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2024-06-18 Council FIN MinutesFINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING June 18, 2024 Elected Officials Present Staff Present Councilmember Will Chen (Chair) Kim Dunscombe, Deputy Admin. Serv. Director Councilmember Jenna Nand Todd Tatum, Comm., Culture & Econ. Dev. Dir. Council President Vivian Olson (ex-officio) Scott Passey, City Clerk Mayor Mike Rosen CALL TO ORDER The Edmonds City Council Finance Committee meeting was called to order virtually and in the City Council Conference Room, 121 — 51" Avenue North, Edmonds, at 5:30 pm by Councilmember Chen. 2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 1. ERP Update Ms. Dunscombe reported she, Information Services Manager Brian Tuley, and legal have reviewed the contract and it is ready to come to council. Once the City is in the queue for implementation for the new ERP system, the new annual maintenance fee applies. The wait time for implementation is 6-8 months as all the entities currently using Eden are transitioning to the new ERP. Tyler Technologies is dedicating less staff to respond to inquiries related to Eden. Councilmember Chen explained the new ERP is also a Tyler Technologies software, just a different platform. Questions and discussion followed regarding the City not having a choice related to upgrading because Eden is being sunsetted, increased rates in the 2024 technology fund related to implementation, inclusion of new rates in the 2025/2026 budget, and Tyler's practice of starting the new maintenance fee when an entity signs the contract. Committee recommendation: Informational Update 2. May 2042 Monthly Financial Report Ms. Dunscombe referred to General Fund highlights, advising the trends and themes haven't changed much. She highlighted: • General Fund positive cash balance • Negative cash balance in streets • Negative cash balance in capital Fund 332 due to timing of the receipt of the grant for the Mee property • General Fund revenues are 6.5% above the monthly budget forecast in 2024 due to a $385,000 transfer from Fund 016, Building Maintenance Bond Fund for interest paid on the bonds. • Year-to-date school zone camera revenue is approximately $216,000. • Increase in General Fund revenue primarily due to building and development revenue from large, one-time projects Questions and discussion followed regarding appreciation for the monthly highlights page, interest charged to the General Fund and Street Fund for negative cash balance, the interest rate charged for internal borrowing, a suggestion to add a footnote to the report regarding the interest rate charged for internal borrowing, offsetting expenses and labor associated with some revenues, whether school zone camera revenue can be reported as a special revenue fund or subfund of General Fund, accounting for 06/18/24 Finance Committee Minutes, labor as an offset to school zone camera revenue, assigning a project number to school zone cameras, actual REET and property tax revenue compared to budget, effect on the Finance Department of moving committee meetings to the third week of the month, and appreciation for the up-to-date financial information. Ms. Dunscombe continued her review of General Fund expenses, highlighting settlement of the EPOA contract and retro paid in May, sale of Utility Fund bonds that will show in the June report, reduced Water Utility expenses, and timing of the receipt of large Storm Utility grants. Questions and discussion continued regarding whether the state's transportation budget will impact grants the City has been awarded, Administrative Services expenditures in May, settlement of EPOA contract that affected Police Department expenditures, $3.2 million vacancy rate adjustment in the 2024 non -departmental budget, observation that the Police Department is understaffed but expenditures exceed budget, allocating the vacancy rate adjustment to departments, funds included in the 2024 budget for the EPOA contract, whether allocating the vacancy rate adjustment would affect future negotiations, having union contracts terminate mid -year in the future, investment portfolio summary, appreciation to administration for reallocating the Snohomish County investment pool to the State investment pool which has higher rate of return, and the importance of up-to-date and transparent information. Committee recommendation: Received for Filing 3. Resolution Budget Calendar Ms. Dunscombe commented on the upcoming biennial budget, zero based budget, and priority based budgeting for the General Fund and Street Fund. She reviewed the 2025-2026 Budget Schedule, highlighting: • July 2 Mayor Rosen presentation about priority based budgeting • August 13 mid -year report • August 16 Council retreat • September 24 CIP/CFP presentations • October 1 Mayor's Message and presentation of preliminary biennial budget • Opportunities to schedule special council meetings for budget deliberations • Goal to pass budget by Thanksgiving • November 27 Property tax levy filed with county Questions and discussion followed regarding details that are not included on the calendar, including special meetings on the budget schedule, concern community outreach is not included in schedule, and the need for a monthly newsletter to inform the public. Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda 4. Community Survey Info Brief Mr. Tatum advised this is an informational briefing; development of the survey has not been completed. With priority based budgeting, cities commonly do a budget priorities survey to measure performance and importance. The survey will be a piece of the priority based budgeting process. The City has contracted with EMC Research who has done surveys for several cities including Redmond and Kirkland. The survey will be a web or phone based survey, approximately 1,200 calls to generate about 400 responses which will provide a statistically significant sample, +/- 3-5% confidence rate. Directors, the mayor and EMC are working to develop questions. The survey will reviewed by the Community Budget Advisory Panel being developed by the mayor, and possibly the Finance 06/18/24 Finance Committee Minutes, Page 3 Committee. He reviewed the projected timeline: survey out late June, results by late July, and council briefing regarding the result on August 13. As a lot of community members will be interested in expressing opinions and not everyone will have an opportunity to take the statistically valid survey, consideration is being given to a separate collector of responses from community partners and underrepresented communities. Mayor Rosen advised up to six community focus group meetings will be held where the public can provide input. Questions and discussion followed regarding a request for administration to bring survey questions to council before the survey is disseminated to the public to avoid biased questions that lead to an outcome, ensuring geographic and age diversity, including cell phones and landlines, outreach to underrepresented communities, and the value of a biennial community survey. Committee recommendation: Information 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:49 pm. SCOTT PASSEY, C CLERK