Right Track Youth Employment Fund Transfer (SR 26-214)

At a glance

Based on uploaded (human-made) captions; minor errors are possible, and some names and addresses are garbled.

• What: a staff report on the roughly $191,437 annual transfer of Housing and Redevelopment Authority special funds to the city general fund that pays for Parks and Recreation's Right Track youth jobs program staffing, laid over from the October 7 meeting. The board is reviewing all of its special fund transfers.
• Presentation: Mr. Franco, youth services manager for Parks and Recreation, said over 3,000 young people applied for 760 internships this summer, about $2 million in wages were paid, and over 100 employer partners took part. The transfer covered about two-thirds of the program's general fund baseline, which funds the program supervisor; youth wages come from grants and employers. State grant money arrives only after the program starts in June, so a baseline is needed. The mayor's proposed 2027 budget keeps the $191,000 in the base; a January minimum wage increase adds about $40,000 in costs.
• Concerns: Chair Johnson supports the position but worried that tying it to a depleting special fund every year for about a decade is not sustainable, and asked whether moving it to the general fund had ever been requested (staff: not recently; it began at the authority and moved to Parks). Another commissioner noted about $500,000 is already shifting from special funds to the general fund as pandemic relief ends, and asked about private fundraising; staff said employers directly paid over $500,000 in wages and the department wants a fundraising cabinet and elected-official asks, citing Boston's model. A commissioner noted the city already levies the maximum allowed for the authority.
• Status: informational; no vote.

Sources

• 2026-10-14 - Housing & Redevelopment Authority (uploaded captions)
• https://stpaul.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Discussion time

About 22 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Log

• 2026-10-14 - Housing & Redevelopment Authority - Staff report on the roughly $191,000 transfer; commissioners pressed on reliance on a depleting special fund and on private fundraising. No vote.