You don't know yet.

Oh, you said, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the club good evening.

And welcome to tonight's budget hearing.

I believe this is the third budget hearing.

I have a letter to read tonight.

Dear Council President Pereira and honorable members of the City Council, I am writing this letter to inform you that due to a work-related commitment, I will be unable to attend the budget hearing on Monday, June 1st, 2026 at 6 PM.

I ask that you read this letter into the record to make my colleagues and those in attendance and the public aware of the reason for my absence.

Thank you sincerely, ENA Brook Counselor at large.

So first up tonight on our list of budget hearings will be the cable access enterprise fund.

I see Director James Marshall here.

I'll ask him to come to the podium.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Good evening.

Thank you, fellow counselors.

Uh first and foremost, I want to thank this body for their continued cooperation over the past year.

I believe we've always had a great relationship with members, and your cooperation uh for our efforts is always appreciated.

We look at our role as chronicling the city's history every day.

I believe we stack up against the best community media centers across the country, especially here in the Northeast.

This past fall, the Northeast chapter of the Alliance for Community Media recognized us with three first place awards and a third place award for our content.

Right now, the House and Senate uh in the legislature are they have a bill in front of them called an act to modernize funding for community media programming.

Right now, streaming services or streaming providers continue to profit from subscriptions here in Massachusetts, but they don't pay for the use of the public's right of way like cable providers do.

This bill addresses that.

Meanwhile, a bill right now on Capitol Hill currently would excuse cable companies from paying those rights of way fees.

So on one hand, you've got the state trying to secure money for the rights of way for the streamers, and the federal government is looking to give cable companies a break.

And I know I polled this group last year, and more than half of you are not cable subscribers.

In 2024, the City of New Bedford had 14,991 subscribers.

The state hasn't released the count for 2025 yet.

I look today and they're still not out.

It comes out this time of year, but I'm estimating will drop to under 13,000 subscribers.

Our department is mostly funded by a 5% grant from Comcast television subscribers.

There are no tax dollars being spent on our department.

We are completely self-supporting.

We do get $1,800 a month from the Coast Guard that pays a rent for a portion of their use of the building.

That includes their services as water, you know, all the electricity and what have you.

We pay for everything salaries, health care contributions, pension contributions, everything.

We also cover our capital expenditures, such as purchasing the building as we did in 2010, repairing the roof.

We're trying to get an air conditioning unit updated as well.

My staff continues to find ways to save monies.

For example, we worked with MIS to cut five phone lines in the building.

We dropped the amount of cable boxes in the building down to seven, and we ended our affiliation with the music that used to provide music over our bulletin boards.

They're not huge savings, but in this world every dollar is important.

And really, I mean, we're getting down to there's nothing else to cut.

Two significant events happened in this past year.

First, the mayor requested, and this city council approved the formation of a cable access stabilization fund.

The fund of just over uh five million dollars is monies that have been saved by the department since I began in the fall of 2010.

Your action will help us offset the loss of subscribers temporarily, but in the long run, we're gonna have to think about how we're going to fund this department.

It's a issue that all communities are gonna face.

Then in January of this year, we found out our channels had been changed.

While our public access channel remained the same, 95, our government channel was moved from 18 to 97.

Our education channel was moved from 9 to 96.

There was lots of confusion surrounding this move.

Other community media centers also experienced the change on that same day as well.

I notified the mayor's office, which immediately sent out an email to counselors and city staff informing them of this move.

The mayor's public information officer also mentioned the change in a press release announcing a mayoral press conference regarding our first snowstorm that year in January.

Per the contract, Comcast has the right to change channel locations.

They've got to give us notification, though.

However, I questioned Comcast about the notification uh notification process.

In March, our liaison finally sent a copy of the letter that was actually dated back in November of 2025.

Further research indicated the letter was sent to City Hall but redirected from the mayor's office.

I've asked Comcast to copy me with any further changes to the channels.

As I stand before you, I have no vacancies.

We have nine full-time employees.

However, at the end of the fiscal year, Dana De Barros will be retiring after nearly 21 years of service to the city.

Currently we have five full-time staff that cover city events.

Dropping to four does make things very difficult.

For example, last Thursday, and I already talked to Council of Pereira about this.

We had five different events from at five different times, including a state tournament volleyball game.

So we had all five people working at different times.

The position definitely needs to be filled.

We will have vacancy savings just by replacing Dana with a candidate starting at step one.

In addition, we will also save money while hiring uh while the hiring process plays out.

As we know the process does take time.

I don't believe we've ever been more important to the community.

We cover all city council meetings, planning boards, school committees, school events.

We've streamed more live events at City Hall this year, including Blizzard related mayoral press conference, election nights, and the state of the city.

As a matter of fact, I want to point out that the mayor's first press conference prior to the historic blizzard attracted over twelve hundred viewers live that day, which was more than the governor's press conference that had about 900 people.

I think we're in better position than many other community media outlets.

But again, the future is very murky.

It's not something that's gonna be solved here.

We really need help from the federal government.

And um I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you very much.

Um Jim.

Chair recognizes Council Lopes.

Thank you, Council President.

So, Jim, one quick question, and I don't expect you to have an answer, but could you provide me a breakdown of your indirect cost charges?

Sure.

That's all I got for you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Councilor Gomes.

Thank you very much, Mr.

President.

Jim, thanks for being here.

Uh Jim, can we go back to your your information that you provided?

Um as you know I had a motion on.

We were just waiting to get you in, but uh evidently it was part of your presentation tonight, so I'm gonna touch on it.

So I'm going to touch on it.

When did they notify you that they were changing the channels?

When did I actually know about it?

Yeah.

I found out about the day it happened.

The day of the January 22nd.

And we we have no governings over the positively have the ability to change channels.

As a matter of fact, other channels changed that day, commercial stations.

And why is that?

They have they have this, it's their space.

We have a contract with them, correct?

Correct.

The the failure was they're supposed to notify us.

And they did, apparently back in November.

But it look when I saw the thing, uh when I saw the bulletin, if you will, whatever you want to call it.

It looked like a bill.

I mean, I mean, not look a bill.

It looked like a you know, trying to get us to buy something.

Um it was buried in the in the in the letter that they were going to change our channels.

They were telling us, for example, ABC six, if you notice changed.

96 channels changed because they're they're dead.

No, but you said they still have the license of six.

They moved it to fifty to fifteen.

They have that, they have the right to do that.

Well, I would hope that whenever we have the opportunity to sign another contract with them if it comes up that this would be addressed because this messed up a lot of people.

And this looks a little stinky to me.

And uh that that's just my opinion.

That you would take the easiest channels that people were so used to in this city to get to government access, whether it was the public schools or or whatever, it was easy to get to Channel 18 and 19.

And for Comcast to come along and just change everything without notification.

Well, again, they did notify us.

They notify you, but the the the you just said to me that something got buried or whatever.

So you were not aware of it.

No, and I wasn't the only one.

There were communities all across Southeastern Mexico.

That were not aware that were not aware of it either.

So I guess uh on the flip side of that, and I don't mean to sound angry, we got to get Comcast in here, and they got an explanation to this city as to why they did that.

Because I I just I I don't like it.

And the good thing this isn't the first time it's happened.

I mean, they've they've Jim, it hasn't happened in decades.

That's the channels that were people were used to to get the government.

No, but you're right, but it has it has been.

I'm a fight hold on, Jim.

I'm a fighter for the people of the city.

That's simple.

And they get messed up on this, and you know it, and I know it.

I'm not saying you're wrong.

I'm just saying that they it's not the first time it's happened in the 30 plus years that it's happened.

Our channels have changed multiple times.

We went back.

They used to be 45, 46, and 47 when they first started.

Jim.

Again.

13 used to be the new station.

Government access was followed by 1718.

You get the script, and I'm sure that I I I understand what you are seeing, but that's a long time ago.

No.

And when um I'm I'm just the type of guy and many people in the city that maybe don't like change.

And again, we have a contract with Comcast.

Comcast has an obligation to us to get the right notification to us, and more importantly, give us an opportunity to fight for what we think is right or what the city deserves, considering they got a contract with no whisper, no the discussion, nothing, just the signature.

Now, just one other thing I want to ask you.

What is the programming like in cable now?

Has it stayed the same?

Do you play the city council meetings the same time at 10 o'clock in the morning at 7 o'clock at night?

The following.

I play city council meeting five nights a week.

Five nights a week?

Okay.

Because there's so many meetings that I have to run them five nines a week.

I I added up the minutes.

All right, now hold on.

You said you pay city council meetings five nights a week.

Five nights a week.

Is that the regular city council?

One of the more important things for the people who are.

The City Council meeting plays four nights four times a week.

Fourth.

Plays at ten o'clock, ten o'clock on Sunday and Monday mornings, and then it plays Monday night and Wednesday night.

And then the committee meetings play two or three.

Jim, why isn't that playing at night when people were used to it getting to a chance to do that?

It's a playing at eight o'clock.

You said two nights, Thursday and Friday.

Why isn't that the same?

No, it plays it plays Monday night and Wednesday night.

It hasn't that hasn't changed since I started.

I thought you just said Monday morning, 10 o'clock.

Well, it plays again, Sunday morning and Monday morning, 10 a.m.

So we're here.

People have the opportunity just as they had before to see it twice in that day.

If they don't catch it in the morning, the the morning.

And then it plays Monday night at 8 o'clock and Wednesday night at 8 o'clock.

And if there's a council meeting on Thursday night, it plays Friday night at 8 o'clock.

Okay.

All right.

Because when I was looking the other day, it seemed like there's a lot of stuff there that you wasn't on the government access channel.

That's uh a repeat.

You know, I can understand like the religious stuff being played on Sunday mornings or whatever.

So what about the R.

Well, then you're looking at Channel 95.

You're not looking at the government because the government channel, as I said, the council meetings I have between appointments and briefings, ordinance, they're all, you know, an hour, 50 minutes, hour twenty.

They're running every night.

Except for Saturday.

I know I'm much older than you.

I'm not losing my head.

I know what I've seen when I've put the TV on a couple of times.

So what we'll do, we'll go home tonight, we'll try it again.

You know what I'll do is I will give you the one.

When I finish, I will give you this week's schedule.

How's that?

I appreciate it.

I'll report back to you.

I know that you've tried to run a tight budget, but every little bit does help.

And if you have any extra that I think that you could um alleviate in order to keep somebody else's on a job, that would be appreciated.

Okay.

It's just a statement.

It's just a statement, Jim.

No, I understand.

I mean, we're not tax, but again, we're not taxpayer funded at all.

I mean, our budget is just for us.

I understand.

There's some money to go to you somewhere.

Somehow you get something out of the city.

You run a van that has uh city plates on it and all that, and we can start going through that.

I'm not going to do that.

And you seem to be primed and ready for me tonight, because uh maybe I didn't answer your phone call, but I had the questions that I wanted answered publicly.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Council Oliver.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Jim.

Um two quick things.

I think I ask you every year, um repairs and maintenance, uh about $20,000, $22,000 last year, $24.

Yeah, before that was 10.

Um why is that why is $20,000 the new benchmark?

I'm trying to find whether it is.

Repairs and maintenance.

The repairs and maintenance include camera repairs, labor, pest control now that we have to get.

Um budget to repair existing computers.

So the biggest of the thing is advanced.

Okay.

The uh because our heating units 40 years old.

And I, you know, I remember last year you and I were chatting about this, and they said the heating unit is fine.

It would be extr uh uh enormous cost to replace that.

So for the most part, we just have to keep advance up there.

And I am looking to replace, as I said last year when we were doing this, the AC unit up top, the bids have gone out.

I don't know where they stand right now.

And then uh vehicle uh parts and supplies.

Did you get we got a van that's a hundred thousand, it's got a hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment in it.

So if it goes out.

But just um what is what is the the service look like for that?

What is uh well yeah, routine maintenance, but i you don't know.

Yeah.

You just uh I mean it's such an expensive vehicle that you if you if I don't plan for it, then I'm hosed.

Yep.

And we also have the SUV.

Which is new, so I don't expect any issues with that, but the van is really the big thing.

Right.

The SUV was C uh CIP last year, correct?

Two years ago.

Two years ago, okay.

It's not in a blend now.

Um and then the utility bills, uh that is just a basic increase based on new rates, correct?

Uh we are given the utility rates as to what we're supposed to budget for.

Okay.

And uh is that where you you normally fall around 60,000 now?

I think it's up.

It's gonna be up.

Right now.

Okay.

All right, thank you, Jim.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Council Burgo.

Um, I just uh more so just uh uh uh statement of thanks uh for your hard work to keep your uh budget numbers together.

I you know, every year looking at your um enterprise fund, obviously as you mentioned in your opening remarks, which I think is a great educational lesson, not only just for us but the general public to fully understand where the money comes from.

Obviously, this year um the funding gap uh grew a bit.

We see here, I guess the finance uh free cash allocation of about 326,000 um grew a little bit understandably because of people like me.

I was gonna say, yeah, people like me that uh got rid of Comcast, um, as you pointed out.

Um but as we're hopefully we'll learn uh you know figure out ways uh to get that funding source back up.

I wanted to point out I was looking back at our past cuts.

What I do oftentimes is look at okay, well w when a department comes before us, where are areas where the council looked at your budget last year and cut you.

Um I know we had increased your vacancies, in particular your 100 account with your personnel services where the de um administration had already had a three percent baked-in vacancy, so a total of about th uh with our combined increase of a two percent vacancy that had passed, as well as the mayor's three percent of a five percent total is around thirty-seven thousand dollar cut, and you were able to maintain that.

We I know the council just approved a transfer, but it was a transfer within your own department.

So I just wanted to commend you on that, being able to manage your department within the the funding source that you have.

I wanted to use it as an opportunity really to ding the administration because we see oftentimes when the council takes these votes to say, hey, find areas where you can cut work within these numbers and you have to move money around, whether in in this case you moved, I think it was six thousand eight hundred fifty dollars from your supply line to backfill that area where we had uh increased vacancies.

Obviously, like like I said, it was thirty-seven thousand dollar uh cut, but at the end of the year you only need to fill six thousand of that from your supply line, you're able to do that.

Um those are the kind of things that we need to be doing as a whole for a city.

Um and you have achieved that model year after year.

So I appreciate that.

Maybe uh the CFO's office and uh the mayor can be looking at you for that model.

So I appreciate the work that you do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

So from the chair.

So obviously I'm hopeful to to your point earlier in your presentation, Jim, that uh Beacon Hill will take some sort of action to help start funding our our scheduling uh your uh department and your counterparts across the state, because I do think it's an important service you provide.

And I just don't know if it's another item uh as essential as it is that the taxpayers can pay at this time when these subscribers, uh these subscription-based services have uh basically uh uh blown the the changed the market completely.

And and that's something that should be addressed, and I'm glad that is.

So but if we continue on this trajectory, giving you our uh a free cash uh uh bank, so to speak, that you have, how how long can you survive?

It's a good question.

I think a general fund subsidy.

Correct.

You you're guesstimating that.

Because the thing is is I don't really know what we're going to get every quarter.

For example, in the in the winter time with the blizzard, uh viewership went up.

People were buying movies online and people were, you know, if they had um um like UFC fights or something like that, you're buying those events, we're getting the cut.

But in the summertime, you people are cutting the court.

So it's it's a guesstimate.

I think in our last quarter, we went up, actually, compared to the previous month, uh previous quarter, which stunned me.

Yeah.

But again, it was winter time and people were inside.

So I mean, our contract runs into to the answer to the council of Gomes question until 2031.

Okay.

So you know that you're going to get a percent, you're going to get something from Comcast until 2031.

Okay.

Five percent of whatever the revenue is.

Of Comcast.

Of television subscribers from Comcast.

In this in the city.

So my question on based off of that uh Jim would be we're no so we're not talking this is gonna sneak up on us in two years or a year.

I would I mean, Bob and I have talked about it.

I mean I I don't know.

I'd like to think it, you know, I thought I'd like to think five years is a a good number.

Okay.

I don't know.

I guess my concern would be if this is something that would would occur where you would need a general fund subsidy in two fiscal years, that should be conversations that begin now, I would say.

Uh but if you're uh to sounds like we're we're confident that they'll there'll still might be uh uh uh subsidies from uh the the free cash allotments or such, but not a general fund subsidy in those in those two years.

Right.

I mean I think that we're fine for two years for sure.

Okay.

Um because uh like I said, that stabilization fund is huge.

I mean there are other communities right now that are struggling.

Like they're looking to close.

Right because they don't they never save money.

Gotcha.

And you know, and they're in the same boat.

Sure.

I uh I just think that it's a good it's a we're in a good position comparatively, but it's still we should be planning and hope hopefully a continuously lobbying for these bills on Beacon Hill to get passed.

The I can tell you that the legislative delegation supports it.

I I would argue that this is just me from what I've observed is that if you put a vote on the House floor or the Senate floor would pass overwhelmingly, the problem is you've got to get the bill on the floor.

And I think that leadership is the issue.

Okay.

Yeah, that's that's the if the speaker and the Senate President don't want it, it's not gonna get on the floor.

But I think that the majority of because this affects every community in Massachusetts.

Yeah, yeah, right, right, right.

Yeah, and it's a great service, and I I I think it would be uh a real real problem if it goes away.

And and on the other hand, we have to balance that with the with the financials, the finances of the city.

So all right, Jim, thank you.

Excuse me.

Counselor Gomes.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'm just figuring backing off of your comments um to Jim Marshall.

Jim, what do you see as the legislative work being done?

Are they on a moving track knowing?

Well, it's actually in the House.

I'm surprised it's in the Ways and Means Committee to be honest.

It passed the uh technology committee and it's gone to Ways and Means.

Do they keep in touch with the directors of um the these stations across the country?

Well, I we're part of one of the things that we do is we subscribe to the Alliance for Community Media, which you know, and Mass Access.

So they keep us informed of where it is.

But again, and it's funny because I was at a conference last year in Boston and the national conference was actually held in Boston.

And I was talking to the director of Mass Access and he was saying, Oh, you got to lobby your legislators, blah, blah, blah.

And I I cornered him and I said, okay, that's not real though.

Because I know all my legislators would vote for it tomorrow.

I said, where's the speaker stand and where's the Senate president?

He was stunned.

He's like, how do you know that?

I'm like, that's how it works.

If they don't put it on the floor.

So they the it they should have some consideration for that.

Um the last thing.

I just want to add to what you're saying.

The director of Quincy Cable Access and the Director of Ashland Cable Access could be and should be the most influential people in getting that bill passed.

Because the Senate presidents from Ashland and the speakers from Quincy.

So actually Comcast could come along, still give a contract to the city, but say no more of this.

We're not no, they have to, because they have to give us that percentage to the case.

Correct.

You can't go any higher.

Five percent is the maximum.

Okay.

But the dwindling numbers make the money less.

Correct.

If we lose another two thousand, the we lose money.

Oh, I see.

So you're if I'm not mistaken, you're kind of asking, do they reach a number where they would just cut cable?

Is that what you're saying?

I I I honestly don't know the answer to that.

We don't know the the answer to that.

Because like I said, till 2031 where.

You know, but the listen, the reality is is, you know, you were joking last year at this time that you and Councillor Carney and Council Morrad were the people that still had it.

And I still have it.

I know you do, but it's just a lot of people.

I've wanted to cut it every time I see the bill.

It's the young people, it's it's Councillor Burgo's fault.

Councilor Burgle will have to come over to my house and teach me how to do this live streaming and all this other stuff that is in the higher technology.

And uh on a on a serious note.

Um last question, and it should it shouldn't even be asked there in budget.

Do you foresee cable in any way getting into technology that would take us into the fight if you understand what I mean as far as the live streaming and all that.

You say you see the cable is cutting us off, but will do you see any way that this could blend with everything else that's in the street streaming or whatever.

So everything that we provide, everything that we shoot or produce is on is on the city's website.

And uh and I would venture to guess that most people watch, I know Councillor Um Oliver does, watches our stuff on the city's website.

It's easy, it's fast, it's right there.

You just click what you want, and that's it.

That's the what people want.

You don't have a number on that.

No, you can't.

There's no there's no count.

All right.

Thanks, Jim.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Counselor Pemberton.

Hi, Jim.

Thanks for being here.

Uh I just basically just want to say is that uh I uh I mean I know how important it is to have cable here.

I mean it's it's uh you show all the city council meetings.

Uh I know from first hand how you know what you do there.

Uh you know, you're there for the community.

Uh you know, we're able to go there.

Uh learn how to uh learn production.

Uh you know, even have a vote show if we wanted to, and I know that firsthand.

Uh so I mean I think it's something that uh is good for the city that uh that we still need uh to have the cable access here.

I just want to just mention that podcasting's been a huge thing.

I know Council Gomes is just talking about technology, podcasting's been huge.

A lot of people doing podcasting down the station.

That's what I was talking about.

There are a lot of people.

Yeah, yeah.

We've given given classes and they are very popular.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jim.

All right, he's on our roll.

Counselor Gomes.

We're right back.

Uh you you're saying about the podcast and stuff like that.

Would that mean revenues from them sources if we were able to touch that technology in some way?

No.

No.

No.

Because we that would be a violation of the the the contract.

No, I'm saying separately.

You see you you just said like we can go on YouTube and you can see the council over.

Streaming.

We don't put city council on YouTube.

It would take forever.

Could we do could we do things like that?

You could put things.

Making it more available to people.

You could put everything it's it's a double-edged sword.

The more you make it available, the less people are gonna watch TV.

I don't care.

I just care about getting information in the city right now, Jim.

Excuse me.

Did you know as well as I do, the media is dead.

No.

But the thing is too, is that's the revenue though.

Remember, and that's been one of the biggest problems, is because this group, you know, looks watches our stuff on the Granicus, which isn't ours, that's on my ass.

But they watch it on our on streaming, they watch our stuff on YouTube, which is great.

It's great to provide that.

But the double-edged sword is we don't make any money from that.

I understand.

Do you understand how informative this station used to be, even when you had the news with Jim and all the rest of the state?

Well, we didn't have we didn't have news.

That you didn't have the news, but it came out of the studios in some way and it was connected or or whatever to the contract.

Yes.

They were paying for it.

They took that money away, and that's why that went away.

I'm just I'm what I'm trying to say is how to get the news to the people.

We keep we don't have a news meeting anymore.

The news media we have reports what they want.

You've been involved in uh news for a long time, and you know that this building used to cook.

The smallest committee would have two reporters sitting in there every night with a five member committee, um whether it was from a radio station, matter of fact, two radio stations or the standard time.

We're dead in this city.

We're not getting into the city.

And then we go harassing down you right now afterwards.

You understand what I'm saying?

I understand that.

It depends on cable, really.

For and with the lower um subscription, it's not even reaching the entire city.

We have a city of a hundred and who knows the number.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Council Loops.

Thank you.

So going back to one of the questions the council president asked, do we track the number of drops in a year and then average looks what a three-year average would look like based on that five-year contract.

So let's say 900 people drop this year.

The three-year average has been thirteen hundred people.

I can tell you that the average usually is about 2,500 to 3,000.

A year.

A year.

All right.

So let's just take that data and say 9,000 people drop between now and 2031.

Have we estimated what your revenue would look like?

Well, again, the revenue is hard because you don't know what people have, what package people have.

Okay.

There are people that have basic, the senior citizens have that really the the low basic.

And then you have the people who have Cinemax and all sorts of stuff.

So you can't really judge because there's no basic cost.

It depends what and if again, if you're buying things like movies and whatever that just come out, we get that too.

Okay.

So taking that understanding, if I took your lowest year of revenues coming in, establish that as my baseline, and then I add three thousand people dropping a year from that baseline.

In 2031, are you still generating positive cash flow to s to handle yourself based on an enterprise situation that you are?

Oh, I think well.

So I'm not gonna ask for an answer today.

I already saw the pen was writing.

I don't expect it between now and the end of the budget season, but I would like it, you know, within the third quarter of the calendar year, just a synopsis of it.

I don't need it by the end of the budget season.

Yeah, I don't know.

That's gonna be hard to answer, but we'll see what we can do.

Yeah, if we just use your your lowest year as your baseline, and then we project three thousand people a year from there dropping until 2031.

What does that look like in fiscal year 2031?

Yeah.

It's just it gets to what the council president was asking.

You know, what does it look like before you got to touch that reserve?

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Thank you.

All right.

Jim, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

All right.

Next up is Manny De Brito, uh Chairman of the Board of Elections.

It'll be on our in our budget books on pages 47 through 51.

Manny, good evening.

Hello, counselors.

How are you doing tonight?

Um thank you for having them having me.

Um big election year.

I mean, every year is a big election year, but um state primary, state final election, um just you know we're trying to provide a safe, secure, accessible election, every election, and that becomes um more and more challenging, you know, with the climate in the country and you know, some of the demands on election departments across the country, not just New Bedford, not just Massachusetts, but um there's a there's a lot more demands on all of us.

I'm blessed that my staff's gonna be mad at me, but we have like over a hundred years combined of experience in my office.

Um people have 80 years, 40, 40 years.

So they're getting close to their retirement age.

They look better than me and get around better than me.

So um that should tell you a lot.

Um but you know, luckily we have that, and one of the things that I think we've been able to do over the past couple of years is invest in things that will make us more efficient and allows us to cut some cost as far as you know uh personnel costs when you have to bring people from the outside to help us process.

Um nothing's really gonna change as far as you know election day costs, other than um I think we're gonna start seeing more um police are gonna be needed talking security um for elections.

I think that's gonna be a big thing.

Um and and those costs are gonna be those costs.

Um postage is huge.

And um in the budget a couple of years ago, it was in MIS's budget, and then we would have to pay them.

So I believe it was last year we moved it to elections so we can do a better accounting for it.

Obviously, this year didn't uh didn't have as much, or last year didn't have as many mailing ballots.

Um, but this year you're gonna see a big increase.

I think uh 20 2022, or I think I believe we mailed out 13,000 ballots.

That's a lot of processing, that's a lot of work, a lot of steps with mailing um that make it really secure.

And you know, so it takes a lot of hours, a lot of time, but we've been able to invest in some things that cut that down and uh drastically so we can save there.

Um another thing that we usually that usually happens is the state auditor's office would reimburse cities and towns for like mandated costs that were unfunded.

What that looks like this year, it's anyone's guess.

I'm sure everyone's facing a budget crisis crisis, um, just like we are, and who knows what they're gonna reimburse like for postage.

I believe we were paying like a dollar ninety, let's say, per ballot.

We get reimbursed, or we were a dollar like one oh one.

So, you know, it would help offset some of those costs.

I don't think we can rely on it this year because you know, the pool that they disperse from is gonna be much smaller, I would assume.

So those are things that you know we have to take note of and and and know that's what's gonna happen.

So again, trying to be safe, secure, efficient, you know, provide the best service that we can out of my department with what we have.

And you know, I have the utmost faith in my staff, and you know, when they do decide to retire, that that's gonna be a big loss for the city.

Um, because they they do so much.

So props to them.

Um that's it really.

Thank you.

Colleagues, questions for Manny Council Pemberton.

I mean, how are you doing?

Thanks for being here.

I just have a question about the repairs and maintenance, the 49,000.

I mean, that's a significant amount there.

Uh can you tell us what that's for?

For the repairs and maintenance.

Yeah.

So um I know this gets brought up uh about like the machines, and sometimes if there's a jam, we have to have them regularly, you know, the company comes in, performs maintenance, make sure that the machines are functioning properly.

Um they replace parts that might, you know, be messed up.

So you're talking about I believe we have fifty or so machines.

We have some backup, they go through all of the machines, and then you have like the uh handicap access machines that also get serviced.

So that cost is there, and that's part of the contract that we signed with the company.

Um that is that cost.

And it's um those machines and a couple of other machines that we invested in to help process as well.

All right, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Counselor Burger, want me to go to Council Loops first?

Yes.

Council Loops.

Thank you, Council Burgo.

Thank you, Council President.

So Manny, that was one of the questions I wanted to ask.

Could you give me a copy of the contract, the cost of the contract and how many years left in the contract?

Yes.

Perfect.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Yeah, and and part of that contract is also like when the city makes our ballots, that's who we go through, and they they do a lot of, you know, they set up the flash drives directly from the company.

Um so we're working through them on a a bunch of things, and you know, we want to make sure that everything's working properly.

We also test the machines before every election, make sure the ballots run through, make sure that it's you know tabulating correctly, stuff like that.

That way, once we go into the election, as you know, with technology, sometimes you know, things happen that might not be plugged in all the way, you know, there's always something, but you know we do have them all serviced.

And you know, when someone comes in and services something, it's plugged in for 20 minutes.

It's not plugged in all day for 13 hours.

So that might, you know, sometimes that might happen as well.

So thank you, Manny.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Councillor Oliver.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Manny.

Um the uh the moving costs and stuff.

Um can you just talk about that again just so uh I mean when uh what's the contract look like for that?

Could you provide me with that contract?

Yeah, I can definitely provide.

I mean, we store all our stuff at the company that you know provides moving.

Um I've looked at spaces in the city.

We don't have the space to store them.

Um it's a secure location, all of it is stored, they have the humongous trucks.

Um there's no way that we could get all of those things to all the uh precincts.

It's it's actually a three-day process.

Okay.

Um I mean, and they have three full trucks, and then we also provide some like vans and smaller trucks to help.

Um, but yeah, the the contract um includes storage, and then there's a a set cost for each election, how much we pay.

And it's been the same, I think, for the past three years.

I I don't think it's changed at all.

And we've used uh Wallaca for for quite some time.

They're a company we trust, I trust.

Um we really haven't had many issues um with them.

Is that a long-term contract?

Yeah, yeah.

No, it's um I believe.

Uh I believe it's three years.

Okay.

I believe it's three years.

And then, you know, what will go up sometimes is like the handling fee when they have to load the trucks that day and then unload.

So that might, you know, raise the cost a little bit.

Okay.

And because it's three years, so obviously the you and probably the administration oversee the Yes.

The agreement.

Yes.

All right.

Yes.

Um just provide me with that.

And then um the other question I had, and I know it came up last year, is the um the other pay, right?

It had increased.

Is that um an increase to uh workers?

Um as far as pay.

So that's when we bring people in from the outside to help us prep for the election.

Yeah.

Um so we'll have someone that will help go through the you know the bags in the basement.

Uh make sure all the ballots are taken out, clean up the storage, uh test the machines for us.

They're the ones that would run.

So that falls under the category of other and um so you you're considering them the temporary uh election workers?

Yeah.

That's them.

Uh depending on like if we have a huge election, we'll bring someone into the office that because we're gonna need that extra set of hands or two people or whatever, um, because again, um our office business doesn't stop on top of the processing stuff.

basement uh make sure all the ballots are taken out clean up the storage uh test the machines for us they're the ones that would run so that falls under the category of other and um so you you're considering them the temporary uh uh election workers yeah that's them uh depending on like if we have a huge election we'll bring someone into the office that because we're gonna need that extra set of hands or two people or whatever um because again um our office business doesn't stop on top of the processing stuff yeah all right and then you you spoke briefly about um in the past past practice used to be that you'd get some funding from the state um for uh what I think you had said unfunded mandates or whatever um has there been discussion of uh because it it's technically an unfunded mandate and no this council we had cut it last year the eighty thousand dollars to clean up the voter rolls is that something that the state used to fund or didn't or not that part of it because it's state it is state law yeah I mean that part of it isn't I that's just the law when we're supposed you know we're supposed to comply but again um you know we put it out there yeah um but you know we do that every day anyway like you know we we scrub every day um the voter list but you know the the unfunded mandates you're talking in person early voting and vote by mail we have no choice and you know if we were gonna do on a municipal election early voting I'll come in front of you guys and you know we'll do like a weekend the state is like you gotta do it for a week so you gotta you know staff that for a week um so those costs go up so I I'm able to provide every municipality um receipts for okay how many hours what did you pay these people what did you pay the police officers that were there just for doing those specific things um I don't know what that reimbursement is going to look like this year I don't know if there's going to be um I don't know um but it's just something to think about I'm just kind of you know thinking that we won't be receiving as much.

I believe the presidential election the city received back like over a hundred thousand dollars in reimbursement which is the most we ever have that might not be there this time.

Especially the this election is just a statewide election there's nothing else really on the ballot I mean but the turnout for this is going to be a lot higher.

No on the for the probably for the municipal there's always definitely a lot more.

Well the the 2024 state elect state final you have here was forty eight percent voter turnout and then for this upcoming election with at 50 percent it's gonna be a that might have been that might have been a typo.

Okay that might have been a typo uh but regardless on how busy it's going to be you still have to staff the polling location we have to I mean again it's the added steps for the mail and the added steps for the early voting that's it doesn't matter how many ballots I mean obviously the amount of work we have to do but like again the timing um yeah that that's a typo I mean but again like for a state election like I said I believe 2022 New Bedford was around 30 percent for the state election.

The we just the presidential recently was 48 percent.

Yeah.

And with the percentages too um the state automatically registers folks now when you go to the registry.

So those registration numbers are going up that doesn't necessarily mean those registrations are those people are going to vote.

So it looks like the percentages are going down because you're basing it off a much higher number.

So you know I think we have to take that into account as well and start counting the actual amount of voters that are out there not so much what the percentages are.

Yeah.

All right well thank you Manny appreciate it.

Well thank you.

Thank you.

Chair recognized Council of Burgo thank you.

Thank you uh Commissioner DeBruito for being here tonight.

I just wanted to ask in regards and I apologize when I was uh bopping around if you had already addressed this or not um uh did you have any uh sorry did you request in the past um either last year's budget in fiscal year 2026 or in this year's budget any um reclassifications or enhancements to your office staff?

No I didn't not this year um I I believe uh Sheri and Debbie have are at the highest step available um when I started a couple of years in um it took a couple of years to get Sherry up to that level um but that hasn't been changed um since then okay I just uh I'm noting it because their office assistants uh three and for my colleagues that were here uh when the assessors were before us that's the same title position asked me e uh that got reclassified in the assessor's office and they became project coordinators and were bumped up for grade levels.

Um but I'm just for me it uh mystified that the administration's like, oh, the assessor's office can get reclassified and jump four pay grades.

But sh these individuals that have worked for our city for 40 years and we know do oh crazy work in the election.

Oftentimes the job that requires more than just two people are getting paid this much.

And actually you were uh you asked about raises.

I did ask both of them if would they would like to be a unit C and maybe give them a different position.

One of them was adamant that they didn't want that, they didn't want that role.

Uh actually Shari replied yes, and I did present that at the time.

Um this was a few years back, but it was denied, probably because we didn't have the money for it, which makes sense, but for some reason it would make sense in a different department, but not yours and other areas.

I'm just trying to get down to the bottom of why it makes sense in one department, not the other.

You couldn't pay them enough as far as I'm concerned.

They do a tons of work and they they're great.

Like I said, I've always give credit to my staff and you know, like I said, they have eighty years of experience, they've been doing it.

Um, you know, sometimes when people question what we're doing in office, they know everything.

They know so much more than I do.

Um so it's kind of, you know, they've invested so much in the city, it's kind of a smack in the face to them.

Um that have committed so many years.

I appreciate it.

That's all I just wanted to clarify that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Counselor Roy.

Hi, Minnie.

How are you today?

Good, how are you?

Great, thank you.

Nice jacket.

Thank you so much.

Um there was a push to move the primary for municipal elections back or ahead, if you will.

Um more time in between.

Right, right.

Is that a cost saver?

Can it be a cost saver?

I mean, I think the the run the risk that you run is that if people don't get their ballots or there's an issue, we could get sue yet, you know, their civil right to vote, and again, just understanding the process, knowing what the rest of the states doing.

Um I I thought it was a worthy suggestion.

I don't have file final say, I just you know present that.

Um it it makes sense.

Like, you know, as vote by mail expands and grows, um, you know, it's not the amount of work, it's it's the time because you know you're you're working within just a matter of days, and anything could happen.

Um like I said, we test all the ballots beforehand.

We could get all of that set, get the ballots back, and now the ballots are incorrect and the machines don't read them.

So what happens?

You gotta send them back.

Anything like that could happen, especially when you're dealing with technology.

Um, you know, when it's uh municipal election next year, you know, possibly I would present that again.

Um see if you know, again, just kind of looking at the trends of what's happening with vote by mail, you know, it kind of makes sense.

I just again want to make elections accessible for everyone.

And a lot of people do uh take advantage of that um vote by mail, not just people that you know maybe disabled, they might work, they might do whatever, or they just feel comfortable doing that.

Um and again, it it's there's so many steps to vote by mail, and people don't really understand how that process works.

And uh it's actually more secure than when you go on election day and put it in.

That's there's two steps to that.

Vote by mail, there's literally five steps to processing a vote by mail ballot.

Um Massachusetts does a good job with that.

Thanks.

I tend to agree with you.

Um, you know, here um in budget hearings, I was just wondering if you know there was a larger space between elections, if if that would defray any costs that might come up.

That's all.

No.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Counselor Carney.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Hi, Manny.

How are you?

And I just want to reiterate your staff does an amazing job.

They've done an amazing job for years.

Um couple of my questions were answered.

I just have one brief question.

Your employee benefits and expenses, you have nothing in that um line item.

So I was just wondering, because most departments have that in purchases and services.

Oh, I've been looking at all the departments, they they have something there, and you have nothing.

So I'm just wondering why there's nothing in that line item.

Do you have uh can I take a look at yeah, of course.

They can get back to you.

I think it's a good idea.

It doesn't look familiar to me, and I'm looking at it and I'm like, I don't recall.

Yeah, I know this budget books a little different from what I'm used to too, which is kind of trying to find things.

Um, but yeah, you can get back to me on that.

Just that every just about every department has something in that line of whether it's 200, 2000, 3,000, depending on the employees in there, and you have you know employees in there that I thought they'd should have something.

They should.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

You can get back to us on that.

Yes, I will.

Thank you.

That's all.

Thank you.

Anyone else from Annie?

From the chair.

Minnie, can you provide us a job description of the administrative coordinator?

Uh the admin coordinator is Emmanuel Diaus.

Um a few years ago, I was requesting help in our office again as you know, vote by mail and just you know, the demands on the office were increasing.

Um Manual was doing uh passports over in the treasurer's office, but years prior, he started, I believe, in the election office.

So we had some election experience.

Uh we took him in to our office, I believe that was his title then, and I think that just carried over.

Um so he does uh uh passports during the day for a few hours, also doing election work.

Um, he backs up the uh payroll stuff, you know, and okay he he does you know a lot of stuff again.

It's because he moved over from that and he had that description, that's basically you know what it is.

I don't know if it like really fits, but I was there a was this job was it a posted job, it was just a lateral transfer.

It was just a lateral transfer, and you know, I we needed the help, so I definitely wasn't gonna turn that down.

And I had no emanual, but what I could do is I could send you the job description, I have it all written up.

Oh, okay, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I had to go in and actually redo it and give it to them off the top of my head.

No, no, no, yeah, exactly, exactly.

Uh if you don't mind, uh they'll the the Sharon and team will help coordinate that and that when they send over the response, that's it.

I could definitely do it.

And I could send you um Sherry and Debbie as well, so you could compare and see what it what it's like.

Thank you, Manny.

I appreciate that.

Colleagues, anything else for me any.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, everyone.

Have a good night.

Next up is tourism and marketing.

Pages 141 to 145.

All right.

Good evening, Council President Pereira, city counselors and colleagues.

Thank you, counselors, for your time.

Uh, my name is Amy DeRozers, and I'm the marketing manager for the city's Office of Tourism and Marketing, also known as Explore New Bedford.

Um I am here on behalf of my coworker tonight, Director Ashley Payne, as she is out on maternity leave.

Tonight I will provide a brief overview of the work that we do, how we are able to make a dynamic impact as a team of two with a tight budget, and how often the work that we do and its nature is behind the scenes and not visible within the city, as with our advertising that is targeted to areas outside of the city to draw visitors in.

Our fiscal 27 work plan is mindful of the city's budget constraints and shows how we effectively dedicate our time to strategic and integrated uh approaches to marketing and tourism coalition building that can cost little to no money apart from our personnel lines.

Last year, my colleague Ashley Payne provided an overview of how as a department of two, we successfully manage to complete many tasks in-house that destination marketing organizations typically contract out to consultants and advertising agencies.

These tax tasks save taxpayer dollars and bring in supplemental funding through grants, sponsorships, strategic co-op campaigns, and partnerships within the private sector.

We write our own copy, we develop ad care creative, we build brand strategy, manage social media accounts, our blog and email newsletter, all of the copy on our website, and in the new full-length visitor guide we are printing next week.

We negotiate ad placements, manage PR and media relations, maintain strong relationships with stakeholders and industry professionals, host familiarization tours, manage our own events, and provide assistance and promotion for other events.

We do all of this to ensure that New Bedford is showing up as it deserves to in places that otherwise may not with a limited budget.

By maintaining strong relationships with other destination marketing organizations, the Mass Office of Travel and Tourism, the Southeastern Massachusetts Visitors Bureau, and the travel industry professionals and media that we have met over the years, we show up and earn media, which costs the city zero dollars and is worth thousands.

Ashley provided some analytics data last year, and we always publish that in our annual report, which is available on our website.

Although I won't get into that heavily tonight, last year Ashley was asked what the ROI was for our $255,000 budget.

I can talk about ad impressions, website traffic, and social media impressions, all of which are performing above industry standards, but the real return on investment is the benefit our performance has on the people that live and work in our city.

From May of 2025 to April of 2026, 12.1 million tourism dollars were brought into New Bedford's economy.

That is money coming into businesses from people that do not live or work in the city from 50 plus miles away, boosting our economy and providing jobs.

In economic impact studies, there is something called the tourism multiplier effect.

This is the principle that for every $1 a visitor spends, a municipality actually sees two to three dollars in economic input.

This is particularly true in a city like ours, which is dominated by small businesses.

Those businesses are reinvesting in the city by also shopping local, hiring local, and paying local taxes.

$12 million from a 255,000 tourism budget surpasses the average multiplier effect.

Your investment in tourism is an investment in the continued growth and sustainability of our economic development.

I mentioned destination marketing organizations, or DMOs for short, which is what travel organizations like our department are called.

Not all tourism bureaus focus on the other M and DMO, which is management.

When Ashley and I joined the department in 2022, it was imperative for both of us to focus on a model of sustainable tourism.

Sustainable tourism prioritizes first and foremost the well-being of the community.

That means asking questions such as does our community want this?

Is this how our community wants to be represented?

Do we have the resources to support this for both our community and tourists?

While we have always had this model top of mind, moving into fiscal 27, our work plan includes a primary focus on management.

While advertising is something that many people in the city wouldn't necessarily see firsthand as it promote is the promotion to city of the city to target audiences in other locations, management is also often behind the scenes and its importance often overlooked.

And most often it does not cost money, just time.

For example, in July, we have the tall ship SOGs coming into the city on a Sunday through Wednesday, which will bring an influx of tourists as well as the approximately 250 marine sailors that will be on board the vessel.

This is during days early in the week when a lot of businesses aren't heavily staffed.

We are working with DMB Inc.

and Love the Ave to help prepare businesses so that they can plan accordingly.

At community and stakeholder meetings, the desire for a centralized calendar is brought up regularly.

We maintain that calendar on our Explorer New Bedford.org website, and it is utilized by local and regional media for their own cultural calendars and news articles about how much is happening in the city.

It is important for that calendar to be maintained and remain a vital resource for our community while they are planning their own events, promoting their events, and finding things to do in the city for leisure.

We know there are concerns around wayfinding and transportation, and we are actively working with other departments and outside stakeholders to find temporary and permanent solutions that will require grants and other funding support.

In these conversations around transportation, the plans for service are also meant to alleviate evening parking concerns and be available for locals as well.

Another destination management goal is expanding our role as a resource for cultural institutions and businesses.

One fiscal 27 objective for this goal is to host bi-monthly marketing meetings that would help align and strengthen messaging, create more collaboration, and reduce duplication of efforts and spending.

Along with these meetings, we are producing an online partner toolkit that will provide a learning platform for sharing resources, tips, marketing and travel trends, and ideas that we and others have learned from conferences and webinars.

We will also create hospitality training videos highlighting historical facts about the city, where our cultural and historical assets are located, how to find events, business listings, parking information, et cetera, on our website, how to direct people to different services and locations like hotels, parking garages, and different areas of the city.

Other cities use these in collaboration with frontline facing businesses and have seen success in their implementation.

Your 2025,000 investment in our department multiplies many times over an investment in the institutions and businesses that keep the heartbeat of the city moving.

Why is a tourism office for New Bedford an important?

Ashley and I are the only team in the city primarily focused on destination marketing and management.

While there are others in the city who have goals to bring customers to their businesses and attractions, our focus is citywide and does not center on one specific place or event.

That means that we're the only resource for potential visitors and residents to get a full picture of New Bedford and what the city has to offer.

Because we are not membership-based, we can fairly represent the whole city, not just businesses and institutions that can pay membership dues in exchange for promotion.

We are also the only department that focuses on how the year-over-year increase in visitation can impact city infrastructure and resident quality of life.

As travel tech trends steadily steer, steadily steer towards smaller hidden gem destinations such as New Bedford.

We have seen many examples in the industry of towns and cities who have faced negative impacts when they did not have a dedicated DMO to plan, prepare, and react to the implications of visitation growth.

Ashley and I have focused on stakeholder engagement and building strong relationships within the city since day one, which has led to plans for forming a tour tourism and hospitality coalition designed to address and respond to challenges and or opportunities that arise as we see more visitors in the city.

This work is more important now than ever as domestic travel is continuing to increase along with visitation to New Bedford.

The city deserves a dedicated team of professionals to manage and promote the city effectively to ensure the city continues to see increased visitation without facing the negative impacts of mass tourism, which prioritizes profit over local culture, or orvo tourism, which degrades resources and negatively impacts quality of life for residents.

Lastly, regarding the fiscal 27 budget, we are mindful of the city's budget constraints.

We are not asking for an additional funding and have reduced our budget by over 20,000 since fiscal 25.

There is a full-time work plan of effective projects that we can do that does not cost the city any money beyond personnel budget for two staff.

And in the words of Ashley Payne at last year's budget hearing, we are frugal and we are effective.

I thank you for your time and looking forward to your questions.

Thank you.

Colleagues.

Counselor Gomes.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you for being here this evening.

If I can ask you where does the money come to promote the city?

Is it through the grants and stuff like that that you receive?

Yep, that well, that's an additional.

We do have some money in our budget that does go towards advertising, and then we always try to apply to as many grants that we can as a municipality.

Um we also do a lot of collaborative marketing to help reduce the costs, and we will often look for things like remnant ads so that we can get ads that are at a much cheaper cost than what they want from the.

I think one of my questions were last year about banners.

And um I was told that we could not do that.

We were on a pause for a bit while um the solicitor's office was looking over to make sure that everything was was being um in compliance, uh, and now we hopefully will be able to this summer, ramp that back up.

I think we already seen some, haven't we?

Yep, yeah, last year.

Channel 12, Salt Coast Hospital.

Are you responsible for those?

No, those aren't ones that we manage.

The banners we manage will are running from um Route 18 from Elm Street down, and then some small ones in downtown like.

Okay, so you don't touch anything on Route 18?

No, Route 18, Route 18, the ones in the middle of the median, those are all city run.

Those are city run.

Yeah.

Okay.

So you run the how is that going?

Because I thought that was very important to get that kind of corporate um support, if you could, from some of the major outlets.

I don't care if it's a TV station, I don't care if it's um CVS.

Um, if you would pay to put your name on the bottom of a banner would uh give you perfect example.

Would um what are we doing for the 250th?

I don't see very much red, white, and blue around the city yet.

Do you have anything to do with that?

And I don't mean to put you on the spot.

Is that something left to the tourism office?

Are you working with the city?

Because uh it's June 1st, and I'm looking for red, white, and blue.

Um we're a big part of this country and a big part of where it all started, and just wonder what we're doing.

Sure.

Uh we we do have a visionary voices campaign that we ran last uh so starting last year, we were doing a lot of this promotion.

Uh we we do have a visionary voices campaign that we ran last uh so starting last year we were doing a lot of this promotion we did have some of the banners on Route 18 that were with our visionary voices campaign as well as for our military museum those banners were saved I believe by DPI and can be put back up.

We do have like a full-fledged marketing campaign on our website where we've been highlighting a lot of the city's revolutionary people the moments the in a milestones and independence we will have um in collaboration with DATMA they have these kiosks they put on the waterfront every year that has some of that on there as well all right how about the ban is within the downtown area have we made an effort to red white and blue them with sponsorship for this this year.

We can look into it sure.

We're looking into it that's gonna take some time I'm not I'm not criticizing you but I'm questioning why this isn't being done or somebody hasn't called for it.

We knew what was coming and if you're going to go out and now look for sponsors to put up red white and blue banners or or whatever 250 at happy birthday America where it it's we've got a month away before the birthday happens and uh I don't I don't I just wanted to know if anybody was working at that because I I pay attention to what's going on and I see nothing of the sort that fits into I thought would fit into very much with our tourism or whatever here in the city of New Bedford.

Yeah like I said we have full marketing campaign last year we had a grant from Mass Office of Tourism and Travel um that grant was they did not put grants out this year for that so we are a little bit limited in that but we will definitely be focusing on a lot of the things that we did last year to create an evergreen campaign what again has anyone contacted you from the city or are you doing anything for the 250th to dress this city up I I I've explained that I did on the uh have this campaign on our website and things like that as far as out outdoor stuff that we we do not have anything currently planned un unless those banners can go back up.

I I appreciate you being here and I would um I guess I'm I'm not I'm not only talking to you I'm talking to the city in general we should be having a party and the city should be dressed up in if we want to attract tourism because along with our historical area and our waterfront and all the contributions that the city has had whether it's industry or whatever we should have been setting up shop for definitely a tourism stop besides just getting off the boat and getting your car or possibly dining in downtown thank you thank you Ms.

President Thank you.

Counselor Shoka thank you very much a quick question how important is um travel for your department I mean it you got it about 7500 I think in there for two people sure um for for travel for our department very important um maintaining relationships with uh Mass Office and all the other DMOs as well as so we we do we do kind of like a hybrid we do a lot that are really focused on networking um we also do some that are like learning and education uh as you know in our job a lot of it is keeping up with what is going on um technology wise or trend wise so I did go to an excellent conference this year that was more geared towards the learning aspect and unfortunately travel is expensive but if we had to do a year and pause you know we would always maintain relationships that we've already built in other ways okay what do you consider travel just curious um obviously plane tickets hotel transportation hotel plane tickets and we have uh definitely scaled back on some of the conferences that we used to go to because they've their membership the conference fees have become really really astronomical so some of the conferences that we used to attend we've we've kind of moved away from okay right thank you yeah you're welcome thank you Mr.

President thank you council opes thank you council president so you mentioned a 12 million or a greater than four multiplier how do we get to the 12 million for the tourism dollars um we there are are multiple different organizations that do economic studies for um tourism uh the particular place that I pulled that number from was the placer data that we have and so they pull data from credit card transactions from major credit cards and that's from 50 plus miles so that's not calculating a little bit more of our regional tourism and um probably things smaller things like cash so that's actually a bit of a conservative number.

Would you be able to share that with the clerk so we can take a look at the case I can print out a whole report perfect thank you.

Thank you council president thank you anyone else from the chair oh counselor Burgo.

Sorry thank you.

I noted here that we as a body had increased the department's vacancy savings, even though you're a department of two.

Um and neither of you obviously left.

Um how were you able to absorb those uh vacancy savings?

Because I I noted that we didn't do any transfers to their uh personal service accounts.

Yeah.

Oh, so it's coming.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure.

Because I just I guess as a way to maybe signal to my colleagues that maybe we shouldn't be increasing vacancy savings in a department of two.

It's one of the cuts that I didn't vote for, just just saying for for what I refer to as the A team for Amy and Ashley.

Um but thank you for the work that you do in tourism and marketing.

And uh it's one of the departments that obviously when we're looking at increasing vacancy savings, it makes sense in certain departments, but in others like yours or back when we used to have a community service office was always fully staffed.

It there's not that turnover, so it doesn't make sense to increase savings uh increase vacancy savings where we know that the departments always have their uh positions filled.

Um thank you.

That's all I just wanted to uh clarify that as I was looking through um our cuts and the transfers that we have uh approved.

Thank you.

I'll set council.

Counselor Oliver.

Thank you, Ms.

Chair.

Thank you for being here.

That uh the number that you were talking about, the but 12 million dollars in economic activity.

I believe you guys and the Zaiterian are championing the same numbers that they're saying that they bring in 12 million dollars in economic activity.

Well, uh so this was this actually is just calculating people 50 plus miles away.

I think that's similar very similar to what the the they were doing.

So it'd be interesting to see who's bringing in what.

But um as far as the you have some things that are video services here, um video services, video advertising.

Is that the video advertising?

Is that to generate a video or is that what is it?

What is that exactly for explore New Bedford video advertising?

Yeah, there's a couple there's a couple here.

That's for that's for local local videographers producing content.

Okay.

So we'll use that content on our website, we'll use that in ads, uh like digital ads.

We also use that on social media and things like that.

Is that stuff that they're doing and bringing to you and you decide to use it?

Is that stuff that you're asking them to shoot?

That's stuff that we we curate and have them shoot.

Okay.

Same thing with the video services, because between the two is a couple almost 10,000 bucks.

Do we do any work with cable access at all?

Yeah.

I've I've uh Jim's got a little angry with me because I need to get in and do a summer segment.

Um because they they have the equipment and they they're teaching everyday citizens how to use it.

If we could use it and save a couple of bucks and shoot our own stuff, um I think that that would be uh, although it may be little, it is a way to sit for cost savings, I think.

Um that's that's all I have.

Thank you.

I will uh do what I'm told.

Counselor Baptiste.

Thank you, Council President.

How are you doing, Amy?

How's everything going today?

Um I just I just had a quick question with you know, a lot of motion with two major markets close to New Bedford with Boston an hour away and um Providence like half an hour away.

Um how do we get into the markets to try to bleed some of that, you know, them people that go in there to come this way, right?

How do we tap how do you use um how do you do it right now and how do you plan on to how do you plan on further tapping into their markets to bring that out of town, them out of town people here to our restaurants, our beaches, you know, our neighborhoods and our events.

Sure.

Um so I I just mentioned at the Committee of Economic Development this week.

We have done um a couple of different campaigns this summer um where we one of them is more digital ads, so we have a company like a service we work through that it it's great because we can kind of just find what what's going on in what regions.

So you know, with with the big games happening in Providence and Boston, we're doing a lot of targeted um digital ads in those areas.

We also have put an ad in Rhode Island Monthly, which is uh circulated all throughout the city free magazine.

Um we did a collaboration with Viva Fall River to focus on our Portuguese culture because they have they're turning uh the part the water park place pavilion into the port house of Puma House of Portugal.

So we kind of look at opportunities like that when there's a specific thing that we know is gonna be a big draw and say, okay, how can we get in that market in a cost effective way that's gonna really get in front of people?

Um so those are just a couple of the ways uh with the train coming last year.

We were able with the visitors bureau to kind of pull some some funding and do some ads in Cell Station.

So we're always looking ahead at the forecast of what the big trends are going to be.

So it's been about a year of planning and figuring out where the best places to put those ads were.

And how do you find the best motion, like you know, with the ongoing like you know, TikTok, you get trending and you start putting things out on there?

Um, how active are you on social media, not just with like the local social media you know what I'm saying?

Facebook where you you see everything on a couple of formats, but um just around here, but just getting out and really trying to make it pop and really try to make it inviting into pe for people to come in.

I mean, so a lot of that is having really beautifully curated videos, um though they perform very well on social media.

Um also just when you're on social media constantly finding, you know, little areas we have influencers that come, so commenting and sharing their stuff and getting them to work with us.

Um unfortunately as a a government we don't we can't do TikTok, so that's a big trend one, but we are able to kind of look at some of the things that are happening there where we could post something that might go and bleed over.

Um collaboration on Instagram is huge.

It it puts our market out there to markets that we would never normally reach.

So we are constantly on there, um, post it a couple times a week and monitor what's going on with our with our following and stuff like that.

So good.

I just wanted to make sure that you was getting it out there to other people and making it inviting.

I know it's tough when you only got two people in your department to handle all that load, but I appreciate the time and effort that you guys give.

Thank you.

How are you?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councillor Carney.

Thank you so much for coming.

Um just uh a couple of questions.

I want to go back to your um your contractual services.

Um you have a couple of things here.

You've got uh NB Festival promotion not provided, and this is ads ads.

What are the ads?

Are these ads that you're putting in something?

And underneath you get the market and PR consulting.

And it says ad and then it says ads, ads.

Could you explain those two?

Yeah, so the the ads part that that's the unit of measurement that um they had us put this year just to kind of quantify like what what specific um I guess umbrella those would be under the thing those things.

So um, you know.

I I'm sorry, I'm not sure exact the exact question.

I I I just I I'm not sure what it is.

You've got New Bedford promotion, not provided, which is the vendor, and it's ads.

So I'm saying those ads in the newspaper ads someplace, and then underneath you got marketing and PR consultants not provided, and it's one ads again at 5,500.

I'm just looking for what that is the market and PR consulting and why is it under ads.

Sure.

Um, so a lot of times for our our department, so with the vendor not provided, a lot of times for our department, you know, I I'm not gonna place an ad in the same magazine every year.

What I will do is look for you know what magazines are really are really when they send me their package, you know, are they fluffing their numbers?

How can I get into a better performing magazine?

They'll send us um like remnant ads last minute.

So that's just kind of like the way that a lot of these things go, where I'm not exactly sure what we're gonna spend that on, but that's what our I'm not exactly sure what vendor we're going to use because it's kind of dependent on you know the trends of the year and what is coming in through our depart through our e our email news box that looks like a good deal for us.

So that's so that would be the marketing and PR consulting or the new Bedford Festival promotion.

I'm not sure I'm not really sure what the consultant will be used for the planning department.

Yeah, I I'm not I'm not really sure we that's why I asked because I'm just kind of confused because it's you know it's you know you're looking at those two items close to eight thousand five hundred dollars, and if we can get an explanation for that at some point, yeah, I can look into great.

So you know, Ashley created some of these descriptions, so I'm gonna have to go in and kind of look and see.

Oh, yeah, no, that's not a problem.

You get back to us on that.

And that would go to for the the line under underneath that.

This consultant will be used uh for planning department, and that's another five thousand.

So, you know, that's good thirteen thousand dollars that I'm not sure what is being used for.

So if you can get back to us, that's fine.

That's my only question the others were answered.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

So, Amy, just on a a quick follow-up on your performance measures in the budget book.

Uh number of social media followers and such, that is for the Explore New Bedford page?

Yes.

Not for the city's page.

Not for the city.

Yeah, the city's page is exclusively managed by the mayor's office.

Yeah.

And you you handled the Explore New Bedford Facebook and everything like that.

Yep.

Now, is there any collaboration with the City of New Bedford page in Explore New Bedford?

And how has that worked in the past?

Um, not typically.

Um we usually prefer not to have people think about government when they're coming on vacation.

So if there is something that is like a nice story, maybe we would share.

Um, and I I know that they have shared things that we we've done because so that's it's more gonna be on their side sharing the things that we're putting out.

Right, right, right.

Okay.

Which makes sense.

And that's more what I was was getting at is that they share your stuff because I think that it also is a benefit to New Bedford taxpayers uh residents who primarily follow the or will focus on the city's page to see what's going on even locally, and that's another source of information.

So I'll have conversation with John Darling about that, but that's just I want to know how that relationship worked a little bit.

Okay.

Anyone else?

All right, Amy, thank you very much.

Thank you.

I don't think I'm going anywhere.

Oh, yeah.

No, you're next.

So we'll turn to arts, culture, and tourism fund on page 189.

All right.

So uh the arts, culture, and tourism fund is a special fund created through a home rule petition by the state legislature and consists of revenue generated from the city's lodging tax.

Ninety-five percent of this revenue goes directly to grants for New Bedsford's artists, organizations, and creatives to present events, programming, and placemaking opportunities in the city.

There is an RFP that goes out every three years, as it's a three-year contract, and that has been awarded to New Bedford Economic Development Council and managed by their creative team, New Bedford Creative.

The revenue that goes into this fund comes from outside dollars and lodging taxes and goes to New Bedford residents.

This revenue is written into legislation and can only be used for the arts, culture and tourism fund.

So if this budget is cut off from use, the money sits there and cannot be awarded to New Bedford Creatives to produce art and events that are a vital benefit to the health and well-being of our community.

In a time where a majority of federal funding for artists has been eliminated, it is of utmost importance for the New Bedford to approve this funding, uh, which is not costing taxpayers any money, rather putting money into their pockets and creating meaningful experiences for our community.

Thank you, and I'll take questions.

Any questions?

All right.

Thank you very much.

That was easy.

Thank you.

All right.

Next up is the traffic commission.

And we'll bring up Lori Alfonso.

And it's on pages 147 to 151 in our budget books.

Hello, everybody.

Um thank you, council president and counsels to have having me here every year.

Never gets easier, gets worse.

I don't know why, but here I am.

So for those of you who don't know me, I'm Lori, I'm the parking director for the traffic commission.

We actually have two different departments or two different funds.

We have the traffic commission and enterprise, which I'll be speaking about.

Traffic commission.

Um, you're probably more um you know know us more as uh people that will go out, of course, and give tickets for public safety issues.

Um we'll also have all the meters downtown as well as in the north end.

We also have um and we handle the traffic commission's board, which is we handle uh meetings every other month, which uh is from residents and um businesses who will come whether or not they're looking for you know uh time frame parking or handicap parking, sometimes even changing into resident permit, but that will go through our office.

Um we have our office which is located at the Alm Street parking garage.

We have uh two clerks, and then myself and uh Kristen, who is the administrative coordinator.

We are funded 45% between the four people in our um office at the garage, which is under our personal services.

And you'll also see it on the enterprise.

So I'm kind of going in between the two.

Um so with that, we actually this year we were fully staffed up until May with us you know helping to decrease.

We've actually with our vacancy have declared it and removed it from this year's budget.

So where we normally would have five, um, we're now down to four.

And that would actually put us in yeah.

Yeah, four.

Um so that was uh a savings that we were able to provide under the personal services.

Um as far as the rest of the budget.

I mean, I can continue to go on, but I'll ask first if there's questions about the information that we gave you for the traffic commissions.

All right.

Questions for Laurie regarding traffic.

Cheer recognition is counselor Choquett.

Hi, Lori.

I just quick easy question.

My ADD was kicking in, so I didn't hear everything you said.

You went from five to four on what?

So the parking enforcement officers.

Okay, that's I'm sorry, yeah.

So we actually we were fully staffed, and uh he went uh to another job.

So instead of taking on uh you know hiring again, we're going to work with the four that we have now.

Okay.

That's all.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Um I just wanted to say I I appreciate that you really tried to make a lot of deductions in certain areas on your budget.

So thank you for that.

I did.

I did.

Hopefully it works out.

Okay.

I mean, so on the traffic, as you can see, uh contractual services, there was a big drop in that.

The I was wondering what the reason for that is last year.

I'm not complaining.

No.

Well, it the good thing is last year we we had a surplus due to not having a contract for the work that we were doing down and on the north end.

I don't know if with um Councillor Pemberton being new here, but there was uh 25,000 that we were given for the cleanup for the um down in the north end near the avenue in the pocket parks.

Because the contract was never renewed, we actually had a surplus, so we were able to roll it over.

So instead of continuing to ask for that again this year, we're just going to use the surplus that we had, and we're gonna be able to use it for another year.

So we didn't request any more.

Um other than that, on the repairs and maintenance, that's always up and down.

There could be years that we need it and years that we don't need as much.

So instead of doing the 22, we actually cut down on that as well.

Same thing with parts and supplies.

And then parts and supplies, we did another 10.

It's it's gonna be tight because a lot of that we do our traffic supplies, our traffic signs, um office supplies, ticketing with our tickets.

Um, but there's been a lot of things, you know.

If we've ever had any extra, I try to, you know, kind of um store.

Yeah, you know, kinda add a couple more, like at the end of the year, I'm not gonna, you know, if I'm gonna need more polls and more bases, and I know I have more money at that point.

So and then I also been trying to recycle refurbish.

So I might take uh older sign and just put new vinyl, which is cheaper than trying to buy a brand new sign, but it's still compliant.

So we've tried to cut savings that way.

Okay.

So again, thank you for being so fiscally conservative.

Yeah.

It's a tough year.

Yeah, I mean, I believe for a small department we do a lot.

So you won't hear any arguments.

That's just me.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Counselor Burgo.

Hi, uh Director Alfonso, how are you feeling?

Um okay.

It's not too bad.

You're doing great.

You're doing good.

Yeah, I know.

I I don't know what happens.

Uh it's okay.

Um I'm just curious about how we project the potential like for uh the downtown meters, the performance measures.

Um it's looking like it's has steadily increased over the years, like revenue-wise.

I'm sorry.

Oh, I didn't know you were Director Alfonso.

Yeah.

I'm just kidding.

No, I'm um.

But for some reason we're projecting that it's gonna be less in 2027.

We predict that like last year uh or this year projection of 22,000, we'll think we're gonna get 23,000 in the north end.

So I'm just curious how they factor in those numbers for revenue purposes.

Um for the revenue that we usually do it with the trailing month of the 12 months, so it's actually just a formula that they use.

Okay, just an average average.

Yeah.

Okay.

I was just curious.

That's all.

Yeah, I mean North End, I I hope, because it has over the years have gotten increasingly low.

Um there is going to be there was a lot of construction there done last year too.

Um we used to be in the north end every day, all day.

I I know when I first started here 11 years ago, we actually had one parking enforcement there all day.

Um it now you go there and it's there's it's it's you know not time, it's it's it's time wasted.

So now we we go s you know um at different times of the week, different times of the you know, day, and they never really know, so we hope that they you know put money in the meter and ticket wise um to keep up their the revenue for the meters.

It's just it hasn't been there, it's not used like it used to.

Are you concerned that with the one less parking enforcement officer that it will be difficult to enforce parking?

Um to be down that one person.

You know, I try to take the park enforcement officers and try to put them where their strengths are best.

Like some people may do better in neighborhoods, some people maybe do better in downtown.

Um I also sometimes for safety issues because you know, over the years time has gotten, you know, a lot different.

And I we've actually had people together when they're in the neighborhood, so they're not by themselves.

So whether I have to use the particular offices where their strengths are and keep them in the same places instead of maybe rotating them.

Um I probably you know, we'll have to do that.

I don't know.

I mean, I don't know how it's gonna be yet to be honest with you.

I mean I I it's doable.

I just don't know if it's gonna make a big difference, uh a change.

Yeah.

No, yeah, I I know myself and some of my colleagues have seen the videos of park enforcement officers being harassed, and um I do fear like sometimes for their safety out there just doing their job.

But also it's just I'm asking the question too, because I know you mentioned it was in this case someone had left um and then it just because of the budget situation that we're gonna decide we're not gonna fill it.

Right.

Um but again it goes back to the priorities of this is a position that is a revenue generating position that makes sure people are paying what they're supposed to and not skirting out on paying what they're supposed to at the meter.

Um and again, if we're cutting the positions that make sure we're getting the revenue that we're supposed to be getting, yeah, we're losing out on that money, but then make sure we're paying 172,000 uh or you know three hundred and forty-two collectively for two chiefs of staff, that's okay.

Um that's not directed at you directly.

And like it's so you know, and and and again, I'm gonna have to be creative in the new year.

And right now we actually have you know, we're down already.

Um but we usually downtown we might have two people for downtown.

So I may put one, and you know, there's and we're aware there's certain days that are busier than others, and we'll just have to I'm we'll have to be creative and really all of you department heads bend over backwards to get the job done, and that's why every time you come up here, I I seize the opportunity to commend the work that you all do.

And I will take another opportunity to again publicly state I I think that it's very top heavy here in that the all of you department heads and the the people you oversee are the br the real people who are keeping the city running uh well or or crawling at this point.

Um but I I commend the work that you all do, and I I again I hope that things will be fine, obviously for your um enforcement officers, and I I know that you'll prioritize uh as you pointed out the areas in triage where you need.

Absolutely.

Um but again, sometimes the questions I'm asking are really just rhetorical and they're meant to be um the way they are.

But again, you'll hear that we didn't debate or discuss any of this budget um and that cuts came out of nowhere.

So you know, for our finance team over there, just know where the the the chief of staff positions, um I'm coming after those.

Those will appear.

Uh breaking news, those will that will be on uh on cut night, just so you know.

Um just in case that wasn't clear during that other night.

Uh but that's all, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Councilor Pemberton.

How are you doing?

I was just curious.

Uh I don't see it on here.

If this if the city, if we need any stop signs or any signs, where where does that come out of the budget at?

I'm sorry, what's that?

Any stop signs or any science period.

It comes out of supplies and departs and supplies other.

That's would be the 25 is.

Yep.

And uh on average, how much does a uh stop sign or uh sign does cost?

A stop sign?

Yeah.

Uh offhand, how much one costs a regular stop sign?

I honestly wouldn't I don't know off the top of my head.

I mean I but I was just curious about something.

All right.

And and that's what I was saying with stop signs where one brand new one, we might have one that's faded.

That's where I'll come in and we'll we'll put the new vinyl, but keep so we don't have to do a new one.

That's kind of what we've been trying to do to keep cars down.

Save costs.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you.

Yeah, sorry, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Councillor Carney.

Hello.

Hi, Larry.

How are you today?

Um awesome.

I just want to um commend you also for bringing your budget lower than last year's budget.

Um I just have one quick question which I asked another uh department head that was up there.

In this in this budget, um again, there's no employee benefits and expenses.

Um in 2025 you have 2,154, and it goes over.

There's none there.

I've noticed that a couple of departments don't have it, and yours is one of them.

So we wouldn't have it.

We were just talking about that.

And then we were looking at our enterprise.

So we were thinking, and we'll have to look it up, but we thought maybe it had something to do with I don't know if it would be workers' comp.

I don't know if it would be the the testing or the hospital medical testing.

Um because we don't generally would have anything in there.

So that must have been something that we don't foresee.

Right.

Um because we if we did, we would obviously ask for it.

So it's the only thing I was thinking of, right?

It could be the or the pre-employment, something like that.

But we I mean we can figure it out and send it to you.

But we have that in downtown too.

Yeah, well, you're you're downtown, you have that in there, but you've got 89,000 in downtown for that.

Well that well that because that makes up and that's why we were thinking it would make up um health insurance.

So that's why we were thinking it might have been part of the it might be part of the um either the pre-employment testing or well we can have to see if those officers break that down.

Yeah, it's gonna be a good thing.

And get back to us because I mean it's it's all of the budget books.

Some of them are really high, some of them are really low.

And I still don't know what exactly that was.

I know back in the years, anything to do with the employees who had been up in the personnel part of the in the 100 account, but it's it's all over the place now.

So hospital now cool because it might be work it might be workers' comp because we because we have such a small we don't have a lot of people that are.

Yeah, well, the CFO's office.

Nobody actually has left on workers' comp, but they've had some incidents where they've gone to the hospital.

So maybe that might be where that small amount is.

But we wouldn't we never know.

It could be.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, but we can we can we can get it from the CFO's office.

I'm just curious because you've been here a long time, maybe you know what that was.

Nope.

No.

Thanks.

That's it.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Thank you, Laura.

And again, thank you for your your diligence in your department.

Thanks.

Colleagues, any other questions?

Okay.

From the chair.

Oh, Council Burgo.

So and this is gonna sound like I I don't mean to sound frustrating because I normally have the FPS saying, can you c cut a position or can you do with less or whatever?

But in this case, I actually think more parking officers, not less.

And and it's not a criticism.

I just have concerns because I know I call you and I'm gonna be calling you when uh residential permit parking isn't you know heavily enforced on can we get an extra person down?

And I'm just concerned that that might fall through the gaps a little bit.

And I think So I can only say is that we uh have the police that have been actually issuing our a lot more, which might be in our favor and help.

I agree.

The because I mean, even just judging by the snow, you know, the snow ban this year.

Yep, absolutely um they've are really participating in in the uh uh parking ticket aspect that they never really did before.

Okay.

So it may alleviate uh the difference in that.

I I don't know.

We'll have to see what we can do.

I I just you know, I I just am concerned moving forward, especially in the summers down the south end.

Yep.

Uh you know we have meetings and we we talk about the boat ramps.

The residential permit parking, we're expanding residential permit parking.

Yeah.

Another street just got it.

And if we're gonna continue to expand these restricted areas, enforcement has to somewhat mimic that.

And and I'm I I do know the police department is is increasing their ticket, their parking tickets.

They are.

I've seen it uh uh throughout uh uh my the ward, throughout the city really, but the ward especially.

But I just if we're increasing these restricted areas, which I I supported the last one.

I I want these areas and protecting the neighborhoods.

I just have concerns about lowering enforcement.

And and I can say with the beach season, um every year I've done I changed this a couple of years ago to try to help offset what we had with the overtime and uh vacancies.

We off shift between May and September.

Yeah.

So we still will have those two parking enforcement offices.

We'll be there for those nights and weekends.

That won't change.

Okay, that's good.

Um again it that'll offset.

Yes, we'll only have, but instead of, like I mentioned, instead of having two downtown, we have one.

Again, we just asked it we'll have to be more strategic.

Okay.

You know, um again, I understand.

Yeah, and see what happens.

I mean, basically that's what it comes down to, right?

We're all trying to help some way, and that's where we could find that little cop that might.

I mean, I see.

Yeah, and it's not like I said, it's it's it's not an it's not a uh criticism of your decision.

I I appreciate you looking out for the city uh in a fiscal year, and to your point taking one for the team.

It's just it is a revenue-generating enterprise, right?

You you are generating revenue for the city by and also making our de our city streets safer.

Because I know when I get a call for someone parking in front of a fire hydrant or a driveway, your team is usually there to help respond.

So uh this is counselor Gomes.

Counselor Roy, you're next.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Uh Mr.

President.

Mr.

President, I I I just like you to know that um working with the traffic commission and working with Laurie, um they do a uh somewhat of a phenomenal job.

You know that as well as I do.

And I think um we did issue you're addressing is one that um I have been addressing with not only her, but with the department, and I think you're gonna clearly see some um how do I put this strong enforcement.

Strong enforcement across the city.

Um I've been asking for that, including nighttime at the bars and stuff where they're putting the cars on a corner, obstructing the pedestrian walkway.

To you, Drew, you to Laurie.

Um Laura, you you do a phenomenal job.

And if you keep those two characters, I don't want to call them characters, those two parking attendants that you had down the South End last year, nobody gets away with anything.

Yeah.

These guys are just amazing.

I I kind of watch them in action and uh actually so did my son.

He said, Dad, they're amazing how the car pulls up way down the street, and then all of a sudden this guy's there and he's given the you a ticket.

And it it's just the way that team works and they work very efficiently and not only trying to cover the major beach or whatever, but them side streets that I know the counselor has some concern about, and we all have some concern about, including the the truck parking on the corners and stuff like that.

Just want you to know that they do a phenomenal job.

And uh, sometimes um those people in those positions don't get commended for what they do.

They do a very tough job.

I watch it.

You also know that they take a lot of static or whatever, and they seem to have the composure and to just go with it and they know when to pick up the radio or whatever and ask for assistance or whatever, but they they've done phenomenal job.

And if you keep those two, I think we're uh we're generating the revenue and giving the tickets that rightfully deserved that it should be during the summer.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Counselor.

Counselor Roy.

Hi.

Hi.

Thanks for coming tonight.

Thank you.

So I have a question.

Just enhancing.

Okay.

Um did you ask for any?

I know not nothing at all.

No.

All right.

That's it.

Thanks.

Okay.

Anyone else?

You're all set.

Counselor, yes.

Anyone else?

Lori.

Uh we we kind of touched on the downtown's enterprise fund as well.

She she spoke basically because her salary is broken up in two.

That's on pages 199 to 203.

Was there any further questions about the enterprise fund?

Yeah, so on the enterprise fund, we did, you know, the way the our savings or our personal services are broken up.

If you notice the enterprise fund, we then take 55 percent of our staff in the office.

That covers through the enterprise fund.

We have one parking supervisor there also.

Then we have our two-meter repair person slash sign installation guys.

They're actually at their top.

They've been with us almost 30 years.

Um so as you can see, you know, that's where there's an increase.

Um, but they're responsible for the maintenance of the meters, they are responsible for collections, and they're responsible for basically any sign that falls down or any sign that we have to install uh based on a traffic meeting.

I know I've gotten lots of emails sent to me where a lot of times people think DPI, DPI, and then it's sent to me, but that's with those two guys.

So that that is part of the personal services.

And then based on the percentage of the four of us from the office.

Um then.

Um so here the this fund also takes care of all the health insurance, hospital medical, life insurance.

This is all part of the purchases and services.

Um we have the answering services for the garages.

We have uh safety tests and maintenance.

Um repairs and maintenance.

I actually did I go down on that one.

I think I left that one.

Yeah, I left we left that one alone on the repairs and maintenance.

Um, and I can tell you that's a tough one too.

But last year, beginning of the year, we had a problem with the elevator, and it was $27,000, which was all of my repairs and maintenance for the year.

So we, you know, finagled whatever we could at other places, but again, with repairs and maintenance, you just never know.

I'm hoping with the big repairs that we've done over the last couple of years, we can cross our fingers and nothing big happens.

Um but that was one of on Elm Street Garage, we had to have it fixed.

And it was either fix it, put a band-aid on it for 14 or fix it correctly for 25.

And luckily, we were able to not have anything major happen after that.

Um we kept that all the same.

There wasn't much change in the enterprise fund.

But I'll answer any questions.

Any questions regarding the enterprise fund?

Okay.

Lori, just one uh Sure.

The projection from the Chair.

The projections for the garage revenue is a little bit down.

Is that just a rolling 12 months?

That's just based on the formula, yeah.

Okay.

And and sorry, go ahead.

I mean, I don't know.

I I would hope.

It's either going to go up with the people that are living there or the tickets are gonna go up because we're giving them tickets because they don't want to they want to park at a meter all day.

We have a lot of residents coming in.

Oh, you know, a lot of you know, so I'm hoping to see that go up, but we don't know.

Okay.

I did have a question.

Sorry.

Counselor Carney.

I'm sorry.

Oh, I just had one other question.

Sure.

Uh the downtown the debt service.

Um that is for that's for the renovation.

The renovation.

For the garages, uh for the Elm Street garage.

Yeah.

Can't get rid of that for uh for like ever.

Yeah.

No, we've got to keep repairing that garage.

I will not be, I'll be retired by the time that gets pulled up.

No.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that's it.

That's just that's just the Elm Street garage or that was from the renovation.

Yeah, that's just Elm Street.

Yeah, okay.

And then the other finances are the indirects.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Thank you, Lori.

Yeah.

Sure.

Okay.

Uh good evening, counselors.

I just wanted to follow up on the questions that uh Lori had taken about revenue.

So revenue is to be blunt, it's going to be what it is.

When we go through our tax recap process in November and December, the DOR will make us justify revenue.

In this case, it will probably be from September, well, October 1st of 25 to September September 30th of 26.

They will only allow us to declare revenue to the extent that we collected revenue for that same amount the prior year.

Unless there is some kind of locked revenue increase, such as an ordinance change for pricing, or in the case of wastewater and water, there will be increases in the rates.

In that case, we can take existing consumption and apply new rates to it.

But no other case can you do that.

So we can't speculate that parking fees will be up or Zaiterian garage receipts will be up.

It's going to be whatever it comes out to be.

So what will happen is when we go through this process, particularly in the general fund, if local revenues come in, local receipts come in higher than what we have in the books now, that will be a relief on the tax rate.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true as well.

But we only budgeted, I'll remind everyone, we only budgeted a 1 percent increase for local receipts in the general fund this year, with the exception of mattress fees, which we increased from $10 to $25.

So I think it effectively came out to like 1.2 percent.

So there is upside there.

And that means every dollar we collect more than that is that much is a dollar less on the tax rates.

But I just wanted to clarify.

So I just thought I would add that because I know the question has come up a couple of times now.

Councillor Burgo.

I appreciate that, Bob.

Just because uh for me, it's one of the first times, I don't know, maybe it's happened in the past, but in my tenure where um the enterprise, this downtown parking enterprise fund is uh needing a free cash infusion of about looks like 100,000 four hundred and ten dollars.

Yeah.

So that's why for me, and it looks like your earnings on investments had a decrease of about 26,000, and then their operating revenue had a decrease of almost sixty-two thousand dollars.

So I don't know if you have more insight on those earnings on investments and why they are seeing about a 26 percent decrease.

Uh well, uh in general, uh Lori and I were discussing this before the meeting tonight.

We think that the parking fees uh took a hit.

Um parking fees might have taken a hit during the uh the blizzard for one thing.

And so that's part of the trailing 12 months, but we've got six more months.

We got a new snapshot coming up in September where hopefully a lot of that will have normalized.

As far as interest, um let me go to the numbers that you are quoting here.

I can see.

On page 15.

Thank you.

Yes, I can see what you are referring to there.

Again, that will the all of the funds that we collect uh uh for downtown parking are in a central, a special uh special reserve account.

And uh the earnings there will they'll get it.

They will be accredited for all the earnings at the end of the period.

Um as far as why it's projecting down low.

This this actually could be uh due to perhaps a late posting uh in the general ledger for a period of time, so that the 12 month, the trilling 12 months, maybe a trilling eleven months.

We can look into that uh because it is obviously it's only 75 percent of what it had been uh the past year.

So I'll ask Sharon if we could take a take a note of what that might be.

And get back to you in the I am not too worried about uh you know uh enterprise funds in this case, because obviously we have to approve any free cash allocation.

So my hope is that the parking enforcement will go well, will the revenue will actually be there, that the formulas that you cook up uh will actually end up being more favorable for us.

Um that will be fine.

It's obviously the general fund where sometimes the formulas do not add up for us, and we don't want to give you more money than you need to spend for this administration to then say, oh, look at all this free cash that we have, which we know is not actually free cash.

Um but I I guess we don't need to spend too much time on that.

But that's my only thing is like when I see sometimes we're like, oh, we're being a little more whatever flexible on these numbers, if we're doing it here, are we doing it everywhere in the budget?

And that's where I get a little, you know, concerned.

Sure.

That's all.

Sure.

Thank you.

Well, the good news, of course, there too is we can only spend the downtown parking gets separately certified as to each enterprise funding we can only appropriate to that fund.

So that's that's a good protective measure.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Bob, one quick question.

If there was a way, and I and I don't know, uh you know, because I do think uh in I've had conversations with Lori, and this is a lot of hypotheticals that obviously this body would have to have impact, you know, opinions on and such, but if fines were to increase for certain parking penalties to uh and and that starts generating more revenue, this and this fund could self-sustain another position.

That is something that could be explored.

Are you able to project well using using uh a more stable like a September look back, which might have a more stabilized number, projecting with any possible fine increases for parking infractions that's uh uh uh assessed, could that then support or or forecast support for another parking officer fully funded out of this fund?

Sure, sure.

What what could happen even during the course of the year if if revenues actually realized now have to be in the bank, if revenues are that much higher than was predicted, we can actually do a supplemental budget to put a position in in the middle of the year.

You know, obviously that's subject to the council's approval.

Uh we did something very similar, if you recall, you just approved the an EMS uh uh an EMS uh appropriation because Mike Thomas's revenue is just going through the roof right now.

He's having another fantastic year in EMS, and uh he needed that that fees because ironically he's he ran out of budget for his ComStar uh commission, which is uh obviously the more he's collecting, the more he has to pay Comstar, and he's out of money for that.

So we gave him a supplemental.

I see.

So we could do the same in any of the things.

You could do a supplement as long as the funding source is not uh or the local um tax receipts the levy, you could do that at any point.

You can do it at uh any other types of of fees as well.

As long as you have the money as long as you have the money in.

Okay, you can't really be speculative in that nature.

So if we're having a good year halfway through, we can't really project that that same uh that same increase is going to continue for the next six months.

It's only what's been locked in, which is what we did with EMS.

We only gave uh the transfer up to fact it didn't even go to the full amount that he's already re realized this year.

So to warrant a full added position, you would have to see one solid m fiscal year of receipts.

It would probably be pretty late in the fiscal year.

You'd have to get what, say 70, 75,000 dollars of but I'm saying to make it a permanent ad, like this.

It's apparent that this fund can self-sustain an additional full-time.

Well, that yeah, so if you uh for the for that year, that will be locked into the 12-month trilling 12-month average.

So it would subs uh uh that in your hypothetical case.

Sure.

It would subsidize another position.

Yeah, because I I do think if if we are enforcing uh uh you know, with more enforcement will come more revenues.

It's just a matter of fact as if those revenues can cover the cost of that additional exactly right.

Okay.

But there are vehicles both intra-year and pardon?

I'm sorry.

There are vehicles to do this both intra-year with supplemental budget and uh going forward in the future because it will be baked into the trailing twelve months.

Yeah, I'd like to monitor this over the you know the course of the year and such, because I do think um, you know, and I I'll have more conversations with with Laurie Alfonso, but I do think uh, you know, giving more more and more officers, park enforcement officers will be beneficial to the city.

And if that fund can become sufficient to sustain it, I think it's important to use that money to do so.

All right.

Thank you.

Anything else for Bob before Lori.

Uh right.

Library.

Director Mellow is here, patiently waiting, I think her.

Yes, and thanks for Bob for taking some of my podium time and for taking my podium back up.

Okay.

Hello, everyone.

Thank you, Council President.

Oh, and page 87, sorry, folks.

Sorry, Olivia.

That's okay.

So I've met most of you, so I'm Olivia Mellow, the library director.

So uh today my presentation is gonna be a little bit different.

I um now gonna throw metrics at you because you have those in the budget document book, so you can see that what we've been doing over the last year with our numbers.

And I'm just very happy to say that we continue to be busy and we keep growing.

But this evening, what I wanted to present to you uh was uh about our FY27 budget, which for the library uh was developed without any enhancement requests and level to FY26 except for the contractual obligations.

The FY26 budget for the library was cut by over 100,000 in salaries and wages last year, and this was incorporated into the FY27 budget.

An additional 185 has been removed from salaries and wages for the library, resulting in the elimination of two full-time and several variable time positions, which are part-time positions that we hold at the library.

These cuts in the library budget will have an impact on the hours of service at the library branches and may affect our certification to receive state aid grant awarded through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and that's what I wanted to speak to you about tonight.

The importance of state aid to our public library.

State aid to public libraries provide state funding to municipalities for their public library.

The financial award supports technology upgrades, services and materials, both physical items and digital downloads.

Of the two 351 municipalities, 348 are certified, with the three remaining not participating, as their town population is under 800 people.

To receive the grant, New Bedford needs to meet the minimum standards for our population of 100,000 plus, specifically 101 300.

There are three factors that we have to meet.

The municipal appropriation requirement, which is the final budget as voted by the city council, the hours of service, which has to be 64 hours, and our materials expenditure, which is 12% of our appropriated budget, and again, based on our population size.

Over the past four fiscal years, New Bedford has received over 300,000 in state aid support initiatives, not over 300,000 in state aid to support initiatives not supported through the municipal budget.

And I did share with you all my uh spreadsheet, which in the back also shows what we've received over the last four years.

How do we use state aid and why it's important to meet the thresholds to remain certified?

In FY23, state aid funds were used to purchase a van to deliver materials to from the main library to the branches.

This has been a service offered to the residents of New Bedford since September 1897, when branch reading rooms were established in the north and south ends of the city.

They were furnished with newspapers, magazines, and books, and open from 3 to 9 p.m.

Books desired from the main library were brought by horse and buggy to these reading rooms daily.

So residents of the North and South End had access to the books without going to the main library itself.

And I do have archival photos to show the horse and buggy.

The vehicle we used from the city fleet to do this delivery was less reliable than the horse and buggy.

So we did have to invest in getting our own vehicle in order to do the service.

And we've offered bookmobile services since 1954.

And yes, I have photos to prove that too.

In FY25, state aid was used to upgrade the wiring for high-speed internet and Wi-Fi access to ensure all community members can connect to educational resources, employment opportunities, digital services, and online communication, regardless of their access at home.

I've shared with you all the amounts in my little flyer of what we've received and how we've expended that money.

To date, we've made deliveries, 224 deliveries to 919 people.

So in your review of the library budget, I asked you to consider how lean the library budget is and how important it is for us to remain certified to receive state aid for FY27 and beyond to help us in maintaining library services for our community.

Our purchase of services has been level for the last 10 years.

So the same $5,000 you will see for office supplies in the budget today is the same that it was in 2016.

And we're able to maintain that, even though we know the costs keep increasing in paper, toner, and every other supply, because I'm able to use some of the state of aid money for that as well.

So state aid does help us absorb a lot of the costs that can't be covered by our appropriated budget.

And so it's really important as you make the decision for what else can be removed from the library budget, which is already hobbling along.

Um you think about us losing uh potential $360,000 from the state.

And um thank you for your time and I'm be more than happy to answer any questions that you have for me about the library budget.

Counselor Schulkett.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh hi, Director Mellon.

Thank you for coming in.

Um I just really there's really only one number that sticks out.

Uh it's the utilities cost.

Um it went up from 27,266 to 130,000 389.

So that's you know, like 103,000.

Could you expound on why the large ask there?

I can't.

That line item is supplied to me by the energy office.

Okay.

Okay.

So you're that's just the increased cost of energy?

I would think so, yes.

And it covers five of our buildings uh for heating and air conditioning.

Are there do we still have the same amount of buildings as last year?

Yes.

Any idea why it would be so much more just for this department and not the other departments in the city?

I don't have that answer.

As I said, it that the that is pre-populated for me by um the CFO's office from the NGO.

Yeah, and again, I'm not picking on you.

It's just as you know, we're facing the closure of a fire station.

So when I see you know just large numbers like that, I'm just curious what what you know what's behind that.

So we need counselor.

Okay.

Thank you.

I got to share the mic with the point is straight up.

Good evening, Council.

So uh Tyler Reese will be here, I think, when the city utilities lines come up.

He furnishes us the information for every department.

Uh the reason why you asking questions on the library, not every other department, is because the library we keep the electricity in the library's budget.

And the reason we do is to avoid a disproportionate cut.

Uh, this actually is as silly as it sounds.

If we were to remove the electricity from the from the uh library's budget, it will make the library's budget look like it will be substantially lower than the year before.

We got into this very same problem when we when we reclass indirect costs about four or five years ago.

It triggers the formula that uh Olivia had spoken about earlier, and uh it can put uh a piece of that uh library grant that she gets into jeopardy.

So we just leave the library electricity in the library, just keep it from year to year.

And is that a is that a new So where was where was the electricity last year?

Was it still in there?

Yes, it would be in the utilities line items.

It went up a lot this year.

There are a couple of things.

I I think there may have been a solar credits that were uh perhaps incorrectly allocated to the library in the past, and Tyler got sort of the sorted that out this year.

But also the energy costs are higher.

I mean, everything's everything is up, and electricity across the entire city is up by about a million dollars.

Yeah, but I mean not by the difference of a hundred thousand dollars.

Right.

I mean, right.

That's yeah, and that's that's probably uh I I am guessing we can take the question down, but I am guessing that that's because solar credits had been applied to the library.

So the solar credits we get from uh various sources, and they are uh uh sort of a contra expense.

We have a separate account for them.

It's sort of like negative expenditures for electricity.

Uh and if something got misposted there as opposed to another department, that could have kicked it.

But I think the best way the best thing to do for you is just to put it down as a formal question, and we can and we can uh look up a more specific.

And again, this is not a indictment on the library by any stretch.

It just happens to be showing up in your department.

So please don't think I'm picking on you guys.

You know, Rosemary would take care of me.

I think the only other place you're going to see electricity that's not in the city utilities account is in Sullivan's ledge.

And that will be coming up when uh Commissioner Pont uh comes before you, I think, next week.

Okay.

Um but yeah, I will definitely be asking Tyler Reese how we can go, I mean, from uh in cost of energy increase by over six hundred percent in one year.

That's definitely interesting.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, Bob.

Thank you.

I yield, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Uh Bob, if you could stay up there for a second.

Council Oliver for Bob.

Thank you.

Uh Bob, so uh is the consensus uh leave the libraries alone so we can maintain an average of $350,000 from the state.

That's not how I that's not what I was responding to with the electricity, right?

No, I'm just saying the overall with the formula, and if we touch the electricity, it brings brings us out of the formula, we won't get this money.

Yeah, well, the electricity is cut that's kind of a weird thing, right?

Because it's already been charged to elect to uh to the library.

Uh and by not charging it, it would trigger it would incorrectly trigger this disproportionate aid formula.

I think your question might be are we trying to keep spending up so that we don't lose the money.

I mean, I would say I would say that's our primary goal is to keep that $350 to $380,000 grant alive to the extent we can.

But it it if this body were to ab were to cut a half a million dollars from the library, it would offset the money that we're getting from this anyways, and we would get a $200,000 savings.

Uh it would uh it would save it it would bring us out of that formula or trigger, you know.

Yeah, oh yeah, that would that would trigger we'd have to do the calculations as a little bit of a of a complex formula.

But uh, we would lose the 300 plus whatever you cut out, so we'll be on the Trevor Burrus.

So there'd be a savings of whatever the difference is.

So if it was a half a million and we would lose the potential 350, there'd still be a savings there to the rate pair.

Um I'd have to check the candidate budget.

Point of information.

Just just to clarify if that's okay, counselor.

The the grant is not in her operating budget, correct, Bob?

The grant is on top of her operating budget.

Grant is a special revenue fund.

So the 500,000 the it's it's on top of her budget.

So if 500,000 was cut, it would be $800,000 out of the library's.

That's correct.

Correct.

Yeah, you would lose your $500,000 cut would be probably 17 percent.

And that will that will definitely trigger since the rest unless the rest of the city were were also cut by the same percentage.

That's what they have you do.

They give you you have to uh put an adjusted budget together from the city as a whole compared to the library, and they have to be within a certain tolerance of one another.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you for clearing that up.

That's all.

Thank you, Bob.

Counselor Burgo.

And just also for clarification, we don't not just lose that funding source, we would also lose our accreditation.

Correct.

As a as a library source.

Which means we would lose our results.

Not just this piece of paper, but for those of us who actually read and write, uh, Council Oliver and want to go and get books, um, they wouldn't be able to use other libraries and other municipalities.

Um yeah, so those accreditations are important, especially um nowadays.

Um anyway, so my question is for you uh Director Mellow.

Um just in your opening, you had discussed obviously why it's detrimental, the cuts uh that the council might make.

Um I just want to obviously clarify, obviously, the increase that we made to vacancies uh last year.

Um I say we but I was one of the no votes for increase.

I went and double checks uh because I know we met and you were like, you voted for it.

And I was like, no, I voted for the purchase, but we'll get to that in a second.

Um we increased the the mayor's vacancy savings is always three percent.

We increased it by two percent to five percent.

Um, which obviously was still detrimental.

But at the time, I think the thought process some of us had was that the uh we weren't aware that you were onboarding someone.

There was a library assistant that was vacant, there was a watch monitor vacant.

That was a total of sixty-eight thousand five hundred forty-five dollars at the time.

Um there's that.

Um but it sounds like you are fully staffed now with who you have in your um in the library system.

Is that correct?

Yes and no.

There's two variable time vacancies right now that we haven't filled because we've been trying to absorb the cut from last year.

Just in terms of the full-time equivalencies, FTEs.

The watch person position was being reformatted to be a the bookmobile driver slash outreach vehicle driver, but we've set that aside in this fiscal year.

So that's the one vacancy.

That's the one position that will not exist this year, as well as the uh vacancy of the branch manager that's retiring.

So one branch manager branch manager position has been removed from the budget.

Okay.

Yeah, and I just and the reason why I take umbrage with that opening is just only not with you, but with the administration, because we know a lot of the rhetoric that was coming out was because of the council's increase in vacancies, we have to shutter these libraries.

In this case, Casa de Cedad and all these other situations, which we know wasn't really necessary.

We I think someone was laid off.

There was a part-time employee that was laid off on top of even though the watch monitor I don't think was ever hired, so there was some savings that could have been there.

Even though, as we pointed out in previous, I think you've been sitting here for a while now.

We know other departments that were tourism and marketing had an increase in their vacancies.

Uh cable access had a huge increase in their vacancies.

Uh there are way other ways that we're able to absorb those losses without doing the performative things that this administration has done just to try to make a point for whatever he reason.

And then a vote that I did uh join my colleagues on towards the library cut was for purchase and services, going back to a question from my colleague from Ward 1 in regards to electricity costs, which uh I don't even think we should have this Tyler gentleman come in because last year, if people would go back and watch that presentation, he couldn't answer a damn question for us.

And so I know obviously no one from the corner office watches any of these budget hearings because they're mystified by any of our cuts or any because according to them we don't have any discussions regarding this budget.

Again, none of this is for you, Director Mellow.

I use this opportunity to get on my soapbox.

Um, but we brought Tyler up here and we looked at your again, as my colleague from Ward 1 pointed out.

Whoa, these numbers are outrageous.

But actually, I'm looking because I'm trying to compare.

I have 2026 on the left side here and 27 on the right, and I'm like doing a comparative.

And funny enough, this year there's actually uh Casa de Cedad um line item for electricity and then a line item for Casa Library Utilities, which there wasn't that in 26.

Yeah, I can explain why.

It's because we share rental space in that building.

58 Crapo Street is a building that's managed by the city, so there's two organizations in that building.

There's the Casa de Sudad branch library and there's the immigrants assistance center.

So the utilities are split.

The city pays for the library's portion and the immigrants assistant center pays for their portion.

So that's why that one is a little set aside because it has to be a split.

Um I just I wanted to know obviously the reason why we supported well why I supported that cut to the purchases and service lines because one of the things we said during Cut Night, people who watch Cut Night when we do our speeches and discuss those cuts for those who actually pay attention and watch.

Um we explained we didn't understand the formula, even Tyler, who apparently we pay however much money to do the formulas couldn't answer.

And we said you could do, and as Bob said multiple times, every time we ask a question, a supplemental appropriation can be done, a supplemental appropriation can be done.

And that's what we had said to you.

And that um not that I'm saying I'm going to make any cuts this year to the library, but just last year that was a crucial cut because I am a huge supporter of libraries, and I took uh great uh offense to the fact that people were insinuating that that cut meant that I wanted to close libraries, uh, the exact opposite.

Um we kept saying the formula just doesn't make sense, and if halfway through the year, before we set the tax rate in November or whatever month that we set it, uh I think it was in November that last year, earlier than typical whatever, but um send us a supplemental appropriation, we will fully fund whatever you need, just as we done with other departments.

And did you get a supplemental appropriation last year, Director Mellow?

No, you didn't have to do that.

Yeah, because the administration didn't give, didn't care.

They didn't worry, I didn't ask the question, Director Mellow.

Don't worry.

Um I didn't ask the question.

And what I will say about that is because what mattered to the administration was to try to vilify the council and say they didn't make any sense doing this.

But the electricity stayed on.

They were able to close down a library that they probably wanted to close down because that was the rumor that we heard was that he didn't really want the Casa de Sedat open.

And so all the performative antics that we get from the corner office happened all the time.

I'm again, Director Mell, I apologize.

I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable having to stand up there and this is not directory.

I want to reiterate that again.

It's just I want to use this opportunity again to let people know.

We're having these discussions.

We're having a budget hearing.

This is when we discuss this.

Again, I I don't support any cuts to your department because we know this moron upstairs will say, oh, great, this is an opportunity to attack our libraries.

So I just but I wanted to make it have the explanation for people.

Um and again, thank you for the work that you do.

Thank you to your staff.

Um and I hope people use their their library card to get some books and some DVDs.

Thank you.

I will say it.

If you look at the metrics, you're gonna see that people are really using the library.

Um I I will say though, that with the loss of a manager, we are going to have to reconfigure some of our staffing to cover, and so there may be actually I'm pretty sure there'll be an impact in branch hours, but we'll figure that out when we get to that.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Council Oliver.

Not so much a question.

Um well, I guess it is a question, but could I um get a is there a way that you can do door count physical um circulation download items and statewide uh system-wide computer usage per branch?

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Could you just get that to um the the chair and you so you want circulation per branch?

Correct.

For the year, for the month?

For the for the for the year, the last the last 12 months, the last rolling 12 months.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Okay, from the chair, if that's okay.

Um, did you oh sorry?

Um course my laptop got out.

Sorry.

So my question is uh two two parts.

So just just for clarification purposes, because it was brought up.

The 350,000 grant dollar grant that we get, that is not in in this operating expense budget.

Correct.

This this budget here before us is only what's funded by the taxpayer.

Correct.

Property taxes.

So a a $400,000 cut would result in a in a $750,000 loss to the library.

Correct.

Right.

Okay.

And then my other question would be given reviewing your budget, you had a decrease even with COLAS and and asked me contract negotiations, you had a decrease.

So your your budget was already cut by the administration.

Quite significantly, yes.

Okay.

So any any point being is that any closures or uh uh having to change hours of operation in libraries would be a direct result of the manpower issues.

That is correct.

Okay.

And that is something that is I can almost say will be fact.

Right.

Um we will have to readjust some hours and and look at which of the busier locations are offering service.

I can say that one of the things we did uh in the last couple of years was expand services to the north end of the city.

The Wilkes Branch Library does as much business as the main library does, and community meeting space at that branch has blown up where every night the library is open.

There's some community group using that library.

So we need to maintain those hours up there.

Okay.

And other branches may be hopping along, and those might have to be evaluated for some hours that might have to be uh taken to replace what's needed at the north end of the city.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any other questions.

All right.

Olivia, thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

I do have one more thing to plug in, and this will be for Councillor Gomes, which is about the 250th celebration.

The library has been doing a lot of programs for the 200th and 50th.

And we this weekend on July 8th, 9th, and 10th, we have a big Lego build.

We are partnering with Lego, and we are making bricks from little Legos that will be sent to back to Lego to build a large Lego flag that will be displayed on the Boston Common for the Boston uh Pops concert on July 4th.

So if anybody would like to come and help us build these bricks that we're gonna send off, bricks meaning they sent us all the little Legos and we're making these big bricks.

So we are participating as a handful of libraries across the state that were chosen to participate in this program.

So we are having a big event this week, and we're building this flag.

So when you see the flag displayed uh a Lego flag, you'll know that the New Bedford Library and the patrons of the library and some of the staff of the library help build it.

So thank you.

Thank you very much.

I think that's a wonderful thing.

I'm into it.

I was around for the bicentennial.

I'll be around for the next one or whatever.

That's what they're doing that's what they tell me around here.

That's you notice the chuckle.

That's what they told me around here.

But anyway, um I think that's great that the library is involved like that.

And I want to put one piece, and everybody from the city should want to put one piece on that and say that they were part of it.

So we will try to join you.

It's this coming weekend.

It's this weekend, and the publicity is out now.

The state library has also pushed the information out, so you'll be hearing more about it.

And congratulations to you and um whoever's responsible for all of this.

Um, I think it's a wonderful thing.

And it gives it it gives the it gives everybody uh an opportunity, as I said, to be part of a piece of the celebration.

And if it's one two Legos put together and sent off to Washington, we're part of it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Olivia.

All right.

The planning department is up next.

Uh we have city planner Jen Carloni with us here as she makes her way up to the podium.

I'd like to just uh it's on page 105 through 109 of our budget books.

All right, good evening, Council President, honorable members of the city council.

Um thank you for the time this evening.

I'm pleased to present the planning department and the planning board and the historic commission are all kind of wrapped up into this budget.

Um we're a department of seven, we are fully staffed with no vacancies.

Um you want to note that the community preservation committee coordinator or administrator is located in our office.

However, that I'd like you to please note is not funded out of this budget, that is separately funded through the CPA Act funds.

So the full-time uh staff that are funded out of this budget is seven.

Um as a quick overview, the planning department provides unbiased support for land use planning, zoning, and community design.

Our services typically uh include um professional staff support to three permitting boards, the planning board, the historic commission, and the zoning board.

We've also in the past uh year provided limited support to New Bedford Redevelopment Authority, which I'm happy to report has now been transferred over to the Office of Housing and Community Development.

So we are not really providing any support there at this point, so that's uh helpful for us.

Um we facilitate short and long-range plans.

Uh we produce and review ordinance revisions, which you've seen many this past year.

Um, or we oversee site activation and beautification projects throughout the city, and we apply for grants and then we oversee their management.

Uh we also uh do state agency infrastructure project advocacy and oversight, so that's dealing with Mastot and uh South Coast Rail and things like that.

And we assist in interdepartmental coordination on a number of projects.

Uh I'd like to highlight a few accomplishments from the past year.

Uh this past year our department secured nearly uh six hundred six hundred and thirty thousand dollars in grants, which compared to our department budget is pretty substantial.

Um we have done done a massive zoning and permitting uh modernization.

This included this year's zoning changes, where Clasky Common TOD, the accessory dwelling units, uh modernizing our parking requirements as well as our dimensional standards, which are still pending, and the form-based code uh pilot districts, which also are still pending.

Uh it's been our first year of the administrative review process, the new one that we we um uh had you all approve last year for the site plan review, and that's gone really well, and we've had some faster approvals through that.

Um we completed the citywide comprehensive plan.

And we have coordinated the harbor plan uh with the Port Authority and Fair Haven.

Uh that's just waiting.

We're doing some uh ongoing reviews with the environmental DEP uh CZM and a couple of the other environmental organizations with the state, and then that will be going for its final approval approvals and public meetings.

Um so that should be wrapping up, hopefully, this summer.

Uh we continue to lead with the mass as a partner with the Mass Development Transformative Development Initiative for the love of the Av.

That was our fourth year.

We got one more extension this past year that will be wrapping up this year.

Um we led and coordinated on major transportation projects, particularly advancing the final design and monitoring the construction activities on the I-195 uh Viaduct at Route 18.

That project, we're still uh in negotiations over some elements on that and construction oversight of South Coast Rail, which obviously has kind of closed out, but this last year we still were monitoring some of that.

Um and we're still like now looking at obviously landscaping if anybody's out there.

There's some landscaping that still needs to be completed.

Um Befford Fairhaven Bridge.

Um we're advocating with that project as that moves forward.

Uh we just received a letter the other day about one of the processes, so that's still long way out, but we're we're actively involved in that.

Um that's pretty much my highlights there.

Grant funding, we have the DOT raise grant, or now it's called build grant.

That's for the Blue Lane Working Waterfront Connector.

So that's from MacArthur Drive all the way along North Front Street, for that's the 100% design, and then eventually we'll go for a construction grant.

Housing works, um, purchase street, roadway improvements.

So that'll be under construction, I believe, starting relatively soon.

Um BTA community zoning compliance, which you already saw with the TODs, uh DOT Safe Streets for All grant, uh Massworks infrastructure grant for the AMC roadway.

So we're uh contracting that right now uh with our designer there and with the uh potential uh developer.

And so that design is ongoing and the Mass uh Massachusetts Downtown Initiative grant downtown planning, and then we oversee permitting, and yes, many of you know there's a lot of elements that we've done there.

And then our goals for next year is to continue to facilitate our regulatory review and permitting uh to sustain economic growth and thriving neighborhoods and continue to seek grant funding for our office and and uh the initiatives that we have, and we're actually submitting three this week that are due on Wednesday.

Um, and then continue with ongoing zoning changes and keep fighting for the city's interests in the 1950 and New Bradford Fairhaven Bridge projects.

So, with that, the planning department budget as proposed is a total of 711,485, and which again it includes the planning department, the planning board budget, which previously was separate but now has been rolled in as of last year, and then also uh legal advertisements and whatnot for the historic commission.

So thank you for your time, and I'm available for any questions.

All right, colleagues, any questions?

From the chair, if that's okay.

So, Jen, I I thank you for the work that your office has done uh for the zoning changes.

I think they've been necessary in updating our code and also developing uh economic develop uh spurring economic development in the city.

Two kind of points on that is I think with the changes we've made, there should also be a period where we kind of let the dust settle and see how those changes manifest.

I think form-based code was a huge a huge undertaking by our department.

It was definitely something the council heard on uh just last week, two weeks ago, last week, and last week.

And we continued the hearing to follow up a little bit more on that, and it's definitely something that's interesting, but it's a big it was a big undertaking uh considering what Ann and and um I I forget the uh uh other uh consultants' name, but it was a big undertaking.

My question is I see in your budget you still have some uh contractual services for some consultants on zoning.

Is that for further new zoning projects, or is that something that could be or is that for like individual zoning board issues that come up?

So uh so in our budget, I know you have the budget sheet.

Um, and again, as some of our other colleagues have noted, you know, we have to identify a vendor.

Um, and then again, as we've as we've done here, you know, this is what I've put back in January.

Um, and so we're not married to these specific vendors, first of all.

Those are the vendors that are we have to list a vendor and a concept of how that works.

Um, but generally, what we have done over the last few years is utilize our our um consulting line for two purposes.

One, it's usually our match for a grant, so we use that to match grants, and that's how we pay for consultants.

And the the consultants that we the work that we're trying to do, a lot of it is is two pieces, not just new but also cleaning up.

So there's stuff that we've been working on for the past couple of years.

Form-based code does take time, zoning takes time.

So I do want to say I don't I don't like the idea of a pause because if you pause, it means by the time we get it to you, it's gonna be much much longer and further out, right?

These take things often take a year to develop and get fine-tuned.

Um, with that, the um the elements that we still need to work on.

We still have some signage code that we need to work on.

We still we do have some other districts that we would like to look at.

I think we do we should be proactive on that form-based code pieces.

I do think it's quite successful.

I I anticipate that's going to be successful, and as we've discussed, there are parts of the city that we don't have currently assessed, particularly the more of the residential districts, um, because those two those initial pilot districts are focused on those mixed commercial corridors.

We did pick three commercial corridors that represent a broad spectrum of the city, but doesn't capture every type of uh the building type and uh typology in the city.

So I think that would be important that we move some of that forward to be able to have that ready when the time may be appropriate.

And then sorry, and then I like the GIS mapping.

This past year we updated our zoning map.

Um we will be bringing that forth.

That was outdated.

So there's a lot of stuff that's just like housekeeping pieces of our our ordinance that we need to address.

So the 21,000 that you have budgeted for zoning consultants would be for ongoing work uh in the zoning core, not necessarily zoning board of appeals related issues.

No, correct.

And it'd be anything that might come up over the course of the year as well.

So like it's uh so the specific plans would be uh the signage.

I have signage.

I know that solar still needs to be updated because I know we passed the solar, but then the state added some new links, some new regulations.

And so it's kind of to catch up to anything that changes, but also uh we have a laundry list of small minor things like driveways and and driveway layouts and things like that.

So they're small.

We have a list of small things that would be hopefully.

Because I just uh and and I I don't want to uh I think the work that we have done was important and is important, and what we're ongoing to continue to ondo continue to do is important as well.

My concern is just is there a time when what we what we have to work within our means a little bit in that the updating of the or the look backs and the cleaning up of code is done maybe on a lesser scale so that we could save some money and it w has it already been done, or is there some possibilities of that uh specifically with your consultants and stuff because you are your staff's fully filled.

So it's not like there's savings there, or you know what I mean?

So that's what no, and I leave that up to to to the the council here, and uh and I would say I I absolutely would uh prioritize my staff over any consultants.

Of course, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

Yeah, fair enough.

I the work that you guys do is unbelievable, but it's just one of those things where it's because we we uh I I've seen it, we've seen it because obviously zoning change has come before us.

So and the amount of work you guys have put into it, i I just don't even know where to begin.

It's it's it's so much.

And it's it's it's one one of the departments that we get to work with because of the requirements that you come before us so that we have a greater appreciation.

I think a lot of departments work probably just as hard and we don't get to appreciate them as much as and our department touches a lot of other departments.

Sure, yeah.

The broad broad spectrum of what's going on.

Yeah, for sure.

Absolutely.

All right.

Um, you know, we'll have some more conversations, I think, uh uh in the next few weeks regarding what what you're looking to do there, so I can continue to build an opinion on that.

All right.

Okay.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any other questions?

All right.

Oh, Council Roy.

Were there any enhancements uh that you requested?

Um I did back in January.

I mean, uh at the time I wasn't aware of the budget circumstances.

So I did put in an enhancement request for 100,000 because I as we've been doing our permitting team um analysis.

I wanted to put in this request um for analyzing our um analyzing our our uh our applications online using the application online application portal, right?

So it was not just for the planning department, it was also for the building department, um, because I know those guys are strained and and they don't really have the time to do that that long term looking in at how their applications work.

A lot of our applications we went strictly from the paper application right to a digital.

But the digital allows us a much more much more flexibility and ability to think about it strategically.

So I kind of wanted to put in the app but made this request to for some sort of funding so that we could strategically look at how we can use our applications better, um, streamline those workflows from the applicant side, asking the right questions so that it makes it easier on our side, but also not burdening the applicant, but really making it a clear way and those and we're also having a lot of meetings just in general about how the permits track and and there's you know there might be one project that you guys would see, but the per number of permits that it's actually tied to is a lot, and so trying to figure out how do we kind of streamline a lot of that.

And so that's why I wanted to hire a consultant to help us look at a lot of that.

But obviously that was quite a large ask, and it's a um uh request that wasn't uh seen through.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'm good.

Thank you, counselor.

Any other questions for Jen?

All right, thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Thank you, Irvine.

All right.

Next up is the marathon with our CFO Bob Ekstrom.

We will start with employee um no, I'm sorry, we'll start with the CFO's budget on page 29.

All right, hello once again.

So CFO's office as you know, it's got has three of us, myself and Sharon, who you see a lot of, and Olivia, uh Frankelini Mitchell, who does a lot of the performance measurement work that we that that goes on in our office and in the budget books.

Uh so our budget uh this past year is up about $17,000.

Uh actually more like 19.

It's all on labor.

Two things there.

Uh one is the uh as you know, of course uh all unit C employees are not receiving step increases or COLA increases.

So what happens is that uh we are going into 2027 at our respective grades and steps, and we'll have those for a full year.

Last year we only had that same grade and step for a piece of the year because we had a step one lower than that before.

So it really is just an annualized salary.

Plus uh in 2026, we had a 3 percent uh vacancy reserve, which we with three people we just can't achieve.

So uh that uh that's been kind of that's been eliminated this year, too.

So that pretty much accounts for all the savings.

Um the other the other line items for supplies, purchase of services, and other charges, more or less flat.

I think they went up by a net of maybe less than a thousand dollars.

Uh so that's pretty much the 30,000 foot view of uh of um my my department.

Looks like Olivia is stealing my thunder after I stole hers.

Yours is more fun than mine, too.

I can see that already.

Uh, so I think I would uh probably uh ask for any questions at this time.

Council Carney.

Yeah.

I I just uh just for point of information.

I was looking at the breakdown of the expenses, but the employees' benefits with the trainings and whatever.

So you don't have to go through that.

Okay.

Sure.

Thank you.

So you have no question.

That's even better.

I just had a statement.

Okay, thank you.

Anything else for the CFO's budget?

All right.

Seeing none moving on to employee benefits, page 168.

Okay.

Okay, so now we're entering that section of the budget that uh we call functional or subfunctional as the mass DOR calls it.

These would be cost centers that are not really departments.

They don't have people in them for the most part.

Uh so uh and they tend to be related to a certain type of uh expend object of expenditure.

So we'll take employee benefits.

This is one of the exceptions after I just finished saying there are no people in them.

Uh this one does have people in them.

Uh quite a few, actually.

Uh the AFSME contract is the biggest issue here.

Okay, so we just settled ASME.

The council approved the contract and the funding for the contract, I think um in the perhaps the second meeting in April, I'm not sure.

Somewhere around there.

Uh so now it went uh it went in into the shop where we we we work the numbers.

We build new rate tables.

I think there were 93 separate employees, uh separate job classes that got up upgrades in this particular contract, and it affected uh uh uh quite more than half of the AFSME workforce.

And on top of that, we had to build in new rates too.

Those rates are just going into paychecks for this uh for this coming payroll, June 4th.

And after that we owe uh the employees retro active pay to uh to either January 1st in case of um uh of the retro of the uh reclassification or to July 1st, 2025 in case of the COLA.

So there was not enough time to distribute because we didn't actually know the distribution by department at the time of the budget being presented.

So what we were forced to do is come up with uh a pretty decent estimate.

It's about what it's gonna be.

And we had to park it all into uh the employee reserves.

What we will have to do is seek a transfer uh to distribute that to the departments um once we get the final payroll registers that come out in the next week or so.

We don't have to do that right away in the new fiscal year, uh simply because no department is going to run out of money just because they were short funded the ASME uh wage increases.

But at some point during fiscal twenty-seven, we'll have to distribute that nine hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars across um most of 30 some odd departments.

And it will be available by employee by position.

Um so that will be that will await uh uh future action from the the that we'll bring to the council.

The other line item on this uh two things.

One is the um personal services uh also how harbors a reserve that we have for employee um severance pay.

We don't require employee uh we don't know what the severance is going to be in a given department, uh sometimes 15 months in advance of many people making decisions, which tends to be in late June of a fiscal year, so that they can step in and obviously and get some uh get new retirement benefits if they get on the retirement rolls before July 1st.

So we see a lot of retirements and movements around late June.

So here it is where we put together this budget in March, April, and May of 2026, not knowing what the severance actions are going to be in June of 27 yet.

So we put them in here in this reserve, and we'll post.

Uh we'll post to a department to the extent that the department can withstand a large payout for severance, but if they cannot, we charge it off to this department here.

So that's pretty much um uh employee benefits.

Questions, colleagues.

Counselor Lopes.

I'm gonna ask the same question I asked last year, so thank you for the indulgence.

I always want to know why not every department has a line item for final payoffs.

Like some li some departments do, some don't, even though like I'm planning.

There is zero over there, but there's still a line item four for it under the salaries and wages under the one hundred account.

But then if I go to purchasing, it's not there.

Yeah.

Like I asked this question last year, I'm assuming we get the same answer, but I'm gonna ask.

Well, I hope they I give you the same answer.

We'll have to find out.

Uh so we do we generally house these these payouts in this department here.

I did say a moment or two ago that if a department sustains a uh a large payout and they can afford to take it in their budget, that's when we will charge it.

I think what you are seeing these line items show up for.

We don't have any any severance budgeted in any departments, but you're seeing the actuals from prior years.

So in the case of planning, for instance, I'm not sure who it would be off the top of my head, but uh they would have uh there would have been a severance at some point, probably are you looking at 20 let me go, 25 column?

I just honestly, I'm not gonna lie, I I flipped.

So in the the 25, there was one for 184 dollars.

There is nothing in 26 or 27.

Yeah.

The only reason why you see that line item then is because 2025 triggered the line item to be brought over because it had uh amounts in it.

But that could be like a couple of hours of vacation time for for severed employee.

But I know we know in certain departments there's always employee payoffs.

The school department, we see a lot of people retire in January.

Police fire, we see that sporadically, normally the mid-year, you know, July and in January.

But we have when we see those departments, we don't see estimated payoffs within those departments, because we know every year the chief of police can tell you, I expect 12 people are gonna retire within the next fiscal year.

But yet, when I look in the police department for that same line item, I would expect to see an allocation of X, because the police chief knows those 12 police officers that are gonna retire because he's already notified them.

Same thing with the fire department, same thing with the school department.

I understand that it's all here, but I would love it for my own edification when we're looking at it, especially for those departments that historically have people retiring, as I mentioned, police fire and teachers, that it would be nice to see a breakdown within those department budgets, because as I said, we know for police and fire who is gonna retire for the most part.

And the same thing with teachers.

Yeah yeah, well, obviously teachers is not part of this, but for the we they have their own budget book, yes.

Police and fire, I mean, you we know what it might be coming up this spring, but we're actually looking at the following spring when we do this budget here, so it gets a little bit more difficult.

I mean, we can go through that exercise.

It's gonna produce a lot of variances within departments.

Some are gonna have huge favorabilities if they don't have a uh payout, and some of them are gonna have few uh huge deficits if they do.

So that's kind of like why we decided.

We figured it's better.

It's at least riskier to the uh it's it's easier to guess what the city might be in total than it is to try to guess what each of the thirty-four different departments are gonna do.

I'm just gonna say Councillor Carney Gomes and I remembered the extremely old antiquated budget books that provided a lot more detail.

Well, even then, though, the uh I'm not sure if the if any previous administration ever really budgeted severance, though.

I mean, we used to just didn't budget it.

It's like maybe uh Sharon just said other than public safety.

What would happen is a lot of times the departments would have to try to find the money themselves.

And you know, you if you get a 30-year person that retires and has like eighty-one hundred dollars for the maximum for sick and might have four weeks, eight weeks of vacation, it can add up some.

It can kill us.

$70 plus thousand dollars going their way.

Well we'll take we'll take we'll note your comment.

Perfect.

Thank you Bob thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Counselor Loops.

Anyone else?

All right.

Moving on next page $169 health insurance.

Okay.

Quick overview, Bob?

Yes sir.

I'm just gonna turn to the works.

Okay.

So health insurance now will be the uh this is the city and retire city retiree allocation, the 75% of the the employer's share 75 percent of the working rate, which is really another word for premium, except that it's not premium has has um has a a risk association with it this this working rate is set by Blue Cross Blue Shield in Massachusetts and it is the uh the a close approximation to what a premium would be if we were on a full indemnity plan.

We charge uh based on exact enrollments so at the uh as close as we can to the budget uh prep date uh which I think we use maybe March or April's enrollment I'm not sure which one it was it's it comes from HR actually we go in and we find out what every we have every single family and single plan for PPO, HMO, uh retirees Medicare, Medicaid I'm sorry not Medicaid, the Medic Medics and Medicare RX, uh and as well as some of the um the other Medicare premium penalties part A and Part B.

So we know exactly these come right off of bills.

So this is exactly what we're gonna pay with the only uncertainty is what are the new working rates going to be come January first.

Last year we estimated a 5 percent increase on January 1st came in close to 10 I think it was 9.8 percent this year we have a 10 percent reserve built in the reason for the uh the larger increase health is one of those big four that I had mentioned in my kickoff meeting here one of the major cost increases for fiscal 27 over 26 went up by 4.1 million dollars.

It's a combination of two things.

One, if you recall the uh the health insurance uh line item was cut by 750,000 last year.

So we asked for 21.2 million it came in at 20 million seven fifty.

Doesn't change the fact that we have the same enrollment and the same rates.

So what happens is that we can't fund uh the medical claims trust fund by that much money.

So essentially what's happening is the medical claims trust fund balance has had to pay the difference in uh because of the cut.

But when you put that cut back on it it becomes about a 15 percent increase.

The reason why it's 15 and not 10 is because we had the 5 percent assumption last year on January 1st and it came in at 10.

So our premium increases are jumped by 10 percent two years ago and 9.8 percent this past July.

So I'm sorry this coming July is what we anticipate.

So it's a cumulative compounded effect Counselor Shokat.

My quick question would be that increase is that an increase in what they're charging or an increase in the amount of claim dollars overall that people are accumulating with this or both almost neither let me try to explain.

So it's a it's an estimate okay it's not what so Blue Cross Blue Shield is trying to estimate what the claims are going to be in fiscal twenty seven.

Well actually it was calendar twenty-six they do it on a calendar year basis all right so it's not we're not actually paying medical claims we're paying on a working rates basis that is estimating what those claims are going to be if I was in an insurance if I was an insurance company United Health for instance they talk about medical claims loss ratios right we're trying to achieve a 100 percent rate here whereby medical expenditures exactly equal premiums that in the private sector of course they were they operate on something closer to 80 percent where they where they spend 80 cents of every premium dollar on medical claims and the others goes to G and A and profits basically but that's an estimate to try to achieve 100 percent the real claims are being handled in the Medical Claims Trust Fund.

The Medical Claims Trust Fund is in place with a fund balance to uh to take care of the highs and lows, if you will, of spikes in in costs and sometimes when you have savings and costs too.

It takes two there's a two-year look back that Blue Cross uses before they set the working rates.

It would have to, because if I was going to say, at some point, if they are just raising costs every year, city you know, municipalities, New Bedford eventually included, right, wouldn't be able to be a part of the plan anymore.

And then the insurance company would go out of business.

So they have to.

There's a it's a push and pull with them too.

Right.

But now keep in mind though, Blue Cross is just a third party administrator in this case.

They're not the insurance company.

We are the insurance company.

Our medical claims, our medical claims trust fund is our insurance company, basically.

It's collecting working rate contributions, 75 percent from employer, 25 percent from employee and from retiree.

It goes into uh a fund that has about a 20 or so million dollar fund balance, 18 or so, 18 or 20.

Uh that uh that is there to sort of be a buffer against uh spikes in insurance insurance.

You might recall last year I talked about being on the watch list from DLS, the division of labor services.

That's because our fund balance dipped below two months worth of expenditure payouts, which is sixteen point seven percent.

Our rates are kind of like around 12 percent now.

We have about 12 percent coverage in our fund balance, um, which is about a month and a half.

Now, it's never going to happen that we're not going to collect a uh a premium, because the premium is really just coming out of an employee's check and coming out of this budget in the general fund.

So it's going to be there.

Uh whereas the private sector might have to worry about a total loss of premiums.

We wouldn't have to do that.

But in any event, the standard for that DLS likes to see its communities maintain is uh is two months or sixteen point seven percent.

So we are below that now.

We have been for two years.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Councillor Carney.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bob.

Um I get a little lost in the weeds in there when you look at all those percentages.

So um on that uh the four point four point one million.

Um could you just give us a breakdown of the estimated on that um the four point the four point uh one is it, the four point one?

All right.

So that that was 4 million fifty five thousand.

So that's the same.

Yeah, no, because you can just if you can just in writing submitted to us, the breakdown, because you are given all these percentages you could from last year's you took this 750,000, you need to make it up from that, they needed this.

And I just want to see what the total estimated cost of the health care increase, what you needed to deduct from last year's sharpfall, if you could just break that 4.

Sure.

1 million dollars down in writing and just sh just just look four or five line items.

Um that would be very helpful.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

From the chair really quickly.

So, Bob, two things just to sum it up.

First is our health insurance uh payments here.

We we're essentially running this like a not-for-profit health insurance company.

Correct.

Where any the money we're basically being charged here is to to hit the nail on the head with our uh uh uh claims.

However, we're doing it on a basis like a premium basis, and we are utilizing the expertise of Blue Cross Blue Shield, a actual health insurance company who happens to be our third just a third-party monitoring service, but we're using their expertise in the insurance industry to kind of formulate a premium or a working rate.

Yes, as a self-insured fund, we we are um obligated to come up with some uh proper science, if you will, a health a health actuary to come up with these working rates.

We can't just kind of create them ourselves.

And that's what Blue Cross, one of the services that they do for us as a third-party administrator, is to compute our working rates each year.

Okay.

And last question.

Uh and then I don't even know the answer, but that's why I'm asking.

The medical claims trust fund, does that uh make money?

Uh so that depends on how health claims do.

Now, uh two or three years ago I would tell you it's a giant break-even because we used to fund this the our general fund contribution used to be on a percentage of actual medical expenditures.

And that is not the proper way to do that.

So we changed to the working rates basis last uh three years ago.

So what happens now is the medical claims trust fund takes in premium revenue, 25 percent from employees and retirees, 75 percent from the employer, and it then has that as revenue and it has to spend it has to meet expenditures uh for medical claims.

So we could lose.

I didn't explain it right.

The surplus that is built up in the trust fund cannot be invested to make money.

Yes.

We do we do that.

And it does do that.

Yes.

What is that returns?

I could give you the uh the actual investment income.

But every trans, you know, it's obviously not in anything we can it's in short-term uh markets.

We can we can't really invest it in uh you could just put what we're make percentage-wise what we are making.

Oh, sure.

All right, yeah, great.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

All right.

Page 170 intergov uh anyone else for health insurance?

Page 170 intergovernmental assessments, please.

All right.

Well, this is really composed uh of two line items.

Uh this the surplus assessment, which is the small piece, which is I think about 15 or so grand.

The biggest and most uh most important piece of this is the New Bedford uh regional the refuse disposal fee.

Right.

That's a uh that's that makes up about $900,000 of this amount.

Uh the reason why that is important to us is because we share um we have a very unique benefit here with Crabo Hill.

Um we share, of course, though that that um that facility with uh the town of Dartmouth, and we are assessed by the uh regional refuge disposal uh management district on a on a per tonnage basis based on usage.

So in the Bedford accommodation accounted for about 32.4 million tons uh 32.4,000 tons of uh trash last year out of about 38,000.

So we uh uh 83 percent.

So we pay 83 percent of the refuge management districts PL, if you will, expenditures.

Uh if you work that out, it works out to like $28 per ton for disposal fees.

The going rate is about $110 per ton.

So we pay about a quarter of what the going rate is.

And I can tell you and so with that $900,000 would have cost us $3.6 million if we did not have this facility.

Uh I was extremely concerned when Fall River opened up its solid waste bids about two weeks before we did, and capital waste was their low bidder.

Um their fees are for solid waste next year are over $15 million, and I didn't know where we would end up.

Uh we were fortunate, I think, that we got $13.2 million, which is a huge cost increase compared to the $9.1 we are paying now.

But that delta between what we're paying capital next year and what Fall River is paying capital is because of this facility.

So it is a um it is one of the best investments the city has made in terms of return.

Any questions on intergovernmental.

All right.

Life insurance next.

172?

All right.

Life insurance is a little bit like health insurance, except that it's it's we are not self-insured.

We have an indemnity plan for we have basic life, uh supplemental life, accidental death, and dismemberment.

The employer pays 75 percent of the basic life insurance uh premium, which is 20,000 per active employee, and we also pay uh 75 percent of the A D policy, which is 20,000 as well.

So it's uh it's based on I think there's it's 1100 people that are enrolled.

It is a set rate.

It hasn't gone up very much over the last few years.

So it's a straight math exercise.

It's like 1,100 people times um uh roughly 156 dollars per year per person, and that's what that is what the the budget comes out to be.

We have almost no variance in this account from year to year.

Any questions on life insurance?

All right, moving on.

Page 173, other municipalities.

Other municipal.

That's uh the unique thing about this uh functional cost is this is one that you want to have a lot of dollars in.

And the reason you want to is because this represents the the medical billing fee that I think it's New England Medical Billing charges us right now for the Medicare and the Medic Medicaid claims that we process, mostly through I think the dental program at the schools and a few other services that we that we provide.

We are actually providing health benefits to um to beneficiaries, and we can bill the Federal Government, CMS for this.

This is 2.9 percent of the total.

We take in about $2.9 million from this line item, and this is the ED2,000.

So if this was the double, that means the $2.9 million would have doubled as well.

So that's why I sort of like this this functional cost here.

All right.

Any questions on other municipal page 174?

Pension contribution.

This is what I do not like.

And the reason I don't like it is because we're still the almost 80 percent of this line item is for prior past service costs and the interest on those past service costs.

The normal cost, which is the cost that the city would incur if we were fully funded going into the fiscal year and came out of the fiscal year fully funded, the normal cost is the delta.

Okay, it would be about $8 million.

Uh as you can see it is about 47 million dollars this year.

We have full funding plan for 2035 right now.

As many of you know, we have had some discussions both in terms of some of the council members have uh have discussed it with me.

Uh the administration has, and I had a brief discussion with the retirement board last uh Thursday about alternatives.

So when the when the actuarial report comes out, which the valuation date is January 1st, 26, the report should be coming out in the next month or two.

We are going to ask the actuaries for some alternatives.

Right now, the as I said, full funding is scheduled for 2035.

We're going to ask for 2036 and 2040.

I don't want to go to 2040.

I hope it doesn't come to that, but I figure with one year the 2036 number will give me a one-year increment, and we can use we can uh interpolate between that and the 2040 and come up with a with a funding schedule that might uh not eliminate increases in this account.

We can't do that.

We'll never you if matter of fact, we can't go down on our assessment.

That's state law.

So we're going to be increasing it every year.

But right now we're built, we have an 8 percent increase built in and on close to 50 million dollars, it works out to close to $4 million a year.

This year here it's three $3.7 million increase.

Uh we know where we're heading to.

We're heading to about a $75 million assessment uh in 2035, which is only going to be seven funding years away.

So it is um it's a big it's a big cost problem, no doubt about it.

Uh but uh there aren't a lot of things we can do right now.

Just uh our retirement board does a really good job in in uh in generating a lot of what they'd call actuarial gains when they outperform their their benchmark, which is seven percent discount rate, that's an actual gain to us.

Um when payrolls come in less than forecast, as they will this time because of the particularly because of unit C not having being flat funded for a full year, that will create an actual gain, and that will help out on the unfunded liability somewhat as well, but not to any significant degree.

Our unfunded, our total liability is about 900 million, roughly, 950, somewhere around there, and they have about 600 million under management, so hence the funding ratio is about 55 percent.

I hope that it's gonna go up when the valuation comes out, but we have yet to see that.

Okay.

Council Roy.

So uh hi, Bob, how are you?

Good?

Great.

Um so 2026, it was our our was 43.6 million.

Um this year it is 47.3.

Um next year, what's it look like?

Uh it's going to be 8 percent on top of that 47.

All right.

Um 3.8 or so million dollars.

Uh it's going to be very close to 51 million.

Okay.

So 51.

As it is right now, if we don't push the 2035 number out.

Right.

So if say we push we push it out to 2036 or 2037, what's that saving?

What's that?

What's that fifth?

Would you say 50 50?

Waiting on the actuaries for that.

Okay.

I had a long conversation with um KMS actuaries who does the work.

The retirement, this is a retirement board's vendor.

They go through the RFP process to select the actuaries.

They are responsible for the actual valuation.

So we have to we have deliver the results, basically.

But we get to sit at the table with the retirement board and come up.

They usually produce somewhere between six and twelve different funding schedules.

And uh we sort of talk it out and pick the funding schedule we think mutual mutually will benefit the city.

Not too aggressive, but not too conservative either.

So uh I don't know what that answer will be.

Okay.

Will you know soon?

I will know as soon as the valuation comes out.

And we're having a meeting on June, I think it's June 22nd.

And uh we'll have some pretty good idea of what those numbers will look like, probably just after the budget gets passed, though, unfortunately.

But this will be for next year's budget anyway.

Thank you, Bob.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Council Schulkat.

Thanks, Bob.

Uh thanks, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Bob again.

Um general question here.

Um as bad as it is for New Bedford, and it's bad.

Um there are tens of thousands of cities in America.

What are your colleagues in other cities doing as far as you know crippling pension liability is now forcing us to cut out public safety.

So I'm assuming this is happening in other cities in America to some extent more or less.

What are your colleagues in these other cities doing?

Or like what are they I mean, I mean you must you know be in some kind of society, a city planner or city CFOs.

I mean, I mean the mayor's in that fancy mayors of America or whatever in America.

Yeah.

I'm not any kind of fancy society, but I can tell you that it is a problem around the country, right?

But every state is different.

It depends on your own retirement system, right?

So we're probably more comparable to other Massachusetts communities.

And uh a lot of them are uh full on maxing out the uh funding to 2040.

I know in Brockton, I believe it was Brockton and a few other cities did pension obligation bonds, which is basically like borrowing the money to pay off your pension system.

Now you just owe a different debtor than the retirement system.

Uh it can I I think there are depending on where interest rates go, it can be uh it can it can work out beneficially to the community.

We considered that once a few years ago, and it just wasn't gonna be worth it.

This is back probably when Mike Ganyer was the interim CFO, and it was not cost beneficial to us to do that.

Um a lot of this communities uh I know I'm harping on this that the retirement boards um uh they'll probably pull their hair out when they hear this, but again, we are we are the fourth lowest funded system in the state, as of the last valuation date in 2024.

I s I am hoping that that's going to improve quite a bit.

But a lot of our community a lot of our uh our peers, like Cambridge, for instance, don't have any problems.

They're a hundred percent plus funded.

There are a number of communities that are 90 percent away.

We're talking about Cambridge.

We're talking about a city that actually has a commercial tax base.

But uh those are so those are the only the only really things you can do.

Uh that that pension obligation is real, and you can't really do much to manage around it.

You can just uh you can just decide on your pension funding date.

Uh you certainly don't want to get into a game of playing around with the actuarial assumptions.

That was done here in New Bedford about 10 years ago when the actuary at the time uh put some pretty aggressive set forwards into play, which basically a three-year set forward uh basically shortens your your expected life by three years.

So they turn they turn a 50-year-old man into, for instance, into a 53-year-old man.

So he's gonna die three years sooner.

And what that does is it reduces the amount of obligation you have to that individual.

So you lower the obligation, you then you therefore increase the um you increase the funding ratio and you lower the um the ammunization of that.

We stripped that out, I think it was in 2018.

We picked up KMS actuaries, we got rid of the set forward, we took a big hit that year, and now we're managing to we don't want to play around with assumptions.

Discount rate is seven percent.

It should not have to go lower.

They're actually outperforming that on a regular basis.

It would be a little foolhaughty to go higher than that right now, because it's going to give you um no one else is moving higher for one thing, and uh it's going it's serve the opposite effect again.

It will serve the same thing.

It'll it'll reduce your unfunded liability, and it's just a paper gain.

We're trying to make this a real economic uh improvement, not just a paper improvement.

What is the mayor's take on this?

Uh he shares the same thing.

He asked me for my advice, and I give him I tell him the same thing, and he agrees.

I mean, that's what he has me for.

So he's uh he's very much uh interested in looking at alternative funding schedules, though.

That's something we have to do at this stage.

Because what happens is like we get the closer you get to that to that mark, like suddenly everything is accentuated.

Like even uh yeah, there's no surprise.

So the the cola base increase, right?

That was a seven million dollar, eight million dollar total obligation increase, right?

On top of 900 million.

Doesn't sound like a big deal.

But when you're only seven years away from funding it, you have to make that seven million dollars up over seven years, and that's why it turned into a one million dollar problem.

Uh had this been done like if we were 20 years before our full funding date, that would have been a couple hundred thousand dollars, and it wouldn't have been anywhere near the as significant.

It's almost like borrowing money just before you finish paying off your mortgage, and now you got a whole new round to pay off.

So it's not quite that bad, obviously, here, but if you do but things do get accentuated the closer you get.

If we were going to consider these pension bonds, then that's kind of what we would be doing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You'd be looking to extend that out.

You it'd be like refinancing your house.

You know, you're ten years away from your paying off your mortgage, but you just took out a new 30-year loan.

That's kind of like what pension obligation bonds could be like, too.

And you think you think the mayor is interested in doing those kind of bonds?

Uh he knows about them.

He went through the exercise with um Mike Ganyer a few years ago.

He's he wasn't very I I don't believe he was very excited about it then.

Um Pension bonds?

I don't know.

Uh but well, yeah, I'm not I'm not sure that there's a lot of appetite for that right now.

It would be foolish of us to to not consider these types of things.

I think someone in the council asked me uh the unthinkable question about a prop two and a half override here a few weeks ago.

And I said, sure, it was discussed.

I mean, it's my job to bring it up as a possible alternative.

No one has any appetite for that whatsoever.

But to not ask the question or to not pose the question to the administration, I wouldn't be doing my job.

So certainly pension obligation bonds are on the table for discussion, but they're not going to go very far right now.

I mean, really, if we extended this funding schedule out to Council Roy's question to if I and I'll have a better answer in in a bit, but if we extended it out, we could probably taper this down to about half of that increase.

So instead of eight percent is four percent.

That's kind of where my goal would be.

So instead of having a four million dollar problem next year, we have a two million dollar problem.

That's if we a lot more manageable.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm just not sure whether that means one year, two years, or three years to get that kind of savings.

But I will know it about a month.

Okay.

Thank thank you, Bob.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Council Lopes, then Councillor Roy.

Thank you.

So staying on that topic, Bob, why would we only go out one year when the mayor, when he presented his budget, said if this year is bad, next year is going to be an $8 million deficit, $18 million deficit, the following year of projecting a $10 million deficit.

Why would we only look at one year instead of taking the maximum what it was $2042, correct?

2040.

$24, sorry.

Yeah.

So why would we automatically go out to $2040?

If the administration is telling me over the next two years, we're going to be $28 million in the hole.

Why would we do an exercise for one year and not an exercise for the entire five minutes?

Well, we might.

If I if you recall what I had said, was that why wouldn't we just look at the entire five-year upper fund?

And then say, well, it might be too much.

Let's look at a three year old one year.

If we know we're $28 million in the negative of the next two fiscal years, why do the song enhanced for one year when we know realistically we're going to have to pay the piper every year after it's like to extend it out for five years?

But if we're going to be able to save the ratepayer, I mean the taxpayer in the city collectively over the next 14 fiscal years.

That's substantial savings to the rate payer when we're talking about what the tax rate in the city is already in the Murray station.

So we are going to look for a one year to 2036 and a f in a five-year to 2040.

And uh the reason I wanted to do the one year is just so I could have some kind of a measure because it's not exactly straight line.

It's not going to be one-fifth of the five-year total, the way the numbers work.

I just want to be on with both of those.

It might very well be that we have to look at the five-year.

We also need to get the retirement boards buy-in on this too.

They have a lot of pressure on them to come up with a fully funded system.

And they're getting measured by 104 other communities, and I'm sure they don't like seeing New Bedford as the fourth lowest funded system in the state either.

So 12 years ago, I said this on this floor.

That this number was going to be astronomical by the time people started looking at it.

And that was 12 years ago.

And it's great that the Irish guy and I still talk, and he's like, I remember you saying this was gonna this was coming to roof sooner or later.

Yep.

And the other thing you said on this floor, and I've been here is that um uh post-employment retirement benefits is gonna be the next thing.

Yeah.

And that'll be even bigger.

That's gonna be a bigger debt that we got to pay.

OPEB, I should just say.

Yeah.

Yep.

Thank you, Bob.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Council Roy.

Thank you, um, Mr.

President.

Uh Bob.

Uh why why didn't we do this earlier?

Why didn't we why didn't we start looking at what it would like, what it would be like to push out to 2036, 37, 38, earlier in this budget process, so we would be looking at, you know, uh uh a less of a shortfall than we are today.

There's nothing you could do in this budget cycle that would change this.

Oh, I know that.

So I'm just wondering why.

When was there when could we have done something about this during this budget cycle?

Uh smarter than all of us.

During for the fiscal twenty-seven, you'd have to have done that in twenty twenty-five when the funding schedule went was uh so this is based these numbers that we're looking at today are based on the valuation report that was done as of January 1st, 2024.

So we would have gotten those results about 20 about say June of 2024.

Early part of 20 fiscal twenty-five, somewhere around there.

That's when you would have to have made a commitment.

Because that schedule then goes to PERAC and they turn around and they assess us.

So when you pick your funding schedule, which we would have done in, say June, July of 2024, we picked the funding schedule that has produced this exact number today.

And so we couldn't have changed that funding schedule at any time after June of 2024?

No.

Stuck.

Yes.

For two years.

It's a two-year window.

So now it's so now it's June of 2026 coming up.

We can we can change this funding schedule.

That's correct.

Right.

And we're just a deadline to is the winter decide.

Uh we have to get the the results to pay there might be something under uh Mass 32B that might tell you there's a deadline.

Uh but I'm not sure.

It's it's just not something that comes up.

We'd have to have it.

The assessment comes out in January next year, so sometime before January.

But it it's not uh next budget season.

I mean, uh are we I mean, are we going to be able to to for next budget season we'll be affected by the whatever we decide now.

Yeah.

I'm just saying this thing.

Yeah, the next two years.

Fiscal twenty-eight, fiscal twenty-nine.

Okay.

The same two years that Council Loops had just referred to, ten and the eighteen million dollar deficits.

So we have bounced around a bit.

We um we at one time I think we were twenty forty.

It was reduced to twenty thirty-four back, I don't know when, sometime in the early twenty tens, and then they extended it when I talked about the set forward uh that we had to fix.

Uh when we did that, we were forced to extend uh the funding from twenty thirty-four to twenty thirty-five because the the extra obligation that that exercise produced mandated that we do something, because keeping it at twenty thirty-four was just going to be another prohibitive increase the year that it happened, twenty eighteen, something like that.

All right, thank you, Bob.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

All right.

Colleagues, any other questions on pensions?

All right.

Moving on to 177 snow removal.

Council Loops, do you mean do you remember that?

But you said the soon as you want to cut that budget, that's the year we're gonna get hit.

And boy, you are uh you were uh uh no stradomist on that one.

So you know the the the state law here, right?

So if you keep this budget at $300,000 and it has to be adopted, it can't be revised later on.

If you keep the budget at $300,000, we could have another winter like we did this past year, God forbid, next year.

If that happens, we do not have we have what they'd call a legal deficit, uh which sounds c almost like an oxymoron.

But that means that we well, one thing it means is that we don't have to come before the council for transfers.

We the account can stay in deficit, and you are forced to then raise it on your tax rate recap the following year.

You could go to the council for a transfer, in which case that will we get to decide how we want to fund that deficit.

So this year, of course, we used um stabilization.

We would have that same opportunity next year.

It's just that it's not uh it's it's not an illegal deficit in that we have to come before you.

It's just it's just there's a mechanism in place that will allow us to find fund it over uh the through the tax rate recap process.

When we had that really bad year in 2015, the state allowed us to we didn't take advantage of it, we didn't have to, even though we hit a million 1.2 million dollars in snow removal that year.

But we were able to sp uh to tra to spread that deficit over two or three tax rate recaps.

I forget which one.

So they allowed us to spread it, which is something that they may end up giving some communities the the opportunity to do so this year.

But we it doesn't matter to us because when we ch when the budget was cut from 450 to 300, we were not eligible under that state provision.

So I would um ask the council to keep the 300,000 dollars because I feel it's fairly de minimis right now.

It's almost impossible to think of a winter now after what we just saw and the cost of um of salt uh and other things it's it's almost impossible to think of a winter we're not going to spend the least three hundred thousand dollars.

I mean just just some of these little one and two inch snowstorms by the time DPI gets done treating the roads it you look at the cost labor is always in the five figure even for the smallest of snowstorms.

So I would say that it would be a very low risk on everyone's part to just keep that funded at 300 now so that we at least have the option open in case we have a catastrophic winter again.

Any questions Council Burgo I was just curious why we have the breakdown now with personal services uh separate from purchase of services.

So that that is the overtime amount was it not like that always have uh it's it we've always had overtime we put five two so all right this is a then this is a fix, right?

So when departments incur overtime mostly it's D FFM and GPI to go out and plow the streets the old treatment was that's that's really that's personal service that's salaries, right?

That's that's someone's overtime.

When it was charged off to snow removal for whatever reason the city was charging it off as a five two contracted services line item.

So it's making it almost looking like uh the city's snow removal department is bringing in outside contractors from its own DFFM and DPI departments.

That's totally wrong.

So we just kept it in the line item it belongs in.

Overtime can never lose its character is overtime.

Whether you incurred in DFFM or snow removal, it's got to stay as overtime it can't be just fixed it now to actually be appropriately applied to what it is supposed to be for yes I didn't I didn't realize it was the first year so I can see that's a that was a good question.

Just one clear thank you.

So anyone else for snow?

So just a quick follow-up on that point just because I've uh that is like this if for whatever reason we don't allot the full three hundred thousand but there's a a potential deficit in the 200 account of the snow removal would we see a transfer from snow removal 100 to 200?

No the budget order well the budget order I see Sharon may be nodding, but I don't know if I would uh necessarily agree with that.

We have traditionally only done that account on a total line basis.

We could produce it.

We could oh we did split on the budget order.