HomeMy Public PortalAbout03-07-20 Budget RetreatMinutes
Board of Commissioners Budgetary Planning Retreat
9 a.m. March 7, 2020
Town Hall Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St.
Present: Mayor Jenn Weaver and commissioners Mark Bell, Robb English, Kathleen Ferguson, Matt
Hughes, and Evelyn Lloyd
Staff: Budget Director Emily Bradford, Human Resources Director/Town Clerk Katherine Cathey,
Assistant to the Town Manager/Deputy Budget Director Jen Della Valle, Police Chief Duane
Hampton, Assistant Town Manager/Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Public Works Director Ken
Hines, Town Manager Eric Peterson, Budget Technician Jamie Privuznak, Finance Director Daphna
Schwartz, Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz, Public Space Manager Stephanie Trueblood, Public
Information Officer Catherine Wright, and Information Technology Manager Beth Yurchisin
Facilitator: Rod Visser
1.Opening, introductions and ground rules
Facilitator Rod Visser opened the meeting at 9 a.m., led introductions and provided ground rules for the
retreat.
2.Exercise: Why do we do what we do?
Mayor Jenn Weaver led a brief exercise in which commissioners and staff were asked to spend one minute
thinking about two or three values that they bring into the work they do for the town and one minute
thinking about what helps town staff and leaders get through challenging times for the town. Participants
were then asked to spend three minutes discussing answers with a person next to them.
Values included: accuracy, collaboration, community, compassion, dedication, equity, excellence, helping,
honesty, inclusivity, integrity, long-range planning, service, and teamwork.
Answers for getting through difficult times included: communication, desire to serve, leadership, reassurance
and support, sense of humor, teamwork, and trust in each other.
3.Strategy map
Town Manager Eric Peterson asked the mayor and board to review the strategy map and to think about the
top three to five priorities they want staff to focus on for the next three to five years. Answers will guide staff
in finalizing a modified strategy map and action plans.
A.Mission statement
The mayor and board reviewed the strategy map’s mission statement and noted no changes. Commissioner
Robb English suggested staff examine adding sustainability into the mission statement.
B.Vision statement
The mayor and board reviewed the strategy map’s vision statement and noted no changes. Commissioner
Matt Hughes suggested examining how the town’s values could be added into the statement, particularly for
diversity and equity.
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C. Values
The mayor and board reviewed proposed values presented to the board in January. Those values encompass
affordability, ethics, long-term planning and decision-making, safety, unity, and vibrancy. Following
discussion, it was determined that the mayor and board would provide guidance to staff on what the values
mean to them, that staff would create definitions for the values, and that the proposed values and definitions
would be presented to the board at a future meeting.
D. Strategic goals
The town manager reviewed that the town’s current strategy map includes four strategic priorities:
community safety, growth management, quality of life and superior services. He also reviewed that staff have
reviewed strategic goals for local governments across the country as they work to update the town’s strategy
map and actions plans. Examples of priorities from other local governments were provided.
The mayor and board also were provided with example goals that had been presented to the board in January
and with preliminary feedback from key staff on how to define the example goals. Staff had suggested:
sustainability and resiliency as an overarching goal, excellent core services as a foundational goal, and
additional goals of community safety, connected community, and economic vitality.
Peterson encouraged the board to determine the three to five most important priorities for the town, noting
that more focus areas will lessen staff’s ability to effectively tackle goals.
Following discussion, it was determined to use the example strategic goals provided by staff. Staff will develop
definitions based on feedback from the management team and present the proposed goals at a future board
meeting.
The board discussed Item 6 before breaking for lunch.
4. Preliminary FY21-23 budget overview
The town manager gave a large-scale overview of budget projections for the next three fiscal years. He asked
commissioners to think about the top goal for the budget cycle. Peterson noted the goal should be to
maintain solid savings levels in all funds because of uncertainty from the effects of the coronavirus on the
economy and town revenue. He said that preliminary work to draft a three-year General Fund budget with
currently funded operations and without most new funding requests shows deficits in fiscal years 2021 and
2022. A move to renovate the former Town Hall Annex and delay the building of a public safety facility is
expected to cost about $300,000 and is among unexpected costs for the current fiscal year.
The manager noted the town has accomplished much in the last decade including:
• Building phases 2 and 3 of the Riverwalk greenway.
• Completing other pedestrian projects downtown and connected to Riverwalk.
• Prioritizing street repaving.
• Acquiring property for a future train station, future public safety facility, and centralized services.
• Creating a new board meeting room and additional offices in renovations to the expanded Town Hall
Campus.
• Starting a stormwater utility.
• Developing a public information office and a human resources division.
• Doubling the police budget and tripling the recreation and public spaces budget.
• Expanding most departments.
Peterson said successes are seen in:
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• The results of the biennial community and employee surveys.
• The attraction of Hillsborough as a preferred destination.
• The AA rating the town received for a series of revenue bonds it sold to finance expanding the town
town’s reservoir.
The manager reviewed that since Fiscal Year 2015, the town has added a number of full-time employees but
has also eliminated a number of positions over the past 10 years, including positions for assistant town
manager, assistant finance and utilities directors, code enforcement officer, crime analyst, police
accreditation manager, and additional finance and utilities positions. Hillsborough’s location in the Triangle
and by larger communities creates greater financial pressure in recruiting and retaining employees, it was
noted. However, the town cannot afford to continue adding personnel as its population grows.
Peterson said leaders need to think about the town’s strategy going forward ― how it maintains competitive
salaries; takes care of assets; addresses large and small unfunded needs; and tackles climate action. What will
need to be prioritized, and what alternatives can be taken to address unfunded needs?
5. FY21-23 requests
This open question-and-answer period with staff regarded funding requests, opportunities, needs, and
concerns. Commissioners noted concerns about seemingly tighter budget conditions than the previous year, a
higher risk of changes in development plans, and a possible recession because of the coronavirus. The town
manager noted that the town was in a development lull before in which the Waterstone mixed use project
stalled for five years. That stoppage was not expected, but there is a higher risk of such a delay now, he said.
Peterson encouraged leaders to share ideas or thoughts, such as questioning whether a delay to a request or
an end to a service has been considered. He noted that everyone can get tunnel vision when looking at all the
details.
The mayor asked what would be the next step if a recession hit. The manager said there is no master plan
after today. He added he had attended a conference that week in which a strategy was noted of determining
the current situation and then figuring out the next one or two steps. He suggested that the budget would be
stripped to the bone, needs would be identified and decisions made.
Following discussion of unmet needs and funding options for the upcoming and future budget years, the town
manager noted that staff would try to develop a draft budget that gives the board options in selecting a final
budget.
Public Space Manager Stephanie Trueblood asked about direction from the board regarding transportation
and connectivity priorities. She said knowing the priorities would help her in finding and applying for grants. It
was determined that Trueblood and the planning director would recommend and prioritize a list of projects,
which would be brought before the board at a future meeting for approval.
6. Sustainability/Comprehensive Plan
This item was moved and discussed before Item 4. Staff requested permission to start a request for proposals
process to select a consultant to guide the development of a sustainability/comprehensive plan. Starting the
process soon could allow work to start in July on the plan. The board directed staff to move forward on the
request for proposals.
7. Small priorities taking up big time
There was discussion of smaller issues requiring significant staff time and how to manage and mitigate the
impact on tackling top priorities. The town manager noted that although Hillsborough is a small town, the
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community has a lot of expectations of staff and services. He suggested thinking about the balance between
being responsive and going overboard, noting that being overly responsive hurts staff’s ability to get priority
work done. He also suggested thinking about the cost in opportunity of work that hasn’t been done or now
can’t be done because three months were spent on an issue upsetting one person. How can we have this
happen less often, he asked.
Suggestions included empowering staff to:
• Deprioritize items even if viewed as low hanging fruit.
• Time management: Do not spend excessive time perfecting tasks unless it’s needed or essential.
• Give a longer time frame for providing an answer to a question.
• Do only what is requested.
• Make an assessment of a request and spend a set amount of time on it.
Additional suggestions encompassed lean work strategies:
• Break priorities into small, medium and large categories and budget time for those.
• Determine whether an item is for staff, the manager or board to handle.
It was noted that the typical person can do five tasks efficiently.
Other suggestions from the mayor for the board included adhering to more discipline in meetings when
constituents speak and having the fortitude for hard conversations and decisions.
It was noted that when an issue comes before the board, staff likely has already spent a large amount of time
on the issue and the board is now being asked to make a decision. It was suggested that staff give a
recommendation for what they think the board should do.
8. How to fail checklists
The board expressed appreciation for materials the manager provided, including a checklist of common
reasons initiatives fail and key points to consider in reducing decision failures. The latter was pulled from the
book “If We Can Put a Man on the Moon” by William Eggers and John O’Leary.
9. Confirm action items moving forward
The board confirmed the following action items:
• Regarding values for the strategy map, the mayor and board will provide guidance to staff on what
the values mean to them, that staff will create definitions for the values, and the proposed values and
definitions will be presented to the board at a future meeting.
• Regarding strategic goals, the example goals provided by staff will be used. Staff will develop
definitions based on feedback from the management team and present the proposed goals at a future
board meeting.
• Regarding the sustainability/comprehensive plan, staff will start the request for proposals process for
selecting a consultant to guide the plan’s development.
• Regarding transportation and connectivity priorities, the public space manager and the planning
director will recommend and prioritize a list of projects, which will be brought before the board for
approval.
10. Other
There was no discussion.
11. Review of the day/adjournment
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There was discussion of possible value in two retreats: one focused on strategy and the other on the budget.
The manager noted that the time involved in creating the budget no longer allows for providing a draft
proposal in February or March. He said perhaps strategic discussions could start earlier in the year.
The meeting adjourned at 3 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Katherine M. Cathey
Town Clerk
March 7, 2020
Board of Commissioners Budgetary Planning Retreat
Approved: ____________________
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