OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary: Outside Agency Oversight Committee - Nov 25, 2025

Boards and CommissionsTuesday, November 25, 2025
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateTuesday, November 25, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

So she's in this year.

0:06

So I think she grabs her updated that they put on production through people won't like why you know that you're gonna get weight.

0:16

The meeting is called the order.

0:18

Roll call, please.

0:22

Council?

0:23

Here.

0:24

Councilman Rodori.

0:25

Here.

0:25

Councilman Noah?

0:26

Here.

0:27

So you can show you something.

0:29

I'm here to support.

0:30

Order agenda was sent out ahead of time.

0:33

Any changes to the order of agenda?

0:35

Motion to move that order.

0:37

So move.

0:38

Second.

0:40

All second.

0:40

All in favor say aye.

0:42

Aye.

0:42

Any opposed?

0:44

It goes forward.

0:45

3A minutes and video of our previous meeting.

0:49

Is there a motion to approve the minutes and the video?

0:52

Move approval.

0:53

Second.

0:54

Is there any discussion?

0:57

All in favor say aye.

0:59

Aye.

0:59

Opposed no.

1:01

It carries.

1:02

We're all ready to our 125 live report for this quarter.

1:09

I am a member of 125 live.

1:12

Please go ahead, administrators home.

1:14

Thank you.

1:16

Wall, I'll try to get that right for this meeting.

1:19

Apologies, the order got a little bit um out of order for this one.

1:23

But if you uh look at the uh the operating resilience report, um, you can see that they've been pretty steady over the last few quarters um uh moving a little bit above and below the line on the reliance ratio.

1:37

Um, but you can see since 202, they've really uh been staying um in a great place financially um with both their current ratio um which is their ability to sort of run out um if something bad happened, they haven't the ability to continue to operate without new revenue right away, um, and then their operating reliance ratio um a little bit.

2:01

It shows they do rely a bit on the city funding, um, but they're not so reliant on it that they would not be able to continue to operate.

2:09

Um then um you can also see that in um the chart that's down, or I guess what I call this the list of the old chart um down below, which um shows that there was some um more troubling times back in the 2018 time frame, but things are looking much better.

2:28

Uh we also provided the detail um that they have for us in the October 24 to September 25 profit and loss, um, which is uh provided uh by quarter there.

2:40

Um their income uh is uh in a good place uh relative to their revenue or to their expenses, and then uh also showing the balance sheet uh through September 30th, 2025.

2:54

So these are their most recent board um authorized financials later in the agenda to talk about whether we might request something different next year.

3:02

Okay.

3:03

Any discussion on the information presented to us from 125 live.

3:09

Looks like they're pretty stable.

3:10

Yeah, no, very stable.

3:12

So you know, I'm there actually quite a bit.

3:15

Um I'm amazed at how many younger people are joining these days.

3:19

Uh which I'm sure helps the bottom line.

3:23

Yeah.

3:25

Okay, and we can we can just kind of accept all these at the end, right?

3:30

Typically that's what we can do.

3:32

We'll go to the history center, please.

3:35

Thank you.

3:36

Um the history center, you can see current funding of 37,500.

3:40

That is the 2024 number.

3:43

Um, excuse me, 2025.

3:45

Um sorry, I'm in the place in my life where 26 is coming, and I don't know what year I am in financially.

3:51

Um so you can see that they their current ratio usually has a bit of like peaks and values throughout the year relative to how some of their financials will come in quarterly.

4:01

Um, and then uh their operating reliance ratio looking like it's in quite a um a comfortable place um for them, and uh they are likely continuing to do some of that work that was referenced in their narrative from the last time um about work with the history barn and how they're continuing to get reimbursed.

4:20

Uh they also provided their profit and loss year to date, January through September of 2025.

4:26

Um, so you can see their income and expenses.

4:31

Um they uh had income that was um in excess of some of their expenses, so that puts them in um a saw a pretty solid uh position financially, excuse me.

4:45

And then you can see the statement of their financial position, it uh shows their assets um and and where they're sitting financially in a slightly different way with their overall um assets being um with their total equity being at about 1.3 million dollars.

5:03

And then we're going to uh visit about this later, but uh the profit and loss statement uh doesn't mean a lot to me unless I have some comparison from and some provide it, some don't.

5:17

Um yeah, the the charts look good.

5:22

I don't know if this looks good or not.

5:24

I look forward to that discussion.

5:26

Yeah.

5:27

Okay.

5:27

Thank you.

5:28

We'll any uh discussion on the history center.

5:32

Um to add then we shall go to the human rights commission so also quite different as we've shared, talked about before.

5:42

Each of these is kind of unique.

5:44

So the Human Rights Commission um is really the phone line that the um county has been operating.

5:49

The city's contribution is $5,400.

5:52

Um, and some of their expenses come in very differently throughout the year.

5:56

Um they really they have a contractor that monitors the phone line and the cost of the phone line.

6:00

So um the way that they are actually expending that, um, where they're expanding it, and if they're doing journal entries, um typically it this just comes in in a very different fashion because it's the county, so they don't have a profit and loss statement, etc.

6:14

Um, one thing that I would note um that you'll be seeing in the budget on December 1st is that when we were working with the county, they did request an increase in the youth uh council contribution so that it would be equal with the county, and then they're going to not do this anymore.

6:30

They get maybe like six calls a month, and typically they have a hard time connecting with the people.

6:37

Alternatively, most uh many cities and counties um direct people to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights so that they can directly go there because that really is their next avenue if they have a concern.

6:48

Okay.

6:48

Um, so just for your awareness.

6:50

So you expect the 5400 to disappear in a request, but then add 5400 to youth or well, maybe it'll be 5,000 to youth.

7:00

So it's about a budget neutral.

7:02

It's budget neutral.

7:04

Okay.

7:05

Okay.

7:06

So you have one less next year that will look different.

7:09

Okay.

7:09

Any questions on the Human Rights Commission statements?

7:13

My only question is more about the history in this context.

7:16

Well, this go to the whole council as an update on the budget.

7:20

Yeah, on December 1st, that's one of the company references that I would make.

7:24

Okay.

7:24

Yeah.

7:25

Okay.

7:25

Just wanted to make sure that we weren't the only ones to hear about this in detail.

7:29

No, I just maybe be surprised in January.

7:31

Thank you.

7:32

Um, I also would just note that this used to be the whole human rights commission, which has changed over time, but the city's always been um the city's funding's always been related to this only.

7:46

Any more discussion?

7:48

We will move to ready 3E.

7:51

Another different animal.

7:54

They are all in the same zoom.

7:55

Um, so ready is um also the fiscal host for the small business development center.

8:02

Um, you can see the city's contribution is 75,000 to ready and 15,000 for the small business development center.

8:09

Um, ready's been holding pretty strong with their current ratio.

8:13

Um, and then um you can see again that the cyclical adjustments for their operating reliance ratios, although they held better between quarter two and quarter three.

8:24

Um they did provide a note that shared about their um payables being current and all expenses were reasonable, um, and that they have grant revenue coming um from for SBDC for quarter one.

8:39

Um obviously they also are a little bit sometimes caught up.

8:43

The SPDC funding is reimbursement funding from the federal government, so that had some impacts during the shutdown.

8:50

Sure.

8:54

And uh long profit and loss statement or whatever they uh are calling it financials.

9:02

So these are the financials that the court sees every month that the um these are probably getting closer to what would be helpful to see.

9:09

Correct.

9:10

Um but they also bring these through um an auditor, and most of the other nonprofits seem to be doing that more within their financial local financial systems, and the comparison is helpful.

9:27

Any discussion on ready finances?

9:31

None of these we then shall move to SBDC, and we have we'll have more discussion on this.

9:40

Um, I do I did want to note I did just get my word packet from um Rochester Area Economic Development and hopefully I have it opened because but now of course I can't find what I'm looking for.

9:50

So one second.

9:54

Sorry.

9:57

Anyway, I will look for that.

10:00

The Small Business Development Center, as noted, they report a little bit differently than everyone else because of their reporting system to the Fed federal government.

10:09

But in their update to the Ready Board, I think it would be fine for me to share this.

10:16

This is for the meeting that's this Wednesday, but they had accomplished community outreach to Blooming Prairie, Fairbow, Cassandra, Owatana, Plainview, Red Wing, Rochester, and Winona hosted statewide SBDC knowledge exchange program.

10:30

So that was here early this year.

10:39

Hosted the Hispanic Business Resource and Networking event.

10:43

And in 2025, the impact on small business development in the Southeast region through November 18th.

10:50

They had 494 clients advised.

10:53

So this isn't just Rochester.

11:10

In addition, they completed their staff completed over 400 hours of professional development.

11:16

16 workshops throughout 2025 were hosted and helped fund three entrepreneurship co-starter programs.

11:24

Okay.

11:25

So I was just reading my board packet.

11:28

So yeah, no, that's great information.

11:30

I guess the only thing I would add here is it largely already feels consolidated into the ready item since the financials include SBDC.

11:40

Right.

11:41

And I wonder if it makes sense going forward, and this could be a part of the discussion later in the agenda as well.

11:47

But to consolidate the items entirely because the operating reliance ratio sheet already includes both the breakout of funding to ready and then separately to SBDC.

11:56

Then the financials are all encompassing.

11:58

This feels more like an activity or an impact report.

12:01

There could be an addendum.

12:04

That none of us really totally understand.

12:06

None of us totally understand.

12:07

I think there is the opportunity to figure out whether this makes sense if there's a way to improve it or if it's just maybe they could follow like that summary that they send to the ready board, even.

12:18

It could be because I I don't know what the item reap is adding to our correct understanding.

12:26

Just even broken out separately from Ready.

12:29

Yeah, that's helpful.

12:31

And I'm going to assume that the advising hours under Rochester are 321 and not uh dollars.

12:40

Probably not.

12:41

They are not dollars.

12:45

It seems to me just looking at the figures, and uh I'm only going on memory that uh perfectly uh fine with me that there's a great deal more regional activity.

12:55

Uh in proportion to Rochester activity in this report.

13:01

Does that make does that sound right to you?

13:04

I would say yes, in large part because of the property that is or is not available in Rochester for some of the businesses that they would be supporting with their outreach.

13:14

Um a number of these communities are very close to Rochester.

13:19

They could have their business there, but they could live here.

13:22

I mean, there's a lot of nuances, I think, with our region, how that might work.

13:26

And of course, the council recently updated the industrial land within the zoning code, but that doesn't correct.

13:31

I mean, this shows up in this report for a while.

13:34

Yeah.

13:37

I think this report would be well served to be reimagined if possible, because we'll discuss later in the agenda.

13:48

Any further discussion on small business.

13:53

We will move forward to our neighbors.

13:58

Um the our neighbors uh current ratio is actually looking strong for them.

14:03

Um they've they've leveled out, they did need to use some of their reserve based on some of the restructuring that they were working through post-COVID, um, and their operating reliance ratio always looks much different than all of the others based on primarily being funded by the city and otherwise maybe would be a city department.

14:21

Um they also noted that summer and fall are when um they are impacted by um the grants that they receive from C Mac for talk the block.

14:31

Um so that's also where a fair amount of their activities happening when they have programming and the tree planting and things of that nature.

14:38

Um so they they got very close um through their current reporting period.

14:43

Um, and in the 2026 budget, it does recommend an increase for them to help more salt in correct.

14:54

But they've always run very close.

15:00

But I think it's also, I mean, to your point, so close to serving city functions with their support of the tree plantings, neighborhood associations, the back of their house, and community development.

15:10

So I think it's it's good that they're trending well, but I think it's just worth noting that they're much more like a city department or a subset of the city department than the others.

15:22

Yeah.

15:23

An extension of, I mean, much more that you would be doing it similarly if you if you didn't have the partnership.

15:30

Correct.

15:34

And they did provide a statement of activities January through September of 2025 with their income and expenses, and they're a very uh concise shot.

15:44

So actually that page probably is a good overview of where they're sitting and where their expenses were, uh, where some of their challenges were.

15:53

Great.

15:53

Yeah.

15:54

It's nice to see a period comparison.

15:58

Absolutely.

16:01

Any other discussion on our neighbors?

16:06

To the art center, please.

16:08

The Rochester Arts Center um had a bit of a spike in Valley.

16:12

Um I need to probably dig in a little bit to understand what happened there, but it was in a prior um we asked that question, I believe, at a prior meeting.

16:21

Um, but you can see that they've leveled off on their current ratio um the last two quarters, and then they've been pretty steady in their operating reliance ratio in quarter two and quarter three.

16:32

Um they do still show um about close to 19,400 of net operating income um through their current reporting period, and they are just heading into at the end of the third quarter their um annual appeal campaign.

16:47

Um so some of the seasonality of what they do within their budget is based on when they're actually um going to their membership drive and looking for um support from the community.

16:59

Um they also established some new accounts um to better manage their investments and see some return there.

17:07

Um you can still see that they are um in a solid position, still much better the last three quarters than they have been for most of the prior um you know few years back to 2017.

17:20

Um and they also provided a statement of financial position um as well as the January through September statement of activity with their um you know gross profit and income still um exceeding what their um overall expenses were, of course, they do relay to a degree on the city's contribution.

17:40

Correct.

17:42

Yeah, I'll just have a member of the art center, and I think it's also to the notes in the um operating reliance ratio uh file.

17:51

Good to see that they're thinking about long-term stability, uh diversifying their their fundraising strategies and expanding to stock transfers.

18:00

Yeah, so I think that that is a note that hopefully will show up in actual results of operating improvements in the years to come.

18:12

I have heard a suggestion that they might be thinking of moving out of that building.

18:16

Is that uh anything that uh bear would that bear on the city's support uh if they were to seek a different spot?

18:28

Um I haven't heard that in grand detail.

18:32

I mean, I've heard that they are interested in like a broader conversation out about a performing arts center, and uh I know that some of the um changes that happened, gosh, maybe 10 years ago in the front area were some created some challenges for visibility.

18:49

Um I I don't know what kind of capital campaign that might require for someone to move.

18:54

I feel like that would maybe be a ways away, but I think the question would be how would you use the existing building?

19:04

How do I how would we use the existing building if we weren't there, and then what kind of contribution would the city be interested in, if any valuable space.

19:15

Anything else on the art center?

19:18

Just say that I I would look forward to that discussion at a regular council audience.

19:25

Why?

19:27

What do you think would happen?

19:29

Oh, I just I I don't want to get into uh our outside agency oversight meeting, any potential hypothetical situations of I've had no direct centers I've I've heard it one person and they weren't the art center, so we shall go to the civic theater.

19:47

I will note that I'm a member of the Civil Well, uh season ticket holder.

19:52

I am so I am as well.

20:00

Um the theater um is uh holding strong with their current ratio, um, had a uh big increase there in the a quarter four of 2023, and then um in 2025, you can see that they've been uh pretty consistent in the the two quarters that we've looked at them.

20:15

Uh and then their operating reliance ratio, they are reliant on the city's funding, um, but they um they're still holding quite strong in the operating reliance ratio that we try to um to strive for uh in that space.

20:28

They did note that the first um show of their season was below what their expectations were pretty significantly, so they've been kind of catching up since the beginning of the year, and so that's I think promising that they've continued to trend upward.

20:43

I guess I do have a question because it seems like in addition to that show being lower tenants than expected, they've had some challenges with um I don't know, scalper is the right word, but um impersonation of their ticket office marking up tickets quite significantly, and I just don't know how we might think about that.

21:04

Um with them existing in a city building being a partner, how how we might think about that situation.

21:17

I read about it in the newspaper on the I've had people tell me about it too, that they were looking for tickets and um it was spoofed as a tick the about a valid ticket seller, but tickets for this upcoming production and frozen were marked in the hundreds of dollars rather than their actual price, which is probably between 30 and 40 dollars per show.

21:38

Yeah, so yeah, I know of one couple that paid 900 for two tickets.

21:46

Which I hope they're on the think about that, sure, right?

21:51

But you know, um yeah, it's it's good news to me that things are trending upwards too, that they added a performance to their recent um production, so they added an additional showing.

22:05

So ticket sales are very strong for for their upcoming production.

22:09

It is quite alarming though that there's ongoing fundraising uh for the civic theater.

22:15

Um all through the fall, there's been ongoing fundraising.

22:22

So I'm kind of curious a little bit too about digging into the financial stability of the organization.

22:30

Um you say Dan, it was alarming that they're doing fundraising.

22:37

I'm just questioned that.

22:38

Okay.

22:38

I'm just curious about that.

22:40

Uh I don't know if that was because if it is out of response to the lackluster uh ticket sales for the first production.

22:49

Okay.

22:50

So the first time I that I've experienced such a fundraising push throughout throughout the course of the season.

22:56

Um I just don't know enough of their operating model to know that.

23:10

Because this uh was one of the real black holes for a a little while in the city of Rochester.

23:19

So would you want them to, if it worked for their schedule, like come to the next meeting and just share a little bit about I mean they've had a long history, they've had a lot of history since 2018, and also they've had new leadership.

23:32

Sure.

23:33

Yeah, I think it would be great.

23:35

Yeah and they could either join remotely or in person if it shouldn't work for them.

23:38

Sure, I'd be helpful for that.

23:40

I I would welcome any of these organizations to come and share throughout the year.

23:44

Um but absolutely in this case, and I just know it as well when we think about the formatting, it's just hard to get a real sense of where this is in context without a comparable period, but talk about that later.

24:00

And especially some of the organizations that cut such a wide swath across uh Rochester.

24:06

Um, some of these would touch very few people the theater.

24:11

Touches thousands.

24:17

I guess I'm curious as well with the the second item under revenue season ticket package is being listed as negative if they're treating that more as a I don't know.

24:31

I'm still looking for 4101-01.

24:34

Thank you.

24:35

I'm sorry, dash two or two C.918.

24:39

Perhaps that's being reserved.

24:41

Yeah, I don't know how they're booking that.

24:43

If they're holding it until the actual performance and recording revenue, right.

24:47

That would be typical that you have your sales office box and hold that new general ledger, but I don't know if that's what I guess I'm just again without a comparable period.

25:00

It's hard to say how that's coming across because their net revenue is concerningly $36,000 negative.

25:13

So that loss.

25:30

Sure.

25:32

Okay.

25:38

Nothing for me.

25:39

Go to RDA.

25:41

This one has a big spike.

25:43

Yeah.

25:44

Got a big grant.

25:47

So you can see on their current ratio, and of course, that's their again, their entire book of business, even their assets, et cetera.

25:54

But that was up significantly for this quarter, and then their operating reliance ratio came down a little bit.

25:59

That's all of their available expenses and revenues less the revenue from the city of Rochester.

26:07

They did have a expenses related to the grant that they received, and that grant spiked their you know available resources, and now they're spending that they're delivering on what the grant was for.

26:20

But they're in a very positive position relative to prior years.

26:24

Again, a lot of that's related to that one-time funding that they've received.

26:31

And they provide um a balance sheet comparison, which I think is getting closer to what you're hoping for.

26:36

Um which really helps to kind of see, okay, especially line by line, where are they changing year over year to and they talk about the um focusing on advertising as you can see some of that?

26:48

Um, and um they um do the same um well to a degree in their profit and loss.

26:53

That's what they've had the recent board approved, is still only January through June.

26:58

Um you can see um in that that they've had um some changes in um their net income.

27:05

A lot of that's related to that grant funding that came in.

27:08

Um if you're looking at that, I don't know why that's how to look at the header again.

27:13

Um for the it's from the previous year, that's what that PY means in case you're looking for that.

27:19

Um, and then again, they also um continue to show um just the straight uh just like what their distribution accounts are and um it's more of like a direct profit and loss with net income sitting around $700,000.

27:34

And then they go further um to show the um actual budget and where they are year over year, which I think is also helpful to kind of have a sense of what were they planning, and sometimes you have to your budget is a plan and reality happens and you have to do what you need to do.

27:54

Yeah I'll just say I uh it's good to see them in a good position combined with the presentation we heard in our last council meeting.

28:00

So I'm glad to see that they're getting support hearing from business owners part of the special services district who are pleased with the service drive and glad that we can partner here and also great very uh digestible form of financial statements.

28:17

I don't think that I'm paying any greater attention to RDA, but it just seems like they're coming into view more often this year than say last year or the year before.

28:30

They have a fairly new executive director, but I think it's probably just change of style, change leadership.

28:41

Anything else on RDA for me Southeastern Minnesota Initiative Fund plays.

28:50

Uh the Southeast Minnesota Initiative Fund.

28:52

We have been providing $15,000 a year.

28:55

Um you can see there's not much change um over the first three quarter, well, the last four quarters that we've received financials, their operating reliance ratio has gone up fairly significantly.

29:06

Um so uh they have some additional funding coming in in different um of different manner through Smith.

29:14

Um, but they have different grant rounds coming in the second and third quarter.

29:19

Um, and then they also have they are the host of multiple state grant programs, so some of those peaks and valleys are because they received the grants, and then they're distributing those um in different cycles based on the grant authorization process.

29:33

Um and you can see their current ratio sits around nine, and their um operating reliance ratio is about two point six.

29:42

They have pretty robust financials, probably wouldn't want any that much more from that uh based on how they operate.

29:48

It's quite different than some of the more local nonprofits um versus regional.

29:53

Um, and you can tell um on that bottom of that first page.

30:00

Some of their the loans that they pass through are a pretty significant part of their financial portfolio.

30:06

And from 2022 to 25.

30:17

That's a different animal for our little contribution as well.

30:24

Will we not see this report then next year?

30:26

You would not see this report next year if it's something the council wanted to look at investing in again.

30:33

Sure.

30:33

We come back.

30:34

Yeah.

30:37

Anything on the Southeastern Minnesota initiative fund.

30:42

No.

30:44

Youth Council.

30:46

All right.

30:46

The Youth Council, another umsa county partnership.

30:49

So current funding is $10,000 in the city of Rochester.

30:53

Um right on budget towards the end of the quarter.

30:56

Um there were without the city's funding, they're sitting right at one on their operating reliance ratio.

31:02

Obviously, it's a part of the county, so I'm not seeing the whole county, you know, fund balance against this.

31:08

It probably wouldn't fit on a chart with this scale.

31:11

Um they have provided us that they so far have total expenses just shy of that 23,000.

31:19

Oh, just or just in excess of of the funding that the county provides, meaning that through the end of the year with some of the other travel that happened, it should still be on budget with the funding the city provided.

31:29

And this is where then you would see $15,000 of city funding next year, assuming that gets approved.

31:36

Okay.

31:38

Any questions on the youth council.

31:42

Um, nothing, no question.

31:44

I just know that we could expect to hear from them and the whole council an update from two participants of the Japan trip of the mayors.

31:52

On December 8th.

31:54

On December 8th, yes.

31:57

Writing a note to myself while we're in the middle of this meeting.

32:01

Thank you for that.

32:03

And uh we are to 3M.

32:09

Correct.

32:10

Uh the uh reporting that we get, and our presenter for 3M is administrator Zelm.

32:17

I think I would just I think it sort of tries to speak for itself, but I know we've talked throughout the last year about whether we could get more consistency.

32:24

The reason that you're getting inconsistent things is what we asked specifically wrote in for the requirement is to receive their most recently board approved.

32:33

Um I think some of that rationale, which was last year, um, was a desire to make sure their board was actually approving financials.

32:41

Um, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't also request other formats.

32:44

I think you'd still receive that, but then we could also provide other formats if that's helpful.

32:49

Um it appears, I could be wrong, but it appears that many of these groups are using similar financial software, so it's possible to be done by one, it's likely possible to be done by another.

32:59

Um, but it would take a little bit of time for Tracy to work with them to make sure they understood what we were asking for.

33:05

So I guess I would just leave it open to discussion of whether what we've described here works if we're not describing it well.

33:13

If you have examples of what we have from from any specific agency that you would be hoping for, uh that's also helpful for clarity.

33:24

Oh, and I don't imagine it'd be very difficult to uh present a different kind of report.

33:29

It's just asking the data to present itself uh in some of the same ways that we've seen some of the statements like 22 through 25 or at least 24 25 that uh we can see trends, which I think are really helpful for an oversight committee.

33:50

As to your question, Administrator Zones about uh peer organization within this packet.

33:55

I I feel like RDAs is the most readable, uh, both from having the comparison and it also includes their approved budget, which is helpful.

34:05

And I don't know if all these organizations are approving a budget.

34:08

I would hope that they are approving financials from an oversight perspective.

34:13

That's a helpful piece of information as well if they have it.

34:17

So the RDA um current compared to prior year with the noted change for prior year both for the balance sheet and profit loss would be my preference.

34:28

And if they have a budget that can be added in.

34:36

I think yes, it's likely doable.

34:39

It also might depend on who they have pulling their financial.

34:42

We just need to make sure they understand that what we're looking for in a way that makes sense to them.

34:47

Um I would just say that from my perspective, I I can be patient on I don't think it will be that hard.

34:55

I just it helps to show them something, I think, um, as an example so that they can say, Oh, I've run that report for my board before.

35:03

Um, or that's what I use when I'm trying to make sure, you know, if I have an expense, if I can actually do that.

35:09

So I think I I don't know how complicated, I don't think it's going to be drastically complicated, but I just wouldn't want to speak for any of these groups.

35:17

Like if they're treasurer is changing over or something like that.

35:20

If possible, my preference would be a format like the RDAs.

35:27

Yeah, and I would agree with that.

35:28

I my my question is if if just previous one previous year is enough of a comparison, do we want to ask for multiple previous years?

35:38

And then uh I agree with looking at the actual budget numbers.

35:45

I could care less about a profit and loss statement at this point from each individual organization as well.

35:50

So if that saves them time, um that's that's uh a report that I know is easy to generate, but if if they don't want to generate that one in terms of workload.

36:09

If I might just weigh in, I think the longer period of time that's helpful to see is the operating reliance and current ratio graphed out as done.

36:19

I think that's been a major improvement this year.

36:22

My preference would only be to see the current and one prior period for comparison and simplicity.

36:27

I think it's easier to compare.

36:28

And I think this gives us a better picture of the city's role in the organization with the current ratio and operating reliance ratio graph as our that's fine.

36:43

I was just curious if you know we can certainly uh try that and see if uh it produces the information that makes us feel sure like we are of better use to the system.

36:59

Have we given enough direction in uh that regard uh administrator zones?

37:05

I think so.

37:06

I I felt I've been feeling like this is what you were looking for, but it's helpful to have like the detailed conversation so that we can work with finance and they can speak um finance to finance.

37:15

I'm more of like a budget spanglish finance speaker.

37:19

Um not an actual countent.

37:23

Sometimes when I'm talking to someone that's doing accounting, I'm like, it's probably a budget way of saying it.

37:30

I guess my final point is in addition to being able to be patient.

37:34

I don't want this to be a burden for the organizations.

37:36

I would hope that it's uh doable.

37:41

And if it's not, I would hope that they would that Tracy would report back to us about some of the challenges that organization if this is a burden task, then I'll just know that it's obviously not going to apply to the youth council.

37:55

And so if there are organizations that would not be able to do it this year, I I would be in favor of moving forward with the organizations who are able to and work towards a standardization over time.

38:05

Okay, let's help.

38:10

By the way, should I have asked for some kind of motion to uh receive three B through 3L.

38:16

I think we have that last, so I think very good.

38:19

Yeah, then we go to another interesting uh report.

38:24

We've already started a discussion on that, the SPDC.

38:27

Uh and council member Miller had a suggestion about that in terms of moving it within the ready.

38:36

So I had the chance to meet with Mark Thine recently, and he was sharing that they have some flexibility in the report.

38:44

They're pulling this out of their internal database, which has privacy implications that they would report the entire thing, but he expressed willingness and interest in reformatting it to our needs or purposes.

38:58

Um obviously with us as a body of three, no more than one member could interact in that process without violating open meeting law, and it could not be an open meeting from Mr.

39:11

Bine's perspective, given the privacy of the data.

39:15

So I would just propose that one of us work with him to see what's possible and either generate a new format or discontinue the unusable current format and just roll it into the ready overall.

39:32

Yeah, I find uh the current format and I I know a lot of it gets double and triple uh reported because a person of Rochester can also be a woman can also be uh a person of uh some kind of class that is reported elsewhere.

39:46

So it's it's uh it's really hard to figure out exactly what what are we getting?

39:53

Agreed.

39:55

And perhaps an alternative would be a periodic study session update that's live.

40:04

And I don't know which of those would be preferable to the organization in our calendars to the council or to the council.

40:14

It could be to us as we've talked about.

40:17

Um but I would suspect greater interest than the um the request that we made of the specific theater to come and share some of their some additional headsight to their financial statements.

40:32

Well, I would guess the entire council would have really great interest in this.

40:35

This isn't that's what I mean.

40:36

This is a big deal.

40:37

Yeah, so if there's a way to just approve the report that's then more digestible to the council and provide us a council update periodically, that that could be a good first step.

40:47

I don't know what Mr.

40:48

Dyne's availability is or what how he might present the data to the council that's not this so it might still be worthwhile that one of us meet with him and review the data and the formatting possibilities.

41:02

I would certainly be in favor of that, and since council member Miller has initiated uh the conversation, I would be glad to sit down with Mark and see what we can come up with.

41:15

And formally the three of us can agree on that very good.

41:19

Please go ahead with that.

41:21

Wonderful.

41:22

Thank you.

41:24

Thank you for taking the time to do it.

41:27

Absolutely.

41:29

Anything more on are we on 3M?

41:32

I guess O would be next.

41:36

And 3-0 is next.

41:37

The calendar.

41:38

Of course, there's no guarantee that any of the three of us will be on this agreement.

41:45

I assume that you are all buying for it.

41:48

I think I put it within the preference uh for continuity.

41:53

Yeah, so did I.

41:54

I have not filled out my preferences yet.

41:56

I need to have a conversation with uh council president she bring about something.

42:02

Okay.

42:02

I assume that I will be putting it on my preference sheet somewhere.

42:06

We surprised where it goes.

42:08

Well, I will just say I I did review my calendar and I don't have any conflicts.

42:13

I believe these are still on a study session day.

42:17

That's how I get it correctly.

42:19

I I will full disclosure tell you I did not check that, but um that feels right.

42:25

Okay, hope being that June 1st is a Monday.

42:28

So I will move to approve the proposed 2026 calendar for the outside agency oversight committee.

42:34

Is there a second?

42:36

I'll suck it.

42:37

Is there a discussion?

42:38

I'll have a discussion.

42:40

I'll bring my wife to the 6-8 session since it's our fifth 52nd wedding anniversary.

42:46

I'm sure she wants to spend the time with us.

42:49

So are you gonna be here?

42:51

Yeah, or are you not much?

42:54

Where's responsibility on your list of um uh strengths?

43:00

This responsibility are you is that one of your strengths that you can't find her?

43:05

Yes, or was it belief that she would want to come here?

43:08

Well, probably probably that all in favor say aye.

43:14

Aye aye.

43:16

It passes, and then finally, uh 3P approving the fourth quarter disbursements, um, which would imply we have discussed uh the previous statements as well.

43:30

Is there a motion?

43:32

I'll I'll make a motion approving the 2025 fourth quarter disbursement of funds or allocated agencies as outlined in the packet.

43:40

Is there a discussion on that?

43:42

Nothing to add.

43:43

I think it's good to see the stability of these organizations overall in the agreement of reporting throughout my brief time on this committee.

43:54

And to see some work of uh the city of Rochester, not necessarily under the uh precise uh purview of the council.

44:03

Correct.

44:04

All in favor say aye.

44:05

Aye.

44:06

Opposed passes.

44:08

Is there any other business for this group?

44:12

Hearing none, is there a motion for adjournment?

44:14

So moved.

44:15

Second?

44:16

Second.

44:16

All in favor say aye.

44:17

Aye.

44:18

Opposed no.

44:19

We are adjourned until 3:30 p.m.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Community Engagement████████████████████████████████████████40%
Procedural█████████████████17%
Economic Development██████████████14%
Fiscal Sustainability█████████████13%
Arts And Culture█████████████13%
Youth Programs██2%
Public Safety1%
Summary of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary: Outside Agency Oversight Committee - November 25, 2025

The Outside Agency Oversight Committee convened on November 25, 2025, to review the financial performance and operational status of various non-profit organizations and city partners, including 125 Live, the History Center, and the Rochester Arts Center. Council members discussed financial stability ratios, noted significant regional outreach by the Small Business Development Center, and raised concerns regarding the Civic Theater's ticket scalping issues and fundraising activities. The meeting concluded with a directive to standardize future financial reporting formats and the approval of the 2026 committee calendar and Q4 disbursements.

Consent Calendar

  • The Order of Agenda was approved unanimously.
  • Minutes and video recording of the previous committee meeting were approved unanimously.
  • The 2025 Fourth Quarter Disbursement of funds to allocated agencies was approved unanimously based on the stability of the organizations reviewed.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments or testimony were recorded during this meeting.

Discussion Items

  • 125 Live & History Center: Staff reported both organizations are financially stable with strong current and operating reliance ratios. The History Center noted increased youth participation and a solid equity position of approximately $1.3 million. Council members noted the 125 Live reports are "very stable" with younger demographics joining.
  • Human Rights Commission (County Partnership): Staff clarified that the City's $5,400 contribution for the youth line is slated to disappear in the 2026 budget request, being reallocated to the Youth Council as part of a budget-neutral shift. The County is reducing focus on a youth council line due to low call volumes (approx. six calls/month) in favor of directing concerns to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
  • Ready & Small Business Development Center (SBDC): Staff presented finances for Ready ($75,000 city contribution) and SBDC ($15,000 city contribution). SBDC reported 494 clients advised and 400+ hours of professional development. Council members discussed consolidating the SBDC activity report into the Ready item or creating a separate digestible impact report, noting the current report includes extensive regional outreach beyond Rochester.
  • Our Neighbors: The organization is financially strong, trending well post-COVID restructuring. Staff noted they function closely as a city department extension, handling tree plantings and neighborhood support. A 2026 budget increase is recommended to handle salt needs.
  • Rochester Arts Center: The organization shows strong financial trends with net operating income of nearly $19,400 and is launching an annual appeal campaign. Council members discussed potential future moves to a different location and the implications for city support, though details remain speculative.
  • Civic Theater: While the current ratio is strong, the net revenue for the period was negative $36,000. Council members raised concerns regarding: (1) a lackluster opening show that has since recovered with added performances; (2) significant ticket scalping issues where tickets for "Frozen" were resold for hundreds of dollars against face values of $30-$40; and (3) alarming ongoing fundraising during the season. Council directed Civic Theater leadership to provide further financial insight at the next meeting.
  • Rochester Development Authority (RDA): RDA reported a positive position with a spike in current ratio due to a one-time grant. Council members praised the reporting format, specifically the inclusion of a budget comparison and year-over-year analysis.
  • Southeastern Minnesota Initiative Fund: Financials show a significant increase in operating reliance ratio due to receiving state grants in different cycles. The fund hosts multiple state grant programs and maintains a robust current ratio of nine. Staff noted this reporting may not continue in the future if the Council does not vote to invest further.
  • Youth Council: The organization is on budget with current city funding of $10,000, with an expectation of an increase to $15,000 in the 2026 budget (budget neutral shift from Human Rights). An update from the Mayors' Japan Trip participants is scheduled for December 8th.
  • Reporting Standardization: Council members expressed a lack of consensus on the consistency of financial reports (specifically for 3M/3D items). Preferences were voiced for formats similar to the RDA report, including current and one prior year comparisons and budget variances. Staff will work with agencies to transition to a standardized format where possible, prioritizing organizations capable of the change immediately.
  • SBDC Data Privacy & Format: Due to privacy concerns regarding the SBDC database, staff proposed a limited meeting between one council member and the organization's representative to explore reformatting data or hosting a periodic study session update to improve digestibility.
  • 2026 Calendar: The proposed calendar for the Outside Agency Oversight Committee for 2026 was reviewed and approved.

Key Outcomes

  • Report Format Directive: Staff are directed to work with the Finance department and individual organizations to standardize financial reporting formats. The preferred format includes a balance sheet and profit and loss statement comparing the current period to the prior year, alongside approved budget figures where available.
  • Civic Theater Follow-up: Civic Theater leadership is requested to appear at the next committee meeting to provide additional context regarding their operating model, the fundraising push, and the ticket scalping mitigation strategies.
  • SBDC Restructuring: Council members agreed to a working group (limited to one member for open meeting compliance) to meet with SBDC representatives (Mr. Dine) to determine if data can be reformatted for council use or if a periodic study session update is preferable.
  • Budget Reallocation: Council is notified that the $5,400 Human Rights youth line will be removed and transferred to the Youth Council contribution in the 2026 budget process.
  • Votes Passed: Motion to approve the 2026 calendar passed unanimously; Motion to approve Q4 disbursements passed unanimously.

Meeting Transcript

So she's in this year. So I think she grabs her updated that they put on production through people won't like why you know that you're gonna get weight. The meeting is called the order. Roll call, please. Council? Here. Councilman Rodori. Here. Councilman Noah? Here. So you can show you something. I'm here to support. Order agenda was sent out ahead of time. Any changes to the order of agenda? Motion to move that order. So move. Second. All second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? It goes forward. 3A minutes and video of our previous meeting. Is there a motion to approve the minutes and the video? Move approval. Second. Is there any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed no. It carries. We're all ready to our 125 live report for this quarter. I am a member of 125 live. Please go ahead, administrators home. Thank you. Wall, I'll try to get that right for this meeting. Apologies, the order got a little bit um out of order for this one. But if you uh look at the uh the operating resilience report, um, you can see that they've been pretty steady over the last few quarters um uh moving a little bit above and below the line on the reliance ratio. Um, but you can see since 202, they've really uh been staying um in a great place financially um with both their current ratio um which is their ability to sort of run out um if something bad happened, they haven't the ability to continue to operate without new revenue right away, um, and then their operating reliance ratio um a little bit. It shows they do rely a bit on the city funding, um, but they're not so reliant on it that they would not be able to continue to operate. Um then um you can also see that in um the chart that's down, or I guess what I call this the list of the old chart um down below, which um shows that there was some um more troubling times back in the 2018 time frame, but things are looking much better. Uh we also provided the detail um that they have for us in the October 24 to September 25 profit and loss, um, which is uh provided uh by quarter there. Um their income uh is uh in a good place uh relative to their revenue or to their expenses, and then uh also showing the balance sheet uh through September 30th, 2025. So these are their most recent board um authorized financials later in the agenda to talk about whether we might request something different next year. Okay. Any discussion on the information presented to us from 125 live. Looks like they're pretty stable. Yeah, no, very stable. So you know, I'm there actually quite a bit. Um I'm amazed at how many younger people are joining these days.

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