I am taking one to get this one.

Oh, you went.

Good evening.

And welcome to the fourth recitation board of directors' study session on this August twenty-sixth of twenty twenty-five.

With that, we will go to the first item on the agenda.

Departmental Service Objectives to the Finance Department in preparation of the twenty twenty-six budget cycle.

I'll turn this to Andy Richards to go through what was reported.

One of the first steps here is we have collected from all the different departments, the service objectives for 2026 as well as their KPI measurements and outcomes from their 2025 uh service objectives.

Now this was done.

These are uh compiled and put together um you know within the last couple weeks and then you had your your strategic uh session Friday.

Um so you know, if there's anything that needs to be implemented from the outcome, I mean we can definitely modify that as we go through the budget process.

Um, but I'll stand for any discussion or questions you have and answer them as best I can.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

This time we will uh go to the board director Rigo, you recognize.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I I have a uh variety of questions across a few different uh departments that I would you know hope the uh department head, if they're here, you know, would be able to to speak to.

There's kind of some clarifying questions based on the stuff that was written down here.

Is that all right?

Yes, you you may proceed.

Go ahead.

Well, the first ones uh are in city administration, that's the first um section there in the packet, and on page six, um there's a couple of things, Jeff, you know, talking about a service objective being identifying a solution for funding mechanisms to facilitate capital improvements for water treatment and transmission infrastructure.

Um you mentioned in the paragraph underneath there that you know there was a a suggestion around a rate increase providing capital funds that was not implemented, of course.

So, and then you it says here, and I assume you wrote this, no funding mechanism for these water projects exists, which I'm not disputing that characterization, but when you say that a main service objection is is trying to identify those funding mechanisms, I mean what what what do you have in mind?

What are you eyeballing?

Well, I'm I mean, in terms of more appropriately would say no funding mechanism has been determined, I guess, instead of exists.

I mean, it certain certainly does exist, and I think that it is it is going to be a um discussion that revisits uh water rates to some degree and uh you know uh any any other um funding that we can identify that can go towards those projects, and I don't know what that is currently.

And so I I just wanted I needed to mention it here because that needs to be something that we uh particularly as we as I think as we get through hopefully the modification of the consent decree, we get those projects bonded and underway and moving.

The the next focus, the the next main focus that we need to do is turn our attention to the water projects and how we intend to pay for those improvements that are needed.

And that's that's the I was trying to relay here.

Okay.

I think Director Martin had thoughts on this item as well.

I have a uh a question on city administrator.

So when you're done, I'd say that just had one other one under item three you talked, Jeff, about continuing to identify efficiency of city service delivery and facilities management administration intends to reorganize and right size city staff.

Uh talk a little bit uh for us about what right sizing means to you, because you talked about obviously the natural attrition uh of you know retirements or people stepping away, perhaps vacancies not being filled, uh but you also talk about reducing operating costs and ensuring that the city organization is not too big.

So I guess I'm looking for some definitional uh structure from you about what right sizing looks like and what your definition of too big is.

Right.

And as far as too big, I don't know.

But the but what it is, what I do know is that we have passed in 2025 we passed a budget that had an operational deficit.

And you know, we're we're starting the process for 2026 and we're looking at well what things are going to change uh as we look at the 2026 budget in order to make adjustments to live within.

I mean the board has has emphasized to me and others on staff, and Andy and I have agreed and you know, we've talked administratively as how are we going to uh put forth a 2026 budget that meets these goals that the board uh has has relayed to me in terms of uh not passing a an operating deficit.

Well there there are there are many ways to do that, but we've also talked about other needs that the departments have, equipment related and and things like that, that and we talked some the other day about we recognize that there are a lot of needs.

We recognize that there is a a finite amount of dollars to this, and if we're going to start meeting some of those needs in terms of equipment, well then other things need to give.

We have financial policies in place that's you know, if we're uh going to budget a um anything that it starts uh putting a uh our reserve fund at less than 25 percent, then we're not supposed to consider capital in addition of capital.

If it gets well, I think below 20 percent, we're supposed to start talking about reducing the staff sizes.

And so um that that's is really where we're getting to.

If we're looking at do we have too many people on staff, do we have too many budgeted positions?

Can we afford to allow vacant positions to uh to expire or go away or be removed from our budgeted list?

And and that's where we that's where we start talking.

Do we have, you know, I think eleven eleven hundred or so, eleven twenty-one in terms of budgeted full-time positions.

Is that too many for our uh town our size with the revenues that we have and the the uh the things that we need to accomplish with our budgets?

Okay, and then the last thing I had in there was uh a couple sentences later you say for 2026 administration prefers to pull back new initiatives.

What new initiatives would you like to see pulled back?

Well, in terms not specific new initiatives, but anything in addition to what we're trying to do.

I think there is a and you know, the this is my impression of staff is that they we feel like we have a lot of things that we're trying to catch up on or finish before we start into something new.

And my my impression with with these sentences, these this phrase is to say, you know, we need to focus on the things that we're currently doing, finish those, get those in a good place before we then try to go on with something new.

Because I think that I think that goes hand in hand with some of the the comments I just made in terms of uh staff has a finite amount of time, we have finite amount of resources to dedicate to doing projects.

We need to do the ones that we are doing and do them well before embarking on something new.

Now, obviously that doesn't mean if there's a a new board objective or the new direction from the from the board or the residents, frankly, that says we need to do another particular thing.

We certainly will we'll give a look at that.