Kansas City City Council Meeting: Audit of Police Fund and Homeless Winter Plan – November 3, 2022
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Kansas City City Council Meeting – November 3, 2022
Note: The transcript of this meeting is dated October 27, 2022, but the meeting is specified to have occurred on November 3, 2022.
The meeting opened with a motion and second, which passed unanimously. The primary agenda items included an audit report on first‑quarter spending from the Community Policing and Prevention Fund (CPPF) and a presentation on the extreme weather plan for people experiencing homelessness.
Audit Report: Community Policing and Prevention Fund (CPPF) – Fiscal Year 2023 First Quarter
City Auditor Doug Jones presented the audit, which examined whether the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) spent the CPPF as intended by the City Council during the first quarter of FY2023 (May–July 2022). Key findings:
- Spending Rate: KCPD reported spending approximately one‑third of the funds appropriated to the CPPF in the first quarter.
- Special Operations & Traffic Division: The full $2.6 million appropriated to this category was expended. KCPD used its general fund to cover remaining operations in this area.
- School Resource Officers (SROs): The department allocated expenses for five SROs for six of seven pay periods and four SROs for the last pay period.
- Community Action Network (CAN) Centers: Two officers were allocated to the Metro Patrol CAN Center for all seven pay periods, and two officers to the East Patrol CAN Center for the last two pay periods.
- Process: KCPD’s fiscal division developed a manual process to report spending; while accurate if operated as intended, it is labor‑intensive and carries risk.
- No recommendations were made in the audit; no management response was requested.
Discussion and Questions
- Councilwoman Parkshow asked about trends for future quarters. Deputy Chief Neil Mayer and Captain Josh Hynan responded that hiring of 88 new officers is the goal, with four academy classes planned for the year. Spending on officer salaries and other categories will increase as officers progress through the academy and receive step increases.
- Councilman Barnes questioned whether underspending in some categories (e.g., hiring fewer than 88 officers) would allow KCPD to reallocate funds within the CPPF. The police representatives indicated they would use excess funds to cover underfunded categories, but Councilman Barnes expressed concern that the council’s intent was to hire 88 officers.
- Councilman Allington asked about the $300,000 spent on enhanced cell phone analytical software (used for GPS tracking in investigations) and questioned why that amount was not part of the IT/forensic category. He also raised concerns about the allocation of funds to technology versus community officers. He requested a business session to discuss IT consolidation.
- Councilwoman Robinson asked about the disposition of unspent funds. City Manager (or legal counsel) explained that funds could either return to the city or be transferred within the police budget by the Board of Police Commissioners. She also noted that the special operations division had fully expended its CPPF allocation and would rely on general fund transfers.
- Councilman Hellington (likely Councilman Ellington) asked about the impact of short staffing on overtime costs. Deputy Chief Neyer stated that overtime is significantly over budget due to the need to fill vacant positions, and that salary savings from unfilled positions are often consumed by overtime.
- Radios: Councilwoman Robinson asked about the status of police radios nearing end of life. Deputy Chief Neyer confirmed that radios are at end of life, with no support from the manufacturer, and that a lease‑to‑purchase arrangement is preferred but requires city contract authority. The vendor has a deadline for pricing.
Extreme Weather Plan for Unsheltered Residents
Josh Hinges, Homeless Prevention Coordinator, presented the 2022–2023 extreme weather plan.
- New Capacity: Approximately 154 new beds are available this winter, compared to last year. The main hub for men is Hope Faith (80 beds, with ability to increase capacity). Restart provides 15 single rooms and 2 family rooms for women and children; True Light provides 10 single rooms and 2 family rooms. Shelter KC and City Union Mission each expanded by 15 beds in both men’s and women’s shelters.
- Change from Last Year: The city moved away from using the Garrison Community Center due to neighborhood disruption (after‑school programs were affected) and transportation issues. Hope Faith is a known location on a main transit route.
- Operations: Shelters will remain open regardless of temperature thresholds, allowing up to three times more days of operation compared to last year. Street outreach will continue through the Core Group, a coalition of trained professionals who can respond citywide.
- Donations: Cold‑weather gear can be dropped at Hope Faith for distribution.
- Resources: A “street sheet” (resource guide) is available quarterly from the Kansas City Public Library, and a document “10 Things to Consider” was created for faith communities wanting to open warming centers.
Discussion
- Councilwoman Robinson noted the gap between the point‑in‑time count (711 unsheltered) and the 154 new beds. Hinges explained that not all unsheltered individuals will use warming centers (due to domestic violence, LGBTQ+ concerns, mental illness) and that a low‑barrier emergency shelter is needed. He also mentioned a forthcoming camp decommission strategy.
- Councilwoman Robinson encouraged reaching out to churches and organizing training. She also asked about providing resources to tent encampments. Hinges confirmed that outreach teams distribute donations and maintain relationships.
- Councilwoman Parkshow highlighted an ordinance being introduced (co‑sponsored with the Mayor) to authorize use of leftover funds from the previous year’s extreme weather plan to implement this year’s plan, without new appropriations.
Key Outcomes
- Approved motion: The meeting’s opening motion passed unanimously (presumably adopting the agenda or minutes).
- Next audit: The auditor expects to release the second‑quarter audit report by December 2022, with a faster turnaround.
- Ordinances Introduced:
- Ordinance co‑sponsored by Mayor Lucas and Councilwoman Parkshow to reallocate existing funds for the extreme weather plan.
- Ordinance introduced by Councilwoman Robinson and Councilman Ellington to provide $175,000 in emergency one‑time funding to reopen the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council center; referred to committee.
No formal votes on the audit or plan were taken; they were presented for discussion.
Meeting Transcript
Session of October 27, 2022. Is there a motion? Second. So moved and seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. All opposed. The motion passes. First item is audit, second item is audit report, the fiscal year 2023 first quarter police spending from the community policing and prevention fund. City auditor. Good afternoon, Mayor Lucas, members of the city council, Doug Jones, City Auditor's Office. I'm here to present our audit of the police department spending from the community policing and prevention fund for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. I will discuss the audit objective, provide a little bit of background, and summarize our findings. In front of you are copies of the audit report, highlights page, as well as the presentation slides. The team for the audit was Jonathan Lequeur and Vivian Z. In March 2022, the City Council passed ordinance 220216, creating the community policing and prevention fund. The ordinance also directed the city auditors to schedule and conduct quarterly audits of the Board of Police Commissioners' efforts to meet the city's expectations as outlined in the ordinance and report to the council as soon as practical at the end of each fiscal quarter. Our audit focuses on whether the police department spent the CPP fund as expected by the city council during the quarter. To answer our objective, we assess the method the police department developed for reporting the CPP fund spending, summarized all reporting categories, and evaluate the accuracy and eligibility of expenditures allocated to school resource officers and community action network fund categories. We conducted the audit in accordance with government auditing standards, with the exception of reporting the views of management concerning the audit because we did not make any recommendations in this report. Police department reported spending about a third of the funds appropriated to the CPP fund and allocated these expenditures to eligible spending categories. A summary of spending allocated each category shown exhibit one on pages two and three of the report. The police department's fiscal division developed a process that, if operated as intended, will accurately report to the city the department's quarterly use of the fund. The process does carry some risk because it is manual. Additionally, it is labor-intensive and time consuming for police department staff. $2.6 million of the CPP fund was appropriated to the special operations division and traffic division category. The police department reported spending the full appropriation and using the department's general fund to cover remaining operations in this category for the first quarter. For the first quarter, we verified whether officers were assigned as school resource officers in Kansas City Public Schools and East Patrol and Metro Patrol Community Action Network Centers. Established community network action centers, community action network centers in the East and Metro Patrols was a city expectation. The department reported allocating the expenses of two officers to the Metro Patrol can center for all seven pay periods during the first quarter and two officers in the East Patrol can center for the last two pay periods of the quarter. Another city expectation was dedicated school resource officers for public schools in Kansas City. The department allocated the expenses of five officers for six of seven pay periods and four officers for the last pay period of the quarter. A breakdown of how the police department allocated expenses to each community policing and prevention fund category for the first quarter starts on page five of the report and continues to the end of it. We plan to verify the expenses of some of these categories for some of these categories in future quarters. We did not request a response from the department because as I said, we did not make any recommendations in this report. This concludes my presentation. What questions do you have? And representatives from the police department are also here to answer questions you may have. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any questions for the city auditor? All right. Seeing none. Thank you. Thank you. Councilwoman Park Show. Well, I don't know that I have questions for the auditor, but uh for uh the police KCPD that's in the room, I I would just like to maybe ask since this is first quarter expenses, what if and if you're not able to answer this today, I'm okay with that. But um, can you give us some insight on the future quarters and kind of what's going on today and uh how you anticipate this these percentages changing over this the rest of this year? All right, from the police department, do we have a I guess Deputy Chief Neyer? Uh and I don't know if you caught the councilwoman's question, but uh we can repeat for you if you get the chance deputy chief Niemyer with the police department. This is Captain Josh Hynan.
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