OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Jackson City Finance Committee Meeting on Planning and Communications Budgets - August 17, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, August 17, 2026
BodyJackson, Mississippi
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, August 17, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:45:41
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Okay.

0:02

All right.

0:02

Good morning, everybody.

0:04

We are calling together the finance committee meeting.

0:08

It is 10 o'clock a.m.

0:10

on Monday, August 17th, 2026.

0:14

Excited to be here.

0:15

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

0:18

Unless there are any comments from my colleagues, we can begin.

0:24

And I see Director Brown has taken the podium.

0:30

So we will begin with planning and economic development.

0:40

I was just trying to remember the looking.

0:48

So good morning, Angela Brown, Planning Development Director.

0:52

I'm here to present our outcomes for 2026 as well as our goals for 2027 and take a deeper dive into the budget that we have proposed for the upcoming fiscal year.

1:01

So the goal is to kind of celebrate some of the wins that the staff and the team have had this year.

1:08

So you'll see on your first page is just at glance look of some of the overall outcomes for the different divisions, and we'll walk through some of them one by one.

1:19

While you do have a full list of outcomes and goals, I'll just kind of hit some of the highlights as we go through this slide.

1:25

But you'll see in terms of business licenses, we've had over 2800 uh new and renewed business licenses, business licenses this year, 3,000 plus permits issued.

1:36

When we look at our code enforcement, uh we have over 2600 new co-violations that's adding to the 5,000 plus that we have now.

1:45

Um, and this with also has more than 800 have advanced to court and administrative and um both courts as that's part of that process.

1:55

Um, in terms of what we've done in the demolitions or clean properties, we spent about 900,000 for blight removal, over 40 properties.

2:03

Um, under this department, we also have housing.

2:05

We've been able to serve 600 more than 630 um individuals through our housing initiative, and we have secured some grants and outside funding that just want to highlight uh with our transit system, they received an award of 2.8 million, and then with some of our workforce programs, we've we received over 280,000.

2:26

I think one of the things that we can highlight from this year, we have made a lot of structural changes to the staff internally to have better um streamlined processes as well as kind of highest use of the staff that we have available.

2:39

Um and we've done that without adding new staff and losing over 15 staff this year.

2:44

Um, and so really trying to be more efficient in the work that we're doing, um, and even piloted some new initiatives that we'll talk about.

2:51

For you all, this is a pretty much an overview of our organizational chart.

2:56

Um with this, the only new thing uh we have combined some of the departments, the divisions, so planning and zoning, uh building licensing and permitting.

3:05

Uh, we have code enforcement.

3:06

Um, they have been merged under one group.

3:09

Um, and so where we used to have code enforcement separated between zoning, building, and community improvement, they all work together.

3:16

Also, rental registration, they're all under one uh division at this moment, economic development, housing and community development, transportation and transit, um, and the new kind of division I have put together is strategic initiatives and our innovation division that is helping us pilot a lot of these initiatives that we'll talk about, as well as helping us address the unhoused population with the program that'll be starting next month.

3:41

Um, so this is just a quick highlight, more details of I don't think I've been moving.

3:46

Okay, okay, thank you.

3:48

A quick uh overview of what we've been doing in terms of permit and licensing.

3:52

Um, this is just more details.

3:54

You can see the breakdown uh between new and renewals.

3:57

Um, it also adds in some of the other highlights with ribbon cuttings as well as surplus properties that we've been able to return to productive use.

4:05

Can I ask a clarifying question right quick?

4:08

Our printed version of this slide indicates 3,000 plus permits issued.

4:13

This is slide four, right?

4:15

Everything looks like identical except I made a change and had to resend it.

4:21

So the correct is 530.

4:24

3,000.

4:25

Yeah.

4:26

Yeah.

4:28

I think I've changed it to you.

4:31

Yeah.

4:32

We had confusion when I was doing updates and getting edits back.

4:35

Um, so it's just a minor change, but the 3,000 is the correct number.

4:39

Okay.

4:41

So in terms of challenges that you'll see, again, if you don't have questions on that slide in terms of numbers, um, the challenges that we'll see is really with the permanent licensing is the processing time and the confusion of the process, um, and then also staff training as we try to improve our communications.

4:58

We're trying to reduce our times.

5:00

Right now it's taking between 30 plus days, upward of a year in many cases.

5:04

And the goal is to really get all of our permits and licenses down to under 30 days.

5:11

So one of the things that we have piloted is a customer success center where we have moved all of the permanent licensing services to the first floor.

5:20

So as soon as you walk into the building, they have their own offices there, where instead of having to go throughout three floors and figuring out where to do zoning or permitting, everything is now in one place.

5:30

We have had some early feedback that shows that that model is successful.

5:34

Again, we have continue to have opportunities to improve the way we communicate what is needed in terms of the business licensing process, as well as the permitting process.

5:44

Zoning is also one of the things that they need a deeper clarification into when and how that process works, as well as the duplication efforts in terms of paperwork and just understanding who our licensed professionals are.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters████████████████16%
Blight Remediation██████████████14%
Economic Development█████████9%
Code Enforcement████████8%
Fiscal Sustainability████████8%
Public Transit████████8%
Public Engagement██████6%
Procedural██████6%
Community Engagement█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Jackson City Finance Committee Meeting – August 17, 2026

The Jackson City Finance Committee met on Monday, August 17, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. to review the proposed budgets for the Department of Planning and Economic Development and the Department of Communications and Constituent Services for Fiscal Year 2027. Discussions covered agency outcomes, staffing, blight removal, transit operations, PEG media, constituent services, and working conditions. The meeting recessed at approximately 11:00 a.m. and reconvened at 1:48 p.m., with several council members participating. No formal votes were taken; the committee will deliberate on Wednesday, August 19.

Planning and Economic Development Presentation

  • Director Angela Brown presented the department’s 2026 outcomes and 2027 goals. Highlights included: 2,800+ new/renewed business licenses, 3,000+ permits issued, 2,600+ new code enforcement violations, $900,000 spent on blight removal across 40+ properties, and 630+ individuals served through housing initiatives. The department secured $2.8 million for transit bench/shelter improvements, $280,000 for workforce programs, and has merged code enforcement divisions under one unit. A customer success center was piloted to streamline permitting.
  • Proposed FY27 budget: $11.7 million (general fund), down from $12.5 million in FY26. Largest line items include electric power ($4.474M), JTRAN appropriations (~$3M), and salaries ($2M). The department lost 15 staff in the prior year and plans to fill five open positions.
  • Council member Foote questioned the $7 million drop in JTRAN capital maintenance from $9.085M to $2.085M, noting that bus purchases and maintenance are not separated. He also noted a $1.15 million shortfall in permit/license revenue (collected $1.63M vs. budgeted $2.78M) and asked for a breakdown of 'other revenues' (land sales, rental registration, exams). Director Brown cited processing delays, staff changes, and absence of a large development (Hinds County jail) as factors.
  • Council member Hartley raised concerns about blight: only $650,000 budgeted for demolitions (plus $800,000 from HUD dollars). He noted that only $12,000 was collected on $900,000 spent (1.3% recovery) and called for a comprehensive blight management plan, a disaster declaration, and a dedicated investigator. He expressed frustration that $907,000 annually is insufficient for the city’s blight problem.
  • Council member Clay emphasized the need for a complete overhaul of the planning department and urged faster progress on zoning modernization, code enforcement, and rental registration.
  • Council member Grizzell stressed the need for a clear strategy, better collection of liens, and a legal/investigative person to pursue chronic violators.
  • CAO Peter Tavison noted that five million general fund dollars go to JTRAN and questioned the efficiency of legacy bus systems versus microtransit. Director Brown confirmed a microtransit RFP will go out this month and that a one-line study will be released next month.

Communications and Constituent Services Presentation

  • Director Lott presented the department’s FY27 budget request of $802,797, a 28.2% increase ($177,242) over FY26. The increase is driven by structural changes: moving PEG (Public, Educational, Government) operations from a separate fund into the general fund and transferring several divisions (action line/311, communications manager, mayor’s office coordinator) into the department by statute. Non-personnel costs (supplies, other services) are declining 42.6% combined.
  • Current staffing: 11 positions (communications, action line/311, constituent services, publications). No new full-time equivalents are proposed except a director salary adjustment and one administrative assistant (total $61,118). However, constituent services is currently staffed by only one full-time employee (Ms. Pearl Campbell) plus one person borrowed from planning. Ms. Campbell requested an additional full-time position and a vehicle. Director Lott supported this.
  • PEG Director Kaye Williams stated the top needs are a permanent studio location and equipment overhaul. She noted that PEG is not currently operational on cable TV but streams via YouTube. She also highlighted the lack of a fully operational franchise agreement with Comcast, which could provide funding.
  • 311 Manager Andy Boone reported that call volume has decreased as water and sewer operations moved to Jackson Water, but he expects an increase with a new mobile app relaunch. He requested a functional copier.
  • Publications Manager Sheila Sheriff described deplorable working conditions at a leased building: standing water for two years, electrical shortages, fleas, raccoons, inability to plug in all machinery. The city may accept donation of that building, but repairs are needed. CAO Tavison noted that moving costs money and that the city cannot make a profit from publications (government cannot compete with private sector).
  • Council discussion raised concerns about the dispersal of constituent services to a different building (Porter Building) and the poor conditions of the publications building. Council members supported relocating constituent services back to City Hall and providing Ms. Campbell with a full-time assistant and a vehicle. They also encouraged better utilization of the publications department to save money by doing work in-house.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No general public comments were made. All testimony was given by department directors and council members.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken at this meeting. The committee will hold a deliberation session on Wednesday, August 19, at 11:15 a.m.
  • Council members expressed clear support for: increasing blight funding and collection rates; adopting a blight management plan with a disaster declaration; modernizing zoning and permitting; re-locating constituent services to City Hall; adding a full-time employee and vehicle for constituent services; improving working conditions for publications; and re-evaluating JTRAN’s legacy system versus microtransit.
  • A microtransit RFP will be issued within the month, and a one-line study will be released next month.
  • The committee recessed from ~11:00 a.m. to 1:48 p.m. to allow three council members (less than a quorum) to meet privately with staff on personnel matters.

Meeting Transcript

Okay. All right. Good morning, everybody. We are calling together the finance committee meeting. It is 10 o'clock a.m. on Monday, August 17th, 2026. Excited to be here. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Unless there are any comments from my colleagues, we can begin. And I see Director Brown has taken the podium. So we will begin with planning and economic development. I was just trying to remember the looking. So good morning, Angela Brown, Planning Development Director. I'm here to present our outcomes for 2026 as well as our goals for 2027 and take a deeper dive into the budget that we have proposed for the upcoming fiscal year. So the goal is to kind of celebrate some of the wins that the staff and the team have had this year. So you'll see on your first page is just at glance look of some of the overall outcomes for the different divisions, and we'll walk through some of them one by one. While you do have a full list of outcomes and goals, I'll just kind of hit some of the highlights as we go through this slide. But you'll see in terms of business licenses, we've had over 2800 uh new and renewed business licenses, business licenses this year, 3,000 plus permits issued. When we look at our code enforcement, uh we have over 2600 new co-violations that's adding to the 5,000 plus that we have now. Um, and this with also has more than 800 have advanced to court and administrative and um both courts as that's part of that process. Um, in terms of what we've done in the demolitions or clean properties, we spent about 900,000 for blight removal, over 40 properties. Um, under this department, we also have housing. We've been able to serve 600 more than 630 um individuals through our housing initiative, and we have secured some grants and outside funding that just want to highlight uh with our transit system, they received an award of 2.8 million, and then with some of our workforce programs, we've we received over 280,000. I think one of the things that we can highlight from this year, we have made a lot of structural changes to the staff internally to have better um streamlined processes as well as kind of highest use of the staff that we have available. Um and we've done that without adding new staff and losing over 15 staff this year. Um, and so really trying to be more efficient in the work that we're doing, um, and even piloted some new initiatives that we'll talk about. For you all, this is a pretty much an overview of our organizational chart. Um with this, the only new thing uh we have combined some of the departments, the divisions, so planning and zoning, uh building licensing and permitting. Uh, we have code enforcement. Um, they have been merged under one group. Um, and so where we used to have code enforcement separated between zoning, building, and community improvement, they all work together. Also, rental registration, they're all under one uh division at this moment, economic development, housing and community development, transportation and transit, um, and the new kind of division I have put together is strategic initiatives and our innovation division that is helping us pilot a lot of these initiatives that we'll talk about, as well as helping us address the unhoused population with the program that'll be starting next month. Um, so this is just a quick highlight, more details of I don't think I've been moving. Okay, okay, thank you. A quick uh overview of what we've been doing in terms of permit and licensing. Um, this is just more details. You can see the breakdown uh between new and renewals. Um, it also adds in some of the other highlights with ribbon cuttings as well as surplus properties that we've been able to return to productive use. Can I ask a clarifying question right quick? Our printed version of this slide indicates 3,000 plus permits issued. This is slide four, right? Everything looks like identical except I made a change and had to resend it. So the correct is 530. 3,000. Yeah. Yeah. I think I've changed it to you. Yeah. We had confusion when I was doing updates and getting edits back. Um, so it's just a minor change, but the 3,000 is the correct number.

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