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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/11/2026 - Q&A Proposed Budget FY27 - Part 1 FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer Question TopicResponse Asked By Question What is the cost of the Library filled library FTEs that The total cost to restore FTE for two permanent Aaron McCool are being removed? positions and convert a limited-duration position to 1 permanent is$165,202. The county is proposing to reduce their General How does the funding Fund contribution to WCCLS by$1M due to higher from county general than expected collection to levy dollars due to a Councilor Library one-time event and to close their own fiscal gapin 2 fund and county levy Robbins compare to prior years? their general fund.The overall allocation amounts to member libraries does not change, however this is a risk we need to recognize going forward, as they are closing the gap through one-time funding. As part of the budget development process, Departments were given guidance to propose 10% Asked for a specific budget reduction scenarios. Any reductions in the Library recommendation on 3 Ethan Postrel what could be cut at the proposed budget were proposed and prioritized by the Department.The Budget Officer also gave library instead of the guidance that limited duration positions would not proposed reductions. be renewed if they were expiring as part of a citywide cost-saving strategy. Personnel Services increased by$463K between FY2024 and FY2025 due to COLA adjustments, rising benefit costs, and the addition of 1.0 FTE for Asked for a narrative the Library Social Services Coordinator position. explaining the drivers Personnel costs increased again in FY2026 by from FY 2024 to the $208K, primarily driven by additional COLA proposed FY 2027 adjustments and continued increases in benefit budget for the library. costs. From FY2026 to FY2027, Personnel Services decreased by$306K due to a reduction of 3.4 FTE Councilor Library 4 (2.0 vacant FTE and 1.4 filled FTE). Schlack Materials&Services saw a slight increase between FY2024 and FY2025,followed by a reduction of $463K in FY2026 to intentionally align the budget more closely with actual expenditures. Additional reductions of$126K were taken in FY2027, primarily in the 53004—Books and Circulation Materials object code. Capital Outlay also declined slightly but remains a minimal share of the overall budget Wage FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer Question Topic Response Asked By Question The monthly Residential and Non-Residential rate is currently$9.38 and it is proposed to be increased by the growth factor in the Fees and charges Schedule by 4.26%to $9.78 per dwelling unit per month.The Commercial EDU (Equivalent Dwelling Unit) calculation is to take the number of Billed Parks Is PARF charged on a per Parking Stalls (Per Street Maintenance Fee), 5 Bill Lewis multiply by 0.76 Jobs per stall and divide by 15 to unit basis,for landlords? get the number of EDUs.The Industrial EDU Calculation is to take the number of Billed Parking Stalls (Per Street Maintenance Fee), multiply by 1.19 Jobs per stall and divide by 15 to get the number of EDUs.There is also a Reduction for Qualified Low-Income Single-Family Dwellings,that get a 50% reduction to the PARF. The Parks Bond fund transferred $2.75M for the FY26 Supplemental Budget, which are unrestricted Request for more one-time funds.These are residual funds from the Council Parks information on Parks 2011 Parks Bond due to an accumulation of interest 6 President Supplement Bond Funds from the earnings during the life of the bond, higher than Wolf al supplemental budget expected tax collections, and interest savings from bond restructuring. Parks Parks- How much would Pausing Bagan and Steve Street Park would result in 7 Aaron McCool holding off on new parks a .5 FTE long-term savings. Depending on level of save? service at Triangle Park,varying FTE needed Are there any open/unfilled FTE/positions that were Open FTE- not eliminated in the For the Police Departments, vacancies total up to Parks and 8 Aaron McCool Police Parks or Police budget $600,364 and $94,480 for Parks. and how much is in the budget for those positions? Wage FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer Question Topic Response # Asked By Question Councilor Where the park funding Previous models did not anticipate the increased Parks FTE that are goingto be required for the parks that 9 Ghoddusi downturn start? q coming online, which include Blueberry Hill Park, Little Bear Park, Steve Street Park, and Bagan Park. Councilor Police How can we plan 10 forward to use the See detailed response at Appendix A Ghoddusi forfeiture funds? The Houseless Liaison position provides strategic direction, subject matter expertise on homeless policy, regional coordination, and management of With the social services citywide homelessness response efforts across grant application agencies, departments, and community partners, process in mind. How much overlap is there in while the Social Services Coordinator position what is currently being provides direct resourcing and referrals to community members, supports preventative 11 Derek Lawson Library done by the Library services, responds to escalated patron incidents Social Services Coordinator position and within the library, provides behavioral intervention support, and connects individuals with basic needs other initiatives and and social service resources.The Houseless Liaison programs within the role is primarily strategic, policy, and coordination- city? focused,whereas the Social Services Coordinator role is focused on direct service provision and frontline support. How will reducing the 0.2 FTE for the youth Chair Hu Library library program impact Programs for teens will be reduced to reflect 12 youth library services. in available staff resources. practice? One increase to IGA revenues is centered around List of IGA revenue the PD utilizing a Tri-Met Transit PD Offset, PD will 13 Councilor Revenue sources be utilizing Tri-Met Transit funds to pay 105%of the Schlack total Budgeted Personnel Costs for 3 officers, equaling$570,861 in new revenue.The PD is also going out for the WCDA ORC Detective LD Grant to Wage FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer sked pay for the DEA officer, which is an additional $224,016 in revenue to the city. Benefit rates increased from 2024 through 2026, with most plans experiencing year-over-year growth of 10%. For the FY27 budget, a 15% increase over prior-year rates was assumed; however, actual increases are now projected to fall Councilor Information on health closer to 5%for most benefit plans.The rising 14 Personnel Schlack cost benefit costs are offset by a reduction in total FTEs, a higher amount of vacancy savings assumed in the FY27 budget, as well as a change in the assumption of the plan expenses for vacant positions. Kimberlee Ables and the Chair have added language to the website around public comment. Individuals wishing to provide public testimony should plan to speak for no more than 2 minutes. If Ethan Postrel Asked if clarity on timing there are a large number of speakers,the Chair Public 15 could be given on public may reduce the time per speaker to 1 minute and Comment comment. may limit the number of speakers in order to allow as many people as possible an opportunity to be heard. What is the impact to police operations if Councilor 16 Schlack Police funding were reduced to See detailed response at Appendix B increase funding elsewhere Councilor Viability of introducing a It is viable, but it would have to be a policy 17 Schlack Library supplemental library fee discussion by council. Wage FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer I - - Response sked : Meeting guide for 18 Councilor Meeting committee members A meeting guide will be provided at the next Schlack Guide with necessary motion meetings. language Will the Q&A document 19 Councilor Meeting include which Q&A document has been updated to include which Schlack Notes committee member committee member asked the question. asked the questions Appendix A. Asset Forfeiture Questions: supplanting; permissible uses and requirements; future uses — specifically positions Resource Link to the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Treasury Guide to Equitable Sharing for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies: https://www.justice.gov/criminal/media/1044326/dl?inline Federal law authorizes the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury to share federally forfeited assets with participating law enforcement agencies.The Equitable Sharing Program enhances cooperation among federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement by providing valuable additional resources to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies assisting with investigations into violations of federal laws.The Program is designed to supplement and enhance, not supplant, appropriated agency resources(p. 3). Note on asset forfeiture: Justice,Treasury, and Local forfeiture funds are utilized within the Tigard Police Department. The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Treasury Guide to Equitable Sharing for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies outline program permissible/impermissible uses (see Guide's p. 17 for this list). While federal Justice and Treasury asset forfeiture funding must adhere to these mandated requirements, Local forfeiture funding may be used more freely. Asset Forfeiture on Supplanting 1. Supplantation (p. 16): Equitably shared funds must be used to increase or supplement the resources of the receiving state, local, or tribal law enforcement agency. Shared funds shall not be used to replace or supplant the agency's appropriated resources. The recipient agency must benefit directly from the sharing. In determining whether supplantation has occurred or could occur, Justice or Treasury will examine the law enforcement agency's budget Wage FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer as a whole and allow agencies to use equitable sharing funds for any permissible purpose if shared funds increase the entire law enforcement budget. Justice or Treasury may terminate sharing with law enforcement agencies that are not permitted by their governing body to benefit directly from equitable sharing. Example of Improper Supplantation (p. 16): A police department receives$100,000 in federal equitable sharing only to have its budget cut $100,000 by the city council. In this instance, the police department has received no direct benefit from equitable sharing whatsoever. Rather, the city as a whole has received the benefit of the sharing. 2. Anticipated equitably shared funds should not be budgeted (p. 16): Agencies should not obligate or budget anticipated equitable sharing receipts. Agencies may not commit to spending shared funds in advance. For example, if a local law enforcement agency files a DAG-71 or TD F and anticipates a 50 percent share of$100,000, the anticipated$50,000 should not be obligated or budgeted. Reasons for this include litigation and policy uncertainties, such as: (1) whether the forfeiture will be perfected; (2) what amount of equitable sharing the decision maker will approve, if any; and (3) when the forfeiture, decision, and ultimate payment will occur. In contrast, agencies may earmark, create spending plans for, and budget equitable sharing funds already received. Permissible Uses of Justice and Treasury Asset Forfeiture Funds B. Use of Shared Funds (p. 17): Except as noted in this Guide, Program participants shall use equitably shared funds for law enforcement purposes only("permissible uses"). Agencies may use equitably shared funds for any permissible agency expenditure, and both sworn and non-sworn law enforcement personnel may use them. Please review the Equitable Sharing Guide for more information regarding the requirements of specific permissible uses, p. 17, as it is too long to list here. Wage FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer Specific Permissible Uses for Salaries (p. 19) 1. Salaries—Payment of salary and benefits of a new officer hired to replace an officer assigned to a federal task force or school resource or drug abuse resistance education officer with certain pre-approvals as detailed below. To protect the integrity of the Asset Forfeiture and Equitable Sharing Programs so that the prospect of receiving equitable sharing funds does no influence or appear to influence law enforcement decisions,equitable sharing funds may not be used to pay the salaries and benefits of sworn or non-sworn law enforcement personnel except in these limited situations: Type Justice Program Funds Treasury Program Funds Task Force Replacement Officer' Permissible,with annual Impermissible pre-approval School Resource Officer(SRO) Permissible,with annual Permissible or Drug Abuse Resistance pre-approval Education(DARE)Officer' ' The replacement officer cannot engage in any duties related to the seizure or forfeiture of assets. 8 DARE and SRO officer positions can only be funded for the time performing those duties. For example.if an SRO only performs those duties nine months of the year.only the time performing that function may be paid with shared funds. Appendix B. Police Funding Reduction Impacts If a majority of the Budget Committee seeks to reduce police funding in order to increase funding elsewhere,what would the potential impacts be to police operations? Budgetary reductions affect all components of the department's operational framework. A reduction to any single program influences the department as a whole. Additional reductions outside of the City Manager's FY2027 Proposed Budget will require careful review by the police department to determine the full impact on current service levels. During the budget development process police evaluated multiple reduction scenarios and determined a 10% budget decrease would require more than $2.6 million in cuts. Removal of sworn officer positions will lead to elimination of critical community expectations such as COPS (Community Oriented Policing), MHRT(Mental Health Response Team), and one SRO (School Resource Officer) within the General Fund. Reductions to materials and services would require significant cuts to training budgets and the renegotiation of the Axon contract to remove body worn camera and patrol dash-camera systems. Reductions included in current department request: • Implemented during Q4-FY2026: reallocation of Drug Enforcement Agency taskforce detective to accept the WCDA (Washington County District Attorney)'s MOU for one fully funded Organized Retail Theft (ORT) detective • Reduce 1.0 FTE Police Records Specialist • Transition 3.0 FTE Police Officers into Tri-Met Transit Unit from patrol o Pending further availability and negotiation with Tri-Met Transit Division Examples 71Page FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Question & Answer of additional reductions to reach the proposed 10%: • Eliminate 8.0 FTE Police Officers o Results in staffing levels returning to 2020 pre-levy conditions • Reallocate 2.0 FTE Police Officers from the COPS Program • Reallocate 1.0 FTE Police Officer from SRO Program • Reduce 1.0 FTE Property and Evidence Specialist o Reduce Axon contracted services o Terminate body worn camera program o Terminate patrol dash camera program • Reallocate 1.0 FTE Police Officer from MHRT o Terminate MHRT regional partnership contract The FY2027 police budget was developed to meet the community's expectations while limiting exposure to critical service levels. The reductions described above negatively impact current service levels and would result in the rolling back of advances made during police reform initiatives. Further, they return the department to pre-levy response Wage