Right!
Campbell/ Traffic stops affiliated with that robbery, maybe there's four or five cars that are
stopped. Those shouldn't be traffic stops .... in our data, because they're driven by that
call. The officer's not in essence deciding `I see someone speeding, I'm going to pull
them over.' It's not a self -initiated kind of thing. That's why that doesn't appear in that,
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and that's when you talk about that data, that's why that doesn't appear. Where you can
get into the issue of who do officers, and this is a whole other area, would be who do
officers interact with downtown. Who do they decide to stop and talk to about public
intoxication or disorderly? Those certainly are not captured in a way that get back to you
or the public. That .... that doesn't happen. Um....you go to the whole idea of if I'm
called to, uh, a call for service and, uh, my .... the suspect that's identified by the victim is
white, well then my suspect is white and that's who I'm going to interact with. Probably
going to be looking for someone who's white or a white male. In the same way if it's a
minority, that's gonna be driven by what the victim has to say. It is a very complex
thing, but the traffic stop, what's a traffic stop, and that certainly is another conversation
given your question there that would need some clarity, and hopefully Dr. Barnum
provides some of that, but it's such a.....that.... that's a lengthy discussion. I mean I....
Throgmorton/ (several talking) We should probably move pass (several talking)
Cole/ ....I have another topic. One question related to the immigration discussion we had is is
the consequence of not complying. One of the key things that the federal government has
is the purse string. What percentage of our budget comes from federal grants?
Campbell/ Right. Right, um, most of the federal grant money that we have, um, is associated
with special project type things.
Cole/ Okay.
Campbell/ So, um, we have JAG grants. You hear a lot of conversation about those. Those
grants typically supplement, um, supplement our budget to get stuff, or to put it...
programs in place. Um, the Lost Program that you heard about, with the folks that ... if
they wonder, that kind of thing, the Wondering Program, for those with dementia and so
forth. That is on a JAG grant. Um ... those grants are typically fairly small. They're
10,000 to $15,000. Uh, we probably have four or five JAG grants right now, the total
of...the dollar amount on those total are under $50,000 and they're typically spent on
items. Where we get into the federal monies, uh, we certainly have someone on the drug
task force that's paid for out of a federal .... is paid for out of a federal grant. Um ... that...
that's very much .... very limited to that person and maybe a couple other people who see
some federal funding.
Cole/ So in terms of (both talking)
Campbell/ (both talking) Yeah, we're not .... we're not, we're talking about one position.
Cole/ Okay!
Campbell/ And that's it, and .... and so the impact of those grants is fairly minimal to the Police
Department. It ... it's not (both talking)
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Cole/ I think that's important for the public to understand, that we're not compromising
community safety.
Campbell/ No. No, and .... and in all reality, as we've said several times, um ... we aren't really
asked to help with this process. Um, we just haven't been asked to help with the process
of immigration and it would be very unusual, and we've had discussions for us to be
asked. Um, I'll just reiterate that since we're talking about (mumbled)
Botchway/ So I have two questions on, or three questions on page 183, in relation to, um, seems
like an uptick in OWI arrests. Um .... compliance checks went down significantly, um,
compared to prior years, and then the dispatch on scene actually went down significantly
as well. What changes, budgetary, um, I mean I look at it from a training standpoint
maybe for the OWI, but then it seems like with that significant reduction, how did that
play into the budget?
Campbell/ Right. Um, I .... what you'll see with that uptick in OWIs, um, is typically related to
specific personnel who have moved to particular watches or have specific training. We
have a couple officers who are on late night watch who are drug recognition experts.
Um, they are very focused on that particular offense and trying to address that. That's
where you see those numbers, uh, that .... that number increase would probably be related
to one particular person would be my guess. Uh... so that would be what you would see
with .... with those numbers going up. The compliance checks, that's something that ... it
predates me being in this role, but we noticed that at one point we had some funding that
came out to do those compliance checks. Um, that funding, um, I don't .... can't tell you
history, um, was not available or was not.....provided through grants or sources that it
would have come from before, and those did drop off. Um, we noticed that when we saw
those happen before. That wasn't driven by anything, um, intentional on our part, as far
as I know, as far as not doing compliance checks. It came up when we had discussions
about this as well. Uh, surround some of the ordinance changes.
Mims/ Was this tied in though with UIPD taking over some of the compliance checks?
Campbell/ No.
Fruin/ No. It didn't.....they didn't do compliance checks (several talking) It's an overtime
function for us and like we lost a .... a grant source.
Mims/ Okay.
Campbell/ And I .... you had mentioned a third thing.
Botchway/ The dispatch on scene. It went.... usually it's over, a little bit over the four -minute
mark and it dropped by, you know, 15 seconds.
Campbell/ Yeah, and I .... we don't.....we certainly don't track things like the Fire Department
does in that respect. You hear them talk about response times and that. That just
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happens, we may have a unit that's right there, close by, and that can drive how quickly
we have someone there and that .... that fluctuation wouldn't surprise me. It just depends
on where someone is, where they're responding from a specific location, and they can
track that a little bit differently. We can't do that the same way. So I would see that as
just bein' an anomaly and not anything that would be of. ... of consequence or there'd be
something behind it.
Mims/ I know we're goin' long but I've got one quick other budget question. With the body
cameras, I can't remember how long we've had those — a couple years now? What do
you see as the replacement process with that and would you go with the same ones?
I've ... I've heard a question about their, um, nighttime filming capability.
Campbell/ That's a .... that's a very interesting question. Um, I was wearing a body camera not
too long ago and we discovered that the battery had exploded inside of it, kind of bulged
out and we saw more of that happening, and I think the company recognized that their
continued, uh, involvement with a lot of departments was kind of driven by their ability
to not ... have that problem occur. Um, and so they were nice enough, and I say that
loosely, to replace all of our body cameras with their newest generation of camera.
Mims/ Okay.
Campbell/ We just deployed those in the last .... two weeks? Two or three weeks. So we have
brand new body cameras.
Mims/ Great!
Campbell/ They now have a....at....at no cost, uh, to the City at all. Um, I .... again, I hesitate to
say I think they saw that as being something that was going to be a major problem for
them, so I ... I don't know that they did it out of the kindness of their heart, but it....it was
something that did benefit us significantly.
Mims/ Uh huh.
Campbell/ The new cameras also have the ability, not only are they the next generation camera,
which will probably provide some better .... we'll see better video, they, uh, have
a .... they're always recording, like the car cameras are. So when the officer turns on the
camera, it goes back 30 seconds and does the prerecord, so we see the 30 seconds prior to
the camera being activated, where before it was ... it started when the officer activated the
cameras. Same thing is true with the cars. They start back 30 seconds and provide that
30 seconds prior. Bigger battery, uh, involved in it, but uh, it ... that'll .... we'll see some
enhancement in that respect.
Thomas/ Bill, I .... I have one question on the, uh, field operations. Do you map, you know, some
of this data I found very interesting on, you know, car collisions and all the rest of it.
Do ... do you map that information, because I think ... and this really, I think, ties into a lot
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of the issues we're talking about in budget. We get these aggregate numbers, but in fact
those aggregate numbers distribute in some fashion geographically (both talking)
Campbell/ Right!
Thomas/ .... which .... which I think would be really useful to know.
Campbell/ Uh huh.
Thomas/ Uh, because I suspect it's uneven, you know.
Campbell/ Right.
Thomas/ So do you .... do you track this by a mapping, like a GIS...
Campbell/ (both talking) As far as (both talking)
Thomas/ ...format?
Campbell/ ....traffic crashes and that type of thing?
Thomas/ Yeah. I mean traffic crashes, uh, OWI arrests, traffic stops, urn .... charges, you know,
where .... where those incidents take place.
Campbell/ Yes. Um, the answer to the question is yes. I don't know if it's put in a .... in a spot
that you have access to it or if it's something that we just see internally. There rarely are
surprises with that, um, has been my experience. Traffic accidents happen at
intersections; most of the time they're more significant intersections. There are very few
places where you see huge numbers of traffic accidents, even when you see the data and
you see a lot of accidents. There are very few intersections that will see more than five or
10 accident during the course of the year. Sometimes they're related to an intersec...
intersection related event, but ... most of that information, although I agree with you it
shows .... it can show patterns, it doesn't.... there.... it's very, very infrequent that we see a
pattern develop that warrants significant change on our part. Now what we do see is
traffic engineering will look at that (both talking)
Thomas/ Well that's.... that's.....(both talking)
Campbell/ ....believe they collected a little bit more intensely (both talking)
Thomas/ That's what I'm trying to get at is that .... that I think would then be another part of our
(both talking)
Campbell/ Yes!
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Thomas/ ...operation that could look at the geometries of those particular locations to see if that's
what's contributing to the collisions.
Campbell/ And I think, and again I'm speaking.... very novice standpoint on this. I believe they
do that (both talking)
Fruin/ They do, and that's really a justification for a lot of the grants that we get. So Mormon
Trek, First Avenue road diets, a lot of the justification was the crash data that we
submitted, uh, to the .... to the State.
Campbell/ And that will come back to us, um, if there's a significant problem in a particular area,
um, we'll .... we'll hear from them on that. There's good interaction that occurs. It just
isn't something that comes to you through the Police Department. As far as the actual
areas where OWI arrests occur and so forth, I'm sure that .... that is tracked by us. I don't
know if it's provided in a document or if it's amassed in a way that it's available to the
public or available to you. It certainly can be, but it's not something... and I think we
publish or put out even internally.
Throgmorton/ Okay, much as we would like to keep asking Bill questions (laughter) hearing
great responses (laughter) we should probably move on. Are there any crucial questions
anybody needs to ask? Okay, great job, Bill. Thank you (several talking)
Campbell/ Thank you!
Throgmorton/ Which brings us to Susan! Morning, Susan.
Library:
Craig/ Good morning!
Fruin/ Susan promised me she wasn't asking for a second bookmobile (several talking and
laughing) No, I'm just going to thank you so much for the one we're gonna get! (laughs)
Urn .... I thought I would start by giving you some highlights from our year that ended,
you know, July 1St and talk a little bit about what we're doing now and what's coming up!
Urn .... we have a new strategic plan too and the themes in that strategic plan are connect,
engage, enrich. And FYI was our first year with that, and we worked to make the
Library more inviting and welcoming by providing opportunities for engagement and
learning, that offer something for everyone. We focused on expanding programming,
opportunities for all ages, creating new partnerships, and making Library services more
equally accessible to all. Uh.... we kicked off nine months of special music -related
programming in September of 2015, and went on to present over 100 music -themed
events to welcome the University of Iowa School of Music to downtown Iowa City. The
Music is the Word series of programs including per ... included performances, lectures,
and workshops attended by over 5,000 people. And the eclectic offerings brought many
people to the Library. Almost a year ago, on February 5u' of 2016, we launched a
program called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. The national program is designed to
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give children the tools they need to become successful readers by encouraging reading to
young children before they enter kindergarten. Studies show that reading aloud to
children from birth strengthens language skills and builds vocabulary. We now have over
500 children signed up, and hope to use the bookmobile to get some more, uh, on our
hook. As part of a strategic goal plan to offer more programming to children in the age
range of K through second grade, we introduced the Crazy 8 Math Club and a Governor's
STEM program grant supported a four-week series called Pint -Sized Science. Both
programs were filled to capacity with many positive reviews. A gift from the Pilot Club
of Iowa City helped us bring programming to people at the other age of the ... the other age
spectrum... end of the age spectrum, and it's aimed at serving people with dementia who
are residents of local care facilities. The program's called Tales and Travel Memories,
and the goal is to facilitate conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Each hour-long visit
focuses on a particular country or region. The Library staff brings special kits and
present facts about a location, read a short folk tale or story, and then share illustrated
books from the Library's collection. We're having a hard time keeping up with, um, that
program. The requests for us to come and do that program has been very successful and
we just were given a second grant from the Pilot Club to expand the kit that ... the kits that
we have. After months of planning and preparation, a major collaboration between the
public libraries of Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty debuted last year with the
introduction of Digital Johnson County. The goal of the partnership between the three
libraries is to jointly purchase digital content and share it with our patrons. The system
saves each library overhead expenses, provides a larger collection for everyone, and
simplifies access for most Johnson County residents. The Library plays a crucial role in
making technology accessible to everyone, and to further that effort, we began circulating
laptops in March of last year. We have 10 circulating laptops that are consistently
checked out and we track the demographics of the people and where they lived who were
checking those out for the first six months, and we had all age ranges represented, and the
residential addresses showed up throughout the city, but I would say .... 40 to 50% of
them you could target to southeast Iowa City. Um, this year we're continuing with our
programming. Of course Music is the Word was a one-time thing, thank goodness cause
it was a lot of work! Um, but we're including, uh, we're keeping up with 1,000 Books
Before Kindergarten. It'll see its first birthday in early February. Uh, we're just getting
ready, on the l Ott' we'll kick off another session of the Crazy 8s Club, and as I said, we
can't fill our requests for the Trails... Tales and Travel Memories programs. Um, this
September we debuted a special access browsing hour aimed at individuals with...
individuals with autism and their families. So we opened from 9:00 to 10:00 on a
Saturday morning, uh, when the Library is not the hustle and bustle that it usually is.
We've had huge success with this, and really are serving a community that wants to use
the Library, but was not comfortable using it before and North Liberty has stepped up and
they ... the North Liberty Community Library is doing the same program.... once every
other month. So monthly there's a program in an area library for our folks with autism
who are not comfortable coming to the Library when it's opened. Uh, they do theirs, I
think, on Sunday evening and we do ours on Saturday morning, so .... there's a option of
time. I think we're having the therapy horse on ... next one we do, which is very popular.
In early December we hosted three sessions with the Iowa Workforce Development staff
to assist, uh, the workers laid off at IAC with their resumes and some computer things.
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Um, we are planning a .... a, I think impressive list of programs for upcoming Black
History Month, which will include a display by the African American Museum of Iowa,
performances by the (can't hear) Drums and the Gospel Explosion Choir, uh, Lena and
Michael Hill will be back to talk about their book The Invisible Hawkeyes, and we're
have, uh, a presenter who's name is Kathryn Harris, uh, sharing the Harriet Tubman
story. Miss Harris was formerly with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and there
are several other events that are in the works that we haven't quite confirmed yet.
Um ... in May we're planning a Family Steam Festival for the 19th and 20th, and have
received two local grants to help us with that. Uh, we hope to reach out to the schools on
that Friday, invite, uh, first and second graders to come and have a field trip, uh, and
create a magic school bus in the Library and share .... give each child who comes a book.
It's one of the things the grant money will help fund. On January 31 st, we're really
excited about a new collection we're debuting, um, that will be .... we're gonna be
circulating 10 hot spots, with a mobile hot spot anyone has full access to the internet
wherever they are. So you .... it uses, it's like... it uses, I think it's Verizon, so it uses the
telephone service. It's like your phone! Um .... and again, as a public library, we were
able to take care of...take advantage of, uh, national program that is funded by a
foundation, both to purchase the hot spots and then to pay for the service for them.
Um .... so we're doing this at a ... a very reasonable cost. Uh, seven of the hot spots will
just circulate as hot spots, and three will be with computers. But I know you're most
interested in is our new bookmobile and I'm very excited to share, um, information about
that with you. Uh, you got a memo in your packet recently to have you mark your April
12`h calendar. Um, we're gonna have a fun event out at Mercer Park. The Antelope
Lending Library will be there, and we're recruiting a lot of other folks. Um, we're gonna
have lots of fun, lots of books, some food, um .... we expect to have the.... the..... unit
is .... not being built yet, but is .... is.....is, the chassis is on its way to Colorado where the
box gets built and, you know, we've answered lots of questions about what color should
the carpet be, um (laughter) and then .... so we expect, we've told them it has to be here by
April 12th and they've said `It will be! It will be!' So .... fingers crossed, everybody!
Uh....
Mims/ And you've ordered good weather for that day too?
Craig/ (laughter) Always! Um .... then in May we see the time from when the bookmobile gets
here until the end of May when school gets out as sort of a take it around, show it off, go
to lots of places, have open houses with it, so no real set schedule in May as the staff
learns to drive it and we learn how to deal with, you know, all of the bureaucracy about
getting books on and off of it and .... all those kinds of things, making sure the technology
works, and then starting when summer... starts, when the schools are out, we will have a
five-day a week schedule. Um, we are still working with that, but we know we're going
to be at Willow Creek Park on Mondays, Wetherby Park on Wednesdays, and Mercer
Park on Friday mornings, and we're aiming to have regular stops at every mobile home
park in Johnson County, or .... in Iowa City or rural Johnson County, and .... both the
neighborhood centers, retirement residences, and hope to have like one high visibility
stop a day that's at a big parking lot some place. When schools are back in session, we
will have sort of a school -year schedule and a summer schedule because then we'll move
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it, so we're visiting schools after school is out, when school is back in session, and still
including retirement residence, the neighborhood centers, and the mobile home parks.
So ... we haven't hired the new staff yet but ... we have other people assigned to work on the
bookmobile and they're starting to work as a group and figure out things. They're
working to get their chauffeur's licenses, which is what you need to drive it. Um, so I
thank you so much for your support last year, uh, in the budget of this project and I think
we're gonna do yo proud, uh, and you're gonna say that was a good investment. Uh,
we're also looking at some CIP projects, and I know we won't actually be talking about
those till Tuesday, but I just wanted to let you know that .... you will see more and more
of those as .... as the years go on. I think of the building as .... 2004 it was a new building!
It's a new building! But it is starting to show the wear and tear, you know, we have
three-quarters of a million visitors a year. We've done a couple of projects, um, in
20 .... from 2012 to 2014. We built the teen center, replaced some carpet, um....closed a
service desk and realigned some things but .... we've got some projects coming up
and .... that will just continue as time goes on. You know, the HVAC system, the roof,
they were all put on in 2002, so in 2022, they'll be 20 years old and things are gonna start
wearin' out! Um ... but I think the City is very good about long-range planning to support
facilities. We get many, many compliments on our building from people who come from
out of town, either they're visitors who are coming through, and we are a spot where
many people bring out of town visitors and ... or people who are new to the community
and .... and they are amazed at our building and ... how beautiful it is, how well it works,
and how well maintained it is. So .... I'm here to answer your questions!
Throgmorton/ Excellent! Great overview, Susan. Thank you! So, questions?
Botchway/ First and foremost, the Library is phenomenal. Um, it really has, um, I have a young
son and so it's tremendous for me (mumbled) lot a variety of ways. One thing I would
request if there could be more Thomas toys, um, I'm just joking but (laughs) that would
be great (laughter) my son and some other two -year-olds (both talking)
Craig/ ...fight over the trains?
Botchway/ ....the trains, but ... urn....
Mims/ Are you saying you fight with the two -year-olds? (laughs)
Botchway/ No (laughter) My .... my son does! (laughs) I'm tryin' to stay awake! Um, there's a
(both talking)
Craig/ Let them work it out! (laughs)
Botchway/ Yeah! There was a couple of things. One I also do want to commend you on the
1,000 reader program. Um, I thought those were great programs. As soon as I saw it we
signed up, and then also the, uh, the teen center as well. Um, that .... I've worked with a
couple of teens, from the School District, that have used that particular, um, center. Um,
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I know it's a game center, but it also has some therapeutic purposes as well and so (both
talking)
Craig/ Absolutely!
Botcbway/ ....really appreciate that. Um, there were a couple of questions I had on 230... and
um, 235. Um, the question on 230 was related to the diverse audiences relating to themes
of social justice and racial equity. It just says 24 here. I didn't know if you could
elaborate on kind of what those are, and then beyond that, I ... I've seen different exhibits.
So I mean literally I feel like the Library changes every day. There's multiple exhibits.
It seems like there's a new thing, um, every single day, week, month, whatever the case
may be. I was wondering whether or not there was any type of Hispanic or Latino, um,
exhibits, cause I don't remember seeing those, um, in relation to the, um, Heritage Month
in .... September/October, but I just didn't know if there was ... things in the works, plans,
or whatever the case may be.
Craig/ We had an exhibit in September from the art from Wahaca.
Botchway/ Okay.
Craig/ And so that's one that I can remember...
Botchway/ Okay.
Craig. ...that we had. Um, this is a .... a goal that we've ... began this year in response to the City's
strategic plan, and it's mostly things we've already... we've always done and never
counted. So ... when we've had those exhibits or when we've .... so now we're trying to
quantify what we're doing to advance this goal of the City. Uh, so for instance our
programming for Black History Month. We'll ..... keep track of that and count it in
addition .... to put down here when we do an exhibit that is aimed at a diverse audience or,
you know, talks about the goals of social justice. We will keep track of it, so we can
report to you and say .... here are some of the things the Library's done to advance this
City goal. So it ... it's not a huge change from anything we've ever done. It's just that
we're gonna track it, and report back to you.
Botchway/ Okay. Make sense! Uh, 235, I'm .... so this is where I'm tryin' to go back in my
memory and I was looking at the old budget book, but I couldn't find all the questions
cause I may have lost `em, but .... we, did we ever hire, last year or the year before, a
person over .... in charge of the Library, um ... not fund but um ... (several talking)
Foundation?
Craig/ We .... we have, urn .... two people .... two full-time people in .... that are funded from the,
urn... personnel, but they are paid not .... they're paid from a gift account.
Botchway/ Okay. So the .... my question on 235 was, so when you look at (mumbled) 15 and
2016 actual, there's a jump of about .... $39,000 or $40,000.
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Craig/ That's.... oh, 15 to 16?
Botchway/ Right. So I'm looking at contributions and donations, and it's 150 in 2015, and 2016
is 189.
Craig/ Okay.
Botchway/ Where there's a .... was there a particular campaign or .... was this because of what the
individual was doing or am I looking in the wrong section altogether?
Craig/ No, you .... you know, it is very hard to project contributions and donations. We have a
pretty good feel year to year, um .... what our, like our annual campaign and those kinds
of things bring back, but if we get a bequest, I think in .... in 2016, we had a $20,000
bequest.
Botchway/ Okay.
Craig/ Which you never know you're .... most of the time we don't even know we're gonna get it,
and .... and we certainly don't know when we're going to get it. So if you take that out of
there, it comes back down to the more typical.
Fruin/ Kingsley, you may be recalling the Senior Center. Last year you authorized a half-time
(several talking)
Botchway/ Never mind! (laughs) (several talking and laughing) Sorry about that!
Craig/ Right! And the ... the Foundation has a separate page in the budget. Is it 238?
Botchway/ Yes, it is.
Craig/ Yeah.
Botchway/ So I saw that (both talking)
Craig/ ....two FTE are.
Botchway/ Yeah, and I highlighted the (both talking) gifts of $170,000, above the budget (both
talking) Okay!
Craig/ And it .... and there will be gift funny.... money that is supporting some additional. You...
you are, the taxpayers are supporting one employee, new employee for the bookmobile,
and um, through gift funds, the Board is spending part of the gift we get from the
Foundation every year, uh, to support 16 hours of additional time for a part-time person
who's currently on staff in the children's room. So....
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Botchway/ Thank you for that clarification.
Cole/ Last year we figured out how to sort of optimize the Antelope as well as the bookmobile,
in terms of figuring out what that optimal level of collaboration would be. And one of
the things that came out of that was the joint fundraising efforts, so I was wondering if
you could just sort of outline what the road map is for that in terms of (both talking)
Craig/ We're going to experiment at this event in ... in....
Cole/The April?
Craig/ At the April event, and do some fundraising at that event.
Cole/ Okay.
Craig/ So .... that's all we have on the books right now.
Cole/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Susan, I'd like to ask you a question related to the first one that Kingsley asked.
He mentioned, uh, our Hispanic residents. Uh, but I'm more curious right now about our,
um .... Congolese residents.
Craig/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ I went to a refugee assistance meeting a couple weeks ago and ... uh, heard, um, the
number 2,000 thrown out, like there might be as many as 2,000 Congolese residents in
Iowa City. I don't know about that, but in the Iowa City area for sure. So I'm wondering
if, uh, y'all have had any, um, real engagement with Congolese kids (both talking) how to
connect with them.
Craig/ We've worked with the people in the schools that have high concentrations of folks. They
speak... we're.... we're now delivering, when we deliver materials to the schools, we visit,
try and visit in the spring and then again in the fall. In the spring it's to promote summer
reading program. In the fall we go to all the back -to -school nights and encourage people
to get library cards, and to certain schools now we're taking, um, literature that is in
English, Spanish, French, and Arabic. So we are trying to serve those communities in
that way.
Throgmorton/ Glad to hear it! Any other questions for Susan?
Botchway/ I have my CDL, so if you need me to drive the bookmobile!
Craig/ Oh, right! (laughter) You could be like .... you could be like our (several talking) our star
driver! (laughter) Thank you very much!
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Throgmorton/ All right! Thanks, Susan. Good morning, Juli. You've been very patient. Thank
you!
Parks and Recreation:
Seydel-Johnson/ I'm learning as I sit back there (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, you're kind of a rookie like Bill Campbell, right? This is the first time
you've had a chance to do this!
Seydel/Johnson/ And I'm gonna see if I can continue my, uh.... technical difficulties here cause I
have a video that I think you'd like to see.
Tbrogmorton/ All right!
Seydel-Johnson/ You'd asked Forestry questions. Um, Channel 4 did a two -minute video for us
yesterday. Um, which is phenomenal and it talks about our new tree inventory going on,
and I thought maybe that would be the best way for me to describe it to you. So let me
see if I can.....
Fruin/ First -timer goin' off script! (laughter and several talking in background)
Mims/ You have job security I hope! (laughter)
Seydel-Johnson/ I hope it's hooked up to the internet. Is it? (several talking) Well, maybe not.
(several talking) The tree inventory started last month in the bitter cold. Uh, we have
staff here from Planet GO. It's a company out of Colorado. They've got about 3,000
trees tracked in the ... a video crew went out and tracked them for a little bit and, urn ... if I
can bring it up here.
Fruin/ Put the microphone close to the.... (video playing in background; link here:
https://youtu.be/jCd-GGuiCTw)
Seydel-Johnson/ Thanks for lettin' me show that. I think that talks about it better than I can,
even this morning, but....
Throgmorton/ Juli, I'd like to tweet that to whoever reads my Twitter files. So could you....
Seydel-Johnson/ It'll be being pushed out on social media, maybe as early as today. It just went
up live yesterday. So it's on the Parks and Forestry page, um, and it will definitely go out
on our social media very soon too. Um, I .... it's amazing the people have been watching
it already that are excited about what's going on. It should give us a lot of the data we
need to help better manage the trees. Um, as we look at the future with Emerald Ash
Borer, this will help show us where the trees are. It helps us any time we have a project
going on to figure out the value of those trees, if we have to take trees out, so ... it's just a
wonderful tool that we're very thankful that we're ... that we have. So onto the rest of
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Parks and Recreation. Do you .... would you have any other questions about trees that I
can answer before....
Thomas/ Well I had asked earlier about, um, what you're budgeting for actual tree planting.
Seydel-Johnson/ Yeah. It's about the same, it's pretty steady to what .... you increased it last year
and we're staying pretty steady at that same amount. Um, we had about 150 trees put in
by our own staff and contractors this year, not including what's gone in along Sycamore,
um, with that project. It'll be pretty similar. That's about what our Forestry staff can
manage in a year, so...
fume"$.x�im,11 illiw
Seydel-Johnson/ ...similar. As we have more effects of Emerald Ash Borer, we would definitely
want to be ramping that up. Um, so far it's been a few per year, so we've been pretty
lucky. All right, other things happening in Parks and Recreation. It's been a great year.
This is my last first, I think, cause I wasn't here for the budget meeting last year, so this is
the last first thing I have to do in my first year. Um, what a wonderful year working with
the staff in Parks and Recreation. We have the different divisions up there. We've been
working on just increasing our teamwork and customer service, and I hope you've seen
that out in our parks and our facilities. Uh, we've had our Master Plan process start with
a lot of community engagement meetings over the last few months, and it's gearing up
towards a theme of `gather here,' and that's a theme we're .... we're proposing throughout
our whole system is we want to remind the public that we have parks in their
neighborhoods. We have trails. We have facilities and programs going on, where we
want our community to gather with each other (mumbled) goal is to get people out
of. ... off their own couch and from their own TV out to meet their neighbors, uh, in one
of our parks, whether it be at a soccer field or in one of our fitness classes or ... or one of
our pottery classes, so that's what we're continuing to do. We've had a number of, um,
changes in our customer service delivery in the last year. Um, even as of 6:00 A.M. this
morning we changed a little bit of our customer service at the Rec Center to deal with
some issues over there. Uh, in Parks Maintenance we now have full-time staff that are
into the evenings and 'on the weekends, and that is greatly improved our service level
without increasing our number of staff, but when you think about it, people are in our
parks nights and weekends (laughs) so we've reallocated the staff to be out there, meeting
the people out in our, um, athletic fields or out in the pavilions, when they're out there, so
we can increase the service level to that. Um, other things happening within Parks, you
may have seen the new landscaping here along Washington Street. That was through our
Horticulture Division. We look forward in the next year to be ... redoing the landscaping
here in front of City Hall, as well as in front of Robert A. Lee Rec Center, and on the east
side of Chauncey Swan. So we're gonna try to distract people from all the, uh, ac...
construction activity on the west side by offering some better spaces for gathering on the
east side. Um, Parks and Forestry's also looking at keeping Terry Trueblood to the level
it is now. We have a lot of, uh, meetings and events happening at the lodge. Um
(mumbled) got a little rough there a couple times, so we are looking at reallocating some
of our temp staff to making sure that if you book that facility for, I mean, a weekend
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wedding, it looks like the place where you want to have your wedding photos taken
(laughs) So we've got that going on. Um, community gardens, also increasing. We loo
...are looking to have new sites at both Reno Street Park and one on the west side, either
at Walden Pond, which is kind of a small, undeveloped park area or Kiwanis Park, um, to
offer some areas on the west side. Along with that we want to offer a new community
beginning garden class. We think there's people out there that are interesting ...interested
in gardening but they've just never done it before. Uh, so we'll be working on having
some, uh, people do some grassroots efforts out in the neighborhoods with those gardens
to attract people to try it for the first time, potentially even giving them small grants to go
buy their first equipment or first seeds, so they get that little boost and some mentoring
from, hopefully, the other gardeners and our staff, uh, to learn how to do that.
Um .... Farmers Market, under Parks Administration, is not really changing here at
Chauncey Swan, and I get a lot of questions about that because with the construction
happening and the park, people want to know what happens to the Saturday Farmers
Market. Not much! We're keeping it the same. As I mentioned we're working on some
new areas on the east side of the parking ramp so that we still have some gathering spaces
and peop... places for people to sit when they come to the market and want to eat. You
may see some more vendors come out into Washington Street on Saturdays. We'll have
to reconfigure some things, but other than that, we're gonna do our best to keep it
business as usual for this next summer. One of the changes that will be coming to the
market though is the plastic ba ... plastic shopping bag ban. We've already met with the
vendors and prepped them on that. Lots of questions about that, but they... they seemed
willing to give it a try, uh, so we'll see that change and as well as increased promotion of
the SNAP and EBT programs, which are very, uh, very popular. With that though the
Mercer Market is not going to take place next summer. We're repos... proposing that
that stop. We had as few as 10 people come (laughs) on a Wednesday night, so it just
wasn't really beneficial to have staff there or the vendors. You know, they stuck with it,
but .... really they did it because they, urn .... they supported our market, not because they
were making any money out there (laughs) so ... we'll put our efforts into the downtown
market here. Um, government buildings is part of Parks and Recreation and as we talk
about our service level, this is probably been one of our toughest, uh, sells this entire
year. Uh, government buildings deals with the, not only the cleanli ... the cleanliness of
the buildings, but the operating systems, the heating, the cooling (laughs) plumbing. I
don't think the pool systems, that's the other big one, the swimming pool systems,
have... probably hasn't been a week that's gone by in this past year where we haven't had
some kind of large issue with one of our, um, either boilers or a pool leaking or a pool
system. We've got aging infrastructure there and we've got a staff that is watching it like
crazy, um, these weekends when it's been, you know, 20 below zero a couple weeks ago,
we had staff that stayed around most of the time in the buildings just to make sure the
pipes wouldn't freeze and that they would continue to operate, but you'll see some
modest increases in .... in government buildings, just to try to keep those systems
operating, and we'll talk a little bit more about that probably on Tuesday with capital
improvement projects, um, but that's been one of our customer issues this year is pool
temperatures have ranged up and down. We've had some control issues with some of the
larger swimming pool, um, components. We think we've got `em fixed (laughs) and we
think that every week (laughs) and then the next ... the next thing breaks, but ... uh, we keep
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at it with that. So, uh, government buildings is also building cleanliness, and I would
give our new facility manager, Kumi Morris, kudos on that. She's done some
reallocating of those staff resources, uh, to give us better coverage and better cleanliness
in our, um, both of our rec centers, as well as City Hall, urn, so we've got good things
happening there as well. Um, cemetery, not much to talk about in cemetery (laughs) in
that it's ... it's operations as usual, but it's interesting that you asked the question about the
Congolese. This is one area where we have worked with the Congolese, about three
times recently they've had large funerals, and cemetery, uh, ceremonies and it is much
different than what we've been dealing with in the past and so I would give Russ and his
staff big kudos for dealing... or not dealing but helping, uh, with our immigrant
populations because their funeral needs, believe it or not, are .... their customs are
obviously different than what we may have been used to and they have done a really nice
job of..of just goin' with it and making it happen so that we're serving all of the
residents. You may not think about that in our cemetery operations, but it's definitely a
place where we're seeing the changing, uh, demographics. And then finally recreation.
Recreation's been exciting this last year. I've heard Henri Harper's name mentioned
twice in the last hour and a half (laughs) but he's been a help to us as well. Had a very
successful summer fun program, afternoon and evenings at the Rec Center. Um, Henri,
Royceann Porter did a very nice job of working with our teen population. Royceann
worked with the School District to get food delivered so they could have a free meal
every night and then offered activities. We're going to be extending that and including
that next summer. It's now part of the regular operating budget rather than a special line
item. But I'm really excited, um, we have a new hire in the last, well, she will actually be
starting in about two weeks, Raquisha Herrington is coming to work for us as our special
populations, in the under -served populations, recreation coordinator... recreation
supervisor. Um, win-win for us is Cindy (mumbled) long-time supervisor retired after 35
years of working with special populations. Raquisha comes to us with a therapeutic
recreation degree, so we're able to continue most of the programs that Cindy was doing,
but then obviously with her work with the neighborhood centers and her outreach efforts,
we think that will just bring more to our department in those areas too, so we're very
excited, uh, to get her on board and to con ... continue in that area. Um, we've also done a
number of STEM activities. STEM, uh, camps, working with science technology, and
even our summer camp and, um, summer playground programs, and with some
community, um, public art fands. We're going to have a STEM mural put in in the
coming months in the Rec Center, so .... we're happy to see that, uh, teaching part of it
come in with the fun part and uh..... I think I've covered it all! I'll take your questions.
Dickens/ Has there been any increases in fees and second question is, uh, does Terry Trueblood,
is that a break even or do we make (mumbled) out there?
Seydel-Johnson/ Um, so overall modest increase in fees and we're recommending a 3%, that's
with the Commission in December, Parks Commission recommending a 3% increase
across the board on our fees. Terry Trueblood, it's booked almost every weekend. Um,
it does make a little money on the lodge operations, uh, it's been a little difficult to tell
because we had both Ashton House and Terry Trueblood, um, operations together in one
budget. We're now gonna break those out so we can truly tell, um, but it is booked
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almost every single weekend. Uh, we'll see a modest increase in those fees just based on
the ... the fact that it's so well liked and .... and, uh, sought after.
Botchway/ So kind of to Terry's point, um ... or first point about the fees. So on page 214, um,
and I think this was a measure that was started before you came, um, about recreation
program costs recovery at 37%. I mean playing it out, you know, what .... what timeframe
do you have with the, um, increase in fees to see it, you know, closer, you know .... I
wouldn't say to 100% cause (mumbled) that's possible but, you know, 15, 20%?
Seydel-Johnson/ It hasn't been our focus really for the last six months. I would tell you that, um,
we've been looking at increasing our service in the programs first and then looking at
how we could potentially raise, if we need to, in the future. Um, the summer fun
program is included in this. Obviously that was a free program. So we have as many
free programs happening at this moment as we do those that we charge for. So it's been
somewhat of a balance to even reach that 37%.
Mims/ (mumbled) ...goal is up to 50.
Fruin/ Yeah, the goal is 50, and .... and you have to really look at it based on the type of
programming, you know (both talking)
Botchway/ (mumbled)
Fruin/ Adult softball, you shouldn't be losing money on that. You should be breaking even
or ... or making a little bit of money on a program like that but the summer fun, we can't
charge five bucks or 10 bucks for that cause it'll.... nobody will come. Nobody has those
resources. So it's hard to set a division goal like 50%, um, because there's such a diverse
type of programming. I'm not sure we'll ever get to 50, but it's a good ... it's always good
to have a target and to, on an annual basis, be thinking about that and evaluating each of
the .... each of the program fees.
Botchway/ Yeah, so I was totally off on that .... on that percentage, not necessarily 10 to 20 but
obviously close to that 50 mark. Um, the other question was kind of along the lines as far
as, um, increase of fees, and so, um, well, there's two things. One, is there any talk on
expansion of the Fanners Market?
Seydel-Johnson/ There's always talk about the Farmers Market and expansion or not.
Fruin/ There's a .... there's an interest on the ... behalf of the Downtown District to, uh, kind of
take the concept that Cedar Rapids has done with the night market and do a special event
or two next year.
Botchway/ Okay. But that's separate from us.
Fruin/ Um, it would be in collaboration (both talking)
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Botchway/ Oh, it would be in collaboration. Okay! Um, and then kind of going back to that fees
piece, I think .... and Geoff kind of alluded to it when we have our adult software
programs and things along those lines, has there been thoughts as far as, you know,
really, um, increasing those fees more than the 3%? I say that because just in the
different basketball leagues I play in, um, North Liberty has consistently pushed their
fees up every year. Um, it seems like Iowa City's fees stays about the same. Um, and so
I guess my question is kind of why and whether or not we could push it to be more?
Seydel-Johnson/ Um, our numbers have not increased and that's been part of our reluctance to
increase them.... increase the fees a lot. Um, in fact our number .... our adult sport
numbers are steady at best. Um, so .... I think it's more of a we should take a step back
and look at all of our fees and charges, um, other cities I've worked for have had a really
strong, you know, system where we had different categories for each type of program.
We don't necessarily have that here yet. Um, I think that would probably be a better way
to look at it, and true it ends up being adult sports, uh, pay their way usually with higher
fees to help pay for some of the other things, um, but then you know your special events
are fully subsidized usually, or close to that, um, and there's a whole number of programs
in between at different levels.
Fruin/ Juli, you might talk about .... I think it's interesting at least, kind of the .... the shift
nationally in adult programming and how you're seein' a lower interest in the traditional
programs and more interest in some of the specialty stuff.
Seydel-Johnson/ So (mumbled) so 20, 25 years ago in adul.... adult sports, you would have, uh,
especially men sign up for adult softball leagues and play two, three nights a week and
travel every weekend to all these big tournaments, and that was like their entire social
life. Um, women too (laughs) but just .... that's really changing now. We are finding that
adults sign up for maybe one night a week. They, you know, as our entire culture
changes and people are taking their kids to youth sports, as soon as they have kids, that
takes up a few nights a week, we think, for them to play the, you know, the traditional
scheduled adult sports. They're also not as in to finding the team and committing to nine
or 10 or 12 weeks at a time. What we are finding is they like more of the one-time
adventure activities. I mean the cyclo -cross event and the growth of some of those events
are a great examples of what we're seeing adults do instead of adult, maybe adult
softball, adult basketball. Um, they're doing running clubs. They're doing one-time
events, where they don't have the large commitment and they don't have to fight a group
of people to do it. They can show up and do it, um, the day of. So we're looking at
ways .... we've been working with the Convention and Visitors Bureau on some other
biking type events and off-road cycling ideas. Um, some other things that would maybe
replace it. I don't think it'll ever replace adult sports completely. I think that's.... that's
something that people will always play but it is a little bit different and we see the
numbers nationally looking a lot different.
Cole/ Relating to the garden plots, um, there's two new community gardens that are proposed.
How will that translate into additional garden plots? Am I reading the table correctly,
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that should yield about .... on page 214, about 17 extra garden plots or what's your
estimate on that?
Seydel-Johnson/ That was from 16 to 17.
Cole/ Okay.
Seydel-Johnson/ So, Reno Street we think 18 to 20 new plots. That'll be pretty small in terms of
garden spaces. Um, and the other one probably.... still about....probably around 30
spaces (both talking)
Cole/ ....the west side?
Seydel-Johnson/ (both talking) ....yeah, the additional spaces you see in 2017 are at Chaddick
Green.
Cole/ Okay. (both talking) ...looin' at about 50 with the addition of these two to come on.
Seydel-Johnson/ We hope so.
Cole/ And what's your long -tern goal in terms of adding over the next several years? Do you
have a goal or....
Seydel-Johnson/ We want to see .... I think we'll see how this growth goes and make sure that
these all .... that the efforts put into these are used by the community. Um, we're
continually looking for spaces as we .... in fact that's part of what the Parks Master Plan is
looking at as well is what are some other potential areas for garden spaces.
Cole/ And there will be a new coordinator to help coordinate and manage these, is that correct?
Seydel-Johnson/ It'll be part of the, uh, the community outreach that we're having Raquisha do,
um, in the gardening, and as well as we will have then a gardening instructor that will
teach the class I was talking about before.
Cole/ Thank you.
Throgmorton/ Juli, does the tree inventory include trees located inside the parks?
Seydel-Johnson/ Some. Not quite all. Um, it will not get all the areas per se in, uh, Hickory Hill
Park, uh, Ryerson's Woods. Those have had separate, uh, work done by the State
Forester, so we will likely not get all of those inventoried. Uh, the idea is we have 50,000
included in the contract. Um, that should at least cover all the street trees and then, uh,
our smaller parks, we're hoping. It's a start. We may have to do more after we get that
first 50,000 done.
Throgmorton/ One other question unrelated to that, uh, how's the Ned Ashton, uh, House doing?
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Seydel-Johnson/ You know, it's slow in terms of rentals. Beautiful place. Um, probably one of
our more under -used facilities, so when we talk about fees and charges, that's one that we
will look at actually lowering the fees on weekends to see if we can get, uh, some more
use in that area. Been working a lot with (can't Hear) who manages both Ashton and
Terry Trueblood, uh, looking at ideas of marketing that and getting more use out there.
Um, we also have a capital project happening in the... around it to, um, redo the patio
area, add a pergola, hopefully make it more attractive for some outdoor wedding type
events, smaller weddings and that sort of thing.
Throgmorton/ What are the rental rates there?
Seydel-Johnson/ I knew you'd ask me that (laughs) I'm not sure off the top of my head!
Throgmorton/ Yeah. I ... I don't mean to trap ya. I was just curious. I don't know what it costs to
rent, uh....
Dickens/ Meeting space is at a premium in Iowa City, and I think it's being underutilized (both
talking)
Seydel-Johnson/ It is!
Dickens/ My wife works for ... well, she did. She's retiring in a couple weeks from the University
Center for Conferences and they're always looking for places, and I think it's... sometimes
it's forgotten. So I think we need to do a better job of getting it out there to meeting
planners and .... even working through the Chamber, whoever we can cause it's .... it's a
beautiful facility. We've used it and I .... and I just know there's.... there's opportunities
for that. So we just .... it's partly our fault that we're not getting it out, people don't know
about it (both talking)
Seydel-Johnson/ This week we had a beautiful ad come out in a new wedding planning
magazine. I wish I would have brought it with me, um, for both that and Terry Trueblood
(both talking) but that's our hope, to have some modest increases in advertising funds so
that we can really play that up, so....
Taylor/ (several talking) ...going to wedding planning shows, things like that (mumbled)
information there. Be great!
Thomas/ Is .... is fundraising through the, um, Joh ... is it Johnson County?
Seydel-Johnson/ We're in transition at this point. Um, the .... there was a separate Parks and
Recreation Foundation with its own board. Uh, the Commission worked with that board
during the last year and as of December 23rd, the funds have been moved over to the
Community Foundation. So now, uh, they are housed under the Johnson County
Community Foundation in their own, um, their own funds over there, uh, and the
Commission will be working on, you know, future efforts and if we have, you know, as
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projects come up, probably ad hoc committees or different groups to help with that
fundraising. So....
Thomas/ Yeah, cause I see, you know, we just saw the Library and .... you know, their .... their
accomplishments, uh, on ... unrestricted gifts of $170,000. I ... I ... I've never quite
understood why ... either the, um, the fundraising efforts on parks in Iowa City have...
haven't seemed to have gained traction. I don't quite understand it.
Fruin/ It's been very targeted approaches in the past. So for instance on Terry Trueblood. (both
talking) ...worked very hard to, you know ... make individual contacts to get gifts for that
specific project, but ... Juli and I have talked, and certainly the Commission recognizes that
there's a little bit .... there's a lot, uh, of possibility out there and .... we're gettin' there.
Yeah!
Throgmorton/ Okay, any other questions for Juli? I guess not. Thanks, Juli! Enjoy the rest of
the day!
Seydel-Johnson/ Thank you. You too!
Throgmorton/ Good morning, Linda!
Senior Center:
Kopping/ Good morning! Wow! Um, I'm here to talk about the Senior Center obviously! Uh,
you saved the best for the last. Um, well, at least the last in the morning. Um, the Senior
Center continues to offer programs and services that provide, uh, community members
with a variety of opportunities to engage in activities that help maximize their ability to
live healthy, active, engaged, and independent lifestyles as they grow older. Um, I like to
think of it as a type of preventative medicine that adds quality to a person's life. We, um,
can't cure disease, obviously, but we can en ... enhance a person's sense of well-being and
life satisfaction. SO ... FYI 6 and so far this year we've .... we've had a ... we've done some
really good things. In FYI we offered over 10,000 Center -sponsored classes, special
events, performances, groups, club services — that takes in everything we did. There were
over 10,00 of `em. About 20% of those took place in the evening or on weekends, or, uh,
and a small percentage of those took place off-site. Um, they generated a ... a ... over
112,00 visits and if you add all the, uh, programs that were sponsored by other
organizations into the mix, there were a total of about 120,000, um, visits to the Center,
uh, in .... over the course of FY16. We ... we have a membership program at the Senior
Center, and I always .... um, am a little reluctant to talk about the membership program
cause it makes it sound kinda like exclusive. Urn .... and you .... we do require
membership for participation in certain programs, and it does allow you access to, um,
some of the areas of our, uh, facility, like the fitness center and the ... and the computer,
but it really overlooks all of the services and programs we provide that are open to the
community. The, urn ... in FYI for instance, we have, uh, SHIP, or Medicare counselors
and they did a hun.... or 819 consultations with people from all over ... all over, um, on
their Medicare, uh, policies and ..... and then they did, um ..... 10 open meetings for people
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who have questions about Medicare. A lot of people when they're signing up for
Medicare are really confused by it, and I don't know if any of you have reached that point
in life yet, but when you start talking about Medicare A, B, C .... all ... it's .... it is very
confusing. So there were about 231 people who came to the meetings that were held.
Um, we offer AARP tax aid, uh, for seniors and low-income adults, and we served about
482 people last year. The `honoring your wishes' advance care planning services, uh,
were used by 101 individuals. The, uh, volunteer lawyers did consultations with 80
individuals. Elder Services and their noon meals provided meals for almost 7,000
individuals, and health services were provided to, uh, 680 people, um, by the VNA. Also
on Fridays we offer open tech help, uh, we have, uh, four volunteers that staff a room and
people come in and try and figure out how to use their i -phones and i -pads and, uh,
workbooks and all of that, and we served about, urn .... 400 people doing that, and none of
the programs that I have mentioned require membership of any sort. These .... these are
programs that serve people from all over the community. These are our service
programs, but we also offer programs for the community that are, you know, classes
and .... and special events. And there are a lot of `em, and I was trying to figure out how
to explain exactly how many and the best way I could do that I thought was to go through
our spring 2017 program guide and count them. So I went through the guide and I
counted how many classes and special events of all sorts .... this quarter we're going to be
open to the public or ... adults or people of all ages, and I came up with 114, um, classes or
special events open to the public. That's in addition to all these services that I have
mentioned just now. Um, that's a significant proportion of the total number of classes
that we're offering. So, I think .... we do offer memberships, that's true, but the
memberships are really to support operational expenses. They're not to keep people out
of the Senior Center. So we're very liberal with the, um .... low-income scholarship
program and try to make it possible for anyone who wants to get a scholarship and we
offer plenty of programming for individuals to attend without purchasing a membership.
So, 2016 was our anniversary year! 35 years! Yeah! Urn ... we had, we celebrated. We
tried to do a lot of community-based programming to bring the Senior Center to the
attention of the community. Uh, we did a number of very successful open houses. We
had welcome breakfasts for new members throughout the year. We had a picnic at Terry
Trueblood that was great. Uh.... we had, uh, member appreciation dinners, ice cream
socials, and a lot of other, um, community -type events that .... that were a lot of fun! We
also had a, uh... joint concert with our senior band, The Voices of Experience, and the
Family Folk Machine, which is an intergenerational concert. So we had singers ranging
in age from 4 to over 80. Um, performing at the Englert Theater, uh, this last May. And
that, uh, particular concert attracted over 350 community members to it. Um, it's
really.... it's a very popular event. They perform at the Englert every, uh, couple of years
and .... they do a great job and it's a lot of fun. Um, perhaps one of our biggest programs
was ... involved Ashton Applewhite, the author of This Chair Rocks, a Manifesto Against
Ageism. Uh, she visited in September. Her book explains ageism, it's pervasiveness in
today's society, and affect on the lives of older adults. It's a very, uh, engaging and
readable book. It's a best-seller, and .... um.....she's very energetic and .... and uh, and an
entertaining presenter. She was here for a day. She did an inter -generational book
discussion group that was coordinated through the col... University of Iowa College of
Medicine. She did a community presentation in the afternoon, and then she did a book
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reading at Prairie Lights in the evening, and during her time here she had contact with
probably, uh, over 300 community members, and sparked many conversations about
ageism and personal experiences with ageism, and since the Center is trying to promote a
positive image of aging, uh, her visit seemed especially appropriate and ... and we are
going to try and have, uh, a speaker who will focus in .... in some similar way this coming,
uh, September, as well, so we can keep this theme going, as we try to improve the image
of aging in this community. The last big.... anniversary program we had was in
December, and um, I told Geoff about this and I was really quite skeptical, but it was a
combination of tap, Senior Center tap dancers, and poetry readers, and I just really
scratched my head over this one, but I went to see it, uh, I felt compelled, and it was
great! I didn't know that we had such .... able tap dancers at the Senior Center and such
animated.... poetry readers, uh, but they really, uh, did a great job, uh, bringing to life the
mischievous nature of cats. You had to be there to see it. (laughter) It was ... it was
really, really good, um, and everyone in the audience, there were between 80 and 100
people there — they loved it! It was great! Um, it was a great way to end the year.
But ... we did more than celebrate the anniversary. We had, um, an LGBTQ Senior Prom.
That's the second one we've had. Uh, we did that in the spring of last year. Um, that
was done in cooperation with the University of Iowa and then again this fall we, uh,
cooperated with, uh, `honoring your wishes,' uh, along with many other community
partners to bring Dr. Angela Valendez, um, to the community to discuss, uh, advanced
care planning. Um, Dr. Valendez is a, uh, physician and noted expert in this area. He's,
uh, written, uh, several books. He's been, had featured in programs on public television,
and been featured in numerous, uh, media productions, articles, and .... all kinds of things,
and it was a real pleasure to, uh, have him in the community, and it was a very,
uh.... um .... well-received, uh, program. We also hosted the Sound Reach Choir. I don't
know if any of you are familiar with the Sound Reach Choir, but they do a couple
presentations a year at the Senior Center, uh, it's a choir of teens and adults of all abilities
that's sponsored by West Music. The, uh, choir is always very enthusiastic and so is the
crowd. It's always a big crowd and this is something we're very pleased to, um, very
pleased to be able to sponsor. We, uh, have been working with the Public Library to, uh,
coordinate our computer classes. One of the com ... Library employees has been coming
to the Senior Center to teach six to eight computer classes each year. And we have been
promoting all adult computer classes taught at the Library in our program guide, and this,
uh, has been working out exceptionally well. And we also have a member of the, uh,
Library staff, uh, on our program development committee. Uh, it's not really a program,
yet, but the Family Folk Mas ... Machine received a $9,000 grant from the Iowa Arts
Council to ... to do a song -writing project with the Iowa City Band, the Awful Purdies.
Um, they're going around and collecting stories from community members. The stories
will be set to song. Um .... with the assistance of the Awful Purdies, and those songs will
be performed on the main stage during the Iowa Arts Council... or the Iowa Arts Festival,
um, this summer. So we're looking forward to that. And this of course is not a program
highlight at all, but we have been working on it, and that is to, uh, bring Zachary
Benedict to, um, Iowa City, uh, this coming March. Um, Zachary is an award-winning
architect with an extensive background in urban sociology. Uh, he's considered one of
the leading voices in the lifetime community movement, focusing on socio-economic
benefits of age -friendly neighborhoods. Um, he .... while he's here he's going to discuss
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current challenges in creating lifetime communities, uh, present some innovative ideas
being used in other areas. He's going to talk about community redevelopment, and take a
look at some specific areas of Iowa City to discuss our current challenges and
opportunities for creating lifetime communities here. Um, he's then gonna host and
moderate a, uh, panel discussion, featuring some local initiatives that are .... are being
done in this area. I'm really looking forward to his, urn .... uh, visit and I think we're
fortunate to have someone of, uh, of such caliber come here.
Throgmorton/ Linda, could you say again when he will be here?
Kopping/ He will be here Thursday, March 9a'
Throgmorton/ Zachary Benedi... Benedict?
Kopping/ Yeah.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Kopping/ And ... and this involves a lot of the, uh, same things that have come up in .... in
discussion in the past, like, uh, the green space and walkability, I mean, it all .... uh, place -
making, it all fits together. In FYI 6 ... we focused a lot on promotion and fundraising.
You can't really do a lot of fundraising without promotion. They kinda go hand-in-hand.
Uh, it's been a major area of focus. Um .... with the help of consultants, we've
undertaken to increase the community awareness of the Center in order to promote
programming and change negative perceptions related to aging and also, um, to increase
donations. We have completely redone the program guide. It's a .... looks .... has a
completely different look than it did a year ago. We've changed to more targeted
promotion and we have modified the content language and format of communication with
participants and donors. This has been no small undertaking. Um, we've increased our
fundraising efforts. We issued a winter appeal letter and then a spring appeal letter. Um,
and we've also tried to, uh, increase the general level of awareness of the need for and
appreciation of individual donations. The result of this has been positive. We've raised,
uh, $25,000 more in FYI than we did the previous year, and in addition to that, the
Friends contribution from the endowment was, uh, nearly $35,000 to the operational
budget. We still had a cost recovery of around 28% is wh... which is not where we want
to be, but, um .... well, it is what it is. It's 28%. We have had some fundraising efforts
that have continued into 2000, uh, er, FYI 7, um, that really were .... uh, approved in ... that
you approved last year, uh, having to do with the fee increases that we implemented on
July 1st. We increased our membership fees on July 1st and some of our parking fees and
building rentals and such, and that was approved in the budget cycle process last year.
Um, so I took the revenue ... uh.... parts of the budget for this six months and ... last year
during this six month period to compare them to see .... how we were comparing in terms
of, um, amounts collected, uh, to see if these changes were having much of an effect, and
in terms of membership fees, which went up 25%, our memberships have actually
dropped in number, but the revenue has increased by 4%, um .... which isn't really
a ... terribly significant amount because it only amounts to about $1,348, um, when
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compared to the first six months of last year. Um, fees for the six month and hourly
parking permits were increased to, uh... cover the....a staff component, or staff work
involved with preparing and selling those. Um .... the annual permits did not increase in
price, and what I noticed, uh, which is kind of a surprise is there's been a 25% in...
decrease in sales of parking permits, which is a surprise. Now this could be a, urn ... just a
variation in time of year, um, sales are .... parking permit sales in particular will often
vary, depending on when people start signing up for classes and then you need to
purchase permits for parking. Um, so .... I, you know, I don't know what's going to
happen to it in January, but right now they're down 25%. One area that has increased,
uh, significantly is the building room rentals. Last year it was around $120 at this time,
and this time .... at this time now it's over $5,000, but that really has nothing to do with
fee increases. It has to do with the fact that we have a, um, regular renter of the assembly
room and another area of the building, um, that we have contract with. One unequivocal
success though is the winter appeal, uh, that we sent out has generated almost $20,000 in
donations, and that really is, uh, a 49% increase over what we collected last year. That's
...so that's successful! Regardless of what's happening with the fees here so far, we did
really well with the annual appeal. Friends of the Center has been busy also. As you
probably recall for the FYI budget, you approved a half-time development specialist.
We, uh... advertised for that position twice. We interviewed twice and offered the
position twice, and twice it was turned down. So we have yet to fill that position. I had
talked to, uh, City Manager and, uh, was determined we should wait until after the first of
the year to advertise it again, and .... I will, urn .... do that shortly, and .... uh, hopefully we
will be able to, uh.....put someone in that, uh, job because .... we need someone in that
job! Um, but .... even though we haven't had anyone in that position, we still .... the other
staff members have been picking up responsibilities that this person would of done, and,
uh, accomplished a few things to move that .... to move this forward for Friends. So we
have, uh, investigated, purchased, and implemented, uh, new donor software that's very
useful, uh, in maintaining a donor base, tracking information, and producing records and
acknowledgments. We identified a company and consultant to help design and
implement a Friends website. Um, that should be going up in a month or so, and we've
been working with a consultant to reorganize the board of Friends. Um, we've identified
a board structure, redone the articles of incorporation and by-laws, uh, we're working on
policies and procedures, and initia.... and an initial board has been identified. Um, we
plan to have a board, uh, a working board comprised of five committees. It'll be
supported... each committee will be supported by volunteers. Um... this type of board, it
can be very successful, but it will require staff support to maintain forward momentum.
It's not gonna work on its own. So ... in your, uh, budget report, it lists some future
challenges that we're looking at, and you'll notice that very similar to last year, that five
of the 12 are ... eight of the 12 items relate to fundraising. Um ... and I think this is
demonstration that we're ... we're really committed to this and I think the first step in
getting this done is getting a development specialist hired, um, so that they can take on
that fundraising campaign, um, identify donors, sponsors, volunteers, maintain databases
and websites, run a stewardship program, and do grants and all the other stuff. Um, it's
true that the current staff has picked up and carried some of the responsibilities. It's true
that we raised $25,000 more than we did last year. Um ... but it's also true that our
programming, uh, the volume of programming that we produce went down, the volume
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of visits we had went down, and the number of members we have has gone down. So I'm
not .... there's....the staff members at the Senior Center are very devoted and everyone at
the Center wants to see the Center succeed. I'm so fortunate to work with the people that
I work with. But there's only so much people can do, and taking on these responsibilities
takes away responsibilities from other areas. And we can't .... make the Senior Center
grow if we can't produce the programming that attracts the people to come to the Center
in the first place. So .... as I ... as I see it, um, this development specialist is a, really a
critical element in moving this forward, and as I said, hopefully.....um.....we can get this
person on board quickly, and ... if not, we'll continue with the way we've been doing it,
and urn .... we'll do what we can! Uh.... also in 2017, it's our time to renew our Senior
Center accreditation. It expires in this year. Uh, this is a major undertaking. It requires a
pretty in-depth operational, uh, review. Uh, there's a lot of community involvement and
a peer review and I need to get moving on that rather quickly! And, uh, we ... we will be,
uh, having some changes in the facility, uh, we're going to be purchasing some tables and
chairs for the second floor classroom, and also putting a floor in, uh, one of our first
floor, uh, rooms to make it a lot easier for fitness activities to take place in there. When I
look at the actual budget for FYI 8, it looks pretty unremarkable to me, but I'm not you
so, urn .... that could be a good explanation for that. Um, the, uh.... what ... what stands out
to me are the, uh, revenue projections, because I think they're quite robust. Um, they call
for ... in the operational budget, they call for significant growth in membership, uh,
individual donations, and corporate sponsors for programming. Um, it also includes a
$25,000 cash donation from Friends in lieu .... and this is in lieu of any particular
purchase. In the past we've always ... Friends'll buy this particular item for X number of
dollars and this year, um, it's just a pledge to provide $25,000 toward the operational
budget. And an annual contribution from the Center's growing endowment fund. Uh,
fundraising efforts also appear in, uh, budget projections for special events, the chorus,
and SCTV in order to make them more self-sustaining. Um, we have a long way to go in
these areas, but it's worth noting the classes generate about $17,000 in new revenue
annually, and in the fundraising, uh.... projection ... the fundraising projections in the
special events area, it's, uh, the projections there have more than doubled, so .... great
effort is going to be made .... taken to make sure that those programs are self-supporting.
Um, and those are the larger, uh, community events, but they're also the most expensive
events that we put on. Um, something that's not represented in the budget but's also true
is we're gonna try to identify some corporate sponsors or some kind of sponsors who will
help us, uh, produce the program guide. Uh, capital improvements include redoing the
walls in, uh.... second floor, uh, classrooms. These walls have not been done in the 20,
nearly 22 years I've been there and they're in pretty shar... sorry state! So we'd like to do
the walls this year. Next year, uh, the carpeting, and probably the year after that, uh,
window treatments and .... uh, hopefully then the, urn .... they will be done. The, um...
carpeting of course will be a little more extensive, as it involves more of the floors. The
window treatments would be more extensive too because that goes throughout the
building, and some of those windows are huge. Really huge! Um, then ... uh, also $6,000
for commercial grade treadmill or other fitness as requested or needed, uh, depending on
what people want. And ... that would be it!
Throgmorton/ Thank you, Linda! Uh, any questions for Linda?
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Mims/ Yeah, I .... oh I might have just lost it. Um .... I was looking .... I can't find it at the
moment, but I was looking at the .... 2016 compared to the revised 2017 expenditure
budget for the Senior Center.
Kopping/ Uh huh.
Mims/ And it went like from 800 -something thousand to over 1 million, but then it's back to like
900,000 for 2018.
Botchway/ That's on 248? That you're lookin' at?
Mims/ Oh I don't know, I just lost it. Yes ... uh....
Botchway/ ....700, 800 to 768, back up to (both talking)
Mims/ No, it was... somewhere else. It was back in the fund summary. Actually it was on page
121, the general fund fund summary. Um....
Kopping/ I don't have that page.
Mims/ Yeah, Dennis probably would have it, or Geoff. The Senior Center went from like 824 in
2016 actual to over a million for the 2017 revised, and then we're back down to like 950
for the budgeted 218. I was just...it just kind of jumped out at me that we ..... up over like
180,000 with our revised 2017, and I .... do you have a recollection of what we did (both
talking)
Fruin/ Well .... go ahead, Dennis.
Bockenstedt/ Go ahead, I ... I can take a look and do it. I .... usually I ... I make notes in the, uh, in
some of those changes in ... in dollar amounts, um, in the highlights.
Mims/ Yeah I (both talking)
Bockenstedt/ And I don't notice anything there, but I can certainly take a look (both talking)
Mims/ Okay!
Fruin/ My guess is because you.... you.... you only went slightly up from 14 to 15, and then you
went down in 16, that ... that there's some carry-over dollars, maybe some capital outlays
that .... that didn't get done, that got pushed into 17. There hasn't been any service level
changes. I think the Senior Center budget....
Mims/ Right!
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Fruin/ ....has been flat, if not even a little decline over the, uh, what we've, you know, the
general fund (both talking)
Mims/ ....some capital stuff.
Fruin/ My guess is that there were some, uh, capital improvements that we ... that we pushed over.
Mims/ Okay. Okay! Thank you.
Kopping/ We did request some carry-overs, um, you're talking about FYI increase?
Mims/ Yeah, the revised 17 (both talking)
Kopping/ There's the staff person and the carry-over .... and.....well, that's all I can really (both
talking)
Bockenstedt/ ....look on page 248 (mumbled) and, urn .... there's some detail there as far as the...
from expenditure types. So like, um, if you look at expenditures, like in services went
from 193 to 239. Uh, and capital outlay went from 20 .... 2,000 to 63,000.
Mims/ I'm .... (several talking) Okay. Gotcha!
Bockenstedt/ Do ... do you (both talking)
Mims/ Yep, I see it now!
Bockenstedt/ ...the capital outlay, which as Geoff mentioned was a ... a big part of that.
Mims/ Okay.
Bockenstedt/ 60,000, then .... I believe there was some additional expenses in 17 related to some
HVAC improvements as well as the 75`h anniversary, uh, celebration.
Mims/ Okay.
Bockenstedt/ Which will cause a little bit of an increase in that .... in those services. Does that...
Mims/ Close enough! Thank you.
Bockenstedt/ Probably be .... I think (mumbled)
Mims/ Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton/ Okay, anything else?
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Cole/ You were not able to hire the fundraiser? You made two offers and each time they were
declined. Was salary an issue? Is that why they had mentioned that, I mean one of the
concerns I had last year at that half position, I was wonderin' whether we were going to
be able to attract the type of people that we would need, so given the fact that that's now
...has not been allocated as far as I understand, what happens to that money that we had
allocated for ... cause what I'm wondering is I thought that the point of a fundraiser is that
eventually that that person would fund their position. So would it be possible to up it to
three-quarters and then spend it down? I mean if they were successful.... it just seemed
like, to me, my concern came true.
Fruin/ The .... the pools haven't been, urn .... haven't been very deep. We've.... Linda's made a
couple of offers, so there have been viable candidates. It's just.... sometimes it just
doesn't work out for whatever reason. Um, the second time we went through the process,
uh, put us somewhere, um, towards the end of November, early December, and I just
advised Linda it's probably not best to be recruiting over the holidays for this type of
position. So, let's give it one more run. (mumbled) let's try again in January to go back
out and I've ... for the third time we still don't get a deep pool and we don't have a
candidate, then we'll have to reassess and we may be back before you with some
modification of that proposal.
Cole/ Okay.
Mims/ Well, I continue to be .... really concerned about who's paying the bills and who's walking
through the door. The County's contribution has not gone up in years, and in fact I think
they used to .... if you went back prior to 2014, I think they paid us 70 or 75,000 or
something. And that's dropped to little under 60, um .... and I didn't look in here, and I
don't recall if it was in here, residents versus non-residents coming through the door, but
this again is, and we've worked hard I think over the last few years, and we certainly did
it with the new Animal Shelter and things like that, to try and get fair and equitable
agreements with the other entities in terms of who's using them and who's paying the
bills, and.....to me this is one of our bigger areas that Iowa City is way overfunding in
comparison to the other governmental entities based on use, and I ... we can't solve it
today, but this is something we still have to figure out how to get a handle on (both
talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, and the Commission's had, I know, conversations about it, um, and last year when
you increased, uh, we increased the membership fees, Linda talked about, we did increase
the .... the non-resident fees at a higher rate than we did the ... the, uh, resident fees.
Certainly still there's a subsidy there, um, and I think it's just something that we said we
need to gradually continue to work. At some point, you know, you may choose to take a
hard line and say `no more subsidy for the non-residents,' uh, you have to be kind of
careful cause that hurts programming opportunities a little bit too and I think that's been
some of Linda's concern if we can gradually get there it might be better for the overall
operation than just to .... to pull the rug out.
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Mims/ And there's lots of free services that .... I mean are very, you know, partners that come in
and you talk about SHIP and, you know, other kinds of things that are very beneficial, but
again, we are still paying the overhead...
Fruin/ Correct.
Mims/ ...in order to be able to offer those, very, very beneficial free programs that are being
taken advantage of, and I don't .... I, that's not maybe the best way to say it (laughs) but,
that are being utilized by not only Iowa City residents, but by Coralville, North Liberty,
Johnson County residents, and we're still footing all of the overhead in order to offer
those programs. So .... I know you're aware of it. I just .... we need to keep workin' on it
(several talking)
Kopping/ I did—when I submitted the grant application to the County this year, um, the County
participation be ... and by that I mean, um, all... residents living in Johnson County but
outside the city limits of Iowa City is about 17% of our membership, and so I requested
about $124,000 from the County, um.....which I made a similar request last year.
Mims/ I know. Appreciate that!
Kopping/ But I did request that!
Taylor/ You'd mentioned that membership numbers were down a bit and I (mumbled) 17%
seems to be outside of Iowa City, do you think raising the fee for ... if you're living ... if you
live outside of Iowa City might have had an effect on the decrease? Or .... if it's outside
(both talking)
Kopping/ It may have, uh, we also, um .... as of July 1st no longer require band members to be
members... because of the fact that the band is now an independent contractor, so, um,
that .... not requiring membership is consistent with the way we handle, um, that situation
with other independent contractors. Um, and, um .... you know the fee increase, um,
might have had something to do with that also. And then, you know, the variety of
programming, uh, we have to have programs that will attract people to come in.
Throgmorton/ No other questions? Thank you, Linda.
Kopping/ My pleasure!
Throgmorton/ How bout lunch? (several talking)
(LUNCHBREAK)
Neighborhood and Development Services:
Throgmorton/ ...star of the day (laughter) Doug Boothroy! Hi, Doug!
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Boothroy/ Hi, Jim. (laughter) Last year I was standing here, today I'm sitting. So I feel so
much shorter. (laughter) Uh, but um .... uh, for the recording, Doug Boothroy, Director
of Neighborhood and Development Services. Um, the organizational chart is .... is up
there for, uh, a reminder of what the department looks like. As you can see we've got,
uh, three divisions, uh, the MPO, six of you were on that board. Kent Ralston is the,
uh... um ... uh, division head, Neighborhood Services. Uh... Tracy Hightshoe is the division
head on that particular division, and Development Services, uh, John Yapp, uh, is the
division head, and then the ... the Sustainability Coordinator, Brenda Nations, and
Economic Development, um, all of these activities, uh, we're very much involved, as you
know, in a lot of the initiatives that .... that, uh.... uh, you all have been working on with
regard to, uh, climate, affordable housing, and um, even some of the equity issues. I
wrote down a quote to start today, just to kind of, uh, I wanted to talk about something
from my perspective, being here for so long, but .... I wrote down that as a community we
cannot become what we want (mumbled) sustainable by remaining what we are. And
one of the things that I have noticed this past year, more so, uh, than, uh, in the .... earlier
was that, and I think it's because of the STAR community rating system and things of
that nature is that, uh, because of that process that we went through, uh, we have changed
the conversation, uh, about, uh, what we're looking at within the organization in terms of
planning and some of our ac ... other activities. We've created a new lens by which we
evaluate, uh, and we are going to continue, uh, through that STAR community rating
system, uh, to develop that and make that more integral and ... and indeed, your budget
book, uh.... uh, reflects, uh, that we're b ... putting those types of metrics, uh, in the budget
book, uh.... uh, for, uh, you to look at in terms of how we're performing as an
organization, and my experience is that, uh, metrics change the conversation, uh, because
those are .... those are your performance criteria, and people tend to pay attention to that.
They talk about it, and uh, it has a very positive impact in terms of how we look at things
and how creative we can get, and .... and where we're going. Uh, in addition to the STAR
community rating system in terms of moving us from what we used to be to what we
want to be, uh, and I'll talk maybe a little bit more about that in terms of the budget, but
obviously, uh, this year has been a .... a great year for some, uh... uh, steps in terms of
affordable housing. Uh, I would never have thought that inclusionary housing would
have been adopted without much debate or controversy. In fact it was so quiet, that it
barely made the paper. Um ... this is a .... a.....a, I think a monumental step in terms of
changing how we think about development and what the responsibility is for
development and it's a .... it's applied to the form -based code area where we ... we have
done significant, uh, upzoning, uh, ca ... capacity in that area. Uh, and in a ... in exchange
for the ability to develop, uh, higher densities than the one that you looked at recently at
the Council meeting, on south Gilbert Street, uh, there was requirement now for 10%
affordablil ... affordable housing and I think that's, uh, that will become part of...of how
we view things as we move forward. It's just in its infancy at this point and we really
haven't had many developments, uh.... uh, under this particular requirement yet, but the
south Gilbert Street one will be, and then we have a south Dubuque Street one that'll be
coming, uh.... uh, before you, uh, in the next couple months which will also have an
inclusionary housing piece, and of course you all then, uh, roll that over into our TIF
policy and .... and, uh, prior to this being adopted, uh, it was kind of ad hoc as far as
whether or not we would require affordable housing as part of TIF and, you know, how
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much and what was it going to look like and.....and I think we kinda got that ... that all
together. So, uh, back to my main point is I think that all these things together, all these
activities, all of the effort to put together the STAR rating system has .... has, uh, changed
the conversation and created a new lens by which we view things, and that's all very
positive. So let's .... let's talk a little bit about, uh, Development Services, and I wanted to
start with that today, uh, first of all let me say there is no staff increases, uh, in
Development Services. There is one, uh, change that I think is important. Uh, the half-
time, uh, position for Historic Preservation. We moved it from, uh.... uh, to a permanent
half-time position, which, uh.... uh, I think makes that position more stable, uh, in terms
of keeping people, uh.... uh, in that particular role. We now have somebody there, uh,
Jessica, who's .... who's got excellent qualifications and ... and by making it permanent, uh,
costs the City maybe another 10 grand a year, but she gets health and she gets vacation
and she gets benefits, and I think it ... it's a way to try to, you know, reward what she does
as well as keeps the stability in that .... in that particular, uh, position. Otherwise no staff
increa... increases at all, uh, in the budget. However, that being said, our work load this
last year was, on, incredible. Geoff may have mentioned this in his opening comments,
uh, but—uh, never in the years that I've been here have we had such a permit value come
into the City which reflects how strong, uh... uh, our economy is, uh, how effective, uh,
the Riverfront Crossings rezoning is, cause some of the... some of this came through that
particular area, and our permit value, uh, and, uh, is .... is .... is, uh, computed on a
calendar year because we .... we do federal reporting for ... for permits, and our .... our
permit value was $388,427,000 and some change. Um ... that's double, more than double
anything that we've ever done, uh, before, uh, in this community. I was here in 2014
and, um, I was saying what an outstanding year we had. We had $184 -plus million in ... in
worth. Well 388, uh, 427 is quite substantial. The taxable value on that in terms of...of
our revenue, was, uh, 339,254. Uh, and some change. So, uh, we added a taxable value
to the community as a result of. ... of this, um, construction that's going on. Everything
is .... is, um .... uh.... pretty incredible in that regard. Our, for the first six months of this
year when we look at, uh.... uh, revenue, specific revenue off the permits, when we were
talking...I was just talking about permit value and taxable value, but when we look at the
permit fees and what they brought in to, uh, the budget in the first six months was, uh,
almost $1.3 million. Just shy of $1.3 million. Uh, that's for six months. Uh... normally I
think a good year is like 1.1 or 1.2 for the entire year. Last year it was $1.1 million,
uh.... uh, for the entire year. So, we're well on our way to exceeding that revenue, uh...
uh, and we .... cause we've already passed it, excuse me, we've already passed it in the
first six months, and I would ... I would like to mention that this doesn't include the permit
for the Chauncey. They have not gotten a building permit yet. So, uh.... you know, we
know that's coming in in the next six months. We know that there's a strong likelihood
we might get the permit on south Gilbert Street. Uh, where Pleasant Valley was. We
know phase two of Dubuque Street's coming in. There's a possibility of another permit
of...a sizable permit on the east side. So, uh, we're going to have a pretty good year
again, uh, and these go under the general revenue but, uh, one of the things about the
department, a .... a lot of the support of the department is either through fees or through,
uh.... uh, public funding resources like, uh, the Section 8 program and all of this stuff
supports our staff, so we don't .... we .... we sort of earn our own way through... through the
fees that we have. When we look at this development, uh... uh, just want to point out
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that .... that besides the, you know, (mumbled) or University medical clinics, uh, most of
the residential development was, uh, multi -family. We had 896 units, uh... and on a good
year, over the last 10 years, we think 270s good. Uh, so you can see (laughs) that's three
times, almost three times, what we normally do for multi -family units and we haven't got
all of the permits in yet. And single-family, uh, is up again. Uh.... normally if we're in
the 130s for single-family, new construction, uh, that's a ... that's an excellent year. Uh,
we were 172, and I think that's really indicative of. ... of people investing in new
neighborhoods, uh, places that they want to live, and coming into the community, uh, to
live. So, uh, that's I think a very positive number, uh, as well. Any questions about those
numbers or anything about that? I ... uh, I don't think next year will be quite as robust, but
I do think, uh, we're gonna have, uh, this next six months is going to be very good.
Throgmorton/ Doug, what did you say the dollar amount of permitted new construction was?
Boothroy/ Uh, $388,427,000 and some change. That's the permitted value. The taxable value of
that, cause there was some non -tax, uh, permits, is .... was 339,254 and some change.
Both of those numbers are excellent.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Boothroy/ And of course, the revenue to the general fund, uh, never hurts. So it ... I pointed out
we're not getting additional staff, but we've been doing a lot of inspections. Uh, the Rise
is well under construction with 332 units and 151 hotel rooms. A Hilton Garden is .... is,
as you can see, is .... is up, 143 rooms, uh, we've got, uh, we'll soon be starting on the
Sabin townhouse units that .... which is about 28, uh, south Dubuque Street, uh, that's the
Hodge project, that's where the cottages used to be. It's phase one and phase two. Uh,
phase two'll be coming to you with some inclusionary housing required, but there's 107
dwelling units going in there. Uh, Madison Street, uh, Charlie Gray's project across from
the Rec building, 70 dwelling units, and all of these are within the Riverfront Crossings
area. Uh, and are ... are benefiting from those changes, and ... and, uh, so not only do we
get close -in housing that's in a neighborhood that's... that's walkable, that we're
recreating a neighborhood in effect, uh, it used to be a .... a residential neighborhood,
much like you see on the northside back in the ... back in the 70s. We did urban renewal
and changed the character as you know, uh, I think the Riverfront Crossing, uh, changes
is an opportunity for this community to get it right again and to recreate that
neighborhood and it's....it's having some, uh, positive effects with regard to the,
uh.... uh, density. Uh... let's see, uh, then there was a lot of other larger projects. The
Chauncey as you can see going up across the street, uh, Pine Grove, medical clinics
on .... on, uh, in a couple different areas of the community, Hawkeye Court student
housing. We ... we added 38 new pads of ..of, uh, manufactured housing. We haven't
done that in ... decades. Uh, it's not a lot, but it will be affordable housing
without... without any City subsidy. Uh, and, um, and of course, one that was
controversial, there ... the redevelopment of Rose Oaks, uh, which is now called The
Quarters. I mention that in part, uh, because one of the things that's being, uh, I think,
uh, helping the neighborhood as this comes back together again is that .... is that, uh, Rose
Oaks, uh, had one of the highest, uh.... uh, police calls, uh, in the community. It was
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a .... it was an area that had lots of crime problems within the development, and I'm
optimistic that with the redevelopment of this, uh, the impact of the spillover of those
crime activities in that part of the community will be....be reduced and will help the
neighborhood and make it a healthier, uh, and more positive place to live. Um .... and
because of the redevelopment, I should say that .... that, uh, the voucher program will
once again be involved in it. Uh.... we, in the past, have had at least a 10%, uh..... uh,
participation in that area. There's about 400 units, so we typically, uh, until we withdrew
the, uh, vouchers out of that, uh, we were having 40 to 50 families living, uh, in that
particular part of the community and I expect that to happen again. We also adopted the
South District Plan and of course, uh.... uh, we're excited about in the budget we've put
money in the budget in the Development Services, uh, for, uh.... uh, the form -based code.
We've, uh, as you know, we .... we've hired a consultant, uh, Opticos, to move forward
with this. Uh, they're.... they're getting started right now, uh, we're getting data to them
that we have that's existing. Uh, it's their expectation that they'll begin the public
meeting process near the third or fourth, uh, the end of February. Uh.... uh, that'll be
a ... to start with a three-day process. Uh, one day interviewing and working with the
public in the south district. One day working with, uh.... the public in the north area, and
then there'll be a lot of stakeholder interviews, and of course there's a parking study
involved with this. So in the .... in the budget that you have, uh, once they get through
this .... this initial phase, uh, that's budgeted in this year's budget, uh, we put $150,000 in,
uh, as a placeholder for hiring a consultant to follow through with the recommendations
that the Council may wish to adopt, uh.... uh.....as a result of these ... these two areas. One
of the things I think that's really exciting when we talk about healthy neighborhoods
and... and walkable neighborhoods is that you sort of have a blank canvas in the south
district area. I think Sarah Walz did a great job of identifying stakeholders and got a lot
of people involved in that process. Uh, they were very engaged, as much as I've ever
seen in all the years I've been here. I think bringing in Perolek and his team to work with
these folks, I think, uh.... uh, gives us some, uh, I think we'll have a lot of fun, uh,
planning that area and coming up with a plan that people are excited about. So, uh....it..it
remains to be seen, but I think it ... it's, uh, it's going to look great! The other thing that
we .... we put in the, uh, budget that may have come up this morning is, uh,
we're .... we ... in the process of developing a historic property grant program. Uh, one of
the things that, uh... and this, you know, Geoff was the one that brought this to our
attention, to.....to develop this, uh.... uh, in the .... in the areas of the northside where we
have historic properties or there are, I think there is a need to support people when they,
uh... uh, are looking at trying to improve their houses. Uh, and this .... this is an incentive
where we can have match money up to $5,000, uh, to .... to help them improve their
properties and make them attractive. Uh, we have a program now which is called HELP,
uh, which is in the different division that deals with just rental property and ... and non -
historic. This ol... this'll fit together so that we can ... we can touch more properties,
improve the ... overall appearance of some of these properties, uh, improve the longevity
of some of these properties, and I think when you do that, uh, it .... the neighborhood
becomes more attractive, it becomes more pleasant, uh, and it's all about meeting your
strategic goals, about, uh, you know, healthy neighborhood and so forth. So ... uh, I'm...
I'm excited about this. This'll be coming back to the Council soon in terms of. ... it'll go
to Historic Preservation first if you adopt it first in the budget, and then we'll bring it
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back to the Council in terms of wh... of, uh, an actual program. Uh, we also included in
the budget, uh, $10,000 to digitize our historic property records. It's time to get that
done. Um, almost everything in ... in, uh, in the department, uh, we've dig...digitized, uh,
and uh....it.....it....it's huge in terns of how we deal with mat... information today, uh, in
terms of providing access to the public, and, uh, it's time to get this done, and so, uh, we
want to move forward with that and hopefully that'll be approved as part of the budget.
Um .... not on today's thing (mumbled) listed under the CIP, we're also going to, um, be
asking to update our .... our permit plan, uh, software, which is the .... which is the
foundation of. ... of, in terms of how we track all of our permits, and our fees and our
applications and stuff like that, uh.... uh, we put that in place in 1992. Uh, we've been
upgrading it and .... and amending it and changing it. It's time to, um .... it's gotten old
(laughs) not as old as me I guess, but it's gotten old (laughs) and so it needs to be....it
needs to be, uh, modified and .... and we'd like to, uh.... uh, you know, get a new software
and probably a cl.... a cloud -based software, which'd be easer to keep, uh, current with
how technology changes, cause it changes so rapidly now. It's very difficult to
reprogram. Any questions about, uh, some of those budget items? Any issues, um, with
any of those? Should also mention, uh, we will, urn ... uh, the State will be adopting a new
energy code, just an FYI, this fall and uh... uh, as almost every other city in the state, we
follow the state's energy code. Uh, it does have some increased energy requirements for
commercial, uh, development; residential basically stays the same. So that'll be coming
up, uh, not before you but that'll be a change that will impact development as we go
forward. Okay, let's talk, uh, about, uh, Neighborhood Services and, um ... this obviously
is an area where we're dealing with, uh...... uh, housing and not only in terms of the
condition of the housing but in terms of the affordability of the housing. Uh.... uh, with
all of this new construction over the last few years, with all this new multi -family, uh,
housing that's going in, uh, of course, uh, the Housing Inspection, Rental Housing
Inspection Division, uh, er.... group is fully funded by the fees from rental housing. So,
uh... uh, our revenue's up 3%. Uh, which means, uh, that we performed better than we
thought we were going to, cause normally, uh, this was the year that we were either going
to be, uh, even or slightly below in terms of our costs versus our revenue, but because of
all the new construction, we're actually up 3%. So I don't .... I don't foresee, uh, a fee
increase for rental housing for two years. Uh, and uh, we'll have to evaluate that based
on the new properties coming online. Uh, but uh.... uh, that generates money for the
inspectors, uh, in terms of supporting that particular operation. However, if we're really
successful and we put a lot of multi -family units online, uh, we may be in two to three
years maybe talking about needing an additional staff person. But again, we've always
taken the position with the Rental Housing inspectors is that they are 100% supported by
the industry that they inspect, and that's the, uh, that's the multi -family, uh, rental
industry. Uh, complaints were up, uh, I .... I discussed that a little bit with, uh.... uh.... uh,
the, uh, inspectors and um, our conclusion is that because of icgovexpress, which is an
app that allows people to have easier access to .... to a request for services, we've actually
gotten more requests for services. We call `em complaints in the computer, uh, and so
the ease .... the easier that they are to able to access City services, the more requests we
get for services, and that's not an issue. It's just I think why we see more numbers in that
particular area. Uh, with regard to our inspections, the proactive inspections on the
northside, uh, we expect to be done this summer. Uh, this is where we've been using
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the .... th HELP money, uh, which is in the budget. Again, it's around 100,000 to, uh,
help people make changes, uh, to comply, uh, exterior changes, to comply with the,
um ... um... uh, rental housing code. And we did, if you'll recall, we made an amendment,
a couple amendments, to the rental housing code to assist in dealing with some of these
exterior issues that come up. The Housing Authority is next. Uh, this is, um .... uh, an
activity that, uh, has been with us for quite some time, uh, you know we're talking about
a .... I think it flies under the radar because , uh, we don't realize that it's a budget of over
$8 million. We don't .... we don't think about the fact that the .... the ACC, or the contract
that provides money, pass-through money directly to the landlords, is .... is, uh, $6.5
million annually. I mean.....we.... we (laughs) we look at some of these other programs
and we think well we've got a million dollars or $3 million or something like that to
distribute, but .... I can tell you that .... that, uh, over the last 15 years it's been up around
$6 million and .... and, uh, when you think about that in terms of numbers, uh, that's huge.
Uh, we... the vouchers are 1,292 and the public housing units are 81, which is 1,373, uh,
families that are .... that are being supported, and, um .... I guess it also points to the fact
that providing affordable housing, uh, is expensive and we need the federal government
and it's ... and it's played a huge role, uh, but this .... $7 million that comes into the
community for the ACC contracts, it doesn't go to the tenants! Remember this. It goes
directly into the local economy in terms of paying the landlords. And I think that's an
important thing to remember because, uh, that's money that can be used to maintain the
units. That's money to be used, uh, to buy other types of. ... of, uh, goods and services.
Uh... (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Doug.....Doug, hate to interrupt but uh, I'm thinkin' about the incoming
administration at the national level, and what I would take to be considerable hostility
on .... on the part of the incoming Congress as well. Well, they're not incoming. They're
there now, um .... uh, hostility toward, uh,a whole array of federal programs. So I wonder
if you have seen in the kind of literature, you know, the practical literature you read, any,
uh, any insight into whether, uh.... public housing money or Section 8 money or .... CDBG
or Home funds, any of those things are going to be hit hard?
Boothroy/ With regard to ... let's talk about public housing and .... and Section 8. Uh, you know,
I .... I've been working with, uh.... uh, the Section 8 and public housing program since
1984. Republicans, Democrats, uh, and those numbers haven't .... as far as the money
going to the tenants with regard to the voucher program, those monies have either...just
gone up a little bit or they've stayed the same, depending on the administration. What
really happens is that the administrative fees, what pays our employees, that's where you
see some of those cuts occurring. Uh, they don't fully fund it. So, instead of taking it
away from the families, sometimes they'll take it away from the administrative side,
which then impacts our ability to provide services, and .... and we've had some difficult
conversations about that in years past when we had sequestration. I don't know if you
recall that, Jim, but it did impact the Housing Authority in a negative way. So, I'm a
little concerned about what will happen to our administrative fees, uh, with regard to the
Section 8 program. Um, at this point we're okay. Uh, they're.....they're telling us that
we'll be funded, uh, a little bit less than .... than.....than, uh, last year, but you know
frankly they don't really know what they're talking about yet (laughs) so it's all a guess.
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Um .... we, uh, did downsize. Uh, we did develop, uh, some reserves. Uh, cause we had
drawn all those reserves down before to about 70 grand or so. Uh, so I think we're in a
very good position, uh, to adjust to that .... to that with regard to the voucher program
and .... and public housing. We're .... we're real concerned about Home funds. Uh, we're
real concerned about, uh.... uh, organizations that are only getting about 500,000.
There's stuff in the .... that we've been reading, and Tracy's been talkin' to me about it,
that smaller, uh.... uh, places where they're only getting 500,000 or less, there's a chance
that those funds may.....may be lost. Iowa City's just over the top of that, with regard to
it. You know,it's 560 or whatever it is. Uh, and....um....so we feel like we're right at
the margin, and we're .... and there's also been some problems with Home funds. I think
there's a perception that they've been misused by the federal government, by the
Congress, and so I think that those are in jeopardy. Uh, I think CDBG, in talking to
Tracy, we think that that's in a much better position. CDBG can be used for more than
just affordable housing. It can be used for infrastructure. I think there's, obviously,
going to be an emphasis for infrastructure. So I think we're pretty comfortable about the
CD... CDBG, and we might actually, you know, it might overtime benefit a little bit
more, um, but I think Home is ... is one that we have to be concerned about. Urn .... and
uh.... you know, uh, we probably won't know till .... till, uh.....um...... spring sometime,
uh, and so we just .... we're going through the allocation process with the Housing
Commission right now. We're basing the allocation on what we got last year, plus we
have some carryover funds. It's going to be about 1.2 million or 1.1 million for
allocation. Uh, if...if funds get cut, then we'll have to adjust accordingly .... just like
we've done in the past. Does that answer your question?
Throgmorton/ Thank you!
Boothroy/ I wish I had a crystal ball and knew what (laughter) knew what exactly what was
going to happen but .... but I .... at least over the last 30 -plus years, the voucher program,
the ACCs, have been pretty much okay. It's been in other areas that they've shaved.
Uh.... um .... one of the things that is impacting us negatively, as far as the Housing
Authority is concerned, and I wanted to make this emphasis is that HUD increased the
fair market rents by 17% last fall. Now some.... some might think that's a positive but
the ... but, how that negatively impacts the Housing Authority is is that we get a flat
amount of money and it .... and, uh, depending on how much we pay out in terms of
subsidy for rents, uh... uh, the .... the less we pay out, the more people that are helped. The
more we pay out, the less people are helped. So we expect, uh, our payment standards to
go up by 7%, which means that we'll have 7% less to, uh, hand out to the 1,292 families.
So, you know, when .... when it was a certificate program, you know, it was sort of like
you were guaranteed you were going to get assistance for 30 families that are on the
certificate program cause that .... but.....but now it's just a cash program and then you
spread it amongst, uh, as many families as you can. So we think that we're gonna lose
some families, uh, through the ACC, not because of Congress, but because of the fair
market rents and because landlords will raise their rents and it's gonna impact us
negatively by 7%. Therefore, we have asked the Housing Commission, while making
application, for $200,000 in what we call `tenant -based rental assistance.' We've done
that in the past. It's been approved by the Commission in the past, and it provides us that
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elasticity in which to adjust, uh, and maintain 100% utilization, uh, of our program. And
so we hope that the Housing Commission approves that, and that.... that's the only budget
caveat I have in that particular area. Uh, Williams Street has just closed, the senior
center ... or senior housing out on Williams Street. So they should be getting their demo. I
don't know if they've started demoing yet. They have their demo permit. Um, and uh,
what's great about that is that we've got four units in that building, it's 40 being... four of
those units are being subsidized low income, elderly families at 30% AMI, 12 at 40%
AMI, and 20 at 60% AMI. So they have some really, uh, they're really meeting a .... a
very needy market with regard to, uh, affordability, and so, you know, this is a tax credit
project. We had to put up about $600,000, uh, to make this go, and it's ... and it is a go.
UniverCity is in the budget. Uh, we asked for three homes. Uh, last week we purchased
our 60`11 home. The program began in 2011. Uh, we have, uh, rehabbed and sold 56
homes. Uh, 16 of those homes are ... to homeowners under 80%, uh, median income. Uh,
and um, 36 of the homes sold for less than $180,000, and that's very affordable even if
they're not at 80%, uh, median income. If you can sell a house for $180,000, that's a
pretty affordable house! Uh, I would tell you that ... that the rehab, the .... and I think it's...
it ... we forget what the triple down, or the effect is of...of these monies, but the .... the
amount of money since 2011 that we spent for vendors to rehab is $2.7 million. That's
going to local contractors to fix these houses up. Uh, we have, uh, increased the assessed
value. We just looked this up, of these houses, uh, to .... by $1.4 million. So not only are
we putting owner -occupied houses into the neighborhood, reducing density into the
neighborhood, improving the appearance of the houses. We've spent money into the
community, uh, to local services, and we increased the overall tax assessment value by
$1.4 million. So I think that's a win-win all the way around and .... and, uh.... uh, the
University's no longer participating as you probably remember, but, uh, we hope that you
continue to budget this particular program cause it's had a really positive effect, uh, in
certain parts of the community.
Thomas/ I .... I would just add to that, Doug, that some of those residents are some of the more
active residents in these neighborhoods too, so it's sort of a social capital (both talking)
benefit as well.
Boothroy/ New homeowners, very interested in what's (both talking)
Thomas/ Very engaged!
Boothroy/ ...very vested into their neighborhood. So there's a lot of really good things, I mean...
you know, it's 60 houses and, uh, and .... if you budget more we'll buy and .... and
continue to do that. Our capacity to do rehab and stuff like that is ... is five to six houses a
year, just based on existing staff. So we can't really do a lot more than that, but
it ... incrementally, we're getting there, and it's a .... it's beginning to have, uh, quite a ... and
so Tracy brought these numbers together for me today, and I think, uh, I was impressed,
uh... uh, of the $2.7 million, uh, spending on vendors and 1.4 on assessed value, I ... didn't
realize that it had that kind of an impact. Uh, let's see ..... the tax exempt, uh, about the,
just so you know, the tax exempt committee, uh, is gonna have its first meeting, and this
is something that you talked about under the affordable housing plan on .... on January
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17d'. It's an organization meeting, uh, just to kind of figure out, uh, how they want to...
when they want to meet and all that kind of stuff. And so that's.... that's starting to get
going, and that's.... that's, uh, looking at tax xemp... tax xem... tax exempt status for af£..
for affordable housing. Uh, if you'll recall last spring, couple just side notes. Uh, we did
a ... Tracy did a "So you want to start a business," uh.... uh, partnered with Kirkwood. It
was quite successful. Uh, we're not gonna do the same thing again this year. Uh, we
don't feel that the timing is right for that, but we do intend to do a one -day thing. Uh,
she's talkin' to Kirkwood about putting something together, uh, two to three hours on the
same themes, the same topics, and of course everything that we did in those five sessions,
uh, was, uh, recorded and we use that, uh, in our program when .... when we need to with
regard to small businesses and stuff like that. So .... uh, next .... this spring we're looking
at doing a .... a shorter version, uh, and then, you know, maybe next year we'll evaluate it
and .... and do something different, uh, something longer again. But lot of. ... lot of
women, lot of minorities, lot of different, uh... uh, first-time business people participated.
We had, what, 50....participants, I think, uh.... (mumbled) total participants in that as I
recall, so that was very successful. Uh, let's see, uh, sustainability, uh, I think this has all
been before you, so I won't spend a lot of time on this. Uh, obviously the, uh, RFP for
the, uh, consultant is due back on the 20a', um, of January. Uh, the .... uh, Brenda's been
working on the, uh, committee and the resolution for the steering committee for this, uh,
and that's... that'll.... that'll be coming to you at your next Council meeting on the 17th.
Uh... uh, so ... I think that ... that's a great, uh, great step in the right direction. We've got
money in the ... in the budget, A .... uh, on an ongoing basis as ... as you'll see that in the
CIP, uh, for climate action implementation. It's kind of a placeholder, 150,000 a year, so
we have money, uh, looking forward based on what we find as a part .... as part of this
process in...in what we do. One of the things that we did with sustainability this year that
was a little bit different was we .... we did budget, um, money for temporary employees
and so, uh... uh, it's not much, but we .... we, if you go to our web site, Neighborhood
Development Services and look under sustainability, you'll see a list of all the newsletters
that the ... the, uh, intern has prepared and ... a number of other things that are on there, and
they're also doing, um, data collection on energy efficiency, uh, in the municipal
buildings and, uh, we also have a .... a consul ... or intern working on, uh, greenhouse gas,
uh, inventory that's to be completed by 2017, and that was a grant that we received for
about $3,696.24 (laughs) No, I'm just kidding about that! (laughter) Uh, just thought
maybe you weren't listening and I thought maybe I'd ... I'd check (several talking and
laughing) Urn ... the, uh.... we have money budgeted for local foods, uh, of course, you
know, great ... we plan to have the Farm -to -Street Dinner again next year. That cost us 5
but we raised 15, so we netted 10. And that money is distributed to, uh, local non -profits
to ... in various programs (both talking)
Throgmorton/ It was a tremendous success, too, from the social point of view, I mean, the
enthusiasm of people who were present was really great (both talking)
Boothroy/ It was!
Throgmorton/ ....waiters, waitresses, uh, restaurants, chefs, uh, farmers — everybody involved,
including people who ate, like me (laughter) uh, was really wonderful to see.
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Boothroy/ It was, and um ... and then I should also mention that the, uh, the AmeriCorps thing.
We had 100,00 that you ... you know, for that program, uh, this ... in this budget year for
climate action implementation. They have, uh, done 43, uh, public housing unit
assessments, uh, we have 81, so they're about half -way through, uh, they found some
things that, uh.... uh, it's pretty interesting. It's just some of the things that you don't
know, that need attention, and they were able to find these things and it will .... it will help
us make those units more energy efficient, and then we are just sending out the grant
information to non -profits for the other 30,000, so that they can have, uh, for .... to
implement energy efficiency, uh, projects. So, you know, with sustainability, uh, you
know, it's ... With the STAR program, we will be, uh, have all these measures that we ... we
have three years from March of. ... of 2017 to...to have this finally pulled back together,
uh, for when we get re-evaluated and uh.... uh.....Brenda, uh, and I and ... and Carrie will
be, uh, touching base with some of the various departments to see how they're
progressing on some of the action items, uh, that were under that, on a regular basis, uh,
starting this spring as well, uh, to see that everybody stays on task. Uh,
so .... um .... anything about.... anything else about that? But as I said earlier, I ... that
STAR community rating system is ... has .... has had a huge impact on the way we think
about, uh, everything, uh, in terms of our development process.
Throgmorton/ Doug .... Doug, uh, one relatively minor thing that I enjoyed hearing about, uh,
couple months ago was the, I don't, conference that Brenda and Wendy Ford went to.
Boothroy/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ It was a great combination, uh, getting (both talking)
Boothroy/ Oh, yeah!
Throgmorton/ Great combination, uh, getting a sustainability person and then Wendy, uh, our
economic development person (both talking)
Boothroy/ Yeah, they had a very positive, uh, they felt they got a very positive... positive reaction
from the group that they were at and I think people felt that Iowa City was doing some
really good things, so .... it was a good .... it was a good time for them to be there, and a
good learning experience. The MPO budget, I would just mention a little bit about. It's
not on for ... the budget in your, uh, packet is what's being recommended to the MPO, uh,
for approval on the next meeting of the 25th, which is coming up soon. Um, and, uh....
if ..if the MPO board changes that look, then that'll get changed in the budget. Uh,
you ... you all don't actually approve the MPO budget. There are no staffing changes in
this. Uh, there is a slight increase in assessment, uh, 3 to 4% depending on what you're
adding into the percentages on this, but essentially it's .... it's, uh, held down by, uh, our
reserves, and what ... what Kent and I talked about was that, uh, when we reorganized in
2013, there was some staff reductions as well as, uh, the new director wasn't making as
much as the old director and so forth, and so we were able to accumulate some additional
reserves above what we think we need, uh, about 180,000's what we need to keep, and so
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we're .... we're spending that throughout the next several years to keep the assessment
going up at a .... at a lesser rate so that when we get out of. ... when we finally spend those
reserves off, uh, then we won't have like a 5% increase or a big jump in the assessment,
so you do see a slight growth in the assessment, um, but uh... uh, this is ... I think that's
kind of the way it's going to look, uh, as we go forward and it's all based on health
insurance and .... and salaries and that kind of stuff. One of the things that I wanted to
mention briefly is that, you know, we .... we .... we obviously put money into the MPO
based on .... on our, based on population, I guess, and uh, over the last 16 years, we've
averaged about $80,000 a .... a year, you know (mumbled) and that's just an average, and
um, it's resulted totally in about $1.3 million investment in the MPO but ... but the City of
Iowa City specifically has received over $23 million for a $1.3 million investment. So,
it...it is a good investment, uh.... uh, for our dollars and if you're not part of the MPO, ya
can't get these monies! Uh, so whether, you know, so it's .... ya gotta .... ya gotta be
involved in order to, uh, benefit from, uh, from these reserves. Now, this spring we have,
uh, the federal review that comes around every four years. It's an audit. Uh, it...it will...
it will consume our staff for about three days. They look at everything. Budget,
operations, everything. Uh, we expect to ... to do well in the audit, uh, but if ...these
audits are serious. As you recall, Cedar Rapids got into a lot of trouble when the feds
came and audited them and, uh, could have lost some of their funding. So, um, so we
take that very seriously. Uh, as you know, the, uh, in terms of work items, the long-range
transportation plan, uh, by the way I think some of the graphics look great in the .... and it
looks like it's gonna be a great looking plan, and Sarah Walz has done some of that work,
and I give her a lot of credit for that. Uh.... uh.... that should be, uh, the .... the entire
preliminary draft will be, um, to the MPO, uh, in March, uh, so it can be approved, um....
uh, by .... by May, by the May meeting, and that has to be in place in order to continue to
get, uh, your funds, uh.....uh, transportation funds. And of course they'll start the, uh,
competitive, uh, awarding process here soon. Uh, and uh, and then the other thing that I
should mention, I wanted to mention, is that the Iowa City Bike Master Plan, uh, which I
think is, uh.... it's going to give us an opportunity to get a gold, uh.... uh, rating. Uh,
they're getting started with.... meeting with the consultant next week, so the, uh, technical
advisory committee, which is made up of staffs from the various entities involved, as well
as the, um, bike advisory committee, which is made up of the various constituents,
bicycle groups and stuff like that, and the consultant, will be meeting on January 12th as a
kickoff meeting for both groups, and then, uh, the first Public Works sho.... (laughs) shop
is tentatively scheduled, uh, for 6:00 P.M., January 26b at the Senior Center and a press
release is supposed to go out Monday or Tuesday of next week to ..... to, uh... uh, probably
after they have this kickoff meeting on the 12th maybe, uh, to, um ... uh, get people there. I
think it'll be a very active meeting. I expect a great turnout, uh, because, uh, some people
are very passionate about this. Um .... and then we'll have some other, uh, web and online
type of stuff for surveys, uh, going on about that. So that's getting started and it's
supposed to complete, be completed by the middle of the summer or early fall, and uh,
once we have a preliminary plan together, we'll bring that back to the Council for your
review before we get to the final plan, uh, and uh.....so that's kind of it for the MPO .... I
think the biggest thing here is the Bike Master Plan in terms of a new initiative, uh,
that ... that we're working on.
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Dickens/ When do they do a population difference as far as how much money we pay in? Say
North Liberty's growing at such (both talking)
Boothroy/ As a matter of fact that .... that's computed into the ... into the, uh (both talking) yeah, so
what's happened is .... cause .... cause North Liberty did a special census, their population
went up, so our percentage of participation went down slightly because their population
went .... so their percentage went up, ours went down, but ... you know, we're talking still
significant difference in ... in what these look like, uh, I .... I have a chart somewhere that
shows that, but .... I'm sure you'll (both talking)
Dickens/ But that won't change our 28E agreements, as far as.....
Boothroy/ No.
Mims/ No.
Boothroy/ No, uh... the .... the additional assessment is .... yeah, as North Liberty continues to
grow, and Coralville, they will take, you know, they'll take a little higher percentage of
that budget. Anything else?
Thomas/ Do you know where, uh, I kind of lost track of the, uh.... downtown historic inventory.
You know, we were going to be (both talking)
Boothroy/ That's in this year's budget. Um....
Thomas/ I don't know what that status (both talking)
Boothroy/ Yeah ..... I was trying to remember, um.....where we are with that. I ... I honestly, off
the top of my head I can't recall. I know that, um .... I talked to Bob Miklo about it about
a month ago and I don't think at that point we had heard from the State, um .... on .... on
the, uh, we've ... we requested a grant from the State and I think in December we still had
not heard from the State, so ... um, he hasn't said anything so I'm guessing we still haven't
heard, and it's just the first week of January, but we had not heard back from the State
yet.
Fruin/ We'll follow up with an update to you. Let you know where that stands.
Boothroy/ Yeah. We .... we're waiting on the State .... to find out about the award.
Thomas/ And then I guess in the coming .... you know, coming up we'll be doing the .... the
housing market analysis. Correct?
Fruin/ Yeah, I've been working with the University on that, and it's going a little slower than...
than I think anybody had hoped, but .... um, I touched base with, uh, the folks at the
University maybe a week or two ago. Um, they verbally received a commitment from
Coralville to participate, which I think is ... is good. We are seeing more student housing
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pressures move out into, um, Coralville. Urn .... so I think, uh, we've all come to, uh,
agreement on, um .... you know, the intent to do a plan. I've asked the University to share
with me the latest scope. So 1 added initial scope of, um, the study. Um, I talked with
the consultant directly and .... and tried to reflect what I think you all wanted to see in that,
um, that housing study. I have not seen that revised scope, but what I intend to do when I
get that revised scope is put it in an info packet and allow you to comment on it before
we sign on the bottom line and .... and get the study underway. I .... I hope that is in
January, but I would have also hoped it was in October and December too so (laughter)
but we'll keep.... we'll keep on it.
Throgmorton/ Doug, I sense a little bit of a spring in your step!
Boothroy/ Okay, where ... where are we going with this (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ LA sense (both talking)
Boothroy/ I like to think I have spring in my step still, Jim! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ I sense enthusiasm about, uh, the range of activities that your, uh, division is ... or
department, is involved in.
Boothroy/ Yeah, I think there's a lot of reason to be, uh, enthusiastic about what we're doing. I
think that, uh, there's an opportunity to, uh... uh, make a difference, uh, to be creative, and
uh... uh, and do something positive. So, I think, uh, I think people will, um, you know, I
think whether it be the climate action piece, uh, or the, uh, form -based code, I think all of
those things will ... will be, uh.... uh, I think a lot of fun for people to work on. So, we'll
see!
Fruin/ There's, um, one division that Doug didn't touch on. I told him I was going to cover (both
talking) Economic Development. Um, Wendy Ford is the only employee in Economic
Development and uh, it's really important that she have a very close connection, uh, to,
um, the planners and .... and whatnot so they can communicate on projects that are comin'
in and share information, but inevitably when it comes to budget time, I ... I tend to work
with Wendy more closely on ... on what goes in there. So I'll give you a quick report out.
That, ub, budget's on 271. Uh, the actual budget itself is on 276. There are some new
things in here. You'll see a .... a pretty big jump in the, um, level of activity in this fund
from 2017 to 2008....18. So a couple of the larger items in this budget would include our
National Development Council agreement, uh, which we budget at $80,000 per year.
This is the group that we use to help evaluate all the, uh, requests for financial, uh,
incentives that we get. Our ICAD funding is in here. Uh, if you recall, uh, for the past
several years we've been at $100,000 a year. We are now at $70,000 a year, um....
because we were giving them, uh, a below market rate lease space in our Library
building, uh, so there was a bit of a trade-off there. Uh, this is where we keep our micro -
loan, uh, program and, uh, again, as I mentioned earlier, we set that at $50,000. The
micro -loan's structured as a loan guarantee, in an ideal world we'd never have to pay
anything to do it. We're essentially just signing, uh, off as a .... a guarantor on these
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loans, uh, so we feel comfortable that there's some additional room to maneuver with this
$50,000 should we want to pursue some ... some other type of job training program or
somethin' like that. We have some resources to do that. Uh, new in the budget this year
is $25,000, um....to support, uh, programming on the ped mall. Uh, with the Washington
Street projects last year, uh, the City Council agreed to, uh, give the Downtown District
some funds to program. You saw rock climbing walls, paddle boarding, and ping-pong
tables and that sort of thing. Well it worked really, really well and I think, uh, everybody
was pleasantly surprised at how well those, uh, programming efforts worked. So we
decided that despite the project more or less being done, we wanted to keep that level of
programming in, uh, the core of the downtown. So, again, $25,000. Um, and this is, uh,
also where a lot of our, um, operational support for different arts organizations and
entrepreneurial efforts comes, uh, from. So City of Literature funding, funding for the
Englert, Film Scene, Riverside Theater, Mission Creek, EntreFest, the Entrepreneurial
Development Center, and others all come from this budget. And as I mentioned before,
urn .... uh, this is where the, um, $500,000 in both 18 and 19 will come from, if you
approve it, for the Englert and Film Scene capital campaign. So again, the way that
would work is that the general fund would upfront that money, and then we would take
district -wide increment, um in fiscal year 19 and reimburse the general fund for that. So
it's ultimately paid from TIF revenues, but it's (mumbled) That's a quick highlight of the
Economic Development budget.
Cole/ Geoff, I'm wondering about the FTEs, um, Wendy does a great job, um, I'm wondering do
we need more support for her in .... in terms of FTEs. Has there ever been any
conversation in terms of whether we have adequate staffing for that critical department,
whether we need more staff, you know, be out there recruiting companies, you know,
pitching Iowa City, or are we comfortable that that can primarily occur through the
ICAD? What's your thought on that?
Fruin/ Well, ICAD's the .... the primary agent for kind of the interstate commerce.
Cole/ Yeah.
From/ Um, you know, the .... the one thing that we've talked about over time is do we get a little
bit more aggressive in, um, supporting retail recruitment. Uh, the Downtown District has
stepped up and taken care of that. That's one of Nate Kaeting's, uh, roles. Obviously
that's geographically focused. Um ... you're probably well aware that Coralville and ... and
some other cities hire kind of brokers to ... to chase retail, but that's largely because
Coralville owns a lot of that retail space, and they have a .... a financial, a direct financial
incentive to .... to get those spaces filled. Um, but there are companies out there that will
provide you analytics and provide you connections with, um, some retail companies,
um .... uh, and .... with the hopes that the City can, you know, match those companies up
with private sector, um, that ... that would be more of a contractual service. So I guess the
long-winded response to your answer is no I don't think there's additional staff that's
needed.
Cole/ Okay.
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Fruin/ Um, but we do constantly have discussions about what's the right role for that (both
talking)
Cole/ ....cause it was two, not that long ago, correct?
Fruin/ It ... it was two for about a year .... period of time when we did the .... the merger with, um,
Planning, and at the time Housing and Inspection Services, we had two department heads,
um, come together over one department. Doug assumed the department head role over
what is now NDS. Jeff Davidson became a second employee in the Economic
Development division....
Cole/ Okay.
Fruin/ ....when Jeff retired we didn't fill that position.
Cole/ Okay. Thanks. Thanks, Geoff.
Throgmorton/ Anything else? (several talking) Thank you, Doug!
Frain/ All right, we'll skip to Airport....
Throgmorton /All right!
Fruin/ (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Hi, Mike!
Airport:
Tharp/ Good afternoon!
Throgmorton/ Good afternoon.
Tharp/ Well, hopefully my conversation's pretty quick with ya but ... uh, but we'll see and, uh,
kind of walk you through what we're doing in the next year and what we've done this last
year. Operationally we're presenting a $370,000 budget, pretty much status quo. Um...
in terms of the general levy support, we're actually asking for about $10,000 of levy
support to (noises in background, difficult to hear) operations and I think that's the lowest
I've seen since I've been here, uh, substantial ... a lot of time and effort, uh, involved in
reducing that levy support. The ... the needs of, uh, of the Airport. We've done a great job
of raising revenues and getting some additional buildings. Um, this last year we've been
able to, um, kind of incentivize a couple of private hangar developments. The, uh, fixed
base operator's building a 10,000 -square foot facility. Um, and we've had another
private individual build a hangar for aircraft that he had at the Airport. So we ... we've
been able to expand our .... our space that we have, uh, generate a few more people to
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come on to the Airport. That's boosted our .... our base planes up to 92 aircraft. Um, that
aircraft breaks down to about 78 single -engines, uh, seven multi -engines, six jets, and a
helicopter, and of that split, it's about 60/40, uh, personal use to business use. Um ... the
single -engines skew a little more personal use than ... than business. They're about 75% in
that category alone, uh, for personal use, but ..... you know, anything we can do to help,
uh.... uh, generate activity, generate fuel sales, and again, that .... that income that we get
off of that is ... is a good thing. Um .... we just completed the .... the Airport Master Plan.
A couple of months ago we were up and gave, uh, the Council a, uh, briefing on that.
That'll-uh, we hope and, uh, encourage some additional usage of the Airport by aircraft
we're not seeing. Um, that will impact our capital plans for the next few years, in terms
of. ... of some near-term projects to change, uh, runway configurations and dimensions.
We have to do some remarking, relighting, that kind of thing, but nothing..... nothing
really physical changes. Um ... uh.... um, again, we hope that generates some additional
traffic. Um, and you know, with our .... with our fund balance, we .... we've used that
recently to, again, to incentivize the private, uh, hangar development. When somebody
comes and approaches us to, uh, build their own hangar, whether it's the fixed base
operator, whether it's somebody else, there's typically some other infrastructure that
needs to take place, whether it's extending taxiways or, uh, the ability to get to that
hangar, that's usually something the Airport, uh, participates in at either a .... a, at 100%
or at a 50% share. It just depends on the negotiations and what the end goal is, and how
that .... that particular piece of. ... of infrastructure is getting used. Um .... staffing wise,
you know, we're not .... we're not anticipating any staffing changes. Still, uh, one person
out there — me (laughs) um, in terms of the FTEs. Uh, 2018 is gonna be a ... a significant
year for the Airport. It'll be our 100 -year anniversary for the Airport, so we are, uh,
anticipating some type of event. We're just starting to, uh.... uh, get a group together to
kind of plan that event and what it'll look like, but uh, we hope to do something fairly
significant to, uh.... um, capitalize on that....that, uh, milestone. Um .... outside of that,
you know, our fuel flowage keeps, uh, keeps scaling up. We're seeing, uh, again big
increases in the jet fuel that's sold. Our avgas is still, uh, relatively flat. I know we had a
little bit of a downturn this last year because we, uh, for about three months out of
the .... the prime flying season, they, uh, the tanks were getting repainted, recoated, um,
getting some repair work to it, so that ... that did have an impact on our operations, but, uh,
it was just something that needed to get done and unfortunately, you know, painting is
something you can't do in the middle of winter. Urn ... outside of that I'm happy to
entertain any questions, uh, Council might have. Um .... (laughs)
Throgmorton/ I wonder what it's like to .... to.....to be a ... director of a one-person staff (laughter)
Tharp/ It's a lot of hats, uh....
Throgmorton/ I see a lot that the, you know, that your department does, and I .... I find it hard to
believe you're able to do all that yourself. Are you gettin' a lot of help from the
Commission? Is that the way it works?
Tharp/ Commission helps to some degree. I mean they are a little bit more involved than I think
some commissions would be, in terms of. ... of participation and ... and the management
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structure. Um, a lot of it is, you know, in terms of the operations and the City, you know,
we've got a lot of great people in the City that I can reach out to, whether it's, uh, you
know, the Streets department if I have, you know, pavement repair type questions or, um,
Parks and Rec helps with some of the .... the lawn care questions or trees, um, that ... that
might pop up. So, you know, a lot of great relationships within the City, great, uh, people
within the other City departments that .... that are, you know, certainly very helpful with,
uh, helping us maintain the Airport.
Dickens/ Staff parties are a blast!
Cole/ Yeah! (laughter)
Tharp/ You know the annual Christmas party is a little lacking, but uh....
Throgmorton/ It's legendary! (laughter)
Mims/ Leave it to Terry! (laughs) Well I would say from reading the minutes of your
Commission meetings that, yeah, you do have a commission that's very, seems to be very
active and involved, and you know, just reading about getting ready to plan for the
anniversary and everything, and so, um, and just, I mean, this goes back a ways in
history, but .... the debt reduction that was done has put the Airport and the City in so
much better financial position than I know it was when I came on the Council and ... that
was you working with Tom Markus and Geoff and everybody in terms of getting a ... a
really structured plan as we've sold off some properties to get that debt paid down,
so ... that's .... that's a real benefit.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, for sure! Uh, any other questions for Mike? No?
Tharp/ All right! Thank you!
Throgmorton/ Thank you. (several talking) Have a great day, Mike!
Tharp/ You too!
Throgmorton/ Thanks for coming.
Mims/ Okay, Chris, can you beat that? (laughter) Can you beat that?
Transportation & Resource Management:
O'Brien/ That's up to you guy,s I think, more than it is me, so.... (laughter) Um ... Chris
O'Brien, Director of Transportation and Resource Management, here with a slightly
larger budget than the one you just went through so .... (laughter) um, and for those of
you who don't know Mark Rummel, our Associate Director, and he's back there in the
back, and for those of you who don't know him, uh....
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Frain/ ...free to join us, Mark! (several talking)
Botchway/ You were on the bus though, right? (several talking)
O'Brien/ Um .... so I'm gonna kind of go through.... it's kind of in order as far as, um, in your
budget book, so 294 is where... where we'll start and that's the admin budget that we
have. Uh, summarizing a little bit before that, uh, some of you weren't here for the
transition but have experienced what we've gone through over the last, uh, 18 months,
but 18 months ago was when we, uh, transitioned to just overseeing Parking and Transit
to also, uh, bringing the Resource Management piece on, um, the Landfill, Solid Waste
operations, uh, as well as some of the CBD operations where we partner with Parks and
Rec to, uh, kind of the .... the way we put it, just so it's easy for people to understand. If
it's alive, Parks and Rec takes care of it. If it's dead, we take care of it (laughter) Um, so
we handle a lot of the snow removal, trash removal, um, things like that, but it's been
a .... a crazy 18 months really for us. There's, um, not only just taking over (mumbled)
but just the education piece. There's a lot of new programs that we've brought forth.
Um, I know Doug talked about the STAR program. Uh, there's a lot of things with that
STAR program that tied directly into a lot of the things that we're doing and that you've
seen over these last few months, uh, with new programs we've brought on. (clears
throat) Urn .... you know, we went from 75 employees to about 107 with that transition,
as far as FTEs, um, so it's been a .... an exciting and, uh.... urn ..... an educational 18
months for us as we've gone through this process. So .... and obviously stop me if you
have any questions or if...if there's something I say that's not .... not clear. Um, so page
294, um, so this is the only thing that.... we're.... we're a group of enterprise funds,
outside of this one account, and it's ... I mean I guess I'd really call it almost a pass-
through account, Dennis might, but ... um, where we .... we pull some of our admin into
a .... into the general fund account, and then it disperses out to the different departments.
Uh, but CBD is also in here, which is funded out of the general fund. Uh, just kind of
a ... a quick highlight of that. Uh, we really have ... we have one employee, a maintenance
worker, as well as, uh, the Associate Director and the Director of the department are in
that .... in that budget. Uh, some of the things that are also in there, uh, maintenance of
the CBD, and one of the exciting things about this year, um, is that Shelter House is back
on. They .... they were, it was a ... a relationship we had with them where they assist, uh..
football games, events, big events downtown, to assist us in ... in some of the, uh,
maintenance and cleaning and .... and trash removal items during those events, uh, and
last year they weren't able to participate due to some changes in staffing, uh, so it's
exciting that they're back on cause they .... we got quite a bit of positive feedback from
that relationship, um, and .... and it was a good relationship for us to have with Shelter
House in .... in providing those types of, um, services for those events. Uh, we also
handle snow removal. Urn ... couple things in the budget, then I'm going to highlight, uh,
we have .... so Bigbelly's has been sort of one direction we've been moving, away from
your typical trashcan, uh, into the Bigbelly's. We'll be up to 10 units after the
Washington Street project. Uh, we had four in the ped mall, uh, we added six with
Washington Street, urn .... and then I assume as we go through the ped mall project, you'll
see that ... cause we're actually reducing the number of..uh, the ped mall project we
reduced 14 trashcans, uh, because of the Bigbelly's and I think on Washington Street we
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reduced ... I want to say it was nine, um, with that project. Uh, we've only seen, and this
was our biggest fear, is we went into the Bigbelly market was contamination of the ... of
the recycling piece and we've only seen about 3% contamination rate, which is incredible
for the location of those units. Um, couple other things you're gonna see. We're piloting
(laughs) dog relief stations in the .... in the downtown corridor. This has been somethin'
that's come up. Uh, we've got one of them installed at the comer of Linn and College.
We'll have two that are in the ped mall. This'll be a pilot to see how things go, to see
what we need to tweak before we see if we're gonna .... it's somethin' we're gonna
expand upon, uh, but we tried to pick the areas that have the .... the largest issues
with .... with, uh, dog feces and .... and, uh, dogs using the .... the planters as restrooms. So
you'll see those popin' up here over the next few weeks, and like I said, one's installed
and we have a couple more we'll be putting in. Uh, we've got money in there for holiday
lighting. Um, that's a $50,000 item. Uh, that's replacement of some of the existing and
an expansion of that program. Uh, we have some money in for brick repairs. Uh, it was
a much larger project, but due to the ped mall project comin' on, we decided to shrink
that down. Uh, that's a $10,000 number to do some isolated brick repairs for areas that
are unsafe and that need .... need addressed. Uh, lot of partnerships with the Downtown
District. Power washing is one, um, where we have a partnership with thein where we
split fees on ... on power washing of areas downtown. Uh, and then like I mentioned, we
have the ped mall project comin' up, which'll be a .... quite an undertaking. It'll have a
lot of impact on that area. Uh... we'll move into Parking, unless there's any questions on
CBD. Uh, but that's on page 381. Uh, once again that's an enterprise fund. You know,
we operate seven days a week, uh, varying hours, uh, ranging from closing at 10:00 P.M.
to closing at 2:00 A.M., depending on what day of the week it is. Uh, we .... we currently
have four parking garages underneath; uh, it'll be five in about four months as the
Harrison Street project wraps up. Uh, Court Street Transportation Center, remember, is
actually a Transit asset, so it does not fall under the Parking fund, but we .... we still
oversee the operations of that as being in the same department, but that is actually a
Transit asset, due to the FTA funding. Uh, all the on -street meters, which, you know,
were in that 1,150 range and then we have six parking lots, uh, handle maintenance, uh,
enforcement of parking regulations, downtown snow removal, urn .... Zip cars, something
that we...we assisted. It was a project with the University of Iowa in bringing as a .... as a
transportation gap filler, um, we've really had a focus on bicycle facilities this year. Um,
we had the parklit on, uh, there was a lot of publicity on the parklit that was on Dubuque
Street. Uh, we funded that project. Um, and then myself and a representative from the
MPO were assisted in the .... the actual selection of. ... of the award on that. Uh.... we
have, um....Rotary is one of the ... we partnered with them and there's a couple bike racks
they'll be putting in that are specialized, um, that they've funded and they'll have some...
some branding of the Rotary, uh, that's coming up. Um .... so bicycle amenities has been
one that's been a ... a real push for us. Uh, bike sharing, uh.... we had our third of four
interviews yesterday, so we're really close to wrapping that up and getting an award
done. And that's another joint project with the University of Iowa, uh, to br... to bring
bike sharing to the community. Uh, some other highlights, uh, first hour free, which
everybody's familiar with, uh, so we've had it for three years now. We've ... there've
been 3.35 million free hours of parking provided. Uh, 954,000, so almost a million
people have actually come into our facilities and exited without paying any fee at all, uh,
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to do that program. We're seein' about 240,000 more vehicles per year pass through our
facilities, uh, which is about a 27% increase from what we were seeing before we started
that program. Urn ... I mentioned Harrison Street. That should be opening up in April, uh,
construction's.... construction's on course. There's gonna be some, uh.... um, some work
with the traffic coding that's gonna cause it to hold off until April to get that done. Uh,
lot of technology projects you've seen over the past few years. Those .... those are going
to continue with us. Um ... you know, we had .... we brought the smart meters in. Uh,
the ... the big change we've seen there is we've ... over 51 % of our .... of our revenues are
coming in from credit card transactions. Uh, we've got Park Me, which is a way for
people to look and ... and see what our facilities' occupancies are, uh, we have on-line
permit renewals. We take credit cards at every one of our lanes in our parking decks.
Um, we've got a joint project with the U of I that Merks been instrumental on where
we're really close to wrapping up to bring mobile parking payments to our parking
system, to where they'll be able to make payments with their cell phone. Uh, that'll be
followed up by another joint project with the University to bring EV charging stations,
uh, to expand upon that. Urn .... uh, bicycle amenities, I touched on that. Uh, we've got
some fix -it stations that we'll ... we'll be bringing in as well as some covered parking in
our parking facilities, uh, with some funds that we have in this year's budget. Uh, ramp
restoration projects, they're where you see a lot of our capital funds, anywhere from
300,000 to a half a million dollars a year, you see in just projects to make sure we restore,
uh, the existing facilities that we have to make sure that they remain operational. Um,
and the only change really parking wise is there was a proposed $5 per month fee for
permits. Um ... the last permit increase that we had was back in 2009, just as a reference.
So it's .... it's been awhile. We've .... we've made some changes to the meter system.
Obviously we've done things with the hourly parking, with the first hour free and then,
uh, changed some rates with a lot of the on -street and the ongoing parking in the decks,
uh, but the permit fee has remained roughly the same over that time, so....
Mims/ But those fees are different depending on which ramp, aren't they?
O'Brien/ The fees are different but the increase is the same, so (both talking) yeah, all of our
covered facilities now are $80. It used to be staggered.
Mims/ Oh, okay, they are all (both talking)
O'Brien/ So the proposal (mumbled) then our surface lots would be 65 from 60, so that's...
Mims/ Okay.
O'Brien/ ...so really it's covered or non -covered are really the two.
Thomas/ Chris.... what.... what percentage of the, um (clears throat) of your .... your structured
parking is permitted?
O'Brien/ As far as the number of spa .... how many permits we distribute based off what our, uh,
we vary that based on ... on facilities. For example, um, like Chauncey Swan, 400 of the,
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uh, we're down to probably 350 of the 475 spaces there permitted. Uh, Tower Place is
around the 285 of the 500 spaces are permitted. Um .... Capitol Street is....boy I want to
say 260....260 of the 875 spaces. Uh, the Dubuque Street facility is roughly about the....
they're in the 300 range of the 625, and then Court Street is ... say 500 of the 600 spaces
there. Um, you know, and the way we do our permits and, you know, I think this is one
of the things.... and honestly I'll try not to, but I could go hours on ... on discussing this is a
lot of questions come up about how we manage the parking system and, uh, much like
with the meter.... everything ties into together to be a ... a system, which is why we don't
dedicate permit spaces, because of all those permits we listed off, they're not all in there
at the same time, so we want to continue to utilize those spaces, urn .... in order to make
sure that we're maximizing the amount of parking that we have available to the public at
any time, and while we do have some reserved spaces, um, those were a part of either
development projects or ... economic development incentives for... that.... that typically we
would not ever do, but there were circumstances that they had to be done, and it's a very
small portion of the percentage of the .... the actual permits that we have out there.
Cole/ I've been getting a lot of requests for covered bike parklits like that we should have those.
Are those on the horizon?
O'Brien/ Yes. So one of the things I .... I kind of glossed over that earlier. We do have a project
in this year's budget to add, um, it's a .... it's a dual -tiered docking station for bikes that
mounts to the wall of our parking deck inside, and then they.....they pull down, you put
your bike on it and push it back up. Um, we have one of those proposed, and the nice
thing about those deck is you have a lot of wall space, so if that's successful, we feel that
that's something that can be, um, actually one of the Rotary .... um, bicycle racks is going
to be a covered unit as well, at the Capitol Street facility.
Cole/ Thank you.
O'Brien/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton /Chris, I do have, uh, kind of a broad question for ya. I was watching a
documentary, uh, last night, uh, about, uh.... electric -powered autonomous vehicles. And
perhaps owned by firms like Uber or Lyft, and the implications of those for parking
structures...
O'Brien/ Right.
Throgmorton/ ....and for, urn .... well, whole bunch of other things, but, uh.... um, with regard to
parking, I wonder if you or people you know have been kind of lookin' at it, thinking,
okay if this actually does come online, cause people are talking about it happening very
quickly.
O'Brien/ Right.
Throgmorton/ How we gonna adjust?
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O'Brien/ Yeah, you know, I think one of the things that's been kicked around .... I've had
discussions with Dave Ricketts at the University about this is, do you dedicate.... either
certain lots, certain spaces to that, to where .... I mean I assume it's going to be similar to
EV where it's gonna be kind of a chicken and egg thing. If you .... if you don't have the
spaces, for ... for the autonomous vehicles, much like the EV. If you don't have .... if you
don't have a network for EV charging stations, you're not gonna see many EV cars in the
community. Well I .... I think for the autonomous parking, you know, the issues you're
gonna run into are .... in a traditional gated system, it's not .... it can't work. Because how
do you ... how do you .... you know, unless you hook all those cars up with RFID readers
and you have that in your system to when that car pulls up your gate automatically raises.
So what you're lookin' at is providing either surface parking or ... or gate -less facilities in
order to accommodate that type of technology to make sure that they have access in and
out, and then .... what's your payment structure? How do you .... how do you handle,
because obviously the car .... as things evolve, goes to pick the person up, if. ... if that's
where we end up. Um, how do you .... how do you handle the ... the transaction at that
point to where .... how do they pay for the .... the spaces that they're utilizing, so I ... you
know, we haven't rea.... there's no ... not really been a solution to that, that has come up
even with our parking consultants that we have now. Um, there's really been
no .... technology that they've shown to us that, as a way to make those, the actual
payment structure viable. So I think really what you're looking at is a ... at some sort of
surface lot that's dedicated to .... to that type of technology.
Fruin/ One of the, um (both talking)
Dickens/ They'd have to ... they'd have to cover the cost though of that. I don't know that ... since
they're providing a different service that's out of the norm that there's gotta be some
higher cost to it.
Fruin/ One of the prevailing thoughts and .... and as .... as autonomous
vehicles.... become... become pre... prevalent is that you just won't need as many decks.
You may not need any decks. Um .... (both talking)
Throgmorton/ .,...keep moving around!
Fruin/ Yeah, people won't .... you won't have personal cars. You'll be sharing them, so the
number of cars goes down and, um ... so you .... you have to kind of think (mumbled)
short-term, how do you handle the transitionary period, but long-term, um, we may not
need as many decks as we have right now, and certainly we may not need to be requiring
the type of parking that we do in .... in developments that we do right now, which is kind
of exciting to think about. If you could fast forward 20 years, or maybe even 10 years, it
would be .... I think a very cool scenario to be in where we could think of getting rid of a
couple of those older decks on Burlington and think about redevelopment projects on
those, cause...the decks that you do need to keep for parking of those vehicles certainly
won't need to be in your highest rent districts. You know, they could be parked off..
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you know, any number of ways. So you could see complete repurposing of those decks
over time.
O'Brien/ I think another thing you're seeing too, not just with .... just in general with the different
modes of transportation that are being provided is less demand for parking... overall.
We've seen .... we've seen our waiting list continue over the last five years. I wouldn't
say plummet, but they've reduced it at quite a .... quite a steady pace, due to ... like our bike
sharing program. That'll have an impact on what we do cause I think a Zip car, I think
the more residences you see develop in the downtown, where you don't necessarily
maybe have to drive to your position. You .... you can walk or you can take a bike or use
scooters, mopeds, um, all of those things have had an impact, um, over these last 10 years
on the amount of parking that's available. Uh, you know we were originally going to
build on the site at Court and Linn where the Rise is, and we pushed that because... there
really wasn't a need for us to build anything at that point. Um, and until Harrison Street,
uh, the demand rose for that, we really didn't have anything else on the horizon that we
were planning to build.
Throgmorton/ Uh huh. Well I want to follow up on this just very briefly. I .... I don't want to
claim to be a big fan of, uh, electric powered autonomous vehicles drivin' all around by
themselves, uh, it might be a great idea but .... when I think about it, I ... I think it would be
wise to ... to have ... to perhaps be lookin' ahead and kind of considering possibilities and
how we might adapt and so on, but also I find myself thinkin' about our shovel -ready
industrial park and, you know, without having anything specific in mind, I found myself
wondering is there some way we could use that park in a way that would take advantage
of this coming technology, somehow blend `em together and ... I .... I can't go any farther
than that, cause I ... I don't know enough, but....
Mims/ Nice big parking lot! (laughter)
Fruin/ Well, and .... and I can tell ya in terms of economic development the angle there with the
National Driving Simulator at the University of Iowa, ICAD and... and, uh, the University
of Iowa are really trying to leverage our local assets to .... bring in, you know, software
companies and ... and companies that are focused in this space in hopes that we can build a
little bit of a .... a local economy around this emerging industry.
Throgmorton/ There's some potential there it seems to me. So ... anyhow, Chris, you need to
move on I guess. (laughter)
O'Brien/ Uh, moving on to the Transit, which is once again also an enterprise fund. Uh, six day
operation. We operate Monday through Saturday. Um, you know, I think one of the
things that we always try to outline is the, um ... the revenue for Transit. It comes from a
wide variety of sources. Um, the transit levy, um, which is obviously from property
taxes. That's probably the largest, the largest contributor that we have, which is around
$3.3 million I think is what we have in this year's budget. Uh, fare box revenues. We
have federal and state operating assistance that comes in. Uh, we get capital funding as
well from .... from federal and state levels to assist with replacement of vehicles. And
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then we have small little, you know, we have a 28E with University Heights, but a lot of
different funding... there's a lot of, for the Transit pot, a lot of different ingredients that
come into that, to make that ... that Transit system, um, a viable option. One of the items
that we ... we used to actually have an employee benefits levy piece to it as well, um, but
the Court Street Transportation funding made it so that we did not have to continue
funding that with the general, uh, that part of the general fund levies. Um, the last fare
box increases, uh, we had one in 2013 for fares. One prior to that was in 1997. So we've
kept a .... a very low-cost transit option for people to utilize. Uh, we have 27 buses, um,
very exciting — we have, uh, 11 buses that have already been ordered. Uh, those were 80
to 85% funded, um, replacing our 1997 fleet vehicles. So they've been on the road ... by
the time we get the buses they'll have been on the road for 21 years. Uh, by the time that
we actually get those replaced, and typically you have about a 12 to 15 year life is what
those are anticipated to have, so .... our maintenance staff does an amazing job in keeping
those going, cause we know that the funding for replacement just doesn't come as fast as
it needs to for those. Um, and then we have five light-duty vehicles, one of which I think
we'll get this month and the other four are about four or five months out, uh, to replace
our aging paratransit fleet vehicles as well. Um, 2018 just to put on your radar is the last
year of the paratransit agreement, um, so we had a five-year agreement and it's hard to
believe, but five years has already gone by. Well, four almost. So FYI is our last year
of that actual agreement, so we'll have to start, um, from everything that I've heard from,
uh, the paratransit director, I think this model that we currently have is something that
seems agreeable from their end, but that's something we're going to have to talk about
how we pursue that contract moving forward.
Throgmorton/ Chris, could you please repeat the numbers involved in the light-duty vehicles?
Five, four, you know, so I can hear it clearly.
O'Brien/ Yeah, so we have five that have been ordered already. One of which should ... we
should be taking delivery of this month. We ordered it a while back. Uh, we have four
others that should be here in the next four to five months. Um ... we haven't gotten any
actual delivery date on that yet, but that's typically what we see for those units.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
O'Brien/ Uh huh. And actually we had four that we just got two years ago, so really we'll....
we'll be at nine of our .... 12 that we had that will be replaced and upgraded. So that's...
uh, paratransit ... relocation of the facility. That's one of those, um, it's .... as you did the
tour of the Public Works, uh, site, which took you by the facility. We took you where the
projected site is for us, so I won't ... I won't hit on that too much. Uh, one of the biggest
areas of focus that ... that we're ... we're hitting is, uh, the transit route restructuring. Uh,
that was one that we had been working on. We had with some of the issues that had
arisen, uh, we're bringin' the Landfill in and some things we had to address there, as far
as regulatory issues, which, uh, I know that you're all aware of. That kind of was slid
back a little bit and is something that now we've .... we've pushed back to the forefront.
Uh, just a reminder, simplifying routes, rate structure we're lookin' at, operational hours,
starting earlier, ending later, uh, headways for routes — are they where they should be?
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Do we need to resources from ... from some routes and put them in other ones? And then
one of the things that's been .... that's come up recently that's, uh, it's exciting to think
about .... and whether we would just help coordinate it or whether we would, uh, provide
it. That ... that's still hanging out there, but .... um, and it's volunteer system, um, we
currently have one that we helped fund with ... with the help of Coralville, uh, that goes
through Elder Services that provides, uh, provides rides for, uh, medical appointments
who need not just door-to-door through paratransit, but need assistance. You know door -
through -door is kind of what we call it, and that may need to be present there through the
appointment. So that's a volunteer program that we helped fund with .... with federal
funds, but some discussions have come up about .... you know, getting people to and from
activities and events that, um, whether it's their parents work at night and they're not able
to get to it and they ..... they can't participate in sporting events or go to, um, activities
that the schools may .... but those types of...of transportation where they may not be able
to afford to Uber or cab, but some sort of volunteer system, and ... and you see there's
....things around the country that, uh, there's places around the country that offer these
types of services, but where it's a volunteer system where .... um, they're car... carpooling
from areas to different activities to make sure people have an opportunity to participate
that maybe didn't before, due to, uh, due to whether it's, like I said, employment costs,
things like that. So it's... exciting to think about. Any questions on Transit before I move
to .... Resource Management?
Throgmorton/ Where do we stand on the Mary Gravitt Memorial bus stops?
O'Brien/ Uh, if you're talking about the shelters, we've got $100,000 funded, and the RFP is in
process. Um, we have not subm... or we have not put it out yet, but we are ... trying to put
the finishing touches on that.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Thanks!
Frain/ One thing I wanted to point out in the Transit fund, um, if you look on 396, which is just
the general .... the fund summary of Transit, and go all the way to the bottom you'll see
our `unassigned balance' has .... has been growing pretty strong the past few years (noises
on mic) mentioned in my opening remarks that, you know, we've been building that
Transit, um ... uh, reserve so that we can be opportunistic if there is a grant, as we need to
relocate that station, but, um, we are producing a ... a fairly healthy surplus in Transit right
now and it is quickly adding to that reserve, um, just as .... so you know, you know, we
continue to recommend building that reserve, but I ... I feel you need to know there's a
surplus there and that surplus can, uh, be repurposed other ways too, whether it's
expanded service, and that's some things that ... that Chris and Mark are... are exploring,
but also reducing the Transit levy as well. There's lot of different things we can do. At
this point, our recommendation is continue to build, uh, the reserve levels, um .... uh, for
the eventual relocation of the Transit facility.
Cole/ Chris, we've been having this ongoing dialogue over the years about volume bir... versus
breadth of service for. Any update on maybe a pilot project, cause of course the concern
is is if you do a high-volume route, you risk maybe compromising service in other areas,
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and I understand it's a very tough call on your part, but is there any pilot maybe in some
of the higher density areas where we'd have more frequent service, or is that something
we're gonna (both talking)
O'Brien/ Yeah, that's.... that's one of the things we're talkin' about is .... is related to the
headway, how quickly you go in areas, and ... urn .... looking at .... you know, instead of
a .... a broad approach, do you do more focus to those areas that you .... and that's
something you'll see, that we'll bring to you as a part of this.
Cole/ Okay.
O'Brien/ Is a .... is a recommendation of:..or I guess I won't say recommendation as much as
what those things could look like if you were to do a system similar to that.
Cole/ Okay. Thanks!
O'Brien/ Um, so we talked about fund balances and ... and somethin' briefly, you know, we had
overseen Parking and Transit for .... for several years prior to the change, and had ... had
got them to a point where we're continuin' to build healthy balances in those two, and
I ... I think you'll see as we shift over to the Resource Management, not so much so in
those two as we, uh, while the Landfill looks like it has quite a .... quite a cash reserve, a
lot of that is set aside for things we have to maintain it for. Um, but we've spent a lot of
this last year and a half in just getting caught up on certain things. Uh, infrastructure, um,
whether that be ... infrastructure at the Landfill, whether it be, um .... vehicles, equipment.
We had two heavy equipment purchases that we made in this last year which I think ... I
know that Dennis had highlighted as far as, uh, some equipment needs that we satisfied,
which is why we saw our balance drop a little bit, uh, but we had to replace a compactor
and a bulldozer. That's about... over a million and a half to replace those two units. Um,
we have two more that are just as old as the two we just replaced. So, you know, we're
tryin' to keep pushin' those along to serve as reserves as we, um, so we can kind of get
some spread between when we replace these vehicles so it's not boom we get `em all at
once. But those are some other things that are hovering out there, um ... not to mention the
building replacements which we'll talk about when we talk about CIP, but, um, you
know, I think some of the things you're going to see because we really didn't have much
as far as rate increases outside of the parking, uh, permit, small increase, but ... uh,
obviously with the Solid Waste and, um, the Landfill, we're bringing forth some
suggested increases for that that, uh, I assume there'll be some questions on, so .... uh,
Solid Waste, and this is on page 442, I apologize. Um, five day operation, uh, operate
Monday through Friday. Uh, we have administration, refuse collection, uh, which is
roughly about 9,500 tons a year. Yard waste collection, which is about 1,700 tons a year.
Curb -side recycling, which is about 15.....little over 1,500 tons a year, and then bulky
items and white goods, which is around 2,800 items that we pick up a year. Um, we
currently have four refuse routes, five recycling routes, and we service about 15,600
households, uh, across the community. Um, one of the things you've heard me say a lot
of times, and this ties a lot in with what Doug was talking about with the STAR program
is waste minimization. Uh, it's been something that we've been in front of you several
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times on a lot of exciting programs. I think a lot of things that, um, you know, Jen Jordan
has put a lot of time and effort in and has been a .... a, um, a very good spokesperson for
and she's done a lot of work to get us to where we are today, but .... uh, curb -side
organics, which is something we were really just getting started on implementing that.
Um, you know we're starting on .... the minute that the Council passed that, we .... we,
instantly getting phone calls of people excited to participate in that program. Uh, single -
stream recycling, which is something that we're proposing to start this upcoming budget
year. Um, another thing that I think people are excited about, and we're certainly excited
about because we feel that with some of those steps, we can try to minimize the number
of things we're putting into the Landfill by offering more recycling options, um, moving
to carts, allowing people to ... you know, I think with the 18 -gallon bins that we have, I
think that there .... there might be opportunities where people get to the point and that's
full they don't know what to do with the rest of their recycling, and so we're .... for those
that recycle a lot, we want to offer options that are simple for them to do. Um, one of the
things that ... that I want to make sure we talk about is if single -stream is something that
the Council is still... stands behind as the direction we want to go, we have several
vehicles that are up for replacement that are the trough -style sorted vehicles that we need
to replace and, um, it's quite a .... about a six to eight-month turnaround on that. So if it's
something.... if we're .... if we're sure we're going that route, then that's something that
we need to go ahead and do, so that we can get those in, um, but once we make that
decision, it'd be tough for us to go back to sorting because of the .... the type of vehicle
that we would need for this type of a system. So, that's somethin' to keep in mind as we
go through this. Um, obviously the sooner we can order those, the sooner we can get
moving on this program too. Uh, we had mandated multi -family recycling. That's
something the University students have .... have talked about. It's somethin' the
community's talked about wanting to have for a while. We've really got no pushback at
all from the .... the landlords and the property owners on this project. I think it's more
just questions about, you know, helping them through the processes as those
opportunities arise, and as new developments come on they... it'll just be something that's
standard operating procedure for the City as we move forward. Uh, we've got bans, the
e -waste ban is already in effect. Took effect actually this week was the first time that it,
uh, that we implemented that. Uh, ban of cardboard, which is something that we propose
moving... moving on this coming year. Uh, plastic bags, this coming week we actually
have meetings with Walmart, Lucky's, Orschlein's, Hyvee.... I think that's what... Kmart,
yeah, we're still waiting on Kmart. We haven't heard yet, but we've got meetings set
with them to talk through the process. Um, get some feedback from them on anything
they might.... before we come through, come back to you with the actual full-fledged
plan. We wanted to reach out to those big stores who... will have a significant impact on,
and then we'll .... we'll kind of move down to the next tier, convenience stores, Fareway,
and then we'll get down into the local businesses. The Downtown District, we've been
keeping up to date, um, on what it is we're looking to do, so there's a lot of positive, uh,
policies. The tarp policy's in effect. The alley hauling regulation is something we're
almost done with. The next, uh, the final reading, we should be able to award that and
start moving on a ... on a reduction of dumpster units in the alleys. Uh, we talked about,
uh, Public Works Master Plan, once again, you went through the refuse facility. Uh,
obviously they're a part of that Public Works Master Plan. Um, is there any question at
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all before we get into the actual fee structure, because that's .... um, so the fee structure,
what we're proposing ... is a 20 -cent increase into the solid waste fee, um, to go from
11.80 to $12.00. Uh, a dollar increase in the recycling fee. Uh.... a $2.00 increase that
would be for organics and yard waste. Um, and then a $2.00 increase in what we charge
for pickup of electronic waste, urn .... I should .... I should mention, the recycling.... the
reason that we're proposing that is once you go single -stream, there's a higher cost for
processing those materials from our, um, currently it's Republic, um, and that's ... that
dollar increase is just to cover those cost of the additional processing fee that's included.
Uh, the $2.00 for organics, if you go and look at the yard waste program, uh, and refuse,
in prior years ... we .... we never met, we never covered the cost of that program with ... with
the fees that we ... we had. So this would be a way for us to cover those costs, of that
program. Uh, the electronic waste is just to cover, once again, we had an increase in
what it costs us to process those on our end, and so we had to raise the fee in order to
cover the costs, uh, of what that program is. Um, as far as a community comparison, um,
some of the .... some of the items that we have, urn ... so Coralville, they charge $20 .... so
the total fee would be $19.10 is what we would for .... for all the programs that we offer.
Um, under the proposal. Coralville is $20 and that's a $13 trash fee and a $7 container
fee. Uh, I don't believe they offer, uh, food waste, yard waste as a part of that. That
would be an additional, urn ... Cedar Rapids has a $16.34 solid waste and yard waste fee,
and a $4.68 recycling fee. So that's 21.02. Uh, Muscatine's $20. So, I mean, we're
kinda in that same ballpark, you know, we were down at $12, urn .... we're at 15.90, I
think is where we were before, uh, for all of our ... so it was time we felt for ... to look at
that structure and to put an increase in, so .... um, I don't know if there are any questions
on, um, on any of those, any of that proposed rate increase.
Mims/ Do we have anything .... in place for .... low-income people to apply for any kind of
reduction or waiver in any of these kinds of fees? I ... I just think of where my daughter
bought her house and there's a number of elderly, retired .... I know disabled veteran is
one of `em, and just thinking about how tight their finances are and....
Bockenstedt/ We do have a low-income discount program.
Mims/ Okay.
Bockenstedt/ And to the participation has been growing in that program. Incrementally we've
been promoting it, um, I think there's some issues currently with, at the State level, um,
however, those programs have been in place in Iowa City for some time now.
Mims/ Okay. Okay. Do....
Fruin/ We may come back before you as Dennis alluded to, there was a ... another city in Iowa
that, uh, through an audit process, uh, there was a determination that some sort of utility
discount program that they offered was .... was, urn ... not in conformance with State law,
and so that triggered us to ask some questions about our own program....
Mims/ Sure!
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Fruin/ ....and we're still waitin' to get that sorted out, but we may have to retool ours.
Mims/ Okay. All right, thank you.
Throgmorton/ Chris, do we have any knowledge about ... um, Republic's recycling facility? What
their plans are about moving out or stayin' there for years and years? Do you know?
O'Brien/ Yeah, I mean, Geoff and I actually met with them on multiple occasions
and.... urn... everything we've heard from them is yes, they want to stay in Iowa City. But
we don't know what that final .... what that final is, or what that date is. It sounds like they
were able to extend their lease with, uh, the owners of the former City Carton site. Um,
the Landfill is an option for them. Um, that's one of the discussions we've had. Uh, I
think they've.... they've talked about even .... you know, the industrial park is ..... is a
potential site as well. Um, but right now there's.... there's no definitive. It's.....it's an
ongoing discussion that we're having with them. Um .... and one that, you know,
hopefully we can wrap up here, uh, I would say here in the next few months. It's been an
ongoing.... ongoing discussion and like I said, Geoff s gotten involved in this recently,
SO.....
Fruin/ Their lease extends, as far we know, their lease extends through the end of 2019, on that
City Carton site. Um, they've indicated to us that they .... they don't see themselves there
long-term, that they'd like to work with us to relocate. As Chris mentioned, I think the
ideal location is the Landfill. If we could lease them space or ... uh, sell them, uh, space at
the Landfill, that's good for them and I think could be, um, good for us, but ... it's a big
corporate entity, and I think it's just taking some time for the locals to get the feedback
they need from corporate, and... and have those more detailed discussions with us, but I
think there's mutual interest to move off that site.
O'Brien/ Uh, the last piece we have is the Landfill and the East Side Recycling Center
operations. Those are all underneath the Landfill. Uh, that's a six-day operation, 7:00
A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Uh, last year was around 126,000 tons, uh.... of refuse was landfilled.
Uh, we compost around 4,000 tons. Uh, our, uh, hazardous waste program diverts about
60,000 tons. Uh, Rummage in the Ramp diverts about 25 tons, uh, in the .... in the few
weeks we do that. It's a great program. And we also process tires, appliances, electronic
waste, wood chips, light bulbs, uh, we do shingle recycling. I think we're around 2,000
tons that we've diverted since we began that program by, uh, by recycling... it's a
partnership we have with Pelling, and we're regulated by the EPA and the DNR, uh, so
we have two regulatory agencies that over ... oversee the Landfill. Uh, some of the
highlights, once again, waste minimization. You're going to hear me say it again, it's
been something we've been preaching, um, and a lot of it is to try to have fewer things
going into the landfill, and there's a lot of reasons to do that. Uh, one is, if those
materials can be utilized in another way, you might as well reuse it. Um, but, you know,
from a financial standpoint, um, not having to continue to build cells, um,
there's.... there's some benefits there. The infrastructure that comes along once your cells
start to evolve, uh, we just had a one point.... probably around.... little over a million
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dollar gas expansion project that we just had to do with, um, that is in the older part of
our Landfill, the parts that we're not actually filling in any more. Um, and then some of
it, I guess, is .... is still part of the new but ... you know, that's a million dollars we just
invested in infrastructure, um, that we're gonna have to continue to do as we continue to
build and build up, um, we'll have additional expansion of that gas system that we have
to, um, have to continue to invest in. Um, we have some equipment replacement coming
up. Um .... one of the projects we have coming up is surveillance cameras that we're
going to have on our land .... landfill that are going to be infrared, uh, that can help see
subsurface. If you start seeing temperature increases, uh, around certain parts of your
landfill or in your active filling area, to ... to give you early warning signs of what could
potentially be a fire or .... so that we can react quicker, um, and they'll then send alerts out
if it starts seein' things get down to that temperature range. Uh, we have a fire event plan
that we're workin' on with our consultant, uh, as well as the Fire Department, who's
participating, um, so that we're all on the same page should there ever be even small
events that we know what the command structure is. We know, uh, what the, um ... we
know what the procedures are, and I think just to give a general education as to what the
Landfill is ... is for fire department, not only ours but for the surrounding communities
when they respond to a fire on site. Um, we're looking at changing our fill method, to go
to more of...we're calling it a flat or a pancake fill method. Um ... you'll see one of the
items in our .... in our CIP that will help us get in that direction. And the systems that
have gone to that have seen about a 30%....I say a minimum 30% increase in their
compaction rate, which once again that extends the life of cells, allows you to hold off
on .... on construction, um, and then we did propose some fee changes for the Landfill as
well. Uh, tires was one that we proposed, and that was an increase, uh, from 7 -cents a
pound to 15 -cents a pound. Part of that was we actually were losing money on that
because we were getting charged 9 1/4 a pound for the last couple years, um ... by moving
it up to 15 -cents, that helps cover the cost of just processing, as well as the labor involved
that we have in processing those .... those tires as well. Uh, and electronic waste, and
once again, that .... we talked about that for the refuse side. For when they pick it up.
Well, it ends up at the Landfill and that's where we pay the processing fee. So to cov...
in order to cover our processing fee for TVs and monitors, we have a $2.00 increase at
the Landfill, and then a $1.00 increase for small electronics, to ... to cover the cost of, that
we pay in recycling those and .... and repurposing those units. Uh, the tarp fee, which
is .... we have a $50.00, um, fee that we ... that we're going to have at the Landfill for
vehicles that aren't tarped or secured. Um, and then we .... we also proposed a change to
our minimums, uh, so in prior years, in the least couple years, um, we're not changing the
per ton fee. So if somebody comes in, you know, your heavy haulers come in with ... with
truckloads full, that's not changing. What's changing are the minimums, where we
would, uh, it was at $3.25 or $3.50 for the minimum, which was about 140 pounds.
We're changing that to $6.50, uh, the proposal is $6.50 for Iowa City residents, $7.00 for
County. That's for cars, SUVs, and mini -vans, and $10.50 and $11.50 for pickups,
service vans, uh, and vehicles that might have trailers, and just so you know what other
communities have, for example, uh, Cedar Rapids it's $5.00 for cars, $15 for SUVs,
pickups, trucks, uh, Dubuque it's $15.00 minimum for everything. Uh, Des Moines
metro, uh, it's $8.00 and $18.00. Blackhawk County was 9 and 9. Uh, Scott County was
8 and 25. So .... we're still way .... well below what a lot of those other communities have
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for their minimums. Um .... and so that's another fee that we have proposed in this ... this
coming budget for Landfill.
Throgmorton/ You're way ahead of time!
O'Brien/ We are ahead! So any questions on any of our proposed budgets?
Mims/ I do on the tarp policy.
O'Brien/ Yep!
Mims/ I mean exactly ... is that only applying to a load that comes in that has stuff that would
potentially blow out, or is it anything?
O'Brien/ Yeah, we refer to it as a `securement,' that it has to be secured. So it could be a .... if
you have a piece of furniture and it could be strapped down or....
Mims/ Okay.
O'Brien/ So we're callin' it more of a `securement.'
Mims/ Okay.
O'Brien/ Um, is how we proposed it when we came to, uh, to get that passed.
Mims/ Okay.
O'Brien/ So that, yeah, if somebody has a piece of furniture, something that won't blow out,
putting a tarp over that probably won't do much, but securing it to make sure it can't...
Mims/ Fall out, right.
O'Brien/ ...fall out (both talking) so we...'securement' was the word that we used.
Mims/ (mumbled)
Fruin/ There's an educational transition period here too. You're not going to just (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...dropping hammers on people. We'll be .... we'll be warning people for an extended
period of time before we start issuing any (both talking)
Mims/ Just wanted to know if I came in I was going to get ticketed, so (laughter and several
talking)
Botchway/ ...stern talking to's, I just want to say, uh, thank you to, uh, not to y'all but to ... to, uh,
some of your employees. Um, I got a stern talking to, um, in relation to parking in a
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commercial zone, and um, also, uh (several talking) and, um, also when I was leaving a
parking ramp, um, my ticket wasn't workin' and so, you know, it was just ... I don't think
you're doing anything wrong from a culture standpoint, but it just seemed like they were
really respectful, um, of a, not only my time, but um, also just you know helping out, so
instead of you know giving me a ticket or, you know, begrudgingly `I can't believe I have
to get out in this cold weather and help you,' it just seemed like it was a really amazing
thing that they were able to, you know, do it without (mumbled) part of my job.
O'Brien/ Yeah, I mean I think customer service, it's the people you hire, and I think it's.... it's
been, you know, across the city in general, customer service is very important and, uh, I
think the employees understand that and.... and you know it's a good group of people
who work for the City, um, so I ... I think that goes to just the general culture of what you
see, uh, across Iowa City. But thank you! I was a little worried when you said stern
talking to as to what was coming (laughter and several talking)
Throgmorton/ Okay, anything else?
Mims/ Thank you, Chris.
Throgmorton/ Thank you, Chris! Thank you, Mark, for comin' as well. (several talking)
Fruin/ Want a little break?
Throgmorton/ We're gonna take a break, uh, Ron. Yeah, I don't know, five minutes. Six, seven
minutes, I don't know.
(BREAK)
Public Works:
Knoche/ Good afternoon. Um, you know in the Public Works department we have, uh, seven
different operations using four different funding types and they're organized in six kind
of divisions. Um, obviously you can see that up on the board, uh, we have, you know,
five divisions, the sixth division bein' the .... the administration group. Um, on page 59 in
the budget book is the department summary. Um, you know, I think the one thing that...
that we know from a .... from a department is that, you know, we impact, our community,
um, members and visitors every day. You know, whether it's snow plowing or at a
minimum if they're drinking our water or ... or going to the bathroom, um, those are the
things that .... that, you know, we take that .... we don't take that lightly. Um, and our
staff s available 24/7 to respond to any issues that we do have. Um, you know, whether it
be a signal out or it be a natural disaster, and uh, luckily in my tenure as Public Works
Director we haven't had a disaster yet, but uh.... (laughter) I'm sure my time is comin',
knock on wood (laughter) urn .... and, uh, so in that department summary, uh, you'll find
that we do have a proposed increased of two FTEs. Um, and that is in the Streets division
and we'll .... we'll talk about that, uh, here in a minute. Um, going on to page 287, which
is the administration budget. Um, you know, this is, uh, out of the general fund. Um,
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you know, we .... we continue to focus on the development of our management, uh, team.
Uh, I give them the support and direction where necessary, um, and .... and I .... I'm
fortunate to have the group of folks that ... that I work with. Um, we've put together a
really good team, uh, for our divisional management, and are truly fortunate to be able to
support their efforts. Um, in the admin we also are.... the.... the, kind of the big thing
we're workin' on right now is the change in the sidewalk cafes, uh, especially in the
Washington Street area, and uh, as we move forward with those renewals, uh, Kim is,
Kim Sandberg who oversees that is, um, you know, bringing that up to folks and we're
getting some good feedback and we're getting, uh, other ones that I think, uh, the .... the
biggest concern we have is folks want to bolt their, uh, fences down to the concrete and
not, uh, not have them be floating right now, but uh, we'll deal with those as they come
forward. Um, in the Engineering division, that's on page 290, um, that's also out of the
general fund. Um, and then we also, uh, work through a charge -back system to our
capital program. Um, we, uh... you know, in the FY 17 budget, uh, we did see an increase
in four FTE in this ... in this division. Um, that was due to a change in where we charge
out our special project folks. So we .... we brought them actually into the division, um,
and so that's where you saw that FTE increase there. Um, you know, we do bill out our
staff time to our projects, uh, inspectors, engineers, um, that are involved in those
projects, uh, and we bill that back through project time. Um .... obviously we continue to
support a very large capital program, and uh, also a very active private development, uh,
construction program in our community, and uh, it's, uh, we're .... we're managing. It's
trying at times, but we are managing to ... to deal with that. Um, in the FYI 7, in this
current budget year, uh, we also, uh, had a shift in kind of where our temporary staffing
was at. We had, uh, a temporary employee down at Streets that was kind of, uh, helping
office staff there. We actually moved that employee up to the Engineering division. Um,
and then (mumbled) with another half-time person, so we have a full-time front desk
person which we didn't have until this year. Um, and so we ... we've been (mumbled) and
then what happens is when the Streets division goes home, uh, that .... their phones roll
over to the Engineering phones, and so we have, uh, people answering phones up here
and dealing with those questions that come up. Um .... it's, uh, it's worked very well, and
obviously it's .... it's given us a little bit of office support, uh, that we didn't have, uh, last
year, uh, as we move forward. Um .... page 312 is the Streets division. Uh, we, uh, that is
a special revenue fund, obviously road use tax, uh, is ... is where that, uh, funding source
is. Um, you know, in this budget we are proposing the addition of two maintenance
worker I's, um, and also the purchase of a .... a truck or a ... a plow truck, uh, to add a .... a
13th snow route, urn .... this will allow for the addition of the snow route. Also allow for
an increased effort in pavement maintenance. Um, and then also everything else that
goes with that. So we, um, have a .... a more concerted effort with ... with leaf pickup
and ... and all those things that go along with that. Um .... also will, uh, allow us to address,
uh... uh, from the maintenance standpoint of...of our complete streets, uh, as we move
forward, um, an increased effort in the bike lanes in those areas that, uh, we do have
complaints, um, and just get to those issues. You know, our .... right now our policy is,
uh, basically same day we get a complaint on a pothole we're out lookin' at it. We get it
addressed pretty much, 90% of the time, same day, uh, but, if we do have to do some
more ... if it's a different method of ...of, uh, repair than what we are suited for right at
that time, it could ... it could take a week or if it's somethin' that's minor but .... needs to be
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repaired, we'll get it in the pavement maintenance program, which could take a year or
two as far as the roll around comes around for an overlay or .... or a patching project. Um,
obviously with the road use tax increase, uh.... uh, it's .... it's allowed us to, um, have an
increased effort in our ... in our, both from our staff and from our, uh, contracted staff to
deal with our pavement maintenance. And as we move forward there, um, also, uh, we're
lookin' at some of that increased to help fund a Public Works facility, which, uh, we'll
talk about on Tuesday. Um, 2016 leaf collection season, uh, we changed the way we
operate a little bit. Uh, in the past we had put out a map that had dates on it. Um, after
the first week, we never met those dates (laughter) so this year we did have the first week
where it started at and then we updated kind of daily as we worked our way through.
Um, it was, there again, a mixed bag of, you know, comments, complaints, um, but, you
know, what we were able to do this year was make four .... a full fourth round, all the way
through, uh, which is somethin' that we hadn't done in the past. So, um, we,
uh... we .... we really, uh, went after it, um, I think the .... the realistic timeline that they
gave folks in regards to getting their leaves out to the curb helped a lot, and uh, I think
we'll continue to move forward in that direction, uh, as .... as we .... as we go on into the
next year's season. Um, we have five leaf vacs that we work with. We kind of have... in
the past we just worked four crews, or four teams, with the fifth kinda being that backup
leaf vac. Um, as we add, uh, a couple more employees, or if it's approved, we will then
be able to use that fifth vac and basically run five teams, uh, you know, five days a week,
six days a week depending on how.....how it works out for us in ... in that program. Um,
with our .... with our team that we've had in the Streets division, we've had some
challenges. We've had some injuries. Um, some long-term injuries that have had some
folks out. Um, and .... uh, it .... what we've really had to do is rely on other divisions and
departments to help us out, especially this time of year when we have, uh, on-call staff,
when we, you know, if we have a snow event come up. We've had a couple routes that
we've .... we've had to backfill with, uh, other divisions. It's worked out very well, um,
but it just, uh, it's just one of those challenges that we do come across, uh, over these last
two years and....
Throgmorton/ Ron ... Ron, is that a result of swingin' the .... the (laughter)
Knoche/ No, urn .... it ... it, actually that wasn't the injury. We had a ... we ... shoulders are what we
kind of run across, as far as the injuries that we do have in our division. We had
a .... we've had a couple knees also. Unt .... and .... uh, we did have, uh, one of the
shoulders was from slippin' on a truck. So, um, it .... part of it is repetitive I suppose, but,
uh, it's, uh.....uh, you know I think, uh, and .... and part of it too is we have an aging
workforce and, uh, that, uh, you know, they've been with us for quite a while and, you
know, it's just that repetitive piece that gets to `em. So .... um .... so, uh.....take a step
back, in regards to leaf program this year we had 581 loads picked up, uh, little bit over
half of those loads went out to the Landfill, and then, uh, the .... the remaining loads either
went to farms, uh, or were taken to our, uh, City garden plots and were used for fertilizer
there, so.... Um, and that's.... about average for us as far as leaf pickup, uh, in regards to
a year. Any questions on the Street division? All right, uh, we have page 405 is the
Water division. Um, that is a business activity. Uh, I'm sorry, Waste Water division,
405, is .... is a business activity. Um .... we, uh.... we were visited by the EPA this year,
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um, you know, there again they... they... really did not have any concerns with how we
operate. Um, we had to ... we'd updated our, uh, started the process for updating our waste
water ordinance and that, uh, was one of the comments that they did have when they
stopped in. Uh, the other thing that we'll be doing, uh, this year, um, is, uh, doing a
survey of our industrial users to get a better understanding of...of what, uh, what their,
um, waste is comprised of as it's being delivered to us down at our plant. Um ... one of the
challenges that we are facing right now in regards to the Waste Water is, uh, as we've
moved to the biological nutrient removal, uh, at our new .... in our new process, um, we
have a .... a byproduct bein..... being created, uh, called struvite and basically it's .... it's a
compound that has phosphorous in it. Um, what happens is that collects inside the pipes
and so, uh, it starts gummin' up some of the pipes and gumming up some of the, uh,
pieces of equipment that we have, and so, um, we do have a project in the capital
program, uh, to help address that, but uh, what, uh, what we're tryin' to do is figure out in
the short-term how we can deal with this and not, uh, and not have it, uh, become a major
problem for us. Um, and then the other thing that we're also working through at the
plant, and there again, in our capital program there is some ... some projects that are kind
of some deferred maintenance that's gone on. You know we have a ... a new plant,
unfortunately, but uh, it ...we have a lot of pieces of equipment that are aging, um, just
due to when they were actually brought into the process, uh, over the years. So, um, we,
uh, with ... with the new, uh, the new management team on, uh, and the new staff that ... in
the various pieces there, they're really workin' through and figuring out what that
maintenance plan is and, um, getting us back on track in regards to ... to what we have
deferred over the ... over the past years. Anything in regards to Waste Water? All right,
the Water division, uh, page 423. Um, you know, uh, one of the things we're seeing with
our Water division, our main breaks continue to trend down, which is a ... which is a great
thing for us. Um, what that's, uh, what we've done with our distribution staffing is we've
kind of refocused on to deal more with the maintenance, um, of the system. Uh, we've
pretty much gone away from them doing any installation on their own. Um, so we've
been contracting that out, but I think those, uh, efforts that we've had in ... in maintaining
the system, whether it be out operating hydrants, operating valves, um, we have a .... a
pretty, a robust, uh, system where we come in and we do some sound listening to the
system to find out where we have leaks. Um, I think that's really helped us in regards to
our main breaks in ... in .... in that, uh, in that situation, you know, in those situations that
do come up. Um .... uh, we're .... we're still producin' about 5.3 million gallons a day.
Um, you know, the cost for a gallon of water is a penny. So, you know, I don't know if
there's anything we can get for a penny anymore, but uh, but that's.... that's what ... that's
what, uh, that's what it's costing us to ... to, in our system. Um, our water, um,
consumption is kind of trending down. It's ... it's staying kinda average, but I think, uh,
what we're.... what we're finding is we have a reduction in that .... in that unmetered loss.
So, you know, as we go through and we find the .... the leaks that aren't bubblin' up to the
surface, but are still there, um, I think, uh, we'll.... we'll probably see that consumption
kinda go down a little bit in regards to number of, uh, gallons that we're pumping to what
we're actually, um, you know, seeing used at the ... at the tap. Um, you know, one of the
concerns that I think is out there is, um, what's occurred in Flint, Michigan and ... what
impacts those will have on water, uh, quality and .... and water production, uh, in the
future. Um ... you know, I think ... our, you know, we went through a process, you know,
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you can argue, uh, why Flint, Michigan happened and work through those things. Um, a
lot of it was just they're... they're switchin' their source water, and um, we went through a
very similar thing, uh, 13 years ago when we opened up our new plant, where we were
changing kind of our source water, changing the way our system flowed, and uh,
we .... uh, worked very hard to make sure that we didn't have issues, um, and .... and
because of the process that we went through, uh, EPA and DNR has .... has come into our
plant just to kind of walk through how we did that. So, um, you know, I think, uh,
it's .... it says a lot for our division, um, and it also says a lot that, uh, we're being
recognized, you know, by those folks, and ... and how we've actually brought our plant on.
So, um, I'm .... I think our ... as we move forward, I think there ... there will be some knee-
jerk reaction that'll occur as far as some legislation that'll occur, but, uh... um, we'll deal
with it as it happens, so....
Mims/ Ron, what, I mean given the age of some of the housing stock in Iowa City, what do we
know or how would individual homeowners know if they have like pipes that include
lead or anything, you know, from the City service to their house or inside their house.
Knoche/ You know, um, what we can do is go back to the tap cards and see kind of what, you
know, when those taps were made, and .... and we can get an idea of...of what material
was used, uh, in the system. Um, and that ... that's actually a, one of the things that we've
been discussin' at the ... at the division is, um, do we need to be looking at, uh, a
policy/process to ... to upgrade those lead services as we move forward. You know, we're
not seeing an issue, uh, as far as, uh, when we ... you know, we .... we, uh, take samples in
homes as a part of our regular testing process.
Mims/ Okay.
Knoche/ And so we're not seeing an issue with lead, um, but you know, depending on your
fixtures, um, depending on, you know, the age of the fixtures, you know, there may be
some of those issues that come up. Um, but you know, I think we have a limited number
that are out there. Limited just being we have an idea of where they're at.
Mims/ Okay.
Knoche/ Um, and so, uh, we will be looking at the potential of bringing a policy forward that,
um, you know, maybe the potential of havin' to replace the service as, um, homes are
sold potentially, maybe not that drastic, but at least a .... a full replacement of a service if
they do have a break, um, an issue within the service itself. A lot of times, um, they're
just doin' a repair on those. They're not replacing it all the way back to the house.
So....
Mims/ Is there any ... way from a ... from a .... um, publicity standpoint of. ... like you said, you ... you
have an idea of houses and when they were built and that sort of stuff and the materials
that were used in certain timeframes that they might have those lead fixtures. Is there a
way that the City could do any kind of a publicity thing, cause I think so many people are
aware of water issues because of the publicity that Flint has gotten, that we could, you
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know, suggest, recommend to people that either.... either targeting by geography and
within the city, cause we have an idea, and/or just publicity of saying, look, if your house
was built in this timeframe, you know, you ought to be looking at whether your water
lines and stuff have ever been replaced. We can help or .... I'd just be interested in seeing
what we might be able to do in that regard to make people a little bit more aware
that ... that might be susceptible, particularly families with young children.
Knoche/ Yes. I think that we have the ability to ... to develop some GIS maps, and .... and you
know put those out there on the web site, and that's one of the discussions that, uh, our
assistant superintendent has been looking at, and trying to figure out how we can address
that, but I think we definitely can, at least provide the information, um, and ... and, to the
point where they can ask the question and start doin' the research on their own.
Mims/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, on that point, Susan, I ... I used to own a 1891 house on North Linn Street.
And I had to replace, uh, the water line coming from the street....
Mims/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ ....to the house.....
Mims/ Right.
Throgmorton/ And ... I got some advice about extending that replacement all the way to the water
heater.
Mims/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ But the rest of the piping in the house was still lead.
Mims/ Right.
Throgmorton/ But I don't know about the pipes outside the house. You know, I.,..do you have a
sense of whether any of those pipes are lead surfaced pipes or if so, how many and where
they are?
Knoche/ From (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ... the .... that are owned and operated by the City. Not ones that are inside, uh, a
house.
Knoche/ I'm .... I'm not aware of any .... any lead piping that we have that would be in our
system. I can definitely find out. I can find that question out, but I ... I think, you know,
where we're at, you know, we're .... we're either dealing with cast, uh, or (mumbled)pipe
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or PVC pipe, but uh, even our ... our oldest mains that we have are ... are cast iron pipe.
They're... so there wouldn't be any lead involved in that.
Mims/ Okay.
Thomas/ So it's only on .... it's only on the domestic side (both talking)
Knoche/ ...domestic side, yep. And it could be before the meter. It's basically... the domestic
side from the tap, at the main, uh, back into the property.
Thomas/ Uh huh.
Knoche/ Any other questions with the Water division? Great! Um, Storm Water Management's
the next, uh, the next operating group, and that starts on page 475. Um, that is a business
activity. It is managed, uh, in our, uh, Engineering division. Um, we ... we had some
staffing ... in regards to Waste Water and ... and Storm Water, we were funding some of our
staff in the Waste Water division out of the Storm Water Management. We've just, uh,
we've moved them back 100% to the Waste Water, um, division. Uh, we had, uh, in the
FYI 6, we had a record number of, uh, storm water quality (can't hear) and creek
maintenance projects. That was 30. Um, and we are ... urn, in ... in those non -disaster
years, our volunteer efforts continue to rise, uh, we have, uh, in .... the last calendar year
we had about 2,000 hours of volunteer effort that went on, uh, with the way the FEMA
values that, it's about $35,000 worth of, uh... uh, volunteer effort that we had in our
community. Um .... we, uh, we continue to, urn .... meet our, um, annual permitting
requirements and do those reporting, uh, pieces that have to go on for the MS4 permit
that we have, uh, for our community. Um, and, uh, we're ... we're continuin' to look at
various, um, types of, uh, efforts, um, to ... to either, uh, obviously to deal with our
requirements that we have as far as in the system, um, the intakes and the outlets, uh, into
the creeks and the creeks themselves. Um, but also looking at ways that we can maybe
help, uh, some in, uh, in the homeowner associations where they're dealing with the, uh,
storm water management basins, um, where we've .... we have pipe that go in and go out
of, but we don't necessarily own the .... the property itself, and figurin' out ways that we
can work with them on those. Any questions on Storm Water?
Thomas/ Uh, Ron, one ... one thought I'm having on that is .... being on the board for Hickory Hill
Park, some of the storm water does come through, uh, Hickory Hill, and you know, we
are seeing increased development up on North Dodge there. Do you.....do you look at
the .... the creeks running through Hickory Hill Park in terms of whether that increased
level of storm water flow is .... undermining any of the creeks?
Knoche/ Yeah, we ... um, we have been .... been looking at those things. I think the thing to keep
in mind is, uh, in, uh, in Hickory Hill Park, it is a storm water management basin that,
you know, we actually have a basin there that .... that does, um, service, uh, that basically
everything upstream of that, in regards to storm water management. So in a new
development if they have the ability, um, basically to get the water, to get their water to
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Ralston Creek, um, then... they... they, it offsets their storm water management
requirement.
Thomas/ Right.
Knoche/ Um, so .... um, but they have to be able to ... to get it to the creek and .... and not flood
anybody else in the process, so we do have, uh, some newer developments that do occur
up there that ... that have storm water management that goes along with that. Um, but we
have been, uh, looking at those creeks and, um, we, uh.... we have, in our storm water
group, we have some interns that are going out, um, every year and walking the creeks
and identifying where there's issues at. Um, it's not all the creeks, but .... they pick one
water shed each year and do that, so we are monitoring those things.
Thomas/ Okay.
Cole/ Ron, along those lines, you know, storm water's a pretty esoteric topic. Um, but there are
advocates on storm water and I've actually gotten some feedback on that that we should
do more bioswales, for example, as opposed to piping the storm water. Is that on the
horizon at all, and if so, is that a budget issue that we'd need more resources? I think, for
example of what Hancher has done with their bioswales, and I know Coralville's done a
lot of those. Is that just sort of one of those fads or is that something maybe that we do
see ourselves going forward (both talking)
Knoche/ I .... I think that what we're trying to figure out is ... is what is the maintenance
requirement that comes along with those features.
Cole/ Okay.
Knoche/ Um, you know, I think we are, um, willing to ... to look at those in a storm water
management type of, um, process, so if they want to downsize a detention basin because
they're providing, um, those types of features on their private property, I ... I think that
we're willing to look at those. Um, but when they're out in the public right-of-way, um,
it .... and the maintenance then falls back on the City, we're tryin' to figure out exactly
what that's gonna entail.
Cole/ Okay. Thanks, Ron.
Knoche/ Uh huh. All right! Uh, last division is the Equipment division. That's page 611. Uh,
obviously the Equipment division is a ... is an internal service fund. Um, you know, really
nothing new or different, uh, in regards to ... to this budget. Um, you know, we have gone
through ... now we have our replacement, uh, fund fully funded. Um, you know, uh, the...
the support that, uh... um, the Equipment division is giving obviously is in regards to, you
know, the equipment and the fuel, and they also deal with all the underground storage
tanks that we do have. If we have a ... if we find one in the right-of-way, uh, Dan (can't
hear) gets a phone call and he starts, uh, contactin' folks to get those tanks removed for
us. Um, the ... in this budget we're lookin' at, uh, about 245,000 gallons of gas, 355,000
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gallons of diesel, um, he's budgeted at 2.10 and 2.35 a gallon for those. Um, that's ... you
know, obviously the price of fuel fluctuates so much it's hard to ... to really keep track of
those numbers. Uh, right now on the average, uh, for our FY 17, uh, year, uh, we're
lookin' at about $1.44 a gallon for....for gas, and about $1.56 a gallon for diesel. So, um,
we're .... we're a little bit higher on the budget on those. About a third of the fuel that we
do purchase, um, is resold to the Iowa City Community School District and to Johnson
County. Um, so, um, we do have the, you know, and that's with the school buses that are
fillin' up down there at our Public Works yard. So.... Um.....that's about all I have on
the Equipment division. Any questions?
Dickens/ Do we charge them more? (laughter)
Knoche/ We ... we do. We mark it up. Um, just for our time, and then also the .... the cost
recovery on the fuel facility.
Dickens/ Add a little more on there!
Mims/ Make up for the Senior Center! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Feel like there are questions we should ask. I don't know what they are!
Mims/ You know I ... well .... I'm not sure this is any different than the rest of the divisions in the
City. These are so well run. I mean, we have such good people, and .... you know, good
transition, I mean, I don't know how many years Ron waited for this position till Rick
Fosse finally got out of your way (laughs) so .... so we've just, you know, we've just had a
real good depth of people and .... um, you know, it's like Chris said earlier, good customer
service, people doin' a great job, and .... that makes our life a whole lot easier. We focus
on the bigger policy issues and these folks just do their job and keep the city running
really well for us.
Cole/ I haven't gotten pothole complaints, and I'm assuming that's cause you guys do such a
good job, I mean, that's one of those nuts and bolts things...
Mims/ ...we just got emailed the other day (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ So yeah, Rick Fosse got out of the way, right, but I ran into him down on
Washington Street, walking around with Chuck Schmedike, and they were, you know,
hobnobbing or whatever (mumbled) how well things are being done or what was being
done badly or whatever, you know. I don't know, you can't.... there's a saying about this.
Dickens/ You can't take the engineer out of (several talking)
Throgmorton/ ...take the engineer out of the engineer, there ya go! That works!
Fruin/ Ron'll be leadin' the show on Tuesday with our CIP. There'll be a collection of staff
presenting, but you'll get another crack at him. (several talking)
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Throgmorton/ Okay, I don't hear any other questions. (several talking)
Dickens/ That was only 21 minutes! (laughter and several talking)
Knoche/ I ran over, sorry! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Want to do you and...
Fruin/ Dennis, why don't you jump in and do the Finance budget. We'll end with, uh, Simon
and Ashley doing the City Manager's budget. And of course your budget too!
Mims/ That's (laughter)
Fruin/ I've got a lot of questions for you all! (laughter)
Thomas/ What's our pay raise again?
Mims/ We're doing a retreat in Hawaii, aren't we? (laughter)
Dickens/ I'd settle for a beer allowance! (laughter)
Finance:
Bockenstedt/ That's a very busy chart up there. (several talking in background) I don't have that
much to talk about really. Um, you know our department has six major divisions. Um,
there's the administration division, and that's three of us — Me, Nick, and Cindy. And
really that's the manag... primarily the management of the budget. The health and dental
reserves. Uh, the employee benefits programs, um, and also we deal with, uh, the banking
investments. Um, one of the programs we're workin' with the University of Iowa right
now is to develop an internal audit program, and a lot of that has gone hand-in-hand in
the last few years we've spent a lot of time and effort developing, uh, a complete set of
policies and procedures for City functions and operations, and ... and financial operations,
and so, uh, the next step is to develop an internal audit program to help oversee
and .... and update and ... and educate on those programs. Um, another major division we
have is our accounting function, and they produce the City's annual financial report, and
the annual audit. They also do payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and other
basic accounting functions. And there is eight individuals in that department. Um, and
they're in the basement! Uh, the third major division that we have is our purchasing,
central service division. Uh, comprised of four individuals. Uh, their primary function is
to do, uh, requests for bids, requests for proposals, uh, and bid different services. They
also manage the ... the copier and copier replacement, uh, they do all the postage, uh,
citywide and the mail, and they also manage the, uh, radio, um, along with the Equipment
division, uh, the radio programs. Uh, utility billing is our fourth division and that's our
revenue function. They handle all of the utility bills, so .... all the discussion today about,
um, the water, uh, waste water, refuse — all those bills that .... that everybody gets every
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month, they manage, uh, sending those out, collecting all the revenue, and workin' with
all the customers to .... to start and stop service.
Mims/ What percentage of utility bills are paid automatically?
Bockenstedt/ Not enough (laughs)
Mims/ I was going to say, you know, unless I stop and make an effort, I never have a clue what
I'm paying cause it just comes out of my checking account automatically. I mean I know
ballpark what it is so I have that figured in, but .... I mean, it's just so nice not to have to
write those checks out. I just...
Bockenstedt/ It is but there.... there's a lot of individuals that ... that do not like giving the City
their bank account information.
Mims/ Yep!
Bockenstedt/ And so, urn .... it would be nice if we had a higher percentage of participation in that
area, and one of the things that we've seen a .... a large, uh, growth in in the last couple
years is our .... our credit card piece .... have grown significantly and ... part of that is, you
know, we've done more, uh, through the telephone system and through online to accept
those payments, and so as we make it easier for them to make credit card payments, you
know, our costs in relation to that continue to ... to grow significantly. Um, and it's hard to
provide incentives for people to .... to set those automatic payments, but that would be
nice to achieve a higher percentage in that ... in that area.
Mims/ This might be really, really small percentage of the people. But it might be some of your
millennials. Um, things like Paypal.... not Paypal, um, like ... uh, Apple pay, and I don't
know if the Android... systems have the same kind of thing, but my understanding is with
those you're not actually even giving your credit card information to the vendor. It stays
within just that application. So I don't know if that gives anybody a little more sense of
security but probably the people who don't want to give the City their cr... their bank
account information probably aren't going to use those kinds of technology (laughs)
either.
Bockenstedt/ I think there's a variety of reasons, cause people can set up those credit card
automatic payments, um, I think rewards cards have become more and more popular,
where people that normally would have written a check or paid some other way can now
use their credit card and then they get a .... a rebate back from their credit card company.
So actually making money on ... on, you know, on paying that way and so there's probably
a variety of different reasons why people are doing that, and then there may be some
more people who, um, cannot afford to write a check that are using credit cards and
running those .... (both talking) their credit card and unfortunately that's not .... that's not a
good way of doing it, uh, but there is probably a portion of the people that are ... are doing
it that way as well.
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Mims/ So if we ... if they pay by credit card, are we charging them a surcharge to cover our
costs... for the credit card processing?
Bockenstedt/ We do not. It's something we've discussed. There are rules, um ... that the...that the
credit card companies have, like for Visa at the counter will not allow you to charge a
fee. Or you cannot take Visa. Um, you can do a .... an online fee, a convenience charge
on ... for web services. That is allowed. Um, and there's certain types of fees you can and
cannot do. Um, it's something we've discussed because of the (mumbled) growing costs,
um, but what we don't really want to do is ... is force people to come back into the office
to pay.
Mims/ Right.
Bockenstedt/ I mean we would prefer that they would sign up for auto pay or do their online
banking or something that's, you know, more automated versus....
Mims/ Yeah!
Bockenstedt/ ....deciding to come into the office and ... and pay that way, which just shifts that
cost into another manner. So .... um, our fifth division is our Information Technology, uh,
division. Um, and they really do all the .... a wide variety of electronics from the ... the
servers to the fiber optic, and other network systems, telephones. They have
programmers. They do all the PCs, tablets, settin' up people's phones for email and ... and
a whole host of other services. They also do a lot of software maintenance, um, they do
training programs for Microsoft Office and ... and other systems, and so they cover a wide
range of. ... of services. And then our .... our last division is our Risk Management, which
is really our insurance programs and where we set up, uh, where we do our bidding for
our auto and ... and other types of insurance coverages, um, and ... and those we .... we self -
cover most of our claims so we have individuals that'll take those claims in. We have a
third party administrator that we ... that processes those claims, and .... and we deal with the
public. So somebody has damages or ... or falls, uh, we deal with that individual in our
office, really daily there's individuals that come in and file those claims, and ... and as we
manage them. Um, you know, the ... as for the administration, some of the issues we've
had to deal with a lot over the last few years has been with the, uh, Securities and
Exchange Commission has taken a real initiative on government bonds and the
management of government bonds, and so we've spent a lot of time and effort into that
and .... and one of the new things we'll be doin' this year is ... is actually retaining a ... what
they call a clos ... disclosure counsel, which is a special attorney to help ensure we're
compliant with SEC rules and because they've become so onerous, it's really.... it's
almost everybody's doing it anymore because you'd rather have to have that cost of
retaining a specialty attorney than having to deal with the SEC. (laughs) So it's just a...
it's just an added cost that has been pushed onto the governments by that ... that level of
oversight. Um, one of our more major expenditures that ... that's in there that'll stand out
is we're purchasing more time clocks, um, as we .... we went to an automated timesheet
system, and we've gradually been rolling that out citywide. Um, we pretty much have all
City Hall done, all of administration and management, and so now we're ... we're getting
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down into, um, you know, more of the .... the, um, the blue collar, the maintenance
workers who will punch in and out and different facilities across the city, and so we'll
start to ... to branch that system out further. Um, we've been workin' to, uh.... get a GIS
Coordinator on staff, and we haven't had much luck, uh, hiring somebody into this
position. There's a lot of people waiting for this. I know it's come up several times
today about GIS maps and that system and ... and we're seein' a real high demand
citywide for that type of service, to develop maps, do that type of analysis, and so
that's... that's a function within our IT division that we .... we've been really trying to
work to get somebody in there, and we haven't had much luck. Uh, hopefully this spring
we'll have more luck in getting somebody into that ... into that position. Um, I mentioned
the internal audit program, uh, we're tryin' to get implemented. We've been really
workin' on this for a long time. Hopefully by next, uh, spring, next summer, we'll be in a
position that we'll be able to have somebody start to work in this program and ... and it's
really a proactive means of lookin' at your policies and procedures, make sure divisions,
departments are understanding them, that they're following them, and then tweak them to
make them better so that the whole system becomes more efficient, um, more productive.
And it's something that we've been workin' on and I'm sure you've seen a lot of, um, we
do have a temp, uh, individual we hired this fall to assist with applying the racial equity
toolkit. Um, we're looking at our purchasing policy, and our utility billing policies and
procedures, and then we're also lookin' at our grant management policy and ... and that
individual's assisting us. One of the big challenges with that is ... is actually gathering
data. And so they're helping us to go out and ... and gather that data from our vendors,
from our customers, um, so that then we can start collect that data and analyze it
and ... and then see if it can help improve or tweak our ... our, uh, policies and procedures.
So .... that's kinda it in a nutshell and if you have any questions, be happy to try and
answer them!
Throgmorton/ Thanks for runnin' such a great shop!
Bockenstedt/ Well, it was in pretty good shape when I got here so ... hopefully I'm just
maintaining! (laughter)
Mims/ Did I hear Geoff say that you think you might have a couple of, um, bond .... you don't call
`em refinancing, I know, in your vernacular, um....
Bockenstedt/ Well, we're tryin' to (mumbled) like an early call (both talking) You know, um....
we've been lucky that the interest rates have been very good. Now, they've started to
turn a little bit. Um, but the last few years they've been very good and .... and just from
doing those refundings, getting good rates, you know, we've tried to create... able to keep,
create a gap, you know, and ... and the revenues we're taking in, the ... the levies we're
levying, and our annual costs, and what we've been able to do is take that and then start
to call bonds in early and the more you do it, the more you get good rates, you do the
refundings, you do the early calls, you create more and more gap in your revenue system
and what you're paying out. So, hopefully we have a really good trend going now where
we can continue that path where our revenue needs go down and we're able to use the
revenues we are getting in to call more and more data in, and um, you know, I'm sure at
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some point, we'll figure out a way, or it'll come to an end, but right now I think we're on
a good path, um, and hopefully it'll continue for the next couple years.
Fruin/ I love talkin' to Dennis and Nick about this stuff cause it's .... it's fun to see how they're
planning so far out in advance and, um, but as he said, it's just using the momentum
created from each early redemption to plan for the next early redemption, and so we had
a conversation, oh, you know, sometime during the budget process, and, you know, how
we might be able to call the Park at 201 bonds in as early as 2021, 2022. You know,
and ... and when that project was pushed forward we .... we were talkin' a 20 -year plus
payback and ... if...if we're able to keep this up for another couple of years, that could be,
uh, that debt could be retired in less than 10 years.
Mims/ Wow!
Throgmorton/ That'd be great!
Bockenstedt/ It pays to plan (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Questions?
Mims/ Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Throgmorton/ Thank you, Dennis!
Fruin/ All right, so Simon and (both talking)
Throgmorton /You can't leave yet! (laughter)
City Manager:
Monroe/ (unable to hear, away from mic) ...something to look forward to all day! (laughter)
Andrew/ All right, we will start with the City Council budget on page 125. I'll be doing the
Council, Manager, and Human Rights divisions, and Ashley will handle, uh,
Communications and Human Resources. So we'll trade back and forth here. That's not
the order they are in the book. Um, and ... we'll see with the, uh, City Council budget
whether I can break Eleanor's record. (laughter) Not, um, a lot in this one.
Throgmorton/ Call for a 20% reduction (several talking and laughing)
Andrew/ So, um, the .... the majority of the City Council's budget is personnel costs. Um, so
that's roughly half of, uh, City Council's budget. Uh, the majority of what's left is, uh.
dues and memberships in, uh, National League of Cities, Iowa League of Cities, Metro
Coalition, that comes out to about $28,000. Uh, that one is a slight increase over last
year. Some of those memberships are based on population, and I'm often fond of
pointing out that we had a 10% population growth in the first five years of this decade.
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So ... those costs are going up, but it's a good sign for our community. Uh, another line
item that changes somewhat from year to year is the printing costs. Uh, the Mayor sends
welcome letters to, uh, incoming University freshmen, uh, every year, and that has been,
uh, we've gotten a ton of good feedback on that. It's an idea that we kinda stole from
Iowa State, although I don't, um, often give them credit for it, but uh, it's something
that's been very popular. Largely with parents. It's sent to the families themselves
so ... uh, parents are very appreciative of the information. Uh, that one is a $2,000
increase, uh, in FYI versus 17, um, based on increased enrollment at the University,
so....
Throgmorton/ So in August I had a chance to welcome my daughter! (laughter)
Andrew/ Did she appre... did you appreciate the letter?
Throgmorton/ I did, yeah! (laughter)
Andrew/ Um, and the only other thing I would point out in this one is that last year you had a
$5,000 in this budget for City -sponsored events. Um, this is where in the past we, uh,
funded, uh, Herky on Parade and the, uh, 175th Anniversary, uh, events. We don't have
anything planned in, uh, the coming year, so this one went from $5,000 to zero, uh, in
this budget, but as I'll get to in the City Manager's budget, we have consolidated a lot of
the City -sponsored event funding and community events funding. So, uh, it's all in one
place, which, um, which there will be some funds available if something pops up mid-
year that we weren't expecting at this point. Um, so that's all I have on the Council
budget, unless you all had any questions on it. I don't think I broke the record.
(laughter) Um, so the next one is the, uh, City Manager's office budget, and that starts on
page 135 of your budget book. Um, the first thing I'll point out in this one, again this is
another division that's mostly personnel, um, there is money in the line item for, uh,
professional services. This is where in the past we have funded the, um, contract that we
had with our lobbyists in Des Moines. Uh, so in the current fiscal year, fiscal year 17, we
have some funds in there that we will, um, not likely use. Um, we have not renewed our
contract with our lobbyists, uh, we plan the next year to see how it'll work to lean on the
League of Cities and the Metro Coalition a little bit more, um, we haven't used them as
much in the past as perhaps we could have, so .... uh, we'll see how that goes, uh, this year
but, uh, that is still in the budget at $25,000 for the following year in case, um, we find
that, um, there was more value in that than, um, we anticipated. So, uh, we don't
anticipate spending that, but it is in there, um, just in case. Um, we did add funds for a
survey as part of the, uh, 2017 strategic planning process. So there's $20,000 in the
budget there, um, to conduct a community survey, um, which we'd come back and
discuss with you the .... the format of that before we did it, but um, that will be in there for
your strategic planning process at the end of the current calendar year.
Cole/ Simon, if I could just jump in very briefly.
Andrew/ Sure!
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Cole/ For the lobbyists, did we ever keep a scorecard in terms of the objectives that we had for
the lobbyists and what was achieved in terms of legislation? Is that... somewhere...
Andrew/ No, we did not. Um, it was largely an ... an issue (both talking) issue basis and really the
value that I saw in it, more than them accomplishing, uh, something specific for us, I
mean, they were successful in, um, stopping a couple of bills that would of. ... they were
very involved in the residential occupancy for instance, um, that we saw a lot of benefit
in, but, um, a large part of it was getting information from them. You know, having
somebody, uh, in the room in Des Moines that could tell us what, uh, issues were
bubbling up, what bills we could expect to see. Um, so that was useful on a handful of
issues too, but we don't have any, uh, metrics associated with it, and I expect that this
year, um, especially given the .... the changing, uh, climate in Des Moines that, um, we
probably wouldn't have seen as much benefit in that, um, I think the .... uh, it's a wise
route to go, to lean more on the League of Cities that may have, um ... uh, more of a .... a
convincing voice in Des Moines these days than we would ourselves, so....
Cole/ Exactly! Thanks, Simon.
Andrew/ Yep! Um .... so after the survey I mentioned in the last budget that, uh, community
event funding, um, was consolidated in, uh, the City Manager's budget this year and, uh,
City -sponsored events. Uh, so previously, uh, community events, which is the line that
we fund the, uh, ADA celebration, Juneteenth, Bike to Work Week, uh, in the past
Riverside Theater, Land Lock Film Festival, um, were all in the Finance department
under non -operational, uh, administration. Um, we did have other funds in the City
Manager's budget for things like, um, cyclo -cross, uh, the, uh, wrestling, uh, Olympic
trials, uh, supporting those events, and so it made a lot of sense to .... consolidate them in
one place. Um, it was often times the City Manager's office that was processing the
invoices anyway, so it made a lot of sense to combine them there. Uh, so overall that's
an increase between those two line items of just over $100,000 in the City Manager's
budget, but it's not a net increase for the City's budget. It's just moving from one
division to another, um, so no net increase there. Uh, so this includes not only the events
that I just mentioned, um, but $20,000 for perhaps another, uh, cyclo -cross, uh, world cup
event here. Um, it's not something that's certain as of yet, but we're confident that we
will be able to bring them back to town so that is very exciting. Uh, and this also
includes fireworks and Summer of the Arts. That's the lion's share of these dollars, uh,
$90,000 combined of the 105 total, um, are, uh, fireworks and Summer of the Arts. Uh,
so those are the.....the major changes from the City Manager's office budget. Um,
overall, uh, roughly flat other than those moving, uh, from one division to another. Any
questions on that one? All right, I'll hand it off to Ashley for Communications!
Monroe/ Okay, I'll jump in to Communications, uh.... uh, so far they've done a really great job
of coordinating responsibilities, uh, of social media and digital presence with, uh, Cable
operations. So, uh, Communications encompasses, um, well, we're hoping, uh, six
employees. So full-time equivalent of six, uh, from seven and a half. We talked a little
bit about the retirement earlier, um, this morning and um, because of those changes,
they're kind of re-evaluating, uh, the division is re-evaluating how we're going about our
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operations. Um, and so, uh, the digital platforms are expanding, um, through the web site,
responses to our, um, to the icgov app, um, conversion of .pdf forms to fillable forms, uh,
and they're diversifying production, programming, um, through cable programs, uh, just
engaging with the community in different ways and kind of expanding on that
community engagement process. Um, it's really nice that they're.... that this division is
so vital to communicating, both internally and externally, to....customers, generally about
all the things that we're doing and .... and, you know, the strategic plan initiatives that are
being implemented. They're.... they play a huge role. Um, so .... let me see. Uh, things
that they're doing to ... that we're doing to update, um, our processes and equipment will
make work generally more efficient, put out a better product out to our customers, and
so ... these things are included in the budget, urn .... there are small changes to, um, or kind
of larger size changes, the personnel budget has dropped slightly because of those
changes. Um, services have .... kind of, um, right size for our use this year. Uh, last year
there was significant budget for, um, an advertising byline and, uh, that's just been
adjusted more closer to the, uh.... fiscal year 2016's actual expenses. So, um, that's just
reduced the .... the amount of money that we're ... we're budgeting for that process. They
also completed a lot of training in the past year and ... and they're not going to be doing a
lot of that again this year. Um, another thing that ... big increase would be to supplies.
Uh, for Communications, a large portion of that, um, encompasses the increases for, uh,
laserfiche, so the scanning in of...of documents and... and generally, uh, making things
more accessible, uh, just some increases there, as well as the most exciting aspect,
probably to, um, our employees is a revamp of our internet pa ... portal. So that
communicates, uh, all information... it creates access to forms, those kinds of things, to
employees. So $30,000 was, uh, put aside for that. Uh, we haven't approached any kind
of RFP process, but that's being thought of and ... and planned at, you know, ready to go
when ... when the budget is in place. Um, and if approved. Urn... there's a PC
replacement. They chose to get a laptop, allowing some nice digital, um, work video
editing on the fly, on the go, makes it a little bit more efficient for us. Uh, as far as Cable
goes, um, there's some small equipment purchases, uh, lighting, sound related equipment,
urn .... somethings just generally in the replacement schedule. So, you know, just
small... small increases about ... $2,000, uh, more than the prior year. So, um, includes
replacing a .... a server and, um, just minor equipment for their use. Urn .... and I think
that's ... just checking to make sure, but that..that's about it. So I can take any questions
about ... yeah, or you want to say...
Botchway/ No, I was waving to somebody out there. Sorry! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ I'd just like to say with regard to Communication and Cable kind of stuff that I ... I
find it really pleasing and .... I think politically good for us to be able to do things like
tweet live -streamed work sessions involving our most recent discussion. Uh, or other
discussions that we have. So that people, if they want to, can view this stuff and they can
hear people talk about it and they can form their own views about the wisdom of what
we're choosing to do. Uh, and I think that's terrific. That's a mark of really good
governance. So, I'm really happy about the way that's workin'.
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Frain/ Really happy how those two groups have really come together over the last couple years
and, you know, the remarkable thing through this, uh, past year where I think we've
made a lot of strides is we had a heck of a .... a challenge with, um, employee absences
this past year. You may recall Kelly Ann Dreason was in the, um, Communications
office. She had a maternity leave, uh, for a while and then she left to take employment
with the University. We brought in Katy Lender who's been fantastic. She's on
maternity leave right now. Uh, she'll come back in, uh, in .... in the next few weeks. So,
you know, the group was able to really retool their operations and .... and refocus how
they're goin' about things despite being down, uh, that ... that key position for most of the
year.
Botchway/ I did have a couple questions, kind of along the lines of, um, what we see here as far
as, um, FTE reduction. Are we, I mean, my concern is that we're going to, I mean Jim
just talked about how good it's been. Are we gonna see some, you know.... decrease in
that kind of level of production since we're takin' out, uh, the 1.5, right? Yeah,
1.5 ... from 7.5 to 6?
Frain/ No, I .... I mean I don't think so. Um, I think we're .... we might see, um .... uh, a little bit
of slip would be in .... maybe some of the more traditional advertising. We did a lot of
posters and flyers and things like that, and we just won't focus as much on that. Um,
Ashley is going to be overseeing Communications and I've told her to expect that she'll
probably be, uh.... uh, much more hands-on in .... in actually helping with some of those
things than I ever was when I was working with, uh, Communications. So, urn .... the way
that they've really focused on a lot of their work is to make sure that they put together a
nice product, but they transfer it out to the departments. So for instance, the park bench
newsletter, the sustainability newsletter, the Animal Shelter newsletter — all those things
that you may be seeing if you're signed up for .... for those to receive, those originated in
the Communications office, but then we got staff in those departments to be able to, uh,
take those on, and we .... we do more of a proofreading, editing type of function.
Botchway/ The other question I had .... had to ask is just around kind of the jump in social media.
What is that attributable to? I mean some of it is just .... just obvious, as you gotta go
through time having that kind of uptick overall but ... I mean, the e -subscription has
jumped from about 5,000. Is that just...it's just (both talking)
Frain/ ...the staff trying to put out programming, uh, on those platforms that appeal to people.
We use a lot more video than we ever have, short snippets of video, urn ... yeah!
Monroe/ I'm not .... I'm not sure we can check on what might have resulted in that large jump. It
could .... it could just be organically grown, as Geoff had said, um, you know, we can
check and see if there was any type of cooperation between, um, outside organizations
that might have said, hey, sign up for our e -newsletter, um, which might have accounted
for a different audience signing up, but um, we can check and .... and see if there was any
particular jump in time where that occurred.
Botchway/ (mumbled)
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Monroe/ Um, but yeah, as .... as Geoff said, it's just a different style that, um, of work and focus
that will allow the division to continue functioning and, um, just a different way. Do you
want me to go to HR?
Throgmorton/ It's worth noting that we used to have a significant shortfall in the City Manager's
office, uh, I mean short in staffing, and that's no longer the case (laughter) thanks to
Ashley's presence.
Monroe/ I'm here! (laughter) I'm ready. Okay, so, um, as far as HR, um, there are three full-
time employees in .... in Human Resources. Um, they've been handling, uh, you know,
providing employees and labor relations for approximately 1,000, or close to 1,000,
permanent and temporary employees, so, um, that's a feat in itself. They kind of chastise
themselves for not knowing every single name that walks in the door, but they're trying.
Um, along with me too! Uh, this year, uh, there was successful negotiation of voluntary
settlements with the Police and Fire unions, and uh, recently we talked about the
AFSCME, um, ratification of the extension to the agreement through 2021. Um, they
also completed the first year of, uh, 1095 reports to employees and the IRS is mandated
by the Affordable Care Act, so those were just some quick highlights. Um, there's not a
lot to, um, the Human Resources budget in terms of changes. Um ... however, um..there's
a slight increase in ... it's a $2,000 increase in the wellness, um, sort of programming for
employees, part of that .... a big part of that is due to the popularity of the racing
reimbursement. There's a program where employees can .... can have a portion of their
race registrations, um, paid and ... as a benefit, uh, to encourage that kind of wellness, and
um, they're gonna continue to do that, along with other, um, programs.
Botchway/ Like car racing or....
Fruin/ No, this'd be like, uh (laughter and several talking) 5k charity walks and runs (several
talking) It's just a (several talking) very small incentives to keep employees healthy, but
also to ... get them engaged in community events.
Throgmorton/ Do you get more the farther you run? Like marathons and stuff?
Fruin/ No! (laughs) No! (laughter) Yeah!
Mims/ I had a question on the days to fill vacant positions. That really jumped up in 2016 like
from 56.34 days in 2015 to 70.29 days. Do we have any idea .... (several talking) that's
huge though (both talking)
Fruin/ I don't know, I mean it's a steady climb.
Mims/ Yeah, it has been a steady climb.
Fruin/ I don't know why it would be a steady climb, although, you know, I'd say we've had a lot
of turnover at the upper level positions and .... and .....
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Mims/ Those take longer.
Fruin/ Those .... those take longer. Um, sometimes intentionally they take longer. Other times
it's just (several talking)
Dickens/ Unemployment rate is extremely low in this... county.
Mims/ Yeah.
Fruin/ We've had (both talking)
Dickens/ ...it's tough to find qualified people to step up (both talking)
Fruin/ You know we .... we talked about two positions today where we've had really trouble
filling, but there's a lot more examples. We talked about the Senior Center fundraising
position. Dennis, uh, and his staff have gone out two or three times on a GIS position,
and haven't had success, just you know, sometimes it .... the .... the employment, you
know, uh, situation, you just don't find that match, and you gotta keep goin' and goin'
and goin', and we don't have that many vacant positions where you could get somethin'
skewing the numbers, but again, this is a pretty steady climb so I ... I don't want to chalk it
up to an outlier. I think we can look into that a little bit more.
Mims/ Thanks!
Monroe/ Um, something else worth noting would be, um, just along with those lines of...of
continual... continuing where our employment and staffing, uh, there's an uptick in project
anniversaries and retirements, so there is an increase of about $4,000, um, in the supply
budget to account for ... for any kind of, uh, service recognition. Um, there is also... going
to be a .... uh, just as part of their work .... work flow, a re -survey of employees as a result
of updated EEO reporting guidelines. Um, they're going to be implementing use of the
racial equity toolkit. Um, you know, looking at the division policies and, um, Police
Department promotional list expires in ... in July, and so they're going to need a new, um,
test for .... for police promotions. So that's ... seen I think in the .... I can't remember which
line item that would be in, but, um, that's accounted for in the budget as well .... here.
And that's.... that's about it for Human Resources.
Throgmorton/ Okay! I'm not seeing a lot of questions being raised. Not hearing them either for
that matter (laughs)
Monroe/ Great!
Throgmorton/ All right, thanks, Simon.
Andrew/ Okay! One more, last one I believe — Human Rights!
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Throgmorton/ All right, my bad! (laughter and several talking)
Andrew/ ....and we've got some good things in this budget so (several talking in background)
Um, the first line item I'll point out ... well, broadly the Human Rights division has, uh,
two employees and the equity office. They do a lot of public outreach. Um, they
investigate and, um, process, uh, the human rights complaints, um, and mediation
services. So the first line item, uh, professional services has an increase of $5,000 over
the previous year's budget. Uh, this is a very, uh, hard line item to project, uh, it's where,
uh, costs for, uh, mediation on complaints and transcription of complaints, uh, the
processes are paid out of, which is obviously based, uh, on the number of complaints that
we receive in a given year. So, uh, the $20,000 budget in this line, um, is in line with
past actuals, but is a, uh, $5,000 increase over last year's budget. Um, this is also the line
where we pay for, uh, translation services for documents, and um, where we pay for
trainers to, uh, come train staff, um, for instance the GARE training and the, urn .... the
required, the mandatory citywide implicit bias training, uh, this is the line item that funds
those. Um, the next one I'll point to is advertising. It's a, uh, slight decrease. Um, more
social media ads rather than, um, the print that we've done in the past, similar to what
Geoff was just describing, uh, in the Communications office, uh, with the newsletters.
Um, the largest line item besides the personnel line items in this budget is, uh, $85,000 in
Aid to Agencies, uh, this is where we pay for our membership in CARE, uh, the
Government Alliance, uh, for Racial Equity. Uh, and the, uh, equity grant program, uh,
that you all put in last year's budget, uh, for $25,000, so that's an $85,000 line item
overall. Uh, couple others of note, $6,000 for programs and events, um, the, uh, Human
Rights Commission co-sponsors, um, so they also contribute to events like Juneteenth,
um, the City.—the City Manager's office budget also contributes to. Um, that is up from
$2,000 last year. Uh, there's $12,000 for outreach initiatives related to, uh, the Human
Rights ordinance and fair housing, uh, the public education and printing all the pamphlets
people get, um, making sure that they're aware of the rights they have, if they do
experience that, um, type of discrimination. And, uh, there's also money in this division,
uh, for memberships in the Fair Housing Alliance, the State civil rights agencies, and
other similar organizations. Uh, so in addition to staffing trainings and, uh, processing
discrimination complaints and being staff support for the Human Rights Commission, uh,
this office is, uh, heavily involved in the, uh, implementation of the equity toolkit, um,
the equity grant program, and the, uh, equity roundtables that we have in the City
Manager's office here. So, Stefanie does a great job of handling all those processes and
I think is, uh, has made great progress in....in outreach the last couple of years in the
community. So that was all I had for the Human Rights' budget! Any questions on that
one? I think that's it!
Throgmorton/ I think that's it! Thank you.
Andrew/ Thank you!
Throgmorton/ Is there anything else, Geoff? What? (laughter) Okay, uh, well, fabulous job b
the staff as a whole, and your initial presentation was terrific, Geoff. Thank you for
doing that. Uh, we have a terrific staff, great budget presented to us. We'll have to think
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about it. If there are recommendations about things to change. You gave us a window
that was important. Do you remember the dates of the window?
Fruin/ Well, next Tuesday the IO° we'll be doing the CIP and the first item on that agenda is
anything else you want to discuss here, so you've got some time on Tuesday if you think
of something else in the next couple of days. Um, but you really have until, uh.... what
was it, February, uh.... February 21" we have to set the public hearing, uh, so you've
got .... between now and February 2ISt to make any changes that you'd like. Um, and
we're, of course, happy to help navigate you through how to make those changes.
Throgmorton/ Okay, great! Anybody need to say anything?
Fruin/ I will say that the January 170 work session at your regular Council meeting is already
completely full. So ... urn....
Mims/ That's what I was just going to ask. Should we....just....I mean hopefully we don't have
a whole lot of discussion. I think .... I think staff has done a really good job of aligning
this with the strategic plan. John and I were kind of talking about this earlier. But should
we kind of put a place marker then in that first meeting in February work session, just if
we want to have some discussion on anything? (several talking) Does that make sense?
Cole/ I mean I'll just say it feels like .... less change needs to be made than we did last year
(several talking) and so, yeah, I appreciate you saying that cause I felt sort of the same
way too, um, but then by the same token last year I think we made some good changes,
like the local foods, the racial equity grant, so maybe there could be....
Mims/ Well, I think we had to do a lot of adjustments last year because we didn't have the
strategic plan in place when staff started with the budget.
Cole/ Exactly!
Mims/ So.....
Cole/ I feel like it was hardwired in more this year. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Yes, I ... I think (several talking) good suggestions.
Cole/ I agree!
Throgmorton/ Okay, well ...... (several talking and laughing) a break!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council budget
work session of January 7, 2017.