Finance Committee Agenda and Packet 2024 03 21

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City Council Finance Committee Meeting Minutes February 22, 2024 Page 2 of 4 Councilmember Kern asked if inflation is accounted for in the expenditures. She also asked how effective the model has been. She also noted that the model should be kept up to date in order for it to remain useful in the future. Councilmember Hoefner asked if the model will be used in the Comp Plan development to help inform land use. Public Comments: Sherry Sommer asked if there is any data supporting adding housing. The City Clerk will submit this question to the Director of Community Development and send the answer to the committee and Sherry. Update on Establishing New Open Space & Parks Funds: The Director of Finance presented an update on the proposed first budget amendment to establish the new open space and parks funds requesting committee support for submitting the amendment to City Council for approval. The City Manager noted that separating the two funds is important for tracking expenditures in the right funds. It's also important to demonstrate to the community that we are moving forward on additional open space programs and expenditures. Committee Comments: Councilmember Kern asked why park expenditures always seem to be more than revenues. The Finance Director noted that the numbers include operational budgets. Councilmember Hoefner asked to confirm that, after accounting one-time expenditures and minimum operating reserves, we won't be left with much, if any, discretionary funds to distribute between the two new funds. There was a discussion around budget reserves and what might be a good approach to ensure an appropriate reserve as open space expenditures increase. There was a discussion around creating a specific acquisition fund to make it easier for the Council to plan for and pursue open space acquisitions. The City Manager noted that there are a lot of great proposals that will be presented to council after the budget amendment is approved. Councilmember Kern asked how the 70/30 distribution of funds between Parks and Open Space was determined. The Director of Finance noted that the ballot measure defined how some of the funds would be distributed. It was also noted that the current level of service between each department does fall to a 70/30 distribution. There was a discussion on when the general fund was allocated to support Parks expenditures and how that allocation was determined. 4/91