good morning staff and good morning Witchah  we will call this meeting to order miss clerk   can you please call Actually before that we are  going to do the pledge of allegiance please stand i pledge algiance to the flag of the  United States of America and to the   republic for which it stands one nation under  God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you all miss Clerk can you please call the  first item Approve the minutes of the regular   meeting June 17 2025 are there any changes to  the minutes for the regular meeting June 17th   I see none i move to approve the minutes for the  regular meeting for June 17th 2025 second motion   and a second any further discussion I see none all  those in favor say I i all those opposed same sign   motion passes 70 miss clerk can you please  call the next item Public agenda the public   agenda allows for up to five speakers to have five  minutes each to address the council no action will   be taken relative to items on the public agenda  other than the referral to the city manager for   information is necessary speakers will please  state their name and address for the record a   time clock will display the speaker remaining  time to speak order and rules of decorum will   be observed are there any individuals from the  audience who would like to speak I see none miss   Clerk please call the next item consent agenda  items 1 through 16 are there items to be pulled   Yes i'd like to pull item 12 please i'd like to  pull item 10 please 10 what did you say 10 10 and I would like to pull item  13 so we have 10 12 and 13 any   other items to be pulled I see none i  move to approve consent agendas items   um without 10 12 and 13 second motion and a  second any further discussion I see none all   those in favor say I i i all those opposed same  sign motion passes 70 we'll go in numerical order   we'll start with item number 10 sorry Mike yeah  I just pulled for a little additional information uh thank you Council Member good morning Captain  Aaron Moses from the Witchaw Police Department for   the record uh happy to discuss the FY25 COP school  violence prevention program grant application   uh we are seeking permission to apply for grant  funding um up to $500,000 over 36 months with a   25% match um to purchase a school safety and  public notification technology so uh as we're   looking to implement our real-time information  center here soon uh we're looking at ways to   elevate that technology and collaborate with uh  local groups specifically the school district um   you know recently we had the the town hall with  the school district the county and the city and   one thing we heard from that from the community  was they really want to see um us coordinate and   collaborate with the school district so Chief  Sullivan met with the superintendent of Witchaw   Public Schools and we came up with a plan uh to  collaborate and apply for grant funding uh for   this technology our goal would be to outfit at  least uh all secondary schools in Witchaw public   schools to start with but we are very confident  that we'll be able to use this funding to outfit   all attendance centers all 93 attendance centers  in Witchaw public schools with this technology   uh what we're what we're looking for uh this  is something we've heard in conversation with   with the school district is uh the ability uh  for teachers to have some direct notification   on their person whether it's on their cell phone  uh or a physical button that they can press that   would alert us to an emergency within a school  uh the way this would tie into the real-time   information center is we would also include the  floor plans for the schools into that so that if   we got an a notification from a school we would  know exactly where that notifi notification came   from and where exactly the emergency was occurring  and it would allow for quicker notification   uh for us to respond to that school in  the event of an emergency like I said the   uh funding is up to $500,000 over 36 months  with the 25% match so uh to the city it would   be a maximum of $42,000 annually which we would  cover out of the real-time operating uh real-time   information center operating budget uh so we're  asking for permission from the council today to   apply the initial application was due last week  uh the city manager uh provided us a waiver to   submit that application last week the final  application is due this week so we're seeking   your permission to submit that application and I'm  happy to answer any other questions you may have   um does the school district share any of this cost  or is this strictly for um on our end uh for this   grant application No and that's because the school  district is separately applying for a different   program for the same grant uh funds uh so they  that's the collaborative approach we took is we   recognize need in two different areas both through  technology and then physical infrastructure uh so   the school district is applying separately for  uh the same FY25 COP school violence prevention   program grant but for infrastructure for the  schools uh so they have their own match 25%   match that they would have to uh be obligated to  to support all right thank you Captain appreciate   it captain Noses thank you again um we did have  that meeting early this month regarding city   county and USD 259 so I'm appreciative um that  Chief Sullivan as well as Superintendent Belfeld   decided to do something that was collaborative  and in this case again as you mentioned USD259   will focus more on infrastructure whereas the  city and police will focus on technology and   I think that that's how we can start looking at  grants how can we best um not just by ourselves   as one government system look at grants but rather  how can we collaboratively look at grants between   city and county city county and USD259 or in this  case city and USD259 so thank you very much any   further questions I see none we'll now open it up  for public comment i see none we'll bring it back oh yep i'll go ahead and I will make the motion  to um approve the grant application second motion   uh motion and a second any further discussion  I see none all those in favor say I i i all   those opposed same sign motion passes 70 we  will now go to consent agenda item number 12 good morning Mayor and Council sally Stang with  the Housing and Community Services Department for   the record i'm sorry Sally could you just give us  a little update on this please Just maybe review   um what the status report is and and just fill  us in absolutely absolutely so um we have been   providing to you a status update on the consent  agenda for the disposition of the public housing   properties um as well as the the uh far as HUD  calls the FARS update um in our discussion on June   13th with HUD we have a monthly call they asked  that the report that I provide you in writing   that that be brought up orally in the meeting  so because that was so close to this meeting   I couldn't get it on a regular agenda so I will  provide you an update and from this date forward   you'll see this item as a regular new business  item once a month for the rest of the year so   to date we're very excited we've sold 173 of the  homes that we had permission to sell up to 215   um with 28 still just waiting for either closing  dates or HUD to issue the release of trust on   those properties and even more exciting is Friday  we received the approval of the four uh the fifth   and final application which now grants us  permission to move forward with disposition   of all of the remaining properties so we are  starting to do an evaluation of those properties   um to determine in what order those will get  released we're very cautiously um turning those   over to the broker so not to affect the local  housing market um and doing that with purpose   for sure um of the 173 that have sold 38 to  date have sold directly to individuals for   home ownership four of those to public housing  residents which we're so happy about another   47 have been sold to our nonprofit partners that  are working to renovate those properties and then   turn them over for uh for uh affordable home  ownership in the future so we're very excited   um that this is moving and finally moving in  some ways and I stand for any questions you have i just have one question for anyone who's watching  um this meeting right now where can they get more   information about the uh properties that are  for sale Absolutely the the properties for   sale are listed on the our website and we'll  also connect to our broker at Home Real Estate   who has been phenomenal and once we turn units  over to them we are generally getting offers   within days so they are flying off the market  awesome thank you Sally i appreciate it i see   no further questions for staff we'll open it  up for public comment i see none we'll bring   it back thank you thank you Sally i appreciate  your time and all of your efforts that you and   your team do um with that I move that the Witchaw  Housing Authority Board receive and file the HUD   recovery agreement status update and the  public housing disposition update report   second motion and a second any further discussion  I see none all those in favor say I i all those   opposed same sign motion passes 70 sally you can  stay up there since this one also applies to you   this is consent agenda item number 13 um this  in particular is regarding um individuals facing   homelessness uh can you talk about this new role  uh the peer recovery specialist and um how you're   going to recruit this individual and how that  will play in conjunction with the WPD's homeless   outreach team yes so uh the Kansas Housing  Resources Corporation uh issued an application   process for what they call discretionary CSBG  funds so these are this is funds that they've   made available not just to CSBG current grantees  but across across the state and they were looking   for innovative projects um that address the goals  of CSBG which is tackling homelessness poverty   those sort of things as we move forward with  the Witchaw uh unsheltered resource coordinator   position and the housing specialist that works  within that team working handinhand with Witchaw   police department the homeless uh the H hot  team as well as the continuum of care agencies   going into encampments and trying to identify um  person individual person's needs and connect them   to housing we saw an opportunity an innovative  opportunity to partner with the substance abuse   center of Kansas as a subreient in this grant  so we would actually be moving in to get for   this together for them to embed what they call  a peer support specialist this is a person who   has lived experience either in homelessness mental  health or substance abuse or any mix of the three   um and can work long alongside with the resource  coordinator and the housing specialist to try and   engage persons living in encampments and we see  this as a new and innovative way to address the   needs of people who are unsheltered at this time  sally so if I'm getting this correctly this peer   recovery specialist will work with an individual  who specializes in housing a unsheltered resource   coordinator the homeless outreach team and the COC  together to help individuals facing homelessness   correct um we've been getting a lot of questions  regarding homelessness in our community and with   this coordinated effort um how fast do you  see this actually uh impacting community as   um again it has become a a major topic especially  during the uh summer months sure so this is just   another uh another tool in our toolbox this team  we are still continuing our efforts on every other   plane related to homelessness this is just a  new way to try and get that those people who   are unsheltered and and living in encampments uh  for whatever reason not entering into shelter so   um yes again we will uh you know we will try  and bring those resources to them where they   are we're also going to be bringing in Mandy  Chapman Sentle in July who is a national expert   on encampment decommissioning it's not it's not  a quick fix i'll be honest with you when you go   in it's about building trust it's about getting  people to open up about what their barriers are we   do see this team is going to it's it's going to be  um take some time for them to identify those needs   and then pull together those resources this will  all be happening in tandem to other things that   are happening within our department and others so  but it is a resource that wasn't there before and   then can you also explain how currently um the  system works um regarding when individuals see   uh people who are experiencing homelessness in  the community they do reach out to WPD HOT but   how does housing come into play after HOT has  been initiated Sally if I could jump in for   just a second mayor you had asked for a flowchart  to to address that very question and and Sally   has prepared that i'll let her summarize it but  we're going to send it out to all of you this week   so um when our team comes into play in three  different places in the in the flowchart chart   depending when it's when the camp is identified  and how they may go out ident confirm that that   camp still is there and what's happening at that  camp they will then reach out to the housing team   that especially the uh unsheltered resource  coordination team to try and engage with the   people at that camp as well and that's going  to happen when camps get posted you know the   whole that goes hand in hand um but definitely  with in different lanes if that makes sense um   but then we're always going to be re-engaging  with that that those individuals in that camp   during the period in which it's been posted all  the way through to um whatever happens at that   point whether they go into shelter whether they're  moved along or they're we're able to connect them   directly into housing so we will engage we have  weekly meetings with the hot team now but I'll   be honest that team hears from them almost daily  um to try and connect with specific individuals thank you and thank you city manager i  know that um the flowchart will be very   helpful um as we get community members  asking us those very questions of how   uh the process actually works um and so I look  forward to getting the flowchart later this week   uh just one question that ma was it Mandy Campbell  Mandy uh Chapman Simple Chapman okay uh she spoke   at the um the housing conference this year right  she did okay so when is when is she going to   be here Uh right now we're tenatively looking  at July 10th and 11th so long as there are no   u bumps in in our schedule and our ability to  identify a location we're also working with her   to um to build out the agenda so that we don't  have people held for two straight days it can be   very targeted towards decision makers towards  boot people boots on the ground towards peers   etc so we'll know more about that this week and  we'll be sending out invitations for those who   are interested in participating and we hope  any of you would want to be there yes please   send those i did sit in on that discussion and  um definitely a very interesting topic and she   has just a wealth of knowledge with it so  fully recommend any of my peers trying to   make that if they can as well thanks Sally yes  i see no further questions we'll open it up for   public comment i see none bringing it back i  move to approve consent agenda item number 13 second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none all those in favor   say I i all those opposed same sign  motion passes 70 madame clerk can   you please call the next item Board of  bids and contracts dated June 23rd 2025 good morning Mayor City Council josh Lober  Department of Finance the Board of Bids and   Contracts convened yesterday June 23rd  2025 for the following items we have for   purchasing the 2-in custom setters 20-in  monitor covers in 21in and 30-inch meter   boxes for Witchah Wind Waterworks  Company Group One for $99,418.20   20 cents and Mountainland Supply Company LLC for  groups 2 and three for 27,300 and 104,772 for the   aggregate total listed we have the removal  and mattress of mattress and box springs   for recycling for Mid Kansas Services LLC in  the amount of 105,000 estimated annual usage   we have the roof replacement for Alfred  Library for AR roofing for $94,760 we have the on call engineering services  related to small projects contract change   order requesting your authorization to have these  five firms extend their contract 60 days ending   September 30th 2025 uh public works utilities  will be bringing you back something for the   new business presentation once this is completed  evaluation we have the fire hose with couplings   for contract change order for Whis Fire and Safety  Equipment LLC for the amended amount of 360,148.60 this is how to become a vendor with the  city this is a purchasing calendar of   small business resource partner events that  the city is hosting or participating in and   these are open public opportunities and we're  starting to ramp back up and I'll be happy to   try to answer any questions and recommend your  approval thank you Josh questions I see none i   move to approve the board of bids and contracts  dated June 23rd 2025 second motion and a second   any further discussion I see none all those  in favor say I i all those opposed same sign   motion passes 70 madame clerk please call the  next item petitions for public improvements good morning mayor city council members  paul Gunsman public works and utilities   for the record have a few petitions for your  consideration this morning the signatures on   the petitions represent 100% of the improvement  districts and the petitions are valid per Kansas   statute clear Creek third and fourth editions  located in district two the project will provide   storm water drain improvements required for  new residential development cottonwood Creeks   Estates located in district 4 the projects  will provide water sanitary sewer and paving   improvements required for a new residential  development and Cottonwood Creeks estates again in District 4 on September 24th 2024 the  city council approved water sanitary sewer and   paving improvements required for a new residential  development the developer has submitted revised   petitions with re revised budgets to reflect  current market conditions with that it is   recommended that the city council approve the new  and revised petitions and budgets adopt the new   and amending resolutions and authorize necessary  signatures and as a reminder these are paid by   special assessments thank you Paul questions  I see none i move to approve the petitions for   public improvements second motion and a second  any further discussion I see none all those in   favor say I i all those oppose same sign motion  passes 70 madame clerk please call the next item   approved that pursuant to section 204090  council member Tuttles's travel expenses   as estimated on the travel authorization and  expense form to attend the Kansas Society of   Professional Engineers Conference in  Dodge City Kansas June 26 2025 for   the purpose of representing the city  of Witchah consistent with AR3.1 upon   return from travel actual expenses will  be reported to the controllers's office i move to approve this travel second motion and  a second any further discussion I see none all   those in favor say I i all those opposed same  sign motion passes 70 madame clerk please call   the next item approval to exceed the gift limit  established by the ethics ordinance for Mayor   Woo to accept tuition travel and expenses to  attend the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership   Initiative in New York City July 13- 16 2025  harvard University spring 2026 in five virtual   sessions for the purpose of representing the city  the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative   is hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies the Harvard  Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School for   the purpose of education collaboration  professional development the Bloomberg   Harvard City Leadership Initiative serves as a  platform to equip mayors and senior city leaders   with the tools and expertise to expand their  problem solving capacity strengthen their city   halls and improve outcomes for residents the  estimated gift amount for tuition travel hotel   and meals is $16,378 no taxpayer dollars will be  used i I move to approve the travel to Marwood   to New York City second motion and a second  any further discussion I see none all those   in favor say I i all those opposed same sign  motion passes 70 before we move on from travel   um I would like to um remove a travel that was  approved uh previously for myself Mayor Woo   to attend the city-to-c city visit to Detroit  Michigan i will no longer be attending please   have that reflected on the website thank you  madame Clerk please call the next item council   member appointments and comments we'll start with  appointments council members any appointments I   see none council member comments now i have one uh  music theater waitress was absolutely fabulous so   one of the best ever and if you missed it which a  lot of people did because it it wasn't very full   um you missed out a very good performance  very good performance the lead the lead was   absolutely tremendous uh we just got back from  New York watched a couple plays in New York and   she is just as good if not better than the  people in New York so congratulations MPW thank you mayor um two things first  congratulations to Angela on her new   position with Park and Wreck it's really exciting  i saw her over there um two the conversation   around new residential development made me think  about maybe we should have a conversation um   there's a lot of excitement about Cheni being  a lot fuller than it had been but I think we   need to work towards a culture shift of water  conservation for in perpetuity in the city and   looking at new residential development considering  what we can do to um strongly encourage or require   drought resistant grasses or plants and things  like that and since more homes are being built   and neighborhoods being created I think that  conversation should happen sooner than later   and um there are a lot of people online asking  can they go back to watering their lawns every   day which you don't need to do but I think we  should start having those discussions now um   making those tough choices now will ensure that  we have water access for our community for the   foreseeable future so I would like to see that  maybe sometime soon if you all agree and maybe   work with our staff on that and I know Gary's  been working on a few things but I think we should   definitely have those conversations and along  those same lines um I think we should still pursue   um full steam ahead with the water reuse program  that's definitely something I think droughts are   just going to be longer and more common  in the future and setting our city up for   uh sustainability long term is definitely one of  our main objectives here i'll just add on council   member Holiselin i have the pleasure of serving  on the water reuse task force and um I traveled   with staff a few weeks ago to Topeka and also to  Manhattan to meet with the Kansas Department of   Health and Environment Department of Agriculture  because there has to be rule making even done in   Topeka regarding regulation and legislation but  a few of the events that I've attended and in a   conference that I attended regarding water reuse  one of the things that they emphasized is exactly   what council member Johnson said that you know  we should always just live our lives like we're   we're in drought and you know not go back to um  the way we were doing things prior the community   now has the appetite for this so I think it's  really important just to keep it on the forefront   it's very hard to talk about drought when we've  had flooding in the last couple weeks but we're   entering into the two hottest months of the year  and that's when we see a great deal of evaporation   at Cheni so um I'm completely supportive and  would like to explore the topic as well thank you i'll just have city manager just uh address  that really quickly because I know Gary has been   working on this alongside council members um right  here um throughout this last year um I know that   WABA has been initiated in terms of having part  of that conversation and development can you just   address maybe some of where we're at and where  we're going to go moving forward Sure Mayor i I   um I think what we'll probably do is schedule this  for a July workshop um based on the feedback I'm   getting today we are in the process of drafting um  changes to our policy our our drought policy that   um would put into place permanently some um  u restrictions on water use even after we're   out of the drought stages um it would allow for  obviously much more use of water for landscaping   than we currently have under stage two but it  would recognize the the that water is a valuable   commodity and that we do need to encourage  conservation so we've got um actually there's   two provisions to the policy that we want to bring  forward to discuss with you as changes uh if you   remember when we first entered into the drought  we brought Kansas State Extension to a council   meeting to talk about uh planting uh guidelines  and uh talking about conversion of you know from   fescue for instance to other more drought tolerant  uh grasses we'd love to have them come back we'll   probably try to include that in the workshop as  well to talk about best practices and things that   people should be considering and we'll also um  hopefully um conclude our conversations with WAB   and be able to bring back some thoughts from the  homebuilders as well mr manager one thing I would   I'd like to include and you and I have talked  about this as well but I'd be interested in   hearing my colleagues especially on the workshop  of when we look at well usage for city wage that   the same policy is held to both i think when we  were trying to message particularly my district   out west and I think JV's is you know 50% well  and uh city water so try to trying to message   dual messaging and telling some people they can  water and some people they can't was challenging   during the drought and I think holding to the  same standard well users as well as residential uh   customer water customer usage uh would make sense  moving forward if uh we look at how we revise   drought policy when and if we uh come to this  again in the future amen thank you i would just   add um with our water rebate program I did have  a lot of people asking would the city help with   established lawns which I think is super expensive  but if we looked at maybe incentivizing purchasing   seed cuz those are like $30 $40 a bag and I think  some of our rebates on um showerheads and stuff   were around that amount so maybe we can encourage  people as we get out of those stages to shift   their lawn to a more droughtresistant or native  type of grass that might be a little better for   them and that could help if you buy two or three  bags of seed per year so something to add to the   conversation i would just add over at the new dog  park in Deleno um it looked like they were putting   um saw down but it was Bermuda so I was happy  to see that um were kind of leading the way and   not just talking and talking hoping that others  do it that that we're setting that example too   also it was a very hot day for uh Junth but it was  super awesome and really happy to see uh so many   people show up and show out and lastly um a huge  thank you to parks and wreck um public works and   utilities fire and police for working extremely  hard um trying to clean up our community and make   sure that all of the trees are as safe as possible  so um just a big thank you to you guys i know you   guys have been working double triple quadruple  overtime trying to help so thank you so much i have Go ahead well if I could just pick up  on that um vice mayor had talked to us about   reaching out to Cedric County and I do want  to I don't want to steal their thunder but I   think they're going to make an announcement today  that they're also going to have a disposal site   available on the south side of the county um that  will counterbalance or a balance um so that we'll   have two locations where people can take uh debris  for free uh at least through the end of the week i see no further comments i will just finally add  why everyone got a cup um so first and foremost   just got back from the Paris Air Show uh thank you  for letting me represent um our community the air   capital of the world is what we are known for  it's our advanced manufacturing workforce and I   can tell you that almost every other city that was  there claimed to be their capital so if we're not   careful we may lose that moniker and that's why  it's so important for us to advocate for this city   to advocate for the people of this city and so um  again uh had a great opportunity to represent the   city alongside Senator Moran Lieutenant Governor  Tolen uh Congressman Estus as well as Sherice   Davids um also uh House Majority Leader Chris  Croft and Cedric County Commissioner Pete Mitner   um we also had I think um Susan Estus also was  there so thank you uh to all of the group uh for   representing Kansas uh well and representing  Witchah in the air capital while I was there   I also uh took a trip out to see our sister city  uh so for those that don't know uh Witchah has   four sister cities one of them happens to be  Orlons France which is just southwest of Paris   and um the council uh sends their greetings  uh their council is made up of 55 city council   members and their metropolitan council is actually  made up of 89 council members uh they also don't   get public comment in their council meetings uh  public comment is given to each of the council   members at their uh advisory board meetings and  then those council members get up to two questions   that they get to ask during a council meeting so  it's very interesting to see how council meetings   are run around the world um and again uh had  the opportunity to meet the mayor of Orlons   uh he also sends his greetings and so part of  his uh gift to the city of Witchah is some tea   from Orlons so that's what the cup is for um it's  tea from Orleans and they made special labels for   um honoring their sister city their other sister  city happens to be New Orleans uh Louisiana and   one of their representatives happened to be there  at that time as well and so um I've been chatting   with folks around the community who remember um  back in 1985 Cake News went to Orlon's France   uh 40 years after World War II uh to commemorate  the friendship between Witchah and Orlons and the   reason why we became sister cities is because um  military men from Kansas and from Witchah helped   liberate Orlons from the Nazis in World War II and  so they have a special plaque in front of their   city hall that literally says uh thank you to our  military men and women um but more specifically   Witchaw Kansas and so I'm very grateful that that  friendship has continued as you can see just last   um last year we found out that uh Jon of Arc uh we  have another uh Jon of Arc that is now on display   and it uh greets you at city hall now uh that was  the original uh gift from Orlons and a replica was   created that is sitting in front of the former  central library now so we have two Jonavarcs   and the uh story behind Jonavarc is that Jonavarc  also liberated Orlons um during the hundred-year   war so uh we have a history that um is important  and I'm very grateful uh that we continue this   friendship and uh this collaboration and thank  you to the nonprofit Witchah area sister cities   for helping us set that up so uh cheers this is  some tea uh and I'll pass it around to all of you   i see here i need to make an appointment oh  I'm really sorry is that okay to go now Okay   i'm so sorry um I need to appoint Rosa  Cisneros to the CSBG board second motion   and a second any further discussion Sorry  i see none all those in favor say I i all   those opposed same sign motion passes 70 i see  no further appointments or comments so I will   move to adjourn this meeting so we can start our  workshop second motion and a second any further   discussion I see none all those in favor say I i  all those opposed same sign meeting is adjourned don't say that pops up thank you um well congratulations this  is your last budget workshop you've been   doing these since January and we're now  in the final stretch of preparing the   uh recommended budget for your consideration  today what we want to do is update you um show   you how we used feedback from your last workshop  to um revise some of our recommendations and   uh to share with you some uh information that  we recently received regarding our valuation   and what impact that will have on the budget  uh going forward and then second the mayor had   asked that we share the results from a review of  our parking garage um system and we're going to   provide that and then if we have time and and  if you're if you you want to hear we can talk   to you a little bit about the implementation of  the parking plan and where we stand today so with   that I'm going to turn over to Mark Manning uh to  cover the budget uh portion of today's workshop great well good morning mayor members of the city   council mark Manning with  the Department of Finance and as soon as my PowerPoint loads up here we'll  get rolling i guess that's on me okay we're ready   to go great news this morning no limit on  questions ask as many questions as you want   uh so today I have a few discussion points I want  to talk about i want to provide you some updates   since our last workshop in May uh as you know  we've had uh numerous workshops this year uh and   uh in May we talked about as the manager mentioned  some additional scenarios to get us to a balanced   budget and I want to provide update on those uh  every workshop we've also updated our forecasts   and brought you any information that we have  based on things that we need to change from a   technical standpoint and I'll provide you a couple  updates there uh then we want to provide you some   additional options again our objective here is to  reach a balanced budget that we can present to you   in July uh so we want to present some additional  options to you one of which will include a   proposal to reduce our mill levy uh for 2026 then  we'll shift focus to another areas we have a few   items we need to clean up we need to talk about  the CIP briefly i'll just give you an update on   where that process is at because that's running  concurrent with our budget process and then as   you know you levy taxes for uh the downtown uh  Schmid which is a self-supporting improvement   self-supporting municipal improvement district or  what we call the Schmid your function is only to   levy the taxes on their behalf and we have some  issues there that we'd like to mention to you   uh we'll wrap up talking about our engagement  summary and then I want to outline a few next   steps some of the steps that staff has to do in  order to complete the budget process and and and   some of the functions that we'll ask you to do  uh based on state statute so let's jump right   in i just wanted to provide a recap of some of  the stuff we previously talked about again we've   and all this is incorporated in the uh uh in the  information I'm going to provide with you today   as I noted we keep incorporating things as  we continue to get feedback we've talked   about centralization of financial services uh we  presented to you I think in February uh some more   empirical research on facilities uh division  and public works reorganization and street   maintenance uh we've talked about court staffing  and how the activity levels there are diminished   and how we could restructure that area and again  we've incorporated things from all of that uh we   provided some updates on some expenditure items uh  and then we've looked at revenues particularly on   interest earnings we've made adjustments there  which have benefited our forecast for the most   part all of that got us to right here and this  is what we showed you on May 27th in the workshop   and that is that we were out of balance about $2  million in 2026 and somewhere around $5.5 million   in 2027 uh now just for a frame of reference a  general fund is somewhere in the $340 million   range uh so those while they're significant on  a nominal basis uh we're talking a little less   than 1% in 26 and somewhere in the neighborhood  of one and a half or so percent out of balance   in 2027 uh but again this was what our objective  was to move both of those numbers to zero uh so we   presented some items in the workshop on May 27th  i got a lot of feedback and so the next slides I   want to go over what those items are the feedback  that we received and the items that we have now   modeled into the scenario that uh we're at now uh  again based on the feedback that we received let's   see if I can get this out of the way real quick  mark if you could reference um just a reminder   um I want to put context not so much for the  council because you know this but for the public   the 2026 recommendations will be included in the  recommended budget the 2027 recommendations are a   way that you can balance the 2027 budget and it it  provides a framework for your ongoing discussions   about 2027 but you will not be locking us into um  these expenditure reductions or revenue changes   uh formally but um again this was a state this  would be a statement of intent on how we could   get balanced uh this time next year for the 2027  BA uh budget our goal is to provide you with a   balanced budget framework for both for a balanced  budget for 26 and a balanced budget framework for   27 yeah the measure is exactly right by statute  you only have to adopt the 2026 budget that's your   legal requirement uh but we actually typically  do a financial plan out five years uh in some   level of detail uh but we also do a more detailed  budget for 27 but the manager is exactly right   uh your legal commitment is only to adopt a 2026  budget uh so uh I've got I think about 15 items   i won't go over each one because we talked about  most of these in the May workshop i just point out   a few uh you'll see item number three that is  a reduction in the public art component of the   capital improvement plan uh currently by ordinance  we allocate approximately 2% of cir certain local   revenue streams for public art in the CIP this  would essentially allocate 1% for those uh of   those streams for public art and that would Yes  sir sorry um now that 900,000 is that cash Yes   we would we would reduce the CIP by 900,000 and  essentially shift that mill levy into the general   fund so yes okay yeah that's what I was wondering  because I didn't know if it was half of that was   cash and then the other half was debt it's I  would consider it cash from your perspective we   typically don't debt finance things like public  art we would cash fund them so in in effect we   would we would roll that into the operating budget  into the general fund through some appreciate it   here's a few more items on this slide i'll point  out municipal court i talked about municipal court   already again we've been examining court for quite  some time their activity levels are significantly   diminished we talked about that on the revenue  side we've talked about that since uh last year   and how that's impacted our revenue stream pretty  significantly but we tried to rightsize court   again worked with court staff and so we have some  additional recommendations there uh working with   them on this slide here again I'll point out item  15 uh that is a cost recovery study that we would   like to embark upon we've talked a lot about the  cost pyramid and our our model of looking at the   benefit of certain city services and trying to  maybe allocate fees more towards those that have   individual benefits as opposed to uh benefits  for larger larger group so what we'd like to do   is study holistically and comprehensively our  fee structure and identify options for you to   try to recover greater portions of our cost again  using the cost pyramid methodology where services   that we provide that have a more individualistic  benefit maybe we get closer to full cost on Mark   quick question when it comes to the cost recovery  study is that an investment of $250,000 to be able   to study the recovery or is that what we project  to save in 2027 Uh that's what we project that   we could generate in additional revenues in  2027 do we know what the study cost would   be Uh we haven't got to that point yet we've done  similar work like that uh I'm going to guess 25 or   $30,000 but but it would be a similar investment  you know your previous slide about the previous   reduction initiative so the centralizing financial  services which is what we voted on last August to   be able to make an investment then hopefully  recoup savings later that's similar under the   cost recovery study yes very similar we have a  couple firms that are familiar with us that do   similar type work for that we would probably  try to engage one of those and Okay thank you   uh so let me summarize everything I just showed  on those obviously I didn't go through each one   i could if you wanted to but in interest of time  I won't because we've talked about them before so   this summarizes where I think we'll be with the  incorporation of those 15 items again you can see   at the top we started out at about 2 million out  in 26 and about 5 a.5 million out in 27 and that's   what we presented to you on May 27th with the  incorporation of those items uh we would expect to   be pretty close to balanced in 2026 or out maybe  $200,000 i'm using round numbers here obviously   in millions to make it simpler and in 2027 we  still have a challenge but our challenge is a   little bit less than what it was we would expect  to be out of bounds somewhere in the neighborhood   of $1.3 million in 2027 hey Mike quick question um  back in February of 2024 what was that projection   for 2027 Do you remember February 24 February 25  february of 24 so a year and a few months change   approximately i I don't recall mayor i'm sure I  could find out may I I believe it was in excess   of $10 million if I remember for 27 it was sizable  10.91 that's what we're thinking i would like to   see I know that we have that slide somewhere in  our uh handouts from back in February of 24 but   I'd like to see that in comparison to what we now  have as a projection sure no problem i can do that so uh this is where we're at today uh 200,000 out  of balance in 2026 and maybe about a million3 out   in 2027 and again our objective is to push both  of those to zero uh when we present the proposed   budget in July so as I noted we continually  update our forecast based on new information   and I mentioned I think in in May uh that probably  the last piece of new information we were waiting   for was valuation estimates that the county uh  clerk provides us by statute by June 15th we have   in fact gotten those estimates and so we need to  incorporate those in into our forecasts uh that's   shown on the property tax line valuation came in  a little higher than what we expected and so under   our current policy if we maintain a current flat  mill levy based on the value valuation estimates   the county provided us we would pick up about  $3.5 million each year over the next two years   to round uh we have continually examined our  our our budget we have another 600,000 or so   in adjustments that we need to make technical  standpoint uh but the bottom line is what this   chart shows you is based on where we think we  are today based on using the county estimates   uh we would actually flip to a positive position  in 26 and 27 of roughly a little over $2 million   each year couple of quick questions here um  that is still including the $3 million from   the permanent reserve yes sir that we're using  to float float so okay so if it if we didn't   have that permanent reserve we'd we'd be about  400,000 short next year and 700,000 short the   year after yes sir you are completely correct okay  and also the future projections what is the the   um what is the property tax rate there I mean it's  like 8.4% now what would that what's that based   off of in 27 going forward is around 4% the growth  rate that we assume on assess we've taken a more   conservative slant in the future because we don't  believe that the valuation that we've experienced   over the last few years is going to last uh we  are down to I think 4.9% in 27 and then we've   moderated back to what we considered normal which  is somewhere in the 4% range uh now valuation   as you know is based on a variety of factors  annexation which hasn't been too active here   but expiring abatements uh we're going to have a  fairly significant tiff that probably comes on the   tax rolls in 27 that'll give us a boost uh it's  also due to new construction which is typically   a percent and percent and a half a year and the  rest of it is due to reappraisal so basically   all those combined we've estimated around 4%  a year in the out years okay appreciate it   so based on this uh what I would call the revised  projection as of today uh staff has uh developed   a few additional options uh potentially for you  to consider uh those are shown on this page uh   the first one is uh a scenario in which you could  consider reducing the mill levy by about a half a   mill uh that actually would uh reduce our position  obviously because it would reduce our revenues it   it would reduce our revenues by roughly two  and a half million dollars each year over the   next couple years but again that would reduce our  mill levy by about one half mill approximately uh   we've got a few additional expenditure reduction  items in 2027 couple of these we've talked about   before in different formats these are much uh  perhaps more palatable uh than what we presented   earlier that is police security uh this would just  involve reallocating our positions and eliminating   one position animal control uh this would just  involve reducing uh services on weekends on the   animal control side again we had proposals on  both those previously but they were they were   different differently structured two new ones  on this page uh that is number 17 uh library is   making some investments in solar uh power and we  think that we have the opportunity to maybe reduce   uh our costs there when those are completed which  would be 2027 and then uh it is working at all   their contracts particularly for add-on or bolt-on  type software that's inherently a little bit   uh dangerous if I can use that word uh to have  those kind of applications so they're looking at   it from that standpoint but I think they're also  looking at it of the standpoint of eliminating   additional maintenance costs on some of those  standalone contracts so we think we can pick up   100,000 there but again we have some different  cost scenarios here uh the largest one being a   opportunity to reduce the mill levy and these  would impact the forecast by about 2.6 million   in the current year and about 2.2 million uh in  the outyear uh if you uh remembered what I showed   you three slides ago you can see that that would  get us to a balanced budget in 2026 and 2027 with   those scenarios included of course that's what  our objective is uh to reach a balanced budget   when we present that to you uh in July so I I'll  take a quick pause point there if there's any more   questions two quick things one I want to give  a particular shout out if we go back one slide   uh to library uh thank you Jamie and your staff I  think for showing this cost recovery in the future   i think this is innovative um and I hope other  departments look at opportunities to do cost   savings like this but I think moving our libraries  towards solar in the future um saves us in the   long term and I think aligns with the community's  priorities about conservation as well so thank   you and then a larger part of this Mark I want to  thank you i want to thank the manager for bringing   item number 16 to us the public wants property tax  reduction every single person I talk to believes   that uh it is burdensome for them and I think even  taking one step to reduce half a mill shows that   we're serious about spending tax dollars wisely i  don't have any concernation about any of the other   um items regarding uh costs recovery and also  some of the savings and so I will be very likely   to support the property tax reduction i want to  thank you for the work on this and I think it   moves us in the right direction it's not where the  public wants us to be but it moves us there and so   thank you for your staff uh moving forward and  presenting this today as well thank you mark can   you uh give us some historical reference as well  because I think this would be the first time in   30 years if that 35 years can can you just address  that Yeah I'm sure our our policy here at the city   is for the last 30 plus years or so uh has been to  keep a relatively steady levy and I think you're   right uh based on what I've looked at over the  years uh this would be the first time in over 30   years that we have adopted a budget with a lower  estimated mill levy than the prior year last time   we did that I think I pointed out last uh workshop  was when the sales tax was passed and we reduced   our mill levy but that was because of the sales  tax what does a half mill save an average family I   was going to ask uh well it depend on the size of  their house but if you look what an average house   is in Witchaw uh based on the records that we have  it would save the average family about $15 a year   $15 a year and about what is that average house  About 60 $260,000 is it is the information that we   have $260,000 is the average house in the city and  that would save them $15 yeah so my house that's   half of that probably it save me $7.50 somewhere  in that neighborhood yeah okay thank you mark   have there been any conversations about um talking  about solar use on like the new fire stations that   we're looking at to have some type of cost savings  as well Uh all we have done is just presented an   option on this side i'm not aware of anything uh  regarding what you're referring to there and if   I can't also I'm not sure on in terms of the west  side substation for police we're just starting the   design process for fire stations and um I I'm we  can talk about that in the mix um about whether   that's the you know a wise investment okay i  think just including it in the conversation   to see you know if it's beneficial um at least  we can check that box so thank you thanks Mark   um also does this include the genealogy savings  from the library No okay we we pushed okay i think   library is looking at how they can allocate their  staff effectively but this does not incorporate   any savings from that okay i appreciate that  i appreciate the work done on this not in   favor of item 16 $15 savings to a household real  money but I think the impact to local government   going forward um will be greater um I don't see  councils again we're looking at reducing a mill   levy not raising a mill levy and over time and I  think that's going to be harmful to a lot of the   services that citizens want also not in favor of  I know it's just a placeholder and suggestion but   reducing the public art by 900,000 not supportive  uh of that again I appreciate the work being done   and and trying to get to a balanced budget but I  think that uh we are setting oursel up for future   councils not oursel we're setting up future  councils because I won't be on the council for   harder decisions to make uh regarding the services  that people want and we're already seeing that   costs are continuing to go up as we highlighted  how long it's been since that mill levy's been   adjusted I thought about back then computers used  to be the size of this room and now they can fit   in the palm of your hand everything's getting more  expensive just to take care of folks not doing   grandiose things and we're talking about reducing  the mill levy and really making things probably   in the future a little more difficult for folks so  I'm not supportive of that but I do appreciate the   work that you all did to get to those numbers and  if we're going to go ahead and have the mill levy   discussion now that's fine um I do have some  thoughts um you know this these numbers are   also being artificially floated by the permanent  reserve past councils we've had um we've gone over   we've had a surplus and instead we put it into  the permanent reserve did the responsible things   so we could step down um so just bear in mind and  I've said this at the beginning when I was urging   um some hesitancy with just going full-on gang  busters with some of the cuts that you never know   until further along in the budget process exactly  what the real numbers are um so I I look at it I   also realize that we have uh discussions about  a potential sales tax and mill levy reduction   in the future i think that would be the time to  bring up the mill levy discussion um and and kind   of a whole so I'm looking at these numbers and I  I still see some things that we do need to catch   up on um dead tree removal with the recent storms  that we had um there were a ton of trees that came   down on limbs we're about two years behind we do  have a program going right now where we are hiring   out contractors to help catch up with the tree  removal that is that that's a public safety issue   there um spay and neuter for animals if we look  at the numbers down at the animal shelter if we're   going to set ourselves up to reduce those numbers  long term we have to think long term and spay and   neuter clinics are definitely something I think  that can help with future generations um saving   animals lives um because we're not overflowing the  the system and that's what we are seeing nowadays   with the animal shelter is the lack of spay and  neutering that was going on during the co years so   that's something else and then also um making the  homestead tax credit permanent that's something we   did here two years ago for the most needy families  that we have in our community i would like to see   irregardless of how this discussion goes um making  that tax cut in particular permanent alongside   with the disabled American veterans property tax  cuts i think those are that was a great program   that we ran we had some ARPA money to do that um I  would like to see those made permanent as well um   so again I'm I'm not against the whole mill levy  reduction i just think it needs to be part of a   bigger conversation instead of just bending the  curve here a little bit at a time um but if we do   want to go down that path with next year's surplus  what I would um suggest is uh rebates just across   the board rebates maybe just your individual  home every homeowner gets one for their primary   residence that would give a little more pop in  the rebate for the homeowners because maybe then   you'll be getting a $30 check or something like  that just across the board so that's if we want   to return this money to the taxpayers I think  that would be a better way of doing it instead   of lowering the mill levy outside of the potential  sales tax discussion that we have going forward   i agree with council member Hohheisel on that  and I would just add that I appreciate the   um discussion of investing tax dollars into a  real need in the community which was definitely on   display with all the wind we just had and that's  something that we've been hearing about for years   on dead tree removal and all the complaints that  we've received on that so there's a lot of dead   trees out there and a lot of folks reaching  out and I know park and wreck is working to   catch up on all of that that type of investment I  think would be a real benefit to the community if   we put even more money into that supporting park  and wreck and contracting out trying to catch up   on the 18 months of that so I think those types  of investments and those suggestions are good   mark could you address the issue of a crossboard  rebate Uh yes I understand where you're coming   from council member Hosel uh but that would  be administratively very challenging for us   to do there's from our understanding there's  about 180,000 taxpaying parcels in Witchah and   so if we were going to attempt to provide them  a rebate uh we literally would have to collect   data on 180,000 parcels which we would have but  then we would have to issue some form of payment   to 180,000 different unique entities uh could we  do it Yes we could do it would it be a significant   use of resources Yes it would be likely the cost  could approach or exceed the amount of refunds   that we would be providing now you did mention our  property tax rebate program that we implemented I   think two years ago we did the exact same thing  on a much smaller scale and it was income based   as you referred to too uh we we we were able to  administer that although I will tell you that we   were a little disappointed participation wasn't as  much as what we had expected we saw a lot of it on   the senior side and those rebates were generally  in the neighborhood of $200 $250 per person and   which we were happy to provide we didn't see a  whole lot of applications more on the other two   phases of it which was for disabled veterans and  other folks uh those applications were a lot less   likely to come in and the rebate amounts turned  out to be a lot less so that was the model which   we used a couple years ago uh we were able to  administer that i think it would be a challenge to   administer something quite as broad as maybe what  you'd suggested so you're telling me there's a   chance There's a chance here but um Okay well and  just for clarification I still like to look into   it um it wouldn't be individual property owners  getting um tax rebate on all of them it would   be every person who owns property getting one and  it would be more even across the board that would   be my preference um again it's more bang for the  buck especially the people who are out there and   then you talk about $200 $250 for those seniors  that matters a lot for those seniors so um again   I think more targeted um and uh potentially will  help out more people who are really feeling the   pinch now I know everybody's feeling the pinch but  some of them feel it disproportionately more than   others i I will pollightly disagree with you uh to  enter to to rebate a $30 check is probably going   to cost us $30 in staff time and cost and that's  just not a good efficient use of taxpayers money   to pay $30 to give people $30 check um it's a  lot easier just to to uh reduce the mill levy   um and then I would like to have the discussion in  the future of a sales tax to replace some of the   property tax 20 to 30% of a sales tax in Witchah  is paid by people outside of the Witchah city   limits so there's where we could really make a  substantial difference but I think we'll have we'd   have our heads in the sand if we have these huge  property tax valuations increases and and don't   give some sort of property tax relief even if  it is only 15 $50 whatever it is so I think it's   important and to Councilman Hoh Hoisel's point  I'm interested in moving forward on the sales   tax discussion now if that's something we can  move forward with so individuals in our community   can see relief i think a half a mill reduction is  moving in the right direction but if we can have a   substantive conversation where next year families  are seeing a 10 mil reduction I think they will   trust us to move forward um on essential services  and they will see that we're taking their concerns   seriously as well and so if any of my colleagues  are interested I'm ready to move now on reducing   property taxes in a much more substantive way as  well but I think this is symbolic to our community   that we're moving in the right direction and  hopefully building trust when we go towards   a sales tax referendum they know that we'll be  reducing um their mill by 10 to 12 mil uh moving   forward as well i will just add my two cents to  this i was very appreciative to hear this from   city manager Leighton um I know that this took  a lot of work and I know this would be historic   for the first time in over 30 years there could  be a reduction in the mill levy that is historic   and I think it does set uh the conversation for  our community there are wants and there are needs   there are needs like tree limb pickup um but what  are wants and I keep hearing a lot of wants and   wants need to be prioritized after we've met all  the needs and needs are when we call 911 we want   to make sure a firefighter a police officer  or an EMS from Sedu County will show up and   so those are critical it's also critical that  public works shows up and make sure that that   um tree that is blocking the street alongside  parks is able to make sure that we can safely   traverse around our community so I believe that  it is prudent for us to have a mill levy reduction   and seeing it for the first time in over 30 years  um I think does say something to our community   that we are serious about focusing on needs first  and again I can appreciate that but there was one   word that people it's symbolic if we want to do  it let's make sure that we do it to where it's   meaningful and right now again $15 for a person  who owns a house that's $20 and some odd th,000   $7 $8 for somebody like me um I say put it off and  do it in a meaningful manner a little further down   the road when we do have these discussions and  I'm fine with having the discussions at 10 mills   that was a little surprising to hear today  i think it been around six up to this point   but again that's you know that's part of this uh  democracy that's part of this body's deliberations   going forward so always interested to hear that  discussion i also agree uh I think we get more   out of the headline than that than actual  property tax benefit at that amount i would   also say as we talk about wants and needs we have  to truly think more deeply about wants and needs   if we say public art or parks is a want I  would push back when we look at if we want   to see a crime reduction if we want to see more  opportunities for people then I would say parks   and arts th those are things that will help there  are young people who are super talented and may   not fully know that yet that are out making some  decisions they shouldn't and the opportunities   that we provide through the public art funding  actually could shift that and they could see that   there is a future there there's so many graffiti  artists that are doing things for the city right   now that before they were being arrested they  were being fined they were being ticketed and now   they're out teaching art to other folks and doing  things the right way and making money the right   way and it comes from opportunities from us so as  we continue to talk about wants and needs growing   up poor a lot of things that people would say is  a want was something that I needed and something   that benefited me and there's so many in the  community like that and I know that we all talk   to different people but wants and needs really  aren't wants and needs a want might be some shiny   um thing but to to some folks but that's a need  for other people i'll even use what we just saw   with the public bathrooms downtown hey Price  Woodard Park i saw a long line of people excited   about using that and that was talked about as a  want by some people in the community and even on   this body but I saw people using it and they're  grateful for it and they're glad that it's out   there these things are getting used so as we talk  wants and needs a lot of the things that we're   talking about really are needs just not not  be seen as a need by some of us but those are   needs in the community and those are worthwhile  investments to be made um and I just think we have   to be careful when we talk about that because a  lot of people who need those things are listening   to us and then say "Well I'm not being seen  by the body that's supposed to represent me so uh one thing I should point out and uh  Council Member Johnson mentioned it and I   I should have mentioned this earlier earlier  in this process we had offered some proposals   around tree trimming stump removal i think we  had a proposal about fire staffing and a few   other things those were always in the category  of things that we knew were significant service   uh degradations uh I would tell you that none  of those are included in the model which I   have presented here and again that's based on  the feedback we received from you uh at prior   workshops i should have mentioned that earlier so  let me kind of summarize where we're at now on our   budget process uh because again our objective is  to produce a budget book that you can receive on   July 15th uh so we're going to develop that book  again based on funding department tactics aligned   specifically to your strategic plan which we've  talked about over the last several months and that   is to your pillars your goals and your strategies  that's the methodology that we're using uh as we   develop this uh budget again very important uh  that uh that that's understood because that's   that's the model that we're using uh I mentioned  uh previously the second bullet there this would   be the first time and I'm going to fact check  myself as I look at this slide i think it's   probably more accurate to say in over 30 years i  have to check myself i can't remember it's 33 34   35 i should have corrected this slide previously  but it's definitely more than 30 years finally I   should point out that we have had some significant  reductions in departmental expenditures those   are all the things I mentioned before again those  were designed to be things that were either inward   facing and not external facing to our residents  and those were things that were designed to be   uh based on increased efficiency and things of  that matter but we have reduced uh somewhere   north of $4 million from our budget in the in  the scenario that you've seen right there uh   by the way here is what our mill levy would look  like uh under that scenario you can see that it   would be a reduction of about uh 0.5 mills uh  recall last year we increased the debt service   fund mill levy on a onetime basis so that's why  the slide looks the way it looks we would revert   the debt service fund back to 7 mills which was  what we'd planned to do all along and uh on a net   basis our total mill levy which is what we always  look at total mill levy would be 0.5 mills lower   than what it is now and as I mentioned when we  talked about sales tax last month I won't rehash   those charts but I would point out that point that  32.3 mills is one of the lowest mill levies in the   metropolitan area it's the lowest mill levy of the  cities in Seduit County with the exception of one   which is much much smaller than us and it is one  of the lowest mill levies in the state of Kansas   in first class cities particularly those that do  not have a local sales tax uh so let's talk about   the financial plan i just have one slide on these  i'll go through the next topics relatively quickly   but I think it's important we talk about them as  I noted we always do a five-year financial plan   we've done that for years in our adopted budget  and we will continue to do that we think that's   important to identify trends in advance uh uh for  your benefit uh council member mentioned the next   bullet there just a reminder we do plan to have a  draw down of the stabilization reserve uh that's   been longstanding in our financial plan and that  will be reflected incidentally we do a financial   plan more than just the general fund we do it  for all our funds we have about 36 total funds   it's about including our TIFFs and all our other  funds and it's about a 50page supplement in our   adopted budget uh we've mentioned the last bullet  numerous times so I won't spend a lot of time on   it but these are some of the things we consider as  we develop that long-term financial plan for you   uh that is wage and benefit costs and rates and  we've talked about that a lot we've got several   contracts coming up which will influence how that  variable impacts our long-term uh financial plans   uh economic conditions recessions interest rates  we've talked a lot about that so I won't go into   that but again we'll use those metrics to  develop our long-term financial plan and   then we're always looking uh towards uh capturing  any re restructuring savings and then uh finally   uh maybe based to council member Ballard's  question earlier uh we always include council   initiatives in our long-term financial plan uh if  we know about them or they've been pronounced uh   but we you know we we will not include things  typically in our financial plan that are just   based on discussion topics for example perhaps  the uh intent to expand public safety services   in the future uh we do include those when action  is taken we typically don't include those unless   that action is taken uh let me talk about the  capital improvement program with one slide too uh   I'm getting close to the end here uh apologize for  the link today uh we are actually completing the   capital improve improvement program uh concurrent  with the development of the operating budget we   haven't talked about it as much but it's being  developed concurrently uh again it's based on the   parameters that the city council has uh has told  us to develop it around and that is to continue to   align it to the comprehensive community investment  uh program or the comp plan and that plan has   maintenance as our number one priority and so we  have incorporated that in the CIP uh that you will   receive it's also structured to be financially  viable again that is aligned to your strategic   plan in which we want to be a well-run city uh  so we will do that we'll make sure debt levels   are are moderate and sustainable and then finally  as I mentioned it'll be based on a mill levy in   the debt service fund of seven mills which again  is aligned with your prior direction uh so within   those parameters we'll develop the CIP and we will  present that to you concurrently on July 15th i   mentioned the Schmid we need to talk about that  briefly again uh you levy taxes for three funds   two in the operating budget the general fund and  the debt service fund and you also levy taxes for   our uh special improvement district which in this  case is the is what we call the Schmid uh this   is a specific taxing district only in downtown  Witchaw and it's it's governed by themselves in   other words the the property owners in this  taxing district in effect decide what taxes   they want to levy upon themselves and then they  recommend to you that you levy it on their behalf   uh my understanding is a downtown Witchaw is  reviewing some of their options to expend some   of the money in the Schmid for increasing downtown  security and cleanliness they've have efforts that   have been pretty successful in those areas and  my understanding is they're looking to consider   possibly expanding those areas and if they do  that uh they might come to us with a revised   uh proposal to uh ask you to levy an additional  levy of taxes on their behalf again we have not   received any proposal from them yet and we would  expect that would be the first step that their   board asks uh you to consider that but I just want  to put it on your radar screens if we do get a   request from them uh we would ask you to consider  that and uh again it is your you are the only ones   that can levy taxes on their behalf so you'll see  something incorporated in our budget and again   I'd ask you to consider any feedback they give  and provide us direction in that regard yes sir   if they were to go from 6.7 to 10 mills how  much more would that add to their uh possible   operating budget I think it's in the neighborhood  of about $380,000 uh their valuation obviously   is much smaller than our valuation uh right now  they're generating somewhere in the neighborhood   of $880,000 and I think this would push them well  over a million so thank you um Mark a couple more   questions i know that this is something that uh  community wants us to focus on and it's clean   and safe um and I know that downtown Witchaw has  started a pilot program with an individual wearing   bright colored clothing uh that is picking up  trash that is directing people um that is also   helping individuals facing homelessness um  with resources or uh information uh can we   get more information regarding that because  um if they'd like to see a mill levy increase   uh that would be I'd like to know how the pilot  program is working so far yeah I I spoke with   Heather yesterday and I think that's what they are  planning on doing is compiling some information   and again they need to run it by their board  but if their board agrees with the ask I think   you'll be seeing that type of information from  them and a perhaps an ask i I will just add one   more quick thing regarding that in Orlons they  literally focused on clean and safe in their   downtown um and their mayor has been around for  two decades and they saw a big difference when   the focus was on clean and safe so um I'm just  mentioning that because I know that that is a   great emphasis regarding this conversation but  also regarding the parking conversation coming   up and Council Member Glascock I'm looking at  my notes here looks like it'd be about $384,000 so anyway we'll move on from the Smith again  I just want to put that on your radar screen   let's talk about engagement a little bit uh  engagement is the cornerstone of our budget   development process uh we take it very seriously  and we've done a lot of engagement want to rehash   that briefly uh we looked at the community survey  results in January we actually did the survey last   year I think in October we looked at the results  in January community survey very important for us   it helps us define what our community is  interested in so that's a very important   leg of our engagement process uh I think this is  the fifth workshop we had we actually took March   off uh but so five of the last six months we've  engaged you in workshops and discussed a variety   of topics we did go to our district advisory board  boards in May and hit all of those uh we launched   the budget simulator in May and that actually  will stay open till August 19th i believe uh   we have so far gotten well over 500 responses to  that and typically 20 25% of people leave comments   so we've got somewhere in the neighborhood of  over a hundred comments we will summarize that   for you at some point we won't probably wait until  August 19th we'll try to develop a summary of that   earlier than that uh but that is a very important  uh tool that we use in our engagement toolbox   uh we also obviously have four public hearings  coming up on the budget process uh including one   evening meeting that we've scheduled to facilitate  community engagement uh so we do have many many   opportunities for engagement and we'll have a few  more coming up one thing we did want to mention   is this year we are not planning on doing a social  media town hall we have done those in the past uh   that form is becoming a little less uh useful for  us with less participation uh we are using social   media platforms uh to put out information and  it's been very beneficial to us but we do not   we're not sure the social media town hall is uh  the most effective strategy so we don't plan on   pursuing that strategy this year uh finally I  just want to let you know the work that staff   has to do to push us to the finish line and  again because I want to give you a perspective   on the importance of providing us feedback uh  perhaps sooner rather than later because we do   have a lot of work to do a lot of details that we  need to iron out in order to produce the budget   uh to be technically accurate and that's very  important a number of ordinances we have to   prepare uh that are required by state statute  and pretty much everything we do is dictated by   state statute uh certification forms is probably  the most important thing we have to do think of   that as you're preparing your tax return kind of  maybe a similar analogy very complicated lots of   rules and you have to get it right uh so it's very  important that we have uh time to uh complete that   work and of course we have presentation material  and the agenda report we have to prepare which   we like to try to get done as early as possible  and ultimately obviously we have to produce the   budget document that's very important because that  is our our communication device with our residents   uh that's what they see so it's important that  we get that produced in a timely manner so this   is all the work that we will do uh once we get uh  uh guidance on on some of the direction of some   of the items we mentioned to say to today uh we  need to have all this done in early July and what   are we in now the 24th of June so we've got about  two two and a half weeks to get all that done uh   which we will do obviously but uh it'll it'll be  a challenge now let me shift to what you need to   do and again this is based on state statute uh so  I want to tell you some of the dates that we have   lined up and why those dates are established  where they are and what we will ask you to do   on those dates july 15th is when the manager  will present the proposed budget and there's   two things we'll ask you to do that day one is  to consider a resolution to approve the intent   to exceed the revenue neutral rate now I won't go  into much detail on revenue neutral rate because   we've talked a lot about talked about it a lot  but essentially if we want to levy $1 more than   what we levied last year you're going to exceed  the revenue neutral rate uh but you do not have   to do that if you choose not to that's a policy  decision uh we typically recommend that you do   because it doesn't lock you into anything it just  provides you flexibility to make that decision on   August 26th if you do not approve a resolution to  uh express the intent to exceed the RNR you are   essentially locked in to last year's total amount  of taxes levied which is about 10 or 15 somewhere   in that neighborhood million less than what you've  seen in the scenarios presented here uh but again   that that that is your decision we have to get  that information to the county by July 20th that's   the reason that we're going to ask you to do that  on uh July 15th another very important thing that   we're going to ask you to do on July 15th again  based on state statute we need you to approve   what they call the publication of notice this  is a bunch of legal publications that we'll put   uh in in the appropriate forums but basically  statute requires you to do two things set the   maximum amount of expenditure authority for all  of our all of our funds the maximum and to acet to   set the maximum amount of taxes levied in all of  our funds again we can come down from that we just   cannot exceed those amounts uh so it again it just  provides you flexibility you can reduce but you do   not have the flexibility to increase those amounts  after we approve this publication notice on July   15th uh so I would I would ask you to recognize  that and the implications therein now we'll have   uh public hearings i mentioned the public hearing  will be on August 7th that'll be at night that's   our evening meeting again we've gotten great  participation at those meetings in the past and   we look forward to that and then the final thing  we will ask you to do will occur on August 26th   and again we will establish that date on July 15th  so we don't have any flexibility around this date   either on that date you need to do two things  as well that is the date that you will actually   consider whether to approve exceeding the RNR  assuming that you've expressed the intent to   exceed the RNR this is the day that you will  actually vote to approve exceeding the RNR if   that's your prerogative and that has to be a  separate hearing again based on state statute   so we'll have that hearing and then the second  thing we'll ask you to do is we need you to hold   a hearing on the budget and to adopt the budget  and again that has to be done on August 26 so   uh you did all that last year i just wanted to  make it clear this the action steps that you were   taking and the implications there in to hopefully  make it a little clearer for you why we schedule   dates when we schedule them so I think that's uh  that's a summary of what I just mentioned there   uh Mark we have another budget hearing don't we  Um yes between the 7th and the 26th that's right   there is one other hearing i didn't include it on  the list because it wasn't an evening meeting and   you don't have to take any action but yes there is  one other uh public hearing on the budget i think   it's August 12th if I remember correctly so that's  the end of my presentation uh mayor happy to   answer any more questions thank you very much Mark  appreciate the presentation and again I am looking   forward to uh your recommendations that have come  forward and I really do think that that will set   us um up for a better 2027 but also um having the  conversation about um what our community needs i see none we will now move on to parking  thank you Mark um I'm going to turn it over   to our internal auditor Christina Rose and also  Stephanie Canable um was involved in this review   and more importantly can give you an update  on the parking plan implementation afterwards morning Mayor City Council christina  Rose city auditor for the record so back in February Internal Audit was asked to  to review the current parking garages just the   garages the contract terms along with any  outstanding receivables again the review   did not include contracts related to surface  lots the Oldtown parking agreements or private   parking garages if surface lots are discussed  it's because they're tied to a parking garage   most of the agreements have the potential to  be modified with the downtown parking plan   and parking fees which are disputed by the  tenant are not included in this presentation so we're going to break this down um I kind of  want to have an open discussion between garages   so if there's questions I'm going to pause and we  can go through each one um the first one is the   city hall complex this is the employee garage it  includes the surface lots at city hall rounds and   porter and the epicenter car park manages these  contracts for non-employees who are part of the   garage and a good example of that would be the  fet witchah sorry federal credit union employees   and then Cedric County also leases stalls in the  city hall parking garage rounds and porter and   the epicenter any questions there Okay oldtown  cinema there's 415 stalls associated with that   um this is going to be a new downtown parking  or included in the new downtown parking plan   currently there are no outstanding receivables  all right the Oldtown Hotel garage 135 stalls   there's one leie hot um they can lease up to 5  stalls and they also have no overdue receivables   any questions there Okay next one this is one  of our larger ones market Street Garage has 450   stalls car park leases 101 of those stalls out  to six companies and three individuals um Kansas   Comm is one of the leies as well at 100 stalls  they have no overdue receivables douglas Market   Development leases up to 335 stalls high touch  leases up to 125 stalls and has no outstanding   receivables are there any outstanding receivables  by others There are and they are currently under   dispute so we will not be covering them today um  the next one any questions on that one Okay the   next one's going to be your William Street garage  at 255 stalls car park leases 111 of those stalls   to three companies and five individuals kansas  Comm also leases up to 50 stalls has no overdue   receivables ambassador Hotel leases up to 125  stalls and has no overdue receivables slawson   um which has was assigned to Spartan Downtown LLC  also under Douglas Market Development leases up   to 100 stalls um any overdue receivables are  under dispute so will not be discussed today   yes oh sorry yep uh any questions on that one Okay  emporia Street garage 650 stalls car park leases   178 stalls to 10 companies and five individuals  kansas Comm again leases on this one at 50 stalls   has no overdue receivables cotchner Legacy LLC  leases up to 108 stalls no overdue receivables um   continuing on Emporia Street sorry one question  on that garage does that one have any under   dispute as well Um we're continuing on that one so  Emporia Street yes yes it'll be here on the next   slide okay thanks um Douglas Market Development  leases 165 stalls um those overdue receivables   are under dispute hilton Garden Inn leases up to  90 stalls and has no overdue receivables and that   sum summarizes Emporia Street any questions  on that So if I get it if I've summarized it   correctly market William and Emporia have under  dispute agreements is that correct Thank you any   others Okay waterwalk garage 430 stalls this also  includes 60 surface lot stalls um currently King   of Freight leases as many stalls as they need at  a rate of $16.82 per stall a plan is currently   being developed to collect lost revenue totaling  $6,790.20 due to missed increases in price per   stall between 2022 and early 2025 um in May 2025  just a little bit extra here that was increased   um and that has taken effect okay continuing  on Waterwalk um Waterwalk WP Inc subleasases   parking and has a bill under dispute waterwalk  Place Owners Association also subleasases parking   and has a bill under dispute realators of South  Central Kansas Inc subleasases parking and has   two bills under dispute and Midas subleasases  parking with no overdue receivables questions   there so now I'm counting that's three that we  had now Waterwalk is also having some that have   under dispute okay drury Hotel they lease up to  100 stalls for guests no overdue receivables and   just as a side note the city is not responsible  for garage maintenance for Waterwalk or the Drury   okay and along with this review can we Sorry  that's fine another question so now in total   we have four garages that have um basically  individuals who have not paid their bills   can you tell us what's going I know that they're  under dispute so you cannot go into further detail   but in big overview can you just talk about what  are the steps that are being taken moving forward   so that when someone is given a bill and if they  don't proceed with providing their what's due   um what are we doing now moving forward in terms  of penalty or any other action Sure so this is   kind of an overall city policy but we have a a  collections company that we send to collections   when they have not paid their bills um we are  required to notify them at least twice prior to   doing that um so we try to do our due diligence  there and then send it on for the collection   agency there is the ability to depending on the  contract um the ability to add on fees or interest   to those payments that are not paid christina I  have a few questions and one I'm thankful for the   audit that you're doing this might sound like a  pointed question and I don't mean for it to but   what is the purpose of this presentation if we  can't talk about anything that's under dispute   That's a very good question i don't have the  answer to that other than sharing what I was   requested to share okay can we talk about what the  total amount disputed is or is that not allowed to   be mentioned either Can we Okay i don't actually  have that number complete with me today but I can   give it to you actually it should No it's not in  the memo either i'll provide that today i have   it at my desk just And then so I guess kind of in  summary if someone didn't want their debt talked   about they could just say they dispute it and then  it would be excluded from public record from there   on after no I don't think that was the purpose  of this okay no um let's just stay with this   for a second these are small bills under dispute  represent maybe a month or two um and it has to do   with new leases that we implemented and I think  some concerns about the terms of those leases   so that's we're trying to work through that with  the property owners the other one which impacted   of multiple garages is a much more significant  issue and one that um uh could require s you know   some kind of action legal action by the city if we  can't resolve the dispute and that's why in that   case the person is or that entity is not trying to  avoid the discussion we were trying to be careful   to to get it resolved short of legal action okay  thank you okay any additional questions Okay all   right so tied to this um internal audit review we  also made nine recommendations um to help kind of   better structure the parking fund or better manage  the parking fund um the first one here is updating   the financial structure and the city's financial  software and what this is going to do is going to   help as the new parking plan is designed and other  things are implemented we will be able to track   those better and be able to pull reports that are  more um easier to understand more transparent um   and with that we'll be able to then provide more  detailed by-anual statements to the public related   to the parking fund that's not currently being  done outside of the quarterly so this will be   in addition to the quarterly that's provided  by finance the third one is that we're going   to require car park and we already have done  this to provide more detailed documentation to   the city again making that easier for the city  to understand what's being done on their part   under their contract we're going to lease and de  on the lease and development agreement language   that's going to be updated to state that the city  will be sending out the monthly bills instead of   relying on the lei to do so um previously in some  of our contracts we've relied on the leie to just   pay their dues because it's it's stated that they  will owe them we are now taking that initiative   to send them out from the city to make sure um  it's clear um updates to the internal approval   path this is really internal controls um we  noticed that the parking fund transactions were   not flowing correctly so that's been up or not  started yet but it is in process of discussion   quick question on that slide christina sorry if  you can go back so up until this point we were   not even sending out bills we were just trusting  people to send in a check um it just depended on   which contract it was for the most part we were  sending out bills but there were a couple that we   relied on king of Freight for example would send  in their documentation to us and we would then   um take care of it that way but from here on out  100% of them will the language will be changed to   for us the city to send it out this kind of goes  outside of the scope of parking but I want to   make sure that that's happening with all of our  Sure payables as well or is that something that   we're looking at moving And I know that would be  in your department of an audit to make sure that   all of like we're sending out bills every single  time instead of just relying on people to pay us   right that's one of the reasons why we've talked  about the centralization of accounts payable and   accounts uh receivable and uh Christina can talk  about the work that she's been doing to help us in   that regard but we think we'll have um um probably  a more reliable or tighter system as a result of   the centralization and when should that fully be  up and ready to go I know that we voted on it last   August to be able to fund it this year do we know  when we're going to have everything in finance My   target is to have it done by the end of the year  okay thank you okay another recommendation was   that additional communication related to the  collection of revenue um occur with between   Treasury where the funds are collected and with  the parking fund manager uh updates to the King of   Freight Billings again we just talked about that  is that we're sending out the bills instead of   expecting them to send back what they utilized to  us we're going to update the city's public facing   parking fund the parkwitch.gov website more  frequently to reflect changes as they occur   and we're going to implement a uniform parking  fund management policy this is an internal policy   dictating how rates and rate increases will be  managed routinely and routinely changed the policy   should also identify parking assets and what  expenditures are allowed to be charged to those   assets any questions so far Okay so in summary  based on the discussions with staff and throughout   the review it was evident that staff were aware of  the issues um they were already actually working   on some of the issues um to remediate those and  then internal audit um the recommendations made   by our office have been accepted and are in  process as much as they can be there are about   four that they're still deciding how to implement  that questions okay Christina actually I think it   would be appropriate to ask um just a little bit  of a timeline i think a lot of folks probably   forgot that um this council voted to pause the  parking plan for further discussion regarding   a review of all of this and that's really what  started this internal audit um so I'm um again   grateful that we were able to pause and then have  a review of these parking structures since that   pause not only do we now have an internal audit we  also are moving forward with deferred maintenance   so my question to the city manager then is uh  can you talk about the deferred maintenance to   these parking garages that are um supposed to be  maintained by the city What's the status um and   remind us again uh how we got to the position  of having um a sizable deferred maintenance   number um mayor thank you um in terms of the  deferred maintenance I it had to do with I think   limitations of revenue coming into the system  and uh what uh was uh in some years a deficit   position um all of those things to be addressed  now under the reforms that have been reviewed   and approved by the council um I don't know if  Paul or Gary uh can help me with the timetable   uh council just approved a contract for the review  of all of our garages in terms of their structural   integrity and to outline recommendations  for uh improvement stephanie do you Okay good morning council stephanie Canable downtown  parking manager there's a whole lot of you over   there so um parking garage assessments  you approved a contract uh Paul Gunzelman   presented that a couple of weeks ago we're hiring  a firm called Martin and Martin out of Kansas City   they have already scheduled um our internal  building assessments with our building   maintenance staff they're starting to gather  data and information they'll be putting together   eight individual reports for us those are all  due uh Halloween Thanksgiving time this fall   that information will be compiled uh  into a big old long list of priority   projects we should look across  all the garages to do that will be   uh incorporated into the next budget cycle into  the next revisions that we make to the CIP budget   tenatively those have been budgeted for about two  two and a half million dollars a year and so this   report will help us figure out what projects we do  and in what order the other thing that this report   will give us is a basic maintenance schedule  that we should follow for all of our garages   what should we be doing annually what should we  be doing by annually every five years that sort   of thing and help us start to create a pretty good  asset management plan uh for each of our garages i'm glad that we now have a plan um and thank  you for recognizing that it was partly because   the parking fund was not generating any revenue  really that we've gotten to this position but why   my then question is more of a can you give  some explanation of why maintenance wasn't   a main priority for previous councils um or the  topic of maintenance of these parking structures   why was that not why did we not have already an  asset management plan When you create something   whether it's a house or any other building you  expect the AC at some point to go out or you'll   have to replace bulbs etc can you explain just  how the city created eight parking structures and   then didn't really have a plan of maintaining them  where now we have a sizable deferred maintenance   bill Mayor that's um it's a great question and  it goes beyond parking um we've for a significant   number of years the city has struggled I think  with uh addressing the ongoing uh maintenance   needs of our infrastructure and um we recognized  that 15 years ago that we didn't have in place   uh what I consider to be uh significant uh  deferred maintenance or preventive maintenance   programs in place And so over a period of time  the council um adopted u maintenance plans um   for each of our classes of infrastructure started  with streets uh developed that's when we came up   with the decision support tool model and we now  have it for all of our classes of infrastructure   but parking is one of the last ones to be included  in that but we now have it in place for streets   for our water and sewer utility uh for our public  buildings those are some of the most significant   as well as park facilities we're improving  the decision support tool for that as well   so um as the as we experience uh cyclical  changes in our economy and downturns in   our revenue situation over the years and that's  probably over a 30 25 to 30year period council   during the downtimes uh deferred maintenance in  order to be able to maintain operating uh the   oper operating budget maintain um operations and  that's something that's I'd say over the last 15   years we've tried to resist we have not sacrificed  on our capital needs in order to op to balance the   operating budget instead what we've done is made  cuts significant cuts in the operating budget to   be able to maintain our infrastructure so it's a  it's a long answer to a short question but it's   it was simp symptomatic um and and I think it was  a a policy decision made by councils and by staff   um over the you know a 25 30-year period in  response to economic downturns that we had but   I do believe that not just this council but the  last few councils are on record not to get back   into that habit and so our capital improvement  program reflects uh our maintenance needs and if   you remember uh early budget discussions this year  the CIP is slanted towards maintenance programs   more than construction of new infrastructure  and then I know that because July 1st is right   around the corner and people are already talking  about this can you talk about how downtown paid   parking will help offset what has become some of  the greatest needs which is clean and safe parking   garages and clean and safe surface lots and clean  and safe downtown so people will want to come   down here that's a great transition to Stephanie's  presentation i'll let Stephanie take that question   and then talk about what we're doing going forward  so in the in the in the near future this week   um the installation of new signs and new parking  equipment is going to start to happen in downtown   Witchah we were out yesterday afternoon marking  locations on the sidewalk along Douglas Street   along Market Street and St francis we're initially  installing about 25 uh pay stations um along those   pathways uh the removal uh will happen uh today  and installation over the like I said the next   couple of days dodging some raintorms hopefully  it's all done by the end of the week when those   installations are all done we're not going to  cover the signs we're not going to bag the parking   meters we want people to start to see the signs  and see the parking meters to get used to them   and touch them and start to uh get a feel for what  the rest of the installation is going to look like   um then uh starting July 1 uh those pay stations  will be turned on and we'll start accepting money   and people can start paying to park along those uh  several streets that we have in downtown Witchah   car park has been contracted to provide traffic  enforcement um however they fully understand   that Witchah is starting on ground zero there  is lots of education there's lots of customer   service there's lots of teaching that's going to  be happen out there as people get used to it and   as the system grows uh lots of uh informing a a  website's been created parkwitch.com that's going   to start to have some videos on there for people  to go uh watch the videos get the how-to both the   corporate ones from the parking equipment and  from the app people but I think I've heard them   talk about going and doing man on the street type  interviews and giving it a more personal touch   also um so that's what happens this next week  working toward a July one start date the next   phase phase two I don't have any firm dates I'm  comfortable sharing right now but just know that   uh phase two is going to focus a lot on our  surface lots throughout downtown not the ones   in Oldtown we've got some other lots too that  we'll be adding equipment to starting an education   process there that's a little different uh for the  folks on our parkwitchah.com site so that's kind   of a short-term vision i don't have a feel for  how long it's going to take but the website is   our go-to website for all things information and  updates and how-tos and anything else we can think   of we will put out there on parkwitch.com the  end result of all of this will be money collected   revenue collected put in a specific parking fund  it'll be tracked not only by asset and by asset I   mean each garage uh each surface lot uh it'll  be by the type of parker that's there too do   we have monthly parkers We have daily parkers um  you know all sorts of different We'll have ticket   revenue that we'll start collecting at some point  from municipal court also and then each of those   assets we've got divided into the different parts  of downtown how how much revenue are we collecting   near the arena or near Waterwalk or hopefully  someday Oldtown we can include in there too all   of that parking revenue will be collected and then  we'll figure out how to spend it we've got ongoing   expenses for each garage uh that would surprise  people and when we get those budget lines all   put together um maybe another workshop could be in  order to explain what that looks like that website   will be updated as we get the parking accounting  system going as we get the revenue system going   also so I appreciate that there's going to  be greater transparency and also information   that people will be able to track um I think that  that's one of the things that was revealed in the   last year and a half a lot of information that  was just not collected or bills that were just   not being um even really collected by uh staff  of the people who owed us money um so I want to   see greater transparency and I hope that that  website will be very robust um I know that the   media here have asked multiple questions regarding  the implementation starting July 1 and so that is   the website that you want uh and you'll be able  to have information um that may also change but   there there's fixed information regarding rates  hours uh the first base of locations um but   anything else that may be fluid you'll be able to  update on the website is that correct Absolutely oh yes thank you let's see if I was told there was  going to be is we have a promotion we want to talk   about today is it up here No okay we can uh Tyler  my backup is going to help on this so move this so   we've been able to put together a promotion to  help celebrate uh the beginning of uh downtown   parking uh we're going to run a promotion between  July 1 and August 1 and the focus is all about   getting people to download the parking apps uh  to make it easier for them to use and to reward   them and so basically it's on Tyler's computer  any moment now we are going to do a buy one get   one uh that means you'll be able to buy an hour  of parking and get an hour of parking for free   uh of course like I said just these first 30 days  and in the parking meters that we're installing   here uh this this next week Tyler's got these  ready to be mailed out in postcards to the same   mailing addresses that received the first one  a couple of weeks ago um it generated a lot lot   of conversation uh yeah it did through through  the community so hopefully this will help with   that to make people another aware in another way  of this starting up what addresses did they did   you mail those to I talked to business owner just  south of Douglas and they hadn't received anything   yeah it was supposed to go out to every business  and resident between Kellogg and Central and   uh Washington and Cynica so I if you could let  me know what those were and so we can find out   why they didn't get to those places but they're  supposed to hit every business resident okay thank   you well I heard from several so I know I know  many people um got them uh I have a question how   will this roll out be different from um the  C2 experience because I think we're going to   have to do some damage control for um how some  people's experience went with that so I really   appreciate the videos will we actually have like  bodies outside like trying to help people or so A   couple of things are going to be different first  a majority of the patrons that go to C2 are now   used to looking at an app and understanding  that so that's a huge hurdle to overcome   um we know enough ahead of time uh that  we'll be able to spend one-on-one time with   uh that marketing group and get their websites  updated and uh information shared through that   mechanism too and again uh our car park people  will be out there to help them understand teach   them educate them how to do it and the videos  of course too okay okay i I already have uh   some technical issues that I I'm going to speak on  behalf of community you're already asking people   to do this buy one get one and I don't see it on  the website yeah she hasn't they haven't mailed   it out yet we're getting ready to roll this  out this is coming soon we haven't put it on   the website yet but we haven't sent these out but  as soon as we're ready have everything finalized   we will be putting this on the website so we're  just giving you an early look can you give us a   date Because then when media shares this story  and they might use this video the misconception   will be well it's already Yeah no it's coming  like hopefully by the end of the day today if   not it'll be done by tomorrow but it'll go in  effect July 1 correct right correct correct the information will be out there  by the end of the day the program   goes into effect between July 1 and August 1st and I just have one like logistical  question let's say someone downloads   the app on June 29th will they still get  the BOGO or they have to wait till July 1   to wait till July 1 sounds good the magic  of computers you can be very specific now okay mayor that's all we have all right well thank  you very much uh for the presentation regarding   parking and the budget that is it for workshop  items and we will now adjourn thank you nicely done