City of Charleston SC Ad Hoc Budget Advisory Committee, 31 May 2023

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From YouTube: City of Charleston Ad Hoc Budget Committee 5/31/23

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City of Charleston Ad Hoc Budget Committee 5/31/23

A

We can end this meeting then right, yeah.

B

A

B

A

But we're only that easy, yeah.

B

It is just do it.

B

In the country we used to say man just do it, you can fuss about it later on.

A

B

C

Hey everybody: how y'all doing pretty.

B

C

Good well um most everybody here.

C

B

C

We got most of everybody good and um let me call this meeting to order. Thank you for being here this afternoon. Let's start just with a moment of silence, to keep um and keep um Chief Reynolds Family in our in our prayers moment of silence. Please.

C

Thank you, amen and I. Will report, though, that um the family, after the service yesterday to me, expressed their complete gratitude to um the department and to city council for um what they felt was the most respectful and a great honor for um their beloved. So uh thanks to everybody who was involved in any way and for being there, they family really appreciated it and I'm sure they'll. Let us all know um so we have our April monthly reports.

C

um I think Amy just sent them out yesterday, I, don't know if anybody had a chance to look at them, so she'll run through them, but um I think this. The nutshell is of revenues are higher than projected, which is good, and expenses are a little lower than expected. Then so that's our budgeted. So that's good Amy. Take it away.

A

Good afternoon everyone I could get my um computer to work. We would be all set there. We go sorry, so general fund expenditures, you mayor, said you see all the green buttons so we're we're doing well, everybody is below the target.

A

Overall, we have a couple that are just a little bit over operationally a couple departments, but those are um explainable. So fire is a little over her uh operationally just because of the timing of ordering gears and supplies and some vehicle repairs Parks. It's still the street lights and timing of payments for two of our our projects, the tennis center projects um police. We talked about that last month, too. It was the taser payment that we paid a few months early.

A

So it's just skewing the targets a bit and then the same with public service and Recreation they're. All the same same.

C

A

Last last month, however, they're all starting to level out, so um we should be, we should be okay um and that's just you see the the actuals and then where the targets are so we're below Target everywhere for expenditures.

A

Any questions there.

A

Okay, I'll move on to revenues. um The only issue we're still seeing right now is permits and fees, but we're thinking it's a timing issue, um so we'll probably be okay, but we're just continuing to watch permit surveys. Everything else looks great.

A

Foreign funds we're also looking really good there. We talked about the way we're doing this a little bit differently, so um there were just a few of our funds that were budgeted at a at a loss, um but, as you can see, we're we're performing better than we expected in every single one of our Enterprise funds.

A

D

Hey Amy, can you go back to that slide about income.

A

D

I did I could not beat myself fast enough, so is the um the 445 000 and property taxes, that's just what we've been collecting over than expected, or is that because of increase of property values.

A

Those are mostly at this point: um Motor Vehicles, so um it's it's just what we've collected so far. Okay,.

D

A

Okay and then stormwater revenues are still under Target us, because we we didn't do our one dollar increase until March. First, so they'll just track they'll just Trend a little bit under Target for for a bit, and then expenses are also under Target as well.

A

Any questions there and just so you know it's it's, it is personnel and it is also operations as well they're, both trending under Target. Just so you know so.

C

Combined Amy I had one question back um two slides as well to the parking Revenue. The difference it seemed like that was the largest increase right there, 694 percent um is was, was that anything notable or one time only or that we just really are experiencing overall, uh better revenue and parking.

A

A

It's just we're just over Target I was just looking to make sure we didn't have anything that was Major that came in, but it's just everything. The only thing that's under Target for parking is violations, um but everything else is trending over.

C

A

C

Okay, thank you.

A

Okay, tourism funds. um We are trending above um State, a tax came in a little bit lower than we had expected in April, but they do. We have the Robin Hood Clause, so we're not sure that that has something to do with it, where they hold some of our funds back and give them to other other areas of the state that don't collect as much. So that's the Robin Hood Clause. So it could have something to do with that. So we're not.

C

A

About it um right now, it's just that first quarter check that we get it just came in a little bit under Target. Everything else is as well over Target.

C

Amy, this may be something we we need to hear back from, but on that state law that just got passed, you know whereby 15 of of some some form of hospitality or tourism taxes uh can can go to Workforce housing expenses. With that do we know, would that apply to all three of those categories. There Municipal a state, a n Hospitality fee.

A

It's just it's just Municipal Accommodations Tax and state Accommodations Tax. They excluded hospitality.

C

A

We we're we'll talk about that mayor a little a little bit later.

C

Oh terrific, thank you. You're.

A

Welcome, okay, just key dates. We went over these um last last meeting as well. I just added the August 23rd, we'll go over the capital Improvement plan at that time. So I added that and then um we were talking so I'm going fast.

A

July 7th is when everything's due and we'll have all the Departments present in September, and then we have a couple of council workshops in October and one in November and then first reading is December 5th with second and third reading on the 19th, and we have to have the draft budget to council no later than November 21st so or probably um shoot to have the draft budget to cancel at this budget workshop on November 14th.

A

And then we talked about adding community Assistance grants the last time. So this is the this is the calendar for both accommodations, taxing Community Assistance grants, so the pre-application Workshop is June 16th the applications we do July 27th. The internal committee will review the applications from August to October and then um combinations tax advisory committee will meet October the week of October 23rd, which councilmember very well kneel down a date with you for that, um and then we talked about having a specific amount for our community Assistance grants and only funding up to that amount.

A

But another option we would have too is to limit the total dollar value that can be awarded to an organization like say, ten thousand dollars. If we wanted to consider that to as well so that we could know to let all the applicants in that pre-application Workshop, let them know that we will be limited, limiting it to a certain dollar amount as well.

A

I, don't know what your thoughts are on. That.

B

Probably be able to find them.

A

Just leave it at the fundament and don't is that what you said: councilmember gregory, no.

B

What I'm saying is that, if you, if you um put a cap on it at 10, wouldn't that give us the ability to potentially fund more people more.

A

Organization, okay and it doesn't have to be- and I was just using that as an example, it could be 15 I mean we just thought it would have. It would give us the ability to spread the wealth a little bit more if we capped it and.

B

I like that idea, especially when we're transitioning.

A

B

I, like the idea.

C

Remind me um the the total amount we had discussed at the last meeting. We.

A

Discussed two hundred thousand dollars for 2024., okay,.

C

And, and um do we know what our average award was last time or two? We did this.

A

um I know there was a couple of organizations bigger organizations that we probably did maybe 40 or 50 000 there, but yeah.

A

It wasn't typically much more than that. Yeah.

C

I I'd like the idea of having a cat but I I, just kind of like to review the the last couple of rounds. We did this before we set an amount. Okay.

A

We can I can do that.

C

Does that sound reasonable to everybody? We can send that around to everybody.

C

D

Make sure that we're talking about the same thing, because um this is the money that we award to certain organizations who apply for Grants from us, um but I, thought and I'm. Just maybe confusing this with another list. But some of the grants we gave were like a hundred thousand dollars. So.

A

That's the Accommodations Tax, okay,.

D

A

That they go, they go up much higher than what we typically can do for Community Assistance.

D

All right and that's the um there's, no crossover between this- these applicants with that that other list of applicants- these are totally separate. Okay, all right I thought I thought that was the answer. I just wanted to double check thanks.

C

A little crossover between the community Assistance sometimes and the cdbg um grants that we give out right.

C

It seemed to me we'd, give first preference to those who are not getting cdbg money. But again um there is a little bit of crossover.

A

Yeah there's a couple organizations like 180 place that would get some cdbj funding and then also some communities Community Assistance funding, but it's usually for different programs. That's.

C

A

Okay, so then our current fees um we've been reporting back that we're working on on several fees right now, current city fees, that we already have so we're pretty much finished with the with these right here, the motor coach, anything that has to do with livability we're pretty much finished with those and we plan to bring something to council this summer.

A

So that would be the motor coach fees, tourism, ticket, Charis, Medallion, tour, study, guide, notes and special event fees, so we're wrapping those up, um we're still working on building inspection for meds engineering, garbage cart fees are finished, actually and then storm water permits as well, and then we're working um so we're actually already working on these and then we're starting to work on fire permits. Certificate of public conveyance and planning also wanted to look at their fees as well. So we'll work with planning on looking at their fees as well.

C

Foreign group, along with the garbage, cart feeds you think we could bring those forward this summer. That's.

A

C

A

And then the next thing we had on the agenda was the executive session um to for legal advice on user fees.

C

All right was: was there any other business or questions? I know that comes on this agenda? Actually, sorry.

A

I was just completely flying through that very fast.

C

A

I didn't really have anything else other than that mayor.

C

Yeah no I was asking council members, I mean I think when we're done with the executive session, we'll probably adjourn did y'all have anything else before we do the executive session, no man bring out more questions. Okay, uh everybody good uh we'll go into Executives uh session to receive legal advice on user feeds and build 284.

B

A

So Brittany I'm, obviously all the council members Julia, would need to be in on that Melissa Kathy, Mercer, magaly and Mallory Julia, or no sure we might as well bring the whole legal department.

D