Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: David Barranco, Rich Merkouris, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Pat Starr Council Members Absent: Sarah Cole, Alex Jensen, Curt Soehl Council Chair Marshall Selberg called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. and noted that there was a quorum. 2. Committee/Commission Reports A. South Eastern Council of Governments (SECOG): Wednesday, June 14, 2023 (Council Members Soehl and Starr) There was not a report. 3. Councilor Remarks There were none. 4. Presentations A. May 2023 Monthly Financial Statements by Shawn Pritchett, Director of Finance Presentation: Approximately 10 minutes followed by discussion Pritchett began by stating that we continue to see an increase in employment, up 2.7% over this time last year, and labor force is up 2.8% over April 2022. There is about a 2,000 increase in employment and labor force, which varies from month-to- month. In March, unemployment was at 1.7%, and rose to1.8% for April. Statewide the unemployment rate was 2% and nationally at 3.1%, in April. Inflation was down to 4% in May, which was down from 4.9% in April. In June of 2022, inflation reached a peak of 9.1%. Pritchett said that May is the 11th straight month that inflation has decreased. He said that inflation is being driven by reductions in the Energy sector. General inflation is at 4%. Food cost inflation is at 7.7%, which is lower compared to March's 8.5%. This is about 5.8% higher than the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Pritchett said through May, the City has issued $482.9M in building permit valuations, which is $286.1M, or -37%, less than last year at this time. Last year's numbers are attributed to a few large projects. Year-to-date Residential Permits  (units) numbers, for May, show that single family homes at 123 units, townhome/duplex at 91, and multi-family homes at 1,108, were all down compared to a year ago. Sales Tax Collections w/out Audits has a rolling year-to-date average of 8.6%. This is up 5.1% from May 2022. Entertainment Tax Collections w/out Audits has a year-to-date rolling average of 9.9%. The City has had a 7.3% increase over May 2022. Pritchett reviewed Industry Taxable Sales data. Lodging Tax Receipts were at 2.5% for May, with a rolling growth rate of 12.2%. Bid Tax Receipts came in at a -4.1%, with a rolling growth rate of 1.9%. In regard to the General Fund - Revenues YTD, we have collected $94,108,404 which is 44% of the budget. General Fund - Expenditures YTD are at $85,072,245 or 39% of the budget. The primary factor is highway and streets, due to the snow. A supplemental request will be made in the Fall for snow removal, Pritchett said. Discussion followed regarding debt service payoffs; municipal bond rates, spending in the Parking Department; rules and regulations for the use of unrestricted cash for Capital items; property tax revenue and relief; people utilizing property tax relief; the second penny sales tax; and the budget for snow removal. 5. Public Comment Scott Ehrisman spoke about the second penny sales tax. 6. Executive Session A. Consulting with legal counsel or reviewing communications from legal counsel about proposed or pending litigation or contractual matters pursuant to SDCL 1-25- 2(3) A motion was made by Council Vice-Chair Merkouris and seconded by Council Member Neitzert to enter Executive Session at 4:32 p.m. Roll call vote to enter Executive Session. 5 Yes: Barranco, Merkouris, Neitzert, Selberg, Starr; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. 7. Adjournment Seeing no further business, City Council Chair Marshall Selberg adjourned the meeting at 4:55 p.m. Denise D. Tucker, MMC, Assistant City Clerk