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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-23-17 Personnel and Finance (#3) O4S013 T118�� U C W PEACE a ,yam �,�'a� y i 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK PERSONNEL &FINANCE AUGUST 23, 2017 5:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Karen White, Regina Williams-Preston Committee Members Absent: Gavin Ferlic, John Voorde Other Council Present: Dr. David Varner, Jo M. Broden, Tim Scott(late) Other Council Absent: Oliver Davis, Randy Kelly Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Bob Palmer, Graham Sparks Presenters: Jen Hockenhull, James Mueller, Patrick Slebonick, Susan Visser, Marika Anderson, Leanna Belew, Aaron Perri Agenda: Studebaker Museum Art Museum VPA Committee Chair Karen White called to order the Personnel and Finance committee meeting at 5:00 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee then gave the floor to City Controller Jen Hockenhull. Jen Hockenhull, City Controller with offices on the 13th floor of the County-City Building, stated, I want to thank Councilmember Broden for bringing up the possibility of putting the whole budget up online at one (1)time. We've had some conversations about what is the best way to get all the information out to the public. Instead of posting the entire seven hundred (700) page budget online, we will continue posting it incrementally but we will have the whole budget online by next Friday, September 1, 2017. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Councilmembers for the Redevelopment Budget. Councilmember Dr. David Varner stated, It appears to be that there may be a little more than $25 million that was discussed. 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567-www.SouthBendfN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN ALKEYNA M.ALDRIDGE JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS James Mueller, Director of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the County- City Building, stated, That is the new revenue, it is not cash. Councilmember Dr. Varner followed up, Right, but when we went through the pages it looked more like $27 million, so there may be more there than was expected. Mr. Mueller replied, Our mid-year receipts were a little lower than expected so we will have to go back and look into that. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston asked, Is the State Theater in the queue to be acquired? Mr. Mueller replied, It is something we have looked at and are very interested in. Right now we haven't seen a business model that would work there as it would be very expensive. Councilmember Williams-Preston then asked, Is the $2 million of improvements going into Lincolnway and Charles Martin Sr. following the Westside/Main Streets Plan? Mr. Mueller replied, It is except we don't think there will be a roundabout there. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, What in this budget addresses the Council's Resolution in February/March that dealt with neighborhood plans and reviewing those plans? Mr. Mueller replied, I think the idea there was to review the plans and go through them as a Council. I think most of the plans are far enough in completion that there wouldn't be much revision. Our Planning Team could come to a Committee meeting and they could discuss those possibilities. I think your question coincides with the proposed zoning reform. Councilmember Broden then asked, So the $125,000 is for the overall reform? Mr. Mueller replied, It is $425,000 but that is for looking at the reforming of our zoning ordinance. However, your inquiry could certainly be a part of that. Councilmember Broden asked, Could you describe the role and relationship between DCI and the Redevelopment Commission?And what is the review process that the Redevelopment Commission follows?How can citizens get involved with the process? Mr. Mueller replied, The Redevelopment Commission meetings are at 9:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month. The Commissioners are the fiscal approving body of the TIF Funds and other non-TIF Redevelopment Funds. Much like the Common Council is the oversight body on expenditures,the Redevelopment Commission is for Redevelopment Funds. We submit the packet that gives an overview to the Commissioners, we have the public meeting, we give a brief overview and rationale behind it,they ask questions, and then they vote to either approve or deny it. Councilmember Broden asked, And what is the composition of that Board? 2 Mr. Mueller replied, There are two (2) Councilmembers,three (3) Mayoral appointees and a non-voting School Board member. Committee Chair White proceeded to give the floor to the presenters. Studebaker Museum Patrick Slabonick, Executive Director of the Studebaker Museum located at 201 Chapin Street, stated, The past year has been a great year of success for the museum. 2016 finished.with the second highest attendance count in the history of the museum. We also saw paid admissions go up three percent (3%) year-over-year. The museum launched a new website that accounts for driving more traffic to our website, increasing store sales and increased engagement in our educational materials. We have also received coverage in dozens of national publications. We had a tremendous success with the Powered by America Exhibition which attracted car enthusiasts from across the country. We have also continued our tradition of collaboration with the Nation's premier institutions. In 2015 we collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution and Ford's Theater. In 2017 we collaborated for the opening of the new American Revolution Museum which is on the battlefield site at Yorktown, Virginia. That museum opening in the first nine (9) month is expected to have close to one million visitors which will all see one (1) of the jewels of South Bend being Marquis de Lafayette's carriage. We also hired a full-time curator for the first time in a number of years at the museum. That is an important position for any museum. Their job is putting together exhibitions and displays as well as making sure the artifacts are cared for with the highest standard. We continue to do our best to be a big financial contributor to town. On First Fridays in May,we welcomed the Studebaker International Fleet to town. We had over two thousand (2,000) visitors of different types and durations that generated over four thousand (4,000)hotel room nights and millions of dollars of economic impact for the community. We are also looking to develop our role as a cultural asset in the community. We have developed a number of programs which allow us to go out in the community. In the next year we are opening Keep on Truckin': The History of the American Pick-Up Truck. Many people don't know that it started as a utilitarian vehicle but now one (1) in five vehicles on the road today is a pick-up truck. We are celebrating that and studying the evolution of that. We are also looking at the history of marketing art for the Studebaker Corporation. When it was at its height, much of the marketing was done through actual artist's work and we have many of those on display. We are beginning our new five (5) year strategic plan for the museum which is incredibly important for us because it will carry us to reaccreditation in 2021. The Studebaker Museum is one (1) of only three (3) accredited automobile museums in the country and we are excited to continue that. Councilmember Dr. Varner asked, What is the annual City contribution to the Studebaker Museum? Mr. Slabonick replied, Each year we submit a request in June. It is a$257,000 request and that is the same as the request from last year. Art Museum 3 Susan Visser, Executive Director of the Art Museum, 627 Leland Avenue, stated, I first want to congratulate the City on the Smart Streets Program. I think it is absolutely amazing and is really transformative for the Museum. Art Beat this Saturday was transformed. I think it will only get better and better. Some of our metrics from 2016 notify us that we had about 32,000 visits to our website as well as 25,000 visitors to the museum. We also hosted six (6) family days with about three thousand three-hundred(3,300) children in attendance. About three thousand five-hundred (3,500)people participated in our outreach and over five thousand (5,000)people attended Meet Me on the Island. More than six thousand (6,000)people attended our First Friday Event. One (1) of our goals of the museum is to be a cultural center and we have relished and cherished our location in the Century Center because that is now becoming the center of the City. Councilmember Tim Scott arrived at the meeting at 5:24 p.m. Ms. Visser continued, People are coming as visitors,to shop, to take classes and it has been very exciting for us. She then referenced the breakdown of the museum's budget. She stated, The City of South Bend allocates $65,000 and that is roughly eight percent(8%) of our budget. We receive forty-three point five percent(43.5%) from other public sources and fifty-six point five percent (56.5%) is earned from grants, sponsorships and other contributions. We added a program eleven(11) years ago called the Robert C. Shields American Series that we now do every Fall. It is an opportunity to bring in a nationally important exhibition that focuses on a particular point in our history. We very regularly collaborate with the Studebaker, History, and Snite Museums just to talk about a particular subject. Coming up this ye from November 4— December 31, 2017, we will be having an exhibition of comic strips from the 1940s— 1960s. It gives an opportunity to touch a lot of people's hearts as well as give the younger generation the opportunity to see what happened in the history of comics. We are collaborating with many local partners for that. This sponsorship and collaboration accounts for almost$70,000 to our annual budget. Every year we do a big fundraiser in the Fall to honor three (3)people. The Artist Mixer is October 6, 2017. Our fall art classes start the week of September 11, 2017. Councilmember Dr. Varner asked, Do you have a good mixture of revenue and do you see any of it increasing? Ms. Visser replied, We are always looking to increase revenue. I think the sponsorship uptick in revenue was great for us. We also are seeing tuition income for our classes growing year by year. We are looking at strengthening our endowment fund as we are focusing on addressing a new three (3) year plan for that. We have gotten a few grants but they aren't as available as they are believed to be. Councilmember Broden asked, Who is in charge of your fundraising within your organizational structure? Mr. Visser replied, It depends on if it is a major campaign or not. But generally we are all tasked with looking for more outside dollars. We do our strategic plans for every three (3) years. VPA 4 Committeemember Williams-Preston left the meeting at 5:48 p.m. Councilmember Dr. Varner asked, Do you see Fund#274 as a subsidy to get shows in or as cash available to get shows and hopefully they pay for themselves? Mr. Perri replied, Either way you look at it, it will be available to close the gap and take the risk. It is sort of a buy-down fund. Councilmember Dr. Varner followed up, Did the surplus go back into the General Fund? Mr. Perri confirmed, Yes, it did. Councilmember Tim Scott asked, Is this one (1) dollar generating fund a non-reverting fund? Mr. Perri confirmed, Yes, it is a non-reverting fund. Councilmember Scott followed up, Can you explain the $260,000 expense for the chandelier? Mr. Perri replied, That was definitely confusing to a lot of people so I am glad you brought that up. We are installing a structural beam above the house to support this one thousand (1,000) pound chandelier that is part of Phantom of the Opera. The promoter will be paying for that but because it is a Public Works Project, we had to set up the account for that. Not a single tax-payer dollar is spent on that improvement and it is permanently there for us as a permanent improvement to use again if need be. Leanna Belew, General Manger of the Century Center located 120 South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, stated, Our vision is to achieve our financial goals enabling us to contribute to the overall economic impact in South Bend. We strive to be the leader in customer service by providing a healthy, safe and happy place for our employees to work. We have a balanced budget and we also had a stellar fiscal 2016. We are budgeted for a nine percent (9%) increase in revenues due to the opening of two (2)new downtown hotels. That is a conservative estimate because they are not open yet. We are budgeted for a six and a half percent(6.5%) increase in expenses to accommodate for the additional event-driven instances. We have requested$1.275 million from Hotel-Motel Tax. That is a County tax. We have budgeted a two percent (2%) salary increase for the employees as well as bringing every employee up to at least$10.10 to match the City employee pay. We have restructured our accounts to provide an enhanced comparability between accounting systems. This budget provides a five (5) year projection. We are not anticipating any staff changes. This ye we expect to exceed our budget by three percent (3%). Our net-promoter score is eighty (80) and our overall customer service score is ninety-four (94). We will complete $915,000 of Capital projects this year thanks to the Hotel-Motel County Tax contribution. She then elaborated on a few of the Capital Improvement projects. She went on, We want to continue to grow our presence in the convention industry both regionally and nationally. She then expanded ways of which they look to achieve this goal, depicted on the presentation(available in the Office of the City Clerk). 6 Marika Anderson, Director of Finance for the Morris Performing Arts Center, stated, The goal of the Morris is to be the premier performing arts and banquets center in the region and to serve as an economic catalyst. This can be counted by the economic impact as well as the frequency of diverse events throughout the year. We improve the quality of life and foster a historic preservation of the community. The Morris is recognized as one (1) of the best rental venues in the nation. We use different funding sources to reach our goals. The 2018 budget reflects the total revenue of almost $1.5 million from the General Fund#101. It also reflects a budget revenue of$166,500 as a combination from three (3) separate non-reverting Funds. Those Funds are Fund#273 which is the Marketing Fund, Fund#416 which is the Morris Capital Improvement Fund and Fund#450 which is the Palais Historic Preservation Fund. Fund#416 is used by the Morris for their capital needs and does not receive any funding for its capital needs from the General Fund. The Palais Royale Capital Budget request this year is only for fifteen thousand dollars $15,000. There are no major staff changes. We are striving to continue and increase our strong economic impact on South Bend. The last study done showed the proposed economic impact of the Morris being approximately$20 million. 2016 was a stellar year because we were in the black to the tune of$420,000 and that is just simply unheard of. We finished updating the Morris and Palais websites and this will hopefully drive more commerce. The Palais Royale is the premier banquet eating facility in the region. We are building for success and are looking for a wide variety of events. In 2016 Palais Royale also had a record revenue as it surpassed 2015's revenue by over$21,000. We have finished the digital display project located under the Morris marquee. Our goal is to continue providing the wide variety of events and to remain the prime site choice of all entertainment needs of our community. The VPA merger is expected to reduce overall expenditures while also increasing revenues. Aaron Perri, Executive Director of Venues Parks &Arts with offices at 321 E. Walter Street, stated, Fund#274 is a new Fund this year. It is proposed as a self-promotion Fund by taking one dollar($1) on each ticket sold. We already have the surcharge of three dollars and fifty cents ($3.50). Typically one (1) of those dollars goes into the Fund#416 for capital repairs and the balance returns to the General Fund. We propose taking one(1)more dollar off the balance and putting it into Fund#274. The idea is to enable us to bring in larger shows that historically wouldn't enter our size market or shows that we are missing. By doing a market-gap analysis we can find types of shows that we aren't providing for the demand of our certain target markets. Ms. Anderson continued, In response to resident feedback, the Morris staff has been working to book more of a variety of events. Mr. Perri followed up, Both with the Morris and Palais,there are no sweeping changes to their budgets. Committeemember Williams-Preston asked, What do you think made the difference on revenues this year? Mr. Perri replied, We had two (2)blockbuster shows in one (1) year and we also switched catering providers. 5 Councilmember Scott asked, Are you fielding phone calls about the hotels? Ms. Belew replied, Yes and we have already started looking at events that we have previously lost due to lack of occupancy. This is also getting us talking about employment retention to make sure we can absorb the increased activity. Councilmember Broden asked, How many employees do you have on the hourly payroll? Ms. Belew answered, We have about twenty-two (22) full-time employees and the rest are hourly. It costs us about $30,000 a year to pay for the hourly employees. We are always looking for more part-time banquet servers,though. Mr. Perri stated, I have members of our team with me to answer any lingering questions you may have. We have so many Divisions that support one (1) another. We have commissioned a group to evaluate our joint management structure to deliver some recommendations on how to approach that joint management. The mission of VPA prioritizes recreation, arts, culture, economic and neighborhood development, health and wellness, and overall improvement to our quality of place. We have many accomplishments in 2017. We recognized$100,000 in savings for increased efficiency through consolidation of managements and structure for our main venues. These were the low-hanging fruit opportunities. We anticipate more savings moving forward. Branding has also helped increase understanding of what VPA is doing. We hired a Development Director last fall and that position has brought in well over$100,000 of revenues already. We won the $5 million Regional Cities Grant that we reported on earlier this year. We created the Ecological Advocacy Committee and they drafted the Natural Resources Management Plan that the Park Board is yet to adopt. Our cost recovery has moved up from nineteen percent(19%)to twenty-eight percent (28%) and we hope to get that to forty percent (40%). Staffmg levels will remain neutral this year. There will be no program or athletic fee increases this year. Mr. Perri continued, We are piloting the Mobile Experience Vehicle where it can go around the parks and it'll have programs and things related to health and wellness. We will sustain and retain all staff and programming throughout all renovations. We are also increasing the scholarship fund by $25,000. This helps the cost barrier of participation to be lowered for low- income youth. All maintenance will be sustained and continued. Parking garage revenues are at an all-time high and we are reinvesting in the garages with some capital improvements. He then showed a video that advertised the My South Bend Parks& Trails Initiative. He continued, Over the years it has felt like we make a plan and then we put it on the shelf, not touching it again. It was time to dust them all off and put them all together. This plan addresses every major capital improvement identified in the 2014 Master Plan. He then showed a slide that visualized the effect that VPA has on quality of life. He showed maps of all current capital improvement projects as well as the proposed improvements to come throughout the City's Park System. He stated, This plan does call for additional green space in the City. It could be that we buy and build a brand new park but could also be us partnering with an entity that already has a park. We partnered with Notre Dame to create a public access map. A good National benchmark is to live within ten(10)minutes from a park. The map depicted our system to be in the top twenty (20) 7 percentile in terms of access to parks. He then showed the Councilmembers how to access the website in order to access all the information given in the presentation. He continued, We really put together a responsible plan. We worked closely with Community Investment and the Finance Department. It is split roughly into three (3)parts. One third of the funding comes from outside funds, so that is grant money, federal and state money,partnership money and all other private fundraising. We leverage those funds with our committed $10.6 million River West TIF Bond. Lastly,there is a new Parks Bond for$13.78 million. Luckily we had some bond commitments expiring soon and that allows us to take this bond without any additional taxes or raising the City's debt level. It almost sounds too good to be true. We already have around$19 million committed with our combined TIF money and outside money. In total, there is approximately$50 million in Parks projects over the next five (5) years and that will transform the community. This is the largest investment in generations. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, The website looks wonderful. ADA Compliance is terrible in our Parks. We should get an ADA playground at Leeper Park. You should also be reaching out to the IUSB and Notre Dame Sustainability Clubs because this is a great opportunity to get out in the community. I think it would be a great idea to have a huge parking lot across from the Police Station where people could park and get a bus to downtown. There should be WiFi on the Mobile Experience Vehicle. We should also paint the inside of the parking garages to increase safety. I think there needs to be an environmental study on the river lights and the effect they have on the fish's migration patterns. Mark Piasecki, 101 N. Conestoga Lane, stated, This is a great plan and I went to the first meeting for this plan. This is a lot of money and what if we expand the timeframe and try to get more outside dollars and not go through with the bond.Notre Dame has an $11 billion endowment, maybe they could pay more in the partnership. Sharon Banicki, 3822 Ford Street, asked, Who will have ultimate control of Fund#274? Mr. Perri replied, That will be the management of the Morris Performing Arts Center. Ms. Banicki interrupted, So you're circumventing the Council and you can do what you want with it? Mr. Perri replied, The Council has to approve our budget every year. Also, the Civic Center Board of Managers oversees the Morris which has at least three (3) Council appointees. For the first time ever, actually, the Morris has an oversight board. Ms. Banicki then stated, Line by line, I noticed a lot of cell phone reimbursement. Since the City is paying for those, does that open them up to FOIA Requests? Mr. Perri replied, Our folks are out in the field a lot and we need to be able to get ahold of each other. We have a system set up where there are City phone numbers that rolls over to the cell phone. So yes, they are. 8 Councilmember Dr. Varner stated, This is simply overwhelming. Over the years it has felt as though South Bend has had to do it all ourselves but now it seems as though we have some partners willing to participate this time around. I would like some other partners to participate in bigger ways but there is now a person looking into those partnerships. Councilmember Broden stated, This is a terrific plan. You have visualized it, but do we have enough people to see this through? Can we align more dollars? Also,where are the opportunities to get us to forty percent(40%) cost recovery? Mr. Perri replied, I think we have already done a phenomenal job of putting together a sum of outside sourced money that we are able to leverage. This is the first time in the City's history, which I am aware of, that we were able to bring in $12 million of outside funding. There will be extended needs throughout the years.Naming rights are a big opportunity. This is just the start and as we bring in additional funding it will allow us to go to parks that don't show up on the list. This plan will show the community what private commitment can do. We aren't increasing fees, so we need to reduce expenses while increasing attendance in order to get to forty percent (40%). Councilmember Broden followed up, So we will partner with schools and churches for Parks? Mr. Perri replied, We have an inter-local agreement with the schools that allows us to use some of their parks. There are so many schoolyard parks that have an opportunity to be helped. Councilmember Broden then stated, Tree replacement ratios are important and I want to make sure your Department keeps that up. Councilmember Scott stated, Trash cans are the biggest thing to a park. We have to make sure we keep those monitored. Also,there are a lot of places we are cutting grass where we don't have to cut grass. We have to look into that. Momentum is key and everything you all are doing is going above and beyond what is asked for. Committee Chair White thanked Mr. Perri for the presentation. With no further business, she adjourned the Personnel and Finance Committee meeting at 7:05 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Karen White, Committee Chair 9