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Finance staff say budget near goal at 2.9%; auditors delayed as TIF review and parks hires move forward
Summary
Finance staff told the Finance Committee the proposed budget landed at 2.9%, auditors missed an April 30 deadline, and staff have issued an RFP to review TIF districts while preparing to post a parks director and onboard an economic development hire.
A finance staff member told the Finance Committee the proposed budget has reached the target tax/ levy goal, saying, "I think we've, you know, landed the plane at 2.9%, which is was the goal." The committee heard that a planned audit missed the April 30 deadline and staff expect to meet repeatedly with auditors to finish reports ahead of a May sign-off.
The discussion matters because the committee is balancing a near-term adoption timeline with longer-term economic-development priorities tied to Tax Increment Financing districts, staffing and council expectations for strategic planning.
Finance staff described steps intended to speed and clarify the annual process, including starting strategic planning earlier, getting council input on policy-level priorities instead of line-by-line reviews, and onboarding up to three new council members next year to shorten meetings. Staff also said they have issued a consultant RFP "to help us guide that TIF process both in, you know, managing, the current TIFs and where the funding's at," and signaled a potential refresh of priorities for TIF-funded projects last updated in 02/2014.
Staff flagged an "unallocated around $400,000 in into funding, that's currently sequestered to only specific types of economic development activities," and said some of those restrictions may be due for a policy update. Committee members discussed options ranging from modest edits to a larger reimagining of TIF areas (including a downtown/"Waterfront District" and a courthouse-area expansion) to direct investments in housing and parks and recreation.
On staffing, finance staff said the budget includes funds to post a parks and recreation director job and to onboard an economic development director pending final budget approval: "I'm gonna have a parks direct director, job description ready to post on Tuesday," the staff member said. Staff also noted roughly $500,000 in budget items currently overseen across departments rather than by a single department head, and discussed consolidating oversight.
Committee members pressed for clearer timelines and better council onboarding: one member urged more council participation earlier in the process so meetings focus on policy tradeoffs instead of detailed line items. Staff agreed to schedule additional meetings with auditors and to provide updates on the consultant RFP and hiring posts before the council's Monday budget sign-off vote.
The committee did not take formal votes on TIF changes, hiring or budget adoption during the session; staff said the council's budget sign-off is expected in May and several items (the TIF consultant contract and new hires) depend on that adoption and subsequent personnel actions.
