Budget Hearings

MINUTES Budget Hearings Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at 3:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call to Order Council Members Present: David Barranco, Sarah Cole, Alex Jensen (arr. 3:04 p.m.), Rich Merkouris, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr Council Members Absent: None Council Chair Marshall Selberg called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. He noted that there was a quorum present. 2. Budget Hearings A. City Attorney's Office Dave Pfeifle, City Attorney, gave a historical background on how attorneys were hired externally on a contract basis, and then how the City moved to in-house attorneys. He explained how much the office has grown and then spoke on newly hired City Attorney Bill Golden. Pfeifle then presented the $2.8M budget for the City Attorney's Office and spoke on the reason for the 11.4% budget increase. There was discussion on: attorneys being imbedded in city departments and the benefits of that, and discussion on the support of Multcultural Center programing and facility rental. B. Human Resource Budget Bill O'Toole, Director of Human Resources, explained that he would be speaking specifically on the Human Resources budget and Allie Hartzler, Communications and Culture Officer, would be addressing the Communications budget. O'Toole commented that Human Resouces Department has 17 full-time employees, and presented the $2.4M budget and explained the 1.2% budget increase over prior year, and discussed the major budget impacts. There was discussion on any possible statistics on how the city is doing on recruitment/retention compared to the general population of private employers, state or county governments. C. Communications  Hartzler gave a background of what the Communications Department does. She presented the $3.3M Communications budget and explained the request for additional dollars for professional services which will focus on recruitment efforts. There was discussion on: social media policies and executive orders, strategies for communicating to citizens, communication/dialogue methods in alternate forms/channels, Communications personnel working and communicating with other departments, and the role of the Communications and Culture Officer and how it affects the city and its personnel. D. Parks and Recreation Don Kearney, Director of Parks and Recreation, began discussing the $42.7M Parks and Recreation budget by focusing on the operating costs portion first; he explained the economic issues faced by the department and how it's addressed in proposed budget. He commented on the department remaining committed to investing in the parks system because of the value it provides to the community. He also spoke on the major budget impacts regarding the operating budget. Kearney shifted to presenting the $15.7M Capital Budget. He spoke on the Midco Aquatic Center, the upward trend of swim pass sales, and the expansion plans for the locker rooms which will double the square footage and increase the amount of lockers. He gave an update on the Elmwood Golf Course Clubhouse. He spoke on the McKennan Park Wading Pool project and gave the proposed timeline of starting design this summer, bidding next spring, and construction late summer of 2024. He further discussed: the Quality of Life Bond to replace the Frank Olsen and Kuehn Park pools and looking at options for a new aquatic center on the southside, the Arrowhead Park House project, the Park Storage Facilities project, and improvements for the Greenway Trail that includes 4 miles of new trails and 6 miles of reconstructed trails There was discussion on: the Parks Storage Facilities project, the recreation trail, potential development of a new golf course, data points for department recommendations on contracts, determining priorities of projects/facilities, the zoo and aquarium capital campaign and annual operating budget support, location of proposed southside pool, dog parks, Arrowhead Park House, Elmwood Golf Course clubhouse event space, the new skate park, the river greenway bid, Frank Olsen and Kuehn Park pool projects and ammenities, trees and emerald ash bore, Tuthill House fees and funding, McKennen Park project in regard to the bandshell, Arrowhead clubhouse, data on the Midco Aquatic Center water features, pool hours, and an update on the Falls Park Masterplan, E. Finance Shawn Prtichett, Director of Finance, presented the $4.3M Finance budget and mentioned what the department core functions account for. He spoke on: the department's mission, the small decrease for professional services and minor increase for supplies and materials, the 52 federal grants applied for in 2022, and the goals for the audited financial statements at the end of the year. He provided details of the major budget impacts.  There was discussion on: additional personnel and the possibility of an overview prior to budget hearings of personnel and job descriptions from different departments, update on ARPA reporting, and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) changes, and projections for audit reporting. F. Information Technology Pritchett commented that Innovation and Technology also includes Civic Analytics. He gave an overview of the $6.9M budget and noted the $821K increase in wages. He discussed: the strategy of the Information Technology department and the $145K reduction in professional services and a decrease of $113K in supplies and materials, and the major budget impacts. There was discussion on: improvement and enhancement of presented data, staffing, information requests to staff, and a breakdown of IT equipment and costs. G. Centralized Facilities, Public Parking Pritchett introduced the $9.5M Centralized Facilities budget and mentioned that about $5.3M is operationg costs. He spoke on: the 3 additional FTEs and the Public Safety Training Facility, the $169K increase of the utilities, the five-year facilities plan, and facilities projects plans and updates. There was no further discussion. Pritchett skipped the Public Parking presentation and went to the Entertainment Budget. Pritchett returned to the Public Parking Budget after the Entertainment Budget and introduced the $3.4M budget, and discussed: $50K increase for professional services, the city parking ramps and lots, focus on implementing smart meter technology, continuing to maintain and invest in existing parking ramps, intent of paid public parking, and areas of service. There was discussion on: the possibility of looking into automatic payments of parking lot passes, ongoing conversations of public parking, and an update on the cash position of the fund. H. Entertainment Tax Pritchett introduced Jim Johnson, the Assistant General Manager of ASM Global, and Darrin Smith, the Executive Director of the Washington Pavilion. He mentioned the 10-year anniversary for the Events Center and the 25-year anniversary of the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences. He spoke on the $12.9M Entertainment budget: $5.3M for the Events Complex, $0.9M for the Sioux Falls Stadium, $5.3M for the Washington Pavilion, and $1.4M for the Oprheum Theater, and that a big part of budget is for repairs and maintenance, and capital improvements; he gave details of the improvements for each facility. Councilor Neitzert recognized Smith and his team for the work that they've done over the years. There was discussion on: the panels and roofs of the Events Center and future planning, occupancy/utilization rate information and space usage, the  increase for consulting for the Convention Center Master Planning, and expenses for the Arena. 3. Public Comment There were no public comments. 4. Adjournment Council Chair Marshall Selberg adjourned the meeting at 5:34 p.m. Jermery J. Washington, City Clerk