HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 9/26/2023 (2) Approved
Kent City Council
• City Council Special Meeting
KENT Minutes
WAS HiNaTor+ September 26, 2023
Date: September 26, 2023
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Place: Chambers
1. CALL TO ORDER / FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Ralph called the meeting to order.
2. ROLL CALL
Attendee Name itlle= Status Arrived
Dana Ralph Mayor Present
Bill Boyce Council President Excused
Brenda Fincher Councilmember Present
Satwinder Kaur Councilmember Present
Marli Larimer Councilmember Present
Toni Troutner Councilmember Present
Les Thomas Councilmember Excused _
Zandria Michaud Councilmember Present
3. MAYOR RALPH'S 2024 MID BIENNIUM BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS
MESSAGE
Mayor Ralph presented the mid biennium budget message as follows:
I am pleased to present to the City Council the proposed 2024 Mid-Biennium
Budget Adjustment. The city council adopted the original 2023-2024 Biennial
Budget in November 2022. That budget process represented continued
collaboration between the council, our city departments and community
members.
I firmly believe a budget is a road map that reflects the values of an
organization. That is why I am grateful that we, as city leaders, were able to
come together with shared values that centered around benefiting our
residents and business owners.
While constructing the 2023-2024 Biennial Budget, the impacts of inflation
played a major role in our decision-making process. With the Consumer Price
Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Seattle-
Tacoma-Bellevue area increasing to 9.5% as of June 2022, we recognized a
growth in expenditures would be imminent. The resulting increase would
exacerbate the structural imbalance the City had already been facing as labor
contracts are tied, at least in part, to CPI-W. Outside of salaries and benefits,
operation and projects costs were on the rise as well.
Knowing inflation was going to have a significant impact on the 2023-2024
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Biennial Budget, departments were asked to maintain a status quo budget
for this biennium, as was agreed upon by the city council earlier that year.
Any budget request had to come with a revenue stream or expenditure
reduction to support it. This proposed mid-biennium budget adjustment
carries the theme of maintaining status quo as we move forward into the
second year of this budget.
A mid-biennium budget adjustment provides the opportunity to account for
unforeseen changes in fiscal events which have occurred since the adoption
of the biennial budget. It is typically not the time to bring forward new
initiatives nor to significantly change the level of service across departments.
It does provide an opportunity to review and update our initial forecasts. We
have completed that review and budgets were refined to reflect current
trends.
This mid-biennial budget adjustment includes:
Updated revenue forecasts
Adjustments to salaries and benefits to align with CPI-W and other known
factors
Some additional operating expenditures including 7.25 full-time equivalent
employees and 3 term-limited positions
Increased insurance costs and contributions
Modifications to cost allocations, and
Some investment in capital
Of the total $443.85 million budget, $121.89 million is allocated to the
General Fund. The General Fund will see a $2.5 million or 2.1% increase in
expenditures from the adopted budget. The adopted budget had originally
planned to use nearly $3.1 million of the General Fund's balance. With
revenue increases of $4.6 million to align with current trends, the General
Fund will only need to use $1 million of fund balance instead of the $3.1
million initially planned.
Public Safety
The Kent Police Department is on the forefront of transparency and
accountability in law enforcement. With funding from revenues generated by
the newly installed red-light cameras, in-car cameras will be installed in
patrol vehicles resulting in additional transparency. These cameras will
enhance officer and public safety as well as provide greater investigative
abilities for filing cases. The in-car cameras will however increase the
workload of both our Legal Department and City Clerk's Office. This budget
adjustment includes the addition of a new Prosecutor and Public Disclosure
Analyst which will start mid-year. These positions will be funded by red-light
camera revenue.
Changes in policing have put increasing demands on the resources of our
Police Department. With historically high crime and staffing challenges, we
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have arrived at a pivotal point to ensure the effectiveness of Police Command
Staff to lead the department. This budget adjustment restores the vacant
Deputy Chief position which will provide a much-needed balance of workload
at the executive level of the Police Department, ensuring adequate resources
are dedicated to the oversight, management, planning and implementation of
police operations.
Included in this budget is $100,000 for investigative technology which will
assist the detective and traffic units. This technology allows for real-time
viewing of footage from our drones resulting in greater situational awareness
for major incidents, faster review times by detectives, and automatic
transmission of video footage for storage and use. We have also included a
proposal to purchase a fully functional crime scene van set up with
computers, equipment, refrigeration, power generation, etc. which will
increase the efficiency of our Detectives working on major crime scenes. The
crime scene van will be paid for using the funding provided by the legislature
in 2021. I also included in this budget is use of red-light camera revenue to
upgrade cell phones for all officers. With all the technology needed for
policing, it is imperative that we have adequate equipment to handle the
requirements of advancing technology.
Municipal Court
The criminal justice system traditionally seeks to reduce crime first by
rehabilitation and then by punishment. While fines or jail can be effective and
sometimes necessary deterrents, they do not address the problems that
many people struggle with that might have led them to commit crimes. Such
problems can include substance use disorder or mental health challenges.
While not everyone committing crime faces these challenges, Community
Court can connect the offenders that do with resources. Community Court
holds participants accountable while offering resources and support to
establish stability. The Kent Municipal Court does have a Community Court
program which was initially funded with a state grant and ARPA funds. The
Opioid Settlement funds are now available to help support this program. A
key factor to ensure the success of the program is proper staffing. This
budget adjustment will increase a Resource Coordinator position from part-
time to full-time. This position will help to connect people to resources.
Funding for this position will be offset by a reduction to the Court's
temporary employee budget.
Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Security and safety of our city facilities have been in the forefront of our
minds as we have seen continued growth in theft and vandalism. A project
for Access Control upgrades is currently underway, focusing on adding new
systems to the Kent Commons, Senior Center, Driving Range, and Golf
Course. These locations currently lack an access control system. This budget
expands the project by $200,000 to upgrade security at other City facilities
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including Centennial Center, City Shops, Municipal Court, and Corrections, to
name a few. Not only has the project expanded locations but the scope of the
project will expand to become a complete security upgrade, incorporating
cameras and alarms where indicated.
The use of our Parks has been increasing and changing rapidly over the last
several years for a variety of factors. This requires our delivery of services to
evolve. With this budget adjustment, our Parks Department will explore a
one-time pilot program in which it will contract a security firm to provide
support to manage high-use park locations such as Lake Meridian, Van
Doren's, Hogan and West Fenwick parks and to support events during the
peak season. Through enhanced management of these locations, we will
proactively provide safer, accessible gathering spaces for the public.
In 2019, the City was awarded $1.4 million from the King County Veterans,
Seniors, and Human Services Levy (VSHSL) for 2019 through 2023. Funding
from the levy enabled the Senior Activity Center to add one Program
Coordinator and one Program Assistant. The renewal of the levy was
approved in August 2023, and the Parks Department will reapply for funding
from the renewed levy. This budget adjustment includes gap funding for the
two positions initially funded through the levy to maintain our current levels
of service at the Senior Activity Center until VSHSL funding is awarded to the
City.
The City of Kent is required by law to implement a Stormwater Management
Program which includes ongoing operations and maintenance intended to
reduce pollutant runoff from municipal operations. This not only is a
requirement of our Public Works Department but is also a requirement of
Parks and Facilities. This budget adjustment includes funding to support this
program for City parks and facilities.
Public Works
There has been continued growth in the number of traffic signals deployed
throughout the City. The City's street signals also continue to be impacted by
wire theft and vandalism. The combination of expanding infrastructure and
theft have resulted in a strain on maintenance and repair resources.
Therefore, this budget includes the addition of one Traffic Signal Technician
to address the ongoing needs.
City standards require capital projects and private development projects to
install landscaping within the right-of-way as an enhancement to
streetscapes. These areas include planter strips and planted medians or
islands. Traditional vegetation maintenance, which includes line trimming and
mowing, cannot be performed within these areas.
A more focused, hands-on approach is required to maintain these sites.
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Several locations are currently in the warranty phase' of the project in which
the contractor handles the maintenance. These periods are about to expire,
and the work will be turned over to Public Works staff to perform. This
budget reallocates a portion of the Street Tree budget and a reduction in the
contractor budget to add two new Maintenance Workers to perform the
specialized ongoing landscaping needs.
We know succession planning is invaluable and something we are working on
city wide. This holds true with the Water Quality and Source and Supply work
group. The ongoing training, state certification requirements and the level of
expertise required to operate Kent's water system to provide potable water
to Kent residents is critical. In preparation for anticipated retirements, this
budget includes the addition of one term-limited Maintenance Worker who
will be trained in operating Kent's drinking water treatment system. The
same holds true at the management level. Allowing for overlap with the
current incumbent prior to retirement will help with the transition of
knowledge needed to successfully operate Kent's complex infrastructure
system. Therefore, this budget adjustment includes the addition of a term-
limited Utility Site and Process Control Manager. These positions will be
funded from the Water Utility.
Over the last couple of years, the City has been analyzing the funding and
allocation model for the Fleet Fund. The next step in this process is to
implement a Fleet Key Box system that will gather data needed to better
analyze the utilization of vehicles and construction equipment. This system
will automate motor pool vehicle reservations, automate billing and
reporting, and provide data to help right-size our fleet. One key box system
will be located at the shops and one will be located at the Centennial Center.
Economic and Community Development
During the 2023 state legislative session, over 20 bills were passed that
focused on planning, housing supply, affordability, and other land-use issues.
These bills have significantly impacted the scope of the required
Comprehensive Plan update which must be adopted by the end of 2024 to be
ready for the PSRC recertification process which will occur early in 2025.
This budget adjustment includes a one-year term-limited temporary Planner
to assist the two-person Long Range Planning team to update the
Comprehensive Plan, implement the new housing legislation, and review the
Downtown Subarea Plan necessary to maintain the PSRC certification. This
position will be funded through grant revenues.
Human Resources
In the spring of 2020, due to anticipated revenue losses as the result of
COVID-19, the City made budget reductions that included the elimination of
several positions. One of those positions was the Administrative Assistant in
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the Human Resources Department. This budget adjustment will restore that
position. In addition, it will convert a term-limited Benefits Analyst to a
permanent position. By allocating a portion of the Benefits Team to the
Health and Wellness Fund, the costs of these positions will not have an
impact on the General Fund.
Information Technology
During the 2023-2024 mid-biennium budget, funding was allocated to
replace desktop computers and Police mobile data computers (MDCs). This
mid-biennium budget allocates an additional $95,000 toward those efforts.
Maintenance contracts and digital subscriptions were adjusted to reflect
current costs.
An additional $351,000 will be allocated for various technology projects to
include a:
Redesign of our intranet and migration of the City's legacy Cityspace site to
Sharepoint Online.
Web application firewall implementation reducing the attack surface in our
externally facing infrastructure that directly support citizens and businesses.
eConnect replacement providing a best-in-class service software designed to
deliver high quality communication to City of Kent residents.
CONCLUSION
Although this is a mid-biennium budget adjustment, we continued to be
mindful of the things ahead, particularly its impacts on the 2025-2026
Biennial Budget process. We know we have work to do with the upcoming
biennial budget as we continue to navigate the structural imbalance,
inflation, and labor costs. This adjustment reflects balancing the service
delivery needs of residents, businesses and city departments while
considering the impact to future budgets.
Outside of this mid-biennium budget process, I think it is important to note
that we all know that we have some unfinished business. Crime is on the rise
and continues to impact our lives. While supportive of police accountability
measures, this Council has supported our legislature as it has taken steps to
restore tools and reasonable enforcement techniques that allow the police to
effectively perform its public safety function. This Council has made
unanimous decisions to help the Police Department bring up our staffing
levels.
However, as we all know, Kent has fewer officers per capita than almost any
other city in Washington and Washington has fewer officers per capita than
all other states in the nation. Thus, even at full budgeted staffing, Kent's
number of police officers continues to be low. We are all feeling the impacts.
That means we have work to do.
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Kent City Council City Council Special Meeting September 26, 2023
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In the coming months, we plan to work with the state legislature to pass
laws that would allow Washington cities access to local funding options to
add police officers and we call on all cities in Washington to support those
efforts.
Tonight, I respectfully transmit this mid-biennium budget adjustment to the
City Council for consideration. This document is a representation of the
collaborative efforts of City leadership, the City Council, City staff and the
Kent community and holds true to our agreed upon commitment to a status
quo budget.
I would like to extend my gratitude to City leadership and the Finance
Department for their hard work throughout this process.
4. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Ralph adjourned the meeting.
Meeting ended at 5:22 p.m.
K%4�ley A. Kom to-
City Clerk
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