City Council Finance Committee Meeting

CITY OF NORMAN, OK CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Municipal Building, Executive Conference Room, 201 West Gray, Norman, OK 73069 Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 4:00 PM MINUTES The City Council Finance Committee of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met at 4:00 pm in the Municipal Building Executive Conference Room on the 15th day of February, 2024, and notice of agenda of the meeting were posted in the Municipal Building at 201 West Gray, 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. CALL TO ORDER PRESENT Mayor Larry Heikkila Councilmember Ward 3 Bree Montoya ABSENT Councilmember Ward 6 Elizabeth Foreman OTHERS Councilmember Ward 4 Helen Grant Councilmember Ward 5 Michael Nash Councilmember Ward 7 Stephen Holman Anthony Francisco, Director of Finance Kim Coffman, Budget Manager Jacob Huckabaa, Budget Technician Dannielle Risenhoover, Administrative Tech. IV Kathryn Walker, City Attorney Rick Knight, Asst. City Attorney Shaakira Calnick, Internal Auditor Major Brent Barbour, NPD Andy Couch, Exec. Director & Curator at Fire House Art Center Kyla McMoran, Norman Music Alliance Danielle Tipton, The Depot Jennifer Baker, Sooner Theatre Nancy Coggins, Sooner Theatre Shari Jackson, Norman Music Festival & The Depot Cody Giles, Norman Music Festival Chris Crooks, Citizen Mayor Heikkila called the meeting to order at approximately 4:00 PM. CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, February 15, 2024 Page |1 AGENDA ITEMS 1. DISCUSSION REGARDING FORFEITURE AND SEZURE POLICIES. Anthony Francisco directed everyone to the draft of a seizure fund policy for the use of the seizure funds that had come into the City's possession. review and discussion. The draft "very generally describes the state of the law and what we can do with these seizure funds," said Kathryn Walker. "My understanding is that we would not adopt it (the seizure policy) at this meeting, but it's for your discussion," Francisco said. He requested that the Committee present any suggested changes before the policy go to Council as a resolution. Councilmember Holman questioned the validity of obtaining civil seizure funds and what City of Norman's criteria should be for accepting these funds. Assistant City Attorney Rick Knight elaborated on some situations and said, "You can make a legislative decision that you're not going to accept those funds but that doesn't mean that those funds are going back to the person they were taken from. They're just going to be kept by the District Attorney's office." Councilmember Montoya told Councilmember Holman, "I understand your concern about it being an incentive, I really do, and it seems like once we get this policy drafted it will be a guide for us. In my opinion, the best use of these funds would be to do something for the common good. I think this document is a good start and like Ms. Walker indicated, segregating the federal and the state would be good since the regulations for federal and state are different." 2. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE FYE 2024-2025 CITY OF NORMAN BUDGET Monetary request from several outside agencies were reviewed. The following outside agencies have requested additional funding from the City's General Fund:  Social and Voluntary Services Commission  Veteran’s Day Parade  Center for Children and Families, Inc.  Firehouse Art Center  Historical Museum  Sooner Theatre  Aging Services-Kiwanis Kruiser  Performing Arts Studio (Depot)  Norman Music Festival "A lot of these agencies get United Way money or CDBG money, that sort of thing. This discussion is about additional money from the General Fund," Francisco said. "What we have concentrated on here are those agencies that have requested additional funds from the General Fund to what they received in this current fiscal year." Shari Jackson spoke on behalf of The Depot. Her request for increased funding was the result of wanting an additional employee. The Committee discussed The Depot being open for nightly CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, February 15, 2024 Page |2 train service. Jackson will present the City with a bid to maintain this additional service. The Committee was not opposed to funding The Depot's request for an additional $40,000. Andy Couch, Executive Director and Curator at the Fire House Art Center confirmed that he is not looking for increased funding for FYE25, but would like the City to maintain their contribution commitment of $120,000 from last year. Mayor Heikkila stated that he will be meeting with County Commissioner Rusty Grissom this week and would talk to him about the county contributing to the Center for Children & Families Inc.'s request for their FYE 25 funding. Shari Jackson spoke on behalf of the Norman Music Festival that is requesting an additional $40,000 in FYE 25 funding. The Committee was not in favor of allocating these additional funds without reviewing Norman Music Festival's prior year financial records or tax return. Kim Coffman will get the records to the Committee. Councilmember Holman said he would be very interested in the City covering the cost of the services they provide for the Music Festival. Councilmember Montoya appreciated Councilmember Holman's point and asked to see information from the City's financials on what the City charges the Norman Music Festival for permits, road closures, sanitation services, etc. Jennifer Baker with Sooner Theatre explained that the $23,107 funding increase for the Theatre is needed for accessibility improvements. The consensus was to approve this funding. The funding requests will be revisited at another Finance Committee Meeting. 3. DISCUSSION REGARDING MONTHLY REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE REPORTS. Kim Coffman gave the report. Coffman stated that Norman’s sales tax trends are currently similar to the State’s sales tax trends. 4. INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRAMS STATUS. Shaakira Calnick gave the report. Calnick stated that she delivered a charter to the Committee for their review and approval. Once the charter is approved, the policy and procedures will be in effect. Calnick is currently finalizing the internal audit procedures and developing a risk assessment that will be used to develop a risk based audit plan. Calnick intends to present a risk assessment report in March. She is also developing a quality assurance and improvement plan. Calnick believes that her request for case management software has been approved. "It's built on the yellow book, the government auditing standards, which will streamline a lot of the auditing processes. It will help with a lot of the administrative processes." ADJOURNMENT CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, February 15, 2024 Page |3 Mayor Heikkila adjourned the meeting at approximately 5:50 PM. ATTEST: ______________________________ ______________________________ City Clerk Mayor CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, February 15, 2024 Page |4