Kansas City Business Session Summary - March 2, 2023
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Kansas City Business Session - March 2, 2023
The Kansas City City Council held a Business Session on March 2, 2023, in the 26th Floor Council Chamber. The meeting included approval of previous minutes, presentations from the City Auditor's Office on the annual audit plan and a governance risk assessment of boards and commissions, a detailed audit of the Community Policing and Prevention Fund (CPP) for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, and a presentation on the new IRIS on-demand transit service partnership with KCATA. A motion for a closed session to discuss legal matters and employee labor negotiations was approved.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the Business Session of February 23, 2023, were approved by a voice vote with all in favor (no opposition noted).
Discussion Items
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City Auditor's Office – Governance Risk Assessment Scope Statement: The City Auditor presented a scope statement for an audit of selected boards and commissions. The audit aims to assess governance practices of boards that expend significant public resources (nearly $400 million in fiscal year 2022). A governance risk assessment checklist will be distributed to component units and 27 additional boards required to file conflict-of-interest disclosures. The audit is expected to be released in August 2023.
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City Auditor's Office – Annual Audit Plan for Fiscal Year 2024: The Auditor presented the annual audit plan, noting a goal of issuing nine audits in fiscal year 2024 (a 50% increase over the current year's goal of six). Planned audits include assessments of hiring practices, cybersecurity incident response, TIF reimbursements, recycling, and utility street cut repairs. The plan was described as flexible and subject to revision based on council directives or emerging issues. Councilmember Bough asked specifically about the TIF reimbursement audit, and the Auditor clarified it would evaluate whether city departments are requesting reimbursements from TIF projects in a timely manner.
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Audit of Community Policing and Prevention Fund – Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2023: The City Auditor's team presented findings on the police department's spending from the CPP fund (established by Ordinance 220216 in March 2022). Key findings include:
- The police department reported allocating approximately 21% of the $33.36 million CPP fund in the second quarter, totaling about half of the fund spent through the first two quarters.
- Hiring of new officers: The department allocated $733,246 for 36 new officers (from Academy Class 174, which began prior to the fund's creation). The city council had expected classes to begin on or after May 1, 2022. Projected total spending for new officer hiring is no more than $2.5 million of the $4 million allocated.
- Crime lab expenses: All $2 million allocated for the crime lab (including DNA detection software) was spent on personnel by the second quarter; no DNA software was purchased. Police financial services stated the crime lab's budget is $5.5 million and the CPP allocation was insufficient for salaries, let alone equipment. The department did receive software through the police foundation.
- CAN centers: $400,000 was allocated for CAN centers in East and Metro Patrol. Through the second quarter, about $113,000 was spent, primarily on salaries for four officers assigned to community outreach, not on physical centers. Councilmember Parks-Shaw expressed concern that the plan for community-based centers may not be moving forward, but police staff indicated they are still exploring office spaces in neighborhoods.
- Councilmember Bough asked about the hiring projection, and police staff noted they are on track to potentially reach 88 new officers by year-end, with 74 so far including laterals and current academy classes.
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KCATA IRIS On-Demand Transit Service Presentation: KCATA staff (Director Shaw and CEO Bill George of WHC) presented the IRIS partnership, a new on-demand microtransit service funded by the city (included in the existing KCATA service agreement). Key details:
- Service will launch in the Northland (Phase 1) on March 15, 2023, with expansion south of the river later (Phase 2). It is app-based (available on Apple and Google Play) and also accessible by phone for those without smartphones.
- Fleet includes 20 new Chevrolet Bolt EVs (fully electric) plus sedans and minivans from the Z trip fleet. Vehicles are ADA accessible with lift ramps and bike storage.
- Service area is divided into zones; trips within a zone cost $3, between zones $4, point-to-point to entertainment zones (Zona Rosa, Plaza, 18th & Vine, etc.) $10, and to the airport $15 (or $10 from Northland). Trips to or from transit hubs are free.
- Revenue model: 80/20 split (city 80%, KCATA 20%), with first-year gross revenue projected at $1.2 million. The city's annual cost is $8 million (included in existing payment to KCATA, not new funding). The service is operated by WHC under a competitive bid contract; KCATA manages the service. Councilmember O'Neill expressed desire for a path to bring the service in-house within 2–3 years; staff confirmed ongoing discussions with the union (ATU Local 1287) about that possibility. Councilmember Bunch raised concerns about KCATA's financial situation and ability to maintain existing fixed-route service levels given driver shortages; KCATA staff stated they are confident and that IRIS will complement rather than reduce service.
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Law Department Budget Presentation: Councilmember Parks-Shaw requested that the Law Department (and possibly Finance) be given an opportunity to present to the Council before the budget vote, noting they had not been heard during previous budget presentations. The Mayor indicated this could be scheduled for the next Business Session.
Key Outcomes
- Closed Session Motion: Councilmember O'Neill moved, seconded by Councilmember Fowler, to hold a closed session pursuant to Missouri Revised Statutes Section 610.021 (subsections 1 and 9) to discuss legal matters, privileged communications with attorneys, and employee labor negotiations. The motion passed by roll call vote (all present members voted aye; Mayor Lucas also voted to participate in closed session). The Council then adjourned to closed session.
- No formal votes were taken on the auditor's presentations or the KCATA program; presentations were for information and discussion only.
Meeting Transcript
That was basically just to call Councilman Barnes. Uh welcome to uh business session for March 2nd, 2023. I guess we just start with business session. Our first item is approval of minutes or business session of February 23rd, 2023. So moved. Second. And moved and seconded all in favor of approval of the minutes indicated by saying aye. Aye. All opposed. Motion passes. The city auditors, your show for a lot of this, so we'll start with your scope statement. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor Lucas. Mayors of the City Council, City Manager Platt, Doug Jones, City Auditor's Office. I am here to present our scope statement for our governance risk assessment audit of selected boards and commissions. I will outline the reasons we're doing the audit, the audit objective, the work we're going to perform, and our anticipated release date. Appointed boards and commissions in Kansas City spend significant public resources to provide important public functions such as policing, maintenance of parks, and development incentives. In fiscal year 2022, some of the boards and commissions that will be included in this report spend almost 400 million dollars in public monies. Because these unelected boards and commissions expend significant public resources, it's important that the City Council be able to exercise oversight over their activities. City Code requires the city auditor to distribute a governance risk assessment checklist to governing bodies or governing police board governing or policy boards of the city at least once every four years. The governance assessment checklist is an oversight tool the mayor and the council can use to assess how these boards and commissions operate. This tool also helps hold elected unelected boards and commissions accountable to the public and provides transparency and accountability in their operations. Governance is the exercise of authority, direction, and control by a governing board. Governance deals with what an organization is to do and is focused on planning, setting goals and objectives, and developing policies to guide the organization and monitor its progress toward implementing its plans. We identified the C6 core governance functions in our 2001 report titled Good Governance Practices for Boards and Commissions. Adhering to good governance practices can improve the effectiveness of their activities and result in boards and commissions that are accountable to the public and elected officials. Boards and commissions should follow good governance practices as they spend public funds for public good. Completing the risk assessment checklist provides them with an opportunity to review their governance practices. Our objective is to determine what governance practices the city's boards and commissions follow. To conduct the audit, we will distribute two checklists which are organized around the core governance functions. The first is to boards and commissions that are component units of the city, plus the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners. And new this year, we are distributing a second shortened list to 27 additional boards that we identified in Section 2-2024 of the City Code. These are boards whose members are required to submit conflict of interest disclosures to the city. We will compile, summarize, and report the responses in two separate reports. The checklists and the resulting reports are tools that help the council assess the governance practices of Kansas City's boards and commissions. We plan to release the audit in August of 2023. The letters requesting boards and commissions to complete and submit the checklist were emailed yesterday along with the link to the checklist survey that we're using. In the letter, I encourage the boards and commissions to take the opportunity as a body to discuss and review their governance practices as they completed the checklist, as well as posting that item on their agenda for a future meeting. I want to thank Mayor Lucas for participating in this audit by co-signing the letter that we sent to these boards and commissions. We have already received a number of emails from boards and commissions indicating they will be placing a discussion item on their agendas. In closing, good governance practices help ensure city boards and commissions are functioning effectively, efficiently, transparently, and ethically while allocating public resources and overseeing city services. What questions do you have? Any questions for the city auditor as to this presentation? Hearing none, sir. You're welcome to proceed to the next. And moving on. In front of your copies of the annual plan as well as the presentation slides. Before talking about the audit plan for next year, I have a brief update on the audits that we have for the current fiscal year. Our goal this year is to issue six performance audits. So far, we've issued four audits assessing the first quarter expenditures for the community policing and prevention fund, impact short-term rentals have on convention and tourism taxes in the city, short-term rental compliance with regulations, and the second quarter expenditures from the community policing and prevention fund.
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