Special Budget & Finance Committee

TUMWATER BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 13, 2025 Page 1 CONVENE: 3:00 p.m. PRESENT: Chair/Mayor Debbie Sullivan and Councilmembers Peter Agabi, Michael Althauser, and Eileen Swarthout. Staff: Assistant City Administrator Kelly Adams, Finance Director Troy Niemeyer, Senior Accountant Nissa Musselman and Executive Assistant Brittaney McClanahan. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE, MAY 23, 2025: MOTION: Councilmember Althauser moved, seconded by Councilmember Swarthout, to approve the minutes of May 23, 2025 as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. 2025 Assistant McClanahan described the interview process for applicants for 2025 COMMUNITY Community Human Services Program funding. The program was established to HUMAN provide funding to organizations providing human services to Tumwater SERVICES residents. PROGRAM INTERVIEWS: TUMWATER Justine Capra, Secretary, Tumwater Education Foundation, described the EDUCATION purpose of the Principals’ Emergency Fund. The Foundation offers programs to FOUNDATION: students and staff within the Tumwater School District. In 2016, the Foundation expanded to include the Principals’ Emergency Fund to assist in removing common barriers for students to maximize their full potential. The next fundraising breakfast is scheduled on September 15, 2025 followed by another breakfast in October 2025. Funds raised are distributed equally to all schools in the Tumwater School District. Funds are distributed through the Principals’ Emergency Fund to provide basic emergent needs such as clothing, utility assistance, medical care, food, shelter, and other barriers that could restrict students from maximizing their full potential. Ms. Capra reviewed statistics on how funds were used last year. Councilmember Swarthout recused from voting on the application as she serves on the Board of Directors for the Foundation. SAFEPLACE: Ryan Cole, Development Director, SafePlace, reported SafePlace is based in Olympia serving survivors of sexual and domestic violence in Thurston County. SafePlace operates Thurston County's only shelter for survivors of domestic TUMWATER BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 13, 2025 Page 2 violence (DV). The Community Services team provides weekly drop-in advocacy, legal advocacy, and a DV support group. In addition to those programs, SafePlace offers a Housing Program to help survivors quickly find safe and stable housing; a 24/7 Sexual Assault (SA) Program offering emergency hospital call assistance and a SA support group; and a Youth and Prevention team that works in schools (K-12) to teach youth about healthy boundaries, consent, and to become peer-advocates among their friends and peer groups. Any funding amount from the City will be dedicated to client assistance using gift cards to meet different needs, such as transportation, school supplies, food, clothing, and other needs. SafePlace also serves Tumwater residents in need of support. BIG BROTHERS Keith Ann Campbell, Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of BIG SISTERS OF Southwest Washington, said the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of SOUTHWEST Southwest Washington (BBBS) is to create and support one-to-one mentoring WASHINGTON: relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth to achieve their full potential. The organization serves five counties to include Thurston County. The organization seeks to change the lives of children facing adversity and operates in rural and urban communities. Children are paired with screened and trained volunteer adult mentors in the community who play an important role in the child’s life by providing educational support, helping develop social skills, and fostering a friendship that will help them achieve early success and prevent negative behaviors. Funds are used to support the salaries and expenses of background checks and training of volunteers. The area is experiencing a mental health crisis as well as a funding crisis. Funding received by BBBS for the last 10 years from the state was eliminated this year. BBBS has served the Tumwater community for several years working with children at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School. BBBS plans to expand services to Bush Middle School in fall 2025 to address the growing problems of substance abuse and fighting. Tumwater funds would support Tumwater youth and programs in Tumwater. Ms. Campbell addressed questions concerning the relationship between BBBS and Tumwater HOPES. During the pandemic, the partnership between the two organizations declined. Recent contacts between the organizations reactivated the partnership to expand services to Bush Middle School. Tumwater Hopes provided funding of $12,000. CIELO (CENTRO Karlah Ramirez-Tanori, Executive Director, CIELO, reported CIELO INTEGRAL supports critical, direct services for low income and underserved residents of EDUCATIVO Tumwater. CIELO is a community-based nonprofit established in 1996, LATINO DE dedicated to providing free and accessible education, advocacy, and basic needs OLYMPIA: support to individuals and families in the South Sound region. Services are available to everyone. CIELO welcomes all individuals seeking support regardless of background, language, income, or immigration status. CIELO— ensures no one falls through the cracks due to barriers in accessing traditional systems. CIELO serves a broad and diverse community and focuses on outreach to residents who are often left out of mainstream services due to language access, TUMWATER BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 13, 2025 Page 3 documentation challenges, or systemic gaps in care. Many Tumwater families are experiencing housing insecurity, underemployment, or are navigating essential systems without English fluency. Through bilingual case management, interpretation services, housing referrals, and emergency assistance (including rental and utility support), CIELO helps stabilize families and connect them to long-term resources that promote self-sufficiency and dignity. Ms. Ramirez-Tanori responded to questions and reassured members that any amount of funding provided by the City would help support services to include providing utility bill assistance for electricity, gas, and trash services. GARDEN-RAISED Savannah Dresbach, Garden Project Manager, GRUB, reported the mission BOUNTY (GRUB): of GRUB is healthy food, healthy people, and healthy community. The Garden Project is a program offering free food gardens for low-income residents in the community. Each spring, GRUB builds up to 40 backyard gardens with many located in Tumwater. GRUB also provides other programs focused on food sovereignty. Last spring, GRUB constructed one garden in Tumwater for an elderly resident. The cost of each garden is approximately $500 covering supplies, gas, labor, and administrative overhead. Free seeds and plant starts are provided to gardeners. Community volunteers assist in building gardens in conjunction with gardeners. Gardeners and the public are able to attend monthly gardening workshops on composting, pollinators, and native plants, etc. TOGETHER! Diana Perez and Courtney Prothero, Interim Co-Directors for Community Schools Program and Community Schools Managers, presented information on the services provided by TOGETHER! The Tumwater Community Schools Program addresses the opportunity gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers by removing barriers to learning. The mission is to transform a school into a place where educators, community organizations, families, and students can work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. The systematic approach leverages community resources and provides wraparound support for K-12 students and their families. The result of those efforts contribute to improving attendance and graduation rates among vulnerable, high-risk student populations as well as improving food and housing security to help Tumwater School District youth and families thrive in the community. The program has existed in Tumwater for over ten years. Over the last ten years, the needs of the community have changed and grown requiring changes in the program to accommodate those needs. The program provides one-on-one case management to address barriers to stability and meeting needs for success. Within the schools, school resource centers provide hygiene and dental supplies, clothes and shoes, school supplies and other items students and families struggle to obtain in their community. The program provides translation and interpretative support for students, families, and school officials. The goal is to increase inclusivity and engagement and close any gaps that may exist. TUMWATER BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 13, 2025 Page 4 TOGETHER partners with other community partners to help focus on filling the gaps to services and resources. In 2023/2024 the organization served over 260 students and families. The annual golf tournament raised $20,000 with over $100,000 distributed in client assistance. FAMILY Maija Glasier Lawson, Family Support Services of South Sound, reported SUPPORT Family Support Center of South Sound was founded in 1992 to provide families SERVICES OF with children and survivors of domestic violence/sexual assault with coordinated SOUTH SOUND: supportive services to accomplish the updated mission of “Working Together to Strengthen All Families and Survivors.” Family Support Center of South Sound (FSC) operates as a ‘one stop shop’, co-locating with multiple government and nonprofit organizations in a single location thereby reducing the number of places a family or survivor in crisis must go to for services, resources, and support. Annually, the organization serves approximately 5,500 individuals across the different programs. Primary programs include Coordinated Entry, Homeless Family Services, Family Shelter Program, Family Resource Services, Family Justice Center, Parent and Child Education, and Pathways. The Family Resource Services (FRS) program is the organization’s oldest program, and is intended to support any family with any kind of need, regardless of income, barriers, household size, etc. The program is ‘first come, first served’ and follows a low barrier approach aimed at offering the support and/or reasonable accommodations necessary to screen families in rather than out. Most often, families in the FRS program seek support to address a housing-related crisis, such as past-due rent, late utility payments, housing search assistance, or application fee payment. Family Resource Services Navigators provide individualized support, including homeless prevention and problem-solving conversations, rental assistance, connecting families to community resources, employment support, assistance applying for mainstream benefits, gas cards, childcare access, parent education, domestic violence advocacy, flexible financial assistance, and other supportive services. From January to November 2024, Washington experienced the highest number of evictions with Thurston County one of nine counties breaking eviction records. Ms. Lawson shared some statistics from the Tumwater School District for the 2024.2025 school year. Approximately 2,300 students were considered low-income and 173 of those students experienced homelessness. The FRS Program is to ensure those students do not become homeless. The program supported approximately 58 Tumwater families (174 parents and children). The funding proposal of $3,000 would fund approximately 100 hours of Navigator support. COMMITTEE Director Niemeyer reported the combined funding requests total $37,000 with a DISCUSSION: budget availability of $15,000. Staff prepared an option of funding each applicant equally at $2,143. Alternatively, the committee could deliberate on individual funding amounts. TUMWATER BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 13, 2025 Page 5 Members discussed the timing of the City’s receipt of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. Staff affirmed the next round of CDBG funding for the City is in 2026. Members discussed the amount of CDBG funds each organization received from either the City or other jurisdictions. Last year, the committee recommended funding weighted amounts for applicants. Members discussed the potential of an applicant unable to complete a project because of a smaller award. It was noted that none of the applicants indicated any impacts to programs/projects if funding awards were less than the requested amount. The committee reviewed a spreadsheet of funding amounts requested by each applicant. Following additional discussion, the committee recommended allocating the budget of $15,000 equally among all applicants: • Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southwest Washington $2143 • CIELO (Centro Integral Educativo Latino de Olympia) $2143 • Family Support Services of South Sound $2143 • Garden-Raised Bounty $2143 • SafePlace $2143 • TOGETHER! $2143 • Tumwater Education Foundation $2143 Total $15,001 YEAR-TO-DATE Director Niemeyer focused the update on sales tax and other revenue sources. BUDGET Following the first quarter of 2025, the City’s sales tax revenue was 2.77% above UPDATE: the budget forecast for sales tax. May sales tax revenue totaled $782,965 reflecting an increase over April sales tax; however, based on 2024 sales tax revenue, the amount is lower by nearly $64,000. Year-to-date on a month-to- month basis, sales tax revenue has reduced by $40,000 or nearly 5% over 2024 sales tax revenue. The 2025 budgeted amount for sales tax is $11,010,527. Year- to-date collections totaled $3,948,398 reflecting a loss of 5.8% or $638,000. Councilmember Swarthout inquired about the possibility of identifying the sources of retail sales tax to identify whether the reductions can be attributed to tariffs, reduced purchasing activity, or other reasons. Director Niemeyer said the data is not identified by source. It is also important to protect the confidentiality of individual taxpayer data. However, staff can aggregate the data to provide more detail. Mayor Sullivan noted that the City also receives a considerable amount of sales tax from new construction. More details identifying the different sources of retail, construction, and larger retail sales tax would be helpful. TUMWATER BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 13, 2025 Page 6 Director Niemeyer noted that staff is monitoring sales tax closely and if the trend continues, it could account for a revenue shortfall at the end of the year of approximately $1 million to $1.5 million. The new Proposition 1 Public Safety sales tax was not collected until April with the City receiving revenue in April and May. Year-to-date collection is $434.726 or 6.25% more than the budgeted amount. The collection of Business & Occupation tax was strong during the first four months of the year. Year-to-date, collection is 7.5% more than budgeted. Utility tax collections are in the positive. Building permits reflect a 91% collection of expected building permit revenue. Medic One revenue is behind because of the billing process. Several sustainability grants were received before scheduled. Miscellaneous taxes are comprised of several state-shared revenue sources reflecting a slight reduction (liquor tax, marijuana tax, motor vehicle excise tax, etc.). Parks and Recreation revenue is less but the summer season should result in an increase in revenue. Overall, for general fund revenue, year-to-date reflect collections of 44% which exceeds the budget of 41% for year-to-date despite the loss in sales tax revenue. Director Niemeyer reviewed expenditures. All general fund department expenditures are less than budgeted. If the trend continues, it will help offset any revenue shortfall the City might encounter. Director Niemeyer reviewed the status of the Enterprise Funds for utilities and the golf course. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Chair Sullivan adjourned the meeting at 4:28 p.m. Prepared by Valerie L. Gow, Recording Secretary/President Puget Sound Meeting Services, psmsoly@earthlink.net