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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOW 2022-11-14 Item 4A - Handout Distributed at Meeting - 2023-2024 Budget: Council CommentsUpdated 11/14/22 the general fund has staffing as well as supplies and services tied to them. 44. 11/7/22 Kruller Provide additional detail about a business license fee increase in lieu of a B&O Could a new B&O tax include a sunset provision after the "bridge budget" is completed? FIN With the information available, staff's analysis confirms that in order to achieve the same amount of revenue as the proposed B&O tax, the City would need to double the business license fee on all 5,000 businesses that currently hold a Tukwila business license. This would include businesses located outside of Tukwila. Doubling the fee would raise approximately $3.2 million in new revenue. This would be a regressive tax as it would affect every business with a business license as opposed to the B&O, which affects only the top grossing businesses (approximately 650 in total, all grossing $750,000 or more) in Tukwila and is therefore inherently progressive. * See attached PowerPoint with additional analysis. 45. 11/7/22 Hougardy FIN Staff does not recommend sunsetting the B&O tax. As you know, we have a structural imbalance because our revenues are not growing as fast as our expenditures are for the same level of service. This will only be made worse if the B&O sunsets. Keep in mind that we already have the loss of ARPA funds in 2024 and the reduction of sales tax mitigation payments that entirely disappear by mid-2026. Sunsetting the tax means you will continue to have these hard discussions on a regular basis as a council regarding what new revenues will replace the B&O or what services will be reduced or eliminated. In addition, sunsetting the B&O could also create more pressure on retaining a higher property tax levy after a successful annexation to the RFA in the next year or so. One of our best outcomes here is diversifying our revenue sources, which is looked favorably by the bond rating agencies. More and varied revenue sources will allow the City to sustainably provide the services clearly desired by our community while not relying too heavily on just revenue source too much. Updated 11/14/22 46. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos Why is the budget for human service less than what we saw in AS This reflects the fact that much of the COVID-specific assistance has Johnson previous years? (pg.255) waned since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2021 the Council allocated an additional $250,000 in COVID-specific rental assistance, and $500,000 in 2022 from ARPA. The proposed budget rolls over $160,000 of ARPA funds for COVID rental assistance in 2023. In addition, the 2021/2022 budget included a part time temporary labor position specifically to help distribute COVID-related rental assistance. Now that the demand has lowered, this position is no longer needed and not included in the proposed budget. Finally, since SeaTac became the lead City in 2022 for Minor Home Repair, Tukwila is not the pass-through organization for CDBG funding thereby reducing the budget, but not any actual funding for Human Services because those grant funds were earmarked for other cities. This is not a reduction of our usual Human Services funding but a "right sizing" as the pandemic comes to an end. 47. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos Can you explain how much we are allocating for rental & assistance? AS $160,000 in COVID-specific rental and utility assistance (ARPA) in 2023. Johnson $128,000 per year in HB 1406 funds — rental assistance only, income qualified. $41,500 per year in contracted agency provided rental assistance. 48. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos 49. 11/9/22 Why does the business assistance & support money go down from ED The decrease from 2022 to 2023 was because we had a one-time Johnson 2023 and 2024? additional budget of $150,000 in 2022 for the economic development Abdi, Delostrinos Johnson How much are we allocating for small business support? ED plan. And the decrease from 2023 to 2024 is because 2023 includes one-time funds of $190,000 for small business support from ARPA funds. In 2023 we are allocating $202,000 for small business support. That includes $190,000 of ARPA funds and $12,000 of general funds. In 2024 we are allocating $12,000 of general funds. The annual $12,000 of general funds is paid to Highline College for the Small Business Development Center. 50. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos Why did youth free services decrease from 2022, 2023, and 2024 PR One FTE that had been budgeted in this division was simply moved to a Johnson different division. Program offerings remain unchanged. Updated 11/14/22 51. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos Johnson Why did we get rid of a budget under community events & volunteers for 2023 — 2024? PR The budget was not eliminated. It was dispersed to other divisions where the events and volunteers best fit. By reallocating this budget, it better reflects the cost of providing the services the budget was moved to. For one example, this budget accounted for background checks for volunteers. This budget was moved to Administration. 52. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos Johnson We are interested in learning about the 7 proposed changes to frozen police department positions, and how do these positions promote public safety PD There are no changes to the frozen positions, aside from budgeting the positions. If the positions are budgeted, we will backfill the vacated specialty positions as indicated in the Community Survey. Specialties that would be directly impacted are: -Restoring the Major Crimes Unit with Detectives, allowing for us to broaden the scope of our follow-up investigations for felony crimes. -Restoring the TAC Team with Detectives, allowing for investigation of drug and human trafficking related crimes. -Restoring a vacated position with our Community Police Team, allowing for additional community outreach efforts and homeless engagement. 53. 11/9/22 Abdi, Delostrinos Johnson If we unfreeze some of the police department positions will it address public safety issues at the shag community PD Yes, but indirectly. The Department is already allocating resources to address education to the SHAG community and extra patrols in the area. We are also working with management to get them involved with addressing the SHAG community's public safety concerns that they are responsible for. Unfreezing the positions will allow us to maintain the resources that we are already providing, while help us address the homeless population and drug issues going on in the area that are most likely the direct cause of their issues. Updated 11/14/22