Or any other board members, you can raise your hand.

Make sure we got you in the in the room.

All right, we see Jennifer.

Cool.

There's Eric.

Okay, do we see anybody else in the pan in the waiting room or the attendee list we should promote?

Yeah, that's right.

We know Corinne is absent.

The mayor's running a couple minutes late, so okay.

I'm gonna call the Bureau Board meeting to order.

Uh this is the June 16th, 2026 Bureau Board meeting.

Uh will the recorder please call the roll.

Board member um Duggar.

I am here.

Hartmeyer Prigg.

Here.

Hassan.

Here.

Kimmy.

Here.

Teeter?

Here.

Tidnon.

Here.

Thank you.

I'll skip over Beatty Hanning.

Oh, she's absent tonight.

Jennifer Nye.

Here.

Walton.

Absent.

Here.

Here.

Okay.

Um.

And Lear.

Here.

Okay.

Great.

And the mayor will be arriving in just a few moments.

Okay.

But we will keep on moving forward.

Uh board members who are online, uh, since you're not in the room and we don't have Zoom chat here.

If you just want to raise your hands when you have something to say later on, uh put your hand icon up and I will pay attention to the screens we got in the room and calling them.

The first item on our agenda tonight is visit visitor comments.

Visitor comments allow for visitors to speak to the Bureau Board for matters that are not included on tonight's agenda for a public hearing.

For example, in a few minutes, we will have a public hearing on the Bureau budget.

If you are here to cover to comment on the Bureau budget, please hold your comments until we formally open that public hearing on the budget.

If you wish to speak on a matter that is not scheduled on a public hearing on tonight's agenda, now is your time.

So City Recorder, do we have anybody here to address the board online or in person tonight?

No, Chair, we do not.

Okay, thank you.

Next we'll move to board communications.

Do any board members have any information that they would like to share with the rest of the board or the executive director?

Uh yes, I see board member Hussan.

Hi, everyone.

Just really quick was out and about last time last night in downtown Beaverton and want to remind you all to support your local businesses.

Thank you.

Uh Vice Chair Lair.

Yeah, I just wanted to say the uh the pride shirts that you all are wearing are amazing.

I love those.

Thank you.

Um I'll echo echo board member Hussen's comments about downtown and businesses.

Uh these days, uh the BDA has been doing some great music in the First Street Dining Commons.

Uh I think they've had five performances so far, and the music musicians have all been really incredible and engaging.

Um so there's probably about 10 more over the next several weeks on Thursday evenings.

Any any other comments from the board.

Okay, I see none.

So we'll move forward.

And the next item on the agenda is the business portion of the agenda.

We only have one item uh right now that's Bureau Bill 2026 15 relating to the resolution adopting the budget of the Beaverton Urban Redevelopment Agency for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2026, making a appropriations and providing for our declaration of tax increment.

Uh for this item.

We will first open a public hearing on the budget as approved by the Bureau of Budget Committee, and then we are here a short presentation from the Bureau Interim Treasurer on the budget.

Bureau board members can ask questions of the treasurer after the presentation.

After that, I will open the floor to any comments from the public on the budget.

And anyone wishing to speak at this budget hearing should follow the instructions included on tonight's agenda.

Each person who speaks tonight's hearing has up to two minutes to speak.

And when you speak, please give your name and city of residence for the record.

At the conclusion of all comments, I will close the public hearing, and then we can begin deliberation on resolution number 2026-074, which if passed would adopt the Bureau budget for the fiscal year 2026 27.

Making appropriations and providing for a declaration of tax increment.

I now open the public hearing on the Bureau budget for fiscal tw fiscal year 2026-27.

We will first hear a short presentation from the Bureau Interim Treasurer Susan Cole.

All right, thank you, Chair.

Uh, this is Andy Varner, executive director of the Beaverton Urban Renewal Agency.

Um, I'm here to co present with uh Susan, and I say that um uh I'm that's being very generous.

Susan's gonna do the bulk of the presentation.

We don't have any slides or a lot of presentation, just a few uh points of a review for the budget as a whole for the next fiscal year, and we can answer some questions if you have any afterwards.

Um thank you.

Uh Bureau Board members.

My name is Susan Cole.

I'm the interim treasurer for the Beaverton Urban Redevelopment Agency.

So the Bureau budget committee met on May 28, 2026 to review and accept public comment regarding the Bureau annual budget for fiscal 27.

So the Urban Renewal Agency is divided into five different funds for reporting and tracking, and these five funds totaled together to just um just under 74 million dollars, which includes roughly 42 million dollars in debt, which will help to uh pay for the activities of Bureau over the next three to four fiscal years.

So the budget reflects the goals and um accomplishments of the Bureau agency, the accomplishments in the past and then the goals going forward.

So, as you know, urban renewal operates on debt.

There's 150 million dollars in authorized indebtedness for Bureau at the fiscal year end in 27.

If everything goes according to plan and according to this budget, then the Bureau will have incurred 123 million or about 82 percent of its maximum indebtedness.

Additionally, this action declares the intent of the Bureau Board to limit the tax collections in fiscal 27 and to compute the division of taxes using the assessed valuation of 450 million, six hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

This is instead of dividing a hundred percent of the eligible tax increment to Bureau and is referred to either as under levy or revenue share.

Bureau will be sharing 1.5 million dollars in tax increment with the overlapping districts.

The city is one of the overlapping districts, in addition to Twellon Hills Park and Rec District, TV FNR, Washington County, and other governmental entities.

And so the resolution does state that intent to limit the tax um collections to that.

So with this under levy, Bureau will still be able to pay for its debt.

It's anticipated the tax increment will be 6.4 million, which will be more than adequate to pay any installment on debt that's incurred.

And with that, I'd be happy to open it up to questions, or if Andy has anything else to add.

Okay.

Uh so Bureau Board members who are online, or you can raise your hand when you're ready and have something to say, and I'll just pay attention to us down here too.

So Mayor Baity, I see you first.

So this year's underlevying is 1.5 million split over the taxing districts.

What was last year's?

It was slightly less than that.

Uh so it was roughly 1.4 million, which was built into the Beaverton city budget as well as the overlapping districts.

And so it's increasing about 3% into fiscal 27.

So you already have plans for next year to underlevy the district?

Next year being 27 or 28.

28.

That's correct.

So the financial planning for Bureau, as we show in a graphical form in the document on page 29 of 43.

We have a graphical display where the underlevy or revenue share is displayed in red at the very top of the bar chart.

The way the urban renewal works under the state law is urban renewal districts can either pass an ordinance and forever limit the tax collections, or it can do so in each and every fiscal year with its budget resolution to determine the amount of underlevy in each and every fiscal year.

So the Beaverton Urban Renewal Agency is choosing to do each and every fiscal year.

So the financial plan does show that Beaverton Urban Renewal will begin to increase the assessed valuation roughly three to four percent over the course of the life of Bureau, which would still indeed be under levying the full 100% of tax increment.

Uh is this a policy that is talked about outside the budget process?

Like has the BR Berg given direction to the city administration to under levy versus spend.

How is this outside of the budget process?

When was this uh policy adopted?

It was only within the budget process.

Okay.

I I think this is uh yes, it's still approved each budget process, yes.

Yeah.

I think this is a policy discussion that the board should be having because I think under levying to return money to backfill our general fund when we're we are in the declining revenue as a short-term fix.

When we told voters about Bureau and what we asked voters to do was promise to return value to the district, and we're sitting on acres and acres of empty land where this money could be used to further development that creates long-term prosperity for the community.

So I'm I understand why we did it last year, but to be forecasting that we're gonna do it in a budget cycle that's not even talked about is a policy decision.

This council and the Bureau Board should be making.

I do not think this is a staff level decision to do this, and this needs to come back to us in a work session to have further conversations.

And what I plan to ask the Bureau Board tonight is to direct the Bureau Executive Director to have an RFQ ready to go out within the next six months, because that is our duty and our responsibility not to use Bureau as a way to backfill the general fund or to even give it back to other districts.

We told voters Bureau was intended to create value, not backfill our general fund.

And I I am saddened to see that we're projected under levy in a future year when we've not made this as a policy decision.

So just to respond to that, so the initial decision was not necessarily to balance the general fund.

Under Oregon law, urban renewal is limited to only pay for debt principal and interest.

And so in finance and in looking at the financial plan for Bureau, in order to issue 150 million dollars in debt, it was determined that the full 100% of division of tax was not necessary.

And if tax remains in Bureau at the closing of the 30 years, then we would have to refund it.

And so the other way to think about this is an early refunding of that tax increment prior to the end of urban renewal.

And so what we have planned for fiscal 27 is issuing 35 million dollars with an installment debt, which a bond, which would be roughly three million dollars worth of debt service, and then initial seven million dollars and one-time loan from the general fund, which would be paid back when once Bureau has that loan, it would be paid back the next day.

And so that is the balancing of the debt with an urban renewal.

And the reason why the financial plan shows the assessed valuation for Bureau, or I should say the increment going up over time and not fixed.

That the red bar as you see on this graphic is increasing each and um well it's the it would be the green bar is increasing a little bit each year, is to continue to finance the debt that's necessary for urban renewal to continue its goals and objectives.

So if Bureau was ready to pull the trigger on a hundred percent of the remaining debt, we could certainly do that through the municipal bond market, and then we would re-evaluate the tax increment that we need.

But in working with CDD, it seems that we want to break the remaining debt into two chunks 35 million in this coming fiscal year, and then three to four years later, the rest of the maximum of deadness.

And we do have a financial advisor, which is independent of the city that helps us with these debt projections to zero in on the principal and interest necessary to pay back the urban renewal debt.

I I mean I understand, but there's 20 years left or 19 years left of BERA.

15, where this money would could be used to purchase property to further the goals of BERA.

My point remains the same that this should be a policy level decision, not a staff level decision.

And I'm requesting that you guys come back for a work session so we could give some direction on what level of risk we're comfortable with versus pre-making the decision for the board in a future year that we've not had the time to talk about.

Board member Hussen, not Huston Hartmeyer Prigg.

I'm sorry, I don't know who anybody is up here.

I was like, she's first all good.

Um thank you, because I I think like that for me, knowing what the under levy is to mean um number one, I see under levy as returning value to the district because that's part of what our partners like in being partners to us, they like they're they know they're gonna get some of that back, and so they're they are getting some of that back sooner, but also I think there is like a capacity issue, right?

Of like what can we do over the next three to four years?

So the amount of debt we're taking out is based on what we think we can actually accomplish, right?

And and just like even knowing some of the projects that we're kind of having to relook at, right?

I think that um, I I hear your point, and I do think that Bureau probably should talk about hey, for what we want to go out and I mean, I think we have, but I I also think like sometimes these concepts, at least for me, are hard to really understand, and I think that tax increment financing is also just a challenging topic.

But um, thank you for the refresher, because that was I was like, well, we would underlevy because we don't need that to pay the debt, right?

Because it can only go to pay the debt.

Um so I do think yeah, it's worth a future conversation around like what indebtedness Vera takes on, but I think this is in line also with maybe the five-year planning that we had done and what we are seeking to accomplish.

So um, thank you, because I know I had some extra questions about that, so thank you for explaining it.

Anyone else?

Anyone online, any board members online who want to make a comment?

Okay.

Okay, thank you.

Uh that concludes the council comments part of this.

Let me find my place on our script here.

Okay, I will now open the floor to any comments from the public that the public has on the Bureau budget.

So anyone wishing to speak at this hearing should follow the instructions included on tonight's agenda.

Anyone who speaks tonight at tonight's hearing has up to two minutes to speak.

When you speak, please give your name and city of residence for the record.

Uh recorder, is anybody is there anybody who wishes to comment on the Bureau budget hearing?

No.

No, there is not.

Okay.

All right.

We have none in person, none online.

So the public hearing is now closed.

Uh, before we begin deliberations on the approved budget, we need a motion to adopt the approved fiscal year 2026-27 budget as approved by the Bureau Budget Committee.

Is there such a motion?

Yes, Chair.

I move the Bureau Board approve Bureau Resolution number 2026-074.

Adopting the Bureau budget for fiscal year 2026-27, commencing July 1st, 2026, making appropriations and providing for a declaration of tax increment.

Second.

Yeah, there's been a motion from Councillor Hartmeyer Prigg and a second by board member Duggar to approve Bureau Resolution number 2026-074.

Is there any discussion on this motion?

Yeah, Mayor.

Uh yeah, I plan to vote yes, but I I strongly recommend that the Bureau Board uh really fulfill our role here and direct the staff to get an RFQ out for BC2.

The only options we have as a city are to create revenue through commercial industrial space or to cut from our general fund.

And so we're at a point where I think we need to get going.

Six years ago, Bureau had a lined up property ready to go.

If all but COVID, there would be building out there.

I think six years is too long of a time frame.

And so I hope that the rest of you guys underlevying solves an issue right now, but we're giving we are getting something today foregoing something even better in the future.

And I think it's our responsibility to direct staff.

And if it's a capacity issue, we do have money we underleved now that is coming to the general fund that should be used for the purpose of creating that.

And I want to remind people that debt could also be roads and infrastructure and other things that our communities asking us to do within Bureau.

So I don't see it as a capacity issue.

There's lots of need, and there's lots of staff working on issues around this.

And I think uh underlevying is a poor use of our tool here.

Thank you.

Any other comments in the on the motion?

Uh board member Kimmy.

So how how do you go about uh asking staff to come back?

You vote for this first and then you do it later.

Yeah, then I'll wait for that.

Okay, yeah, we can we can make that motion in a minute.

Uh board member Duggar, I see you green.

No, okay, you're just ready to vote.

Okay.

Uh let's make the let's call the roll.

Reporter board member Duggar?

Yes.

Hartmeyer Prigg?

Yes.

Hassan?

Yes.

Kimmy?

Yes.

Peter?

Yes.

Tivna.

Yes.

Baity?

Yes.

Nye.

Yes.

Walton.

Yes.

Lair.

Yes.

Uh 10, yes, 0 no, 1 amps.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh the Bureau Resolution 2026-074 carries, and the Bureau budget for 2026-27 is adopted.

Um, is there another motion, Mayor?

Yeah, Mr.

Chair, I'd like to move that the Bureau Board uh direct the executive director to have an RFQ or RFP, whatever the technology or whatever the vernacular we're using uh for BC2 within six months of today's meeting.

Um I know we talked about it, but I'd like to put a timeline so we can have clear uh objectives for the community.

Second.

Thank you.

There's been a motion from the mayor, uh second by board member Duggar.

Is there any discussion on this motion?

Yeah, I see board member Hussan.

Yeah, I'm a supportive.

I'm curious if staff has any perspective that we should take into account when voting on this.

Uh we do.

Um you would have seen a memo that came to the board um uh if you saw it that uh was going into some details about another property that the Bureau Board owns.

One of the reasons we're recommending that approach to perhaps go with the broker, and we'll talk about that in August, is so some of our staff capacity can be freed up to focus on the properties here, like specifically BC2 and Beaver Dam.

Um so in August, we'll not only come back to discuss the Central Hall property, but also we'll be prepared to discuss uh the BC2 properties as well.

I think we've seen this coming, so we're we're preparing for it.

Um, you know, some of the same conditions that were outlined in the memo around Center Hall will exist here, but this is something we know is a high priority for the beer board, so it's something we'll be prepared to discuss in August.

Thank you.

I see board member Nye.

Yeah, um, I think it it would be a good idea to I mean, I don't know that our motion is like binding, but I don't think an RFP or an RFQ there might be expressions of interest.

There are other ways to get procurement going on this site that might generate more interest and more flexibility.

Um so I think just keeping that in mind.

Um I don't know if staff has looked into having like the ULI do a charette on the site um to help problem solve some of the economic issues and to generate interest in the project.

So and we'll go to Vice Chair Lair.

Yeah, so my understanding with the the BC2 site was that part of the holdup there was us being able to acquire all of the necessary properties.

Uh is has that been completed.

Uh board member the the city uh has not acquired every piece of property that would be within the BC2 area or uh Beaver DM.

That is a strategy though to help um set the table for development, and then that's one less negotiation or a piece of work that uh a proposed developer would have to do.

Um it also gives us the Bureau the advanced opportunity to have discussions and do some planning, you know, of knowing that we control properties.

Um but that's again that's something we um it was in that we'll be pursuing over the summer as well as properties um opportun uh property acquisition opportunities are there in the BC2 uh area.

So again, I think that's something we'll be discussing with the board in August as well.

I guess what I'm going with this is would having an RFQ out, would that be hamstringing staff in that process if if we haven't fully completed what we're trying to do, or or does that matter?

Yeah.

When the city um issued an RFQ in 2019, there were fewer properties that were under control by Bureau.

So it's just kind of a there are different ways to I guess strategize around this.

I know that over the last few years, Bureau's taking the opportunity to acquire properties when there's been a willing uh a willing seller and the ability to do so.

So that's something that's definitely changed since from 2019 to now.

Some of the uh the acquisition strategy is has changed a bit, but it's not it's not necessary to have every piece of property under control.

It's nice to control all the properties you can, but um that was certainly not the case in 2019.

Thank you.

Okay, board member Husum.

Yeah, I'm I'm gonna support this motion.

I do want to be mindful that we're in an economic moment as a country, and so I just I don't want to push something so fast in if it is not conducive towards us.

So I'm supporting this today, but I just want to be mindful that we're in this weird place as a with the economy, and so making sure that we're thinking of the bigger picture.

Thank you, uh board member Duggar.

Yeah, I'll be supporting it too.

And here's why.

This is a board action.

If we get to the six five, six months and and it the economy is collapsed or something, we can undo that.

Like that's this is not we're not chiseling this in stone.

So I want to make each of you feel comfortable if staff goes out and presents us additional information based on what they find that you know there's an ideal option or something.

We can undo this, but I uh I do think we need to catalyze action, and I agree with the mayor.

So I want to make you all feel okay.

This is gonna be fine, but but I think it's in the right direction, and I'm I'm happy to support it.

And board member Hartmeyer Prague.

Thank you.

Um board member Nye, I was curious like what other um maybe option does you have in mind for what might be a better tool or mechanism.

Like I do think mayor's motion was to give some flexibility to what it was, but if there's something that might be a better descriptor to make sure our intent is clear, I'd love to hear it because I also am conscientious of all the factors and all the other things going on, and I also feel that the urgency.

So I was just curious, board member nye, if you had um any other language or things that you would recommend we use.

Yeah, sometimes there's more like an expression of interest, which is uh not as heavy a lift on the development team to produce and uh maybe allows the developer to come in with more of what their vision is if the city just outlines really high level goals.

Um I think what we saw with the last RFP is you know, market rate developers aren't used to going after land like this.

Um, so it really limits your pool.

So the easier the lower the barrier to respond, the more likely we'll get people who don't typically respond to a city RFP.

Um even when the original um Beaver Dam RFP came out.

I think um, you know, if you look back at who responded and how I know when I talked to developers, someone were like, I'm really interested in the property, but this is outside my wheelhouse and how we acquire property.

Um so it was difficult to get interest for some people.

Um so I think you know, also over the next six months, the city staff talking with the developers about what is what is their experience with pure procurement and where have they felt like they've had the most um success on both that fulfilled both parties' needs.

Um thank you.

I think um I'm thinking about our how hard it was for us to fill our retail space in the garage, and like we ended up having to kind of come back to it like oh, it took almost a year of like really not having great luck, and so I know I understand we can undo, but I think I'd rather us go with something flexible and and Mayor, if you're if you and Councilor Duggar are open to like I don't know if we need to change the language or not, because your motion was pretty flexible.

Yeah, I I don't think we need a change of motion, but I I do want to like uh rest assured uh to board member nye that like there is interest in this property.

There's not interest in the last property in the memo because of the building constraints and the location and the no parking, it's very different what we were asking people to do over there, and a bit of our own um, you know, we get in a bit of our own way.

We put a lot of restrictions on our parking garage space, and we made it really difficult for people to come in, and we made it very expensive for people to come in.

And so um the more restrictive we are, the harder it is to build, and we create our self-fulfilling prophecy of why no one wants to build.

But the reality is it's a very attractive site.

As a matter of fact, a lot of the developers that said no, they were not interested in that site over there personally told me they're interested in BC2 and they're waiting for the city to show some interest that they wanted to come in.

So I'm not opposed to design strat, we've done it before, a statement of interest.

I'll leave a little bit of flexibility to staff because we do want some creativity and we want um, but we have some desired outcomes as well, and this is a very different process.

So I I'm trying to be flexible in the language.

My intent is I want us to direct the board to say this is a priority for us now.

And some of these other things that we've been working on were necessary, but like there's only two ways the city creates revenue.

We raise property taxes or we generate revenue through building.

And we are sitting on a lot of empty sites.

And I will tell you, six years ago, we kicked out businesses to park our vehicles there, and this room was packed full of people that were angry we did it.

We had to do it to build the PRCA, so not Monday morning quarterbacks, but a matter of fact, Councillor Duggar came in here and testified against us doing it when he was in a different role.

It's time that we do the responsible thing, which is start building curiosities.

I remember yeah, okay.

So yes, flexibility is fine, but like my intent is like we we want you to get going.

This is a priority.

Yeah.

Um the recorder, please call are there any other comments on this motion?

Okay, seeing none with a recorder call the role.

Board member Duggar.

Yes.

Hartmeyer Prig?

Yes.

Hassan?

Yes.

Kimmy?

Teeter?

Yes.

Tibnon.

Yes.

Baity?

Yes.

Nye.

Yes.

Walton?

Yes.

Lair?

Yes.

Uh 10, yes, zero, no, one absent.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

And I want to make one more motion that we request staff to come back to the Bureau Board with a work session on uh policy uh for underlevying uh in the in future years.

That'll be yeah, yeah.

Any discussion on the motion.

Okay, does that make sense, Steph?

It does.

I will we'll come forward in the the next fiscal year, probably over some max embeddedness discussions too.

We're redoing that analysis.

Okay, thanks.

Uh so we got a motion in a second.

Uh, can we call the role?

Board member Duggar?

Yes.

Hartmeyer Prigg, yes, Hassan?

Yes.

Kimmy?

Yes.

Teeter?

Yes.

Tivnon.

Yes.

Beatty.

Yes.

Hanning.

Oh, sorry, absent.

Nye.

Yes.

Walton?

Yes.

Lair.

Yes.

10, yes, zero, no, one absent.

Thank you.

And so this was this is the end of our Bureau board meeting for tonight.

We do have a city council meeting starting right after this.

Uh so the next Bureau Board meeting is August 25th, uh, which will be uh a full agenda evening.

So until then, the Bureau Board is on summer break.

Uh so I'm going to now adjourn the Bureau Board meeting.

Uh so good night to many of you, and we'll see the rest of you in City Council in just a few minutes.

Thank you.

We'll need a few minutes to switch over.

Yeah, we need five minutes.

Okay.

All right.

I am going to call tonight's uh regularly scheduled city council meeting to order.

Will the recorder call the roll?

Councillor.

Councillor Duggar.

Thank you.

Councilor Hartmayer Prigg.

Here.

Hassan.

Here.

Kimmy.

Here.

Here.

Tivnon.

Here.

Beatty.

Here.

Okay, so we have a little bit of some adjustment on tonight.

We do have two proclamations, visitor comment, city manager's report, an intense uh consent agenda, and we have uh three public hearings scheduled, and we are going to not have a public meeting on the sewer and the water tonight.

We are going to have a work session.

I'm sorry, I'm trying to find my notes.

Um there was a recently adopted Oregon state law about transparency that does not allow elected officials to vote on certain items where they think they might have a conflict of interest.

Water and sewer makes it we have a conflict of interest, and we have to apply for a class exemption from the Oregon Ethics Commission to be able to have the discussion.

Otherwise, we would be voting on something we cannot discuss.

So tonight's plan is to have a conversation and then on July 7th, have the vote.

So if you're here to testify on that, know that we are not having a public uh hearing on the water and sewer this evening.

Um we are gonna start today with two proclamations.

We do have one.

Uh we have two, and we'll start with Councillor Duggar.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh proclamation uh for the city of Beaverton, whereas the presence, visibility, and celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual plus community, and hence is the quality of life in the city of Beaverton.

Whereas the LGBTQIA plus community has been the target of discrimination and violence based on gender, sexual orientation, identity, and perceived identity, which conflicts with Beaverton's core values as a community, and whereas LGBTQIA plus rights are human rights, and whereas this country has witnessed a significant amount of anti-trans legislation that seeks to regard the LGBTQIA plus community as lesser, and whereas gay pride events are intended to celebrate visibility and diversity as well as educate and foster engagement, and whereas the city of Beaverton strives to be a welcoming and safe place where people, families, and institutions thrive, and the contributions of all are celebrated and valued.

And whereas the city of Beaverton's support of LGBTQIA Pride Month reflects a commitment to being an ally and supporting marginalized people, people's rights to love, joy, and expression.

Now, therefore, the city council of the city of Beaverton, Oregon do hereby proclaim June 2026 as LGBTQIA plus Pride Month in the City of Beaverton.

We want to do a photo.

So we I think we have some folks for a photo.

Okay.

Proclamation from the office of the mayor of the city of Beaverton.

Whereas Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Independence Day, commemorates the events of June 19th, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas, bringing news that the Civil War had ended and that all enslaved people were declared free nearly two and a half years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation.

And whereas as one of the oldest American holidays, Juneteenth commemorates formerly enslaved individuals and their descendants, and has historically been a time of prayer, reflection, and family reunion.

And whereas well, July 4th, 1776 represents the birth of the United States of America and commemorates its independence from British rule, it did not offer independence to enslaved people.

And whereas, although the Juneteenth celebration is specific to the emancipation of African descendants, its message promotes the continued freedom, equity, and economic prosperity of individuals from all races, ethnicities, creeds, and cultures, and improves upon the nation's promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And whereas America must never forget or repeat its vivid and tragic tragic events of African American history, which expose the dehumanizing impact of racial violence, from chattel slavery to convict leasing, from thousands of lynchings to the racial massacre occurs in Tulsa and Rosewood, from segregation to voter disenfranchisement, and from mass incarceration to state sanctioned violence.

And whereas we must remember the courage of those who fought for freedom, include including those attacked on Bloody Sunday during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

And whereas historically, Juneteenth observances have not always received acknowledgement and recognition, even though Juneteenth is as critical component of American history as it marks a turning point in the nation and a step towards equality.

And whereas on June 1st, 2021, the Oregon Senate unanimously passed House Bill 2168, making Juneteenth an official holiday in Oregon.

And whereas Juneteenth commemorates the strength and resolve of black and African Americans throughout our history and serves as an opportunity to celebrate the numerous contributions of black and African Americans.

And whereas this year marks the 160th commemoration of Juneteenth, and whereas Beaverton honors the legacy of Juneteenth by partnering with our community to promote racial justice and create a more inclusive future for all.

Now therefore, on behalf of Lacey Beatty, the mayor of the city of Beaverton does hereby proclaim June 19th, 2026, as Juneteenth in the city of Beaverton, and call this observance to the attention of all members of our community, encouraging reflection, education, and celebration of freedom and justice.

And on Juneteenth, this Thursday, there will be a flag raising out in the plaza, and all are welcome to attend two o'clock.

Thanks, Councillor Hussein.

The city requires pre-registration for online in-person visitor comments at council meeting.

Registration closed at noon today.

All registration was conducted through the city recorder's office via email, phone in preparation for the meeting.

There are three people registered to comment at tonight's meeting.

If you are here for a public comment or for a public meeting, the budget that is different than the public comment that we're doing now.

As a reminder, visitor comments provide the opportunity for the community to speak about matters even if they are not on the agenda.

Visitors may state their comments and should not expect the council to engage in back and forth dialogue regarding the comments, as this is a time for the council to hear from the community.

The city council seeks to be a welcoming and inclusive towards all speakers at public meeting, and we strive to create an atmosphere of mutual uh mutual care and respect.

While community members may disagree with each other or the city on issues and may give critical feedback, they are expected to do so respectfully without disruptions.

Disruptions interfere with the ability of others to present in person or online or to participate in this meeting.

Council members do not interrupt community members during their public comment, and we expect community members to offer the same courtesy to other speakers.

Visitor comments are limited to three minutes each person.

It will follow up if needed.

The city manager and recorders are taking notes.

With that, um Fletcher Nash, you will have three minutes to address the council.

All right.

Alicia.

And then after that is Angie.

Okay.

I am here tonight to thank the city of Beaverton for granting us the space and support for concerts in the round.

We invite each and every city councilor, uh mayor, city city staff to join us for one of the concerts this summer.

This is the outdoor concert series that used to be produced by the city pre-pandemic, and the Beaverton Area Chamber has been excited to bring this back for the second year now.

We do this with Florian Recanya Productions Producing Each Concert and sponsorships from Northwest Natural, Explored Twilight and Valley, OHM Fitness, Westside Refillery, and Omega Gymnastics.

Their contribution contributions make us able to pay these amazing musicians.

Our first concert was June 7th.

We drew a crowd of more than 250.

And even this last Sunday with the temperature of 95 degrees, we still had a crowd of more than 100.

Some forget that the round is shaded from 5:30 on, half of it is shaded by 6 o'clock.

The entire round is in the shade.

So we enjoy invite you to join us for one of our upcoming concerts.

We have two in July, July 12th and July 26th, and in August, we are August 9th and August 23rd.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Beatty and members of the City Council.

For the record, my name is Angie True, and I serve as one of the co-chairs for the Mayor South Advisory Board, and I'm honored to represent MYAP tonight.

Hopefully, you've all had a chance to read the MYA memo sent to you late last week.

We truly appreciate you taking the time to learn about our board's work over the past year.

This has been a great year for our 20-person board.

We successfully expanded our reach to proudly represent 14 different high schools across Beaverton, welcoming eight fantastic new members into the fold.

Together, we've worked hard to ensure youth perspectives are woven into the fabric of our city's operations.

And over the past years, our efforts have been centered on three major themes.

The first theme is advocating for a meaningful youth input.

We served as active liaisons to city boards and commissions, providing critical youth feedback on major city initiatives like the Allen Boulevard project and youth policy relations.

Additionally, we've been able to connect with State Senator Neuron Mislin to learn about what happened during Oregon's short session and where youth can play a role in the long session.

Second, expanding on MYEAP's presence, we partnered uh directly with city staff on targeted initiatives, including successful student programs, the library advisory board, and the Beaverton Arts and Commissions.

Lastly, our third theme is deepening community service.

Our members rolled up their sleeves for hands-on volunteering from adopter road cleanups to supporting the League of Women's Voters at the Voters Forum this year.

Looking ahead to the next school year, we want to build on this momentum.

Our goals focus on expanding our community visibility, volunteering in support of more city events, and taking our civic education to step further with a trip to Salem to meet state representatives.

We are also excited to begin planning this summer for the return of the youth summit and Billy Awards for 2027, and we are hopeful for your partnership and financial support to bring these impactful events back to life.

We want to formally express our gratitude to our interim staff liaison, Jennifer Johnson, for exceptional commitment this year.

We strongly hope uh she can transition into a permanent role to ensure the continuity of our board's momentum.

Thank you all so much for your time and your ongoing support of MYAB and your commitment to empowering youth in Beaverton.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um, all right.

We are now on to the city manager's report.

All right, good evening, uh Mayor and Council.

Um I have a very brief presentation for you today.

Um, just three slides and the PowerPoint, and we'll give just a minute for that technology to get loaded.

Since you have a large agenda, kept it very short.

Um, so first, excited to announce that Metalark Place construction is now underway.

So, members of the community who've been over in downtown near the library, you may have wondered what's going on with that now empty space, and this is what is going in.

Um, so we have an official groundbreaking coming up, um, but first a little bit about the project.

Construction um is underway.

This is a major investment in expanding affordable housing options here in Beaverton, and it's thanks to great partnership and funding from our partners at the federal government, uh Metro, and the state that we're able to bring this to Beaverton.

This will bring 104 new affordable homes for adults 55 plus, including dedicated units for seniors with very low incomes and those transitioning from homelessness.

Uh, the development supports a connected multi-generational community with on-site services, shared community spaces, and a Head Start Child Care Center.

Um the project advances city council goals around housing stability, livability, and equitable access to essential services.

Um you can see here on the slide the official groundbreaking is Thursday, July 9th at 10 a.m.

Wear long pants and closed toed shoes and make your reservation for the groundbreaking if you're interested in attending.

Umstruction is expected to be completed in early 2028 with residents anticipated to move in that spring.

And if you would like more information, uh there's a URL there on the screen where you can find out more.

Next slide, please.

Uh continuing the theme of uh the youth in our community doing great work.

Um the city completed its first street mural program installation, which adds vibrant public art that enhances neighborhood identity and supports safer and more welcoming streets.

Um, this project originated through a partnership with the Safe Routes to School, high school student advisory committee, which aligns youth engagement with transportation safety goals.

The mural is designed to encourage slower vehicle speeds and improve pedestrian comfort, which supports the city's broader safety and placemaking strategies.

So we had more than 20 student volunteers that installed the mural, and what's really interesting is they used a steam-driven approach, and so they put a little science into the art by developing grid systems, measurements, and color coding, which supported um efficient implementation.

Um and the street mural program, which is administered by our public works transportation division, um, will keep working with neighborhoods, schools, and community organizations to collaborate with the city on creative street level improvements.

And then the students are also conducting pre- and post-installation traffic speed studies, and those results will help us inform future street design and traffic calming initiatives.

So if there's any community members attending or watching that are interested in this program, you can see the URL there on the screen with more information.

Next slide, please.

And then finally, we are at the height of our event season, and so it's a great time to get out and enjoy a summer here in Beaverton.

Um we've got a couple of uh upcoming events in the next few weeks.

Um the city supported event Pride Beaverton is taking place Sunday, June 28th at the City Park, starting at 11 a.m.

A whole day of fun, a parade, uh, music, and lots of great activities.

Um we have the Fourth of July celebration and concert on July 4th at the Veterans Memorial Park.

Um you can come out and enjoy our kid entrepreneurs at the kids' markets Saturday, July 11th at the Beaverton Farmers Market, um, and then 10 tiny dances on Saturday, July 11th.

That's just kind of a snapshot of some of the events that are coming up over the next month or so.

And that concludes my report.

Thank you.

Any questions of the city manager?

All right.

Seeing none, uh the consent, Council President.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to approve the council consent agenda and the contract review board consent agenda.

I'll second.

As we move and second in any discussion on tonight's um uh consent agenda.

Councilor Hudson.

Thank you.

Uh, want to take a moment um and just recognize uh agenda bill 26117, which is our city council grant agreements when we heard from our community that um our members were being impacted by the federal government.

We decided to take some of our funds and and see what we could do.

I did want to signal to the city manager if if you all are comfortable with it, that if there is any other remainder budget in the city council budget that we use it for that given what our community is still experiencing right now.

But I am supporting this, and I wanted to call that out as well.

Thank you.

Counselor Teter.

Yeah, I appreciate Councillor Hudson's call out there.

Um I do think that's really important, and I would love to support some future investments like that if we have some flexibility within our city council or mayor budgets.

Uh there are a couple other items here on our consent agenda that I will also want to draw attention to.

Uh the first is the intergovernmental agreement with the WCCLS system for library funding.

Um I am going to be voting yes to approve the consent agenda, which includes this IGA.

Uh, but I will say that there's a lot of pain in this IGA.

Um the voter approved levy that voters approved uh just last November uh was a substantial increase on the property taxes that Beaverton residents are contributing to our libraries.

And when I say our libraries, I mean our libraries across the full system.

And yet Beaverton is only seeing about a 9% increase, one-time increase of 9%, whereas some other libraries are seeing over 100% increases in their own budgets.

Uh we don't have a lot of wiggle room to be able to do anything other than vote yes, despite the painful place we are in with our own budget.

Uh we contribute from our our building maintenance funds and from our general fund to help subsidize our libraries, and we provide exceptional services in these places.

And yet we don't have a lot of flexibility with the partnerships we're getting uh that can support that funding moving forward.

So my hope is that uh we can work with our county commissioners and our partners across the system to continue to improve that funding model and the governance structure as we move forward.

Uh I've got one other comment about uh some grant funding agreements that we got coming in right here.

One, we're approving a grant agreement with uh the Department of Transportation, uh US US DOT, Federal Highway Administration for $2 million for loop funding, so downtown streetscape improvements.

Uh that's been funding that the city was awarded several years ago and has been held up because of Trump's uh attempted executive orders uh that have attempted to block us from receiving that funding uh despite it being legally uh granted to us.

We have pushed back in court, so we are receiving that funding finally.

We can move forward to some of our downtown street improvements.

Uh there is one other uh grant here with the US uh housing and urban development uh for about 700,000.

And that funding goes to support low-income housing assistance.

Uh that's building maintenance, that's that's funding that helps keep people housed in our community, and that's funding the federal government also attempted to keep from us, despite us being legally uh legally entitled to that funding.

Uh, we pushed back in partnership with other cities, and we are winning those cases in court, and it makes a big difference, and this funding matters a lot.

And so it's late, but it's here, and I'm really happy about that.

But other cities that didn't join lawsuits had it taken.

So it was it was a necessary fight for us.

So yep.

Uh all right, city recorder, can you please call the rolling councillor Duggar?

Yes.

Councilor Hart Mayer Prigg.

Yes.

Hassan?

Yes.

Kimmy?

Yes.

Teeter?

Yes.

Tivnon?

Yes.

Beatty?

Yes.

Seven, yes, zero no.

Motion carries.

Okay.

We we have a plethora of public hearings that are coming before us.

Our first one is on the supplemental budget.

The majority of people that are testifying in the budget are here for the adopted budget, so don't think that I missed you in in calling you up in this category.

Um, the next item on the agenda is a public hearing regarding resolution 4955, a resolution adopting the supplemental budget for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2025, and making budget appropriations.

Anyone wishing to speak at this hearing should follow the instructions included on tonight's agenda.

For those attending in person, please complete a yellow visitor comment card found on the table near the door at the back of the council chambers.

Once the card is filled out, give the card of the city recorder sitting to uh to the right of me.

Each member of the public who wishes to speak tonight will have two minutes to speak.

When you speak, please give your name in the city of uh residents for record.

Council members may ask questions of anyone that gives testimony.

Council members may also ask questions of the presenter, the city attorney, or the staff, and uh council will make that decision.

Is there a staff presentation?

Yes, I have some very brief comments.

Thank you so much.

Uh Susan Cole, uh assistant finance director.

Uh Oregon budget law does allow for changes to the budget after the budget has been adopted.

Uh so the attached resolution tonight makes various adjustments to the current fiscal year, fiscal year 2526 budget, reflecting various changes that arose after the budget development.

Uh this spring supplemental is the last budget action for this fiscal year, and it makes various adjustments that trues up the budget to the actual experience uh for the fiscal year.

So if um that's the end of my presentation.

If you have any questions or comments, I'd be happy to answer them.

Any questions of staff?

Uh seeing none.

Is there anyone here to testify?

I don't have any cards.

Okay.

Uh all right.

I now close the I open the public hearing.

There was no one here to testify.

I closed the public hearing.

Do we have a motion?

Yes, Mayor.

I move that the council adopt resolution 4955, a resolution adopting a supplemental budget for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2025, and making budget appropriations.

Second.

I'll give it to Councillor Duggar.

It's been moved and then seconded.

Any discussion on this.

Alright, city recorder, we're uh ready for a vote.

Councillor Duggar.

Yes.

Hartmeyer Prigg.

Yes.

Hassan.

Yes.

Yes.

Teeter?

Yes.

Tivno.

Yes.

Vadey.

Yes.

Seven, yes, zero, no.

Motion carries.

The only one who went on.

All right.

The next item on the agenda is a combined public hearing on resolution 4957, a resolution adopting the budget for fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2026, making appropriations and imposing categorization and declaring advilorium property tax levies as provided by ORS 310.062.

A resolution 4956, a resolution declaring the city's election to receive state revenue for fiscal year 2026 and 2027.

I will soon open a public hearing on the budget, including the city's proposed use of state shared revenue.

Then we will hear a short presentation from the finance assistant finance director on budget as approved by the city's budget committee.

After the staff presentation, I will open the floor to any comments from the public on the budget or the city's proposed use of shared revenue.

Anyone wishing to speak at this hearing should follow the instructions that we've already given.

For those attending in person, please complete the yellow card, hand it to the recorder at the right of the council dyest.

Each member of the public will have two minutes to speak.

When you speak, please give your name and city of residence for the record.

Council members may ask questions of any presenters, the city attorney's staff, and this will help the council members make a decision.

Before we begin the budget hearing, I mean need to make some conflict of interest disclosure.

State law requires them for three items the budget, the water rate, the sewer.

Let me be direct about what this means.

For the budget, the legislature passed a law last year that requires local government officials to declose a conflict of interest if the budget includes their compensation.

Our city charter addresses this.

Any change to compensation cannot take effect until we stand for election.

But yes, I'm declaring an actual conflict because my salary is in the budget, just like every other city contract, wage and expenditures, and we can still discuss and vote on the budget.

For the water and sewer rates, these will affect council members the same way.

They affect every Beaverton resident.

Ethic law requires disclosures when decisions have a financial impact on people making them.

So I'm declaring an actual conflict of interest, and I can still vote if needed.

At tonight's meeting.

Hopefully, we will have a better solution in the coming weeks.

The bottom line, transparency matters, even when the law is imperfect, even when it applies to city, but apparently does not apply to the legislature.

I would ask city councilors if they have a conflict as well.

Um mayor.

Yeah.

Because I understand the agenda is changed and you're not actually voting on the fees tonight.

I just want the public to understand that this is why we're doing it.

Yeah, but um the council members may want to declare only a potential conflict of interest for those rather than actual tonight.

And then they could go ahead and talk about it.

Uh I declare the same potential conflict uh for the budget.

It's an actual I declare the same actual conflict for the for the budget.

Okay.

Uh yes, I declare the same uh actual conflict address for the budget conversation.

I declare the same actual conflict of interest for the budget and uh potential conflict of interest on the sewer rates.

I do not have a potential conflict of interest on the water rates because I am in a different water district I I declare the same actual conflict for the budget.

I declare the same actual budget uh conflict for the budget.

I declare a potential conflict for the water and sewer rates.

I declare an active conflict of interest for the budget and a potential conflict for the sewer and water rates.

I'm gonna go ahead and amend mine to include a potential for the water and sewer rates then.

Okay.

Um thank you.

Um it's clunky because the state legislature just passed it.

We're trying to work through it as well as other cities.

Um it didn't give us much time to adjust to it.

Uh before we begin tonight, uh, before we get in the public hearing tonight, I want to recognize the staff and the budget committee for their commitment to the process, which is mostly thankless.

Balancing this budget has not been easy, and hard choices have been made.

I appreciate the work that staff put into this, and I'm confident that every person in this room wants a stable budget that serves the people of Beaverton.

This budget, however, makes clear that our work is not done.

It depends on one-time funding and may include dipping into reserves, which is our way of savings.

This is not sustainable.

So because clear is kind, I want to let you know where I stand.

The budget committee passed the 2026-27 budget as prepared.

However, my support of the final adoption will come with clear conditions, which I will ask the council to support this evening.

For me to support an adopted budget, I need council to direct staff to return in early fall with a concrete package of structural reductions, efficiencies, and ongoing savings.

We need to be honest with our community about why we're here.

Beaverton is structurally underfunded, like many cities in Oregon.

Measure five and measure 50 limit the growth of our property tax revenues while inflation service expectations, state mandates, and community needs continue to rise.

At the same time, local governments are being forced to compete for limited resources.

We've had to fight to protect library funding from one of the strongest and most used libraries in the state of Oregon.

We have to push to make sure our supportive housing service dollars collected here are invested here.

These are not abstract policy fights.

They affect the services our residents see and rely on every day.

And while those larger systems need to change, we still have to manage the budget in front of us tonight.

We have spent years using one-time fixes, vacancy savings, and short-term reductions to get by.

This is not a long-term strategy.

So, yes, we need broader reform, but until that happens, we have to make strong decisions.

We can with the tools we have.

Until the system uh systematic changes happen, we must manage our reality.

This budget relies on roughly 2.5 million in one-time resources to balance the general fund.

One questions I've asked staff to answer tonight is exactly how much of that is a standard carry forward versus true reserve drawdown.

Furthermore, we must stop balancing our budgets on the back of vacant positions.

Vacancy savings may help us get through a budget year, but they are not long-term strategy.

Council sets the city priorities, and when we rely on vacancies instead of intentional budget decisions, staffing gaps start shaping what gets done and what gets delayed.

That makes it harder to carry out council's direction and deliver the services consistently to residents.

There um for the early fall support of budget, my vote will depend on staff returning with a concrete package, a general fund balancing target, a clear path to eliminate our reliance on one-time resources and ongoing operations, operational efficiencies, a review of administrative considerations such as potential field partnership with Twilight and Hills Park and Rec to reduce duplication and landscaping or routine maintenance, contract and personnel review, a complete fiscal analysis of CEC equity events merger savings, and the promised rank review of our citywide $8.8 million of professional service and consulting contracts so we can work bring work back in-house to protect our workforce and program realignment, a long-term funding plan for medication services, an analysis of whether welcome home funding should be directed to eviction um prevention.

Immediate clarification is needed tonight.

Before we vote tonight, I have two questions I need answered about water funding and art program like TLT funding.

I'm happy to uh offer them as we move forward.

The water funding, we have multiple funds to do work for the city and our art and TLT funding.

This is not about asking staff to do more with less.

They have been doing that for years.

This is about structural sustainability.

It's about making sure we do not have defaulting balances, ongoing operations with one-time dollars and empty desk year after year.

I'm confident we can provide staff with clear direction tonight as a city council.

With that, I will open up tonight's uh public hearing and ask staff for a presentation.

Thank you, Mayor.

City Council, my name is Susan Cole.

I'm the assistant finance director for the City of Beaverton.

I just have some brief comments tonight.

So the first public or embedded in the public hearing for the budget is also public hearing for state shared revenue.

And I just have a few comments here.

Um the general fund will be making use of the state shared revenue of liquor tax, about 2.5 million, cigarette tax and the amount of 48,000, state marijuana tax and the amount of 150,000, and then our street fund will be making use of state shared revenue for the gas tax at $8 million.

This the budget committee did have the required public hearing on the uses of state shared revenue on June 2nd.

Next, I have some comments on our fiscal 27 budget, the subject of the other public hearing.

The budget committee did review, deliberate, and accept public comment on the fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget on two different dates on May 28th and also on June 2nd.

The budget committee did amend the proposed budget through a staff proposed uh amendment package number one, which included seven different adjustments, technical adjustments to the budget.

These amendments did pass the budget committee unanimously.

The budget committee then voted to approve the budget as amended on June 2nd, 2026, and then uh forwarded on to this body here to consider the budget for adoption this evening.

That concludes my comments.

And I'm here with our interim city manager, Elizabeth Coffee to answer any questions the city council may have.

Any questions of the staff?

We can ask questions after public comment of staff as well.

Yes, okay.

Do you have something for now?

I think I will ask my note, but go ahead.

Okay.

Um so Susan, and you can call for backup because it's more than just a budget question, but um, we heard from a lot of community members, and I anticipate we'll hear from more tonight about the changes that we are making in the equity officer role.

And I was hoping to um have an opportunity to hear from staff just about like how we plan to address um equity as a priority for the city and and how we're going to, while we have an organizational change, like it's not changing the that is a priority for us as a city.

So I was would love to just hear more about how we're planning on um addressing that going forward and into operations of the future.

Sure.

And my question is would Elizabeth like to sit here or is she gonna address it from the good evening, Mayor and Council?

Um, thanks for that question.

Um I can understand and appreciate community members' um concerns, and um, do you want to just acknowledge that this budget contains a lot of really difficult decisions?

And we you know would all rather be having different conversations tonight around um great new services that we're adding or um you know uh enhancing, and uh we're having a different conversation um instead.

And so I want to reiterate that we still remain committed to equity as an organization, and we are gonna be doing the work differently going forward, um, but we still remain committed to doing the work.

And so we have um decided with a reduction of the chief equity um officer um position to really look at our management structure and try to make it a little bit leaner.

Um, there was another manager position that was also reduced um here at the city, and we have integrated our equity functions um into our community engagement and communications division within the city manager's office with the goal of really embedding equity as a core operating practice and ensuring that it informs every message that goes out, every event that we do, really strengthening our community um engagement efforts, and then um incorporating that into our decision-making processes, and that's part of the work that we're doing to really establish our communications and community engagement team as a key and critical strategic business partner.

Um, not that they're not today, um, but that we really want them to be involved in projects here at the city from the very beginning.

So that we're considering our outreach plans and our engagement plans and applying that equity lens from the beginning of projects.

Um, one of the reasons that we made this decision is based on feedback that we received from the multicultural gap analysis and the boards and commissions assessment.

Can you hear me okay?

Microphones going in and out.

I'm gonna switch.

I'm easily distracted.

So uh hopefully this is a little bit better.

Um we have uh received feedback from the multi-cultural gap analysis and the boards and commissions assessment that have made it clear that equity needs to be built into our everyday systems.

So by really centralizing equity within our community engagement and communications team, um we really want to deliver clearer, more accessible and culturally informed communication and engagement across all of our community communities.

So we're gonna be focusing on consistent multilingual communication, accessible engagement, stronger civilians, participation, and increase responsiveness.

Thank you.

Okay, all right.

Uh if you have a we could use the the chat, it'll help me.

It's gonna take me too long.

Would you still like me to fine now?

Just um thank you for that answer.

I think it gives some um insight.

If you could help elaborate a little on the city manager office setup in terms of, and I'll just preface like as someone who fought for this position a couple years ago and really wanted it and wanted it to be embedded at the highest level.

I think I hesitated around how I felt about this change, partly because I thought as long as it's kind of at that higher level.

Can you just like for for maybe the audience like help us understand the organizational structure so that we feel that it is still embedded in that work?

Yes, I'm gonna try this microphone, and if it doesn't work, we'll know it's somehow user error.

Um so um, yeah, so the city manager's office is structured to contain multiple divisions, and one of those divisions is our community engagement and communications team.

And so our manager um Nicole Sherbert of that division is actually a member of our executive leadership team, which is the highest leadership team here at the city, and they are the ones that um are kind of on the front line, um, providing key budget decisions, advising on policy, um, debriefing on council issues, and generally handling kind of those larger policy and culture issues for the city, and so we still maintain that direct line to the executive team through this restructure.

Um reports to uh Dan Weinheimer, Weinheimer, our assistant city manager, and then I also um, as the interim city manager have frequent touch points with Nicole as well.

So that team through this restructure is still part of the city manager's office, attends those staff meetings and those um city manager office manager meetings.

Can you also elaborate on um the diversity advisory board and the human rights advisory commission?

I know that the consultant recommendations were to pause, though I don't know that all of us wanted that to happen in 2025.

Do you know what the future of that looks like?

Um we're currently working on implementing um uh recommendations from our boards and commissions assessment, and so um we will be working with council in the um coming year to look at our bylaws related to boards and commissions and happy to take feedback about um that during that time.

Last question, and thank you for Counselor Hartmeyer, Prague helping us start off.

In terms of like engaging with former diversity advisory board and human rights advisory commission members, has have we been doing that?

Can we work towards that or commit towards that?

Because I know that's also been a pain point for folks that I know in the community.

Yeah, so one of the focuses that we will continue to work on is that community engagement and strengthening those ties to the community.

We have a wonderful neighborhood association structure that's set up here in the city, lots of really active and engaged members, um, but we know that we can improve our engagement efforts and include more voices here at the table.

And so that's really one of the key things that I'm really excited about by housing our Office of Equity alongside our engagement team is really making sure that we're bringing more voices to the table as we're considering important policy decisions.

So we are really looking forward to figuring out how to continue to engage with the community at a deeper level and bring um those different perspectives into our decision making.

Thank you.

I I do want the count, like as the liaison for the diversity advisory board, I don't know what the communication was, but I know that folks have reached out to me and have felt a little left out, and I think we need to talk about just what it looks like to continue to build trust with these communities if that's what we want to do.

So thanks.

Counselor Duggar.

Uh glad you brought that up because it's been on my mind too, particularly uh with this change is is there seems to be a narrative forming, right?

We're backing away from A-Track and DAB and now this.

And I understand these are operational changes.

One of our jobs as City Council is to make sure that we are providing oversight.

So what is in the next six to nine months?

In the next six to nine months.

And so help me understand, help me do my job better over the next six to nine months.

Like, how are we gonna ensure that we're getting the outcomes that we need?

Yeah, so um we've been hesitant to make too many um concrete changes in the advance of budget adoption because it's not final and reporting structures aren't being changed until July 1st.

And so we are though starting to work with a team to assess what their capacity levels are and where we might focus on over the next year or so.

And I do anticipate um using the city manager report that I give to council monthly to report out on my interim city manager work plan, which was signed off on in the consent agenda today.

And so I'd like to use that um that uh city manager report to give you some more updates on kind of some of the um operational things that we're working on in addition to some of the fun things that you heard about tonight.

So happy to come back to council regularly to report on um uh what we're doing with equity work and the program so that it remains visible to you.

Yeah, I I I think that's critical because I I think I talked, I think I've had four or five conversations with community members in the last week since this is kind of circulating in the community.

I think people are really interested, but but they're more interested in like what we are able to deliver going forward, and I think that's gonna be a key story for us to continue uh to evolve this and make sure that we're not just forgetting that work or just allowing it to be second fiddle to something else.

So thank you.

Counselor Teter.

I think my question kind of builds off of what Councillor Duggar just shared.

Um I like to be able to set my own expectations appropriately.

Is there anything we should expect to any equity work we should expect to immediately stop or not continue, or any programs that our equity office was doing that we should expect to not be done with this change, or it sounds like we're gonna be able to enhance our communication and external partnerships quite a bit, but is there anything we should expect to change as in not happen at all.

I think we're a little bit early on in the discussions with the team and to determine that.

But what I would say is that we are shifting the team's focus to be a little bit more external because they do a lot of internal culture work, which has been really fantastic, and they've built a really great foundation here in the organization.

And so um I ask of our executive um leadership team is that we as leaders in the organization take up the mantle of some of that culture and belonging work that this team has been doing and carry that forward with our teams so that this team can focus more on the external.

And so I would phrase it less as work that we're stopping and more just really trying to look at the expertise and talent that we have on that team and um use it as strategically as we can.

And I think you know, when we when uh Alexis Wall left the city, uh our focus on equity became very internal.

And one of the things the council has been consistently asking is for that that re-approach for our external partners, it is something that has been desperately missing that we have we have been we have said from the dais and we've put resources towards, and so my hope going forward.

I mean, every time we do a community event, we're trying to reach out and find that these long-term established relationships the city has had has not been nurtured and hasn't been dealt with, and so I'm I'm looking forward to uh a plan because the council has asked about DAB and HRAC many times, and it was supposed to come back last year and it it had it.

This isn't you're new, like you're now new to this role, but I I think what you're hearing from us is the desire to have that conversation again and um hearing from us our expectation about external communication uh with the equity team is really important to us.

Counselor Kimmy.

Yeah, thank you for that, uh Mayor.

Um I'm really glad to hear that we'll be focusing on external engagement.

Uh it really has been missing um quite a while.

And our I I got involved with the city because of DAB.

I got involved with the DAB because City reached out to uh our community and wanted us to participate.

And um I really appreciated that.

And seems like since the DAP uh or human rights do not um meet anymore.

Um we didn't have really a way to engage those communities.

So I I appreciate hearing that.

I hope you can do more.

Uh equity work really didn't end because the position was combined or horizontally moved.

It still has to go on in our policy and our priorities.

But please do focus on external work and building relationship back up again.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um I uh now gonna open the floor to public uh comments on the city budget.

Uh up first is Pam Pham.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor Beatty and members of the council.

My name is Pam Fawn, and I am the incoming and new executive director of Unite Oregon.

And for 25 years, Unite Oregon has worked to lift the voices of immigrants, refugees, and working people on issues that impact their lives.

We organize statewide with a significant number of members and partners who live and work in Beaverton and throughout Washington County.

And we submit this testimony today to caution you from eliminating or shifting the office of equity work in ways that actually make it harder and more unsafe for your residents.

Um and we actually urge you to think about the livability for all of Beaverton.

So make no mistake, federal immigration enforcement is not a neutral law enforcement function.

It is actually a tool of racial and political violence, one that historically targets black and brown communities that criminalizes belonging that operates through terror surveillance and detention.

The city of Beaverton should not tolerate this kind of violence against Beaverton's residents, and we must stand together under the shared values that all people deserve an opportunity to live without fear of being kidnapped or to imprisoned.

We also want to affirm Beaverton and Oregon's sanctuary promise laws, not just when they're convenient, but in the daily practice of all city functions, including those of approving a city budget.

So several aspects of vital services are now at risk, and we want to make sure that we can talk about them together.

And we really urge you to hold firm on each of the following.

First, preserve equity inclusion by engaging immigrant and refugee, black, indigenous, people of color, um, with within within your organ within the organization as a whole.

And the proposed budget, it sounds like things are shifting and there's a reorganization of your office of equity staff.

And I think folks want to hear more about how moving and shifting any with what each of you have said, is that we need a clear plan for how it will not be siloed or dismissed.

So I ask you, what would happen if the main breadwinner of your family went missing into federal custody with little or no recourse to bring them home?

That is what's happening in our community now.

How would your family make it through?

So these staff, the equity staff that you speak of, they should have no interruption in their ability to execute this work.

These staff should have a direct line to the operations of the city, such as services and infrastructure that you all work so hard to execute, as well as the law, as well as the law enforcement and public safety that you also manage.

Removing the connection to operations with slow response times and actually cost people their lives.

We'd like to also see that it's imperative that the city maintain strong ties and engagement directly with community members, especially with partnering organizations like ourselves with immigrant and refugee organizations like Unite Oregon, Adelante Mujeres, El Centro Cultural, and the Muslim Educational Trust, amongst many more that you know of.

Please, as Mayor Beatty just said in their own words, please don't oh gosh.

Please don't you know continue to nourish these relationships.

Um and I'd ask, can I actually submit um these written?

You can you can miss a recorder, but we also read your ones earlier, you sent via email as well.

Okay, I didn't write any, but I can send, I can actually physically hand them.

Okay.

Uh if you hand them to that dude sitting right there at the computer.

I don't know where the recorder went, but he's the assistant.

Thank you, Mayor.

And uh, if you want to follow up with an email, that would be great too.

Okay, thank you.

Someone else from Unite uh team sent us emails today as well.

Okay.

Uh up next is Blaine Salomani Pearson.

Good evening, thank you, Council.

My name is Blaine Solimani Pearson, and I'm a Beaverton resident.

I've spoken before about how the city budget is a moral document that reflects our values and our conscience.

And tonight I'm looking at the proposed fiscal uh year budget for this next year, and I'm deeply concerned about some of the values reflected uh in some of the proposed reductions.

Specifically, I'm I'm here to urge you to uh to restore or keep the equity officer position uh as well as uh not cutting so many uh full-time library positions uh as well.

Uh as far as the equity position goes, uh I'm actually going to modify a little bit of what I what I said based on what's been said tonight.

Um there's something to be said for efficiency and and I agree incorporating equity uh and inclusion into all fabric of what uh the city does.

Uh I don't think that's done by couching the uh office into inside another office.

Uh if you if we want it to bleed through the entire city and what the city does and how it operates, then it does need to stand alone and have direct access, as the last speaker just said.

And so I would urge you to consider an amendment that maintains the integrity and the structure of the equity office, especially in light of everything going on outside of our city, in our state, in our country.

We really need to stand up as a bastion of we're willing to do the hard work and not make cuts to things uh that we don't see as um as cuttable.

We should see this as something that we need to stand behind and strengthen rather than streamline.

Uh and uh next, I just want to comment briefly on uh the library positions.

Um those will have real cutting positions, some part-time, some full-time, uh, will have real world impacts on the services the library is able to offer.

They'll have to cut back.

As someone who uh I think I would lose my mind if libraries didn't offer services, because that's where I entertain my children.

Um it's really important that we keep as many services as possible through the library, and cutting just you know two or three positions can really have a profound impact on families that go to the library on a daily basis uh and utilize those services.

So I uh while I understand we have to make tough choices, we have to cut certain things.

I would urge you to find a way to uh not cut those things and or to reduce the amount of cuts or to reorganize in some way through the amendment process.

Thank you.

Uh up next is Cayman Minor.

Uh part by attire.

It's been a long day, so I really didn't have a chance to uh prepare uh myself well.

Um thank you, counselors, and uh thank you, mayor.

My name is Kimmy Minor.

I am the creator and owner of Black and Beaverton.

I sit on the board of the Beaverton Black People's Union, and for all families of Oregon, I'm a Beaverton resident.

There's a long-standing philosophical principle that says budgets are a moral document.

A budget is ultimately a financial reflection of your core values because resources are finite.

How do you oh because resources are finite, how you choose to allocate every dollar reveals exactly what you truly prioritize.

Cutting through what you merely say is important.

Reverting to the days of being unethical and immoral with weak principles.

Regardless of what you say, regardless of what you say, it is your actions that we as a community in public will hear from you.

Ironically enough, it was six years ago this week.

The mayor was engaging in supporting the eight can't wait campaign.

This was a national campaign following the heinous crime committed by Derek Chauvin, a murderous Minnesota police officer.

Fast forward to today.

Only three actions have been adopted, leaving five on the table to dry up and wither away.

And now to end up with this mayor's office cutting the chief equity officer position, diminishing this vital role as an office to support equity in our city.

In doing this, we understand that equity is no longer a principal of this office.

It is disappointing.

The mayor's office reached out to me to see if there was anyone I knew who would be interested in reading the Juneteenth proclamation put forth this year.

Side note, it is said that the mayor's office has not made enough effort over six years to know the black community or black organizations in Beaverton to have a resource for this.

This is disingenuous and a slap in the face to the community when you then turn around and remove the role of the equity officer to fund and do the real work.

Regardless of what you say, it is your actions here that we as a community and public we hear from you.

It's important to know what the priorities are.

Everyone's watching.

Thank you.

Hi, all for the record.

My name is Evelyn Cocher.

I use her pronouns, and I am a lifelong Beavertonian, and I am here to also testify against the removal of the equity officer from the equity office.

Having the equity office is incredibly important, and removing it and housing it under another office does nothing to emphasize equity's importance over everything that the city does.

Every single department has a budget, but that doesn't mean that we can't also have a finance department to manage the overarching importance of the budgets of every department throughout the city.

And the same goes for equity.

It's incredibly discouraging to hear the proclamations for Pride Month and for Juneteenth at the same time that this budget is being brought forward.

And I think that the instability that the city has seen in its engagement with communities of color, with immigrant communities, with disabled communities, and with career communities is seen as in Canaan's testimony.

We are we start funded and defunded the Diversity Advisory Board.

We started and then defunded the human rights advisory board.

If we are continually reforming how we are prioritizing equity in this city, then there will be no ground to stand on.

And the relationships that are even now on shaky ground will continue to deteriorate until we can find some stability.

And it is one of only three departments that is seeing an overall staffing reduction.

The other two departments that are seeing staff reductions in this proposed budget are the library, due to the aforementioned issues with the library levy, and uh public safety, the police.

However, when you look a little bit deeper at the police reductions, the reductions are for support staff and the communities and the community support staff.

There's actually an increase in both detectives and sworn officers.

The budget that is being proposed is literally funding more police officers on the streets while cutting funding to equity programs at the city.

Budgets are a moral document, and I don't think that this sends the right message to the communities of Beaverton that we need to connect with that make up almost half of this city.

As it says in the budget, Beaverton's crime rate is stable and it is low.

Prioritizing creating more sworn officers and more detectives on our streets while cutting our equity programs sends a message to our community about what we as a city are prioritizing.

Please consider refunding this position and fully funding the equity department at the city.

Thank you.

Sean, Mayor Beatty and members of the Beaverton City Council.

My name is Sergeant Sean Hinkley, and I'm on I'm the Beaverton Police Association president.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

We recognize the significant financial challenges facing our city and appreciate the difficult decisions before.

In recent years, the relationship between the Beaverton Police Association, city leadership, and this council has grown stronger through trust collaboration and a shared commitment to keeping Beaverton safe.

Because of that partnership, we want to express our concerns about the continued reduction in police resources.

If this budget is adopted, the Beaverton Police Department will have lost six full-time police officers, nine part-time photo enforcement positions, and three professional staff positions in recent years.

In addition, two officers have been reassigned to TriMet as a cost saving measure.

While efforts efforts to avoid further layoffs are appreciated, these reductions have consequences.

Fewer patrol officers can mean longer response times, reduced emergency coverage, and less proactive policing.

Reduced investigative and support resources can also delay case resolutions and victim services.

For comparison, Hillsboro serves a similarly sized population, responds to fewer calls for service, yet employs 20 more police officers and 13 more professional staff members than Beaverton.

Despite greater demand and fewer resources, our officers continue to provide exceptional service.

The quality of life in Beaverton is built on sustained investment investments in public safety, traffic enforcements, investigations, school partnerships, and emergency response.

These services help create the safe neighborhoods and thriving businesses our residents expect.

Public safety is a core responsibility of local government.

Families and businesses choose communities where they feel safe.

A strong police department is an investment in the city's stability and economic vitality.

Before making further reductions, I urge you to consider the long-term impacts.

Short-term savings can lead to longer response times.

Not much louder.

Reduce investigative capacity and lower community confidence.

Every year, Beaver and Police Officers answer more than 80,000 calls for service.

They respond to crises, protect vulnerable residents, support victims, and work every day to communicate our community safe.

Tonight I respectfully ask you to support the resources needed to maintain public safety for our residents, businesses, and visitors.

Public safety is a cornerstone of what makes Beaverton a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

On behalf of the Beaverton Police Association, thank you for your leadership and commitment to our community.

Okay.

All right.

I will now close the public hearing on the city's budget and the city's proposed use of state shared revenue.

Before we begin deliberation on the budget as approved by the budget committee, um, do we have any amendments to put forward for the budget?

Mayor.

Yeah.

Uh do we want to do questions for staff first?

That's not in the script, but can we do that?

Yes, Mayor.

And for example, if you wanted to follow up on public comment or that kind of thing.

So maybe reopen the public comment, do these questions, and close the hearing.

All right, I will reopen the public hearing so the council can ask questions.

You must have one.

No.

Counselor Teeter.

Okay.

Okay.

You better ask a question now.

I'm just kidding.

If you don't have one, it's fine.

Does anyone else have any questions of the commenters?

All right.

Well, thank you for uh putting us through a Roberts Rules exercise.

Oh no, I have an amendment, the amendment.

Okay.

I will now close the public hearing, Councilor Teeter.

Uh and we I I do have Councillor Hussen's uh amendment.

Um do we have any other amendments before we discuss this one?

Okay.

Uh I think Councillor Hassan's amendments, and I'll let you speak to them, were the ones we talked about a few weeks ago, which was breaking apart uh some of the guiding principles.

So please Yeah, so I don't have questions, but can I make some comments about and then go to my amendment?

Oh wait, no amendment.

No, I just closed the public hearing where I asked if you had a lot of people.

That's fine.

No, it's not questions and comments.

We'll have deliberation on the budget as would be the appropriate spot.

So I heard folks, and I can't, I'm not gonna talk about it because I have to talk about amendments.

Um for folks who were not with us at the budget committee meeting, which is everyone here, but not here, so uh the city of Beaverton three years ago when we saw the structural deficit coming, put together what would be called budget guiding principles, and these budget guiding principles were very um kind of statements of our sort of values as it is a council.

So we talked about budget rules and laws, and there were comments about how to use budget, and so very simple guiding principles.

One of the last guiding principles actually talked about like public-private partnership, which made me feel like you know, most public-private partnerships have to come through the city council.

So there's a lot of great language in there that kind of gets lost, but it is language that the city leadership uses and leverages for conversations.

The first year that we had the principles written, um, they had a diversity, equity, and inclusion principle, and I said I don't see a climate one.

So the first amendment.

Do I need to read this for the record?

Yes.

Thank you.

Um, so there are some guiding principles out there.

There's 31 of them in case you're curious, you can find that online.

Um, I have added asked for three of them to be sort of edited, adjusted, or added.

The first one is diversity, equity, inclusion.

The city will consider diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of the budget process.

The budget will ensure funding decisions reflect the city's equity goals, including accessible civic engagement, improved communication, and access to services.

The next one is climate sustainability.

The city will endeavor that budget decisions align with the Beaverton Climate Action Plan, which sets a clear path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience to climate impacts, ensuring Beaverton remains safe and thriving for all.

The last one is human rights.

The city believes in the dignity and value of life when considering investments and partnerships.

So I wanted to make that amendment.

And we felt this was a policy decision that the city council should discuss.

So that is my do I need to make a motion?

I'd like to make a motion to make this amendment.

House second.

It's been moved and seconded as far as procedure goes.

We'll take the vote on this, and then if we'll add it uh into the final motion.

Uh is there any discussion on counselor Husson's motion.

Uh Councilor Hartmeyer, Brig.

Yes, thank you.

Um, thank you, Counselor Hussen, for bringing these.

I think that um having like adjusting them as we go and seeing how they've worked in practice, I think is really smart, and I think it's good.

Um, I do wish we would have thought about it a little sooner, but I love that we have it for going forward.

So thank you for bringing it up and for kind of catching that, like, hey, we we got it in, but like maybe we didn't quite get what we needed.

So I definitely would be in support.

Um another thing that we've talked about as a council that I it's not well thought out, so I think for me, I'm not gonna add um something to Councilor Hudson's amendment, but something for us to maybe think about as the year goes on and of maybe a future work session around these guiding principles too, is we've talked a lot about how our budget and our public contract dollars and how we use our procurement process to live our values as well.

So I was thinking about you know getting something in, and I I just I didn't get something down on paper.

So I thank you for these because I think that they are good edits.

Um, and I would like to see us use these um as that living document to adjust as we need to.

Counselor Kimmy.

Well, I just want to echo what counselor uh Hartmark Prick said.

Um I fully support Councilor Hassan's submitments.

Um it's tough in this budget times, but we just want to remind ourselves and me that we are fully committed to uh our guiding principles, and I do want to I appreciate you bringing the amendments and they fully support it.

Thank you.

Councillor Decker.

Yep, thank you for bringing this forward.

I I think it's incumbent upon us to hold ourselves accountable to these things, though.

And so I when I first saw them, I was like, you know, beautiful language.

Like what is it gonna do?

But then I was like, wait a minute, I can make sure that that happens, right?

And so I actually printed printed a little tiny version of it, and then I promptly left it at home.

For me, it's gonna be a situation where I bring it with me because every decision we make, whether it's directly budget or sort of those gray filler.

I think we need to look at that, and I think we need to see it.

So I'm brilliant, uh I'm very happy to support these.

Counselor Tibnon.

Just echoing one of my fellow counselors who said apologies, I'm under the weather.

Uh I think that that it's only when budget season rolls around that we really sit and have a chance to look at these.

I appreciate Councillor Hussen taking that extra scrutinizing um amount of time to really look at the words in it and to make sure that they have the right amount of weight and like shown on them and that they weren't bundled up together.

And so I I approve of these changes and we'll be voting yes for it.

Right.

Will the recorder please call the roll?

Just want to make sure this is on the amendment.

It's on the amendment, correct.

Correct.

Got it.

Councillor Duggar.

Yes.

Councillor Hart Mayor Prigg.

Yes.

Councilor Hassan.

Yes.

Counselor Kimmy.

Yes.

Counselor Teeter.

Yes.

Counselor Tivnon.

Yes.

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Seven.

Yes.

Zero no.

Motion carries.

Okay.

Um.

All right.

Uh, we are now ready to vote.

Uh we need a motion to adopt the budget to have um discussion.

Including the amendment we just passed.

Okay.

I move that the council approve resolution 4957 resolution adopting the budget for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2026, making appropriations and imposing categorizing and declaring ad valorum property tax levies as provided by ORS 310.0602 as amended by amendment package one that Councillor Hussen proposed and we just voted on.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded, so we'll now uh have any discussion.

Councillor Teeter.

Thank you.

Uh I appreciate all of the comment we received tonight and a lot of the feedback we've received throughout this process.

Uh I am going to vote yes to support this budget.

Uh, when I first heard about our potential equity officer cuts in particular, I had a lot of my own skepticism and critiques and questions and concerns that that work might not be able to continue forward.

And after conversations with staff and and with our own team who's doing a lot of this work, um I feel confident that we can deliver better services with a with a different structure.

A lot of my concerns with were that so much of our work was internal and that we were missing out on a lot of that external community impact and community partnerships.

Uh I was with the Beaverton Downtown Association when uh the mayor mentioned Alexis Ball when she was here in this role uh several years ago, and she and she was incredible at building those external partnerships, and there was it was incredibly valuable uh for a lot of the work that the city was doing and the community was doing to have that shared space just to collaborate and work together.

And I think we have more opportunities to do more work like that and support some more of our uh external uh partnership building.

Uh we do have cuts across the organization, so uh we do have a couple police officers being cut and a support specialist being cut, associate planner being cut, affordable housing program coordinator, the equity officer, uh senior program manager and communications reprographics, and then uh three FTEs and our and our libraries.

Uh so these are cuts across the organization.

There are cuts to a lot of the programs and services that we love that I love that our community loves, and we are in a really difficult place of just trying to make sure we can continue providing services while our expenses rise dramatically due to forces and factors outside of Beaverton's control.

And while we can't increase the revenue to the point that we would need without well, keeping in mind the affordability concerns people have.

Like we are trying to keep our cost as low as possible, and that means making some really hard cuts.

It means being really thoughtful with our spending.

I think we're doing that with this budget, and I think we're finding ways to be more efficient to deliver the same services.

Uh, and it's gonna keep on being hard moving forward, but I think this is a good budget.

I'm excited to support it.

Counselor Hartmeyer Briggs.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um, and thank you to everyone in staff that has helped prepare this budget.

Um Mayor, some of the comments you made at the top of it are really sticking with me.

That you know, when we look at um we've we've over the years, we've now been implementing a lot of strategy.

We've been really trying to both increase revenue as best we can and reduce expenses as best we can.

And this year, I think we actually um was maybe one of the smaller uh expense reductions that we've actually made, which is also devastating to think about given like what you just hear the impacts of these changes are.

Um, so I do look forward to just continuing this conversation on how we're going to manage our city expenditures in a way that helped that we live our values, that we provide essential services, and that we help the city get to that financially stable and fiscally healthy, you know, fiscal health that we need.

Um so I am voting in support of the budget tonight, and I look forward to continued conversation and seeing you know what comes at supplemental time that we can help um you know make those hard decisions.

That's what we're here for.

Um, and making sure that we're doing them thoughtfully and that we're a partner to staff as we're going through um these conversations counselor Kimmy first.

First, uh I want to thank Elizabeth and our staff uh management team and the entire organization for tremendous work that went into developing this budget.

I know this is what this was an incredible incredibly difficult process, and your efforts have not been gone unnoticed.

I sincerely appreciate all the time and dedication that went into bringing us a balanced budget under very challenging circumstances.

While I will be voting in support of this budget, I remain concerned about the structural deficit we continue to face.

We balanced this year's budget using one-time resources reductions and fee increases, but significant challenges remain ahead.

So as a condition of my support, I would like to see a clear plan by fall, out probably maybe September, outlining options to reduce at least four to five million dollars in ongoing costs.

Ideally, I would like to see us 2.53 million in potential reductions sooner rather than later, so we can make informed decisions during the supplemental budget process, particularly if a levy that does not move forward.

I recognize that structural uh changes take time and require difficult decisions, but the sooner we begin to work, the more we can minimize the impacts on residents and city services.

The encouraging part is that I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

If we are willing to make thoughtful structural adjustments and rethink how we how we operate, we can put the city on the more sustainable path and emerge stronger, more efficient, better focused on delivering high quality services.

Um thank you for all your work.

Counselor Hessen.

Um just kind of some jumbled thoughts, but I've been doing this.

Uh I was on I've been on serving on council since 2022, but I but on budget committee since I think 2018.

I've never I've never had a budget that I loved.

And that's kind of how these things work.

It's it's not what you love, it's what you can live with, right?

What we can pay.

With that in mind, I want to acknowledge the cuts to our staff.

And it's not this is not the first year.

We I think before we started this budget cycle, we were in the 30s.

We're adding seven more this year, something like that.

10 more this year.

These are good public servants that did not deserve this.

None of us ran to unemployed 40 something people now.

This is this is the reality of the fiscal situation we're in when they're when they're diminishing federal resources and they're diminishing state resources at the same time where we get unfunded mandates.

Multiple millions every year.

I want to acknowledge the also the impact to our community.

We have some really good partners that are taking some good hits, some pretty big hits this year, that have done really fantastic work and haven't seen their money go up for a long time.

But you can damn well bet their costs have.

So I acknowledge the cuts to our partners too.

And there's gonna be cuts to our community too that are gonna be impactful because of this.

Um of the drivers that really are in my mind or two that I think about are PERS and health care.

Those are bills we receive as a city.

We have no control over that.

We get the bill and we have to pay it.

And if that if that has gone up sustain unsustainably high, we still have to pay it.

We don't get a say in that.

Those sort of things uh because we are not allowed to run a deficit.

That those impact our people that impacts our resident, and we don't get a say in it.

That's frustrating to me.

Umid attention uh all the I hope you've paid attention rather to all the work of the last year.

This is not the first time we've seen this budget.

We've had we've been talking about fiscal sustainability for probably 18-24 months now.

Umstop.

We've done public events talking about it.

This is the fruit of that work.

And it is not easy work, it is not comfortable work, it is difficult work.

Um I spent the last few months uh running for re-election, and the only reason that's germane is I I knocked on a lot of doors.

I taught had a lot of conversations with residents out there.

Almost universally, people told me.

We like living in Beaverton.

We want to we want city main services.

We want fast response when you know when we need emergency services, we want clean water and good streets and all the things that we are trying to accomplish.

But people have told us over and over, told me over and over on those doors.

It is too expensive.

It is I'm struggling to pay rent.

I'm struggling to pay my mortgage.

I might have to lay off people at my business.

Those are the guiding things that I'm thinking about.

And I'm gonna support this budget.

But it is not easy, and it continues to not be easy.

Not fun.

Like the people that are getting laid off again do not deserve it.

They are good people, good public service.

So once again, just like every year since 2018, I'm going to cast a yes vote reluctantly in the hope that we can figure this out structurally long term because this is not okay.

And I see you and I I hear the comments, the beautiful comments, the difficult comments, the comments that we needed to hear.

But we've got to figure out a way to make this better.

And I'm gonna be proposing some things in the fall that I'm working on to try and solve some of that.

So I hope you'll I hope this isn't your last stab of the budget with me and with us.

Um some work will continue into the fall, and uh and I I hope to structurally change some of this.

So we're not back here next year having this conversation again.

Thanks.

Counselor Hassan.

I will start um I wanna start by addressing people who might not be in this room right now.

We know the communities that are most impacted by these kinds of decisions are people in our low-income community, people in our people in our black and brown communities, and people uh in our communities that just don't have support that they need.

And I think when I have to think of what those folks are feeling and what those folks are going through, you know, many of them say they don't really even feel safe walking into this space.

And so I want to take a moment and just talk about how we as a council as a city have a lot of work to do to build trust with those communities.

I think we've you know, intentionally or unintentionally started to really leave out folks that we have always said we wanted to include.

And so I wanna just take a moment and um say to those folks that even though we can't always let you in these spaces or help you feel seen and and safe in these spaces, um we will keep trying, whatever that looks like.

I wanna honor the testimony that was provided today.

It is one million percent heartbreaking to be the person that was so excited to champion equity a few years ago to establish the office, and then to see that um we are moving towards cutting that position.

Um if there was an amendment that I thought I could come up with to save it, you know that I would.

Um we are in a pretty serious structural deficit, and that is uh just the reality because I would just be passing it along to the next year and the next year and the next year.

It is really hard to be in this moment right now.

Uh I am watching the federal government and I'm seeing people in our community not trust government and then you know, adjacent not trust us.

I will vote yes on this.

And I am not sure we are being as courageous about cutting the things that we need to cut and the conversations that we need to have about cutting.

I appreciated the mayor's email on some specific topics.

Um I think we need to go further.

I don't think the budget process allows us to do that.

I remember as somebody was testifying, like pulling out the budget and being like, wait, maybe I can like find this magical 100,000 dollars and say, and it was just like, no, you can't, like you can't like to stop.

You've read the budget.

Like there's nothing, it's nothing for you to do in this moment.

Um but I think it's important to signal to city management that we know that we need to make the cuts.

It is not lost upon me that this council wants to do the flower baskets.

Like it's something that's really important, and I appreciate that.

Um, but that's an 80,000 dollar cost.

And I have to ask, is that the right place right now?

I'm not gonna do that in this forum because it's not the place.

Um, but I'm gonna ask us as a council to say we've got to figure out what we can and can't let go.

Um, and I think it is more letting go.

I do want to call out that this is this is structural.

We've known about this for a couple years.

So for those of you who are joining us, please don't leave.

We need you.

We need to partner with you.

We don't want you to just show up at budget and then be really upset with us because we'll pass the budget and then come back again.

We we want to partner with you.

We want to figure out how we're going to make this better.

We need to figure out how we're going to do it.

This is really truly going to be a collective.

I think the last thing I just want to say, and and I already said this, but I, or two last things is, you know.

I'm asking us to figure out how we build trust with these communities.

I think that we have diversity advisory board members and human rights advisory commission members who feel left out and not a part of that conversation, whether it's a check-in from us or a check-in from staff.

Like, how are we engaging?

How are we publicly talking with folks about this?

Um I think the other thing that I want to say, and I want to be very clear, I'm very thankful for our officers and the and the work that the police do.

But police is not public safety for everybody in this community.

And so either say that we care about public safety and think of what public safety is, or say that police is public safety.

Because especially now it's not for a lot of people.

And I've been saying this for a couple of years, and I'm asking you to really think about what that means.

And if if our focus is public safety, then let's talk about what public safety is.

If our focus is that policing is public safety, then let's just call that for what it is.

Um because I think that's really important for us to start landing.

So I am signaling the yes to this budget.

Um I am still deeply concerned that we're not cutting enough.

Um, and I'm asking us to feel like we are ready to go into more harder conversations to cut, whatever that looks like.

Um I think I think I will leave it at that.

So thank you.

Counselor Tibnon, thank you.

Um, in conversation recently, a friend of mine said, I think he was quoting it from someone else, but he said government is pretty good at dividing up the spoils and really generally bad at dividing up the losses.

And I've been pondering on that for weeks now.

Um, and also reflecting on the fact that as I was cycling on to the council, we were coming out of the longest economic period of expansion in American history and into this new terrain that we find ourselves in.

I didn't know about measures five and fifty when I joined the council.

I'm very aware of them now, as is every other elected leader and many members of the community as we're really starting to see that our um our wells are running dry in terms of revenue as we are experiencing absolutely unprecedented cost increases across the board, both as a city, both as residents, our health care system, our schools.

It's rampant this um depletion of uh existing resources as well as avenues for bringing in new ones.

We keep talking about things like fees and levies um rates, we're hearing from our residents that they can't bear it.

Um I think one of the most profound honors of serving in a role like this is that you live in the community that you are making decisions for.

You feel the brunt of those decisions right alongside everyone else.

And I can tell you, we're having those hard conversations in our own household as well.

This budget is harder than the last several budgets I've been a part of developing.

Um we have been saying for years now, we're getting close to cutting into the bone, and I feel like we have arrived at it.

I am also feeling this sense.

I don't know exactly how to define it yet, but if we do get the levy passed, I don't know if the relief is fully there because in the conscience of this council and the and the counselors that follow us raising taxes forevermore.

Um it isn't gonna solve this fundamental quagmire that we find ourselves in with the escalations that we are facing that don't seem to have an end in sight.

I think that having that conversation, the deeper conversation around core services and what a government in this coming up new decade that we will soon be in, entering out of the 20s and into the 30s and onward, what it means for local government to provide services and social value and benefit to its residents is going to be a conversation that is both derived from these budgets, but also what we as counselors, based on what we're hearing from our residents, think that cities should provide and need to provide for their residents.

And that we've been in this together for as long as we have, and I'm very grateful to the city staff for hanging in there with us and for working as hard as they have on an extremely heartbreaking budget that I will be supporting tonight.

And I'm I think that about wraps it up for me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The city of Beaverton has 542 staff members that work for us.

And since 2023, we've cut 42 staff.

This has been one of the high the hardest five years that we've had of all the years that I've been doing the budget.

When we levied the last bit of our taxable rate a few years ago, we knew when that happened that every decision after that was going to come at cuts.

I think every single day since I've been the mayor, I've talked about measure 550.

I've talked about addressing homelessness in the city.

I've talked about the federal government.

Prior administration with President Biden, it was about abundance and helping and partnering.

And the reason we didn't feel the pain that we did in 2020, 21, 22 was we had a federal government that was investing in cities in prosperity and investments.

And then we got the Trump administration that is focused on cuts.

And governments work really well together when there's money, and now we are we're fighting each other.

Beaverton has some really great things going for it.

We have a lot of special districts in the city.

We have a special district fire that has an amazing response time when you call 911 that partners with our police department.

We have an award-winning park and recreation district that most people use every day.

I live near a trail, my kids go in the parks, and we have an amazing library that is funded both through the city and through partnership at the county.

And those partnerships over the years have not always been easy.

But when we have a lot going on, the partnership is a lot easier when we're talking about adding versus reducting.

The voters of Beaverton chose to have special district water parks and fire alongside the city.

And so we have to spend the next year thinking more about partnership together and what does it mean to combine some of the resources and do it because that's the community's expectation.

I do after we vote tonight on the budget, which I intend uh to vote yes, um, is give some direction to staff to come back with some further cuts.

Um I don't want the public to think that we we haven't made the easy cuts.

Like what we're talking about going forward is uh arts and mediation and library and uh planning services and police officers.

There's no magic department left for us to cut that that is gonna make people feel good.

Um but this is the structural reality we're in.

Every city around us besides Hillsboro is in the situation that we're in with these very deep cuts.

Um the only way that changes is uh with a brave legislature.

When the when the state issues a billion dollars of um tax uh kicker back to the community, and we are letting go police and librarians.

That to me signals we're taxing enough, but the distribution's not great.

And I would say we don't have to live this way.

We don't have to live in this like uh constrained environments.

Our kids deserve to have art and fire plants and a responsive community and a park that's safe, and um a 911 call system that reflects their values.

We deserve those things, and this council has been working very hard to preserve and protect and and continue those services.

Nobody takes this job because they want to sit here and make hard decisions, you know.

I have a three-year-old, and I was doing budget with her when she was 14 days old sitting in here with counselor Duggar.

So we take this job incredibly seriously.

I've had I've read the budget line by line.

I think our interim city manager was shocked at the amount of questions I gave her, my understanding of the budget, um, and actually have had to pitch it with staff a lot of times when they're not sure of the the origin of what we're doing.

We also directed in Bureau prior to this to have staff uh work on development outside of City Hall to create property tax revenue.

We are a city that is largely homes.

We don't have a lot of industrial and commercial space, and the way we collect property taxes is um in an equity for that.

Multifamily homes collect less revenue, and um it's hard for us to operate and provide these services for us.

So after we conclude this vote, I do want to uh spend a little bit of time talking about some direction to give staff.

I sent a memo to council earlier on some ideas.

Um but the hard work continues.

It's it's not gonna go away.

And the 42 positions we've cut in 2023, those are 42 families, those are 42 somebodies, those are 42 people that had health care and a job in a place and dignity to work.

These are not easy cuts.

Every cut we make is somebody somebody.

With that, I will ask the recorder to call the roll.

This is the vote for resolution 4957, the budgeted option for fiscal year 2627.

Counselor Duggar.

Counselor Hartmeyer Prigg.

Yes.

Councillor Hassan.

Yeah.

Kimmy.

Teeter.

Yes.

Tivnon?

Yes.

Baby.

Yes.

Seven yes.

Zero no motion carries.

Uh all right.

Before we move on to our next item, I do want to talk a little bit about you know some of the issues we have with the budget as it comes forward is the really constraint state laws that require local government to not have conversations among itself that the legislature is allowed to have.

The legislature does something called a caucus where they sit in a room and they talk about ideas, they figure out where everyone's at, they kind of build consensus when they're coming forward, and they say local government doesn't have the right to do that.

The mayor, point of order.

We still need to vote on resolution 4956.

Oh, I thought we were going to be able to do that.

State shared revenues.

No.

Separate.

They've just had combined the hearings.

Okay.

So I'll entertain the motion for that.

Is it 4957 or 5'6?

5'6.

So you voted for order.

Yeah.

I move that the council approve resolution 4956, a resolution declaring the city's election to receive state revenues for fiscal year 2026-27.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Is there any discussion?

Uh seeing none, I'll have the recorder call the roll.

Counselor Duggar.

Yes.

Counselor Hartmeyer Prigg?

Yes.

Counselor Hassan.

Yes.

Counselor Kimmy.

Counselor Teeter.

Yes.

Counselor Tivnon.

Yes.

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Seven yes, zero no motion carries.

I do appreciate the city attorney's very lengthy script, but as we're chasing things on the fly, it's it's hard to just say you know, we have a lot going on in the script.

So sorry about that.

Sorry, Susan.

Thanks for being the watchdog uh for us.

I appreciate the interruption and point of order.

Um what I was gonna say was we need to give some direction to the city uh leadership team here.

So part of our struggle is not kind of knowing where everyone's gonna vote before we come in the room, where everyone stands on different amendments because we are we are not allowed to deliberate on the budget ahead of the budget.

So now that we've passed the budget, we can actually have some conversations about direction we want to have about the budget in a future budget or future years.

So I I understand that in Counselor Kimmy's remarks, he would like us to consider five million dollars of reductions.

That's not where I am.

I'm I'm in the 2.5 million right now on the one-time use revenue money of coming back with a reduction package that reflect get it gets us off of our one-time use funding.

I would like the city to look at efficiencies differently, and I send a list of them that you've said, and it's no shock to the city leadership.

I've been talking about it a lot.

I don't think those are the only ones.

Those are ones that I see as somebody that's looked at the budget a lot of times, but I think we could accomplish it if we could have the city manager come back and do two work sessions and where we could give her some direction on some cuts we'd like to see and a package moving forward.

So we don't have to do like an official vote.

I think we could do like head nodding and give some direction if we're open to that.

But um, I'd like to hear anyone else's kind of thoughts.

Uh counselor teeter.

Yeah, I support this.

Uh I was talking with the city manager um just earlier this week about this topic.

Um I think it's something that we need to do.

We've heard from a few of us tonight about how hard it is to actually make substantial changes and direction with the budget when it comes as late as it does with the budget committee process and then council hearing, it just makes it very awkward to give our vision or our potential ideas as a council of where we might be able to stomach some cuts.

Because it does affect uh staff roles, even though we might be talking about the work that the city needs to prioritize or deprioritize.

There is somebody who's doing that work who might be afraid or cautious or not sure of what all of that means.

So if there is a good way for us to have that conversation where the where staff are able to get a feel for our own priorities and where we might want to make some deeper cuts in coming years, I would love to do that.

I think we need to do that.

Um especially if we're going out for a levy, but even if we don't, like we're gonna have to have these conversations soon anyways.

And I think the the community deserves to know that we're having these conversations too.

Counselor Husson.

I would say most of what um you shared, Mayor, in your um remarks are things that I'm open to talking about when I think of 2.5 million versus 5 million.

Um probably closer to five, but that's also because I'm thinking of these fees that we've sort of said that we are comfortable passing, which I am really struggling with.

Um I I want to take a moment to t to make space for staff who are impacted by this.

That's a really important piece of this, which makes this so difficult.

Um we're sitting up here talking about potential people's livelihoods, um, their ability to you know have work, and we're in this uh deficit.

And so I I would like to see us continue to move in that direction, whatever that partnership looks like with the city leadership.

And I'm open to what that conversation continues to look like, but I do think that a year ago we were talking levy and I wasn't comfortable then and I'm I'm no comfortable now.

So thanks.

Counselor Duggar.

Yeah, thanks, Mayor.

I've thought about this quite a bit.

Um I think I'm probably closer to the two and a half, three million, but I could be convinced.

Um but like to me, more than the number itself, I want to give you the framework that I will look and judge those cuts.

Right.

So for me, I'm thinking of three things.

Number one, I want to prioritize the impact to our residents, minimizing the impact to our residents.

Number two, I really want to look at prioritizing non-management staff.

Um some of our lower wage employees.

Um this is this is really tough time already.

You know, when when the cost of bread goes up on the upper end, it's not that big of a deal.

On the lower end, it's extra hard.

So I'm gonna look at the amount the the ratio of management cuts to non-management.

And then uh when we as we've gone on this fiscal sustainability journey, we've talked about mandated services, but what we haven't talked about are the level of mandated services.

So if the state requires me to have this service, what does that look like?

Is it one person?

Like if we have 10 now, could we get by with one?

And so I I I need to know a little more data on that uh to understand because a lot of this stuff is mandated and we have to have to have it, but I don't know that I've seen how much of it is mandated.

And so those are kind of the three uh in the framework that I'm gonna judge these cuts.

Um I am flexible somewhere between two and a half and five million in cuts um in order for us to have conversations around additional revenue.

That's it for me.

Councillor Kimmy.

Less amount is much better.

But um the reality that I see from looking at the um revenue and expenses.

There's a really good reason why I came up with five.

That doesn't mean that I want five.

So I'd love to have more discussion.

But I I want to really uh ask the staff to come back a certain date or a certain time frame so we can address this sooner rather than later.

I think waiting until October or November would be too late in my opinion.

I think it should be earlier the better.

So September, early part of September.

I don't I I don't know if you can exactly tell you the time, but that's my preference.

Counselor Tivnon.

I'm in support of having this conversation.

Absolutely.

I am a little concerned about a timeline like that.

Um if we are even if we say at the lower end um apostrophes or no, sorry, quotations around lower, because it's it's a big big number.

Um I don't I don't know what that looks like in terms of staff actually pulling something like that together.

We're also keeping other projects um on track at uh to early fall.

Um so I'd love to hear from staff on what they think is is feasible sometime this year would be great.

And in terms of the target number, uh I it's a big space between the two that were suggested.

I'm open to either.

Um and just open to the conversation in general.

Awesome.

So to do a little recap here, uh I'll work with the city manager to kind of bring back a timeline and some unlike uh packages and understanding and well, obviously before a package, we'll get some input from the city council and come back.

But just like from numbers perspective, uh five million is probably 50 staff, right?

So if we've cut 42 and the pain we've had double.

And um I under I I don't mean to to laugh here, but the council often directs staff and and says big things, and then when we see what we're asking for, it it's different.

Um so I think we'll we can work on some arranging package so we understand what 2.5 or 5 million looks like and and what the cost of that's gonna be.

Um and because we've already done 42 staff and we've already done um a lot of the the that's just staff.

A lot of the other money we've cut has been other areas that weren't involving people.

Uh but you know, cities main uh thing that we produce is people, and so the cuts now are gonna come at that.

So we'll work on some of those things.

Um, you know, we've asked to explore some partnerships.

Like we're all gonna have to get on the phone and call county commissioners and talk.

Like we needed to do that with the library.

We need to do that with Metro and SHS.

We need to do that with our parks department, who's very well funded.

We need to do that with a lot of our partners that aren't feeling the cuts the same way that we are.

If you're an agency that can charge fees for service, you're not feeling cuts the same way as property tax base.

You know, our school district passed a budget where they're laying off lots of mental health people.

Um and it's it's we're gonna feel it in every category right now.

And we we have a renewed expectation to work externally as elected officials, and we have to work with the staff to come back with a different package.

So Elizabeth and I will work on that.

Um she knew this is coming, she's been talking about it.

So uh we'll work on that kind of coming forward.

All right, our next couple agenda items as we move through our agenda as a reminder.

We're working through the new state law that requires us to have um declared conflict of interest for us with the water rates.

We cannot if I have if we hold a public hearing and we take public comment, the council cannot deliberate and talk.

The council needs to deliberate and talk.

So what we're gonna do tonight is hear the presentation, not take public comment, then come back in July and op and have a public hearing and take comment and then have uh uh vote.

So tonight we need to ask the questions we need to ask of staff, because when we have a conflict of interest, the way that the state law has put us up against this, similar to what happened with the business license fees.

We can have no deliberations and no comments.

So we're having to do this out of order to adjust to a state law.

Um so I just want to remind the public that's the place that we're at, and I would definitely encourage you to email your state reps and state senators because of how challenging this.

Uh city attorney, if they have comments, can we receive them via email or is that gonna put us in a peculiar situation?

I think the critical thing is that you're not voting tonight.

Um I think you can listen to comments, you know, particularly written comments you can accept from the public at any at any time.

Okay.

So we would ask that if you have comments tonight to send them email and come back and give them in person if you so wish in July.

So but for that, we're not gonna open a public hearing and have that on our uh next items here.

So how do we want to do this next piece?

Um are we just gonna have a conversation about water and sewer together?

How do you want to do this?

Um Susan is approaching the uh She is approaching.

And the thought was we would have a work session and she would give her presentation, and then you'll have the opportunity to ask questions.

So are we gonna do water and sewer combined, or are you gonna take them one at a time?

You know, for someone that's not the finance director, we sure see an awful lot of you.

So thank you for being up here and uh pitch hitting so uh effortlessly through the last couple meetings.

I know how difficult it is.

So thank you, Susan.

Thank you.

I do have a heart for public service.

I know.

She also volunteers on the budget committee at THPRD, so you should help us understand where to ask for money.

And that term is over, so okay.

But you know you've read the budget.

You know how to help us.

So does Councillor Hartmeyer Prigg, please.

Okay, so if I could have our city recorder tee up the water rates PowerPoint.

And please excuse the title.

It does say water rates approval.

We'll just pretend it says water rate work session.

Okay, so next slide, please.

So our water program provides clean and reliable drinking water.

It promotes resiliency, sustainability, security, um, economic vitality and redundancy.

All these things are wrapped into our water program and our capital improvement program for the water utility and um the operations and maintenance.

Um we're very proud of our water sources, they're very um clean.

We don't have to worry about other things that the rest of the country has to worry about in terms of supply or bacteria or lead or any of that.

Our water is very clean and very resilient.

Uh so with that, we are actually investing in more water sources and additional seismic resiliency and um connecting more pipes to our joint water commission resource out in uh Forest Grove.

So we do have a long-range financial model to enable the water utility to invest in these investment and invest in these improvements.

So we do have a long range financial model.

We developed this in 2020 in anticipation of applying for a WIFIA loan, which is the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act through the Environmental Protection Agency of the Federal Government.

So this long-range financial plan enabled us to secure an 81 million dollar loan from the WIFIA loan program.

It also set a path for financial sustainability for our water utility.

This financial plan allows for smoother, more predictable rates.

And fiscal 27, the one that starts in July, is the seventh year in this 10-year planning horizon, which is out to 2030 for these generational projects.

And then rates are estimated to be an inflationary increase after this 10-year horizon.

Uh next slide, please.

So this slide is uh letting the public and the city council know that the history does inform our present and our future.

Uh generational investments have been made to diversify our water sources.

We did join the Willamette Water Supply Program in 2019, and that is an estimate of 100 million dollars.

That is just Beaverton's portion.

Our other partners in this water supply program include Twanton Valley Water District and the City of Hillsboro.

Uh so those two other water districts make up 95% of that system.

Uh and the total cost is well over a billion dollars.

This project is taking water from the Willamette River, pumping it up to Sherwood to a new treatment plant, and then continues to pump it up here to Beaverton.

It is anticipated to go online actually in this next fiscal year, uh around December of um 26.

Uh the other investments we've made were 165 million in infrastructure investments, and this is what I referred to earlier as the WIFI alone.

It's the 165 million is financed 49% by that loan.

That is a very competitive loan at only 1.85% that we're paying for that, which is very favorable to the city.

The other 51% to fund these projects are coming through a series of water revenue bonds, other loans, such as through the state of Oregon, our own water rates, and then system development charges that are uh charged on our building permit fees to develop developers who develop in our city.

Some projects that this loan is helping to finance include the North Transmission Intertie Line, which will increase our seismic resiliency as well as we water redundancy.

We do want redundant water supplies in the city.

Currently, we rely on one pipe that runs along TV Highway.

The North Transmission Intertie Line will uh supplement that pipe to bring more water from the joint water commission to us.

The 165 million also helps to finance connections to the Willamette Water Supply Program.

Uh we are funding the the water water the what Willamette water supply through revenue bonds, but those connections then are funded through this 165 million dollar infrastructure investment.

We also put a lot of investments in South Cooper Mountain, including a cutting edge stormwater reclamation project referred to as the Purple Pipe.

We have an independent water treatment plant in that area that treats the stormwater to drinking water standards as required by the Department of Environmental Quality.

And then we have a series of pipes and pumps that enables irrigation with that system in that neighborhood.

We also also have a series of aquifer storage and recovery wells that are financed through the Wi-Fi loan program.

And those wells are deep wells in the basalt, I think it is in our city that allows us to pump what clean water into those wells and then pump it back out when we need it.

We are also investing in advanced metering infrastructure, which is cutting edge technology for our water meters that will help our residents and businesses use water more efficiently, and also will help us monitor our water supply more readily through this odd minute system which used cell phone technology to read the meters.

Next slide, please.

So this slide is a visual display of how our capital investment is ramping up.

And you can see here the peak in 2027, actually the year that we're approaching.

So over this 10-year period, the city will have invested $378 million in its water infrastructure to bring these projects that I just mentioned.

New water supply, seismically resilient infrastructure, and cutting edge technology.

We are anticipating to wrap these projects up in the coming fiscal years of 28, 29, and 30, and so that is why you see the deep blue color there drop off as we wrap up these once in a generation projects.

Next slide, please.

So this slide is a visual to s to show you how we are actually paying for these projects and how we plan our rates.

So the $375 million is financed through a number of debt instruments, as I mentioned, the Wi-Fi alone, water revenue bonds and such.

The main this is the main driver of our water consumption rate.

So this slide takes a little bit of study.

On the left hand side is the debt service payments on these loans over the course of time.

You'll notice the scale at the bottom runs from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2030.

And this just gives you a relative look at how our debt service is increasing over that period.

And then on the right side, you can see the consumption rate per unit and how those rates are changing over time.

You can see in the middle of this graph, which is the period that we are in now, the the line is relatively steep, and that reflects the rate increases we've had here in the last handful of years, and then they level off into the future.

However, this slide is kind of zoomed in.

So the next slide here, if we change, it zooms out a little bit more, takes it to 2040, which really illustrates the steepness of the consumption rate that we had planned for over time in order to make these investments, and then levels off to an inflationary increase beginning in the year 2030.

So we are projecting after the year 2030 that rates will increase roughly 2% per year after that time period.

Next slide, please.

So this here is the water rate recommendation.

So this shows you on the left a table that has our monthly meter fees, and that is by size of meter.

Residences generally have a 5.8 meter, so their rates would be going from 25.05 cents up to 27.55 cents, and then a proportional increase for the other size meters, which are generally our commercial class of customers, apartments, multifamily, public facilities, and so on.

So we do charge that monthly fixed charge each month to customers.

And then on the right is a table that shows our consumption rate.

As the city council will recall, we did study tiered rates last year, and the decision was made to just keep with our same uniform rate.

So that is presented here is our uniform rate, which would be going from $6.87 per unit up to $7.47 per unit.

And just as a reminder, the unit is a CCF, which is 100 cubic feet of water, which is equal to 748 gallons.

And then just for information there at the bottom, there's a little table there that shows how much it would be per gallon.

So we're going from roughly 90% of one cent to about one cent per gallon.

So our water still remains very competitive when you consider it would be about a penny a gallon with this increase.

Next slide, please.

So this slide here shows you uh examples of water bills that households or commercial businesses might expect.

So we have an example household of eight units, uh, which is basically which has been used industry-wide, that might be changing in the future as the per capita consumption decreases.

But for now, we're using it as an example.

The monthly bill currently using this amount of water at the 5.8 inch meter would be $80.01 per month.

Under this rate proposal, that monthly bill would go up to $87.31 cents, which would be a change of $7.30 per month or a 9% change.

Then we have some examples of maybe a two-person household, which would you and we determine the two-person household using four CCFs and the seven person household using 12 CCFs by just doing an internal survey of our own staff, like how many people are on your house, and we how many people are in your house.

So it's a very unscientific look at this, it's more anecdotal, but just to give you an idea of the more water a household uses, then the higher the monthly rate.

And you can see here that they would all go up about 9% under all of these different scenarios.

And we have a uh two commercial examples there at the bottom, a restaurant, a fast casual restaurant without a drive-thru window that is on Cedar Hills Boulevard.

Um, and then a retail with 21 employees that that um is up by Fred Meyer off of a 158th.

Just for examples, just to kind of show what that bill impact would be for different classes of customers.

Uh next slide, please.

As a reminder, the city does offer customer assistance through the community action organization of Washington County.

We've had that partnership since 2020.

Um, no funds are exchanged in this partnership.

Uh we use community action for eligibility and intake.

And so community action meets with those customers, and then community action informs us as to um those customers, and then we credit their bill.

So the financial assistance that we offer is for water storm and sewer utility services.

Uh since inception with this partnership, we've offered over a half a million dollars in city utility funds for this uh customer help.

And then we've also had other assistance programs since 2020 uh due to COVID mainly.

Um 460 in ARPA funds, 123,000 in low-income household water assistance through the state of Oregon, and 40,000 in CARES Act through Washington County.

So the total assistance since 2020, uh, when it when you add all those together, is um over a million dollars in financial assistance to our community for these utilities.

And that concludes my presentation, and I'd be happy to take questions.

All right, counselor Duggar.

Cool.

Thanks.

Uh got a few questions for you.

Um much is required to I'm gonna start with the the easiest one.

Um by that it's definitely not the easiest one.

How much is required to kind of maintain so we have a minimum in our reserve, which is much bigger than our typical reserves, right?

Because it's operational needs.

But like for our policy, like if we just looked at the minimum to keep the lights on and keep it where we are today, what kind of increase would we need?

For our water utilities for water utility.

Like no new and no new employees, right?

Just the minimum to keep where we are and uh and and on where our policies say we have to be for reserves.

Right.

That's that's a very good question.

Thank you for asking.

Um with this uh rate increase, uh even with this rate increase, I should say, our policy is 42% of expenditures, and in the proposed budget, or now in the adopted budget, um that fund balance is at 39%.

So we're lower than our target fund balance, um, which we're comfortable with because there are so many variables that occur during the year, including vacancies and weather.

We've had a very hot spring.

Um currently that is not necessarily a driver of the rates is is that fund balance.

Um thank you.

Um how is that base rate change calculated?

Uh so that that that sort of pipe fee, I think you called it, the the fixed rate monthly.

Yeah, like like that seems because when you look at inflation, right?

Even at the most recent numbers, 3.8, maybe 4%.

So and I know we are investing in capital.

Right.

Is that is that where all of that's going, like in that base rate?

Right.

So when you're planning um a utility that has debt, the fixed rate provides a more uh predictable stream of income because it's fixed every month, you know what you're going to have regardless of the weather or consumption or that sort of thing.

So we balance between the fixed monthly and the consumption rate in order for the utility to have a stable revenue source to meet those debt obligations.

And so as time goes on, we do look at um what's called the debt coverage ratio to get very technical.

And so we do need to bring in enough income that not that exceeds our operating expenses.

That's required by our debt covenants is that we have to bring in 25% more revenue than our expenses.

And so, in order to have that predictability, we look at the fixed monthly fee and those increases to bring in a stable amount of revenue that can help with the consumption rate with that revenue.

So we've we've been striking that balance over the years.

And what is what is new growth in the system?

How does that impact that number?

So I'm thinking like hundreds of new houses in South Cooper Mountain, right?

That weren't paying in but that are now.

Right.

But we we had already backloaded that expense by building the system.

They're paying into the how does that impact the numbers as you guys like look for the next 12 months?

Sure, yeah.

So our account growth is actually ironically is quite small, one percent.

Our population growth in Beaverton has on average been less than one percent, even with the South Cooper Mountain growth.

And so that does affect our water.

You're right, it does help.

It brings in extra revenue because we have more accounts, but it does not bring in enough to offset rate increases, unfortunately.

So we still need to increase rates in order to meet these obligations.

I'm gonna amend what you just said.

Like like there's a cost containment portion that I think might be missing because we have to maintain that ratio of the difference between revenue and expenses.

And so I want to kind of talk a little bit about if you could tell me what cost containment uh things are happening now, and then more importantly as we move forward in the next year, what more can we do?

Right?

Like our residents are telling us loud and clear, contain your costs, right?

And I feel like every year we've just been approving water rate increases.

Like what things are we doing, and then what more can we do over the next fiscal year for cost containment?

Right.

So if I could talk you into backing the slides up.

A couple one more one more, one more right there.

So what this slide is showing you is the debt service that we've entered into.

So we have, as I mentioned, the 81 million dollar Wi-Fi loan, we have a 20 million dollar loan through the state of Oregon.

Um, and off the top of my head, we have maybe a hundred million dollars of water revenue debt outstanding, and that's on the municipal um bond market.

So anyone can invest in those bonds out there.

So, really the driver of the rates are is is you can see in this graph here is is the debt service because we have to get the rates up high enough in order to pay that debt off.

And some of the debt service has not yet begun.

So in fiscal 28, we're anticipating the WIFIO starting and also the North Transmission line, the 20 million dollar loan for that.

So that is really the the rate driver.

And in terms of operational expense containment, for fiscal 27, uh, there's one quarter of one FTE that's been added, and that's actually for my team for the utility billing team to help with the advanced metering technology and the account growth.

Um we did add staff in fiscal 26 for the purple pipe system.

So, as with any utility or any growing system, it needs to be properly maintained, and that's what those staff were for is to maintain that um DEQ standard water treatment plant as well as maintaining the pumps and pipes for the purple pipe system.

And so the utility is itself growing.

We have to maintain the pipes and reservoirs and um aquifer storage and recovery wells that we've invested in.

So, and and Tim Elfiani was here too if he has any other comments he wants to make with cost containment.

Um, but the utility reviews its expenses each and every year for that reason, but we still have a responsibility to provide clean and reliable drinking water to the community.

Sure.

And um what is our operational ratio of our expenses relative to our peers, right?

So I'm thinking Hillsboro, Ben, Gresham, those similar sized cities, do they have this similar number of employees in their water uh area?

And that may be a loaded question because some employees do multiple things, right?

But I understand.

Sure, yeah, no problem.

I actually do not know about Ben and Gresham.

I'm happy to bring that information back.

Hillsboro actually has a larger water utility because they run the joint water commission, they're the managing agency for the JWC, and so they will have more staff than the city of Beaverton.

They will also be the managing agency for the water treatment plan in Sherwood as part of the WWSS.

So I believe that they are also staffing up.

The main difference with Hillsborough is they have a larger industrial base.

Umtel, for example, um, uses almost, if not more water, than the entire city of Forest Grove.

Uh, you know, more than three million gallons a day.

So the city of Hillsborough also has an extensive two or three page rate schedule where they have different rates charged to different commercial sectors as well as tiered rates.

So they have a very complicated rate structure.

So their rates are lower than Beavertons, but it's a function of their industrial base, their commercial base, and then their tiered.

Twallin Valley Water District is also a partner in the WWSS.

Their rates are higher than the city of Beaverton.

Their base is mainly residential.

They don't have a lot of commercial sector within their district.

And but their rates are quite a bit higher than Beaverton.

But their investment in the WWSS is quite a bit higher as well.

So just with those two, those I do know off the top of my head.

But in terms of comparing to other water utilities, I would have to gather that information and come back to the state.

Yeah, that might be interesting.

Don't go too much.

But then my last question is the debt that we've incurred.

When do those bonds start being removed from the balance sheet?

Like when are they gonna be sure?

So if you can go down the next slide, see if I off the top of my head here.

So you can see this, it's very small.

I apologize.

Um we we are having one particular debt issuance complete this current June.

So we did do a bond refunding in 2016 that is paid off in 2026.

And so that enables room in 208 and 29 to bring on the WiFi A and also the North Transmission line, the 20 million dollar debt through the state of Oregon.

And then you can see here in the year 2039, um, it starts to go down a tiny bit and then levels off.

And then if I were to take this chart out to 2060, it would stay pretty much the same.

And then in 2050 or so, it starts to go back down.

But these are you know 30-year debt obligations.

That we've entered into.

Okay.

I think that's everything I had.

Thank you.

I think it's important though, as we're uh, you know, as somebody on this council that spent a lot of time in water, and like when all of you guys joined the council, I think with my trauma, I was like, you need to learn about water.

You have to learn about water.

Um we saw the rates for TBWD starting to climb.

We know Hillsborough's rates are also going to climb because of the amount of debt they've had.

They haven't had to climb as fast because it is offset a bit with industrial, but they're starting to see it climb again.

Um and so what the city council did years ago to try to fortify that was direct staff to go look for WIFIA loans to be able to secure our water rights on the Willamette and other places and through uh the North Transmission line.

We had owned previous councils invested in water rights that we knew we were gonna need.

And WIFIA is a once-in-a-generational opportunity for us to borrow money from the federal government at a very long rate at a very low interest rate.

And so our upfront investment is getting us our water rates from somebody else, and it's going to over the long term keep us uh flat.

TVWD's rates are exploding in real time because of how much they've invested.

And we were very um, they wanted us to be bigger investors in the the transmission line, and the council just didn't agree to absorb that much debt, and we can see now how much of that water is being used in industrial parts that we don't we don't reap the benefit of.

So us contributing more didn't make sense.

Um I think the water rate usage as we've looked at many different things to address it, and the reality of climate change is more water is being consumed, and we're actually a very rich water city.

The amount of rights we have, and so I do think in the future, unfortunately, one of our our tools might be to sell our our will our water to other people, which we often do with the city of Tiger and other people.

And we do it at a very fair rate.

That doesn't mean we always should be, because our community has invested in the infrastructure to get that water rights to us.

So these are a lot of conversations we've had over the last 10 years that I think now are starting to come to fruition.

So as we're we're doing this, it's just a reminder to me that we need to be we need more of this information going to the public.

It is wonky, it's hard.

We need a communication strategy so people understand.

I look at it like having a mortgage.

We have somewhere to live over the next 30 years because we've invested, and our our debt, the payment we're paying is much lower than if we had to take these projects in one at a time.

I've actually been pelling the federal government to look at a whippy alone style for infrastructure around housing because it's really the only way we're gonna get things done effectively.

Um I do know we're gonna talk about sewer rates, and that's just challenging for us.

It's like trash.

We don't have a lot of control over it.

So councillor Teeter The Mayor talked about a little bit of what I'll say.

Uh, we are a five percent partner in the Willamette water supply system, so even though our investments are generational alone there, uh TV WD and Hillsborough are bearing a lot of that cost.

And so we're able to do it through a partnership there.

Um that treatment plant is coming online soon, maybe end of year or beginning of next year.

Um, so a lot of our costs there will switch over to staffing support.

Uh but at least we're not building out a big system anymore.

We'll be finishing that off.

I smirked myself a little bit looking at the rate increases because we feel a lot of the burden every single year.

We talk about water rate increases because every single year we're talking seven to ten percent increases.

And it is driven by debt service and decisions of previous councils that will lead to a more resilient water system.

So that if there is a natural disaster or an earthquake, people will still be able to have clean, reliable water in Beaverton.

I think that really matters a lot.

I also smirked because when I'm not on council anymore, there will be future counselors who are able to vote for two percent increases.

And they'll get to brag about that to the community, and they'll say your past councils raised your rates by 10%.

Yeah, yeah, we did, but at least you have water in that in those disasters and when you need it most.

So I don't feel like we have a ton of flexibility in these decisions.

Uh it's more just we've made generational investments, we've got low interest loans, but we've got to be able to pay them back and see it through.

And I will I really appreciate this long-term forecasting.

Look, I think that matters a lot.

I think the mayor hit it really well that we need to be communicating this that this isn't gonna be a forever.

Uh you're not gonna be seeing 10% increases every single year, but it will level off more as these projects come online.

And so I think we just need to keep sharing that story.

I'm kind of like stay the path, stay the path.

Okay.

Uh, you want to talk about sewer?

Love to talk about sewer.

Uh would you bring up that PowerPoint?

So again, fork session versus rate increase.

Next slide.

Uh so the city does have a long partnership with Clean Water Services, and Clean Water Services is the regional provider of sewer and stormwater within Washington County.

Cleanwater services builds and maintains the wastewater treatment plants and holds the permits with Department of Environmental Quality to ensure the Twalton River and its tributaries remain healthy.

And the city provides local services to city residents and city businesses.

And it's through an intergovernmental agreement that the city bills for both regional and local services.

So traditionally, the city has adopted the same percent increase as clean water services, which is this proposal as well.

The city is under undergoing an evaluation of its local sewer and stormwater services, and it's at its own rates that we need to charge for the local services, and that is anticipated in the fall of 2026.

Next slide.

So this slide here uh shows you those rate uh changes and the associated bill impacts.

So sewer also charges a fixed monthly charge, and that's per equivalent dwelling unit.

So this slide here breaks out the clean water services regional charge with the um clean water services slash beaverton local charge, and it shows the the current uh rate and then the effective rate uh increase.

Clean water did adopt their rate increases on uh June 9th.

And then down below we can see the sewer usage charge, and that is based on the winter water winter water average and is also per CCF.

So the winter water average is from the months of November through April, and the reason why we do that is because we assume that not all water consumed in the hot summer months uh goes down the drain.

So our sewage usage rate is to capture the impact of the effluent going down the drains, and so that's why we use the winter water average.

Um basically assuming May through October, a lot of the water consumption is for irrigation.

And so customers are charged the same amount for sewer usage all 12 months of the year, which is based on the winter water average.

And again, the unit is CCF or 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons of water.

So you can see here the net result when we take um a single family residence, which would be one equivalent dwelling unit, using eight CCFs um each month as their winter water average.

You can see here how their bill would go from $59.19 cents to $63.24 cents, or a 7% increase or $4.05 per month with this um proposed rate increase.

On the right side, we look at stormwater, and stormwater is our utility that man basically manages the rain.

Um when it falls down on roofs and streets and such, um, our stormwater utility uh manages that water and helps to make sure that it's clean before it goes into a tributary or into the Twileton River.

And this stormwater charge is a fixed monthly charge that's based on equivalent service unit.

And an equivalent service unit is basically one single family resident, and it's an estimated impervious surface, is what an ESU is.

So you can see here that the clean water services regional charge is going up about 4%.

And then the local charge is going up 5% for a total bill impact of 5%.

So you can see here that the estimated bill impact for a single family resident would go from $14 to $14.66 per month.

And then down below is the estimated bill impact when you add the two together of sewer and stormwater.

So with that, I'm happy to take any questions on storm and sewer.

So that that is a good question that as we move toward this consultant review of our sewer and stormwater.

I'm not sure if Megan is listening.

I know she was upstairs.

I do intend to talk with our city attorney's office to see uh what that would mean in terms of the regional rate and the local rate and what the city of Beaverton needs to do.

This is a holdover from the old revenue share days where um the Cleanwater Services has an IGA with seven cities in Washington County, and all seven cities have tended to do this model.

Um so the question is because we have an IGA, what does that mean?

Do we have to continue to do this model or do we just adopt our local rates?

So I don't have an answer for you at this moment.

So do CWS charge us like we're we collect revenue for them, they've passed this rate.

We don't charge them cost recovery to do the billing of our water system.

That's correct.

We are their fiscal agent basically for free.

So what if we were like, no, we're not gonna pass this rate?

Like, what if we're like we're willing to pay this?

Like what happens then?

Like, what happens if we say no?

So Clean Water Services has already passed their regional rate.

So what we would be saying no to is within the IGA and collecting um their revenue on their behalf.

And there is movement afoot in Washington County.

Um, the Clean Water Services is um looking at to see if they should do their own billing or if they should continue to partner with cities.

And some other local cities have picked up on your comments regarding providing fiscal agent services to clean water services without a charge, and maybe we should be looking at cost recovery.

So other cities in the area, City Twilighton being one.

I've I'm not sure if this is an IGA that's opening.

I think the IGA and Forest Grove is also opening.

So those cities are picking up on these comments and they're talking to Clean Water Services about hey, maybe we need to start charging for these fiscal agent services.

I'm not sure what that might look like, but I know those conversations uh are underway.

If we did not adopt the regional rate, um I don't know if that's necessary because Washington County has already adopted the regional rate.

So we would need to adopt our own local rate for sure.

Um so that part would remain.

I mean, I'm very interested in a future where we don't bill for them because we have to do all the hard work and take the criticism and then bill at no cost recovery and do it.

So I know obviously we can't do that right now.

Um, but uh you've heard this from my mouth, and other cities have heard it and are picking up on it too because our water bill would look dramatically different if CWS wasn't on it.

Can you explain to me why our fixed charges going up so much, 20% in one year?

So again, we are just following clean water services percent change.

That's theirs is four.

Uh they they are increasing their local charge.

So they manage unincorporated Washington County and they're increasing their local charge and unaccorporated Washington County by 20%.

And so we are increasing our our local by that same percent, which is why we're undergoing a study with a separate consultant to see if the 20%.

We we do need a local rate, and the rate increase would be somewhere within that range.

We just don't know don't know for ourselves the exact dollar amount we would need without this consultant study.

Okay.

I think we've got to get that answer.

Yes, we do.

Like we really have to get that answer because that's that's it'll be similar.

It'll be similar to to what it is now.

I just don't know what that exact amount is.

And that's fair.

I know we we have to get that expertise, but what leverage do we have to push them for cost containment?

Is it a function of like, hey, we're not gonna bill for you if you don't get your crap together or like well their cost their cost would actually go up.

If the cities did not bill for clean water services, they would have to staff up, they would have to invest in a computer billing system.

Um so their cost might actually go up if they have to do their own billing versus just paying us.

So their costs might actually go up if they have to do their own billing versus just paying us.

So that is a question that we'll be exploring in partnership with Cleanwater Services over the next several months.

So it at this point in time, um, what the where the dollars go, the regional rate goes for the wastewater treatment plants to maintain those water treatment plants, and then the local rates help with the local crews and local infrastructure to maintain um those pipes and to maintain that system so that when people do use the sewer system that it goes somewhere that is supposed to go instead of in somebody else's basement.

Yeah.

No, I would be curious to know you know what leverage we do have, if there's any.

Maybe the answer is zero.

We don't have any, but but like I do think we have to have a cost, and I'm sure everyone has to have a cost containment conversation with them.

But I know they're exploring, like when we toured their facility, I can't remember the down there.

Like yeah, Durham, and you know, they they they're capturing renewable natural gas and things like that.

And so I applaud them for trying things.

You know, we we you know, again, we've people are loud and clear with all the levees failing and all this, like cost containment is a thing, and so any I'm looking for any sort of leverage that we have.

And that would be through the public comment at the Washington County Board of Commissioners.

Okay, when they have their own rate hearings, or this body talking to the Washington County Commissioners about cost containment with clean water services.

They did just turn over their general manager who um they had a new general manager just start, I think at the end of May.

From Hillsboro.

From the Cleanwater Services has a new general manager.

Yes, he's from He is from Hillsboro, yes, yes.

Yes.

So it was you should know some of these things.

So there would be some conversation, yes, exactly.

Conversations at that level.

Okay.

Yeah, but once you go to a special district, like your opinion changes.

Counselor Cedar.

Uh my question was about the 20% as well.

I just want to understand it a little bit better.

Are the is that cost to cover the cost general cost of maintenance of sewer lines?

Correct.

Yeah, our our crews and our equipment to maintain um pipe sizes lower lower than 21 inches, 12 inches, somewhere.

So I think my my question is just trying to wrap my head around how 20% could make sense if we're we're not adding anything new.

So like an inflation inflationary increase seems more like it would be appropriate, but I'm I'm it's not keeping mind it's on a very small dollar basis.

Yeah.

So it's you know, uh uh eight it's on a seven dollar basis to eight dollars and forty-three cents.

And so that would fund our local sewer crews.

As the mayor pointed out with our general budget, we have health insurance increases, we have PRS increases, cost of living, uh, inflation during COVID was very high.

Those prices have not gone back down.

The the percent changes change is gone down, but the price remains at a high level.

And so all those changes within our sewer utility are impacting the cost structure of that utility.

Okay, I think I was getting my myself mixed up.

I was thinking this was for capital construction, this is for the personnel, the operations.

That's right.

And for capital, both.

Yes, it is for both, but not as much as for water.

So this is also to replace those pipes.

Um it's not for new development, that would be for our system development charges, but it would be for capital replacement of old pipes.

Okay, sure.

Yeah, sure.

No, that makes sense.

Um we keep uh an inventory of street maintenance needs, so we mapping out like the condition of our streets across the city to know where to so that we know where to invest.

Uh, do we do something similar for sewer infrastructure?

For all of our infrastructure, yes.

It hasn't been as extensive as the street maintenance since we have this separate utility fee.

Um, so it's not as it hasn't been the topic of conversation like our street has since we're going for a street maintenance fee, but yes, we have an inventory of that.

Okay, and I might have even seen that before.

But thank you.

That's all my questions.

Okay.

Um well, I think that's all the questions from us.

So as a reminder, we cannot take uh we're not taking public comment on the water and sewer rates today because we're trying to be compliant with the state law.

You can email your public comment to us or return on July 7th when we have the public hearing and the official vote.

Uh we're gonna take uh a five-minute recess, we have an action item, some ordinance of some first reading, and I have a walk-on uh resolution for us this evening as well.

So we will be back at 8 50.

Um the first couple gas didn't get your attention, but we're now resuming.

All right, we do have the inaction item tonight, resolution 4960 downtown parking plan presentation and consideration of resolution adopting the downtown parking plan.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Thank you for having us on this very jam-packed night.

Um, I will be as brief as I possibly can.

Uh, here to request that you consider uh a resolution to adopt the downtown parking plan.

Next slide, please.

The downtown parking plan is nine strategies focused on um trying to manage our downtown parking assets to the best of our ability.

Uh, we went through these nine strategies with uh Bureau in a work session on May 26th.

Next slide, please.

We also did a number of community engagement activities and the community feedback was general support for the downtown plan with the highest priority being focused on our curb management strategy and working on parking branding and parking recognition and working on a few of our other uh low-hanging fruits around uh continuing our enforcement efforts, Third and Washington becoming a public parking lot, um, and our on street permits.

Next slide, please.

So our next steps um if you will uh consider the adoption of it of the plan tonight uh is to work on some of the efforts that were started during this planning process and coming back to council and burea and other city boards and commissions and community members to roll out uh changes to our parking plan or changes associated with our parking plan and efforts that we have heard from the community that they are ready for and we would like to take action on.

Um, and with that, I will conclude my presentation.

Um, and thank you again.

Yeah, uh great work on the plan.

I'm I'm excited about it.

I I did have one bit of feedback.

Um and I'm sure it's buried somewhere there.

Uh it's not a strategy necessarily, but um I do think we need continued conversation and outreach to to the business community, particularly as we as we implement this, right?

Because we might go too fast in one area or too slow in another.

And and I I'm really sensitive.

We had some good public comments, member Anderson sent us something.

Um we've had a lot of conversations with those businesses.

I just want to make sure that they are feeling agency in these conversations and they can like like almost over-communicate and over-involve.

Like I think I think that's a really important part of the success of this long term.

I didn't see it.

I'm sure it's buried in there, I'm sure it's on your mind, but I just want to publicly call that out and just ask us that we continue to really index uh pretty heavily on that.

Absolutely, thank you.

Thank you.

Counselor Hartmeyer, Prague.

I just can't use the mic.

Um kind of a mess up here today.

Um, thank you, Tyler and Molly.

Uh it's actually also I know you know, I don't often print these things, so it's actually cool to see it all printed out.

And I think that it's nice for people to kind of see where we're at and where we're going and kind of know what to expect with parking, which I think is really great, especially since we've as a council thrown some curve balls.

Um it's I think this plan is just it's gonna be really helpful.

And I know that it's not all gonna be implemented at once, but I appreciate seeing that you've taken community feedback and council feedback to kind of put it in an order that we're gonna follow and get it done.

Um I'm looking forward to just seeing how it evolves and how we can support.

And I know, like earlier tonight um in our consent, we um were able to accept you know our race grant, which is really exciting because it's one of our proof of concept projects for the loop, but also we'll get to test out some parking things too.

So I think it's really exciting that like these things are happening tonight.

And just want to thank you because I know that a lot of my questions have also been like help me understand what my role is in this conversation because I do think that parking is definitely one of those things that we all encounter.

We still hear people complain about it all the time, even when we know there's there's tools at your disposal now.

Like you can go use this parking lot.

You've always been able to, and we're trying to make that really clear.

And so I just I'm grateful for the changes.

Um I was thinking about as we were talking about um Bureau budget earlier and some of the city-owned land.

Um, and mayor's gonna love this wrench, is like where we have city-owned land.

Can we be using that in a temporary manner to help with some of the parking alleviation, right?

That is such a fantastic suggestion, Counselor Hartmeyer Prague.

I am surprised no one has offered the city.

I'm just thinking that especially we heard a lot lately about concerns in old town specifically.

Um you know, just as now that we have a plan and some guiding principles and things that we can help you along the way.

Um I'm hopeful that it also means you can try more things or you know have the flexibility to do other things of parking that you need.

And I'll take credit for the idea.

Fantastic.

I was like little mayor in training.

I love it.

Uh no counselor teeter thank you, Molly, um, for your work on this.

Um I don't have very many comments.

I feel like we've shared a lot of the comments over the past several months on this.

Um there's a community feedback slide that showed some top priorities.

That feels pretty in line with a lot of my own values.

Uh one of the top ones is strategy six, the curb management, and it says adjusting time regulations.

Um curb management for me is also the walkability and bike parking access um improvements that I I would also find a lot a lot of value there.

Um, but I think just getting this approved will be really nice to be able to keep moving forward and give a little bit more direction.

Um I'm glad that we're moving forward with the library lot and kind of the farmers market lot, whatever we want to call it, uh, but opening that up a little bit more.

I know a lot of my council colleagues have talked a lot about branding and uh branding's never my cup of tea, but I see a lot of value in it here, and so I am glad it's on the list.

I'm glad to see that it's big on community feedback.

Um so I think this gives us some good guiding direction.

So thank you for your work on it.

Thank you.

Counselor Hussan.

Um thank you.

It's really clear you've been listening to us, you've been listening to community, you've been listening to businesses.

Um I just wanted to come on and and um uh it's like a quick question.

Do we still have the transportation advisory commit commission?

We have the traffic commission.

Okay, but we have like these transportation ambassadors, is that gone?

For the TSP for the transportation systems plan.

Yeah, we do.

I believe so.

Yes.

I'm little idea while we're in the idea factory here.

Um, you know, could we have some of those folks participate in some sort of a video to talk about?

I know you guys have sent us marketing and branding, so I don't want to give any more ideas.

Except I just thought um as I walked last night through um the downtown area, and please do support local because it was kind of chill on a Monday night.

Um, you know, how can we leverage the people that we already have to sort of create to to make them be the social media ambassadors around the parking and the design and what that lands because I do think it it is a little tricky with the different pieces, and I think we've got really good um ambassadors within our own kind of right in front of us.

So I'm really excited to support this.

Thank you for your work.

Thank you.

I'm just sitting here trying to think.

Were you in downtown Beaverton for your anniversary?

Is this why it was so meaningful and why you brought it up twice?

Uh-huh, it totally was.

Look at that.

Happy anniversary, Counselor Hussain.

She had a special night, and she's happy.

Counselor Kimmy.

Congratulations.

Wow.

You don't blush off.

I know.

Oh, wow.

Okay.

This is my 30th year.

Just in case.

I know.

Anyways.

Um thank you for the plan.

I'd love to see it.

I mean, it's great.

Um, one thing on my mind is when are we gonna see huge sign from the library?

Number one.

Number two is um people don't know it's only one dollar to park at the resource parking lot.

Maybe you can put a huge sign says it's only a dollar an hour.

So then people would know and they wouldn't have to park there, like peak humongous sign, you know.

Uh, just to let people know if parking's available somewhere free about some place one dollar.

Like, is there any like when when when would I see that?

Uh because I've been waiting for like four years and I haven't seen one.

When do you implement certain things?

Yeah, that's my question.

So the the third and Washington lot, we've started the land use process.

So um as soon as we get through the application process, we just completed the the required neighborhood meeting.

Um so once we get through the land use application process, and it is a type three because of the type of land use that it is, so it has to go to planning commission.

Um so once we get through that, then we can start making signage changes and um more advertising for the the third and Washington lot.

Um for this garage, we've got a number of signs up that that state, and we'd have to work with uh our public works and our planning folks on signage rules around how we could adjust the sign um and like what we can have in the right of way because it is all within the garage right now.

There's a there is a large sign inside, like as you're pulling up to it that states the rates.

Um and then we are working also on adjustments through online social media that counselor Hassan just mentioned.

We can work on things like that that advertise it more.

Follow-up is do you have to work start working on the sign after the process?

Can you just work on making the sign?

So as soon as you get approval, just put it up there.

Can I defer to you on that one?

We the city traffic engineer is not here.

So you are the decision maker right now.

Yeah, actually, everything's gonna be ready to go.

And that's that's the whole thing is we're gonna get the land use completed, and so we can publicly actually market it and have it all ready to go.

Uh the current sign right now is not clear.

Yeah, and it's um to your point.

Yeah, we want to identify it as hey, come here, come all.

Right.

And we may even put our economic development manager out there with his own sign inviting people to come in.

Okay.

Just make sure it's shiny and Edward wants to be a human sign.

Yeah.

Counselor Tivnon.

Thank you.

I echo what other counselors have said.

I I know that this has been a long and winding road to get to tonight, um, but this does feel reflective of the feedback we've heard from the community as well as what you've heard from us on the dais.

Um thought about the third and Washington lot is when the Meadow Lurk project is fully in place and thriving.

Um, we we could see that lot um absolutely maxed out on occasion because of the limited um street parking that's available around that new uh housing.

And there's there's uh impacts that I've been worried about in relation to that project and just what it's what it could end up meaning for the surrounding neighborhood.

And so I I know this is something we can revisit as um we see how it really plays out, but I I could see that lot getting to where people are circling in it looking for a spot on occasion, and so they're gonna time it, and what does it mean to time the lot at the farmers market?

Or I mean the the lot where the farmers market takes place.

Um but I I my my dream is that we see those lots full.

We see them fully utilized and and then see what the remaining on-street impacts really are after that.

Um I'd say the only other thing that I uh I'll put here is for the branding and marketing efforts is that that comes back to council on occasion.

This is more than just about parking, it's placemaking.

Um in a big way.

And and I think one of the big lessons out of this budget cycle is we are just uh um by nature, we have to be a leaner organization and anywhere that we can maximize efforts, the we should be doing it.

And so anytime we're looking at signage in the city, um, it's it's not just informational, it is placemaking.

So it would be exciting for the council to be able to um think about that at almost in a holistic um fashion across the city.

That's it for me.

Uh thank you uh for coming back with this this evening.

What I think you heard from council is urgency.

Um you've heard it every time you come to present to us about the need um like sometimes our our city takes the path of it has to be perfect before we get going.

Parking is iterative.

I really like Councillor Hartmeyer Priggs' suggestion on using city-owned lots in the Bureau District as parking to solve some of the issues we're having.

So I hope everyone else heard that suggestion as well.

Um I think we maybe have heard it before, but I'm unknown on that piece.

What we need is the community needs to see action and they need to see things moving quickly.

And I understand our traffic engineer plays a large role in how we do placemaking and signs.

Just today on the fifth floor, I stopped a city employee to ask about having the Beaverton sign on TB Highway touched up where the beaver is our very historic sign.

I'll leave that person nameless, but they told me they had to check with the traffic engineer.

So I think the traffic engineer wields a lot of power in the city, but what we need is placemaking.

What we need is the community to feel like we're hearing and listening.

If you don't know where to park, we end up with parking issues and uh potentially pupils' cars getting towed.

We built a parking garage and we only charge a dollar and it's not used a lot.

And so, and we have a library lot, and some of counselor Tipnon's points are very relevant for a future conversation with development happening down there because it's not intended to be a parking lot for affordable housing projects or any multi-use project down there.

It's intended to spur our our business community and our needs.

So thank you.

Uh we're gonna take a vote on this tonight and just act with urgency.

We need to be a culture of yes around here, and we need to push decision making down so things can happen and not get bogged up in the middle part of this organization.

And so I would just encourage our staff.

You hear from the council at the dais, make sure you're talking to your management and getting these ideas moved and pushed.

We have to deliver value to our community this year.

We just had an entire conversation about our budget and what it means to our community.

They need to see things, not move in reverse.

Uh Counselor Huston.

I move that the council adopt resolution 4960, a resolution adopting the downtown parking plan.

Second.

It's moved and seconded.

Any more discussion on the resolution.

Seeing none, uh, I'll have the recorder take the roll.

Counselor Duggar.

Yes.

Councilor Hartmeyer Prigg, yes.

Counselor Hassan, yes.

Counselor Kimmy.

Yes.

Counselor Teeter.

Yes.

Counselor Tivdon.

Yes.

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Seven, yes, zero, no.

Motion carries.

All right.

Uh the next item on our agenda is the first reading of two ordinance.

Ordinance number 4811, fiscal sustainability street maintenance fee.

First on July 7th, 2026, during a regularly scheduled city council meeting, a public hearing will be held regarding an ordinance adding Beaverton code.

Chapter 2.09, creating a general services fee.

Ordinance number 4822, fiscal sustainability street maintenance fee.

Uh next on July 7, 2026, during a regularly scheduled city council meeting, a public hearing will be held regarding the ordinance adding Beaverkin code.

Chapter 3.05 creating a street maintenance fee.

With that, we're on to Council New Business.

Um, I'm gonna hand you guys uh a resolution that had already been sent out in advance.

Uh we have been, and the reason it's coming this way is by the time we were able to work this and get it.

There couldn't be council direction to add it to the agenda.

So we're we're doing uh a walk-on as we call.

We said it in advance.

I know that a lot of you have had conversations with the city attorney and the city manager, which is what our intended uh place to be.

Uh given what is happening uh not only in this region around data centers, but what's happening across the nation.

It's the focal part of communication at every mayor's conference I've been at.

The majority of conversations I've had at every municipal level uh between the mayors and metro and everyone else has been around data centers.

I've continued to remind people that our code uh doesn't allow it, um, which is why you don't see massive data centers in the city of Beaverton.

But I did think it was important for us to have a resolution reaffirming the city of Beaverton's values and priorities related to utility scale standalone data centers.

And so this is what I have for us tonight.

My hope is that the council would vote to adopt it.

It's just um restating everything that we have already believe in our values and what our code does and does not allow.

So that way we could our staff have a focal point to point to when we get community requests, and that way we can share with the community where our values are.

Uh the resolution came to be this was a lot of work with the U.S.

Conference of Mayors and uh climate mayors.

This is where a lot of this came from.

Uh our team drafted a good chunk of it.

Our city attorney has reviewed it for accuracy, and we sent it out.

Uh so I would ask us to adopt it.

We could read it aloud, you can give feedback.

Um I think the community deserves to hear where we are on this particular issue.

Uh let's see.

Who's first?

Counselor Duggar.

Yeah, skip new business.

All right, Councilor Hartmeyer Prague.

Cool.

City Attorney, just curious if you have any thoughts or anything that we should consider.

Um Counselor, no, as the mayor said, uh, my office worked with her on this.

And um, you know, we're we're comfortable with it as written.

Great, thank you.

Uh yeah, I think that um there's still so much to learn too about the impact of of data centers, and most of what we're finding out is negative.

Um, and like uh data centers are kind of a personal, like they affect me in a personal way because my day job is something that's affected by AI use.

And I think that we very mindlessly use technology and don't really think about the impacts of doing so.

Um, and so I'm grateful that our city code doesn't allow standalone data centers.

I think that um we're just hearing a lot of negative feedback on them.

So thank you for putting this together.

Um, I'm comfortable supporting it as written.

Well, I I would just say that like for me personally, why this is really important.

My husband and I are both on the national burn pit registry, our experience in the US military being in environments where um we don't think about the personal environmental impact to soldiers.

I've lived on military bases where water supplies are not great, where high rates of birth defects, I've had vaccines that were not authorized by Congress, and you you know, I have lost four friends that I deployed with two very rare cancers that have a direct correlation to water and uh burning of things in foreign countries that we're exposed to.

And so thinking about having facilities like this near schools, uh, we have to do better in a country that knows better.

Um, we have to protect our very vulnerable residents.

Um, I've had many conversations with like the mayor of Phoenix and other mayors that have adopted data centers and their cautionary tales of uh what happens and then the need to work in the future.

I obviously would like a stronger code that completely rewrites it.

That is a labor intensive thing when our code not right now doesn't allow it.

And so this was a bit of a compromise to uh make it a functional piece that we can press out now without using a lot of staff time.

Uh counselor Hussan uh Councilor Teeter.

Thanks.

Uh yeah, I talked to the city attorney about this after you shared it with this mayor because I had been looking through code and had not seen anything about data centers, and I just wanted to make sure if that meant that it was actually prohibited.

And yes, the city attorney conversations and uh affirmed that if it's not mentioned as code as permitted or conditionally permitted or anything like that, then it's not allowed.

And so I I like having this, so it's makes it easier for us to just say, oh, it's not in our code, so it's not allowed.

We can actually just show this to people and say, Yeah, it's not allowed, not allowed, and we've we've specifically expressed that we don't want that sort of use usage here.

We have very limited industrial land, and we're trying to protect protect that for the actual businesses that want to employ people who live here in Beaverton.

Um so I support this.

I think I really I really like this approach of doing it as a resolution rather than having to create a whole bunch of new code updates.

I think this is much easier and much more feasible and practical for us to be able to do, and it's a good quick first step.

And uh so thank you for bringing it forward.

Yeah.

And I think what we're seeing out of our neighbors in Hillsborough is when you operate in a city manager form of government, it's designed to be slow.

And so our ability to adjust to things that are happening is very difficult just because of the structure of our government.

So this was the fastest path to get something done.

Counselor Hussen.

Uh yeah, thanks for putting this together.

Um putting on my budget guiding principles hat for a second when the city manager and I sat down and worked on them.

There's actually it's not on data centers, but it talks about private development.

And so I walked away feeling like we're good in terms of like the kinds of things we would or wouldn't allow.

Part of the data center issue is is the tax breaks.

And so um, we have very specific language in our principles that say um any privately sponsored development of anything will pay its fair chair and that that there will be a partnership.

So there is something in place that I feel really good about.

I think putting together this resolution is just another way to signal that we are really strongly um hearing from our community.

So I appreciate this being put together and um happy to support it tonight.

Uh I think uh for the record, I'll just give it a quick read and then we'll we can take a vote.

Uh a resolution affirming the city of Beaverton's values and priorities related to utility scale standalone data center development, whereas regional investment and utility scale data center development has accelerated in recent years, driven by increased demand for cloud commuting, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure.

And whereas communities across the Portland Metro region are increasingly grappling with the questions related to infrastructure demands, electrical uh capacity, water use, noise transmission impact, neighborhood compatibility, emergency preparedness, and long-term community benefit associated with utility-scale data centers development.

And whereas the city of Beaverton has limited industrial employment land, much of which is located near residential neighborhoods and areas planned for mixed use, walkable and transit supported development.

Whereas the city council supports economic development and innovation while recognizing large-scale industrial uses should align with Beaverton's instruct uh infrastructural capacities, land use goals, and community priorities.

Whereas the city of Beaverton values thoughtful land use planning that balances economic opportunity with neighborhood livability, sustainability, infrastructure capacity, and long-term community benefit.

And whereas the utility scale standalone data center development is currently prohibited in the Beaverton in Beaverton and the City Council desire to support the existing prohibition now for be it resolved by the city council of the city of Beaverton.

The City Council recognizes that large-scale utility standalone data centers may create significant infrastructure land use and neighborhood compatibility impacts and supports the current prohibition on such uses in Beaverton.

Nothing in this resolution is intended to discourage or limit technology infrastructure that is accessory or incidental to otherwise permitted uses.

Mayor, I move that we adopt the resolution as read.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Any more discussion on tonight's resolution?

With that, I'll have the recorder call the roll.

The recorder would just like to note it was not received by our office nor published online for the public prior to the meeting.

So we did update the packet as late as noon today.

Okay, this has been assigned resolution number 4961, which is the next in the roster.

Councillor Duggar?

Yes.

Councillor Hartmeyer Prigg, yes.

Councillor Hassan.

Yes.

Counselor Kimmy.

Yes.

Councilor Teeter?

Yes.

Counselor Tivna.

Yes.

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Motion carries seven yes, zero, no.

It'd also be great if the city could do some communication on this as well.

That would be great.

Counselor Duggar.

Thanks, Mayor.

I've got um two uh council new businesses.

They are adjacent to one another, but I'm asking for each of your support in directing the city manager and the city attorney.

The first um I'd like to uh direct the city manager and the city attorney to work together to develop policy language banning ICE facilities within the city of Beaverton.

Um for our friends on the right, uh they don't pay taxes.

Like that that would take up important land that would be paying taxes, and we were in a fiscal environment.

For me, it's a moral thing.

Uh we know the federal government has a large budget for facilities to detain people and to generally harass immigrant communities.

That is not, in my view, that is not welcome here in Beaverton, and I would like that.

It's probably not allowed already based on my conversations with it within our zoning code, but I would like this brought forward for us in a policy.

If if we can get uh the majority or four of us to support that.

So I'm asking each of you to maybe give a thumbs up if you were willing to support uh the city manager to bring that forward.

Wait, sorry, can you clarify the specific ask at the start?

Um you mean like detention facilities?

Policy any ICE facility.

Not allowed within the city of Beaverton.

Can we do that?

Like, I don't can we say like a particular agency versus like a detention center, like I get because a detention center would be about conforming land use issues.

I agree, I'm just asking for clarity.

Are we allowed to exclude would that be in a uh could we do that?

Um mayor, I would I was not I I was expecting um perhaps something about detention facilities and whether that's compatible with our I think that's the most likely.

I think that's what we're seeing across the country.

I just don't think we could say no Department of Human Services buildings, which is basically what you're asking.

I don't know if legally we could do that.

So I think we would need, I think we would have much firmer grounds to say detention center, but that I'm not an attorney.

I'm just thinking about it.

How about how about we the ask is go as far as you can legally and then bring that back to us?

Yeah, I uh I I understand.

I mean, we've had lots of conversations, so you know we would need to read the majority of counselors saying.

So do you need a thumbs up from or do we need to talk?

Because I have a counselor several one too.

Yep.

Yep.

Uh I I mean I'm I support this philosophically.

Um I want to be mindful of staff capacity and the likeness that this could happen.

Um I do think that the budget principle that we passed included language around human rights, so I feel like it's less likely, but I just want to be mindful of like the way to direct in a way that is not putting more.

Um so I I realize that's not the answer, but I t I I hear you.

Um I don't think budget language would allow us to defend an application about a facility, but I don't think we can go as far as I I would be comfortable with you just doing some preliminary legal research on what we would need.

And so you know the city of uh Newport is $500,000 into a lawsuit over something similar.

So I just want to make sure we don't have the industrial space for that.

So I think a cursory look at like what we could do in a similar format to what we just did with these facilities would be comfortable.

But I I think we're gonna have to be more narrow because land use is very specific, and that's how we're gonna be able to defend ourselves.

I can support that.

Any other things?

City attorney about this too, because I like this idea, and I think that uh our zoning code is one of the few areas of actual regulatory authority we have over what happens in our city.

Uh I agree that it can be tricky to get the code language right.

So I think some feedback, some analysis of what we could or shouldn't say would be helpful.

Um city attorney attorney and I talked about like well, could we say like no private detention facilities?

Because we can't say like no detention facilities, because then well, what do our police do when they want to hold somebody in the NR holding sales and the police station while we while we do the paperwork for DUIs?

Like we're we we just we need to be thoughtful with how we do it, but I I like the vision behind it, um, especially if it's something that maybe it's already banned in our code and we just need another resolution like this.

So a little bit of analysis would be helpful.

Um but I I like the direction.

Cool.

I have to comment on it.

Okay.

Um I would really like us to time box this ask too, like a no more than two hour exercise, right?

We are very staff constrained in that office specifically.

Um and so I I like I I also wonder if some like as you stated, Mayor, with this resolution, like we know land use, we know ordinance, all of that is just gonna be heavy workload.

So I do I think I can support it, but I think it needs to be a very limited, like time-boxed activity.

Um just due to like capacity and yeah.

And and I did for clarity, I did talk to them, and they have they felt like they have the capacity to do this right now.

Like it that was one of my first questions.

So cool.

The second one is.

Oh, I'm sorry, there counselor Edward.

Oh, sorry.

So I'm sorry about that.

Counselor Tivnon, did you have anything on that one?

Um just add on to what Counselor Hatmeyer Prague just mentioned.

We just passed the budget, and then we're adding in some potentially sizable work right out of the gate.

And then and I know come next council meeting.

Um we'll think of more things.

So I think that that idea around uh just getting very, very clear on time is a big one.

And also that we are in a position where when we ask if someone can do something, I think staff generally want to be able to say yes to that.

And I want to be really, really careful about um asks that are made to them.

Um when I say that, I mean for myself personally.

Um, because it's very easy to say, yeah, we can make that happen.

Um, and then realize, wow, I don't I don't know if we can actually feasibly do that without pulling from something else.

So uh but I as far as the spirit of what you're saying, I am in total support of that within within um what we are truly capable of doing.

Um so yeah, if it can be time limited and get us some really good uh insight into something that is buried within our our ability to um add something to the code language, great.

Cool.

Um and then is that everyone?

And then the second one is uh very adjacent, but um also directing uh a policy creation um that any business in the city that applies for a grant, whether it be a bureau grant, city grant, whatever, if they have a contract with us, they will have to attest that they do not.

If they do, they're not eligible for any city money from in the form of our our grant programs.

Um because it doesn't feel right to me to be taking money from taxpayers and harming members of our community, and so we should minimize that.

I don't think this was gonna be a big ask.

I've talked to the city attorney.

I think it can be a simple attestation from those businesses as they apply for various grants if we have them.

Um I don't think it has to be more complicated than that.

Uh, you know, and and it could be if you're if you if we find out on the on the back end that you do, we we get the money back kind of thing.

Uh but I think this is a really important one for me.

It's these are also two things that other cities have successfully done or are working on.

Um so this felt like yeah, it's adjacent, but it was important to me uh that we direct them to create that quick policy.

If a resolution is easier on that, I'm I'm open to that as well.

I I think we'd have that is uh uh not just a legal question because if it's an adaptation to a grant, it requires stuff from the city manager's office.

So I I uh I support it in theory, but I think we need a little briefer on like what actually workload that requires from us, and then I would want it to be very narrow to immigration versus DHS as a whole, because we do a lot of work with the FBI, particularly around child trafficking, and I don't want to have unintended consequences with agencies that maybe cater or do other things adjacent to that.

And you know, I'm old enough on the city city council that we have bought in strip clubs to deal with child trafficking here, and our previous mayor was indicted on those type of charges.

So I want us to be mindful of how the language is crafted because we intertwine uh intertwine uh depot department of homeland security and ice and use that terminology interchangeably, but I think it could have an impact here.

So that's why I didn't do it.

Yeah, that's why I didn't write the language myself, because I originally was talking about DHS and I was like there, you know, after having conversations, it's more complicated in that.

So I thought best to direct them to do that.

Counselor Husson okay.

I love the spirit of what you want to do.

I agree with the values and the spirit of what you're trying to do.

I struggle because I know there are people who are doing that kind of work for their livelihood.

And so if the will of the council is to continue down this path, I'm not gonna stop us.

I know people who don't want to do that kind of work, who need to do that kind of work.

I know business owners who well, I don't, but I imagine that there are business owners who don't want to do that kind of work that need to do that kind of work.

So I just want to be really thoughtful about if you're going after like a big company, yeah, okay, I'm here for it.

Let's go.

Like I don't need to help another CEO make a ton of money.

Um, but I think there are families right now that are having to do things for work that is not in line with their values because they have to put food on the table, and I just want to be thoughtful of how we do that.

So this is just my initial gut reactions the first time I'm hearing it.

So I'm not against it, and I I respect the spirit of it.

I just want to be mindful of funds.

To be clear, this isn't preventing it.

This is saying you can't, you're not eligible for city grants if you do that work.

So you have to make the choice.

Well, I I want to like a little bit with counselor because the majority of what we see in our city is uh catering, which is why I said catering in particular, and a lot of our businesses tend to be minority-owned businesses, and so I just I want to understand the impact of what that means a little bit more before I could assign on to it.

So I do think a small amount of work from the offices to track it down, but you know, we've worked really hard to not have chain restaurants here, and so like that's the piece that I'm slightly worried about.

I think if I was prioritizing staff workload on some of the things we shared tonight, my first priority would be about the detention facilities analysis over this because I think we've got we don't have that many city grants these days.

Um so I would prioritize the other work.

Uh but if this is something small that we can do, then uh I won't push back on it.

I like the spirit of it too.

Uh Councillor Hartmeyer Brig.

Yeah, Counselor Teter, that was what I was thinking.

Um, I don't think we're giving out a lot of grants right now.

Um so I I'd say that the first ask I feel comfortable with the time box request.

I think right now I just say there's so many considerations that I think I'd rather not proceed.

Like I would not be supportive at this time.

Uh counselor gimme.

Um it's wonderful.

It's wonderful.

I'd love to do it, right?

But there but I want to consider if you're gonna do it, uh what are the possible outcome or consequences if we start um as a policy, as a code to uh prohibit federal government to activity here, ICE, whatever that might be.

Is that gonna affect our funding, federal funding in the future or not?

So those are things uh on my mind because you know they're going after sanctuary city.

So that doesn't mean I'll be against this, just there's more things that's involved.

So uh before I can support, I'm detention, of course, but if because of that reason that we might be cut off from other federal subsidies, then I'll be concerning about that.

So there are more things to talk, think about uh so I I can go ahead, but I'd like to hear more from the city attorney and other people's staff and their feedback.

So just look at the whole picture.

Where I think we're at is um the city attorney and city manager and I can work together on bringing back some information on both of the requests.

Um with the Tim sorry um and come back to the council either in this public setting or in one-on-ones.

I'm gonna take I'm gonna take over.

Are there any additional council new business items?

Seeing none, we are adjourned.