[00:00:02]
ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND CALL OUR, UH, SPECIAL MEETING, OUR FINANCE MEETING TO ORDER ROLL CALL PLEASE.
AT THIS TIME, IS THERE A MOTION TO ALLOW COUNCILOR HOLLOWAY TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY? SO MOVED.
MOTION'S BEEN MADE BY COUNCILOR STOKES AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ELLIS.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? UH, COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY? FOR THE RECORD, CAN YOU STATE WHERE YOU'RE CONDUCTING THE MEETING FROM AND THE PURPOSE, UH, FOR REQUESTING TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY? YES.
OH, MISS DELANA ORDERS WHAT? I'M SORRY.
YOU BROKE UP A LITTLE BIT AT THE END.
MEDICAL ORDERS? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
SEEING THEIR LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
[Special Business]
A FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS.TONIGHT IS OUR FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT.
GOOD EVENING MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
THIS IS THE SECOND QUARTER, UH, BUDGET TO ACTUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS TO INCLUDE, UH, SECOND QUARTER VACANCY, MIDYEAR SAVINGS, OVERTIME REPORT, COLLECTION REPORT, ACCOUNTS PAYABLE, DEBT SERVICES, AND A CFR UPDATE.
AND THEN FOLLOWING WILL BE A PRESENTATION FROM DAVENPORT, OUR FINANCIAL ADVISORS, AS WELL AS REPORTS FROM THE, UH, TREASURER'S OFFICE.
CITYWIDE FISCAL YEAR 25, BUDGET TO ACTUALS FOR SECOND QUARTER CITYWIDE FOR SECOND QUARTER, WE'RE TRENDING ABOUT 1.8 MILLION HIGHER IN REVENUES FROM 25 VERSUS 24.
EXPENSES FOR SECOND QUARTER ARE TRENDING 1.2 MILLION HIGHER FOR 25 VERSUS 24.
OVERALL, WE ARE TRENDING 24 MILLION LESS THAN WHERE WE SHOULD BE.
SECOND QUARTER, WE SHOULD BE ABOUT 50% OR AT LEAST 114 MILLION.
NEXT PERTINENT DUE DATE FOR THE CITY OF HOPEWELL IS FEBRUARY 15TH.
FOR THE PERSONAL PROPERTY BILLS, UH, THE INCREASE SPECIFIC, UH, FOR EXPENDITURES IS REALLY COMING FROM THE 2.5% SALARY INCREASE THAT WAS GIVEN TO EMPLOYEES LAST YEAR.
GENERAL FUND, ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS PAGE? OKAY.
GENERAL FUND BUDGET TO ACTUALS FOR SECOND QUARTER.
GENERAL FUND FOR THE SECOND QUARTER IS TRENDING 1.2 MILLION, 2 MILLION LOWER IN REVENUES FOR 25 VERSUS 24.
EXPENSES FOR 25 ARE TRENDING 3.8 MILLION HIGHER.
SAME CONCEPT APPLIES FOR THE GENERAL FUND THAT THE CITY SHOULD BE ROUGHLY AT 50% OR 34 MILLION.
KEY DUE DATES, AGAIN FOR THE CITY ARE DECEMBER, FEBRUARY, AND JUNE.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE'RE TRENDING A LITTLE BIT LOWER AS FAR AS THE REAL ESTATE IS CONCERNED.
UM, THE COMMENTS, IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT PAGE, PLEASE, THE COMMENTS ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE, BUT THERE WAS AN ADJUSTMENT WE HAVE, WE'RE WAITING FOR SOME MORE CORE LOGIC.
UM, THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THAT, UM, LOCKBOX FILE THAT CAME THROUGH FOR REAL ESTATE PAYMENTS THAT, UM, MAYA AND HER GROUP ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON.
THERE WAS $750,000 DECREASE DUE TO COLLECTIONS FROM VENDOR DELAYS FOR SENDING OUT THE BILLS A LITTLE BIT LATER THAN USUAL.
UH, $650,000 DECREASE DUE TO COLLECTIONS FROM, AGAIN, VENDOR DELAY, UM, OTHER TAXES, USE OF MONEY AND PROPERTY.
AND THERE WAS A SLIGHT DECREASE FOR FEDERAL REVENUES BECAUSE OF ARPA OF COURSE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH, SURE.
I, I'D LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION.
I MEAN, IS THIS A NEW VENDOR? IS IT, WHEN I LOOKED IN THE FILE PREVIOUSLY, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M, I'M WRONG, MAYA, I BELIEVE IT WAS, UM, IT WAS BMS DIRECT WAS THE PREVIOUS VENDOR.
I THINK THIS, THIS TIME IT WAS DIVI CO.
I BELIEVE THAT'S WHO THE VENDOR THAT WAS SELECTED TO BE USED.
HAVE WE, I'M SURE WE CONVEYED TO THEM OUR DISPLEASURE.
IF YOU LOOK IN THE HISTORY, UH, MAYA DID REQUEST FOR THE BILLS TO BE, UH, DELIVERED, UH, MAILED OUT ON THE 15TH OF DECEMBER, AND THEN HOWEVER, THEY DIDN'T GET IT OUT UNTIL JANUARY 3RD.
[00:05:01]
ENTERPRISE FUND FOR SECOND QUARTER IS TRENDING 1.5 MILLION HIGHER FOR 25 VERSUS 24.EXPENSES FOR 25 ARE TRENDING, 1.99 MILLION LESS THAN EXPENSES IN 24.
AGAIN, SAME CONCEPTS SUPPLY APPLIES FOR ENTERPRISE FUND.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UH, REASONS THAT THE EXPENSES HAVE INCREASED FOR ENTERPRISE IS THERE ARE NO EMERGENCY REPAIRS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
SO THAT'S SPENDING HAS BEEN INCREASINGLY LESS.
UH, MR. JORDAN, ARE WE YES, SIR.
STILL, UM, ON SCHEDULE FOR TAKING THE STORMWATER FEE OFF OF THE MONTHLY BILLING AND THEN ATTACHING IT ONTO THE REAL ESTATE TAX BE YES.
WE NEED TO HAVE A MEETING WITH MS. MAY AND HER TEAM.
SO THAT WE CAN WORK ON HOW TO GET THE FEE FROM BEING, UM, SEPARATE TO PUT ON THE REAL ESTATE BILL.
BECAUSE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO WORK THROUGH WITH MUNI.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE STILL ON SCHEDULE THEN.
THAT WAY, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC WORKS CAN ANTICIPATE THAT EXTRA REVENUE COMING IN.
SCHOOLS, SCHOOLS IS TRENDING UP 1 MILLION MORE IN REVENUES FROM 20 FOR 25 VERSUS 24.
EXPENSES ARE TRENDING 400,000 MORE AND 25 VERSUS 24.
OF COURSE, SCHOOLS FUNDING COMES FROM STATE AND FEDERAL REVENUES.
SO IT'S AN INCREASE IN THE REVENUES RECEIVED FROM STATE AND FEDERAL.
WE HAVE OUR DEPARTMENT BUDGET TO ACTUALS.
UM, WE SHOULD BE AT 50% ACROSS THE BOARD.
WE'RE AT 41%, BUT THE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE IN OVER 50% HAVE BEEN NOTATED WITH THE FALLS.
BESIDE IT ON TREND, MAJORITY OF THE CITY MANAGER IS DUE TO THE CONSULTANT FEES THAT HAVE TO BE PAID.
CSA, IT WILL BALANCE OUT AT THE END OF THE YEAR BECAUSE SOMETIMES EXPENSES COME IN, UM, MORE FREQUENTLY IN CERTAIN MONTHS DEPENDING ON THE CHILDREN THAT THEY HAVE IN THE PROGRAM.
UM, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS DUE TO IT CONTRACTS, IT SHOULD BALANCE ITSELF OUT AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE VENDORS THAT WANT A, UH, FULL YEAR'S PAYMENT UPFRONT, SO IT KIND OF THROWS OFF, EXCUSE THE NUMBERS A LITTLE BIT.
AND THEN OF COURSE THE MARINA IS DUE TO THE REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE.
HE'S BEEN DOING A LOT OF WORK OVER AT THE MARINA TRYING TO BRING IT UP TO PUMP.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE DEPARTMENTAL? OKAY.
I BELIEVE THAT ROBERT BOB GROUP HAD SUGGESTED THAT THERE DID BE A MID-YEAR VACANCY REVIEW, UH, SALARY SAVINGS REVIEW.
ON PAGE 12, YOU WILL SEE THE MIDYEAR SALARY SAVINGS REVIEW.
ON THE RIGHT SIDE IS THE COMMENTS PER DEPARTMENT OF IF WE CAN OR CANNOT USE THE FUNDS.
THE ITEMS THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW ARE ITEMS, UM, THAT CAN BE USED TOWARDS CAPITAL, UNFUNDED CAPITAL PROJECTS.
THE ITEMS IN GREEN ARE THE ENTERPRISE FUNDS THAT CAN BE USED ONLY WITHIN THEIR DEPARTMENTS.
SO THERE IS A TOTAL OF 203,000 THAT CAN BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE GENERAL FUND TO CAPITAL PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED.
AND FOR ENTERPRISE FUND, THERE'S A TOTAL OF $339,000.
SO WE WILL COME BACK BEFORE COUNCIL, I BELIEVE ON THE 28TH TO ASK FOR IF THAT MONEY CAN BE TRANSFERRED OVER TO CERTAIN PROJECTS AND WE'LL NOTATE WHICH PROJECTS WE'RE REQUESTING.
UM, 86,000 OF THIS 203,000 WILL GO TOWARDS THE FORENSIC AUDIT PAYMENTS.
OVERTIME BY DEPARTMENT, MAJORITY OF OUR OVERTIME, THAT'S INCREASING OVER THE 50%.
OVERALL, THE CITY IS ONLY AT 47%.
THE SEWER OPERATIONS, POLICE FIRE IS PRETTY MUCH, WELL, POLICE AND FIRE IS REALLY DUE TO THE VACANCIES AND SEWER OPERATIONS.
OF COURSE, WE HAD A LOT OF INCLEMENT, SO OF COURSE THEIR OVERTIME WENT UP, HAVING TO STAY LATE, MAKE SURE THE STREETS AND THE SIDEWALKS AND EVERYTHING HAVE BEEN SAFE.
SOCIAL SERVICES IS ALSO DUE TO VACANCIES.
STORM WATER, THERE REALLY WASN'T ANYTHING ALLOTTED FOR THAT.
BUT THEY, I DID HAVE A SMALL AMOUNT OF OVERTIME FOR THE YEAR.
SO FAR, I WOULD SAY IT WAS PROBABLY DUE TO THE RAIN THAT WE HAD WITH THE FLOODING AND ISSUES THAT WAS HAPPENING.
UH, THE TREASURER, THERE'S VACANCIES.
WE HAD TO HIRE A COUPLE ATTEMPTS AND VOTER REGISTRATION, OF COURSE, WE JUST HAD A MAJOR ELECTION COME UP THAT NEEDED ADDITIONAL WORKERS.
OUR DATED INTEGRATORS COLLECTION REPORT FOR DECEMBER IS 94%, WHICH IS GREAT FOR STORMWATER SOLID WASTE AND WASTEWATER.
UM, THIS REPORT ALSO SHOWS THE COLLECTION RATE FOR SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, AND NOVEMBER.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND DEBT SERVICES.
THE AMOUNT OF INVOICES THAT WERE PROCESSED FOR SECOND QUARTER IS 1,854.
[00:10:01]
THE DOLLAR AMOUNT PROCESSED WAS 7.8 MILLION.THE FOLLOWING, UH, BELOW FOR DEBT SERVICES, WHAT WAS BUDGETED FOR DEBT, WHAT WE HAVE PAID YEAR TO DATE, ACTUAL WITH 3.3, WHAT IS STILL REMAINING.
WE'RE AT 45% OF OUR BUDGET FOR DEBT PAYMENTS.
MAKER AND MYSELF HAVE A WEEKLY MEETING WITH, UH, DAVID FOLEY, OUR EXTERNAL AUDITORS EVERY FRIDAY AT FOUR 30.
FOR, FOR FISCAL 21, THE FILES HAVE BEEN UPLOADED TO RFC.
THERE ARE STILL SOME OUTSTANDING FILES.
DAVID DID SEND US A REPORT, UH, FRIDAY THAT SHOWED US WHAT WAS STILL PENDING VERSUS YELLOW ITEMS VERSUS RED HOT ITEMS. SO I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF EMAILS OUT TO SEE IF HE RECEIVED ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
I HAVE NOT HEARD BACK YET, BUT ONCE I HEAR SOMETHING I'LL DEFINITELY LET EVERYONE KNOW.
FOR 22 AND 20 THROUGH 24, ONCE 21 IS COMPLETE, RC WILL MOVE RIGHT INTO 22 AND IT SHOULD BE A FASTER CASE.
JUST HAVE A, I JUST HAVE A COMMENT.
WITH REGARD TO ANY OF THE ITEMS THAT YOU'RE MISSING, IF YOU DO NOT GET AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE, COULD YOU PLEASE LET THE MAYOR KNOW? YES, MA'AM.
FOR 25, THIS IS WHAT FINANCE IS CURRENTLY DOING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN PRODUCE SOMETHING ON TIME.
EVEN THOUGH 24 PROBABLY WILL NOT BE SUBMITTED BY 20 FIVE'S DUE DATE, WE STILL WANT MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED TO GET THE CITY, UM, IN COMPLIANCE WITH A PA.
SO FOR 25 SO FAR FINANCE, WE HAVE BEEN CREATING THE A-S-C-F-R SCHEDULES WITHIN THE TYLER SYSTEM.
TYLER HAS A PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS, UM, THE CITY TO CREATE OUR OWN A CFR.
SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON BUILDING OUT THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS WITHIN THAT.
WE ALSO RECEIVED THE MAPPING, UM, FOR THE ACCOUNTS WITHIN MUNI FROM DAVID.
AND WE'RE STARTING TO WORK ON MAPPING THOSE OUT IN THE SYSTEM AS WELL.
WE HAVE BEEN TRAINING ON BUILD, WE HAVE OUR TRAINING WITH THE A CFR BUILDER REPORT WITH TYLER SET FOR FEBRUARY 17TH, AND WE'RE DOING ON TIME MONTHLY RECONCILIATION.
SO, UM, THE BANK RECONCILIATIONS HAVE BEEN CAUGHT UP AS OF DIESEL.
SO YOU, DO YOU ANTICIPATE, WHERE DO YOU ANTICIPATE WE ARE BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR? BY THE END OF THE DECEMBER, WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA BE WORKING ON 25, GETTING THAT SUBMITTED.
SO NEXT YEAR WE, WE WILL NOT HAVE A, AN ON TIME CLEAN AUDIT UNTIL DECEMBER OF 2026, CORRECT? PROBABLY NOT.
HOWEVER, UM, WHAT I WOULD HOPE IS THAT WHILE DAVID IS WORKING ON 24, IF WE CAN AT LEAST GET AN ADJUSTED TRIAL BALANCE FROM DAVID, WE CAN START WITH 25.
SO THEN ONCE 24 IS DONE, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS RUN OUR REPORTS.
'CAUSE OUR STUFF WILL BE RECONCILED AND EVERYTHING.
GET DAVID INFORMATION HE NEEDS.
SO YOU CAN TURN 25 RIGHT BACK AND THEN WE'LL HAVE 26.
DID CHAPTER EVEN GET THAT ADJUSTED, UM, TRIAL PROCESS? NO, SIR.
I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING BACK YET.
THAT'S ALL THE INFORMATION I HAVE FOR TONIGHT.
NEXT IS MR. UH, SANDERSON FROM DAVENPORT TO TALK ABOUT A, UM, BOND RATING.
JIMMY SANDERSON WITH DAVENPORT COMPANY.
UH, WE ARE A FINANCIAL ADVISOR TO THE CITY.
UM, GOOD TO SEE SOME NEW FACES HERE.
SOME OF THE BACKGROUND MATERIAL, UM, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL THAT HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE HAVE SEEN THAT.
UH, BUT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR SOME OF THE NEWER, NEWER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, UH, AS WELL.
UM, FLIP THAT PERFECT FIRST PAGE.
THIS IS THE, UM, OUTSTANDING TAX SUPPORTED, UH, DEBT OF THE CITY.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE IT STARTS, THE LAST LAST MAJOR TRANSACTION WE DID WAS 2015.
SO, YOU KNOW, GOING ON, UH, GOING ON 10 YEARS AGO, UM, AND SHOWS YOU THE ORIGINAL PAR AMOUNT THAT WAS ISSUED.
WHAT'S OUTSTANDING AS OF JUNE 30, WHAT THE INTEREST RATES WERE ON THE LOAN, UH, WHAT THE PUT DATE IS.
AND THEN, AND I'VE, I'VE MENTIONED THIS IN PRESENTATIONS BEFORE, BUT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NEW, THE PUT DATE IS A DATE THAT THE BANK CAN ASK US TO MAKE FULL PAYMENT ON THAT LOAN, EVEN THOUGH THE FINAL MATURITY GOES OUT PAST THAT.
UH, IN THE NORMAL COURSE, UH, WHAT WE DO IS EITHER RENEGOTIATE WITH THAT EXISTING BANK OR WILL REFINANCE IT OUT WITH A DIFFERENT BANK.
UM, BUT, SO THOSE, THE FIRST ONE THAT'S COMING UP IS 2028.
AND AGAIN, WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THAT DATE.
UM, THINKING ABOUT THAT, THAT ONE TRANSACTION, WHICH HAS GOT ABOUT 6 MILLION LEFT OUTSTANDING ON IT, UH, THAT WE'LL NEED TO DO SOMETHING BEFORE, UH, BEFORE THAT TIME.
UM, THE, THE TOTAL AMOUNT THAT'S OUTSTANDING IS, UH, JUST SHY OF $56 MILLION ORIGINALLY ISSUED, CURRENTLY OUTSTANDING, YOU KNOW, 32 CALLED 32 AND A HALF MILLION.
THE NEXT TWO PAGES NEED TO GO THROUGH IN GREAT DETAIL ON THOSE.
UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF WHAT THOSE BONDS WERE ISSUED FOR.
UH, SOME OF THEM WERE REFINANCING OF PRIOR BONDS, AND THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL SEE HERE REFERENCED ON,
[00:15:01]
ON THIS PAGE.UH, BUT THE, THE FOLLOWING PAGE, PAGE FOUR, SHOWS YOU WHAT SOME OF THE OLDER BONDS THAT WERE, UM, WHAT THE CAPITAL PROJECTS WERE ACTUALLY ISSUED FOR TO THE NEXT PAGE.
UH, THIS IS WHAT YOUR TAX SUPPORTED DEBT SERVICE LOOKS LIKE.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE IN A MINUTE, BUT I'M DISTINGUISHING TAX SUPPORTED VERSUS YOUR UTILITY FUNDS, UH, THAT ARE, ARE ENTERPRISE FUNDS THAT ARE PAID FROM SEPARATE SOURCES OF REVENUES.
BUT YOU CAN SEE HERE AGAIN, OUR, OUR TOTAL PRINCIPAL OUTSTANDING 32.6 MILLION.
UM, YOU'VE GOT INTEREST IN THE, IN THE COLUMN ON THE RIGHT AND THE TABLE ON THE RIGHT.
AND THEN YOU'VE GOT YOUR TOTAL ANNUAL DEBT SERVICE SHOWN OVER THERE.
AND YOU CAN SEE GRAPHICALLY HOW OUR DEBT SERVICE STEPS DOWN OVER TIME.
UH, ABOUT A $1 MILLION DROP OUT IN FY 28, UH, ANOTHER MILLION OR SO DROPPING DOWN IN 30 TO 33, AND THEN OUT IN 2036, UH, DROPS DOWN TO JUST, JUST NORTH OF $500,000 OR SO.
UM, AND SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A TYPICAL DROP OFF IN, IN A LOCAL GOVERNMENT'S DEBT, DEBT SERVICE.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU TYPICALLY DO IS AS YOU GO THROUGH TIME, YOU HAVE MORE CAPITAL PROJECTS COMING IN, YOU'LL, YOU'LL ADD NEW DEBT TO THAT AND, AND YOU CAN LAYER IT INTO THAT EXISTING DEBT STRUCTURE.
UH, SO IT'S LESS OF AN IMPACT TO YOU.
UM, ONE OF THE RATIOS THAT I HAVE DOWN THERE IS YOUR PAYOUT RATIO.
UM, AND THAT IS A, A CALCULATION THAT, THAT LOOKS UP.
HOW MUCH OF YOUR DEBT DO YOU PAY OFF OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS? AND SO CURRENTLY YOU'RE SCHEDULED TO PAY OFF 86% OF YOUR DEBT OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
THAT, THAT'S A VERY HIGH PAYOUT RATIO.
UH, AND OBVIOUSLY THAT'S, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S HIGH IN PARTICULAR.
'CAUSE WE HAVEN'T BORROWED EXACTLY, UH, MATERIALLY SINCE 2015.
SO WE'VE JUST BEEN PAYING DOWN OUR, PAYING DOWN OUR DEBT.
AND, AND THAT LAST BULLET THAT WE NOTED THERE, UM, YOU'VE, YOU'VE REDUCED YOUR DEBT BY, BY $30 MILLION, UH, SINCE 2015.
UH, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE GREAT THINGS TO DO.
'CAUSE IT GIVES YOU SOME, UH, ABILITY TO, TO BORROW WHEN WE, WHEN WE GET OUR, UH, OUR AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN PLACE.
AND WE CAN GO BACK TO THE MARKETS AND TAKE CARE OF SOME, SOME LONGER TERM CAPITAL NEEDS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE ALWAYS DONE FOR THE CITY IS DISTINGUISH, ALTHOUGH STILL PAID FOR BY, BY, BY TAX FUNDS.
UH, THE FIRST, UH, THREE SETS OF COLUMNS THERE IS THE EXISTING, WHAT I CALL CITY GEO DEBT.
SO THAT IS JUST YOUR, YOUR TYPICAL NON-SCHOOL CITY CAPITAL PROJECTS, THE POLICE STATION, UH, FIRE STATIONS, THE ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, AND THE DEBT'S, UH, ABOUT 23.8 MILLION CURRENTLY OUTSTANDING.
THE SCHOOL'S DEBT'S IN THE MIDDLE.
UH, THERE'S ABOUT 8.8 MILLION LEFT STILL ON THE SCHOOL SCHOOL TAX SUPPORTED DEBT.
ALRIGHT, SO THIS IS THE, AGAIN, THE, THE GENERAL OBLIGATION CREDIT RATING HISTORY OF THE CITY, UM, ABOUT THE SEWER CREDIT IN A MINUTE.
BUT A GENERAL OBLIGATION PLEDGE FOR, FOR THOSE THAT MAY NOT KNOW IS A, A, A PROMISE TO PAY BY A LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, THAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE REVENUES TO PAY IT, YOU'LL, YOU'LL GENERATE REVENUES BY WHATEVER MEANS YOU CAN IN ORDER TO PAY THAT, PAY THAT DEBT.
AND IF FOR SOME REASON WE CAN'T DO THAT, A JUDGE WILL ENFORCE US AND MAKE US PAY IT.
UH, IT'S A, IT'S THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE CREDIT THAT YOU CAN GET.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE OUR RATINGS WERE STARTING BACK IN 89 WAS THE FIRST ONE WITH MOODY'S AT A ONE THAT MOVED UP, UM, OUT TO 2010, WHERE WE WERE UPGRADED, UH, TO A, A THREE AND AFFIRMED AGAIN IN 2011.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE DOWN AT THE BOTTOM 2017 WHEN OUR, WHEN OUR AUDITED STATEMENTS STARTED GETTING STALE, THE RATING AGENCIES WITHDREW OUR CREDIT RATINGS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE TIMELY FINANCIALS TO BE ABLE TO GIVE A, GIVE A CREDIT RATING.
AND, AND ALL THREE RATING AGENCIES, MOODY'S, S AND P AND FITCH, UH, ALL WITHDREW THOSE RATINGS.
UM, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, WE WERE AT, AT THE END THERE IN 2000, BY 2017, WE WERE IN THE, IN THE DOUBLE A CATEGORY BY ALL THREE OF THE NATIONAL CREDIT RATING AGENCIES.
THAT'S A, THAT'S A VERY GOOD, GOOD CREDIT RATINGS, UH, JUMP TO, TO THE NEXT PAGE.
THE CITY HAS TWO SETS OF, UH, ENTERPRISE FUND DEBT, AND I WANNA DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THOSE TWO.
UM, THE FIRST IS THE REGIONAL WASTEWATER, UH, BONDS.
THAT'S WHAT I REFER TO AS THE INDUSTRY.
UH, BONDS, THE COMMISSION DEBT THAT IS PAID FOR BY BOTH THE CITY, BUT ALSO THE INDUSTRIAL USERS, UH, OF THE, OF THE PLANT.
UM, THERE'S TWO, TWO TRANSACTIONS OUTSTANDING.
IT'S RIGHT AROUND, UH, 5 MILLION, 5.7 MILLION THAT'S CURRENTLY OUTSTANDING AS OF JUNE 24TH.
THE OTHER PIECE IS THE, WHAT I'LL CALL THE CITY SEWER SYSTEM.
THAT'S REALLY THE DISTRIBUTION WHERE YOU COLLECT REVENUES FROM YOUR, YOUR RESIDENCES, BUT ALSO YOU'VE GOT A, AN AGREEMENT WITH PRINCE GEORGE.
UH, AND YOU ALSO HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH, UH, WITH THE JAIL FACILITY.
UH, THAT'S ABOUT 19.8 MILLION.
THAT WAS THE LAST MAJOR EXPANSION THAT WE DID FOR THE, UH, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT BACK IN 2000, UH, 2010 TIMEFRAME.
UM, THIS IS THE DEBT SERVICE ON THE REGIONAL REGIONAL DEBT THAT, THAT DROPS
[00:20:01]
PRETTY SIGNIFICANTLY OUT IN FY 27.I DIDN'T SEE THAT GOING FROM, UH, JUST SHY OF A MILLION DOLLARS TO JUST ABOUT $300,000 THERE.
AND THEN IT'S LEVEL, UH, GOING ALL THE WAY OUT TO 2045.
PRETTY TYPICAL TO BORROW ON A UTILITY BASIS, 30, MAYBE EVEN 40 YEARS.
UH, IN THE UTILITY SYSTEMS GENERAL FUND, UH, GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, TYPICALLY AT THE MOST MAYBE 30 YEARS, OFTENTIMES 20, 25 YEARS, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE FINANCING.
NEXT PAGE, THIS IS THE DEBT SERVICE ON THE, UM, WHAT I'LL PUT AGAIN, THE CITY SEWER SYSTEM, UM, LEVEL DEBT SERVICE, PRETTY STANDARD.
THIS WAS A BRAND NEW CREDIT THAT WE ESTABLISHED BACK IN 2010.
WE BORROWED ON A LEVEL BASIS TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, YOUR DEBT SERVICE WAS PRETTY SIMILAR.
POINT SIX LEVEL, UH, AMOUNT LEVEL EACH EACH YEAR MAKES SETTING YOUR RATES A LITTLE BIT EASIER.
THERE'S NO FLUCTUATION IN YOUR, IN YOUR DEBT OBLIGATION.
NEXT PAGE, WE ALSO HAVE A SEPARATE CREDIT RATING FROM EACH OF THE THREE CREDIT RATING AGENCIES ON THE CITY'S SEWER SYSTEM.
THEY WERE IN THE A CATEGORY, NOT UNCOMMON FOR IT TO BE A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN THE GENERAL OBLIGATION PLEDGE, BUT AS, AS WITH THE, UM, AS WITH THE CITY'S GEO UH, RATINGS, THOSE WERE DRAWN IN THAT 2017 18, UH, TIMEFRAME.
SO NEXT SECTION, I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE, THE RATING METHODOLOGY.
AND WE USED MOODY'S HERE JUST TO PICK ONE OF THEM TO FOCUS ON, ON HOW THEY GO ABOUT, UM, RATING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
UM, THIS IS A SNAPSHOT OF WHERE WE WERE BACK IN 2017 BEFORE MOODY'S WITHDREW YOUR RATING.
UM, BUT, BUT THESE ARE SOME OF THE COMMENTS THEY MADE ON THE, ON THE RIGHT SIDE.
UM, SOME OF THE STRENGTHS, MODERATELY SIZED TAX BASE, AVERAGE WEALTH LEVELS, YOUR CHALLENGES, HIGHLY CONCENTRATED TAX BASE, UH, DECREASED LEVELS IN FINANCIAL RESERVES.
THAT'S SOMETHING WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT OVER THE YEARS IS, IS KEEPING AN EYE ON WHAT OUR, WHAT OUR UN UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE LOOKS LIKE.
OBVIOUSLY, THE GREATER THAT IS, THE MORE YOU, MORE YOU'RE HAVE IN SAVINGS, THE, THE, THE MORE OF A CREDIT, UM, POSITIVE THAT'S GONNA BE.
UM, AGAIN, THEY HAD STARTED TO NOTE THERE AGAIN, THE DELAYED, UH, UH, REPORTING OF AUDITED FINANCIALS.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE THINGS THAT THEY KEEP ON TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF TO GET AN UPGRADE IF WE WERE TO GROW OUR TAX BASE IMPROVEMENT OR OUR CASH AND RESERVES, THEY WOULD SEE THAT AS A POSITIVE AND POTENTIALLY MOVING UP.
UH, AGAIN, THINGS THAT CAN MAKE US GO DOWN, UH, DEGRADATION OF OUR TAX BASE.
DIMINISHING RESERVES ISSUING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL DEBT TOO, UH, CAN, CAN CAUSE IT TO GO DOWN.
SO THE RATING AGENCIES, UH, BOTH MOODY'S AND S AND P PARTICULAR CAME UP WITH A NEW METHODOLOGY.
UM, MOODY'S STARTED, UH, THE NEW ONE IN 2022.
UM, AND, AND OVER TIME THEY'VE TRIED TO BECOME A LITTLE BIT MORE TRANSPARENT IN HOW THEY DO THEIR RATINGS.
AND YOU'LL SEE HERE IN A MINUTE, THEY'VE, THEY'VE GOT A SCORECARD THAT WE CAN REPLICATE, UM, UH, TO TRY TO GIVE YOU A SCORE.
AND ULTIMATELY THAT TIES INTO A NUMBER AND GIVES YOU A RATING.
UM, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME, UH, LITTLE BIT OF BLACK BOX.
THEY HAVE SOME ABILITY TO NOT YOU UP OR DOWN, UH, BASED ON SOME FACTORS THAT, THAT ARE REALLY, UH, SUBJECTIVE IN MY OPINION.
UH, THEY'RE JUST GONNA GIVE THEMSELVES A LITTLE BIT OF ROOM TO BE ABLE TO MOVE THE, MOVE THE NEEDLE A LITTLE BIT.
BUT, BUT FOR, FOR MOST PART, THEY ARE PRETTY, PRETTY TRANSPARENT.
UM, BUT YOU CAN SEE SORT OF OVER ON THE RIGHT, THE WAY THIS WORKS IS THERE'S A SCORECARD FACTORS THAT, THAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IN A MINUTE THAT YOU CAN SEE WHERE YOU, WHERE YOU RANK VERSUS THEIR SCALES.
AGAIN, THERE'S A NOTCHING FACTOR THAT THEY CAN COME IN AND, AND RAISE YOU UP OR LOWER YOU DOWN OFF THAT, UH, OFF THAT INITIAL SCORECARD OUTCOME.
AND THEN THERE'S OTHER CONSIDERATIONS THAT THEY HAVE THAT ARE A LITTLE MORE VAGUE.
UM, AND THEN ULTIMATELY YOU GET AN ISSUER THAT, UM, THE FOUR MAIN AREAS THAT THEY LOOK AT ARE SHOWN DOWN ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT, YOUR ECONOMY, YOUR INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK.
AND WE'RE GONNA TALK IN DETAILS ABOUT THESE IN A MINUTE.
YOUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND YOUR LEVERAGE.
LEVERAGE IN PARTICULAR BEING, UH, YOUR DEBT PICTURE.
SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT PAGE IF WE COULD.
SO THESE ARE THE GENERAL AREAS THAT THEY, UH, THEY PUT IN THEIR SCORECARD.
AGAIN, THIS IS JUST MOODY'S, UM, THE ECONOMY.
UH, AND THAT'S MADE UP OF THREE DIFFERENT PIECES.
RESIDENT INCOME, FULL VALUE PER CAPITA.
THAT'S BASICALLY TAKE THE, THE FULL VALUE OF THE, THE CITY OF HOPEWELL ON A TAXABLE BASIS AND DIVIDED BY THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, NUMBER OF RESIDENTS YOU HAVE ECONOMIC GROWTH, UH, EACH OF THOSE ARE WORTH 10% OF THE WEIGHT.
UH, YOUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE, UM, AVAILABLE FUND BALANCE RATIO, LIQUIDITY RATIO.
JUST THINK OF THAT AS JUST WHAT DOES, WHAT DO MY RESERVES LOOK LIKE? THE HIGHER YOUR RESERVES, THE BETTER THOSE, THOSE FUNCTIONS ARE GONNA LOOK.
THEY'VE WEIGHTED THOSE OUT AT 20% AND 10% FOR THOSE INDIVIDUAL WHITE ITEMS. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, THAT'S BASICALLY HOW VIRGINIA CITIES ARE SET UP.
SO ALL CITIES IN VIRGINIA SCORE THE SAME UNDER THAT CRITERIA.
UM, AND THEN LEVERAGE AGAIN, THAT'S REALLY JUST YOUR DEBT.
WHAT'S YOUR DEBT LOOK LIKE VERSUS YOUR, UH, VERSUS YOUR REVENUES IN PARTICULAR.
[00:25:01]
UM, AND SOME OF THESE ARE, SOME OF THESE ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLICATED THAN OTHERS.SOME OF 'EM ARE, ARE RATIOS THAT ARE REALLY CALCULATED BY MOODY'S BASED OFF SOME DATA THAT THEY HAVE THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO.
UM, AND SO, UM, IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'RE GONNA, I'M GONNA WALK YOU THROUGH SORT OF WHERE HOPEWELL SCORED OUT BASED OFF OF, AGAIN, THIS IS BASED OFF YOUR 2020 AUDIT, SO TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS.
UM, IT WAS WHERE WE STOOD IN 2020, NOT TODAY MM-HMM
UM, BUT WE TOOK THERE, WE TOOK OUR, OUR AUDIT.
UM, THERE WERE SOME NUMBERS THAT WE COULD, WE COULD UPDATE TO 2023.
AND WE'VE PUT IT THE YEARS THAT, UM, UH, ON THE, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THAT, UH, IN PARTICULAR WAS THE, THE RESIDENT INCOME WE COULD DO AS A 2023.
BUT WHAT THIS SHOWS HERE IS IN THE BLUE BOX, ON THE LEFT SIDE IS THE CALCULATION THAT WE COME UP WITH FOR, FOR HOPE.
WELL, FOR EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES.
AND THEN AS YOU MOVE TO THE RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE THERE'S, THERE'S A COUPLE BOXES, THERE'S OR COLUMNS.
THERE'S VERY STRONG, STRONG, MODERATE, WEAK, AND POOR.
AND OUR INPUT FALLS WITHIN A RANGE WITHIN EACH OF THOSE, UH, EACH OF THOSE CATEGORIES.
SO LET'S JUST, JUST, UH, FOR, FOR PURPOSES OF ACCLIMATING EVERYBODY, THE, THE RESIDENT INCOME, WHICH IS, UH, LINE NUMBER TWO, UM, OUR, UH, RESIDENT INCOME WAS AT 63% OF THE, OF THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.
THE HIGHER, THE HIGHER NUMBER THERE IS BETTER AT, AT THAT FALLS OVER IN THE FAR RIGHT, UH, UNDER THE POOR CATEGORY.
UM, CAN'T REALLY CONTROL THAT.
UH, THAT'S ONE THAT IT IS WHAT IT IS.
UM, BUT SO, SO OUR SCORING IS A A 10.85, AND THAT'S WEIGHTED AT 10%.
SO WE GET A SCORE OF 1.08 FOR THAT, FOR THAT CATEGORY.
AND SO YOU DO THAT FOR EACH OF THESE.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, SEE THE AREAS WHERE, UH, HOPEWELL IS WHERE YOU FALL IN IS HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THAT ONE IS THE ONLY ONE.
THAT'S THE FAR RIGHT, UH, THAT CATEGORY IS THE ONLY ONE ON THE FAR RIGHT, THE NEXT ONE DOWN, THE FULL VALUE PER CAPITA WE'RE SORT OF RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE, UM, AND IN THE MODERATE CATEGORY.
UM, AND THEN EVERYTHING ELSE FALLS TO THE LEFT AND THE AA AND EVEN THE AAA CATEGORY, UM, THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY IN MY VIEW, BECAUSE IN, IN 2020 YOU HAD STRONG RESERVES.
UH, WE HAD STRONG RESERVES AND WE HADN'T BORROWED MONEY IN, IN FIVE YEARS EITHER.
SO OUR, OUR DEBT, UH, TO OUR REVENUES AND RESERVES RATIOS WERE ALL VERY STRONG.
UM, AND ALL OF THIS, YOU DO ALL THE MATH ON THIS, AND YOU GO TO THE FAR RIGHT, UH, STILL IN THAT TOP PORTION OF THE FAR RIGHT, AND WE SCORE OUT AT A 3.31, UH, AND WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED IT DOWN BELOW.
UH, ON THE, ON THE FAR, FAR RIGHT, UH, 3.31 FALLS BETWEEN 2.5 AND 3.5, THAT SCORES OUT TO A DOUBLE A TWO.
SO SORT OF YOUR BASE RATING BASED IN 2020 WOULD'VE BEEN A DOUBLE, A TWO HIGHER THAN YOU WERE ACTUALLY BACK, UH, IN 2017 WHEN THE, WHEN THE RATING WAS, WAS WITHDRAWN.
AGAIN, THE, THE RATING WASN'T WITHDRAWN BECAUSE YOU HAD POOR FINANCIALS.
THE RATING RATING WAS WITHDRAWN BECAUSE WE COULDN'T DEMONSTRATE TO THE RATING AGENCIES WHAT OUR FINANCIALS LOOKED LIKE BASED OFF AUDITED FINANCIALS.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY THEY WERE WITHDRAWN.
SO THIS SHOWS THAT WE ACTUALLY, OUR FINANCIALS IMPROVED FROM, FROM 2017 TO 2020 AT LEAST.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, I, WE, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR YOU TO SEE SORT OF WHERE YOU COMPARED TO SOME OF THE SURROUNDING LOCALITIES.
UM, AND IN THIS ONE, AGAIN, SAME CATEGORIES GOING DOWN THE LEFT SIDE.
UH, THE, THE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, UH, MONITORING AGAIN, RESIDENT INCOME TO SAY IS THE FIRST ONE WE WERE AT 63%.
AGAIN, UM, UH, BASED OFF 2023 CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VERY WEALTHY COUNTY.
THEY'RE 131% OF THE, OF THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.
UH, CITY OF RICHMOND, 81% COLONIAL HEIGHTS, 98% PETERSBURG, 64%.
UM, AND AGAIN, I THINK IT'S, IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE, AND WE COLOR CODED THESE BY WHERE YOU FALL GREEN IN THE AA, UH, SORT OF BEIGE AND THEN AA AND, AND PINK AND THE A ARE BELOW, UM, HOPEWELL, UH, LOOKS FAVORABLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE, UM, IN YOUR FUND BALANCES AND YOUR DEBT RATIOS.
UM, SO AGAIN, SORT OF THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE.
UM, WE'RE AT AVAILABLE FUND BALANCE.
OUR AVAILABLE FUND RATIO IS 54%.
UH, WE'RE LOWER THAN THAT OR HIGHER THAN THE CITY OF RICHMOND, COLONIAL HEIGHTS AND THE CITY OF PETERBURG.
UM, UM, OUR LIQUIDITY RATIO, AGAIN, WE'RE LOWER THAN CHESTERFIELD, BUT WE'RE RIGHT THERE WITH RICHMOND HIGHER THAN COLONIAL HEIGHTS AND, AND RIGHT IN LINE WITH, WITH
UM, BUT AS YOU MOVE DOWN THIS, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT, UM, THERE'S A, AN UNADJUSTED SCORE IS THE SECOND TO THE LAST, UH,
[00:30:01]
LINE, THE BOTTOM UNADJUSTED SCORE.WE, WE SCORED OUT AT THE AA TWO LEVEL CHESTERFIELD SCORES OUT OF THE AA ONE, BUT THEY WERE UPGRADED FROM THERE TO AAA.
UH, AND THAT'S PREDOMINANTLY BECAUSE THEY GOT A ONE NOTCH UPGRADE, UM, BECAUSE THEY ARE, UH, IN THE, UH, METRO RICHMOND, UH, UH, STATISTICAL AREA AND STATE CAPITAL.
AND SO THEY GAVE THEM AN UPGRADE BECAUSE OF THAT.
THEY SCORED OUT AT A DOUBLE A TWO, UH, MOODY'S UPGRADED THEM ONE NOTCH TO A A ONE, UH, COLONIAL HEIGHTS.
UH, THEY STAYED EVEN THEY, THEY WERE A DOUBLE A TWO AND THEY, THEY, THEIR FINAL SCORE WAS AA TWO.
WHAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT WAS WHAT WAS PETERSBURG, UH, PETERSBURG SCORES OUT OF THE AA TWO, UH, SIMILAR TO TO US, BUT THE FINAL RATING THAT MUNIS CAME OUT WAS AN A ONE.
AND THAT'S PREDOMINANTLY BECAUSE OF DELAYED, UH, FINANCIAL REPORTING BY PETERSBURG.
UM, SO MOODY'S NOTCHED THEM DOWN TWO NOTCHES, UH, FROM THEIR, JUST THEIR, THEIR FUNDAMENTAL RAW SCORES.
SO WE DO HAVE A SCORECARD THAT WE COULD LOOK AT AND BASICALLY COME WITHIN A FEW NOTCHES OF WHERE YOUR FI FINAL RATING WILL BE, BUT IT MAY BE NOTCHED UP OR DOWN, UM, UH, DEPENDING UPON SOME OTHER FACTORS IN PARTICULAR.
UM, SORT OF A DELAYED ABILITY TO, TO PRODUCE YOUR AUDITS.
AND IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE.
YOU KNOW, I THINK WHEN, WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT AND WE GET OUR RATE, OUR, OUR AUDITS UP TO DATE, WE CAN GO BACK TO THE RATING AGENCIES, UH, AND GET ACTUAL RATINGS FROM THEM.
BUT IT'S GONNA TAKE SOME TIME FOR US TO SORT OF BUILD THAT, THAT, THAT TRACK RECORD OF BEING ABLE TO PRODUCE TIMELY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SO THAT THEY CAN THEN BE COMFORTABLE THAT THEY PUT OUT A RATING THE NEXT YEAR, THEY'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GET A TIMELY AUDIT, UH, AND MAINTAIN THAT RATING AND NOT HAVE TO WITHDRAW AS WELL.
SO, SO, MR. MAYOR, I'LL STOP THERE.
THAT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION.
I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF NUMBERS HERE.
UM, UH, BUT HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OR WALK THROUGH ANY GREATER DETAIL IF ANYBODY, UH, VICE MAYOR JOIN.
YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT 2020, AND I APPRECIATE ALL THAT.
THE MAIN QUESTION IS WE JUST ASKED, JUST SPOKE TO THE, UM, CFO AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE OUR FIRST ON TIME CLEAN AUDIT SUBMITTED UNTIL, UNTIL DECEMBER OF 2026.
OKAY? THAT'S, YOU KNOW, OH, ALMOST TWO YEAR, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS FROM NOW.
AND SO ONCE WE GET THAT, WHAT IS YOUR, WHAT IS YOUR ESTIMATION? LET'S JUST, YOU KNOW, IF, IF WE GET OUR ON TIME CLEAN AUDIT, WE HAVE THREE CONSECUTIVE, WHICH WE KNOW WE NEED THREE CONSECUTIVE BEFORE WE'RE GENERALLY GONNA BE LOOKED AT, OR AT LEAST THAT WAS THE CRITERIA.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S CHANGED OR NOT.
THREE CONSECUTIVE ON TIME CLEAN AUDITS BEFORE WE WOULD BE ABLE TO REALLY GO OUT AND GET A AGENCY TO LOOK AT US AGAIN.
SO WHAT, WHAT'S YOUR TIMEFRAME BASED UPON THESE ACTUALS? WHAT, WHAT TIMEFRAME ARE WE HAVE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM HERE AND THEY, THEY'VE GOT CAPITAL NEEDS.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT DATE ARE WE LOOKING AT, UM, WHERE WE COULD GO TO, TO, YOU KNOW, ISSUE ON.
SO, SO I WOULD BE, I WOULD BE CURIOUS TO KNOW WHEN OUR 24 AUDITS GONNA BE DONE, RIGHT? SO, SO RIGHT AROUND NOW IS WHEN EVERYBODY IS GETTING THERE, HA HAS THEIR 24 AUDITS COMPLETED, RIGHT? UM, AND SORT OF THE EXPECTATION GOING BACK TO JUST LISTENING TO Y'ALL OVER, OVER THE YEARS, BUT ONCE WE SORT OF GET ONE AUDIT DONE, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GET THEM DONE MORE OR LESS SHORTLY AFTER THAT.
RIGHT? UM, AND SO I THINK IF, IF WE HAVE OUR 24 AUDITS COMPLETED, UM, AND WE'RE, UH, DEPENDING WHEN, SAY THIS YEAR THAT'S DONE RIGHT, SAY BY THE END IT SUPPOSE WE GET, UH, UM, MR. JORDAN, I DON'T WANNA PUT YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT 24, WHEN DO YOU, WHEN DO YOU ESTIMATE 24 BEING DONE? I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA, MR. UH, FOLEY IS STATING THAT, UM, IT SHOULD TAKE ABOUT 90 DAYS TO COMPLETE THE REMAINING AUGUST 21, 22, 23, 24 EACH.
EACH OF THOSE WOULD BE 90 DAYS.
SO NOT 90 DAYS TO GET IT ALL DONE,
UM, LOOKING AT THE TIMELINE, WE WERE THINKING MAYBE HOPEFULLY SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER WE WOULD HAVE 24, AND THEN WE WOULD ROLL RIGHT INTO 25 AND THEN 26.
SO MAYBE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR WOULD BE, BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, WOULD BE A REASONABLE TARGET DATE.
SO BASED UPON THAT, WHAT DO YOU THINK? SO, SO LET ME TAKE A STEP BACK FOR A SECOND BECAUSE I THINK A CREDIT RATING IS VERY HELPFUL.
UH, AND IT'S ONE THAT WE'VE USED IN THE PAST.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A CREDIT RATING.
UM, THERE ARE OTHER AVENUES FOR US TO BORROW IN VIRGINIA THAT ARE, ARE VERY, VERY GOOD.
NOW, WE'VE USED A CREDIT RATING BECAUSE IT ALLOWS US FOR A COUPLE OTHER THINGS, ALLOWS US TO STRUCTURE DEBT A LITTLE BIT MORE, HOW WE MIGHT WANNA DO IT RIGHT.
AND GO TO THE MARKET WHENEVER WE WANNA GO TO THE MARKET.
UM, BUT, UM, I THINK OUR LAST TALKED WITH YOU ALL.
I, I, I DID HAVE SOME SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS WITH BANKS, WHICH WE'VE DONE BEFORE.
UM, YOU CAN, YOU CAN BORROW MONEY IN THE PUBLIC MARKETS, YOU CAN BORROW DIRECTLY FROM A BANK.
YOU CAN BORROW THROUGH THE VIRGINIA PUBLIC SCHOOL AUTHORITY FOR SCHOOLS.
YOU CAN BORROW THROUGH, BORROW THROUGH THE VIRGINIA RESOURCES AUTHORITY FOR OTHER GOVERNMENTAL, UH, OTHER GOVERNMENTAL CAPITAL PROJECTS
[00:35:01]
AS WELL.AND SO, SO I GUESS MR. WARNER, I, I, I DON'T, I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE CREDIT RATING THAT WE CAN'T MAYBE TRY TO FIND WAYS TO FUND CAPITAL THAT YOU MAY NEED.
UM, AND THAT THOUGH IS GONNA DEPEND UPON WHEN THOSE AUDITS ARE AVAILABLE.
THE, THE CONVERSATION THAT I HAD WITH SOME, SOME BANKS WAS WHEN THE, WHEN THE AUDITS ARE UP TO DATE YES.
THEN THE SORT OF THE SLATE WIPED CLEAN.
UN UNLIKE, UNLIKE THE RATING AGENCIES THAT ARE STILL GONNA, STILL GONNA TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.
THE BANKS ARE LOOKING AT IT GOING, IF WE CAN TELL WHAT THE, THE CREDIT IS, WE'RE, WE'RE COMFORTABLE IN A, IN A YEAR OR TWO YEARS, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WORK FROM THE BANKS.
AND, AND I THINK, I THINK IT'S AT LEAST WORTH SOME CONVERSATIONS AS THOSE AUDITS START TO ROLL OUT.
YOU KNOW, WHETHER WE CAN GO TO THE VIRGINIA RESOURCE AUTHORITY OR THE, UH, VIRGINIA PUBLIC SERVICE PUBLIC SCHOOL AUTHORITY AND SEE WHAT WE CAN GET THEM TO BE COMFORTABLE OUTSIDE OF THE ACTUAL AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
WHETHER IT'S AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PLUS UNAUDITED FINANCIALS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT MAY, THAT MAY HELP US GO THROUGH THEM WITHOUT THE NEED FOR THE ACTUAL AUDITS.
I'M SURE WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE TO HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL CONVERSATIONS, BUT, YOU KNOW, ABSOLUTELY.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND JUST SORT OF TIMELINES.
WE REALLY ARE HANDICAPPED AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS FOR MR. SANDERSON? SEEING NO LIGHTS? ALRIGHT.
ALRIGHT, UH, MOVING ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM OF BUSINESS IS THE TREASURER'S REPORT.
GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
OKAY, SO THE FIRST SLIDE WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT IS GOING TO BE THE CITY OF HOPEWELL WEEKLY CA CASH FLOW REPORT.
AND ON THIS ONE, I WOULD LIKE TO JUST WORK BACKWARDS STARTING AT 12 30 20 24.
UM, BASICALLY LET'S TAKE A LOOK HERE.
THE BEGINNING CASH BALANCE 12 30 20 24, 13,000,400, $11,729 AND 96 CENTS WAS THE BEGINNING CASH FLOW.
OUR TOTAL, UM, CREDITS IN $4,159,306 93 CENTS.
AND THEN TAKING A LOOK, DEBITS OUT $1,876,382 AND 72 CENTS NET CASH FLOW, $2,282,924 21 CENTS, ENDING BALANCE $15,694,654 AND 17 CENTS.
SO BASICALLY, IF WE WORK BACKWARDS, UM, IF YOU'LL SEE THAT THE MAJOR DISCREPANCIES ARE WHEN WE HAVE WEEK 26 AND 24 ARE DUE TO PAYROLL, YOU WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO GO THROUGH THE FIGURES, BUT FROM THE REPORT, THE DIFFERENCES ARE GOING TO BE FOR, UH, WEEKS OF PAYROLL.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS? AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THE MEALS TAX, BUSINESS LICENSE AND MAIL TAX COLLECTION REPORT.
IF WE COME DOWN TO 2024, WE'RE A HUNDRED PERCENT IN BANK FRANCHISE, 98.07% IN BUSINESS AND OTHER SERVICES, LODGING 0.98, MEALS TAX, 94.95.
WE'RE STILL ACTIVELY COLLECTING IN THESE AREAS.
I DON'T SEE THERE BEING AN ISSUE, UM, WITH GETTING THOSE BUMPED UP FROM THE 94% ABOVE.
ABOVE THAT, UM, THAT LEVEL AND TAKING A LOOK AT BUSINESS AND OTHER SERVICES, WE ARE DOWN TO CONTINUING TO COLLECT $376.
SO WE'RE AT 93.23% AND WE DON'T HAVE, WE DON'T SEE A FORESEE AN ISSUE ON THAT EITHER.
ANY QUESTIONS ON BUSINESS AND MILLS TAX COLLECTION REPORT PREVIOUS YEAR WE'RE AT 99 POINT, UH, 62% AND THEN 20 22 99 0.7.
SO WE DON'T HAVE ANY FORESEEABLE ISSUES GETTING TO THOSE LEVELS.
AND FOR THE NEXT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A LOOK AT THE REAL ESTATE COLLECTION REPORT AND FROM THE TREASURER'S OFFICE, I'LL HAVE TO SAY THANK YOU GUYS FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
WE'VE ALL BEEN WORKING AS A TEAM AND WE'RE DOING OUR BEST TO PULL THIS OUT, UM, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO BRING THE REVENUES INTO THE CITY.
SO JUST TAKING A LOOK HERE WE GO DOWN TO 2024 MACHINERY, TWO MACHINERY TOOLS.
FIRST HALF, 100.01%, SECOND HALF, 99.35% COLLECTED.
TAKING A LOOK AT THE PERSONAL PROPERTY, UM, WE ARE ACTIVELY COLLECTING THOSE.
THE BILLS DID MAIL OUT ON JANUARY 3RD, AND AS WE SAID, WE DID USE D CODE, WHICH WAS A DIFFERENT VENDOR THAN WE USED
[00:40:01]
PREVIOUSLY.THERE WERE SOME ISSUES WITH GETTING THE FILES UPLOADED AND THE MAIL THE BILLINGS GOT.
SO WITH THE EXTENSION OF THREE SEVEN, I'M GONNA BE WORKING ON THE FLYER TO MAKE SURE THE CITIZENS KNOW THAT THAT EXTENSION HAS BEEN GRANTED.
AND I FEEL WE DON'T, WE DON'T SEE ANY, IT, IT'S A LOT OF REVENUE COMING IN.
WE HAVE A LOT OF CITIZENS PAYING.
THIS IS AS OF ONE THREE, SO THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF CHANGES.
THE BILLS WENT OUT ONE THREE, SO THIS REPORT IS GOING TO BE VERY MUCH UPDATED.
UM, PUBLIC SERVICE, SAME THING.
THIS IS ACTIVELY BEING COLLECTED.
THE REAL ESTATE SUPPLEMENTAL BILLS ARE AT 46.59%.
I WILL FOCUS ON RESETTING THOSE BILLS SO WE CAN MAKE SURE WE CAN GET THAT UP.
BUT THOSE ARE THE SUPPLEMENTAL BILLS THAT WERE ISSUED AFTER THE REGULAR REAL ESTATE BILLS WENT OUT.
REAL ESTATE FIRST HALF WE'RE AT 98.83%, AND THE SECOND HALF, THE LAST TIME I WAS IN FRONT OF YOU, WE WERE WORKING THROUGH CORELOGIC TO GET THE 2.9 MILLION APPLIED.
AS STACEY DID, UM, STATE, WE DID HAVE SOME ISSUES WITH THE FILE.
IT CAME OVER TO US WITH AN INCORRECT FORMAT WITH ME, THEM BEING NEW, I DIDN'T, I COULDN'T JUST LOOK AT IT AND REALIZE THAT SOME OF THE DATA WAS INCORRECT.
AND NOW THAT WE REALIZE THAT IT WORKED WITH CORELOGIC, GOT THE DATA INPUT CORRECTLY AND WAS ABLE TO APPLY THAT 2.9 AND NOW WE'RE SHY OF 680,000, $37 AND 29 CENTS ON THE SECOND HALF OF REAL ESTATE.
ACTIVELY WORKING WITH LORETTA, OUR OTHER MAIN MORTGAGE SERVICING COMPANY, WORKING WITH THEM, THEY TO GET A CHECK SENT FOR 55 PARCELS THAT I KNOW WE'RE WORKING ACTIVELY WITH THAT.
AND AT THAT 93.82% AFTER WE FINISH WITH LORETTA, I BELIEVE THAT IT'S GOING TO BUMP US ABOVE THAT 93.82.
ANY QUESTIONS THERE? ALRIGHT, IN OUR LAST SLIDE, WE WENT OVER THIS THE LAST TIME AS WELL.
AS FAR AS CASH AND ACCOUNTS, TOTAL CASH, THE SLIDE, I MEAN, THIS IS UPDATED AS OF 9 30, 20 24, $14,751,698 AND 3 CENTS.
TOTAL INVESTMENTS $25,083,248 AND 52 CENTS.
TOTAL CASH AND INVESTMENTS, $39,834,946 AND 55 CENTS.
AND THAT'S AS OF 9 30, 20 24 AS FAR AS 25.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS AND ANY OTHER QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CHARGE, RESPONSE ON THE REPORT? ANYTHING? UM, NOT A QUESTION SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU, BUT I THINK IT'S MORE OF A JOINT QUESTION FOR, UM, YOUR OFFICE PROBABLY MS. REASON WITH THE COMMISSIONER REVENUE AND, UM, MS. JORDAN, UH, HAVE YOU GUYS GIVEN ANY MORE THOUGHT ABOUT THE IDEA OF BREAKING UP THE PERSONAL PROPERTY? SO IT'S LIKE REAL ESTATE WHERE YOU PAY HALF AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR AND A HALF LATER? THIS IS THE FIRST I'M HEARING OF THAT.
THIS IS, THIS IS THE FIRST I'VE HEARD OF THAT.
SO, I MEAN, IF THAT'S, IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE, WE MENTIONED AT A PREVIOUS MEETING AND I JUST DON'T KNOW IF YOU GUYS HAVE HAD, YOU KNOW, TIME, I KNOW THERE'VE BEEN, YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DOING A GOOD JOB WORKING THROUGH ISSUES IN YOUR OFFICE.
UM, AND SO I JUST DIDN'T KNOW IF THERE WAS ANY MORE CONVERSATION ON THAT.
NO CONVERSATION HAS STARTED ON THAT CONVERSATION HAS STARTED.
YOU, YOU DID MENTION THE STORM WATERS.
CONVERSATIONS HAVE STARTED BETWEEN OUR OFFICE, UM, AND THE STORMWATER COMMITTEE TO SEE HOW THAT'S GONNA BEST, YOU KNOW, WORK FOR THE CITY.
BUT THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAVE STARTED, BUT THE PP UH, PERSONAL PROPERTY GOING IN TWO HALVES HAS NOT STARTED.
ONLY REASON I ASK IS I THINK IT MIGHT, YOU KNOW, END UP HELPING WITH CASH FLOW, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE YEAR.
SO THAT WAY WE'RE NOT JUST ALL RELIANT SO HEAVILY AT ONE GIVEN TIME FOR A ONE BILLING AND IT CAN HAVE THE TREASURER'S OFFICE AS WELL RIGHT.
YOU, IF YOU GUYS SOMETHING, LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN, YOU KNOW, HELP AND INCORPORATE THAT.
I JUST HAVE ONE QUICK, THE, THE HEADERS AT THIS FORM RIGHT HERE JUST AT THE TOP.
IT'S, I THINK IT SHOULD SAY 10 31, 24 AND 11 30, 24.
JUST COULD CAUSE TROUBLE LATER ON IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT.
SEE THIS, THIS, UM, PAGE ONE OF ONE WHERE YOUR BANK AND INVESTMENT BALANCES.
SEE THOSE TOP HEADERS? I MEAN, I DO SEE IN GREEN, SHOULDN'T IT BE 20, 20, 10, 31, 20 24 INSTEAD OF 23? YOU ARE CORRECT.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I WAS OKAY.
YEAH, I JUST WANT, JUST WANNA CHANGE, YOU KNOW, CHANGE THAT.
AND TO ADDRESS THAT, THOSE 11 30, 20, YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
TOTAL CASH, $11,351,601 AND 13 CENTS.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M YES MA'AM, THAT'LL BE UPDATED.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I DON'T SEE NO LIGHTS.
ALRIGHT, UM, MOVING ON TO, UH, OUR LAST ITEM FOR THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING.
[00:45:07]
GOOD EVENING, SIR.MAY I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE.
WA WAS THERE SOMETHING ELSE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS PACKAGE? NO, WE'RE MOVING ON TO THE, UH, SCHOOL DISCUSSION.
YOU SHOULD HAVE A CHART IN YOUR PACKET.
THE ONE THAT'S SHOWING ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW.
UNFORTUNATELY THEY STILL DON'T HAVE IT SET UP WHERE I CAN SEE WHAT'S ON THE SCREEN.
AND YOU SAID IT'S, IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHART IN HERE.
YEAH, THERE SHOULD BE A TABLE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT NEEDS IT.
WHAT, WHAT DID YOU SAY MADAM? VICE MAYOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT NEEDS.
IT'S, IT'S, IT HAS A, UM, IT SAYS, UM, SCHOOL BOARD FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT AND THEN THERE'S A CHART BEHIND THERE.
IT SHOULD BE IN THE AGENDA PACKET.
UH, WHO WAS IT? OH, I DON'T SEE THAT.
THE LEFT SCREENSHOT WITH YOUR PHONE AND JUST SEND IT TO HIM.
IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU COUNSEL.
UM, IT'S GREAT TO BE BEFORE YOU AGAIN.
I, UM, ALREADY KNOW MS. STOKES.
UM, I AM ESPECIALLY ANXIOUS TO GET TO KNOW MS. DAY AND, UM, MR. ELLIS BETTER.
UM, WE ARE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS PARTNERSHIP AND, UM, WELCOME OUR NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, ON BEHALF OF OUR SCHOOL BOARD.
UM, WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU.
I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE OUR BOARD JUST IN CASE SOME OF YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYONE.
SO THIS IS RUTH JOHNSON, ONE OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS.
THIS IS LINDA
JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY HAD A FACE WITH A NAME.
UM, JUST A POINT OF CLARIFICATION.
UM, COUNSEL, WE ARE NOT HERE TO DISCUSS OUR BUDGET REQUEST FOR THIS YEAR.
WE'VE JUST OFFICIALLY BEGUN THAT PROCESS, UM, TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER AND, UM, ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING OUR NEEDS A WHILE BEFORE WE'RE READY FOR THAT CONVERSATION.
SO TONIGHT'S FOCUS IS, UM, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE IS TO MAKE YOU AWARE AND ESPECIALLY OUR NEW COUNSELORS OF THE ONGOING AND GROWING LIST OF CRITICAL CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT HAVE INCREASED AND AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, UM, AS A RESULT OF THE CITY'S INABILITY TO FUND, UM, CAPITAL PROJECTS OF THIS MAGNITUDE.
UM, WE SIMPLY WANT TO PLANT A SEED TONIGHT WITH, UH, CONFIDENCE AND A TRUST THAT WE CAN WORK ON THESE THINGS TOGETHER.
UM, UNDERSTANDING EACH BOARD'S LIMITATIONS, BUT RECOGNIZING THAT THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE LARGER THESE ESTIMATES BECOME.
UM, AS OUR VETERAN COUNSELORS, I KNOW KNOW, IT'S BEEN SEVERAL YEARS SINCE COUNCIL'S BEEN ABLE TO FUND OUR CAPITAL NEEDS AND WE'VE UNDERSTOOD THAT AND WE'VE DONE THE BEST WE COULD WITH THE FUNDS THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN US.
AND WE ARE CONTINUE TO BE GRATEFUL FOR THAT.
UM, WHILE WE WERE ABLE TO USE SOME COVID RECOVERY MONIES TO COVER SOME OF OUR CAPITAL NEEDS, WE HAVE NOT HAD THE MONEY WITH WHICH TO FULLY RESPOND TO A NUMBER OF CRITICAL AND EXPENSIVE PROJECTS, WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT BRIEFLY TONIGHT.
WE'VE DONE THE BEST WE CAN WITH MAINTAINING OUR SYSTEMS, OUR EQUIPMENT, OUR SCHOOL BUSES, OUR BUILDINGS, ET CETERA.
BUT AS I MENTIONED, THE LONGER WE PUSH OUT THESE EXISTING NEEDS, THE MORE RISK INVOLVED AND ULTIMATELY THE GREATER THE COST WILL BE FOR ALL OF US.
AS SUCH, OUR BOARD AND I SEE TONIGHT AS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO ALARM OR SCARE YOU, BUT WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT NEEDS THAT WE MUST START TO PRIORITIZE AND PLAN FOR BEFORE WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY.
UM, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO ADDRESS OR CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN FOR.
AS YOU MAY ALSO REMEMBER, AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR NEW COUNSELORS FOR OVER 25 YEARS, UM, MOST OF THAT PRIOR TO MY COMING, BUT ABOUT HALF, ABOUT FIVE OF IT, UM, DURING MY TENURE HERE, AN INFORMAL AGREEMENT EXISTED BETWEEN THE TWO BOARDS THAT ALLOWED THE SCHOOLS AT YEAR END TO ROLL OVER ANY SAVINGS THEY HAD ACCRUED INTO WHAT WAS THEN CALLED A BUILDING BUS REPLACEMENT FUND, BUT IT WAS ALSO AUTHORIZED TO FUND AND IT DID MANY CAPITAL PROJECTS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS WITH YOU TONIGHT.
UM, THAT OPTION WAS UNDERSTANDABLY ELIMINATED SEVERAL YEARS BACK AND BOTH BOARDS ARE PAYING FOR THAT
[00:50:01]
NOW, IN MY OPINION, UP UNTIL THAT POINT, MOST IF NOT ALL OF OUR CAPITAL NEEDS WERE ADDRESSED WITH THAT FUND THAT HAD, AS SOME OF YOU MIGHT REMEMBER, GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY AT ONE POINT HISTORICALLY.SO HOLD THAT THOUGHT AS IN THE END, THIS MAY BE SOMETHING WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVISIT SO WE CAN TRULY HELP WITH HOW WE ARE GOING TO FIGURE THIS.
UM, SO YOU HAVE BEFORE YOU AN UPDATED ESTIMATE OF ALL OF OUR OUT STUN, OUTSTANDING UNFUNDED CAPITAL NEEDS.
WE'RE NOT ASKING YOU FOR MONEY FOR THESE YET.
WE JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE ARE GOING TO ADDRESS THESE NEEDS TOGETHER AS THE LONGER WE WAIT, NOT ONLY THE HIGHER THE DOLLAR FIGURES WILL CLIMB, BUT THE GREATER THE RISK.
AND WE WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU WHERE WE ARE WITH THE LEVEL OF RISK THAT WE ARE ANTICIPATING WITH SOME OF THESE URGENT, UM, PROJECTS AND SYSTEMS FAILURES.
TONIGHT, WE'RE ONLY GOING TO DISCUSS THOSE HIGHLIGHTED IN THE RED.
AS YOU CAN SEE, A THREE LEVEL PRIORITIZATION OF URGENCY OF ALL OF OUR NEEDS, UH, FORECASTING FORWARD.
UM, THE RED WE BELIEVE ARE URGENT.
THESE ARE OUR MOST URGENT NEEDS AND SOME OF THE HIGHEST PRICE TAGS.
THE NEXT LEVEL OF PRIORITY, WHICH WE WON'T GET INTO TONIGHT UNLESS YOU WANT US TO, UM, ARE THE ORANGE.
THE ORANGE ARE NOT AS URGENT, BUT THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND WE WOULD LOVE TO DISCUSS THOSE WITH YOU AT MAYBE OUR NEXT FINANCE MEETING.
THE YELLOW ARE ALSO IMPORTANT AS YOU CAN SEE, BUT NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE ORANGE.
SO WE FELT LIKE IT WOULD MAKE MOST SENSE TO SPEND OUR TIME TOGETHER TONIGHT.
LOOKING AT THE RED, UNDERSTANDING THE RED, A LITTLE DEEPER DIVE AT THE RED.
AND, UM, JUST THINKING ABOUT THAT TILL THE NEXT TIME WE MEET.
UM, SHORTLY, I WILL PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EACH OF THOSE PRIORITIES.
IN THE RED HIGHLIGHTED SECTION I INTEND TO CALL ON JANELLE ENGLISH, OUR FINANCE DIRECTOR.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW HER, THIS IS JANELLE ENGLISH TO HELP WITH ANY FINANCE RELATED QUESTIONS.
AND BERLIN GREGORY, OUR OPERATIONS DIRECT DIRECTOR FOR FURTHER CLARIFICATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF OUR BUILDING AND SYSTEM NEEDS.
WE WANT YOU TO KNOW BEFORE WE GET OUT OF THE GATES, SO TO SPEAK, THAT WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER AND WE MEAN THAT WE ARE, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO EXPLORE AS MANY CREATIVE FUNDING OPTIONS AS ARE OUT THERE.
BUT WE ARE VERY LIMITED IN MOST OF THOSE RESOURCES UNTIL THE CITY CAN AGAIN, UM, HELP US WITH THEIR ABILITY TO BORROW MONEY.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE NOT EVEN ELIGIBLE FOR A NUMBER OF SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION GRANTS AS THESE REQUIRE THE CITY'S ABILITY TO MATCH THE FUNDS APPLIED FOR AT AROUND 50% AND MOST ALSO REQUIRE A BOND RATING FOR THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
I DON'T KNOW ALL OF THE ANSWERS, BUT I DO KNOW THE NEED AND WE'VE GOT TO START TALKING ABOUT IT TO SOLVE IT TOGETHER.
AND ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GET THE CONVERSATION STARTED.
SO IF YOU WILL REFER TO CHART, THE RED, ORANGE AND YELLOW CHART.
AS I SAID, I'M GONNA FOCUS ON THE RED.
THE FIRST, UH, THREE ARE AROUND REPLACEMENT, CRITICAL REPLACEMENT OF OUR HVAC SYSTEM.
AT HOPEWELL HIGH SCHOOL, THE EXISTING SYSTEM MUST BE REPLACED.
UNDERGROUND PIPES ARE FAILING.
WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT WATER FLOW ISSUES AND A NUMBER OF OUR COMPRESSORS ARE FAILING AND OTHER OTHER COMPONENTS ARE, UM, IN DESPERATE NEED OF REPLACEMENT.
THIS REPLACEMENT SYSTEM WOULD BE VERY COMPREHENSIVE.
SO WE HAVE PHASED IT OUT IN THREE PHASES, THREE LOGICAL PHASES.
UM, WITH THE TOTAL ESTIMATED COST OF $13 MILLION, PHASE ONE WOULD COST APPROXIMATELY 7 MILLION.
PHASE TWO, APPROXIMATELY 2.5 MILLION, PHASE THREE, 3.5 MILLION.
AND IF WITH THE BOARD'S BLESSING, I'LL JUST GO THROUGH ALL SIX OF THE RED AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK.
THE SECOND IS OUR BUS REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.
UM, THE DE THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DOES NOT PRESCRIBE, AND I WISH THEY DID A SPECIFIC RETIREMENT AGE OR MILEAGE LIMIT FOR SCHOOL BUSES INSTEAD.
UH, SCHOOL DIVISIONS DETERMINE WHEN TO RETIRE BUSES BASED ON A NUMBER OF LOGICAL FACTORS LIKE THE
[00:55:01]
AGE OF THE BUS, THE MILEAGE ON IT, THE MAINTENANCE HISTORY, ET CETERA.UM, SURROUNDING SCHOOL DIVISIONS TYPICALLY RETIRE BUSES SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 15 AND 20 YEARS OF SERVICE.
NEXT YEAR WE WILL HAVE 11 BUSES REACHING THE 15 YEAR MARK PERIOD NECESSITATING, WE BELIEVE REPLACEMENT TO ENSURE THEIR SAFETY AND RELIABILITY.
UH, A PHASED REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE AFTER THAT POINT WOULD BE TO REPLACE AGAIN, USING THE SAME, UH, UH, PROCESS TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY.
UH, FOUR THE NEXT YEAR IN 26, 27, 3 IN 27, 28 AND FIVE WOULD MEET THE ELIGIBILITY IN 28 29.
ONE OF OUR SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES, WHICH I WILL REFERENCE AGAIN WHEN WE HOPEFULLY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY AT SOME POINT TO TALK ABOUT THE THE BUILDING BUS REPLACEMENT FUND HISTORY IS THAT LEAD TIMES FOR NEW BUSES AND SEVERAL OF THESE PROJECTS WILL SPAN AT LEAST INTO TWO FISCAL YEARS.
SO, UM, THE, IN THIS CASE, THE FIRST ESTIMATED PHASE IS $2 MILLION, BUT RIGHT NOW THE LEAD TIME TO PURCHASE ONE NEW BUS IS 1.5 TO TWO YEARS.
SO WE'VE GOT A WAY TO, TO RESPONSIBLY BUDGET IN ONE YEAR BUT NOT, NOT BE ABLE TO DELIVER ON WHAT WE'RE PURCHASING FOR THE NEXT YEAR.
THE THIRD IN THE RED AREA IS A NUMBER OF CONTROLS IN OUR HVAC SYSTEMS. WE REALLY NEED TO UPDATE THE CONTROLS AT ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS, UH, TO ENHANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, PROVIDE CENTRALIZED SYSTEM MANAGEMENT AND REDUCE OPERATIONAL COSTS TO MAINTAIN THE CURRENT CONTROL SYSTEMS. THAT ESTIMATED COST IS $2.5 MILLION.
FOUR AND FIVE ARE RELATED TO ROOFING ON TWO OF OUR SCHOOLS.
UM, THE FOUR, NUMBER FOUR IS A PARTIAL ROOF REPLACEMENT AT OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS IN PHASES WITH CERTAIN BY, BY WINGS.
UM, AND THE COST OF, UH, THE REMAINING PARTIAL ROOF NEEDED FOR CGW WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $1.5 MILLION.
UH, HARRY JAMES IS IN BETTER SHAPE, UM, BUT THEY NEED, UM, UH, THE ROOF MEMBRANE ON A PORTION OF THE BUILDING NEEDS REPLACEMENT DUE TO WEAR AND TEAR.
UH, AND THE PROJECT WOULD WOULD REQUIRE REPLACING ANY TIN THAT MUST BE REMOVED AND, AND INSTALLED A NEW, NEW MEMBRANE AT THE ESTIMATED COST OF $225,000.
AND THE LAST IS A PROJECT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR AT LEAST THE LAST YEAR, AND, AND IS IN OUR CURRENT BUDGET, UM, TO THE TUNE OF $400,000 TO BECOME A DA COMPLIANT WITH THE WELL AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM AT THE SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE.
WE NEED TO INSTALL AN ELEVATOR TO PROVIDE WHEELCHAIR ACCESS, UH, TO THE THIRD FLOOR FOR OUR STUDENTS AND, AND ANY OF OUR POTENTIAL STAFF.
UH, THAT COST WOULD BE $400,000.
IT HAS BEEN A VERY SLOW PROCESS AND THAT WILL NOT BE DELIVERABLE IN THIS FISCAL YEAR.
SO THAT IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHERE WERE WE ABLE TO ROLL OVER THAT MONEY INTO A SAVINGS ACCOUNT.
WE COULD POTENTIALLY COVER THAT.
WE COULD GO AHEAD AND PURCHASE ORDER IT NOW, BUT NOT PAY FOR IT UNTIL THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
UM, I WILL JUST HIGHLIGHT, UH, ONE BECAUSE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT, I THINK EVER SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE, AND THIS IS MY 10TH YEAR, IT IS AN ORANGE AND IT'S NOT URGENT.
IT'S VERY IMPORTANT, BUT IT'S NOT URGENT YET.
IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME THAT.
AND THAT IS OUR BUILDING, UM, AT WOODLAWN.
AND AGAIN, WE'VE HAD LOTS OF CONVERSATIONS AROUND THAT.
THAT WILL BE THE BIGGEST PROJECT THAT WE EMBRACE, CERTAINLY IN OR NOT IN MY TENURE.
UM, BUT WE WERE VERY INTENTIONAL IN BELIEVING THAT THAT CAN WAIT ON BEHALF OF SOME OF THESE OTHER MORE URGENT, UM, NEEDS.
SO, UM, IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, TECHNICAL QUESTIONS, I WOULD LOVE TO
UH, UM, BUT THAT, THAT IS, AND IF YOU'RE, UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO GO FURTHER INTO THE ORANGE AND YELLOW, WE JUST THOUGHT WE WOULD CONCENTRATE ON THE MOST IMPORTANT NEEDS AT THIS TIME.
COULD I JUST ADD THE ACRONYM? RTU? WHAT DOES THAT STAND FOR? ROOFTOP UNITS.
SO IF YOU WERE SHOOTING FROM THE HIP, THAT WAS A GOOD GUESS.
HAVE WE, UM, CONSIDERED A LEASING PROGRAM FOR THE BUSES? CAN I ASK
[01:00:01]
THE SAME THING? WE ARE LOOKING AT THAT WE HAVE NOT FULLY CONSIDERED THAT.DID YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT? THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT.
I'M LOOKING AT IT BECAUSE THAT CAN, THAT CAN HELP YOU GET THE BUSES SOONER THAN LATER.
AND THEN WE, YOU KNOW, PAY OVER TIME.
A LITTLE
YEAH, I, I SEE THAT BEING SOMETHING THAT WE CAN TACKLE SOONER THAN LATER.
DID YOU HAVE YOUR LIGHT? OKAY, I DON'T HAVE THE NEW, THE NEW NAMES UP YET, SO I GOTTA COUNT THE LIGHTS OVER.
UH, COUNCILOR STOKES, UM, THE, I WAS NOTICING THAT THE PARTIAL ROOF PLACEMENTS ARE IN, UH, COTTAGE G WOODSON AND HARRY JAMES, AM I CORRECT? CG W STANDS FOR COTTAGE G WOODSON
I KNOW IT'S, UH, THEY'RE WITHIN, IN OUR WARDS WAS ONE AND NO WARD.
SIX AND HER AGE JAMES IS IN TWO.
IS THERE ANY, UH, AND I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE I TO MEET WITH THE CDBG UM, FUNDING AND SEE WHAT'S ELIGIBLE UNDER FUNDING, BUT YOU MAY WANNA CONSIDER SOME OF THE, UH, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS, UM, BECAUSE THEY BENEFIT LOW TO MODERATE INCOME PROJECTS.
I WAS GONNA SAY PEOPLE, BUT PROJECTS AND PEOPLE, UM, AND ROOF REPLACEMENTS IS LIKE ONE OF THE MORE THE, UM, NUMBER ONE CATEGORIZED PAYMENTS THAT THEY DO.
I WOULD, BUT WE'LL LOOK INTO IT.
AND YOU MIGHT WANNA LOOK AT THAT AND SUBMIT THAT TO ALSO THE CDB.
NO, NO, THAT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA.
CDB INTO THE CDBG, UM, BUDGET.
AND IT MAY NOT BE A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY, BUT IT MAY BE SOMETHING TO OFFSET ANY, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S PRETTY IMPORTANT AND I SEE YOU HAVE IT IN THE RED.
UM, BUT UM, I HAVE A NOTE, BUT AT ANY RATE I WANTED TO MAKE THAT COMMENT.
UH, VICE MAYOR JOYNER AND THEN MYSELF.
I'M SORRY, I JUST TO THE, IT MAKES ME REAL NERVOUS.
THIS, THESE HVAC ISSUES MM-HMM
UM, PARTICULARLY AT THE HIGH SCHOOL, THAT KIND OF THING.
I MEAN, UM, DO Y'ALL SEE A SORT OF A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE IN THE, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I KNOW YOU CAN'T REALLY PLAN FOR THOSE THINGS.
BUT I MEAN, IT IS CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY AND I MEAN, IT'S SUCH A HUGE DISRUPTION.
AND, UM, NO, UM, THAT MAKES ME VERY NERVOUS.
WELL, WE ARE HAVING FAILURES IN THE, IN THE HOTTEST PART OF THE SUMMER YEAH.
IN CERTAIN AREAS AND CLASSROOMS. RIGHT.
DO YOU WANNA SPEAK TO THAT? YEAH.
JUST TO SPEAK TO WHERE IT'S AT RIGHT NOW.
WE HAVE COMPRESSORS THAT WE'RE HOLDING THAT WE'VE ALREADY PURCHASED BECAUSE WE KNOW THEY'RE GOING TO FAIL, UH, MUCH SOONER THAN THEY SHOULD DUE TO, UH, WATER FLOW ISSUES.
SO COMPRESSORS THEY SHOULD LAST 15 YEARS, LAST MAYBE TWO YEARS.
AND SO WE'RE HOLDING THOSE AND PUTTING THEM IN, WAITING TO PUT THEM IN UNTIL, UM, THE HOTTEST PART OF THE YEAR.
BUT, UM, WE, SIEMENS WON'T EVEN, UH, COVER SOME OF THE, THE COMPRESSORS NOW, UH, BECAUSE THEY KNOW, UH, DUE TO THE WATER FLOW ISSUES THAT THEY'RE JUST GOING TO FAIL SO THEY CAN'T WARRANTY 'EM ANY LONGER.
UH, SO IT HAS REACHED A POINT WHERE IT'S THE, THE ISSUES ARE SIGNIFICANT AND THEY HAVE A, UM, LARGE IMPLICATIONS TO THE ENTIRE SCHOOL.
YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT.
AND THERE'S NO SIMPLE CITY, SIMPLE.
HACKNEY KIND OF SPOKE TO THIS TOO, BUT THE LEAD TIME TO GET SOME OF THESE PROJECTS COMPLETED, UM, MAKES IT A A LITTLE MORE URGENT.
UM, MS. JOYNER, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RELOCATE SOME CLASSROOMS. WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO BRING IN SOME SMALL UNITS AND COOLING.
BUT, UM, WE ARE EXTREMELY NERVOUS THAT, THAT THE MORE CLASSROOMS WE'RE GONNA RUN OUT OF SPACE.
THEN ARE WE GONNA BE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR CLASSES? I DON'T KNOW, BUT I MEAN, THAT'S A, IT'S NUMBER.
THANK UM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR PROJECTED SAVINGS ARE RIGHT NOW? LIKE, LIKE A, LIKE, KIND OF LIKE WHAT, UM, MS. JORDAN DID FOR US.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, SHE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, DID A FORECAST OF, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW, LIKE MIDYEAR YEAH.
AND WHERE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, WHERE SHE ANTICIPATES US IN SIX MONTHS.
DO YOU WANNA SPEAK TO THAT? WE LOOK AT IT EVERY MONTH.
YOU GONNA DO IT BY MEMORY?
NO, THIS ONE, LIKE THE WORK, YEAH.
SO IT WAS ABOUT, UM, EVERY MONTH I DO THAT.
[01:05:01]
AT OUR VACANCY SAVINGS.'CAUSE AS YOU KNOW, UM, TEACHERS ARE HARD TO FIND.
SO WE DO HAVE A LOT OF VACANCIES, BUT WE'VE ALSO HAD TO PAY SOME AGENCIES TO COME IN TO GIVE US TEACHERS, WHICH IS EXPENSIVE TOO.
BUT YES, EVERY MONTH I DO LOOK AT THE VACANCY SAVINGS AND USE THAT TO THINGS THAT MIGHT NOT BE IN THE BUDGET.
UM, I BELIEVE IT WAS 1.4 WAS AROUND.
IT WAS, THAT'S, THAT'S MY RECOLLECTION.
WE, WE DON'T HAVE IT, BUT WE HAVE IT.
WE JUST DON'T HAVE IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.
I KNOW IT WAS OVER A MILLION DOLLARS.
THE, THE REASON WHY I'M, UM, I'M ASKING IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING THROUGH AT OUR NEXT MEETING TO DO, YOU KNOW, SOME, UM, YOU KNOW, MID-YEAR ADJUSTMENTS.
UM, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, SOME SAVINGS THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CAN PUT TOWARDS A CAPITAL PROJECT, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, UM, MS. JORDAN, UM, BUT MAYBE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GUYS ARE FORECASTING THAT AS WELL, UM, THAT I DON'T KNOW IF YOU NEED LIKE A, A COUNCIL APPROVAL FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
I THINK YOU COULD END UP HELPING.
AND THEN ALSO, YOU KNOW, WITH OUR, YOU KNOW, MEETING COMING UP NEXT WEEK, MAYBE IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO, YOU KNOW, JUST REACH OUT TO THEM AND SEE IF, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THESE MAY BE SMALLER PROJECTS MM-HMM
UM, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP OUT WITH.
UM, JUST LIKE, YOU KNOW, MS. STOKES SAID, UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WE HAVE FOR CDBG MONEY, BUT I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, UM, EXAMPLE OF A PROJECT THAT COULD BE UTILIZED, UM, AND HELPING EVERYBODY.
AND IF IT ONLY COVERS, YOU KNOW, A THIRD OF THE PROJECT, YOU KNOW, CITY MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, OUR UPCOMING MEETING YEAH.
AND MAYOR PARTON, THANK YOU FOR NOT ONLY ASKING THAT, BUT, BUT FOLLOWING UP WITH THAT, BECAUSE WE, UM, AND I'VE SAID THIS SO MANY TIMES, UH, BUT I'M GONNA SAY IT AGAIN.
WE DON'T DO MASSIVE SPEND DOWNS, RIGHT? WE, WE, WE'VE PROMISED THAT TO THIS COUNCIL.
UM, WE DO, AS JANELLE JUST INDICATED, THERE ARE THINGS THAT AREN'T, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW WE'RE SO SHORT ON BUS DRIVERS.
WE ARE LITERALLY CONSIDERING ANOTHER CONTRACT WITH, WHAT'S THE NAME OF THAT STUDENT? FIRST STUDENT FIRST THAT WE BROUGHT IN BEFORE ANOTHER TIME WE WERE IN A CRISIS SITUATION.
THEY'RE VERY EXPENSIVE, BUT THEY GET THE JOB DONE.
AND OUR KIDS GET TO SCHOOL ON TIME.
AND, UM, BUT THAT'S OBVIOUSLY WE'VE HAD TO FIND MONIES TO, TO PAY FOR THAT IN, IN SAVINGS MM-HMM
UM, SO WE WOULD LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THAT, WHETHER IT IS THAT WE SPEND IT ON SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS IN THIS FISCAL YEAR, UM, OR WHETHER WE WORK AGAIN TO DEVELOP AND, AND WE CAN CALL IT SOMETHING DIFFERENT MM-HMM
BUT THE CONCEPT AND THE WISDOM OF THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL AND BOARDS TO ALLOW US WHAT YOU JUST INITIATED A CONVERSATION, WE WOULD HAVE TO ROLL IT OVER AND WE FIGURED OUT TECHNICALLY HOW TO DO THAT BETTER, UM, FOR AUDITING PURPOSES MM-HMM
BUT ONCE WE GAVE IT BACK AND YOU REAPPROPRIATED IT TO US, WE COULD GO AHEAD AND, AND PUT, YOU KNOW, PUT THE ORDERS IN NOW MM-HMM
SAVE THAT MONEY FOR DELIVERY OF 11 BUSES NEXT YEAR.
SO WE JUST REALLY, WE HOPE WE CAN OPEN THAT CONVERSATION AGAIN.
I KNOW THAT SOME PEOPLE STRUGGLE, HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THAT, BUT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING.
I DON'T BOARD MEMBERS THAT WERE ON THE BOARD BEFORE I CAME HERE AS A SUPERINTENDENT 10 YEARS AGO, THEY CAN'T REMEMBER A TIME THIS BOARD CAME, OUR BOARD CAME TO YOU ALL FOR A PROJECT OF, OF ANY OF, OF THESE TYPES.
BECAUSE THEY COULD COVER IT AND PLAN FOR IT AND SAVE FOR IT.
WE JUST FOUND OUT AND WE'RE, YOU KNOW, KNOCKING ON WOOD WITH THE CABOOSE BILL, UM, LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE BRINGING US IF OUR AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP STAYS ABOUT THE SAME, ANOTHER $600,000 THAT WE WEREN'T ANTICIPATING MM-HMM
MR. GRIFFIN'S FIRST RECOMMENDATION TO ME.
WELL, I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A RECOMMENDATION.
WAS CAN YOU SPEND THAT ON BUSES? MM-HMM
BUT I CAN'T, I CAN'T GET A BUS MM-HMM
SO I'VE GOTTA HAVE SOME KIND OF MECHANISM TO, TO, TO SAVE THAT MONEY MM-HMM
BUT THAT WAS A REALLY WISE THING AND WOULD HELP BOTH OF OUR BOARDS IF WE COULD GET BACK TO THAT.
CALL IT WHATEVER IT IS, PROCESS, CHANGE THE PROCESS.
BUT IF YOU CAN TELL US THAT SOONER THAN LATER MM-HMM
WE WILL CONSERVE EVERY DOLLAR OF THAT.
UM, BUT OTHERWISE WE'VE, WE'VE, WE'VE GOTTA DO WHAT YOU JUST SAID.
PICK AND CHOOSE THE SMALLER THINGS AND SEE IF WE CAN, YOU KNOW, BUT MOST OF THE THINGS THAT WE WOULD BUY ON THIS URGENT LIST, AND THIS IS WHERE WE'VE GOTTEN INTO TROUBLE, BECAUSE WITHOUT AN INTENT, WE HAVE POTENTIALLY WASTED MONIES IN PURCHASING THINGS THAT WE COULD DELIVER BY AND NEEDED, NOT JUST ANYTHING BUT THINGS THAT WE NEEDED BY JUNE 30TH WHEN WE WOULD'VE M MUCH MORE PRIORITIZED SOME OF THESE THINGS IF WE COULD SAVE IT TO GET AT, UM, A
[01:10:01]
PURCHASE A YEAR FROM NOW OR TWO YEARS FROM NOW.SO, UM, HOPEFULLY WE CAN HAVE THAT CONVERSATION MORE.
AND, UM, UM, BUT, BUT YES, WE ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU ON THAT AND TO, TO USE EXISTING FUNDS THAT WE, AND SAVINGS THAT WE CAN CAN FIND TO FUND THESE THINGS.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, A LOT OF THEM ARE REALLY BIG TICKET ITEMS, BUT A COUPLE OF SCHOOL BUSES HERE AND THERE.
I THINK THE SCHOOL BUS PRICE OF SCHOOL BUS NOW IS 1 50, 1 71 70 MM-HMM
BUT YOU KNOW, THAT $600 HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS THAT WE ANTICIPATE IN THE CABOOSE BILL COULD BUY ALMOST FOUR OF THEM.
BUT THE LEASING AND OBVIOUSLY A LEASING POSSIBILITY.
AND WE WILL LOOK INTO THAT REPORT BACK TO YOU.
HATTON, ONE MORE QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU.
UM, I DO SHARE THE CONCERNS OF THE VICE MAYOR, UM, ABOUT THE HVAC.
UM, I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN CONSIDER FINANCING, LOOKING INTO A FINANCING OPTION.
I, I MEAN, WE IS $7 MILLION, SO OBVIOUSLY WE MM-HMM
$7 MILLION, BUT IT FINANCING MAY BE AN OPTION.
MAKER, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT AND WE WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ALL ABOUT, UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT MAYBE A PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING ARRANGEMENT, LIKE IT'S NOT NEW, BUT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE COST OF THAT FINANCING WOULD BE OFFSET BY ENERGY SAVINGS WITH A NEW, BETTER, BETTER SYSTEM.
SO, UM, WE'RE GONNA LOOK INTO ALL OF ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
WE, WE CAN'T REALLY PUT IT OUT TO BID AND WE CAN'T, YOU KNOW, UN UNTIL WE KNOW THAT WE CAN, I MEAN SOMETHING OF THAT MAGNITUDE THAT WE CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, BE TRUE TO THE INTENT TO PAY ON IT.
BUT WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL OF THOSE OPTIONS.
WE ALSO HAVE, UM, SOME SUPPORT AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ED AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
UM, DELEGATE CORONER IS WORKING, UM, ACTIVELY ON OUR BEHALF TO HELP WITH THE WOODLAWN.
UM, EITHER RENOVATION OR, UM, COMPLETE REPLACEMENT.
UM, UH, THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT IS VERY INVESTED IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT AND HAS ASKED FOR AN ESTIMATE OF THAT PRO AN A, A MORE UPDATED GUESSTIMATE IS WHAT THIS IS.
UM, FOR THAT PROJECT AND, AND HOPES TO POTENTIALLY GO TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ASK FOR FUNDS TO SUPPORT THAT.
SO WE REALLY ARE TRYING TO, TO FIND AS MANY, YOU KNOW, WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN, WE CAN DO THIS WITHOUT COMING TO YOU ALL BECAUSE WE KNOW, WE KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS.
BUT IF YOU WOULD TRUST US FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS TO BUILD A FUND AND, AND EXPLAIN OBVIOUSLY EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, WHERE IT CAME FROM, HOW, HOW IT GOT THERE, UM, WE WILL DO OUR DUE DILIGENCE AND I CAN TELL YOU WE CAN, WE CAN HIT SOME OF THESE SMALLER THINGS AND MAYBE CREATE THE FUNDS FOR A PAYMENT ON A FINANCE AGREEMENT IF WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN AS WELL.
SO, UM, TONIGHT WAS REALLY JUST ABOUT, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A PROBLEM, BUT WE'RE OPTIMISTIC AND IF WE CAN WORK TOGETHER AND WE CAN SAVE AND IDEAS LIKE COUNCILOR STOKES AND OTHER POTENTIAL OPTIONS, WE'LL WE'LL EMBRACE THIS TOGETHER AND BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE CITY'S MONEY.
BUT WE ARE, WE ARE IN A CRITICAL SITUATION WITH SOME OF THESE CIRCUMSTANCES AND WE APPRECIATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THAT.
UM, SO MS. JORDAN, IS THERE, UM, SOMETHING THAT WE COULD DO, UM, LIKE POLICY WISE, UM, BECAUSE I KNOW WE GOT HIT ON THE AUDITS FOR THIS, THAT THEY'RE, UM, IT WAS JUST, IT'S SOMETHING THAT JUST KEPT COMING UP AND ISSUES AROSE FROM IT, BUT IS THERE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF OUR POLICIES THAT WE COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE WHAT THEY'RE SAYING WHERE, YOU KNOW, THAT THEIR END OF THE YEAR MONEY THAT THEY, IF THEY RUN UNDER BUDGET, THAT THEY CAN TAKE THAT AND USE IT FOR A CAPITAL EXPENSE.
THE CITY CAN HAVE AN OPTION THAT THEY CAN CREATE SCHOOLS IN REGARDS TO THE FISCAL YEAR, WHATEVER TWENTIES ARE LEFT OVER THAT THEY NEED NOT SPEND, THAT IT CAN GO BACK.
UM, IT'LL COME BACK TO US FOR AND APPROPRIATE, GET BACK TO THE SCHOOLS FOR SPECIFIC PROJECTS.
I HAVEN'T SEEN, I WAS TALKING TO DR. BAKER EARLIER, UM, IN PREPARATION FOR THIS MEETING, IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT YOU HAVE PAPERWORK THAT EXISTS PREVIOUSLY OR ANY KIND OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE, WE CAN'T FIND IT AND IT'S WAY PREME.
UM, THERE ARE PEOPLE ON BOTH BOARDS, I DON'T KNOW.
UM, THAT REMEMBER THERE WAS ACTION, ACTUAL ACTION, BUT WE CAN'T, NOBODY, WE'LL DO SOME RESEARCH ON OUR SIDE AS WELL BECAUSE, UM, MOST OF THE TIME IT, UH, AGAIN, BACK WHERE THEY, UP ALLOWING SCHOOL WHERE TO GET IT BACK APPROPRIATE OUTSIDE OF SYSTEM PHARMACY.
ANOTHER THING WE CAN, WE HAVE OUR AND MAYOR PART, THE ONLY THING THAT, THAT, AND I, CORRECT
[01:15:01]
ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT THAT WE WERE TOLD AND UNDERSTOOD FROM, UH, COUNCIL AND THE AUDITORS WAS A TECHNICALITY.THAT'S, I JUST, YOU'VE DONE SO GOOD TO GET WHERE WE ARE YES.
I JUST DON'T WANT US TO BACKTRACK THAT WAY.
SO I THINK LIKE A GOOD MOU POLICY OF SOME SORT THAT, THAT'S IN WRITING, YOU KNOW, VOTES ON BOTH SIDES, YOU KNOW, IT WAS TAKEN AND, YOU KNOW, IT JUST, IT COMES BACK TO THE CITY FOR CLOSEOUT, BUT THE REAPPROPRIATION, YOU KNOW, GOES RIGHT INTO IT FOR THE SPECIFIC PROJECT.
MAY WE DRAFT THAT? YEAH, YEAH.
I MEAN, WE, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO TRY THAT AND THEN YOU ATTORNEYS TAKE A LOOK AT IT AND YEAH.
NO, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE A STAB AT IT.
LIKE SAID, THERE ARE OTHER DISTRICTS THAT DO THIS.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD SET US ALL UP TO, TO MM-HMM
UM, VICE MAYOR, I JUST HAVE ONE COMMENT.
I JUST, I I LOOK FORWARD TO A COLLEGIAL, UM, RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SCHOOL BOARD, NOT AN ANTAGONISTIC ONE THAT I THINK HAS BEEN EXISTING FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO A COLLEGIAL, UM, YOU KNOW, RELATIONSHIP.
THANK, AND IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THESE, I MEAN, IT'S JUST ABSOLUTELY VITAL FOR BOTH ENTITIES TO, TO UNDERSTAND AND WORK WITH ONE ANOTHER.
AND, AND I REMEMBER I, MY LATE HUSBAND WAS ON THE SCHOOL BOARD WHEN THAT BUS FUND THING CAME AROUND.
AND, UM, I REMEMBER, I REMEMBER HIM DISCUSSING THAT, WHAT THEY HAD TALKED ABOUT AND THAT KIND OF THING.
AND SO MAYBE IT IS IN SOME MEETING, UH, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING, BUT IT WAS IN THE NINETIES.
I MEAN, IT WOULD BE, IT'S A LONG TIME AGO.
UH, BUT IN ANY CASE, I LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, YOU KNOW, US RE-ENGAGING AND DOING SOMETHING THAT, THANK YOU.
WE APPRECIATE THAT, THAT WE CAN BACK UP SOON.
I'M THE OLD FART ON THE, UH,
SO YOU, MY MEMORY
DALEY WHO, WHO, WHO WAS PART OF THAT MM-HMM
AND, AND I SAY THAT, UM, THAT MEMO OF UNDERSTANDING LASTED 24 YEARS MM-HMM
AND I, I UNDERSTAND WHY IT STOPPED, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE WERE IN CRISIS.
THERE WAS SOME MONEY, YOU NEEDED MONEY, AND IT, IT, IT IS WHAT IT IS.
UM, THAT FUND OVER TIME, UH, WAS SALVATION.
IT SAVED THE CITY, IT SAVED THE SCHOOLS.
UM, AND, AND, AND I REMIND US ALL THAT THESE ARE NOT NORMAL BUDGET ITEMS. I MEAN, THIS IS, I UNDERSTAND THE SANITATION DEPARTMENT AND, AND, AND WATER WORKS AND FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THEY'RE ALL IMPORTANT PIECES AND PARTS, BUT UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A STATUTORY OBLIGATION.
WE HAVE TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN.
IF WE DON'T DO THAT, WE GO TO JAIL.
UM, AND I DON'T MEAN DON'T WANT TO BE OVERDRAMATIC, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT MANY SERVICES THAT WE PROVIDE THAT ARE STATUTORY IN NATURE.
YOUR CHILDREN HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL, THEY HAVE TO BE SAFE, THEY HAVE TO BE FED.
AND, AND, AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE BUSINESS THAT WE'RE IN FROM A, FROM A LEGACY PERSPECTIVE.
UM, AND, AND I'LL ECHO WHAT DR.
MEL MELODY SAID WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF SPENDING.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A, WE HAVE $3 LEFT, BUY ANOTHER TOILET PAPER AND ROLL.
THAT'S NOT THE WAY THAT WE WORK.
IF WE HAVE MONEY LEFT, WE HAVE MONEY LEFT.
IF WE DON'T, WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, IN THE HISTORY OF THAT FUND, THE LEAST THAT WE CONTRIBUTE TO THAT FUND WAS $25,000, WHICH DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A LOT, BUT IF YOU'VE GOT $25,000 THAT GOES INTO THE KITTY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, ON THE HIGH SIDE, YOU KNOW, WE CONTRIBUTE MILLION, A MILLION DOLLARS TO THAT FUND.
UM, AND, AND A LOT OF THAT IS, IS, IS IS PERSONNEL SAVINGS.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE CONCEPT IS IMPORTANT.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE AT A JUNCTURE RIGHT NOW, AND I DON'T MEAN TO PRESS THIS, BUT, YOU KNOW, DR.
HACKNEY MENTIONED TWO THINGS THAT ELEVATOR
[01:20:01]
$400,000, IT'S IN THE BUDGET THIS YEAR.YOU KNOW, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THIS YEAR, SO THAT HAS TO BE, UH, YOU KNOW, PART OF THIS URGENT DISCUSSION, UH, THAT THAT'S NOT LOST IN, UH, IN THE GROUND.
THERE MIGHT BE ANOTHER THING TOO.
BUT, BUT, UH, BUT ANYWAY, THANK YOU FOR THANK YOU.
ANYTHING ELSE? ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY.
[CLOSED MEETING]
GO INTO, UH, CLOSED MEETING PURSUANT TO VIRGINIA CODE SECTION 2.2 DASH 37 11 A ONE TO DISCUSS AND CONSIDER BOARD AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS, THE ASSIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF SPECIFIC APPOINTEES AND EMPLOYEES OF CITY COUNCIL AND DISCUSSION, CONSIDERATION OR INTERVIEWS OF PROSPECTIVE CANDIDATES FOR EMPLOYMENT.AND TO THE EXTENT SUCH DISCUSSION WILL BE AIDED, THEREBY SO MOVED.
SECOND, UH, MOTIONS BEEN MADE BY COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR ELLIS.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
COUNCILLOR HARRIS? YES, YOUR HONOR.
DO I HAVE A MOTION? COME A CLOSED
[RECONVENEOPENMEETING]
SESSION.MOTIONS BEEN MADE BY VICE MAYOR JOINER AND SECONDED BY MAYOR PARTON.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE.
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO VIRGINIA CODE 2.2 DASH 3 7 12 D, WHERE ONLY PUBLIC BUSINESS MATTERS.
LAWFULLY EXEMPTED FROM OPEN MEETING REQUIREMENTS AND TWO IDENTIFIED IN THE CLOSING MEETING.
MOTION DISCUSSED IN THE CLOSED MEETING.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CLIENT ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT? UH, WITH SANS ANDERSON FOR INTERIM CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES.
SECOND HAS BEEN MADE BY VICE MAYOR JOINER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR HOLLOWAY.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS? ROLL CALL PLEASE.
AT THIS TIME IS THERE A MOTION TO APPOINT ROBERT GAINES TO THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS? BRENDA PELLUM TO THE HOPPO REDEVELOPMENT HOUSING AUTHORITY.
AND DOMINIC HOLLOWAY TO THE VIRGINIA GATEWAY REGION BOARDS.
MOTIONS HAS BEEN MADE BY VICE MAYOR JOINER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR STOKES.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
ALRIGHT, IS THERE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? NOT YET.
UH UH, SIR MAYOR, BEFORE YOU DO THAT, ALSO GOT A DIRECT, I BELIEVE THE CLERK IN, IN REGARDS TO THE LEGISLATION TO CORRECT THE LEGISL.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU EVER SENT THAT CORRECTION.
I THINK IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE MYSELF AND COUNSELOR D ON THAT ONE MINUTE REMAINING.
WE ALREADY SENT OUT THOSE APPOINTMENT LETTERS.
I DIDN'T KNOW, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT CAME OUT.
ALRIGHT, MOTION TO, SO ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.