Budget Hearings

MINUTES Budget Hearings Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at 3:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call to Order Council Members Present: Alex Jensen, Rick Kiley (via telecom), Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr, Janet Brekke (via telecom), Christine M. Erickson Council Members Absent: Greg Neitzert Council Vice Chair Curt Soehl called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. 2. Budget Hearings A. Attorney by Stacy Kooistra, City Attorney Kooistra presented the department's proposed budget, which he considered to be "in many respects" unchanged. He spoke about their budget impacts: revenues, personnel, professional services, and rentals. Revenues will increase to $90,156 due to adjusting for trends and a new liquor license. There will be a $12,843 decrease in personnel costs due to changes with inflation and employee benefits. The department will have a $40,000 increase for professional services, in regards to human relations, inclusion, and housing initiatives. Rental charges will increase by $10,000 due to revised City-wide allocations of internal technology rental charges. The net change will be $44,197. B. Health by Jill Franken, Director of Public Health Franken began her department's budget presentation by thanking those involved in preparing it; and highlighting things that they have been doing, including battling COVID-19. The department will have a $613,607 revenue decrease in their $9,266,344 Falls Community Health budget due to clinic fee adjustments. This will be a "true up" of net charges for this year. Part-time expenses will be increasing by $91,000 for a part-time dentist and by $115,200 for the reallocation of health providers previously budgeted for under professional services and moved to part- time. Professional services will increase by $17,000 for the adjustment of postal service actuals. Repair and Maintenance will decrease by $15,000 due to the removal of the office remodel budget. The Community Health, Safety, and Enforcement operating budget will be impacted by a $100,000 increase in the City's contribution to Link; and an increase of $12,000 in postal services to adjust to actuals. The department will also receive a $16,153 increase for internal technology rental charges. A $5,000 decrease will be applied for vehicle repairs based on actual trends. The Capital Program equipment budget will be $101,000.  Discussion followed regarding: schools, budget surprises, COVID, decreases in supplies and part-time staff, and if there will be any supplemental needs. C. Public Works by Mark Cotter, Director of Public Works Cotter presented the budget for the following Public Works Departments: Highways & Streets, Sanitary Landfill, Storm Drainage, Power and Distribution, Water, Water Reclamation, and Fleet. He noted that Public Works has 299 full-time employees, between 40-60 part-time employees, and a $310M budget. Cotter began by reviewing Highways & Streets, which has a $98.1M budget. He spoke about the See Fix Click program; Automatic Vehicle Locating pilot; and salt brine. Cotter said they are planning to capture about 500 Reliable Travel Time counts in a year; this looks at street volume, street classification, and to partner with the Police Department if they need to collection traffic numbers and speed. Additional highlights include: street conditions being above the national average for communities our size, we received a 70; and a goal of getting through the City in 48 hours or less, during a snow event. Cotter spoke about reconciling the budget; and a pilot project of using salt brine, in partnership with the State. He said the project went well and they would like to move forward with purchasing the needed equipment. Cotter provided a Capital Overview of the following projects: 49th Street, Arway Drive to Carnegie Circle; Minnesota Avenue, 57th Street to Ralph Rogers Road; 33rd Street and Minnesota Avenue Intersection; 49th Street Extension, Western Avenue to West Avenue; 69th Street and Sycamore Avenue Intersection; Arrowhead Parkway and Six Mile Road Intersection; Kiwanis Avenue Concrete Rehabilitation, 12th Street to 41st Street; and Marion Road, 41st Street to 57th Street. According to Cotter, the Sanitary Landfill: serves five counties, has a $15.3M budget, anticipate 205,957 tons of municipal solid waste; 27 full-time employees run the landfill six days a week; and continue to sell landfill gas to POET or flare it when they don't. Highlights include: $24,040 increase for part-time employees due to demand; $139,773 increase in non-Municipal Solid Waste and Construction & Demolition waste (mattresses and tires); and increases in charges from Fleet. Cotter said there are no rate increases planned for landfill. He spoke about some of the projects for the landfill, which include: well re-drilling; constructing cell 4; and improving the scale/entrance and customer drop off. Next, Cotter spoke about storm drainage. He said, the City has 326 drainage properties, which cover 1,200 acres of land; almost 4,000 inlets were cleaned in 2019; there were 564,987 feet of inlets and storm lines cleaned; and there is a $22.4M proposed budget. There was a 5.4% rate increase for this utility, which continues to allow crews to go out and work on drainage. The Capital program includes $14,590,000 in projects, which includes drainage improvements for: Basin 115 (Tuthill Park Area); Basin 371 (Roosevelt Pond Area); and Basin 95 (Holbrook Avenue & Pebble Creek Road). Highlights for the Power and Distribution include, maintaining 20,000 street lights; 7,000 lights were switched to LED; there are 2,900 private and public customers; and a $9.4M budget. There was a $29,000 increase for a part-time summer lineman, from a local tech school. By reallocating Street Light repairs to the Street Department, there was a $334,600 decrease. The proposed budget for their Capital Program is $1.270M.  Next, Cotter spoke about the Water Division and stated that they would be requesting one new position. The department is staffed 24/7 and they have 10 trained water operators, of which 70% will be retiring in the next five years. In an effort to mitigate overtime and to plan for the future, a request is being made for a full-time water operator. The EPA Certified Lab conducted more then 170,000 analyses on 250 substances in 2019. There was 8.1 billion gallons of clean water sold to customers, with an estimated 1 billion gallons saved, over the years, due to the water conservation program. The proposed budget is $43.4M. Cotter spoke about impacts to the budget and capital projects. Cotter said Water Reclamation treats 7.6 billion gallons of wastewater annually, replaces 200 manhole covers per year, maintains 927 miles of sanitary sewer, and cleans 190 miles of the collection system yearly. The division has 53 full-time employees and he is requesting to add two sewer collection techs, which would be a part of the proposed $107.1M budget. Budget impacts include: a 5% rate increase to start in 2021, due to a demand in service; an increase in part-time and overtime; and $202,000 increase due to an increase with the new land application process. Pump station and Water Reclamation building improvements are a part of the $78M Capital projects budget. Cotter concluded his presentation by discussing the Fleet Division. A request for a full-time mechanic is part of the $14.2M proposed budget. He said that they have had to outsource some work, so the hiring of an additional mechanic would keep things in house and increase reliability. More than 1,800 pieces of equipment are managed through Fleet. Budget requests include: $50,000 in overtime to accommodate snow and deicing events; a $100,000 increase to cover any accident repairs to City vehicles, to partially offset insurance proceeds; and a $206,000 capital increase due to various timing of capital projects and purchasing of equipment. Discussion followed, regarding: weather and drainage construction; streamlining and efficiencies; compacting garbage; innovation; adding mechanics; certified mechanics; serviced vehicles; snow events; windmill blades; and charges to different departments by Fleet. D. Parks & Recreation by Don Kearney, Director of Parks and Recreation Kearney spoke about their proposed $26.3M budget. Some of the impacts include revenue being down $64,100 in Aquatics; seasonal wages are also down; there is a $60,000 increase in wages for the Zoo Management, to keep them competitive for hiring; there is a $36,000 increase for the Property Liability Insurance fund contributions; and $40,000 decrease to eliminate support of the Municipal Band. Kearney said the budget allows them to take care of what they have; to maintain the infrastructure at pre-COVID levels; and to keep on pace to remove 2,200 Ash trees per year due to the Emerald Ash Borer. The Capital highlights, featured: Greenways/Trails, which includes Phase 1 of the Cherry Creek Trail Corridor, $1.45M, and bike trail reconstruction, $500,000; Falls Park Development, Falls Park Visitors Center, $700,000, and the Falls Park Design Competition, $120,000; Land Acquisitions, Rose/Lotta Home Buyout, $500,000, and Park/Trail Development, $200,000; Park Infrastructure Improvements, Park Roads and Lots, $415,000; and  Neighborhood Parks, Mystic Meadows Park, $330,000. Kearney then provided a 2022-2025 Capital overview. Discussion followed regarding: the Municipal Band, the parks plan; ski lift; the Japanese Gardens; setting up a foundation for the Municipal Band. 3. Public Comment Chris Hill, Municipal Band Director, offered to meet with Councilors to discuss the band; and answered band related questions. 4. Adjournment Council Vice Chair Curt Soehl adjourned the meeting at 4:54 p.m. Denise D. Tucker, MMC, Assistant City Clerk