City Council Committee of the Whole · Monday, July 17, 2023 · City Council Digest

2. AGENDA ITEMS

Public Comment Public comment on individual agenda items will also be accepted following Council Q&A

packet pp.5–31

▶ Watch from 0:32 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

City Council Committee of the Whole - Jul 17 2023 - Html Split-screen / Notes Video AGENDA City Council Committee of the Whole 6:30 PM - Monday, July 17, 2023 Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA Page Join the meeting in-person at the address above, or virtually using the following options: Join by Computer  Webex Webinar meeting link  If needed, meeting password is 98027 Join by Phone  Call 1-206-207-1700, enter meeting number (access code) 2492 165 9694# Other Listening Options  Stream online: issaquahwa.gov/live  Comcast Channel: ICTV 21 Comments will be accepted in person or virtually at the meeting. Submit written comments to [email protected] . 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. AGENDA ITEMS a) Public Comment Public comment on individual agenda items will also be accepted following Council Q&A. 5 - 31 b) ID 1474 - Transportation Benefit District Funding Options…

Transportation Benefit District Funding Options ID 1474

Topics: TransportationBudget

▶ Watch from 26:07

Good of the Order

▶ Watch from 51:41

2052 segments .txt ↗

0:01 ↗ um good

0:05 ↗ welcome everyone I council president

0:07 ↗ Walsh called the July 17th Committee of

0:10 ↗ the whole meeting to order at 6 32 PM uh

0:14 ↗ council member Hunt is attending

0:15 ↗ tonight's meeting remotely

0:18 ↗ public comment there are multiple public

0:20 ↗ comment opportunities at tonight's

0:22 ↗ meeting first there is a general public

0:24 ↗ comment opportunity at the beginning of

0:25 ↗ the meeting or you can make comments

0:28 ↗ after the presentation and council's

0:30 ↗ question and answer period on tonight's

0:32 ↗ agenda item

0:35 ↗ um okay so starting with public comment

0:37 ↗ I will note there is no one in person

0:39 ↗ but members of the public May address

0:41 ↗ council at this time in person or

0:43 ↗ virtually those who signed up in advance

0:45 ↗ to make comments will be called on first

0:47 ↗ if you're joining us virtually and would

0:48 ↗ like to make comments please raise your

0:51 ↗ virtual hand you're on the phone press

0:53 ↗ star three we've joined by computer

0:56 ↗ smartphone look for the hand icon or you

0:58 ↗ can send the host a chat message

1:01 ↗ um you're in the room and did not sign

1:03 ↗ up I'll ask for other speakers before

1:04 ↗ closing this portion of meeting

1:06 ↗ and clerk has anyone signed up to speak

1:10 ↗ or indicated a desire to speak no we

1:12 ↗ don't have any members of the public

1:13 ↗ here in person nor virtually okay

1:16 ↗ as a reminder you'll always take written

1:19 ↗ comments at any time you can email city

1:22 ↗ council at issaquah.gov

1:26 ↗ okay so moving on to our next and only

1:30 ↗ agenda item we have

1:33 ↗ id1474 transportation benefit District

1:36 ↗ funding options presented by Andrea

1:38 ↗ Snyder Deputy City administrator and

1:40 ↗ Robert hamoud Chief Financial Officer

1:44 ↗ take it away thanks

1:51 ↗ thank you council president uh this is

1:53 ↗ Andrea Snyder let me pull up the

1:56 ↗ presentation

1:58 ↗ and as you said I also have our CFO

2:01 ↗ Robert hamoud with me and we also have

2:04 ↗ Susie monsell budget manager here to

2:06 ↗ answer any questions you may have

2:09 ↗ so tonight uh is a continuation of a

2:13 ↗ conversation that we've started on the

2:14 ↗ transportation benefit district sales

2:16 ↗ tax or TBD sales tax if you hear that

2:19 ↗ acronym

2:25 ↗ and

2:27 ↗ um what the guidance that we're looking

2:28 ↗ from Council tonight is whether the

2:31 ↗ administration should proceed with

2:33 ↗ public Outreach on a council manic 0.1

2:36 ↗ percent sales tax for transportation

2:38 ↗ infrastructure

2:39 ↗ and whether the council has any feedback

2:41 ↗ on the proposed public Outreach plan

2:46 ↗ uh we as this conversation is a

2:48 ↗ follow-up from a previous discussion we

2:50 ↗ wanted to follow up on some of the

2:52 ↗ questions that were raised by council at

2:55 ↗ our last meeting on this topic so one of

2:57 ↗ the questions that Council asked and

2:59 ↗ wanted us to explore further was why

3:02 ↗ can't we just uh have councilmanic debt

3:05 ↗ why do we need to adopt a new Revenue

3:07 ↗ Source in order to pay for these

3:09 ↗ Transportation projects we want to

3:11 ↗ implement so that's the first thing

3:12 ↗ we'll be discussing tonight we'll be

3:14 ↗ going over some of that information

3:16 ↗ we also have a more overview of the TBD

3:20 ↗ sales tax what that would look like some

3:22 ↗ of this information you've seen before

3:24 ↗ but we thought it was still pertinent to

3:26 ↗ bring up for this conversation just as a

3:28 ↗ reminder and then we also had a question

3:31 ↗ from Council about really trying to

3:32 ↗ understand the cash flow when these

3:35 ↗ revenues would be hitting if we were to

3:37 ↗ adopt them versus when the projects

3:40 ↗ would come online and how we would pay

3:42 ↗ for them what does all that look like so

3:43 ↗ we'll be going over that information as

3:45 ↗ well

3:45 ↗ um and also as requested what our public

3:49 ↗ Outreach plan would be if we were to

3:51 ↗ proceed with this 0.1 percent Council

3:54 ↗ manic sales tax and what those next

3:56 ↗ steps would look like for public

3:57 ↗ Outreach and engagement

4:00 ↗ so first why is capital a new capital

4:03 ↗ funding source needed or why can't we

4:06 ↗ just uh issue councilmanic debt without

4:09 ↗ a new Revenue source and for this I'd

4:11 ↗ like to welcome up uh CFO Robert hammoud

4:19 ↗ thank you Andrea good evening Council we

4:22 ↗ have showed this chart in the past uh

4:24 ↗ it's in the budget document and we've

4:26 ↗ also showed this at previous

4:29 ↗ budget updates as well as Council

4:31 ↗ Retreats and so again it's revenues and

4:33 ↗ expenditures over the year with the

4:35 ↗ beginning fund balance and ending fund

4:37 ↗ balances as we've discussed before

4:38 ↗ without new revenue streams you can see

4:41 ↗ that our undesignated fund balance

4:43 ↗ decreases each year and at this point

4:46 ↗ again everything being constant

4:49 ↗ there's some inflation factors but all

4:51 ↗ services being constant in this you see

4:53 ↗ that the fund balance actually is

4:55 ↗ showing in the negatives in 2027 with

4:58 ↗ lack of any other revenues or change in

5:00 ↗ revenue streams or sources

5:03 ↗ so we just wanted to show this chart as

5:05 ↗ far as what would the constant this is

5:07 ↗ the status quo right now this is

5:08 ↗ everything right now that we're assuming

5:10 ↗ in the budget

5:12 ↗ we'll have updates later in the year on

5:14 ↗ the mid-year budget update that we're

5:16 ↗ going to present in August but based on

5:20 ↗ the numbers that were presented in the

5:22 ↗ budget document that we prepared last

5:23 ↗ year this is our forecast and again you

5:26 ↗ can see at the end of 27 we're

5:29 ↗ anticipating the fund balance to be

5:30 ↗ negative if everything is all constant

5:34 ↗ any questions on this chart at all

5:40 ↗ and so the next slide shows the fund

5:42 ↗ balance

5:43 ↗ with the 0.1 percent TBD sales tax being

5:46 ↗ enacted in 2024 and you can see where

5:50 ↗ the fund balance does go below the

5:51 ↗ reserve Target in 2027 because we're

5:54 ↗ talking about what would otherwise be

5:56 ↗ general fund expenditures that

5:59 ↗ generation of that TBD sales tax

6:00 ↗ starting out at about 2.2 million the

6:03 ↗ First full year of it would

6:05 ↗ at least prevent the fund balance from

6:07 ↗ going into the negative as far as

6:09 ↗ funding for the capital projects

6:12 ↗ Transportation I've got a question for

6:14 ↗ you here

6:15 ↗ um I'm not seeing between the two charts

6:17 ↗ revenues going

6:20 ↗ um is it

6:23 ↗ 66 point in 2025 I've been seeing on the

6:27 ↗ first chart

6:29 ↗ 66.1 million in Revenue

6:32 ↗ yeah

6:33 ↗ it's on the expenditure side

6:36 ↗ so again we're offsetting the revenues

6:38 ↗ with the expenditures so that we change

6:40 ↗ the expenditure side on each sheet

6:43 ↗ why wouldn't we change the revenue side

6:45 ↗ since it's a sales tax revenue

6:49 ↗ and then to go along with that would

6:51 ↗ that would a TBD fund be considered a

6:56 ↗ designated fund or an undesignated fund

7:00 ↗ balance

7:03 ↗ hi Susie monsell budget manager here um

7:06 ↗ so the two tables the difference is if

7:09 ↗ we were to collect the TBD sales tax

7:12 ↗ revenue we would likely collect it in

7:14 ↗ another fund so the difference is with

7:16 ↗ with a new Revenue Source this table is

7:19 ↗ exactly as it's shown in the adopted

7:21 ↗ budget book so with no changes Revenue

7:23 ↗ expenditures

7:25 ↗ um but the table before sorry I'm just

7:27 ↗ going to go back one slide this one

7:29 ↗ shows if the general fund had to absorb

7:32 ↗ those expenditures what that would look

7:34 ↗ like on the expenditure side so the

7:37 ↗ revenue if we were to do a TBD sales tax

7:38 ↗ we likely wouldn't collect it into the

7:40 ↗ general fund we'd likely do it into a

7:42 ↗ capital fund because that's where the

7:43 ↗ expenditures would be

7:46 ↗ that answer your question yes but now

7:49 ↗ okay

7:51 ↗ um

7:52 ↗ so

7:54 ↗ if the revenue is going into another

7:55 ↗ fund then

7:57 ↗ doing that division of

8:00 ↗ percentage of expenditures to

8:04 ↗ undesignated fund balance

8:06 ↗ really just adjusts

8:09 ↗ yeah so if we were to do a new Revenue

8:11 ↗ everything would stay in the general

8:13 ↗ fund as the budget's adopted

8:16 ↗ so it wouldn't impact revenue or

8:18 ↗ expenditures in the general fund

8:20 ↗ okay great thanks

8:25 ↗ other questions councilmember parts

8:28 ↗ so

8:30 ↗ I'm a little confused

8:33 ↗ um

8:34 ↗ the first chart presumes a certain

8:37 ↗ amount of expenditure on Transportation

8:39 ↗ capital projects

8:46 ↗ does it say where there it's

8:52 ↗ yes so if we were to not do a new

8:55 ↗ Revenue source and like if we weren't to

8:57 ↗ do a TBD sales tax or another Capital

8:58 ↗ funding source we would need to have it

9:01 ↗ come out of the general fund which would

9:02 ↗ come out to about two and a half million

9:04 ↗ a year or 2.2 million or similar to what

9:07 ↗ the TBD sales tax would bring in

9:09 ↗ so that would come out of the

9:11 ↗ expenditure side would then be

9:12 ↗ transferred to the capital fund where

9:14 ↗ the expenditures would happen is there a

9:17 ↗ is there a

9:19 ↗ schedule of transportation funding

9:22 ↗ there's a schedule of transportation

9:24 ↗ funding implied here just not shown

9:26 ↗ right yeah so it would be the same

9:29 ↗ same as the the

9:31 ↗ purpose would fund which we have the the

9:33 ↗ cash flow of that later the only

9:35 ↗ difference would be whether it would

9:36 ↗ come out of general fund fund balance or

9:38 ↗ if it would come out of the 0.1 percent

9:40 ↗ sales tax

9:41 ↗ okay but if you did councilmatic

9:44 ↗ uh Bond Authority you would Bond a bunch

9:48 ↗ of projects and then you'd only be

9:50 ↗ paying uh the the service charge on the

9:55 ↗ bond so you wouldn't you would have a

9:58 ↗ different schedule

10:00 ↗ and none of that is visible here it's

10:02 ↗ really hard for me to see what's going

10:03 ↗ on because you would have a you would

10:05 ↗ have a smaller expenditure per year

10:08 ↗ because you'd push a bunch of those

10:09 ↗ expenditures out yeah so what we're

10:13 ↗ proposing we have a slide a little bit

10:14 ↗ later but what we're proposing is the

10:16 ↗ Northwest Sammamish Road non-motorized

10:18 ↗ improvements would need to be bonded in

10:19 ↗ either scenario

10:21 ↗ um and the its projects would be cash

10:25 ↗ funded so whether that was general fund

10:27 ↗ fund balance or that was the sales tax

10:34 ↗ if you're back on the first Slide the

10:36 ↗ fun balance without new Revenue stream

10:38 ↗ back to Susie's Point

10:40 ↗ um this Revenue expenditure line would

10:43 ↗ have to accommodate either a bond

10:45 ↗ issuance for The Debt Service and the

10:47 ↗ bond issue would have to come from the

10:48 ↗ general fund read we're seeing Reed

10:50 ↗ being stagnant or dropping over previous

10:52 ↗ years right now there's no other outside

10:55 ↗ funding that could fund these specific

10:57 ↗ projects unless we got a grant or some

10:59 ↗ outside funding that came out of nowhere

11:00 ↗ at this point at our most realistic

11:03 ↗ right now those projects back to Susie's

11:06 ↗ point would have to come out of an

11:08 ↗ issuance out of the general fund so

11:09 ↗ that's why the expenditures on this line

11:12 ↗ would pick up compared to

11:14 ↗ with the new Revenue stream it wouldn't

11:15 ↗ touch it

11:19 ↗ so the difference between

11:21 ↗ uh funding the one half percent sales

11:24 ↗ tax and not looks here to be about eight

11:28 ↗ and a half million is that right in 2027

11:31 ↗ you've got undesignated fund balance

11:33 ↗ positive 5 million with the new Revenue

11:35 ↗ stream and it was what underwater three

11:37 ↗ and a half million

11:39 ↗ uh the other one yeah 3.8 million okay

11:42 ↗ so you've got about eight and a half

11:44 ↗ nine million dollars

11:46 ↗ worth of difference isn't that

11:48 ↗ I'm just I'm just worried that the

11:51 ↗ benefit

11:53 ↗ I would like to afterwards I'm not going

11:55 ↗ to take it right now but I would like to

11:57 ↗ see what the actual streams are

11:59 ↗ in terms of what it would cost us to

12:01 ↗ just service bonding all this versus

12:05 ↗ paying for it

12:07 ↗ you know if it I suspect this doesn't

12:09 ↗ correctly include the benefit that you

12:12 ↗ get from pushing out the

12:15 ↗ paying for the bond but pushing a bunch

12:18 ↗ of that money into the future which is a

12:20 ↗ cost a future Council would have to live

12:22 ↗ with I'm just suspecting this doesn't

12:23 ↗ show that and because you don't have the

12:25 ↗ numbers listed there it's hard for me to

12:26 ↗ see it but I'm happy to if you can send

12:28 ↗ me a spreadsheet later that shows how

12:30 ↗ those parts work I'll be happy thank you

12:37 ↗ any more questions nope thank you

12:41 ↗ so the next slide is the TBD sales tax

12:45 ↗ overview

12:46 ↗ so councilmatic sales tax timing per the

12:50 ↗ state statute in the Department of

12:51 ↗ Revenue guidelines there are three

12:53 ↗ implementation dates the city can pursue

12:55 ↗ throughout the year for councilmatic

12:57 ↗ sales tax January 1st 2024 the deadline

13:00 ↗ for Council action is approximately 75

13:03 ↗ days before implementation that would be

13:05 ↗ by October 17 2023 April 1st 2024 would

13:10 ↗ be January 16th for Council action or

13:13 ↗ July 1st would be April 17th of 2024.

13:16 ↗ this is actually approval and then

13:18 ↗ notification to the Department of

13:19 ↗ Revenue

13:24 ↗ councilman Ray

13:27 ↗ um thanks for that

13:28 ↗ if we take action is there a public

13:32 ↗ recourse or is it uh final I mean is

13:35 ↗ there some sort of a petitioning or

13:38 ↗ anything that the public could do

13:41 ↗ to undo what if we did that

13:44 ↗ I

13:45 ↗ believe the answer is no because we are

13:48 ↗ not an initiative in a referendum City

13:50 ↗ that would be more of a we are okay so

13:53 ↗ they would have to a tissue would have

13:54 ↗ more information on what process they

13:56 ↗ would have

13:57 ↗ to go through

14:00 ↗ we would oh go ahead Andrea

14:05 ↗ so if you're asking if if a member of

14:08 ↗ the community could appeal the council

14:10 ↗ decision that's that is not part of the

14:14 ↗ process what they would have to do is

14:15 ↗ come up with a ballot measure to repeal

14:18 ↗ the tax to direct the council to repeal

14:20 ↗ the tax okay so there's no

14:22 ↗ in the process some any kind of uh

14:25 ↗ what made me think about it was the

14:27 ↗ 75-day period which kind of

14:30 ↗ seemed to me like that Superior you give

14:32 ↗ people there's some sort of an appeal

14:34 ↗ but there is not the the council action

14:37 ↗ is the final action unless repealed by a

14:39 ↗ ballot measure of the people got it yep

14:42 ↗ the 75-day period is really there for

14:44 ↗ the state to work with us in setting up

14:48 ↗ the systems to be able to collect the

14:50 ↗ tax and notify the businesses that would

14:54 ↗ then have to adjust their systems in

14:56 ↗ order to collect the tax great thank you

15:05 ↗ in the next slide we have presented a

15:07 ↗ previous meetings just the highlights of

15:10 ↗ the transportation benefits sales tax

15:13 ↗ Transportation benefit district has

15:14 ↗ already been established but again

15:16 ↗ without the funding mechanism this new

15:18 ↗ funding mechanism came out in 2022 for

15:21 ↗ approval from the state legislature and

15:24 ↗ again when we're talking about the

15:26 ↗ dollars generated it's about 2.2 million

15:28 ↗ of annual revenue anticipated from the

15:31 ↗ 0.1 percent councilmatic TBD

15:44 ↗ and the impact to Residents I know we've

15:46 ↗ gone over the site a couple times again

15:48 ↗ the average annual household impact

15:49 ↗ would be less than a hundred dollars a

15:51 ↗ year

15:52 ↗ based on spending habits for a forty

15:54 ↗ thousand dollar car purchase the price

15:56 ↗ would increase forty dollars for a 500

15:58 ↗ TV maybe about 50 cents

16:01 ↗ and again this would not affect most

16:04 ↗ grocery items

16:12 ↗ and then again review of the local tax

16:14 ↗ rates for a 10.1 percent

16:16 ↗ the highest the shoreline in King County

16:19 ↗ at 10.3 percent

16:27 ↗ and I'll hand it back to Andrea

16:33 ↗ thank you Robert

16:34 ↗ uh so we did bring the idea of

16:38 ↗ councilmatic uh sales tax to the

16:42 ↗ mobility and infrastructure committee

16:44 ↗ generally uh and I invite the committee

16:46 ↗ members to also chime in if I am missing

16:49 ↗ parts of the feedback we received but

16:51 ↗ generally supportive of pursuing a sales

16:55 ↗ tax a TBD sales tax there was some

16:59 ↗ discussion and desire to pursue a ballot

17:01 ↗ measure because that was what was

17:03 ↗ recommended by the task force and so the

17:06 ↗ task force had recommended a ballot

17:08 ↗ measure for actually the maximum amount

17:10 ↗ which is I believe 0.3 percent

17:13 ↗ and so there was some desire to consider

17:15 ↗ that further also the committee was

17:18 ↗ generally supportive of using the new

17:20 ↗ revenues for the intelligent

17:22 ↗ transportation system projects and the

17:24 ↗ Northwest Sammamish non-motorized

17:25 ↗ improvements

17:27 ↗ um and one thing that there was a strong

17:30 ↗ consensus on was the need for a robust

17:32 ↗ public engagement and to understand what

17:35 ↗ that engagement plan would be before

17:37 ↗ Council would even consider proceeding

17:39 ↗ with adoption

17:44 ↗ so this I think is where we go into some

17:47 ↗ of what council member marks you were

17:49 ↗ requesting and more information on the

17:51 ↗ detail of when the revenues we would

17:54 ↗ receive those revenues how we would fund

17:56 ↗ these projects and the timing of these

17:58 ↗ projects so first just a reminder we

18:00 ↗ have been talking about uh Northwest

18:02 ↗ Sammamish non-motorized Improvement

18:04 ↗ project also known as pinchpoint and the

18:08 ↗ intelligent transportation system plan

18:10 ↗ implementation so the its plan is more

18:14 ↗ of an ongoing program that we can kind

18:16 ↗ of dial up or down implementation as we

18:20 ↗ get these revenues so if we get more

18:22 ↗ revenues in one year we may be able to

18:24 ↗ do more of that project in a year versus

18:26 ↗ The Debt Service of a discrete project

18:29 ↗ with the beginning or end that's pretty

18:31 ↗ fixed once you once you get the bond The

18:33 ↗ Debt Service is fairly fixed and so this

18:36 ↗ allows us some flexibility as we would

18:38 ↗ consider a discrete project paired with

18:40 ↗ something that's ongoing that we can

18:42 ↗ kind of dial up or down what our

18:44 ↗ implementation may be that you're due to

18:46 ↗ anticipated revenues

18:48 ↗ of course TBD sales tax must go towards

18:52 ↗ Transportation projects we cannot use

18:54 ↗ this revenue on any Municipal purpose

18:56 ↗ that has to be for transportation

18:57 ↗ projects and so that means that these

19:00 ↗ revenues could also perhaps Fund in the

19:03 ↗ future maybe it's the squawk Mountain

19:06 ↗ multimodal improvements or pavement

19:09 ↗ management or other priorities that we

19:12 ↗ may have that also may change as we look

19:14 ↗ at these two projects we're suggesting

19:16 ↗ use for the funds if we get grant

19:18 ↗ funding so we're early in the stage for

19:21 ↗ both of these projects Northwest

19:22 ↗ Sammamish non-motorized and its that

19:25 ↗ it's a little too early to be able to

19:26 ↗ anticipate what Grant funds we may

19:28 ↗ receive so if we are successful getting

19:31 ↗ Grant funds we may have TBD revenues to

19:34 ↗ expend on these other Transportation

19:37 ↗ priorities that Council and the

19:38 ↗ community have

19:40 ↗ thank you so here is a cash flow summary

19:44 ↗ that I hope gets to some of your

19:46 ↗ questions council member Marts and what

19:49 ↗ this slide shows is the timing of the

19:51 ↗ projects as anticipated within the CIP

19:53 ↗ that you just adopted

19:56 ↗ The Debt Service for those projects or

19:58 ↗ how we would pay for those projects and

20:00 ↗ the revenue and when the revenues would

20:01 ↗ hit so you can see this chart would

20:03 ↗ anticipate us implementing the tax

20:06 ↗ collecting the tax in 2024.

20:09 ↗ we anticipate those revenues for the

20:11 ↗ year of 2024 to be 2.2 million we would

20:15 ↗ be using some of those revenues to help

20:17 ↗ pay for its implementation and

20:19 ↗ maintenance

20:20 ↗ and then as we show in the CIP we don't

20:25 ↗ anticipate work on pinch Point as it's

20:27 ↗ depicted here because Northwest

20:28 ↗ Sammamish non-motorized is a little long

20:30 ↗ to put in the table but we we don't

20:35 ↗ anticipate work on that happening

20:36 ↗ because of the wash.culvert projects

20:38 ↗ have pushed that project time

20:40 ↗ um

20:41 ↗ to 2028. I see there's a question

20:45 ↗ uh yes the incredulous look on my face

20:48 ↗ uh seeing 10 years worth of pinch Point

20:51 ↗ uh please tell me it's not going to take

20:54 ↗ us 10 years to do this project no that

20:56 ↗ what you see that there getting to that

20:58 ↗ is the bond service for that project so

21:02 ↗ we would issue we would issue the bond

21:04 ↗ in 2028 when we anticipate the main

21:08 ↗ expenditures to occur for starting that

21:10 ↗ construction so what we are suggesting

21:13 ↗ is that its would be paid on an ongoing

21:16 ↗ or cash basis but that we would Bond

21:18 ↗ beginning in 2028 for Northwest

21:21 ↗ Sammamish non-motorized also known as

21:24 ↗ pinch point in this in this chart

21:26 ↗ yes because I would hate to be racing uh

21:30 ↗ st3 for how long it takes to get whether

21:34 ↗ we get that would get that done before

21:36 ↗ we get a light rail station so thank you

21:38 ↗ yes and that's why you see

21:41 ↗ um that 1.55 million that would be the

21:44 ↗ anticipated Debt Service on that project

21:47 ↗ occur for 10 years so we would issue a

21:50 ↗ 10-year bond and we would use the TBD

21:52 ↗ sales tax to pay off that debt service

21:55 ↗ so then you see that blue column all the

21:58 ↗ way on the right talks about the balance

22:00 ↗ so this means the difference between the

22:02 ↗ anticipated revenues and the anticipated

22:04 ↗ expenditures for that year so we do have

22:06 ↗ some flexibility in that column which is

22:08 ↗ what we want because we know that

22:10 ↗ sometimes projects are a little bit cost

22:12 ↗ a little bit more than anticipated it's

22:14 ↗ also possible that we could use some of

22:17 ↗ these funds on other Transportation

22:20 ↗ related projects that we have

22:22 ↗ so um so as you can see 2028 would be

22:26 ↗ that year that we would issue the bond

22:31 ↗ um are there I see there's additional

22:33 ↗ questions

22:34 ↗ and and do we think that that's a bond

22:37 ↗ that we would use councilmanic or do we

22:39 ↗ think that we would go to the voters on

22:41 ↗ that that will be a councilmanic bond

22:43 ↗ so this this plan is really a hybrid it

22:46 ↗ does have councilmatic Bond it's just

22:48 ↗ not doing councilmanic bonds immediately

22:50 ↗ it's using the sales tax revenue to pay

22:54 ↗ for a council manic bond that is correct

22:57 ↗ thank you now I get it

23:01 ↗ councilmember right

23:03 ↗ I uh I'm coming at this from 180 degrees

23:05 ↗ from where councilmember Martz was

23:08 ↗ because I figured the 10 was Bond

23:09 ↗ service so that's 15 million dollars of

23:12 ↗ bonding roughly that thumb you know 10

23:14 ↗ times

23:16 ↗ 1.55 per service

23:19 ↗ is it a 15 million I thought it was much

23:21 ↗ bigger than that

23:22 ↗ I'm going to look to our budget manager

23:25 ↗ CFO to answer that question

23:28 ↗ so if you see on the left side of the

23:30 ↗ cash flow summary the 0.1 percent TBD

23:32 ↗ sales tax so the generation of the sales

23:34 ↗ tax will grow each year as a sales tax

23:36 ↗ base grows so you can see it starts at

23:39 ↗ 2.2 million

23:40 ↗ and it grows each year and so some of

23:43 ↗ this is Cash some of this is the bond

23:51 ↗ as you would like to add

23:55 ↗ um I believe I don't have the CIP in

23:57 ↗ front of me at the moment but I think

23:59 ↗ the total cost of pinchpoint is

24:01 ↗ estimated to be around 14 million so

24:04 ↗ this would include the the interest and

24:07 ↗ the issuance costs of the Bond as well

24:09 ↗ okay I I I'm I was just looking at this

24:11 ↗ the CIP and I'm

24:13 ↗ frantically looking to find the project

24:15 ↗ but it just cr028 if you need it what is

24:19 ↗ it tr028

24:22 ↗ on the list for a while

24:26 ↗ there's seven of them not on me it's on

24:28 ↗ the website

24:31 ↗ it's 16.

24:33 ↗ I wish I had the page number

24:38 ↗ okay

24:40 ↗ and these are these are estimates at

24:42 ↗ this point right so I was having an

24:44 ↗ order of magnet I mean I'm maybe not an

24:46 ↗ order of magnitude problem but I was

24:47 ↗ having a multiplier problem so I was

24:50 ↗ thinking it was you know 15 16 that's

24:52 ↗ that's fine I was thinking it was more

24:54 ↗ in the 20 somethings

24:58 ↗ council member D Michelle

25:00 ↗ so when I'm looking at the balance

25:03 ↗ column those are not cumulative balances

25:07 ↗ I'm is that correct

25:10 ↗ yes Susie has to walk back and forth and

25:13 ↗ back and forth well and my question

25:15 ↗ Susie is

25:17 ↗ um

25:18 ↗ could we can we get a kind of look at

25:20 ↗ what the

25:22 ↗ cumulative balance would be and at what

25:24 ↗ point we might be able to use those

25:26 ↗ Balance funds for that squawk Mountain

25:28 ↗ project that's absolutely I'm asking

25:31 ↗ that question yeah so I believe this

25:34 ↗ should be I'll take another look at it

25:37 ↗ I'm not positive off the top of my head

25:38 ↗ but if not then I can make sure that we

25:40 ↗ provide that

25:41 ↗ I I think that this is a cumulative I

25:44 ↗ think it is so the balance of the the

25:46 ↗ blue column it would be the year-end

25:48 ↗ balance

25:50 ↗ um so whatever so we're spending some

25:52 ↗ fund balance in some years so if you

25:53 ↗ look at uh fiscal 28 we're taking in

25:57 ↗ 2.48 million spending 660 000 on its

26:00 ↗ spending 1.55 million on pinch point

26:03 ↗ then the balance after that

26:05 ↗ is 270 000.

26:09 ↗ so all we would have in 2028 in the in

26:13 ↗ the fund would be

26:15 ↗ 22 270 000 000. so that could be

26:19 ↗ allocated

26:20 ↗ um but in this scenario we're using uh

26:23 ↗ some of that fund balance as you look at

26:24 ↗ 29 it drops it starts to raise again and

26:28 ↗ 30 uh and then at the conclusion of the

26:31 ↗ bond payments in 2037

26:33 ↗ um you start making

26:35 ↗ you know you get that 1.55 back okay so

26:40 ↗ um you know clearly the the revenue from

26:42 ↗ a sales tax is limited Revenue uh it

26:45 ↗ does not fund all of our transportation

26:46 ↗ he's what we've tried to do is really

26:49 ↗ focus on the council's two main

26:50 ↗ priorities and that's the its and the

26:53 ↗ pinch point

26:55 ↗ other other projects will require other

26:57 ↗ funding sources as we move forward

27:00 ↗ thank you

27:02 ↗ I've got a question as well

27:05 ↗ um what's the cost of the its and there

27:08 ↗ isn't really a single

27:10 ↗ project for that but if you're adding

27:13 ↗ all of that up it's over 10 million

27:16 ↗ dollars so I'm trying to understand

27:17 ↗ what's the project cost and

27:21 ↗ what requires continual payments of half

27:26 ↗ a million dollars every year the

27:28 ↗ thank you for the question the its plan

27:32 ↗ has not yet been adopted so This Is Us

27:35 ↗ trying to put forward our our best guess

27:39 ↗ um towards those projects so we don't

27:40 ↗ have that total dollar value of

27:42 ↗ implementation for the its plan but it

27:44 ↗ is also an ongoing plan that just

27:46 ↗ requires continual maintenance of these

27:48 ↗ systems that manage our traffic and so

27:51 ↗ um so what this table attempts to show

27:54 ↗ is how we could use those funds to begin

27:56 ↗ implementation of the plan the projects

27:59 ↗ within the plan include anything from

28:02 ↗ installing conduit and fiber optics to

28:05 ↗ installing new detection systems new uh

28:09 ↗ signal Cabinetry and all of these things

28:11 ↗ are very scalable

28:13 ↗ so we can vary the project and how much

28:16 ↗ of that project we would fund how many

28:18 ↗ signal cabinets we would install in a

28:20 ↗ year how many pieces of detection

28:21 ↗ equipment for example how many miles of

28:23 ↗ conduit by the available funds as we

28:26 ↗ anticipate receiving those sales tax

28:28 ↗ revenues

28:32 ↗ so I assume that also means that our

28:35 ↗ experience of improvement will be quite

28:37 ↗ gradual as well not it isn't like

28:41 ↗ building a project and all of a sudden

28:43 ↗ there's a new Road open

28:46 ↗ not necessarily I mean I think what

28:48 ↗ we're trying to do first of all is

28:50 ↗ guarantee that there's a funding stream

28:51 ↗ because absent this uh its fights for

28:54 ↗ funds with other capital projects we

28:56 ↗ want to try to assure that

28:58 ↗ um there are lots of moving Parts here I

28:59 ↗ mean the the issues with the I.T

29:01 ↗ infrastructure are are serious and

29:04 ↗ important

29:05 ↗ um so we're going to leverage this money

29:07 ↗ the best we can that's not to say there

29:08 ↗ won't be other funding sources that

29:10 ↗ we'll be able to use but this is what we

29:12 ↗ believe makes sense as a dedicated

29:14 ↗ funding source coming sales

29:19 ↗ council member marks

29:24 ↗ um I would sure like to see more this is

29:28 ↗ this its implementation maintenance is

29:30 ↗ not what I was envisioning I was

29:32 ↗ envisioning a integrated system that has

29:36 ↗ as its Cornerstone integration with the

29:39 ↗ state lighting system at exits 13 well

29:42 ↗ at least exit 15 17 and 18. and to me

29:46 ↗ it's it's a not incremental change to

29:48 ↗ integrate to that system the the worst

29:51 ↗ traffic locations in our city we would

29:53 ↗ we would be connected to that system and

29:56 ↗ plan our our uh light system accordingly

30:00 ↗ so to me this this cries out for a more

30:03 ↗ structured programmatic description

30:06 ↗ rather than we'll do what we can with

30:09 ↗ the monies that we get and make little I

30:11 ↗ mean I shouldn't say little incremental

30:12 ↗ improvements but it's it's there's some

30:15 ↗ there's some big discrete steps

30:17 ↗ associated with an its Improvement and

30:19 ↗ I've been waiting for this for 15 years

30:21 ↗ and I I really it won't it won't matter

30:23 ↗ to me until we integrate with that state

30:26 ↗ system honestly and and a secondary

30:29 ↗ question would be

30:30 ↗ um would love to know if we go spend 10

30:33 ↗ million bucks on a system like this what

30:35 ↗ it's going to do for traffic thanks

30:38 ↗ uh thank you councilmember from Arts uh

30:42 ↗ I wish we were also presenting on the

30:44 ↗ its plan uh we only have it as a draft

30:46 ↗ it is coming to the mobility and

30:48 ↗ infrastructure committee one very

30:50 ↗ critical part of that plan is

30:53 ↗ integration with the state system but

30:55 ↗ that is one part there are other

30:57 ↗ components to this its plan it is fairly

30:59 ↗ comprehensive and works to achieve other

31:02 ↗ safety goals for instance when it comes

31:04 ↗ to transportation and so in order to

31:07 ↗ integrate with the state system we do

31:09 ↗ need things like upscaled signal

31:11 ↗ cabinets we do need things like

31:13 ↗ detection we also need to be able to

31:16 ↗ hire the staff person who is going to be

31:18 ↗ managing it all and working that

31:20 ↗ critical partnership with washdot and so

31:23 ↗ those are some of the things that hiring

31:25 ↗ that staff starting that coordination

31:27 ↗ these are things that we are doing now

31:29 ↗ and we are going to

31:32 ↗ um and and so you know some of these

31:35 ↗ components that I discussed are

31:37 ↗ important for that connect with washdot

31:39 ↗ but certainly there's a lot more within

31:41 ↗ that plan that we can also achieve we

31:44 ↗ hired a staff person a while back didn't

31:46 ↗ we three years ago five years ago

31:48 ↗ something like that we we did yes since

31:51 ↗ then that staff person we have lost her

31:54 ↗ to another Community we are recruiting

31:56 ↗ for that traffic engineer position in

31:59 ↗ this moment so we had that position

32:01 ↗ budgeted then correct

32:03 ↗ okay so that that position should be

32:05 ↗ there regardless of this plan it is yes

32:08 ↗ yes all right thank you

32:12 ↗ council member Ray thank you

32:15 ↗ so particularly in uh 2028

32:18 ↗ 2029 and 2028 the the ending balance is

32:23 ↗ fairly small so not a lot of buffer

32:26 ↗ there

32:27 ↗ so would the the plan be

32:30 ↗ that if if we ran short of Revenue

32:35 ↗ from the TBD or we ran long on the

32:39 ↗ expense because 16 million divided by 10

32:42 ↗ is still more than 1.55

32:44 ↗ um then the difference comes out of

32:47 ↗ general fund is that

32:48 ↗ um that the contingency well this this

32:51 ↗ would be

32:53 ↗ um this would be a budgeting activity so

32:55 ↗ once we issue the bond we incur that

32:58 ↗ Debt Service we're then going to

33:00 ↗ prioritize paying off that debt service

33:01 ↗ with having its is the other project

33:04 ↗ that would be funded by these revenues

33:07 ↗ we could decide as we take a look at

33:09 ↗ where our revenues are again these These

33:11 ↗ are estimates of what we could

33:13 ↗ anticipate over the next until 2038 and

33:16 ↗ so

33:18 ↗ um being able to forecast our revenues

33:20 ↗ see what it's looking like in that

33:21 ↗ moment 2028 is a few years from now and

33:24 ↗ so we would have that ability through

33:26 ↗ the budgeting process to say okay we

33:28 ↗ think we can fund more I of the its

33:31 ↗ projects we can fund less of the its

33:33 ↗ projects or we can take more money out

33:35 ↗ of the general fund as you point out to

33:38 ↗ be able to pay for these things so

33:39 ↗ that's that's more of a budgeting

33:41 ↗ exercise as we get closer to seeing to

33:45 ↗ that date this is again just estimates

33:47 ↗ and projections of what we think we can

33:49 ↗ expect and how it would work

33:52 ↗ the general fund is currently paying for

33:54 ↗ much of this I would imagine reach has

33:56 ↗ been paid for some of the hardware

33:58 ↗ time that's correct but but all the

34:01 ↗ Staffing uh is currently a general fund

34:03 ↗ expense so we're hoping to continue that

34:06 ↗ investment uh but this will increase the

34:08 ↗ investment when you see the plan uh we

34:10 ↗ don't have the fundings to implement the

34:12 ↗ plan this will help the cause of doing

34:15 ↗ that

34:19 ↗ um that

34:21 ↗ not didn't disagree with that because I

34:23 ↗ don't know that might be part of the

34:25 ↗ problem but if I go back to the early

34:26 ↗ slide when it shows the expenditures did

34:29 ↗ that include the same the expenditures

34:31 ↗ without TBD was at the same level of

34:35 ↗ um

34:36 ↗ its funding as as projected in this

34:39 ↗ chart or is it yes yes it is okay so but

34:42 ↗ both of the charts that you saw earlier

34:44 ↗ still anticipated completing these

34:47 ↗ Transportation projects it just showed

34:49 ↗ what it would look like without a new

34:51 ↗ Revenue source and what it would look

34:52 ↗ like with a new Revenue Source but that

34:54 ↗ we anticipated doing those

34:56 ↗ Transportation projects in those two

34:58 ↗ previous charts

35:03 ↗ okay I think we're ready for that

35:11 ↗ okay public Outreach plan

35:15 ↗ um if we were to move forward with a

35:17 ↗ with a council manic TBD sales tax of

35:20 ↗ 0.1 percent and if uh we wanted to

35:24 ↗ implement that tax by January 1st what

35:26 ↗ we would do between now and September is

35:29 ↗ uh create and share Outreach materials

35:32 ↗ including a web page and social media

35:34 ↗ posts we would reach out specifically to

35:37 ↗ our business Community stakeholders

35:39 ↗ including the Chamber of Commerce

35:40 ↗ Downtown iska Association and also

35:43 ↗ individually to issaquah's largest

35:45 ↗ contributors of sales tax like Costco

35:47 ↗ other large shopping centers car

35:50 ↗ dealerships Etc uh to engage with them

35:53 ↗ and understand what their thoughts and

35:54 ↗ concerns may be with this raise

35:57 ↗ then in mid-september we would also

36:00 ↗ prepare for an open house that open

36:04 ↗ house could be online or in person we

36:06 ↗ want to gauge the the need for that what

36:09 ↗ the best form would be based on our

36:11 ↗ stakeholder Outreach to to that point

36:15 ↗ um then we have the opportunity to have

36:17 ↗ another Committee of the whole meeting

36:18 ↗ of council would like that if we need to

36:20 ↗ go over more information and we would

36:23 ↗ also hold a public hearing on the

36:25 ↗ proposed tax at the September 8th

36:28 ↗ council meeting and provide an update to

36:30 ↗ council at that time about what we're

36:31 ↗ hearing from members of the public

36:33 ↗ during the engagement process

36:35 ↗ then we would look for a vote on the TBD

36:38 ↗ sales tax at the October 2nd council

36:40 ↗ meeting

36:41 ↗ should that sales tax be successful we

36:44 ↗ would follow up with the public and

36:46 ↗ notify them that this tax may be coming

36:48 ↗ and that when the effective date would

36:51 ↗ be so that timeline is all

36:54 ↗ um is all uh or web anticipating the

36:58 ↗ scenario that we would empty that we

37:00 ↗ would implement the tax on January 1st

37:03 ↗ there are other options as CFO Robert

37:06 ↗ hamoud discussed earlier with a later

37:08 ↗ implementation the way that the state

37:10 ↗ does this is there's only so many times

37:12 ↗ per year and specific times of year that

37:15 ↗ we're allowed to implement a new sales

37:18 ↗ tax

37:22 ↗ um so at this time we are looking for

37:24 ↗ direction from Council if we should

37:26 ↗ proceed with the public Outreach on the

37:28 ↗ council medic 0.1 percent sales tax

37:31 ↗ or or if Council had other direction we

37:34 ↗ would love to hear that and whether

37:36 ↗ Council has feedback on our proposed

37:37 ↗ public engagement plan

37:43 ↗ okay

37:44 ↗ so I'm going to start with questions

37:46 ↗ then we can go to any public comment and

37:51 ↗ then I've got kind of a

37:53 ↗ way of approaching some of the direction

37:56 ↗ needed so we'll start any questions

38:03 ↗ I will start with council member D

38:05 ↗ Michelle

38:07 ↗ uh well I'm going to ask the question

38:09 ↗ that uh council member Hall asked uh in

38:13 ↗ an email and that is what has been our

38:16 ↗ success in terms of uh online uh public

38:20 ↗ meetings and

38:23 ↗ um

38:24 ↗ my second part of that question would be

38:26 ↗ how can we ensure

38:29 ↗ that a full range of the community can

38:33 ↗ participate in a single meeting so that

38:37 ↗ would be my two questions about the the

38:39 ↗ public meeting

38:42 ↗ uh thank you councilmember D Michelle we

38:45 ↗ we've had mixed success with online uh

38:49 ↗ Community Hall or other types of public

38:51 ↗ Community meetings some have been very

38:54 ↗ successful some have not it's dependent

38:56 ↗ on topic for example some of the online

38:59 ↗ budget meetings that we tried to do were

39:02 ↗ not so successful but the same is true

39:05 ↗ for in-person outreach that we've done

39:07 ↗ at the same time we do think that we

39:10 ↗ will get some engagement especially from

39:12 ↗ the business community on this topic and

39:14 ↗ certainly some some other members of our

39:16 ↗ residents as well

39:17 ↗ so we're hoping to do some of that

39:20 ↗ initial direct stakeholder engagement

39:22 ↗ first to have an understanding of how

39:25 ↗ much interest is how many questions are

39:27 ↗ out there so that we can better

39:30 ↗ form or customize that open house and

39:34 ↗ for it to be the most effective

39:37 ↗ um and so that's that's uh why we're

39:39 ↗ doing a little bit of uh

39:41 ↗ individual stakeholder Outreach first

39:43 ↗ just to try to have a better

39:45 ↗ understanding of what the concerns might

39:47 ↗ be how many questions there are so that

39:49 ↗ we can have a very inclusive more

39:52 ↗ Community forum and Community meetings

39:54 ↗ for this for this topic

40:02 ↗ council member Joe

40:06 ↗ thank you

40:08 ↗ um could we go back to the screen that

40:10 ↗ had the cash flow summary

40:12 ↗ just for a moment

40:15 ↗ in essence we are trying to decide

40:19 ↗ whether or not we'd like to increase

40:21 ↗ sales tax to give us a little more

40:22 ↗ flexibility on choosing the

40:25 ↗ transportation options for the future we

40:27 ↗ promised certain things to our community

40:30 ↗ up

40:31 ↗ we certainly as a council have an

40:33 ↗ obligation to watch the purse strings so

40:35 ↗ I'll just ask a kind of a two-part

40:37 ↗ question if the revenues come in less

40:39 ↗ than we anticipate by this chart what

40:42 ↗ does the administration need or want to

40:45 ↗ do and what kind of feedback would it

40:46 ↗ want from the council conversely if the

40:48 ↗ revenues are over the amount anticipated

40:51 ↗ what's the process for us choosing an

40:54 ↗ expanded plan or what would the

40:55 ↗ administration do in that scenario if

40:57 ↗ you would please

40:59 ↗ yes if the revenues come over what we

41:02 ↗ anticipate here or under we we would

41:07 ↗ address that especially during budget

41:10 ↗ updates and budget years because that's

41:11 ↗ when we're going to have them the most

41:13 ↗ accurate information about what to

41:15 ↗ expect in the next year when it comes to

41:17 ↗ revenues and so that would be part of

41:20 ↗ the budget process and part of the

41:21 ↗ budget discussion if we were to move

41:23 ↗ forward with this sales tax and bond for

41:26 ↗ the pinch Point project then we would

41:29 ↗ want to make sure to prioritize The Debt

41:31 ↗ Service with these revenues to pay off

41:33 ↗ The Debt Service

41:34 ↗ if our revenues

41:36 ↗ came in under what we anticipated then

41:39 ↗ we need to have that conversation with

41:40 ↗ Council about whether or not to proceed

41:43 ↗ for example with the its projects as

41:46 ↗ planned if we need to make cuts to other

41:48 ↗ areas of the budget in order to pay for

41:51 ↗ that project that would be part of that

41:53 ↗ budget discussion and understanding what

41:55 ↗ council's priorities are to fund what

41:57 ↗ the revenues that we have

42:00 ↗ thank you my next question is for Mr

42:03 ↗ hamud

42:04 ↗ looking at the local sales tax rates on

42:07 ↗ the slide that's

42:09 ↗ free back a little bit up maybe number

42:12 ↗ 11.

42:14 ↗ um we show our current sales taxes 10.1

42:17 ↗ percent which is a little bit under

42:19 ↗ um some of our surrounding communities

42:20 ↗ in par on par with Bellevue

42:24 ↗ um I think we've had this discussion

42:25 ↗ before

42:26 ↗ um putting it up another 0.1 percent are

42:30 ↗ we getting to a point where we've

42:32 ↗ reached uh the point where people will

42:34 ↗ be making different decisions based on

42:37 ↗ sales tax based on your experience or

42:39 ↗ are we are we still at a point where the

42:43 ↗ the point one percent is not necessarily

42:45 ↗ making a difference in the rational

42:47 ↗ decisions consumers might be making

42:50 ↗ Council membership very good question I

42:52 ↗ know it's something we presented on

42:53 ↗ before but back to the slide that had

42:56 ↗ kind of the references of what you would

42:57 ↗ pay

42:58 ↗ again when you're talking about 50 cents

43:01 ↗ for a 500 television we do not think

43:04 ↗ that would have a shopper go to Bellevue

43:06 ↗ for example instead of shopping here

43:08 ↗ locally for that 50 Cent Savings

43:11 ↗ um even a car you're talking about a

43:13 ↗ forty thousand dollar car purchase would

43:14 ↗ be forty dollars so that's not

43:15 ↗ significant it's point one percent of

43:18 ↗ the whole 10.1 percent so that alone we

43:21 ↗ did not see any sales tax we have the

43:24 ↗ example of the affordable housing sales

43:25 ↗ tax that was implemented about a year

43:27 ↗ and a half ago and we have not seen

43:29 ↗ anything but our sales tax still going

43:32 ↗ strong after that was implemented so we

43:33 ↗ did not see any impact after that

43:35 ↗ implementation great thank you very much

43:39 ↗ councilmember D Michelle yeah I just

43:41 ↗ wanted to make sure that uh we talked

43:45 ↗ about uh that uh let me go back make

43:49 ↗ sure that by taking this action uh

43:52 ↗ eventually you know when it comes back

43:54 ↗ to us we don't foreclose the opportunity

43:57 ↗ to go out for a vote for a two or three

44:00 ↗ percent sales tax increase which I also

44:02 ↗ believe is allowed by the transportation

44:05 ↗ benefit District if I'm correct

44:08 ↗ um we we don't foreclose that

44:09 ↗ opportunity right we do not we can

44:12 ↗ always go to the voters and ask for

44:13 ↗ additional additional revenues when it

44:16 ↗ comes to the TBD sales tax there is a

44:18 ↗ there's a cap that the state provides

44:20 ↗ and I think it's 0.3 percent for a

44:24 ↗ ballot measure or a TBD related sales

44:26 ↗ tax

44:32 ↗ okay I think we're at a point where we

44:36 ↗ are

44:37 ↗ done with questions just looking up at

44:40 ↗ once member hunt not seeing anything

44:42 ↗ there okay so we have another public

44:45 ↗ comment opportunity before we get a

44:49 ↗ chance to kind of Go Pine and go through

44:52 ↗ our

44:53 ↗ um conversation so do we have anyone who

44:57 ↗ is indicating a desire to speak

45:02 ↗ that I'm not even going to go through

45:04 ↗ how they would raise their hand because

45:05 ↗ there's nobody there to raise their hand

45:07 ↗ uh fantastic Okay so

45:11 ↗ the way that I was kind of approaching

45:14 ↗ this conversation we had kind of

45:18 ↗ in previous sessions asked about some

45:21 ↗ Alternatives and so things like uh

45:25 ↗ councilmanic debt was one alternative it

45:29 ↗ gets a little bit wishy-washy here by

45:32 ↗ the fact that the

45:34 ↗ presented option includes both

45:37 ↗ councilmanic debt with no new revenue

45:40 ↗ and

45:41 ↗ a new TBD Revenue

45:44 ↗ that pays for both that debt and the

45:47 ↗ other so

45:49 ↗ I guess I would ask as a first question

45:54 ↗ does anyone kind of feel like we only

45:59 ↗ need to do a

46:02 ↗ councilmanic debt with no new Revenue

46:05 ↗ source which would limit all of the

46:09 ↗ available projects that are presented

46:14 ↗ councilmember Ray I have an opinion on

46:17 ↗ that and that is I really would like to

46:20 ↗ hear from the public before I give you a

46:23 ↗ real opinion on that and so the Outreach

46:25 ↗ was really important to me when this

46:26 ↗ came to committee because I wanted to

46:28 ↗ know what the public thought about us

46:29 ↗ doing this so

46:32 ↗ um

46:34 ↗ I can see a scenario where we say is

46:36 ↗ really important that we work on

46:38 ↗ non-motorized Transportation versus The

46:39 ↗ Mammoth Road and we work on its I think

46:41 ↗ those are the two biggest capital

46:42 ↗ projects we've got but if the public

46:44 ↗ says well we really think you can find

46:46 ↗ that in your existing budget then I

46:48 ↗ think we should go find in our existing

46:50 ↗ budget so I think

46:53 ↗ um these are projects we have to do I

46:55 ↗ mean we've committed to both of them but

47:00 ↗ um

47:01 ↗ you know I don't think doing them

47:04 ↗ makes it necessary necessarily says we

47:07 ↗ have to do the the sales tax I'm not

47:09 ↗ want to commit to that until I hear some

47:11 ↗ feedback so I'm I'm very interested in

47:13 ↗ the second question which is the the

47:15 ↗ Outreach plan

47:19 ↗ so can

47:22 ↗ Andrea can you talk a little bit about

47:25 ↗ if we went with just a councilmanic debt

47:30 ↗ with no new Revenue Source what kind of

47:33 ↗ Cuts we would need to make to existing

47:36 ↗ expenditures to

47:39 ↗ cover the expenditures for these

47:41 ↗ projects

47:43 ↗ I'm not sure that was council member

47:45 ↗ Rays amen so this is

47:48 ↗ do you want to follow up with that or

47:50 ↗ that's a different question well we're

47:53 ↗ going to talk about the Outreach part

47:55 ↗ later that's technically my fourth

47:59 ↗ question on kind of how I was thinking

48:02 ↗ about the conversation well we have no

48:03 ↗ funds to pay for Council management

48:06 ↗ and so the council would ultimately have

48:09 ↗ to decide how much

48:12 ↗ um so let's say we were looking to put

48:14 ↗ the pinch point

48:15 ↗ the cash

48:18 ↗ so if that is 15 million dollars then we

48:22 ↗ would have to come up with Debt Service

48:24 ↗ for 15 million dollars over 10 years

48:26 ↗ which will be 1.5 million dollars so

48:28 ↗ that would be a reduction of existing

48:30 ↗ Services by 1.5 million dollars

48:34 ↗ so that's

48:35 ↗ roughly 10 positions

48:39 ↗ um Citywide

48:41 ↗ well positioned city-wide depending on

48:43 ↗ the benefits

48:45 ↗ um and the administration does not

48:46 ↗ believe we're in the position at this

48:47 ↗ point to reduce services in order to

48:50 ↗ cover that debt service

48:52 ↗ exactly the picture I was trying to

48:56 ↗ understand as we go through all this uh

48:59 ↗ council member marks

49:02 ↗ uh I'm not yet convinced that we need to

49:05 ↗ do

49:06 ↗ the sales tax I'm generally opposed to

49:10 ↗ making more regressive taxes

49:12 ↗ um part of my skepticism is uh and I

49:16 ↗ know you guys all probably grow tired of

49:18 ↗ my playing the 14-year card but 14 years

49:21 ↗ I've heard about how our general fund

49:23 ↗ balance is spiraling down and every

49:25 ↗ single year we have gigantic pending

49:27 ↗ fund balances and we never it never even

49:30 ↗ reaches our criteria our financial

49:31 ↗ criteria much less reaching a problem so

49:35 ↗ I have a hard time seeing Doom and Gloom

49:37 ↗ scenarios when 14 years tells me that we

49:40 ↗ don't have this problem including many

49:42 ↗ of those years when we had a sizable

49:44 ↗ councilmatic Bond service associated

49:48 ↗ with it right we've never had less

49:49 ↗ councilmatic Bond than we have today in

49:53 ↗ the 14 years that I've been involved and

49:54 ↗ we've never had a problem getting ending

49:56 ↗ fund balance which isn't to say we

49:58 ↗ couldn't drive our unding fund balance

50:00 ↗ into the ground but

50:01 ↗ um I just don't see evidence of it in

50:03 ↗ the 14 years that I've been on Council

50:04 ↗ so because I just detest I mean just

50:08 ↗ hate regressive taxes I just have a

50:10 ↗ really really hard time piling more

50:12 ↗ regressive taxes on top of people as

50:15 ↗ opposed to using some of our other

50:16 ↗ funding mechanisms that drive the

50:19 ↗ general fund that aren't as regressive

50:20 ↗ so that's that's where I'm at today

50:22 ↗ thanks so if I'm understanding correctly

50:25 ↗ your preference isn't to necessarily

50:29 ↗ look for

50:30 ↗ either less spending or an alternate

50:34 ↗ Revenue Source but just that the

50:36 ↗ experience of 14 years showing that

50:40 ↗ projections

50:43 ↗ suggested there was going to be

50:45 ↗ less general fund and there always has

50:48 ↗ been more every single year the

50:50 ↗ administration tells me they're going to

50:51 ↗ start driving down the the general fund

50:53 ↗ ending fund balance and it never happens

50:55 ↗ thanks

50:58 ↗ I'm not sure if there is anything the

51:00 ↗ administration would want to

51:09 ↗ can you repeat that I would certainly be

51:11 ↗ surprised

51:13 ↗ we are looking at potential reductions

51:15 ↗ for 24 because of it yeah so can you

51:17 ↗ repeat that so the um council member can

51:20 ↗ hear sure

51:21 ↗ um I'm afraid that the 14-year streak is

51:24 ↗ coming to an end

51:27 ↗ but but it's only July we don't yet know

51:30 ↗ I understand you have projections

51:31 ↗ through the end of the year but we're

51:33 ↗ not actually at the end of the year and

51:35 ↗ in two weeks we'll be back and we'll

51:36 ↗ give you specifics as to why we think

51:38 ↗ that is because we're doing a better job

51:40 ↗ of spending the money that we have and

51:42 ↗ we're beginning to see some of our main

51:43 ↗ Revenue sources uh decrease from what

51:47 ↗ has been budgeted so the combination of

51:49 ↗ better spending to budget and decreasing

51:52 ↗ expected revenues they end your and your

51:55 ↗ 14-year screen thank you

52:02 ↗ okay so I'm hearing yeah so the question

52:06 ↗ was are there any alternatives that we

52:09 ↗ would want to consider like councilmanic

52:12 ↗ debt without a new Revenue source so

52:14 ↗ what I'm hearing from council member Ray

52:17 ↗ is

52:18 ↗ hey we really need to hear from the

52:20 ↗ community so really cares about that

52:22 ↗ portion and from council member Martz of

52:26 ↗ I really really really dislike uh

52:29 ↗ regressive taxes and I think we based on

52:33 ↗ previous experience we might be able to

52:34 ↗ find

52:36 ↗ uh Revenue to pay for debt

52:40 ↗ but I am not hearing anyone else who's

52:43 ↗ saying

52:44 ↗ yes we should stick to just a councilman

52:48 ↗ debt with no Revenue

52:51 ↗ okay

52:52 ↗ yeah I was just going to say I'm I'm

52:53 ↗ based on presentations we've had task

52:56 ↗ force report all that I'm having a hard

52:58 ↗ time envisioning any Next Step without a

53:02 ↗ new Revenue source for these two major

53:05 ↗ priority projects

53:07 ↗ um I mean in fact one of the big things

53:09 ↗ that came out of the task force report

53:10 ↗ was actually that we need to go big we

53:12 ↗ need to go bold we need much more

53:14 ↗ investment infrastructure in order to

53:16 ↗ keep up with need this gets us a very

53:20 ↗ um small targeted amount to reach some

53:22 ↗ of our goals while we continue to think

53:23 ↗ about kind of that bigger response to

53:26 ↗ infrastructure need in town but it's

53:28 ↗ still meaningful because it's like I

53:29 ↗ said these targeted priorities that we

53:32 ↗ want to work on and also

53:35 ↗ very little Financial impact to the

53:37 ↗ average resident too what was it average

53:40 ↗ a hundred dollars maybe forty dollars

53:42 ↗ more for a forty thousand dollar car 50

53:43 ↗ cents more for 500 TV so

53:47 ↗ for me at least the next step would be

53:49 ↗ going to the community saying here's our

53:52 ↗ why we think you know we've got a huge

53:54 ↗ infrastructure need

53:56 ↗ um we think this targeted

53:58 ↗ um sales tax which will have minimal

54:00 ↗ impact on you is our best bet in order

54:02 ↗ to make right on some of these

54:04 ↗ priorities that we have

54:06 ↗ are we on the right track what do you

54:07 ↗ think and I think that would probably be

54:09 ↗ the best way to do it you know our

54:10 ↗ um public engagement plan and I'm

54:13 ↗ jumping a little bit our public

54:14 ↗ engagement plan has three types of

54:17 ↗ Engagement I think it's

54:19 ↗ um

54:20 ↗ bolt inform consult and collaborate

54:23 ↗ right and it seems like this is the

54:24 ↗ perfect time for a consult

54:27 ↗ um option because so much work has gone

54:30 ↗ into this already I would hate for us to

54:32 ↗ go in and kind of completely reinvent

54:34 ↗ the wheel when we have this story that

54:35 ↗ we need to help community so that's

54:37 ↗ where my head's out right

54:39 ↗ and that takes us a little bit into if a

54:43 ↗ if we're looking at a TBD sales tax

54:46 ↗ um do we have a sense whether there is a

54:49 ↗ reference between councilmanic or ballot

54:55 ↗ um so this would be a new Revenue Source

54:57 ↗ but there are two potential options for

55:00 ↗ that there's the going to the voters for

55:04 ↗ a ballot which could any be anywhere

55:06 ↗ from 0.1 to 0.3

55:09 ↗ um or our councilmanic Authority

55:13 ↗ um which would only be 0.1 uh council

55:15 ↗ member D Michelle

55:18 ↗ so this is a kind of a comment on the

55:21 ↗ last question and then um

55:24 ↗ so

55:26 ↗ if we're going to go out to the public

55:29 ↗ and get their feedback which I I think

55:32 ↗ is a good idea but I think that what

55:35 ↗ we've had presented tonight with the

55:37 ↗ council minute

55:39 ↗ sales tax and councilman Bond needs to

55:44 ↗ be really carefully explained to the

55:45 ↗ public and needs to be very transparent

55:48 ↗ because

55:49 ↗ um what we're talking about is a sales

55:52 ↗ tax that's really not going to fund

55:55 ↗ all of the projects that we want it has

55:57 ↗ the mix of the councilman manic Bond and

56:01 ↗ that first of all might be if we go out

56:05 ↗ and we just talk about sales tax I think

56:08 ↗ people will come back to us and say well

56:10 ↗ wait a minute you've got this bond in

56:13 ↗ here so let's go out and be totally

56:16 ↗ transparent with the public at that this

56:18 ↗ is a mix of Revenue in order to fund

56:21 ↗ some major projects

56:23 ↗ um and then the other you know with the

56:25 ↗ sales tax

56:27 ↗ that is the tax that I'm going to

56:29 ↗ presume goes on and on and on

56:31 ↗ when uh and the bonds come to an end at

56:36 ↗ a particular time

56:37 ↗ so is that correct

56:39 ↗ uh so let's I'm going to go back to this

56:42 ↗ slide because I think this helps us

56:44 ↗ demonstrate any councilmatic sales tax

56:48 ↗ uh

56:50 ↗ that you may wish to enact would only be

56:53 ↗ good for 10 years and so that would mean

56:56 ↗ if it was implemented in 2024 uh that

57:00 ↗ tax would be you know to 20 34. as you

57:04 ↗ can see on this chart there would be a

57:06 ↗ few more years of debt service that we

57:08 ↗ would anticipate needing to figure out

57:11 ↗ how to pay for

57:12 ↗ um for the Northwest Sammamish

57:14 ↗ non-motorized project

57:16 ↗ and then the bond does come to an end at

57:19 ↗ some point right yes and so the bond so

57:22 ↗ we use Bonds in kind of different ways

57:24 ↗ in public finance and so what we're

57:25 ↗ talking about here with a councilmanic

57:27 ↗ bond that really means issuing debt and

57:30 ↗ so what you see on this chart between

57:32 ↗ 2028 and 2037 is issuing debt

57:36 ↗ um that would be paid for by the TBD

57:39 ↗ sales tax and so the debt would be on

57:43 ↗ for 10 years you can see 2028 through

57:45 ↗ 2037 right so the debt would expire once

57:49 ↗ we pay it off by 2037 in this scenario

57:52 ↗ we would like I said anticipate that

57:55 ↗ either we would return to council to

57:58 ↗ seek a renewal of the TBD sales tax or

58:02 ↗ we would need to come up with other ways

58:04 ↗ to cover that Debt Service whether it's

58:06 ↗ through the general fund whether it's

58:08 ↗ through Cuts made from other

58:09 ↗ expenditures

58:11 ↗ Etc

58:12 ↗ so um back to my point in that is I do

58:16 ↗ think we should go out to the public I

58:18 ↗ do think we should get feedback we need

58:20 ↗ to very carefully explain all of this

58:23 ↗ because

58:25 ↗ at least in my experience that the

58:27 ↗ public doesn't understand

58:29 ↗ uh how that fight those financial

58:31 ↗ instruments work and what when it starts

58:35 ↗ when it ends and so forth they are

58:37 ↗ likely to be have a negative reaction to

58:41 ↗ whatever we decide to do whether it's

58:43 ↗ councilmanic or whether we go out for a

58:46 ↗ vote

58:47 ↗ um and so I think we want to be as

58:49 ↗ transparent as we possibly can about how

58:52 ↗ each one of those instruments Works uh

58:54 ↗ how much it will impact them and

58:57 ↗ when can they expect that tax to go away

59:00 ↗ or be renewed or whatever

59:04 ↗ that's fine

59:06 ↗ council member Ray

59:08 ↗ thanks I just have a follow-up question

59:10 ↗ because you said something really really

59:12 ↗ interesting which is that the sales tax

59:14 ↗ only lasts for 10 years and then would

59:16 ↗ have to be renewed is that how that

59:18 ↗ would work

59:19 ↗ so we're assuming that not only are we

59:21 ↗ going to approve it here but it'll get

59:22 ↗ renewed again because you got a long

59:24 ↗ time cash flow here

59:25 ↗ uh so we're not making assumptions of

59:28 ↗ future Council action

59:30 ↗ um but you are well well this this chart

59:32 ↗ would show that to be the case but

59:35 ↗ um if counsel is to approve a

59:37 ↗ councilmanic sales tax that does not

59:40 ↗ preempt future Council action for

59:42 ↗ another sales tax right so we would

59:45 ↗ um we would in when the sales tax would

59:49 ↗ expire and 20 uh 33

59:54 ↗ um then we would need to return and

59:55 ↗ discuss how we would pay for the

59:58 ↗ remaining Debt Service and other project

59:59 ↗ costs so whether that would be if a

1:00:01 ↗ sales tax is again appropriate to

1:00:04 ↗ consider or if there are other ways for

1:00:05 ↗ us to pay for that debt service and then

1:00:07 ↗ I have a clarifying question when we

1:00:09 ↗ talk about a bond are we talking about a

1:00:11 ↗ bond are we talking about debt because

1:00:13 ↗ there's lots of different ways we can

1:00:14 ↗ acquire debt

1:00:16 ↗ in in this particular case with that

1:00:19 ↗ 1.55 we are talking about what we would

1:00:22 ↗ call a bond but yes is is debt we're

1:00:25 ↗ calling it debt but in terms of a

1:00:26 ↗ 10-year we would issue a bond Municipal

1:00:29 ↗ Bond yes to cover the cost is we

1:00:31 ↗ wouldn't consider a bank loan because

1:00:33 ↗ last time we put this up three or four

1:00:35 ↗ years ago we we you looked at that and

1:00:39 ↗ the overhead of a bond was not

1:00:41 ↗ um in our best interest so that's

1:00:43 ↗ changed yes so when we consider Bond

1:00:46 ↗ versus bank loan depends on what the

1:00:49 ↗ rates that are associated with loans at

1:00:51 ↗ the time versus bond also the amount

1:00:54 ↗ that we would be taking out and so those

1:00:57 ↗ factors considered at this point we

1:00:59 ↗ believe it would be a bond

1:01:01 ↗ um yes we would we would issue that at

1:01:04 ↗ the lowest possible cost whatever the

1:01:06 ↗ instrument might okay yes yes and just I

1:01:09 ↗ think since we don't know what the

1:01:11 ↗ instrument is um maybe using the word

1:01:13 ↗ bond is a little

1:01:15 ↗ um something like um not accurate that's

1:01:17 ↗ what it is

1:01:18 ↗ um but really we're just talking about

1:01:20 ↗ taking on debt at some level in some

1:01:23 ↗ some vehicle

1:01:24 ↗ yes

1:01:28 ↗ okay

1:01:30 ↗ so

1:01:31 ↗ I think what the administration wants

1:01:35 ↗ from us is to be able to

1:01:39 ↗ provide the feedback on are we ready to

1:01:43 ↗ go to the public

1:01:45 ↗ to ask about

1:01:48 ↗ a TBD sales tax

1:01:51 ↗ do we have any

1:01:54 ↗ kind of

1:01:55 ↗ direction or thought or preference

1:01:58 ↗ between looking at a councilmanic or a

1:02:02 ↗ ballot

1:02:04 ↗ that would be useful for that

1:02:07 ↗ conversation

1:02:10 ↗ and then the other portion of it is kind

1:02:14 ↗ of feedback on public engagement

1:02:17 ↗ including that timeline

1:02:21 ↗ so we feel comfortable enough with the

1:02:24 ↗ presentation to go to the public council

1:02:28 ↗ member Joe

1:02:30 ↗ thank you

1:02:31 ↗ um want to thank the administration for

1:02:34 ↗ putting this together one of the things

1:02:35 ↗ that strikes me in the cash flow summary

1:02:38 ↗ is that if we do go forward with the

1:02:42 ↗ point one percent TBD sales tax we're

1:02:45 ↗ trying it out for about four years first

1:02:48 ↗ to see how it goes and whether or not

1:02:50 ↗ the revenues come in as we think they

1:02:52 ↗ will and then we're making a decision

1:02:54 ↗ after that four-year period whether or

1:02:56 ↗ not to go for more debt whether it's a

1:02:59 ↗ bond or a loan so it's incremental it's

1:03:02 ↗ a rational incremental approach to

1:03:04 ↗ address our transportation needs I think

1:03:07 ↗ that uh speaking just for myself that I

1:03:12 ↗ would be in favor of going forward with

1:03:14 ↗ this plan

1:03:15 ↗ and that I think that we should as a

1:03:17 ↗ council

1:03:18 ↗ um

1:03:19 ↗ not go to the voters with this but to

1:03:22 ↗ listen to all their comments through the

1:03:24 ↗ transparent process that some of the

1:03:26 ↗ council members have outlined and the

1:03:28 ↗ reason I I think the council should do

1:03:30 ↗ this is

1:03:31 ↗ we've been elected seven people elected

1:03:34 ↗ to set policy for the city

1:03:36 ↗ and we listen to the feedback that's

1:03:38 ↗ there and if the feedback comes back and

1:03:40 ↗ says uh we don't want to do this and

1:03:42 ↗ we're certainly going to take that in

1:03:43 ↗ mind because it says go ahead and do it

1:03:46 ↗ we've been empowered by the voters to go

1:03:49 ↗ ahead and make that step and go for debt

1:03:53 ↗ if we think it's a good plan to go

1:03:55 ↗ forward with

1:03:57 ↗ I want to learn more about the plan but

1:04:00 ↗ I appreciate the administration looking

1:04:02 ↗ at this in kind of a tiered approach

1:04:04 ↗ doing the sales tax first and then doing

1:04:07 ↗ the bond

1:04:08 ↗ in the future based on the revenue from

1:04:10 ↗ the sales tax once we know that that

1:04:12 ↗ Revenue source is secure and stable

1:04:15 ↗ I also like the fact that we're leaving

1:04:16 ↗ our options quite open as we go if the

1:04:19 ↗ revenue comes in higher we have some

1:04:21 ↗ leeway to perhaps do some other things

1:04:23 ↗ if the revenue comes in lower we're

1:04:25 ↗ going to certainly scale back our our

1:04:28 ↗ plans along the way but we're going to

1:04:31 ↗ do everything we can to be good stewards

1:04:33 ↗ of the sales tax money that comes in to

1:04:36 ↗ us every step of the way and I think

1:04:39 ↗ that's important

1:04:40 ↗ finally I taxes are never a great

1:04:43 ↗ subject but

1:04:45 ↗ with this one we're at least spreading

1:04:47 ↗ out the tax base as widely as we

1:04:49 ↗ possibly can

1:04:51 ↗ people who shop in our stores that

1:04:52 ↗ aren't buying gas or food the essentials

1:04:54 ↗ but are buying things in our city or

1:04:56 ↗ having Goods delivered through

1:04:58 ↗ any of the delivery services and the

1:05:01 ↗ final delivery is here they're paying

1:05:03 ↗ some sales tax to help support the

1:05:06 ↗ transportation needs of the city it's a

1:05:08 ↗ wide base of people and individuals

1:05:10 ↗ paying a little bit at a time through

1:05:13 ↗ all of their transactions I think it's a

1:05:15 ↗ wise way to go but I haven't made a

1:05:18 ↗ final decision but I think that this is

1:05:19 ↗ a good first step I think we should go

1:05:21 ↗ to the voters to show them what we want

1:05:23 ↗ to do communicate what we want to do

1:05:25 ↗ hear their feedback along the way thank

1:05:27 ↗ you

1:05:30 ↗ okay and I've got a council member hunt

1:05:33 ↗ then Deputy council president Hall then

1:05:35 ↗ uh council member D Michelle

1:05:39 ↗ thank you I agree that I think we should

1:05:44 ↗ go to the public with this plan I have

1:05:48 ↗ heard from many residents and many

1:05:51 ↗ business owners about the importance of

1:05:53 ↗ improving our traffic system so I think

1:05:56 ↗ especially the intelligent

1:05:58 ↗ Transportation Systems which will

1:06:00 ↗ increase her safety and reduce traffic

1:06:04 ↗ reduce the amount of time that people

1:06:05 ↗ are spending in traffic I think that's

1:06:07 ↗ really important and I think it's

1:06:10 ↗ something that we've heard about from

1:06:11 ↗ the community for many years so

1:06:15 ↗ um my advice is that as we're doing this

1:06:19 ↗ Outreach and as we're putting this

1:06:21 ↗ before the public we we need to also

1:06:24 ↗ explain

1:06:25 ↗ the need for this and the need for

1:06:29 ↗ um the projects that will be funded

1:06:31 ↗ through this

1:06:33 ↗ um through this Revenue

1:06:35 ↗ um when I look back at our conversations

1:06:37 ↗ from the CIP from several years ago we

1:06:41 ↗ in the in the 2021 letter from the

1:06:44 ↗ council president at that time we

1:06:46 ↗ specifically talked about the challenge

1:06:48 ↗ associated with some of these projects

1:06:50 ↗ like the pinchpoint project that are

1:06:53 ↗ don't have identified Revenue sources

1:06:56 ↗ the squawk Mountain sidewalks as of the

1:06:59 ↗ last CIP is intended to be funded by the

1:07:01 ↗ school safety funds the pinchpoint

1:07:03 ↗ project we have we have had that project

1:07:06 ↗ in rcip and it has been a concern for

1:07:10 ↗ residents for many years and it's been

1:07:12 ↗ in many of our plans and we've asked for

1:07:16 ↗ a way to funds this and I think the

1:07:18 ↗ Administration has put forward a

1:07:20 ↗ measured plan that addresses those

1:07:23 ↗ targeted needs that we've heard about

1:07:24 ↗ for years

1:07:26 ↗ um which I think we should we should

1:07:29 ↗ show this plan to the public and get

1:07:31 ↗ their feedback but I think this has been

1:07:34 ↗ um a long time coming and when I look

1:07:36 ↗ back at our conversations over the last

1:07:38 ↗ several years we we've continually

1:07:40 ↗ identified these projects as important

1:07:41 ↗ and

1:07:42 ↗ conversations with hundreds of residents

1:07:44 ↗ have also

1:07:45 ↗ resonated on this topic especially the

1:07:48 ↗ intelligent transportation system so I

1:07:50 ↗ think with those projects

1:07:53 ↗ um at the Forefront we should rest to

1:07:56 ↗ the public and see what they to say

1:07:59 ↗ thank you uh Deputy council president

1:08:02 ↗ Hall uh thanks a few more things I

1:08:04 ↗ wanted to add on first and foremost

1:08:06 ↗ totally agree with everything said by

1:08:08 ↗ the last couple of speakers

1:08:11 ↗ um I think I'm convinced that a

1:08:13 ↗ councilman

1:08:15 ↗ councilmanic right councilmanic vote is

1:08:17 ↗ probably the better approach for the

1:08:19 ↗ time being you know our community survey

1:08:21 ↗ our most recent Community survey

1:08:22 ↗ identified transportation and cost of

1:08:25 ↗ living as priorities so I actually think

1:08:27 ↗ that a councilmanic 0.1 percent is

1:08:29 ↗ probably striking the good balance there

1:08:32 ↗ um so I wanted to mention that I think

1:08:35 ↗ it also complements kind of

1:08:37 ↗ potential future facilities ballot

1:08:40 ↗ measure two

1:08:42 ↗ um that we're not kind of going out for

1:08:43 ↗ ballot fatigue with our community as

1:08:45 ↗ well

1:08:46 ↗ um

1:08:49 ↗ I would love to have an opportunity I

1:08:53 ↗ totally agree with um

1:08:56 ↗ like I said going out to the community

1:08:57 ↗ sharing our why story and collecting

1:08:59 ↗ feedback and reviewing it as a council

1:09:00 ↗ would love to have an opportunity I

1:09:02 ↗ can't remember if it was said there will

1:09:04 ↗ be an opportunity for Council to kind of

1:09:06 ↗ review the feedback before the public

1:09:08 ↗ hearing or would it be that public

1:09:10 ↗ hearing

1:09:12 ↗ it it would be on the public hearing

1:09:14 ↗ September 18th we would give you an

1:09:16 ↗ update for that feedback in advance of

1:09:18 ↗ uh when we would bring this for you for

1:09:20 ↗ consideration of a vote we could also

1:09:23 ↗ have another Committee of the whole

1:09:25 ↗ meeting for additional time to review

1:09:27 ↗ that data okay

1:09:29 ↗ yeah and that might be that might be

1:09:31 ↗ necessary too depending on

1:09:34 ↗ because it would really only be a few

1:09:35 ↗ months of Engagement over summer months

1:09:38 ↗ when people are away on vacation but I

1:09:41 ↗ would be completely in favor of pushing

1:09:43 ↗ the timeline a little bit to start

1:09:44 ↗ implementation

1:09:45 ↗ to start Q2 next year or April something

1:09:50 ↗ um if there's not a lot of financial

1:09:52 ↗ impacts to that that might give us a

1:09:54 ↗ little bit more time to make the case

1:09:56 ↗ and really gather some feedback

1:09:58 ↗ um

1:10:02 ↗ and kind of just do our due diligence so

1:10:04 ↗ the community knows that that we hear

1:10:06 ↗ them and also like I said knows our why

1:10:09 ↗ so as long as there's not any

1:10:12 ↗ um direct impact

1:10:13 ↗ and moving it to the next slot on the

1:10:15 ↗ timeline I would be in favor

1:10:18 ↗ and and to be clear because I know this

1:10:20 ↗ question was raised uh over email there

1:10:23 ↗ we don't anticipate a major Financial

1:10:25 ↗ impacts if this was to be pushed back to

1:10:28 ↗ say an April implementation for example

1:10:30 ↗ instead of a January 1st implementation

1:10:35 ↗ okay remember D Michelle then council

1:10:37 ↗ member

1:10:38 ↗ thank you um I agree with Deputy council

1:10:41 ↗ president holla regarding uh let's take

1:10:44 ↗ this plan out to the public and not

1:10:47 ↗ um and not a two percent or a three

1:10:49 ↗ percent uh ballot measure or discussion

1:10:52 ↗ I uh I think we've got other items

1:10:56 ↗ coming up that will be asking the public

1:10:58 ↗ to give us feedback on as well and I

1:11:00 ↗ think it would get quite confusing I do

1:11:03 ↗ want to express just concern about the

1:11:05 ↗ idea of just having a single meeting

1:11:07 ↗ because we know that no matter when we

1:11:11 ↗ schedule a meeting somebody can't be

1:11:13 ↗ there and

1:11:15 ↗ um so I would uh

1:11:18 ↗ and I know that it's a staff intensive

1:11:21 ↗ to have more than one meeting but let's

1:11:24 ↗ at least give the public additional

1:11:26 ↗ options for giving feedback such as a

1:11:30 ↗ structured survey of some kind or

1:11:33 ↗ uh other ways to communicate with us in

1:11:37 ↗ addition to just a single meaning if

1:11:38 ↗ that's what we determine we've got the

1:11:40 ↗ capacity to do

1:11:42 ↗ um uh it just no matter what we do if we

1:11:45 ↗ only have one meeting there are people

1:11:47 ↗ who are going to be left out and we know

1:11:49 ↗ that so we have to think about how we

1:11:51 ↗ can Garner as much input as we possibly

1:11:55 ↗ can thank you

1:11:58 ↗ council member Martz then council member

1:12:01 ↗ Ray

1:12:03 ↗ so I I want to be clear

1:12:05 ↗ um in pointing out how much I don't like

1:12:09 ↗ regressive taxes uh I'm not saying

1:12:14 ↗ absolutely positively that I wouldn't

1:12:15 ↗ support a package that came before

1:12:18 ↗ Council especially after with public

1:12:20 ↗ input I think it's really important that

1:12:22 ↗ we address the pinch point I'm just

1:12:24 ↗ hoping to convince my fellow council

1:12:25 ↗ members uh of how we at least initially

1:12:29 ↗ might want to fund that differently than

1:12:31 ↗ what's being recommended by the

1:12:32 ↗ administration but I am certainly in

1:12:34 ↗ favor of uh addressing the pinch Point

1:12:36 ↗ as I have been for the number of years

1:12:38 ↗ that has been in front of us

1:12:40 ↗ um but uh you know I I was just

1:12:44 ↗ re-looking at you know the 2023 budget

1:12:46 ↗ at the end of 2022 and despite setting

1:12:49 ↗ aside you know we we created a set-aside

1:12:51 ↗ to specifically drive down the ending

1:12:54 ↗ fund balance and we are still at the

1:12:55 ↗ time of writing of that still looking at

1:12:57 ↗ projected like 30 ending fund balance I

1:12:59 ↗ don't know what we actually wound up at

1:13:01 ↗ but

1:13:02 ↗ um you know I I when I came on this

1:13:05 ↗ Council we had had a decent councilmanic

1:13:09 ↗ uh load on the budget and the city

1:13:12 ↗ operated just fine so um I'm I'm saying

1:13:15 ↗ I I'm not I'm not hard over uh in favor

1:13:20 ↗ of this plan but I am hard over in favor

1:13:23 ↗ of addressing thank you

1:13:26 ↗ onto my Beret thanks

1:13:29 ↗ uh I think we're all in agreement

1:13:31 ↗ because we agreed on the CIP that

1:13:33 ↗ intelligent transportation and the

1:13:35 ↗ non-motorized Sammamish Road are really

1:13:38 ↗ really important so it's not a matter of

1:13:40 ↗ of those projects it's really all about

1:13:42 ↗ how do we fund them

1:13:44 ↗ um so I can get behind a 0.1 sales tax

1:13:48 ↗ for transportation from the TBD but if I

1:13:51 ↗ hearken back a couple years I'm starting

1:13:52 ↗ to sound like uh council member Martz

1:13:54 ↗ here and I don't have quite as much time

1:13:55 ↗ but you know we were in a position where

1:13:58 ↗ we were going to have to go and get a

1:13:59 ↗ vote of the people to do that so now

1:14:02 ↗ because of a change in state law we we

1:14:03 ↗ don't have don't have to do that but I

1:14:06 ↗ still feel a really strong obligation

1:14:08 ↗ that we do I think this was uh Deputy

1:14:11 ↗ president Hall said our due diligence

1:14:14 ↗ and that we get out and we do talk to

1:14:17 ↗ people and we do proactive Outreach not

1:14:20 ↗ reactive Outreach and say hey we're

1:14:23 ↗ doing this and we're doing it because we

1:14:25 ↗ want to do these things and if we don't

1:14:28 ↗ do that then we're going to have have to

1:14:29 ↗ not do some other things and that was

1:14:31 ↗ the conversation I think that the city

1:14:33 ↗ administrator was hearkening to that if

1:14:35 ↗ we don't do this you know either don't

1:14:38 ↗ do these things we really care about or

1:14:40 ↗ we have to find some other services to

1:14:41 ↗ cut so there's there's a compelling

1:14:43 ↗ argument to make I want us to make that

1:14:45 ↗ compelling argument I want us to take

1:14:46 ↗ our time in making that compelling

1:14:48 ↗ argument and I want the end of the day

1:14:50 ↗ for us to feel like people had an

1:14:52 ↗ opportunity to be heard I want people to

1:14:55 ↗ feel like they had an opportunity to be

1:14:56 ↗ heard because we are being able to

1:14:58 ↗ short-circuit a vote of the People by

1:15:00 ↗ this uh this new gift we got from the

1:15:02 ↗ state legislature so quite honestly I

1:15:05 ↗ think trying to do it between mid to

1:15:07 ↗ mid-july and uh sometime in October

1:15:10 ↗ early October is not going to give us

1:15:12 ↗ enough time to accomplish what I want to

1:15:15 ↗ accomplish in terms of a proactive

1:15:17 ↗ affirmative reaching out to people to

1:15:20 ↗ get their feedback so I think if we

1:15:23 ↗ could wrap it up by the end of the year

1:15:24 ↗ that'd be Hooray we can go in April I

1:15:26 ↗ just do I just honest to God I don't see

1:15:28 ↗ how we can do a credible job in the

1:15:30 ↗ timeline that's LED laid out to make a

1:15:33 ↗ for uh January 1 implementation so

1:15:36 ↗ that's that's my take on Outreach

1:15:40 ↗ yes go ahead and

1:15:42 ↗ so would that be the idea to

1:15:45 ↗ try to have a vote before the end of the

1:15:48 ↗ year

1:15:50 ↗ if we didn't want to go with October

1:15:52 ↗ we'd still want to have a vote before

1:15:53 ↗ the end of the year but

1:15:55 ↗ yes that that would that would be our

1:15:58 ↗ request we can come back uh in September

1:16:01 ↗ if the timeline is pushed we can come

1:16:04 ↗ back and update on what that public

1:16:05 ↗ Outreach plan would look like based on

1:16:07 ↗ the feedback tonight and the timing

1:16:10 ↗ um based on wanting to have more time

1:16:12 ↗ for a public Outreach plan and we could

1:16:14 ↗ fashion it uh for that first meeting in

1:16:17 ↗ September with a plan that would take

1:16:19 ↗ you with a decision point in December so

1:16:23 ↗ you could have the full fall uh for

1:16:25 ↗ hours and we will take the feedback

1:16:28 ↗ we've received this evening take the

1:16:30 ↗ calendar out

1:16:32 ↗ lot in some more dates with a decision

1:16:35 ↗ Point either in November or December so

1:16:37 ↗ with discussions and you know latter

1:16:39 ↗ part of September October

1:16:41 ↗ the November that should be I think it's

1:16:43 ↗ prime time for people's attentions uh

1:16:46 ↗ will give us an opportunity and the

1:16:48 ↗ other piece of this is the intelligent

1:16:50 ↗ transportation system plan will then

1:16:52 ↗ reviewed by the council and approved so

1:16:54 ↗ since a lot of this is going to be

1:16:55 ↗ funding that plan I think it makes sense

1:16:58 ↗ to be able to have a council adopted

1:16:59 ↗ plan in hand to share with members of

1:17:02 ↗ the community so

1:17:03 ↗ um council president as you're

1:17:05 ↗ continuing this discussion certainly the

1:17:07 ↗ administration is very comfortable uh

1:17:09 ↗ with moving this we I think agree with

1:17:12 ↗ many of the comments this evening and

1:17:14 ↗ then would be prepared to come back to

1:17:16 ↗ the full Council as a regular business

1:17:17 ↗ item in September with our plan of

1:17:21 ↗ action and get formal right off from the

1:17:23 ↗ council

1:17:26 ↗ okay well I think my feedback Echoes a

1:17:29 ↗ lot of what I am hearing

1:17:31 ↗ um

1:17:32 ↗ I think my only hesitation is I sure

1:17:36 ↗ would love to be able to do what the

1:17:38 ↗ Capital Finance task force wanted us to

1:17:41 ↗ do which was go big I would really love

1:17:44 ↗ to be able to do that I just don't think

1:17:47 ↗ we have the projects and kind of the

1:17:51 ↗ well thought out ability to pull

1:17:54 ↗ together a cohesive set of projects

1:17:58 ↗ that would warrant

1:18:01 ↗ a an item on a ballot that would be 0.3

1:18:05 ↗ but what I would ask is that

1:18:08 ↗ if we're going this measure which is

1:18:12 ↗ essentially a 0.1 percent sales tax that

1:18:15 ↗ we still really think about what what it

1:18:19 ↗ would look like to go big and how we're

1:18:22 ↗ going to accomplish that because this

1:18:25 ↗ this is

1:18:27 ↗ a small portion

1:18:29 ↗ of our overall need and I think it's

1:18:31 ↗ important we we really need to prove our

1:18:34 ↗ ability to get projects done and so that

1:18:38 ↗ is why I am absolutely in favor right

1:18:41 ↗ now at this moment to do a councilmanic

1:18:45 ↗ point one percent TBD sales tax because

1:18:47 ↗ I think we need that

1:18:50 ↗ ability to show the voters look

1:18:53 ↗ this is what we can get done with a

1:18:55 ↗ certain amount of money

1:18:57 ↗ before we think about that going big but

1:19:00 ↗ I do want to have a sense of kind of

1:19:02 ↗ what is our timeline I would also ask we

1:19:05 ↗ have a lot of other potential

1:19:08 ↗ projects and areas that need additional

1:19:11 ↗ Revenue such as public safety and City

1:19:16 ↗ facilities such as you know one of the

1:19:18 ↗ things the Capital Finance task force

1:19:20 ↗ talked about was a park district and so

1:19:24 ↗ I'd like to again bring out that concept

1:19:27 ↗ for us when we're looking at this and

1:19:30 ↗ say okay this helps us not get that

1:19:35 ↗ ballot fatigue that we were talking

1:19:36 ↗ about

1:19:37 ↗ if we do have some potential plans to

1:19:42 ↗ present some other stories of needs to

1:19:44 ↗ the community so I I again think this is

1:19:48 ↗ the right approach for those reasons

1:19:51 ↗ I think when we're going out to the

1:19:54 ↗ community for feedback I also share the

1:19:57 ↗ concern that it's summer

1:19:59 ↗ nobody wants to sit down with a

1:20:01 ↗ government meeting about taxes in the

1:20:04 ↗ middle of summer when they might want to

1:20:07 ↗ be on vacation instead

1:20:08 ↗ um and so I really do think that an

1:20:11 ↗ early fall period is probably a great

1:20:14 ↗ time to approach people

1:20:16 ↗ I think it's also really important to

1:20:19 ↗ explain the Alternatives you know the

1:20:22 ↗ the chart the slide that shows okay what

1:20:26 ↗ will it cost you is great the slide that

1:20:28 ↗ shows what will you get out of this is

1:20:31 ↗ great but somebody's always going to go

1:20:34 ↗ well can't you just do it with the

1:20:37 ↗ revenue you have and so I think it would

1:20:40 ↗ be really important to say if we don't

1:20:41 ↗ have additional Revenue the two options

1:20:44 ↗ we have are don't do these projects or

1:20:48 ↗ cut 10 to 15 employees or Associated

1:20:52 ↗ Services worth 2.2 million dollars a

1:20:56 ↗ year and so I think that's really

1:20:58 ↗ important to be clear with the community

1:21:02 ↗ there isn't a bucket of money that we're

1:21:05 ↗ just touching

1:21:07 ↗ um when we're looking at this so

1:21:10 ↗ uh I think you should have a pretty

1:21:14 ↗ clear understanding of feedback anything

1:21:16 ↗ you want to summarize let me just repeat

1:21:19 ↗ back so that I have missed anything

1:21:29 ↗ so what I think I hear the council

1:21:32 ↗ saying is that your general support of

1:21:34 ↗ moving forward with a councilmanic a

1:21:36 ↗ sales tax that you would like a

1:21:38 ↗ community outreach plan

1:21:40 ↗ um we would come back to you at the

1:21:41 ↗ first meeting in September at a regular

1:21:43 ↗ council meeting with that plan uh

1:21:45 ↗ detailing uh Community meetings

1:21:48 ↗ detailing meetings with Community

1:21:49 ↗ stakeholders detailing

1:21:52 ↗ um

1:21:53 ↗ both online and non-online Outreach for

1:21:56 ↗ the community

1:21:58 ↗ also coming then with a calendar that

1:22:00 ↗ when it would come back it sounds like

1:22:02 ↗ the council would like a couple of

1:22:04 ↗ touches perhaps committee the whole

1:22:06 ↗ prior to a public hearing prior to

1:22:09 ↗ adoption so that would be you know

1:22:12 ↗ Committee of the whole in two council

1:22:14 ↗ meeting touches so three readings total

1:22:17 ↗ we could also then we could also send it

1:22:20 ↗ to committee uh with if that would be

1:22:22 ↗ the council's wish in addition before it

1:22:24 ↗ comes to the committee of the whole so

1:22:26 ↗ that'd be a fourth uh public meeting

1:22:29 ↗ so we will put together a schedule that

1:22:31 ↗ reflects those ideas I'll come back on a

1:22:34 ↗ regular agenda in September that would

1:22:37 ↗ then keep us for an April

1:22:40 ↗ implementation so we will then also as

1:22:43 ↗ we are working on changes for the 24

1:22:46 ↗ budget

1:22:47 ↗ um assume at least for budgeting

1:22:50 ↗ purposes that that Revenue would be

1:22:51 ↗ available for a portion of 24.

1:22:56 ↗ anybody want to add or correct nope or

1:23:00 ↗ yeah just a comment I I think with the

1:23:02 ↗ importance of this and the nature of the

1:23:04 ↗ discussion I don't know that a touch

1:23:06 ↗ with a committee would be a whole lot of

1:23:07 ↗ a value he is the chair of the committee

1:23:10 ↗ that would get it we would just be kind

1:23:12 ↗ of hashing the same the same stuff so I

1:23:15 ↗ think this is important enough and

1:23:17 ↗ needs enough eyeballs I think this is

1:23:19 ↗ class clearly why we we created the

1:23:20 ↗ committee of the whole

1:23:23 ↗ council member Joe

1:23:25 ↗ just a thought if we're doing any

1:23:27 ↗ Council neighborhood meetings as well we

1:23:30 ↗ could put it as one of the touch points

1:23:32 ↗ and have a table there and make it a

1:23:36 ↗ topic of discussion as well I think that

1:23:38 ↗ would be a way the council is directly

1:23:40 ↗ reaching out to to the people to hear

1:23:42 ↗ their concerns as well

1:23:44 ↗ and Council leadership is is working on

1:23:46 ↗ dates for the fall uh September 30th

1:23:49 ↗ date at the farmers market for the

1:23:51 ↗ council uh meeting the first at the

1:23:54 ↗ first week in November November 9th is

1:23:57 ↗ the date that we're looking at for the

1:23:59 ↗ fall

1:24:00 ↗ um sort of uh on the road meeting

1:24:02 ↗ listening session so those those two

1:24:05 ↗ meetings are are currently there

1:24:06 ↗ certainly you will have salmon days uh

1:24:10 ↗ the city has a booth at salmon days

1:24:11 ↗ which we can uh I think we're gonna I

1:24:14 ↗ don't know that we've negotiated that

1:24:16 ↗ yet with the Chamber of Commerce but uh

1:24:19 ↗ um a booth at salmon days as well

1:24:22 ↗ um so I think there's plenty of

1:24:24 ↗ opportunities so we'll make sure that uh

1:24:27 ↗ we'll skip the the mobility and

1:24:30 ↗ transportation committee and to just

1:24:32 ↗ look at a community the whole probably

1:24:34 ↗ in the month of

1:24:37 ↗ or maybe the month of November the very

1:24:39 ↗ first part of November

1:24:40 ↗ um

1:24:42 ↗ get feedback I think we already should

1:24:44 ↗ have

1:24:45 ↗ one scheduled for November so if we need

1:24:47 ↗ to have another scheduled

1:24:49 ↗ we can do that

1:24:55 ↗ yeah it looks like our committee of the

1:24:57 ↗ whole is currently scheduled for

1:24:59 ↗ November 13th and is open and accepting

1:25:01 ↗ agenda items

1:25:04 ↗ sounds like

1:25:05 ↗ great okay so with that fantastic

1:25:09 ↗ summary uh next item of business is good

1:25:12 ↗ of the order anyone have any

1:25:16 ↗ items

1:25:18 ↗ okay fantastic with no items I'm going

1:25:22 ↗ to adjourn the meeting at 7 57 p.m thank

1:25:25 ↗ you everyone

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (7)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Victoria Hunt (Attended Virtually)

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh