Budget Committee September 10, 2024   9/10/2024

Discussion

• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:00:21
    Good morning, my name is Aisha Chugtai and I'm the chair of the Budget Committee.
  • 00:00:24
    I'm going to call to order our adjourned committee meeting for Tuesday, September 10th, 2024.
  • 00:00:31
    Before we begin the meeting, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation.
  • 00:00:41
    Council Member Payne
• • SPEAKER_05
  • 00:01:10
    present Wonsley present Rainville present Vita present Ellison is absent, Osman is absent, Cashman present Jenkins is absent, Chavez present
  • 00:01:25
    Let the record reflect that we have a quorum.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:01:37
    I'll also remind colleagues that we are going to be using speaker management today, so please make sure you sign in so you can be recognized.
  • 00:01:47
    Colleagues, today we are going to continue our work in digging through Mayor Frey's recommended 2025-2026 city budget.
  • 00:01:56
    We have three departmental presentations scheduled today, which includes the finance and property services, human resources, and assessing departments.
  • 00:02:05
    We will start with the Finance and Property Services presentation and I will now invite Dushani Dai, our Chief Financial Officer to begin the Finance and Property Services Departmental presentation.
  • 00:02:17
    Welcome CFO Dai.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:02:19
    Good morning, Chair Chigtai, the Budget Committee members.
  • 00:02:23
    My name is Dushani Dai.
  • 00:02:25
    I'm the Chief Finance Officer and I'll be presenting the Mayors 2025 and 2026 Budget for Finance and Property Services Department.
  • 00:02:36
    I am a bit under the weather today, but I did not want to miss my budget presentation, so here I am.
  • 00:02:42
    Hope you can hear me just fine.
  • 00:02:49
    For the department overview, we have an org chart up on the screen.
  • 00:02:57
    Finance and Property Services Department has 200... Director, I'm sorry, we don't see your...
  • 00:03:05
    There we go.
  • 00:03:06
    Perfect.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:03:07
    Thank you.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:03:09
    Now you see it.
  • 00:03:12
    The org chart shows the 10 divisions of finance and property services.
  • 00:03:17
    There are currently 291 positions budgeted in the mayor's recommended budget in the breakdown of FTEs shown in the org chart.
  • 00:03:36
    Finance and Property Services has three main objectives.
  • 00:03:39
    First, we strive to partner with leaders so we can make the best financial decisions based on accurate and objective data.
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    Second, we follow best practices, accounting processes, internal control measures to account for city's assets.
  • 00:03:57
    process transactions efficiently and free of error.
  • 00:04:01
    And third, we provide a safe environment for employees and visitors to City-owned and managed properties.
  • 00:04:17
    In terms of achievements and risks for the department, recently we talked a lot about the city's credit ratings.
  • 00:04:28
    We were upgraded to AAA last year, and this is the first time since 2016 city has held a AAA rating, both from Fitch and S&P.
  • 00:04:40
    The Finance Department, in collaboration with IT and HR, will be participating in the Enterprise Resource Planning Project, which is the system that we're currently using, COMET, that is going to be replaced once the ERP project is complete.
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    And you'll hear more about this project during the Technology Improvement Plan presentation as we go through the presentations later this month.
  • 00:05:12
    And the Controller Division implemented new requirements by the Government Accounting Standards Board and completed the year-end audit with minimal findings.
  • 00:05:24
    The investment team increased the investment earnings, which is a huge win for the city as this brings down the needed property tax levy by maximizing our investment earnings.
  • 00:05:37
    And the last bullet
  • 00:05:40
    You may find procurement enchanting, but that's a typo.
  • 00:05:44
    It's an enhancement to the procurement process.
  • 00:05:47
    As far as risk, property services continue to see increase in material and construction costs due to inflation.
  • 00:06:05
    And as projects get delayed, project costs also increase.
  • 00:06:11
    And I would also like to add that we continue to compete with other municipalities and other government agencies for talent.
  • 00:06:21
    We've lost key leaders from Finance and Property Services to other agencies in the recent months.
  • 00:06:30
    In a positive note, I've also been able to attract key talent from other organizations into the city and two leaders will be starting in the next couple of weeks.
  • 00:06:42
    So sometimes you have to poach from other organizations as well.
  • 00:06:47
    and lessons learned.
  • 00:06:49
    We continue to adapt our technologies and our practices based on what the industry best practices are.
  • 00:06:58
    And the budget team is one example.
  • 00:07:01
    They've used the transparency tool to highlight some of the important work the finance and property services team is doing.
  • 00:07:09
    through the transparency portal.
  • 00:07:13
    Procurement also uses the dashboard to show vendor spending based on small business spending.
  • 00:07:28
    This slide highlights the FTE count by year.
  • 00:07:33
    You'll notice in 2024 we had a staff of 293 and in the 2025 budget it drops down to 291.
  • 00:07:45
    I will explain a little bit about the drop, finance and property services
  • 00:07:52
    and the 24 budget had the radio shop included as part of the complement in property services.
  • 00:07:59
    As we evaluated the services the radio shop provides the city, we determined that it was best suited under 911 under the director, under director Jody Hotney.
  • 00:08:15
    So it is proposed that the services from the radio shop be moved along with the staff to 911 that is the decrease that you see in 2025 and that decreases offset by Addition to property services and I'll talk more about that later in the presentation
  • 00:08:40
    And there are currently 34 vacancies, but I'll note that that's a snapshot in time.
  • 00:08:46
    There are a couple of positions that are currently due to be filled in the next couple of weeks.
  • 00:09:01
    I'll move on to the program updates.
  • 00:09:06
    First I'll start with the Banking Investment and Debt Division.
  • 00:09:11
    This team is led by Director Alan Hoppe.
  • 00:09:14
    The division includes staff of seven and they manage the banking relationships with minimizing cost to the city.
  • 00:09:25
    They also have one billion dollars in investments and the city's one billion dollar debt in their portfolio and they manage that on a daily basis.
  • 00:09:37
    This division also coordinates the work with the BET, Bond Council and the Financial Advisor to ensure the success of our bond sales.
  • 00:09:48
    I'll note that you know, we keep talking about the triple-a bond rating, but it is very important for this city and I'll give credit to the the bond team for maintaining that we just finished a call with Fitch yesterday and Another one today with SMP this morning We'll have our new ratings in the next
  • 00:10:15
    couple of weeks ahead of the bond sale that's scheduled to plan to go to the market end of the month.
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    Next I'll continue to the Budget Division.
  • 00:10:35
    Budget Division consists of nine staff led by Budget Director Jane DeCenza.
  • 00:10:42
    Main goal of this division is to facilitate a budget process with the departments and policy makers to produce a balanced budget and sustain a five-year plan.
  • 00:10:54
    Policy makers, city department staff, residents, and businesses rely on transparent budget development process.
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    With that in mind, the city uses its budget website and the finance transparency tool to effectively communicate how city resources are allocated and spent.
  • 00:11:15
    Throughout the year, budget staff, in collaboration with the accounting staff, review and monitor department spending to stay within the appropriated budget.
  • 00:11:34
    Next is the Controller Division.
  • 00:11:37
    Controller Division has the largest, from the accounting side of the finance department, 64 staff, which is the largest division.
  • 00:11:48
    Currently the Controller position is vacant, but we have made an offer and the new person will be starting in two weeks.
  • 00:11:58
    This team plays a critical role in providing financial information to city
  • 00:12:03
    policy makers, city staff and external stakeholders such as the public, city investors, bond rating agencies, the state auditor and grant agencies.
  • 00:12:15
    This division also ensures fiscal responsibility through expense monitoring and establishing internal controls.
  • 00:12:26
    This team also produces the quarterly financial report and give council status updates throughout the year.
  • 00:12:35
    And one of the most important aspects of the controller's role is to produce the annual comprehensive financial report.
  • 00:12:43
    This report shows the city's financial position and it's required by state statute and it's audited by the state auditor each year.
  • 00:12:52
    Controller Division coordinates the audit process on behalf of the city and this team ensures the transactions comply with the Government Accounting Standards Board.
  • 00:13:07
    and one of the highlights from this team is that the Government Finance Officers Association has awarded Excellence in Financial Reporting for 49 consecutive years.
  • 00:13:23
    We're very proud of that and we just submitted the 50th award request just a couple of weeks ago.
  • 00:13:39
    Next division is Development Finance led by Angie Skildum.
  • 00:13:45
    This division manages and analyzes plan...sorry.
  • 00:13:53
    This division provides management, analysis, planning, and administrative services to community planning and economic development.
  • 00:14:03
    the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department, myself, and elected officials in support of city's economic development and housing activities.
  • 00:14:15
    This team has filed 86 annual reports to the state auditor on individual TIF districts.
  • 00:14:22
    They service over 2,800 city loans and home improvement and home buyer programs.
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    They have also administered $11 million in neighborhood program contracts, including 700 payment requests totaling $8 million.
  • 00:14:40
    The team also provides grant management for separate projects of $47 million.
  • 00:14:46
    This huge volume of work is completed by 10 staff.
  • 00:14:57
    This is the smallest of the divisions, which is administration.
  • 00:15:03
    This team includes myself, the deputy CFO, and two administrative staff.
  • 00:15:11
    The role of the CFO is to ensure that the financial health of the city is maintained.
  • 00:15:16
    To accomplish this, the deputy and myself engage with management team to update financial policies and make recommendations with policy makers.
  • 00:15:25
    There is often interagency collaboration and coordination that is required to keep the financial transactions accurate.
  • 00:15:35
    As a CFO, I also provide information to the investor community and rating agencies on the financial status of the city to build confidence ahead of bond sales.
  • 00:15:46
    You know as I mentioned earlier the city will be going to the market soon and We will receive our new ratings in the next couple of weeks Some of the the work that we have done internally within the FPS workforce Is to recruit top talent into our department.
  • 00:16:08
    It's very competitive especially in the finance and accounting field and
  • 00:16:14
    and I've partnered with HR to promote job postings widely into professional networks and actively recruit for open positions.
  • 00:16:26
    and I've also been part of the public sector finance professional groups especially with the University of Minnesota to encourage public sector finance as a profession for young people that are entering workforce and we've been fortunate enough to get
  • 00:16:49
    A few interns from those programs and most recently a visiting scholar from the U of M, Enos Mustafa, joined the budget team.
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    Next division is payroll.
  • 00:17:06
    This division is led by Director Tammy Huff.
  • 00:17:10
    And this division is instrumental in administering the payroll for over 4,200 city employees and
  • 00:17:18
    and update city labor agreements, civil service rules and city ordinance requirements when they're needed for payroll processing.
  • 00:17:28
    Team of 16 staff ensure that City is compliant with federal, state, and local payroll laws and issues over $426 million in wages per year.
  • 00:17:41
    This division as of September has processed over 99,000 paychecks.
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    During a recent audit, it was determined that all tax filings were accurate and filed on time.
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    Payroll division continues to partner with IT and HR to upgrade the city's system.
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    You'll obviously hear more about the ERP system implementation as the budget presentations continue.
  • 00:18:15
    Next division is procurement.
  • 00:18:17
    Procurement division is led by Director Pam Fernandez.
  • 00:18:21
    And this division manages the bidding and the contracting process for the city through an open, competitive, and a cost-effective manner while ensuring the city follows relevant procurement laws and policies.
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    And this division also maintains a central warehouse, mainly providing services to public works.
  • 00:18:45
    Some of the metrics for this division include partnering with the City Attorney's Office, streamlining the procurement process last year, and they continue to look for opportunities to further refine the process and make it easier for staff to procure goods and services.
  • 00:19:11
    There's also a new dashboard that shows the department spending including metrics on suppliers.
  • 00:19:19
    I should note that the procurement division also manages the accounts payable function for the city.
  • 00:19:25
    They have processed over 100,000 payments transactions just in 2023.
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    This division also now conducts ongoing training for staff and the staff that manage the contracts so they can stay up to date and current on all of the changes that happen in the procurement space.
  • 00:19:52
    And this division is staffed by 43 employees.
  • 00:20:01
    I should mention 9 out of the 10 divisions in Finance and Property Services have kept the base budgets except for Property Services there are two new additions in Property Services
  • 00:20:20
    Property Services Division is the largest of the ten divisions in Finance and Property Services.
  • 00:20:27
    And this division is led by Director Barbara O'Brien.
  • 00:20:31
    And this division provides comprehensive land facility, security, and furnishing needs for city-owned and leased facilities.
  • 00:20:42
    These services include preventative, routine maintenance, construction, tenant improvements, as well as security and life safety needs.
  • 00:20:51
    Just some metrics, the city manages 61 property services, manages 61 properties, negotiate over 50 leases annually.
  • 00:21:08
    administers 150 million in capital improvements and manages 2,250,000 square feet of office and multi-use facilities.
  • 00:21:22
    This division also has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by at least 1.5% annually and they've beat this goal by reducing emissions by 4.1%.
  • 00:21:40
    So as I mentioned, there are two new budget proposals included in this budget for property services.
  • 00:21:48
    The first one is for a mobile security team.
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    This is an existing mobile security team funded through ARPA.
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    There are four staff as part of this request.
  • 00:22:03
    Typically, we would fund property services requests through the Internal Service Fund, but due to the one-time nature of the funding from ARPA to the Internal Service Fund, there was not enough time to add that to the allocation model.
  • 00:22:21
    So the 2025 request will be part of the general fund.
  • 00:22:26
    and then it will be added to the Internal Service Fund starting in 2026.
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    The dollars requested are 367,000 in 2025 and 381 in 2026.
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    The next request is not a request for 2025, but it will be added to the internal service fund charges in 2026, and this is for a custodian for the new Century Plaza building.
  • 00:23:05
    The first precinct will be moving into that space, and there's
  • 00:23:12
    22,000 square feet of space that needs to be cleaned and maintained.
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    This addition will add two custodians to that new facility.
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    The next division is Risk Management and Claims.
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    This division director is currently vacant and the new director will be starting on Monday.
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    He's relocating from California, so there was a delay in the start date.
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    But we're excited to have him on board, and I will send the communication once he starts on Monday.
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    Risk Management and Claims Division has a staff of nine.
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    They preserve city assets.
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    prevent financial loss and works proactively to reduce injury to city employees.
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    This division also administers the workers comp and unemployment compensation claims.
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    Finally, Utility Billing.
  • 00:24:23
    This division is led by Director Ali Saleh Mohammed.
  • 00:24:30
    This billing function is mandated by city ordinance and has a team of 37.
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    This work is carried out in collaboration between finance and public works department to provide great customer service to residents and businesses.
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    Utility billing division processes over 5,000 bills daily.
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    So if a customer calls, there's also an opportunity for the customers to participate in a brief survey at the end.
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    And they have received 95% satisfaction rating.
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    So we like to highlight that as a data point for this division.
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    Some of the metrics are still in development for some of the divisions so you'll notice that data is not available.
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    The department has partnered with PMI to develop new metrics for some of the divisions and 2024 will be the baseline year going forward for some of the data.
  • 00:25:39
    And finally I would like to highlight the two items that were added to the two funding proposals added to the 2025-2026 budget So the first one I mentioned earlier mobile security team the first year is funded with the general fund for 367 and then 2026
  • 00:26:03
    will be added
  • 00:26:26
    As you can see, Finance and Property Services, 10 divisions, scope of responsibilities vary from division to division.
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    One thing that is consistent is the commitment of staff that work in each area.
  • 00:26:39
    They're professional, of high caliber, and continuously strive to do the best for the city of Minneapolis.
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    The accomplishments from last year and the awards received from external finance organizations show the high standards we as a department strive for.
  • 00:26:59
    I'm extremely proud of our work, my team of leaders and close to 300 staff in the department
  • 00:27:08
    I would also like to thank Megan Burch, who entirely updated the PowerPoint slide while I was away last week, and it looks fabulous, so thank you Megan.
  • 00:27:20
    Madam Chair, that concludes my 2025-2026 presentation.
  • 00:27:24
    I will stand for questions.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:27:27
    Thank you Director, thank you CFO Dye for that presentation and for coming in to present your department's budget especially while you are under the weather.
  • 00:27:35
    It means a lot to all of us here to better understand your recommended 2025-2026 city budget or department budget.
  • 00:27:45
    Before we get into questions from the committee, I will first note for the record that we have been joined in this committee by Council members Rainville, Chaudhuri, Osman, and Palmisano.
  • 00:28:05
    With that, we have a few colleagues that would like to be recognized to ask some questions, starting with Vice Chair Koski.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:28:15
    Thank you Madam Chair and thank you CFO Dai.
  • 00:28:18
    I appreciate again being here and feeling under the weather on top of that so I appreciate and I imagine all 300 of your staff members appreciate your standing up for them as well today too.
  • 00:28:33
    I have a few questions so bear with me here.
  • 00:28:37
    So I see that between 2018 and 2023 the Finance and Property Services Department actual spending was over budget three years during that time period and most recently in 2023.
  • 00:28:52
    Do you project that the department will be over or under budget for 2024?
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:28:58
    I don't expect, are you talking about the entire 2023 budget was over?
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:29:06
    Yes, I think in 2023 you may have been over budget, but I'm just curious to know for this year, for 2024, the year we're in, if you project to be over or under budget for the year?
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:29:20
    Through the Chair, I need to connect with one of the budget analysts.
  • 00:29:26
    I don't believe we were over budget, so I will need to double check on that.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:29:32
    And then for this year, you project to be on budget for 2024?
  • 00:29:35
    Yes.
  • 00:29:36
    Okay, great.
  • 00:29:37
    That's great.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:29:37
    We'll just note that question for administrative follow-up, Mr.
  • 00:29:41
    Clerk, if you can note that.
  • 00:29:42
    Thank you.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:29:45
    Okay, another question I had was there was one FTE position that was given to Finance and Property Services in the 2024 budget.
  • 00:29:54
    Has that one been hired or is that the, I can't remember, hard to keep track always of which positions are which here.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:30:01
    Through the chair, Council Member Koski, yes, that position was hired.
  • 00:30:07
    That addition was to the budget team.
  • 00:30:10
    It was an ARPA funded position that we added to the general fund and we have hired that person.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:30:16
    Okay, great.
  • 00:30:17
    And then we received the biannual personnel report recently.
  • 00:30:23
    And on there it had 32 vacant positions, but your report today said 34.
  • 00:30:28
    But 12 of those 32 positions were accepting applications or already an interview process.
  • 00:30:35
    And then it sounds like one of the 32 positions, according to the presentation today, was being hired this week, I believe.
  • 00:30:45
    Is your department capable of hiring the remaining 19 FTE positions and the additional four FTEs given and the two FTE positions that are being administratively added in the 2025 budget within this next year cycle?
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:31:03
    First, I'll respond to the hiring process.
  • 00:31:07
    So one is starting on Monday.
  • 00:31:09
    Another one is starting in two weeks.
  • 00:31:12
    So that's two that's directly reporting to me.
  • 00:31:16
    The four additional staff that's requested in the mobile unit, they're already in place currently.
  • 00:31:26
    They're part of the ARPA funded positions that are currently being requested to be added to the permanent
  • 00:31:32
    So they're already in place.
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    The custodian is not expected to be added until 2026.
  • 00:31:42
    The remainder of the vacancies I'll have to check in with the hiring managers to see where they're at with the hiring process.
  • 00:31:50
    But I do expect to at least hire half of the vacancies.
  • 00:31:55
    Some are in property services, so they continuously have openings in some of the trade positions.
  • 00:32:02
    There's always vacancies in property services that are on an annual basis at least 10.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:32:10
    Okay and this is a bit of a follow-up question I think probably to that and so maybe we'll just have to circle back but there were five positions that have been vacant for one year or longer.
  • 00:32:21
    Two of them are already in interview process and then there were three of them.
  • 00:32:26
    One was a painter, a graduate fellow, a workers comps claim coordinator.
  • 00:32:31
    I'm just
  • 00:32:33
    It seems that they are included in the 2025-2026 budget and I'm just wondering if you can provide reasoning of continuing the funding or what the hiring plans are for those three positions.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:32:46
    Yeah, through the chair, Council Member Koski, I will need to connect with all of the division directors to give an update on the hiring plans.
  • 00:32:56
    I know the director for risk management and claims
  • 00:33:04
    was in the process to reclassify the claims adjusted position.
  • 00:33:09
    It might be in the JQ process with HR.
  • 00:33:14
    There might be a delay in that process.
  • 00:33:18
    So that could be one of them.
  • 00:33:20
    Like I said, the painter and some of the property services type positions, there's continuously vacancies in those types of job classes.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:33:29
    okay that's really helpful to understand I appreciate it and then I just want to just a few comments great work on the triple-a credit rating which I know is just
  • 00:33:43
    just so positive for the city so thank you so much for that and then I did notice too that the Finance Property Services Department was able to cut expenses by a little over seven percent and almost a percent a little over seven percent for in 2024 to 2025 and 25 to 26 also to cut expenses so I just appreciate you looking at that and being able to cut expenses this budget cycle and again hope you feel better soon thank you thanks
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:34:19
    and then while, do you want to respond to one of the questions that was asked earlier?
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:34:24
    Go ahead.
  • 00:34:25
    Chair Chigtay, Council Member Koski, Budget Director just showed me the year-end projected quarterly report.
  • 00:34:34
    We had 95% spend on the Finance and Property Services budget, so we were not over budget in 2023.
• • Emily Koski
  • 00:34:42
    Okay, I'll go back and look and see maybe I just was a different year and but I'm mostly important was to understand where you were projecting for this year So thank you so much Wonderful and mr.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:34:54
    Clerk if we can note for Administrative follow-up just the the question on on hiring plans for existing vacancies within the department That would be wonderful Thank you Next I will recognize council president Payne
• • Elliott Payne
  • 00:35:11
    Thanks Vice President.
  • 00:35:12
    I just quickly wanted to say thank you again and congratulations.
  • 00:35:20
    The triple A bond rating is such a big deal.
  • 00:35:22
    It has such a profound impact on every single aspect of what we do in city government and the fact that we got a triple A rating.
  • 00:35:30
    I can't say more enough about how big a deal that is and just wanted to jump in and recognize that.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:35:41
    Through the Chair, Council President Payne, I really appreciate that.
  • 00:35:47
    It's not just finance and property services recognition, it's your leadership as well because they do evaluate management and management includes finance and property services management as well as city leadership.
  • 00:36:01
    So thank you for all your support.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:36:05
    Thank you, and then I had I put myself in queue last just to ask a couple of questions if colleagues have any additional ones feel free to jump in before we welcome our HR director actually I see council member Palmisano seeking to be recognized and Thank you.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 00:36:24
    I know that director dimension will hear more about this later, but the new ERP system.
  • 00:36:29
    I'm really looking forward to see how
  • 00:36:34
    to hearing more about it but also seeing the efficiencies it will offer us.
  • 00:36:37
    To me it's more of an HR tool but I saw it in the Finance and Property Services part of the presentation and it makes me realize how much it could improve internal service delivery
  • 00:36:51
    all around.
  • 00:36:52
    So thank you.
  • 00:36:54
    Another piece mentioned on your slide that does deserve some kudos is the utility billing office.
  • 00:37:00
    As somebody who has a water relining project going on in multiple places in Southwest,
  • 00:37:07
    Those utility billing service people are amazing and it is so nice to always be able to route somebody there or to hear back from people about the amazing service, the very competent and amazing service that all of your utility billing staff have.
  • 00:37:24
    As an essential service provided to every single resident in the city from the water that we get it's It's wonderful and it's a really important touch point of our city.
  • 00:37:34
    So thank you to them through you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:37:37
    Thanks Thank You council member did you want to add anything to that?
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:37:45
    Through the chair council member Palmisano.
  • 00:37:47
    I will pass on the kudos to the team.
  • 00:37:50
    They will appreciate it
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:37:51
    Wonderful, thank you.
  • 00:37:53
    And then finally, I see Councilmember Rainville.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 00:37:58
    Thank you.
  • 00:37:59
    Thank you for coming today.
  • 00:38:00
    It's not easy to go to work when you're under the weather, but I never would have guessed that.
  • 00:38:04
    You did a great presentation and you're so thorough.
  • 00:38:07
    All your staff is great.
  • 00:38:09
    Thank you for your service to the city.
• • 00:38:11
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:38:11
    Wonderful, thank you council member and then just before we wrap up here real quick.
  • 00:38:17
    I was hoping if we could go back to slide 11 briefly in your presentation Which covers yeah the executive and administration Budget I is there a typo here was there such a significant drop of going from 10.6 million dollars down to to 1.4
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:38:41
    Chair Chigtai, that drop is actually part ARPA, so is it the North Commons?
  • 00:38:52
    Public Safety Aid.
  • 00:38:54
    Plus also ARPA.
  • 00:38:56
    Okay, Public Safety Aid.
  • 00:38:59
    unplanned public safety aid that was plugged into the finance budget temporarily and now it's re-appropriated to buy down the levy.
  • 00:39:10
    So that's why there's a drop.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:39:13
    That's right.
  • 00:39:13
    Thank you.
  • 00:39:14
    Thank you for reminding me of that.
  • 00:39:16
    Thank you.
  • 00:39:16
    That makes sense.
  • 00:39:19
    And, you know, I wonder, there was a, we received a presentation just a couple of weeks ago or on September 3rd.
  • 00:39:30
    the biennial personnel report from the Human Resources Department.
  • 00:39:35
    You spoke in slide five, I believe, on the existing vacancies within the department.
  • 00:39:42
    Really exciting news that you're filling a couple of those positions that are reporting directly to you.
  • 00:39:46
    That's a really big deal.
  • 00:39:50
    I know our comptroller left after a number of years of service to the city.
  • 00:39:54
    and that's an important part of you being able to run your department.
  • 00:39:59
    So congratulations on that.
  • 00:40:01
    But I wonder, I know, I would imagine you won't have an answer readily available right now.
  • 00:40:07
    So very happy to have this noted for administrative follow-up as well.
  • 00:40:10
    But would love if you could speak to the existing vacancies within the department and how you've been able to use those vacancy savings from those positions this year.
• • Dushani Dai
  • 00:40:25
    I don't plan to spend the vacancy savings.
  • 00:40:31
    So You know, it just falls to the bottom line if there is any excess savings from finance and property services budget Wonderful.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:40:40
    Okay, that sounds good.
  • 00:40:42
    I don't think that we'll need follow-up on that in that case Excellent I think that's everything from
  • 00:40:50
    us.
  • 00:40:52
    Thank you for coming to present your budget today and we are ready to welcome our next presenter.
  • 00:41:00
    So our next presentation is from the Human Resources Department for which we will invite Director Nikki Odom, our Chief Human Resources Officer, to begin and present her 2025 and 2026 recommended budget.
  • 00:41:22
    Welcome, Director Odom.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 00:41:24
    Thank you.
  • 00:41:26
    Good morning, Chair Chuktai, Council members.
  • 00:41:32
    My name is Nikki Odom.
  • 00:41:33
    I'm the Chief Human Resources Officer for the City of Minneapolis, and I am here to present the mayor's recommended human resources budget.
  • 00:41:43
    The Human Resources Department is made up of seven divisions providing specialized HR services.
  • 00:41:50
    This includes five centers of excellence in investigations, labor relations, learning and development, talent acquisition, and total compensation.
  • 00:42:00
    The Business Partner Solution Division provides
  • 00:42:04
    personalized strategic general HR support to city departments and finally our HR operations division ensures compliance for many internal services including administration of HR policies and management of records.
  • 00:42:23
    We'll get back to the red box later in the presentation.
  • 00:42:28
    The Human Resources Department has three main priorities, but first I want to discuss our vision really quickly, which is to become a world-class HR department, specifically in terms of the services that we provide and the excellence with which we provide those services.
  • 00:42:48
    Our first priority is to position the city as an employer of choice to hire talented, diverse employees so that the city's workforce reflects the demographics of the community we serve.
  • 00:43:02
    Our second priority is to offer meaningful and satisfying careers for all employees through an inclusive and respectful workplace and competitive compensation and benefits.
  • 00:43:14
    Our third and final priority is to ensure that HR operational and compliance functions are adequately resourced in order to maintain effective and efficient operations.
  • 00:43:26
    We have moved HR operations to the model, this URIC model, which when optimized, minimized bureaucratic internal processes while directing more of our efforts to high value tasks that help the city achieve its strategic goals.
  • 00:43:46
    The last pieces of the puzzle, employee and manager self-service and HR shared services center will be implemented along with the new human capital management system, which is a part of the ERP project.
  • 00:44:03
    We have been asked to address how we have maximized our current budget.
  • 00:44:08
    Therefore, I do quickly want to highlight the work of our benefits team because it is a perfect example of how the HR department has maximized the resources it has been given.
  • 00:44:19
    Since transitioning to a self-insured medical plan in 2018, the city has saved tens of millions of dollars in premium costs, insurance fees, and taxes, maintaining premium rates well below market trends.
  • 00:44:34
    We've expanded our wellness and health improvement programs
  • 00:44:37
    offering extensive support for diabetes, heart health, mental health, and more at no additional cost to employees.
  • 00:44:47
    This has led to high engagement and improved demographic risk profiles.
  • 00:44:51
    The cost of these programs have been offset by medical provider credits.
  • 00:44:55
    The successful management of the self-insured plan is due to strong collaboration between HR, Finance, and the Benefits Labor Management Committee, reflecting the City's commitment to good governance and the well-being of our employees.
  • 00:45:10
    It is also worth mentioning that there will be minimal rate increases this year for comprehensive medical coverage for the 2025 plan year.
  • 00:45:19
    We have kept rate increases below 1% with no changes to coverage or network options and that is in contrast to many employers who are facing double-digit increases due to rising medical costs including other employers that have self-insured plans.
  • 00:45:37
    A special thanks to our HR operations director, Deb Krueger, who has worked closely with each of our HR divisions to align HR priorities against annual spending, to identify areas to repurpose existing budget for increased budgetary needs in the talent acquisition and learning and development divisions.
  • 00:45:59
    specifically to allocate resources toward recruiting activities such as career fairs and job boards aimed at recruiting underrepresented talent.
  • 00:46:08
    Also to outsource training for business specific topics our employees have asked for.
  • 00:46:14
    In addition, HR heavily maximized existing resources, both FTE and budget, to implement two Centers of Excellence in 2023, our talent acquisition and HR investigations unit, to better align resources to achieve HR's priority objectives and city goals.
  • 00:46:31
    First, recruiting and retaining talented
  • 00:46:34
    a talented and diverse workforce, and second, supporting a speak up culture where the investigations process is trusted and improves overall workplace culture at the city.
  • 00:46:46
    Although ARPA funds are no longer available after this year, we did maximize the ARPA funds that we were afforded.
  • 00:46:53
    We paid out retention incentives to employees.
  • 00:46:57
    We funded the recruitment campaign for hard to fill public safety positions as well as the first round of media buys for that recruitment campaign.
  • 00:47:05
    We hired two staff members and we expanded mental health visits for all employees.
  • 00:47:11
    That is an incredibly popular benefit that will stick around in the years to come.
  • 00:47:17
    HR has proven that it is able to achieve phenomenal success through focused initiatives and adequate resources.
  • 00:47:25
    We've also learned that additional resources work.
  • 00:47:28
    When I started, the turnover rate in HR was 42%.
  • 00:47:33
    The additional resources we received last year contributed to that number going down to 21% in 2023.
  • 00:47:38
    Then the additional FTEs we received at the end of 2023 has now given us a turnover rate of 12% in 2024.
  • 00:47:48
    The industry standard is 10%.
  • 00:47:51
    I want to take a moment to say a sincere thank you to the HR division directors and the HR staff for their incredible work over this past year.
  • 00:48:03
    In terms of structural and operational HR risks, our current system is outdated, and this antiquated infrastructure significantly hinders our ability to keep pace with the escalating demands of our growing workforce.
  • 00:48:17
    As workforce trends continue to evolve, our ability to remain flexible and pivot effectively has become increasingly challenging.
  • 00:48:25
    We've made notable progress in recruitment, but without the necessary systems and resources in place, we risk losing the momentum we've worked so hard to build.
  • 00:48:35
    Moreover, the heavy workload and limited capacity within HR department are eroding our ability to drive transformational change that are essential to our long-term success.
  • 00:48:47
    Addressing these risks is not just about fixing the present issues, but about positioning the city as an employer to thrive in the future.
  • 00:48:57
    Currently, our department has three vacancies, two HR business partners.
  • 00:49:02
    Both positions have been vacant less than two months, and interviews will be taking place in the next two weeks.
  • 00:49:09
    The third vacancy is a communications director.
  • 00:49:12
    This is a new position for 2024.
  • 00:49:15
    The classification for that position was just recently established and that position will be posted in the next week or so You will see that the new divisions reflected in orange in the 2025 and 2026 budget plan And I will talk about this slide as I move through each division Moving to the divisional updates
  • 00:49:43
    Good governance requires good data, which is why we must invest in our HR system infrastructure.
  • 00:49:50
    The replacement of our human capital management system will be an important project for this team and HR's ability to gather and interpret data.
  • 00:49:58
    Some of the headlines for our HR operations team is that we hired a data analyst this year and that we have seen an increase of 200% in public data requests.
  • 00:50:09
    Finally, the HR investigative unit was separated from the HR operations and became its own center of excellence, which accounts for the decrease in funding from 2024 to 2025 and 2026.
  • 00:50:24
    Good governance also requires reliable and timely investigations that people can trust.
  • 00:50:30
    This is why we created a separate independent investigations unit and expanded the kinds of investigations that this group handles.
  • 00:50:38
    We created a centralized case management system and established certification and learning standards for investigative staff.
  • 00:50:49
    You will notice a decrease in funding from 2024 to 2025 and 2026 for our Business Partner Solutions Division.
  • 00:50:57
    This is due to the creation of the Talent Acquisition Division.
  • 00:51:01
    This is the first step I believe in tackling our employee retention and organizational culture issues.
  • 00:51:07
    By creating two additional centers of excellence, our HR business partners can focus on strategic HR work, such as succession planning, career pathways, and manager training and development.
  • 00:51:20
    BPS has provided ongoing support to our employee resource groups and has added an additional ERG focused on employees who are immigrants and refugees.
  • 00:51:33
    If we want to be an employer of choice, we have to rethink how we recruit and onboard, thus the creation of our talent acquisition division.
  • 00:51:42
    We are now able to directly and passively source candidates.
  • 00:51:46
    We have begun strengthening our relationships with schools and professional organizations in the community.
  • 00:51:52
    This team has attained four employer-friendly certifications over the last year, and we have increased our applications and our applicants'
  • 00:52:03
    both our applications and hires of individuals in underrepresented groups and decreased our time to fill vacancies.
  • 00:52:16
    In order to keep our workforce competitive, we need to create a culture of continuous learning and development.
  • 00:52:22
    Investing in the development of city employees is essential for job satisfaction.
  • 00:52:27
    This leads to cost savings, such as reduced turnover cost, increased productivity, and more efficient operations.
  • 00:52:36
    There was also a decrease in the learning and development budget due to one-time funding of Metamorphosis, an anti-racism leadership development program in which 115 staff leaders participated in this year.
  • 00:52:55
    L&D, our learning and development group, is currently developing a racial repair program and a mandatory management essentials training program for all city managers.
  • 00:53:07
    The Labor Relations team plays an indispensable role in addressing labor market demands, fostering employee satisfaction, and ensuring efficient public services.
  • 00:53:18
    I will circle back to LR shortly, but LR successfully negotiated nine labor agreements last year and is on track to negotiate another nine this year, including completing the Police Federation contract, which required public bargaining the first time in the city's history.
  • 00:53:36
    The decrease is due to public safety aid that was allocated in the 2024 budget.
  • 00:53:46
    I already touched on some of the great work the Total Compensation team does in terms of managing our self-insured plan to mitigate increased health benefit costs to our employees and the world-class wellness program that we offer our employees.
  • 00:54:03
    In addition, the benefits team has held a benefits fair last year and will be holding another one this year before annual enrollment so that employees can meet with vendors and get questions answered.
  • 00:54:13
    Our benefits team also organized and managed the city's Wellness Week that took place this past June.
  • 00:54:20
    We expanded mental health benefits, including on-site services designated to support BIPOC employees, and those services are free to all employees.
  • 00:54:31
    Again, good governance requires good data.
  • 00:54:33
    We need accurate classification and compensation data, which includes accurate market survey data.
  • 00:54:39
    We have seen a 60% increase in the requests for classification studies.
  • 00:54:46
    As a result, the mayor's recommended budget requests $50,000 in one-time vendor support to meet the increased needs and demands of reclassification and market studies to ensure that our compensation is competitive for both unionized and non-union employees.
  • 00:55:05
    Every time a new position is created or there is a promotion or a collective bargaining agreement is negotiated, the city calls on the compensation team to ensure competitive pay.
  • 00:55:15
    Our comp team is present at the bargaining table for most, if not all, of our now 24 bargaining unit negotiations.
  • 00:55:23
    Their work is essential in getting the city accurate data to get to the bargaining table.
  • 00:55:29
    And as previously mentioned, their workload has increased 60%.
  • 00:55:34
    and the demand for accurate data is insatiable.
  • 00:55:40
    To ensure that the city is getting to the bargaining table quickly, with accurate data we need to be able to delegate some of the work to our vendors, especially vendors who understand the complexity of the city's compensation system.
  • 00:55:53
    As you are aware, the landscape for labor relations in our city has become increasingly complex.
  • 00:55:59
    With 92% of our workforce in a bargaining unit, we have seen a significant rise in the number of labor contracts, grievances, and negotiations that require our attention.
  • 00:56:10
    This growing complexity has resulted in an increased workload for our labor relations team, which is why we are also requesting your support and allocating budget for hiring an additional full-time employee to our labor relations team, specifically to add a principal labor relations representative.
  • 00:56:29
    Over the last few years, labor relations has experienced a substantial increase in their workload.
  • 00:56:35
    With more increasingly complex negotiations and a higher volume of employee-related issues requiring formal resolution, our current team is stretched thin.
  • 00:56:46
    This situation is putting our team at the risk of burnout and more importantly, it could lead to inefficiencies and delays in addressing critical labor matters.
  • 00:56:56
    The complexity of the cases we handle has evolved, requiring more time and expertise to manage them effectively.
  • 00:57:04
    Our existing team is doing everything they can, but without additional support we risk compromising the quality of their work, which could have serious repercussions for both our employees and the city as a whole.
  • 00:57:16
    Adding an additional full-time employee to our team will significantly enhance our efficiency and our responsiveness, reducing backlogs and ensuring that labor issues are resolved in a timely manner.
  • 00:57:28
    This not only benefits our employees, but also reduces the potential costs associated with prolonged disputes or legal challenges.
  • 00:57:37
    Our labor relations team has worked tirelessly to try to negotiate new contracts before the existing ones expire.
  • 00:57:44
    Falling behind, which has happened in the past, leads to large back pay awards, averaging approximately $2 million for our larger bargaining units.
  • 00:57:53
    Furthermore, with capacity, our team can adopt a more proactive approach to labor relations.
  • 00:57:59
    This proactive stance will benefit not only employees, but the entire organization by fostering a more positive workplace culture.
  • 00:58:08
    From a government's perspective, this request aligns with our commitment to accountability, transparency, and responsiveness.
  • 00:58:16
    Adequate staffing ensures labor relations are managed fairly, consistently, and transparently.
  • 00:58:21
    This in turn upholds our city's commitment to ethical governance and helps maintain public trust.
  • 00:58:28
    It's an investment in the stability of our productivity of our workforce, which ultimately benefits the entire community.
  • 00:58:35
    I understand that budget decisions require careful consideration, so I want to assure you that this request is a sound financial decision.
  • 00:58:45
    The long-term savings that would result from reduced legal disputes, higher employee satisfaction, and improved labor relations far outweigh the immediate cost of hiring one additional FTE.
  • 00:58:57
    This is not just an expenditure, it's a strategic investment in the future of our city.
  • 00:59:05
    Here is a quick summary of the mayoral budget requests for the HR department for the 2025-2026 budgeting cycle.
  • 00:59:17
    Finally, I would like to end by thanking you and acknowledging the critical role you play in maintaining a productive, efficient, and harmonious workplace for our city.
  • 00:59:28
    Your ongoing support has been instrumental in helping the Human Resources Department reduce turnover, increase efficiencies, and become more strategic in how we serve city employees.
  • 00:59:40
    Thank you for your time and consideration.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 00:59:44
    Thank you for your presentation, Director Odom.
  • 00:59:47
    Colleagues, do we have any questions for the Director related to the Human Resources 2025-2026 recommended budget?
  • 00:59:56
    First I'll recognize Council President Payne.
• • Elliott Payne
  • 00:59:59
    Thank you Madam Vice President.
  • 01:00:00
    Yeah, I would like to dig in a little bit on the HR investigation, slide 17.
  • 01:00:07
    First I just want to understand
  • 01:00:11
    I see we're going from two to four FTEs, but I was curious if there's any contract support there.
  • 01:00:18
    That's one question, and I think a question that would probably require follow-up because I don't anticipate you would know this off the top of your head, but I think it would be helpful for us to understand kind of just at aggregate level, we don't need details and specifics, but at an aggregate level, how many complaints are coming in, you know, what's the outcome of those complaints, whether, you know,
  • 01:00:41
    there's any final determination, any discipline, those kinds of statistics because one thing that I feel like we have this very clear mission around recruitment and there's a lot of
  • 01:01:00
    program dollars.
  • 01:01:20
    I think that one of the problems that people experience here is that they feel like there might have been some injustice and that nothing results in that.
  • 01:01:30
    They submit a complaint, it goes to an investigation, they even participate in the investigation and I know for very practical reasons sometimes they don't always get to hear back what the result of that is because of privacy but I think that there's a kind of a
  • 01:01:47
    investigation kind of justice component, a retention component, a well-being component that is all intertwined that makes for some pretty significant HR challenges for us.
  • 01:01:58
    So I think at minimum it would be helpful for us to at least have some aggregate data on what the outcomes of those investigations are.
  • 01:02:08
    and what the scale of amount of investigations are and then just curious around just well-being and retention efforts and how that's reflected in this budget.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:02:22
    Madam Chair, Council Members, Council President, so I think your first question was about contracts.
  • 01:02:28
    We are using contracts in the investigative unit.
  • 01:02:31
    We have contracts with, we have ongoing contracts with three law firms, and we try and do as much as we can in house, obviously, and so that is why we have, we built out a whole team.
  • 01:02:45
    and they have pretty strict requirements in terms of their required date certifications and required to do ongoing learning.
  • 01:02:54
    But there obviously are situations where it makes the most sense.
  • 01:02:59
    So if there's some sort of conflict, so if there's an HR person involved where it's not appropriate for that team to do the investigation, if it's a high level manager or high level leader, those are things that we would send out.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:03:14
    to the law firms to investigate for us.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:03:20
    I think I reported out earlier this spring when I reported to AEO just giving general information on HR, we did give some statistics with regard to our investigations and we can certainly update those and get those to you, get the entire council.
  • 01:03:39
    We are seeing an increase in the number of complaints that we are getting we I think it was like a 38% increase is what I remember, but I will confirm that number for you We see that as a good thing that people are trusting the process That people are that we are working towards getting towards a speak-up culture I agree.
  • 01:04:01
    I think that sometimes the
  • 01:04:03
    responses are not satisfying and you hit the nail on the head, which is if there is some kind of disciplinary action, that's private data.
  • 01:04:16
    And so someone who made the complaint would only receive a response that their complaint was either substantiated or not substantiated, but they would not get details, obviously, on any kind of disciplinary action that might result from a substantiated case.
  • 01:04:33
    and that's private information.
  • 01:04:35
    So, yes, it is frustrating to folks, but we can certainly provide that.
  • 01:04:42
    One of the great things that, you know, Robin Howard, our director of the HRIU has done is use a, we have a case management system, so that information should be readily available and we will get that to you.
• • Elliott Payne
  • 01:04:56
    Thank you.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:04:58
    Wonderful.
  • 01:04:58
    Thank you, Director.
  • 01:05:01
    And then, Mr.
  • 01:05:02
    Clerk, if we can note the administrative follow-up on aggregate data as it relates to investigations and the total number that are received.
  • 01:05:14
    Council President, would you like to clarify just what information you're specifically looking for and then the clerks will get that information to you, Director.
• • Elliott Payne
  • 01:05:21
    total number of complaints, total number where those investigations have been closed, and then the number that they're substantiated and the number that are not substantiated.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:05:36
    Wonderful, thank you.
  • 01:05:38
    We've got a few other colleagues that are looking to be recognized to either ask questions or offer some comments and then Director for your awareness, we've got about three more and then we'll see if others jump in queue.
  • 01:05:50
    So next I'll recognize Vice Chair Koski.
  • 01:05:52
    Thank you Madam Vice President.
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:05:55
    Thank you so much Director Odom for being here and for the update on the HR team and especially some of the highlights through Some difficult years and several and many many barriers I would say to the team so it's great to see some of those highlights.
  • 01:06:11
    I just have a couple questions You know I believe industry average for salary and wages increases is about one to five percent But I see
  • 01:06:21
    that the HR department has 7.46% salary and wage increase from 24 to 25.
  • 01:06:30
    And I was just curious what was the factors that was driving this?
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:06:35
    Chair Koski, council members, it was a market study that was really driving that.
  • 01:06:43
    In addition to the increased workload, it wasn't matching up right with the the compensation that we were Providing and so there was a we did some market study and you know went ahead of council last year and and that was approved for this group and I think You know, you can really see it in the results in our turnover numbers decreasing dramatically over the last year
  • 01:07:05
    year and a half.
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:07:06
    Okay, so that was a direct correlation to the work that we did last year.
  • 01:07:11
    Yes.
  • 01:07:11
    Okay, great.
  • 01:07:12
    And then what factors or costs are driving, I see a 77% operating cost increase for the HR department from 24 to 25.
  • 01:07:23
    What's driving those operating?
  • 01:07:28
    Increase in operating costs.
  • 01:07:32
    Budget team is here to help answer.
  • 01:07:36
    I love it.
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 01:07:38
    Absolutely.
  • 01:07:39
    Thank you, Chair and Council Member Koski.
  • 01:07:42
    My name is Justin Carlson.
  • 01:07:43
    I'm the principal budget analyst and I support the HR department.
  • 01:07:47
    There is a change across the categories of contractual services and operating costs.
  • 01:07:52
    You should see there's kind of parity between those.
  • 01:07:54
    So as Director Odom alluded, Deb Krueger, the operations director, did a phenomenal job of reviewing their base budget.
  • 01:08:01
    and shifted some resources within their existing budget and it just crossed those two categories.
  • 01:08:07
    So while we have professional services and miscellaneous accounts, travel, registrations, some of those fall in the category of operational costs, some are contractual services.
  • 01:08:17
    So we're looking at budgets from that net change and those are just averaged out across those categories.
  • 01:08:22
    So certainly it appears to be a drop in one category, but it's offset by an increase in the other.
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:08:27
    okay yeah I did see I believe the expenses decrease and it was a contractual services by 20% I was gonna give some kudos there because you gave Deb kudos for that but I a 20% decrease in expenses is a is a big push so I just wanted to say thank you for that but that makes sense so I appreciate the context on that so thank you appreciate that and then for you director Odom you we talked about the eight roles that were
  • 01:08:56
    Given to HR in the 2024 budget and it sounds like from what I understand from this presentation Maybe there's just one more of the eight that are needing to be hired.
  • 01:09:07
    Is that correct?
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:09:08
    Yeah, Chair Koski, council members.
  • 01:09:10
    There's just one and we just received the classification on that It's kind of like a hybrid almost like IT web services plus communications role
  • 01:09:21
    which I think is probably why it took a little longer to get that classified.
  • 01:09:24
    So we just got that and we will be posting it shortly.
  • 01:09:27
    Great.
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:09:27
    And so the other sevens are hired in.
  • 01:09:29
    Correct.
  • 01:09:30
    Great.
  • 01:09:30
    Thank you so much.
  • 01:09:31
    That's all.
  • 01:09:31
    And again, thank you so much for being here and then also for digging deep and thinking about trying to find ways to decrease where you can.
  • 01:09:42
    And like I said, I saw that some of the cutting of expenses and appreciate that.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:09:49
    Wonderful.
  • 01:09:50
    Next, I will recognize Councilmember Palmisano followed by Councilmember Rainville.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:09:56
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
  • 01:09:58
    Hi, Director Odom.
  • 01:09:59
    For clarification in the investigations team per Council President Payne's question, you received those two new employees this year.
  • 01:10:07
    Is that correct?
  • 01:10:08
    Council President Payne said I see we're going from two to four employees, but that happened this year.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:10:14
    Madam Chair, Council Members, yes.
  • 01:10:17
    So two of the jobs that were allocated from last year for 2024.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:10:22
    So that's not this new budget.
  • 01:10:26
    You know, just anecdotally, you mentioned the benefits team.
  • 01:10:30
    Twice in the past year, we've had survivors of a recently passed employee contact our office, contact me, for help in getting ahold of someone to talk about death benefits and
  • 01:10:42
    it's really unfortunate they didn't know how to reach somebody on their own but this benefits team responded immediately and provided really good service to those surviving people of our employees so they were very helpful through some challenging times for these family members and their employees so I just wanted to acknowledge that
  • 01:11:05
    We've all seen how much of a backlog there is in classifications and JAQs So when I see your slide about $50,000 one time, is that really enough to catch us back up?
  • 01:11:20
    I don't know how much of a backlog there is but is there a need for ongoing funding to not get behind in that again?
  • 01:11:27
    This was something you inherited not something that your department created.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:11:32
    Madam Chair, Council Members, we have allocated some budget for ongoing vendor support, so that is something that's already kind of baked into our budget.
  • 01:11:44
    We also, with Council support from last year, hired a new FTE into the role, or into the group, so now they're a group of four.
  • 01:11:55
    And so I think we're talking about some restructuring.
  • 01:12:00
    We'll see if
  • 01:12:02
    that's enough to cover things but the hope is that you know with the team that is they were you know they were new last year and so they're just increasing their capacity so the hope is that we can do a lot of it in-house and that and that just some additional support when needed which we know we will need and then we do have budget allocated also to continuing other
  • 01:12:27
    support.
  • 01:12:28
    So it's not the only amount that we're using for vendor support for classification studies.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:12:33
    That's helpful.
  • 01:12:34
    Thank you.
  • 01:12:36
    My last question is a little bit more open-ended.
  • 01:12:39
    I see Rekha Stenerson in the audience and I've worked with her for years on this endeavor.
  • 01:12:45
    How do you anticipate being able to use new systems in the future?
  • 01:12:49
    How will it help your department and what is going on there?
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:12:55
    Council members, it's going to be indispensable.
  • 01:12:59
    Like I said, the request for data is nothing but increasing every year.
  • 01:13:05
    And it's important that we're basing obviously our decisions and our strategic planning on real numbers.
  • 01:13:14
    Right now we have kind of amalgamation of systems that don't talk to one another.
  • 01:13:19
    There's a lot of
  • 01:13:21
    Double work that's happening to get information from one system to another system and then to report it out And so, you know, we're really excited about the the ERP system especially the human capital management piece so that You know the systems that we are looking at will give us real-time data And they have evolved so much so that like, you know, if somebody literally leaves today and
  • 01:13:49
    it's automatically updated and everything in the system reflects that immediately.
  • 01:13:55
    And some of the capacity and some of the things that it is able to, the new systems that we are looking at are able to do just cuts down a lot of extra work and so that
  • 01:14:08
    We should be able to provide reports and information and data a lot more quickly even just on our phones And so it will be a culture change in that Managers will have a lot more access to information and so will employees they won't necessarily have to come through HR
  • 01:14:26
    to get that information.
  • 01:14:27
    But I think it's a huge step for the enterprise and we're really, really excited about it.
  • 01:14:33
    We have a lot of work first.
  • 01:14:35
    We have a lot of data cleanup to do first so that we're not putting bad data into the new system.
  • 01:14:42
    But I think it will literally revolutionize, I know HR and how we work every day.
• • Linea Palmisano
  • 01:14:48
    Thank you, you know, I know this came It's come back to us and recommendations from audits from a long time ago It's a big capital investment that has been put off for frankly far too long Thank you to everybody in your department for being able to finally lift this one off the ground It seems like you're almost almost there and then the implementation.
  • 01:15:09
    So, thank you.
  • 01:15:10
    Thanks
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:15:12
    Wonderful, and before we move to Council Member Rainville, because the ERP has come up a couple of times in discussion today, I wanted to note that we will be receiving a presentation on the city's technology improvement plan.
  • 01:15:29
    and the investment in enterprise resource planning this Friday, September 13th at 10 a.m.
  • 01:15:43
    So with that, Council Member Rainville.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:15:47
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
  • 01:15:50
    Ms. Oldham, thank you so much for the great presentation and all the hard work that you and your staff are doing.
  • 01:15:55
    You can really see the difference in our HR department since you've started, so thank you.
  • 01:16:00
    And I'm particularly impressed by the wellness programs.
  • 01:16:03
    I get the mailings.
  • 01:16:04
    I'm one of your staff.
  • 01:16:07
    And what am I, an employee?
  • 01:16:08
    Is that what I am?
  • 01:16:11
    but I get them and they're coming in and they're great programs and thank you so much too for the decrease in time that the jobs are filled.
  • 01:16:20
    We have all of us here on the dais have a lot of angst over how long the positions are staying unfulfilled so thank you for your hard work on that and you know clearly the 45% increase in police recruitment a lot has to do with your your staff taking the lead on that so thank you for that as well.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:16:39
    Thank you.
  • 01:16:41
    Any further questions or discussion related to the Human Resources Departmental presentation?
  • 01:16:47
    I am not seeing any.
  • 01:16:49
    Thank you, Director, for your presentation.
  • 01:16:52
    And we are ready now to move on to our final presentation of the day, which is from the Assessing Department.
  • 01:16:59
    And for that, I will invite Rebecca Malmquist, our City Assessor, to begin that presentation.
  • 01:17:08
    Welcome, Director.
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:17:10
    Good morning.
  • 01:17:10
    Thank you so much.
  • 01:17:17
    So again, good morning.
  • 01:17:19
    I am Rebecca Malmquist.
  • 01:17:21
    I have the honor and privilege of serving as the City of Minneapolis City Assessor.
  • 01:17:25
    I just celebrated my 10-year anniversary here at the city, and I'm very proud of that.
  • 01:17:30
    Well, it was in July, but it feels like it was just a few days ago.
  • 01:17:34
    but just honored to be part of this amazing organization.
  • 01:17:37
    I'm also under the weather so maybe there's something in the water but I very specifically requested today due to other commitments I have this fall and that was granted and my deputy is also under the weather and at home so here we are.
  • 01:17:53
    This is our current org chart of our very talented and dedicated professional team.
  • 01:17:59
    We are very small, especially in comparison to other jurisdictions, but we are quite mighty indeed.
  • 01:18:05
    I was just at an industry event in the East Coast last week, and I was talking to some colleagues about our per parcel per appraiser count and how high it is, and they couldn't believe our appraisers are able to handle the workload that they're able to
  • 01:18:21
    as far as parcel count and so that just goes to the talented and dedicated team that we have.
  • 01:18:27
    We do have 38 FTEs broken down into market segments such as residential, apartment, neighborhood, commercial and then our downtown commercial team and then our technology team.
  • 01:18:40
    I will point out that we do have the one vacancy that I'll mention earlier and that is the manager of assessment services which is the position to the very very far left that is the one vacancy that we do have and I'll speak to that in a moment we do have a variety of interns as well that number changes from year to year but we do take advantage of interns anytime that we can because it really does and proves to be a pathway into this profession this accidental profession that we
  • 01:19:10
    are part of.
  • 01:19:13
    This is our mission.
  • 01:19:13
    Again, everything we do is statutorily based, rules based, but our mission is really to value and classify property, administer all of the complex property tax programs, maintain the property records that every department here in the city uses, as well as the state uses, and then to deliver exceptional customer service.
  • 01:19:34
    And you'll see these words continue to come up again and again, whether it's in our mission
  • 01:19:38
    or our vision or our priorities and that's fair and equitableness in everything that we do.
  • 01:19:46
    So our priority objectives, we only have one program which is pretty atypical to every other department and that's Appraisals and Assessment Administration.
  • 01:19:54
    Like I said, 95% of what we do is driven by either a state statute, a Department of Revenue Rule or International Professional Standards.
  • 01:20:06
    There are first priorities to of course meet Minnesota State statutory requirements and value all property as of January 2nd of each year.
  • 01:20:13
    Be sure that our property tax programs are accurate, ethical, equitable and defensible to preserve equity and fairness in the distribution of the tax.
  • 01:20:23
    and then of course to educate our property owners, taxpayers and decision makers because we know that the Minnesota property tax system is one of the most complex in the country and it is our role to make sure that we take every opportunity that we can to educate all of those that are impacted.
  • 01:20:41
    Jumping into the risks first, I will say that we continue to struggle with unmet tax litigation, tax court litigation resource needs due to a variety of things.
  • 01:20:51
    The first being the growing amount of tax court litigation and then the tax court judges and the administration have implemented a very, very aggressive new scheduling.
  • 01:21:04
    system and orders within the tax court system sometimes meaning that we will have 10 to 20 appraisal exchanges in one day and that's not even possible because we're talking about hundreds of pages of reports and so we're always trying to
  • 01:21:24
    find new ways, new creative ways to meet our tax court litigation requirements.
  • 01:21:31
    And so with that comes the risk to the city of tax dollar loss because of litigation.
  • 01:21:37
    One of the other risks, and Nikki mentioned this as well, is just staying competitive as an employer
  • 01:21:42
    and being an employer of choice.
  • 01:21:44
    I'll talk a little bit more about some reclassification that we also went through, but it is also proving to be very valuable in terms of employee satisfaction and retention.
  • 01:21:56
    Another risk that is not indicated here, we are going through our computer-aided mass appraisal system new software rollout.
  • 01:22:04
    It's not going exactly as planned and I think that everybody that rolls out some new software would say that probably is the case.
  • 01:22:10
    So I think about the new ERP system and I get anxious for them just in advance.
  • 01:22:17
    We also have lost a key staff member who was really playing the program lead on that and so that's added some complexity and then
  • 01:22:26
    Minneapolis is the most complex city in the entire state and our CAMMA vendor wasn't necessarily prepared for some of all the complexities that the city of Minneapolis has and the relationships and data sharing with Hennepin County and the state.
  • 01:22:40
    But we are working through those, but we are on a path to hopefully have the January 2nd of 2025 assessment done as required.
  • 01:22:51
    Some of our achievements, like I said, we went live with our new camera system in the spring and we continue to implement each of the new modules as the year continues.
  • 01:23:00
    I'm very proud to say that we have several new advanced licensures and international credit designations within our department and so that is just really showing that our
  • 01:23:12
    staff are committed to their own professional development and growth and that they see a future in the profession and staying in the profession.
  • 01:23:21
    I also put down here leadership beyond city limits.
  • 01:23:24
    One of our appraisal supervisors is the first vice president of the Minnesota Association of Assessing Officers.
  • 01:23:31
    I'm very proud that he represents us there.
  • 01:23:33
    I'm currently the 2024 IAAO president and
  • 01:23:38
    Really really grateful for the support of the mayor and council and city administration to let me pursue That role to represent the city of Minneapolis across the across the globe We do have several staff that are also course developers instructors They serve on different committees and in other volunteer roles and that provides them a really another way to
  • 01:24:02
    find fulfillment in their own profession and then we do continue to be a resource to assessors across the state and the country.
  • 01:24:10
    We get calls on a weekly basis from other jurisdictions asking about how we do things here at the city, how we've handled different challenges
  • 01:24:17
    and that's again a tribute to the qualified and dedicated team that we have.
  • 01:24:22
    I also want to mention that we did rebuild the levy impact estimator for the mayor's office, council and budget team.
  • 01:24:28
    That was a bit of a struggle this year but we were able to rebuild it and be able to produce those results for all of you to use.
  • 01:24:36
    What we've learned that we need to be as flexible as possible as an employer to meet our staff's needs whether that's on a day-to-day basis and family needs or that's on a long-term basis looking at different staff's future desires and how we can help them pursue the goals that they have and that also that a really healthy
  • 01:24:59
    Hybrid work environment is doable, but we have to continue to reflect on it and see what is working and what isn't working to meet both our business needs and the needs of our team.
  • 01:25:11
    On to some of the management decisions that we have made to ensure that we are utilizing our budget resources.
  • 01:25:18
    Most effectively, we continue to review our staffing needs to align with new business processes due to our new software system.
  • 01:25:27
    And I'll speak more about that as far as our Manager of Assessment Services.
  • 01:25:31
    and then we are also still pursuing the memorandum of understanding and joint powers agreement with Hennepin County to really establish very clear roles and responsibilities between the county, Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis.
  • 01:25:46
    On to our programs and staffing as I mentioned we do just have one program and we do just have the one vacancy that's the manager of assessment services and we recently went through the process of reviewing the job description because of the change of an on-site premises software system to a cloud-based and some process changes we reviewed that job description and are hoping it will go live and get posted in the next few days so that will bring us back to
  • 01:26:15
    zero vacancies, which is where we like to be, of course.
  • 01:26:20
    In full transparency, I do have to note that we will be significantly over budget in 2024.
  • 01:26:28
    And it was due to a compensation study that took a significant amount of time to complete.
  • 01:26:34
    I believe it goes back to April or June of 2022.
  • 01:26:38
    And so we tried to get some of it paid out in the 2023 budget as far as back pay.
  • 01:26:44
    of calculating back pay for each of the positions that was not doable.
  • 01:26:49
    So we started paying out back pay in January and I believe just in the past few weeks all of the back pay woes are
  • 01:26:59
    have been sorted out with all of our team and that's been a complex process so we will be coming out over significantly over budget due to both back pay and then unforecasted salary increases for this year but they have been they will be worked into the next year's budget so it's a 2024 issue and not a 2025 issue but I wanted to be very transparent about that
  • 01:27:30
    Okay, so we did not have any budget proposals included in the 2025 budget and So here you can see that the mayor's recommended budget for 2025 is seven million two thirty three six eighty seven and A lot of that again is due to salary increases which is a very good thing and I Believe our staff would agree with that
  • 01:27:59
    I did just want to recap a couple of highlights from the 2024 assessment that we provided you this spring and that's just a reminder as we go into this budget season that
  • 01:28:11
    because due to decreases in market values across certain property type sectors you'll see shifts in the property tax burden from commercial to residential and I know that you've all been fully educated on that but just another reminder that we will diligently working on the 2025 assessment to see what will happen there and what that will mean for the next budget cycle.
  • 01:28:36
    Our appeals interestingly enough were down this year, but that is because some of the residential values were down So we saw some decreases in those appeals But our tax court appeals do continue to increase and are very time-consuming So in closing again a huge.
  • 01:28:52
    Thank you to the budget team specifically Megan again She is our analyst and just is extraordinary and extremely patient with me, so thank you Megan and
  • 01:29:01
    But again, I have huge thanks to our leadership team and our entire staff here within the assessing department.
  • 01:29:09
    Very proud of all of them and grateful for everything that they do and how they show up every day to best serve the public.
  • 01:29:16
    A couple of weeks ago we were at our international conference where I was presiding as president and I presented our department with a presidential citation for their support and dedication to
  • 01:29:29
    the City of Minneapolis and the profession in general and I'll be presenting that to them later this week in a department meeting so I'm very excited about that.
  • 01:29:38
    So in closing, that concludes my presentation for this morning.
  • 01:29:41
    Thank you very much for your time.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:29:45
    Thank you Director for presenting your 2025-2026 recommended budget to the Council and to this committee.
  • 01:29:53
    I will see if colleagues have any questions.
  • 01:29:55
    I see three people in queue so far and I'll keep you updated so just as you know what to expect.
  • 01:30:03
    With that, first I will recognize Council Member Rainville for a question or comment.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:30:11
    Thank you.
  • 01:30:13
    And thank you so much Ms. Malefquist for coming today.
  • 01:30:16
    It was a very thorough report.
  • 01:30:19
    And I did have a personal experience with one of your assessors.
  • 01:30:22
    And I approached him when he was outside my house.
  • 01:30:25
    I thought, who's this guy looking around?
  • 01:30:27
    But he was clearly marked and had his ID.
  • 01:30:29
    And I did not tell him what my job was.
  • 01:30:32
    I just asked him some questions.
  • 01:30:34
    And he was very polite and very thorough.
  • 01:30:35
    And it was quite a pleasant experience.
  • 01:30:38
    So that tells me that all your staff is happy.
  • 01:30:41
    You're doing a great job.
  • 01:30:43
    I do have a question about the tax court appeals.
  • 01:30:46
    So you say they continue to increase.
  • 01:30:48
    Is that primarily the downtown office buildings that bring you into tax court?
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:30:54
    Chair Tugde and Council Member Rainville, yes that is true.
  • 01:30:58
    We are working on putting together some statistical data for all of you just so you have an idea where those appeals are coming from and what it is that we're looking at and so the budget team can help predict risk as well with our increased litigation.
  • 01:31:12
    So that is something that we are working to compile for you so that you have more specifics on that.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:31:17
    Great, thank you.
  • 01:31:18
    And just lastly, congratulations on being president of the International Association of Assessing Officers.
  • 01:31:24
    And I don't know if you're aware or not, but when someone from the city takes positions like that, they're expected to bring that convention into Minneapolis.
  • 01:31:32
    So I'll be keeping an eye on the convention upcoming, so make sure that you have that ability to book that in here.
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:31:38
    Chair Tuggett and Council Member Rainville, interestingly enough, we hosted the conference in 2018 when I first joined the IWA Board of Directors.
  • 01:31:48
    And so it'll be a while before it comes back to Minneapolis.
  • 01:31:52
    But we did do our part a few years ago.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:31:55
    Well, you know, city assessor, that's the wrong answer.
  • 01:31:57
    So could you get to work on that, please?
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:32:00
    Yes, sir.
• • Michael Rainville
  • 01:32:01
    Okay, thank you.
  • 01:32:02
    That's the right answer.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:32:06
    Thank you for bringing the conference to Minneapolis in 2018.
  • 01:32:10
    Your work is deeply appreciated.
  • 01:32:11
    Thank you so much.
  • 01:32:14
    Next I'll recognize Vice Chair Koski.
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:32:17
    Thank you Madam Vice President and thank you Director Malmquist for being here today and even when you're a little under the weather as well so appreciate that.
  • 01:32:25
    I noted earlier that I believe that the industry average industry standard for average salary and wage increase is about 1 to 5 percent and I see you talked a little bit about this but so I'm digging a little bit deeper into it but I see that the 2024 to 2025 wage and salary increase was about 16 percent so is that directly related to the 2022 market analysis that was done or can you or is that due to
  • 01:32:55
    it being part in 2024 and then ongoing into 2025 if you could just dig into that a little bit more.
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:33:01
    Yes, Chair Chugchai and Vice Chair Koski, that is correct.
  • 01:33:05
    It is due to the compensation study that was done.
  • 01:33:08
    So they received increases, nearly the entire department I will say, the great majority of the department, received increases due to the compensation study in 2024.
  • 01:33:18
    And they received back pay, almost two years worth, in addition to that.
  • 01:33:22
    And so then forecasting forward, that's what the 2025 increase is.
  • 01:33:26
    And Megan, if I'm wrong, if you will help correct me.
  • 01:33:29
    Okay, did I answer your question?
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:33:31
    Yep, that's great.
  • 01:33:32
    That just helps me understand that that compensation study is what drove this 16% increase.
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:33:38
    Yes, ma'am.
• • Emily Koski
  • 01:33:38
    So, okay.
  • 01:33:39
    Thank you so much.
  • 01:33:39
    Appreciate it.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:33:41
    Thank you Vice Chair Koski.
  • 01:33:45
    I put myself in queue just to follow up on the equity or the compensation study and the impact from that.
  • 01:33:54
    Did I hear correctly as you were answering Vice Chair Koski's question that the time span for back pay is two years?
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:34:04
    Chair Tugdehi, yes.
  • 01:34:06
    So a lot of the determination of what the new salary should be was determined in December-ish of 2023.
  • 01:34:17
    And so then back pay had to start getting calculated going back to either was April or June of 2022.
  • 01:34:24
    So we had to pay the back pay for those positions that started a compensation study going back that far.
  • 01:34:31
    because it originally did start with a smaller pool of positions and that expanded when the compensation teams started to do their work and noticed that there's really a lot of discrepancies when you go through all the different classifications and there are still some issues when it comes to positions, classification to classification and some compression and so we're still working through some of that.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:34:58
    Yep, no, that makes a lot of sense.
  • 01:35:00
    Obviously, we want to make sure that we continue to have a really excellent assessing team and a part of that is competitive pay and when we're behind the market, it is a good thing when we catch our employees up.
  • 01:35:17
    and so I just want you to know as we're asking these questions is to understand the impact on the overall budget, not a disagreement on whether our employees deserve the increases that they have received as a result of a data-driven process.
  • 01:35:42
    My follow-up on that is can you just help put into context what the total amount
  • 01:35:52
    is of that back pay or as you're talking about you know being significantly over budget what does that mean even if you can give some ranges or we can note this for administrative follow-up as well.
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:36:05
    Okay Chair Tugday we will definitely need to follow up but going from memory I believe about five hundred thousand dollars is in back pay and then another five hundred thousand dollars in this year's budget making us about a million dollars over budget in 2024.
  • 01:36:21
    just slightly over like 1.1 maybe I'm remembering right.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:36:25
    Wonderful.
  • 01:36:26
    Thank you.
  • 01:36:27
    We will note that for administrative follow-up just in case there's any minor adjustments to that so you have the opportunity to share that information with us.
  • 01:36:37
    I'm not seeing any further questions.
  • 01:36:39
    Colleagues, any further questions or comments?
  • 01:36:44
    Thank you, Director, for coming to present your budget today and answering our questions.
• • Rebecca Malmquist
  • 01:36:50
    Thank you so much and again a huge thanks to HR and the compensation team.
  • 01:36:54
    They are the leanest, meanest team there is and I don't know how they do it and I know that we were quite the burden on them so I just want to really thank Nikki and her team for that work.
• • Aisha Chughtai
  • 01:37:06
    Thank you.
  • 01:37:09
    With that colleagues we have concluded all business to come before the Budget Committee today and without objection we stand adjourned until our next meeting which will be on Thursday September 12th at 10 a.m.
  • 01:37:22
    On Thursday, we will receive departmental presentations prepared by both the Civil Rights and Communications Departments.
  • 01:37:29
    Those presentations are not yet available in LIMS, but when they are there, my office will be sure to send an email to all members and aides notifying you that those presentations are ready for your review.
  • 01:37:44
    I will ask again that you review those in advance if possible and if you have any specific questions to please direct those to the relevant department directors so that they can be prepared to answer them when they come to present before us and we can limit the amount of administrative follow-up we need to do.
  • 01:38:02
    Thank you all.
• • 01:38:39
    and the City Council.