08-16-17 Personnel and Finance (Overview)

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budget, we want to make sure our expenses and our revenue planning are in line to reflect that. That being said, the best way we can increase property tax revenues is to grow the value of the City. The assessed value continues to grow for 2016 as we saw over a two percent (2%) growth factor. We have a lot of initiatives and investments on track that are at stake in this proposed budget for your consideration. We have obviously gone through the bulk of the visible downtown work with Smart Streets but we continue to make streetscape improvements around the City. We are also in the process of announcing and launching the My SB Parks and Trails Plan. We continue to work to support inclusive economic growth, good planning in our neighborhoods, diversity, human capital and inclusion efforts, and a lot of internal reforms that are helping us continue delivering on our mission. Our mission, of course, is that we deliver the services that empower everyone to thrive, guided by the values of excellence, accountability, innovation, inclusion and empowerment. At every turn, whenever there is a tough decision to be made in the Administration, we ask our team members to make those decisions in terms of these values. I know the Council holds us accountable to that. He continued, Taking a look at 2017 accomplishments, we have been able to address the digital divide with downtown Wi-Fi access. We were also able to make good on our intention to offer municipal identification through a partnership. The Light Up South Bend Program continues to enhance not only public safety, but public health because more people are going to feel safe walking in their neighborhoods. The downtown phase of Smart Streets is complete. We know, and have heard, from residents and Councilmembers that it's not just about smart streets but we have to pay attention to smooth streets. I'm pleased to tell you our paving program is on track and this year there will be twenty-eight(28) lane-miles repaved by the end of 2017. We kept our promise to elevate the minimum wage of the least-paid City employee to ten dollars and ten cents per hour($10.10/hr). That is something we accelerated at the request of the Council in the 2017 budget. We have reorganized our Venues Parks &Arts Department to bring different parts of the City under one (1) roof for efficiency. We addressed an issue related to homelessness through another partnership that involved the City taking on a structure. We are continuing to work through the many things that have been funded and, in partnership with the Council, on issues affecting neighborhoods. We are making sure to have a housing study that can allow us to make the best possible informed decisions about the advancement in our neighborhoods. We are also stepping up our recruiting efforts. We are seeing more and more diverse applicants for City positions, especially those Public Safety positions, but we have a long way to go until we can honestly say that our Public Safety workforce fully reflects the community that we serve. We want to continue supporting community policing, city infrastructure, and the deliverance of clean and safe drinking water. We also are looking at ways to make sure our Department of Code Enforcement continues to keep up with the times. We are also always hearing about those curbs and sidewalks. We have put in 15,000 linear feet of curbs and sidewalks this year alone. There has also been discussion in Council Committee about body cameras on our police officers and we have included that in the budget for this upcoming year. He then reiterated the priorities listed on a slide of the presentation(available in the Office of the City Clerk). He went on, The last two (2) years we have been in an exercise to focus on Priority Based Budgeting. We have been able to get a crisper look at our expenses by doing that. There is always a lot going on in our$358 million budget. The most ambitious investment in our Parks and Recreation in our lifetime is anticipated in this next budget cycle. There are $24 million of 2