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08/21/2019 - Summary City of Tigard Levy Bond Task Force: Meeting Summary August 21, 2019 (kn) Levy Bond Task Force Wednesday, August 21, 2019 5:30-8:30 p.m. Town Hall Room (Council Chambers), City Hall 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard Membership: Present Absent/Excused Ahsha Miranda Christopher Staggs Alan Miles Clifford Rone Brenda Frank Linda Monahan Carl Switzer Melody Graeber Chris Middaugh Mitch Friedman Darlene Dick Erin Scheller Holly Koontz Jamie Watson John Roberts Kate Rogers Marc Woodard Other attendees: Councilor Lueb, Councilor Newton, City Manager Marty Wine, Director of Finance and Informational Services Toby La France, Director of Central Services Nadine Robinson Welcoming comments provided CM Wine, Councilors Lueb and Newton. Introductions, including housekeeping item of selecting chair. Darlene Dick was nominated and accepted to continue in that role. Debrief: Discussion about the 2018 levy effort. • Q: What did you hear from voters? • Q: What information do voters need to better understand the finances, service levels, and the ask? • Q: What communication tolls and messages are most effective at delivering the information about the ask? Comments included: • When the levy was proposed for2018, funds went to the General Fund. That money could go to anything rather than to a designated fund. • People felt that the city had not done a good job with the money they had. City of Tigard Levy Bond Task Force: Meeting Summary August 21, 2019 (kn) • We recommended three things- sidewalks, police/public safety and parks. Library was ultimately pulled in despite our recommendation and that was confusing. There were too many things, and not the right things. By including the library, people felt there was a double dip because there was another library ask. • General Fund feels like a slush fund. • Public safety is very popular. Personally, would like to see more sidewalks: they are part of public safety. • Q: Did any sidewalks get built? • Heard about the messaging, how it was threatening. That didn't land well. • Q: How is our economy doing? Were there cuts? • People didn't understand the city budget and the buckets of money. Didn't know it could only be used for certain services. There's a lack of understanding about what fund/bucket pays for what so optics were bad. • Trust is an issue. It's an 'us versus them' mentality. Need to be transparent. • More transparency. Wasn't able to find information online very easily. • There's a challenge at hand. The community reports that there's a high level of satisfaction with city services. Yet, we asked for more. Until people start to feel a reduction in services, we'll have this challenge. Stuck in complacency. The General Fund is underfunded but that's not compelling to the public. General Fund needs support: it is a critical service and not a slush fund. Need to educate people. • Q: Can you call the General Fund something else? "Operational Fund"? Heard about the events the city does like Movies in the Park. Why are we doing that is there's budget issues? Why not spend that money on police? • Seems like there's plenty of police but people don't realize how big Tigard is. People think about their community, not the city as a whole. • Took a risk with the threats. Need a better approach this time. Need to focus on what we'll gain, not on what we could lose. • Think about political environment. Need to define the specifics. Be cautious, we have conservative voters. Need to think about what's happening at all levels- city, county, state and federal. • Remembers attending an Open House at Templeton. There's concern about expenses at the individual level. With additional costs, there's additional pressure. • Information was lacking. There was the voter's pamphlet and one small mailer which had lots of text and was confusing. Be bolder, simpler and more frequent with messaging. There's also the issue of traffic- need to be more transparent about who has control of the roads, special projects and PD coverage. Tell the story. • The voter's pamphlet summary was vague. As far as General Fund, didn't get the feeling there was urgency. People have other commitments. People are satisfied with city services so the City doesn't need their focus or attention or more money. There was legal-ease speak, vagueness. The story wasn't compelling. People didn't know what you they were getting. Need to be direct- we're asking for$X which will get you X,Y, and Z. Tell me what are the benefits. There was no meat. City of Tigard Levy Bond Task Force: Meeting Summary August 21, 2019 (kn) • Had I not been on the committee, I would have voted no. The voter's pamphlet was vague. The ask was for just the whatever fund. People felt that the city wasn't going to use the money for what they said. Need to make an ask for the greater good- police service and safety. Explain to people exactly what they are going to get. • My experience is that when people hear 'tax' they just say 'no'. • We have a strong economy and there's lots of bond measures so we may face voter fatigue (schools, Metro). Need to craft a hyper-local message. We take care of our own. This takes care of us. Direct benefit to our community. • Even more than local, it's personal. It's about you! There needs to be a semblance of control. Think about something like SimCity, creating an app so people can see what happens with and without the funding-the trade-offs-to educate people, make them better informed. • Use NextDoor in a concise manner. Post statistics, simple data points. • Operate more like a business. You did a performance audit. Use that to help inform public. Talk about oversight, the needs, and focus on challenges and how Tigard ranks compared to others. • Don't threaten. • Due diligence. Message and stay focused. • When I heard from people who voted against, they were apologetic. They felt badly and said that it was vague. When people don't know or are unsure, the default is no. • When there's confusion that leads to suspicion. • People weren't sure what they were getting; it wasn't clear. Need to say what we are getting, and how much it will cost. Heard it was difficult for some to vote no. • Heard that the city will figure out how to provide services without getting more money; they always do. • If you can't pass a tax, you will create a fee. • Voted no because it was too large. Too many services and too high a cost. • Wasn't substantive enough. And there wasn't enough time. Needed six more weeks for outreach. • People didn't like the threats. People see all the development and don't understand how residential does or does not contribute. Commercial and industry pay more. The tax base is different. • How much do people relate to Tigard? Do they just live here and commute elsewhere? Do they identify? City Finances: Presentation by Toby LaFrance Toby gave a high-level overview about the city's finances. We're financial stable but resource constrained. He spoke about financial basics, including property taxes and assessments-including the difference between restricted and unrestricted funds. Part of the presentation was an interactive exercise where Toby walked people through the property tax calculations. He helped people do the math and that exercise also City of Tigard Levy Bond Task Force: Meeting Summary August 21, 2019 (kn) demonstrated why growth doesn't pay for itself as far as associated services. Discussion followed: • How many officers per resident are there in Tigard? How does that compare to other cities, such as Beaverton? We need a property tax comparison. • How financially stressed are our homeowners? Do we have populations that are overburdened? • We need to look at our tax deductions and how they have changed. • We need to have information about demographics to better understand impacts of raising property tax—to be cognizant of impacts and asks. There some inquiries and discussion about a potential bond (for PD facility). • Where would a future facility go? • Both measures should be on the May 2020 ballot. • Think outside the box. Be creative in finding solutions. • Think about funding broadly. If the levy goes first, have a line item for planning purposes. It would be a seed to indicate another (connected) ask. • Q: Is there wiggle room to go higher with an ask? Have we planned for bigger? Prepared for scenario years out? Q: What do you like about the proposal? What are the drawbacks? Discussion followed: • What's the status of the Community Service Officers? Prefer CSOs over Homeless Outreach Team (HOT). Be more general. Say additions most focus on homeless issues but leave room for other possibilities. How do sweeps fit in?Are these additions only for today's needs? Or was projected growth considered? • Q:What about Resource Officers? A:CROs were reduced from 4 to 2 in the last budget. The City of Tigard pays for the Resource Officers: School District pays for a .5 FTE. The Chief prioritized needs and place patrol officers higher than Resource Officer as far as immediate needs. • Like the idea of additional officers. Feels that is necessary but there are problems with space. Resource Officers can be placed at schools, and prepare there for patrols. Look at annexing- patrol could be placed in new site, more central. • Patrol levels are less than what they were so there's a net negative. Convey what you deem is a necessary level of coverage. Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) is good. Additional patrols are a selling point so there's buy-in. • There's awareness of police services. Safety seems to be the most important issue. Proposal seems ideal. Incorporate schools, which would be a selling point. Homeless needs are a good call-out. • Homeless is a selling point. It's a top of mind issue. • Numbers seem great. But where would you put additional officers? • Concerned about housing the additional officers. • In regard to the order of Levy and Bond, start with what most needed. Both fill needs. City of Tigard Levy Bond Task Force: Meeting Summary August 21, 2019 (kn) Message them together or else risk muddying the water and creating confusion. • Proposal is very well considered. • Background: As far as facility mater plan, there was a 2013 needs assessment. That needs updating. We are in process of a conceptual design. Have considered several options, ranging from modular to assemblage at other sites, to possibly moving admin. Even if bond passes, facility would be years out. • Think about River Terrace. Modification of master plan could pay for PD facility. Satellites could be possibilities. • Look at the right size here versus satellite facility. • Need to think about functionality of site, including admin. • Feels a focused levy is very viable. • Like numbers. Be clear. Expand the figures and tell what the costs are and what you get. • Message clarity. Specificity is good. The question at hand is who is asking for this? Who is driving this? • Like the proposal, the focus. The amount is quite modest. But concerned about voter fatigue. Maybe we think about this as we have one ask. What do we ask for? Like the idea of something small and attainable, being successful (getting it), and then building off of that. • If we are facing fatigue and if there's no community demand, and we get only one ask, building/facility (is?)the priority. Take the time to develop a stronger proposal. Only one shot. • Like the focus. Worry is that it's not enough. It feels like amount proposed satisfies what we need today, not the future. Also, need to keep in mind that traffic is the number one issue. • Know that the amount is $.46 per$1,000 assessed. Is that low or conservative? Is it enough to provide all the needed PD coverage, including River Terrace? • Proposal and amount sound reasonable. Want to make sure we are not short (funds). Officers are most important priority (over building). There's an increase in crime today. • Q: Do we need to more officers? A: Chief thinks this is a responsible proposal. • Feels this has a much better chance of passing. It's specific, still complex but easier to quantify. The weakness is the chick and egg- additional officers and space needs. Need a plan so if the levy passes, there's movement to create a reasonable work environment. We need to attract, recruit, train and retain officers. • Regarding space, need an interim plan. Have a strategy that's explainable. • Do we need to ask for more? • It's clear, addresses concerns, not vague. Make sure you state why you need this proposal. Public doesn't know why there is a need. Use data, statistics. Proposal should be packaged in clear, concise manner. Provide service-levels. Beaverton has....Tualatin has....State what are trying to accomplish and why. What we have versus what we should have. Benefit statements. • About bond/facility, it needs to be called out. It's a strategic story. Proposal looks great based on what we learned from last time. City of Tigard Levy Bond Task Force: Meeting Summary August 21, 2019 (kn) • Is the proposed amount ($0.46) enough to solve the issues we are trying to solve?As far as facilities, look at everything- modular, shared functionality. This seems to be on right track. Remember the assessed value and the County's ability to increase 3%. • Be mindful of the story we tell. Mayor/Council talk about a safe place for all. May 2020 will have a high turnout, with progressive voters. Equity, living local, hiring people from the community, bi-lingual, diverse-those help Tigard be a place for all. Red light/photo enforcement-the funds generate from that, where does that go? Which bucket? • Need to decide if levy and bond go together or not? Maybe it's May 2021. • We have a window of opportunity with the library bond.. A new bond would be net neutral which is important. Need to plot out the timeline. • Clarify the $0.46 assessed. Tell people specifics. • With the additional officers, tell people what they get, the personal benefit. With additions, there will be no nights without coverage. What's in it for me? • Build community. Work on relationships. With additions, we'll have neighborhood police dedicated to our community. • Who is guarding Tigard?Show the shortages. Currently, we rely on others for assistance (recent incident with back-up from Beaverton/Sheriff). Who is minding the store? • As far as response time, with 8 more officers, it will take less time to respond. Recap of next steps. • Next meeting tentatively scheduled for September 18. • TPD and Chief McAlpine will be attending. ADJOURN 8:30 pm And there was a question about the General Fund, if it could be called something else.The answer is no. Per GASB 34 the main operating fund used to account for and report all financial resources not accounted for and reported in another fund is the General Fund.