Here is my recap of our Tuesday, May 25th City Council Meeting;
1. ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES:
a. COVID: The positivity rate in 84101 has increased. West side zip codes are still low relative to East. 84104 has the lowest vaccination rate.
b. POLICE: The mayor showed a graph that use of force had decreased 15% over the last 6 months. She also showed a list of different police reforms and policy changes which SLC has taken over the past year.
c. HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS: There is a donation drive for the Magnolia Apartments. This is a permanent supportive housing complex which will open in just a few weeks. They will be accepting donations of kitchen supplies on June 12th from 10am-2pm. The next encampment resource fair is scheduled for June 15 but the location is T.B.D. Recent abatements occurred at the Sears Block and along Trax behind Lowes on 1300 South.
d. KAYAK COURT: Allison Dupler gave us some information on how our first Kayak Court went. This effort took court services to unsheltered neighbors living along the Jordan River. There is literally a judge, defense attorney team, an outreach team, etc. in canoes who performs court services for interested individuals living along the river. On Friday they were able to engage with 5 individuals. The next Kayak Court is scheduled for June 23rd.
2. RACIAL EQUITY AND POLICING UPDATE: A public listening session happened last week. It can be viewed online. There are subcommittee meetings scheduled for this week. More info at slcrepcommission.com
3. FY 21-22 BUDGET, HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT: The total proposed budget for this department is $52M with a total of 31 FTEs. This includes 5 new FTEs proposed this year. This department serves all city departments’ needs related to HR, Recruitment, Benefits, Promotions, etc. The 5 new employees would take on responsibilities including benefits, recruitment, supporting the Civilian Review Board, and implementing the city’s new ERP System (Enterprise Resource Planning), onboarding, appeals, etc.
4. FY 21-22 BUDGET, COMPENSATION FOR CITY EMPLOYEES: The total proposed compensation budget for the city is $216M. This is $11.8M greater than FY 2021 and represents a 1% salary increase across the board. This is where most of the city’s budget goes which is typical for a service related organization like a city. The CCAC evaluates the total compensation levels of departments in the city. The city has recently switched our philosophy on compensation to look at base pay plus the value of benefits instead of just base bay. There are 90 “benchmark jobs” in the city which can be compared to other jurisdictions. SLC is a pay leader in 36 of these. We are a Pay Equity Leader. Our benefits department expects that we will see an increase in medical claims as COVID lifts and people go back to normal healthcare practices. Starting July 1st, SLC will offer our employees gender reassignment surgery as part of our benefits package. Councilmember questions (including my own) related to the city’s compensation philosophy, cost of living as compared to wages, morale of our city employees (including police), housing assistance for our city employees, etc. My takeaway from our discussion in this item is that the council is in need of a fuller and more in depth discussion about how we are taking care of our city employees and where we want to be relative to other cities. I believe we should lead the market but am ready for more information, discussion, and deliberation.
5. FY 21-22 BUDGET, 911 DEPARTMENT: The total proposed department budget is $8.8M with 108 total FTEs. The major change proposed to this department is the implementation of a 32 hour work week pilot program requiring 8 new dispatchers. This change is a response to the incredible stress, relatively low pay, and extremely high turnover in this department.
6. POLICE DEPARTMENT AUDIT, FOLLOW-UP: Matrix is the consultant hired by the City Council to do a full financial and operational audit of the Police Department. Today was a follow-up discussion on the consultant’s key findings. There are several specific accounting clarifications that have been recommended on the financial side of the exercise. On the operational side, Mental Health and Homelessness response continue to be the most obvious areas for change and improvement. Another recommendation relates to call diversion. There were about 12,500 calls that could have been handled by civilian responders rather than sworn officers. This could possibly result in around 10% of additional time to every patrol officer. Matrix also looked at gaps in our policies where behaviors may be unacceptable but do not technically violate a policy.
7. FY 21-22 BUDGET, SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT AND REFUSE FUND: The total proposed budget for this department is $24.7M with 63 total FTEs. This department has two divisions: Waste and Recycling Division as well as the Environmental and Energy Sustainability Division. The Waste and Recycling Division handles recycling, yard waste, refuse collection, Call 2 Haul, etc. These are funded by user fees paid by residents on their utility bill. There is a proposed 12% increase for these fees in the next year. This will be about $2 per month, depending on the size of your garbage can. The E&E Sustainability Division is working on several sustainability projects including 100% renewable energy, Healthy Food Access, Air Quality Monitoring, etc.
8. FY 21-22 BUDGET, NON-DEPARTMENTAL: This portion of the budget includes all items that don’t easily fit into a departments budget (i.e. insurance). It also includes items that the council wants more legislative control over (i.e. body cameras). The total proposed budget is $98.3M. Non-Departmental includes the CIP fund. There is some interest from the council to increase the CIP percentage from 6%-7%. This would allow the city to fund more of the constituent requests we received. Because of the additional bonding capacity we are planning on this year, there will be a lot of capital projects happening. The limitation might actually be staff time to implement the projects, not funding for them.
9. FY 21-22 BUDGET, PUBLIC SERVICES (AND PROPOSED PUBLIC LANDS DEPARTMENT): This is one of the largest departments in the city. The total proposed budget is $91M with 446 FTEs. There are a few major reorganizations proposed in this department including: Public Lands becoming a Department, Youth and Family moving to CAN, and Engineering moving into Public Services from CAN. The Public Lands Department, if created, would be $28.5M, leaving the Public Services budget at $62.4M. This is probably the most highly debated item at tonight’s meeting. There is a lot of concern that this new department and the increased staffing is too aggressive and will lead to a needed future tax increase.
10. FY 21-22 BUDGET, FLEET FUND: The total proposed budget for Fleet is $28M with 45 FTEs. $13.4M of this budget is for maintenance and $14.6M is for replacement. Note that this $28M is also included in the Public Services’ $62.4M. This division maintains and takes care of the city’s fleet of vehicles. This includes all police vehicles, fire engines, garbage trucks, street maintenance equipment, etc. $4M of this funding will be for public safety equipment, specifically in the Fire Department. A near future goal of the city is to electrify our fleet including possibly purchasing an electric fire engine. A major increase in this budget is just under $1M in order to purchase Street Maintenance Equipment.
11. FY 21-22 BUDGET, GOLF FUND: This department has a proposed budget of $10.4M with 33.65 FTEs. This division operates 6 golf courses. It is primarily funded by green fees but does have a transfer from the General Fund to cover some of the expenses. There is a backlog of deferred maintenance in this department. Some of the first planned/needed improvements to the courses include Driving Range Improvements, Tee Box Leveling, and improvements to the Rose Park irrigation system.
12. FY 21-22 BUDGET, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (WRITTEN BRIEFING): The RDA has been removed from this department by the Mayor. The proposed budget is $2.5M with 18 FTEs. There are two divisions including Economic Development and Arts Council.