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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> She continued, Our fleet replacement program continues to be a priority. Some of them still have <br /> their original engines,which come with significant maintenance and operational costs. We did just <br /> apply for the federal bus and bus facilities grant last month to replace up to twelve (12) busses, <br /> which we should hear back about later this year. We are also applying for the Indiana VW <br /> Mitigation Trust Program. We'll be able to leverage some of those VW dollars as a local match <br /> for those Federal funds. <br /> Committee Chair White opened the floor to Committee and Council Members for comment or <br /> questions. <br /> Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked,Who does your grant writing? Those are two (2) substantial <br /> opportunities there. <br /> Ms. Hill stated, We did the last grant internally, but we do work with several partners including <br /> South Shore Clean Cities. We will be partnering with them on the VW Mitigation Grant as well. <br /> Committeemember Oliver Davis asked, Can you send everybody the update of where all of the <br /> bus shelters will be for our new members? Tell us again when all of them will be put up. <br /> Ms. Hill stated, There are a total of twenty (20) to twenty-five (25) bus shelters that will be <br /> installed. We're starting out with ten (10) in the first (1st) round, and we worked with the City to <br /> help acquire some of that local match for the federal dollars. We'll be prioritizing the next round <br /> heading into next year. We haven't finalized that timeline yet, but we would expect to have all of <br /> those bus shelters installed in the next year or year and a half. <br /> Committeemember Davis asked, And do you see within the next few months the need for us to <br /> start considering dollars from South Bend to help out in transit in any way? <br /> Ms. Hill stated, We're always open to considering dollars. <br /> Committeemember Davis clarified, In terms of helping you meet your budget, what's the plan <br /> there? <br /> Ms. Hill answered, That's what we're looking at right now, especially with that 2020 circuit <br /> breaker where we're looking at a loss of the$300,000 of property tax revenue.We've been looking <br /> at several different scenarios. We're able to leverage some of our Federal and State funding toward <br /> operating costs if we need it, however by doing so we're moving those from capital projects <br /> towards operating, so there are several different options that we are looking at. A lot of it will <br /> depend on where our health insurance renewal comes in at. We are conservatively budgeting and <br /> did include about a ten percent(10%) increase in health insurance. If our premiums come in lower <br /> than that,we'll have more flexibility there, too. <br /> Committeemember Davis stated, I'll be working with you on that because I would like for us to <br /> stay up to date regarding the potential issue of the upcoming requests for what they want to see <br /> from the City of South Bend. More cities are being asked to contribute more dollars to these, and <br /> I just wanted to make sure that we have our Financial Administration team included in that <br /> conversation. <br /> EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 466011p 574.235.92211f574.235.9173!TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov <br /> 4 <br />