##VIDEO ID:tTY8mFn3lug## yep we're good good Lu all right we are reporting everybody we'll watch what we say about Rachel Eric and Lyn you good yeah all right wonderful good evening everyone I will call the second budget meeting to order I'll ask Mr Miller to call the role Mr Callahan present M gron Smith present MCH present M lard present Miss Leon present Miss Wilhelm present and Mr colog present thank you councilwoman Leon is uh participating remotely this evening but given the presentation you don't see her but she hears us we hear her so she'll be participating remotely tonight so YouTube reminder for anyone who is watching the meeting after 6 PM if you want to follow along live you can scroll ahead to the the live portion of the meeting unless you want to watch the meeting its entirety from the beginning tonight we're going to go over the following proposed budgets we're going to start with the golf course Enterprise fund page 265 Administration which is Page 27 our Council mayor Treasurer controller and law Bureau budgets page nine our general fund revenues it's on the first page or page one General expenses 172 Civic expenses 176 and then Debt Service which is 180 after each budget topic I will recognize council member MERS for questions and after certain topic groupings I will take public comment for anyone in the public who wants to make comment and again public comment is reserved solely for those dedicated um budgets that are being reviewed I will remind everyone when we're having discussions if you have questions or you're referencing the budget book please reference the page number that you're looking at just so that everyone who's following along can turn to that page so that we're all on the same page page so we will start with our Golf Course Enterprise fund Mr Evans if you want to kick us off tonight thank you president cologne yes we will start the golf course that's page 265 in the budget manual I'll move through a series of slides to illustrate some of the projects and other graphs we' put together for you some of these are familiar I've updated it for 2025 first of all the golf course was established in 1956 on ilix Mill Road elix Mill Road is now one of our recreational hubs and that has leh had little league Bethlehem St football there's used by Rugby teams there are tennis courts there's ice rink the pool and the creek at the bottom among walking trails and other items the golf course is an Enterprise fund that means it stands alone it is self- sustaining that its revenues are designed to meet all expenses and we'll talk a little bit about that the revenues for the golf course are made up through a couple different components the first is the 18-hole golf course across the street from it is the nine-hole golf course both courses collect funding from Greens fees and cart rentals the go the 18 course had another great year the nine course had an even better year we'll get to those graphs in a moment the driving range also has continued to stay very busy funding was put didn't do it a couple years ago and then as these pictures you can see with warm weather which we had and dry weather which we also had this summer it's going to be S and the location and proximity in Bethlehem it's going to do well and it has done third component is a restaurant lease in 2019 we negotiate a seven-year deal we are now entering the final year uh 2025 will be the final year of the clubhouse grill restaurant so we will begin talking to them once the year turns over they do pay as you see on the slide $6,193 a month that's an escalator 3% each year for the time they've been there the fourth component is the cart Barn lease this is a group called The Art of Flight you see in the pictures it's a simulator there are number five five simulators in the cart bar we call it cart Barn ask what it was it was built uh 15 years ago to house the golf carts golf carts are used other places now and store St other places this is a private partner uh that came in approached us we talked negotiated a lease that runs through 2027 a lot of technical equipment was put in there's also an athletic training facility it ties together really well with the golf course they've been a great partner so they're earlier on the lease that's a smaller area and that lease is 2732 a month collectively there's a lot going on on this graph I I gave you a long look it goes back to 2010 and continues through 2024 to the far right the blue are the high high watermarks for each month this is month by month Revenue chart the color bar at the bottom indicates that there were some issues apparent in the late in in the 2010 to through 2015 uh Revenue was flat or stagnant if you look at the very bottom line You'll see 1 14 13 14 13 and that's fine they were not decreasing as we all know expenses will eventually increase whether it be utilities contracted raises or other payments that's so by time we got to 2016 17 18 we turned that bar red because complaint conditions started to deteriorate there was a lack of funding available margins were not there to borrow and as a result Place slowed down and revenues fell from 1 three to two to one at that time Council held hearings and a number of decisions were made and since that time those decisions have paid off very well as you see from 19 through 2024 they shortly after the changes were made revenues moved to4 to5 to8 to one nine they cross $2 million for the first time last year and they did again this year with two months remaining so I did color that bottom right cell uh blue meaning we're going to set the record we're going to beat last year's record we just $2,000 short that was at 1031 so as November start we've know the weather stayed warm the course is stay crowded and that number will likely come close to 2.2 want to confirm that with uh Mr Paul Viola Paul oh let me see slide is next there he is Paul Viola is a golf course general manager he is a PGA Pro he's been with us for some time uh the expenses are made up of four full-time employees Paul leads a group out at the golf course he's joined with Paul Jud our superintendent and a maintenance worker and aan iic this budget also includes the opportunity to add a plus one you see that there are two Tams supervisor employees two maintenance workers uh with the opportunity to add one with this proposed budget uh so there's parttime and temporary help that joins them through this golf season the golf season runs from March 1st weather dependent runs through the summer into November and shortly after Thanksgiving begins a shut down and we do lose that part-time according to the Union contract and temporary help on 11:30 by that time days are short plane conditions become quite difficult we get wind mushy grass so it's time to get off that course anyway for the most part that we have a nice clean slate in the spring uh the course also has operating maintenance expenses they do make payments to the medical fund of course to their pension to the Social Security you'll also see in the fund that they make a a general f a payment to the general fund of $150,000 they do make an annual Debt Service of $125,000 and they with the margins available uh they set aside Capital allocations that will be required for the future projects we talked briefly about one last night we've done a number of them in the last couple years and we'll continue to need to do them I do this is the last slide for go for golf you will see at the top of the page a picture with a red box on it that was the project we talked about last year and it's now been completed there's a before and after a picture below that that was a shed originally built by the starters yes starters paid for that has a uh at the turn kind of Snack Shop it was never designed for Full Employment there during covid we moved operations down there found it very pleasant and workable much more visibility on the golf course and the goal was to stay there we needed to build a pro shop and that was completed with the thanks uh to thanks with thanks and with the help of Public Works and Engineering oversight a contract was entered into this year and that Pro Shop was completed uh by early spring of this year and moved into uh it includes short merch a small merchandise area a counter that can be served either through the front or inside there is a bathroom in there and a a a small office for Paul to conduct uh the golf course business in there the golf carts are kept behind there's a concrete nice concrete pad that was placed inside where that red box is so on the bullet points you'll see the 18 to 23 successes we've had was a full-time staff was reduced from AG to four that created margins at lowered expenses we're able to re renegotiate the existing current rest restaurant lease into a much more positive lease uh we also added the new tenant I spoke of we did borrow money back in 2018 it's a 20-year bank note from 1.75 those funds have been spent down with a number of projects including drainage and when it does drain the course drains properly and quickly and the course can reopen for business we don't lose days or longer after large rain we added irrigation we added a pavilion out back for uh events ass associated with the golf course we added uh sand traps and bunkers not added but improved we did add a couple we removed a couple and renovated all the existing traps so they drain much better the plane conditions have improved greatly and we saw how the the business responded to that the people came back uh we did we the cart paths were a me a mess much like sometimes our roads get to be that the car pass are little small roads for small car but trees and other issues cause problems with them and they're all removed and replaced so they're there for a good long time and some Turf and maintenance equipment which is more expensive according especially relative the golf course budget was also turned over those have resulted in the success 2024 the new Pro Shop was built and another thing we have going on right now is an RFP was issued for first floor space when the golf course moved down to the Pro Shop next uh we built a new Pro Shop and uh we're down there next to the cart bar now where we're very happy Paul's moving down operations but that leaves the first floor open and available there's plenty of space if You' like to look at it yourself it it was forwarded to the chamber and they have advertised it we also have on the city website if you go to the purchasing Bureau under departments or from our homepage there's a purchasing link there's a for RFP you can see the layout if you've never been in there there's plenty of space there's an open area two conference rooms two bathrooms two locker rooms and some other closet space it does need work we're looking for a partner that would work well with a golf course maybe they don't necessarily need to work with the other two tenants but if there are items and ways they can work together it's interesting that's limited parking but a lot of space that does need work so we're looking for something creative and hopeful whether it's the expansion of the restaurant wants to move down do something or is it someone else that knew the we left it open on purpose we issued it in October we're leaving it open extended period till early December end of November it was end of November we want to be able collect and look at them right after the golf course season ends with the idea uh we can review them we'll need to clean out up top there's a lot of stuff up there that's been up there for decades once the golf course season ends we'll have time to turn our attention get that cleaned up and have visitors come look at see what interest they may have if we don't have a qualified bidder we can then extend it again uh it's vacant now so we are hoping we find something sooner than later they provide some additional passive income but that's out there on the on the market right now and then moving forward next year for the golf course you'll see the small picture on the right that's a large barn it is used for storage for the golf course a lot a lot of our large equipment so we do need a new building that building has been rendered structurally unstable engineering has engineering has looked at it a couple times if you drive it's right next to recycling center and if you drive through the recycling center you'll see parts of the roof are starting to detach uh we will need a building that needs limited but some heat some a little bit heat from one room to St the chemicals it'll need some lighting of course electric and limited water so we have engaged with the engineering Bureau it's a matter of where the new site location it'll be somewhere close by so it may be right there but that'll need to come down first or we'll be right next to it move in and then demolish that but those couple things will happen and that's what we talked about last night the non-utility capital we have a a funding set aside we don't now have a price yet engineering hasn't gotten that far so they've looked at it they're starting to come up with ideas they may bring in a contractor someone to take a look at to give them some estimates on what would need to be done because that's Priority One we want to make sure we have enough funding for that once that project is complete then we can revisit there are some other ideas that Paul and the superintendent have come up with to improve playing conditions as well as uh continuing to upgrade our turf and maintenance equipment anything else Paul has nothing to add but he is available for any questioning uh on the golf course if there are any questions pres that ends the our section on the golf course thank you Mr Evans appreciate it so I'll start with our Parks and Recreation committee starting with the committee chair councilwoman lard hi thanks for the information um I don't think I have uh specific questions about the budget figures that I'm seeing uh I I do recall hearing a lot about the dicey times uh a few years back and it seems like things are right sized and and moving in a good direction now um and I think that there's some uh real potential with that first floor space even needing some work Eric and I spoke a little bit about that um a curiosity question I have is um how many of our local schools whether that's high school colleges um or other like golf teams uh use the course yeah it gets heavy use so we currently have there's three high schools that use it uh Liberty freedom and Becca um they practice when the golf season starts they'll practice and they have their matches there we also have Moravian uh who plays out of there until so and opens up and then that's where they go for their home course so they'll come over in the early in the spring and they'll use the facilities and do those um institutions pay like some different rate for the the college does aravan we have an agreement with them they they do pay for it's again it's limited they're there for about three weeks but the schools no we they they do not they come out they play they practice it's their home courses for their matches uh so that's a that's a service that we provide our Bethlehem students that's great um yeah I I think that that's my only real question I'm trying to think of layout here no the Martin Tower um con that site Construction shouldn't really impact with drainage anywhere near the golf course right no okay yeah not that I would be Downstream of where the golf course that is correct okay uh all right yeah that's that's all thank you for all the information I'll turn to the other committee members Willl home and Callahan for any questions comments councilwoman I don't have any questions but thank you for for caring for the the property I know you're out there in all kinds of weather um you know through the late fall early spring not an easy time to be out there doing that work so we appreciate your efforts there thank you thank you CN thank you to both of you I want to thank you um Mr Evans I don't know if you remember when I was on my way to Stone Harbor in 2017 oh yeah I sent you the pictures of the golf course yes and the shape that I was in at the time yeah it was a mess right things were falling apart car pass as you that were were terrible netting in the driving range area was bad um you know it was falling apart and we were very heavily um in debt or in in in struggling just due to the amount of um payroll that we had over there and we made some adjustments I thought that those two Tams positions were at the golf course during the golf course year and we were going to move them over to the ice rink in the winter no there's never a planned to do that that was Prior um and well I guess maybe you PA you never had that no I know at some point some of the maintenance workers when the previous superintendent was there were trying and send him over to the iceam from that that happened so when when in the past the union workers went over to not all of them went over to the rink in the winter and then they worked the rink in the winter uh from and of October middle of October yeah until the end of March of course and then well till the ice ring closed out but it was never the Tams all right well I I wanted to congratulate you guys for for helping to organize that and also the unions I think we had a discussion with the unions and they were uh they had agreed you know to move some of the workers that were over at the golf course full-time and I think that helped us a lot too in in in in saving money so um most people in this room do not remember what the golf course was like in 2017 but there was dead trees all over the place we've cleaned up hundreds of trees yes uh and we brought in the PGA had them do the assessment on it which I thought was a great idea even you know even you know it was a nice chunk of money but I thought it was well worth it the greens are in awesome shape the co is in awesome shape we did the irrigation we did the um uh the watering systems we did the sand traps all over again uh knocking down uh ripping up trees just I mean the whole course has taken on of and I think uh and if I'm wrong remind me but I think there's only three municipalities in the state that have a municipal golf course correct I know Erie has one Erie does Allentown I thought John yeah I think there was four yeah but four you know I'm trying to get is it's a special place where the city citizens of our city go and especially those that are you know love the game of golf right so um the you know the the addition of the new Pro Shop uh the um the uh training center in in the old cart building I mean it's amazing to go over there and see the transformation in 78 Qui quick years and and I also I I also don't want to be remiss and not thinking Mr Kelner who was an avid golfer uh he was working over there part-time from you know minimum wage just helping out right yes and we had this Jewel of a guy sitting there who had a great business background was retired at a young age because he was such a good businessman and he went in there and did a hell of a job too and so did you so I want to thank everybody because it's it's really outside of the the the extreme growth on the Southside in Martin Tower probably my my top three things that that I have ever been involved with in the city in in in my three terms was was the golf course the southet economic development and then you know the Martin Tower rezoning and getting that going and uh I just think it's an unbelievable thing Mr Evans when we had that discussion I was on I was you know on a car and all started then and you really took the ball and and started you know getting things done uh you know on the administration side and I really want to thank you for all the work that you've done and and Paul you've been there the whole time too and U you know between you to and Mr ker uh I I think the citizens can go there and it's really an unbelievable place to go I think it's one of the best municipal golf courses uh around and it's it really is a um you know a credit to everybody that put all that work in an hours and and I want to thank you and not only you guys but the workers who maintain it on a regular basis [Music] um the um there's an area um next to the cart this this new Barnet we're going to have to repair yes we used to have a a miniature golf there I would hope that sometime in the future because it's an area that I think is is underused I I don't know if Mr Reynolds is is in favor of this or if there's money somewhere down the line it would obviously be his decision and council's decision but I think under uh um last year with Mr donchez um I had we all took a tour to M you know the Martin Tower site before they knocked it down we're up on the roof and I've always felt like the the uh recycling area where it is is totally out of place I mean that when you go down to Il Mill Road that's our Parks and Recreation Area we've got San uh sand lot baseball fields softball fields golfing um uh swimming pool ice skating ranks um um the um tennis courts and we have monoxy Park and as you drive down it in the middle of all that is a is three huge containers uh it makes it look like a dump and I I don't know if it was my brother's Administration mayor's uh cunninghams I don't know who put that there and I we were in short of space at the time but I think we're at the place now that I would hope that um we could find a better place I know there's some acreage in back of the um the um where it existing is now there's a service road there and I talked to Mr alol a few years ago about extending that we'd have to make it wider there's a big tree back there I'm talking in back of the um the compost pile back behind the driver yeah but I I would hope someday that we could get get that out of there you know because it's just a it's a sore ey and I think if we could get get rid of those um the those big containers there and then maybe put out the bid an RFP for that little area I mean the new uh the new barn is not going to be larger is it we don't have to we don't know yet it's two stories right now so if we don't build a two store it's one store it might be a larger footprint and we don't know if it's going to be in the same spot or may be where you're speaking of where that right where the old old mini golf was maybe the new building course was move off the road you want to move it closer off the road more or off the road right now the site we would be looking at would be kind of back where that miniature golf course was get that all cleaned out because the footprint is going to need to be bigger because the barn is two stories There Goes My miniature golf I guess yeah um all right well was just a thought I thought you know maybe we could put on it's always a thought it's always something we could always revisit too right just take a look and see what's there right and this is all speculation based on what we're talking about as far as where we're going to locate the barn well if if we don't encroach I mean if we have to I to I get it I totally understand but if we don't uh encroach on that area where the miniature golf course was it's all weeds and it's all it's all overgrown right now um if the new barn can be placed where it is awesome if it can I totally understand if it C if it can be and it doesn't have to be moved I I would hope that we could put out an RFP it doesn't cost much to put out an RFP you know to see what businessman out there wants to open up a miniature golf course we don't have one in the city the closest one is probably out at Oasis um and maybe like a little little ice cream place there too you know sure there again like I said we could always look at different areas too yeah but yeah I just think it's it's it it'd be a great place for families to go you know and uh you know we could get those uh containers out here I think it'd be awesome but you know that's that's more of a pro maybe a multi-million dollar you know project but that's our Parks and Recreation Area so that's and I know you have nothing to do with that just me me throwing out a wish list I agree um Mr I also want to thank you on uh last thing on this is uh um I noted the um leases were up upgraded yeah uh to a more favorable uh number for the City uh I know that was an extremely low number that we had put in there originally when Mr rank went when he got in there and that least kind of stayed there for a long time but I think that's uh how long is that lease now for for the uh at the clubhouse it's in year SE next year will be year seven of seven so we'll have to sit down with that ownership group to see where we go with that all right it's it's been I would say successful there it's familyfriendly it is they do quite well so we have a good partnership and hope the negotiations go well thank you thank you that's it open it up to other members of council any other councilwoman I apologize I forgot I had had a question was it last year that the virtual golf there's a virt a new virtual golf uh I forget what it's called Sim the simulator yes yes the simul was that last year that that opened it yeah last year was its first full year okay uh they opened the doors back in November of the previous year October October and November of 20 22 21 21 I was just curious as to whether it's being pretty well used or utilized uh in the months coming up now so they're very very heavily used okay normally from October end of October November December January February March obviously when you can't get outside right so they get very heavily used okay uh during the summer they there's there's a lot of programs that go on in there there's the gym the the Fitness which which keeps it going okay yeah I was just curious sure thank you any other questions or comments councilwoman KY okay thank you um I also remember when things were a little uh sketchy with the course financially and otherwise so kudos to you and everyone all your staff um for all the progress you've made financially and with improvements I know uh Mr Jud is really dedicated and works a lot of hours and he really keeps the I'm not a golfer but it looks really pretty when I go by anyway so I just have a couple questions I um pretty significant going from eight to four um employees from full-time to part-time I know you have the seasonal and and the parttime but is it manageable are you finding it's manageable with the Lesser number of employees when when when everyone shows up for the day uh yeah I mean it's we're we're surviv we're getting through it is manageable yes yes um was my other question here oh I was wondering what about the use of the N9 hole course is that used pretty regularly pretty significantly it is yes yeah it's one of the bigger reasons for our record months we've been having uh the conditions over there are fantastic and you know Co brought so many new players to the game and it's just a you know it's more of a beginner learner starter course and it's been way utilized maybe even over utilized but yes we get a lot of play out there okay good to know um and still using I forget the name of the program there was a program for like students students maybe of low income that was available where they can go and first te I'm sorry was it called the first te yes yes is that still still partners with them yes okay that's great so that's available for kids in the area that cannot afford it okay that's awesome um my final question I don't know I guess it would be you Mr Evans um do you do you foresee a problem with the lease of the restaurant I mean is it just a matter of financially negotiating the lease yeah yes it didn't it's been a good run it went quick you know the time but from we know they operate clean uh they operate safely you know there's never issues up there the police don't have to go up there right uh they get a nice crowds they seem to be doing pretty well so we've not entered negotiations yet it's so early for that but it won't be long until we do U sometime after the New Year well I've already reached out once or twice to Todd Donnelly's the the lead over there and I'll try and visit him the summer just to see how things are going so we're also going to gauge what interest they may have in the downstairs as we look and see who are the possible customers they they might likely they might not I don't know I haven't really spoken to them about the you know where that where that standard what their level of interest is the downstairs it's limited capacity for a restaurant to expand because down the kitchen's only so big there's a big set of steps so it's isolated when you're down there it's a little bit unique the space although it's large I'm hoping we can find a good partner for that part but the upstairs is good okay great yeah because I mean it really is I think a great place very family oriented a lot of you know PE families go there during before and after sporting events and uh really the food definitely has improved a lot so last time around was a lot tougher because there was a gap in what they were paying in what we kind of wanted to bring it to which is market rate this year the fact we kept escalators in the lease it's close you know as long as we keep bumping it up year after year it should be I think a smoother talks with um what we both want to do out there okay great hope hopefully so okay thank you very much thank you any other questions comments from counsel I'll go back around but just a couple General things I want to remind all members of council any lease when the restaurant leases up that's renegotiated it comes before Council be approved that would yeah and then first floor RFP if that comes to that wherever that if there is one and when there is one that will come to you too yeah yeah so just for everybody's awareness that's something that we'll be able to to not only see the details of But ultimately goes up for a vote from Council are there are there any um rate changes or or fee changes for 2025 we're going to look at them yes there will be I mean we're going to just try to stay competitive with the market and where we are uh anything that we put in there we're talking a dollar$ two dollars nothing nothing crazy understood if you could just share those with Council whenever they're whenever they're decided upon I understand 100% you have to keep up with the competition and as we know the cost of doing business keeps going up so you have to uh just as needed I just asked to keep us informed we'll do thank you sir the as it relates to the barn how long has that been deferred so you said the the roof is pretty deteriorated I guess kind of what what year did it come on everyone's radar that this was going to have to be a project I mean as far as that like the project a year maybe a year ago when we when when they finally said we're going to need to start looking into taking this down said Thank you plan a was to Ren inov if we could keep it up it's it's a large Timbers in there that that are pretty sure but there are other issues with the walls that the engineers I think are leaning towards all this is very early in their process and Mike alcohol's process um from them making a final decisions for us so we hope to know something maybe by spring summer first stages and work from there okay thank you and and those are my only questions I'll just kind of echo what's already been shared I remember remember a few years ago a number of years ago now when we had these discussions surrounding the golf course and as I share every year during budget season I'm not a golfer I played I think nine holes once and my club's probably still in a tree somewhere over there thanks my frustration but I look at these numbers all the time and a lot of my friends family people who know I'm on Council and choose to bend my ear about things like to talk about the golf course and nothing's ever nothing negative has has ever been shared with me as it relates to the golf course and the Improvement that over there and it was sort of this this ideal circumstance where we were able to raise revenues with the new lease while at the same time lowering our costs with the payrolls Mr Callahan um mentioned earlier and now we're seeing those results born out so it it's a great story to tell and and one that uh I'm glad we still get to share and look forward to what the future of the course is I know it's if not the most played course in the Lehigh Valley it's definitely one of the most blade courses I'll argue that it is in the Lehigh Valley and I I won't argue with you on that one but anything else for members of the council Miss Clair um sorry I had forgotten my mark in here to ask about this um so looking through the various expenses um pesticides and fertilizers are one of your largest correct aside from labor it seems yes um so what I I know that um it you know it comes with the territory to apply that yes pesticides um and whatnot to the grasses and I'm wondering um if there's protocol that you follow given the fact that it is uphill from the creek um that helps protect the water uh supply Down Below or you know the the stream down below and the general environment um yeah so I mean I can't speak on all the protocols but my superintendent and uh our our other worker are both certified licensed they have to keep their licenses every year to do the spray and I'd say all the liquid fertilizer that is applied has to be washed in so the sprinklers go on and wash it in and that's what soaks it in so it doesn't get affected by rain water doesn't wash off if we did that we just just if we didn't wash it in to get it into the soil it it would just be a waste it would it wouldn't work so every time it's applied it gets sprinklers go on and it washes it and settles it into the ground yeah um I'm out of a suggestion I'm gonna assume that it hasn't happened but if it has that's even better um have your um superintendent and the other person that you mentioned um that's certified have they ever met with um like our EIC or anything to look at how those how their treatment protocols line up with the climate action plan goals and whatnot um see if there's any tweaks that can be made should be made anything like that I mean not that I'm aware of okay not that I'm aware of that they have okay um like I said I I understand that it's you know a necessary thing on a golf course but um at this same time if we can just keep an eye on what we're doing to you know be as as good stewards as we can be uh that's always a good thing so thanks thank you councilwoman any other questions or comments Mr Callahan yeah I I forgot one thing um Mr Evans when was the how how long has that least been in effect with uh the resturant I think it was 19 19220 19 yeah 2019 through 2025 all right I just want to make sure that because I know Mr spark you would probably notice uh we still attain and have ownership of the liquor license there correct we we didn't put that in the lease and get rid of that right I don't it's ours it's ours all right so if um if the negotiation didn't go well the liquor license stays with us it doesn't go with the the owner yeah thank you anything else from any other members of council thank you everybody for the presentation we'll have our first public comment this one about the golf fund no one had signed up so I'll start to the left anyone who wants to make comment on the golf fund I don't see any okay I'll turn to the wide Center anyone like to make comment on the golf fund and conclude on the right all right first agenda item is done we're going to turn on to Administration so we'll go through Administration Council mayor treasure controller law Bureau then we'll have public comment again so I I'll turn back to Mr Evans for the presentation on Administration right thank you um as a transition I do want to thank Paulie we did walk out the door but um hope we all realize like through nine months a year he does he's a fulltime year on employee but during those nine months it's often many times six days and often seven days a week starts at dawn and he or members of his team work till dusk they work very hard for the success that they've earned as well as Chris Jud our superintendent and their entire team out there uh I want to make another note about the uh cooperation of the seciu when these changes occurred it was part of their cooperation the loud when those people were reduced no one was fur there was no jobs lost they each had an opportunity to bid into open positions as they opened up across the city so a lot of them still do work with some one of two may have retired but the other two still work one in the grounds department and another one also in public work so they're still fully employed to the city of Bethlehem and uh lastly thanks for the support during that time because there was parts that um fell into place and parts were a little bit of a Gamble and you talk about borrowing money for a course that needed the borrowing to make the turnaround and the fact the support was given at the time to allow for the borrowing allowed the next shoe to fall which was one thing after another that allowed the revenues to take off and here we are so those are my three concluding remarks I'll turn to then the administration my administrative team is here with me tonight I I took a little bit different approach and I know last night Mr Al call Mr BOS there are a lot of pictures they have large teams over 100 they had their their teams with them as well uh their bureaus and their departments are large they have a number of bureaus they also have large infrastructures and projects when you talk about the administration and our role it is our job to support those people that you saw last night the teams from last night the projects are supported that we saw last night as well as all of police and fire and CED this is a group that collectively purchases pays for processes collects reconciles audits recruits hires trains tests programs and networks it's a wide variety of skills that are are covered we do it with unlimited staff we have 19 full-time employees we have one and we're hopefully two we have we have always budgeted for two part-time employees one's been filled one uh a little bit in order to just help round out the staff and make sure we can make it happen it's an experien group you're going to recognize most of the faces there is one new face among us tonight uh most of the team has remained intact from 24 um the 20 follow 2023 which is 24 budget hearings into this year so I'll quickly review and move through the as I move through the pages the part admin ation on page 28 is made up of two people it's Eric and Lenny are sitting at the desk and this is it uh we work with each of the bureaus uh in administration we work it's our job to work with outside vendors as capital Blue Cross BSI which is our medical Brokers our insurance carriers which is workman's comp our property liability our actuary that helps helps us with our pension and as well as preparing and managing the budget throughout the year uh there are no expenses we line items on 29 are Li limited is only other expenses and that's uh that for administration if you turn to the next Bureau on page 32 it's information I'm sorry went too far there you go Information Services this is our it group on the left are the leaders of it that's Jonathan he's with us tonight in the blue shirt Jonathan poliy and Doug Shadel our programmer thank you for coming out and supporting uh this is a group often I it group for a city our size might be looked to be in the range of 7 to 10 10 to 12 and that we're making it happen with five uh the largest line items other than our leadership and our supporting Personnel are Department contracts on page 33 and equipment maintenance if you turn to page 34 with the notes under Department contracts you'll find so it's support maintenance subscriptions having to do with software the equipment has to do with computer Replacements laptops especially regard to Department request in public works water sore and Public Safety you'll see a number of PCS that we continue we all know that they become Obsolete and they need to be replaced as well as networks and the routers that move along with them moving to next Bureau it is financial services this Bureau is now led by uh our new director Joe vask who is with us tonight you may have seen Joe the other night at finance committee Joe joined us just after Labor Day we're happy to have him and he's now leading a team of six and their job is to handle all the collections they take care of the cashier desk uh make sure payments are made they account for um the finances they'll reconcile and deliver a number of reports also on page 37 you'll see under temporary help there's a new line item that's just simply shift from the police department that are those are the folks at the welcome desk we have monitors there's always one at a time that's there during all working hours to meet and greet and direct our visitors so between right now the three of them we might add a fourth but that that those shifts will be evenly distributed between whether it's three or four people and you see Mike Garner Bill rire there in the bottom left corner they're always happy to come to work every day the next section in administration if you turn to page 40 is our purchasing Bureau another Bureau that's LED with and operated with only two people this has when we talk about rfps and what it takes to do and get them out facilitate the bidding Pro process and contract awarding process that's a lot of what purchasing is involved with uh they encumber all our say obligations uh upon proper authorization verification from the bureaus responsible for Surplus materials if you see those mems that come through for the public auctions that's another thing that's Sandy stel our purchasing director who is with us tonight thank you Sandy she's been with us uh for a decade now and uh their largest line item on page 41 other than Personnel everything that they do is advertising and printing and that's $7,000 line item is for mostly legal ads when bids need to go out they need to be advertised advertised needs to be paid for so Sandy and and Shane in purchasing handle that amongst everything else that's listed and accomplished and a goals objective and achievements on page 40 the next buau on the department of administration is taxes this is 1.5 mean one full-time Personnel that's Ellie and she is to my right in the blue Ellie thank you for coming out Ellie is our tax auditor she is assisted with uh by Eric Vieira who's listed under the temporary helpline on page 45 tax Bureau is uh the bureau that of course issues the real estate taxes that makes sure that they get out they get out on time that the information on it is correct that the database of all our properties and owners is kept up to dat based on corresponden uh with our own database but also correspondence with Northampton Lehigh County she works with Tri-State Financial for business privilege and mertile LST some of our largest incomes as well as with Keystone for the EIT which is run through Northampton County group at the lays on for that Keystone in that I tax income is uh Ellie and the tax Bureau her the largest line in taxes under 45 of note is Professional Services that line item is reserved for tri state when they work with um Audits and all the other collection that they do Tri-State Financial Group is who we have do that they're very effective turn to page 49 and we move into the last Bureau under Administration this is human resources another Bureau that does a lot with very little uh much like the last couple of bureaus we just looked at this is a bureau that could uh easily keep six people very busy from dayto day with all that's required from a city our size from their Human Resources Michelle sahaki is with us this evening that's also in the backr thank you Mich with a compliance officer and a compensation coordinator that's Jen sweat picture and also Chrissy mechis and as most of you are fam with the human resources groups that you work with you organizations they have everything to do with uh federal state local laws regulations coordinating recruiting the hiring there's a civil service testing we talk a lot about uh recruiting for fire and police uh as well as public works and every other position the onboarding getting them started uh the training that's involved they will set up promoting cooperative and effective Labor Relations Michelle's a great enter team has a great relationship with all three of our Bing units and as well as maintaining and overseeing our uh benefits medical and pension are both large expenses but also large maintenance of what needs to be done so keeping up with those and the largest line item on page 49 for human resource that stands out would be recruiting and testing and if you turn to page 50 you'll see that's broken up police promotional testing when we talk about what needs to be done that's not only time that's placed often outside of working hours and Michelle will attend those tests might be on a Saturday or the fire test out at Memorial Pool for the physical test those things need to be done by our employees and there are outside sources which we need to do or pay to have those tests scored and returned so there's significant amount for police as well as fire and the other employment advertising has a lot to do with uh the indeed we do adverti our own website which is kept up to date but indeed has been very effective and can bring bring a lot of great recruits as we've had openings we've had nice success I would say for the last 12 to 15 months uh coming out of the labor shortage that everyone experienced we did as well we've been much more successful Al it's taking a lot of work to fill positions in lots of areas with some great candidates so that wraps up the administration so we'll turn then to well Mr official so then I I'm going to go kind of one by one for questions from Council for administration yeah okay and then Council mayor Treasurer will do public comment at the end of the group though so for Mr Evans and administration any questions or comments from members of council related to his administration presentation m l yeah so um I I heard you say a number of times uh everybody runs lean um in terms of our our staffing and uh I understand the benefits to that but I'm also sorry uh to hear that um and uh it's it's amazing what the administrative offices uh accomplish with the size teams that you all have um the area that strikes me just purely because of my professional background is Information Services uh with a team of five to cover a really broad uh set of skills um and last night when we heard from the water uh Bureau about their um various initiatives they talked about uh cyber cyber security and physical security and um the importance of that in protecting our resources that uh you know affect the entire city um so I guess my question is is there a a plan for growth in any of these areas um but professionally I'm most keyed into Information Services um and especially in a world of cyber attacks on public infrastructure um you know what what we're looking at to keep uh our people and systems safe in that way it it is a challenge financially Jonathan umul Jonathan's the one that's when you speak directly to network security you know because this divided in in what they do they don't all do exactly the same thing we brought in a GIS expert a couple years ago that worked specifically there and they do some cross training but they have areas of expertise uh we are financially provided for with all the tool tools that are needed in order to protect as much as possible a Cyber attack Jonathan feels comfortable and confident with that as much as you can be and uh we do training amongst our employee group to do that it would always be nice if we can grow uh additional in some of our bureaus there Jonathan and U Charlie who also works alongside and what their skill set is have a lot to do because each of these employees in it also represent the help desk and when they get called from all the users I forgot my login I don't know my password my computer won't start they also jump into action so be beside their higher level expertise they they have a user group group to be servicing as well so it is a challenge they we have a group of dedicated that's why I do show the picture to to not only introduce them to you and see the faces that they making it happen at City Hall but also realize that it's not dozen you know dozens and dozens 100 it's 19 in the administration there are other you know groups that work together together we you know cross train with other departments as well but it it is uh a challenge with existing numbers and we would like to grow if as revenues will provide we're also very cognizant of what our revenues numbers are now where they're projected to be but also where our expenses grow when we talk about the medical and and the pension it's a challenge to create the margins in order to bring in the new employees because when you I think you've seen some and we'll look at later the pie chart that shows Personnel it's the largest expense that we have it's not just the salary but the fringe benefits that come with it we have a nice package with vacation days and uh and and the pensions and uh bringing in more and more people do have a impact on what tax rate is and so so we may in the coming there's nothing proposed in 2025 but we continue to review from the administration support when we're one in two people deep in some of them we also have long loyal employees who have the right to have a vacation from time to time and we're at least one and a half or too deep everywhere but also that's that runs awful lean so we keep an eye on it we talk about a lot is one of of the things that is a sensitive area and and we know that so we'll continue to to discuss but nothing for 2025 okay um my only other question um specifically in the I uh Information Services area is um I believe you said Department contracts is where software Falls is that correct is that the budget line yeah um so I noticed that there was a a decent size drop from 21 to 22 uh pretty flat between 22 23 uh back up in 24 and then is projected to be pretty stable again in 25 is that like a buy like a every two years or every three years contract that comes up that kind of causes the uh rough $25 to $30,000 variation in those am I looking at the right yeah no yeah that's right number on page 33 and 34 is where you're at yeah and I'm I so I'm actually surprised it's not more is is what I'm getting at I'm not saying like oh it shouldn't have gone up uh I know software like it's it's up up up up up up up uh constantly so to see only a 3,700 3,250 $50 increase from 24 to 25 is like surprisingly flat but then I did notice that there were bigger differences in previous years so I I just wasn't sure if there was a particular thing I'll give example second line item there the Cy training Mr py I hate to do this do you mind just coming to a microphone so that the recording can capture please yeah I I appreciate it we have a lot of our contracts undering multi-year contracts with their enterprise software that's what I was just kind give you an example had like that second that 11,000 in there we signed a three-year agreement with them they bill us for two years and the third year is basically free not free but so that's why that you and like they said everything unfortunately goes up that every software subscription or maintenance goes up we try to bring some stuff down as we can but know try to keep us as flat as possible yeah I mean but you're I said it's just reality unfortunate that some stuff does go up yes um yeah I mean it it knowing how the software industry rates are uh it's it's commendable to see it that that even um across the years as long as you're able to do what you need to do with the resources you have so uh thank you sorry to jump all the way up here steps any other do you have a miss any other questions for administration councilwoman quch this is just a quick question and and like uh Council lar it comes from my Professional Knowledge and it's actually about human resources and recruiting I'm just curious is all $85,000 of what's listed here indeed or do you use other uh services examp our department like memberships they'll mcki I'm gonna ask you also come to the microphone only sorry for the YouTube recording and so for councilwoman Leo the microphones sometimes don't pick it up predominantly it's indeed but we do have specialty um websites that we use for departments to kind of key in on applicants that may meet the certification requirements that we have um also for police and fire we typically have to also advertise like through the newspaper as well um and internet searches so that's part of it too but predominantly indeed okay so have you ever um considered a LinkedIn recruiters license um we've looked at LinkedIn before we've advertised a few positions and just not had the success that we've had on indeed um but open to exploring that more in the future as well yeah and the the recruiter license is kind of nice um because you get to really like just search and be you know if you I mean obviously it's difficult when you're again a lean organization to do a lot of proactive uh recruiting and building a pool so um you're hoping that people will respond to your ads um but the LinkedIn recruiters license does kind of make it easy to to find the people like for instance with the certifications right you could just click on those and and find a whole pool of folks so um just was curious if you had considered that so okay thank you sure any other questions or comments Miss Wilhelm my observation was largely made by Miss lared as well just um yeah I think every year we've discussed the sort of Skeleton Crew level um sort of situation and the immense amount of work being done by so few people so I I will just acknowledge that um and because some of you are sitting here to thank you for your work and service thank you anything else Mr Evans councilwoman I just want to say thank you to everyone um in this area for all your your um your efforts and I just have two questions um page 28 you talk about restructuring the existing debt looking at it in 2025 is it too premature to talk about that um or do you have any insight that you can provide we'll talk a little bit it's it's part of the agenda tonight so oh okay yeah we'll get I do have some slides later on to show some of our thoughts with regard to the debt okay and then my only other question is Page 29 the um purchase services that went down significantly from like 30,000 in 2022 to 2000 um which is good I just was wondering the reasoning on page yeah yeah under commun that's under Communications yes yeah that's the cell phone accounts for the whole city they're moved into it so you'll see that same line appears new okay in the it budget okay great thank you sure anything else from members of council uh Mr Evans one quick question any vacancies in any of the bureaus that you went over right now no no there there's funding for part-time in Human Resources that's an opening that we post from time to time we had an applicant in for a little bit that wasn't the right fit and uh so if you know anyone has anything to do with human resources Mr colone let us know I have a day job but thank you okay the uh and one thing from a recruiting standpoint that I'll just say and if the city already uses it as a resource then great but Lafayette College I forget the formal name has this public policy Center and then they keep a um list of public sector government and um Administration professionals that they'll send out email blast to when there's positions that are open and they partner with some of the other uh Regional colleges and universities and their alumni and they'll just send out sort of an email blast of city of bethlhem has Exposition open of anyone with this background is interested in exploring so it is something that has um you know I get some of the emails and we've benefited from some of the emails before also so just something to consider anything else from members of the council before we wrap up Administration thank you Mr Evans thank you so we'll turn to city council page nine [Music] y correction 11 page 10 11 12 I do not have a pardon I do not have a PowerPoint presentation other than uh two things I'll quickly note temporary help you'll see that we only exhausted a little bit of what was budgeted in 23 in 24 we continued with the the $10,000 line item and then in 25 we TI that up a little bit Mr Evans and I had spoken we do have um Miss rol who's working with Mr Miller and Miss buba in the office as our part-time office assistant she's been in the office for uh number of weeks now a couple months and things are going well so we have decided to expand that into the new year and make sure that we had the temporary help budgeted to accommodate for 2025 to be a resource to help uh our city clerk and our assistant City Clerk uh everything else the council salary stays the same that's all set by ordinance and then everything else is in concert with Mr Miller um pretty chalk is there any questions or comments from Council on our City Council budget all right again I'll thank Mr Miller and miss bouba and miss rival for all their work re Rebo REO thank thank you I don't ever mean to mispronounce he by's name appreciate it so we're move on we'll recognize mayor Reynolds welcome mayor Reynolds to go over his budget uh thank you uh president clone um we have talked about a lot of this before and I guess I would start with like there's no real uh changes to the structural budget there on page 16 and 17 um I would just uh you know take the opportunity to thank um the uh couple individuals that we have in the office you can see here on page 14 15 that's kind of a good summary of all of the different things that they are working on on a daily basis and um it is uh I'm very lucky and fortunate to have such a dedicated uh and passionate staff working on all of these things I thank city council for the support for a lot of these different initiatives um it uh seems like every week one of them is planning something uh and we've had a big 2024 obviously between world heritage and our sister city with ptia um tomorrow we're doing our annual meeting for the climate action plan there also all of um our contact points for things like North Side alive think the blue zones I won't read through this um but all of that all of the stuff there on page 14 and 15 is a pretty detailed summary of all of the things that they're doing day in and day out um oftentimes at night oftentimes on the weekends um and like I said there are no real changes to um to this uh the only guess I I guess I would say the only change that we talked about last year is the fact that Miss Jello um is only working on world heritage matters she's 100% doing that obviously 2024 was a big year in between the inscription and the hosting of uh the other countries and things like that um so that is uh that's only from the Personnel level I would say it's been the only change that we've talked about but we've mentioned that over the past year and with that being said I would take any questions thank you mayor Reynolds any questions or comments from members of council start with councilwoman KY Smith thank you um on page 14 um it looked it was talking about prior your achievements and reimagining the west side can you explain that because I tried to look on the website website I couldn't find anything on that yeah I think that language was I think the language the language that we originally used when we had um uh held that event in May of 2022 um where we announced a couple different things we announced the Rose Garden concert series we announced the remake of uh Fairview Park uh we announced the uh reopening of Westside Pool um and then also we at that point which was just a a plan was we had talked about what we're going to do with West Broad Street and then we had applied for that Safe Streets for all money um that uh we have not drawn down on us we were working through Grant agreements but then we were able to acquire that $10 million um which is going to uh we've been working through the grant agreements and some of the pre-engineering things like that so that is not a um that's not a term that we've necessarily broken out yet because I wanted to start actually doing some of that design work there on West Broad Street but those were I think the four initiatives that we talked about in May of 2022 that were tied in there thank you um and then page 17 I was just wondering um about the temporary help because I was confused about the balance is said and I know when I looked at the funds it looks like the balance was the abmin and the law fund can you explain that it was temporary help in the amount of 45,000 and there two different numbers yeah and Mr spurk can then talk about that a little bit too um or maybe even Mr yaso as well as far as the law part of it is concerned but one of the things we talked about last year was that Miss Jello salary because she's doing the world heritage stuff became split between the mayor's office and dced um that was one of the changes that we had made um and then there's the and then that Savings in the mayor's office went to a part-time person who's Miss fatos who you sometimes see um that she now took over all of mello's previous responsibilities after Mr Jello obviously has had to take on exponentially more as far as world heritage is concerned um and then miss fatos is now splitting her time because there were some extra funds in the legal Bureau that I think Mr spurk might talk about when we get to the law so those are kind of the moving pieces there um as far as those two employees are concerned so basically Mrs vell's salary is being um covered by some of Mrs ael's under the mayor and then the law correct was saved under the law which I would also say then is also connected to savings that occurred in the controller's office um which is something I think that Mr uh spurk or Mr yasso will talk about as well okay that's all I have thank you thank you coun any other questions or comments councilwoman L um director of equity and inclusion is there um a reason it's a curiosity question uh what is the reason for that position to be housed in the mayor's office versus human resources um when that position originally was created um in January of 2022 previously and I don't if Mr Evans or Miss Lazar knows this like the two full-time employees within the mayor's office um I think had uh titles that were I think it was secretary or might have been like confidential secretary or something like that um yeah I had the same pained look on my face um and so then miss Stein and Miss Santoro's titles there were ones that I had created to reflect what I thought was the uh jobs that they would be doing um I think that in the future it does probably create an interesting question of where should the director of e inclusion be um as far as at what point I also wanted Miss uro and I wanted that job in the mayor's office as we were doing we build bethle and everything else um I don't know how future Mayors will feel I think that she has brought an incredible amount of um uh productivity and passion to the city in ways that obviously extend well beyond the mayor's office um so I think it is a question organizationally over the long term about where that goes but it was essentially that there were two employees there and I I don't remember exactly what their titles were traditionally they had been classified as like secretaries and I obviously wanted to move away from that okay thank you councilman will I know that um m oelo is focused on UNESCO related work now do we anticipate any um future staffing needs related to that it's a good question um I think that you know we have followed as you've probably heard me talk about before Mr Gamble's advice on how to go about doing the planning and you know he has helped us with what some short-term priorities are um we are entering a longer term priority phase I have been pretty um adamant from the beginning that um you know we need to be able to have a long range plan for how we're going to be able to create Revenue to necess neily pay for expenses associated with world heritage um I think that's going to be a conversation for all of our partners and the city going forward um as far as what that investment looks like if it's Capital if it's marketing or whatever that might be um I think that her over the past six months she obviously was doing a lot in getting our nomination ready for when we went to India and then doing all I mean just working I would say 16 18 hour days you know to get ready for those October visits and now she's trying she's kind of transitioning into doing the long range planning so I would say that this is what it's going to look like for the next year but we're going to be doing a lot of that long range planning over the next year so I think we will have a better idea about what what that what that looks like okay that makes sense just to sort of pay attention and see what makes itself known and I think while I have the microphone I know they're not here but I do want to explicitly thank Miss Soro Miss Stein and Miss oelo for their work it's uh extremely they're they're very public facing representatives of what's happening in the administration and managing many Community facing projects um and get a lot of questions from Members members of the general public interact with members of the general public um and continue to be um knowledgeable dedicated responsive and pleasant uh representatives and um certainly grateful for their work thank you and I I would say that you know each one of them brings skills and strengths to the table that you know I do not have and I've often said that I think it's important to surround ourselves by people that are good at things that you're not and they all have individual skills that um are incredibly helpful and I would also mention Miss Vitalis who joined us several months ago and she is just she's a retired teacher um and she is just she is she is amazing as well her ability to chase down requests when people call have to do with potholes or having to do with their park or having to do with this or with that and just going through that kind of uh explaining to Citizens on a daily basis the kind of this is something that Public Works handles this is something the county handles it's just as soon as she has tasks on her list they get taken off the list in a way that's incredibly helpful um that I want to just publicly thank her as well because she's been a wonderful addition and like I said she's only there part-time um but she has really really helped out especially as Mr jel has had to move away from some of those day-to-day constituent requests and to focus on world heritage so miss Fatalis does is is fantastic as well um she's just only been with us for you know several months now thank you that's great and I I apologize for nastic to men I've had minimal experience but it it's what good fortune to find somebody who can meet that high bar of the team you've already assembled so um my thanks to her as well thank you anything else from members of council Mr Callahan um is one question I I know that the the Staffing hasn't changed in the mayor's office which is good but the um in just the terminology or the naming of the position I guess has changed but is the director of equity and inclusion is that all that person does Miss Santoro yeah does she do anything else other than equity and inclusion well that's a lot but she is um so all three of them handle daily constituent requests she is also our contact person she single-handedly put together the Patia sister city she is our person that runs the Southside task force um she is on lots of different committees she is currently in the middle the thing that she's spending I think the most amount of her time on now is working with our fellow um departments on our city-wide Equity plan um so that's where she's probably spending the majority of her time but she runs the environmental justice um uh subcommittee as far as the climate action plan is concerned um so she's involved in various initiatives committees sits on different things for me as well but all three of them with whatever they're working on are also obviously dealing with day-to-day requests and things like that which is which is which is a similar task to what previous employees had done they've just added on to that I just didn't know why there was the the the renaming of the of the position if that's if they're not doing that whole time well I it was important for me when we were coming in as Administration that to position that in the mayor's office as far as our commitment to those ideals and those Concepts and then as we were doing and she also and I should have mentioned this as well is I mean she designed the webuild Bethlehem process so like when we came in and we were trying to think about how do we invest in those areas that broke during the pandemic what do we do with our arpa dollars and things like that she had built the webuild Bethlehem website she had built the survey um she's the one that updates all of that so there's things on there say like what the health Bureau is doing so she reaches out to do that um but it's really about having her in the mayor's office and having her next to me is about the lens through which we do the work is how are we investing in every neighborhood how are we making sure that every neighborhood has access and so then she's an important voice and I'll just give you an example here is like so if we're you know as we take on this Parks master plan and we're thinking about how do we invest in our parks and our Green Space and things like that there's e equity considerations to make sure that the people that get the new park are not just the most amount of people that show up to a meeting or something like that how do you design city services in that way to make sure that they're provided in the most Fair way possible but it is not it is I I would say it's one of the biggest jobs that we have because it's a concept she talks to miss sahaki in the HR department about how we necessarily go about our hiring practices and things like that um so it's really about the lens I think by which we do the work and that importance of like Equity inclusion she works with the school district and their Equity office so she's on their committees and things like that all right thank you absolutely any other questions or comments members of council one more that I um forgot to ask on page 17 I just wanted to get um more insight into the Professional Services it's information officer and communication is that something that we contract out for instead of doing within the office yeah when we first came in one of the things that we looked at was at how other cities do that idea of communication and you know most other cities especially betham siiz or larger have a um dedicated uh Communications person we do not so then what we had decided to do was be able to hire somebody for that sum and the first year I think they ended up doing a lot of things having to do with the betham corner and things like that but over the past year or so they've really kind of branched out to now they do like the Police recruitment video they helped to do like the fire recruitment video and things like that so basically what they have been able to do is just provide communication support for all of the different departments um and we have uh we have a pretty good deal like I said it's like $1,500 a month um but that was something that we took a look at and it just didn't make sense to add it a new employee and pay somebody 75 80 $90,000 a year um like other other cities do so that's kind of what what that is so yeah okay thank you anything else from members of council so I I'll just Express one my thanks to the mayor's office Mayor Reynolds all his staff on one the communication with Council I as council president appreciate it one of the things that when we had looked at the council rules earlier this year just from like an operational perspective was changing the deadline so to those who aren't aware of the process all the agenda items get submitted to the clerk's office and then our clerks had asked about moving up that deadline a little bit it had been past practice for who knows how long and then we moved it up essentially a day and we've never heard any negative feedback or it's helped our clerks a lot and that's something that kind of I brought up out of the blue after talking with the clerks and everyone was um more than willing to try the change and here we are close to a year later and I think it's going very smoothly so as it relates to um just helping our clerk's office maintain their timelines and the communication about getting information out to council the responsiveness when after Council meetings one of us asked for follow-up information and then that information that comes out I appreciate that and I also share my thanks and appreciation to everybody in the office who from mayor Reynolds all the way down to miss vallos uh just with the collaboration as we talk about a lot of these incentives and initiatives that are outlined in the budget book I know all members of council have been invited over the years to be participants in different working groups committees come into City Hall to to ask questions whether it's related to the budget or any of these other initiatives are participating actively uh on them and helping steer some of them and and that collaboration is not lost on me as council president and I think we as a city benefit from it and and I share my thanks to everybody for that so and and just to add to that I I want to thank um Mr Miller and everybody within the council office I mean there is a lot of work that goes into to just the administrative function of the structure of Council meetings getting contracts there getting those things signed once Council passes them getting them signed to the law Bureau and things like that that takes a lot of work and you know there's been nothing but always cooperation and collaboration while I'm here I also want to thank I know the controllers is going next I want to thank Mr yaso for all of his tireless work as well um you know who has also been nothing but um uh uh I want I don't want to say easy to work with because that implies that like he's not like but he has always been available and I think that's always the thing that we we strive for is to be able to and I know everybody in Council understands that everybody on um uh everybody in the administration is available to uh to talk about any particular issue at a long period of time and I just want to thank Mr yaso as well for making himself available and accessible to talk on a daily basis if need be about how to make things in in the city more efficient thank you Mr col thank you Mays anything else from members of council before we move L on thank you so we're going to move on to our treasurers budget that's on page 22 and 23 our city treasurer is Miss Kathy Fox we're gonna go the controller after Tre oh well mylin's a little different I don't believe Miss Fox is here though she's not uh M she's she's out of the country right now thank you councilwoman the um if there are any questions on the on the treasur budget please feel free to talk to Mr Miller and I and we can make sure that we get answers related to those budgets for you that is of course another elected position here in the city now we'll hop over a controller Mr yaso you got it you got it all right thank you everybody um so you can see the uh the majority of the controller's budget is uh is in personnel which is is a good thing that money well spent in this case because uh I'm certainly uh here happy to say that the personnel has remained the same it is still Michelle and Michelle uh Michelle Liberto who's uh who's with us tonight she's my Deputy City controller she's here and then uh Michelle an milward who is in the book as the uh the Tam's account clerk too uh who's not with us um tonight um I I will I will start with Michelle theber as my Deputy controller um you know I would I would say for her she's another 10 plus year employee uh been four years in the controller's office now I uh she was originally in financial services so she brought a great skill set and some institutional knowledge to the position but you know it is a tough seat I think for her to sit in um you know she's tasked with um asking a lot of difficult questions of of of fellow employees and and members of the administration and even at sometimes challenging those those members of the administration um and the the dynamic as you guys know in this office is that I am a part-time and elected official and she's the full-time representative of me so I I think all of you would probably understand if if you have to have somebody represent you and ask those difficult questions of people uh and approach them in that manner that it's very very important that they do so uh with respect and thoughtfulness and care as they talk to those employees and I'm very very grateful that I have someone to be able to represent me that that does those things and uh you know again it's a very T very difficult spot and I think she she does a tremendous job she's proven herself I think time and again through that 10 plus year career uh as as a loyal and uh inv valuable asset to the city uh Michelle Anne milward uh the account clerk I spoke of who's not with us she is uh you know when I think about Michelle Inn who who came from outside the city she was I think we got her through indeed as I remember um and she is she is kind of a unique combination of um having a great skill set Plus work ethic and um it's it's something I kind of I I think of all the years I spent coaching and when you when you get you know an athlete or or or a kid you know who kind of you look at and they have that that that raw ability but they also really take a lot of pride in their work and in their work ethic and and their their coachable and those type of things and that's really a great description of Michelle I believe she is she's you know I'll put up her up against anybody you know when it comes to her knowledge of tech and her ability and Excel and and um and she just has a a a takes a great pride in in the auditing work that she does you know day in and day out uh with the city's check runs and stuff and I can't say enough you know about her as as a city employee the the two of them together I think I've I've spoken about them in the past as um you know I I I have very high expectations for them or I hold them to a very high standard and they always deliver but I I think that's probably as I reflect on that probably a little unfair um because it's it's really they themselves who hold themselves to that standard um they are the ones that that show up day in and day out and and really uh uh keep keep the keep the level of service high and and they're the reason that I am proud of the product that we put out in uh 2024 and are looking forward to in 2025 um as as far as what you could expect from the controller office in 2025 um you know if you if you you know we'll do all the things we continue to do and and monitor the the the check runs and the uh all of the contracts and all of the purchase orders and continue our work on the penion board and all those things but if you see at the the kind of newer goals and objectives I I would say at the top we have continued to encourage City Administration to reduce the amount of paper checks through bill consolidation and increasing electronic payment capabilities this is something I mentioned um last year when I stood up here and uh it was something we had we had hoped um you know as we encourage the administration we would see some progress on um we actually in the fourth quarter of 2023 last year and in the you know first quarter of 2024 uh we actually engaged two separate vendors um who Michelle gathered a lot of city city data on on our City vendors to to uh to give to them they were able to provide some value added statements um to an electronic automated uh payment process um and you know the response we event we we essentially got from the administration was that you know okay after after going through these presentations after the demonstrations um you know they went ahead and reached out to uh our neighboring municipalities alltown Easton to get their uh to get their opinion and see what their experience had been in that realm and uh apparently uh they did not have much success with their Ventures uh uh in increasing their their electronic payment process um and which which you know we're okay with uh you know that's a big part of the Playbook and certainly um good practice to to see uh to talk with our trusted friends and partners and see what their actual experiences were you know however um it will be 2025 again and and we are certainly going to continue to encourage them whether it is through a third party or whether it is inhouse um we had we had received a memo in the summer this year from from Mr Evans that that talked about uh you know expanding uh exp you know for those reasons expanding the uh the capabilities internally which which um we have not gotten an update uh through the fourth quarter yet of this year but we will um continue to talk to them about a as we as we uh move into 2025 um as far as our budget on here aside from the Personnel um we do have some uh temporary help so we have a temporary help line item at $5,000 and and to kind of maybe help clear up the picture of uh Miss V Vitalis who who uh mayor Reynolds spoke about earlier um you know when I when I uh originally became the controller I had three employees um we completely turned that that office over to the two employees that we have now Michelle and Michelle um so we uh going along with the theme run very lean as well try to run as lean as possible um and when we we were able to for two years now operate without any extra temporary help I personally thought the best use of that savings would be in the legal Bureau and that's that was my suggestion uh to Mr spurk to Mr Evans to Mr Reynolds and and and the four of us had discussions about that and you know eventually what came out of it was that those savings would go to miss Vitalis and and in in that uh you know I guess in that uh capacity to help out the legal Bureau so I guess that's that's where my contribution would be to to help and clear that up um and and why we left the 5,000 in there and I apologize there's not really a description on that temporary help line item but I would say it's best described as as uh kind of a uh uh contingency right a contingency plan for us because as I've said in the past as long as it remains myself and Michelle Michelle I'm very confident that we can all do the work um they've got two years history of um we're we're perfectly fine with the the the regular week toe stuff everyone gets the the time they need for vacation and sick time and um you know it's it's really just more if something were to happen that we didn't expect um and and we really wouldn't know what that would would entail um so that's why there's not really description there and then we did increase the uh the training and continuing education um and that's just uh uh you know a a matter of um I they they they're season now I think they they've been able to uh increase their efficiencies and I want them to um undertake some more classes as many as they can uh mostly focusing around fraud and waste prevention uh so that will be the focus of that the the majority of that training and continuing education um I I would also just like to uh having said all that I would like to congratulate the administration and thank them for their continued uh operation in a financially responsible manner um this budget is certainly an example of that uh I would like to thank our other partners that we work with in in the administration um you know certainly Jack in the solicor office and Ellie and tax and and Sandy in purchasing you know they're they're the ones up in the third floor that really make sure all these things go through according to guidelines and in good order um I would like to thank everyone on city council for their attention to the budget um a special thank you to uh councilwoman cramsey Smith as the uh Finance chair and the the attention that she's she's kind of given some of these these these issues that we've talked about especially with the uh um you know the the the move we hope to make to reduce the uh the amount of paper we're using right and uh I I I you know I said it to you before but I think it's important to us to include Council and and I I think um we're happy to to continue to uh meet with you and certainly if we felt that there was any anything that um you know that we should bring to finance committee or full councel that that we would we would you know go through that that process in in 2025 should we need to so thank you for that and and everyone else and I'd certainly take any questions at this time thank you Mr yasu any questions for members of council from Mr yo councilwoman I guess the only one um well first of all I want to say thank you I um my brother was a c a controller for 30 plus years in government and I know him and his staff had some really significant challenges um and it's not an easy job because what you're doing is you're looking over the rest of the entity and making sure that they're doing what they need to do and um I know it can be difficult but I I thank you and your staff for all you're doing um and I think it's great that um the staff has a boss that um values and respects them because you don't see that often nowadays so that says a lot so you you're all very fortunate um only questions I have is um we talked about the staff and you mentioned it and when I see you know a small number of Staff in an office I do worry espe especially if something happens God forbid you know an illness whatever uh you feel okay with the number of Staff right now as far as managing operations yeah it's something that you know we discuss right and if we go too long I I recheck in with them and make sure hey are you guys still comfortable with this Arrangement and I think you know after two years of of us going through it um again and we've had no no you know no major issues I think we're all respectful of everyone's time and I think we're all very comfortable I don't want to certainly speak for them but uh I I I I'm I'm very comfortable and again the temporary help is really just kind of a contingency plan a what if hope not to use so we hope not to use even a dollar of that 5,000 we put aside okay um and for everyone else on Council I know um you know uh some of you many of you have been in and and and to see the office you're certainly all welcome um if you would like specific time set aside for you or just to talk about specific agenda items you know Mr Miller could certainly set set a appointment with us but also if you just are in City Hall and want to stop in just to check on us that's absolutely acceptable if City Hall is open we're open and working too so we're we're always there to just pop in on great the only other two more questions um or issues I guess to bring up and you did mention about um I know times have changed it and it seems like we you know we're not really writing checks as much and I know I talked to Mr Evans about this but there are times when checks must must be written um but I hope that we had discussed it that um we do look to you know go more electronically because it seems like that is that's the way to do things I know there are some issues that we have to be careful as far as you know um just fraud or whatever but I hope that um the effort is there to continue to look at that and then also the policy and procedures I mean as I said I that's that's just key especially because um it just helps with um to decrease the any issues that can arise if there are policy and procedures written and also for overturn of staff and you know new employees and you know just to alleviates any questions about the way things need to be done you know in in any entity so I hope that that continues within um the necessary departments within the city as time goes by yeah I agree with you 100% that's our our number two goal and objective was to work with City Administration to implement documented policies and procedures for financial services process and and yeah uh the only reason I didn't go further into that is because I think it is is fairly um you know fairly kind of a no-brainer and and just something that we just needs to get done so absolutely agree yeah definitely thank you thank you councilwoman any other questions or comments from Mr yo as well I had noted the increase in the training and education a line item and you addressed that already although I am curious folded into that are there opportunities for increased certification or is it simply expanding knowledge oh I'm sure there there's opportunities for increased certification and they they both know they have um I wouldn't say uh you know they they bring it to my attention first but they they know I'm I'm pretty much if if if it has anything to do with their continu education and bettering themselves especially um I think our concentration moving forward is going to be which there already very good at is fraud and waste prevention um um you know but uh yeah C certainly whatever they whatever Endeavors they want to undertake they have my uh you know my support my I appreciate and respect that and separate from that I just I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful and even touching at times presentation your appreciation for your staff is noted and um you know your sort of description of kind of the um the complex human nature and relationship relational um pieces of it is is interesting for us all to hear we know that the work is very granular we know um our our financial operations are being watch very closely we are grateful you've had to see the and you have to and have had to see an Administration through some challenging very challenging times but I certainly appreciated um that that particular Insight I have had the opportunity to be in the office a couple of times and you feel the hard work as soon as you set foot in there so um thank you for for those insights and thank you for your service as well thank you anything else from members of council mayor Reynolds do you want to add something relative to Mr yasu's comment yeah I just wanted to couple things I I do want to just thank Mr yaso he had mentioned he is a a huge part of the pension board we're going to talk about pensions in a little while and his his financial expertise um and he's also done a lot that the city Administration Council everybody should appreciate on things like modernizing the Contracting process and just making a lot of steps and I guess this is what year nine 10 for you 10 so then um he fixes every number so then in year 10 we as a city have made just a ton of progress in a lot of different ways in the past 5 10 15 years as far as technology is concerned and as far as like how do we become more efficient and with the Contracting process Mr yasuna staff has helped to do a lot of things that has put our our Contracting process in a much more efficient um manner that saves Administration time it saves everybody time because as we often say our biggest problem is not money it's time um and I want to thank him as well for his offer with helping out with some of those funds for that part-time person because as Council knows and you've mentioned this we have a lot of Grants coming in right now we have more grants coming in than we've ever had before and I don't think it's close but every one of those grants has a grant agreement it has all sorts of different things most of them are reimbursable so they don't it's not like we get it and here's a million dollars you have to be able to get the receipts you have to go through all these different processes and Mr yaso realized that things sometimes just to be able to get the money there was a more efficient way to be able to do that and he didn't need to do that he could have just done something else with it but he is a team player so Sports analogy continue and and he wanted to do that and I just would say is like I you know um Mr vasic was here before um who's relatively new um but I know he's committed as well to trying to make these processes as efficient as possible and I guess I would end with like my biggest compliment for Mr yasu a staff is that they are creative thinkers that just because we have done something doesn't mean we need to continue to do it that way and as with every idea in City Hall we can't just do everything as soon as we can but we've really been able to implement a lot of those ideas his office has been able to do those and we are better off for it and it save people time and money and efficiency and we don't get to talk about that a lot but it is a huge opportunity then for those people that apply for Grants whether it's Miss Collins or Miss hel or whatever to spend less time on this part of it to be able to go out and win these competitive things which is why we've been able to do it as we've talked a lot about um and this is a this is a huge part of that kind of like machine of how how the city city operates so I just want to thank Mr yaso and his staff for all all that work thank you then I don't have any questions Mr yaso other than just again Shar my thanks to you to miss lberto to and just remind me the other Michelle in the office her last name thank you I appreciate Miss milward also and because Miss rioso is our last elected official I'll just touch on it um didn't come up tonight but it has come up uh at during our budget hearings last year and then during P during public comment during the year of the salaries for the elected officials it is just worth everybody bearing in mind that every person who's elected in Bethlehem our salaries are set by ordinance so those would have to any changes would have to be put forward by members of council and then voted on by members of council and no one who's a current office holder would see any salary increases so if we voted on any hypothetical increases no one would see that but we always hold our city-wide elections during the um odd-numbered years we're coming up on 2025 so I know different members of council had different ideas and and conversations and members of the public waited on it it's just something to consider before we get into election season of next year if anyone wanted to um entertain any of those ideas with their Council colleagues that it would be uh best practice to look at doing that before we get into election season if uh anyone thought that was a worthwhile Endeavor to pursue again I'm just following up on comments we had heard last year from Mr Shire during our budget here hearing and then during the during the year that we just had to do you have a question Miss does that mean that um if we were proposing any change for generations of Representatives to come uh it would need to be included in this budget no because it wouldn't you wouldn't see that take effect until someone was sworn in which would be for 2026 I but it would be before ballots are cast next year I think it'd be good practice to if anyone is considering that look at doing it before we get into election season because and and again timing is something that any member council could look into but again no one would hypothetically if Council raise council salary I wouldn't see that during my term because I'm already sworn in but I just think this is is relevant for everyone to bear in mind before we elect or reelect members of council where people decide to run um for next year just a procedural point I wanted to make up as different conversations are had Mr spurk in the law Bureau oh yes Mr Callan I I have no interest in in the position but I think it's fair to say that the amount of work that the president of council does versus rest of council members is substantially more than what do you make like an extra $500 or whatever it is it the council president gets extra $500 I I don't know what the process is and maybe you could help me out with it but I I honestly think that position should be a minimum another $2,000 over and above what the rest of the council makes just to the amount of time that you have to spend and uh I know um the mayor's office I think they're at 990,000 right now for the mayor 95 9,500 and I think if I if I'm mistaken I apologize but I think almost all the department heads are in 120,000 range uh so I just think you know I think it's been 990,000 for a long long time and uh I in in order to possibly attract other um people to run uh for office someday um whether it's two years four years six years whatever um I would propose that we bump up um maybe up $10,000 on the mayor's salary and maybe 2,000 on the um on the president of council salary so I I've recognized those as hypotheticals because that was have those have to be ordinance amendments and they wouldn't be reflected necessarily in the budget book um and they wouldn't take effect until the 2026 budget but it is something that now I'm going by memory because I haven't done the math but what if we're talking about the the mayor for example I think the mayor is maybe the 45th highest paid City employee something like that going by salary again I'm going by memory the last time I looked at it as it relates to council president I won't speak on that because I think every member of council I think every elected official has has their own unique work they do and challenges they do and and I'm not going to try to um quantify how much more work this position does uh compared to other members of council I I share my thoughts previously just again something I think that if there is interest among members of Council it's good to start having those conversations now and and getting ideas about what numbers look like before we get into um you know well into next year when when we're looking at potential proposals but now you're already looking at maybe ballots are set or whatever it would be so that that's why I bring that up I don't have anything to propose I'm not throwing any numbers out there I just know there are conversations that have been had previously and I just want to make sure no one loses track conversation with you or the mayor about this or anybody else it's just something I threw out I just know that when when um you look at the amount of and I've been this is like my ninth year now um I know the amount of work that city council presidents have to do uh to keep you know the train moving and uh I think just 500 hours is almost ridiculous amount of money uh and I know you're not you and no one else on this council is doing it for the money it's uh I think it's $7,000 a year or whatever I don't even look at it but um must be ni it helps pay taxes that's and and I don't know I don't know how long ago the mayor's office I mean how long has it been at $90,000 like for 15 years maybe it's been a long time but I will just say for me personally I'm not I'm not saying that you're asking for no no no no and I I will just say that city council if they would like to raise these salaries next year we'll need to come up with vetto proof majority because there is a 0% chance of me voting to raise the mayor's salary next year I get it I get it so I'm I'm just I'm I'm just being as completely transparent as honest as possible is whatever Council decides to do and if that's the wish of it if you want to include it started in January of 2030 that's fine but there is a Zer percent chance that I vote for an increase next year in the mayor salary I appreciate what you're saying Mr I'm not I know if you're thinking that I'm I'm I'm not thinking other thing anything other than I've been waiting to be able to say this since the first time this came up as a conversation right that I I'm not going to advocate for that I would say that as far as the position is concerned like every year obviously like you are correct I don't think it's been changed since like 2009 or so all I'm saying is this is not not something that I'm gonna do right and and and and I'm not uh I'm just saying it as U to be fair you know I just think that the you know I think with all the department heads $30,000 and you know if you look at the police officers and firemen that are doing overtime which they're 100% uh allowed to get yeah and and should get um you know I I I think that the mayor's office I I had if it's 15 years that's a long time without have an increase in salary that's all I'm saying it it is and I'm not trying to uh no you know I'm probably the last one that would you know do that thank you Mr Callahan thanks for your transparency May R anything else for members of council thank you I'll turn it over to Mr spurk sorry I lost track you in the crowd kind of thank you president cologne just ridiculous not much to say about the budget it's about the same as last year um we we are very good neighbors up on the third floor with the controller's office uh he is the last stop on contracts as they make their way through City Hall and so U was very good because of the contact that we have back and forth between t our offices I appreciate that he was very aware of the complexity of Contracting over the last several years especially with all the added documentation and that comes with the various grants that that have come into play and all the various complexities that come with that in terms of compliance and in terms of contract language and making sure all that so controller would have been in a very unique position to see that and would also be uh because he has a lean staff very anxious to get those things in a timely fashion rather than at the last minute and so he perceived that because of those complexities those funds could be used in another way and we appreciate that and I think he and mayor mayor Reynolds explained that uh we also have a very good relationship working with the city council and the city clerk I see Mr Miller up in our office a lot he sees Miss Arta down in his office a lot and uh we appreciate that cooperation uh as we do from the controller's office and all the other bureaus but other than that I would just answer any questions thank you Mr spurk any questions or comments for solicor spurk councilwoman CR Smith thank you um to you and everyone in the office all the work you do I was just wondering how are things going with I know you um restructured you know from full-time to part-time is it is that working out well do you think it it worked out great it took a while for City Hall to get used to the idea of not having a physical lawyer there to get used to the idea of making a phone call or having a zoom meeting and they're used to it now okay because they're available at all times and and I think that's worked out very well so that they don't get it it's not that somebody's here just one day a week now you you can get them all the time and and they do so yes thank you for asking but that it was a process a while for the rest of the city hall to get used to that because it had been the same way forever but I think it's been very successful and we've been able to get quality people as a result people who are experienced people in some cases who come from 30 and 40 person law firms so they come not just with their experience but the institutional experience from The Firm that they come from as opposed to just a full-time lawyer who's maybe just starting out or something like that so it's worked out like we hoped great thank you for the question any other questions or comments from Mr spurk CED I think that that gave me the context that I was going to ask about but just to be sure is is that why from 22 to 23 there's that different like it it goes to as a yeah partly but as a budgeting matter when they uh they used to list the part-time assistant solicitors as positions and they moved it to temporary help so that's why loss of benefit for those individuals like not that it's the same people but did the positions that were listed uh previously in 2122 um include Healthcare City benefits yeah there was the one full-time position had benefits and now the three part-time do not okay thank you Council one any other questions comments from Mr spurk thank you Mr appreciate it so open up for another public comment this is going to be on the budgets that we heard for administration Council mayor controller treasure and law Bureau any public comment we're going to move on to general fund Revenue I'll turn it back over Administration for the general fund Revenue presentation absolutely so we are going to start I mean I know traditionally uh Mr Evans goes through those pages there's a couple slides that I just wanted to um go through that I went through with the budget address but I think this is really kind of I mean this part of the budget captures um uh captures the uh kind of philosophy the spirit of where we're at so I just wanted to kind of point out um just go through a couple of these things here um as far as we talk about the revenues and we talk about um our expenditures because I've just always thought that the budget going through Page by page is good and allows people ask questions but I also think some larger kind of um just a lens to take a look through so you know we we kind of start here and you know this is one thing that I've talked about before but I think this is important as far as like our financial rules are concerned because during my I guess this is now my 18th budget that I'm working on and you see this with other cities and other school districts is oftentimes there's a lot of confusion between whether or not you can are is something is a one-time expense or a sustainable expense same thing with one-time revenue or sustainable revenue and the goal goal for us is to base sustainable expenses with sustainable revenues we have one-time uh grants we have one-time Revenue sources sometimes you might save a little here in this particular account or whatever but we start with that idea of is this something that is a one-time revenue or expense or is this something that is sustainable revenue and expense and that's important because you do not want to pay sustainable expenses with one-time revenues we wouldn't want to do that in our family we wouldn't want to do that in our personal life and cities and School District get in trouble when they do that and often times you get grant money money comes in and you're like we can hire these people we can create these long-term costs and we've really tried to avoid that 25 years ago we weren't able to do that as a city we had to borrow money we had to if we saved over here I've talked about it many times Mr Cunningham and Mr Callahan and Mr donchez his job each one of them each year got a little bit easier and we have easier financial decisions to make than they did and they were not fortunate enough to be in the financial position that betham is in now and they were forced to make decisions to be able to keep those promises to our employees and I've said that before our number one responsibility is to keep the promises to our employees a lot of cities a lot of school districts aren't able to do that so we start there and that is being as honest as possible that there's a difference between one-time revenues and sustainable revenues and same thing with expenses and when we decide whether or not to support something internally externally Council amendments whatever we come down to make sure that number three is the one rule we live by if it's going to be a sustainable expense it's got to be a sustainable Revenue oftentimes too we throw out numbers we throw out what's our bond rating we've talked about it before with if it lacks perspective it doesn't mean anything and so if you take a look here here are the top 10 cities in Pennsylvania by population we are number one and not only are we a number one but you can't put enough detail here a lot of those other ones that are moving the positive direction have done so by making decisions that we've never even had to and I you know I like it when you know sometimes when we have those conversations about we had this we had this conversation 10 years ago or 15 years ago um and Mr C talks about the casino which is you know we're gonna talk about what that revenue is there like that was a decision that has led to hundreds of millions of dollars of economic growth for our city and what we've been able to do by that economic growth is be able to avoid doing things like selling our water system doing things like taking on too much debt doing things like laying off um employees we've been able to avoid those decisions because of the collective kind of responsibility same thing with our earned income tax if you know anything about our city we take in about three times as much property tax as we do earned income tax most other cities our size are either pulling in equal amounts of property tax and earned earned income tax or more earned income tax you wonder why other cities are like we haven't raised property taxes because their earned income tax is 1. n75 or it's 2.4 and just to give you an idea R1 which is the highest that we're allowed to have based on where our pension fund is and our financial responsibility and sustainability and stability is that each like 0.1 brings in like a little bit above $1 million a year so the ability if we were able even able to go from one to 1.1 would be an extra million bucks let alone like Allentown which is 1. n75 like if we were able to do that double it that's like another $10 million not that we would want to do that not that we need to but it's important to talk about perspective as far as those numbers are concerned we're the only city there that's a 1% because we're also the only city that's not allowed to go higher because we're not in any of the financial indicators that allows it to do and that's a credit to city council that's a credit to past mayors past City councils whatever and that's the that's that's our that's kind of where we're at as I said before our number one promise is always we have to keep our salary pension Healthcare obligations it's important that people I worked in a school district that was always able to pay its bills but I just know what it meant for employees on a day-to-day basis year-to year with Financial instability you don't hold on to good people people are nervous they're not giving you as much so that idea that we keep our promises always at the center of all of our financial decisions these are the four like recurring budget expenditures to watch Debt Service pensions medical and salary and I and Mr Evans is going to talk about these but I think the charts are important first one is Debt Service and we've talked about this in 2015 we were at about 171 million as of January 1st 20125 we're going to be under $89 million so in those 10 years we have paid off $82 million that was a choice that was made by Mayors and councils and because of that that's freeing up additional dollars you're not going to find any other city that has this particular um the these particular charts based on what our um current uh debt payments are by January 1st 2028 we're going to be at $56 million um and you know I have a slide coming up here that shows kind of our Revenue versus debt or whatever but like you can see that over that period our city has made a decision to pay off the debt you hear a lot of people talking about like we don't want to stick the debt with our children we don't want to stick the stick the debt with our grandchildren we have made that decision as far as the city's concerned and that's why our bond rating has increased that's part of the reason why you're seeing a level of private investment that like you're seeing in the city of Bethlehem is businesses know that businesses come when they come to the budget address they walk away they look at they look at Mr lazark they look at Mr Evans they look at the decisions we make they look at city council and they say these people are making rational decisions that they're confident that they can invest in a city like this um this is our current our annual Debt Service as you can see just in the last you know two and a half years since you know we took office we've reduced it by that $44 million which is a 33% reduction um we've been able to do that like I said you see those payments there we could have found a way to refinance earlier to create more uh money in the short term to be able to pay for more things people like but we didn't do that because one day somebody is going to be the mayor in 2031 and 32 and 33 and 34 and 35 and they're going to be able to invest in the city and pay our employees and take care of the city in a way that if we were kicking off that debt now there is the potential for us to be able to look at some of some refinancing because you would be able to based on what the interest rates are and things like that which is the conversation that I think Mr Evans is goingon to have there's nothing that we're including in the budget about that that'd be a conversation we'd have in 2025 based on where interest rates are and things like that that like is it possible to be able to create more sustainable Revenue in the next two three four years um to be able to help get us to that point where our debt expired and falls off yes um but that'll be a conversation um so that's all of the good news as far as the debt is concerned number two as far as the pension fund increase we talked about this last year our three Pension funds are 90% funded this is good and unusual for cities and we didn't do this like other cities we didn't have to sell water and sewer to be able to get us over a 100% we didn't have to sell you know any you know city land we didn't have to sell any city services to be able to get there we've talked about this before our pension payment in 25 and 26 is based on portfolio performance from 21 in 22 so when the Pension funds finished down 10% in 22 but even then we were outperforming other Municipal plans which are down 14% that then means that when Harrisburg is calculating what those pension obligations are for our promises that pension obligation goes up so for 2025 and 2026 is going to be about the same correct Mr Evans so it'll be about the same we had to find $1.9 million in new sustainable Revenue because that is new sustainable re Revenue now the good news is in 24 I'm sorry in 23 and 24 we've had two good Market years so then two years from now like it's not going to be $1.9 million hopefully who knows what's going to happen with our global economy but you know we have good reason to believe based on our market performance from the last two years that we're that in two years we're going to be in a better we're we're going to be in a better position but that that's that's obviously the biggest increase that we have in the 2025 budget the good news was was that we saw it coming we talked about it last year in the 2024 budget presentation we saw it coming so it's been something we've been able to plan for and just to kind of give you an idea what those numbers look like you know compared to 2024 vers 2025 and just kind of what the breakdown is it is largely coming from our general fund it doesn't the increases come a little bit from our employees but they don't come drastically from our employees to make up the 1.9 the 1.9 is got to come for our recurring revenues um so and like I said thankfully the economy has been running well again we budget conservatively but that just kind of gives you a little bit of a picture there uh number three here is the medical general fund um you can see here like we are self-insured we've talked about this before we don't know how many people are going to get sick every year we don't some years we have good years some years we have years where we have more sickness it just goes along with being self-insured um we work with BSI who is who I would say is straightforward with what they think we should budget in kind of worst case scenarios when we save that money like in 2023 we had a very good year as far as medical I think we came down almost a million dollars under budget we did not lower our 2024 budget though to say oh we're likely to save this next year what we basically did was left that money in our medical account thinking what if we have another year like 2022 that type of Forward Thinking is important 2025 as you can see we are budgeting a little bit more um so I think it's a couple hundred thousand in there um but we are always trying to look at like can we meet what that budgeted number is and when you have savings is it is it responsible to look at those savings and think to yourself okay this is money that we can spend somewhere else generally the answer is no generally the answer is just because you had a good year somewhere doesn't mean that you should drastically budget lower next year that's just not good Financial Planning and our medical fund over the last several years has been able to continue to keep our promises and our obligations but also meet our budget um and then just to kind of take a look at here our new sustainable expense increases I talked about the pension increase we have salary increases we have three um three unions uh we have insurance increase um if you that is going to be a capital expenditure going forward in the future whenever we need to buy new ones in three or four years um so our Capital fund is doing pretty well and then if you just kind of like add those up it it adds up there to that kind of 2.9 now obviously we have a budget of what is about $110 million Mr Evans 114 so we have other expenses that are going up or other revenues that are going up those are the major ones that I wanted to kind of just highlight to kind of show where they're at and now here's that sustainable Revenue picture we have coming in our EIT at 1% our economy is growing and it's grow it's grown grown fast enough and well enough that we're going to pull in about 1.1 million above what we had budgeted that natural real estate tax growth like there's no tax increase in this budget they $828,000 in property tax about $250,000 and I'll repeat a line I said at the budget address is people look at these new projects oftentimes and ask themselves what is in it for me you know I said you know Natalie and I have not we've never bet one1 dollar at the casino but anybody in the city of Bethlehem should be very thankful that we have that casino with the amount of what that means for how we can pay our police officers how that means we can pay pave our roads how we can pay our firefighters that is money that we're getting every year that allows us the opportunity to um to to be able to pay for those expenses that cover all 78,000 people um interest rates have continued to be in a place where we've been able to produce more interest income different assorted Business Development Revenue growth that's different permits that are up because people continue to want to invest in our city that EMS revenue is up that the federal government finally changed some of the reimbursements having to do with um Hospital rides and things like that so that adds up to about $2 million that is all natural growth we are not raising any of those taxes we are not doing any of those particular things if you take a look here at our earned income tax you know with the exception of 2020 which obviously was a different situation we have seen that one % tax grow since 2015 at a very very strong rate but you can see here that even though we're going to pull in about 12 million bucks in 2024 we are not guessing that we're going to pull in an extra half million or whatever we're actually budging a little bit under that because you don't know what's going to happen you're always anticipating that things slow down and if you go back far enough back in the Great Recession like earned income tax did slow down so we hope that we have very a very high level of confidence that this will that this will continue but once again it's about budgeting conservatively uh Mr Evans is going to talk about how when we budget numbers we become very very close um okay so I think that that is just a summary of kind of like I said the big cost drivers the big Revenue drivers I just want to go through those charts I think those charts the budget book is great in a lot of ways but I want to go through those charts and you know I it's uh I we're probably going to save questions here for after M until after Mr Evans goes through but I just wanted the opportunity to that so thank you president col thank you mayor Reynolds Mr Evan picking up as a mayor was talking the next section is to talk about general fund revenues the mayor did a great job so thank you for covering and some of the slides you see we'll we'll slide right through because they are uh similar identical we've been they've been used in different ways this pie chart shows a breakdown of our revenues by category and the idea here is the sustainable revenues are in blue all all shades of blue real estate taxes is the largest driver of it it's over the third of all revenues act 511 that's the EIT which which the mayor reference as well as mertile tax business privilege Cas a host fee is very large it's not growing because it was it's set right that 98 it's very very important to that part piece of the pie but does not grow at a rapid rate it's set at 2 million a quarter and then percentage of the gaming activity so the number of years has been at 98 to 99 we are increasing at $100,000 but it's not something we look for for future growth where we will get future growth is the property taxes that come along with as they continue to build out the properties departmental earnings and other also very sustainable the grants are often one time so we look at that large era we've been successful with grants so we highlight that as a percentage of all the revenues you see in this budget the grants are lit up in yellow and some of them are reoccurring but many of them might be for specific projects that are once and done so we look at them a little bit differently this is a long look expanded look at our real estate taxes the blue is what we budget year to year and the Orange is what has been received each year you do see the growth through time of course you'll see maybe a larger jum from 20 to 21 for example would include a tax increase when taxes are not increased it's harder for the assessed value to grow because that just requires consistent large pieces of development so 21 20 22 23 it grew up maybe 1% uh this this year we are fortunate without a tax uh without a tax increase we did see over $800,000 in assessed growth and that's just develop of land or buildings that were not developed before so we're able to move that up a number and it's we do feel that it is a very accurate number when a number is this big as part of our budget we want it we don't want to overinflate it the way see can get in trouble is if we over get over over overly optimistic about revenues might be we'll certainly fill up all those expense buckets to match it and if the revenues don't come home or come close to meeting it we're going to face a deficit which we don't want to do can happen from time to time revenues can fall outside indicators can come into play it has happened not lately and if you look the last couple years from 2021 on for even 22 for example the budget figure was 22581 at the end of the year we had 326 so a point of one 0.1% more than what we expected pretty much right in the mark in 2023 even closer as a May said let got it almost exactly right we expected it to be 32 million and we take the mill rate at the assessed value of all properties at September 30th we don't know how much is going to develop between now and the end of the year or all of next year during the year we get incremental assessments as that occurs it'll increase that number as people pay in the discount period or their tax it'll reduce that number and in the end we we found out that the the formula we're using has been incredibly consistent so we ve very confident in the 24 number and also the 25 number that you'll see in the budget of 35 million this I hope you can see from I I did email count this slideshow and uh hope you can see on your monitors it's it's a little small from where I'm sitting out here now but this also gives us perspective of 50 years of growth and some idea of the relative growth rates of millage through time the White's all the way back to the 1980s and that's a long long time ago and it goes into the pink blue and green uh some the idea what I wanted to share here is that through time that pink area 1990s there's some zeros there's some larger numbers but at the end of the day it's somewhere around the 25 26 the next decade or in the green 2.7% growth through the 1990s through the 2000s and through the 10 2010 so that represents a number of different mayors dozens of different councils and numerous Global or Regional issues that have come into play it's been consistent that last running 10-year period which is marked in the red box is growing as slower rate so over the last 10 years it's not 2.4 not 25. 267 it's it's less than that it's 1.6 if you look at the 2020s taxes through six years now have only increased at a rate of 1.3% so even less so it's much less in our last 50 years of History yeah and just to add to that and if if Mr Evans goes back one slide there as far as those percentag are concerned you know this is something that as time has gone on and I said we we don't need to be as istic anymore about these numbers but people are also being more honest about what these numbers are and when you're more honest and you're more conservative about what these numbers are it means you have to make more difficult decisions in the short term and I want to you know thank both Mr Evans so I think 2019 was your first budget correct Mr Evans yeah so um so Mr Evans first budget was 2019 there um I want to thank Mr yasu's on top of this Mr Miss lar on top of this and if you look back at those big tax increases that you saw like yes betham Steel was going down yes we were trying to recover from that and things like that but it also was like at some point you got to pay the piper at some point you got to find a way to balance the left side and the right side and you either do that in the short term or the long term but if you do it over the long term then you're able to put those type of numbers together as Mr Evans just showed you like over the last six years where we've only had that 1.6% um growth which is the lowest that we've had in 50 years um which comes down to what the goal is you know every year we talk about how I guess we're dealing with one citizen here looking at this conversation plus our friend from across the pond um to to to look at how we do this but like this is where the work is that allows us to be able to pay for the things that we like so I I it's always nice to look at history where we've been where we're going and uh not that we can be zero forever but we've I think done a nice job of containing and also got a lot of help from all the Private Industry and the private investment that the mayor referenced previously to allow the cess growth to take place let's a look at their EIT growth which you you saw from the mayor's slide it goes back a little further to 2009 so you'll see a couple interesting thing this is our other large important Revenue generator earned income tax this is nice because has nothing to do with property tax as people make more money uh this this number will grow through from 29 to 15 it was pretty consistent pretty flat there was no growth for so the councils the mayor at this time were not able to enjoy a million dollar growth you actually one two three times when it it fell it went down from the previous year so we have to be careful with this one it's a little harder to project because that's what budgets are their projections of revenues and and containment of expenses the next uh period from 16 to 20 when we look at that we do see a little bit of growth and it's starting to move upward it was really from 20 on post pandemic when EIT took off at a rate that we hadn't seen or enjoyed frankly um from 21 2 3 and four it's not nearly as large as a real estate overall because of the uh pieces of the puzzle that that the mayor referenced but even when you see our budget this blue now is what we budget least the last four years if we do an overlay there it is the blue what we budget versus orange what has come home for us you'll see we brought the blue up each year in 2021 and the orange exceeded so the blue in 22 went higher we figured it would level off we were surprised again what we did find though from 23 to where we believe will end in 24 it has now slowed a little bit it's not going to continue at that same aggressive rate it reached 12 last year we were quite surprised we knew we'd have room this year uh but it hasn't moved up from last year to this year the numbers will be about the same so in 2025 we place it at 11.9 do we believe it will hit it yes do we think it will go much above that no but hopefully we'll be surprised by that again but we also believe that's a a valid number at that 11.9 that you see in your book and it is nice because it's $1 million more than we had last year in the budget so that was a nice growth this is a general highlight of all the general revenues we can take any questions uh from the revenues which on page one two three and into four we talked about real estate taxes Eid D transfer is when houses sell 2% D transfer tax one to the county half to this to the school district half 1% to the city uh we moved this up a little bit we held it back a little bit last year we felt that the rising or the higher interest rates might slow growth we did still see decent or moderate activity in housing and we did see certainly an increase in housing prices so the combination of those two we are going to move D transfer up a c couple hundred thousand dollars from uh one 1.6 to 1.9 million dollar housing permits if you remember we made an adjustment this summer and added to inspectors that will allow us to increase housing permits $100,000 and we did that cable franchise is something I know you've been talking a little bit with Comcast which is a story for another night they will be they're looking to enter the city with the franchise agreement overall though that cable franchise fee is falling people cable and internet are different this does not generate in Internet fees it's exclusively tied to Cable there fewer people cable fewer people paying it the franchise fee and therefore that number has been falling to be cons to be responsible we've been bring that Revenue item backwards and down and we believe we've tracked it far enough down that we're now equal to where we've been seeing it every year we thought we're we were on the money and it it underperformed for us but we're a little more aggressive in bring it down even further this year to get there uh the state subsidy is a large and that's on page two the state pension subsid is is a payment we get from the state it's generated from the sales of outof State insurance premiums the state that uses that money from a 1980s law and they will send us based on the number of people we have in our pension plans a reimbursement check to help subsidize our large pench which we've been talking about that number was 4.1 or 4.2 for a number of years it took a jump last year uh we which we were surprised we got it last fall right around budget time and uh this year that same number came in again around the 47 so we took the opportunity and that's a $500 $500,000 increase in revenues and that's courtesy the state sub City pension and that's the largest jump we've seen in that number for a while uh there's a large number of Grants you may you want to ask any questions about we talk about those during the year grants are not placed in this book unless they've been awarded if it's something we've applied for we don't enter it in once we get an award letter we'll come to council to have it officially entered and adjust the budget at that time so these are all live grants that you see ambulance fees we increased last year uh due to the reimbursement of Medicaid that was a that was a federal law change that really helped us make our EMS Services close to budget neutral uh last year we took the opportunity to add a a new truck put a new truck on the road we have two new paramedics two supervisors between the Medicaid and the new truck on the road you saw on the mayor's slid show that transports increased and as a result Revenue increased and we're going to move that number up $350,000 and we're right on the mark for it this year so we fully believe that's a good number recycling has stabilized for a long time that was a large number for us a large revenue and um about a little less than 10 years ago it really started to drop dropped for a number of years we believe now it's leveled and we Mike Hoster director of recycling does stay on that market really close so the numbers he's given us each the last couple years have been very close to the true number we receive uh investment interest overperformed this year because interest rates did not drop as predicted last year that they would be doing all all year long they predicted four drops that didn't occur as a result their number is high High uh they do now and we just saw one the other day an interest rate drop we want to be careful this one but we're increasing at $300,000 it might be a little bit more room but to be uh what we believe is most responsible I we'll move it from 800,000 to 1.1 for 2025 we feel that's a good number uh escrow is say we're gonna we're going to be coming to Council on December 3D at a finance committee at that meeting we're going to we plan to propose moving some money from Savings in accounts this year or overperforming accounts this year uh that we can be able to put into our eser account to pay for some special items next year and that's going to include three police cars over and above what's in the budget of five and also to help pay for the large amount of firemen that we want to send to the academy next year we want to send up to 18 which is a very large number but we want that fully funded we're always going to pledge to send as many as we need to be fully staffed but we want the funding to be there for up to 18 with the idea at this time based on current levels of Staffing that number if the academies was this week we'd be sending 10 so uh that's the number we came up and how much we're saving in the escrow the host fee which I talked about a little bit ago is a very large and important number for us and we did for first time in a couple years moved that up 100,000 based on the activity we've been seeing as well as the First Responders fee and that's on page four just above it that is based on um entertainment activities that go on at the Casino a little bit at Le High University and at Arts Quest and since the pandemic when it really came down to just a little above zero has incrementally climbed each the last three or four years so that has been a nice growth item for us that's revenues I'll open it up to questions about the revenue before we go on to expenses uh thank you mayor Reynolds and Mr Evans I will start with our finance committee chair councilwoman ksey Smith for any feedback thank you okay okay um thank you on page two I did have two questions one is the um the cares act and it was uh 4.5 and then 3.1 for 2025 so is that the balance that's left over for next year and is that the total balance left of that's the balance from the cares not the ARA M but this the year you know the cares came out with the is that the year before six months before and that's driven into the health Bureau so in the night of CD two weeks from now when we meet again we'll it'll CED will address the spending for that but that's what it is yes okay great thanks and then the other one toward the bottom is the LTA affordable housing so it was three I can't see I marked it I think it was three 100,000 in 0 24 and then 430 so is that um was any of that spent yet or is it earmarked and is that the um does that 430,000 include the 300,000 or is that the carryer over there's going to be a line item that ties to that in CED when we get to that night okay that'll be talked about so that's that revenue is from what exactly the the Lura ordinance that you set up for the affordable housing incentive and when we talk on that Monday Collins will be able to explain that line it as an expense and then miss Collins and Miss Cula because this actually also includes the Civic expenses like on that day we're going to talk about housing uh homelessness and the community Recovery Fund and but that those dollars just in general if you know last December I think it was missula had shared what the kind of fiveyear plan was on how to spend the housing dollars that included both the line item in the budget for affordable housing but also I think Miss Collins it included like potential cdbg home funding correct that and the Lura yeah so I think that's going to be included and Mr Tula will be here as well in two weeks to be able to kind of give an update on like where those dollars are going okay sounds good yeah that's the only question the only thing I I did forget is I really want to thank um Eric and Linny because this is huge and it's a lot of work and I just want to say thank you because you're always accessible and really helpful and I I didn't want to um be uh remiss in not thanking you for all your work so thank you thank you councilwoman uh I'll look to the other finance committee chairs councilwoman quch or Leon for any questions I I would just also say thank you um it was good to sit down with um Mr Evans and Miss Lark and and really um take some time to to look at this uh last week and uh just so appreciative of the sound judgment uh the the you know conservative budgeting not getting us over you know overly committed based on uh um you know optimistic expectations and uh so I really appreciate that I feel like um the budget is in good hands uh and uh you explained it so well to us as well so I really appreciate that thank you any other questions or comments from other members of council as it relates to revenue councilwoman will I'll just echo my thanks appreciate the time that you um gave to us to to talk through all of this it it makes it you know we answer our questions in real time there so um and you know a zero statistical Zer percent change is is very impressive in looking at those numbers so again thank you for for the care and Mr Evans for the sort of um knowledge you you share in your presentation here with us thank you very much thank you so I'll just kind of echo some of the comments to already said but I I think they're worth repeating both that came from the mayor and the administration and members of council again I thank you for your conservative projections as it relates to the real estate revenues and the ACT 511 taxes because as as already been mentioned when you have a good year and you want to overestimate all you're doing is potentially setting yourself up for for bigger budget shortfalls which then the bill still come due as as mayor Reynolds had alluded to when when difficult decisions get deferred heard it's not as if those um expenses just go away over the years this being my ninth year on Council there have been years where I've had to vote for tax increases and and I don't know that it necessarily ran for Council saying I'm going to raise taxes someday or vote to raise taxes but they're they're a reality of doing business and when you look at what the different revenue streams the different taxes that come in where they come from some of them remain flat and sometimes like we just talked about with earned income tax and how we've seen growth in what people are being paid and then we benefit from that of course so those are things and I always appreciate since May Reynold started doing his budget presentations just this differentiation between one-time revenues and expenses and sustainable because I I think that can't be repeated often enough I think I made the kind of light joke the one day but there's there's truth behind every joke that you you can't pay your rent with the money in your birthday card so when you have these kind of one-time revenues coming through but you have these you know sustainable and repeated expenses you're you're just going to create instability and imbalance in your budget the this year of course we're not looking at a tax increase which uh we all celebrate and I think that that even years like this where it's a relatively um you know quieter budget discussion because we're not talking about raising taxes that's still just a testament to the work that's done year after year and every day as it relates to how money's managed how money's spent how money's budgeted how everything gets programmed all the grants that come through all the grants that get awarded how the oversight that goes on to make sure that um everything's being followed as it's supposed to be and as a council member and as longer than that as a citizen of Bethlehem I always share my thanks and appreciation uh one kind of other side as we always mention to friends stories during budget season so members of council May some definitely have gotten them there used to be a citizen who used to send us letters sometimes handwritten sometimes typed out kind of talking about the the city's debt and all this money that would come that the city owed and sometimes his numbers were a little bit inflated but he always had a lot to say he'd mail them to the clerk's office and then they'd get shared with us I can't tell you the last time we got one of those letters so I'm thankful that he's paying attention he might be one of the five people on YouTube right now watching along we we'll assume yes the um yeah and and just another thing I think Bear's mentioning is it relates to budgeting and revenue projections while we're looking at everything being Prett stable it's well reported in in local news as as we look Statewide and and we looked at the percentages for the Earned Income Tax but it was just a big item about another municipality that was uh took it to the ballot for referendum to try to unlock the ability to change their DED transfer tax and this is a municipality that already has a higher earned income tax that we do so when your cost burden and and your budget is under stress and and your debts and everything like that some municipalities have to get very creative with ways to generate more revenue and thankfully we're not looking at that this year so thank you anything else from members of council as it relates to revenue Mr Evans we'll go over expenses expenses Personnel primarily Public Safety is our largest expense we've looked at this chart a lot we we have a lot of people provide a lot of service um blue the two shades of blue Personnel combined is almost 75% of all expenses onay page 173 um the salary is going to is going to appear at each of the Departments we talk about as water store came through and Public Works you saw those Bure I introduced Administration tonight CD police and fire will also be as they move through you'll see in their in their individual line items their equipment purchase services or salaries uh if you move into General expenses on page 173 specifically you're looking at three large ones MMOs which are the minimum Municipal obligation that's a pension requirement we have to make in order to keep our pension funded uh our insurance premiums and medical this I I showed you last year this is what is hitting this year this is the value of our pension fund over time and uh the last one on the right on the far right those are twoyear bands those blue lines going vertical and uh you'll see what happened in 21 and 22 is the market moved up in 21 and then fell late 21 through most of 22 and after a small rally ended up lower as a result over two-year period our fund did not grow our obligations did and when that happens it's going to drive your MMO up the two-year period before that you saw the nice growth in that one if you go look at our MMOs two years ago we didn't have this and we hopefully what we saw in 1920 which occurring Now 23 and 24 which is having two um years of ni returns should tame the MMO and we are very fortunate that revenues moved like they did to avoid a tax increase when you have an MMO growth of $1.9 million in one year like we did are facing this year this's a little bit a lot going on in this table I'm not to spend a lot of time with it it's part of our audit that was just completed and this is how our audit is going to show you how um the funds determine what per they're funded and my cursor is not working there it is this far left where my cursor is now was 2023 just finished we're looking at this two-year period you'll see the emplo the contribution this is our MMO here this is what the employees when they they contribute to their pensions goes into it this is what the market did or our portfolio fund did here and then in the next year so the first year it grew a lot second year was great uh a great drop as a whole entire Market did no one avoided it the result was the percentage of our pension fund dropped from in the 80s to the 70s when that happens there are actuaries and the Auditors are going to tell you and give you the calculations that we'll run here internally and have checked with the Auditors we need to increase your MMO to make sure we get that percentage up high and in a nutshell that's that's what has occurred for 2025 you also saw this Snapshot from the mayor slideshow the breakdown by each of the three divisions the police fire have their own and then the pmrs uh total of 1.98 uh the insurances our property liabil our Standard Insurance we believe I know they did much better with slower growth than mine did at my house I I I have a pretty reputable insurance company and I saw L large growth that some of you may have in homeowners especially but also Auto we did better than that here at the city where with Travelers and with insurance BR we've worked with for some time the the RPS came back and it was just around 5% growth so there is some growth in our insurance line items both with the insurance package as well as a workman's comp where their workman's comp is part of the cost of doing business and we did need to move that up a little bit for some recent workman's comp claims that we have settled which is a good thing we're settling them and moving on but also handling um the liabilities that we need to do we need to did need to move that up a little bit and the medical which the mayor also talked about is is a slight increase this year just to be careful we see that trend from 23 to this year moving up a little bit we want to make sure we don't get caught behind the curve on that so although we had a good year uh in 23 uh 20 the year just before that was the opposite so we're trying to just to move along steady with the with General expenses Civic expenses not a lot to say about this this is on H page I guess that's 175 they're a number that we annually fund you'll see the top of it's the library the Library increased uh they did ask for increase for the first time in six years so there's an increase of $80,000 in your library that's that's funded by the four different municipalities that feed into the library they also receive a lot of State funding but that's our contribution uh the Fourth of July fireworks is list on this P the Halloween parade is on here the parade of Shamrocks which we added to support that in March the music fund is in here the Fine Arts and really commissions we support as well as the three three large funds which we're going to talk about at our next meeting Community Recovery Fund homeless initiative and affordable housing will all be explained how those funds will be spent but that's the active amounts left on those three accounts and finish with Debt Service let's just do expenses and then we'll conclude with Debt Service so I'm going to open it up for uh comments questions for members of council again I'll start with councilwoman cramy Smith as our finance chair on the general expenses as well as Civic expenses okay thank you um I think I know the answer but the one question I had was about the community Recovery Fund and we're going to go over that at um on the 25th yeah correct okay that's the only question I have thank you anything else from committee members quch or Leon other members of council councilwoman lar uh the Northside 2027 um I'm there's not a budget for the past couple years that moved into CED from Civic and went under because CD was was the one that was kind of working with that account so he moved it there to make it a little easier got it I was gonna say it's not 2027 yet it's still there just got re that was also the original name I had come up with which has since been replaced by North Side alive but when I had first proposed it in January of 2017 it was North Side 2027 partly because that's how long like lur is last 10 years so right uh okay that that clears that up for me thank you any other questions or comments from members of council I'll just say that I don't have any questions but as it relates to the expenses one of the things we we talk about those cost drivers but one of the big things in the long term that always impacts some of your personnel and Legacy as headcount which has been stable and we've seen a slight uptick which is to be expected did when we talk about the work that needs to get done at City Hall and we've heard over the years time and time again about some of the historical numbers and and how City Hall is working as we heard during just about every budget presentation with leaner staffs so the the headcount continues to be controlled and then the collective bargaining agreements which have been kind of Norm for the different professions over the last few years because that's what can drive some of those Personnel calls over time when you have such a a large number of uh Union employees so you're you're obligated to fulfill those contracts and then depending on how many people you have so that's something that remains stable again this year as it has been um if there's nothing as it relates to General expenses and Civic expenses councilwoman L sorry uh the downtown initiative that's explained on the there's a a bit of narrative uh there under the Civic expenses how does that differ from like the DBA why isn't that in the community and economic development budget separately like can you just talk a little bit about what differentiates that from other similar funds yeah it was put in there Once Upon a Time by by mayor donz and I think that has been used for different things over the years um having to do with some uh one-time expens um there's some things related to that that have been used or planed to be used related to world heritage um so it's just kind of a it's a line item that sometimes not all of the money gets used sometimes it pays for different things different pay to help pay for different things during the pandemic um but I think it was added by mayor donchez somewhere in the middle of his term um so just so that's above and beyond what our chamber or other economic uh interest would be it's kind of special expenses correct I would kind of also look at it and this is not a perfect explanation but like the chamber stuff helps to pay for salaries and marketing things like this this has been more of just kind of like one-time expenses some of them are like kind of capital expenses and things like that um and uh sometime like I said during the pandemic it was PID I think some of the money was used there for things having to do with parklets I think I'm not positive so it's just kind of kind of revolved around that um but we also see it as something that helps to pay for in the future should help to pay for some world heritage related things thank you anything else from members of council related to expenses I'll open it up to another public comment if there's a public comment on expenses yes hi um nun um so I am just kind of looking at I don't know if like I had a brain glitch for like if there was a comment for revenue or if that's also rolled into this comment but um it it's all kind of related um er so I'm just kind of looking at this from the perspective of uh what kind of Investments the city has whether that be stuff that's actively bringing us revenue or that's going into pensions for employees um so you you might have an idea where I'm going with this but um I'm just trying to at this point like highlight and bring attention to like what are the ethics of the Investments that we have um uh be they for pensions or otherwise um so I I fully admit like to not having done all of the homework that I would have hoped to do on this um I I do intend to uh submit requests for this kind of information on what portfolios exist um so maybe you you already know some of this or maybe you haven't looked into it that far but um you know it's very easy when you have indexes or portfolios to be invested in a variety of things that maybe you would never choose to invest in on your own you know are we invested in arms manufacturers oil and gas companies climate villains companies that maybe themselves um largely fund those other Industries maybe they have Supply chains that are based on sweat shops and slave labor um really like it it's extremely easy to be invested in companies that participate in all kinds of evils in the world honestly um and I do have a particular interest in divestment from the military industrial complex um the War Machine and particularly in Israel and the crimes that are being committing in Palestine but I I really think that we need to take a look at ethical investment across the board um and I know that you know maybe we have some commitments that would be difficult to pull out of um it maybe it would take some you know hard looks uh what those current portfolios look like um but I I'd like to kind of raise that conversation and see um where it can take us and what can the city do um to really M make everything that the city does as excellent as the rest of the work the city does because frankly the budget itself is very above board from my reading of it it's great it's funding a lot of um excellent initiatives um but then there's kind of this backend that isn't as public and it's not really in the budget at all um except as like comprehensive line items that don't actually show you what these um actual Investments and lists of companies and what money is going where what that is um so yeah that that is just kind of something to bring to your attention I I don't know if or what anything can be done for this budget but I wanted to put it to the floor thank you thank you well conclude with Debt Service Mr Evans okay we can quickly move through Debt Service a couple of key points for a long time we were taking Capital bonds every other year in order to meet the projects and purchases that required to keep the city running there were some additional borrowings along that way for whatever was not whatever it was but there was a one was to um fund a pension account uh there were some other borrowings for significant things along the way has needed in the past so it wasn't just every other it was more than just a couple every other year the key uh looking forward is that we've had a large reduction in debt since 2015 that there are no borrowing schedule again in 2025 and for that matter we have the capital reserves set aside so there should not be one we don't plan forther to be one in 2026 or 2027 that will take us out till 2028 till next decision would need to be made about debt the last bullet point will continue to reiew the a restructure opportunity which is moving around existing debt probably not taking on anything additional at this time that we have planned but in 25 or maybe in 26 depending how interest rates move in the needs we know we saw the slides a little bit ago that their debt has been reduced to 88 million The Debt Service currently looks like this so restructuring would be that now this is a little bit different than the one you saw a little bit ago this has 25 this is what's left that $88 million spread over 2025 to 2034 that's how much each year in 2035 would be extinguished or gone we might look to build more of a Glide pattern than the choppy block so some those might be reduced a little one might brought up a little bit so we have a little relief each year over the next 10 years and not such jumps or not although it' be great to be around in uh 2033 for that great drop we would rather have a little smoother descent pattern and that's what might be involved if that's going to happen we will come to you by the spring of whatever year that is so talking spring of 25 if we're doing that it's a summer then Council will be looking at something by the fall of 25 for the 26 budget so you'll have You' have more Advan than just the budget book if we're going to make a move on this uh we meet and we look about look at this a couple times year for that opportunity but there's no move being made at this time and just this is sustainable Revenue going forward so the reason why you would look to be able to push that out a little bit and I don't think whoever is the I mean at some point in the next 10 years the city's probably going to have to borrow something so the idea that we're going to be at 2035 with no debt is probably not a factual statement but the potential to be able to balance that out create sustainable Revenue then in the next several years if we do have pension increases I think you've heard me say it before like every year in January we need at the floor $2 million to pay for whatever pension healthare and salary contracted increases we have so that's the reason why we would look to do that to balance that out because the debt service is every year and if you take a look at what our debt service was I think our general fund 8 nine 10 years ago is you're looking at like 60 6570 million so like8 N1 million that is like 14 15% of the budget was debt and now as you can see here in $114 million budget and essentially 11 million dollar in the debt payment you're down to about 10% which is hard to do but you C can kind of see you can kind of see where it's going so I think that wraps up the slide so if we're able to follow plan that we have in place right now reduce to 55 by 2028 and just one last thing to add there Mr clone before we conclude is if you go back to what the $34 million that we got as far as ARP was concerned $18 million of that was to do $6 million in roads and then avoid two Capital borrowings under the idea that that $18 million if you borrow and you include pension I mean include interest over 15 years ends up being like 28 29 $30 million so you spend $18 million to avoid having to spend $30 million over the next 15 years and this is important because when we looked at those $34 million that we got to be able to respond to the pandemic and we wanted to balance the shortterm and the long-term needs a lot of what we're going to talk about in two weeks having to do with housing has to do with how are we spending that money over several years because you can't spend all of it so that but that's more of like the short term but this is the long term and those investments in capital and paying for roads which then saves us and those are costs that are covered by all 78,000 people that that decision to spend the majority of our arpa dollars on avoiding long-term interest costs obviously makes it easier for all of us to be able to pay for these things while also balancing out all of the great things that we're doing having to do with Housing and Community Recovery Fund and things like that um but it's all part of the same story and you know I can look back at whatever we and whatever we estimated two years ago would have been the interest cost in doing two borrowings at $6 million but you're looking at we saved the taxpayers at least $10 million depending on what interest rates are probably closer to 15 if you work into it like other barings based on that you can go down a whole road which I went down once but anyway the point is is we are spending that $18 million as a city to avoid everybody having to spend 28 29 $30 million which helps to put which delays some of those financial successes for us but it's the healthiest thing we can do for the city over the next couple decades thank you thank you again I'll start with councilwoman ksey Smith as the finance committee chair um thank you the only question I have is Page 184 the landfill transfer um that do you have do we have any idea when that is projected to be um down to zero I think there's four years left four years on here two that's okay you can you can tell me you can get back to me later I was it's on page 182 right that's the the series B of 2013 184 I'm looking at 182 there's footnotes on the bottom 182 of which series it is yes so it's 13 so it was refinance in 13 so I think it's just those two years left two years 25 and 26 it's the series B of 2013 on page 182 is the 2026 is the last year yes okay great all right thank you that's all 00 thank you Council anything from committee members quch where Leo I'll open it up to the rest of counc you got it right Mr Catan um so that that expires in in two years the landfill yeah yeah because I believe in Miss Lazar is much more knowledge about this than anybody else alive is that that was refinanced then as part of the series B of 2013 and that goes back to the original debt that was taken out in like 1998 or whatever it would be I just I I just would hope that we don't we don't have any plans uh for that 800,000 when it expires no that's what that's what we're saying that was like as we pay off the debt and that debt comes down that creates sustainable Revenue to help us to be able to pay for those sustainable expenses that go up every year so so the overall like the more money we save in debt if we go from $1 million to $8 million in the next five years in five years from now that's three million more dollars that we're pulling in in property taxes or in income tax or whatever that doesn't have to go to Debt Service that can pay for the 4% or the 3% for our police and things like that what one thing the way the de schedule's built though if you're looking at 182 and 183 that 800,000 goes away but the way the whole portfolio was built the total number of debt doesn't drop 800,000 because other stuff goes up when that goes away some of them so if you look at the total all the way across at the rightand side stays at 108 108 so it won't really affect our overall payment that Mak sense well I was just I was just in my mind I was thinking the her the hero tax oh yeah like when that expired we never got rid of it yeah it's and I I understood that it was a bad budget year but yeah we kept that tax even after it expired yeah it just kind of changed its name it it it turned it turned into yeah Sor but it just became whatever the next property whatever the next public safety related like property Revenue increase we were looking for but Mr Evans Point too it's just like they try to structure it so we have balance payments so it's not like one year your debts 5 million and the next year it's 9 million and the next year it's 7 million but that's part of larger debt conversation we may have in 2025 is how we necessarily balance that out so I'm making this up obviously so like you structure it so it's like 9 million 8.7 million 8.5 million like a gradual step down so you don't just have one year theoretically like 10 or 12 years from now where it falls off the table and suddenly you're getting $7 million that just doesn't make sense in the short term any other questions or comments from members of council thank you any public comment on The Debt Service seeing none we're going to conclude tonight I'll remind everyone that our third budget meeting will be on Monday November 25th again at 6 pm here in town hall if necessary the final budget meeting will be at 6 pm on Monday December 9 and then the final reading and the enactment of the 2025 budget ordinances are going to be at Tuesday December 17th's council meeting second budget meeting is adjourned get home safe everybody thank you president