Music Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. Hello. Welcome. Welcome. We'll go ahead and get started with our Urban County Council work session. And today is August 15th, 2023. 3. And I'll go ahead and call the meeting to order. And I believe the vice mayor has a motion. Thank you, mayor. I move to place on today's work session packet under presentations, a presentation in recognition of Lexington's Unsung Heroes Award. So moved. Second. I heard a second from Councilmember Ellinger. Tell me again, did you put it at the beginning of presentations? Yeah, we'll put it at the beginning of continuing business presentations. Any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Councilmembers, welcome back. It's been a while. um first up is public comment for issues on the agenda and it looks like we do not have anyone signed up for an issue on the agenda so we'll go right ahead with our docket approval i entertain a motion and then we'll have some discussion and changes i'm sorry okay council Councilmember Baxter moved. Councilmember Plumman seconded. Now, are there any adjustments or motions about the docket? No? All right. All those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. On pages 1 through 3, council members, you have the July 11th work session motions. Could I have a motion to approve? Council Member Ellinger and Council Member Gray seconded. Are there any corrections or additions or comments? All those in favor, please say aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Now, budget amendments start on page four. Could I have a motion to approve? Second. Hang on. I heard two people, Council Member Plowman and Council Member Gray, got in there first. Council Member Gray, you're listed as the mover. And actually, Vice Mayor Wu is listed as the seconder. Thank you. Now, if you will turn your attention to the budget amendments and we'll entertain questions at this point, please log in if you have questions. No questions? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Next, we have for information only adjustments, which start on page 8 and go to 8 and 9. Are there any questions about these? These are for information only. All right. Council members, I'll entertain a motion at this point for approval of new business. So moved. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds moved. Council Member Baxter seconded. Now, if you'll log in with your questions, please. New business starts on page 10. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. I have a question about item L. Mr. Atkins, I was hoping that you could give us a little bit more information about what this money was going toward and the collaboration that it will benefit? So these are funds that the General Assembly put into the last budget. It was a pool of about $100 million for economic development projects. Thanks, Chris. We were the recipient last year for the Legacy Business Park, but because of scheduling, when this money has to go out the door, we weren't in a position to ask for it this year. So the mayor and I have been meeting with our colleagues in Scott and Madison County essentially since day one when she started in office. So through this process, they started looking at sites in Scott and Madison. And I think all of you all know about the Commerce Lexington Regional Plan, and it's really an opportunity to really move the region as a whole forward. So they approached the mayor about the opportunity to take the allocation, and we were eligible for up to $2 million on a governmentally controlled project. We didn't have one in the pipeline for economic development purposes. So Scott and Madison approached us, and so this is an opportunity to partner with them on mega site development. So sites that could get up to about 1,000 acres if it all comes together. and there's a process to look forward to one now in madison and one in scott they're still working on the options on the property so they're not final but the application is in and that's that's what this money would go to and it's also a case where if we do not allocate this money or use this money it just goes back to the state treasury all right i don't know if that answers it does i just wanted to clarify that it was state funding right and then you just said if we don't use it we lose it so that's all i have thank you i appreciate it thank you mayor thank you councilmember sheehan thank you mayor i just want to state for the record i need to recuse on item i because of my affiliation with the university of kentucky all right thank you councilmember plowman thank you mayor and this has to do with the letter s as in sam and this is the streetlight data and i guess I guess I'm wondering what exactly does this do and can it assist us in looking at the expansion of the USP to make important decisions? Is this only for Fayette and Jasmine? Yes, this is through the MPO, so it is Fayette and Jasmine County. Okay. Yes. But is it the capability of looking at other areas? If we're going to be looking at the urban service boundary expansion, is there any value that it could give us in terms of looking at roads? Well, I mean, this is a renewal. We had this last year. We're obligated to stay within the MPO. Yeah, I don't know enough about it. I didn't know what it really did. The state has a statewide license for street light data, so that resource is available also. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Savigny? Thank you, Mayor. This is about item number letter U, the compensation study. And I'm just curious if with this, and I think I've seen it in the note, but is this the last time that we'll see the compensation study changes come up? Yes, it should be the last time you see compensation study changes come up. Okay, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Are there other questions about new business? All right. All those in favor of new business, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Now, Vice Mayor Wu made a motion to put the presentations first under continuing business and presentations. However, I'd like to make a statement before I go do those. Many of you know what happened over the weekend with our Cal Ripken baseball players, and I want to first congratulate Lexington's Southeastern 12 All-Stars this year's 2023 Cal Ripken Major 70 World Series championships. They beat Taiwan in their final game, and they beat Honolulu in the semifinal game, and that's a big deal for these baseball players, yes. So this is a historic win for Lexington and the Commonwealth, and I know we're all proud of these players. We are planning a little celebration on Tuesday so they can come downtown and we'll honor them. They weren't able to work it out to come on a Thursday night because most of them are in football now. So we'll look forward to having them down here. With that, we'll go ahead and have a moment with our unsung heroes. First of all, I would like to ask Jeff Heron to please join me at the podium. Hello. Hello. Good to see you. Come on up here. Jeff Herron is our manager of the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention, where he oversees the community response to homelessness through collaboration and services to address the needs of our community. Jeff was honored at this year's Unsung Heroes Ball, was that just a week ago? I've lost it out. two weeks ago already, where he was the recipient of the Emerging Hero Award. Jeff and his team bring positive solutions to complex issues, and his job is not easy. His priority is to keep people safe, and he does a great job of that. Jeff, I really appreciate you and your dedication to this work. At this time, it's my pleasure to present this proclamation to Jeff. Whereas Jeff Herron is the recipient of the 2023 Unsung Hero Emerging Hero Award, and whereas Jeff is the manager of Lexington's Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention, and whereas he spearheads Lexington's response to homelessness by fostering collaboration among individuals, agencies, and services to address needs, and whereas the Lexington community and his peers have immense respect for Jeff and his dedication to his job and community, And whereas Jeff is recognized as a solutions-oriented leader who consistently makes a positive difference in the lives of the people he serves, now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare August 15, 2023, Jeff Heron Day in Lexington. Congratulations and thank you so much. Thank you. We're going to hear from Jeff. I just want to thank the mayor, the administration, the council, and all of my LFUCG family for this honor. It's been truly a humbling and overwhelming couple of weeks. I've been doing this work for 15 years, although not in this role. And it's the first time I've had to get an award. So I guess I'm officially getting old because I'm at the stage where they're starting to recognize me. It has nothing to do with the age. But I really appreciate all of the support. What we do, as Mayor Gordon said, is not easy and it's not possible without a constellation of amazing people that work day in and day out. I could not do this without my partners. And I'd really just like to recognize and share this honor with them. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And will firefighter Martin Ashford please join me at the podium. They're already pumped up. Recently, Vice Mayor Wu and I had the privilege of attending the Unsung Heroes Ball, where we presented this year's Unsung Hero Award to firefighter Martin Ashford. Martin has been a member of the Lexington Fire Department for nine years, where he is an EMT and hazmat tech. On and off the job, he is dedicated to our community and to serving his neighbors. And I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honor. It's no secret that he stays busy when he's not at work. He has a deep connection to the youth in our community. Always speaking at career fairs, he even coaches basketball at the Dunbar Community Center. Martin, I thank you again for everything you do for our community, and it's my pleasure right now to offer this proclamation. whereas firefighter martin ashford is the recipient of the 2023 lexington unsung hero award and whereas martin has been a member of the lexington fire department for nine years serving as as an emt and hazmat tech and whereas when he's not on the job he is studying to complete his degree in fire science technology at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, and whereas he regularly speaks to students across Lexington at career fairs and panels, his alma mater, Bryan Station High School, the Boy Scouts, and the Team Mac AAU program. He's a busy guy. Whereas Martin is a member of the Lexington Professional Black Firefighters and is a respected leader who works to bring underrepresented minorities into the division. And whereas Martin is a valued member of our Lexington community with a strong commitment to the well-being and needs of his neighbors, now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare August 15, 2023, Martin Ashford Day in Lexington. Congratulations. Okay. Now, I'm going to invite Martin to say a few words. Can I tell the little secret? When Vice Mayor Wu and I presented his Unsung Hero Award, and I talked to him beforehand, he said, I don't know what I'm going to say when I get up there. And I said, well, it'll come to you. Well, did it ever. So I told him he's got a two-minute limit. You want to say a few words? Oh, wow. Martin Ashford. Wow. First and foremost, thank you again. Thank all of you. I really don't want to talk about myself. Like she said, I talked enough at the awards. I just want to introduce my support system. You know, the fire department, first and foremost, They gave me my training, gave me the opportunity to be an election firefighter and for me to serve my community on the job and off the job, which has been a blessing from day one. And they give me the support from top to bottom. I got one of my chiefs. I don't know where he went. Chief Whit back here. He's been in my corner for day one. He actually was one of my training staffs when I was coming through. So he's here today. pretty cool that he's here today. But my family, if I could just have them stand up, I kind of want to talk about them a little bit. My mom is here, Sue Ashford, she's here. This is my mom, my wife, of course. Here in the middle is my four boys, who I try every day to be an example for. They're part of the reason I'm also so busy. This is my wife, Brandi Ashford, Makai Ashford, Monte Ashford, Marcellus Ashford, and my youngest, Martin Ashford Jr. And this is my mother in love, Patricia Powell. She treats me like a son. She doesn't have any sons. I'm one of them, and she treats me like that every day. My two brothers who are also firefighters, Franklin Ashford and Charles Ashford, they're always in my corner. They're always supporting me. They've been giving me a hard time about this award. I wanted to make sure that they were recognized as well because a lot of the stuff that I do in the sport, I call on them. I call on everybody here. Brittany and Kevin, can you stand up? These are my sister and brother here as well. They're friends, but they also support me so much. They always have my back and each and every person that's standing here has been great for me. This is something that I can't do on my own without this kind of support. So I did want to recognize them. This is not only for me, which I do appreciate it, but because of them I'm able to do all of these things that was listed here. Nobody does anything by themselves. You got to have a support system and a team that has your back 100%, and I have that. This is just a portion of that. Everybody couldn't make it today, but this is just a portion of that, and I just wanted to tell them I love them and I appreciate them. And again, thank you all for having me. Thank you all for giving me this award. I can't thank you all enough. Thank you again. I hope that was two minutes. I still have fun. Thank you. All right. Oh, okay. But he was like the little... What do you want to ask me? Yeah. I'll just be... What do you say? That was the screen. Is this one normal? Yeah. I never turn around. It's crazy how much money it's allowed. $21 million. I tried to do that one time. It's litigation, litigation, litigation. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have the Neighborhood Development Funds, and I'll entertain a motion to approve. So moved. Thank you, Council Member Plumman, and second by Council Member Baxter. Are there any questions? Council Member Gray. So I have a question, Mayor. Is this the moment that I amend? Okay. Yes, for the Neighborhood Development Funds. Yes, ma'am. If you have an amendment, this is the moment. Okay. Well, thank you, Mayor. I move to amend the NDF list to add a Neighborhood Development Fund allocation to Old Paris Place Community LLC in the amount of $1,000. Is there a second? Council Member Ellinger seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor of the amendment, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Are there any other amendments? All right, all those in favor of approving as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, we have capital projects. Council capital projects on page 41. Move to approve. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Second. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Are there any questions? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Council Member Worley, I'll turn the mic over to you for General Govan Planning. Thank you, Mayor. This is the report out summary for the General Government Planning Committee meeting of May the 9th, 2023. At the beginning of the meeting, there was a motion by Council Member Ellinger, seconded by Council Member Baxter, to approve the summary from the March 7th meeting that passed without dissent. The next item was a review of conditional use permits and related zoning ordinance text amendments in the rural service area. The presentation on conditional use permits and zoning ordinance text amendments was provided by the Division of Planning. The data presented included applications for conditional use permits and zoning ordinance text amendments requested within the AR Zone from 2018 to 2023. We reviewed the types of conditional use permit applications that were approved in that time period as well as the zoning ordinance text amendments. No action was taken on that item. The next item of that meeting was the presentation, discussion, and passage of the Crown Act, which was passed and reported out at the May 9th, 2023 work session and has now become law and was later passed and has become law in our city. We reviewed the items referred to the committee, and this was a significantly longer meeting than I'd like. We adjourned at 1.48 p.m. Congratulations. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions about Council Member Worley's report? All right. Thank you very much. Next, I'll ask our Budget Director, Melissa Luker, to come forward and give the presentation on the 2024 ad valorem options. Welcome. Good afternoon. Welcome back. You get to talk about property taxes. We'll get to a slide that tells you it's not my fault the reason you're doing it today, by the way. So what we'll talk about today are our required avalorum dates, the taxing districts, real estate values, the taxing options for the general services fund, urban services fund, and a couple of our special district tax rates. And then we'll take questions. So the packet provided to you last week included a proposed calendar based on our certification date of July 25th. We're required to set property taxes within 45 days. This year that date is September 7th. The proposed timeline will keep us in compliance with the 45-day requirement and other related statutes. Based on the calendar you see in front of you, rates are scheduled to be decided today. First reading of the rates would be Thursday. Advertisements will be published on August 18th and August 22nd. And then second reading in a public hearing would need to be at the council meeting on Thursday, August 31st. The taxing districts we're going to discuss today are the Lexington districts for the General Services District, which is paid by all property owners in Fayette County. Urban services, which is paid by only property owners who receive the service. Those services are street lights, refuse collection, and street cleaning. There's also three special taxing districts which are paid by all property owners, and they are soil and water conservation, agricultural extension, and health department. So the tax rates listed here are real property rates only. This doesn't reflect the total tax bill for a household. For comparison purposes, the Lexington City rate is the full urban services rate, and the county rate is the combination of the general services, health department, Lex Tran, extension, and soil and conservation rates. These rates do not include the school tax rates. As you can see, Lexington has the fifth lowest tax rate among contiguous counties and other larger cities around the state. Here's another comparison of our tax rates. So more than 80% of a property tax bill goes somewhere other than the city. The city gets less than 20% of a Fayette County resident's tax bill. And of that 20%, only 6.1% of the bill is for the general fund. Speaking of the general fund, we also have to provide property taxes revenue to the library. So because our certifications came in more than are estimated in the adopted budget, the allocation to the Lexington Public Library for FY24 is required to be increased by $412,520. Their new allocation will now be $21,110,480. It's important to note that the library is entitled to this allocation, regardless of what rate is set by the council. So here's a chart of our real estate values over the last several years. You can see the total value of real estate for FY24 has increased. The total value for FY24 is $35.5 billion. That's an 8% increase over our FY23 certified assessments of $32.9 billion. This 8% increase is more than the assessment increase that was in the adopted budget. This is the second year in a row we have increased by 8%. So the Avalorium options for consideration today. We've prepared for you options related to this year's property taxes. The compensating rate, which gives approximately the same amount of revenue as prior years for existing properties. Any increases are derived from new properties. The plus 4% rate is the House Bill 44 rate and isn't subject to voter recall, but it does require a public hearing. If we set the rate of a 4% revenue increase for existing properties, It is subject to recall within 45 days if a petition is signed by 10% of the voters in the last presidential election, which is a little over 15,000. So here are the options for the general services fund. Option one, all rates remain the same as last year. This option provides an increase in budgeted revenue in the amount of $799,800, which is net of the increase to the library. This rate is higher than the 4%, so it is subject to voter recall. Option two is the compensating rate, which would decrease the realty to .074 and the personalty to .0868. These rates would decrease revenue by $611,200 net of the increase to the library. Personalty includes tangible personal property, aircrafts, inventories, and personal property of public service corporations. Option three is the 4% rate. This decreases the real estate rate from .078 to .076 and increases the personality to .0891. This rate requires a public hearing. These rates would increase revenue by $139,800 net of the increase to the library. Please note, while we're talking about an increase to revenues with this option, it in effect decreases the rate charged to real property in Lexington. We also have the line above the totals at the bottom, and that's for the vacant property, abandoned property. The Vacant Property Review Commission has established a rate of $1 per $100 valuation for abandoned urban property. This tax will apply to 45 parcels of land in Lexington for the current year, and this is up from 44 parcels last year. So here's an illustration of what the three options would look like on the average house in Lexington, which this year is $235,000. So you can see what each option, the impact that that would have. So for the general services fund, the administration is recommending option three, which is the House bill 44 allowable 4%. This option actually lowers the rate for real estate from the prior year's rate. So let's get into urban services now. Avvalorum is the largest category of revenue to the Urban Services Fund, nearly 90% of all revenues. Property owners in the urban service area have one or more of the services, refuse, streetlights, and street cleaning. Option one is keeping our rates the same and it would increase our budgeted revenue by $1,980,781. Option two is the compensating rate. This rate generates approximately the same amount of revenue for existing properties. This would decrease the service rates for refuse and street lights as well as the PSC rate, which is just the sum of the three service rates. but maintain the current rate for street cleaning. This option decreases revenues by $144,219. Option three is the House Bill 44 rate. This option would decrease the rates for refuse, streetlights, and the PSC rate, but still maintain the current rate for street cleaning. this option would generate $1,369,781 in additional revenue. Option four is the cost of service rate. Cost of service is calculated each year stand alone without using any fund balance. The cost of service rate would generate $11,861,781 in additional revenue. The rates for all services will be subject to voter recall. Option five is our hybrid option. This option would move street lights to the cost of service and maintain the FY23 rate for refuse collection and street cleaning. This would generate $4,135,781 in additional revenue. And around $2 million of this additional revenue would be attributed to streetlights. As you all know, we've been transferring general fund dollars to cover the cost of streetlights every year. The rates for refuse, street cleaning, and public service companies will be subject to voter recall. So, options 1, 3, 4, and 5 require a public hearing because they exceed the compensating rate. Options 1, 4, and 5 are also subject to voter recall because they exceed the plus 4% rate. So here you can see the impact of the $235,000 average house this year. The administration is recommending option 5, which is the hybrid rate. This rate maintains the FY23 rate for refuse and street cleaning and sets the rate for street lights at the cost of service. Street light expenses have been exceeding revenues by approximately $2 million a year, and we have been transferring the general fund dollars to bridge that gap. The cost of service rate will bring in an additional $2 million in revenue to match the current expenses for street lights. we also have our special tax districts we have received the requested rates from two of the districts the extension district is meeting tomorrow to set their rates and we will follow up with council tomorrow with that information and whether or not we will need something for thursday night walked on the soil and water conservation as well as the health department are both requesting their compensating rates. So there is no need for a public hearing for the compensating. I will be glad to take questions. Director Luker, so then back to that last slide, can the council, knowing what soil and water and health are doing, they could make those motions today? Yes, those motions can be made today. I've talked with law, depending on what rate the extension adopts, we may not have to have a motion based on an attorney general opinion. But we'll see later. Yes, I will follow up tomorrow once we get that. They're meeting at noon, and I was told they would email their rates to me by 1 p.m. Okay, very good. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I can agree with the first part. It's the second part where we get in the urban services, where we get in some, it's dollar-wise not a big one, but it is a big percentage-wise. We're going from 2 to 2.7, so it's a 35% increase. Am I doing my math correct on that? I don't have it calculated like that. Sorry. It's going from .02 to .027. And that would be a 35% increase because if you do the math, it's going from 47 to 63, 45. Yeah, somewhere around, yeah. And we're trying to make it all up in one year where we haven't done it since 2013. We've been behind, so now we're trying to make it up. And that's where I think I have a problem here with that one. The rest of them I can agree with with administration. That one, I think I would rather look at the option three and not try to make it all up on one full swoop there. That would be my suggestion. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Director, for the presentation. I have a series of motions, but I'll wait until other Council Members chime in if they have any additional comments. But to the point that Councilmember Ellinger was making in regards to the Urban Services Fund, when we're talking about street lights, I don't think this change is going to make it all up in one fell swoop. Because I still think that there's an outstanding balance. I think that fund is currently running, we're carrying a negative balance and going to have to supplement it this year. And I think with some of the changes or some of the financial commitments that we as a local government and this council has made in regards to services that we're talking about continuing to provide for this community. Especially in regards to personnel, and I'm thinking specifically about public safety. That we need to look for opportunities to make sure that we have the funds and are responsible to make sure that we can fulfill those obligations going forward. So I'm going to support the administration's recommendation on that one. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Sevigny. Thank you, Mayor. I have just two questions. Does each individual thing, is it subject to recall? So would that has a star next to it. So for instance, if on refuse collection, we used basically the .138 versus the .139, that doesn't seem to be subject to a recall. but I don't know if the recall is each individual item. So I'm just... Dave Barbery can answer. Yes, sir, it is. We technically have a different tax district for all three of those services. So it would be a different recall for each one of them. You may have all three of them or two of the three, but you'd have to do a different recall petition for each one of them. Okay. It would seem to me that I don't know what the difference is between .138 and .139, but it may not be worth that pain there. It's just a thought. And then my other one, if you could jump to the soil conservation thing, because it's kind of an odd, that's an odd percentage. So that seems like when you go from .0006 to .0001, that's a bigger jump, and it seems like it would be subject to recall. But I don't know that. For the purposes of how they run the calculation, they only use three digits. They probably should have done this a while back, but they're trying to catch up now. So the compensating rate analysis is not triggered by doing this because they're only looking out to .001 anyway. But to your point, it's effectively an increase because you are paying on .0006 right now, and you'd be paying on .001 going forward. But it doesn't trigger the compensating rate analysis because they only run it off of the three digits. Okay, so, and is that subject to a recall? No, sir. Okay. That's all I have. Thank you, Mayor. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Director, if you go to the slide, that's Urban Services Average Tax Bill. A few back right there. If I'm reading this correctly, so if I'm looking at option one, if I'm the owner of this $235,000 house, I'm paying $394.80 according to last year. So if we go with the recommended option 5, 411, I'm looking at the actual sort of checkbook impact on the consumer, on the customer. So I'm looking at, in this case with option five, a $14, $15 increase per year in my bill, right? That's correct. I've actually got a better slide behind the question slide that will show you the impact with the general services rate as well. So it's actually a little less than $12 a year impact, so less than $1 a month impact. Okay. That's good to know. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Councilmember Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Looking at the urban service, let's see. Let's go to the general services options. My main question is going to be when you have a compensating there item, Does that mean that the Raiders is going to be so that our revenues would not change that much? I mean, define compensating there. So this would actually decrease our budgeted fund balance by a little over $600,000. So we would see a decrease to our budget. So it would be a tax cut for the general populace? Yes, it would be a tax cut. Now, when you go to the next step, it looks like you're looking at option three, the 4%, and that would be a tax increase of $139,800. Now, that's in the general services fund. It's a revenue increase, but it is actually a tax decrease. You would be paying .002 less than the current rate that you paid the prior year. So that would be a reduction in a property owner's tax for that particular, the general services fund? Correct. So how are we voting in a package or, I mean, general services fund, I like the idea of that. But when I get over to urban services. We'll have individual motions. Individual motions? Okay. Yes. Okay, let's go while I've still got the floor. Urban services fund, options one through five. Compensating there would be a revenue loss of $144,000? Correct. And I want to clarify the fact that this is Urban Services Fund and not the general fund. We're always dealing with the general fund when we're talking about budget, surplus, fund balance, etc. the urban services fund has different areas there and and some of the funds have more money than others so if you went to the compensating and there would just be a 144 000 reduction there what are you all recommending on that because i'm we're recommending option five So you're recommending a $4 million increase in the Urban Services Fund? Yes, and $2 million of that is attributable to streetlights, which has been running on average $2 million. Yeah, I know, and I voted the last time for a streetlight increase, but I'm not voting for it this time. And I'm not voting for the Urban Services Fund balance of your option five. So that's our two main categories I think that we're looking at, right? general fund urban services fund okay thank you well and then those small pieces at the end the special special taxing districts uh council member warley thank you mayor um so when we look to the general services fund and obviously this is the same thing we did last year the house bill 44 rate of the four percent and the reason I just want to make sure that people understand the reason that while it seems like an increase but is actually a decrease in the taxes is because for the second year in a row property values in our community rose by eight percent so even with reducing the tax rate we are getting more revenue because the property in our community has continually become more and more expensive in and of itself. I was more pointing to the increase in the property values that continue to skyrocket in our community. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Savigny. Thank you again, Mayor. Could you go to that last chart? Again, your last one, which showed the difference between when you add them all up. That one? Yeah. When I read this, the way I interpret it mostly is I get the idea that property values have increased. But basically, what I see is that we are basically charging for streetlights what we should have been charging for. And we are reducing our general fund by what we should be reducing it by. So, I mean, to me, I just look at this as it's just like any fund accounting. it's you're trying to make our funds balance and you're trying to make the people pay for the service that have the service of streetlights is it in essence what you're trying to do versus making the entire population pay for the service of streetlights that they may not be getting so that's that's just kind of a way to look at this for me at least so thank you very much thank you is there anyone else who wishes to speak? If I could give the vice mayor the chair. Mayor, you are recognized. Thank you. Melissa, Director luker can you remind me which year i've sort of forgotten which year the council raised the streetlight tax was it was it 2013 or was it before that so it was raised in fy20 and i believe at the time it was raised the four percent rate and it brought us in about seventy thousand dollars of additional revenue at the time. It didn't help a lot. No. It helped a little. And do you know if the council has raised it before that or has it been the same for For decades. Before FY20, it had not been changed since 2004. It was lowered in 2004 and again in 2005. Okay. I should know that. I was there, but I've kind of blocked it out. So I guess what I really wanted to say to council members is some perspective. We have been trying to fix the streetlights for a long time. And this is the one, when you look at the urban services, this is the one urban service that we heavily subsidize. because it does not bring in what it should bring in to pay for the service. And this is exactly the point of why we are recommending this. Ever since I think I've been a mayor and a council member, we've talked about the Streetlight Fund and how it can't pay its own way. and we're fortunate in years that we have a nice fund balance. We're not so fortunate in years when the money's tighter and we really can't afford that subsidy. So I wanted to give you just a little perspective of some of our conversation leading up to this recommendation and why we think it's the right thing to do. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. The chair is yours. Thank you. All right. Any other comments? Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor. So just for clarification, so we're doing this because of years of non-action? Is that what I'm hearing? What you just heard is the council in 2020 raised it, I forget how much, but it brought in 60 or 70,000 extra dollars. So we're still subsidizing about $2 million from the general fund and other. So the council, I don't remember why we lowered it in 2004 and 2005, but it has not been at a rate that can pay for the service. And we all know that the Kentucky utilities rates have gone up. so I don't know if our charges for the polls have they gone up I'm sure they have yes we pay for the polls and then the people pay their individual rates so I would put it in that kind of perspective so yes I mean it's all interpretation you know councils have a hard decision on on tax rates And it's not easy when we try to keep our cost of living low here for people. So anyway. Thank you, Mayor. Any other questions, comments, motions? Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And per the recommendation of the administration, I move to set the general services fund Avalorium real estate tax rate at option three. Second. Council Member Ellinger seconds. Are there any comments or questions? All right. All those in favor of that motion, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? No. All right. We have one no vote. Councilmember Fred Brown. Councilmember James Brown. Next, I move to set the General Services Fund Avalorum Personal Property Tax Rate, including public service companies, non-commercial aircraft, and non-commercial watercraft at option three. Second. Councilmember Baxter seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. I move to set the General Services Fund Avalorum tax rates for motor vehicles, tobacco and storage, agricultural products and storage, insurance companies, capital, and abandoned urban property at the same rates as the prior fiscal year. The current rates are .088, .015, .045, .15, and 1.0. So move. Second. Council Member Ellinger seconds. Are there any questions or comments? We're kind of going down through that page 48 slide. No comments or questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And per the recommendation from the administration in regards to the urban services, I move to set the Urban Services Fund Refuse Collection Avalorum Real Property Tax Rate at Option 5. Second. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Is there any comment or question? Council member Ellinger. Thank you. Is that just for refuge collection? Did you say? Yeah, that's just for refuge. Okay, thank you. Yeah, any other questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, one no vote. Council member Fred Brown. All right. I move to set the urban services fund streetlights at Valorum Real Property Tax Rate at option 5. Second. Council Member Baxter seconds. Questions or comments? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? No. Will you please raise your hand if you're opposed? Okay, we have Council Member Fred Brown, council member Tana Fogle and we have council member Preston Worley and council member Chuck Ellinger anyone else all right that motion passes I move to set the urban services fund street cleaning at Valorum real property tax rate at option five. Council member Reynolds seconds. Are there questions or comments? All those in favor please say aye. Is anyone opposed? All right that passes. I move to set the Urban Services Fund Public Service Company's Avalorum tax rate at option five. The combined amount of three urban services rates and and insurance company capital at .0920, the same rate as the prior fiscal year. Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor Wu. Seconds. Are there any questions or comments? Council Member Worley. So, Council Member, you made the motion for the public service companies and the insurance capital jointly there. Is that correct? I did. Okay. Okay. Director Luker, will you again explain the public service companies, what that is? Yes. The public service companies pay the total of the three urban service rates. So whatever refuse, streetlights, and street cleaning are set at, the public service companies pay that total cost. And then the insurance capital, can you say why we combined that? I'm not sure why we combine an emotion. Well, the public service companies is automatic based on the first three entities up there, so it only changes when they change, correct? That's correct. Were you combining them because that one's, I mean. I'm going to defer to Dave here because he drafted the motions for us. Now, you didn't jump up this time, Dave. These are in the same category as the ones you voted on earlier, the motor vehicles, tobacco. They don't change every year. You just leave them the same, pretty much. And that's the rate we've always used for it. But it's just a separate calculation. But to your point on the other ones, what you're doing is you're just adding up the numbers to come to the total number. And as to why he did them together, I think they can be together or apart, right? However, because they don't change based on what they mean. Do you want them together? The motion has them together. We've always had them together, but I don't think we have to. As a practical matter, what would happen is we're just going to add them up to get to that rate anyway. That's what we're going to do. So it really doesn't matter. Okay. So does anybody have a problem with having them together? You were just curious, I suspect. Yes, exactly. Okay. Any other questions? Okey-doke. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket for the Thursday, August 17, 2023 council meeting an ordinance pertaining to all of the tax rates for general services and urban services as provided in the respective amounts from the above motions and levying them at these rates on each $100 of assessed valuation. Second. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Are there questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Please raise your hand if you're opposed. Council Member Fred Brown. Council Member Preston Worley. And Council Member Chuck Ellinger, is that all? Okay, thank you. That motion passes. Thank you, Mayor. Just a few more. Special districts, I move to set the public health Avalon real property tax rate at 0.0243 and the public health Avalon personal property tax rate at 0.0243 and to place an ordinance on the docket for the Thursday, August 17, 2023 council meeting levying the taxes at these rates on each $100 of assessed valuation. Second. Thank you. Council Member Baxter seconds. Are there questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And I move to set the soil and water conservation district ad valorem real property tax rate at 0.001 and to place an ordinance on the docket for the Thursday, August 17, 2023 council meeting levying the tax at this rate on each $100 of assessed valuation. Second. Thank you. Council Member Plowman seconds. Are there questions? Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. We did not have that slide. Could you put it up there for us, please? That went in our packet, unfortunately. Yes, we just got the rates. Okay. Can you put it back up, please? because i did not quite understand the um the explanation when we talked about the soil about the 0.0006 and then about the 0.001 that it goes to three um digits but that is an increase of 40 is it not because it was it's it's a it's a tax increase but it doesn't trigger the compensating rate analysis because they only run that up in the three digits what what is it going to what what is it in in real numbers and because it really is 40 increase if i'm doing my numbers correct yes so in real numbers their revenue is going to go from 216 570 to 360 960. So almost from what to say the numbers? 216,570 to 360,960. 150,000 difference? Okay. Thank you. Other questions? No? All right. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? No. All right. All right. If you'll show me your hands, please. Council Member Fred Brown, Council Member Denise Gray, Council Member Tana Fogle, Council Member Preston Worley, and Council Member Chuck Ellinger. And that is 245. Okay, that motion passes. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And I further move to schedule a public hearing on these Avalorum tax rates for the council meeting on August 31st, 2023 at 6 p.m. Second. Thank you. Is there any question? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Okay. Are you finished? Yes, ma'am. I really appreciate you. Every year, this tax, all these motions are a lot to digest. Thank you, Council Member Brown. Thank you, Director Luker and Dave Barbary. Now it's time for council reports when you're ready. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. First off, I just want to wish all of our Fayette County Public School students a great first day of school tomorrow, including my eight-year-old who's going into the third grade at Maxwell. I hope that everyone has a great semester and a good school year and that the parents will figure out a new rhythm. I'm not a morning person, so it's really hard for me to get up early. But for those of us that this is a big adjustment, I just hope that it goes smoothly for all the families. And we just really appreciate our school teachers, and I want to say that over and over because they have a really hard job. We had a very exciting thing this morning in the 11th District. We had the Town Branch Park groundbreaking. It has been several years in the making, and it was very exciting to see so many people gathered there. We're so grateful for Town Branch Park leaders, people on the board, all of the people that donated money to make it happen. And I just know that Allison Langford and Ben Schaefer especially have just been working tirelessly on this. And I really appreciate the council's support and the mayor and everybody that was there this morning. And I know that this is going to be a transformative park, not just for the 11th District, but for the whole city. And I'm really excited about it. And it was just thrilling to be able to see that it's finally getting started. And we look forward to its completion in 2025. And then I also wanted to just mention there is going to be a yard sale in Gulfview Estates. And it's their neighborhood yard sale. And they're just starting up a neighborhood association again. So that's very exciting. And that will be 9 to 5 in Gulfview Estates. So go check it out. And I hope everybody has a good first week back in session. And it's exciting to be together again. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. I know you recognized the Southeastern baseball players earlier, but I have a picture. And I wanted to put their smiling faces up so that we could tell them congratulations and just let them know that our community is so very proud of them for representing Lexington and the Bluegrass and the state and the country and all the people. So congratulations to those boys, and it sounds like we'll see them soon down here. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor. Over the break, I just want to mention on some great things that were happening in the 6th District that have never happened before. But first, I was honored to be the only member of council to travel with Commerce Lexington to Washington, D.C., to lobby on our behalf. It was great to have a conversation with the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries. So I was speaking with both sides of the aisle, since we are nonpartisan and we work with all. But I wanted to say a special thank you to Representative Andy Barr for ensuring that this trip was such a great experience for us all and having the ability to have conversations with leaders who are making decisions about hopefully sending some more money here to us here in Kentucky, especially here in Lexington. And for the first time ever in the 6th District, we are having events in our park that are community-led through this office. Our first event was on a Saturday, I guess the first Saturday of this month, maybe, where we had our first fitness day. And fitness is important, and it was about bringing the community together. I want to thank Council Member Lynch for joining me and supporting me in this endeavor. And right here you see a picture of me teaching Zumba because I'm a certified instructor. So we will also be having another fitness day and community day on October 14th. I'm looking forward for everyone to mark their cameras and fill the park because it's about coming together. It's about our health, and it's about getting to know one another after going through COVID. And the following day, Sunday, I'm glad to say thank you to the 859 Ravens and to our sponsor, Guide Realty, for helping to put together this back-to-school event in Constitution Park. My goal as Councilwoman is to make sure that we not only have events on one side of our district, but every single side of our district. Many backpacks were given out, and there are plenty of smiles, so thank you. It's a community endeavor. It takes not only the government entity, but it takes being intentional with our for-profit businesses and even our nonprofits to make sure that our community is more of what I would like to say a family, maybe. And unfortunately, we had to cancel our first ever movie night due to inclement weather or possibility of severe thunderstorms. So we will be rescheduling that movie night for Dixie Park at a later time. But look forward to doing so much more in the 6th District to make sure that we're all engaged and that we know one another. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. I want to make a quick announcement that the Friends of the Lexington Senior Center is having their annual gala where they honor Lexington luminaries. The event is on September 14th at 6.30. The doors open at 6. It's at the Senior Center. For ticket information, you can go to their website, lexseniorcenterfriends.org, or you can call the Senior Center or visit the front desk at the Senior Center. This year's honorees are PG Peebles, Janet Holloway, and retired Lieutenant Colonel David Carter. So hope to see you all there. Thank you. Council Member Plowman. Thank you, Mayor. I want to share a few things. This weekend is Black History at Ashland. And this is a first year event for this, but I think it's going to be pretty cool. On Friday night, it's going to be celebrating African American scholarship, history, and heritage. On Saturday, we'll include the Slave Dwelling Project and Vendor Fair. And it's going to showcase local and national voices, artists, experts, and demonstrations and guests can find resources to trace their genealogy. And so I think that would be really interesting to do. But also the Hamlet project, the Sense of Place will be there with our own booth. And excited about that. And also just share with you, we're close to halfway point on our goal. So that's exciting. Thursday night this past week, the mayor and I joined the Kentucky, Fayette County Farm Bureau at the Eastland Shopping Center for a demo. I think we've got some pictures here. There we are. It was a demo of the new turtle tube and great wall grain bin rescue equipment. Now, I keep saying I really was a city girl, but ever since I've been in the 12th district, I've learned more about ag. But I didn't even know this happened. But when you think of it, when you have a big silo and it's loaded with corn, when somebody slips and falls, they can go through that corn and suffocate. So my office was able to help with funding. You can see how this goes in and encases the individual and helps them get out of that. So it was very, very interesting. And those are our pictures. That's a close-up there. And on the heels of that, I will tell you that Egg Day is coming up for all of us. And that's going to be on the, I think that's a Thursday, on August the 30th. And you've received information about that, but we'll detail that for you as we move closer. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Lynch? Thank you so much, Mayor. I just will have one announcement. All summer long, I've been meeting with my neighbors at events I've been calling Shayla in the second. I've been having office hours at the different awesome parks in the second district. And so my next one will be tomorrow at Whitney Young Park from 4 to 6 PM. So I just want to invite all my neighbors in the second district to come meet me at Whitney Young Park. Bring your questions, your concerns, your ideas. I look forward to engaging with you tomorrow at Whitney Young Park. And then if you're a member of St. Martins Village, our Neighborhood Association meeting is at 6 o'clock. So right after my office hours in there. So stay for the Neighborhood Association meeting as well. Thank you so much, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member LeGree. Thank you, Mayor. Two things, number one, and I think we might have some photos. I had such a great time this past weekend. I got to serve as a table judge at Lexington's picnic with the Pops event. As you can see, it was pretty raucous. It was an evening of symphonic disco with the Boogie Wonder Band. And the music and the costumes and the tables did not disappoint. And I had the honor of judging the tables with Brooke Raby and with our own Brandy Peacher. And I'll tell you what, it was a really tough decision. So the tables may not have disappointed, but I'm sure the table judges did, because there were too many good tables to choose from. And as you can see there, Vice Mayor Wu and Mayor Gorton were there, and I saw our colleague, Council Member Worley as well. There may have been other people on council who were there, but it was tough because a lot of people were really dressed to the nines. So I just want to say thanks to everyone who came out to participate. And thanks to the Picnic with the Pops Commission and all of their partners for putting on such a fabulous event year after year. And I'm excited to help join in on the planning hopefully next year. And then secondly, as many of you all know, the Woodland Art Fair is a really big event in Lexington's third district each year. And we're looking forward to it again this season. It's this weekend, Saturday, August 19th from 10 to 6, and Sunday, August 20th from 10 to 5. Just as a reminder, if you're traveling through that portion of the city, It will be UK move in season, lots of parents, lots of students, and lots of people looking to buy art, so it's a great time to use alternative transportation like biking and walking. I'm always a fan, but this is a great weekend to get around that way. But in terms of this year's Woodland Art Fair, there are going to be over 180 artists with food trucks and performances and local breweries and vineyards and it's always a fun time especially if the weather cooperates that's it mayor thank you I think thank you I think there were I had thought there were a little over 2,000 at picnic with the pops I was told there were closer to 4,000 it was packed and one of our very own commissioners was there Nancy Albright councilmember James James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to be brief because I want to give some of my time to Director Duncan. But first, I just wanted to, I seen in the packet where we were receiving the donation from Vulcan for Stone for Lexington's third welcome sign. I just want to thank them. They've donated stones for our first, for both of the welcome signs, the one on Newtown Pike and the one off of Vercels Road. So we appreciate them for being a good community partner. And then I also just want to recognize Firefighter Ashford and Jeff for their recognition as unsung heroes. I know a lot of folks do a lot of good work and don't get the credit for it. And I remember when Jeff went up to give his remarks, he said that he appreciates the recognition, but he knows there's still a lot of work to be done. And I think that says a lot, acknowledging that, but continuing to show up every day and do what needs to be done. We appreciate it. And then the Firefighter Ashford, I've known those young men and that family and Ms. Sue since I was younger. Just good people, salt of the earth family and I'm not surprised by all the good that they're doing in the community, so just congratulations. So Director Duncan, if you don't mind, could you come and tell the council a little bit about what's going on with the expansion advisory committee, the timeline, what this group is charged to do, and how this folds into what the council has requested of the planning commission in regards to expansion. Thank you, council member Brown. In response to council's direction through the goals and objectives to expand the urban service area, planning commission chair Larry Forrester has formed an advisory committee to recommend a new urban service area to the planning commission. So the planning commission then can lead the process of a master plan for that new land. Chair Forrester has formed the commission with 14 members. Four of them are council members, three of them are planning commission members, and the remaining seven represent a variety of interests throughout the community. They have had two meetings and they're meeting once a week through the end of September. They are gathering information so that they can draft a map and then hold a public input meeting to consider that and then finalize the map following the public input so that they can make a recommendation to the Planning Commission. And earlier today at their second meeting, they received extensive reports from Beth Overman about PDR and from Charlie Martin about the new Sewer Ability Study. These meetings are at 10 o'clock on Tuesdays in the third floor of Phoenix and they are open to the public. Thank you, Director. One thing I'd just like to add, and I think there was some clarity at today's meeting about the aggressive timeline of this group. And it's not because there's a lawsuit pending and we're trying to rush to get ahead of it. I think what this group is charged with doing is providing information that's going to be helpful to the planning commission. And then also the consultants that will help with coming up with the expansion master plan. So I just think it's a lot of work to be done, and I think this group is moving expeditiously to try to get it done. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Director Duncan. Councilmember Sevigny. Thank you, Mayor. Well, this Saturday, it's who let the dogs out? Who? Who? Doggy paddle. That's right. So it is the doggy paddle at Southland Pool. they do not have life cards for those dogs and thank you very very much for bringing that up but you may you may bring your dog to the southland pool from 9 a.m to 3 p.m this saturday and it is the last time that that water will be used so and you can register your dog at the lexingtonhumanesociety.org for that event. And it's always a fun one, and I hope to see some folks out there. Thank you. Council Member Fogle. Thank you, Mayor. So let's start with some sad news about the Juliana Market and the folks who were giving really, really good service, people of color that will be moving out of the Juliana Market if they have not already done so. That's the sad news. And then I'll just hop, I don't even know where to start with this other news because we went through pool design. We have a facelift at Dunbar. I want to thank Sally Hamilton, Commissioner Ford, Monica with Parks and Recreation. That's some good news in the first district. We had a pool pageant, the very last pool pageant for the old pool. And so we're planning to have a come take a piece of history, just neighborhood fun day grilling and music. And when they start to tear the pool down so people can come and take a break or take a piece, that pool's been there since 1920. So that's a lot of people have swum in that pool. And so that's a bittersweet, but I'm so happy that, thank you Mayor, Mayor about the pool at Douglas Park? No, we're not going to start with the dogs. Ribbon cutting. We have some townhouses right there on race and third, and I'm excited about that in the first district. Of course, the splash park opened over in Charles Young, And there's some nice pictures of the mayor being really, really soaked by the children. And so we also had the hip hop, it's 50 years of hip hop. And we had that celebration at the Lyric the other night. The Lyric has become alive and we are just having so many artistic events and folks gathering and coming together over in the first district. We also had Reverend William Barber of the Poor People's Campaign. He was here presenting. He presented poverty equals death, and that was big for our community. And so you all, you know, you hear about third and am, but I just want the council to know that the unhoused is a city issue. It's usually pointed toward first district, but if you look out at Brandon Crossan, And you go up through there at night, because we travel in the compassionate caravan. They're under trees and in fields, and so they're all over Lexington. And I know that in the next budget, we're going to do something. I just have that faith. And so my announcement is that on the 21st is the first district advisory board meeting. This starts at 6 o'clock. It's at Charles Young and food will be provided. So thank you. There's a lot going on. Yes, ma'am. Are there any other council reports? All right. We'll move on. There is a mayor's report. If I could have a motion to approve. I heard Vice Mayor Wu first. Council Member Fogle seconds. Are there any questions? It was a pretty big one this time. All right. All those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. There also is our price contract bid recommendations, if I could have a motion to approve. Thank you, Council Member Plowman. And who seconded? Council Member Legree. Are there any questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. And then finally, I did want to mention, I know it's been reported, But Sunday, our 138th Field Artillery Unit, which is headquartered here in Lexington, had a deployment ceremony, and they left yesterday for the Middle East. There were over 100 of them there, and the Beck Center at Transylvania was packed with families and soldiers who were being, you know, celebrated, and it was their farewell. They will be in the Middle East for nine months. They will be in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Kuwait. And this unit outside the headquarters, it represents people from 41 counties in Kentucky and 11 different states. Those people come here to do their service with the Army National Guard. And I just want everyone to keep those families in your thoughts and prayers. they'll be without a loved one for nine months and this is very difficult both my son and my son-in-law have deployed and it is it's rough on the families and so i really appreciated that so many people came out to farewell them and we hope that they have a safe experience they're mostly peacekeeping over there but you never know so we're thinking of them and hoping that the time goes quickly so with that we do have two people signed up for public comment and this is for issues not on the agenda and just since we've been away from the horseshoe for a while i'll I'll remind everyone that the speaker comes to the podium and states their name and council district for the record. And each person will have three minutes to speak. And the first person up is Dottie Bean. Welcome. Welcome back, council members. We are becoming more and more concerned with how the city is spending our money. Dottie, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Dottie Bean. Yep. District 8. Thank you for the record. I haven't moved. Still here in Lexington. We are becoming more and more concerned with how this city is spending our money and with the poor transparency from the administration. We heard and read that $1 million in rescue and recovery money is being spent soon to re-roof the Pam Miller Cultural Arts Center on Main Street. As an infrastructure project, it is a good thing to, if really needed, if the costs are examined and justified instead of accepting a big price tag like that and not comparison shopping. We also would like to see some cost control imposed on a project like that. Any of us who have re-roofed our homes know that we need to hire reputable and reliable people and make sure that the, the roof area, or the support area is examined for any rotting woods. And so we are not, let's see, we're not putting a new roof on a support structure that has big problems. Recently, while you were on break, we heard on the street that the roof may be only part of the problem. The third floor has never been finished. And there are plans to restore that. Boy, I'm a bad. I have a bad handwriting. That a quick inspection, a quick inspection with that. has shown that it is being prepared for some sort of construction, as all the rooms contain some sort of display cases, and the walls and the floors are bare. If that is the case, the administration should tell you and us before that work starts. As you know, it was a controversial project during the Miller administration, and we know the full story has never been told. Please use your powers as council people to closely question this project and invite the administration to tell all of us exactly what is being proposed there. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Rick Day. Welcome. Welcome. My name is Rick Day and I live in the third district. HR may be finished with compensation issues, but I am not. The last time I was here I said I did not think most council members understand our compensation issues and that I would try to change that. mentioned again mentioned the 2021 reallocations over the past few weeks several employees have asked how are you ever going to get council members to understand if you have also said by the way why do you keep bringing up the 2021 reallocations first I told them I will continue to give council information and examples eventually if they don't understand it will be because they don't want to. I told others that prior to the MAG study the reallocations are the largest compensation issue that went through council in the last eight years. The reallocations were quickly and quietly pushed through council unnoticed by most people. I told them they will not understand why the reallocations are are so important to the compensation conversation until they see how the results of the MAG study compared to the results of the reallocations. The next time I am here I am going to show you that comparison. You will see how it worked out for the employees whose compensation was addressed in the MAG study versus those who were reallocated prior to the MAG study. In the meantime if you are interested and I hope you are see how much information you can find on the reallocations as I mentioned above they were quickly and quietly pushed through council look at the blue sheet on a June 24th 21 21 agenda there's not much there it tells you what they're going to do and how much it is going to cost but not one reason was given why the reallocations were necessary. At least the MAG study tried. HR policies are pretty clear on what it takes to request an end to justify reallocation. They even tell you what are not reasons for reallocation. I have done open records requests, talked to the directors, and met with HR. I have received virtually no information and and ironically what very little information i did receive showed that the reallocations were not justified apparently the reallocations just happened maybe you can find out why and how if you do let me know and when you see the results of the mag study versus the results of the reallocations i hope you will understand why so many employees are frustrated thank you very much Thank you very much, Council. That ends our public comments, so I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. We have a few. All those in favor say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you very much.