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Record of Proceedings

Budget and Audit Committee Meeting Summary - August 26, 2025

Budget and Audit Committee — Tuesday, August 26, 2025
BodySacramento, California
SessionBudget and Audit Committee
DateTuesday, August 26, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 25:13

Transcript — Verbatim
0:07

I'm glad you're walking around for that.

0:11

I remember it was it was there's a lot of um somebody want to mark it a humongous mandate though for this one, which is great because it really keeps it from rubbing.

0:23

So let's say greater than we will call to order the budget and audit committee uh meeting for Tuesday, August 26th, and 2025.

0:41

I want to welcome those of you uh who have joined us.

0:45

Uh let's first call the roll to establish a quorum.

0:48

Thank you.

0:49

Vice Mayor Talamantes.

0:50

Councilmember Maple will be absent.

0:52

Councilmember Gatta.

0:53

Here and Chair Dickinson.

0:55

Here.

0:56

And uh if you would uh please join us and uh rise as you are able for our land acknowledgement and pledge to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu Valley and Plains Mewak, Paton Winton peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe.

1:19

May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples history contributions and lives.

1:37

Thank you, and please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:41

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

1:47

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

1:53

Thank you.

1:55

And we have a relatively compact agenda today.

2:00

Do we have anyone?

2:01

Well, we'll take folks off the agenda later.

2:04

So um we have three consent items.

2:07

Move consent, Mr.

2:08

Chair.

2:09

Okay.

2:10

One speaker.

2:12

Okay.

2:12

Um let's just see if we have a second to the motion to adopt the consent calendar.

2:18

We need a second, we got a second.

2:21

All right, and we have one person who wishes to address the committee.

2:25

Yes, Lambert would like to speak on item number two.

2:28

Okay.

2:42

Good morning.

2:42

I know you need no reminder, but um, we have a lot of two minutes for you to speak and keep your eye on the clock so you can time your remarks.

2:50

You're very good at that, so uh appreciate uh seeing you, Lambert.

2:55

Well, that almost threw me off on what I was gonna say, but um this whistleblower uh situation at City Hall, there was uh an auditor, his name was Jorge, he was here, and I learned studying him and now the current auditor, because they very they are very efficient, what I consider efficient enough for me to make a statement.

3:28

You can't make a statement unless you know exactly what you're talking about down here.

3:33

And I looked at the report in my family and the millennials, they showed me something, that's why I came.

3:39

Uh there's a lot of complaints filed against the city of Sacramento, but according to the uh report, they're very rarely are they resolved in favor of the person that files the complaint.

3:53

So my question is who's doing the evaluating of the complaints that are being filed, and we're gonna find that out because if the city is having complaints filed against it, and they're the ones that are evaluating the complaints on whether they're valid, that's a problem.

4:10

That's a conflict of interest.

4:13

Also, uh, and this was done by Jorge, wonderful job.

4:20

I found out, and a lot of people found out that uh a no written agreement was done with wide open walls, and somebody filed a complaint against it, and it came out, and uh city councilman Harris quoted and said it's a black eye for City Hall.

4:42

The reason why I put the light on it is because you weren't able to audit it.

4:49

When you don't have a written agreement, you can't audit it.

4:52

And that came out in the auditor's report.

4:55

Thank you.

4:56

Thanks for your comments.

4:57

And I think that's our speaker.

5:00

Okay.

5:01

We have a motion by Mr.

5:03

Gera and seconded by Ms.

5:05

Telemantes.

5:06

There's nothing further.

5:08

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

5:10

Aye.

5:10

Opposed saying no.

5:12

Any abstentions?

5:13

Hearing none, the motion carries unanimously.

5:16

Okay.

5:18

And we're on to our next item.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development████████████████████████████████████████40%
Public Comments█████████████████████21%
Parks and Recreation█████████████████17%
Procedural██████████████14%
Public Works████████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Budget and Audit Committee Meeting Summary - August 26, 2025

The Sacramento City Budget and Audit Committee met on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, at 11:10 AM in the City Hall Council Chamber. Chair Roger Dickinson presided, with members Eric Guerra and Karina Talamantes present; Caity Maple was absent. The meeting lasted 24 minutes and covered three consent items and one discussion item regarding a proposal to explore funding mechanisms for tourism and community infrastructure in North Natomas.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 1: Approved the minutes from the June 3, 2025 meeting. (File ID: 2025-00084)
  • Item 2: Accepted the City Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline Activity Report for January–June 2025, and forwarded it to the City Council for approval. (File ID: 2025-01478)
  • Item 3: Accepted the City Auditor's Activity Report for the 3rd Quarter of FY2024/25, and forwarded it to the City Council for approval. (File ID: 2025-01526)

All three items were passed unanimously by a motion from Member Guerra, seconded by Member Talamantes.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Lambert (on Item 2): Expressed concern about the whistleblower process, stating that complaints filed against the city are rarely resolved in favor of the complainant, and questioned who evaluates the complaints, suggesting a conflict of interest. He also referenced a past audit issue regarding a missing written agreement at Wide Open Walls.
  • Lambert (on Item 4): Questioned why Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum (District 4) was listed as a contact for a North Natomas proposal, arguing that District 2 should also be included. He promoted a cheesecake business in District 2 and suggested a marketing district there.
  • Jamie Torres (on Item 4): Expressed support for the proposal, citing new interest in soccer after the arrival of a local team. He urged the city to be competitive with other cities like Turlock and San Diego in attracting sports tourism.
  • Lionel Barragana (on Item 4): A North Natomas resident and parent of two soccer players, he supported the construction of a soccer complex in North Natomas, noting that families currently travel to other cities for tournaments, and that the complex would benefit local businesses and hotels.
  • Courtney Delotti (on Item 4): A North Natomas resident and mom of competitive soccer players, she described current practice fields as dangerous (with divots and poor lighting) and fully supported allocating staff to explore the proposal.
  • Lambert (Public Comment – Matters Not on the Agenda): Promoted his cheesecake business, mentioning it will be featured in a magazine and will create year-round jobs in District 2.

Discussion Items

  • Item 4 – Councilmember Proposal for a North Natomas Tourism & Business Improvement District (NNTBID), TOT Overlay, or Marketing District (File ID: 2025-01278): The committee reviewed a proposal sponsored by Councilmembers Lisa Kaplan (District 1) and Phil Pluckebaum (District 4) to authorize city staff to explore mechanisms to fund community infrastructure that boosts tourism, markets North Natomas, and improves opportunities for hotels and businesses. Possible mechanisms include a North Natomas Tourism & Business Improvement District (NNTBID), a Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) overlay, or a marketing district.
    • Discussion: Councilmember Guerra made a motion to adopt option 1 (direct staff to commence work and bring the proposal back to the committee), which was seconded by Councilmember Talamantes. Councilmember Talamantes requested that the city treasurer's office be included in the analysis. Chair Dickinson clarified that a "TOT overlay" is not an actual increase in the TOT (which requires a citywide vote) but rather a separate assessment similar to the Sacramento Tourism Marketing District (STMD) or a business improvement district (BID). Councilmember Guerra noted that affected businesses would have a vote in any such district. The motion was amended to include consultation with the city treasurer's office.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion on Item 4 passed unanimously (3-0) to direct the appropriate council appointive officer to commence work on the proposal and bring it back to the committee for review and consideration. The motion includes direction to include the city treasurer's office in the conversation. The committee did not prejudge which mechanism (NNTBID, TOT overlay, or marketing district) would be used.
  • All consent calendar items were approved unanimously.
  • No other motions or directives were made.

Meeting Transcript

I'm glad you're walking around for that. I remember it was it was there's a lot of um somebody want to mark it a humongous mandate though for this one, which is great because it really keeps it from rubbing. So let's say greater than we will call to order the budget and audit committee uh meeting for Tuesday, August 26th, and 2025. I want to welcome those of you uh who have joined us. Uh let's first call the roll to establish a quorum. Thank you. Vice Mayor Talamantes. Councilmember Maple will be absent. Councilmember Gatta. Here and Chair Dickinson. Here. And uh if you would uh please join us and uh rise as you are able for our land acknowledgement and pledge to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu Valley and Plains Mewak, Paton Winton peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples history contributions and lives. Thank you, and please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And we have a relatively compact agenda today. Do we have anyone? Well, we'll take folks off the agenda later. So um we have three consent items. Move consent, Mr. Chair. Okay. One speaker. Okay. Um let's just see if we have a second to the motion to adopt the consent calendar. We need a second, we got a second. All right, and we have one person who wishes to address the committee. Yes, Lambert would like to speak on item number two. Okay. Good morning. I know you need no reminder, but um, we have a lot of two minutes for you to speak and keep your eye on the clock so you can time your remarks. You're very good at that, so uh appreciate uh seeing you, Lambert. Well, that almost threw me off on what I was gonna say, but um this whistleblower uh situation at City Hall, there was uh an auditor, his name was Jorge, he was here, and I learned studying him and now the current auditor, because they very they are very efficient, what I consider efficient enough for me to make a statement. You can't make a statement unless you know exactly what you're talking about down here. And I looked at the report in my family and the millennials, they showed me something, that's why I came. Uh there's a lot of complaints filed against the city of Sacramento, but according to the uh report, they're very rarely are they resolved in favor of the person that files the complaint. So my question is who's doing the evaluating of the complaints that are being filed, and we're gonna find that out because if the city is having complaints filed against it, and they're the ones that are evaluating the complaints on whether they're valid, that's a problem. That's a conflict of interest. Also, uh, and this was done by Jorge, wonderful job. I found out, and a lot of people found out that uh a no written agreement was done with wide open walls, and somebody filed a complaint against it, and it came out, and uh city councilman Harris quoted and said it's a black eye for City Hall. The reason why I put the light on it is because you weren't able to audit it. When you don't have a written agreement, you can't audit it. And that came out in the auditor's report. Thank you. Thanks for your comments. And I think that's our speaker. Okay. We have a motion by Mr.

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