City Council Discussion Transcript – 08/05/2019 Title: City of Austin Channel: 6 - COAUS Recorded On: 8/5/2019 6:00:00 AM Original Air Date: 8/5/2019 Transcript Generated by SnapStream ================================== [2:03:45 PM] >> Mayor Adler: ALL RIGHT. I LIKE THIS LOCATION. EVERY TIME I COME HERE THERE ARE GOOD THINGS HAPPENING WHICH MAKES IT A GOOD PLACE TO HAVE A CITY COUNCIL MEETING. WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND CONVENE THIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING, BUT BEFORE WE DO, I WANT US TO TAKE A MOMENT OF SILENCE HERE AS A GROUP TO THINK ABOUT AND REFLECT UPON THE FOLKS THAT HAVE DIED OR ARE INJURED IN EL PASO AND IN DAYTON THIS WEEKEND. AND AS WE DO THAT I THINK WE SHOULD ALSO SEND OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO OUR COLLEAGUE CHRIS CHIN WHO HAD A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, AND WE SEND THOUGHTS TO HIM AND HIS FAMILY AS WELL. IF WE COULD JUST TAKE JUST A MOMENT. [MOMENT OF SILENCE]. ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. SO TODAY IS MONDAY, AUGUST 5TH. WE ARE AT LIFEWORKS HERE, FOUNDATION YOUTH AND FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER AT 535 NORTH PLEASANT VALLEY ROAD IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. [2:04:45 PM] IT IS 2:04 AND WE ARE GOING TO CONVENE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING TO RECEIVE THE MANAGER'S BUDGET PROPOSAL. WE'RE GOING TO BEGIN WITH SUSAN MCDOWELL WELCOMING US TO THE LOCATION. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE LYRIC WARDLOW WHO WILL SPEAK TO US BRIEFLY AND THEN OUR MANAGER WILL SPEAK TO US AND WE'LL GET A PRESENTATION. AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION WE'RE GOING TO ADJOURN THE THIS MEETING AND THEN CONVENE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING FOR THE PURPOSE OF DELIBERATING ON ONE OF THE PETITIONS THAT WERE FILED AND CERTIFIED BECAUSE WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION OF SOME SORT WITHIN 10 DAYS OF THAT CERTIFICATION, WHICH WAS 10 DAYS AGO. SO WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT. AND THEN WE GET TO END FOR THE DAY. SO LET'S BEGIN WITH SUSAN MCDOWELL. SUSAN, THANKS FOR BRINGING US HERE. [APPLAUSE]. [2:05:45 PM] >> WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON AND WELCOME TO LIFEWORKS. WE'RE DELIGHTED TO HAVE YOU HERE TODAY. I'M DELIGHTED AND VERY HUMBLED TO HOST THIS EVENT. SO LET ME BEGIN BY WELCOMING OUR MAYOR, CITY COUNCILMEMBERS, CITY MANAGER, THE REST OF THE FEARLESS STAFF OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN WHO IS HERE AND CITY ADVOCATES. I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE LIFEWORKS BOARD CHAIR JOHN ARMSTRONG AND THE REST OF THE EQUALLY FEARLESS LIFEWORKS STAFF MEMBERS WHO ARE HERE. SO WELCOME. TODAY IS A VERY IMPORTANT DAY FOR OUR CITY BECAUSE AS MANY OF THE COUNCILMEMBERS HAVE REMINDED ME OVER THE YEARS I HAD MY 24TH ANNIVERSARY WITH LIFEWORKS LAST WEEK. SO 24 YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY COUNCIL. [APPLAUSE]. THANK YOU. [2:06:15 PM] FOUNDING LIFEWORKS, ADDRESSING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS, ADDRESSING THE CREATION OF OPPORTUNITIES ALWAYS IN LOCKSTEP WITH WHAT THE CITY'S AGENDA IS. I AM REMINDED CONTINUALLY GENERATION AFTER GENERATION OF CITY COUNCILMEMBERS THAT THE CITY BUDGET IS A MORAL DOCUMENT, AN EXPRESSION OF OUR VALUES, AND WHEN YOU ALL REACHED OUT TO ME TO HOST HERE AT LIFEWORKS, I THOUGHT WHAT AN AMAZING EXPRESSION OF OUR CITY COUNCIL'S VALUES THIS IS TO HOST WITH A COMMUNITY PARTNER. THERE ARE DOZENS AND DOZENS OF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL PARTNERS WITH IN DIFFERENT WAYS, INVESTS IN IN DIFFERENT WAYS. I'M LOOKING AT EMS HERE, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HERE AND PUBLIC HEALTH HERE, NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING THERE. WE ARE ALL WORKING IN LOCKSTEP TO INVEST IN SOLUTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR COMMUNITY THAT WORK. TODAY AT LIFEWORKS, I THINK THE PIECE THAT'S VISIBLE HERE IS THE WORK WE ARE DOING WITH YOUTH, AND OUR LEADERSHIP IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SO MANY OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND THE CITY IN MAKING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS RARE, BRIEF AND NON RECURRING. [2:07:15 PM] THIS IS A MAJOR UNDERTAKING, BUT AT THIS TIME IN OUR CITY WHEN WE'RE STRUGGLING WITH HOW WE ADDRESS AND HOW WE RESOLVE HOMELESSNESS, THIS IS ONE OF MANY PROJECTS THAT THE CITY INVESTS IN AND PARTNERS IN THAT IS SHOWING SUCCESS AND WORKING, AND WE'LL HEAR A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT IN JUST A MOMENT. A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I WAS IN A HUGE CONFERENCE IN DC TALKING TO MY COLLEAGUES WHO WERE WATCHING THE NEWS, AND SO IMPRESSED AND REALLY KIND OF FLABBERGASTED AT THE LEADERSHIP THAT OUR CITY IS TAKING AROUND HOMELESSNESS, THE BRAVE STANCES THAT WE'RE TAKING, THE RISKS WE'RE TAKING AND THE INVESTMENT WE'RE MAKING. SO IT IS AN HONOR TO HOST HERE, AN HONOR TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ENDING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS. AND I THINK BETWEEN THE OFFICIAL MEETING AND THE SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING, WE'LL HAVE SOME FOLKS WHO WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO TAKE YOU ON TOURS OF THE HOUSING THAT WE WILL BE OPENING WITHIN WEEKS JUST TO THIS SIDE OF THE PROPERTY. WE'RE CALLING IT THE WORKS II AT PLEASANT VALLEY. [2:08:15 PM] 29 MORE AFFORDABLE UNITS SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUTH WHO ARE EXITING HOMELESSNESS. SO IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A LITTLE LOOK AT THAT WE'RE ON THE VERGE OF OPENING. [APPLAUSE]. SO WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, I HAVE THE PROFOUND PLEASURE EVER INTRODUCING I ACTUALLY GET TO DO THIS A FEW TIMES A YEAR. I GET TO INTRODUCE LYRIC WARDLOW. ONE DAY I WILL INTRODUCE HER WHEN SHE IS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN IN JUST A MOMENT. LYRIC IS AN ENTREPRENEUR, AN ADVOCATE, A FEARLESS CHAMPION, PARTICULARLY AROUND ISSUES OF YOUTH HOMELESSNESS. AND AN ADVOCATE NOT ONLY AT THE CITY LEVEL, BUT AT THE STATE AND NATIONAL LEVEL AS WELL. SO I'M GOING TO HAND IT OVER TO LYRIC. [APPLAUSE]. [2:09:15 PM] Hi everyone. As Susan said my name is Lyric. I am an advocate and entrepreneur, a leader, a young adult and a once homeless girl living here in Austin. I was Chosen to speak to you all today because I strive to support and be the voice to us who don't yet have the opportunity to things to be heard. And while I'm not the face of what success wil or should be for homeless youth it is my responsibility to guarantee that our community services used in the best ways possible. Making sure when decisions are made, someone like me, has a permanate seat at that table. In this past year Austin has had 25% decrease in youth experiencing homelessness. That is a feat (applause) a feat that could not of happened without the dedication [2:10:15 PM] from our City's officials, our community organizations like LifeWorks, Caritas of Austin, Safe and ECHO but most importantly our youth and young adults, with limited experiences. Council's like: the Austin Youth Collective and Austin Homeless Advisory Council are hard working groups dedicate voicing. Voicing their knowledge to our experiences to our City's goal and youth homelessness. The Austin Youth Collective has spread awareness throughout our Community. Throwing clothing drives at ACC and #HaveYouSeenUs and a initiative had started to spread the word about youth. [2:10:24 PM] What youth face during ACL each year. We speak at the Capitol to pass new legislation and attend conferences and meetings and around our Nation. It is just a small part how the AYC is leading youth voice in Austin, and while we are proud to do this work, the choice of a full-time job with consistant pay versus insuring change can be the deciding factor between how much we can be involved. And so what is my ask. In your roll as a City member, service provider or just as an Austinite do what you can in your rolls to amplify and analyze the successes happening. [2:12:24 PM] Give thought to where funding goes and help ensure that youth have access to every opportunities possible. And as someone with her own lived experience, I ask that you yourself advocate for us to have a seat at every table. As an employee or employer, as a mother or father or just simply as a friend, you hold the power to make a difference for the young people living within our city and hold the responsibility to do what is right for our next generation. Thank you. [Applause]. >> Well, thank you, lyric for sharing your experience with all of us. Our dedication for young adults and youth is inspiring and our community is stronger because of you. And thanks to Susan. It is amazing to be in this [2:13:25 PM] facility today. Thank you so much for hosting and we look forward to having everyone go on a tour to explore this incredible asset that our community has. Partly as a result of the city's investment, lifeworks has been able to finance two transitional housing developments located right where we are today. Those affordable units help youth and young families between the ages of 16 and 26 transition into -- from homelessness into adulthood. As they make this transition, these young people are earning incomes well below our city's median level, but with lifeworks and our city's support, they are exiting foster care, moving into their first apartments and beginning their journey into Independence. In 2018 alone, lifeworks provided counseling, job skills training and housing to more than 5200 central Texas youth and young families. Each of lifeworks' someone programs complemented by [2:14:26 PM] their collaborative research and advocacy efforts have helped promote self-sufficiency for many of the most deserving young people. Later on I do hope you will Joan us on this tour because city partnerships for frontline organizations like lifeworks are critical to helping Austin address community challenges in the most effective way possible. Before going any further I want to recognize the city council, mayor Adler, mayor pro tem Garza and city councilmembers. It is through your combined vision and leadership on key city issues, your guidance on our strategic priorities, your tireless work ethic and yourselfless commitment to our community that Austin continues to be seen as one of the most liveable cities in the nation. I can't stress enough how important your supports and guidance is in setting our strategic priorities that it's been for me for last 18 months. Please join me in thanking them for their service to the city. [Applause]. [2:15:30 PM] And now, distinguished guests, it's my distinct pleasure to present to you the city of Austin's proposed budget for fiscal year 2020. Council, last year with your guidance and leadership, we adopted a transformational budget that dramatically realigned our city resources with the vision and values you set forth in strategic direction 2023. We made a fundamental shift in how we think about the budget process. By placing your priorities at the center of the discussion and by collaborating more closely and earlier in the process than ever before with the city's quality of life commissions, we were able to begin tackling some of our community's most pressing equity imbalances. This year our mission is to build on these discusses while at the same time bracing our city's budget against the future impacts of the state's decision to lower the cap on local property tax revenue growth. In anticipation of some of this conversation on local tax revenues, I took [2:16:31 PM] immediate action following the passage of last year's budget by directing financial staff, department directors and our city to hold the line on any budget increases for fiscal year 2020 wherever possible. In addition I asked all our departments to redouble their efforts on improving operational efficiency, continuing to refine their programs to better align with the outcome goals and metrics of strategic direction 2023, and to increase the equity of city service delivery. Finally, to the the extent that departments have unbudgeted needs, I ask that they look for opportunities to meet those needs by reprioritizing existing budgetary resources as opposed to seeking new resources. I'm proud to say that as a result of this hard work and dedication of city staff, the budget being presented today accomplishes all this and more. I'm also proud to acknowledge the [2:17:31 PM] unprecedented collaboration with boards and commissions this year. Our budget engagement process started much earlier than usual and focused heavily on soliciting feedback from your boards and commissions, on ways to increase equity across the full spectrum of our city services. City staff collaborated on nine community forums hosted by our joint inclusion committee and ultimately received more than 80 distinct recommendations from 21 commissions, including 50 commissions from our equity-focused commissions alone. I want to thank all our board and commission members who took the time to attend meetings with the city staff provided input on the budget process and so many welcomed recommendations. Please stand or raise your hand if you volunteer your time to serve on a city board or commission. [Applause]. Thank you so much for your service, your expertise and your commitment to making [2:18:32 PM] Austin a better and more welcoming place for all. Working with you so much earlier in the process gave us the opportunity to more fully evaluate and consider your recommendations for inclusion in this budget that's being presented to you today. I know that without a doubt that it is a far stronger, more thoughtful budget as a result. As you know, we have a proud history of maintaining a structurally balanced budget here in the city of Austin. In fact, it is a value so fundamental to our city that it is written into our charter. We have consistently prized fiscal responsibility with respect to both general fund and enterprise department budget increases each year, which has enabled us to continually improve our service delivery for a growing population while keeping the cost to our residents as low as possible. The balanced budget presented to you today honors these principles, limiting the year over year increase in the combined tax and utility bill for a [2:19:34 PM] typical austinite while providing an across the board increase to our city employees with no increase in their insurance premiums. I think we should give a round of applause for that as well. [Applause]. Looking ahead to future years, I am resolute in maintaining our long-standing commitment to a balanced budgeting. Recent action by the state legislature will make this task far more difficult. Simply put, by dramatically reducing the level of funding that our city can receive from property taxes, the new revenue cap will make it much more difficult for the city to fund our community's core priorities. It will be harder for us to add the additional police, fire and personnel we need as our city continues to grow. It will be more challenging for us to absorb annual cost increases in wages, rents and insurance premiums and it will be especially difficult for us to maintain our current pace of progress on expanding access and opportunities to achieve [2:20:34 PM] more equitable outcomes for all of our community members. Although the new revenue cap does not formally bind us until next fiscal year, its implications loom over our crafting of physical 2020 budget. We have an important and difficult choice before us today. Do we propose a more modest increase in tax revenues this year as we did last year and forego tens of millions of dollars of future revenue as the lower cap kicks? Or do we go to the full roll back rates and there by better positioning the city to contend with the future financial challenges ahead? As illustrated by the graphic displayed on the screens, we could balance our fiscal year 2020 budget for base ongoing expenditures at a tax rate below the rollback threshold. In doing so the owner of a median valued home would save about $2.50 a month. But these nominal individual savings would come at a severe cost to our community as a while. [2:21:35 PM] Not only would we give up over $15 million in fiscal year 2020 so that we could fund one-time investments in our critical shared priorities, we would also forego the ability to leverage almost $70 million over the following four years. We would begin experiencing serious budget shortfalls as early as next year and our structural deficits in fiscal year 2024 would balloon to over $46 million and that's after accounting only for base cost drivers and public safety needs. Therefore I am proposing a different path, a budget that makes the most fiscally responsible choice by setting the tax rate at the roll back threshold. The resulting additional revenue will enable us to make a substantial one time investment in two of our highest strategic outcomes, housing and homelessness. By making these critical investments on a one-time basis we avoid adding to our structural imbalance next year, while at the same time [2:22:36 PM] placing our budget in the strongest possible financial position prior to the arrival of lower revenue caps. As you can see in the graphic now on the screens, by taking this approach, the budget gap that has been projected for fiscal year 2021 goes away and the gap in fiscal year 2024 has been cut to $27 million. Not yet in balance, but certainly making progress. Let me now shift to our focus to what we can look forward to in achieving in the coming year. With this budget, because we have a lot to be optimistic about. In keeping with strategic direction framework established past year, we have aimed investments established in primarily the areas of your top 10 indicators that you as council have identified. With respect to the economic opportunity and affordability outcome, you have given clear and consistent direction that ending homelessness is your top priority. We have responded to this direction with a budget that [2:23:38 PM] makes an historic commitment to achieving this moral imperative. As part of the total $876 million budgeted for this outcome area, citywide spending on homelessness related services supports and facilities will increase to nearly $63 million. This is $17 million more than in the current year and almost three times greater than in the first budget approved by the 10-1 city council four years ago. In recent years Austin and its partners have made progress toward the goal of ending homelessness in our community. The ending community homelessness coalition's most recent count revealed that 25% year over year reduction in youth homelessness and a 15% reduction in veterans homelessness. I think we should applaud that one more time as lyric had mentioned as well. [Applause]. These results are especially significant that given over the time same the city's population as a whole [2:24:40 PM] increased 21%. However, the coalition's count does show a clear and troubling upward trend in the number of people experiencing homelessness in the past five years. To reverse this trend I propose we leverage the additional $15 million of one-time revenue available at the roll back rate to make transformative investments to our homelessness services infrastructure. First I am proposing to more than double the transfer to the housing trust fund for a total investment of $14.4 million this year. Of the 7.7-million-dollar one-time influx of funding, five million will be invested in the development of permanent supportive housing units and 2.7 million will provide legal and other services to tenants at risk of displacement or eviction, helping to ensure that fewer and fewer austinites have to ever experience homelessness in the first place. Second, I am fully funding the remaining 4.8-million-dollar commitment we have made for the pay for success program, [2:25:40 PM] which works towards the goal of ending homelessness by connecting people to affordable living arrangements and the support services that they need to stay in their homes. This brings the city's total investment in this innovative new service to six million dollars. Next, I am investing $1.5 million for the Salvation Army in support of the opening of the wrath gabeer center and another $1.3 million for much needed facility upgrades at the Austin resource center for the homeless. Finally council, you have asked staff to return to you soon with recommendations to the public encampment question. While this work is ongoing I'm reserving 1.5 million to help implement the solution we eventually arrive at together. This budget also includes funding for the operation of the new south Austin shelter and services center. The purchase of which you approved in June. At full capacity, this facility will provide 100 beds to people experiencing [2:26:42 PM] homelessness, which in addition to the new beds at the wrath gabber center, brings the beds in this shelter to 967. Moving to our health and environment outcome, our primary goals center on improving accessibility to health services, bolstering our resilience to climate change and expanding accessibility to recreation, parks and trails. I am hoping in the coming year we put $5 million to this outcome. This is one million dollars to our pools, an asset as essential to ourite as austinites. The in addition of one million dollars to run the montopolis recreation center that will be opening next summer. Nearly will hundred thousand dollars in grants and one time funding focused on tackling the epidemic and resources for the curb side composting program. [2:27:44 PM] Climate resilience has been a long-term term for Austin and we have a multipronged approach. In accordance with council direction, the sustainability office is developing more detailed climate projections conducting vulnerability assessments and coordinating with city departments and regional partners on incident rating this data into our planning efforts. This work will culminate next month when you receive recommendations for creating a comprehensive community wide climate resiliency plan. The Austin weatherization program and adopt services heat island mitigation program will lessen climate change with more sustainable behavior. Our continued buyouts of properties that have been engued by expanding floodplains and our get back in business program are helping community members recover from the harm of the climate effects we are already experiencing. Maintaining resiliency in the face of a rapidly [2:28:44 PM] changing climate is by definition a ever changing process, but this budget ensures that is it city will remain alert to the vulnerabilities and diligent in our efforts to mitigate them. Within the culture and lifelong learning outcome, have you identified our most critical issue as supporting an maintaining the creative industries that give Austin its distinct character. This budget proposal invests almost $100 million in culture and lifelong learning, including thanks to our robust tourist economy, 24 million of hotel occupancy tax dollars earmarked for the promotion of arts, culture and heritage based tourism. More specifically, I'm including $750,000 in funding for the creative space assistance program. These resources will supplement the $12 million in available bond funding for a community creative center that will host arts related appreciation, education, and interaction in areas where such [2:29:45 PM] opportunities are currently limited. I think we have all been proud of the success of the equity mini grants program this year and building on the success I'm increasing its funding to $250,000. And last, but certainly not least, we will begin the planning phase for eagerly anticipated improvements at the Emma S Barrientos mexican-american cultural center. We are all aware of the challenges Austin faces with regard to mobility. In total you will see nearly $260 million of the operating budget allocated to support our investments in this outcome, along with another 310 million in planned capital spending. We have again targeted these dollars to spur improvements and ensuring the accessibility and equity of multimodal transportation choices. Austin transportation will devote nearly 47 million in capital investment to reduce the impact of traffic congestion, paying our [2:30:45 PM] streets safer for pedestrians, provide more transportation choices and expand the use of alternative fuel vehicles. The corridor program office will continue progress on corridor projects throughout the city that were funded by the 2018 transportation bond, with a particular focus this year on airport boulevard. Citywide, public works will spend $50 million in capital improvement dollars to make up grades across the full spectrum of the city's mobility infrastructure, including sidewalks, bikeways and urban trails, in addition to our streets and bridges. Finally, to keep space with this explosive growth in passenger traffic, austin-bergstrom international airport will invest $183 million in capital funds to continue its terminal expansion and break ground on a new administrative office and parking complex. Moving to our largest outcome, safety, I am proposing a total spending of $1.2 billion for fiscal [2:31:45 PM] year 2020. Over the past two years, some of our most critical conversations personning to safety outcome have centered on determining the appropriate levels of police staffing and fire infrastructure. Informed by these conversations, this budget adds 30 new police officers as called for in the police department's staffing plan and 32 fire firefighters and 12 paramedics which remain to staff the new Morse crossing fire station which remains on target to open in June of next year. In support of ensuring the quality of our drinking water, Austin water will dedicate $1.8 million to water resiliency, patting with the zebra muscles and improve the taste and smell of drinking water. Remaining ever mindful of the danger posed by flooding, watershed plans to spend nearly $50 million to expand our drainage system and' keep it properly functioning and it will continue its buyout of properties from families [2:32:46 PM] catastrophic likely impacted by flooding in the upper onion creek area. You've identified the fair administration of justice as a key point of focus within the safety outcome. In support of that priority, the budget I am proposing includes funding for 32 victim services counselors to aid victims of crime during their times of greatest need. An increase of five counselors over the past two years. Furthermore, an increase of nearly half a million dollars has been included in budget of our office of police oversight to fund two new positions and to spur improvements in the effectiveness of its community outreach and communication efforts. Within the final outcome area, government that works for all, I am proposing over one billion dollars to ensure that we continue to perform the city's work in an equitable, ethical and innovative way. You've asked that we focus particularly on the condition and quality of our facilities as well as the effective adoption of technology. I am recommending an [2:33:47 PM] 8-million-dollar infusion of funding to our capital rehabilitation fund to continue eliminating the backlog of deferred maintenance at city facilities, particularly at the Austin public health, parks and recreation and police departments. This investment not only benefits the residents who visit these facilities to access city services, but also the staff who work at these facilities. I'm also adding six million dollars to bolster the city's current cyber security programs and improve our digital resiliency in an additional $2.7 million to address other concerns identified through audits. Next spring, municipal court will begin operations at its newly leased space on montopolis drive. And in June of next year, we will be celebrating the opening of the new 122-million-dollar planning and development center. Collectively these proposed investments and the countless more that we simply didn't have time to address here this afternoon will bring us closer to our [2:34:47 PM] vision of Austin as a beacon of sustainability, social equity and economic opportunity, a place where diversity and creativity are celebrated, where community needs and values are recognized and respected and where the necessities of life are affordable and accessible to all. Although the daunting challenges posed by the revenue cap are real, we can mitigate much of that damage through careful financial management and by remaining laser focused on our highest community priorities while continuing to create further operational efficiencies. This in turn will afford us the time we need to seek new revenue sources and to have the difficult conversations we may need to have as a community about where services can be reduced or possibly cut. The work we have done during this budget process has already eliminated a projected budget gap in fiscal year 2021 and contributed to a substantial reduction in our projected deficits in future years. [2:35:48 PM] While there is much more work to do, we are at least moving in the right direction. To prepare for these future conversations I plan to launch several initiatives intended to help city council, staff and our community develop a path to long-term physical sustainability. First, we will establish a process for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of city services by reviewing all existing program expenditures for alignment with strategic direction 2023. We will be implementing process improvements for key city programming, partnering with outside experts to conduct efficiency audits of targeted city operations, and gathering and supporting employees' ideas for reducing costs and eliminating unneeded services. Second, I am launching a comprehensive review of the equity and efficiency of fire and ems services, including an analysis of dispatch times, station [2:36:50 PM] locations and the timeline for bringing on new stations. Third, we will seek assistance from outside experts and work closely with our partners at the police and employees retirement systems to develop long-term strategies for ensuring their financial health. Fourth, we will work together to explore opportunities for broadening and increasing general fund revenues, including the potential for future tax rate elections. And last, we will establish a homeless advisory council to ensure the urgency and efficiency of our response to homelessness. This council will work to create a performance improvement process to monitor the entire continuum of care for those in our community experiencing homelessness and we will contract with a third-party homeless review for all our homeless services contracts. I am pleased to announce today that Laurie Harris will serve as our city's [2:37:50 PM] first ever homeless strategy officer. [Applause]. She will work closely with the new homeless advisory council and lead our approach to coordinating shelter and support services for those experiencing homelessness in a comprehensive and multifaceted manner. Laurie will be moving from Orlando where she has served as the senior advisor on homelessness and social services for their city. I'm excited for our community to get to know Laurie and I know that she looks forward to working collaboratively with all of our stakeholders, including Matt melikia at echo who has joined us today. Dee peritt from downtown homelessness who has joined us, and many others who are ensuring everything to end homelessness in our city. You know the only way that we will be able to house everyone is if we work together. Over the course of the next year these proposed initiatives will allow us to look carefully at our own processes and future funding [2:38:51 PM] commitments, further improve the efficiency of city operations and cultivate new resources. Collectively it will help us to avoid long-term structural imbalance in our budget and as a result of the property tax cap, while continuing to provide the high quality of services that our community values and expects. Mayor Adler, councilmembers, and members of our community, I'm honored to present to you with the proposed budget for fiscal year 2020, and I look forward to maintaining a robust and open dialogue as we move forward. Looking out on this audience today, and seeing so many of you that have contributed to the development of this proposed budget, it's clear to me that we remain steadfast in our commitment to our strategic priorities and goals. Thanks again to lifeworks for hosting us this afternoon, partnerships and relationships like the one we've cultivated here are a major key to our success. Thank you all again to all of our board and commission members for your participation in the [2:39:52 PM] community meetings and providing incredible recommendations that will inform this budget. And of course, thank you, mayor, mayor pro tem and councilmembers for your leadership. I am confident that together we can meet the needs of our community, not only this year, but in years to come. Thank you. [Applause]. >> Mayor Adler: Manager, thank you. You know, on days like today I am particularly proud to be part of this community, proud to be part of a council that was real clear on setting strategic priorities and a city that matched the culture and aspirations of the people that live here. And while the process, of course, has you giving this budget now to the council [2:40:52 PM] and the community for us to use as the basis for deliberations over the last -- over the next month, it is readily apparent the degree to which you have reflected those priorities. And somehow or another, we're going to have to all look at the budget to figure out how you were able to accomplish so many of them at a time when budgets are generally so challenged. It's an exciting thing to see. Thank you so much. Thank you to your staff that I know was responsible for trying to work their way through this process. This looks to be a document that we'll work on, but one that truly does reflect and states that the values of this community, especially given the conversation that has been so heated and apparent over the last month or two, but in all fairness has been going on now in a [2:41:55 PM] very heated way for the last two, three, four, 10 years. So thank you for that. With that said, we have received the budget. It is 2:41. I am going to adjourn this meeting, unless there's any other thoughts, and then this meeting then adjourned.