2026-09-16 - Budget Advisory Board

09:45September 16th meeting of the budget

09:48advisory board uh meeting to order. And

09:50can we get a roll call, please?

09:53>> Miss Baler, she's on

09:57here.

09:59Mr.

10:00>> I'm here.

10:01>> Mr. Dermo here.

10:03>> Mr. Jeffoffris

10:04>> here.

10:04>> Mr. Laughlin

10:05>> here.

10:06>> Miss Matellis Thompson

10:08>> here.

10:08>> Miss Milroy

10:09>> here.

10:10>> Mr. Orani.

10:13>> M. Perryman Jones

10:14>> here.

10:15>> And Cher Brown

10:17>> here.

10:19>> Thank you.

10:21>> Okay.

10:21>> I didn't realize. Sorry.

10:23>> Um, we're gonna if I can get a motion.

10:26We everyone should have received the

10:27minutes from the August 12th meeting.

10:31Can I get a motion to approve or just

10:36>> Is there a second?

10:37>> Second.

10:38>> Okay. Anyone have any questions or

10:42um changes that they saw that need?

10:47Okay. All right. Uh all in favor?

10:51>> I

10:52>> I

10:53>> Okay. Any oppos?

10:55Okay, minutes pass. And did we have

10:59anybody that was here for neighbor

11:01input?

11:01>> No one has signed up for neighbor.

11:03>> Okay. All right. So, um, any

11:07>> take a vote on allowing us to

11:09participate.

11:10>> So, Bill, I was told that we did not

11:13need a vote tonight since you and

11:14Melinda both signed up within a certain

11:17window of this meeting, but

11:21[clears throat]

11:21>> is that we're good? Okay.

11:22>> Yes. Okay.

11:24>> So,

11:24>> thank you. Sure. Um any old business?

11:30Okay. New business. Um we have a new

11:33member of the budget advisory board. So

11:36Mr. Laughlin, Robert Laughlin has is

11:39joining us from district one and I would

11:42like if you're able to to for you to

11:45give us kind of tell us about yourself

11:47and um welcome. We're thrilled to have

11:50you.

11:51Um, I wrote it down because it keeps me

11:53from rambling too long.

11:56>> Uh, I want to say good evening to

11:58everyone. First, I want to express that

12:00I'm honored to have this board and I'm

12:02glad that my business background was the

12:04key factor in being offered the

12:06position. Before this board, I served

12:09six years with the Aviation Advisory

12:11Board.

12:13My professional path started with an Ivy

12:15League diploma leading to a job with IBM

12:18and then serving in the army during the

12:20Vietnam War.

12:23From there, I took the entrepreneurial

12:25leap and founded my company in 1972.

12:30Maybe some of you weren't even alive in

12:3272, but not sure about that. and I'm

12:35pleased to still be working and running

12:37that same company full-time today as the

12:40board chairman and the largest

12:41stockholder. My company's headquarters

12:44is in Maryland and we generate about 8

12:47million annually. We specialize in

12:49security products supplying schools,

12:52hospitals, DoD, government agencies,

12:55including the White House. As a matter

12:57of fact,

12:59we work through a dealer of a network of

13:01dealers. We have 200 dealers in the

13:03United States. While the majority of our

13:06sales are right here in the US, we also

13:09maintain an international footprint

13:11spanning many countries overseas.

13:16On a personal note, my wife and I moved

13:18to a water uh front property in Coral

13:22Ridge Lauderdale

13:25many years ago, becoming a full-time

13:28homestead resident. However, along the

13:31way, we managed to raise four children.

13:34I'm looking forward to bringing my years

13:36of hands-on business leadership and

13:38operational experience to support this

13:41board's mission. Thank you.

13:44>> Well, welcome. Thank you for being here

13:47and we'll look forward to uh we we hold

13:49quite a few meetings of this board as we

13:52move into 2027

13:54working on the 2028 budget. So, we're

13:56happy to have

13:57>> I'm still getting used to 2026, so

14:00[laughter] I'll work on that.

14:02>> We we project forward here.

14:04>> I see. Okay.

14:05>> We try to anticipate the future and

14:07prepare for it.

14:08>> That's right. Um Okay, moving on to um

14:12new business. Melinda, I know you're

14:14online and uh you have a presentation um

14:18a CRA presentation. So,

14:20>> do you

14:22>> uh can you hear me? Okay,

14:23>> we can.

14:25Okay, let me just um so um can let's see

14:30can someone there pull up the

14:33presentation? Okay, great.

14:35>> Um so yes, hi everyone. I um and welcome

14:39to the the new member I think you're you

14:41said your name was Robert.

14:42>> Yes, that's right.

14:44>> Um so um I am Melinda Baler. So, um,

14:49Robert, just for information, each of

14:51the board members had taken a subject

14:53matter uh this year to, uh, provide some

14:57input and a little expertise and focus.

15:01Um, so we'll get into that later with

15:03you. But um this is I'm I'm talking

15:07about the comm community redevelopment

15:09agency and um first of all um I'm going

15:13to definitely relay on rely on staff

15:16some for background of this

15:18presentation. Um full disclosure you

15:21know as in some of the other

15:22presentations staff did prepare the

15:24presentation. We had several meetings

15:27and I appreciate their help with this.

15:29Um but I will be asking for some of

15:31their guidance. um and some of their

15:34contribution just because they are the

15:36experts on uh the CRA. Um what is the

15:41purpose here for us? Um so our review as

15:45you may recall those of you who were

15:47here last year is to weigh in on the

15:49continuation of the contribution to the

15:52Northwest Progresso Flagler CRA. Um you

15:57may this this is a map of the northwest

16:00progressor

16:02area. It's about 1,400 acres and um last

16:06year as you may remember um the city

16:10decided to start funding it at 50% of

16:14the tip that had previously been done.

16:16And we also lost the tax monies um from

16:20the various taxing authorities um like

16:22Broward County, the the North Broward

16:25Hospital District and the Children's

16:27Services Council um of Broward County.

16:32So um we want to evaluate the current

16:34and planned performance and progress of

16:37the CRA and we want to assess the

16:39current and planned uses of CRA funds

16:42and alignment with the city's

16:43priorities. And um this is just um a

16:48brief map that I wanted them to

16:52um I think they've done in the past but

16:54prepare for you just to show you where

16:56what are the boundaries of this

16:58particular CRA.

17:00This is one CRA and we'll just call it

17:03Mia. Um the second CRA is actually the

17:07um central city CRA and we get to that

17:09one at the end. Um but this shows you

17:12the basic boundaries between Bard and

17:14Sunrise. Basically the city border on

17:18the left on the west and then US one. Um

17:22we've got several neighborhoods, three

17:24neighborhoods from district two and

17:27about four neighborhoods from district

17:29three.

17:30uh seven neighborhood associations

17:32total. Um and this is a 31year-old CRA.

17:37Um

17:39so let's move on to the next slide.

17:44So a little bit of history. This was

17:47established in 95. Um this a 31year-old

17:51CRA. So there's a lot of information

17:54that I think that uh the city has

17:56learned about in running the CRA. Um it

18:00was designated uh in June of 1995

18:05um as the area was considered blighted

18:08and then it was that same year that the

18:11city established the redevelopment trust

18:13fund which collected tiff uh revenues.

18:17Um in 2025 the um we as I had mentioned

18:23the redevelopment truck fund uh it's

18:26only being funded at 50%.

18:29uh it was extended for 10 years and

18:32there's a review every two years and

18:34you'll see there the five strategic

18:37goals of the CRA economic development

18:41housing residential life improvements

18:44transportation mobility parking

18:46redevelopment support so that's a little

18:48bit of the history um the commission is

18:51the board of the CRA and they also have

18:54an advisory board um that meets the

18:57second Tuesday of each month at I

19:00believe is it 3 p.m.

19:02>> 3 p.m. Yes.

19:04>> Um and that meeting is at the CRA

19:07office. Um and I believe we do have

19:10Vanessa here today. Vanessa Martin.

19:12>> Yes, I'm here.

19:14>> Okay. It's a little hard to see who all

19:16is there. She is the acting manager. Um

19:21and their offices are still separate um

19:23at 914.

19:26Um So anyway, what what's been going on

19:28with this CRA and how are they funded?

19:31So just a quick recap. Um the whole idea

19:35here was to use public investment to

19:38help stimulate private redevelopment.

19:41And so what what is the TIF based on?

19:45How are they getting money? So this

19:47year, for example, they're going to be

19:49funded at about 6.2 million by the city.

19:53So we take the base year which was 1995

19:56and what was the taxable value 208

19:59million. Then we take our July 2026

20:03estimated taxable value which is over

20:06three billion. Uh difference between

20:09that multiplied by our millage rate gets

20:14us to about 12.4 million and then at 50%

20:18we're at six the 6.2 2 million and

20:21that's what is in the city um budget

20:24this year for the CRA.

20:27Are there any questions on that?

20:32Um just just to look back at from the

20:35past. So, you know, this year you see

20:39that the funding is is quite a bit

20:41lower, but you see in the past that a

20:44lot of there had been a lot of funds.

20:46Um, and that was because of the other um

20:49taxing authorities within the geographic

20:52district that participated. So, it

20:55wasn't only the city, it was Broward

20:57County, it was the North Broward

20:59Hospital District, and it was Children's

21:01Services Council of Broward County. And

21:04you can see that um having those other

21:08partners and taxing authorities did play

21:11a big role in the 30-year history. Um

21:14but moving forward, it's just the city

21:16of Fort Lauderdale um that's going to be

21:18doing the funding. Excuse me.

21:21Um

21:25so projects and incentives. Um staff, am

21:28I am I right to say there's been about

21:3073 million

21:33um um used of the projects that have

21:36been completed.

21:38>> Yes.

21:39>> Okay. So, this this just gives you some

21:42major completed projects. Um I think

21:46what's important to note here is that

21:48take note of the affordable housing.

21:50That's a big area for city of Fort

21:52Lauderdale that's very important. And

21:54you see those projects at the top like

21:56the Arcadian, the Atly Mount Herman

21:59Gallery at Matt Village. Um some of

22:02these are have just opened um in 2025.

22:07Um also take note, you know, there

22:09there's some other items um educational,

22:13commercial, uh YMCA they contributed to.

22:17So it hasn't just been um affordable use

22:20housing projects.

22:25Uh next slide. So just looking ahead

22:29looking ahead um they want to complete

22:31ongoing initiatives such as the

22:34affordable housing and job creation. Um

22:37I keep hearing about these parking

22:38challenges along cystrunk um and maybe

22:41staff can explain that a little bit

22:43better um that have been a key barrier

22:45to economic growth

22:48and then uh evaluate projects have not

22:50begun to ensure they are aligned with

22:52the redevelopment plan. And I guess here

22:55maybe I think this is an area for

22:57central city too. Uh staff could you pos

23:00possibly give a little background or

23:02short update on the parking challenges?

23:06>> Yes. So currently along Syron Boulevard

23:08we have the YMCA that's experienced a

23:11lot of experiencing a lot of challenges

23:13with parking and also the other small

23:16businesses that we have along the

23:17corridor. So, um, we're meeting with,

23:20um, owners of properties along the

23:22corridor to try to come up with surface

23:24parking, uh, to help alleviate the

23:26concerns that businesses may have.

23:30[snorts]

23:30>> Okay.

23:31And I think that's true also when we get

23:33to Central City, I believe.

23:36>> As far as Central City Oh, sorry. Go

23:38ahead.

23:39>> No, no, you can you can talk you can

23:40speak on Central City real quick. As far

23:42as central city is concerned, um they

23:45don't have any parking challenges uh at

23:47this. Yeah, it's only Northwest right

23:49now.

23:51>> Okay.

23:52>> So, um this slide um basically take note

23:56of the amount of affordable housing

23:58projects.

24:00Um what this is showing you is that um

24:0359 million which are either in progress

24:07or uh approved um but They have not

24:12started yet. Um, and I guess I'll leave

24:15it to staff if there's anyone in

24:17particular you'd like to point out. Um,

24:19but these are ones that are not complete

24:21yet, but it is 59 million in progress or

24:25not started.

24:27>> Correct. Yes, there's 59 million that's

24:29in progress or not started. Of that, we

24:32have about uh 63% that has not started.

24:36Um, as far as the in progress, we do

24:38have 37 of the 59 million that's

24:41actually active

24:45>> and I don't know if the board will have

24:47some questions on those not started.

24:49Maybe something we can talk about at the

24:50end of presentation, but I'm happy if

24:54there are questions, please let me know.

24:58Uh, next slide.

25:02So measuring excess on the affordable

25:04housing um just in total there's been 15

25:09total mixed used affordable housing

25:11projects whether they're completed in

25:13progress or on hold not started um again

25:17we said the total CRA contribution has

25:19been about 71 million um total number of

25:23units is 2303

25:26and affordable units uh is at 954 and

25:30this is with you know everything in

25:34pipeline. Um

25:37I think it's important to note here the

25:39note here that completed affordable

25:41housing has generated approximately 15

25:44times in capital investment for every $1

25:47of CRA funding.

25:52And you see that amount there of the

25:53total estimated capital investment $673

25:57million.

25:59And that that's you know how how the

26:02private

26:04area is getting involved. Um all right

26:07so moving on we're measuring success

26:10also by category. So I just looked at

26:12the top five here. So 54%

26:16of the 130 million spent um is in mixed

26:20use affordable housing. Um your second

26:23category is um

26:27the uh excuse me is uh the college after

26:31school programs. Um 11% has been spent

26:36there. Uh number three is commercial and

26:39retail with um 10% of the money spent

26:42there 12 million almost 13 million.

26:46Uh number four was mixed use housing

26:4811.5 million which is 9%.

26:51And then running out the top five is

26:54restaurants and 8% of the 130 million um

26:59has been spent there. There's some other

27:01smaller areas, healthc care, um painting

27:05and landscaping and rehab purchase

27:07assistance um where there has been uh

27:11part of the 130 used.

27:14But again, you know, they want to

27:16emphasize the largest portion totaling

27:1971 million supports mixed use affordable

27:22housing. So this is a good bar chart

27:25illustrating that.

27:29Okay, going on

27:32um job creation. Um

27:35the target was uh I think 25 jobs to

27:40have been awarded from uh or number of

27:43CRA residents hired to work with

27:46businesses that have been awarded

27:47incentive funds. So target 25 26 actual

27:5225 and target for 26 is 24. Um they're

27:57hoping for more in this regard with

27:59completion of phase one of the Holy

28:01Cross Hospital.

28:05Uh next slide.

28:09Um these are active capital improvement

28:12projects. So these are not these are

28:14actually city projects that money can be

28:16spent on. And so we've got um actually

28:19I'd ask staff if you could maybe give a

28:21little update on some of these. I see

28:23we've got life to date and available

28:27balance. Um could you maybe highlight a

28:30couple of these as these are city

28:33projects within the CR within the MPF

28:36CRA?

28:37>> Yes, we typically as far well I would

28:40just say midlock mid midblock flashing

28:43beacon is actually a city project uh I

28:46guess uh looked at by the TAM

28:48department. We have the cyjunk crossbox

28:51because the the city of Fort Lauderdale

28:53CRA pretty much we fund the projects and

28:56the city departments like TAM or public

28:59works uh pretty much oversees it the

29:02construction of it. So those are two uh

29:04city projects that are actually being

29:06worked on

29:08within the area.

29:11And

29:12>> I'm sorry that was the midb block

29:14flashing and

29:15>> cyrum crosslocks their CRA dollars and

29:19within the CRA. Yes. But city

29:22departments actually um work on those

29:25projects.

29:26>> Yeah. And Melinda, I would add to what

29:28Vanessa shared that for the new Carter

29:31Park Senior Center, that was a scope

29:33that was funded by the Northwest CRA and

29:36it's being implemented in concert with

29:38the park bond program. So those will be

29:41implemented together. The eligible scope

29:43um for Northwest is being tracked

29:45separately in this project because it

29:48can't fund the full scope of the

29:50project. So that's one of the amounts.

29:53>> And then for streetscape improvements,

29:55anything you'd add on that one?

29:56>> Uh well, we are we completed two uh

29:59along Cester corridor, but the third one

30:02it's through a purchase and sale

30:03agreement right now.

30:05>> So it says those are improvements.

30:07>> Yeah, it's really indepth. That's why

30:09all of them are

30:11>> Yeah.

30:12>> So these are again our capital

30:14improvement projects. So a $100,000 or

30:16more useful life of 10 years. So we

30:18handle that separate from our operating

30:20funds.

30:21>> Gotcha. So there are funds other than

30:24the CRA as you've shown that are going

30:26to these projects

30:28>> in some of them. Correct.

30:30>> For some of them. Yes.

30:33>> Okay. Um I'm gonna turn off my air.

30:37and then we'll move to central city.

30:47[snorts] Um so central city is a lot

30:50smaller uh 344 acres that's 25% the size

30:55of the MPF. Um this is a separate CRA.

30:58It's the younger CRA. It's only 14 years

31:01old. Um you can see the boundary here uh

31:04boundaries here.

31:07Um, primarily this is Middle River

31:09Terrace, South Middle River. Um, and

31:12some of Lake Ridge um, so so mostly

31:16district two. Um, I can't sorry not not

31:20uh, well Lauderdale Manor is um,

31:25district three and I guess it does

31:29go over US1 there on the east and um,

31:33interesting the way the map is drawn.

31:36I'll just say that um moving on to the

31:39history

31:44and established in 2012 because there

31:47was the definition of sum and blight

31:49again um as there was in 95 for the MPF.

31:53Um but the city is the only contributor

31:56to this uh central city CRA. Um in 26 a

32:00master plan consultant was approved to

32:03develop the overall vision and

32:04direction. I actually think that that

32:07may have happened in the last two

32:10months.

32:10>> Yes,

32:11>> if I'm not correct at commission. Um,

32:14and then at the same time, a land use

32:16plan amendment consultant was approved

32:19to create the planning and regulatory

32:20framework uh to implement the vision for

32:23the area. Um, and I think I'll have

32:26staff elaborate on this a little bit

32:28more. The resoning efforts that are

32:30currently on hold uh due to Florida

32:33Senate Bill 180

32:35Um I will say that um again the board

32:38for this CRA is the city commission but

32:42it does have an advisory board. Uh they

32:45it looks like they meet the first week

32:48first Wednesday of the month at six

32:50o'clock in tower 101 as far as I can

32:53tell. Um,

32:56and I think that here is where maybe

32:58staff can explain a little bit about um,

33:00you know, it's a much smaller CRA still

33:03getting going and maybe what has been

33:06some of the delays for central city

33:08between the resoning effort and getting

33:11the master plan consultant.

33:14So there is a city process with

33:16everything and so um the there's a

33:19timeline where we did submit um to the

33:22procurement department and we have to go

33:24through a solicitation process in order

33:26order to procure both master plan and

33:29the loopa consultant. Uh so that took

33:31some time. Um but we're here now and we

33:34were able to procure both consultants.

33:37uh the master plan consultant uh

33:39received an award of about $200,000 to

33:42provide an overall vision for the CRA

33:44central city CRA while the land use plan

33:46amendment consultant coming in to do

33:48deal with the framework uh we

33:50contributed about $189,952

33:54toward that effort. Um as we noted um

33:57the reasonzoning is on hold um due to

34:00the Florida uh Senate bill um until

34:03October of 2027.

34:07And I guess how does the resoning impact

34:10um getting work done? Does it?

34:16>> Well, impact getting well in order,

34:19>> you know, I guess. Yeah. I mean, I guess

34:21like how is are certain things on hold

34:24because of the reasoning?

34:27>> Yeah. So, I'll help with that. Melinda,

34:30this is Chris. So,

34:32we have an example in the Northwest

34:33Progresso CRA where the city went

34:36through a resoning effort that created

34:37the Northwest Regional Activity Center.

34:40So, [clears throat] similar to like, you

34:42know, you're familiar with the downtown

34:43Regional Activity Center, but this was a

34:45way to generate development potential

34:47for an area that wasn't seeing a lot of

34:50development. So, it introduced density,

34:51mixed use opportunities and things like

34:53that. And we've seen that really take

34:55off. So, similar idea here in the

34:58central city CRA, which was to create a

35:00zoning district that allowed for mixed

35:02use and a little bit higher density

35:04along major corridors like 4th Avenue

35:06and 13th Street. So,

35:09>> ah, okay.

35:09>> So, the idea is to introduce something

35:11like that to kind of spur new

35:13development, higher value development,

35:15and really help grow that tax base and

35:17that tiff revenue coming into the CRA.

35:20>> Okay. Thanks. Thanks for explaining it

35:22in those terms. Um

35:25Chris, so I so that is we don't we won't

35:30know though for a while it sounds like.

35:33>> Right. And and that's why I I'm trying

35:36to think back when the Northwest

35:37Progresso when the Northwest Regional

35:39Activity Center was created. But there

35:40is a bit of a lag between creating that

35:43and then property owners or developers

35:45coming in and working with current

35:46property owners to kind of implement

35:49that vision and begin those new

35:50developments.

35:53Like you said, this is a younger CRA, so

35:55you know, over the course of the 30-year

35:57horizon, you know, the idea would be

35:59that that would take off and take place.

36:02>> I understand. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So,

36:05yeah, I see. You know, you want to to

36:07have the you want to be if you're

36:08reszoning for even um you know, higher

36:12better use, potentially more

36:15flexibility, potentially perhaps um more

36:19uh density. I'm not sure. Um I can

36:23understand like that there's a bit of a

36:25pause on putting money into some areas.

36:28Um this is just showing the revenue

36:29sources since 2021. This is solely from

36:32city of Fort Lauderdale as I explained.

36:35And so you know it has compared to the

36:38MPF with its 36-year history.

36:42um you know this is a smaller

36:44incremental tip um based on um the

36:48taxable value when it started and the

36:51current taxable value and then um the

36:54the city's uh port millage rate and then

36:58assignment off of that. So um smaller

37:01monies in the budget um but just to give

37:04you an idea

37:07uh moving on to the projects um

37:11have been some major projects that staff

37:13have highlighted here. Um I know Call to

37:16Africa is a property improvement

37:18incentive project. Um art they're

37:21building out a commercial warehouse and

37:24I will say that um there seems to be in

37:27these some on some of these projects um

37:30forgivable loan incentive. Is that

37:33correct, Zach?

37:33>> They're they're all forgivable loans.

37:35Yes,

37:35>> they're all forgivable loans. Okay.

37:37after a fiveyear term if they um all of

37:39the contingencies are met they're

37:40forgiven after five years.

37:42>> Okay. So then the um I do see the

37:48Prospect Homes project um

37:51which it looks like some assisted

37:53housing. Then there's the sculpture. I

37:55don't think the it moved ahead yet.

37:58>> Um

37:59>> it was approved on the 15th.

38:01>> Oh okay. Approved but not but it has not

38:03been

38:04>> in no not fabricated or installed. No.

38:07>> Okay. And then the Northeast Fourth

38:10Street Complete Project I think is the

38:12big one which um primarily that is the

38:17between just Northeast Fourth Street

38:18between Sunrise and um or am I maybe I'm

38:22thinking of something else. What is it?

38:25Can you can you explain a little bit

38:26about Northeast Fourth Street Complete?

38:28So, the Northeast Fourth Street Complete

38:30Project um that's where Broward County

38:32contributed about a million dollars in

38:34grant funds. Uh the CRA um contributed a

38:38little about 20,000 toward the shortage

38:41that they did have. In addition to that,

38:43they did contribute about $200,000 for

38:45light pole installations. Um they're

38:48pretty much up. We're just waiting for

38:50FPL to kind of turn the lights on, but

38:53um other than that, um that project is

38:55pretty much complete at this point.

38:58Okay.

38:59Okay. No, thank you for updating on

39:01that. And so, looking ahead, continue

39:03the Northeast 13th Street lane

39:05elimination extension study. Um, I know

39:08a lot of improvements have been made on

39:1013th Street. Um, advanced job creation

39:12efforts and complete property and

39:14business improvement projects.

39:17Um, I see on the next slide, um, as we

39:20did with the MPF, that there is there

39:22are some city capital improvement

39:24projects. Um, and there's a strong focus

39:28here. I think that this is what some of

39:30the residents in the neighborhoods are

39:33are particular eager for. Um, are there

39:36any of these that you'd like to

39:38highlight? I know you talked a little

39:39bit about

39:41um No, actually we haven't discussed any

39:44of these. Um, any of these staff would

39:48like to just kind of highlight?

39:50>> Yes.

39:52So the streetscape improvement, Central

39:54City has been accumulating these funds

39:56for years. Of course, we started out

39:58with limited TIFF dollars. So we have it

40:00at 2.6. So we're ready and eager to get

40:03that master plan vision um unfolded so

40:06that we can start doing some of those

40:08things that um we come up with the

40:10projects, priority projects. Um and then

40:12we just spoke about the sculpture that's

40:15um being managed by the department of

40:17sustainable well I think it's community

40:19services department um and so and we

40:23talked about the northeast for uh

40:25complete project and then obviously um

40:28the streetscape uh lighting portion

40:32>> right and then I guess the s office

40:35buildout would be that would be within

40:38the outer

40:39>> correct yes Okay. You guys still plan to

40:42move there?

40:44>> Yes, we are.

40:48>> Um Okay. So, just um finally, the number

40:51of homes landscaping and painting

40:53completed. Um the fiscal 26 target was

40:5625 homes and number of residents hired,

40:59jobs created. Um the fiscal 26 target

41:03was 15. I don't know did we do we know

41:05if we met those targets

41:08>> or close to meeting them? Well, for 20

41:112026 where we're currently in right now,

41:13we did um award about 25 homes for the

41:16painting and landscaping program. We

41:18just haven't finalized payments at this

41:20point, but yes, we did.

41:23>> And with the jobs created as well,

41:26>> that data we're collecting right now, so

41:28we should have an update shortly.

41:32Um, so that's the end of I sorry I went

41:34through it kind of quickly but um I'm

41:37happy to go back and and and you know

41:39have the the Bab ask questions. Um I

41:44know we had more kind of a robust

41:46discussion on this I but a lot of you

41:48weren't there. It was last I believe it

41:50was May 14 or May 7 of 2025 and that was

41:54when the city was making the decision um

41:57formal decision to um start contributing

42:01half and that was when Brower County and

42:03the other taxing entities were moving

42:05away from uh contributing anymore to the

42:08NPF.

42:10Um, and I believe that um, correct me if

42:13I'm wrong, staff, but um, with the the

42:16evaluation that the the commission plans

42:20to do every two years on the CRA is just

42:23for the MPF, although I do like to

42:26remind everyone there are two CRAAS. Um

42:31and I think that you know this is

42:33something that probably will be

42:35discussed by commission in January. Um

42:38when you know at their goal setting

42:40workshop um the CRA is funded. Um it was

42:46approved actually at commission um I

42:49think maybe I would say four week two to

42:52four weeks ago one of the meetings. Um

42:54the budget for the CRA proposal 27 was

42:57already approved. um and the very close

42:59to the numbers you saw on the on the

43:01slide. Um but I think that um you know

43:06that may want to weigh in again as we

43:09did before

43:11um to the commission on continuing the

43:14funding of the CRA. Um and we were in

43:18favor um overall and when we voted in

43:21May of 2025

43:23um for the city to continue funding the

43:27NPFC at the 50% um amount.

43:32Um so hopefully that gave you especially

43:34since some of you are new. Um I'm sorry

43:37I haven't been able to meet you in

43:39person yet just due to this um me

43:42recovering from this accident. But um

43:45hopefully gave you a brief overview of

43:47this topic and I appreciate uh city

43:50staff um Laura and Erica and Vanessa

43:54putting work into the presentation.

43:57Uh Bill,

44:00>> thank you. Great job Melinda of putting

44:02this together along with staff. A lot of

44:05good information. A couple questions on

44:08the um the college and after school

44:11programs.

44:13uh 11% is that 11%

44:17just last year or is that 11% over the

44:20entire 30 years of the program?

44:23>> That's from fiscal year 2017 to current

44:27about the $130 million that's being

44:31accounted for.

44:33>> Okay. And what is the return on

44:36investment for that program? Are there

44:38any measurables or

44:41what what are we seeing as a result of

44:43that money being spent for that?

44:45>> The only thing we've been seeing with

44:47that would be the job creation. So the

44:50job creation is what I provided uh 24

44:53jobs 25 jobs I provided that at the last

44:56meeting in January.

45:00So a total of 40 so a total of about 49

45:02jobs have been created.

45:05>> Okay. So keeping that in mind since

45:10we're first first year budget of 50%

45:13reduction

45:15how how has the prioritization

45:19been achieved to adjust for that 50%

45:21decrease for all across the board on all

45:25those projects. Did after school

45:27programs take a 50% cut or did they

45:30remain the same? Did affordable housing

45:34come down or did they, you know, so the

45:36different areas, how have they

45:38readjusted with that 50% reduction? So

45:41the 100 the 130 million that you're

45:44seeing right now has already been

45:45awarded. So moving forward, we've just

45:48limited whatever we applicants that

45:50we've received um by saying that we

45:52don't have funding for anything that

45:55comes our way. So the 130 million has

45:57already been awarded. So we're only

45:59accounting for things that are in

46:01progress or not started but all awarded.

46:07>> So then moving forward

46:11what what what you're saying is you have

46:12no money for any new projects.

46:14>> Nothing major. Right. So we want to take

46:17care of some of the smaller projects

46:19like the residential enhancement

46:20programs, the security programs that we

46:23do have and anything that is smaller

46:25that we can um afford to do. We do have

46:28a few applicants that came along the

46:30way, some returning applicants. Um, but

46:33at this time we're just prioritizing to

46:35try to complete the projects that we

46:38have started or awarded.

46:41>> Okay. And then my last final question

46:43is, is there a threshold that after

46:46three years, five, because I see you

46:49have one affordable housing project

46:51that's never even been started from

46:532021.

46:54What's the what's the cut off on those?

46:56where they defund that project.

46:59>> So as far as

47:00>> those projects

47:01>> Yeah. So um as of January 2026 I've

47:05actually uh started giving coal calls

47:08then meeting with the awardees who have

47:10projects who haven't started and so now

47:12I'm ramping up meetings and I'm actually

47:14meeting setting bi-weekly meetings and

47:17also trying to condense exactly which

47:20ones would I need to address who aren't

47:23ready to move forward because what I'm

47:25noticing is a lot of the projects that

47:27were awarded maybe um in a financial um

47:31may have financial concerns not being

47:33able to um find the funding to start the

47:37project. And so if that's the sense,

47:39then we would then have to address those

47:41concerns with the legal department, then

47:43go to the CRA board of commissioners to

47:45make that determination.

47:48[clears throat]

47:49>> And so is it up to the CRA board or does

47:52the city commission then have any say so

47:54over this or is it entirely up to the

47:56CRA board?

47:57>> It is entirely up to the CRA board. um

47:59after I make assessments, I would want

48:01to have some data to track that I did

48:04reach out and there were steps that I

48:06did take in order to, you know, give

48:08each awardee an opportunity to um find

48:11the funds or whatever items that they

48:15haven't met.

48:17>> So, Bill, the CRA board really is the

48:20city commission. We have an advisory

48:22board, so I don't want to confuse the

48:23matter, but there's an advisory board

48:26for both districts, but then the city

48:27commission sits as the CRA board and

48:31they're the final decision maker.

48:32They're really the only decision maker

48:34on all of these things. The other board

48:36is advisory to the CRA board. So when

48:39you say when we say the city

48:40commissioner CRA board, we're kind of

48:42talking about the same thing and and who

48:44has that decision- making authority.

48:46>> Okay. Thanks for that clarification,

48:48Chris.

48:50>> That's all I have.

48:53>> Thanks for that question, Bill.

48:56Any does uh any of the other uh BAB

48:59members have questions on the

49:01presentation or perhaps um on this one

49:05or both of the CRAAS in general?

49:07>> So why don't we go around the room and

49:08see

49:10>> Olivier? I'm sure

49:12>> I'll I'll go last. I'll let you start

49:15>> um

49:17during this presentation. Thank you

49:18Melinda. I think uh you took the time.

49:21It's very thorough, very detailed, very

49:23insightful. I I have to say that it's

49:26one of these areas where I was not very

49:28clear and I think it helps a lot. Uh yet

49:31there are still some questions for me uh

49:33to put it into context. Um

49:37I think I believe we were as a budget

49:40advisory board uh within the scope uh

49:44the large scope that we are looking at

49:46of the numbers we were asked to sort of

49:50chime in in terms of the metrics of

49:52success uh what kind of criterias we

49:55would recommend the city commission to

49:57consider moving forward even if there is

50:00not much more money there's still some

50:03commitments somewhere

50:05um and what kind of criterias we would

50:08would we recommend. So I think that's

50:10our that's our task and we need to make

50:13progress as a board towards that

50:15direction to be very very clear on what

50:19are the key criterias and maybe be

50:21beyond 49 jobs. uh and maybe there are

50:24qual quantitative criterias but also

50:27qualitative in terms of uh you know

50:29quality of life environmental uh

50:32landscape uh etc etc. So I think we need

50:36to from that really rich and interesting

50:39um insightful presentation to go there

50:42to be ready when the city commission I

50:45don't remember when is a deadline by the

50:46way uh for us to chime in as a budget

50:49advisory board. Uh Laura, I

50:52>> thought we said every two year.

50:53>> Yeah, but when is the next

50:56>> opportunity for us or

50:58>> defer to the manager, but typically we

51:00would want you to win before goal

51:01setting because that would be one of the

51:03things they likely would discuss during

51:04goal setting. So if you wanted your

51:06opinion considered that would be good

51:08timing. So January would be

51:10>> So that would leave us maybe a session

51:13in December if we if the board uh adopts

51:16the same resolution as last year to have

51:18a working session in November or

51:19December. I don't know if that's going

51:21to be on the table today but that would

51:23be our opportunity. So a few question to

51:26Melinda and staff. I I to to clear to

51:30clarify understanding there are several

51:33categories and when I see mixed use um

51:37another category like restaurant,

51:39commercial, retail, there's there's some

51:41overlap in those categories, right?

51:43Because it's mixeduse. Um, so I' I'd

51:46like to understand and there there on

51:49the the the commercial and restaurant

51:51retail, I think there was some scrutiny

51:52about some of the loans and some of the

51:55help that we awarded in the past uh and

51:59how it was spent or you know what came

52:02about uh those projects uh some of them

52:05abandoned or not really uh coming to

52:08fruition. So that would be interesting

52:09to know if there is some overlap between

52:11those categories. That's my first

52:13question. how many projects in the

52:15pipeline uh and how many uh uh

52:20nonaffordable um uh housing I don't

52:25remember the numbers so if we can go

52:27back to that slide I would appreciate it

52:29or maybe Melinda you can refresh my

52:31memory and last but not least I'd like

52:33to know from staff how much from parks

52:35and rex um came uh into action because

52:39you mentioned that there was some on

52:41some project some contribution from

52:42parks and rex bond correct Correct.

52:45>> Um yeah. So what I shared was that for

52:48Carter Park um there was a scope of work

52:51that was funded through the Northwest

52:52CRA. Um and that's going to be completed

52:55at the same time the parks bond.

52:57>> How much does it represent in value?

53:00>> How much parks bond are in there? Um

53:02I'll have to get back to you because I

53:03think there's a variety of sources. It's

53:05not just parks bond. We put some general

53:07fund money in there too.

53:08>> So how much was that more or less? I

53:11would be interested in

53:12>> for the [snorts] Carter Park

53:15>> and any grants uh funding. Uh

53:18>> I think there was

53:19>> part of that or because I I heard that

53:21there was some grants uh funding in

53:24there.

53:26[snorts]

53:27Did I misunderstand?

53:28>> I don't have that in front of me but I

53:30can look.

53:30>> Okay. Thank you.

53:32So my main concern moving forward after

53:35those questions and clarification is how

53:39do we work as a team as a board to sort

53:43of going towards the qualification of

53:46the criteria the matrix of success maybe

53:48beyond 49 jobs uh for the the amount of

53:52money because if you do a return on

53:53investment like Bill uh mentioned you

53:56know uh the number of job created versus

53:58the number of millions invested uh we

54:01need to add more than that it's very

54:03reductive. It's obviously uh not all. So

54:06maybe qualitative criteras and quality

54:09but my concern is to um uh get the ball

54:12rolling as a group as a work uh working

54:14team towards those very practical

54:17question that we should actually be able

54:18to uh formulate uh uh answer before uh

54:23making a recommendation.

54:26>> Does it make sense? Um yeah, absolutely.

54:28And I before staff chimes in because

54:30they will have a lot more knowledge than

54:33me. I would just say um you made a good

54:36point about I know we had the discussion

54:38last year about um how much is being put

54:41towards restaurants for example that

54:43sometimes fail or you know that have

54:45turned over and that was one of the

54:47reasons when on one of the slides

54:50instead of giving the amount in dollars

54:53of you know where 130 million has been

54:55spent um for restaurants it's been 8% of

54:59the um the total 130 million. Um, so

55:03just wanted I I was just remembering the

55:06discussion from last year. Um, so just

55:08wanted to show that it's not the it's

55:11it's probably uh it fifth out of all the

55:15projects are restaurants and that's 8%

55:17of the money so far. Um, so anyway, we

55:21can still discuss that. Um but by far I

55:24think that to your point uh beyond job

55:27creation Olivier um measuring success is

55:31certainly um would also be the creation

55:37of affordable housing unit. Um so

55:41whether you're talking completed in

55:42progress on hold or not started

55:46um the total number of of affordable

55:49units on slide page 10 is almost a

55:52thousand. And I and I do think that

55:54that's significant. I think that's a

55:55great metric. Um but you know the awards

55:59by category obviously there's been you

56:02know um college after school programs

56:06money spent. There's been um other

56:09things that get to the five strategic

56:12goals of the NPF8 redevelopment plan.

56:15Um, and that redevelopment plan, I think

56:18actually, uh, correct me if I'm wrong,

56:20staff, but I think it was just revisited

56:22in 2025.

56:24>> Correct.

56:25>> So, the so the redevelopment plan is

56:27actually very good. It's a very

56:29interesting um, document. And the five

56:34strategic goals there are economic

56:36development,

56:38housing and residential life, public

56:40improvements,

56:42transportation, mobility and parking and

56:44then redevelopment support. Um so for

56:49the the redevelopment plan itself there

56:51are five strategic goals which I think

56:53that there are it makes sense to have

56:55some metrics around um

56:58>> when we're talk when we're talking to to

57:00the board to the commission

57:02>> agreed but I would drill down to the

57:05idea that uh beyond the economic

57:08development and some hard numbers

57:10quality of life uh improvement of the

57:13environment uh there are some softer

57:15factors that maybe can come into play

57:18because they they actually part of those

57:20strategic goals.

57:22So I don't know how we can formulate

57:24that and quantify that a little better.

57:30>> Open to your thoughts on that but um

57:33yeah I can't remember there may be I

57:34just answered portion I knew so staff if

57:36you have your answer for Libya go ahead.

57:41Do we interview uh some residents about

57:43how the neighborhood gets you know um

57:47improved, how they feel it, how they

57:50experience it? Is there a

57:52>> We do have community meetings and so at

57:54the last community meeting most of the

57:56residents are looking for homes

57:59affordable affordability and so that's

58:01why we focused a lot of our efforts on

58:03that and so um there's a homelessness um

58:06that they're experienc experiencing in

58:09the Northwest area. Um so that's why we

58:11addressed it and that's why I focused um

58:13primarily for you to see that breakdown

58:15um of the affordability. We also have an

58:18infill housing program that um where we

58:21transfer land to the develop developers

58:24for them to actually pass that cost

58:26savings off to uh residents. So we're

58:29really trying to um put that emphasis on

58:32affordability.

58:33>> I understand. But when you talk about

58:34retail uh or restaurants, all of that

58:38also has an impact on how lively and

58:40improved the you know the the the

58:43neighborhood feels and I think that

58:45would be interesting to also have some

58:47qualitative factors around that. Only my

58:50thought I don't know how my colleagues

58:51feel about that.

58:54>> I was wondering could staff put back up

58:56the map of the MPF just that slide for

59:00everyone. I think it's page it's my page

59:03three. Um

59:06just I think it's useful for you guys to

59:09see the area that we're talking about

59:12just because

59:14um last year discussion I know a lot of

59:17you weren't there but there was some

59:19argument towards you know well you know

59:22Flaggler Village is part of this and

59:23it's already booming why should it

59:25continue and I just want be clear that

59:28um this MPF really spanned

59:33uh far more Then and that's the the

59:35central city. If you could put on the

59:37MPF

59:39which is uh page probably page three.

59:44Uh

59:46yeah, here we go. So Flaggler Village,

59:49yes, it is part and it is obviously

59:52doing well, but obviously you see there

59:55are six other neighborhoods um that

59:58comprised here. And I think absolutely

1:00:01it's important to to to have some

1:00:04metrics for success. Um I think that

1:00:07staff have presented some and there's a

1:00:09there's a lot of stuff going on in the

1:00:11pipeline. Um, but just want to make sure

1:00:13people understand that this is this is

1:00:16going to the our western border um here

1:00:20and these these are areas that that when

1:00:24we are hear from neighborhood

1:00:25associations like at the council or I

1:00:28think even when you're talking at city

1:00:29commission meetings where there are

1:00:32still issues, there are still um you

1:00:35know there is still blight, there's the

1:00:37need for affordable housing. Um so I

1:00:40think the work my personal opinion is

1:00:42the CR CRA work is definitely not done.

1:00:47Um they need to finish the job. Um

1:00:49they've been uh I think

1:00:52uh renewed for another 10 years with a

1:00:55review every two years. Uh there's still

1:00:58projects in redevelopment needs

1:01:00outstanding. Um so I I very much you

1:01:04know you know my personal opinion is yes

1:01:06let's put the thing together but I'm as

1:01:08I was before still very much in favor

1:01:11particularly now that city it's not a

1:01:14lot of money um you know 6 million

1:01:18dollars in out of the general fund um

1:01:22this year I believe 6.2 2 million. Um,

1:01:25you know, this area still needs it for

1:01:29the CRA to finish the work it started in

1:01:32my opinion.

1:01:33>> But I also wanted to add uh I also

1:01:35wanted to add um to your point about job

1:01:37creation. That performance measure was

1:01:39just done for fiscal year 25 and 26.

1:01:42We're still in fiscal year 26. However,

1:01:45I want you to take into consideration

1:01:46fiscal year 27. We are anticipating

1:01:49phase one completion of the Holy Cross

1:01:52Hospital which is expected to bring over

1:01:5480 plus jobs to the area and

1:01:56scholarships to kind of help the

1:01:58residents as far as quality of life that

1:02:00you mentioned the scholarships and

1:02:03degree programs for them to you know um

1:02:06find jobs within the hospital. So we're

1:02:08expecting about 80 plus jobs.

1:02:10>> It's an important number and perspective

1:02:12to have.

1:02:14>> One thing I'd also add to that is

1:02:18Almost all of our agreements to the CRA

1:02:20for funding have a public benefit

1:02:22contribution either back to the

1:02:23community or back to the CRA. So there's

1:02:26a $10 million incentive to a mixeduse

1:02:29project or at least an affordable

1:02:30project in Progressive Village that the

1:02:32CRA recently entered into. The public

1:02:35benefit from that isn't just affordable

1:02:36housing. They are transferring a number

1:02:38of lots, infill lots, and other types of

1:02:41properties in the district to the CRA

1:02:44for redevelopment as other types of

1:02:46housing. Um Vanessa mentioned the

1:02:48Broward the um Holy Cross project which

1:02:50will provide the educational

1:02:52scholarships plus jobs for folks from

1:02:54within this district. Um we have

1:02:56projects that are providing revenue

1:02:58share on the mixeduse parts of their

1:03:00developments or even on the I think the

1:03:02rent um back to organizations to do work

1:03:05in the district. So there are those

1:03:09broad measures in terms of number of

1:03:10jobs created or number of units created,

1:03:12but there's also a lot of public benefit

1:03:14components to these funding agreements.

1:03:17And Melinda, I think we should probably

1:03:18talk to you about these too if we

1:03:20haven't already because I think it's

1:03:21important to see that these investments

1:03:24actually do have tangible things that

1:03:26come back into the district and into the

1:03:27CRA to continue and further the goals of

1:03:30that redevelopment plan. and to quantify

1:03:33them would actually be a good exercise

1:03:35for everybody.

1:03:39>> That would be great if if um perhaps we

1:03:42could get the get some of that in

1:03:45writing or in

1:03:47>> p in picture form in in some fashion um

1:03:52>> kind of doc document

1:03:54memorialize um what you're saying Chris.

1:03:58>> Absolutely.

1:03:59>> Jason, did you have any questions? uh

1:04:01note just a very quick comment uh which

1:04:04is that seeing the map is very helpful

1:04:06and to to see the such as Flaggler

1:04:08Village and Melissa's Melinda's point

1:04:11about uh work that remains to be done is

1:04:13also um is also important but I just

1:04:17always think about resources being

1:04:19ultimately fungeable so that the six

1:04:21million that is um the six million in

1:04:25tiff money could go into the general

1:04:27fund to help other areas that are also

1:04:30needy. So I just see it as um you know

1:04:35other areas that might be in need don't

1:04:37have a district that helps them retain

1:04:40and reinvest in their community as well.

1:04:42>> That's why it would be a model uh and

1:04:44the criterias of performance and the

1:04:46matrix would actually be useful moving

1:04:49forward for the commission. That's why

1:04:52our job would be actually particularly

1:04:54meaningful.

1:04:57>> Correct.

1:04:58>> Yes. I'm equing your

1:05:03>> Yeah, my comment really is is more about

1:05:05just back to Olivier's point even to

1:05:07Bill's point before in just the analysis

1:05:11of the opportunity for like diversion of

1:05:14some of those funds to other

1:05:16opportunities and if we have kind of an

1:05:17A and B test for that because I do like

1:05:20to think of it in the perspective of

1:05:23the city and the CRA they're doing a lot

1:05:25to invest in the neighbor in these

1:05:27neighborhoods and I feel like It's not

1:05:29something that

1:05:31I mean I'm on the flag of Village Civic

1:05:32Association. I know that anytime we have

1:05:35whether it be police, whether it be

1:05:36public works, whether they're in the

1:05:37area, we love being able to interact to

1:05:39know like what what is it that we could

1:05:42be doing as citizens who have to take

1:05:44some ownership of our neighborhood and

1:05:48understand that the investment is not

1:05:49just this endless windfall of cash that

1:05:52there's there's a finite number that

1:05:53comes to that. And and I I always think

1:05:56back to like when it comes to calls for

1:05:58service for whether it be fire or

1:06:00police, it feels like when you're just

1:06:02sort of feeding the beast and throwing

1:06:04money down the well, it goes back to

1:06:05like have we ever had an intersection

1:06:07flash point of maybe if we spent more

1:06:10time on the educational component of it

1:06:12and empowering residents to take

1:06:14ownership of their neighborhood that

1:06:16would ultimately kind of

1:06:20bring everything back to even or or zero

1:06:22out the funds.

1:06:23I feel like we spend a lot of money to

1:06:25reinvest in these neighborhoods and it's

1:06:26not appreciated because I don't think

1:06:29people recognize that this is ownership

1:06:32they need to take a village just having

1:06:34GXO logistics coming into Fat Village is

1:06:37huge for for the city in terms of

1:06:40bringing jobs to the city but are the

1:06:42people that are working for GXO are they

1:06:44going to live in Fort Lauderdale or they

1:06:45going to live somewhere else

1:06:47>> so exercise in sharing communicating

1:06:49better uh with the

1:06:52>> it's

1:06:52It's the idea that like

1:06:54>> I look at it this way like when I see

1:06:57Chief Goolan go on the news and talk

1:06:58about like somebody left this out there

1:07:00or or Chief Schultz talking about

1:07:02somebody left their car unlocked and

1:07:04they get something stolen out of their

1:07:06car. It's like

1:07:08at what point do we realize like that

1:07:10call for service costs money to this to

1:07:12the taxpayers? So if the if residents

1:07:14can take ownership of their

1:07:16neighborhoods, get more involved in

1:07:18their civic associations. I know I'm

1:07:19probably talking in generalities and

1:07:21naive, but the education going into what

1:07:24what is being invested into your

1:07:26community, um

1:07:29I think that would stop a lot of the

1:07:31endless spending if people took

1:07:33ownership of their community.

1:07:36the end of the day

1:07:39>> to pos it to put it positively

1:07:42uh make them part of the investment and

1:07:45solution. I don't know. I mean, if I'm

1:07:46walking through Flaggy Village and I see

1:07:49garbage on the side of the road,

1:07:51>> I I don't feel like I'm I'll just wait

1:07:54for public works to come over here and

1:07:55do it if it's something that I can pick

1:07:57up and throw away or if it's something

1:07:59that I can add value to my neighborhood

1:08:01by doing that.

1:08:07Samantha,

1:08:09>> no, I'm I'm studying some things. I'll

1:08:12ask a question later.

1:08:13>> Okay.

1:08:14>> I have a couple of questions. Um, just

1:08:16to just to piggy back on what um you

1:08:18were saying, Max, is uh I'm wondering

1:08:22how many of the residents are actually

1:08:26being displaced

1:08:28by the redevelopment

1:08:30um of that area. So as we talk about the

1:08:33people you know um

1:08:38>> taking ownership

1:08:39>> take yes taking ownership

1:08:42is it really the residents from that

1:08:45area?

1:08:46>> Sure

1:08:46>> because um as you talk about

1:08:49affordability affordability to whom um

1:08:52and at what um and at what income level

1:08:56um

1:08:58that's immunity. So, so that's one of

1:09:00the things that when I stepped in I

1:09:01wanted to address um when I did uh sit

1:09:04in at the community meeting um you know

1:09:06and that's one of the reasons why we

1:09:08wanted to bring something to the

1:09:10community where the residents would have

1:09:13an opportunity to change their quality

1:09:15of life. We wanted them to have great

1:09:18jobs. Um and that's why we partnered

1:09:20with Holy Cross for example, right? And

1:09:23so if if residents are able to get

1:09:25better jobs and enhance their careers,

1:09:28then they're able to afford the

1:09:30affordability. So for like a two-bedroom

1:09:32apartment um in the Arcadian, it runs

1:09:35maybe $2,700 [clears throat] a month.

1:09:37That is that is pretty pretty high, you

1:09:40would say, right? Um, but we're trying

1:09:42to work on a cyst trunk view that's

1:09:45supposed to come to the area which is

1:09:47going to be a lot less than that, about

1:09:50$1,000 per month, you know. So, that's

1:09:53true affordability, but that h that

1:09:55project hasn't started yet, but it's on

1:09:57its way to closing around in November

1:09:59sometime. So, we are strategically

1:10:01looking at the numbers and trying to

1:10:03find ways and and means to reduce those

1:10:06costs um and make them more affordable,

1:10:08but also making sure that they are

1:10:10elevating their quality of life in order

1:10:12to afford the affordability. There's

1:10:15>> a couple other

1:10:17Chris within the meantime, right?

1:10:18Because um you said um the affordable

1:10:22housing at their income level hasn't um

1:10:26hasn't started. So, in the meantime,

1:10:29where do they go?

1:10:30>> So, there's been a couple things just so

1:10:32I could chime in a little bit on it. So,

1:10:34um, one thing is Vanessa mentioned some

1:10:37community meetings, but when we re

1:10:39re-uped the Northwest Progressive CRA a

1:10:42year or so ago, part of that

1:10:43redevelopment planning effort was a

1:10:45series of community meetings to bring in

1:10:46folks to understand what their goals and

1:10:48what their objectives were through the

1:10:49CRA moving forward. Um a lot of the

1:10:52redevelopments happened on the corridors

1:10:54especially cy trunk avenue of the yards

1:10:56at nine um which didn't necessarily

1:10:59displace a lot of residential so that

1:11:02was redevelopment of vacant sites or old

1:11:04commercial sites and things like that.

1:11:06The CRA also has programs for the

1:11:08existing residents especially in single

1:11:10family homes to make improvements to

1:11:12their homes whether it's for safety and

1:11:14security or just overall structural

1:11:15integrity or support. We also bring our

1:11:18HCD department in to help with those

1:11:20housing issues that people may face to

1:11:22help them stay in their homes. So, I

1:11:24think there is this focus on trying and

1:11:27it's hard, right? Like it's not an easy

1:11:28thing. We probably, you know, could

1:11:32always do better in that, but to blend

1:11:33in some of this new redevelopment while

1:11:35maintaining the character and and the

1:11:37folks that live there without displacing

1:11:39them. So, it's a really tight balance.

1:11:42Um, and it's it's a challenge. Um, we

1:11:45think we've done well to strike that

1:11:48balance, but it's a valid concern.

1:11:51>> And also with with the education, yes,

1:11:54the jobs might be available, but if you

1:11:57don't have the skills and the education

1:12:00uh to qualify for the jobs, you can

1:12:03bring a thousand jobs within a

1:12:05neighborhood. But

1:12:07>> I think yeah, some of that's been

1:12:08supporting small businesses. So, when we

1:12:10look at some of the lower numbers, a lot

1:12:11of that's because maybe the CRA

1:12:12supported a new restaurant or a new

1:12:15salon or in the area. So, those jobs

1:12:18aren't there not a lot of jobs

1:12:20associated with the small business. So,

1:12:21it's often a few. Um, we've also

1:12:24provided some funds for that YCMA

1:12:26project to help with some scholarships

1:12:27for Broward College to help folks from

1:12:30the area, kids from the area. Had those

1:12:32opportunities to get those skills and

1:12:34some of it is adult education.

1:12:36>> Yeah, adult.

1:12:38So we've been focusing on some of those

1:12:40things where we can we can try to

1:12:43address some of those non capital or non

1:12:47>> so I think we're at the heart of the

1:12:50softer uh you know factors that I was

1:12:52trying to um express and we need more of

1:12:56those because those are um repercussions

1:12:59that are difficult to measure but they

1:13:01are real and if we invest uh the the the

1:13:05the dry uh return on investment might

1:13:08look very modest but if we look at all

1:13:12the the the little flows that it we can

1:13:16explore and generate to further the uh

1:13:19return on investment I think that's

1:13:21where the BAB could actually be uh

1:13:23helping the commission to realize what

1:13:26are the criteras and the the the right

1:13:29decision making I think that's what I

1:13:31was trying to say

1:13:32>> and we tried to balance um some even the

1:13:35redevelopment on on the in particular.

1:13:37So, we recently had the ribbon cutting a

1:13:39week or two ago for the Omegas, which is

1:13:41a local fraternal organization that we

1:13:43helped um rehabilitate their building

1:13:47for their space on Cyro on the Bethl

1:13:49region post is on Cyro. So, again, it's

1:13:52trying to balance folks wanting to come

1:13:54into the area in the district and

1:13:55establish as well as helping folks that

1:13:58are established there kind of continue

1:14:00to grow with the district.

1:14:03>> I have one more question on this one.

1:14:06um of the affordable housing that we're

1:14:09talking about, how many of those are

1:14:11actually um

1:14:16um accessible to residents with

1:14:18disabilities

1:14:19because that always seems to be a

1:14:21forgotten.

1:14:24>> So, that's a good that's a good point.

1:14:26Um, I do know that there is um a a

1:14:29redevelopment that we're working on

1:14:31right now that will have disability

1:14:33accessibility and also we have the Mount

1:14:36Herman that is for senior citizens and

1:14:39disability um residents. So, um that is

1:14:42completed. So, um there are a couple

1:14:44that are completed or that are in the

1:14:47works as well.

1:14:49>> They're all of the size that the Fair

1:14:50Housing Act pertains to them. So,

1:14:53reasonable accommodation requests and

1:14:54things like that.

1:14:56part of that

1:14:57>> because now I'm seeing that all these

1:14:59buildings um everything starts up on the

1:15:02second floor.

1:15:04>> So,

1:15:05[laughter]

1:15:08you know, um

1:15:11as we talk about people with

1:15:12disabilities and um and uh and the

1:15:16elderly, that is a serious fear for the

1:15:20elderly being up on the second floor and

1:15:22higher.

1:15:24there's an emergency and there's one

1:15:25elevator and

1:15:27>> I dealt with it last year at the Pearl

1:15:28at Flyby Village. Every single one of

1:15:30our elevators was down every one of

1:15:33them. And so then then you know don't go

1:15:36on the next door after

1:15:39>> I don't know.

1:15:42>> I don't know how friendly um these new

1:15:46buildings are to the elderly and the

1:15:48disabled.

1:15:50>> Yes. But but yes, Mount Herman is one

1:15:53for the books that we we made sure um

1:15:56it's a very um successful unit for

1:15:59senior citizens and disabled veterans.

1:16:02>> They're all they all have to the current

1:16:04ADA standards again reasonable

1:16:06accommodations design all of it. So

1:16:10>> yes,

1:16:12>> but we are I think senior housing

1:16:14especially is important in that area. We

1:16:16got a lot of folks that are growing

1:16:18older in that neighborhood. they need a

1:16:20place to go from their maybe their house

1:16:22into a more communal living type

1:16:24situation like an apartment. So, it's

1:16:26it's something that I think we've seen

1:16:27some progress in.

1:16:30>> Thank you.

1:16:33>> Sorry, Robert. Sorry.

1:16:34>> Yeah, it was very interesting listening

1:16:36to all the conversation. And I think the

1:16:38most difficult thing in a situation

1:16:40especially if money is becoming less

1:16:42available is measuring like you say what

1:16:46is working what's not working where is

1:16:48the best use of the funds and that's

1:16:50probably the most difficult thing to

1:16:52measure. You can man manage the money

1:16:54you can see where the money's going and

1:16:56so forth but it's very hard to know how

1:16:58much good it's doing.

1:17:00>> But that's our goal and that's our

1:17:02assignment. So

1:17:04>> absolutely I agree. It's just I'm saying

1:17:06is difficult and um I don't know what to

1:17:10say to make it better. I think that um

1:17:14one thing to do is which might be useful

1:17:17and I haven't heard anything about that

1:17:19is learning things from one CRA and

1:17:22feeding it into another. Maybe there are

1:17:24some comparisons that someone has a

1:17:26program that has worked and we then we

1:17:29run that to other places as well. But uh

1:17:32being so new, it's difficult for me to

1:17:35actually enter the conversation and be

1:17:37helpful. But that was the one point that

1:17:40I made. I thought you had a very good

1:17:42point that uh you have to think about

1:17:44what the people want and how you measure

1:17:47the ability to satisfy those wants.

1:17:51So thank you.

1:17:53I don't really have I was just gonna my

1:17:56only thing is you know that bothers me

1:17:59the most I guess are the projects that

1:18:00aren't started that um and I think we

1:18:04talked about this a couple years ago and

1:18:06where those funds sit and I I know Bill

1:18:08asked the question the three years that

1:18:10they have three years to use the money.

1:18:12So, and the other thing is just a

1:18:14fiveyear forgivable loan really just is

1:18:17like I think okay so if we give all that

1:18:19money to somebody they have a fiveyear

1:18:21lease or whatever it is I'm thinking

1:18:23more on the commercial like restaurant

1:18:25side and then we they can just close and

1:18:30>> how many examples and how much money in

1:18:33that category

1:18:35how many how many examples of forgivable

1:18:38forgivable loans were granted

1:18:42and defaulted on basically pursuing a

1:18:45real project. How much money did that

1:18:48represent?

1:18:48>> Well, I would say it's it's a very low

1:18:50percentage. I I went all the way back as

1:18:52far as I could and it's a very low

1:18:54percentage. Um I would say that out of

1:18:59the the hundreds of millions that we did

1:19:01grant $130 million, I would say there

1:19:05were um maybe one or two businesses that

1:19:08were not able to sustain. And how much

1:19:10money did that represent in

1:19:12>> those were less than 225,000. We have

1:19:14numerous uh programs. We have a property

1:19:16and business improvement program which

1:19:18most small businesses utilize which is

1:19:20up to $225,000

1:19:22as well as a commercial facade up to

1:19:24$125,000. So we're talking about the

1:19:27smaller businesses that may not have had

1:19:30a business before and rough times.

1:19:34>> I think that's a good point. I will say

1:19:36our current Vanessa has been doing a

1:19:37great job with this. She's been really

1:19:39scrutinizing our programs and also the

1:19:41ones that are the projects that are

1:19:42funded to try to see where there's

1:19:44opportunities. Our our current iteration

1:19:46of our Northwest Progresso advisory

1:19:48board has also dug in a lot on the

1:19:51wherewithal of applicants and making

1:19:53sure that they have the information they

1:19:54need as an advisory board to recommend

1:19:57to the CRA board whether or not somebody

1:20:00should be funded. So I think their

1:20:03mindset's very similar to some of the

1:20:07They they understand the horizon's short

1:20:09and they need to be a little bit more

1:20:11deliberate with these.

1:20:14>> Wish that would have come maybe earlier.

1:20:19>> Thank I I want to thank everyone for

1:20:20their comments. Melinda, thank you so

1:20:22much. Obviously, a lot of time and

1:20:24effort went into that presentation. So,

1:20:27I appreciate you doing that and

1:20:29reporting it to the board and to staff

1:20:31also for helping you work on it. I'm

1:20:33sure there was a lot of staff time as

1:20:35well. So, thank you. Um,

1:20:39>> vice chair.

1:20:40>> Yes, Bill.

1:20:42>> Uh, real quick, so I kind of we can

1:20:44bring this thing back full circle to how

1:20:48I view it as chair. Uh, we're at a

1:20:51crossroads here. Um, as a as a budget

1:20:54advisory board, as Oliver mentioned, we

1:20:57have some objectives to deliver with

1:21:00deliverables to the commission uh in

1:21:02January at that workshop. Um, and I

1:21:06think we're we have to

1:21:09put together a good plan uh with some

1:21:13some measurables and and statistics as

1:21:17we've already staff's collected working

1:21:19with Linda because you know they have

1:21:22eight years left of planning and

1:21:25reviewing every two years. So I think we

1:21:28as a board have to meet our obligation

1:21:30the city commission so that they're just

1:21:33not for lack of an analogy,

1:21:37throwing a dart at a dart board and

1:21:39picking out a number. Is it 50%? Is it

1:21:4175%.

1:21:43Correct me if I'm wrong, Chris. I don't

1:21:45think it can go below 50% unless it goes

1:21:48to zero.

1:21:49>> That's right.

1:21:50>> Yeah. So, I think we have to and we've

1:21:53been empowered by the commission to do

1:21:56to give them some recommendations to

1:21:58support whatever percentage they choose

1:22:01to do. And I think We probably will need

1:22:05to meet before January.

1:22:08>> Okay.

1:22:10>> So, I think we're going to talk about

1:22:11our meetings a little bit uh later on

1:22:14the agenda. So,

1:22:15>> and and and I think at that meeting we

1:22:18could discuss as a board, but I don't

1:22:20know if it'd be beneficial or not

1:22:23beneficial to maybe invite the uh CRA

1:22:26advisory board to our meeting so that

1:22:28they can hear hear what what our plan

1:22:31is.

1:22:33might be a great idea.

1:22:35>> Um, okay. Laura, did you have I know you

1:22:38had um maybe were you gonna go over the

1:22:40status of

1:22:42>> Yeah. So, Tamiku was able to pull a

1:22:44grant information in the capital

1:22:45project, but I also was letting you know

1:22:47that Bill and Melinda had their hands

1:22:49up. I didn't

1:22:50>> Oh, sorry. I didn't see.

1:22:52>> No, no, no. I just thanked um Melissa

1:22:55and Yeah, I'm happy. you know, maybe the

1:22:57next step at a at a future meeting is

1:23:00to, you know, I wanted this was an

1:23:02overview to educate the BAB because some

1:23:04of you are new and there's always a lot

1:23:07of great information to learn over

1:23:09something like the MPF that's been going

1:23:11on for 31 years. Um but maybe the next

1:23:14you know if we want to drill down into a

1:23:16document that solely is looking at

1:23:19performance measures

1:23:21um I agree with that as then maybe the

1:23:24next step and some of that is in

1:23:27obviously this presentation to some

1:23:28degree um some of it's actually

1:23:31department performance measures also are

1:23:34in the actual um fiscal 27 budget

1:23:39um but then the other and then I just

1:23:41want to say big picture. You know, an

1:23:42interesting thing though talking about

1:23:44measuring success, um, you know, taxable

1:23:48value of the geographic area of the MPF

1:23:51is over three billion now and it started

1:23:55out at 208 million. So obviously it's

1:23:59been 31 years, but there there's

1:24:02obviously been an incre a huge increase

1:24:05of three billion in the uh taxable

1:24:08value. So just another big picture

1:24:11metric um to and my opinion that um this

1:24:16particular CRA has been effective.

1:24:19>> Can you repeat?

1:24:20>> Of course I'm of course I'm sure there's

1:24:22been hiccup over the years. What was

1:24:25that?

1:24:26>> Can you repeat those two numbers?

1:24:28>> Sure. So, so and when the CRA the MPF

1:24:33CRA started in 1995, the base year net

1:24:36taxable value of that geographical area

1:24:39on the map was 28,261,000.

1:24:46And the July 2026 new taxable value,

1:24:50which is how they calculate the tip, um

1:24:54is that geographical area is now valued

1:24:57at over three billion. So over 15 times

1:25:00what it was. It's at 3 bill28,689.

1:25:08So big picture.

1:25:09>> Yeah,

1:25:10>> that's

1:25:11>> that's that's impact.

1:25:16>> Thank you, Melinda.

1:25:18Did you

1:25:19>> So Tamika was able to information at

1:25:22Carter Park that you shared and I think

1:25:23that most of the rest of the information

1:25:25is in the presentation that I just

1:25:26shared but we can

1:25:28>> so as it relates to Carter Park with

1:25:30grant funding that we have it's about

1:25:32$2.5 million that we have in grant

1:25:34funding for Carter Park majority of that

1:25:37is from the outdoor recreation um

1:25:40program which really is going to be for

1:25:42doing like playgrounds and so forth. Um,

1:25:45as it looks on the CIP overall is about

1:25:48$28 million in total, which includes

1:25:50what the CRA is.

1:25:53>> Thank you.

1:25:53>> Thank you.

1:25:55>> Did you have recommendations, Laura, for

1:25:58the status of this? Have we kind of

1:26:00covered that or

1:26:02>> so my what I kind of captured in

1:26:04feedback was Chris had shared a lot of

1:26:07good performance related information.

1:26:08I'm going to listen to that again to

1:26:10make sure that we are looking for the

1:26:12specifics, but you guys asked for more

1:26:13specifics and more performance metrics

1:26:15to be built out based upon the

1:26:17commentary he provided. Is that right?

1:26:19And then you'd like us to bring that

1:26:21back. So you could weigh in on the

1:26:23performance. Is that I think based on

1:26:25what Bill

1:26:27mentioned earlier that you know we have

1:26:29kind of a obligation to the commission.

1:26:32So maybe

1:26:34>> at one of our meeting we'll kind of I

1:26:36know we're going to talk about our work

1:26:38plan going in.

1:26:41>> So based so based upon the input today

1:26:44and the performance that was discussed

1:26:47um we'll go back and develop some more

1:26:50performance metrics and bring them back

1:26:51and then you

1:26:53>> on a softer level. Is that clear? I just

1:26:55want to be clear on what I'm doing now.

1:26:57Uh on a softer level we're looking for

1:27:01Well, I think we touched on several

1:27:03elements. I mean, quality of life

1:27:05improvement, affordability, uh,

1:27:07including for disabled, senior,

1:27:10um, I don't know. Um, we we covered I

1:27:14mean I

1:27:15>> Okay, I remember

1:27:16>> the notes, but uh,

1:27:17>> thank you.

1:27:18>> I will try to think before our next

1:27:20meeting and everybody does that and we

1:27:22share together again. I think we'll have

1:27:25a better we we we digested things today.

1:27:28I know you are your your day-to-day CRA.

1:27:31we have a a wider scope. So it was very

1:27:34informative, very interesting. I think

1:27:36we need to dig a little deeper and maybe

1:27:38during our next me session at BAB uh you

1:27:42know find a time to exchange about that

1:27:45among board members

1:27:49indirect benefits uh you know uh job

1:27:52creation but also skills uh educational

1:27:55like Chris Cooper mentioned those

1:27:57programs

1:28:02that's all that comes to mind

1:28:05>> we'll talk where that fits in the work

1:28:06plan when we talk through that if that

1:28:07works for you.

1:28:09>> Okay. Um okay. So I know in the back of

1:28:11our packets we have a budget um about

1:28:15recommendations

1:28:17uh matrix. So did you want to cover that

1:28:19Laura?

1:28:20>> Sure. Um chair um

1:28:24each we bring back to you um two times

1:28:27per year um this matrix that we started

1:28:31developing way back in 2014. when this

1:28:34board does important work and meets 14

1:28:36times a year, um you end up making

1:28:39recommendations on various items that

1:28:41sometimes we're able to immediately

1:28:43address and sometimes it takes, you

1:28:45know, a year or more to implement some

1:28:47of the findings. So, um what we've done

1:28:52is we've indicated in the color red any

1:28:56changes that have made been made since

1:28:58the last update. So, I won't go through

1:29:01every item, but it is a good history and

1:29:04some of the items that the weighed in

1:29:06and weighed in on over the years, the

1:29:09canal dredging, grad assessment, some of

1:29:12them are interesting when you look back,

1:29:14you looked back at the police

1:29:15headquarters in 2018, you weighed into

1:29:18in favor of that bond, you know, so

1:29:21there's been a lot of items over the

1:29:23years. Um, but the first item that was

1:29:27updated

1:29:30was on a page four of 19. It's from a

1:29:342020 forum meeting

1:29:36and um at that point we were really

1:29:39challenged to look at delinquent utility

1:29:42bills and finance was presenting some of

1:29:44the challenges they were having. The the

1:29:46bad weighed in that they believed that a

1:29:49better approach would be to only allow

1:29:51the property owner to be the owner of

1:29:53the bill. So that's now been updated and

1:29:56implemented where um where the own the

1:30:01the owner has to be the primary on each

1:30:05utility bill to avoid um uncollected

1:30:09bills. Um the next item is on page two

1:30:13from your June 11, 2025

1:30:16meeting. Um, and it was talking about

1:30:20the emergency reserve fund and the

1:30:24guidelines for the emergency reserve

1:30:26fund were incorporated into the

1:30:27financial integrity principles that were

1:30:30approved by the commission on January

1:30:3220, 2026.

1:30:34So, that's an update on that item. Um,

1:30:37the item above it is really related to

1:30:40the financial integrity principles as

1:30:42well. you all weighed in favor and

1:30:43provided some tweaks and those were

1:30:46ultimately approved on January 20th. Um

1:30:50on the top of page two, um it was about

1:30:53beach food and beverage proposed

1:30:55ordinance.

1:30:57Um and that was approved on

1:31:02December 16, 2025. So there was changes

1:31:06to increase the fees to generate

1:31:09additional revenues. Um and then the

1:31:12first page is a lot of the work that you

1:31:15will be really fresh. Um if you look at

1:31:17the top of the page, it's you weighed in

1:31:19on the proposed budget. Um which um

1:31:21thank you all for your help in that.

1:31:23This just this week, the second public

1:31:25hearing was held. And so our budget

1:31:28capital improvement plan and our

1:31:30personnel complement for 2027 are in

1:31:33place through approved. And so we're all

1:31:36set as of October 1st for the year. So,

1:31:39give yourself a round of [applause]

1:31:40applause. That was a lot of work. I

1:31:43think you all did a great job heavy

1:31:46lifting a a lot of a lot of input

1:31:48through your process. So, hopefully you

1:31:50feel as excited as we do that the budget

1:31:52process is over um for 27. Um

1:31:56>> I I I just want to chime in and I'm sure

1:32:00and everybody feels the same. Thank you

1:32:02for staff for being so patient. uh

1:32:05especially for members uh uh like me who

1:32:08have tried in the past two years to

1:32:10learn uh more and more and to share more

1:32:13and more and sometimes challenge but I

1:32:15feel that uh whatever the extra work

1:32:18that it provides with for my colleagues

1:32:21or uh for staff uh I think it's it's

1:32:25probably beneficial uh to the residents

1:32:28which is our mission and their

1:32:30customers. So thank you for your

1:32:32patience and your continued support.

1:32:35Without you we we don't understand

1:32:37anything but but we can also understand

1:32:40things and put things in perspective

1:32:42that we have an opportunity to do that

1:32:45staff doesn't necessarily have to do and

1:32:47I think we need to continue that role.

1:32:49Uh as Baba

1:32:51>> thank you for that you add a val a very

1:32:54valuable role in the budget process and

1:32:56we talk about it all the time. You know

1:32:57just at the um at the workshop this

1:33:00group came up and you know how you'd

1:33:02recommended in favor of the fire

1:33:04assessment team. So, um the commission

1:33:06does rely on you for recommendations and

1:33:08we appreciate you partnering with us

1:33:10throughout the process.

1:33:13>> Thanks. [snorts] Um and so then the last

1:33:15one I would um point to is the

1:33:17certificate of use program when we were

1:33:19talking about developing new revenue

1:33:21sources. You know, originally Ross

1:33:23challenged us and then Olivier was on

1:33:25the revenue estimating committee and so

1:33:27staff spent a lot of time with you um

1:33:29presenting different revenue sources and

1:33:31so this is one that was recently

1:33:33approved as a pilot

1:33:35>> and we saw um maybe for a a new board

1:33:39member u um perspective. We saw that uh

1:33:43after the revenue estimating conference

1:33:46exercise uh staff in general came back

1:33:49with uh uh much more ambitious revenues

1:33:53from different sources. Um so they

1:33:57listen and they they you know they take

1:33:59action. So that's that's a good thing

1:34:01because improving the budget balancing

1:34:04act is both trying to save money when we

1:34:07can save it or scrutinize the return on

1:34:10investment but also to stimulate the

1:34:12revenue income.

1:34:16>> Who wants to come to these meetings

1:34:17unless we make a contribution anyway?

1:34:21>> Agreed.

1:34:23>> Okay. um gonna move on to feedback on

1:34:26fiscal year 2027 department budget

1:34:29packets and meeting format.

1:34:32Is that

1:34:33>> Yeah. So um internally we do something

1:34:36called roses and thorns. So as staff

1:34:38we're like hey what worked? What didn't

1:34:40work? And we do it while it's fresh

1:34:42because you know we just went through a

1:34:43pretty extensive budget process. Um

1:34:45we're just asking for your input while

1:34:47it's fresh. You know um you met with

1:34:49departments, you met with the commission

1:34:53you at various points along the process

1:34:56as we memorialized in the work plan. Is

1:34:58there anything that you would while it's

1:35:00fresh ask us to change for the upcoming

1:35:03cycle?

1:35:09actually something I wanted to pass out

1:35:12just

1:35:17let me send some this way

1:35:24this way.

1:35:33I'll send you the

1:35:38>> one. So basically, does everybody have

1:35:41this? Yeah.

1:35:43>> Basically, this is just something I

1:35:45wanted to relate about

1:35:47basically about budget presentation.

1:35:49This is drawing on jurisdictions where I

1:35:52work, namely the District of Columbia

1:35:55and the state of North Carolina.

1:35:57So we look [clears throat] at this

1:35:59Department of Human Services um side

1:36:02first. This is just the first page of

1:36:06the budget chapter for the DC Department

1:36:08of Human Services. It's actually in some

1:36:11ways to my mind overly busy. But the

1:36:13thing I wanted to mention here is that

1:36:17it gives you a what I call a more

1:36:19inductive approach to the budget. And I

1:36:23think our budget books are a little

1:36:25deductive in that agency X you sort of

1:36:29look sort of look at police and see okay

1:36:32they have general fund this amount then

1:36:35they have maybe special fund number one

1:36:38another amount special fund number two

1:36:40another amount so it was hard for me to

1:36:42piece together their whole pick you know

1:36:45their whole gross total operating budget

1:36:48so I was just presenting this as a way

1:36:50of this is one way that they present

1:36:54they give you that gross total operating

1:36:56budget up front um as well as the

1:36:59capital budget right up front. So you

1:37:02see that total number and then the other

1:37:04thing I highlighted there is just some

1:37:06of these little um things I think are

1:37:08useful the website. Uh so anyhow but the

1:37:12the main thing I wanted to share was the

1:37:14idea of like the in uh inductive

1:37:17approach and then on the other side is

1:37:19something from state of North Carolina.

1:37:22Again it's their department of health

1:37:24and human services. So it's the first

1:37:26page of their budget chapter. Um, and I

1:37:30think this page is also too busy. Um,

1:37:33but it still gives you that whole

1:37:35picture. Uh, it's actually looking

1:37:37backwards, but it gives you the donut

1:37:39donut chart of the actual expenditures

1:37:42and it gives you the historical

1:37:43expenditures.

1:37:45And you know, again, the mission's right

1:37:48up front. And finally, I actually like

1:37:51just one little item right at the top

1:37:53right. I actually like that they put

1:37:54this the department secretary's name. It

1:37:57just makes it a little personal. So,

1:37:59just some ideas on presentation to throw

1:38:02out there.

1:38:03>> And I know those online, Bill and

1:38:05Melinda, you don't you can't see what

1:38:07Jason.

1:38:07>> Um, so Charmaine email.

1:38:09>> Okay. Okay. Bill, you have a question. I

1:38:11see her.

1:38:13Well, I think as we and I just th this

1:38:16out for discussion to the the board

1:38:20>> for looking at based on 2027 budget

1:38:24presentations to the departments moving

1:38:27forward to 2028 next year. Would it be

1:38:31beneficial and s you know they come in

1:38:33and present what keeps them awake at

1:38:36night which is good but then should we

1:38:39also maybe ask them to come in and give

1:38:41us some ideas on or two ideas of how

1:38:44they can improve efficiencies without

1:38:47additional cost.

1:38:50>> Well, I think you and I were thinking

1:38:51along the same lines because we get

1:38:53both. We have the what keeps you up at

1:38:55night and then we have the presentation

1:38:57again from each department head and I I

1:39:00do agree with

1:39:01>> Absolutely. Absolutely. especially with

1:39:03the challenges that we going to, you

1:39:06know, face for the next two fiscal years

1:39:09with the uh property tax reform,

1:39:11potential loss of revenue. I think this

1:39:14is a good uh framing of the exercise

1:39:18bill and I think it's actually uh

1:39:20indispensable especially for this coming

1:39:23uh budget exercise. I would add that I

1:39:27think Jason as a as a point there and I

1:39:30tried to con to convey that last year um

1:39:34several occasion

1:39:36we feel sometimes as residents and

1:39:38community leaders that uh the budget is

1:39:41a copy and paste uh with an 8% or 5%

1:39:44increase for each department. Um and I

1:39:48think the the perspective that I was

1:39:49trying to present to you last year by

1:39:52doing all this research about the LA the

1:39:55evolution of the past three years, four

1:39:57years to give perspective and the trends

1:40:00and how where we're going uh inevitably

1:40:03with the higher cost of salaries uh you

1:40:06know pension benefits etc. uh the

1:40:09increase in in operational budget but

1:40:11also in overhead from the corporate

1:40:13offices uh general government all of

1:40:16that I think we need to take more

1:40:18perspective uh in the in in the

1:40:21development the dynamic picture of the

1:40:24budget exercise rather than just oh this

1:40:27is uh next year and this was last year I

1:40:30think that's where we all could be uh

1:40:33better equipped and probably challenged

1:40:36uh in getting a more dynamic uh

1:40:38deductive inductive dynamic picture of

1:40:41what what we're looking for. But uh

1:40:43chairman, I totally agree with you. I

1:40:45think we should start from that

1:40:47perspective of how can you do the same

1:40:49or better with the same budget or less

1:40:53and I think that should keep them up at

1:40:56night and they should have some answers

1:40:58or start working on that uh before

1:41:01seeing us or before presenting a budget

1:41:05that increases 8% because the general

1:41:08fund is going to increase its revenue by

1:41:108%. So I totally agree and I hope my

1:41:13colleagues share the same sentiment.

1:41:18Thank you and thank you for

1:41:21>> you know yeah bringing this I don't know

1:41:24that I think that's a staff

1:41:26>> question I don't really me

1:41:29so um we haven't the state passed new

1:41:33it's called financial transparency

1:41:35legislation

1:41:36and um we've been internally already

1:41:39talking about it but I think it pairs

1:41:41very well with what you all are

1:41:42suggesting um It requires um us to post

1:41:46the budget calendar as of January in the

1:41:48year and it requires us to do a public

1:41:50workshop um that um lays out 10% in

1:41:54reductions.

1:41:56So, and it's based upon the 2027 adopted

1:41:59budget. So, we do believe as a team that

1:42:02we are probably best suited to do that

1:42:04earlier in the process um before we

1:42:07start, you know, going into the weeds

1:42:09and developing 2028. So, um, we'll have

1:42:12to meet internally and design what that

1:42:13looks like. We're already doing best

1:42:15practice research and, you know, working

1:42:16towards designing that to implement it

1:42:19with the departments. But all of your

1:42:21suggestions, I think, really fit into

1:42:24what the state's also going to require

1:42:26and how we'll build that process.

1:42:30>> Does anybody else have any feedback for

1:42:35>> Can you Can you say that again? It's

1:42:37called the state um transparency. I'm

1:42:40getting the term wrong, but it's really

1:42:41called transparency in government or

1:42:43something using those terms. And I'll

1:42:45I'll share that with this team after um

1:42:48the meeting, but it's a new state law um

1:42:50that is currently in effect, but um the

1:42:53new regulations for us really go into

1:42:55effect as of January. It requires that

1:42:58the city posts all salaries of all

1:43:00employees on our website. There's like a

1:43:01bunch of things that are required um as

1:43:04of January 1. And so we're going to have

1:43:07to as a city look to implement that and

1:43:11look to design our process that now

1:43:12includes this additional um requirement

1:43:17or requirements. Yeah.

1:43:18>> Will that show on the uh portal um the

1:43:22the the the widget that you developed so

1:43:26well to the balancing act widget that

1:43:28you you made available to the public? Is

1:43:30is there some repercussion on that tool

1:43:32the design of it and more in depth uh

1:43:36transparency on on more details or

1:43:39drilling down? So when we looked at it,

1:43:41the major changes that we took away that

1:43:44we would need to make are posting our

1:43:45salaries on the website, posting our

1:43:47budget calendar in a more prominent

1:43:49location, how we post budget amendments

1:43:51a little bit differently, and then that

1:43:5410% reduction public workshop and

1:43:56exercise because we have to post the

1:43:59documents related to that. Those were

1:44:01our takeaways. But

1:44:02>> yeah, to your point, balance act is one

1:44:05of the tools that we give our neighbors

1:44:06to provide feedback on the budget. So it

1:44:08is likely that some of those initiatives

1:44:10will also be incorporated into balancing

1:44:13act.

1:44:15>> So it's called the new municipal budget

1:44:17transparency.

1:44:18>> Okay.

1:44:20>> I knew I had more budget transparency.

1:44:22>> It's Florida statute

1:44:25166.241.

1:44:29>> How does it how does it uh intersect or

1:44:32overlap with the Florida Dodge uh

1:44:35Department of Efficiency? Is there

1:44:39>> that statute set strictly for municipal

1:44:41budgets? So I don't know if that's

1:44:43>> Yeah, but we know that they also look at

1:44:46city budgets.

1:44:47>> So I think the state overall is um

1:44:49really pushing for accountability and

1:44:51transparency. So it's just one of the

1:44:53additional um bills or legislation

1:44:57>> includes things like pass uh posting

1:44:59your past budgets on the website. So

1:45:01things that we already do. Um thankfully

1:45:04our our team has been very transparent

1:45:06about our budget history, our current

1:45:08budget data. So we kind of go above and

1:45:11beyond in some areas but there are some

1:45:13tweaks like posting a balancing exercise

1:45:16that people have to add.

1:45:18>> Actually one last uh additional

1:45:19suggestion or question about uh you know

1:45:22uh the budget process in general. Um I

1:45:26was wondering and it's one of the

1:45:28elements that I'm going to discuss next

1:45:30week. um we adopt a budget and there's

1:45:34then there is a reality of the final

1:45:36budget the total budget and I I I we

1:45:41have a book uh it's posted on the the

1:45:43city website but

1:45:46I'm not sure how um much access we have

1:45:50to the finalized budget one year later

1:45:53after everything accounting has been you

1:45:55know audited and finalized. So um how

1:45:59can we actually improve on that or maybe

1:46:02um uh you know remedy my ignorance or my

1:46:05lack of access to that?

1:46:06>> So one of the great things that the

1:46:07budget team does is they have they use

1:46:10open gov and so open gov is one of the

1:46:12portals where we actually interface

1:46:15daily. Is it a day behind?

1:46:17>> So a day behind. So any of the

1:46:20amendments, the budget amendments that

1:46:22are p uh approved by the commission

1:46:25after they're posted a day later,

1:46:27they're actually updated on open gov. So

1:46:30you can always see a running track of

1:46:32our budget. It's only a day behind and I

1:46:35think it has a couple of years worth of

1:46:37data

1:46:39>> since 23 since 22 23

1:46:41>> since 24

1:46:44update manually on a quarterly basis and

1:46:46now it's

1:46:47>> okay. Open.gov.

1:46:50>> Yeah, open [clears throat] gov.

1:46:51>> Openg gov.gov.

1:46:52>> Yeah. So, open gov is a really good

1:46:53resource. And then if you just wanted to

1:46:55see any amendments that the commission

1:46:57has passed to the budget because only

1:47:00the commission can make [clears throat]

1:47:01amendments at the department fund level

1:47:04and um on the OM website. So, if you go

1:47:07to fortlauderdale.gov/budget

1:47:09on the left hand side it says budget

1:47:11amendments and every approved budget

1:47:13amendment with the funding boxes with

1:47:16the explanation of

1:47:18you can click on there and see that

1:47:20information.

1:47:21>> Thank you.

1:47:23>> Yeah. So, as a takeaway, we were doing

1:47:25most of the things that are now being

1:47:27required from other governments, but

1:47:29there were a few tweaks that were, you

1:47:30know, as soon as it was passed, we

1:47:32looked at it and how we might implement

1:47:34it. So, as soon as the budget's

1:47:35approved, we're on to that. So,

1:47:40>> any other

1:47:43like just for a moment go back to item

1:47:46A. Um,

1:47:48and I've been sitting here mulling this

1:47:50over as we talk and I may have

1:47:53misunderstood.

1:47:55It seemed like we were evaluating our

1:47:58success in redevelopment by an increase

1:48:02in property values.

1:48:05And maybe I'm wrong about that, but it

1:48:07sounded like it. If property values go

1:48:10up, it's somewhat contradictory to the

1:48:13idea of affordable housing.

1:48:16We have to be very careful about how we

1:48:18measure our success. I guess that's the

1:48:20point I'm trying to make.

1:48:21>> It was one of the uh criterias or

1:48:24elements that we that Melinda submitted

1:48:27in her overview. I think that was not

1:48:30reductive as oh that's the criteria for

1:48:33the generating the revenue but it's one

1:48:36element. Uh I think Melinda if I

1:48:38understood well

1:48:41>> I'm just issue. Yeah, I think I think

1:48:44that uh my point was just for the 31

1:48:46years just to look at and it's actually

1:48:49not just um home values. It's just the

1:48:53taxable value increase for that

1:48:56geographic region which was considered

1:48:59blighted in 1995.

1:49:01Um it it's just a very big picture

1:49:04number and it's the number by which we

1:49:07actually do the tax incremental funding

1:49:10calculation.

1:49:13So the change between 1995 to

1:49:18you know 2026

1:49:20the change in that value um which is

1:49:23changed about 15 times you know that is

1:49:26then you take the military and then you

1:49:28take 50% of that to come up with our

1:49:31funding of the CRA which is about 6.2

1:49:34million this year. But big picture um

1:49:38yeah when you go from 208 million in a

1:49:41blighted area and your geographic area

1:49:43is now um 15 times that um yeah I think

1:49:48it's it's a big picture indicator of

1:49:50where things have gone.

1:49:52>> And and Paul keep in mind that the

1:49:56largest increase in cess values probably

1:49:59came well no probably about it Flaggler

1:50:01Village which was a lot of the

1:50:03commercial and multi family residential

1:50:07properties which are not homesteaded.

1:50:10>> Yeah.

1:50:12>> And if you really wanted to go further,

1:50:16you could compare the evolution of that

1:50:18taxable property value of this area

1:50:20compared to the overall Broward County

1:50:23or municipality increase in taxable

1:50:26value to see if there's a multiplier if

1:50:28there was, you know, an element that

1:50:31went further because of that investment.

1:50:34So I think there is more discussion to

1:50:36be had uh beyond that and I think that's

1:50:39the the conclusion of this session is

1:50:42that we need to debate more and

1:50:44formulate uh the elements of metrics of

1:50:47success and return on investment with

1:50:50much more nuance and softer and hard uh

1:50:53numbers.

1:50:54>> Well, I I think that's the point I'm

1:50:55trying to make. It's much more

1:50:56complicated than what is the tax base in

1:50:59that area.

1:51:00>> Agreed. But it's

1:51:01>> increasing tax base is probably a good

1:51:04thing, but it also has downsides to it

1:51:08as well.

1:51:08>> Well, the affordability is the limit and

1:51:10I think I need made that clear. How do

1:51:13we keep it affordable while increasing

1:51:16the environment and the taxable value?

1:51:19Exactly.

1:51:19>> It's a fine balance and Chris Cooper uh

1:51:22you know interim city manager made that

1:51:24point earlier when he was still

1:51:26>> and there's a cross for city services. I

1:51:28mean there's a lot more.

1:51:30>> Yeah. I mean there this would just be

1:51:31one area and I do think it makes sense

1:51:33like Olivia said uh to look at other

1:51:36areas that have had uh growth but I mean

1:51:40just the whole point of the CRA is to

1:51:42create a geographically dedicated

1:51:46redevelopment funding mechanism and I

1:51:49think that big picture in this

1:51:51particular case it has worked because

1:51:54you do not you don't get money if you

1:51:56don't increase in in taxable value

1:51:58period.

1:52:02Okay. Um let's move on to our work plan

1:52:06for 2027.

1:52:09Uh there was a draft in our packets. Um

1:52:15starting with I think looking at the

1:52:20the terms for the fabs begin in October

1:52:24and um and then we were we would hold a

1:52:27meeting in October and potentially look

1:52:29to cancel November and December's

1:52:31meeting. I believe we did that as well

1:52:33last year. Laura, do you want to go?

1:52:35>> Yes. So each So thank you, Sher. So each

1:52:38year um because you meet so frequently

1:52:41in the budget months um and forum can be

1:52:45challenging in November and December

1:52:47because of family vacations the

1:52:49typically chooses like two months to

1:52:51take off November December. Last year it

1:52:53was actually October November. Um

1:52:56[clears throat] so it's as a point of

1:52:58reference you know it's for you to react

1:52:59to. Um if you would not like to cancel

1:53:03we'll hold those meetings. Um

1:53:07We we drafted a work plan. The one the

1:53:08items that I'd like to point out is we

1:53:11sort of just replicated um the ongoing

1:53:14business. The reason we do this is for

1:53:16planning purposes for staff for you all.

1:53:18Um there are two meetings that we are

1:53:21suggesting changing the dates. Um that's

1:53:24the June 16th meeting.

1:53:27Um and because the joint so you meet

1:53:30with the commission three times per year

1:53:33in June you meet with them the second

1:53:34meeting in June. So we for you to hold

1:53:37your meeting to make the recommendation

1:53:38before that. Um, we're proposing June

1:53:429th, but I don't know if you want to

1:53:44consider that and we'll vote on it next

1:53:46time. We just thought we'd walk through

1:53:48some of the changes with you. If you

1:53:50want, you can take these back and look

1:53:52at them or you can talk about it now.

1:53:54Um, the other one is August August 18th.

1:53:57There's a um joint workshop on the 17th.

1:54:02So, we would like for your meeting to be

1:54:03before that date to prepare. So, we're

1:54:06suggesting August 11th.

1:54:11So, do we want to um

1:54:15do we want to go ahead and discuss it

1:54:17now or would you does the do we want to

1:54:19wait until October when I don't know

1:54:22that anybody else is being reappointed?

1:54:24So, I think we kind of have the

1:54:27>> all the board members here today and

1:54:29tonight.

1:54:30>> So,

1:54:32I I just have Oh, sorry, Bill. And I

1:54:34just had a question. Is it ever possible

1:54:36to have Stantech to switch them into

1:54:38January

1:54:40to start the year with that

1:54:41presentation?

1:54:42>> I agree.

1:54:45>> I'm just curious because I feel like

1:54:47that's such an important presentation to

1:54:51start the year with and kind of know

1:54:53where we are.

1:54:55>> We can check with them and try to move

1:54:56that to January. Yep. Bill, sorry. Go

1:54:59ahead.

1:55:02No, a great suggestion on Sandex coming

1:55:05in earlier at the beginning of the year

1:55:07if it's if it's possible and then uh

1:55:12I think go ahead and let's meet in

1:55:15October and then finalize the work plan

1:55:17for the rest of the year so we can look

1:55:19at our calendars. Everyone can look at

1:55:22their calendars for next year and

1:55:24finalize it more. But I do support the

1:55:26idea of meeting prior to our joint

1:55:28workshops instead of the day before.

1:55:32And then and then we can add to the

1:55:33October agenda finalizing some uh

1:55:41discussion on the CRA.

1:55:43>> Yes.

1:55:46>> Great.

1:55:47>> Okay. I'm wondering uh speaking out loud

1:55:50uh

1:55:53is October appropriate uh because it's

1:55:56still fresh in our mind but then you we

1:55:59get November and December and it's sort

1:56:01of like back to business in January or

1:56:03we get a closer date maybe November if

1:56:06not December because people are with the

1:56:08holidays and everything u and it gives

1:56:11us a little more time to prepare for the

1:56:13November uh uh meeting just a a a an

1:56:20open question among the group. Either we

1:56:23we keep it fresh and we meet again

1:56:25October 21st or we give it a little time

1:56:28to collect our thoughts, digest what

1:56:31Minda just gave us for the CRA and maybe

1:56:34some thought for the the fiscal year,

1:56:36the upcoming fiscal year and and meet in

1:56:39November. Just a thought a question open

1:56:41question to the group.

1:56:44My only thing is I feel like in November

1:56:46you're get you're a week away from

1:56:48Thanksgiving and then in December you're

1:56:50a week away from you know from that you

1:56:53know for staff I just I think it's a

1:56:56hard time of year to get everybody

1:56:57there's always things going on. That

1:56:59would be my only comment. But

1:57:02>> Bill, how do you feel about that?

1:57:04>> I agree with Melinda because if you look

1:57:06at staff's got a lot of requirements

1:57:08starting mid November and early into

1:57:11December with different uh light up

1:57:15events throughout the city.

1:57:17>> Events. Yeah.

1:57:18>> And yeah,

1:57:20>> that's why historically we we've taken

1:57:22not November and December off. Plus

1:57:24staff is trying to also use up some comp

1:57:27time before the end of the year.

1:57:28>> Yeah, they they need a break from us.

1:57:30No, I I was just asking because last

1:57:33year I think we had a session in

1:57:34December. That's why I was asking. I

1:57:37think we did like something a special

1:57:39something but

1:57:40>> well it was preparation for the the new

1:57:42work [cough] plan that we have and

1:57:46>> well I think we can we'll leave it for a

1:57:48vote you know for October but everybody

1:57:51can take a look at the calendars and um

1:57:54yeah it just I think November personally

1:57:56I think November December's just a tough

1:57:59to two months to be

1:58:01>> I'm good on October 21st if that's you

1:58:04want to consult now with everybody

1:58:06That's the regularly scheduled meeting.

1:58:08>> So, okay.

1:58:09>> Unless you cancel it.

1:58:10>> Okay.

1:58:11>> And we'll add

1:58:14>> Melissa, can you ask Chris, has it has

1:58:16the commission identified a potential

1:58:18date for their workshop in January or

1:58:21early February?

1:58:22>> We have not as of yet.

1:58:23>> We will probably wait till the new

1:58:25commissioner is um

1:58:27>> on board because we have to accommodate

1:58:29everyone's schedule. So, we probably

1:58:31won't

1:58:32>> we might have some ideas of dates, but

1:58:34we wouldn't be able to lock that in

1:58:36until after the election.

1:58:38>> Okay.

1:58:38>> Okay.

1:58:40>> All right.

1:58:41>> Okay. Um any other

1:58:44We don't think we we don't have any

1:58:46communications to the commission at this

1:58:48time

1:58:49uh or from the commission.

1:58:51[clears throat] Okay. And so any other

1:58:53comments?

1:58:55>> I have a stupid question formality.

1:58:59Um we are we are entering a new fiscal

1:59:03year. Um [clears throat]

1:59:05When do we do uh the election for the

1:59:08the chairman and the vice chair?

1:59:11>> Uh

1:59:12>> if you look at the work plan,

1:59:14>> it's October 21st.

1:59:15>> Okay.

1:59:16>> Okay. Because for some reason I thought

1:59:18we did it in January last year.

1:59:22>> We had it on the work plan.

1:59:23>> No, it's here. It says selection of

1:59:24budget at chair and vice chair.

1:59:26>> Thank you. Sorry.

1:59:27>> December.

1:59:29Okay.

1:59:29>> Because we didn't meet in October,

1:59:31November, December last year. Well, we

1:59:33met in December, but we we didn't do the

1:59:36election before January.

1:59:37>> I don't think that was an official

1:59:38meeting when we met in December. All

1:59:40right.

1:59:40>> I think you did it in December last

1:59:43year.

1:59:43>> Yeah. Did we?

1:59:44>> Yeah, we did. But that's why I'm asking

1:59:46the question, but October is the answer.

1:59:48That's very simple.

1:59:49>> Yeah, we typically do the first meeting

1:59:51of the newly because the all your terms

1:59:53as Melissa mentioned are as of October

1:59:561st. So, we typically do that meeting.

1:59:58That makes sense.

1:59:58>> Yeah. So

2:00:00>> if you move the meeting dates around

2:00:03inside the month,

2:00:05>> it's very difficult for me.

2:00:06>> We generally don't. So they're generally

2:00:08the third Wednesday.

2:00:10>> Yeah, I block the third week.

2:00:12>> The only time it really changes

2:00:13>> two exceptions,

2:00:14>> right?

2:00:16>> In May we

2:00:18>> Well, I guess there three exceptions. So

2:00:20um in May we meet every week in

2:00:22Wednesday, right? every Wednesday in the

2:00:24month of May and that's when this board

2:00:27hears from each of the departments their

2:00:29budget um requests for the year and then

2:00:33outside of that it's before a joint

2:00:34workshop. Sometimes the dates aren't

2:00:37aligned with your meeting date. So you

2:00:39all like to meet before you meet with

2:00:41the commission. So sometimes you all

2:00:43recommend moving your meetings up so you

2:00:45can meet together before you share

2:00:47information.

2:00:47>> It's not hard for me to accommodate if I

2:00:49know in advance.

2:00:50>> Yes. So once we vote on this and

2:00:53October, you'll know we'll have the full

2:00:56year the dates um you know in that uh

2:01:00like I bet was saying there might be one

2:01:02or two times

2:01:04>> throughout the process that we we vote

2:01:07as a board to um align better with the

2:01:10commission workshops but

2:01:12>> and sometimes we have to be a little bit

2:01:14flexible. We all have busy lives as

2:01:17well. Um and and when they change, they

2:01:21make an effort to give us advanced

2:01:24notice. Uh and you also have the ability

2:01:27to uh attend remote if you can't be

2:01:30physically in this room, which allows

2:01:32you to also voice your opinion or ask

2:01:36questions. But May is a particularly

2:01:38important uh indispensable

2:01:40uh month of availability because it's

2:01:43the heart of the process where every

2:01:44head of department comes to us and I

2:01:47think that's the most interesting as far

2:01:48as I'm concerned. I find it very

2:01:51interesting and particularly exciting.

2:01:52So I would recommend that you make the

2:01:54time even if it's a big commitment

2:01:56>> and the good thing about those meetings

2:01:58is they're because they're not your

2:02:00regularly scheduled meetings. if you do

2:02:02need to miss it doesn't count against

2:02:03your absences as a board member.

2:02:06>> And Laura and her team put did a great

2:02:08job of trying to put together some

2:02:10suggested dates for the two times that

2:02:12they think we may need to reschedu. So

2:02:15now's the time to look at calendars,

2:02:17provide that feedback, and at the next

2:02:18meeting, if those dates don't work, we

2:02:20can kind of work through what an

2:02:22alternate would be.

2:02:24>> So take this back, look at your

2:02:26calendars, and then we can uh vote in

2:02:28October.

2:02:29>> October.

2:02:31All right. So, if no other uh comments,

2:02:33we'll go ahead and

2:02:36>> Yes, Bill. Sorry.

2:02:38>> Just real quick, I just want to give an

2:02:40update. Uh last night at the city

2:02:43commission meeting, ordered first

2:02:44reading on increasing the uh special

2:02:48event fee application permit process and

2:02:51the matrix behind that. uh it's coming

2:02:54up for second reading but a lot of

2:02:56meeting time was spent u by a lot of the

2:03:00stakeholders. I know Linda you were

2:03:02involved as well. U so I would ask uh if

2:03:08Charmaine can send that out to the

2:03:10entire board the ordinance the memo that

2:03:12was that was passed last night and uh

2:03:15that kind of gives you an idea of the

2:03:17increases.

2:03:19>> Thank you. That that was um Chair

2:03:21Brown's special project for you. Thank

2:03:24you for your work on that.

2:03:25>> Thank you, Bill. Any other comments?

2:03:28>> Yeah, great great result, Bill.

2:03:33>> Forward to seeing how much more money we

2:03:35have coming.

2:03:35>> Yeah, [laughter]

2:03:37it was a lot of hard work, especially

2:03:40getting push back from some of the

2:03:41promoters,

2:03:42>> right? uh larger events,

2:03:45>> you know, and but we we we finally

2:03:48reached a happy media happy meeting with

2:03:50all stakeholders. So,

2:03:51>> and for Robert and other new members,

2:03:54the commission is always nervous about

2:03:56the idea that some promoters would

2:03:59actually, you know, uh flee our city and

2:04:02and no longer uh you know, take place, I

2:04:06mean, make their events take place in

2:04:07our city. So that there's a there's a a

2:04:10risk uh and reward in that exercise and

2:04:13I think they balanced it.

2:04:15>> I haven't been in the meetings but I

2:04:17there's enough rumbling that I've been

2:04:19aware of what you're talking about. Some

2:04:21of the larger events are very important

2:04:23to the city.

2:04:26>> Okay. All right. Um thank you all. Uh

2:04:30we'll go ahead and adjourn the meeting

2:04:31and we'll see you October 21st.

2:04:34>> Thank you. Thank you.