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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 02 Budget Committee Process Check In AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 4/6/2020 Meeting Type: Work Session Staff Contact/Dept.: Nathan Bell / Finance Staff Phone No: 541-726-2364 Estimated Time: 10 Minutes S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Provide Financially Responsible and Innovative Government Services ITEM TITLE: BUDGET COMMITTEE PROCESS CHECK-IN ACTION REQUESTED: Provide feedback to staff on how to structure a remote Budget Committee process. ISSUE STATEMENT: Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting executive orders prohibiting public gathering and requiring social distancing have led to City staff exploring options for how public meetings may be held electronically. As of the date of this memo, it is uncertain as to the specific end date for the limits on travel and public gathering. As such, staff has developed options for holding the Budget Committee process electronically and is requesting guidance from Council on next steps. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment 1: Council Briefing Memorandum DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL IMPACT: The response to COVID-19 has required that the City of Springfield, along with all other jurisdictions in Oregon, evaluate how to produce a Budget Committee process that complies with Oregon Budget Law and with the Governor’s Executive Orders regarding social distancing and public gatherings. The attached Council Briefing Memorandum provides the Council with a range of options of which staff is requesting feedback on. These options are an attempt to make changes to the Budget Committee process that respond to the current crisis and meet the Council and community’s expectations for an open and deliberative budget process. M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield Date: 4/6/2020 To: Mary Bridget Smith COUNCIL From: Nathan Bell, Finance Director Neil Obringer, Budget Officer BRIEFING Subject: Budget Committee Process Check-in MEMORANDUM ISSUE: Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting executive orders prohibiting public gathering and requiring social distancing have led to City staff exploring options for how public meetings may be held electronically. As of the date of this memo, it is uncertain as to the specific end date for the limits on travel and public gathering. As such, staff has developed options for holding the Budget Committee process electronically and is requesting guidance from Council on next steps. COUNCIL GOALS/ MANDATE: Provide Financially Responsible and Innovative Government Services BACKGROUND: This memo provides options for how to structure a remote Budget Committee process, which complies with current restrictions on public gatherings and social distancing. These possible changes are being discussed as a result of the response to COVID-19. To inform this memo, staff have reviewed the following sources of information: how other communities have structured their remote public meeting format, information provided by the Department of Revenue who provides guidance to local governments on local budget law, and a review of the local budget law section of Oregon Revised Statute. Meeting Delivery and Location: Staff propose utilizing the same software platform as will be used to conduct City Council and Planning Commission meetings, most likely this will be GoToWebinar. Citizen Budget Committee members and Councilors will access the meetings as panelists. Access information for this meeting will be included in all public notices so that members of the public will be able to remotely access the meeting as participants. Department Presentations: Council may choose to remove department presentations from the agenda. This would narrow the scope of the process to only those components required by statute. Oregon Budget Law requires that the Budget Committee process include, at the minimum, the delivery of the budget message and the opportunity for members of the public to ask questions and comment on the budget. A simplification of the agenda may be warranted given the uncertainties surrounding holding a remote meeting process. Staff would continue to provide the Budget Committee with each department’s budget summary memos describing their proposed budget and the ‘stoplight’ reports which show the account level detail for the department’s proposed budget. Question: Would the Council like to remove department presentations from the Budget Committee agenda for this year? Attachment 1, Page 1 of 3 MEMORANDUM Page 2 Meeting Date(s): The current schedule has the Budget Committee meeting on April 28th, May 5th, May 12th and May 19th (if needed). Staff are looking for guidance on what day or days to schedule a remote meeting process. If Council directs staff to simplify the process and remove department presentations from the agenda, staff believe that the process can be completed in one night with an additional night held in reserve. The delays resulting from the City’s response to COVID-19 may make it difficult to have the process ready by April 28th. Staff propose holding the first meeting on May 5th and holding May 12th in reserve in case of technical difficulties or if additional time is needed. Council may consider that the third night held in reserve (May 19th) is election night. The Council may also consider that if they would like to continue to include department presentations in the agenda, that three meeting nights should be scheduled or additional time added to the May 5th and May 12th agendas. Question: If the Council would like to remove department presentations from the agenda, should the first remote Budget Committee meeting be on May 5th with May 12th held in reserve? If the Council would like to continue to include department presentations in the agenda, should more time be added to May 5th and May 12th or should a third meeting night be added? Making Materials Available to the Public: In an effort to provide the community and the Budget Committee with additional time to review the proposed budget materials, staff will work to be prepared to release the proposed budget document and supporting materials one week earlier than normal. This is in response to guidance from the Department of Revenue that it may be helpful to provide budget materials and information in advance and extended periods for the public to provide comment. Question: Would the Council like to see any changes to the timeline or method of providing meeting materials to the public? Public Comment: To provide members of the community a range of opportunities to comment on and ask questions about the budget, staff may setup several venues for the public to provide comment. 1.) Written comment in advance of the meeting Written comment may be received via email sent to Budget@springfield-or.gov starting from the posting of information for public review through 5:00 p.m. the day prior to the Budget Committee meeting. Written comments would be read by staff during the business from the audience section of the Budget Committee meeting and would be given a three minute time limit per submission. 2.) Prescheduled phone call-in to meeting Members of the public may arrange to phone in comments by emailing Budget@springfield-or.gov or calling the City Manager’s Office (541-726-3700). Staff will provide members of the public a window of time in which staff would call the individual and then use a speakerphone to connect them to the meeting. 3.) Using GoToWebinar Participation Functionality Attachment 1, Page 2 of 3 MEMORANDUM Page 3 GoToWebinar software provides functionality for the organizer to allow attendees to speak during the meeting, provided the attendee is utilizing a computer or tablet with a microphone. During Business from the Audience, the meeting organizer would look for attendees to ‘raise their hand’ and would then unmute the attendees’ microphone, allowing them to provide comment or ask a question. Question: Would the Council like to add, remove, or suggest changes to the options for public comment in the list provided above? Motions and Committee Voting Since the Council and Planning Commission will hold several public meetings using remote meeting software prior to the Budget Committee, staff plan to monitor the process and procedures developed for those meetings and use that information to inform the process for Budget Committee. SEDA Local Budget law requires that the SEDA Budget Committee meet to receive the budget message and receive comments and questions from the public in the same way as the City Budget Committee. If the Council would like to hold all Budget Committee meetings on a single day, staff would like direction on whether to hold the SEDA meeting before or after the City Budget Committee meeting. There may be an advantage to completing the SEDA process prior to the full City process since the agenda is typically shorter and there are three additional members on the SEDA Budget Committee who will need to join in. Question: Would the Council like to hold the SEDA Budget Committee on the same night as the City Budget Committee? Would the Council like to hold the SEDA Budget Committee at the beginning of the process or at the end? RECOMMENDED ACTION: Provide feedback to staff on how to structure a remote Budget Committee process. Attachment 1, Page 3 of 3