 Move to adopt the resolution motion been made and seconded. Is there any discussion on this? Okay all those in favor Okay, I Have I moved to amend? this I Move to amend the resolution we're having technical difficulties here All right I am going to propose that we put in the table of organization of full-time communications specialist for the city of Sheboygan and Little bit of a rationale The media coverage for the city in the last decade has changed. We don't have local reporting now We've got regional reporting and it makes government transparency and communications more difficult The city has no communications plan and I just like to share this They spreadsheet With an estimated 40 website addresses and 57 social media sites to contact our city It has 22 administrators And for lack of coordination the city, I don't think is getting a maximum MIMCAC from collaborating with WSTS with me library with this at Sheboygan and several other community organizations The ground has been laid for this particular Particular job in 2019 and eight member communications task force of four city employees and four local businesses business communications professionals Met for eight months to study the city's communications efforts the year-end report cited the absence of the following a unified communication strategy a full-time communication staff person or department and an interdepartmental communications team a Dedicated communications position isn't a new concept the city of Racine has one at least one And West Bend has one full-time communication specialist So my proposal is to establish a full-time communications position in the mayor's office starting in 2022 We will develop a job description and a budget hire the employee Estimated between 70 and $85,000 a year that has the appropriate educational credentials and a demonstrated track record in the profession So that is my motion to establish a full-time communications position We're here second What you're voting on here is the budget appropriations and tax levy So what you what you really need to have in making an amendment? It's not so much a change to the to you would do that later, but you would have to make a change to the budget appropriation to add a particular amount x amount to Either to the levy or or add a new line item and then you have to account for that by taking it out of somewhere else So that needs to be a part of your motion All right For this particular year, and I don't expect that it will continue this way But I would move that it come from the general fund balance the unallocated portion of the general fund balance And I know that that's probably unusual but if we consider this as a project in process That first year this communications person I think Can can go about and work with the mayor and the department heads to Determine what's needed and how it's needed and at that point I think that we can we can look at establishing different funding I Think probably when when the technology department Presented their budget to us just a couple of weeks ago each department contributes a certain percentage of Their budget to technology because they all use it and I don't know that that would be how we would fund it But I think Everybody needs communications and we need consistent and we need to establish the brand We need to develop the plan and we need to centralize both external and internal So that crosses a lot of departments. So but for this particular one I think it should come from the general fund balance. That's Unallocated and what's what's the amount that you'd be? well, let's do The 70 to 85 plus So you would be take you would in essence be adding a hundred thousand dollars to the personnel bucket. Do we have a line item number? I Vicky in the queue. Oh, I would like to ask her to free chime in with this me, but Thank you, I just wanted to make a mention that when you have a budget of For a full-time position. We would also make an assumption regarding benefits. So that would add Just conservatively if someone chooses the family plan, for example, that's our best way to do it It could be up to twenty five thousand dollars additional for for the health benefits that the city covers so I Just didn't want you to Underestimate the cost of what this position would be if the salaries is at eighty five thousand There would be additional funding for benefits Okay, thank you So we maybe won't offer up to eighty five maybe we'll offer up to seventy five But I think a hundred thousand is a nice round number for starters So so I just want to I'm just sort of making sure we clarify before we get a second So your motion then would be to add $100,000 to the Salaries and benefits line items in the mayor's budget For a full-time communication position the funds to be taken from the general fund balance and Equivalent amount reduced from there Do we have a second Okay, motion is made in second discussion on this Okay Just put push a button on me. Okay, okay Hey, there you go. There you go. We need red make you a job by fire Yeah, I was just asking what is our current communication? How do we deal with the now since we do not have a communication specialist? I'd love to kind of jump in I Respectfully think that this position has merit to it Presently we do have a communications Person the mayor's assistant is his assistant and half of her position is communications And she presently does handle quite a bit of communications with the city city newsletter our Instagram or Twitter things like that Other departments also handle different websites and Activities throughout the city and that's part of the disconnect What I would like to add real quickly though is We have and I just want to stress that we have to be careful We have to have a strategic plan and we have to make sure that the plan is Strong enough to continue to have it year over year I know as a member the mayor and I are members of the SEEDC and they are hiring a Communications position Presently and they're they're struggling to fill the position and they're asking they're they're actually Looking to spend over a hundred thousand dollars just on wages not benefits So respectfully if they are struggling to fill this position a communications position at a hundred thousand Respectfully the city is going to be looking at not a hundred thousand dollars But more like a hundred thirty to a hundred fifty thousand dollars to actually fill the position with a qualified candidate I Do want to make sure that as we are a newer a newer council Please remember that TIT 11 actually saved the city in 2021's budget because of the closure I've been stating for a year and a half that 2022 and 2023 are going to be difficult times Because of the loss in revenue that the city has has been sustaining year over year and with aligned energy Closing the the facility that's again a loss in revenue As a new elder So I do want to make sure that people understand that we we are addressing a lot of internal issues and adding additional personnel when we have Positions we have five to six present positions at the bus as bus drivers not filled We have a police department three plus Positions open the court system has one position open We have multiple crossing guards that we need we have a permit clerk That's open again low wages. We haven't been able to fill that position We have a supervisor position at DPW Haven't been able to fill that position because of low wages waste water We have a supervisor position again low wages haven't been able to fill it the police department Communications position. This is the person that does all the PD and he's he's the he or she would be the position that actually puts The equipment in the squad powers and make sure that all of the communications at the PD are up to Up to the level needed. That's a skilled position again We're not able to fill it because of low wages the fire department. I believe we have a lieutenant position That's available and open DPW has three and a half positions open Uptown senior center will have a position that's open and needed to be filled in 2022 and There's additional positions that I'm sure out there that we continuously haven't been able to fill and that's why the city is doing the wage study and I really really ask the council, please consider that we look at this position in 2022 versus trying to force it in right now because we have positions as we As the council has approved the studies in process with Carlson Deppman and There we know that we have a significant amount of positions within the city That are below the rate that they should be so we could lose additional people We also have a position at the at the meet public library that they would like us to fill which is the Teen teen librarian if I'm saying it correctly again That's that position is a significant cost and we have we that's not even on the on the docket today So my concern is if we if we approve this position and we have so many other open positions What are we showing our present employees? Where's the importance? Communication is very important not disagreeing. I do agree that it needs to be addressed the city looked at this back in 2017 during the strategic plan in 2018 the community survey shot it down with the rebranding and the and the improvement of communication DPW did it a little bit of a rebranding during the garbage cart program And the city and city administrator prior before me was in it was involved in that but again It was shot down by the council We do have a person in communications and I agree that it needs to be addressed But we need to have a plan and I personally don't feel that Just making a line item addition Really is going to set this position and person up for success because it's not just the wage of a hundred of 70 to 85 thousand dollars, which I respectfully think is too low Saying a hundred K. We still also have to give that person Additional dollars to be able to be successful in implementing whatever needs to be done in cleaning up our actual communications policy If you have any additional questions, please let me know Common think thank you chairman Decker. So I guess I'll just come out of the gate I oppose this amendment. I would encourage all those to vote against this I think that this is a reckless way to handle the budget right now as it is I think there are a lot more things that are already in the docket We have the strategic plan coming along the line Which will set a clear vision and help us with a plan of how we can have a solid communication Strategy as we move forward as administrator wolf mentioned. We are currently reviewing all the job descriptions in the city Through this JDQ process So we understand and we hear we hear the elders concerns now I'm still the new mayor And we do have we do have a communications person to answer older older. Wilkins comment as well, too I think a better process moving forward will be to probably pump the brakes on this amendment and There are other options myself By my assistant and the communications person Sarah would be happy to present At a finance personnel committee meeting or another platform if you will to talk about what we currently do for communications What options are out there for moving forward? I know that myself administrator wolf director Schneider have all Asked that before that something like this would happen that we'd have a conversation prior I don't believe that we had full conversations or complete conversations in my opinion About how we move forward on this. So I don't know if other elders have any questions I know that we have so many room so much more room for opportunity and growth when it comes for communications But throwing some numbers on it where it doesn't sound like we had a solid plan Right out of the gate. I don't think is this is solid as well in administrator wolf head on it, too We're just talking about salaries and benefits now. What's the conversation on the tools when you talk about communications now? We need video editing Platforms now we need new computers now we need Different there's other things that need to be paid for as well for have this person to be successful Myself would be successful other city staff to be successful as well So we're we're not even you know, we talk about we don't have a communications plan We don't even have a plan out to do this right now So I would respectfully disagree with with this amendment and encourage a no vote from all this. Thank you Alderperla I have my reservations as well about this plan and although I like the idea very much I'm thinking that perhaps as also the mayor mentioned we may Need to look into better ways to utilize the current role of Communication so maybe there is a way to strategize better the use of the current specialist While addressing the issue on long terms Oh Sir Mike Mike and I appreciate I heard all the observations. I appreciate fact that Yes, there is a way to do it And I also think we need to appreciate the fact that this has been in discussion since 2017-18-19 we have a report 20 we're in 21 we weigh another year That's 22 and we put it in the 23 year budget. So seven years from the time We recognize there was an issue Until we act on it and and that's a concern and secondly if you recall that my first My first try at let's amend this was to put it in the table of organization and and Alder Not Alder Wolf Alder Wolf, but currently administrator Wolf Read a whole laundry list of jobs. We don't have filled I would love to have Communications director on that list that says not filled. I just I just I want it I want it there. So I want it there. I think the city needs it Am I willing to wait if the alders say sure we should wait? I just want you to know we're seven years out if we wait because it will be 2023 Hopefully before we get something in it may be Right alder Laster I'm just curious given that this has been a conversation for so long I'm not I'm not seeing it in the strategic plan. Is that something we can talk about or add or why haven't we I Have the same interest so I'm just going to be blunt and say that as it is the current strategic plan is not a strategic plan And no offense to city staff that have put hours and work in it and they'll they'll say it as well, too In my opinion and I believe administrator Wolfsters shares a similar opinion that the strategic plan was almost Format of setting goals and kind of checking boxes I think we've did a great job at meeting those benchmarks And this is a big priority in terms of why we're hiring Baker Tilly so that we can have a professionally done Strategic plans that we have professionals that do this work in the municipal world so that we can have a more in-depth Conversation about where we want to move the city forward. So the first strategic plan Yes, I wouldn't call it a strategic plan. I think that just kind of Is a comfortable term for individuals? I think kind of set schools and priorities and benchmarks for us Which is part of a strategic plan, but we we need to set a vision in terms of where we want to go And not necessarily just check a box and say we planted X number of trees We had this number of people like a Facebook post if you will so we want something more comprehensive more professional So that's why we're taking it to the next step with this Baker Tilly contract this Strategic plan is if we call it was done in-house And it was it was primarily done by director Palachuk. I believe And not knocking his work at all. I think he did awesome with the tools that he had But we want to step it up a notch and just to reference older Flicky Pineski's comment, too. I think we have new leadership now I think we have us really good folks in the right place From the top with administrator wolf hopefully with myself With someone to park the boat department heads as well So you have a lot new newer faces on the council and leadership and that's a director level and we hear we hear the Others, I mean, I think every single person has inquired at some point about what we're doing forward I just don't believe that this is a good platform to do that Hope that answers all your questions. No, I appreciate you saying Well, and I just want to jump in the city hadn't done a strategic plan So what we did back in 2017 and I was involved as an older was a great springboard But we had no budget. We had no plan other than develop a strategic plan And that's why a year and a half ago I was the first one saying hey, we have to extend our strategic plan We were doing a look if everybody recalls the last year and a half the city has been under a lot of Opportunities as I call them. We've been bringing forward a lot of Areas that needed to be addressed. We've been doing a lot of internal Repairs and workings on our policies and procedures We have brought so much to the council That I was the first one that said hey, we need to take a timeout extend our present strategic plan and push it off a year and bring in an outside group to help us Communicate and get participation from our community because our first strategic plan Was city driven not committee not not constituent driven. We talked about how as the mayor said it was our box check You know, we planted this many trees. We did this many miles of roads We we know what the council what the city wants from our perspective, but we need to get their involvement So respectfully when we talk about adding the communications position I agree, but we have to have a plan because we have to be able to afford it We did not lay off anybody except one person That was a janitor for the senior center when we closed it and there wasn't any positions that we could give that person otherwise our Our our full employee base of 450 plus people never saw a layoff day during COVID That's a lot to say for our community. We kept everybody working and employed whether they were working from home or whatever That's a huge cost to the city. We can't continue to just hire positions I have a safety position that the city should have had it years ago Where we are such a diverse and complicated community that we don't even have a safety person To help us keep our employees safe and keep our workers compound and keep our injuries to a low level That's another piece of the puzzle that needs to be fit but again the mayor myself and the in our Value department heads and employees. We're trying to focus on the really important pieces to get them corrected and and and in place Because we want to grow the city We want to make sure that we're doing things correctly strategically having plans so that we can not just hire and have to lay them off The next year because we don't have the funding. We're not a non-profit, but we are a non-profit so we don't want to be that unbalanced that we don't know how we're going to be able to afford a year over a year and It's very important. We can't just raise our revenues. We can't just raise our taxes We have to be very cognizant and concerned with every choice we make So, let me know if you have any additional questions. Thank you All right, anyone else have any questions or concerns? Okay, so we can do this on board docs. So all those that are on Port Docs So person Mitchell your question One last quick comment. Thank you. I would just ask Mayor you mentioned maybe doing a presentation or something with finance and personnel just Keep the conversation going I would most certainly welcome that at a committee meeting anytime you guys want to go. I Think would be helpful to at least Keep talking about it and keep it up in mind Thank you over Mitchell for appreciate that. Okay, all right So everyone check your board docs Get there He's a no Barbed your vote I'm voting no Seven those two eyes Motion fails. Okay All right. Now we get back to the original Motion as anyone have any other questions concerns on on the rest of that Older cells are good. Thank you So Okay, so I would like to make a motion to increase the meet public library budget of the amount of $50,697 in order to increase the wages wages of their 12 part-time staff workers to $13 an hour So that our city budget reflects Are aimed to be an employer of choice so the one thing you're missing out of there, so it is to increase the Personnel line item for the meet public library $50,697 for the purposes you provided and it's coming from where is it also coming from the general fund balance? Was it coming from somewhere else? Well, I Guess yes, if we can pull it from the general fund the corresponding reduction in the general fund balance We have a motion to have a second I'll make the second so we can have some discussion on it Motion made in seconded Okay Let's do we have some discussion. I see Andre's got a light on there. Oh second in but she beat me Okay Yeah, okay, go ahead Thank you Dean. I do want to Say no, I would like to recommend that the council vote this down Please remember We've been doing the Carlson Deppman Wage study and I agree Wholeheartedly I was the one with the department heads that said we need to bring in Carlson Deppman to do the wage study we need to look at the cost and the benefit of every employee and we are in that process and we are moving as quickly and Diligently as possible because we have as I've said many times We have many of our team players team members that are underpaid and we have to adjust that and We have to be very cautious and have a strategic plan again And I say strategic plan and and I mean it wholeheartedly We can't just raise wages and not real realize where is the money coming from and we we also have to be very careful very very careful and Director Krueger Krueger can actually jump in on this. We can't just use general fund for operational cost That is a really really bad situation And I don't even know if we can do that technically but she has better experience with that than I do But we have said with the Carlson Deppman Plan that once we have all of the information We're going to be able to put together a plan to look at the city as a whole Now I say the city as a whole. I'm not I'm not including any of our union unionized departments. It's only the non unionized We have to make sure if we're going to focus on and I'm not saying I'm and I don't mean this in any disrespect Please remember. I don't mean it that way. I'm asking to hold off Caitlyn and myself we've we've allocated some money to put towards wage Review, but we can't just say broad stroke of the brush We're only going to take care of the library or we're only going to take care of EPW We have so many positions and so many valued employees that we really have to put a plan together and see what we can do If we're going to raise the pages, which I believe it is what we're talking about We're looking at a 30 to 40 percent increase for those couple of positions What are we telling those those those other positions that are out there that they're going to get a 30 to 40 percent increase? Also, we want to be competitive. I agree with Older Salads are we want to be the employer of choice, but we have to be able to afford it We can't just raise wages and then that would mean that we would have to take it out of the projects and Or we'd have to cut cut services. We'd have to Possibly lay people off. So we have to have a plan as I've always said and we have to take Steps and not just start running. We have so many valued people and it would not be fair for us to push this through when this when the actual actual library had a fund an actual deficit of $41,580 already Adding another 50 plus thousand dollars on top of already deficit and take it out of general fund What are we going to do next year in 2023 as I've said, and I believe Caitlyn has also said it 22 and 23 are going to be some difficult years until we have some additional tid closures. So please please please be careful This is something that is going to affect everyone. Thank you All the cells are yep. Thank you for that and I agree with you administrator We have 12 part-time workers who are currently receiving anywhere from 9 to 11 dollars an hour. They are in that special rack of that Category of the double a so they're not even hitting the base of a what we're giving across the city, right? And so what I'm asking is let's move Them out of that double a and move them into a so they're at least matching and I guess They seem to be the only ones in that role. They do we're looking at part-time staff So they won't receive health care benefits due to their status, right? And so I think we should fairly compensate them as essential workers in the city I'm concerned if we if we don't move them up sort of will we have staff To recruit them, you know, even six months from now even a year to now Considering there are multiple places. They could start to work at quick trip target McDonald's. They're offering $15 And elder Salazar, thank you for that. I I do just want to add a couple of comments I am not disagreeing and I have never disagreed with the fact that the double a Line item should never have been actually made when I first came in we stopped hiring people at the lowest Entry level because we were actually we would have to actually offer people less than what they were making to come and work for the city Not disagreeing with your statement the whole the whole wage scale Program is going to be rebuilt Because technically we have two programs. We have one For DPW and we have one for the rest of the group We have to have one wage scale and it has to be appropriate to the the cost and the value For us to be competitive. We have so many positions And I'm not disagreeing the the library is a is a perfect example But DPW as an exit also has double a's and we can't fill those positions either Are ours our employees over the summer? We're very difficult to hire because again, as you said people can go and work at anywhere anywhere for $15 now and $20 now, but what are we telling DPW employees and seasonal staff? If the library employees are more valued than the ones that are outside working in the sun and the heat and all of that They're all valued and what really needs to be addressed is the program on how we value our Positions and how we can afford it. So I'm not disagreeing. I'm just disagreeing that now is not the time to force a line item in because it will affect Area other areas within the community and other projects. Thank you If you I just want to hit the thing in this came up. Oh, here we go. Okay Okay, Alder Pirella Thank you Thank you I just need to get to clarify some things. I have been had the impression that these part-time employees at the mid-library are actually Besides the PWR those that are paid the least within the CD employees Is that correct? I mean I hear $9.00. I Hear $11.00. I hope that it is true that there are no other employees that are paid this video Okay Good your Thank you Of the of the employees for the city the pages are in that double a category and so They do have the lowest wages that going as Alder Salazar has said They range anywhere from nine dollars and thirty seven cents And to ten dollars and eighty six cents for part-time work at the library So if I if I may just explain our current pay scale grid right now It goes from double a pay grade all the way to Z And I am happy to share that document with all of you so that you can see that the the goal of the end and as Administrator Wolff said that public works also has a separate pay scale that is a holdover from After Act 10 and so it's it's older and one of the goals for this For the study with Carlson depth and one is to consolidate our pay grades so that we don't have so many we have Too many in my opinion and then also to incorporate those pay grades from public works into the nonrep pay grade scale so that Everyone will be on one systematic Scale and then with that that we will be adjusting and making those adjustments to all the All the positions which would also include the pages at the library because When we initiated the Carlson depth men's study earlier this year We submitted 140 job positions for the city and part of the problem that we had as as an organization over the course of time is that we have been inconsistent or does not keeping up not keeping pace With with the with the marketplace and so it was very clear that we had some positions that were incorrectly categorized that is no doubt We have positions that were similar positions that were put in in disparate grades so it was rather it's sometimes random and And When we discovered and talked about the different Disparities within the wage scale that this was not just a singular problem in one department It was across the organization and that's where Going to Carlson depth men was critical for us to be able to offer just wages for all positions And to be able to put those categories into a place where we know that they are That our employees are being paid equitably because we know that we are not keeping pace with our competition in many ways So we are hopeful that the Carlson depth men's study will be able to guide us and so that we can be consistent and fair across the board with all the different positions that we have Again, that does include the pages. We are meeting with Carlson depth men and by we I mean administrator Wolf director Caitlyn Krieger myself And with Carlson depth men's leadership team to do the follow-up for what they have discovered through the the conversations that they had with every director here Regarding all the positions and we we have an expectation that within the next couple weeks We will have more direction to go in with what the wages should and could look like So I don't disagree that the wages are not in alignment with what what necessarily needs to be I just don't know what the what the resolution should be for I Don't want to be premature in saying that this this Classification needs to have a wage adjustment when we haven't been able to do all the different classifications So we'd like to make sure that we're being fair to all employees and is it photo op I Wanted to So it seems unlikely to me that and I agree that there is a study We should wait for the results and and the and address The city employees as a whole but at the same time seems unlikely to me that The study will not show that nine will ten dollars and thirty five cents is not enough for the pages so what I'm trying to say is that There is no obviously this is not a fair Retribution to these individuals I I do feel Full-heartedly that this is I mean it's it's something that I support to Try to make this more fair for these employees while waiting for the study to be completed and Address the situation of the city as a whole Hold on a laster. Okay. I have two questions one Can we wait to approve the budget until the study is done? That seems to me the most equitable way I totally understand adding in Insurance and things like that and that there's other people paid at a lower amount So I'm not sure why we're pushing this through before a study is done because then to me Aren't we gonna wait a whole another year to create more equitable wages? My other question Caitlyn is for you Everyone's talking about pulling from this general fund and so because I am new I'm just asking for Clarification the dangers in that and if there's any reason that there's a benefit to it Okay Thank you general fund fund balance is really used for reserves and rainy day fund We use it for contingency every year Which is projects that come up that we have not planned for for instance my munis chart of account redesign Was 40,000 of fund balance use the concern with using fund balance for recurring expense Is that the fund balance can get depleted and then you have nothing to pay these employees with? So the big concern from a financial standpoint is using any fund balance for a recurring expense Just like your bank account at home if you have savings accounts You're not going to use it to pay your cable bill every month because eventually you'll you'll run out of money So that's the big concern from there. I will just also make a comment as The finance director I've had five different departments come to me asking for wage adjustments for employees that they were either about to lose or Had inklings that they were going to lose or could not fill And I've told five different people that we could not make any adjustments because of this compensation study I think I'm along I'm in line with everyone else knowing that this wage does need to be adjusted But if we will have results in the next few weeks We have a wage reserve wage adjustment reserve built into the budget So we could wait until we get the results in order to make a final decision on how to pay Thank you. If I could if I may just add a few things here real quickly Nobody in the city whether it's Vicki myself Caitlyn the mayor We are not in disagreeing that there's an issue with the wages That's why we we brought Carlson Detman forward We didn't just make a broad stroke at a brush and say oh well Let's raise the wages in this department that department willy-nilly like the past We're actually putting data And structure to this and we're also looking and planning on building a Plan so that we're because we can't fix it overnight It's going to take several years to get us where we need to be Respectfully, but we have to have a plan on how we can afford it unless the council is willing to raise the wages and then lay people off when we run out of the money we can do that or We can raise the wages and then we can reduce the service structure that that we provide And none of us want to do that my concern is We have such a delicate situation and that's again Carlson Detman explained to vicki Schneider and myself that since we came on board with the program with them 85 municipalities signed up afterwards. This is not a city of Sheboygan problem this is a problem throughout the country with when it comes to wages because we have less in Employees out there so more and more employees can pick and choose where they want to go and Respectfully, we're talking about some part-time positions That are working in a very good environment. I'm not disagreeing. They're not making enough I'm not disagreeing with that, but we have other employees that are making similar wages in In a in a more hazardous environment compared to an office space The other piece that we want to be careful with and I'm just respectfully pointing this out There is the ripple effect you raise the wage from 9 to 13 Now the person at $14 is going to say well, what about me and the person at $15 is going to say what about me? And then those people at TPW that are making the $10 and $11 are going to say well, what about me all of a sudden we're going to have people just clamoring to get away because We are not looking at the whole. We're looking at an individual area and Personally for all of us we have to look at a big picture and have a plan and be strategic because I don't want to have to Lay people off in 2022 Because we went too far too fast We have to be able to to afford this and as Caitlyn said We have a we have a reserve We're asking for a little bit more time so that we can do this and have data behind it to respectfully Help everybody understand. Where are they in that position? Some positions in life are not meant to be careers. Some positions are meant to be additional income or You know, maybe a part-time job for a mother or a grandmother. So thank you Father or a father. Sorry. Sorry, my dad older Pranezky Actually, I'll pass but you're okay, uh, mayor Think thank you Dean. I'm just gonna take it back to our awesome fine instructor Caitlyn I'm just just so all there's to be informed about the budget process So short answer all our laster to your question. No, we can't we have to have the budget Prove this here and we're not anticipating the complete study to be done Have you worry early next year? Hopefully the end of this year, but we have a plan after and just maybe maybe Director Krieger can kind of just talk more about the budget process And we have to prove it and then we have to send numbers to the county and then to the state as well So we have we have to get this done by certain timelines as well And then director Krieger could you also just quick quickly just kind of go a little more in depth about the impact that this has on our general fund In terms of our credit rating scores and other just financial Other impacts as well Just so so the elders can be informed about that impact as well Sure, so I'll start with the budget timeline We have the budget meeting tonight next monday is the public hearing November 1st is anticipated Potential adoption Why we need the budget approved and really it's the levy is specifically needing to be approved Is so that we can get the tax bills out in december? so we can't push that off too far and It just makes the timeline for finance department and working with the county and other taxing jurisdictions Really tight if we postpone it any longer than that So from a budget timeline standpoint, we're we're kind of towards the end of the year and we're going to have to approve Well, we're you're going to have to approve a budget But for a budget amendment purposes, we have the four hundred thousand dollar fund balance Not fund balance wage amendment reserves Which is not using any fund balance So that is an amount that I built into the budget this year so that next year We can do a budget amendment and change the compensation and the salary lines throughout all department budgets Based on the compensation study results So that four hundred thousand can go and get reallocated to all the appropriate departments that are needing the adjustments Including the library for example For a fund balance standpoint to answer the mayor's question that is For credit the credit agencies for moody's exam for example, they like looking at the city and using fund balance in a planned and Structured way using it for capital projects for example and having a spend down that's over let's say five years is a better way of doing it than using it for um Recurring expenses that are maybe unanticipated Um But could have been budgeted for so the for so doing the Library adjustment out of fund balance would probably look be looked at negatively I will tell you from previous experience that my previous municipality when we um had the budget Balanced with the use of fund balance. We got dinged on it every time So it's something that you want to definitely make sure that you're doing responsibly Am I missing anything? No, you're you're you're correct. And if we do lose our rating Um, that means that our geo bonding which is general obligation bonding or borrowing Our interest rate would increase And obviously that that's a rolling average. So they would look at that for multiple years all their promosky. Yeah, um When you talk about the the reserve the wage reserve Is that for the two percent wage increase that we budgeted for? No, that's an addition. Okay, and and You talked about using of of fund balance for um Recurring when it could have been anticipated I daresay that nine dollars an hour was Anticipated and it was not put into the budget Is that accurate? That's accurate The wage request to be increased from nine Was not put into the budget. No, the wage the wage of the employees Is anticipated at the present level plus a two percent across the board and then katelyn and and I have Allocated money in a in a wage reserve So that we can look at how where we where we need to allocate it We know that we have critical areas throughout the city and Please $400,000 is not going to be enough But we have to be able to afford it because it's not just 400,000. There's benefits. There's insurance. There's all these compounding pieces so as an example if you're looking at you know $43,600 for The library that's a chunk coming out of the Reserve that we're putting aside Just for a few a few people. So again, we want to look at everybody Not just a certain area Can I ask one more question? Yes We've paid a couple consultants and I know that they're expensive and i'm just curious What funds are those monies coming from? And depending on the consultants that you're referencing We budgeted As katelyn had pointed out reserves And that money would come out of the reserves because it's not something that we do on a regular basis And because we budget money into reserves They're one-time payment one-time project And it's not a reoccurring The the concern that you have when when it comes to operations You don't want to use general fund to finance your general your your operational costs your employee costs That is a slippery slope And moody's looks at that very negatively Alrighty any other comments or questions then? We'll see we're back on to the amendment If you would want to reference your board docs Four eyes five nose Okay, that is defeated um, we'll go on to the original Original proposal any other comments or on on the original document? Okay, uh, then we'll vote on that holder wilton nine eyes All right motion passes Alrighty we'll go on to 2.3 rc number 130 20 to 22 21 22 light license hearing and public safety committee for Resolution number 75 21 22 by all the person's feldi flicky fineski Establishing the 2022 budget appropriations and the 2021 tax livy for use during the calendar year recommends adopt the resolution so you've already adopted the resolution so a Proper motion on this one and on 2.4 would just be simply to file the rc Been made in second to defile the rc any other comments on this Okay Voice okay all those in favor any opposed Terror votes aye that is passed okay, we're down to three 2.4 rc number 131 21 22 by public works committee doom was referred resolution 75 21 22 by all the person's feldi and flicky fineski establishing the 2022 budget appropriations and the 2021 tax livy for use during the calendar year recommends adopting Again, just file there. Okay motions made and seconded to file Any other comments all those in favor? Aye any opposed Chair votes aye that is passed okay We have exhausted the agenda is there a motion to adjourn Motion made and seconded all those in favor Aye any opposed we are adjourned. Thank you