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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. March 7, 2020 Board of Commissioners Budgetary Planning Retreat Approved: ____________________ Page 1 of 5 April 13, 2020 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: March 7, 2020 Board of Commissioners Budgetary Planning Retreat Approved: ____________________ Page 2 of 5 April 13, 2020 • 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 March 7, 2020 Board of Commissioners Budgetary Planning Retreat Approved: ____________________ Page 3 of 5 April 13, 2020 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 March 7, 2020 Board of Commissioners Budgetary Planning Retreat Approved: ____________________ Page 4 of 5 April 13, 2020 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: ____________________ Page 5 of 5 April 13, 2020