All right, good morning, everybody.

It is 8 30.

We'll go ahead and get our last fiscal committee meeting of the year underway here.

A little bit of a lighter agenda, just seven items in front of us this morning.

Um starting with our number one, we've got a resolution approving a six hundred eighty thousand financing agreement with fans of Valley Field uh for Sullivan Field Improvements.

So moved.

Uh good morning, Laura Claypool with the Parks Department.

It's my favorite meeting of the year because I love Joel's jacket some line.

Um so uh what you have in front of you is a resolution um between the city of Grand Rapids.

It's a financing agreement with fans of Alley Field.

So there was a grant that was um given to the right place by MEDC, and then they subgranted to fans of Valley Field.

And because we own that space, we need to enter into a financing agreement so that we can um operate that project and uh and um use those funds towards the investment at Sullivan Field.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Any questions?

No.

Um I'll just add I'm excited to see this project continue to move forward.

I'll give a subtle plug.

I know they're um just almost crossing the finish line with their fundraising goal on the private side.

So you can still buy a brick for the wall or on the ground if you haven't already.

So I'll just make that make that note.

So um with that, I'll call the question.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

I'm an aye.

The motion carries.

Item number two, we have a resolution accepting uh $25,000 grant award from the outdoor foundation for GR outside.

So moved.

And supported.

Uh good morning again.

So this resolution is uh for $25,000 grant um from the outdoor foundation.

Uh it is to continue our work with uh GR outside.

It started as an inv an original grant in 2018 for Thrive Outside.

Um and during this time, GR Outside has provided year-round recreation opportunities for over 30,000 um youth and adults in our system, and just demonstrating how important that outdoor nature-based play is for um healthy development of our community.

Yes, that's great.

Thank you.

Questions, discussion?

Oh, well, of course, you know, I'm very happy to see uh both items uh two and three, all of them before us, but um getting out outside and helping um our neighbors feel connected to nature and uh you know we build up the city, but it's also really important to invest in uh the race natural resources that we have, especially as you said, year-round.

Uh it's still great to go snowshoeing, get some fresh air, especially during the holidays where we know folks are stressed or worried.

Um so very happy to support these and um hope that we can invest even more going forward.

Yes, absolutely.

All right.

Well, in that case, I'll call the question.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

I'm an aye.

The motion carries.

Item number three, we've got a resolution approving a $90,000 agreement with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.

Okay.

Uh so this I'll move.

Oh.

Oh, support.

Thank you.

Sorry, guys.

That's the leader, all right.

Um the City of Grand Rapids is um wanting to enter into a renewed agreement with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.

It just puts an exclamation point behind um a very strong long-standing relationship um between our department and that organization.

Um the partnership is dedicated to enhancing parks, urban forestry, and natural areas.

And so the city will provide $90,000 annually to support um all of their volunteer coordination, some tree planting care, and invasive species management.

Uh Friends of Current Rapids Parks will continue to leverage their um position as a nonprofit to help uh fundraise for um for projects and programs throughout the park system.

Um and this collaboration just continues to underscore um the city's sustainability and equity goal.

So we're happy to continue this positive.

Anything to add on that one, Commissioner?

Good.

All right.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

I'm an aye.

The motion carries.

Item number four, we've got a resolution authorizing a budget substitution and the amount of fifty thousand dollars for bond issuance costs uh related to the drinking water state revolving fund.

So moved.

I'll support.

Good morning, welcome.

Good morning, commissioners.

Uh to help it's to help the water system meet its capital demands every year.

Um, they typically apply for state revolving funds to help fund those projects.

Um if awarded, we typically receive a low interest loan, somewhere around two to three percent, um, typically with some form of principal forgiveness included.

Most recently, this past summer, um, we were awarded up close to 18 million dollars in those funds.

Um issuing those bonds do come with costs of issuance, you know, legal fees, banking fees, credit rating agency fees.

Um this would allocate funds to help cover those costs of issuance.

Um this will not have any impact on fund balance because this is just reallocating excess dollars from other final capital projects.

Got it.

Thank you.

Um any questions on that one?

All right, I don't have any either.

So all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

The motion carries.

Uh that brings us to item number five.

We've got our bid list resolution for December 16th, 2025.

So moved.

And supported.

I'll turn to Miss Claren.

Uh good morning, Commissioners.

We just have uh three items this morning, fairly routine.

If there are any questions, myself or the departments are here to answer them.

So I don't have any thank you.

Questions?

Yeah, that's on page uh 11, I believe, in the agenda packet too, in case people want to read through those.

So um hearing no other questions, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

I'm also an aye.

The motion will carry.

That brings us to item number six.

We've got our comp troller's warrant report for the period of November 18th, 2025 through December 1st, 2025, and the amount of 47 million two hundred eighty thousand uh seventy-eight dollars and sixty-seven cents in our monthly travel report.

So I'll turn over to our city comproller.

Welcome back.

Good morning, commissioners.

Uh so two reports here this morning for our warren report.

Uh cash payments were released totaling approximately 47.2 million dollars.

That amount includes 5.7 million dollars for our employee payroll expense and just over 184,000 for income tax warrants.

In terms of quantity, 490 income tax refunds were issued, and 1,11 uh checks and electronic payments were issued.

Uh stated in the memo, these funds were issued for payment, not by individuals uh in the city controller's office uh and not in accordance uh with the terms of the city charter.

Our second report that we have here uh for you this morning is the October fiscal year-to-day travel report, and that report is showing uh that we spend about $850,000 or 37% of uh $2.2 million uh annual budget.

And those are both of the reports that I have for you this morning.

Awesome, thanks.

We'll go ahead and receive uh and file those, and then that'll bring us to our last item, which is our treasurer's report for uh the period of November 19th, 2025 through December 2nd, 2025.

And I'll turn to Mr.

City Treasurer.

Good morning, Commissioners.

Morning.

Uh with our report today, um, some things have happened.

We did have another 25 base point rate decrease.

Um, but as we've looked at the different uh components to that or the voting members, there's still a lot of um uncertainty with their direction.

Some want to see more cuts, some don't.

Some even are saying we need to pause for a long period of time until the data shows itself.

Um today we are gonna get the jobs reports for November, so we're gonna start seeing more information on jobs and where we are.

The expectation is that inflation or the uh unemployment rate will go up uh to 4.5% is the expectation from 4.4, so just a slight increase.

And actually the bigger number uh today is that or this week is gonna be Thursday when the consumer price index comes out.

So we're gonna start seeing some of those that information that we've been lacking.

Again, like they had said, they're not gonna go back and publish prior months reports, they're just moving forward.

So this is this could be a pretty uh interesting number that comes out, and we'll see what it does in terms of the markets and and people's expectations.

Um really, other than that, we're looking at our our portfolio holdings.

We're at 716 million, earning 3.4 percent.

Uh just to point out one item the uh capital improvement bonds 2024 for Scribner.

That's at 4.3 million, almost 4.4 million.

We've now surpassed the two-year drawdown schedule on that.

And so even though the rates was five and a quarter, the day after this report published, that rate dropped to 2.75 percent.

So when we go out and bid these, we try to get the best possible rate we can for that drawdown schedule.

But if we go beyond that, then it's gonna go back to more of a market rate of what the banks are gonna offer at that point in time.

This is what kind of pushes our our departments to say, look, um, you need to spend this money toward two year drawdown schedule so that we don't run into any issues like this.

I mean, right now I 2.75% is probably what we issued the bonds for.

2.753% is kind of a wash, but it'd be nice to get rid of that money because I know that the project still has bills coming through.

So that's our report for this week.

Awesome.

Thanks.

And just to clarify, so Thursday, the inflation data is is gonna be aggregated for the past several months, or that's just gonna be the previous they're not going back.

It's just it's just the numbers they have for the current period.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, that's good to know.

And then um, I've heard some information about wage growth too.

I is there anything you know or can share about that?

It seems I've heard wage growth is is up uh even with inflation kind of sticking higher than expected.

I think the wage growth it it depends.

You're gonna see pockets of area it's gonna go up.

Yep.

For us, we all have our unit contracts that have all been settled, so we already know the guide path for us is we're gonna see what four percent for the next two years, next two contract periods.

So um we're obviously gonna see the wage growth continue, but the question is is whether or not um it's gonna keep up with where the inflation is.

Right.

So obviously prices are gonna, you know, with tariffs and everything else, prices are still gonna go higher.

The question becomes, is it gonna still match what we can currently are getting in our take-home paychecks?

Yep, yep, exactly.

So and I had I thought I had heard that the wage growth currently at least was outpacing inflation, but again, it's just uh I don't know, um goes to the case.

I think yeah, my financial report reflected that.

Okay.

So we were talking, given my data was from you know, because I got so delayed.

It was like over a month old at that point, but um it so it was it was kind of an interesting dynamic where we were still seeing you know consumer demand out there and things like that because of you know that dynamic.

But like John's saying, there's a lot of cross currents going on.

Yep, for sure.

Yeah, yep.

Yeah, definitely uh just goes to show there's some bright spots, some scary spots a little bit.

So we'll just continue to wait and watch.

But um Commissioner, do you have any questions or thoughts?

All right.

Sounds good.

We'll go ahead and receive and file that then.

Um and that will conclude our meeting at 8 41.