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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-05-11 Budget Committee MinutesBudget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 1 of 12 DRAFT BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES May 11, 2021 Meeting conducted via Zoom (Meeting recording can be watched here or by going to https.Ilvideoplayer.telvue.com/player/w9sPsSE7vna3XTN_39bs1rEXjVWFOkfP/media/641004?full screen =false &sho wtabssearch =true &autostart=true, timestamps are also noted in these minutes) Chair Shane Hunter called the meeting to order at 3:08 p.m. via online meeting on Zoom ROLL CALL Present: Councilor Paula Hyatt Ellen Alphonso Councilor Stephen Jensen Jim Bachman Councilor Shaun Moran Shane Hunter Councilor Gina DuQuenne (arrived Bob Kaplan late from break) Councilor Tonya Graham Mike Morris Councilor Stefani Seffinger Saladin Amery Mayor Julie Akins David Runkel Absent: None Guests Presenters: Michael Black, Ashland Parks and Recreation Director (Did not return after 4:38 p.m.) Tara Kiewel, Ashland Parks and Recreation Administrative Analyst (Did not return after 4:38 p.m.) Rick Landt, Ashland Parks and Recreation Commissioner (Did not return after 4:38 p.m.) Mike Gardiner, Ashland Parks and Recreation Commissioner (Did not return after 4:38 p.m.) PUBLIC FOURM (Time Stamp 00:02:20) Written Testimony Submitted By (See attached): No discussion from the Committee. Oral Testimony Given: Chair Shane Hunter introduced each speaker to the Committee. Anne Bellegia spoke to being in favor of accepting the City Managers Recommended Biennium 2021-23 budget including the part that relates to the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission. She added that staff who put together these budgets understand what goes into them and that in her role as the chair of the Ashland Senior Advisory Committee this budget will benefit those age 65 plus. Saundra Theis spoke that she also is a member of the Ashland Senior Advisory Committee and what services are needed to support seniors within the City. She also spoke to the specific needs that funding in the Ashland Parks and Recreation Budget addresses for seniors. She then added information regarding the Ashland livability report and that the budget helps to Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 2 of 12 provide the link for livability in Ashland. She ended by urging the Committee to support the City Managers Recommended budget. Leda Shapiro spoke to her astonishment on the budget process. She explained in her experience what these processes looked like. She added that the budget was presented by plugging the budget with a onetime Government stimulus not addressing the deficit. She then suggested possible cuts. She urged the Committee, Council and staff to work together to find a way to cut expenses. PRESENTATION OF ASHLAND PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION (Time Stamp 00:12:51) Michael Black, Ashland Parks and Recreation Director presented to the Committee regarding the funding, Commission goals, recent impacts to services, operations and projects of the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission going forward (See attached). Mayor Julie Akins asked about the acquisition of property as it is often donated to the Parks Commission and if there was an option to sell some of these parcels of land. (Time Stamp 00:25:30) Black responded that this was something that had been done in recent years and Parks Commissioners have identified spaces that are to be sold. He added that looking at the open space plan will allow for this as the goal of every Ashland resident living within a quarter mile has almost been achieved. Councilor Steve Jensen suggested that the Committee hold their questions regarding the presentation to the end as some of the questions may be answered further into the presentation. Mike Gardiner, Ashland Parks and Recreation Commissioner spoke to the financials of Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission. He spoke to the accomplishments, additional programs, and reduction of funding to the commission. Rick Landt, Ashland Parks and Recreation Commissioner spoke to Commissions support for the Food and Beverage Tax to be allocated to the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission and the reduction of the property tax allocation. The Committee then began asking questions of the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission (Time Stamp 00:36:00). Akins asked if consideration would be given to having a special park or taxing district that would bring in revenue. Black responded that this is a question that could be asked, and he thought that the commissioners are willing to make it part of the discussion going forward as they talk about a dedicated revenue source. He added that this was not to be pointed to as the only solution though. Councilor Stefani Seffinger asked about the trail system, its maintenance and who provides dog waste bags to the community. Black responded that Parks and Recreation helps with maintenance to trails in the watershed that are on City property in addition to trails that are already controlled and managed by Parks and recreation in conjunction with Ashland Fire and Rescue. Most of the work is done with volunteers he added. The trail master plan he added is also managed by Ashland Parks and Recreation which is close to 50 miles of trails. He also spoke to the mountain biking community and its reach into economic development and tourism for the City. Landt also spoke to many trails being classified as being in open space areas, which allows for Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 3 of 12 lower costs. He then went on to explain that doing maintenance on these areas allows for them to be more fire ready. Black then responded that the dog waste bags are at a high cost, but it's something that the community expects. Most dog waste bags he added are provided, paid and maintained for by Ashland Parks and Recreation. Councilor Tonya Graham asked about the priorities with the trails master plan. Black responded that there is a goal to work with Ashland Chamber of Commerce and the Rogue Valley Mountain Bikers Association to look at what trails in the area provide for recreation and how this would provide more tourism for the City. An objective he added was to look at during the master planning process trails proposed by the Rogue Valley Mountain Biker Association. Overall, he stated the master planning process ranks high. Bob Kaplan, Committee Member asked about the impact to the Director position and the Commission during the past year's emergency situations. He also asked about the cost recovery plan, what the scope of this was and any expectations. Black responded that they try to work as team players, as they helped to provide care and shelter. He added that in response to the pandemic they were able to, at the direction of the City, provide items like porta-potties, working with local agencies to help with meal locations and many other tasks. During the recent wildfire Parks and Recreation provided assistance related to housing as well. Black added that some expense was incurred and coded to City expenses. Tara Kiewel, Administrative Analyst noted that ongoing costs were mostly staff time as staff worked on community resources. Fiscal impacts regarding revenue Black noted were to the loss of food and beverage tax and revenue from recreation programs. He added that outdoor spaces were used greatly during the public emergency, this made for an increase in expenses from extra maintenance needs and staff time. Black explained that the Cost Recovery plan was to evaluate what needs higher cost recovery and what needs lower cost recovery. He explained areas that are used but incur no costs and areas that do incur some cost recovery. Kiewel explained that Parks and Recreation had been working with a consultant and the idea was to get the true cost of services. As all staff were involved, she explained a look was also given to what costs were being subsidized. This is a project she added that is still ongoing, but the goal is to meet cost recovery goals. Black summed this up by saying that they are looking at those items that should be making money and other services that do good for the community. He also added that what is described as being a subsidy is the revenue that is set aside to provide these programs to the community, and that with the cost recovery plan, they are trying to insure that the most people are seeing the benefits. David Runkel, Committee Member asked about the cost savings due to outsourcing. Black responded that a lot of custodial work has been contracted out and the work has been going well. Financially he went on to say money is being saved on the expenses. Runkel asked about the total number of cost savings to which Black responded he would have to get back to the Committee on such a number. Runkel then clarified that they did indeed have three full time employees doing this work prior to which Black confirmed. Runkel ending by stated that this was something that possibly the City could explore doing. Mike Morris, Committee Member asked if there was a way to break up funds by Parks and then by recreation. Black responded that they can, as funds are separated by three different divisions. Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 4 of 12 These three divisions include Senior Services, Parks, and Recreation. Morris asked if those could be seen in the future to which Black responded yes. Akins asked about when the Japanese garden would be completed and what the cost recovery would be on this project. Additionally, she asked about the Band Shell and if after the pandemic that there would be more ideas on using it more frequently, as well as the any cost recovery. Black responded that the cost recovery on the Japanese garden will be good as there is a donor that is willing to pay most of the maintenance costs, this will make the overall recovery at 60%. Other ideas for fundraising are also being looked at he added that will hopefully bring the cost recovery higher. He also stressed that like many other parks in the City, that the park would be open and free of charge to use. Landt also added that the cost recovery for the first 10 years is 100% as there are no costs, but he acknowledges that as Black noted there would be some maintenance costs. Akins further inquired about her question regarding the bandshell, Black responded the bandshell is still a City owned location but managed by Parks. He added as the charter states the Band Shell is for the City Band, but this does not mean that the projects cannot be done at this location as it fits in the goals of the organization. He then went on to say that events at the location would be good for tourism. Adam Hanks, City Manager Pro Tem added that is similar with other locations of capital expense within the City, but it is a better fit for the management to be with Parks. Black added information on activities that already take place in the Band Shell. Councilor Shaun Moran asked about the Food and Beverage Tax that is proposed in the budget to Parks and Recreation. His thought was that this tax could only be used for the capital projects and not general operations and asked what interpretation of this was then. In a second question Moran questioned the alarming ending fund balance in 2021-23 as it gets drawn down to almost zero and what happens to the ending fund balance when it is completely drawn down. Black responded that changes to the Food and Beverage Tax could go to Council or the voters for an amendment and discussion if the new uses of the tax fit and can be used the way proposed. He added that five years ago that this tax did change, which allowed for more room to be used for maintenance in Parks, so he believes the language would allow but that the discussion should be had to make sure the intent is correct. Hanks added that as himself, Black and Melanie Purcell, Finance Director had discussed prior that in whatever revenue streams use that they would want to be explicit in the proposed language to Council or voters and that components would be verified as to how they are spent. He added the challenges in this with what funds are unrestricted and restricted and that the future conversations would need to be had between both elected bodies on the revenue streams. He ended by adding that revenue streams would not be put forward if they did not work for both bodies. Moran asked about how this would work in the current budget as they are asking to approve it if it would need to go to the voters. Hanks responded that this would be an actual change to the ordinance, and this can be done by Council or the voters. If it is decided on that this would go to the voters, this would likely go in May of 2022 and the proposed budget is designed this way. Black then responded that in terms of the ending fund balance, that the goal is to not spend any money that does not need to be. He added that typically expenses are looked at with the needs that are out there but throughout the biennium the revenue sources have decreased and the ability to save money has diminished. Internal policies on hiring have also been used and positions are looked at to see if they are necessary. This policy along with a look at other costs will hopefully Black added, allow for savings to be built up. He then went on to say that recreation revenues have been very conservative over the next two years due to the uncertainty in everything. Black Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 5 of 12 added that the ending fund balance can be used in some senses for emergencies like the one that is currently taking place and that using this balance allows for Parks to continue as he says help define the identity of the Citizens' of Ashland. Hanks also added that the Parks ending fund balance is different from other ending fund balances. Purcell added that Parks does not need to have an ending fund balance that has cash flows the same as the City's General Fund. Conversations she added have been had about focusing on the goals over the next two years particularly with finding a long term and stable funding source. Councilor Paula Hyatt asked about the timing of the funding regarding Moran's question. She asked if the first -year funding for Parks and Recreation would still be coming from Property Tax revenues and this would mean that the May vote would inform the second year. If passed she went on to clarify this would mean the majority of the funding would come from the property tax with a small amount still left coming from Property Tax revenues that can be used on operating. Both Purcell and Black confirmed this was correct. Jensen thanked the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission for their presentation. He spoke to the care, thought and able management of the Parks system that was presented. He also spoke to the Budget awareness of Black within the Parks and Recreation Department. Runkel added that he thought that from the City's point of view that the Property Tax would not be available when the Food and Beverage Tax did not fund properly. Black stating that his understanding was that a permenant funding mechanism for Ashland Parks and Recreation that would include a percentage of the Property Tax that is lower than the percentage that they are currently receiving. This percentage he added would remain the same and the Food and Beverage Tax may ebb and flow, as it has been stable in the past. Hanks confirmed that there is not a proposal that would eliminate the property tax from Parks and that this is a matching up of the resources as discussed prior. Councilor Gina DuQuenne asked about the ending fund balance, and if it would be possible to see this for each fund. Hunter stated that most of this is in OpenGov and Purcell stated that she would provide this in summary form. Seffinger asked about the revenues related to allowing the use of alcohol in Parks and Recreation managed facilities and then she asked about an ending fund balance that was $400,000 that was said to not be a reserve fund. She then talked about items that Parks were doing based on the goals of the City. Black stated the addition of allowing alcohol in the parks is still under consideration by the Ashland Parks and Recreation commission. He added that the alcohol in the Parks is actually a municipal code that would have to be looked by the Commission and then a recommendation would have to be made to the City Council who ultimately would make changes to the code. If the City code was changed, the Parks and Recreation Commissioners could look at this policy and make changes. Graham spoke to the drops in the second year and if the proposed budget was to be passed with the recommendations to look at the structural deficits, the City Council would be doing this for the rest of the General Fund while the Parks and Recreation Commission is doing this for the Parks Department. This is all she added so that changes could be made in the second year of the budget that would help with the decline in the second year of the budget. She then asked if the declines would then only happen if these recommendations were not made. Black and Purcell confirmed this with Purcell adding that ending fund balances will be drawn down and that the recommendations is an urgent conversation about a structural change to City services with a Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 6 of 12 parallel conversation happing in Parks. Hanks added that within year one that the relief funds are used for revenue replacement and these will need to be qualified as losses in Transient Occupancy Tax and the food and beverage tax. He also added that the City as well reduced costs due to COVID and this allowed for the ending fund balance to be larger and stronger than projected. Hunter thanked Parks and Recreation Staff and Commissioners. He asked any additional questions be directed to Purcell. He then put the meeting into a 10-minute break at 4:38 p.m. PRESENTATION FROM THE TOURISM GRANTS REVIEW SUBCOMMITEE (Time Stamp 01:39:32) Meeting was resumed at 4:39 p.m. by Hunter. Hunter asked Tourism Grant Subcommittee Chair and Citizens' Budget Committee Vice Chair Jim Bachman to present to the Committee on the proposed recommendation. Bachman explained that the Committee made up of three members of the Citizens' Budget Committee discussed the allocations as presented on screen and it was a unanimous vote (see attached). He gave some background stating that these grants used to include allocations for economic, cultural, and sustainably and that Council had allocated this year $80,000 with restricted funds to tourism. Bachman recommended to the Committee that this allocation be recommended to City Council. Runkel asked if the money allocated was money that is set aside per state law for organizations that bring people in from 50 miles away. Hanks stated that this was true as it was part of the ORS limitation in addition to it requiring overnight stays and tourism promotion. He then commented on ScienceWorks and how it relates to tourism. Bachman responded that the sense from the Grants Subcommittee was that they do. Hanks added that this information is also included in a report that is due back to the subcommittee on the use of Grant Funds and can also include promotion that was made from 50 miles away. Alphonso/Jenson m/s to move that recommended allocations be moved to the City Council for approval DISCUSSION: None; Voice Vote: All in Favor; Motion passed unanimously. COMMITTEE DELIBERATION OF BUDGET (Time Stamp 01:45:08) Hunter discussed next steps with the Committee asking how they all thought best to move forward. Runkel stated that he really appreciated the presentation of the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission but asked if more information could be given regarding the City of Ashland Capital Improvement Plan, possibly a presentation with a time for questions and answers at the next meeting. The committee agreed about this presentation. DuQuenne asked if a priority list could also be presented to the Committee. Hanks responded that due to short notice Scott Fleury the Public Works Director may not be able to attend and that the plan is approved by Council, so it was not being highlighted during the budget process. What was approved has been imbedded into the proposed budget he added. He then asked what specifics the Committee is looking for as 15 minutes would not be enough time to present. DuQuenne asked if it would be possible for Hanks and Purcell to present on just the highlighted priority items within the plan. Hanks noted that some of this information had been presented to the Committee prior and that the book itself Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 7 of 12 gives information on what category they are, any changes to the plan he added would be a Council decision, but they could still present. Runkel concluded that he would be interested in seeing a priority list as well. He added that even though Council has approved the budget, there are still parts of this budget that have to be approved and it would be worthwhile to have a discussion about these projects. Hanks responded that this did help with his question, as all items are expected to be completed within the next two years, but these projects will be subject to any unknowns. DuQuenne asked if this listed could be provided and Purcell responded that it had been provide but could be reformatted to show this information better. Saladin Amery, Committee member stated that the committee is looking at approving a budget were as it has been explained from the first meeting, the General Fund is in a dire situation and that it has been explained that it needs to be cut or solutions need to be made for it. He added that the he thought that the Enterprise Funds could also go this way unless decisions are made on where items need be. As planning needs to be looked at, he questioned how the Committee could vote on a budget with such a large deficit and when the committee would start looking at what needs to be done prior to an approval of the budget. He asked for clarification on how to move forward. Hunter responded that people have brought forward ideas and thoughts on how to amend the budget, which will now need to be turned into motions in order to amend the motion or in some way back this along to Council. He advised the Committee that they could begin making motions and explained the process. Amery asked for further clarification as he had sent an email regarding suggestions and then asked about when ideas about cuts could be made. Hunter responded that these could be made at anytime and gave an example of what this motion could be adding that these ideas would be added into the package that would go to Council. Graham followed up on the discussion regarding the CIP stating that in the recommended budget from the City Manager, there is a listing of recommendations that area already included. She then asked Runkel if there are items that are not included and if it was being asked if items are needed to identified elements that are missing or should not be funded. She wanted to be clear on this before asking staff to put more time into this. Runkel responded by looking at page 194 of the proposed budget book and Graham noted that she was on page 21 and explained what is included on these pages. Ellen Alphonso, Committee member spoke to the specific recommendations made by Amery and how she had read an article about how budget strapped entities and budget cut strategies (see attached article). She asked the committee what strategies could be looked at and gave some examples. Hunter explained a resolution that was passed in 2019 that stated what the essential services were and what the value-added services were. Akins explained that she was ready to make a motion adding information on how to keep going in technology driven sector as she added it was moving very quickly and costly. As previously discussed with Hanks she explained that some options for Ashland Fiber Network were entering into a partnership or keeping the rate flat and preparing it for sale. She added at the time that Ashland Fiber Network began it was a good solution. Akins/Hyatt m/s to move that A motion to keep AFN flat and prepare it for sale to a private entity at the discretion and guidance of City staff. DISCUSSION: Akins reiterated her comments stated prior and added that this motion had be perpetuated by a lot of things including the current budget as this would be a sizable chuck if sold in the open market. She also stated that new opportunities Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 8 of 12 are being opened every day including new platforms with Google with incredible speeds. As the City begins to attract Tech employees and business, she added they are going to see what can be shown by the City for high speed and accessible internet and the City may not be able to win at this game. If sold, she went on to say, it will save the City money and it may put the City in a better position competitively, with residents not suffering due to being a competitive industry. Amery asked if a deep dive on the financials of this would be done on this as there is outstanding debt and ideas on how to package this would need to be looked at when offered out to a buyer. This would allow for the City not to incur extra costs. Akins responded that she thought City staff is poised and qualitied to do this, as well as make a positive package for sale. She added that this was worthy of looking into now, but the option could also be looked at to enter into a partnership. The can, she stated, would be worse if it kept getting kicked down the road, as expenses incur, and it becomes harder to keep up. Hyatt added that her thoughts on this were that the motion was very specific in terms of direction and she did not know if the Citizens' Budget committee could do this as it may be closer to policy. She went on to say that she is very supportive of the committee recommending that Council take a substantive review of Ashland Fiber Network, including a look at operations and long-term viability and what these changes would look like. Alphonso added that when this discussion had begun prior, that she thought the conversation had to do with accessibly as some of the larger providers want to bundle services. This made her worried, she added, for lower income citizens that it may be hard to get a larger provider to provide only internet, as this is a utility that needs to be provided to all. She then stated that she has confirmed that internet providers do provide the stand-alone services but that she would encourage that whatever privatization happens that this discussion continues as bundled services may not be financially feasible. Jensen stated that although he supports the concept of a deep dive, the mission presented to the Committee is to how this would directly affect the City Managers Recommended Budget as presented as he has not seen any figures come forward on this. He commented that he does not know how this helps the immediate work at hand. Graham stated that she is in support of a look into AFN, as information needs to be given before a strategic decision is made. She added that she is concerned however about funding staying flat and preparing for sale when needed information has not been gathered. Graham asked Hanks if this idea had come from City staff as it had been inferred that way. Hanks responded that he did not recommend the holding flat part but understands it. He went on to say that included in the budget message is language on an investment in updating AFN infrastructure and this can take many forms. A conversation he added was had between himself and the Mayor on how this could take place, as additional investment can be looked at beyond items like debt. He added questions that need to be answered as; is there a buyer, and that as written in the budget message there is a goal to improve this infrastructure, which requires a contractual services agreement that can be worked on by City staff. He also stated other operations models that may be looked at and that is this is a conversation of Council. Speaking to the relation of the General Fund he commented that the Enterprise Funds are not in poor shape and that conversations about rate implications, as rates will go up. He added to this that wholesale energy rates across the United States had gone up by 13% and that the conversations on strategic management needs to be had. He ended by saying that unless the sale of Ashland Fiber Network exceeds the debt services cost and other costs such as those intertwined with the School District and that holding it flat could reduce the market share with no updates being made. This he stated wouldn't address anything in the General Fund, but he sees the need for this. Moran stated that the comments made were very welcomed as since he has been on the Budget Committee it has been talked about, but nothing really has happened. He also commented that he disagreed with the term deep dive and that this should be more specific to variables. He added that he supported Mayor Akins proposal and that what Hanks had stated with very accurate. Referring to the 2017-18 and 2018-19 Budgets, Moran added that the line item expenses were $2.1 million per year and this is expected to grow in the Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 9 of 12 next budget year. His thought was that it would be okay to keep the expenses at the 2018-19 levels, if the goal was to sell it. He added that he had interest in knowing how best to divest Ashland Fiber Network, as this is an urgent conversation that needs to be added. Bachman added that although he fully supports the idea of recommending to Council a look at Ashland Fiber Network he believes, as with Jensen's comments, that this should be done after the biennial budget has been settled. He added that he was opposed to this motion as it conflicts with the work on the budget and it is more strategic. Seffinger asked if having a partner within Ashland Fiber Network plays into the risk of Cyber-attacks. Hanks responded that Ashland Fiber Network is different but there is some overlap such as the entrance and exit of the systems. He added that this overlap would be an element that would need to be looked at during a strategic review and ways that it can be addressed. Adding that there are issues within this he explained at DDOS attack that had occurred recently and that it may be too early to know what the Cyber Risk would be with different models. Akins withdrew the motion as stated. MOTION WITHDRAWN. She added that she is hopeful going forward that it can be discussed that it is known what needs to be done, as this is a policy decision. Her goal, she added, was to get the temperature of the body. Moran asked how the information in the above motion would be moved forward so it is not lost. Akins stated that this can be scheduled to be brought back to Council and direct staff on. Bachman added that for the sake of the meeting, the biennial budget should be decided on and then recommendations be made. Bachman/Hyatt m/s to move that A motion to accept the proposed budget with following changes: Reduce the General Fund revenues by the $100,000 per year from Marijuana taxes and $100,000 in expenditures and to increase the Housing Fund revenues by $100,000 from marijuana taxes and reduce the revenue shown in the proposed budget by that fund by removing the property sales. DISCUSSION: Bachman stated that he believed that word crisis was being over used and if it had not been for Federal funds, there is now some time to work through in a deliberative process and how the next four biennium's will be handled or an eight year plan. Even with this, he added, that he does not see a crisis and would only do if steps were not taken during the strategic planning window as outlined in the budget document. He further stated that the work needs to be done in the coming months to remedy this and this should be looked at a manageable challenge instead of knee-jerk reactions of slashing the budget. He believes that the proposed budget is excellent and that a lot of staff time went into it to make it a workable plan to get through the first year of the biennium and that readiness needs to be made for the second year and beyond but that this is the charge for Council. Adding that he would like to draw the line between the Committee and the Council, he suggested that the Committee could make recommendations as overall he does not see making these big decisions as beneficial to the citizens of Ashland. Hyatt spoke to looking at the housing fund revenues related to it. Previously she explained citizens had come forward and indicated that the success of this fund was predicated in large part to the dedication of funds and the Committee has had a lot of conversation around the dedication of funds such as those with Parks. Speaking to what is a surplus fund, she added, that these would be greater than the $100,000 that the Marijuana taxes could offer and that even though it may be seen as choosing less, the key is that these funds are dedicated which can help with things like partnerships, matching funds and grants. She added that success from this over the past years has shown that the community is dedicated to this and she wants this to continue. She then stated that the dedicated funds over a onetime cash infusion was a better strategic decision. Hanks clarified that this amount would be per year to which Bachman confirmed. Amery then clarified if this was a motion on just the marijuana tax or if this was for the whole budget. Hunter stated that was just on the marijuana piece. Graham commented that she shares the commitment to these Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 10 of 12 funds but that she is incredibly concerned about the fact that they are moving into another biennium without communications capacity. She added that she sees this as a major need for structural operations and that she hopes that this would be included in this biennium to switch out those funds in an effort to figured out in the strategical planning process, as the hope would be to make the funding less restrictive. She ended by saying that this is a complicated issue as properties take time sell but at the heart of it some fundamental parts of a functioning City are being missed practically with communications. Runkel following up on Grahams comments and asked how the sponsors of the proposal plan to fill the $200,000 hole in the general fund that is being created. Speaking to a procedural issues, David Lohman City Attorney asked about clarity to the motion stating that he had written down the budget be approved with the changes to the Marijuana taxes going to the Housing Fund. This he added is contrary to what was just said about the motion this motion is accepting the budget as proposed with that one change. He wanted everyone to be on the same page as far as the motion. Amery added that is how he understood it and Bachman stated that this was his intent. Bachman added that he wanted to come back to Hunter's point that they were just voting on the Housing Fund, but his intent was that the Committee vote on the budget with this change. Bachman also answered Runkle's question by saying that the gap would be filled with the sale of excess assets. Hanks added that this was consistent with Council and the City's financial polices and this is where funds would go even with Council direction. Akins spoke to her favor of retaining funds within the Housing Fund as housing has been identified by this body, Council, and the residents as a key issue that needs to be addressed. She added that although she respects Councilors Graham's remarks regarding communication, she does not recall a communications staffer within the City even during Akins time as reporter. She ended by agreeing Amery's point that other elements need to be talked about prior before adopting the budget and that it feels rushed. Runkel added that if talking about the whole budget, that he had another motion to make and that this may be premature to have a vote on the whole budget proposal before any discussion as there are other motions to make. He is concerned, he added, that there needs to be more discussion and asked that the motion be withdrawn, so other parts of the motion can be discussed. Bachman responded that his point in making the motion was to have the discussion and that there is not substantive talk until there is a motion on the table. He wanted, he noted, to move the process into a discussion and that he would not withdraw. Runkel responded that while this motion is on the table it limits other motions from being made, and suggested voting down the motion and allowing for further discussion. Bachman then responded that this motion could be amended, and this was just to open the deliberations. Bachman stated that as he understood it that the last motion on the table would be resolved and then the committee would work their way back to the first motion and in no way does this cut off discussion. Hunter and Akins both agreed that this was correct and a motion to amend could be made. Amery asked if he could amend the motion to discuss issues around the General Fund that need to be placed before voting on the entire budget. Hunter asked Lohman for more clarification. Lohman responded that there are two options first would be that you can make amendments to the motion that are not contradictory to the motion and do not gut the main idea. He then explained that you can make these amendments that would be voted on in the order that they are made. The second option he added is to move that to the main motion and determine if it passes or doesn't. Hyatt/Akins m/s to move that the motion split the motion and keep the approval of the budget as one motion and the approval of the funding stream change in regards to the Housing Trust Fund and Marijuana tax as its own sperate motion and with that motion asked if the Committee could vote on the Housing Trust Fund piece. DISCUSSION: Hyatt explained that she has given her support to the Housing Fund. Akins added no further comment other than she too was going to move to amended. Moran added that he fully supports keeping the money from the Marijuana Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 11 of 12 tax in the Housing Fund and that this was something that the last Budget Committee worked hard on. Lohman clarified before the substance of the motion was voted on that the motion to split the motion needed to vote on. The subjects of the two motions can then be voted on. Voice Vote: All in Favor; Motion passed unanimously; MOTION AMENDED Akins clarified that there are two motions on the table one being the Housing Fund and the other one being the budget overall. The Committee confirmed this. Lohman added that as he understood it the goal was to take up the housing fund first. Hunter added to this that the first motion of approving the budget will be done so with the changes approved in the other motions. The Committee agreed. Speaking to the Housing fund Morris added that he could not support the motion as it sets with $100,000 a year going to Housing Fund. He explained that this was based on both this revenue and excess property revenue going to this fund. He added that there needs to be a bigger discussion at the Council level adding that this may be the way it goes but there may be other needs that are higher. Previous Council goals put housing and homeless services at tier two as value service not essential and essential services may be cut for a value-added service he explained. He suggested that this may be a policy decision that Council needs to address. Because of this, he added, that he could not support the motion. Bachman asked Hanks to clarify if excess revenues would flow back to the General Fund and Council would make decisions on where the proceeds would go. Hanks responded that yes generally this is what takes place. He also explained that based on updated financial policies that it is not exactly this way, but Council can deviate from the policies but generally these policies are followed. He added, as the policy states that there is unrestricted funds that go into the general fund plus an amount that goes into the reserve fund which is a way to begin to build up the reserve fun. Any conversation like this would happen at the sale of the property he commented. Bachman further stated that this is not in the current budget but would be a later Council action. To which Hanks confirmed. Morris then commented that a previous Finance Director made it clear that Ashland does not sell properties they are given away. Looking at affordable projects he added they were started on City Property that was donated, which is another way of donating to the housing fund. Graham stated that given the other funding sources that could be brought into this biennial budget, Council action will have to be taken to have them used as unrestricted funds with the General Fund. She then spoke in support of the motion understanding there were items that would be covered and the lack of impact it would have on essential services. Kaplan added that he may have a conflict of interest as he is on the Options for Helping Residents of Ashland board. Although he added this would more then likely not be a conflict, he wanted to make sure this was disclosed. Lohman explained that if Kaplan did not receive any financial benefit his disclosure as state would be sufficient and he could still participate and vote. Kaplan agree that he did receive any financial benefit. Bachman added that he too has a similar disclosure to make as his wife is on the Options for Helping Residents of Ashland board and the Housing and Human Services Commission and they both receive no financial benefit. Graham and Moran too added that they serve on Options for Helping Residents of Ashland Advisory Board and too receive no financial benefit. Budget Committee Meeting May 11, 2021 Page 12 of 12 Motion reread as, a motion to reduce the General Fund revenues by the $100,000 per year from Marijuana taxes and $100,000 in expenditures and to increase the Housing Fund revenues by $100,000 from marijuana taxes and reduce the revenue shown in the proposed budget by that fund by removing the property sales. The committee confirmed adding the detail regarding per year. Voice Vote: Yes; Hyatt, Jensen, Moran, DuQuenne, Graham, Seffinger, Akins, Alphonso, Bachman, Hunter, Kaplan, Amery, NO; Morris, Runkel, MOTION PASSES 12-2 Lohman explained what would happen with the current motion with the motion dying upon adjournment or a vote to postpone it until the next meeting. Akins/Moran m/s to move that to postpone the current motion DISCUSSION: None; Voice Vote: All in Favor; Motion passed unanimously. Hunter explained that the next meeting would include a small amount the CIP but that most of it would be discussion. ADJOURNMENT Bach man/Seffinger motioned/seconded the adjournment of the meeting. Discussion: None. Meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Natalie Thomason Administrative Assistant From: Stephen Jensen Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 10:48 PM To: Shaun Moran Subject: RE: RVSS Proposal Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged Budget Committee, Councilors et al, While a comment or attempted clarification of previous meeting minutes by a Councilor may be allowed, such comments do not change the minutes as ably elucidated by Mr. Lohman. The meeting minutes and stated motions of the February 16 Business Meeting remained unchanged. The motion: "Council rescinded the direction given to staff at the February 1st Council Study Session to prioritize an analysis into the COA wastewater operation including the invitation for a Rogue Valley Sewer Services presentation and that such an analysis not be considered by Council until after the current city budget is approved by council. stands unaltered and in effect, Councilor Moran's dissented interpretation notwithstanding. More important, the disingenuously "unanimous" vote referred to by Councilor Moran was not a vote to uphold his interpretation of the RVSS proposal. It was simply a vote to approve the minutes without correction. Facts matter, even small ones. And process matters, more than ever. Sorry for the weeds, folks. SEJ Stephen Jensen City Councilor From: Shaun Moran Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 8:19 PM To: Stephen Jensen Subject: Re: RVSS Proposal Great, please find below the CORRECT version of what was said regarding RVSS released at the Feb 16th council meeting and found on the city website. Note this was after the "Council Meeting Outcomes February 2nd" addressed by Mr Jensen, which was released on Feb 4th. As outlined in the Feb 16th business meeting the minutes https://www.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?AMID=7689&Display=Minutes Council Business MeetinggCity Council - City of Ashland, Oregon www.ashland.or.usFeb '161fi "Moran clarified that his request in the Study Session (Feb 1st) is for RVVSS to give a presentation about what they do; and, not for Ashland City Staff*to do anything. He also clarified that at the Council Business Meeting he did not ask that Staff prioritize to do anything around the RVVSS presentation. He never asked Staff to do an analysis to the Wastewater System. He spoke that it is unproductive to misrepresent any Councilor (which spoke to what Mr Jensen attempted to misrepresent at the Feb 2nd city council meeting) Lohman explained the protocol for minutes. " PS, council agreed that a meeting with RVSS will be scheduled after the budget (between July 1st and Sept 1 2021) and a subsequent motion was approved unanimously. - Mr Jensen voted YES. Best Shaun Moran From: Stephen Jensen <stephen@council.ashland.or.us> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 7:13 PM Subject: RVSS Proposal Budget Committee, Councilors et al, Pursuant to the continuing reappearance of the RVSS "presentation" idea, please consider the following item verbatim from "Council Meeting Outcomes February 2nd". Council rescinded the direction given to staff at the February 1st Council Study Session to prioritize an analysis into the COA wastewater operation including the invitation for a Rogue Valley Sewer Services presentation and that such an analysis not be considered by Council until after the current city budget is approved by council. Hopefully, this will clarify any misunderstandings and misstatements. Thank you SEJ Stephen Jensen City Councilor From: Susan Hall Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2021 4:45 PM To: Natalie Thomason Subject: Re: Emails to the Budget Committee [EXTERNAL SENDER] Natalie I found everything... thanks susan Sent from my iPad > On Apr 29, 2021, at 1:10 PM, Natalie Thomason <natalie.thomason@ashland.or.us> wrote: > Good Afternoon Susan, > Thank you for your email. Public comment submitted by each meetings deadline can be read by going to https://www.ashland.or.us/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=532 (or by going to the budget process page from the City home page "hot links") and clicking under each meetings title "Written Public Testimony Submitted." Please note public comment is split up by the week it was presented to the committee, so each meetings public testimony will be a different set of comments. > Please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. > Thank you, > Natalie Thomason > Administrative Assistant > Risk Management Claims Intake > City of Ashland I Finance > 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 > 541-552-2012 Direct I Voice, TTY 800-735-2900 1 541-552-2059 fax > This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 552-2012 > -----Original Message----- * From: Susan Hall > Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2021 12:37 PM > To: Finance <finance@ashland.or.us> > Subject: Emails to the Budget Committee > [EXTERNAL SENDER] > HI > Where can I read , ONLINE, the emails from the public that have been sent to the Budget Committee? > Thanks > Susan Hall RN > Sent from my Wad From: Susan Hall Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2021 7:28 PM To: Finance Cc: Adam Hanks; Melanie Purcell Subject: City Budget Committee Meetings [EXTERNAL SENDER] 4/29/21 To :2021 Ashland Budget Committee members I have just reviewed, for the second time, the RVTV videos of the first three 2021 Budget Committee meetings and public emails attached to each meeting. The meetings have a distressing conformity in that the majority of the 3hr. time was taken up with Staff presented Power Point presentations ( slide count between 50-70 slides each meeting). Minimal time was allotted so CBC members could ask and get answers to specific questions. Why is the CBC being 'handcuffed' to these Power Point slides? The CBC has the City Managers Recommended 2021-2023 Biennium Budget document. They have presumably reviewed it and have questions around areas needing clarifications and elaboration so productive discussion can take place during the 3 hour budget meetings. Furthermore we, the public, want to hear these discussions during the meeting time. The emails received by the CBC have public feedback that, I believe, should be included in discussion and review during the CBC meetings. It is time for the City Staff to discontinue the redundant Power Points at the final May 11 & May 14 meetings. Format should shift to discussion that supplies information requested by Budget Committee members. Furthermore the final format should address individual Budget member's unanswered questions previously requested from any of the first 3 meetings. Up to this point, I believe the CBC has been deprived of adequate public time to exchange ideas and propose cost saving ideas because the first three meetings were dominated by Power Point charts & graphs. Enough already. At the third ( 4/27/21) meeting, Leda Shapiro spoke for 3 minutes during "Public Forum". Clearly Ms. Shapiro has extensive knowledge and a clear opinion of the data which she feels the CBC needs to do their job. Several members of the CBC have previously asked for such details. Where is it? I believe the City Staff is obligated to give the CBC what the CBC says it needs to evaluate the 2021-2023 Budget. I believe the City Staff has worked hard to create the PP presentations they thought helpful but to date, they have failed to deliver what many CBC members have asked for. Valuable time has been lost for the group to work together. Unfortunately, at the 4/27/21 meeting, several CBC members clearly did not feel they had received adequate explanations from Staff. Prior to the May 11 & May 14 meetings, City Staff has work to do to be prepared to deliver. Thank you for your service to Ashland Susan Hall RN Ashland Sent from my iPad From: Dean Silver Sent: Saturday, May 1, 2021 6:16 PM To: City Council; Budget Committee Subject: The Budget: What is Being Hidden and Why? Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged [EXTERNAL SENDER] The budget has no line items. Each department lists personnel, materials and services, capital outlay, and debt services. This is a budget in name only. It's too vague to be of any use. Ashland's budget, and the budget process, are bad jokes at best. If you doubt this, just take a look at Medford's budget, and see what level of detail they provide. https://www.medfordoregon.gov/files/assets/public/finance/documents/budgets/prelimiinary-budget-2021- 2023.pdf Specific expenditure detail begins at p. 13-3 If anyone can tell me where to find this kind of detailed reporting in Ashland, please let me know. I've asked the finance director numerous times. No answer. To make it worse, this is the justification I received from the finance director regarding this omission: "We do not generate "lower level" reports for the budget process. While line items are useful for transaction tracking and financial reporting, we do not budget to that level as specific transactions may land in a slightly different accounting location. We look for trends and "by type" behavior patterns to determine if departments are meeting their financial management responsibilities and to assist them in analyzing operations for greater efficiencies and effectiveness. Management researches greater detail as needed based on specific service analysis." Did you follow that? Now go change you soiled shoes. For your amusement and horror, take a look at the latest financial update http://www.ashland.or.us/SIB/files/021621_Financial_Update_CCFinal.pdf Search as long as you like, but you still will not find any useful detail there either. You will not find any detail regarding expenses, none. The council doesn't see it, the taxpayers don't see it. Why is there no transparency in Ashland's finances? Ask yourself: what is being hidden, and why? Dean Silver Brent Thom son April 20, 2021 Ashland City Council and Budget Committee 20 East Main Ashland OR 97520 Re; Too many commissions and committees To the Council and Budget Committee, Each different commission or committee requires the time of at least two staff members. THAT IS EXPENSIVE. And, of course, one of your main jobs is to eliminate unnecessary expenses. In looking at the list of commission and committee meetings there seems to be an overlap of responsibilities and concerns with the various bodies. Please have the discussion each "budget season" about what commissions or committees might be combined or eliminated. If the cost of a given commission or committee is not funded by you, then it simply goes away. The estimated cost of administering each body should be a factor in setting up or eliminating commissions and committees. And be careful of entering into social work. Social work is mostly the job of the state in Oregon. Your main job is to have public services functioning such as the water system, the electric system, the sewage treatment system, street repair, public safety, cemeteries, and parks. You also have to deal with the University, the Festival, and endless issues regarding planning. It is not that other areas are not important just that the council can become so overburdened with distracting issues that the above priorities risk being neglected. Thank you Brent Thompson From: Melanie Purcell Sent: Friday, April 30, 2021 1:07 PM To: Udo Gorsch-Nies; City Council Cc: Finance Subject: Re: Proposed city budget for 2022 Good afternoon, Thank you for your feedback. Your comments will be share with the Citizen Budget Commitee as wel.. Melanie Melanie D. Purcell, CPFO, SHRM-SCP Finance Director City of Ashland I Finance 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-5300 Office I Voice, TTY 800-735-29001 541-552-2059 fax This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 488-5300. From: Udo Gorsch-Nies Sent: Friday, April 30, 202112:52 PM To: City Council <council @ashland.or.us> Subject: Proposed city budget for 2022 [EXTERNAL SENDER] Dear City Council, [just read the "Ashland Chronicle" edition of April 29, 2021. I am appalled that -Ashland's 2022 proposed budget is about 15% higher than the 2021 approved budget." This is contrary to my belief in planning a balanced budget. Apparently, with my fixed income as a retiree, my financial planning rules don't matter to the City of Ashland. After all, the City Council is free to raise fees and taxes as it sees fit. I consider a 15% increase in the proposed budget comparable to reaching into other people's wallets. They are not asked, the City Council just grabs I love to live in Ashland. When I entered Ashland it 2003 its was love at the first sight. I hate the threat of being expelled from Ashland due to money problems. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living. Udo Gorsch-Nies From: Melanie Purcell Sent: Friday, May 7, 2021 1:58 PM To: - Cc: Budget Committee; Department -Heads; Subject: RE: Big Picture Proposed Cuts Needed Attachments: S. Amery CBC Suggestions 05.05.21.pdf Good afternoon, Thank you for sending over your thoughts and suggestions. Attached are the numbers and some considerations for discussion. See you all next week; have a wonderful weekend. Melanie Melanie Purcell Finance Director City of Ashland I Finance 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-5300 Office I Voice, TTY 800-735-2900 1 541-552-2059 fax This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 488-5300 From: Saladin Amery Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2021 7:15 PM To: Melanie Purcell <melanie.purcell@ashland.or.us> Cc: Budget Committee <BudgetCommittee@ashland.or.us> Subject: Big Picture Proposed Cuts Needed [EXTERNAL SENDER] Dear Melanie, I am sending to you this email, but I have cc'd the budget committe so everyone is aware of what I am suggesting, I don't know the exact Oregon meeting law, and I don't want to be in breach of any laws, so I assume no one should respond to this email, other than you, we can all discuss this in the next meeting. However, I feel that we need to spend more time discussing how to address cuts necessary to help get the budget back on track and into positive territory. In our last meeting, you clarified the extent of the losses we have incurred in the general fund, which as you stated can not sustain the spending as the city has been doing, even after absorbing the $4.3mm that the federal government has given to us. You clearly indicated, and I agree, that we needed to get into the weeds and make cuts to help get us back on track. Taking a look at the attached two pages, there seems to be an increase in spending from the actual 2019-2020 numbers in the General fund and the proposed 2021-22 numbers, which is supposed to include cuts, but instead shows more than a $10mm increase in expenditure. If you then look further in the first attachment, page 18 of the document, you will see that even after the proposed use of the one time government funds contribution of $4.3mm, by 2024 the fund is running at a loss of nearly $4mm, which means we have lost over $8mm between now and 2024. At a time, where the future economic growth of our community is uncertain, and a return to where we were in 2019 is questionable at best. From a big picture perspective, the TOT and food and beverage taxes have been greatly impacted and there is uncertainty as to when and if they will get back to 2019 levels. Economic growth seems to be at a stand still and the citizens of Ashland have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. With this in mind, we not only have to reduce our costs, but we also need to cut our expenditures to help the city get back into positive territory. If there is any further slow down in the nations economic growth, Ashland will end up back in a place it was in 2008, which would then affect both employees and Ashland citizens in a very negative way. I suggest we put our heads together to make some tough decisions now, to avert major cuts that would negatively impact the city in the future. Here on some of the suggestions I think we should consider. Melanie, can you run some numbers with the aim of reducing costs, with the intention to get the city back to 2018-2019 cost levels, as per the suggestions below, we would want to affect these cuts without negatively impacting essential services. I would encourage the committee members to give some thought to these suggestions and make other recommendations to address the structural deficit: • Salary cuts 15%for all executives/managers and by 10%for everyone else • Cessation of any unnecessary city contributions to employees, such as: o Pensions fund contributions o Car payments o Cola payment o Etc, I understand that these may need to be negotiated, but need to be done • Hiring freeze for any positions that are not currently filled or held. (ghost employee positions do not count) • Put a hold on any large CIP projects that do not need maintenance or are not a regulatory requirement, until we get back to economic stability and the pandemic fall out and the nations economic growth is more stable and Ashland's economy has returned back to previous levels seen in 2019. • Keep salaries at frozen to the new levels, and any future pay raises would need to be agreed by council every year. I believe that everyone on this committee understands that we are in a tough situation and that action needs to be taken to avert another 2008 situation. I would suggest we take sometime to discuss amongst the whole committee to come up with suggestions that can get the town to a more stable economic standing, and the council can monitor and make decisions as and when needed. Melanie, thank you for running these numbers, I know it take a lot of work. I look forward to seeing the results and to an open dialogue regarding these issues. Kind regards, Sal Amery C N TT ��pp<;)' I -ASH� L A P General Fund Forecast NiFT;% FY21 FY21 FY'22 FY23 ✓'/Pr Expenditures,-. id*p d , �� FY,24ForestFY25 forecast FY2h ,drain, Hid, urt, ILegal 3,426,764 3,233,779 3,499,053 3,48 ,516 3,636,778 3,791,341 IT 1,522,549, 1,477,9475 1,457,578 1,395,964 1,4.55,2927 1,517,142. P wrks contribution 5,391„900 5,391,94 5,552,939 3,539,072 3,516,785 3,617,605 Finance 2,89 ,687 2.,450,,088 2,887,875 2,955,807 3,081,429 3,212,390 City Recorder 192,752 194,586 175,787 180,004 1B7,654 195,629 Police 8,482,466 8,201,465 7,751,922 8,000,987 8,353,03 8,72 ,564 Fire 9,902,676 9,7121438 101,577,810 10,461,557 10,921,866 11,402,428 P '"®support, c rem ter , fatiRties 3,075,.374 3,731,483 3,936,879 4,160,707 4,.337,537 4;5,21,882, cnm Dev 2,233,243 2,54^I 1473 2,036,652 2,030,828 2,117,13.8 2,207,117 other ", rrna nde IExpendlitau : 37,127,,411 36,934,117 37,681,137 35,7 4,552 .... 37,,601,509 39,186, 97 T n sfer out 10,5'50 2740401 S! 500 Soo 500 ContinSeiny 5005,209 1,,119,229 1,103,159 1,1091,832 1,124,882 %r 4 r�dlitu n : 3 7 — I= 37,208=18 38800� � F1 7 � 1 4 iF 7 MIAfWHHlNlIllllF 8 nu a �r inu� Expenditu�r 1,17'4, 19 2,24 ,�812 (2,57 ,518) (3, 97,74 , �38 �8, 5,7�08) (3,839,190) Ending Fund Ratan a 4,517,003 10,446,109 7,869,671 4,261,922 2 Z666,214 (3,572,976) Fund Balance IPoIucy 7,386,82 7,461,525 7,354,887 7,8 8,88 7,499,210 ,210 Over/(under) Paiute 3,059,365 408,146 (3,092,4 5), (7,132,666) (11,072,186) 11 Uses by Fund LISGS Fund 2020,211 2021-22 2022-23 Adopwd Prop(Md Proposed 2017-I9Aclual 2018-19AMW 201940Actual Sudget SUC1901 SUC194L Generad Fund S 26,587.634 $ 27,,732',W4 $ 27.767.,439 $ 29.639.420, $ 38,002,480 $ 35,1139,6411 Parks Generail Fund 5.741,266 43,255.910 '507.9102 7.159.770 7JIQI.2432! 7,.714,03 HIQuaing Fund 3W.0010, 65,1 t$ 1010,000, 49.079 1.01010 Cq,rnnvujnity Block Fund 1113.1919I 1361736 23U55 175,594 31911,109 MATT Nowe Fund Strw Fund Airpon Fund Capital IoVrmment Fund Parks Cap,llot Impmvemnt Fund Debt Service W84w Fund Wastewater Fund Stormwater Fund Elecuic IFuund Telecommunica6ons, Fund CentrW Serkie Insurance ServJce Fund Heallh Bomfits Fund Ejuipmant Fund Perks Equipment Fund Cemobary Unappfupriated Ending IFuurnd Balance 3222AO 4127A31 6X4AV 1OA7"3,227 %2472,511, 71007W4 31,0442 2 29 , 2,46 97,745 34044 417WS 2,77ZS26 2,SWA6 2,WZ122 1 ,1 76,743 1,732, 132 U04000 %K249 647�365 400,615 6K.648 3439V2 31AM 172 7.181A5916 1,872,161 2,029.809, 2.Q26,21I 1.765.520, t765.520 1,766,4511 7,385.217 10,524,729, 9.595,249 25A,1913.866, 15w738.331 28,D77.458 8,237d895 7,535,621 6.97,3.,563 9.91010,831 12.506.815 64',704 6186.62G, 855.,563 1J87.693 1,5314, 3 11,426.243,11 15,862A8 16,660,316, 16540,093 M576,527 19,825,045 1 aAMA03 2,026,A23 2,0'94,547 2,130,946 2, WWU 1 2AK273 2'„WA219 703,448 7,80,285 7467,247 9,11M9 1O96-A$ 1,300319, t3M,846 11,07040f 1,52r1,629 1.6%'714 6539.590 5„50500, 5512,8411 610% 196 5M%983 6,185J53 2,127.415 3,",7,466, 2XM.11j5 4.434,799 3,A2'1.759 3,84 7.624 305.710 141j,092' 143,,9217 150.GD,G, 50,060 100,0150 16,103 2'3,598, 119"4388 75.ODG 915.01110 G5.01010 42,476,930 45,295,588 46.881,984 1U77.489, 4U43. 1,09 39,,%7,410 Too, $ 135,720,303 $ 145,59713431451326 386 $ 149,854,669, $ 171,712,139 $ 17G,860,71 11 S. Amery Suggestions 05.05.2021 (Citizen Budget Committee) However, I feel that we need to spend more time discussing how to address cuts necessary to help get the budget back on track and into positive territory. In our last meeting, you clarified the extent of the losses we have incurred in the general fund, which as you stated can not sustain the spending as the city has been doing, even after absorbing the $4.3mm that the federal government has given to us. You clearly indicated, and I agree, that we needed to get into the weeds and make cuts to help get us back on track. Taking a look at the attached two pages, there seems to be an increase in spending from the actual 2019-2020 numbers in the General fund and the proposed 2021-22 numbers, which is supposed to include cuts, but instead shows more than a $10mm increase in expenditure. If you then look further in the first attachment, page 18 of the document, you will see that even after the proposed use of the one time government funds contribution of $4.3mm, by 2024 the fund is running at a loss of nearly $4mm, which means we have lost over $8mm between now and 2024. At a time, where the future economic growth of our community is uncertain, and a return to where we were in 2019 is questionable at best. From a big picture perspective, the TOT and food and beverage taxes have been greatly impacted and there is uncertainty as to when and if they will get back to 2019 levels. Economic growth seems to be at a stand still and the citizens of Ashland have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. With this in mind, we not only have to reduce our costs, but we also need to cut our expenditures to help the city get back into positive territory. If there is any further slow down in the nations economic growth, Ashland will end up back in a place it was in 2008, which would then affect both employees and Ashland citizens in a very negative way. I suggest we put our heads together to make some tough decisions now, to avert major cuts that would negatively impact the city in the future. Here on some of the suggestions I think we should consider. Melanie, can you run some numbers with the aim of reducing costs, with the intention to get the city back to 2018-2019 cost levels, as per the suggestions below, we would want to affect these cuts without negatively impacting essential services. I would encourage the committee members to give some thought to these suggestions and make other recommendations to address the structural deficit: Salary cuts 15% for all executives/managers and by 10% for everyone else • Cessation of any unnecessary city contributions to employees, such as: o Pensions fund contributions o Car payments o Cola payment o Etc, I understand that these may need to be negotiated, but need to be done • Hiring freeze for any positions that are not currently filled or held. (ghost employee positions do not count) • Put a hold on any large CIP projects that do not need maintenance or are not a regulatory requirement, until we get back to economic stability and the pandemic fall out and the nations economic growth is more stable and Ashland's economy has returned back to previous levels seen in 2019. • Keep salaries at frozen to the new levels, and any future pay raises would need to be agreed by council every year. I believe that everyone on this committee understands that we are in a tough situation and that action needs to be taken to avert another 2008 situation. I would suggest we take sometime to discuss amongst the whole committee to come up with suggestions that can get the town to a more stable economic standing, and the council can monitor and make decisions as and when needed. Response: As noted, nearly all compensation is covered through employment or bargaining agreements so I have distinguished the savings as totals across all funds if universally applied and totals across all funds for those positions upon which such changes can be unilaterally imposed. Please note that depending on the type and amount of compensation change imposed, the Oregon Pay Equity Act may be a factor in limiting the reductions based on comparable compensation for comparable work. This applies particularly in cases where similar work is performed by non -union and union employees in different departments. In the case of the department directors, employment agreements include severance clauses which could total $1,045,387. Actions Total Hypothetical Savings Non -contractual Savings Salary cuts 15% for all executives/managers $ 345,507 and by 10% for everyone else $ 2,285,503 $ 541,362 Pensions fund contributions $ 1,125,358 $ 265,442 Car payments $ 34,800 COLA payment $ 424,506 $ 142,091 If all currently vacant positions were held frozen for one year, the city-wide savings would be $1,650,899 assuming no additional overtime or other compensation is needed to provide the services affected. This would total $945,749 in the General Fund. Define "ghost employees". Current vacant positions include: Position FTE PARALEGAL 0.5 CITY MANAGER 1 PARALEGAL 0.5 AFN MANAGER 1 CUSTOMER SERVICES SUPERVISOR 1 FIRE CHIEF 1 CONSERVATION SPECIALIST 1 ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT 1 DEPUTY PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR 1 LINE INSTALLER/SERVICE 1 PARKTECHNICIAN I 1 PARKTECHNICIAN II 1 PARKS SUPERINDENT 1 TOTAL Vacant FTEs (05/06/2021) 12 2 There is summary Capital Improvement Plan information in Attachment A with a link to the detailed plan adopted by Council on March 16, 2021. Limiting labor and employment agreements to one-year including only for compensation requires amending existing contracts and reaching mutually satisfactory agreement on new terms. Several questions would need to be addressed by Council prior to implementation of the workforce suggestions: • Can and should the contracts be opened early for the four bargaining units with contracts expiring on June 30, 2022? • What can and should be offered to entice changes in compensation, i.e. negotiations are based on agreeable outcomes for both parties. What is the City willing to give up to get compensation concessions? • Who should negotiate the contracts on behalf of the City, especially the employment agreements with executive leadership? • How long are compensation changes intended to be maintained? • How do the respective actions affect the City's market position for recruiting and retaining quality employees? • What parameters should be used for unfreezing critical need positions, i.e. public safety? • What services are intended to be affected and by how much? What is the acceptable level of impact in the respective service areas? 3 S. Amery Suggestions 05.05.21 Attachment A BN2021-2023 Capital Projects by Need Classification Transportation (Street Fund incl. federal grants) Water Wastewater Storm Drain FY22 FY23 FY22 FY23 FY22 FY23 FY22 FY23 Regulatory 73,750 - 3,779,170 3,182,000 5,709,000 3,250,500 Deficiency 5,827,512 5,732,794 3,835,000 19,200,000 125,000 235,000 Capacity* - - 712,000 822,000 364,000 435,000 Life -cycle* - - Studies 150,000 150,000 16,667 297,168 - 75,000 - - Other- prerequisite for other initiative 80,000 80,000 51,250 40,000 TOTAL 6,051,262 5,882,794 7,630,837 22,679,168 6,626,000 4,462,500 415,250 475,000 BN2021-2023 Capital Projects by Need Classification Facilities Electric Parks & Recreation Airport (including federal grants) FY22 FY23 FY22 FY23 FY22 FY23 FY22 FY23 TOTAL Regulatory 280,000 280,000 - - 16,554,420 Deficiency 415,000 415,000 35,785,306 Capacity* 2,333,000 Life -cycle* 263,000 2,618,000 2,881,000 Studies 100,000 - - - 200,000 - - 988,835 Other- prerequisite 200,000 2,000,000 975,000 275,000 2,565,000 8,035,000 14,301,250 TOTAL 995,000 2,695,000 975,000 275,000 2,765,000 8,035,000 263,000 2,618,000 72,843,811 * may also be counted with Regulatory and Deficiency Details are in the Capital Improvements section of the City Manager's Recommended BN2021-2023 Budget and the Capital Improvement Plan presentation to City Council on March 16, 2021 (_0__302.2__1_A__doption of the 2021-2040 Capital Improvement Program CCFinal.pdf (ashland.or.us)). From: Melanie Purcell Sent: Friday, May 7, 2021 9:50 AM To: David Runkel; Budget Committee Cc: Department_Heads; Subject: RE: Budget Committee Questions and Responses Good morning Dave, Yes, it does create double -counting which is a one reason for consolidating the Central Services Fund into the General Fund. And, clarifying those transfers is the reason for the change described for the property tax transfer to Parks. It has been the practice for years to count these transfers out as operating expenses and transfers in as operating revenues which does make it more difficult to break apart for analysis. I'm not sure the entire history and it appears there have been some variations along the way so I appreciate the concern about clarity. We treat the charges for internal services as operating costs as they are services that are bought and sold between funds. However, we are still looking for ways to make these clearer as well. Thank you, Melanie Melanie Purcell Finance Director City of Ashland I Finance 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-5300 Office I Voice, TTY 800-735-2900 1 541-552-2059 fax This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 488-5300 From: David Runkel Sent: Friday, May 07, 2021 9:21 AM To: Melanie Purcell<melanie.purcell@ashland.or.us>; Budget Committee <BudgetCommittee@ashland.or.us> Cc: Department_Heads Subject: Re: Budget Committee Questions and Responses [EXTERNAL SENDER] Melanie, Now that I have had several hours to think about your response, I have a comment and some additional questions. First, I was not aware that the general fund's materials and services line included this transfer to Parks and Recreation. It doesn't seem to fit, but I'm not questioning that. Does this mean that the transfer is double counted in the city's overall budget -- once as part of the general fund and second in the Parks and Recreation budget? If so, has this been the case forever, or when by agreement Parks and Recreation received half of property tax revenues, it was accounted for differently? Also, are there other major transfers within the budget? If this is the case, at some point, I suggest it would be wise to clarify these transfers to the general public. Otherwise, the city budget is overstated by the amount of any transfers. I'm not suggesting this needs to be done before adoption of the 21-23 budget, but I wouldn't object if it was. Best, David R. From: Melanie Purcell <melanie.purcell@ashland.or.us> Sent: Friday, May 7, 2021 7:16 AM Subject: RE: Budget Committee Questions and Responses Good morning, I apologize for the confusion. We have been working to make the transfer to Parks and Recreation more clear but didn't make it clear on the summary charts. In the City Manager's Recommended Budget on page 44, the Materials and Services includes the transfer to the Parks and Recreation Commission of $5,553,439 in the first year and $3,546,997 in the second year. This was originally budgeted in the Finance Department operations. We moved to a Non -Departmental section and classified it as a transfer to comply with accounting standards which is why it doesn't show on the detail report provided last week. This represents the reduction in General Fund transfers to Parks corresponding to the assignment of Food & Beverage Tax revenues proposed for the second year of the biennium. There are other relatively minor fluctuations mostly related to professional services for labor negotiations, land -use ordinance expertise, and systems analysis for Information Technology and Ashland Fiber Network which are planned for the first year of the budget only. Thank you for catching it. Melanie Melanie Purcell Finance Director City of Ashland I Finance 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-5300 Office I Voice, TTY 800-735-2900 1 541-552-2059 fax This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 488-5300 From: David Runkel Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2021 7:55 PM To: Melanie Purcell<melanie.purcell@ashland.or.us>; Budget Committee <BudgetCommittee@ashland.or.us> Cc: Department_Heads Subject: Re: Budget Committee Questions and Responses [EXTERNAL SENDER] Melanie, Many thanks for all the material you have provided in response to a record, in my memory anyhow, number of questions asked by Budget Committee members. However, your response to my question about the $2.5 million spending reduction for materials and services in the second year of the proposed biennium budget has left me even more confused. The numbers in Schedule D sent out last week do not agree with the numbers in the City Manager's Recommended Budget. Please clarify. Materials and Services Line item 2021-22........... 2022-23 Page 44, Manager's Proposed Budget $15.5 million $13.0 million Schedule D, Finance Director Memo 9.9 million 9.5 million For comparison, the numbers on Page 44 also show actual materials and services expenses in 2019-20 at $14.2 million, and the proposed spending in the current budget year of $15.1 million. My conclusion therefor is to believe the Page 44 figures. My interest obviously is that with the reduction in materials and services the budget for 22-23 comes in lower than for 21-22 by $2.7 million. If this is the case, it is the first time in the city's recent history that we have a year-to-year spending reduction. If I have misread the numbers, I apologize, and request a further explanation. David Runkel From: Melanie Purcell <melanie.purcell@ashland.or.us> Sent: Wednesday, May 5, 2021 6:30 PM To: Budget Committee <BudgetCommittee@ashland.or.us> Cc: Department_Heads Subject: Budget Committee Questions and Responses Good afternoon, Here are the questions and responses from the past two weeks including those raised during the 04/27/2021 Citizen Budget Committee meeting. Also attached is the presentation I provided to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Southern Oregon University earlier today. Included is a pair of graphics suggested to me last week for illustrating the proposed shift in Food & Beverage tax and the Franchise Fee revenues. Please let me know if you have questions or motions that you would like reviewed or explored. Have a great evening, Melanie Melanie D. Purcell, CPFO, SHRM-SCP Finance Director City of Ashland I Finance 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-5300 Office I Voice, TTY 800-735-2900 1 541-552-2059 fax This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 488-5300. From: Sent: To: Subject: [EXTERNAL SENDER] Yahoo Mail Thursday, May 6, 2021 9:02 PM Budget Committee; Nancy Boyer Fw: Budget ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Nancy Boye To: Nancy Boyer Sent: Thursday, May 6, 2021, 04:57:53 PM PDT Subject: Budget Many thanks to those of you who have taken on this responsibility, of helping with our huge structural deficit! Many,along with myself are looking for transparency, in order to reduce this deficit and curtail spending of money (5 (5we do not have! In the past I have followed the open.gov format, that M Welsh put in place, however admittedly I am unable to understand this budget ,the lack of figures and how this is put forth, for us citizens to understand. Regarding the upcoming meeting, it appears that the APRs are doing their own presentation without going through finance Director M Purcell and or pro-tem A Hanks, As all other departments were required to do. The APRs portion of our cities budget along with their CIPS, Etc.,Are one of the cities largest! This needs to be addressed, as they show no signs of spending reduction but on the contrary continue to lay out goals of purchasing more property, even after more than 800 acres and 37 to 39 parks and trails and requesting two more FTEs for the future. I will speak to my concerns of the the city of Ashland holding a liquor permit and the possible repercussions at a later date, along with many other concerns regarding the APR. I'm hoping the CBC has or can come forth with a list of prioritized issues that can be addressed and shared with we citizens along with the possibility of feedback, ASAP. I would respectfully request finance Director Purcell to hold off from any more PowerPoint presentations and time limit pro tem Hanks, only in order for the CBC to speak and share their views! We want to hear you! We really do !Also to Shane Hunter , Who is Chairing Othis committee please consider any question asked is... Worth an explanation 0 0.. Without another nay saying or commenting let's just move along! We love to hear questions !Also remember Shane Hunter,you are in charge and if you feel the committee needs policing we will respect Your right to do so ,not for others to take this role upon themselves.) am hoping the CBC has taken an in- depth look at our value services and their costs such as AFN, the golf course or private ambulance service,an a Aquatic Center,and Etc. Our other huge area of expenses are around our heavily paid and numbered staff with their generous benefits that most employees are not proffered to. How would you speak to these issues,as they are huge budget items, that needs to be addressed?Hopefully the committee has had a chance to address these issues and will share with the citizens, your plans along with numbers and money (5 figures! We are just wanting transparency and guidance for all to see and help counsel and there difficult quest to straighten out this deficit swirl we've been circling for 10 years or so! We want a future for Ashland where families can grow, work, and afford to live ,and enjoy the special place... Ashland in the Valley of the Rogue! Sent from my iPhone From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Good afternoon, Melanie Purcell Friday, May 7, 2021 1:30 PM Clarinda Merripen Natalie Thomason RE: $4.4 Covid Relief Funds Thank you for your feedback and comments. Your email will be shared with the Ashland Citizen Budget Committee. Melanie Melanie Purcell Finance Director City of Ashland I Finance 20 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-5300 Office I Voice, TTY 800-735-2900 1 541-552-2059 fax This email transmission is official business of the City of Ashland, and it is subject to Oregon Public Records Law for disclosure and retention. If you have received this message in error, please contact me at (541) 488-5300 From: Clarinda Merripen Sent: Friday, May 07, 2021 1:15 PM To: City Council <council@ashland.or.us> Subject: $4.4 Covid Relief Funds [EXTERNAL SENDER] To the Ashland City Council, Mayor Julie Atkins and the Citizens of Ashland; (Note I tried to send this via the web page http://www.ashland.or.us/contactus.asp, and it errored out. Please excuse any duplicates. I am not trying to SPAM you.) To the Ashland City Council, Mayor Julie Atkins and the Citizens of Ashland; I recently learned that the City of Ashland received or will soon receive $4.4 million from the Covid Relief Fund. I understand there is some push to dump this in the general fund to "pay off our current debt. I propose the following plan instead. Starting immediately ($250K) • Call one of the two Southern Oregon mobile Clinics to schedule a vaccination clinic (Mercy Flights and Wellness20). One should be in Lithia Park, one in Garfield Park, one in Hunter Park, and other places near residential areas. I suspect this part of my pan should be relatively low cost as it is subsidized. I am working on getting contact names for planning purposes. • The City should coordinate several teams of experts a who organize talks to answer questions about getting the vaccine and help squash rumors circulating. They would not necessarily be at the vaccination clinics.This would be immediate, but temporary perhaps a month or so. • Team One — has a table outside grocery stores at different times in order to touch base with different groups. • Team Two — On the Plaza and at different bars and restaurants. I believe this is key as young people of a certain age show a great deal of hesitancy. Team Three — Stop by large employers, starting with police, fire fighters, city workers and spreading out to other groups like, Blackstone Audio, Adroit, Sky Research etc. I think we can skip the healthcare system and the schools as they should already be educated. • The city should work with Oregon Health Authority to have a bureaucrat on hand to help those who have had COVID and have lingering health effects and financial liability from the disease. Note this is note direct payments to anyone, but simply help navigating the system for those with little to no insurance, etc. • Create a grant program of $2,000 per family who has lost a loved one to COVID. Since I suspect that number will be relatively contained, as 132 folks have passed in Jackson County as a whole. The whole set aside could be $100,000 of the larger total. Starting as soon as possible and contained over the next year ($1.4 millionK) • The city should spend a significant amount of money to bolster the smaller cultural groups that make Ashland so special. Many of you know that I own a restaurant. Know that I am not talking about businesses of my size. I am talking about things like myriad of musicians in the area, the Levity Circus Collective and Le Cirque, the artists, comedians and actors who have not worked for a very long time. I am talking about the childrens programs like Danceworks and FiddleQuest. I am talking about the Drag Community many of whom have moved to greener pastures. These folks need to be able to work and find a reason to stay in Ashland. Larger businesses have resources Again I think direct payments are a bad idea. However, the city can create spaces for them to perform, show their work and shine. Create festivals, fairs and other arenas that showcase these folks, put dollars in their pockets and remind the tourists, et al, what Ashland is about. The Rest of the Money ($3m) • This should go to service the debt incurred to the city because Revenues have been down. Flaws • To my staunch Anti-Vax Friends — I understand the first part of this is not to your taste. But understand, there are folks who are not as set who have questions, concerns or can just not get to a clinic in Medford. I hope you respect those people's choices to get informed. • This proposal is a starting point for conversation, not an ending point. I know I have not addressed housing, or other issues herein. Feel free to make suggestions below. • 1 know that the City has a much larger debt around $5m. But this money should NOT be used for that. It is, after all, for COVID relief. The City of Ashland has hard systemic issues to wrestle with and simply paying it off will kick the can further down the road forestalling the tough conversations. also strongly believe, there will be more monies coming in the future with the Infrastructure Bill. That money will be allocated to roads, AFN, schools, transportation, etc, which will help some of the debt. But we as a City cannot paper over the that debt with this money and continue as we have done. Feel free to comment via e-mail. Note I am posting this on Facebook as well. Clarinda Merripen Citizen of Ashland Alewife and Proprietress The Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant I recently learned that the City of Ashland received or will soon receive $4.4 million from the Covid Relief Fund. I understand there is some push to dump this in the general fund to "pay off our current debt. I propose the following plan instead. Starting immediately ($250K) • Call one of the two Southern Oregon mobile Clinics to schedule a vaccination clinic (Mercy Flights and Wellness20). One should be in Lithia Park, one in Garfield Park, one in Hunter Park, and other places near residential areas. I suspect this part of my pan should be relatively low cost as it is subsidized. I am working on getting contact names for planning purposes. • The City should coordinate several teams of experts a who organize talks to answer questions about getting the vaccine and help squash rumors circulating. They would not necessarily be at the vaccination clinics.This would be immediate, but temporary perhaps a month or so. • Team One — has a table outside grocery stores at different times in order to touch base with different groups. • Team Two — On the Plaza and at different bars and restaurants. I believe this is key as young people of a certain age show a great deal of hesitancy. Team Three — Stop by large employers, starting with police, fire fighters, city workers and spreading out to other groups like, Blackstone Audio, Adroit, Sky Research etc. I think we can skip the healthcare system and the schools as they should already be educated. • The city should work with Oregon Health Authority to have a bureaucrat on hand to help those who have had COVID and have lingering health effects and financial liability from the disease. Note this is note direct payments to anyone, but simply help navigating the system for those with little to no insurance, etc. • Create a grant program of $2,000 per family who has lost a loved one to COVID. Since I suspect that number will be relatively contained, as 132 folks have passed in Jackson County as a whole. The whole set aside could be $100,000 of the larger total. Starting as soon as possible and contained over the next year ($1.4 millionK) • The city should spend a significant amount of money to bolster the smaller cultural groups that make Ashland so special. Many of you know that I own a restaurant. Know that I am not talking about businesses of my size. I am talking about things like myriad of musicians in the area, the Levity Circus Collective and Le Cirque, the artists, comedians and actors who have not worked for a very long time. I am talking about the childrens programs like Danceworks and FiddleQuest. I am talking about the Drag Community many of whom have moved to greener pastures. These folks need to be able to work and find a reason to stay in Ashland. Larger businesses have resources Again I think direct payments are a bad idea. However, the city can create spaces for them to perform, show their work and shine. Create festivals, fairs and other arenas that showcase these folks, put dollars in their pockets and remind the tourists, et al, what Ashland is about. The Rest of the Money ($3m) • This should go to service the debt incurred to the city because Revenues have been down. Flaws • To my staunch Anti-Vax Friends — I understand the first part of this is not to your taste. But understand, there are folks who are not as set who have questions, concerns or can just not get to a clinic in Medford. I hope you respect those people's choices to get informed. • This proposal is a starting point for conversation, not an ending point. I know I have not addressed housing, or other issues herein. Feel free to make suggestions below. • 1 know that the City has a much larger debt around $5m. But this money should NOT be used for that. It is, after all, for COVID relief. The City of Ashland has hard systemic issues to wrestle with and simply paying it off will kick the can further down the road forestalling the tough conversations. also strongly believe, there will be more monies coming in the future with the Infrastructure Bill. That money will be allocated to roads, AFN, schools, transportation, etc, which will help some of the debt. But we as a City cannot paper over the that debt with this money and continue as we have done. Feel free to comment via e-mail. Note I am posting this on Facebook as well. Clarinda Merripen Citizen of Ashland Alewife and Proprietress The Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant From: Gary Anderson Sent: Friday, May 7, 2021 11:15 AM To: Finance Subject: Finance Committee Meeting Budget Discussions [EXTERNAL SENDER] As residents and voters in Ashland, we wish to go on record as being opposed to any cuts in the biennium budget that will reduce the amount of money available to senior services provided through the APRC. Residents over 65 represent nearly one-third of the population of Ashland and deserve to be treated fairly and equitably. Gary and Genie Anderson From: Dean Silver Sent: Sunday, May 9, 2021 9:18 PM To: Budget Committee Subject: A taxpayer's response to Councilor Jensen's statement [EXTERNAL SENDER] I am writing in direct response to Councilor Stephen Jensen's Guest View in the 5/9 issue of the Mail Tribune and the May edition of the Sneak Preview. The finance department of Ashland has made it clear the city budget is in crisis, and will be running in the red within two years if the current trajectory is not modified. Ashland cannot wait to solve its budget problems. The only reason it will remain balanced for the next two years is the infusion of federal relief funds. The city is required by law to operate with a balanced budget. There are only three ways to do that: cut expenses, raise revenues, or raid the fund balances that are earmarked for maintenance of infrastructure, which would be of questionable legality. The city has estimated that $134,821,994 will be required in just the next five years to meet the city's capital improvements (infrastructure) needs. The city has so far set aside approximately $50,000,000 to meet those needs including emergency funding needs. Meanwhile, the city staff is recommending a $348,572,850 budget for the next two years. The property tax rate in Ashland is at the legal maximum. The rates that residents pay for utilities have risen approximately 90% over the past 10 years. The taxes and utility fees are driving lower income residents out of the city, and putting a huge burden on other taxpayers. Revenue increases cannot possibly cover the shortfall. And the city cannot afford to spend another penny of those infrastructure funds that it has been amassing for essential maintenance. The only reasonable option is to cut expenses. Mr. Jensen correctly comments on the wonderful amenities in the city of Ashland. But he does not address the problem: how do we afford this? He contends that "we have cut all of the low hanging fruit in our budget and operations". I challenge him to justify that statement. The fact is, the proposed budget is 18% higher than the actual and adopted budget for the previous biennium ($295,481,055). He claims falsely that city staff has been reduced by 23%. That number has no basis in fact whatsoever, as evidenced in a comparison of the proposed budget to the last adopted budget. Many taxpayers in Ashland have been making suggestions to the Citizens Budget Committee and City Council since before and during the budget hearings. So far, those suggestions seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Mr. Jensen urges "all the folks out there who have such great ideas and life experience to run for office". What he doesn't seem to understand is that we live in a representative democracy. That means we elect officials to represent us, to make those tough decisions that are necessary to make government and life in our communities work. We don't elect them to complain about how difficult that job is. These are indeed difficult choices, but they must be made. Ashland is deep in a fiscal emergency. If Mr. Jensen does not understand that it is his responsibility as a city Councilor to make those decisions, then he should not hold that position. If he is unwilling or unable to make those choices, he should not hold that position. If he does not understand how a representative democracy works, he should not be a representative of the citizens. He has demonstrated with his own words that he is unfit for that office. I respectfully suggest that Mr. Jensen resign his position as city Councilor immediately for the sake of the City of Ashland and its citizens. Let someone who is willing and able to make those tough decisions do the job. This is not a matter of "blood -sport" as he imagines, but a matter of the survival of our city. Dean Silver The written testimony below is provided jointly by Anne Bellegia, retired senior healthcare industry executive and Chair of the Ashland Senior Advisory Committee, and Saundra Theis, PhD, RN retired interim dean of the Oregon Health & Sciences University School of Nursing and Chair of Livable Ashland: an All -Age Friendly Community. Anne Bellegia I am testifying on behalf of accepting the City Manager's Recommended Biennium 2021-2023 Budget, including the portion that relates to Ashland Parks and Recreation. Senior staff involved in creating these recommendations are deeply familiar with the complex operations and cost factors of our municipal services and the pros and cons of alternatives, as well as supportive of Ashland livability and our tourist -based economy, while avoiding unbudgeted future costs due to deferred maintenance. As the current chair of the Ashland Senior Advisory Committee, I want to draw particular attention to how the proposed funding of City and APRC operations impacts the disproportionately large percent of our residents aged 65+. Are you aware that this group, at 33%, is over twice that of the U.S. and is far greater than the 18% of those aged 65+ in Oregon as a whole? In setting goals for social justice and equity, please consider that older adults are often marginalized —and that you and your parents are or will be in this group. The policies and programs of our national and state governments are not yet addressing this emerging demographic skew that has already occurred in Ashland. Local resources to prevent or delay functional decline are critical for keeping this large proportion of Ashland seniors independent as long as possible for two very practical reasons: • Older adults who are not burdened by health and financial challenges are assets in Ashland. We patronize the arts, support businesses and restaurants, volunteer, vote, pay taxes, donate and mentor. • The costs of lone -term care have skvrocketed and there is a critical shortaee of paid caregivers in our county. Younger working adult family members are increasingly tasked with stepping in to provide or manage care. This is emotionally and physically challenging and can negatively impact their careers at a time when they need to be saving for their own retirement and the education of their children. And for seniors without families who require care, taxpayers pick up the tab. I urge your support of the City Manager's Recommended Biennium 2021-2023 Budget for the above reasons and additional ones that are outlined below by Saundra Theis. Saundra Theis I am also on the Ashland Senior Advisory Committee. Maintaining independent seniors relies on many of the same things that make Ashland livable for those of all ages— public safety, safe streets and sidewalks, clean air and water and programs that enhance health and social connections —as well as some that are targeted to the challenges of aging, such as a responsive ambulance service and age -friendly housing. For virtually every city in this country, the costs for municipal services are increasing. What is essential for those on fixed incomes are three things: that these costs rise in a predictable and gradual manner; there is relief for increases in housing, utility, internet, transportation costs; and there is navigation to these resources. The APRC portion of the budget, in particular, meets two senior -specific needs. The Ashland Senior Services Division of APRC advocates for awareness of senior needs within the City and provides information about and referral to supportive services. This division has been particularly invaluable in providing outreach to vulnerable residents who were negatively impacted by the pandemic and fires. There is another important consideration about the proposed APRC budget from the standpoint of the Steering Committee of Livable Ashland: an All -Age Friendly Community, which I chair. This group includes a broad cross-section of Ashland leaders including from Asante Ashland Community Hospital, Southern Oregon University, Ashland City Council and Ashland Parks and Recreation. We have been involved in a Needs Assessment that relies heavily on the 2019 Ashland Livability Report that is part of the National Community Survey. We were struck by the much higher favorable ratings and utilization of our parks and recreation programs in comparison to other cities. And that survey was conducted prior to the COVID precautions that made Ashland's outdoor spaces essential to the health and wellbeing of those of all ages, races, ethnicities and incomes. The City Manger's Recommended BN 2021-2023 Budget recognizes the linkage between our parks and our tourist economy and supports Ashland's livability for those of all ages, including seniors. I urge you to support it. C I T Y OF ,4SHLAND C I T Y OF ,4SHLAND History of APRC C I T Y OF '4SHLAND ## •# The goal of APRC is to maintain and expand park, recreational and educational opportunities • Pursue a dedicated funding source • Continue efforts to improve operational efficiencies, cost cutting, revenue generating and best practices. • Continue to improve trails and explore trail opportunities consistent with the Trails Master Plan throughout the City. • Research and identify opportunities to improve operations and implement sustainable practices that are environmentally friendly. • Complete the evaluation of and pursue funding for a recreation aquatics facility. • Raise community awareness of senior needs, available resources, wide range of seniors/families served, and special Ashland Senior Services Division initiatives. Department Recommended BN Budget Expense by Type 2017-18 201.8-.19 2019-20 Actual ActuaU Actual 202G-21 2021-22 2022-23 Adopted Proposed Proposed BUdget BUdget Budget a Personnel Servicps M Material and Services iiii Capitail Outlay ,, Contingency Der-Nartment Recommended BN p Budget 80000CK.) .... .... .... 6()()C)OCX) 40000CX) 20000(X) 0 MOM NIM No= 2017.48 2018-113 201.9-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 Actual ActlijalU Actual Adopted Proposed Proposed Budget Budget FWdget M Charges fof Services axes IIIN Operating Fransfers h lnitergovernmentaRevenue im Miscellaneous Revenues iii hiterest on Floded hwestments C'ITY OF ,4SHLAND $2,500,M) $2,wo,ow S500,000 Ending (Fund Balance 2014 2 01 15 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 '2021 )022 C I T Y OF ,4SHLAND • To address the loss in revenue due to COVID-19, the following actions have already been taken • All part-time temporary staff have been laid -off • 5.75 FTEs were laid -off • Biennium 21 /23 Impacts • Staffing remains low • Total reduction from 19/21 Biennium: 6.0 FTEs • Sharing duties throughout APRC • More work with Less People • Some deferred maintenance will continue to be deferred • Some systems may experience failure and could close • Water Shortage PROPOSED DEDICATION OF FOOD & BEVERAGE TAX C I T Y OF '4SHLAND • Dedicated Funding Source • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion • Daniel Meyer Pool • Environment Sustainability Plan • Greenhouse Gas Inventory From Leda to, AH panelists: the maintenance lon the Havie those expenses S.` F atn Pletl Alplionsoto All ah, ., irl t f � (, 5:" " 2021-22 Proposed Tourism Proposed Grant Allocations ORGANIZATION PKUPUbhUMIAL TOURISM ALLOCATION Ashland New Plays Festival $ 8,410 Ashland's Bed & Breakfast Network $ 10,000 Ashland Gallery Association $ 12,090 Mt. Ashland Association $ 15,000 ScienceWorks Hands -On Museum $ 22,000 Art Now $ 5,000 Klamath Brid Observatory $ 7,500 TOTAL $ 80,000